Tag Archives: darkness
Dark Liminality
Liminal Space Dark Liminality Tuesday, April 28, 2020 When I am in that darkness, I do not remember anything about anything human. —Angela of Foligno (1248–1309) After working as a physician and bioethicist for decades, Living School alumna and chair of the CAC Board LaVera Crawley became a hospital chaplain and spiritual companion for patients… Continue Reading Dark Liminality
John of the Cross: Poet, Pastor, Mystic
Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross John of the Cross: Poet, Pastor, Mystic Friday, April 24, 2020 Father Iain Matthew is a contemporary Carmelite priest from England and author of The Impact of God: Soundings from St John of The Cross. My copy is all marked up, so brilliant are his insights on… Continue Reading John of the Cross: Poet, Pastor, Mystic
Made for Infinite Love
Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross Made for Infinite Love Thursday, April 23, 2020 Jim Finley, my friend and fellow teacher at the CAC, began studying the mystics at the Abbey of Gethsemani at age eighteen, with Thomas Merton as his novice master. He remembers when he first read this excerpt from the… Continue Reading Made for Infinite Love
Prayer in Captivity
Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross Prayer in Captivity Wednesday, April 22, 2020 In 1567, when Teresa of Ávila was 52 and deeply involved in her attempts to reform the Carmelite Order and create the Discalced (or “barefoot”) Carmelites, she met the newly ordained John of the Cross. Though he was only 25… Continue Reading Prayer in Captivity
The Path of Descent
The Path of Descent The Path of Descent Monday, March 23, 2020 The CONSPIRE 2018 conference focused on the Path of Descent as the Path of Transformation. Suffering is a universal experience occurring across space and time, revealing the “big T” Truth that going down, going through, and going into the unknown can be powerfully transformative. In the meditations this week I will be sharing the wisdom offered by my fellow teachers at the CAC, whom I also call my friends. I hope you will trust their insights as you… Continue Reading The Path of Descent
The Cloud of Unknowing
Knowing and Not Knowing The Cloud of Unknowing Wednesday, January 29, 2020 God, it seems, cannot really be known, but only related to. Or, as the mystics would assert, we know God by loving God, by trusting God, by placing our hope in God. It is a non-possessive, non-objectified way of knowing. It is always… Continue Reading The Cloud of Unknowing
Waiting in Darkness
Darkness Waiting in Darkness Friday, December 6, 2019 The darkness of this world will never totally go away. I’ve lived long enough and offered spiritual direction enough to know that darkness isn’t going to disappear, but that, as John’s Gospel says, “the light shines on inside of the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome… Continue Reading Waiting in Darkness
Trouble Don’t Last Always
Darkness Trouble Don’t Last Always Thursday, December 5, 2019 Today I share the writing of a modern mystic, Dr. Diana L. Hayes. She is an author and professor emerita of systematic theology at Georgetown University. I appreciate how her writing integrates her intellectual knowledge with her deeply embodied life experience. Hayes’ words are a testament… Continue Reading Trouble Don’t Last Always
