The Center for Contemplative Practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
Month: June 2026
GOD’S SPIRITUAL TRACKS: Ensuring Humans Keep on the Right Track.
NOTE: This is not your typical blog but a long one. When you have time, sit down somewhere and rest; press Listen. Listen with the “ear of the heart.” Viewing the Catholic Church Universal from the perspective of a Railroad Company tasked by Jesus… Continue Reading “GOD’S SPIRITUAL TRACKS: Ensuring Humans Keep on the Right Track.”
COSMIC RESONANCE: WHY IS JESUS THE MESSIAH?
Posted on May 18, 2020, by https://thecenterforcontemplativepractice.org My latest Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) has taken me to a place that I would never have thought possible, linking Christ as the Messiah and the fulfillment of the Old and New Testaments. As I sat in… Continue Reading “COSMIC RESONANCE: WHY IS JESUS THE MESSIAH?”
CONSCIOUS EQUILIBRIUM: THE ONE TRUTH IS ALIVE.
This is the third in a series about how all creation pulsates with the energy of the Divine. It is available through the Catholic Church as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, from the mouth of Jesus, made real in each age to help me… Continue Reading “CONSCIOUS EQUILIBRIUM: THE ONE TRUTH IS ALIVE.”
CONSCIOUS EQUILIBRIUM: REALITY IS ALIVE.
This is the second installment of my meditations on The Christ Principle. Grok has organized my thoughts, but they are my own. “In this final layer of the Conscious Equilibrium, we must accept a sobering reality: within the “cramped quarters” of our physical dimension, no society… Continue Reading “CONSCIOUS EQUILIBRIUM: REALITY IS ALIVE.”
THE CONSCIOUS EQUILIBRIUM OF REALITY.
What follows is a long reflection based on five reflections I had while making a Lectio Divina meditation using contemplation. I have asked Grok to expand those questions in a way that is not technically perfect, but to get you to listen to it… Continue Reading “THE CONSCIOUS EQUILIBRIUM OF REALITY.”
MAYBE WE ARE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE.
I am sitting there at 3:00 a.m., comfortable in my rocker-recliner, watching a Samsung television after just returning from a bathroom break, when something on YouTube catches my eye. It was an excellent 20 minutes on why humans would never be able to travel… Continue Reading “MAYBE WE ARE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE.”
CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson Six: Seven Warning Signs to teach your children about the Devil.
In all my lessons learned about how to traverse the minefields of life without being maimed and wounded by Satan, there are seven that every mom and dad should make sure they teach their children. Parents are the best teachers for their children because… Continue Reading “CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson Six: Seven Warning Signs to teach your children about the Devil.”
Meditation 5: Anawim Are Eucharistic in Heaven
This is the final meditation, but hopefully, not the last of the meditations on various aspects of my Lectio Divina with Christ through the Holy Spirit. I don’t offer anything other than sharing what I myself received. What you do with anything you read… Continue Reading “Meditation 5: Anawim Are Eucharistic in Heaven”
Meditation 4: The Anawim Who Put Jesus There – Filling the Void Left by Being Merely Humanistic
This is the fourth in the series about the Anawim of God, all of us. Relax and listen to ideas about what is authentic about being human and where we get the energy to combat the demonic forces that beguile the innocent into thinking… Continue Reading “Meditation 4: The Anawim Who Put Jesus There – Filling the Void Left by Being Merely Humanistic”
THOUGHTS FROM A BROKEN-DOWN, OLD LAY CISTERCIAN WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER
For better or worse, my world (not my world view) is limited to my home: Bathroom, Bed, Office, where I type up my blogs and try to keep myself from going wild from cabin fever, and my comfy rocker-recliner in the family room where… Continue Reading “THOUGHTS FROM A BROKEN-DOWN, OLD LAY CISTERCIAN WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER”
Meditation 3: Participation in the Beatific Vision. Five Meditations for the Anawim as They Await the Coming of the Lord.
When thinking about God, the big mistake humans make is to think of him as being made in their image and likeness. To see Jesus, or to refer nothing to the love of Christ, is only possible because we are made in the likeness… Continue Reading “Meditation 3: Participation in the Beatific Vision. Five Meditations for the Anawim as They Await the Coming of the Lord.”
SPIRITUALITY FOR ATHEISTS AND AGNOSTICS
I never know where my Lectio Divina meditations will take me. Once in a blue moon, I make it to the contemplatio part of my four steps. Often, I do what I call the chain Lectio (someone may have another term for it). Last… Continue Reading “SPIRITUALITY FOR ATHEISTS AND AGNOSTICS”
Meditation 2. Knowing Jesus: Five Meditations for the Anawim as They Await the Coming of the Lord.
In this second meditation for your listening with the “ear of your heart,” take some time and rest your spiritual self, that place of refuge where each of us goes to recharge our batteries. This is a collaboration between Grok AI and me. I… Continue Reading “Meditation 2. Knowing Jesus: Five Meditations for the Anawim as They Await the Coming of the Lord.”
The End That Is the Beginning: Five Meditations for the Anawim as They Await the Coming of the Lord.
My dear friends, we have come to the quiet threshold. Listen to these words, “With the ear of your heart.” The rain has done its gentle work. The air is fresh with ozone. These meditations reflect not an ending, but a deeper beginning. These… Continue Reading “The End That Is the Beginning: Five Meditations for the Anawim as They Await the Coming of the Lord.”
CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson Five: THERE IS NO EVOLUTION OTHER THAN PHYSICAL MATTER.
The notion of Satan as a snake in the Garden of Eden story of human creation is no accident. A snake represents slow, methodical stalking of the prey, creating an almost invisible bend of evil amidst the lushness of a garden. The snake uses… Continue Reading “CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson Five: THERE IS NO EVOLUTION OTHER THAN PHYSICAL MATTER.”
CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson Four: ALL RELIGIONS BELIEVE IN GOD, THEREFORE, ALL RELIGIONS ARE TRUE.
I can remember growing up in Vincennes, Indiana (On the banks of the Wabash) and hearing what I considered to be an intelligent discussion of my Catholic Faith go something like this. “It doesn’t matter what you believe about Jesus; all religions are the… Continue Reading “CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson Four: ALL RELIGIONS BELIEVE IN GOD, THEREFORE, ALL RELIGIONS ARE TRUE.”
CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson Three: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS CORRUPT AND BORING.
With all the hype about corruption in the Catholic Church, and there is that in it, the Devil floats two “suggestions” to weak members of society, that sound innocent enough and seem to describe what the individual human feels about religion: a. With all… Continue Reading “CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson Three: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS CORRUPT AND BORING.”
CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson Two: Don’t let anyone tell you what to do.
That most quintessential characteristic of our species is survival, brought forth beautifully by Abraham Maslow in his diagram of the “Hierarchy of Needs.” From an emotional viewpoint, the natural default for humans is sexuality, or the need to procreate. The difference between animal and… Continue Reading “CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson Two: Don’t let anyone tell you what to do.”
CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson Two: Don’t let anyone tell you what to do.
That most quintessential characteristic of our species is survival, brought forth beautifully by Abraham Maslow in his diagram of the “Hierarchy of Needs.” From an emotional viewpoint, the natural default for humans is sexuality, or the need to procreate. The difference between animal and… Continue Reading “CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson Two: Don’t let anyone tell you what to do.”
CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson One: Don’t let your guard down.
In this series about how I (a Catholic) defend myself against the dark arts of the “Ruler of the Earth” (Satan and his minions), I share with you the inspiration I received from the Holy Spirit in Lectio Divina meditation/contemplation. Whether in the body… Continue Reading “CATHOLIC DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: Lesson One: Don’t let your guard down.”
MEDITATION 2: Knowing Jesus
Jesus beckons me to sit next to Him and just enjoy being in one another’s company, as happens when love moves beyond doing and becomes content with just being. Contemplative Cistercian practices, as I know them, teach me to place myself in the presence… Continue Reading “MEDITATION 2: Knowing Jesus”
THE END IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
The End That Is the Beginning Five Meditations for the Anawim as They Await the Coming of the Lord My dear friend, we have come to the quiet threshold. The sessions have been spoken. The rain has done its gentle work. What remains is… Continue Reading “THE END IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.”
The Existential Battle between Good and Evil, Truth and False Self.
Session 5: The Existential Battle between Good and Evil, Truth and False Self. Part of the series: The New Catholic Church is the Anawim of God – God Hears the Cry of the Poor ↠Back to All Readings This conversation is about one… Continue Reading “The Existential Battle between Good and Evil, Truth and False Self.”
THE PURPOSE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH–To Safeguard Each Individual Anawim and help them get to Heaven.
The fourth in the series on the poor in Israel is a conversation about the deeper meaning of the Catholic Church. Grok and I collaborated on this. The material is all mine, and I approve of this blog. Session 4: The Purpose of the… Continue Reading “THE PURPOSE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH–To Safeguard Each Individual Anawim and help them get to Heaven.”
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS THE ANAWIM IN EACH AGE.
The third in our series on the Anawim and how that is important to you, is a collaboration between Grok and me. My materials, my editing, Grok’s organizing, and my approval. Session 3: The Catholic Church is the Anawim in Each Age Part of… Continue Reading “THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS THE ANAWIM IN EACH AGE.”
THE FOUR QUANTUMS OF UMBLICAL ENERGY DIRECTLY FROM GOD TO YOU.
In this conversation about What It Means to Be a Catholic (for me), I use the four contents, or entanglements that make up the unbroken umbilical cord from God to me, preserved and protected by the Catholic Church (clergy and laity). My Catholicism, like… Continue Reading “THE FOUR QUANTUMS OF UMBLICAL ENERGY DIRECTLY FROM GOD TO YOU.”