The Way of the Wound

"Ive often said that if I had a way of naming Christianity, I would name it the way of the wound. I think what Jesus is telling the Christian tribe is that the wound is the way into the soul, into transformation. The act of suffering breaks down the imperial ego so we can ask deeper questions, broader questions, real questions.

I would assume that no man can become a True King without having endured or triumphed over some major wounds. ... Everything pivots around the wounding. All the dramatic archetypes and heroic images are what the Hebrew prophets called ‘the stumbling stone.’ God will be something you have to trip over. He’s not just a ‘giving’ God. He’s a contradiction.

I think that’s the transitional point where you have enough ego structure to let go of the very ego that you’ve built – and to move beyond it. The very self you’ve concocted in the first 35 years is basically what you have to slowly let go of in the second half of life.

Jesus says to Peter that 'when you were young you dressed yourself, when you’re older someone else will dress you, and lead you where you would rather not go.' (John 21:18) It’s a both/and world. You don’t throw out the first half of life; you simply become less attached to it – to the formulations. You’re less dogmatic. It’s a compassion that you see in the old wise man. He deals with the imperfections, the flaws, and the brokenness." ~Rohr