Tag Archives: Contemplation
The End of Knowing
Unknowing: Week 2 The End of Knowing Friday, October 12, 2018 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in… Continue Reading The End of Knowing
The Power of Love
Unknowing: Week 2 The Power of Love Thursday, October 11, 2018 The anonymous, 14th century author of The Cloud of Unknowing conveys the fathomless mystery of God and that God can only be known by loving presence—contemplation. The Cloud of Unknowing was the inspiration for practices such as centering prayer and Christian meditation. Today and… Continue Reading The Power of Love
Dying by Brightness
Unknowing: Week 2 Dying by Brightness Sunday, October 7, 2018 I die by brightness and the Holy Spirit. —Thomas Merton (1915-1968) [1] For most of us, growth is a long process of being drawn “by brightness and the Holy Spirit,” as Merton says. I interpret this brightness as being overwhelmed and undone by Immense Mystery… Continue Reading Dying by Brightness
Prayer Beyond Words
Unknowing: Week 1 Prayer Beyond Words Friday, October 5, 2018 The two paths of knowing and not-knowing are primarily taught through prayer itself! No wonder all spiritual teachers emphasize prayer so much. In Jesus’ teaching and example, we may first notice the prayer of words in the Our Father and his encouragement to “ask” and… Continue Reading Prayer Beyond Words
Renewal of Contemplative Christianity
Western Christianity Renewal of Contemplative Christianity Monday, September 17, 2018 In the 1950s and 1960s, Thomas Merton brought renewed interest to the contemplative tradition in the West. He became a Trappist monk and “left the world” for the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, where he learned the lessons of contemplation and action. Merton was spiritual… Continue Reading Renewal of Contemplative Christianity
The Christian Contemplative Tradition
Western Christianity The Christian Contemplative Tradition Sunday, September 16, 2018 Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have a long tradition of teaching contemplation or nondual consciousness. But its systematic teaching was primarily held in the Eastern “Greek” church; the Western “Latin” church was more extroverted and aligned with empires. Serious contemplative teaching—very upfront in the desert fathers… Continue Reading The Christian Contemplative Tradition
Eastern Christianity: Weekly Summary
Eastern Christianity Summary: Sunday, September 9-Friday, September 14, 2018 The Cappadocian Fathers developed an intellectual rationale for Christianity’s central goal: humanity’s healing and loving union with God. (Sunday) Matter and Spirit must be found to be inseparable in Christ before we have the courage and insight to acknowledge and honor the same in ourselves and… Continue Reading Eastern Christianity: Weekly Summary
Early Christianity: Weekly Summary
Early Christianity Summary: Sunday, September 2-Friday, September 7, 2018 The very things the early Christians emphasized—such as the prayer of quiet, the Trinity, divinization, universal restoration, and the importance of practice—have been neglected, to our own detriment. (Sunday) When the Christian church became the established religion of the empire, it started reading the Gospel from… Continue Reading Early Christianity: Weekly Summary
