Tag Archives: prayer
Contemplation in Action: Week 1 Summary
Contemplation in Action: Week 1 Summary: Sunday, June 25-Friday, June 30, 2017 I believe that learning to do compassionate acts from a contemplative foundation is the greatest art form. (Sunday) The job of religion is to help people act effectively and compassionately from an inner centeredness and connection with God. (Monday) If your spiritual practice Read More »
A Tuning Fork
Contemplation in Action: Week 1 A Tuning Fork Friday, June 30, 2017 Contemplative prayer is like striking a tuning fork. All you can really do in the spiritual life is resonate to the true pitch, to receive the always-present message. Once you are tuned, you will receive, and it has nothing to do with worthiness Read More »
The Apostle Paul: Weekly Summary
The Apostle Paul Summary: Sunday, May 14-Friday, May 19, 2017 Theologian N. T. Wright concludes that we have largely missed Paul’s major theme, which is the new temple of God is the human person. (Sunday) Paul brings a deep new sense of the inherent dignity of every human person. (Monday) Paul is forever the critic Read More »
Jesus as Scapegoat: Weekly Summary
Jesus as Scapegoat Summary: Sunday, April 30-Friday, May 5, 2017 Forgiveness demands three new simultaneous “seeings”: I must see God in the other; I must access God in myself; and I must see God in a new way that is larger than an “Enforcer.” (Sunday) Jesus showed us how to hold the pain and let Read More »
Trinity: Week 2 Summary
Trinity: Week 2 Summary: Sunday, March 5-Friday, March 10, 2017 People filled with the flow will always move away from any need to protect their own power. They will be drawn to the powerless, the edge, the bottom, the plain, and the simple. (Sunday) Trinity says that God’s power is not domination, threat, or coercion, Read More »
Tune Our Hearts
Trinity: Week 2 Tune Our Hearts Friday, March 10, 2017 Being part of the cosmic dance can only be known experientially. That’s why I teach centering prayer and contemplation and try to use meaningful religious rituals and practices: to lead you to a place of nakedness and vulnerability where your ego identity falls away, where Read More »
Contemplation: Weekly Summary
Contemplation Summary: Sunday, February 5-Friday, February 10, 2017 We cannot have a private contemplative practice without engaged community. We must not withdraw to a private, isolated spirituality in which we do our contemplative sit each day and ignore the pain of the world. (Sunday) The capacity for nondual seeing that is developed through contemplation allows Read More »
True Conversion Never Stops
Contemplation True Conversion Never Stops Friday, February 10, 2017 A consistent practice of contemplative prayer is essential for rebuilding Christianity from the bottom up. Over time, repeated, faithful practice sets us on a new foundation. Actually, it was always objectively there, but we were not awake to it and actively drawing upon it. Contemplation helps Read More »
Being Awake
Contemplation Being Awake Thursday, February 9, 2017 In our regular contemplative “sit” (time of silent prayer) we are actually practicing being awake. Religious teachers, including Jesus, the Buddha, as well as many Hindu sages, are always telling us to wake up—to be alert, alive, awake, attentive, or aware. You might call it the AAAAA recovery Read More »
Stream of Consciousness
Contemplation Stream of Consciousness Wednesday, February 8, 2017 Most of us have lived our whole lives with a steady stream of consciousness, with a continual flow of ideas, images, and feelings. And at every moment of our lives we cling to these thoughts and sensations, so much so that I don’t have the idea; the Read More »
