Tag Archives: Detachment
Great Love
Mary Magdalene Great Love Thursday, July 23, 2020 One of the lessons we might learn from the Gospel stories of Mary Magdalene is that, in the great economy of grace, all is used and transformed. Nothing is wasted. God uses our egoic desires and identities and leads us beyond them. Jesus’ clear message to his… Continue Reading Great Love
Contemplation: A Life’s Journey
Contemplative Activists Contemplation: A Life’s Journey Sunday, July 12, 2020 I believe that the combination of human action from a contemplative center is the greatest art form, one that takes our whole lives to master. When action and contemplation are united, we have beauty, symmetry, and transformation—lives and actions that heal the world by their… Continue Reading Contemplation: A Life’s Journey
Type Five: The Need to Perceive
Enneagram Part Three: Head Center Type Five: The Need to Perceive Wednesday, March 11, 2020 Holy Idea: Holy Omniscience, Holy Transparency Virtue: Detachment Passion: Avarice [1] Fives are discoverers of new ideas, researchers and inventors; they are objective, questioning, and interested in exploring things in detail. They can be provocative, surprising, unorthodox, and profound. Fives… Continue Reading Type Five: The Need to Perceive
A Fair Witness
Enneagram Part Two: Heart Center A Fair Witness Sunday, March 1, 2020 In traditional Christian teaching, Thomas Aquinas and other scholastic philosophers said that people normally do not consciously choose evil, but they choose something that appears good inside of their framework. We have to expose our frame of reference early on if our spiritual journey is… Continue Reading A Fair Witness
Love at the Center
Action and Contemplation: Part Two Love at the Center Friday, January 17, 2020 When we named the Center for Action and Contemplation, I hoped our rather long name would itself keep us honest and force us toward balance and ongoing integration beyond the first generation. However, over the last thirty-five years, I have witnessed how… Continue Reading Love at the Center
Acceptance
Dying Before You Die Acceptance Thursday, April 4, 2019 All great spirituality is about letting go. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection show us how to win by losing. In fact, this “Path of Descent” could be called the metanarrative of the Bible. It is so obvious, consistent, and constant that it’s hidden in plain sight.… Continue Reading Acceptance
Beginner’s Mind
Jesus and the Bible Beginner’s Mind Friday, January 11, 2019 I’d like to offer some spiritual advice so that you can read Scripture the way that Jesus did and use it for good purposes. Offer a prayer for guidance from the Holy Spirit before you make your interpretation of an important text. With an open… Continue Reading Beginner’s Mind
Perceiving Reality
Contemplation: Week 2 Perceiving Reality Tuesday, December 18, 2018 All forms of contemplation share the same goal: to help us see through the deceptions of self and world in order to get in touch with what Howard Thurman called “the sound of the genuine” within us and around us. Contemplation does not need to be… Continue Reading Perceiving Reality
Joy in Contemplation
Joy and Hope Joy in Contemplation Wednesday, November 28, 2018 Joy proceeds from the inner realization of union with God, which descends upon us at ever deeper levels as we walk our faith journey. This deepening is the goal of Christian contemplation and is the heart of perennial wisdom from every faith. This is how… Continue Reading Joy in Contemplation
Seeing with God’s Eyes
Love: Week 2 Seeing with God’s Eyes Tuesday, November 6, 2018 Love [people] even in [their] sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on earth. Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the… Continue Reading Seeing with God’s Eyes
