Tag Archives: Contemplation
True Self and False Self: Week 2 Summary
True Self and False Self: Week 2 Summary: Sunday, August 13-Friday, August 18, 2017 This week guest writer and CAC teacher James Finley explored the true self and false self through Thomas Merton’s teaching. A prayerful, respectful pursuit of Merton’s understanding of the true self can bring us to the brink of the insight into Read More »
Living in God
True Self and False Self: Week 2 Living in God Friday, August 18, 2017 Guest writer and CAC faculty member James Finley continues exploring insights on the true self and false self that he gleaned from Thomas Merton. In ways known only to God, the one seeking God in silence unexpectedly falls through the barriers Read More »
Existence
True Self and False Self: Week 2 Existence Thursday, August 17, 2017 Guest writer and CAC faculty member James Finley continues exploring insights on the true self and false self that he gleaned from Thomas Merton. The contemplative journeys within, to discover “that if you descend into the depths of your own spirit . . Read More »
Completing the Divine Circuit
True Self and False Self: Week 1 Completing the Divine Circuit Thursday, August 10, 2017 Let me describe God’s universal love as best I can: love is recognizing oneself in the other by realizing they are not other! We are all in this together. We normally have to start with little others—beloved, friend, child, parents—to Read More »
Contemplation Gives Power to the People
Rebuilding on a Contemplative Foundation Contemplation Gives Power to the People Thursday, July 13, 2017 If religious teachers told their parishioners about contemplation, where individuals can experience the mercy of God for themselves, they would not be so dependent upon the clergy. Although this codependency is not engineered maliciously, it does create job security. We Read More »
Revolutionary Contemplation
Rebuilding on a Contemplative Foundation Revolutionary Contemplation Tuesday, July 11, 2017 Today, we continue Archbishop Rowan Williams’ address to the Synod of Bishops in Rome in 2012. [Contemplation] is very far from being just one kind of thing that Christians do: it is the key to prayer, liturgy, art and ethics, the key to the Read More »
Silently Gazing upon God
Rebuilding on a Contemplative Foundation Silently Gazing upon God Monday, July 10, 2017 In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI invited Rowan Williams, then Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the Anglican Church in England, to address the Synod of Bishops on the topic of evangelization. Williams is a brilliant theologian and man of prayer. His address Read More »
Connecting with Universal Meaning
Rebuilding on a Contemplative Foundation Connecting with Universal Meaning Sunday, July 9, 2017 Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing: God never changes. Patience obtains all things Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices. —St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) [1] Contemplation is a most radical form of self-surrender and Read More »
A Tuning Fork
Contemplation in Action: Week 1 A Tuning Fork Friday, June 30, 2017 Contemplative prayer is like striking a tuning fork. All you can really do in the spiritual life is resonate to the true pitch, to receive the always-present message. Once you are tuned, you will receive, and it has nothing to do with worthiness Read More »
Action and Contemplation
Contemplation in Action: Week 1 Action and Contemplation Monday, June 26, 2017 The words action and contemplation have become classic Christian terminology for the two dancing polarities of our lives. Thomas Aquinas and many others stated that the highest form of spiritual maturity is not action or contemplation, but the ability to integrate the two Read More »
