Carl McColman's Blog, page 45
February 11, 2019
The Easy Way to Pray the Liturgy of the Hours
I believe that anyone who is serious about embracing the Christian contemplative path needs some form of sustainable daily prayer. For most of Christian history, this has meant using a breviary — a prayer book which contains prayer “services” or offices for praying throughout the day. Such collections of prayers are known as The Liturgy of the Hours or The […]
February 8, 2019
Inter-Religious Spirituality and the Contemplative Renaissance: How Our Friends From Other Faiths Helped Christians Rediscover Our Spiritual Heart
Christianity has a long history of contemplative practice. But many scholars and spiritual teachers within the faith recognize that in the centuries immediately preceding and following the Reformation, the church (at least in the west) largely lost its contemplative heart. Theologian Robert Davis Hughes III addressed this topic in his book Beloved Dust. Hughes wrote that after […]
February 6, 2019
Shirley Hershey Showalter: Simplicity and Silence, Part One (Episode 50)
What is the relationship between silence and simplicity? Silence and peace? Or, for that matter, how does silence relate to the importance of our voice — as human beings in general, but especially for writers or for people whose voices have traditionally bee marginalized, such as women or those who live in traditional rural settings? … Continue reading Shirley Hershey Showalter: Simplicity and Silence, Part One (Episode 50) → … Read more at Encountering Silence
February 5, 2019
Contemplation, Atheism, and Amputees
N.B. I wrote the first draft of this post about a year ago, at a time when several militant atheist commentators were active on my blog’s comment section. Eventually I banned the ones who were trollish, some of them moved on, and many of those original comments got deleted. I never published this post and […]
February 2, 2019
On the Feast of the Presentation (Candlemas) — Let’s Practice “Presenting” Christ to One Another
Today is the feast of the presentation. It’s also traditionally known as Candlemas; it was a time when candles would be blessed —a candle, after all, emits light, and Jesus is the light of the world. If Christmas were a forty-day season instead of just a 12-day season, today would be the fortieth day of […]
January 30, 2019
Religious Violence, Hate Crimes, and Contemplation
About ten miles or so from Thomas Merton Square in Louisville, KY — the street corner where Merton had his famous “Fourth and Walnut” epiphany in 1958 — is a Hindu house of worship, Swaminarayan Temple. Earlier this week, the temple was vandalized. The crime was described this way in the Louisville Courier Journal: Sometime between Sunday […]
A Contemplative Perspective on Tithing (At Church… and Beyond)
A friend on Facebook named Stephanie posed this question to me: Hello Carl, I am wondering if you’ve ever written anything on the subject of tithing in the church, and what that looks like in regards to a contemplative practice? I am a member of an Anglican church and participate in the weekly mass and […]
January 27, 2019
Celebrating Mary Oliver (Episode 49)
“Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?” asks Mary Oliver in her poem “The Summer Day.” On January 17, 2019, her many fans — including the co-hosts of this podcast — discovered just how real this question was, as we reeled from the news of Oliver’s death at the age of 83. Even before … Continue reading Celebrating Mary Oliver (Episode 49) → … Read more at Encountering Silence
January 26, 2019
Navigating through the Bible’s Shadow
One of this blog’s patrons named Aaron asked, in response to my post Nonduality in the Bible and Us: Not sure if you’ve posted one before, but is there a resource that collects verses for the mystical and non dual in the Bible? Did you have a post that had more? Also, this is […]
January 22, 2019
Andō: Silence in the Forest, Part Two (Episode 48)
Today’s episode is part two of a two-part interview. Click here to listen to part one. “All words begin as silence,” proclaims Andō on her Patreon page. Indeed, those five words provide an auspicious introduction to this enigmatic yet joyful contemplative Zen poet. As a lay monastic, Andō has spent many years living a monastic … Continue reading Andō: Silence in the Forest, Part Two (Episode 48) → … Read more at Encountering Silence
