What religious belief does is attempt to explain in a compelling narrative the unseen reality that lies at the heart of spiritual experience.
— Barbara Bradley Haggerty, Fingerprints of God:
What Science is Learning about
the Brain and Spiritual Experience
Note from Carl: I just received this notification from Columbia Seminary. Their certificate in Spiritual Formation is really a wonderful program (and one of the forthcoming events, Wisdom of the Christian Mystics is led by yours truly). Register by January 13 to save 15% off of one (or more!) of these following events.
Just a reminder that the New Year’s Special ends Friday, January 13 at noon. If you have been thinking about registering for a Spirituality class through Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA, I encourage you to go ahead and do so. As you may have personally experienced, our classes are rich, formative experiences that invite you to more intentionally explore and engage your spiritual journey.
I also want to draw your attention to the Living Prayer class at Montreat, April 26-29. Living Prayer, lead by writer, retreat leader and spiritual director, Rev. Roberta Martin, is a core class for the Certificate in Spiritual Formation. While we offer this class every 2-3 years, each Instructor brings new insights and emphases to the class. If you are interested in exploring and practicing various forms of prayers, I encourage you to read more about this class. Everyone is welcome.
| Selected classes include (click on a specific class below to find out more information) | |
| Christianity After Religion with Diana Butler Bass | January 24-26 |
| Programming with a Plan: Intentional Youth Ministry | February 3-4 |
| Selected 2012 Spiritual Formation Classes | |
| Immersion Experience | February 2-5 |
| Wisdom of the Christian Mystics |
February 16-19 |
| Sacred Listening: Group Spiritual Direction | March 11-14 |
| Living Prayer: Experiencing Prayer in Many Forms | April 26-29 |
| Women’s Contemplative Retreat | April 30-May 4 |
| Immersion Experience (Week) | July 22-27 |
| Growing in Wholeness | August 23-26 |
| Embodied Spirituality | September 20-23 |
| Exploring Wisdom’s Wonder | October 25-28 |
| Spiritual Practice: A Way of Life | November 11-16 |
| The 15% discount expires at noon on Friday, January 13, 2012. The discount is only available for new registrations. The class must be paid in full at the time of registration. Excludes housing and meals. For classes where the total program fee listed includes housing and meals, the 15% discount is calculated on the program fee excluding housing and meals and then re-combined with the housing and meals fee. | |
Last month I announced that I will be launching a new weekly column at Patheos. That is still in the works, and we hope to be up and running sometime in February. The column will explore what it means to be a contemplative in today’s spiritual landscape, while trying to maintain a sense of groundedness within a particular tradition, a willingness to consider alternative voices within that tradition, as well as a willingness to learn from practitioners of other paths.
When I posted this bit of information, I also solicited input about possible names for the column (read the original post here). I had two suggestions for naming the column: WORD TO SILENCE, suggesting the paradoxical relationship between communication and contemplation found at the heart of mysticism; and EARTH KEEP SILENCE, a reference to Habbakuk 2:20 (“The Lord is in his temple, let all the earth keep silence before him”) which struck me as a meaningful link between my commitment to contemplation as well as my Celtic/nature-based spiritual leanings.
Alas, in the original poll, more people voted for “Sorry, I don’t like either of these names” than for either of my suggestions! Humbling as that was, it also signaled to me the need to go back to the drawing board. So here’s a new poll, with a couple of new options.
I figured since my URL has been ANAMCHARA since 1996, I may as well consider that as a possible column title: while some people will no doubt be mystified by this Gaelic word, others will recognize it represents a nexus point between contemplation and Celtic wisdom. Another thought I had, based on a pun (!), is OPENING THE PRESENT — shades of grace, of contemplation, of finding hidden treasures. Finally, I’m allowing you to vote for the two previous ideas as well, although I’ve retooled the Habbakuk allusion to simply LET THE EARTH KEEP SILENCE.This time, I’m not giving you the option of saying “I don’t like any of them!” Although if you don’t like any of these choices, or if you have a different/better idea, please voice your opinion in the comments.
Thanks for your input!
Next month I’ll be leading a retreat on the “Wisdom of the Christian Mystics” at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. It’s offered as part of the seminary’s certificate in spiritual formation, but you do not have to be enrolled in the certificate program in order to participate in the retreat. Register before January 13 and save 15% off the registration fee!
Here’s the link to register: http://www.ctsnet.edu/Event.aspx?areaID=1&eventID=611
If you’d like more information about the retreat, click here: https://www.facebook.com/events/208325265908521/
Here’s a video that the CTS folks made when I was on campus a few weeks back, talking about what mysticism is and how we’ll explore the topic in a retreat setting:
This video was filmed in the chapel at Columbia Seminary. I love the stained glass! My wife teases me because I keep looking over my glasses — the cameras were mounted high on the wall, and, well, I just kept looking over my glasses!
You can also read a short article I wrote for the CTS newsletter here: http://journeyingtogether.ctsnet.edu/Article.aspx?ID=103
Please visit The Women in Jesus’s Past to read my latest blog post. This is posted at my “beta” blog site, where I am tinkering with a possible new design for my blog. Enjoy!
An interesting column: a Rabbi reflects on atheists who are unhappy with public nativity scenes. Thoughtful and compassionate in its tone, and well worth reading: The Atheists’ Gift to Christmas.
