Carl McColman's Blog, page 11

Modern Mystics: The Latest from Bernard McGinn

I make the following statement in my forthcoming New Big Book of Christian Mysticism:

Some writers and scholars, who might humbly deny identifying themselves as mystics, nevertheless have contributed much to our understanding of mystical theology, philosophy, and spirituality. In our time, scholars like Bernard McGinn, Louise Nelstrop, Barbara Holmes, Mark McIntosh, Grace Jantzen, Andrew Louth, Joy Bostic, Michael Battle, Amy Hollywood, Denys Turner, Michael Casey, and many others have contribut...

Lessons From a Feral Cat, Part II: Little Mama’s Final Legacy

Little Mama, one of Fran’s and my adopted feral cats, died yesterday, and we are devastated.

We made the heartbreaking decision for her to be euthanized after several weeks of an illness that led to her refusing to eat and rapidly losing weight and even losing the use of one of her back legs.

She was only about 9 years old — far too young for a cat, especially a pampered house cat, to die. Never mind that feral cats often only live 2-3 years “in the wild.” We had hoped to love her well into old ...

Want to Learn More About Julian of Norwich? Start Here

Next month — May 2023 — marks the 650th anniversary of the visionary “showings” of the great 14th century English mystic, Julian of Norwich! To make the occasion, for the patrons of this blog I’m currently leading a course on the contemplative study of Julian of Norwich. Twice a month I publish PDF documents in which I offer my commentary on her writings, curate my favorite quotations of hers, and offer a spiritual exercise based on her wisdom. I also host a Zoom call, what I affectionately call...

The Stations of the Cross with Julian of Norwich

Friends, it is holy week, and I cannot think of a better guide to this most sacred week of the Christian liturgical year than Julian of Norwich.

Julian’s book of visionary writing, The Showings, is remarkable on multiple levels. Written about the same time as Geoffrey Chaucer was composing The Canterbury Tales, Julian has the distinction of being the first known woman to write a book in the English language (on any topic). Thankfully, her command of Middle English is lyrical and sensual, so her ...

How Do I Meet Other Mystics?

One of the patrons of this blog wrote to me recently:

My question is, how do I meet other Christian mystics?

Thanks for asking. It’s a question many of us ponder. Even though there is a long tradition of regarding mysticism as “the flight of the alone to the Alone” (in the words of Plotinus), it’s been my experience that many of us “aloners” nevertheless seek out the company and fellowship of others who are undertaking similar spiritual journeys.

Indeed, this is probably why religion emerged in ...

Soul Food: Nourishing Essays on Contemplative Living and Leadership (Pre-Order Today)

Friends, I am so honored to announce that I have an essay appearing in an upcoming anthology called Soul Food: Nourishing Essays on Contemplative Living and Leadership which is being published to celebrate 50 years of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Direction — the organization that first introduced me to silent prayer and spiritual direction when I was a grad student forty years ago.

Soul Food collects 18 essays by contemplative writers including Lerita Coleman Brown, Tilden Edwards, Gay Byr...

Contemplative AI: Google’s “Bard” Answers My Questions About Mysticism, Centering Prayer, and Interspirituality

So I got invited to be a beta-tester for Google’s new AI assistant called Bard. Yesterday I received an email from Google that said, in part:

Meet Bard, an early experiment by Google
Because you’re a Google One member, we’d like to offer you the opportunity to be among the first to sign up for the new Bard experience and provide feedback. Think of Bard as your creative and helpful collaborator, here to bring your ideas to life using generative AI…
You might ask Bard to outline a blog post about ...

Unraveling the Myths of Grief: Sign Up for this Free Online Retreat Led by Mirabai Starr and Willow Brook

One of the great joys of my work has been the opportunity to meet other writers, teachers, retreat leaders and spiritual directors who are also engaged in the heart-centered work of calling people into a deeper relationship with the Mystery-with-a-capital-M. And of the many wonderful people I have met in the contemplative community over the years, few have touched me as deeply as Mirabai Starr.

I first “met” Mirabai through her amazing and beautiful translations of mystical classics like The Int...

Encountering Silence: A Conversation with Kaira Jewel Lingo, author of “We Were Made for These Times”

Friends, here is the latest episode of the Encountering Silence podcast. This episode features a conversation the Encountering Silence team had last year with Buddhist author Kaira Jewel Lingo, author of We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons in Moving through Change, Loss and Disruption.

Kaira Jewel Lingo is a Dharma teacher who has a lifelong interest in blending spirituality and meditation with social justice. Having grown up in an ecumenical Christian community where families practiced ...

Celtic Spirituality in Athens, Georgia (In Person Event on March 16, 2023)

Long before I moved to Georgia, I knew about Athens GA, as some of my favorite bands — like the B-52s and R.E.M. — hailed from this quirky little southern college town.

If you live in or near Athens, I hope you’ll join me on Thursday, March 16, 2023 when I venture from Atlanta to visit Friendship Presbyterian Church to give a talk on Celtic Spirituality, on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day! We won’t have any green beer (sorry!) but I do promise some poetry and stories and insights into the timeless ...