Inspired by The Divine Dance by Richard Rohr
A Gentle Question
What would change in your life
if you stopped trying to “get it right”…
and instead learned to live in the flow of love that is already holding you?
That question has been sitting with me.
I can only read a couple of pages at a time in The Divine Dance. Not because it is difficult—but because it is revealing. It slows me down. It confirms things I have sensed deep within but never fully understood.
What I am discovering is not a new set of rules.
It is a new way of seeing.
Your Worth Is Not Something You Earn
For most of my life, faith often felt like something I had to get right.
Right beliefs.
Right actions.
Right choices.
But Rohr offers a different perspective:
Your worth is not about you personally or individually doing it right on your own.
Your humanity is a matter of allowing and loving the divine flow—what we call the Holy Spirit.
That changes everything.
It means I do not have to earn my place.
I do not have to prove my value.
I am already part of something larger—something alive and moving.
The Trinity as a Circle of Love
We often picture the Trinity as a triangle—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
But Rohr suggests a different image: a circle.
A circle has no beginning and no end.
It is not rigid or fixed.
It moves. It includes. It flows.
The Trinity is not a problem to solve.
It is a relationship of love to enter.
And here is the part that stopped me in my tracks:
Rohr says creation is like a “fourth part” of the Trinity—not as God, but as the overflow of God’s love.
In other words, creation is not separate from God.
It is what happens when divine love spills outward.
Infinite Outflowing and Eternal Infolding
Rohr describes reality as infinite outflowing that generates an eternal infolding.
At first, that sounds complicated.
But sitting with it, I began to see it more simply:
God is always giving.
And God is always drawing everything back into love.
Like breathing.
Like a river flowing outward and yet always connected to its source.
Life itself becomes a movement:
- Love going out
- Love bringing everything back together
Nothing is wasted.
Nothing is outside the reach of that flow.
Christ and the Spirit: Love Made Visible and Personal
This flow is not just an idea.
Rohr says it is revealed in history through Jesus Christ—the Incarnate Christ.
In Jesus, we see divine love lived out in human form.
We see what it looks like when someone fully lives in that flow.
And then there is the Holy Spirit—the indwelling presence of God.
The same love that flowed through Christ
now flows within us.
That means this is not just something to admire.
It is something to participate in.
Freedom Within the Flow
Another truth that has settled in my heart is this:
God allows freedom.
We are not forced into this flow.
We are invited.
We can resist it.
We can step outside of it.
We can try to live on our own terms.
And many of us have.
But even then, the flow does not stop.
The Spirit keeps moving.
Keeps inviting.
Keeps drawing us back into relationship.
Lessons Learned (Front Porch Reflections)
Sitting here, reflecting on all this, here is what I am learning:
- My worth is not something I earn—it is something I receive.
- The spiritual life is not about control—it is about openness.
- God is not distant—God is a living relationship of love.
- Creation is not separate—it is part of the overflow of that love.
- Life is not static—it is a continuous flow of giving and receiving.
- I am not alone—I am already part of something greater.
A Front Porch Reflection
Out here on the porch, with the evening settling in, I find myself thinking:
Maybe I have spent too much of my life trying to get everything right.
Maybe the deeper invitation
has always been to simply be present—
to the moment,
to others,
to God.
To stop striving
and start allowing.
To stop proving
and start receiving.
Because the truth is—
The flow of love has never stopped.
The Spirit has never stopped moving.
God has never stopped inviting.
A Closing Prayer
Spirit of the Living God,
teach me to live in Your flow.
When I try to control, help me to release.
When I try to prove my worth, remind me I am already loved.
When I close myself off, gently open my heart again.
Help me to see that I am part of Your great movement of love—
flowing outward,
drawing inward,
holding all things together.
Let me live not in fear, but in trust.
Not in striving, but in surrender.
Amen.
A Blessing
May you rest in the truth that you already belong.
May you feel the gentle movement of love within and around you.
May you release the need to get it all right.
And may you find yourself carried—
again and again—
by the quiet, steady flow of grace.
The Curious Pilgrim 
Leave a comment