Radical Amazement #3 -- Black Holes

Romans 7:15
"I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate."

From Radical Amazement by Judy Cannato:

"We can have black hole experiences in every area of our lives; situations or event in which we seem manipulated by unseen forces and which fall outside the accustomed gravitational pull that keeps us grounded."

"We can experience black holes within ourselves. There are also those areas of our personality or character that seem to set us on a collision course with disaster."

"We can become addicted to just about anything, from substances to points of view that exert increasing pressure and pull us away from what gives us life."

"Unaware, we can travel into regions that grow progressively darker, where the gravitational pull becomes so intense that our integrity threatens to collapse."

"Sometimes life itself propels us into unfamiliar space."

"Whatever the cause, we find ourselves ungrounded, on a journey from which there is no chance of escape and into a place where there is no detectable light. Some black hole experiences even threaten the annihilation of who we are."

"What is it that brings us to these black hole experiences? What is it that causes us to nearly self-destruct in spite of our desire to live as beings oriented toward the light?"

"But a crisis is also a time of opportunity, a place from which new choices can be made. Black hole experiences that expose our need for healing can propel us into a quest for wholeness."

"It was once thought that nothing could get out of a black hole, but now, as the result of the work of Steven Hawking, we know there is at least the theoretical possibility of escape. A phenomenon called "Hawking radiation" implies that under certain circumstances black holes can emit radiation. What Hawking radiation suggests is that not even a black hole lies outside the influence of light. A black hole's darkness is not so definitive after all. . . Even the smallest of particles can reverse a situation from which there seems to be no escape."

"Does this not give hope to each of us who has fallen into the pull of a personal black hole?

"Just like the darkness itself, the light that becomes a saving grace is nearly undetectable. It may not register on the visible spectrum, but it is present and potent."

"How can I grow in awareness so that i may avoid unnecessary black holes and navigate the required ones with grace?"