Lessons the rejected shadow child learned in the Catholic church that she hated

Songs that the rejected shadow child loved…learned in the Catholic church that she hated.

Love can be found even in the darkest of places. This is made patently clear by folks like Richard Rohr, Thomas Keating and Bernadette Roberts. These people are non-dual Christians…they’ve transcended the path but still use the vehicle to teach. The vehicles (religions and mythologies) are always neutral. What people do in the name of these vehicles can sometimes be rather horrifying. For example in my Catholic upbringing I was told by a nun that anyone that wasn’t Catholic would be going to hell. Since it’s that sort of thinking that led to the Inquisition, that pretty much ended my early relationship to Catholicism. Still, I found something good in the hymns I share below and they have always stayed with me. They’ve stayed with the rejected shadow child too, because they were sung straight to her little alienated heart.

I always heard and sang these two hymns accompanied by an organ in church. I recently have found great delight in hearing them sung with contemporary instrumentation as they are in these youtube videos. Let your rejected shadow child listen.

I have found that living life in the spirit of these songs and thereby attending to my fellow human beings that healing unfolds simply in the process of being with others in need. I have found that in service to others my own rejected shadow child can find Illumination too. Love is everywhere. These are Christian hymns and this is not what we too often see among those who call themselves Christian these days…but so what? Human beings seem pretty consistently flawed everywhere. I practice finding that which is good in everyone, too, these days. It’s a practice and it’s not always easy.

The rejected shadow child recognizes the suffering of everyone in the world. In loving others we heal ourselves too and we find compassion for our shared and gloriously flawed humanity. Service is a profoundly healing path. 

–

The prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life

Whatsoever You Do

–

Whatsoever You Do
Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me
When I was hungry, you gave me some food
When I was thirsty, you gave me a drink

Come enter into the house of my Father
Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me
When I was a stranger, you opened your doors
When I was freezing, you gave me your coat

Come enter into the house of my Father
Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me
When I was weary, you helped me find rest
When I was anxious, you calmed all my fears

Come enter into the house of my Father
Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me

When I was lonely, to me you did speak
When I was troubled, you listened to me

Come enter into the house of my Father
Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me

When I was laughed at, you stood by my side
When I was happy, you shared in my joy

Come enter into the house of my Father
Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me

Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me

• Song of the rejected shadow child

• Illuminate me: rejected shadow child Part II

• Service as a way of knowing

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