The God Who Gave You Birth

Over time our ideas about God and religion tend to match the stage of our own maturity and the level of our own consciousness. In addition to our different ideas of God, there are also those who profess some form of monotheistic religion but worship other gods: the power of the economy, military strength, fame. Perhaps they even use––or misuse––the name of God or credit God with whatever is gained.

Thus, the challenge for our times is this: how do we think of God as Jesus introduces God to us? While exploring Scripture, the thoughts of theologians, Benedictine monasticism, Jewish and Islamic traditions, along with his own personal reflections, Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam, shows us what it means to be church, to be a follower of Jesus, and to be like God: to imitate the self-emptying of God and Christ. We are called to show the world God as Jesus reveals God to be: merciful, compassionate, healer to all.

Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam, was a monk at the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, California, where he served as prior of the community until January 2024. An internationally known performer, recording artist, and composer, he has numerous collections of original sacred, world, and liturgical music to his credit. A student of the world's spiritual traditions, Consiglio has offered retreats and conferences around the world and authored articles for several books and periodicals. He is the author of Prayer in the Cave of the Heart: The Universal Call to Contemplation and Spirit, Soul, Body: Toward an Integral Christian Spirituality, both published by Liturgical Press.