The Center for contemplative practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
Month: April 2022
MAKE A CONTEMPLATIVE RETREAT IN THE SILENCE OF YOUR HEART
I made this contemplative retreat recently and found it to be life-changing and the most inspiring thoughts that I am still processing to assimilate into my personal spiritual worldview. I offer to share this with you, but be forewarned, it is not for the… Continue Reading “MAKE A CONTEMPLATIVE RETREAT IN THE SILENCE OF YOUR HEART”
TRAPPIST BLOGS
If you choose to access this blog from various Trappist websites, hopefully, you will be as inspired as I was.
MARY STUART INSPIRED ME TO FIND A QUIET TRUTH
I had gall bladder removal surgery yesterday and am slowly getting back to normal (which is no small feat for me because I haven’t been normal for over twenty years). As I grow in awareness that I don’t know the full implications of the… Continue Reading “MARY STUART INSPIRED ME TO FIND A QUIET TRUTH”
THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT
Remember the actor Flip Wilson and his characters.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kaiLcwHXB4 This is one of my favorite comedic routines, “The Devil Made Me Do It.” Geraldine blams the Devil on her buying a new dress. Sounds a lot like Genesis 1-2, where Eve blamed the Serpent for… Continue Reading “THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT”
SEDUCED BY OUR WOUNDED NATURE
Humans have human nature. That sounds like a Yogi Berra truism, but there is a wisdom that belies this simple turn of phrase. The Book of Genesis, the archetypal story of our nature, points out that we humans are not God. Yet, as a… Continue Reading “SEDUCED BY OUR WOUNDED NATURE”
THE DIVINE EQUATION: THE IMPORTANCE OF ASSUMPTIONS
ASSUMPTIONS UNDERPINNING THE DIVINE EQUATION For some reason, always unknown to me, the notion of The Divine Equation popped up in my Lectio Divina this morning. I have been writing down what I have received from the Holy Spirit without totally knowing what I… Continue Reading “THE DIVINE EQUATION: THE IMPORTANCE OF ASSUMPTIONS”
THE LAST BLOG I EVER WRITE
The title suggests that the blog you now read is the last one I will ever write. I don’t mean that. My Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) meditation is “If you could write one short paragraph, summing up everything you have learned about the purpose… Continue Reading “THE LAST BLOG I EVER WRITE”
DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO
The “Don’t tell me” generation goes back a long way. In fact, it is recorded in the Book of Genesis, Chapters 2-3. The classic archetype of humans is one with fundamental flaws yet whose nature is good. Individually, not so much so. We have… Continue Reading “DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO”
LOVE: OUR MOST ILLUSIVE REALITY
LOVE IS LIKE A VALENTINE CARD Love has two dimensions: the mind (knowledge and logic) and the heart (emotion and feeling). Remember when you were in Third Grade, and everyone exchanged Valentine’s Day cards? What did you do when you went home that day?… Continue Reading “LOVE: OUR MOST ILLUSIVE REALITY”
THE DIVINE EQUATION: Assumptions make us who we are as humans
To wander through the high grass of the English language is to walk through paths that are sometimes strewn with weeds among the wildflowers. The communication problem becomes one of learning to delve into the assumptions underlying the words we use. For example, to… Continue Reading “THE DIVINE EQUATION: Assumptions make us who we are as humans”
HOW BIG IS YOUR WORLD?
There is nothing more challenging in life than moving or growing in awareness of your environment. The most basic and fundamental unit is the human person, who comes into being with two other persons’ consent and lives for seventy or eighty years, if lucky.… Continue Reading “HOW BIG IS YOUR WORLD?”
LITURGY OF THE HOURS: Office of the Dead
Would you join me in praying the Office of the Dead for my friend, Father Carl Roos, who died on April 3rd in Indianapolis, Indiana? We can also include any other souls of the Faithful Departed. May they rest in the peace of Christ.… Continue Reading “LITURGY OF THE HOURS: Office of the Dead”
WISDOM FROM THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US IN THE SIGN OF FAITH
Here are some sayings I discovered on one of my favorite websites.
A LAY CISTERCIAN’S SAYINGS
Here are some sayings that have popped up in my Lectio Divina Marriage is not the purpose of life, but the purpose of marriage is life. Love means following your heart to sit down next to Jesus on a park bench and wait. Just… Continue Reading “A LAY CISTERCIAN’S SAYINGS”
WHERE DOES GOOD OR EVIL ORIGINATE?
This topic would not be the conversation starter around any dinner in my experience of eating, but it is critical to what it means to be a human. REFLECTIONS ON WHY WE HAVE THE CHOICE OF GOOD OR EVIL Does good or evil originate… Continue Reading “WHERE DOES GOOD OR EVIL ORIGINATE?”
FOR BEHOLD, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW
What follows is a blog from last year on the liturgical celebration of what Christ did for us in the passion, death and resurrection.
IS AN ACTOR OR A SAINT A ROLE MODEL FOR WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN?
The recent fiasco over two actors, one of whom struck the other because of an insult, indicates just how much we revere actors in general as the paragons of what it means to be human. This fixation on a celebrity or who’s who in… Continue Reading “IS AN ACTOR OR A SAINT A ROLE MODEL FOR WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN?”
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