Tag Archives: prayer
Open Heart, Mind, and Body
Contemplation: Week 1 Open Heart, Mind, and Body Sunday, December 9, 2018 We may think of prayer as thoughts or feelings expressed in words. But this is only one expression. . . . Prayer is the opening of mind and heart—our whole being—to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond thoughts, words, and emotions. Through grace we… Continue Reading Open Heart, Mind, and Body
Growing in Christ
The Universal Christ Growing in Christ Friday, December 7, 2018 [The cosmos] is fundamentally and primarily living. [1] Christ, through his Incarnation, is interior to the world, rooted in the world even in the very heart of the tiniest atom. [2] —Pierre Teilhard de Chardin As Paul saw Christ as a single “New Human” (see Ephesians 2:15), as Duns Scotus saw… Continue Reading Growing in Christ
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
Becoming Pure in Heart
Love: Week 1 Becoming Pure in Heart Tuesday, October 30, 2018 We can’t risk walking around with a negative, resentful, gossipy, critical mind, because then we won’t be in our true force field. We won’t be usable instruments for God. That’s why Jesus commanded us to love. It’s that urgent. It’s that crucial. True religion… Continue Reading Becoming Pure in Heart
Unknowing: Week 1 Summary
Unknowing: Week 1 Summary: Sunday, September 30-Friday, October 5, 2018 When we speak of God and things transcendent, all we can do is use metaphors, approximations, and pointers. No language is adequate to describe the Holy. (Sunday) The Bible, in its entirety, finds a balance between knowing and not-knowing, between using particular and carefully chosen… Continue Reading Unknowing: Week 1 Summary
Prayer Beyond Words
Unknowing: Week 1 Prayer Beyond Words Friday, October 5, 2018 The two paths of knowing and not-knowing are primarily taught through prayer itself! No wonder all spiritual teachers emphasize prayer so much. In Jesus’ teaching and example, we may first notice the prayer of words in the Our Father and his encouragement to “ask” and… Continue Reading Prayer Beyond Words
Islam: Weekly Summary
Islam Summary: Sunday, September 23-Friday, September 28, 2018 The Muslim . . . “bears witness” in his life and in every single one of his actions that his chief priority is Allah and that no other “gods”—which include political, material, economic, and personal ambitions—can take precedence over his commitment to God alone. —Karen Armstrong (Sunday)… Continue Reading Islam: Weekly Summary
Eastern Christianity: Weekly Summary
Eastern Christianity Summary: Sunday, September 9-Friday, September 14, 2018 The Cappadocian Fathers developed an intellectual rationale for Christianity’s central goal: humanity’s healing and loving union with God. (Sunday) Matter and Spirit must be found to be inseparable in Christ before we have the courage and insight to acknowledge and honor the same in ourselves and… Continue Reading Eastern Christianity: Weekly Summary
Early Christianity: Weekly Summary
Early Christianity Summary: Sunday, September 2-Friday, September 7, 2018 The very things the early Christians emphasized—such as the prayer of quiet, the Trinity, divinization, universal restoration, and the importance of practice—have been neglected, to our own detriment. (Sunday) When the Christian church became the established religion of the empire, it started reading the Gospel from… Continue Reading Early Christianity: Weekly Summary
Practical Prayer
Early Christianity Practical Prayer Friday, September 7, 2018 In the same way as the early church, the desert Christians were deeply committed to Jesus’ teachings and lived practice. Withdrawal to the wilderness—whether into close-knit communities or solitude—was only for the sake of deeper encounter and presence. Diana Butler Bass describes the natural flow from prayer… Continue Reading Practical Prayer
