Tag Archives: Western Church
Healing Addiction
Western Christianity Healing Addiction Thursday, September 20, 2018 I’ve shared some of Western Christianity’s weaknesses—for example, how we have over-emphasized separateness, sin, and external religious exercises. But Western Christianity has unique gifts and strengths to offer. The dynamism of Western civilization has led to what I might call the “secularization” of the Gospel message into… Continue Reading Healing Addiction
The Soul’s Objective Union with God
Western Christianity The Soul’s Objective Union with God Wednesday, September 19, 2018 The Genesis story of the Judeo-Christian tradition is really quite extraordinary. It says that we were created in the very “image and likeness” of God, proceeding from free and overflowing love (Genesis 1:26). This flow is rediscovered and re-experienced by various imperfect people… Continue Reading The Soul’s Objective Union with God
The Self-in-God
Western Christianity The Self-in-God Tuesday, September 18, 2018 In his booklet That We May Be One, Thomas Keating writes about two models of spirituality and how they influence our growth in God’s likeness: Since the Reformation, the Christian Tradition has been somewhat focused on doctrinal differences rather than on the spiritual journey itself and the… Continue Reading The Self-in-God
Renewal of Contemplative Christianity
Western Christianity Renewal of Contemplative Christianity Monday, September 17, 2018 In the 1950s and 1960s, Thomas Merton brought renewed interest to the contemplative tradition in the West. He became a Trappist monk and “left the world” for the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, where he learned the lessons of contemplation and action. Merton was spiritual… Continue Reading Renewal of Contemplative Christianity
The Christian Contemplative Tradition
Western Christianity The Christian Contemplative Tradition Sunday, September 16, 2018 Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have a long tradition of teaching contemplation or nondual consciousness. But its systematic teaching was primarily held in the Eastern “Greek” church; the Western “Latin” church was more extroverted and aligned with empires. Serious contemplative teaching—very upfront in the desert fathers… Continue Reading The Christian Contemplative Tradition
Alternative Consciousness
Action and Contemplation: Week 1 Alternative Consciousness Monday, May 9, 2016 I often use this line, a paraphrase of Albert Einstein: “No problem can be solved by the same consciousness that caused it.” Unfortunately, we have been trying to solve almost all our problems with the very same mind that caused them, which is the… Continue Reading Alternative Consciousness
Divinization: A Lost Pearl
Participation: Week 2 Divinization: A Lost Pearl Thursday, April 14, 2016 The Greek word theosis, often used by the Eastern Fathers of the church, is probably best translated as “divinization.” [1] Although usually taught in the more mystical and Trinitarian Eastern Church, it was largely lost in the more practical, carrot-on-the-stick emphasis of the Western… Continue Reading Divinization: A Lost Pearl