Twice in recent days I’ve had conversations with people in ministry about their spiritual life, and the idiomatic phrase “seeing how the sausage is made” got used. Here’s a (paraphrased)…
Category: Contemplation
From “Orthodox” to “Open” — Some Personal Thoughts on How Faith Can Evolve Over Time
A reader of this blog sent me the following question: Hi Carl, I’ve been reading quite a bit of your blog. It seems like back around 2016-2017, you were making…
Spiritual Practices, Traumatic Shame, and Holy Freedom
Recently I read Laura E. Anderson’s When Religion Hurts You: Healing from Religious Trauma and the Impact of High-Control Religion. Anderson, a psychotherapist specializing in trauma and herself a survivor of…
The God who is Love and the Death of Christ: A Contemplative Reflection
Allen, who is a reader of this blog, recently sent me a thoughtful email; here are some excerpts from what he wrote: I have a profound connection with the teachings…
Julian of Norwich and the Non-binary God
In the middle ages — 1373, to be exact — an obscure English woman got sick, and while she was ill, experienced visions of God, Christ, Mary, and heaven. We know…
The Difference Between Apophatic and Kataphatic Spirituality
Many years ago, my very first spiritual director recommended a book to me; she suggested that I read Gerald May’s 1982 classic: Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology. I did,…
From Mythology to Mysticism: A New Way to Think About Lectio Divina
If you have been reading this blog (or participating in Christian contemplative practices) for a while, no doubt you are familiar with Lectio Divina. If not, you can see a…
The Relationship Between Meditation, Mysticism and Contemplation
A long-term reader and patron of this blog recently wrote to me this message: Just what is a contemplative person or for that matter tradition? Is a Christian mystic by…
Where to Rest Your Awareness in Centering Prayer
A reader of this blog recently wrote this question to me: I’ve read and listened to Fr. Thomas Keating quite a bit but am still a little confused regarding where…
Too Busy to Read? Check Out My Audiobooks
Everyone is so busy these days. I get it. So many books, so little time. Which is why audiobooks are God’s gift to commuters and other busy folks. If you…
When Contemplatives Talk About Love, What Do They Mean?
In the wisdom teachings of Jesus, there are several pretty explicit (and challenging) teachings about love. Consider these words: “Love God with all your heart and with all your soul…
Mary, Mother of… Socialism?!?
A seminarian I know is currently taking a class on the theology of Mary. She’s reading lots of stuff, both ancient and modern; as we were talking, I remembered an…