Recently I posted this on Facebook: In response, a reader made this comment: Carl, it took time, but about 10 years ago I finally fell In love with silence and the heart of God I find there. This past week though, as so many people on the national stage are trying to speak truth and being told to stay silent or being told their voices don’t matter, I find the idea and the word silence – even in a contemplative... Read more
A reader of this blog wrote to me about the practice of silent prayer. He alluded to a comment I made in an interview where I talked about allowing my breath to be my “prayer word” — in other words, instead of focussing my attention by silently repeating a single word (as promoted by The Cloud of Unknowing and Centering Prayer), I allow the normal rhythm of my breathing to be that gentle focal point for my attention. So with that... Read more
In response to my previous post from last October, Why Experience Is Not the Foundation of (All) Spirituality, a reader recently posted this comment on Facebook: As someone who struggles with fear and nihilism I often find myself craving an experience of god to help “cast out all doubt.” While in some ways it’s good to know I’m not the only one whose never had such an experience, it’s also nice to know there are alternatives. That said it is also... Read more
Did you know that one of the most popular authors in Catholic bookstores is a non-Catholic? I’m speaking of C. S. Lewis, the Anglican layman whose common-sense apologetics and visionary fiction has made him one of the best-selling Christians authors not only among Catholics, but among Christians of all stripes. And while I have a few philosophical and theological quibbles with the man, I continue to find reading his work to be enlightening and inspiring. Lewis didn’t want to be... Read more
Today’s post is by a guest author, Dr. David Rensberger, author of Johannine Faith and Liberating Community. A version of this post originally appeared on the blog for the Weavings Journal. Religion is about balance, we are often told. For example, there’s a story in the gospel of Luke about Jesus paying a visit to two sisters, Martha and Mary. Martha busied herself with the necessary household preparations, while Mary simply sat at Jesus’ feet and listened. This story is often... Read more
A reader named Kevin wrote and asked me: What’s your view on the phenomenon of spiritual ecstasy? I used to think, before I experienced it, that it was a surge of positive emotion, rather like joy. Experienced in the body. Actually, in my experience spiritual ecstasy takes place in silence, in stillness, and in the spirit rather than the body. It is an internal experience. Do you have a view? That’s a great question, and I’m afraid I can only... Read more
A reader wrote this message to me recently: Carl, I just recently started centering prayer as my form of meditation. Here is my dilemma: I find myself picking a word without really knowing why and the midway through the meditation feeling some kind of inadequacy in it so then picking another word. How do you pick a “sacred word” and then how do you stick with it? Any thoughts? This is a great question and one that I imagine many... Read more
This fall my new book, An Invitation to Celtic Wisdom, will be published. You can pre-order it from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or IndieBound (independent bookstores), — just click on the retailer’s name to order it). If you would like to read a sample chapter of the book, click here. An Invitation to Celtic Wisdom explores what is unique, beautiful and life-giving in the spirituality found in places like Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Celtic spirituality is filled with poetry, myth, humor and adventure. It is... Read more
I sure know how to pick them (he says, ruefully). The two organizations that I have turned to for contemplative formation over the past decade — the Catholic Church and Shambhala Buddhism — have both been rocked by abuse and cover-up scandals. Since 2004 the Catholic Church has been my spiritual home. I was confirmed as a Catholic at the Easter Vigil in 2005. Over the past fourteen years I have gone from being a timid student of Catholicism, to... Read more
Meister Eckhart is one of the most renowned of Christian mystics: a medieval philosopher who could have gone down in history as an equal to Augustine or Aquinas — but whose career (and legacy) as a theologian was forever tarnished by accusations of heresy at the end of his life. His many sermons and treatises (in both Latin and Middle High German) show not only a brilliant mind, but a daring and visionary understanding of spirituality and the call of... Read more
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