Friends, you are invited to a special virtual event: the Eternal Heart Book Launch Celebration! We will gather via Zoom on Tuesday, June 29, 2021 from 7:30 – 8:45 PM (Eastern USA Time). Our gathering will include music by folksinger Caroline Herring, and words from two special “Heart Authors” — Lerita Coleman Brown and Colette Lafia! I’ll read a few selections from the book, have a conversation on the wisdom of the heart with Lerita and Colette, and there will be... Read more
N.B. Today’s guest post is by noted musician and thanatologist Therese Schroeder-Sheker. She wrote this piece in response to Carl McColman’s latest book, Eternal Heart. I remember seeing an exquisite painting in a small private gallery in Brussels many years ago. Two souls were walking together side by side as the sun was setting in the west. Their heads were bowed, slightly inclined toward one another, and their glowing hands gestured gracefully like birds held aloft in mid-air. It seemed to me... Read more
The best way to understand Christian mysticism (if “understanding” is even a possibility, given the mysterious nature of mysticism) is to approach it as a process: a developmental journey of how one relates to God. Process, Development, Journey, Relationship. Mysticism is dynamic, not static. More verb than noun. It’s something we do — in response to the love of God. Christian Mysticism begins with God. In this dance, God is Fred Astaire and the human being(s) — whether a single, individual, or... Read more
Friends, could you take a half a minute and fill out this 1-question survey? I’m planning my calendar for the rest of the year, and I’m trying to gauge how I should apportion my time between blogging, podcasting, video creation, and of course, working on my next book(s). I know the easy answer is “do what you love,” but to be honest I enjoy pretty much all of the above. So getting to know what is meaningful for you might help... Read more
Please click on the button of your preferred retailer to pre-order Eternal Heart: If you have already pre-ordered Eternal Heart, I thank you. If you haven’t, please do so. I’m not very good at marketing — I’d much rather spend my time coming up with new material for my blog or youtube or whatever. But we live in a world that is organized around commerce, and part of my job as a writer is to promote my book. So here goes.... Read more
N.B. Today’s guest post is by Jon M. Sweeney. Jon is the author of numerous books, including The Pope Who Quit, Beauty Awakening Belief: How the Medieval Worldview Inspires Faith Today, Phyllis Tickle: A Life and The Pope’s Cat among many others. He has edited works by Thomas Merton, Meister Eckhart, and others (Jon also edited my book on C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Mouse and the Dawn Treader). His newest book, released today, is Thomas Merton: An Introduction to His Life, Teachings and... Read more
I first “met” Julian of Norwich through reading Evelyn Underhill’s magisterial book Mysticism: The Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness. Underhill’s book changed my life, for a number of reasons: it gave me a language and a context for making sense of my spiritual experience, it helped me to see that there is a place for an intellectually honest, interfaith-friendly expression of Christian spirituality, and — perhaps most important of all — Underhill introduced me to the grand tradition of Christian... Read more
Lately I’ve been posting a social media a “book of the day.” It’s a combination of new books that I find interesting (which I may or may not have read), along with an assortment of books in my library ranging from antiquarian treasures to more recently published titles. Here’s a recent example: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Carl McColman (@carlmccolman) The feedback on these “bookstagrams” has mostly been positive, although a few people have teased me... Read more
Today’s guest post is by Lisa Deam, the author of 3000 Miles to Jesus: Pilgrimage as a Way of Life for Spiritual Seekers and A World Transformed: Exploring the Spirituality of Medieval Maps. Lisa is the host of The Contemplative Writer website (www.thecontemplativewriter.com). I’d like to begin with a confession: I natter on about pilgrimage whenever I can, recently wrote a book about pilgrimage, and was invited by my friend Carl McColman to write for his blog on the subject... Read more
What do Christian mystics believe? Hidden in this question is really two questions: Do Christians mystics believe what other Christians believe? Do Christian mystics believe something different from what other Christians believe? Let’s look at each of these in turn The Belief of Christian Mystics — as Christians Anyone interested in the beliefs of Christian mystics will naturally be curious to know, “do Christian mystics believe the same things as other Christians?” It’s an almost impossible question to answer, simply... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In