Tag Archives: joy
Incarnation: Weekly Summary
Incarnation Saturday, December 26, 2020 Summary: Sunday, December 20—Friday, December 25, 2020 We do the Gospel no favor when we make Jesus, the Eternal Christ, into a perpetual baby, who asks little or no adult response from us. (Sunday) Christianity’s true and unique story line has always been incarnation. That means that the spirit nature… Continue Reading Incarnation: Weekly Summary
Joy and Sadness: A Lesson from Merton’s Hermitage
Thomas Merton: Contemplation and Action Joy and Sadness: A Lesson from Merton’s Hermitage Sunday, November 22, 2020 In 1985 my Franciscan “guardians” (as Francis called our superiors) gave me a year’s leave to spend in contemplation. It was a major turning point in my life, and ultimately led to the formation of the Center for… Continue Reading Joy and Sadness: A Lesson from Merton’s Hermitage
Lesson One: My Yoke Is Easy and My Burden Is Light
Reality Initiating Us: Part Two Lesson One: My Yoke Is Easy and My Burden Is Light Monday, April 6, 2020 Life is hard, and yet Jesus says, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28). It is hard to bear God—but it is even harder not to bear God. The pain one… Continue Reading Lesson One: My Yoke Is Easy and My Burden Is Light
The Wholehearted Parenting Manifesto
Conscious Parenting The Wholehearted Parenting Manifesto Friday, June 28, 2019 Does the heart have a narrow door? Will it allow in just one more of every beast and flower and bird and every song it has ever heard? Just one more child, just one more flower, one more relinquishing of power to that sane and… Continue Reading The Wholehearted Parenting Manifesto
God’s Ecstasy
Trinity: Part Two God’s Ecstasy Wednesday, May 15, 2019 Beatrice Bruteau (1930–2014) brilliantly integrated learning across fields such as mathematics, religion, science, and philosophy. God’s Ecstasy: The Creation of a Self-Creating World—which she called “a book on science for Christians”—explores Trinity from both a scientific and contemplative point of view. . . . Trinity [shows]… Continue Reading God’s Ecstasy
Joy and Hope: Weekly Summary
Joy and Hope Summary: Sunday, November 25-Friday, November 30, 2018 The Gospel is primarily communicated by highly symbolic human lives that operate as “Prime Attractors”: through actions visibly done in love; by a nonviolent, humble, and liberated lifestyle; and through identification with the edged out and the excluded of the world. The very presence of… Continue Reading Joy and Hope: Weekly Summary
Mystical Hope
Joy and Hope Mystical Hope Friday, November 30, 2018 Cynthia Bourgeault, one of our core faculty members at the Center for Action and Contemplation, writes about the unshakable depths of hope: Must we be whiplashed incessantly between joy and sorrow, expectation and disappointment? Is it not possible to live from a place of greater equilibrium,… Continue Reading Mystical Hope
Generosity of Spirit
Joy and Hope Generosity of Spirit Thursday, November 29, 2018 For a week in April 2015, Archbishop Desmond Tutu visited His Holiness the Dalai Lama at his residence in exile in India. Their dialogue and interactions, facilitated by Douglas Abrams, became The Book of Joy. I’d like to share some of their hard-won wisdom with… Continue Reading Generosity of Spirit
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
Universal Belonging
Joy and Hope Universal Belonging Tuesday, November 27, 2018 Bonaventure’s “vision logic,” as Ken Wilber would call it, and the lovely symmetry of his theology, can be summarized in what Bonaventure named the three great truths that for him hold everything together. He summarizes all his teaching in these three movements: Emanation: We come forth… Continue Reading Universal Belonging