The great physicist Niels Bohr famously wrote: “The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false. The opposite of a great truth is also true.” This is an idea that I have come to appreciate more and more over the years: The opposites of so many basic values are not falsehoods, but equally profound values. … Continue reading Growing with Intention: Positive-Positive Polarities, or, Dialectical Epistemology
For the past three weeks now, our Sunday Gospels have been following Jesus' long discussion about bread in John's Gospel. Two weeks ago, the scene was introduced by Jesus' miraculous feeding of a large, hungry crowd, which we saw was an object lesson for what the Kingdom of God is like. Last week's reading showed … Continue reading What Fills You Up: A Reflection on John 6.35, 41-51
Before I moved to Toronto, I used to live in Victoria, a beautiful city on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island. I often found myself showing visitors around, and one of my favorite things to do with them was to take them to Beacon Hill Park, which offers a beautiful mix of carefully tended flower … Continue reading Growing with Intention: Transcendent Beauty
In last week's Gospel reading, Jesus fed a crowd of thousands with just a small amount of food. In my reflection on the passage, I asked why this story was so important to the first Christians that it recurs six times in the four canonical Gospels. I suggested that it was because it manifests the … Continue reading Bread and Circuses? A Reflection on John 6.24-35
Throughout history and across religious traditions around the globe, communities have turned to their mystics and masters as the great exemplars of spirituality. While in our culture today, the Buddha or Hindu gurus might come to mind first when we think about this phenomenon, it has historically been true of Christianity as well, whether East … Continue reading Growing with Intention: Mysticism and Meditation
Matthew Root 