What Richard Foster and Dallas Willard were to my generation – prime tour guides to the spiritual life – I hope and believe Carl McColman will be for the next…
Category: Spirituality
Ten Bible Verses About Silence, Stillness and Solitude
This evening I’ve been asked to speak to a small house church in my neighborhood on the spirituality of silence. This particular community is evangelical, and silence is not something that they have traditionally placed a lot of emphasis on. But their pastor (who lives across the street from me)…… Read more at Patheos
How To Know When to Speak (and When to Be Silent)
Recently I posted this on Facebook: In response, a reader made this comment: Carl, it took time, but about 10 years ago I finally fell In love with silence and the heart of God I find there. This past week though, as so many people on the national stage are…… Read more at Patheos
Between Shambhala and the Catholic Church: On Being a Contemplative in Imperfect Institutions
I sure know how to pick them (he says, ruefully). The two organizations that I have turned to for contemplative formation over the past decade — the Catholic Church and Shambhala Buddhism — have both been rocked by abuse and cover-up scandals. Since 2004 the Catholic Church has been my…… Read more at Patheos
What’s The Point Behind Mary and Martha?
When I lead retreats, I often offer up a disclaimer: I am not an academic theologian, or a Biblical scholar, or any other kind of scholar for that matter. Which I don’t see as a handicap, since you don’t need a college degree to do the work of silent prayer.…… Read more at Patheos
Discerning the Difference Between Healthy Self-Esteem and Toxic Selfishness
In response to my article The Self, Self-Esteem, and Dying to Self, one reader posted this question: So…I’m just curious but how do you suggest one can find a balance between the two? I agree with your article and I’m grateful that you mention how Christian culture can cause us…… Read more at Patheos
Saying Yes to “Prayer Without Ceasing”
In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Saint Paul throws down the spiritual gauntlet. He instructs his readers to “pray without ceasing.” For almost two thousand years now, Christian saints, nuns, monks, and mystics have been trying to unpack that simple three-word verse (just two words in the original Greek). What, pray tell,…… Read more at Patheos
What’s in a (Sacred) Story? Meditating on the Mysteries of Our Faith
To be a mystic is to be the explorer of both Divine and human mysteries (which corresponds to Jesus’s two essential teachings, “Love God” and “Love your neighbors”). We often…
Why Finding God In All Things Leads to Fullness of Joy
One of the my favorite Christian writers is a woman who lived in fourteenth century England. We don’t even know her name. But we know her by the name of…
Prayer of the Heart is the Heart of Prayer
Scripture very bluntly tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God — and so, my brothers and sisters, I feel that I must begin…
Learning to Love the “Habit” of Spirituality
We human beings are creatures of habit. We brush our teeth in the same direction, we take the same route to work, we fold our clothes or make our beds…
Running After Something You Already Have
I had a dream last night — about one of my favorite retreat centers, and one of my favorite books. The setting of my dream was the Montreat Conference Center,…