Three outlandish things

Here is a list of the three most outlandish things I have ever heard.

One, the fullness of the Holy Trinity dwells within you, me, and everybody else.

Two, human beings were created with a capacity for boundless happiness.

Three, powerlessness is our greatest treasure and our resistance to the truth of our powerlessness is the chief obstacle to realizing the truth of numbers one and two.

Those three outlandish things are teachings from the Gospel as articulated by Father Thomas Keating. I don’t understand them because they are not things to be understood. They are truths to sit with and carry around in your pocket or your purse, so that you can take them out from time to time, hold them in the palm of your hand or between your thumb and forefinger and just stare at them considering them with your heart in silence.

The first one - God is with me and within me - reminds me of the old wisdom saying, “I am a man riding on an ox looking for an ox.” The thing I am looking for, the Divine, is hidden within my own skin. I am also reminded of something Jesus once said, “The Father and I will come and make our home in you.”

The second one - sustained happiness and peace is possible - makes me want to let go of everything that is less than or other than love.

The third outlandish thing - powerlessness is an asset - makes me bristle, then relax because in truth it is a great relief that I am not in control. If I don’t have to control you or the moment, then I am much better positioned to love you and whatever else is right in front of me.