Jim Cogley Reflections: Tues 20 May – Mon 26 May 2025

Coming Events:

A seminar entitled Personal and Ancestral Healing will be held in Lady’s Island Community Centre on Saturday31^st May from 10am to 4pm. Cost €40 with refreshments included. Facilitators – Jim Cogley & Luba Rodzhuk. Bookings by phone or text to 087-7640407. Just a few spaces are still available.

For those interested in doing some serious inner work over a number of days a retreat will be given by Jim Cogley and Luba Rodzhuk in An Tobar, Ardbraccan Retreat Centre in Navan. This will begin on the evening of Monday 30^th June and conclude on the following Friday. Please make bookings to An Tobar ASAP as numbers are limited, 046-9078973, Postal Code C15T884.

Tues 20^th May – Show us the Father

The Divine Embrace

The age-old question is what is God really like? One thing we can be sure of is that He/She is not like anything we conceive him to be. The Divine being is far above anything our limited thoughts and imaginations can extend to. Still the question remains, as was asked in the Gospel of St John, ‘Show us the Father and we shall be satisfied.’ In one of the rare occasions when Christ gave a direct answer to a question asked, he said, ‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father’. He is the image of the invisible God; the best photo God ever had taken of Himself. This truth lies at the core of Christianity and is like a rock of truth. In essence it means that if Christ, as a fully realized human being, is the perfect image of God then the more we embrace our humanity and become fully human and fully alive the more godlike we become. It is through our humanity that we find our path to the Divine.

Wed 21^st May – Coming to God through the Human Christ

Christ said that to have seem him is to have seen the Father, and that no one could come to the Father except through him. This means that in the fullness of humanity lies Divinity. At the Offertory of Mass, a phrase is used as a drop of water is mixed with the wine: By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share the divinity of him who came to share in our humanity.’ Sometimes truth is lost in repetition, so I often change the wording to facilitate its essence being heard. ‘By the mystery of this water and wine may we so embrace all that it means to be human, as Christ did, so that we discover the wonder of our own divine nature.’ Herein lies a profound truth expressed so succinctly by Teilhard de Chardin when he said, ’We are not human beings trying to have a spiritual experience. Rather we are spiritual beings having the experience of being human’. The Christian challenge therefore is not to get to heaven when we die but to come down to earth while we are still alive.

Thurs 22^nd May – Reflecting the Divine

A simple but profound truth is that while no human being can imagine what God is really like we are still capable of knowing this God and having a personal relationship with Him. Not only that but as products of His creation and made in his image we are also capable of manifesting a unique aspect of this God in our world. Obviously, we cannot be God, but we can offer a unique glimpse of God by simply being ourselves. So here is a question worth pondering: If I am a light filled spark of the divine what is it that is utterly unique about me that I can offer to the world? Any gifts that I have are not about me. They are a gift for others, and I have no right to downplay or hide them. The ability I may have to light up a room and create enjoyment could be a divine manifestation in a very human way. Similarly, the practice of kindness, hospitality and compassion may carry only my unique fingerprint. Even offering a listening ear can enable someone to hear whatever is going on in themselves and get back on track. For that person I am the listening ear of God.

Fri 23^rd May – Footprints in the Heart

I sometimes reflect with gratitude for the people I have been blessed with in my life who have given me their own unique glimpse of God. My mother’s unconditional love that never seemed to ask anything in return became the foundation for a lifelong and almost unwavering walk with God and the real sense that He even walked with me when I strayed. So many faces come to mind that didn’t just come and go but left deep and lasting footprints in my heart. One man who left a lifelong and indelible impression was Dr Ken Mc Call the founder of Family Tree ministry. Our paths crossed for only a week back in the 80’s when we shared some seminars together. I was just stepping into that particular field at the time and it became one of those extraordinary providential encounters. What I carry with me still is not his amazing insights as an eminent surgeon and psychiatrist but the power and authenticity of his presence. Forty years later that is still fully real for me.

Sat 24^th May – Encouragement and Loyalty

I deem myself lucky to have had a good friend for fifty years who consistently has manifested many but in particular two aspects of God in my life. For years I was a shy young man and certainly not material for public speaking. It is to this man and his gift of encouragement that I owe my ministry today. He saw in me something I would never have seen in myself and by his reassurance poured in the courage needed to release my potential. Alongside encouragement was his gift of unwavering loyalty. I always knew that whatever happened I would never have to question his support. Even if I had made the biggest mistake of my life, I never doubted I could talk to him about it and he would simply smile. Very likely he would also say something like ‘never be that surprised when the shadow trips us up, its always around and we all need to make friends with it. Know that this experience while full of pain is also about growth and learning’.

Sunday 25^th May – Peace

Almost everyone can find some excuse for not being at peace, some worry or trouble, a problem or fear, someone or something that’s a bother to us. Really the list is endless. So let me share something that I have found quite useful. If I am concerned about something or someone and I can help the situation in some way, then I have an obligation to do whatever is within my power. After that I can only hand the situation over the Lord and let it go. If I have released it then I simply trust and if I am still holding on I experience worry. So, the phrase I continually remind myself of in relation to anything that I have handed over is, ‘It’s none of my business’. If it’s God’s business then it’s not mine so I have to learn to butt out. With my innate tendency to take something back I even have to trust Him to hold onto it for me. A simple method of doing just that I would like to share.

I invite you to perhaps close your eyes and use your imagination for a few moments and think of yourself as blowing up a big balloon. Be aware of whatever is the most pressing need or concern of your life right now, your greatest intention, what it is that could so easily lead you down the cul-de-sac of worry? With your breath just blow all those intentions into the balloon. Now take a string and tie a knot and see the balloon float away with all your worries inside. Next, and this is the crucial bit, release the string and allow the balloon to float upwards and say to yourself that is no longer any of my business.

Should the situation come back to mind as it undoubtedly will, think only of a positive answer. It’s now part of the divine plan that unfolds only according to the laws of love. Let yourself become detached from the outcome as to how and when your prayer will be answered. That place of holy indifference is also the very best place for the Lord to surprise us with his answers.

In the meantime, remember that the Lord is the everlasting rock and he will keep in his perfect peace those whose minds are stayed on him.

Mon 26^th May – Prison Experience

Part of my work at present brings me into prisons where I have the privilege of giving seminars and meeting with many who are long-term prisoners. Some are there for twenty or thirty years while others will even die in prison. All have been convicted for very serious offences like murder, child abuse, fraud and causing serious bodily harm. Every inmate has a past and many face an uncertain future. While society has a justice system that metes out punishment the long-term punishment can last far beyond the prison walls. Going in I usually say to the group that I am not remotely interested in anything you may have done, but I am interested in what has happened to you on your journey through life. I remind them that all behavior is communication and so to bring awareness to their past in order not to repeat it again in the future. If there is one aspect of God that every prisoner responds to is being looked at through the eyes of love and not the eyes of judgement. At our very worst we need the reassurance that our God is more interested in the ‘why’ than the ‘what’ of our lives in order that we might find healing and wholeness.