Carl McColman's Blog, page 27

A Julian of Norwich Meditation



Here’s a meditation I developed a few months ago for a retreat I led for an Episcopal Church. It’s based on Julian of Norwich’s vision of the hazelnut. Before you listen to the meditation, take a moment to find a small object (like a hazelnut, a shell, or a rock) that you can hold in your hand while you meditate. It doesn’t have to be a natural object — a ring or a key could work as well. If you simply don’t have a small object handy, then feel free to “hold the object” in your imagination as ...

How do I choose a contemplative lay order? And do I have to be Catholic to do so?

A reader recently wrote to me:

Dear Carl, I grew up as a Protestant, but as I’ve journeyed into Contemplative Christianity over the last while I’ve become more amenable to Roman Catholicism. I have been wondering about lay orders and how to connect with the contemplative tradition through a lay order. I was wondering if you could shed some light on which lay orders there are (main ones) and what the main focus is in each one, and specifically which one, if any, “carries the most weight” of the c...

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Carl Perkins, and a Song About Love Between Old Friends

Today is the fortieth anniversary of the senseless, stupid murder of former Beatle John Lennon. I was a sophomore in college when it happened, and I remember it well because December 8 was the birthday of the woman I was dating at the time. I was sitting in Heidis dorm room just a few minutes before midnight when her mother called to wish her a happy birthday and dropped the bombshell, Did you hear one of the Beatles was killed?

The Beatles had been part of my life for as long as I could...

2020 Vision: How the Challenges of This Year Can Help Us to See More Clearly

Last month I was invited to participate in a panel discussion with several contemplative leaders here in the Atlanta area, under the topic “2020 Vision.”

This delicious pun invites us to reflect on how the challenges and opportunities of the year 2020 have contributed to our capacity to see clearly, especially in light of contemplative practice.

What are you seeing that you did not see before the pandemic? How is your vision changing and what might else look different after the pandemic ends?

T...

Heart to Heart, Simple Awareness of Love

Recently I received this message from a new reader of this blog…

Hi Carl, I found your site yesterday.

I am a beginner and the Lord has been telling me to practice simple inner awareness of love. Is this what you’re doing?

I find it very difficult and I’m not sure I’m doing it right. I’m super frustrated. I’m not sure of what or how I’m to be aware. Am I supposed to just notice feelings, and or sensations in my body? He also spoke about my “body of love”. Also, this is different than the silent ...

The Prayer of Recollection: A Classic Mystical Practice as Taught by Evelyn Underhill

Contemplative spirituality has its own jargon, and this “language of prayer” evolves over time. Nowadays you’ll find students of the mystical path speaking about meditation, nonduality, mindfulness and heightened consciousness, whereas a century ago you’d be more likely to encounter terminology like mental prayer, unitive life, recollection and rapture.

Sometimes words themselves evolve in how they are used: when Evelyn Underhill spoke about the prayer of rapture, she was not talking about the ...

Why Practice Centering Prayer?

Recently, I facilitated an online day of reflection and a participant asked me, “Why do you practice Centering Prayer?” I rarely get asked a question so personal, and so naturally I gave a completely off-the-cuff answer. The conference was recorded, so I grabbed the footage where I answered the question, and made the following video.

Here’s what I said…

Why do I do Centering Prayer? In response to the love of God.

I believe God loves me, I have been graced with a few moments where I have had a ...

Seven Ways to Think About Christian Mysticism

Here is the third episode of my “Schola Mystica” podcast. The transcript of the episode appears below.

Mysticism is a notoriously difficult word to define — which means it is a tricky concept to understand. 

The word gets used in slightly — or significantly — different ways, in different contexts. If we speak of Christian mysticism, or Eastern mysticism, or Neo-Platonic mysticism, we are speaking of three contrasting approaches to, and understandings of, mystical spirituality — and therefore, t...

Finding Your Perfect Prayer Posture

A question that sometimes comes up when people are first learning a practice like Centering Prayer is, “How do I sit?” In other words, what is the best posture for a prayer practice like this?

We’ve all seen images of yogis and Buddhist monks sitting for incredibly long periods of time in the lotus position, cross-legged on the floor or on a small cushion, each bare foot tidily resting on the opposite thigh. It looks so effortless, and yet for westerners who have not learned to sit this way in c...

Video: Mysticism and the Bible — Three Contemplative Verses

“Is mysticism in the Bible?” It’s a question I get asked from time to time. And while the word mysticism itself is not found in scripture, the elements of mysticism are very much part of the Biblical story. In the first of what I imagine will be multiple videos on this topic, I begin to explore mysticism in the Bible by focusing on three verses that speak of silence — in a clearly contemplative way.