I do believe that I have tried, within this particular framework, to jump from level one to level three. It hasn't worked, and doesn't even seem to be possible, as long as I am unwilling to forsake my ego, which I don't yet know how to do. How do I disconnect? How do I care more about what it means for them, than (or despite) what it means for me?
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“conversion is the experience by which one becomes an authentic human being.”
from Richard Rohr and Bernard Lonergan...
1. Intellectual Conversion: “Moving out of a world of mere sense perception and arriving, dazed and disoriented for a while, into a universe of being.”
2. Moral Conversion: Despite the word “moral”, this kind of conversion is not what you might think: giving up your drink, your money, and your sexual thoughts. It is more subtle - a purification of your real motives for doing things (even good things) from the usual desires for personal satisfaction, a need for control personally or socially, or any craving to build up the ego or feel good about yourself. Instead, you shift to the honest perception of value outside of yourself. I am convinced that Bernard Lonergan is right: When people can seek the true good and the common good, even when it is of no ego advantage to them, you have a morally converted person.
3. Religious Conversion: Religious conversion occurs when we allow ourselves to live as a “Being-in-Love” who is “held, grasped, possessed, and owned through a total and so other-worldly love.” Only then are we spiritually converted. Transformation into love is the heart of religious conversion, for Bernard Lonergan and all the saints, because, of course, God is love. This is not at all the same as simply joining a church, believing things to be true or false, or having a strong opinion on such topics as abortion, gay marriage, or health care reform.
“it is only transformed people who have the power to transform others.”
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