The heart of Christian spirituality is the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. This is the ancient wisdom teaching that God is one God, in three persons: Father/Creator, Son/Redeemer, and Spirit/Sanctifier. We call ourselves “Christians” because we follow the 2nd Person of the Trinity: Jesus, the Christ. But it would be just as accurate — some […]
Love is not just the basis on which we build everything, but it’s also the energy with which we proceed, and it’s the final goal toward which we tend. Love has two lovely daughters called Grace and Mercy. Like identical twins, they are often indistinguishable: Grace is the inner freedom to be merciful. Mercy is grace in action. And both are the children of Love.
I had a dream last night — about one of my favorite retreat centers, and one of my favorite books. The setting of my dream was the Montreat Conference Center, in Black Mountain NC, just up the road from Asheville. I’ve been to Montreat numerous times over the past six or seven years, but always […]
I love Mepkin Abbey, and I’m so happy to be returning there in June to lead a retreat on the wisdom of the Christian Mystics. The retreat is fully booked, but contact the St. Francis Retreat Center at Mepkin Abbey if you’d like to be on the waiting list.
To invite me to speak to your community, click here.
We do not have to create silence; it is there within us. What we have to do is let it emerge and enter into it, to become silence. Silence is the language of the spirit.
I created this video, using photographs that Fran and I took in Norwich, along with a few book covers and a wonderful photo of the stained glass of Julian in Norwich Cathedral, used by permission of the photographer.
It’s just a brief little introduction to who Julian is, and why she matters. Less than 3 minutes long. Hope you enjoy it!
I’m leading a one-day workshop on Christian meditation and contemplative prayer at the New York Open Center. Our time together will include instruction and practice in silent prayer, time for personal and group reflection, and my reflections on how we can incorporate the life-transfiguring wisdom of the mystics into our lives today. Although centered on Christian spirituality and practice, this workshop is presented in an inclusive way that is appropriate for people of all faith traditions and all experience levels. Hope to see you there!
To invite me to speak to your community, click here.
O Holy Trinity, we come to you in silent prayer, seeking only to love you and adore you beyond all words and thought. Grant us the grace to long for you with such humble desire that we return to the fountain of your mercy, each and every day. Foster in our hearts quiet confidence, that […]
Ken Leong, the author of The Zen Teachings of Jesus, posted this on Facebook the other day: I was having a conversation with a group of American Christians. I told them that in the Chinese version of John’s Gospel, the WORD was translated into “Tao.” They asked me for the definition of the Tao. I replied […]
Mepkin Abbey
I’m so excited to be leading a retreat at Mepkin Abbey, the Trappist Monastery in South Carolina. This will be the first retreat I’ve led at Mepkin, and our topic will be one of my favorites: the Spirituality of Celtic Christianity. If you’re not familiar with Mepkin, it is a small but vibrant community of monks, with beautiful liturgy and a gorgeous setting, north of Charleston (you can see the city skyline from the riverbank). Mepkin has a small guesthouse and this retreat will likely fill up quickly, so if you’re interested, register now.
To invite me to speak to your community, click here.
Holy Cross Monastery Church
Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, NY is rapidly becoming one of my favorite places to lead (or make) a retreat. I’m so happy to be returning to Holy Cross this April to direct a retreat built around the theme of pilgrimage, drawing on the wisdom of the ancient Celts, Teresa of Ávila, and C. S. Lewis. Come explore your journey of faith with me — and the Benedictine monks of Holy Cross Monastery!
To invite me to speak to your community, click here.
Poetry arises from contemplation and silence. T. S. Eliot says that poets are alone and often prone to suffering brought about by their super sensitivity. Poets see beyond themselves, but are aware of their own inner life and experience, and so empathize and generalize from it.
One of the oldest meanings in Hebrew for salvation is being freed from a trap. God releases us from the traps we make for our selves when our self-consciousness shuts itself off from the deep mind, and gives us hope.
What does it take to get started with a daily practice of praying the Liturgy of the Hours? A reader of this blog asks the following question: I have an established practice of Lectio Divina and Centering Prayer in the early morning and Examen and Centering Prayer in the late afternoon. I’m captivated with praying […]
Contemplation is essentially an act of faith, hope, and love. It is not, therefore, the end result of a discursive activity of the intelligence, it is not the reward of learning acquired through study, and it does not result in an increase of speculative knowledge. It tends to foster love under the forms love takes on while awaiting celestial beatitude… To desire Heaven is to want God and to love Him with a love the monks sometimes call impatient. The greater desire becomes, the more the soul rests in God. Possession increases in the same proportion as desire.
Join me at White’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake, TX on January 19 and 20 where I will be giving a talk on Friday night and leading a day retreat on Saturday. Our theme is “Embracing Deep Rest in Turbulent Times.” We’ll be reflecting on how contemplative spirituality is a way to receive the peace and deep rest which Jesus himself promises to us.
| Date: |
January 19, 2018—January 20, 2018 |
| Event: |
"Embracing Deep Rest in Turbulent Times" — SPELL Symposium in Southlake, TX |
| Topic: |
Embracing Deep Rest in Turbulent Times |
| Sponsor: |
White's Chapel United Methodist Church
817-481-4147 |
| Venue: |
White's Chapel United Methodist Church
817-481-4147 |
| Location: |
185 S White Chapel Boulevard
Southlake, TX 76092
USA |
| Registration: |
Click here to register. |
| More Info: |
Click here for more information. |
To invite Carl McColman to speak to your community, click here.
