Note: This is the fifth installment in a series on the Christian contemplatives. For the first article in the series, please click here. Gregory the Great: Setting the Stage for the Medieval Period As the 6th century drew to a close, Rome forced the son of a Roman senator and a Christian mother into the […]
The Medieval Contemplative’s Dilemma: To Serve or Pray? Read More »
The Set-Up: From Outsiders to Mainstream Culture Welcome to the fourth century. Christianity has come a long way. The Jesus-followers are no longer a first century sect of Judaism struggling to define their faith. After a couple centuries complete with waves of persecution, the Edict of Milan (313 AD) significantly decreased the likelihood of martydom.
Early Interfaith Dialogue: Pseudo-Dionysius vs. the Pseudo-Contemplative Read More »
After the “New Testament Mystics” (the Apostles and Paul), things got weird for a few centuries. The earliest post-biblical era contemplatives had a rough start of it, though they did pave the way for future Christian mystics. It’s hard to blame them for the rough start. Jesus knew God directly, so he got it ALL
The Early Mystics: Pin the Tail on the Donkey Read More »
A Bad Rap: Mysticism’s Fall From Glory Contemplative (mystical) Christianity is clearly present in the New Testament and is at the heart of the Christian faith. Contemplative Christianity (Christian mysticism) was all the rage up through the 1400’s. That’s a solid 15 centuries of being “cool”. Generally, folks embraced the concept of having a deep-hearted
Christ Lives in Me: Contemplative Christianity in the New Testament Read More »
Don’t Get Cocky My boys are back into Star Wars recently. They just watched “Solo” yesterday morning, so I have all things George Lucas on the brain. Leia’s line and the inspiration for the title of this post is not far from the truth, though. Between COVID, climate change, racial injustice, political corruption, and a
This Year’s New Year’s Resolution: “Somebody has to save our skins” Read More »
The Way, the Truth, and the Life I grew up a maroon jumper-wearing, saddle-shoed strutting, rosary-praying good Catholic girl. A decade later, I spent my college years as an evangelical Christian. Steeped in the traditions and rituals of the Christian faith, my relationship with God flourished. My upbringing not only gave me a strong grounding
The View from the Summit: The Mountain and Interfaith Connection Read More »
All In My Head For much of my life, I, like most humans, have lived in my mind. As I take a walk in the beauty of nature, my brain is daydreaming about that delicious meal I plan on cooking later on that day and inventorying the fridge. Shoot–we’re out of soy sauce. Is there
Breaking Up with Thinking: How to Enter the Peace of God Read More »
Walking the Walk The longer I have been on the contemplative path, the more I have been drawn to a life that is slower-paced and more connected to nature, other people, and, it goes without saying, the creator. Within a couple years of starting down this road, I naturally felt drawn to cultivate more compassionate
Why I’m (Sort of) Vegan Read More »
Field of Dreams is my husband’s favorite movie. Despite this, in thirteen years of marriage, we never once watched it together in its entirety. Instead, he would flip over to it after our boys went to bed whenever it was showing on one of the cable channels. Typically, we would catch only portions of the
Is This Heaven? Four Spiritual Lessons from Field of Dreams Read More »
Meditation…pure bliss or pure torture? Sitting in utter quiet for minutes on end focusing on your breath. Nowhere to go, no one to bother you, nothing to accomplish. People who meditate often look so serene and peaceful. They seem to be in some ethereal state that the common man feels is out of reach. However,
How to Meditate in 5 (Simple?) Steps Read More »
