Jim Cogley’s Reflections: Tues 20 Oct – 26 Oct 2026

Upcoming Autumn Seminars:

Croí Nua, Galway – Fri 23^rd and Sat 24^th Oct

Finding Healing from personal and ancestral issues – Towards a Spirituality of Wholeness.

Bookings:085-7829855

An Tobar Spiritans, Navan Fri 6^th Nov Recovery from Loss

Sat 7^th Nov Personal and Ancestral Healing

Bookings: 087-7640407

For ordering books at lowest prices go to jimcogley.com

Tues 20^th Oct

Laughter, Liking, Delighting, Loving

Let me share this week with you some insights from the Franciscan priest Fr Richard Rohr that offer a flavour of the mystic tradition from the wonderful fourteenth-century German Dominican mystic Meister Eckhart: This is from an astounding piece of poetry by him: Do you want to know what goes on in the core of the Trinity? I will tell you. In the core of the Trinity the Father laughs and gives birth to the Son. The Son laughs back at the Father and gives birth to the Spirit. The whole Trinity laughs and gives birth to us. Laughter has been part of our tradition but sadly lacking in our practice!

Wed 21^st Oct – God is the Eternal River of Love

God has done only one constant thing since the beginning of time: God has always, forever, and without hesitation loved “the Son”—and yes, you can equally and fittingly use “the Daughter”—understood in this sense as creation, the material universe, you, and me. The quality of the relationship toward the other is the point, not gender or even species. This is the eternal river of life that is always in motion and real prayer is not so much about words or saying set formulas but is essentially the experience of stepping into that river of love that has always been flowing. From this a useful definition of prayer is ‘to relax into the reality of being loved.’

Thurs 22^nd Oct – God cannot not love us

God cannot not love God’s self in you (see 2 Timothy 2:13)! The “you” that holds the indwelling Spirit, which many of us call the soul, is always considered eternal and intrinsically good because of its inherent connection to God. This flow of love goes full circle. The “Son” also creates the “Father” precisely as Father—as any parent can attest. A parent is not truly a parent until the child returns the flow. Watch the joy and tears on a mother or father’s face when their little one first says “Mama!” or “Dada!” The parent comes to know who they truly are at that moment.

Fri 23^rd Oct – Lowest levels of Motivation

Anything less than such divine laughter, liking, delighting and loving we do not have time for anymore! Fear will never build a “new creation” (Galatians 6:15); threat is an entirely worn out and false story line. The lowest level of motivation is guilt, shame, reward and punishment; and it has not moved us anywhere close to a civilization of love. The Trinity beautifully undoes all negativity by a totally positive movement that never reverses its direction. God is always giving, even in those moments when we experience the inaccessibility of love as if it were divine anger.

Sat 24^th Oct – When we think God is angry or punishing!

When you find yourself drawing these conclusions, look deeply inside yourself and you will probably find that you are angry and projecting your anger onto God. This very human pattern is illustrated throughout the Bible, as the text mirrors both the growth and resistance of the human soul. I call it three steps forward and two steps back. References to the “wrath” of God are an example of the two steps back. But the whole text moves slowly and inexorably toward inclusivity, mercy, unconditional love, and forgiveness.

Sun 25^th Oct – Love the Neighbour as Yourself

Just over two years ago, I published the above little book that was based on the Gospel of today with its basic teaching of love God with all your heart and love your neighbour as you love yourself. It was written in five days but had taken 50 years to mature. That was when I had first heard the message of the importance of loving yourself and prior to that I would have thought that loving yourself was the sure way to be conceited and selfish. It took a minor crisis to realise the importance of being in right relationship with oneself and that it was impossible to be right with anyone else if I was not first right with myself. Over the years, that message is the one that I have found so basic and I have come back to it over and over. Until we get it right, the journey cannot even begin.

Over the last two years the book sold over 5,000 copies so it must have struck a deep chord in peoples experience because everybody struggles with low self-esteem. I continually meet people who said that it changed how they looked at themselves and in effect changed their entire outlook on life.

You would think that having engaged with a single scripture verse for half-a-century that there would be nothing left to discover. Not so, and such is the wonder of Scripture. It always has more in store and can surprise us. Just last year, I saw something there that astounded me and made perfect sense at the same time. I could never figure out how people who had given their entire life in the service of others, often doing fantastic work, at the end of their days often seemed empty, unfulfilled and broken. Surely after a life of doing good you would expect something more at the end of your days? Then I began to see how that basic teaching of Christianity had become turned on its head in the way it was understood and how we interpreted it. Christ taught ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. However, we read it as love yourself as your neighbour. This is serious and not just playing with words.

If I try to love myself as my neighbour then it is always others who come first and that puts me last. It even sounds the Christian thing to do but it means that I hardly get a look in.

It means that I have little or no rights to having boundaries, personal space or time for myself. I have always to be there at the beck and call of everyone else and I am expected to be all things to all people.

This total expenditure of myself in the service of others can only lead to exhaustion and burnout and after a lifetime of giving, like so many, I will feel spent and exhausted with nothing left – especially nothing for myself.

This understanding was like taking scales from my eyes. It was never what Christ taught. In fact, he taught the opposite, that you must love your neighbour as yourself. This means that I do have rights and I can have boundaries and it’s okay to say ‘no’ when appropriate.

This is what gives me permission to be true to myself and not be false to anyone else. Nor do I need to compare myself with others and see how gifted and talented they might be or how much they have to offer. If they have something large to give and I have something small then that is fine. My small offering is every bit as significant as their huge contribution. Someone may be gifted in music, speech or sport, let them give out of their abundance but make sure that whatever different gift that God has given me is not buried because it seems so insignificant.

There are so many who are natural extroverts and find it so easy to go out to meet people. They thrive in company and appear to be so much more loving than those of us who may be a bit shy and introverted. It has a lot to do with our background, our family of origin and a host of other factors. If I was somewhat shy by nature compare myself with someone extroverted who mixes so easily I could easily despair of having anything worthwhile to offer and withdraw completely.

On the other hand, if I begin by loving myself then I will realise that I too have something unique to bring to the table. It may be entirely different to the others, but it is equally important. Then in giving that which is unique to me it begins to grow and as I give so it is given unto me. It increases and multiplies.

For me, my way of loving may not be by being the life and soul of the party but if my gift is organisation then without me and my particular gift there can be no party.

Perhaps give this some serious thought during the week and let go of the first:

Not to love yourself as your neighbour and so spend your life not feeling good enough.

But to love your neighbour as yourself and so come to appreciate your own uniqueness.

Mon 26^th Oct – Making God into Our image

‘I do not believe there is any wrath in God whatsoever’ (Rohr) – it’s theologically impossible when God is Trinity. This is one of the most common religious myths; that God changes, that one moment He frowns and the next that he smiles depending on our behaviour. We accept the Genesis truth that we are made in the image and likeness of God but then we go on to create God in our image and likeness. Our inner reality we project onto Him and so we sense what we think is His approval or disapproval when in fact it is our own. Does the Sun stop shining even when dark clouds blank it out?