1st Half, 2nd Half, Whole

John 17:14-16, “I have given the Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

Richard Rohr breaks Christian life into the 1^st half and the 2^nd half. The first half being an objective pursuit of sorts that sees defeat, failure, and tribulation causing the very necessary questioning of our Christianity. This 1^st half is succeeded by the 2^nd half where the spirit of man connects subjectively with Christ. Things that were once were objectively important to support a doctrine or dogma in the second half of (spiritual) life have lost their rigidity in working relationship to Christ.

For me I describe this sensation as entering the kingdom of God where we practice the presence of God. The 2^nd half of life is “Thy Kingdom come.” It is “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It is not a conquering of will, a perfecting of the art of holiness, or any other concoction of man but rather is spontaneous combustion of being in the presence of God continuously. Or at least as continuously as your spirit desires.

And so we have the 1^st half of spiritual life that begins somewhere immediate to salvation. It is an intellectual exercise. It is a practical exercise. In the 1st half of spiritual life we try to “learn” what God is and is doing so that we can somehow avoid the pain of a world full of tribulation. In the first half we try to remove ourselves from the world and transcend it effects even if only in ego. Learning leads to failure, which leads to realizing you haven’t learned enough, which leads to learning more. On and on this cycle repeats itself in the first half of spiritual life. In the first half, a life un-cognoscente of the very real kingdom of God present and at work inside. Practical exercises of spirituality are also key in the 1^st half. Go and do for God is a very appropriate and godly response as we grow in the 1^st half.

But for a few the 2^nd half of spiritual life comes into full bloom. The failures, the fallings, the challenges and trials of life are recognized as the cross of Christ coming to bear on the ego and its container the soul. Life no longer has moments to flee and others to embrace, but it all is seen as working in the constant death of self so that Christ may rise in the void.

This transition from 1^st half to 2^nd half can be seen in many people around. It is often accompanied with a distain for the 1^st half. There is a sensation that perhaps all that time spent in the first half was a waste. 1^st half institutions and 1^st half ministers are viewed with mistrust. Some go deep, deep into the 2^nd half isolating themselves from everything not spiritual. They try desperately to create an environment for themselves that is similar to the kingdom of God they experience inside. They, in essence, try to change the world. And if they cannot change the whole world, they certainly change their world. Equally 1st half'ers are guilty of the same biases in their state. To perpetual 1st half'ers the 2nd half does not exists, and the world can change if their doctrine is simply imposed on it. 

But Christ did not come to “change” the world. He did not pray, ‘God leave them here to change the world.’ Jesus did not come to create a utopia, but rather a battleground. (Matt 10:34) Christ came so that we, who are not of the world (2^nd half) could remain and live in the world. (1^st half)

I hope I have made this clear. You cannot have the 1^st half without the 2^nd half. And though our individual awareness changes in intensity as to what is more important, globally both halves are at work simultaneously.

I will describe it this way. In my Chemistry class we learned that each temperature gives off a different color of light within the ultraviolet, to infrared spectrum. White light is the combination of all the light. In other words it is all temperatures at the same time. Life with Christ is white light. It is the 1^st half, and the 2^nd half combined.

Even in the deepest recesses of the kingdom of God inside us, the body is still in the world, still benefiting from the practicality, the doctrine, and the dogma of the 1^st half. The whole is at work if you will.

And with the whole at work there is no need do anything other than to be a reflection of Christ and obedient to His light load for our individual life. I am not here to change the world, but I am here to change.