A special note from Fr. Richard: The Christian Contemplative Movement
Our role and collective mission is to offer the jewels of The Christian Contemplative Traditions.
Dear Friend,
I have been thinking lately about how the search for God and the search for our deepest selves ends up being the same search. This insight is not unique to me, but it has become truer for me as I’ve grown older. Teresa of Ávila often expressed the wonderful idea that one finds God in oneself, and one finds oneself in God. Both are true! And when one experiences this and discovers one’s chosenness and inherent belovedness, one can rest deeply in it. Indeed, that is a great spiritual gift of contemplative seeing.
What the CAC has started calling the Christian contemplative movement is a broad rediscovery and renewal of this way of seeing from our early Christian traditions. In contemplation—the practice of being fully present in mind, body, and spirit—we join in deep solidarity with other spiritual traditions in working toward the healing and restoration of ourselves and our world. To support transformation and inspire loving action, by making the wisdom and practices of the Christian contemplative traditions accessible to people throughout the world, is the mission of the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC).
I am so encouraged by the team of teachers, writers, and contemplatives who work each day to make this happen. As I have stepped back from my leadership duties, I’m delighted that every program at CAC, including these Daily Meditations, is continuing with exceptional quality and care—and will do so far after I am gone.
This is only possible through the generous support and partnership of people like you. From the beginning, we’ve tried to make everything we do accessible to any sincere seeker because we believe that spiritual wisdom is part of the commons, for the benefit of all. This is possible because enough of you choose to give, freely and joyfully, when you are able. We deeply thank you.
The CAC is not funded by any large institution or big foundation but by people like you who have been impacted by this work. Through your support, we can help more people experience the contemplative path and discover their chosenness and belovedness in God—many for the very first time.
Please read the letter below from CAC’s Executive Director Michael Poffenberger about the exciting vision and goals that are ahead. Tomorrow, the Daily Meditations will continue exploring Falling Upward: The Second Half of Life.
Peace and Every Good,
Dear Friend,
Fr. Richard loves to paraphrase St. Francis in saying, “I’ve done what is mine to do, now you do what is yours to do.” This quote stirred deep questions for us at CAC: What is ours to do? What is the primary role, opportunity, or impact we hope to see in the world?
Our vision for the future of CAC is to help people experience deep transformation through our programs (like these Daily Meditations), so we can work together for a more just and connected world. As an educational institution, we pursue this vision by providing spiritual resources from the Christian contemplative traditions to support people engaging in compassionate action that brings healing and restoration to our hurting world. We aim for our work to be an easily accessible entry point without money being a barrier for any sincere seeker.
Our dream is that Contemplative Christianity will be a robust movement of spiritual transformation that millions of people can participate in meaningfully and thoroughly. Social science research suggests it takes 3.5% of a population to create a seismic shift in attitudes on any given subject. Therefore, as an organization founded by Franciscan Fr. Richard Rohr, rooted in Christian traditions of action and contemplation, and positioned on the edge of the inside of the world’s largest religion, we seek to contribute to a movement of contemplative renewal in service to a great spiritual turning. Our aim is to support the conditions necessary for the catalytic growth of a contemplative Christian path for at least 3.5% of people in our national and international landscape. We have dozens of high-priority projects to advance this effort that we plan to roll out over the next several years with your support.
Your partnership and generosity are needed to make this happen. Twice per year we pause the Daily Meditations and invite your financial support. If you are able to support the work of the CAC, please consider making a one-time donation or recurring monthly gift. If you are able, please consider making your donation a monthly gift to be a part of CAC’s monthly giving community, The Bonaventure Circle of Support, which helps expand the reach and accessibility of transformative wisdom and practices that create a more just, connected, and loving world.
In gratitude for a donation of any size, we will send you a digital version of our new issue of ONEING: Falling Upward—inspired by Fr. Richard’s signature book Falling Upward: A Spirituality of the Two Halves of Life—featuring scholars, teachers, and poets sharing about this life-shaping topic.
May we each do what is ours to do in the healing of ourselves and our beautiful world.
In loving gratitude,
Michael Poffenberger
Executive Director
Center for Action and Contemplation
P.S. You can donate securely online at cac.org/dm-appeal or send a check (USD only) to CAC, P.O. Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195. Donations are tax-deductible in the United States. EIN # 85-0354965. We invite donations of any size. Learn more about other ways to give, including gifts of stock, qualified distributions from your IRA or a gift in your will at cac.org/support. Contact us here if you have any questions or would like to talk about making a transformational gift. Thank you for your ongoing support!
Image credit: A path from one week to the next—Loïs Mailou Jones, Eglise Saint Joseph (detail), 1954, oil on canvas. Alma Thomas, Red Abstraction (detail), 1959, oil on canvas. Loïs Mailou Jones, Shapes and Colors (detail), 1958, watercolor on paper. Click here to enlarge image.
As we journey through life, we begin to apply the colors of our experience with more depth, expansiveness and skill.
