Good evening,
The smallest dome of meaning is my private world of interests. We can call it “My Story,” where we proudly proclaim, “This is me!”
There is a second and larger dome of meaning that encloses the first. I call this “Our Story,” where we declare, “This is us!”
The third dome of meaning that encloses the two smaller ones is “The Story.” By this, we are referring to the patterns that are always true—beyond anecdotes and my cultural history.
The above three ideas come from Richard Rohr. He is a Franciscan Catholic priest and mystic. Every morning, a devotional comes from him or from a guest writer. He has a spirituality center in Arizona, and before COVID, the center hosted retreats for people from all over the world. His ideas are usually big about God, the universe and salvation within the Jesus tradition.
The three domes attempt to encompass everything. It is about me, the church and about God. Sometimes, I think I know everything and I know best. That is not healthy. Then the church writes laws and guidelines that they believe are Scripture. That is not healthy, but it includes others . Then we get to holy ground, the third dome, God. But, we know we cannot always communicate with the Divine. We need all three aspects of the domes.
Jesus speaks for himself, like in the Sermon on the Mount. This is the first dome. But he also talks within the temple/synagogue tradition. He encounters the leadership. And he calls a group of 12 people, and then many more follow him. They are a group, just like the second dome. Then, he is in touch with the Father, the Divine Master ( Franciscan language ) that is about forever, the universe and God. He goes to the desert and mountains, to renew himself to God.
When all three domes are in our lives, we are more centered. We cannot be unbalanced with ourselves, the church or even God. All three domes need to be in place for us to live lives in the presence of God.
Grace and peace in our life together as three domes.
Fred Redekop