On April 20 I had the privilege of speaking to the Southeast Regional Conference of the Community of Hope International, an ecumenical organization of Christians whose mission is “to create and sustain Christian communities of volunteer lay pastoral caregivers around the world.” Their mission statement goes on to say, “We are united in prayer, shaped [...]
A reader writes… Carl, I am a theoretical physicist by training and have struggled with the idea of supernatural concepts like God. Even so, contemplation has increased my sense of God being part of me, which I like very much. So here is my question: Do you think it is too radical to say God [...]
This message came to me the other day. Hi Carl. Love reading your blogs. From one who is a struggling contemplative can you tell me what form of contemplative prayer you do and why? Also can one do more than one form of contemplative prayer? ie, will one complement the other? Two questions here. First, [...]
Here is a video worth watching: an interview from 2007 in which Raimon Panikkar speaks about his knowledge of, and friendship with, the great Benedictine contemplative, Abhishiktananda. Panikkar was 88 years old when this video was filmed, and it’s a bit difficult to watch because his breathing was labored. But his mind was as sharp [...]
I am sad to learn that the Merton Institute for Contemplative Living will be ceasing its operations at the end of this year. You can read their announcement here. The Merton institute is an independent non-profit organization with a mission “to awaken interest in contemplative living through the works of Thomas Merton and others, thereby [...]
The more I read Richard of St. Victor, the more I love him. Here are a few jewels from the fifteenth chapter of Book IV of The Mystical Ark: See to it that the very time He begins to knock at the door is not the first time that you begin to want to throw [...]
Before the Cloud of Unknowing, Richard of St. Victor (who lived in the twelfth century, a contemporary of Hildegard of Bingen and Bernard of Clairvaux) wrote this lovely passage in his work called The Mystical Ark: When birds want to fly they spread out their wings. So, we surely ought to spread the wings of our [...]