The Center for Contemplative Practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
Month: September 2017
LIVING THE CHRIST LIFE IS NOT EASY
Here are a few thoughts I had from my Lectio Divina (Phil. 2:5) on original sin. Ever since the sin of Adam and Eve, humans have experienced the side-effects of that original sin. They are work is difficult, childbearing is with pain, there are… Continue Reading “LIVING THE CHRIST LIFE IS NOT EASY”
Follow Me
Jesus left us no book of instructions on how to get to Heaven other than what he taught his disciples. St. John says, in his Gospel that the whole world could not contain all the stories of what Jesus did. (John 21:24-25) Here are… Continue Reading “Follow Me”
WONDER IF….
Here are some thoughts from my Lectio Divina meditations that you might find interesting. Wonder if… you did not have to struggle sometimes to complete your contemplative practices. Wonder if…you were not tempted to stop going to Eucharist because it is where you not… Continue Reading “WONDER IF….”
PRAYER: Our Father
You must have recited the Our Father hundreds of times in your lifetime. It is a stylized prayer, one that we recite from Scripture at every Eucharist. Like all prayers that we say over and over, we have a tendency to take the words… Continue Reading “PRAYER: Our Father”
IN WHICH OF THESE TWO CHURCHES DO YOU PRACTICE?
NOTE: The following blog is excerpted from a book I am writing about the subject. I do not attempt a scholarly treatise on the forces that shaped the early Catholic Church in this blog. There are complex Greek and Roman influences and myths that… Continue Reading “IN WHICH OF THESE TWO CHURCHES DO YOU PRACTICE?”
HOW CAN YOU PRACTICE SILENCE IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS?
It might seem like a contradiction to say that you can practice silence in the midst of the turmoil of living life each day. Traditionally, monks and nuns are those men and women who seal themselves away from the so-called noise of living in order… Continue Reading “HOW CAN YOU PRACTICE SILENCE IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS?”
TOP FIVE CISTERCIAN INTERNET SITES
When I look up something that puzzles me or confuses me, which is almost 100% of the time, I use these five sites when I think of contemplative spirituality. I thought you might like to see what they are and bookmark them. I offer… Continue Reading “TOP FIVE CISTERCIAN INTERNET SITES”
MOVING DEEPER FROM SELF TO GOD
If you are the same person at fifty-five, spiritually, that you were when you were twenty-five, something is wrong. Life is too short. You don’t want to waste time on just treading water your whole life. If you are not growing deeper, you probably… Continue Reading “MOVING DEEPER FROM SELF TO GOD”
WHAT IS THE CORE OF YOUR BEING, THE ONE CORNERSTONE OF SACRED SCRIPTURES?
Can you think of just one concept or quote from Sacred Scriptures upon which all the others rest? Put another way, what is the bulls-eye of the bull’s eye of a target, the exact center? Again, if you had to write down just one… Continue Reading “WHAT IS THE CORE OF YOUR BEING, THE ONE CORNERSTONE OF SACRED SCRIPTURES?”
REFLECTIONS ON WHAT MY ORANGE TREE TAUGHT ME ABOUT GOD
I share with you some of my ideas from Lectio Divina Meditation and Contemplation based on Philippians 2:5. This morning, I was looking at my orange tree in the front yard. I had previously had many orange blossoms but now just ten teeny, tiny… Continue Reading “REFLECTIONS ON WHAT MY ORANGE TREE TAUGHT ME ABOUT GOD”
PRAY FOR ME?
When Hurricane Irma was on track to come directly over Tallahassee, many of my friends and church members told me that they would pray for me. What does that mean? When we pray in times of dysfunction or stress, do we seek God to… Continue Reading “PRAY FOR ME?”
CREATING A SPIRITUAL PATH FROM SELF TO GOD
One thing I lacked about seven years ago before I became an aspiring Lay Cistercian, was order in my life. I have since devised a way for me to seek God as a Lay Cistercian member of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery,… Continue Reading “CREATING A SPIRITUAL PATH FROM SELF TO GOD”
WHAT MAKES JESUS ANGRY?
You don’t want to make God angry. There was one thing that did provoke anger on more than one occasion. It was saying one thing in public but holding a different position in your heart. It was duplicity. It was hypocrisy. 27 “Woe to you,… Continue Reading “WHAT MAKES JESUS ANGRY?”
DO YOU PLAY GOD GAMES?
During one of my Lectio/Meditations on Phil 2:5, I had the following thoughts which I share with you now. All Christians have the temptation to play God games. The games are human responses to what we think God is or what we think God… Continue Reading “DO YOU PLAY GOD GAMES?”
THE THREE RULES OF THE SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE
The following ideas are excerpted from my book, The Three Rules of the Spiritual Universe. You can access this book in the Store part of this blog. In my Lectio Divina/Meditations/Contemplations, I was presented with these three ideas about the spiritual universe. They are big… Continue Reading “THE THREE RULES OF THE SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE”
I ALWAYS SIT IN THE TAX COLLECTOR’S SEAT
Well, there I sat, as I always do, in the Tax Collector’s seat at Good Shepherd Church, Tallahassee, Florida. The last bench is marked with a handicapped sign, but that is not why I sit there. You are no doubt familiar with the parable… Continue Reading “I ALWAYS SIT IN THE TAX COLLECTOR’S SEAT”
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