A special note from Fr. Richard: Carrying the Work Forward

Dear Friend,

I moved to New Mexico in 1986 in response to the call I felt to create a training ground for the contemplative mind in service to a transformed world. My intent was to start a “school for prophets” that would gather people who had a vision of service to the world, train them, and send them forth with the spiritual resources they need. And on October 12^th, 1987, the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) was born. In choosing this name, my hope was to remind us of what we were about. To hold action and contemplation together was a big vision where everything we did was rooted in love.

Thirty-five years later, it is still true that the most important word in our name is and. Without action, our spirituality can become lifeless and bear no authentic fruit. Without contemplation, our doing can come from ego — even if it looks selfless. But the fact that so many of you find the integration of action and contemplation helpful and meaningful in your life is my greatest joy. Thank you for trusting us and, more than anything, for carrying the message forward in your own life and communities.

Earlier this fall, I learned that cancer has returned, this time in my lymph nodes. I am currently undergoing treatment, and at this point, all signs are positive. I am in good spirits and at peace with my state of being, both in my work and health. For several years now, I have been engaged in the gradual process of stepping back from public life, including reducing my speaking, responsibilities, and travel. Most recently, I have stepped back from my role as Dean of our Core Faculty and transitioned to Faculty Emeritus. I still expect to participate in some CAC programming as my energy permits, but I do not plan to take on any new or ongoing teaching commitments.

At this stage of my life, I feel a great need to create space for those who are carrying this work forward into the future — at the CAC and beyond. As I have shared many times over the years, I believe that only the contemplative mind can bring forward the new consciousness needed to awaken a more loving, just, and sustainable world. This is why the CAC’s mission is to introduce Christian contemplative wisdom and practices that support transformation and inspire loving action.

But the CAC is not enough on its own. The healing of our world requires transformed agents of love showing up in the world together. Each of us has a part to play in this work – a whole body, a whole community, a whole movement of people on the path of action and contemplation. It is your support, generosity, and daily partnership that will enable this transformation to take place.

Twice per year, we pause the Daily Meditations to ask for your support. If you have been impacted by the CAC’s programs (including these Daily Meditations) and are financially able, please consider donating. We appreciate every gift, regardless of the amount.

The CAC is not funded by any large institution or big foundation but by thousands of people who have been impacted by this work — people just like you. Through your support, we are able to introduce more people to the wisdom and practices of the Christian contemplative tradition, many for the very first time.

Please take a moment to read our Executive Director Michael’s note below. Tomorrow the Daily Meditations will continue exploring the theme of “Movements of Justice and Spirit.”

Peace and Every Good,

Dear Friend,

Peace and Every Good,

In 1987, shortly after moving to Albuquerque and establishing the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC), Fr. Richard wrote the following in a letter to some of its early supporters:

In this time, when our American culture is almost entirely dominant, we need to find time and space to “nurture the alternative consciousness.” The Tradition of saints and prophets tells us that this alternative consciousness will be solid and trustworthy only if it is grounded in contemplative union. Mere idealism, activism or liberalism is not sufficient for the task. It is only contemplatives who can live at the Center and move beyond their own center. Folks who are not committed to seeking an inner life and a serious search for union with God will not feel called to such a school.

Thank you for your commitment to seeking the inner life and helping make CAC a “school for prophets” for the past 35 years. It is because of people like you, who have felt the urgency of our time and decided to respond, engage, and join with this movement, that any of this work is possible.

Fr. Richard formally stepping back from his official CAC duties marks a significant moment for our organization and one we have been preparing for several years. And in that time, one thing that has grown increasingly clear to me is that our integrity as an organization will be a function of our faithfulness to what Fr. Richard founded us to be.

Recently, CAC Core Faculty Brian McLaren described it very well:

“At every step of this transition process, Richard has said again and again that he doesn’t want CAC to become a monument to the past, but he wants it to be a continuing movement. That means with our existing and future staff and faculty, we need to keep the same momentum, vitality, and robustness of intellectual, spiritual, and theological work going. This is the greatest way we honor Richard’s beautiful legacy.”

We believe that the work of nurturing contemplative consciousness in the world is more important now than ever. By making the Christian path of transformation more accessible to people and leaders worldwide, we believe that CAC can become a catalyzing force for change of consciousness within Christianity and each of our communities.

It is a humbling charge to accept. Yet together, I know we will continue to build on the CAC’s founding purpose to bring forward the gifts of contemplative wisdom and practice in ways that can transform ourselves and our communities to co-create a world where everything — truly! — belongs.

Your financial support and partnership make this all possible. If you have benefited from the work of this CAC community and are able to support the ongoing expansion of this work, please consider making a one-time donation or recurring monthly gift. If you are able, please consider making your donation a monthly one. Recurring support helps us consistently invest in new and improved offerings, many at no cost.

In gratitude for a donation of any size, we will send you a digital version of our new issue of CAC’s biannual journal ONEING with the theme of “Nonviolence,” featuring scholars, teachers, and poets sharing this important and timely topic.

May we each answer the call in our own hearts and play our part in the building of a more loving, just, and transformed world.

In loving gratitude,

Michael Poffenberger
Executive Director
Center for Action and Contemplation

P.S. You can donate securely online at cac.org/dm-appeal or send a check (USD only) to CAC, P.O. Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195. Donations are tax-deductible in the United States. EIN # 85-0354965. We invite donations of any size. Learn more about other ways to give, including gifts of stock, qualified distributions from your IRA or a gift in your will at cac.org/support. Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Read more about Richard Rohr stepping back from official duties at the Center for Action and Contemplation and transitioning to the role of Core Faculty Emeritus.

Image credit: Khamkéo Vilaysing, Lonely Tree (detail), 2017, France, photograph, Unsplash. Anastase Maragos, Calm Tide (detail), 2020, Canada, photograph, Unsplash. Clark Gu, Untitled (detail), 2020, Korea, photograph, Unsplash. Jenna Keiper & Leslye Colvin, 2022, triptych art, United States. Click here to enlarge image.

Image inspiration: We cannot see the wind, but we feel it. We recognize its presence by watching the world around us move in response to its power. At times, the movement of Spirit towards justice feels invisible and interminably slow, but like waves slowly shaping the shoreline, in time we see the fruits of God’s movement.

A special note from Fr. Richard: In Loving Solidarity With All

Dear Friend,

The last homily I delivered was a little over two years ago, in March of 2020, right before the pandemic shut down the world. The gospel reading that morning was Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:1-9).

In this story Jesus is preparing his disciples for the cross—it’s going to come, so be ready, he seems to say. Jesus knows it’s the only thing that’s going to transfigure them, and the same thing goes for us, too. You see, suffering has this strange and marvelous ability to pull us into oneness. Maybe you’ve seen it happen in your family, at the funeral of a loved one or some other communal tragedy. I think many of us felt it in the early days of the pandemic—before our dualistic politics got in the way—there was a sense that we were in it together.

Until we find the communal meaning and significance of the suffering of all life, we will continue to retreat into our individual, small worlds in our misguided quest for personal safety and sanity. A Crucified God is the dramatic symbol of the one suffering that God fully enters into with us—not just for us, as we were mostly taught to think, but in solidarity with us. The Good News is we do not have to hold that suffering alone. In fact, we cannot hold it alone.

As we approach Easter, let us remember that we too can follow this path, actively joining God’s loving solidarity with all. What starts in God ends in God. All of reality is moving toward resurrection. This is the great hope of our tradition and one that is becoming more and more necessary for the world to hear.

It is my prayer that our work at the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) has been a source of hope for you in these difficult and trying times. The CAC is not funded by any large institution or big foundation, but by thousands of people who have been impacted by this work—people just like you. Through your support we are able to introduce more people to the wisdom and practices of the Christian contemplative tradition, many for the very first time.

Thank you for being a part of this community. Please take a moment to read our Executive Director Michael’s note below. Tomorrow the Daily Meditations will continue exploring the theme of “It Can’t Be Carried Alone.”

Peace and Every Good,

Dear Friend,

When you make a contribution to the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC), financial or otherwise, you partner with us in our mission to introduce Christian contemplative wisdom and practices that support transformation and inspire loving action.

We can’t overstate the importance of nurturing the emerging movement of contemplative consciousness in the world today. But it’s not something that we–any of us–can do alone. That effort is going to take all of us playing our part in the great and unified body of Christ. While we live in different places and come from different backgrounds, when we participate together in the work of Love, amazing things will happen.

We believe that contemplative wisdom should be open and accessible to all. This is a big aspiration, but we trust that it is possible because of the generosity of so many of you who support it. We are deeply grateful for your partnership.

If you have benefited from the work of this CAC community, please consider making a one-time donation or recurring gift to support it. If you are able, please consider making your donation a monthly one. Recurring support helps us to fund new offerings, many at no cost, that can help others who have yet to experience the liberating value of contemplative wisdom.

Donors from outside of the United States may find PayPal the most effective credit card processor. Click here to donate via PayPal through our bookstore.

In gratitude for a donation of any size, we will send you a digital version of our new issue of ONEING with the theme of “Unveiled,” featuring scholars, teachers, and poets mining the depths of our spiritual tradition.

We are so thankful for your partnership and help in working for a more peaceful, just, and connected world.

Peace and Every Good,

Michael Poffenberger
Executive Director
Center for Action and Contemplation

P.S. You can donate securely online at cac.org/dm-appeal or send a check (USD only) to CAC, P.O. Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195. Donations are tax-deductible in the United States. EIN # 85-0354965. We invite donations of any size. Learn more about other ways to give, including gifts of stock, qualified distributions from your IRA or an estate gift at cac.org/support. Contact us if you have any questions or would like further information. Thank you so much.

A special note from Fr. Richard: An opportunity hidden in plain sight.

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Dear Friend,

Thirty-five years ago, during the summer of 1986, I left Cincinnati with all my possessions in the back of my little Toyota pick-up and started driving west to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I stopped in Kansas to visit my family, where my father immediately put up the hood of my truck to fix it; not that it even needed fixing! I suppose that is just what a father did back in those days.

In those early years when I would return home from speaking, I often took a moment to sit and consider my recent experience — maybe this was a little bit like checking under my own hood — and I would think… “these things I’m saying to people about the Gospel and contemplation… I don’t know where the words are coming from, but this is good stuff! I’ve got to find more ways to give this to people.” I’m sure there was some egocentricity in that, that I was the giver of the message. But I never thought I was the only one saying it. Frankly, it was disappointing that all ministers and priests were not saying it too because to me it is so obvious that the Gospel is good and liberating news for every one and every thing.

Helping people discover the often hidden or even denied traditions of Christian contemplation was what led me to found the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC), and 34 years later there is still a real sense of urgency to this work — perhaps more so now than at any other time I can remember. What we need is a new way of being in the world together that embodies the reality that all life is sacred, precious, and connected; only the contemplative mind can bring forward this new consciousness which is needed to awaken a more loving, just, and sustainable world.

This work is only possible because of the trust, partnership, and support of people like you.

Twice per year, we pause the Daily Meditations and ask you for your support. If you have been impacted by the CAC’s programs (including these Daily Meditations) and are financially able, please consider making a contribution. Your support is what enables this work to reach people around the world, many for the very first time.

Thank you for being a part of this community. The CAC is not funded by any large institution or big foundation, but by thousands of people around the world who have been impacted by this work — people just like you.

As I continue to slow down at the age of 78, working with our editorial team to share these meditations is one of my greatest joys. I am honored and humbled by your trust and partnership through it all.

Please take a moment to read our Executive Director Michael’s note below. Tomorrow the Daily Meditations will continue exploring the theme of Spirituality and Addiction.

In gratitude and solidarity,

Dear Friends,

Think back to the first time you heard about Richard Rohr or the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC). Was it a book, audio recording, a conference talk or one of these Daily Meditation emails? I’d venture to guess that whatever it was, someone that you trusted gave it to you. A friend gave you a cassette tape, a co-worker burned you a CD, a relative told you about a book or sent you a podcast.

For the last three and a half decades, this community has grown person by person through trusted friends sharing the message with people they care about. The growth of this community has been driven from the bottom-up because there is a deep need for the integration of both action and contemplation that is historical, inclusive, service-oriented, and honest.

The CAC’s vision is to realize Fr. Richard’s hope of supporting a global movement of people who are putting this contemplative message and spiritual practice into action in the world. When we do that, we bring a dose of healing, love and compassion to our families, communities, and societies. It is love made manifest in the world.

If you have benefited from the work of this CAC community, please consider making a one-time donation or recurring gift to support it. If you are able, please consider making your donation a monthly one. Recurring support helps CAC consistently provide new offerings, many of them at no cost, that can support the lives of more people who have yet to access this contemplative tradition.

In gratitude for an online donation of any size, we will send you a digital version of our new edition of ONEING with the important theme of The Cosmic Egg.

We are so thankful for your partnership and help in serving as a gateway to this contemplative path. We do not live this life alone, but we are all deeply connected to each other living inside of God’s great story. Keep being an agent of love in your own way in this beautiful but hurting world.

Peace and Every Good,

Michael Poffenberger

Executive Director
Center for Action and Contemplation

P.S. You can donate securely online at cac.org/dm-appeal or send a check (USD only) to CAC, P.O. Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195. Donations are tax-deductible in the United States. EIN # 85-0354965. We invite donations of any size. Learn more about other ways to give, including gifts of stock, qualified distributions from your IRA or an estate gift at cac.org/support. Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions or would like further information. Thank you so much.

A special note from Fr. Richard: My hope for this community

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Dear Friend,

I believe my first real spiritual experience happened when I was probably five years old. I was alone in the living room of our home in Kansas and only the Christmas tree was lit. I had the sense that the world was good, I was good, and I was part of the good world—and I just wanted to stay there. It was like being taken to another world—the real world, the world as it’s meant to be, where the foundation is love and God is in everything.

I remember feeling very special, very chosen, very beloved, and it was my secret. The rest of my family didn’t know what I was knowing—see how my ego was already getting involved? Like the Apostle Paul, I now believe that chosenness is for the sake of letting everybody else know they are chosen, too.

My hope for our near future lies in those who are waking up to this Divine DNA that was there from the start—especially amid the painful experiences of life. We must all move through the universal pattern of Order, Disorder, and Reorder, and we must do it again and again and again.

By choosing a life of simplicity, service, generosity, and even powerlessness, we can move forward trusting both Love and Mystery. We don’t need to be perfectly certain before taking the next step.

Our job is to be who we say we are and who God says we are—carriers of the divine image. “My deepest me is God,” as St. Catherine of Genoa said. I can only imagine how differently our lives, families, and nations would look if we trusted the foundational promise of Christian incarnation. When you can see Christ in all things (including yourself!), you will see and live differently.

I’ve spent my life trying to remind people of their inherent belovedness, and I pray that our work at the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) has played a role in helping you to see, feel, and experience the hope of your own chosenness in God.

Your support is what enables this work of sharing the transformative wisdom of the Christian contemplative tradition with people all over the world. Thank you for being part of this community. I hope our work has been helpful in your life this year and we are so grateful for your partnership in making it possible.

Please take a moment to read our Executive Director Michael’s note below. Tomorrow the Daily Meditations will continue exploring the challenging theme of Apocalyptic Hope.

In the words of Teilhard… “Christ ever greater,”

Dear Friend,

All of us at the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) are honored and grateful to be a part of this incredible community—especially given this past year.

Like many of you, we had no idea how much the challenges of 2020 would force us to change or adapt. Thanks to your support, the CAC has been able to continue the work of reminding more and more people of their inherent belovedness. And, if the tremendous volume of emails and letters we’ve received is any indication, there continues to be a great appreciation and growing need for this to continue to expand. Here is one example from last month:

I want to let you know that the daily meditations and podcasts helped me tremendously to live through the pandemic, the political uncertainties and many other difficulties. Words cannot describe how important they are to me during these times. It calmed me down in my panics, fears and hopelessness. It kept me from sinking to the bottom. It has been ‘the’ one and only place that helps me to see God clearly and feel his love dearly.

Thank you, and God bless you.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to pass along this message of thanks, because it isn’t just for Father Richard or the CAC, but for each of you as well. Your generous contributions are what allow this work to reach people—all over the world!

The CAC’s programs and resources are designed to help deepen prayer practice and strengthen compassionate engagement. Whether you’re reading the Daily Meditations, listening to a podcast, or working through an online course—everything the CAC offers is in service to awakening Love in you and in the world.

Thank you for being part of this community and one of the partners that makes it possible. The CAC is not funded by any denomination, endowment, or even large foundation; we are supported by thousands of small donations from people like you. We deeply appreciate any support you are able to provide.

Please consider making a one-time donation or a recurring gift to support the future of this work. If you are able, please consider making your donation a monthly one. Monthly support helps create the stability the CAC needs to share this message in new and increasingly accessible ways.

Donors from outside the United States may find PayPal the most effective credit card processor. Click here to donate via PayPal through our bookstore.

In gratitude for an online donation of any size, we will send you a free digital version of our new edition of ONEING with the important theme of Trauma.

I am so thankful for your partnership with us on the journey, and I hope we all can continue to help those who need a reminder of their chosenness and beloved identity in God to find it.

Peace and Every Good,

Michael Poffenberger

Executive Director
Center for Action and Contemplation

P.S. You may donate securely online at cac.org/dm-appeal or send a check (USD only) to CAC, P.O. Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195. Donations are tax-deductible in the United States; CAC’s federal ID number is 85-0354965. Learn more about charitable giving at cac.org/support. Email us at [email protected] if you are considering making a legacy or estate gift. Thank you.

A note from Fr. Richard: Where do we go from here?

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Dear Friend,

I returned last week from an eight-day silent retreat last week. With all that has happened this year, I found the time in stillness even more necessary than usual. Periods of extended silence offer us the opportunity to step out of the world of dualism and opposition and into the world of nondual oneness. Both of these worlds exist, but most of us live only experiencing the world where separateness dominates. It’s no wonder we have the problems that we have! I believe only the contemplative mind can allow transformation at the deepest levels and help us rest in the awareness of God’s loving presence. This is why I started the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) years ago and why I am so committed to this work today.

2020 has been an unprecedented year, unlike anything I have seen in my 77 years — and we are not out of the woods yet. Where we go from here will write the story of this chapter of history. I’m convinced that the root of our divisions can only be overcome by a unitive consciousness at every level: personal, relational, social, political, cultural, and spiritual. This is the unique and central job of healthy religion (re-ligio = to re-ligament or bind together).

Only together can we participate in the unity of the Spirit as we learn to relate to each other out of compassion and love. When action and contemplation are united, our lives and actions begin to heal our suffering world by their very presence. Jesus is the perfect example of how the inner revolution of prayer is deeply connected to the outer transformation of social structures and social consciousness. Our hope lies in the fact that contemplation will change the society that we live in, just as it has changed us!

We thank you for being part of this community. I hope our work has been helpful in your life during this challenging year and we are so grateful for your partnership in making it possible.

Twice a year we pause the Daily Meditations to ask for your support. This year we do so in profound respect of the needs and struggles in our larger community, and we trust your discernment about the right way to help.

For those of you who have been impacted by our work and are financially able, please consider donating. Your support is what enables us to share this message with people around the world. Every donation is received with gratitude and appreciation.

Please take a moment to read our Executive Director Michael’s note below about how you can help and the publication we’d like to share.

Tomorrow the Daily Meditations will continue exploring Jesus and the Reign of God.

May it be so.

Dear Friends,

We have asked ourselves many times this year: “what is ours to do?” Amid the constellation of social challenges, we shifted much of our work to keep up with the changing realities in the world. I sincerely hope that our efforts to make the transformation and healing impact of the contemplative path accessible have been helpful for you.

Father Richard founded the CAC in 1987 because he saw a deep need for the integration of both Action and Contemplation. That founding message was the theme of our Daily Meditations this year because we believe there is more need for it today than ever before. We have seen our reader community expand significantly in recent months as thousands of people are searching for trustworthy guidance during these difficult times.

Thank you for being part of our community and one of the partners that makes all of this possible. Our organization is not funded by any denomination, endowment, or large foundation; we are supported by thousands of small donations from people like you.

Please consider making a one-time donation or a recurring gift. Your support allows us to keep our work free and accessible for more people around the world. If you are able, please consider making your donation a monthly one. Monthly support helps create the stability we need to share this message in a broader and more inclusive way.

In gratitude for an online donation of any size, we will send you a free digital version of our current edition of ONEING: Order, Disorder, Reorder.

For the first time, this edition includes contributions from all five of CAC’s core faculty. We invite you to experience the writings of our faculty as they walk through the ancient, transformational pattern of Order, Disorder, and Reorder, in a way that is strikingly applicable to our current moment.

Now more than ever, we honor the needs in all of our communities, and we trust your discernment on how best to help. Thank you for any support you can offer our work as we look to expand our vision and mission for years to come.

We are grateful to be partners together and we deeply appreciate any support you are able to continue providing to the CAC.

Onwards together,

Michael Poffenberger

Executive Director, Center for Action and Contemplation

P.S. Please consider contributing to the Center for Action and Contemplation (tax-deductible in the United States). You can donate securely online at cac.org/dm-appeal or send a check (USD only) to CAC, P.O. Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195. Learn more about charitable giving at cac.org/support. Email us at [email protected] if you are considering making a legacy or estate gift. Thank you.

A reflection on the past 50 years from Fr. Richard—Donation Appeal

A reflection on the past 50 years from Fr. Richard

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Dear Friend,

It is hard to believe, but this month marks 50 years since I was first ordained in my home parish in Topeka, Kansas. It was a beautiful ordination ceremony. I was young and excited; my hair was long (I had hair!), and I wore colorful vestments covered with flowers I’d probably be embarrassed to wear now.

This was during the great years after Vatican II—the inspired spiritual renewal that had put the Gospel back at the center of our lives, just as St. Francis tried to do.

After the ceremony people were waiting in line to congratulate me, and I was feeling very important and holy. A woman held up the receiving line to tell me a story. I was irritated; as many others were in line. She told me about the history of my parish church, and how it was built on the very spot where the Pentecostal movement began. “You’re going to be used by the Holy Spirit,” she said. I tried to hurry her along, but nevertheless she persisted. And by she, I mean both this particular woman and the Holy Spirit—who has never given up on me.

Five decades later I am humbled to think about how it has all played out. I’ve written more books than I care to admit, prayed alongside amazing leaders and spoken in front of countless wonderful people. Through it all the Spirit has persisted in her work despite my many personal limitations and times I passionately believed my own message while also denying it in practice.

God always uses unworthy instruments so we can never think that it is we who are accomplishing the work. The older I get, the more I think, “God, you were so patient with me! I didn’t do it right and you still did it right, you still used me.”

2020 has been an unprecedented year—like nothing I have seen before. I believe we are seeing humanity awaken to a new level of awareness of systemic injustice in the world, the suffering it causes, and of the role each of us play in perpetuating these systems—predominantly by those of us with privilege and power. We would do well to remember that evil can only be substantially overcome by collective good. When one part is hurt, we all share in that pain, and if one part is liberated, we all share in the joy.

There is a great need right now for unworthy instruments—people who have done the necessary work to ground compassionate action in contemplative, non-dual consciousness. When you experience the reality of your oneness with God and Creation, actions of justice and love will naturally follow. This message has been at the core of what I set out to teach over the last fifty years, and now that I rarely leave my hermitage, these meditations have become my primary means of sharing what God is putting on my heart. It is my hope they have been a source of both healing and encouragement for you.

Twice a year we pause the normal Daily Meditations to ask for your support to continue this work. We understand that the needs in our communities are as high as they have ever been, and we trust your discernment about the right way to help. If you’ve been impacted by the Daily Meditations and are financially able, please consider donating. All contributions are appreciated, as we are committed to keeping these messages free and accessible to people all around the world—now more than ever.

Please take a moment to read our Executive Director Michael’s note below about how you can help and a gift we’d like to share.

Tomorrow the Daily Meditations will continue exploring the important theme of Nature and the Cosmos.

Dear friends,

On June 13^th, 1970, at the age of just 27, Fr. Richard began an incredible life of teaching and service to people all over the world. As a longtime student of Fr. Richard’s, it is an incredible privilege to partner with him and our whole Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) team each day.

We believe that a more loving, just, equitable and sustainable world is possible, but a new consciousness is necessary to get there. In the tradition of Jesus, St. Francis, and mystics from every tradition, our goal is to provide spiritual wisdom that supports both inner and outer transformation. Action and Contemplation are inextricable on the spiritual journey, especially during a time of worldwide disruption and pain.

As the CAC’s Executive Director my top priority is ensuring Fr. Richard and our other amazing teachers have the structural support they need to continue sharing their work through these daily meditations and our other programs. Because of our partnership with you, more and more people are being introduced to this wisdom. Thank you—there is no way he could do all of this alone, and there is no way we could do all of this alone either.

We do our work in deep respect and awareness of the many other people and organizations playing their part to transform systems of oppression in the great body of Christ. Specifically, we stand in solidarity with activists around the world who are prophetically demanding justice for all Black people who have faced violence, anti-blackness and systemic racism. These are spiritual evils that impoverish us all and they demand our participation in a systemic response. Now more than ever we honor the needs in all of our communities, and we trust your discernment on how best to help. Thank you for any support you are able to offer our mission at this time.

Please consider making a one-time donation or a recurring gift. Your support allows us to keep these Daily Meditations free and accessible to an ever growing audience around the world. Will you contribute and support the future of this work? If you are able, please consider making your donation a monthly one. Monthly support helps create the stability we need to share this vital message to more people in more ways well into the future.

In gratitude for an online donation of any size we will send you a free digital version of our current edition of ONEING: Liminal Space.

Our hope for this edition is to help us stand on the threshold and see beyond ourselves to the broader and more inclusive world that lies before us.

On this 50^th anniversary of Richard’s Ordination, we honor his life and are deeply grateful to be on this journey together.

Peace and Every Good,

Michael Poffenberger
Executive Director, Center for Action & Contemplation

P.S. Please consider making a contribution to the Center for Action and Contemplation (tax-deductible in the United States). We invite donations of any size. You can donate securely online at cac.org/dm-appeal or send a check (USD only) to CAC, PO Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195. Learn more about charitable giving at cac.org/support. Read more of Fr. Richard’s thoughts on the systemic nature of Evil. Email us at [email protected] if you are considering making a legacy or estate gift. Thank you.

Departing the Consumer Culture

Thank you to all who have donated over the past week! Your generosity helps us continue sending these free daily reflections by Father Richard. If you haven’t donated yet and wish to do so, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution at cac.org/dm-appeal. In gratitude for online donations of any amount now through December 31, 2019 we’ll send a PDF copy of “The Future of Christianity,” our new issue of the journal Oneing. Click here to donate securely online.

Economy: Old and New

Departing the Consumer Culture
Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Authors and scholars Peter Block, John McKnight, and Walter Brueggemann partnered to write An Other Kingdom: Departing the Consumer Culture, which describes the shifts in thinking that could create a post-consumer economy. It sounds a lot like the Gospel to me.

Economic systems based on competition, scarcity, and acquisitiveness have become more than a question of economics; they have become the kingdom within which we dwell. That way of thinking invades our social order, our ways of being together, and what we value. It replicates the kingdom of ancient Egypt, Pharaoh’s kingdom. It produces a consumer culture that centralizes wealth and power and leaves the rest wanting what the beneficiaries of the system have.

We invite you to a journey of departure from this consumer culture. We ask you to imagine an alternative set of economic beliefs that have the capacity to evoke a culture where poverty, violence, and shrinking well-being are not inevitable—a culture in which the social order produces enough for all. . . . This departure into another kingdom might be closer to the reality of our nature and what works best for our humanity. . . .

Luckily, the exodus from a consumer, globalized culture into a neighborly, localized communal and cooperative culture has begun. We join the chorus of other agents of the alternative economy: food hubs, cooperative and social enterprises, the climate change activists, health activists, [etc.]. . . .

Neighborliness means that our well-being and what really matters is close at hand and can be locally constructed or produced. In this modern time, neighborliness is considered quaint and nostalgic. To make neighborliness the center of our social order requires an act of imagination. It is counter-cultural. It is also a form of social interaction that is built on a covenant that serves the common good. . . .

The consumer and market authority we live within violates neighborly relations by stratifying social power according to money and its attendants—privilege, competition, self-interest, entitlement, surplus. The dominant modes of current social relationships fend off neighborliness at all cost, and at great cost.

The [current] market ideology says that neighborly relationships are no longer required. That we are best ordered by commercializing all we can. That what we needed from neighbors can be obtained anywhere. . . . The major early step toward the modern cultural reality was “enclosure,” the privatizing of the common land. . . . Every human endeavor is monetized. . . . When a person’s effort was converted to wage earner, a person became an object. . . .

We moved away from the neighbor as a source of culture, memory, sense of place, and livelihood. . . . The casualty was a loss of a sense of the commons. What is at stake in the renewal of neighborliness is the restoration of the commons. [1] The free market consumer ideology has produced a social disorder; people are no longer embedded in a culture that serves the common wealth, the common good.

References:
[1] “The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable earth. These resources are held in common, not owned privately.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commons)

Adapted from Peter Block, Walter Brueggemann, John McKnight, An Other Kingdom: Departing the Consumer Culture (John Wiley and Sons, Inc.: 2016), xiv, xviii-xix.

Image credit: Le Denier de la Veuve (The Widow’s Mite) (detail), James Tissot, between 1886 and 1894, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York.

Inspiration for this week’s banner image: As long as we operate inside any scarcity model, there will never be enough God or grace to go around. Jesus came to undo our notions of scarcity and tip us over into a worldview of absolute abundance. The Gospel reveals a divine world of infinity, a worldview of enough and more than enough. The Christian word for this undeserved abundance is “grace.” It is a major mental and heart conversion to move from a scarcity model to an abundance model and to live with an attitude of gratitude. —Richard Rohr

What is the future of Christianity? Donation Appeal

What is the future of Christianity?

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Dear Friend,

Next year will mark 50 years since I was first ordained in my home parish in Topeka, Kansas. Over the years, God has allowed me to speak, write, and learn from so many people and cultures around the world. Because I rarely travel or teach on the road now, the Daily Meditations are one of the primary ways I can keep sharing what I’m learning each day.

I have always had excellent partners in my life and ministry. But something in the last few years has started to emerge that encourages me deeply. I am now surrounded by teachers and staff who are building a humble, inclusive, non-imperial Christianity in service to the healing of our world.

We now have a core faculty of five in the Living School, dozens of brilliant writers and role models in the Daily Meditations, a strong and capable team in New Mexico, and hundreds of thousands of people like you who are bringing forward the gifts of the contemplative tradition—peaceful change and healing. Gosh, does that feel like an important task at the moment! With all that is going on in the world today, it takes every one of us playing our part.

Twice a year we pause the Daily Meditations to ask for your support to continue this work. If you’ve been impacted by the Daily Meditations, please consider donating. A contribution of any amount is appreciated, as we are committed to keeping these messages free and accessible to all.

It seems that God is blessing this ministry—and it is my honor to serve alongside it. As Jesus said:

When we have done all that we are obliged to do, we should each say, “We are all merely servants, and we have only done what is our duty to do.” (Luke 17:10)

I hope that the Center for Action & Contemplation helps you find what is yours to do in the face of a complex and chaotic reality. Please take a moment to read our Executive Director Michael’s note below about how you can help and the really important gift we’d like to share.

Tomorrow the Daily Meditations will continue exploring why it’s crucial for us to engage contemplatively in politics.

Dear friends,

We are honored that you are one of the nearly 400,000 people who read and share our Daily Meditations.

When the Center for Action & Contemplation started sending these messages twelve years ago, we never could have imagined the reach and impact they would have in people’s lives. But we now believe we’re only just beginning. With the reality of global climate change, systemic injustice, and fear driving so much of the politics around the world, can wisdom of the ancient perennial tradition speak directly to our current situation? This has been the goal of this year’s Daily Meditations—to show the truth that emerges in every age, vocabulary, and culture in a direct, powerful, and meaningful way to today’s context. Thank you for sticking with us through some challenging subjects.

Richard recently summed up the current Christian situation like this:

Christianity is a lifestyle—a way of being in the world that is simple, non-violent, shared, and loving. However, we made it into an established “religion” (and all that goes with that) and avoided actually changing lives. One could be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish, and vain in most of Christian history and still believe that Jesus is “personal Lord and Savior.” The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on Earth is too great.

Our faith must show real fruit. The Center for Action & Contemplation is committed to supporting the continued evolution of Christianity and the transformation of consciousness. Your contribution will help us build and grow this work by making these teachings accessible to new people in new ways.

Please consider making a one-time donation or a recurring gift. If 5% of our readers donated as little as $15, it would fully fund the Daily Meditations’ production, allow us to offer more scholarships, and share transformative teaching with more people. Will you contribute and invest in the future of this work? If you’re able, please consider making your donation a monthly one. Ongoing support helps create the stability we need to spread this vital message to more and more people around the world.

In gratitude for an online donation of any size we will send you a free digital version of our newest and arguably most important edition of Oneing, “The Future of Christianity.”

This issue of our bi-annual journal directly takes on the question of how this tradition can meet the needs of the present moment and prepare us for what is to come.

We are deeply grateful to be on this journey together.

Peace and Every Good,

Michael Poffenberger
Executive Director, Center for Action & Contemplation

P.S. Please consider making a contribution to the Center for Action & Contemplation (tax-deductible in the United States). We invite donations of any size. You can donate securely online at cac.org/dm-appeal or send a check (USD only) to CAC, PO Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195. Learn more about charitable giving at cac.org/support-cac. Email us at [email protected] if you are considering making a legacy or estate gift. Thank you.

Thank you for making our work possible!

Thank you for making our work possible!
Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Friend,

I am so honored that you take the time to read my Daily Meditations! As I grow older and limit my travel, they are one of the most meaningful ways I can continue teaching and ministering.

You may wonder, as many have, if I am personally writing and sending these emails precisely at 12:00 midnight U.S. Mountain Time each day. Well, let me assure you I do not have to do it alone! A dedicated team from the Center for Action and Contemplation helps me curate the meditations, bringing new life to previous writings, clarifying and fact-checking, and incorporating other authors I deeply respect. Every week I edit and refine each meditation before it goes out to you.

While all religious language is metaphor, I believe that words are important. We have all seen the damage that a mis-use of the Bible can cause. The words I use aren’t dictated by any religious institution or outside influence. I simply try to be a conduit (as my German last name suggests) of Spirit and share my evolving understanding of Scripture, the Christian tradition, and my own experience. I believe the best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better, even when it’s unpopular.

We have you and over 320,000 people around the world in mind—and prayer—as we craft messages that we hope will heal your heart, challenge your thinking, and move your body toward compassionate action. I know that each person comes from a different perspective, be that religion, age, or geographic location. And yet, somehow, we are all connected and part of the universal Body of Christ.

Twice a year we pause the Daily Meditations to ask for your support. Take a moment to read our Director Michael’s note below about how you can help. Tomorrow we’ll continue reflecting on Jesus’ crucifixion as we look forward to Easter.

If you’ve been impacted by the Daily Meditations, please help the Center for Action and Contemplation continue this labor of love. To the team that helps me publish these messages day in and day out, thank you! And to you, a reader and supporter, thank you for making our work possible!

Dear Friends,

Father Richard often describes his work as keeping God free for people and keeping people free for God.

In this year’s Daily Meditations, he’s helping us move beyond harmful ideas about God that have locked us in fear and violence. At the same time, he’s reclaiming timeless wisdom from contemplative Christianity to help us connect with our truest selves, each other, and God. Will you help us keep the Daily Meditations free with a donation?

I love this familiar saying Richard quotes in his new book The Universal Christ:

Everything will be all right in the end.
If it’s not all right, it is not yet the end.

Sometimes it’s hard to hold out hope for our politics, our planet, and even our faith tradition. Thankfully, we’re still in the midst of evolution. This is not the end.

I can’t predict the future, but I know that our participation fundamentally matters. Our community’s past generosity helps us keep resources like the Daily Meditations free for hundreds of thousands of people. You fund scholarships for our conferences, online courses, and Living School. You help us provide a living wage for our staff and help us create free resources to help spread transformative teaching, like our newly released Universal Christ podcast and companion guide.

Please consider making a one-time donation or a recurring, monthly gift! If just 5% of our readers donate, it will fully fund the Daily Meditations’ production, allow us to increase our scholarships, and share transformative wisdom with more people! Ongoing support helps us plan and forecast.

As director of the Center for Action and Contemplation, I hope to see this work protected and continued to serve future generations and to help shape a more transformative and hopeful Christianity.

Thank you for being an agent of peaceful change in this ongoing evolution of Christianity and the world!

Michael Poffenberger
Executive Director, Center for Action and Contemplation

P.S. Please consider making a contribution to the Center for Action and Contemplation (tax-deductible in the United States). We invite donations of any size! You can donate securely online at cac.org/dm-appeal or send a check (USD only) to CAC, PO Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195. Learn more about charitable giving at cac.org/support-cac.

A special note from Fr. Richard: Carrying the Work Forward

A special note from Fr. Richard: In Loving Solidarity With All

A special note from Fr. Richard: An opportunity hidden in plain sight.

A special note from Fr. Richard: An opportunity hidden in plain sight.

A special note from Fr. Richard: My hope for this community

A special note from Fr. Richard: My hope for this community

A note from Fr. Richard: Where do we go from here?

A note from Fr. Richard: Where do we go from here?

A reflection on the past 50 years from Fr. Richard—Donation Appeal

A reflection on the past 50 years from Fr. Richard

Departing the Consumer Culture

Economy: Old and New

Image credit: Le Denier de la Veuve (The Widow’s Mite) (detail), James Tissot, between 1886 and 1894, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York.

What is the future of Christianity? Donation Appeal

What is the future of Christianity?

Thank you for making our work possible!

Thank you for making our work possible!
Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Category Archive

come visit

Stay connected

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A special note from Fr. Richard: Carrying the Work Forward

A special note from Fr. Richard: In Loving Solidarity With All

A special note from Fr. Richard: An opportunity hidden in plain sight.

A special note from Fr. Richard: An opportunity hidden in plain sight.

A special note from Fr. Richard: My hope for this community

A special note from Fr. Richard: My hope for this community

A note from Fr. Richard: Where do we go from here?

A note from Fr. Richard: Where do we go from here?

A reflection on the past 50 years from Fr. Richard—Donation Appeal

A reflection on the past 50 years from Fr. Richard

Departing the Consumer Culture

Economy: Old and New

Image credit: Le Denier de la Veuve (The Widow’s Mite) (detail), James Tissot, between 1886 and 1894, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York.

What is the future of Christianity? Donation Appeal

What is the future of Christianity?

Thank you for making our work possible!

Thank you for making our work possible! Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Category Archive

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Wednesday, April 17, 2019