Inherent Unmarketability

INHERENT UNMARKETABILITY

by Richard Rohr

How do you make attractive that which is not?

How do you sell emptiness, vulnerability, and nonsuccess?

How do you talk about descent when everything is about ascent?

How can you possibly market letting-go in a capitalist culture?

How do you present Jesus to a Promethean mind?

How do you talk about dying to a church trying to appear perfect?

This is not going to work (admitting this might be my first step).

I love this poem; in it, Richard beautifully alludes to the Backwards Kingdom that Jesus oft speaks of in the Gospels. Denying oneself for the good of others is not attractive. Being poor in spirit, openly broken, and a person of modesty isn't all that appealing to our Culture of Riches. Climbing down the ladder is the opposite of what we learn in Business 101. "You must stop at nothing to reach the top!" they tell us. Giving to those who have not earned it is a difficult tenet to put into practice; it surely feels antithetical to the ego-mind of earning. The clean Sunday outfits, the shining smiley faces, and the well-behaved children-- these are the Oscar-winning roles we are taught to play in church. 

Yes Richard, to many people, it will not work; but for those of us who can see something deeper beyond the surface, who have tasted True Life...this Backwards Way will be the path we walk. Trusting a Way that is intrinsic to our very Being, which is the Divine.