Skip to main content
Center for Action and Contemplation

The Perennial Tradition Weekly Summary and Giving Thanks Practice

Saturday, November 26, 2016

The Perennial Tradition

Summary: Sunday, November 20-Friday, November 25, 2016

The Perennial Tradition recognizes there is a Divine Reality underneath and inherent in the world of things; there is in the human soul a natural capacity, similarity, and longing for this Divine Reality; the final goal of existence is union with this Divine Reality. (Sunday)

Jesus didn’t come to create a new or exclusive religion. He came to reform and reinvigorate the very meaning of all religion—and ground it in human nature and creation itself—which is universal. (Monday)

If it is the truth, it is true all the time and everywhere, and sincere lovers of truth will take it wherever it comes from. If it is true, it is common domain, and “there for the mind to see in the things that God has made” (Romans 1:20). (Tuesday)

What we seek is what we are, which is exactly why Jesus says that we will find it (see Matthew 7:7-8). God is never an object to be found or possessed as we find other objects, but the One who shares our own deepest subjectivity—or our “self.” (Wednesday)

“There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God who is Father of all, over all, through all, and within all, and each one of us has been given our own share of grace.” —Ephesians 4:5-7 (Thursday)

“The love of God creates in us such a oneing that when it is truly seen, no person can separate themselves from another person. . . . In the sight of God all humans are oned, and one person is all people and all people are in one person.” —Julian of Norwich (Friday)

 

Practice: Giving Thanks

Many cultures and religions have a beautiful tradition of saying a prayer before or after a meal, expressing gratitude and asking for blessing. If we are accustomed to praying over our food, it may become a rote, almost thoughtless gesture. Yet it is another opportunity to intentionally open ourselves to receive and participate in Love. The food is already blessed simply by its existence. God doesn’t require our words of thanks. But it does us good to “say grace,” to verbally acknowledge the giving of life—plant and animal—for our sustenance.

If you have a practice of saying grace, bring greater awareness and presence to it. Find or create a prayer to voice your gratitude. This Hindu blessing, from the Bhagavad Gita, is said before meals:

This ritual is One. The food is One. We who offer the food are One. The fire of hunger is also One. All action is One. We who understand this are One.

Indeed, it is all One in the immense and undiscriminating Love that is God.

Gateway to Silence:
All truth is one.

Reference:
Adapted from Richard Rohr, A Spring Within Us: Daily Meditations (CAC: 2016), 150.

For Further Study:
Richard Rohr, Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self (2013)
Cynthia Bourgeault, James Finley, and Richard Rohr, Returning to Essentials: Teaching an Alternative Orthodoxy (CAC: 2015), CD, MP3 download

Image credit: Tree with visible roots in Kiental, between Herrsching and Andechs, Germany, Wikimedia.org.
Navigate by Date

This year’s theme

A candle being lit

Radical Resilience

We live in a world on fire. This year the Daily Meditations will explore contemplation as a way to build Radical Resilience so we can stand in solidarity with the world without burning up or burning out. The path ahead may be challenging, but we can walk it together.

The archives

Explore the Daily Meditations

Explore past meditations and annual themes by browsing the Daily Meditations archive. Explore by topic or use the search bar to find wisdom from specific teachers.

Join our email community

Sign-up to receive the Daily Meditations, featuring reflections on the wisdom and practices of the Christian contemplative tradition.


Hidden Fields

Find out about upcoming courses, registration dates, and new online courses.
Our theme this year is Radical Resilience. How do we tend our inner flame so we can stand in solidarity with the world without burning up or out? Meditations are emailed every day of the week, including the Weekly Summary on Saturday. Each week builds on previous topics, but you can join at any time.
In a world of fault lines and fractures, how do we expand our sense of self to include love, healing, and forgiveness—not just for ourselves or those like us, but for all? This monthly email features wisdom and stories from the emerging Christian contemplative movement. Join spiritual seekers from around the world and discover your place in the Great Story Line connecting us all in the One Great Life. Conspirare. Breathe with us.