Author’s Note: The following post was created as a “Welcome” page for an earlier version of this website. I’m archiving this text here, but some of the references in it…
Category: Spirituality
Concerning Sheep, Goats, and the Unconditional Love of God
I received this email today. Thought it might be worth exploring here on the blog. Hi Carl. Just listened to your two interviews and was blessed … You said in…
Speaking of Silence (On Internet Radio)
One of the great paradoxes of being a writer (and speaker) on contemplative spirituality is that I essentially use words to invite people into a wordless place. Ah, sweet irony….
Why I don’t call myself a "Monk in the World"
Living in the World (Whether or Not You’re a Monk) Ten years ago Wayne Teasdale wrote a book called A Monk in the World. It’s based on an idea he…
An Accident and its Aftermath
In the summer of 1992, I was in a rather nasty car accident. It left me with a jaw broken in several places, a few missing teeth, lacerations along one…
"Where Two or Three Are Gathered"
A sermon preached at First Christian Church of Decatur, Decatur GA, on September 4, 2011 Scripture: Matthew 18:20 “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” What an…
Everything Has Being By the Love of God
In this same time our Lord showed me a spiritual sight of His homely loving. I saw that He is to us everything that is good and comfortable for us:…
“He Climbed a Tree to See Him”
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. (Luke 19:4) When I was a boy I loved to…
Tessa Bielecki’s Recommended Reading for Growing in Intimacy with Christ
In her CD teaching series Wild at Heart: Radical Teachings of the Christian Mystics, former-Carmelite-turned-desert hermit Tessa Bielecki offers a wealth of suggestions of books one can read to deepen…
A Kiss from Mom and a Lesson About Suffering
Early this morning (August 15, 2009) I had a dream in which I was standing outside a building, like an officer’s club on a small military base. It felt like…
Perfectly Perfect
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” This saying of Jesus, from the heart of his Sermon on the Mount, might possibly be the single most misunderstood verse…
Everything you always wanted to know about Christian mysticism (but were afraid to ask)
Hey you! Yes, that’s right… you, the person reading these words right now. I need your help. Don’t go away — please read this post and take a moment to…