Tag Archives: Presence
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
From the Beginning of Time
The Universal Christ From the Beginning of Time Monday, December 3, 2018 Christ is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of God’s nature, sustaining the universe by God’s powerful command. —Hebrews 1:3, Jerusalem Bible Christ is not Jesus’ last name. The word Christ is a title, meaning the Anointed One, which many Christians so… Continue Reading From the Beginning of Time
Who Is Christ?
The Universal Christ Who Is Christ Sunday, December 2, 2018 First Sunday of Advent What if we’ve missed the point of who Christ is, what Christ is, and where Christ is? I believe that a Christian is simply one who has learned to see Christ everywhere. Understanding the Universal or Cosmic Christ can change the… Continue Reading Who Is Christ?
Loving the Presence in the Present
Love: Week 1 Loving the Presence in the Present Monday, October 29, 2018 A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. [One] experiences [oneself] . . . as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of [one’s] consciousness. . . .… Continue Reading Loving the Presence in the Present
Suffering: Week 2 Summary
Suffering: Week 2 Summary: Sunday, October 21-Friday, October 26, 2018 The genius of Jesus’ ministry is that he reveals that God uses tragedy, suffering, pain, betrayal, and death itself (all of which are normally inevitable), not to punish us but, in fact, to bring us to God and to our True Self, which are frequently… Continue Reading Suffering: Week 2 Summary
Invincible Preciousness
Suffering: Week 2 Invincible Preciousness Wednesday, October 24, 2018 My colleague James Finley is someone who incarnates the truth that the suffering we carry is our solidarity with the one, universal longing of all humanity, and thus it can teach us great compassion and patience with both ourselves and others. Here he shares the intimate… Continue Reading Invincible Preciousness
Traumatization of Spirituality
Suffering: Week 2 Traumatization of Spirituality Tuesday, October 23, 2018 James Finley, one of my fellow faculty members at the Center for Action and Contemplation, is a clinical psychologist. He speaks expertly—from a professional, personal, and mystical perspective—on suffering and healing. Here Jim explains how Spanish mystic John of the Cross (1542–1591) allowed trauma to… Continue Reading Traumatization of Spirituality
Transcendence
Unknowing: Week 2 Transcendence Tuesday, October 9, 2018 God, it seems, cannot really be known, but only related to. Or, as the mystics would assert, we know God by loving God, by trusting God, by placing our hope in God. It is a nonpossessive, nonobjectified way of knowing. It is always I-Thou and never I-It,… Continue Reading Transcendence
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
