In the first chapter of The Acts of the Apostles, Jesus gives his disciples their last instructions before his ascension into heaven (Acts 1:6-12). The first chapter of Acts is…
Author: Carl McColman
Soul Friend and Storyteller. Lay Cistercian, Centering Prayer Presenter, Author, Blogger, Podcaster, Speaker, Teacher, Retreat Leader.
Contemplation and the Ocean of Presence
Here’s a little video I filmed last month at the Gulf Coast. It’s only about 45 seconds long and consists of the sunset and the surf. I offer it to you…
Advance Praise for "Befriending Silence"
What do Brian McLaren, Fr. Daniel Horan OFM, Fr. Michael Casey OCSO, Br. Patrick Hart OCSO, and Phyllis Tickle have in common? They’ve all endorsed Befriending Silence. Brian McLaren praises Befriending…
Contemplative Leadership with Saints Benedict and Ignatius of Loyola
In recent months I have become very interested in the topic of leadership. Which might seem silly, since I do not manage people, or lead a congregation, or hold a…
Please Fill Out My Reader Survey!
Please fill out my reader’s survey — and help me to make this a better blog. I’m asking for this information (collected anonymously) to give me a better sense of this blog’s readers,…
Five Ways You Can Enjoy a Deeper Personal Prayer Life
We need to deepen our own personal prayer lives. — The Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory, S.L.D., Archbishop of Atlanta Recently the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta published a Pastoral Plan, the result of…
A Prayer for Contemplatives
O Divine Beloved, you are the source of life and the fountain of all goodness. In the mystery of your silence we recognize who we are, for we are created in your image….
Contemplation and Grieving
A reader named Monika wrote the following comment and left it on one of my blog posts: I recently lost my husband of 49 years to a sudden brain tumor. I…
Contemplation and Conflict
I simply love this story of two desert fathers, which Thomas Merton recounts in his book The Wisdom of the Desert: There were two elders living together in a cell,…
Joyful Contemplation (No Fooling!)
If you are engaged in a serious and sustained practice of silent prayer and contemplative spirituality, then you need to be a very somber, sober, and serious person, for the…
You can do it, my friend: you can thrive with a daily practice of silent prayer
In my travels I hear a lot from people who get discouraged regarding silent prayer. Some folks tell me their minds race too much when they try to pray in silence….
Psalm 131: Humility, Silence and Hope
Sometimes I get asked “Where is contemplation in the Bible?” One obvious answer to this question is Psalm 131. It’s a short Psalm, only three verses. Here it is in…