Tag Archives: pain
Praying in Crisis
The Path of Descent Praying in Crisis Wednesday, March 25, 2020 CAC faculty member Brian McLaren is an author and contemplative activist. He spent over twenty years as the pastor of a church where he lived, worked, and prayed with people in good times and bad. Responding to crises is not theoretical for him, but a deeply felt and… Continue Reading Praying in Crisis
Type Seven: The Need to Avoid Pain
Enneagram Part Three: Head Center Type Seven: The Need to Avoid Pain Friday, March 13, 2020 Holy Idea: Holy Wisdom, Holy Work, Holy Plan Virtue: Sobriety Passion: Gluttony [1] Sevens have been called the “Peter Pans” of the world, yet many Sevens, including our own Director of the Center for Action and Contemplation, are completely… Continue Reading Type Seven: The Need to Avoid Pain
Stuck in the Body
Mind, Body, Heart Stuck in the Body Thursday, February 20, 2020 In the West, we rely predominately on “head” knowledge, but our hearts offer us plenty of information as well through powerful experience of awe and empathy, joy and heartbreak (even if we choose to dismiss it most of the time). But it seems to me that we have lost or ignored the… Continue Reading Stuck in the Body
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
The Perennial Tradition: Weekly Summary
The Perennial Tradition Summary: Sunday, August 11—Friday, August 16, 2019 If it is true, it is always from the one Holy Spirit. —Thomas Aquinas (Sunday) We are rediscovering the philosophia perennis, shared universal truth, and at a rather quick pace—God seems urgent at this point in our tragic history. (Monday) In every historical epoch and… Continue Reading The Perennial Tradition: Weekly Summary
Suffering: Week 1 Summary
Suffering: Week 1 Summary: Sunday, October 14-Friday, October 19, 2018 My soul is sore when I learn how our people are tortured, when I learn how the rights of those created in the image of God are violated. —Óscar Romero (Sunday) For me, to be a Christian means to accept that battlefield, to accept and to… Continue Reading Suffering: Week 1 Summary
Transforming Pain
Suffering: Week 1 Transforming Pain Wednesday, October 17, 2018 All healthy religion shows you what to do with your pain, with the absurd, the tragic, the nonsensical, the unjust and the undeserved—all of which eventually come into every lifetime. If only we could see these “wounds” as the way through, as Jesus did, then they… Continue Reading Transforming Pain
Forgiveness: Weekly Summary
Forgiveness Summary: Sunday, August 27-Friday, September 1, 2017 Let’s ask for the grace to let go of those grudges and hurts we hold on to, and let’s do it now and not wait until later. (Sunday) Nothing new happens without forgiveness. (Monday) God does not love us if we change; God loves us so that… Continue Reading Forgiveness: Weekly Summary
The Left Hand of God
Contemplation in Action: Week 1 The Left Hand of God Tuesday, June 27, 2017 Part of integrating the inner and the outer is looking at both sides of life clearly and honestly. We must be able to face the joy and wonder of life as well as its pain, injustice, and absurdity. I call the… Continue Reading The Left Hand of God
