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Center for Action and Contemplation

The Storm

July 18th, 2025
And he arose, and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, ‘Peace, be still.’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” —Mark 4:39 As I was giving a talk earlier this year on my book Chasing Peace, I was asked what advice it offered for coping with a political crisis. The question was

Allowing the Work to Be Done

July 18th, 2025
These days, loving action looks like scribbling phrases and images on receipts and colored index cards. It looks like wearing pink earplugs while mining old journals, writing in multiple notebooks, and studying the flow chart on my bulletin board. It looks like dancing to upbeat songs to shift my energy to writing

Following Divine Guidance

July 18th, 2025
In August 2020, I received an email from a close friend and mentor asking me why I was retiring in the midst of the COVID lockdown. A good mentor always knows how and when to poke you. I called him and listened as he shared a suggestion for me—to apply to become the executive director of a soup kitchen. A

The Compassion Tree

July 18th, 2025
“The canyon is burning. Evacuating now. Please send prayers,” wrote a friend over text during the start of the LA fires. Los Angeles is my home, and the LA fires destroyed over 10,000 of them. They also burned up almost 100,000 acres of land, ruining the homes of the coastal live oak and palm, raccoon and

James Finley on Being Salt and Light

July 11th, 2025
In this video — which includes a poetic reflection on Jesus as the light of the world — James Finley offers up a new perspective on our 2025 Daily Meditations theme Being Salt and Light.  “You are the generosity of God, the song that God sings.” —JAMES FINLEY This teaching from James

Meister Eckhart | Season 7 Wrap-Up of “Turning to the Mystics” 

How do you access the innermost chambers of your heart? In season 7 of “Turning to the Mystics” James Finley and Kirsten Oates turn to 15th-century German mystic Meister Eckhart for spiritual guidance. Throughout this season, James works with Eckhart's sermons, discovering how one might integrate his mysticism

Rooted in Joy | June’s “We Conspire” Series

June 27th, 2025
We Conspire is a series from the Center for Action and Contemplation featuring wisdom and stories from the growing Christian contemplative movement. Sign up for the monthly email series and receive a free invitation to practice each month.  SUBSCRIBE TODAY How can joy become a sustaining force in our

Sustained by Joy

June 27th, 2025
We Conspire is a series from the Center for Action and Contemplation featuring wisdom and stories from the growing Christian contemplative movement. Sign up for the monthly email series and receive a free invitation to practice each month.  SUBSCRIBE TODAY What does it mean to center joy and soul-care in

Where Contemplation Meets the Cry of the World

June 27th, 2025
We Conspire is a series from the Center for Action and Contemplation featuring wisdom and stories from the growing Christian contemplative movement. Sign up for the monthly email series and receive a free invitation to practice each month.  SUBSCRIBE TODAY How might contemplation ground us in joy and

Becoming an Instrument of Joy

June 27th, 2025
We Conspire is a series from the Center for Action and Contemplation featuring wisdom and stories from the growing Christian contemplative movement. Sign up for the monthly email series and receive a free invitation to practice each month.  SUBSCRIBE TODAY How does contemplation awaken us to live our

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Manda Frederick
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