Carl McColman's Blog, page 55

Contemplating the Trinity

Silence. Embodiment. Breath.

Rublev’s Icon of the Holy Trinity (15th century)

The heart of Christian spirituality is the Mystery of the Holy Trinity.

This is the ancient wisdom teaching that God is one God, in three persons: Father/Creator, Son/Redeemer, and Spirit/Sanctifier.

We call ourselves “Christians” because we follow the 2nd Person of the Trinity: Jesus, the Christ. But it would be just as accurate — some might say even more accurate — to call ourselves Trinitarians, the people of fai...

Support this Blog on Patreon…

... and Let's Spread the Word About Contemplation and Mysticism

Patreon allows you to support writers and other artists whose creative work you love.

For #GivingTuesday this year, please support this blog.

After much consideration (and prayer!), I’ve set up a page on Patreon — a website where you can support writers and other artists like me — people who are engaged in on-going creative work.

My blog is a forum devoted to Christian mysticism and contemplative spirituality. I write about the w...

The Future of This Blog

Where I hope to take it in 2018

Visiting the grave of the English mystic Evelyn Underhill (Mrs. Evelyn Stuart Moore), in Hampstead, London, July 2017.

Hello friends! I hope 2017 has been good to you. This year I’ve survived two tropical storms (an unnamed one when we were vacationing in Florida in June, and then the remnants of Hurricane Irma when it blew through Atlanta a few weeks ago), did some nifty traveling (check out the pictures from our trip to the United Kingdom in July), finished w...

Choose a Phrase That Best Captures the Spirit of This Blog

Vote for Your Favorite Tagline(s), or Suggest Your Own Idea

I am in the process of giving this blog a minor update — it will have a new look and some fresh new content beginning in early 2018.

For now, I’d like to get your opinion on what the “tag line” for the blog should be.

Currently it’s “Silent Today, Love Forever.” I’d like to try something new, but I’m not sure what.

So, my friends… would you please look over the list of potential tag lines below, and vote for your favorite(s)? You can...

The Future of My Blog

Just a few thoughts for your consideration...

Visiting the grave of the English mystic Evelyn Underhill (Mrs. Evelyn Stuart Moore), in Hampstead, London, July 2017.

Hello friends! I hope you’ve had a nice summer. I’ve survived two tropical storms (an unnamed one when we were vacationing in Florida in June, and then the remnants of Hurricane Irma when it blew through Atlanta a few weeks ago), did some nifty traveling (check out the pictures from our trip to the United Kingdom in July), finishe...

New for 2017: I will be blogging exclusively at Patheos!

Please be sure to visit me there

The home page of my Patheos blog. Notice you can subscribe to the blog in a beneath the first ad in the right-hand column.

Dear friends,

Happy new year (and here it is February already)! I’m sorry that I have been so inattentive to this blog. I’ve been finishing up the manuscript for my next book, which hopefully will be called The Little Book of Christian Mysticism (after all, since I wrote a Big Book of Christian Mysticism, it only makes sense to have a “lit...

Instructions on Prayer from a Trappist Monk

Brother Elias Offers Wisdom on Silence, Compassion, and Inner Transformation

“I’m speechless,” remarkedBrother Elias Marechal, OCSO, after a congregation of several hundred young evangelicalsvigorously applauded his visit to their worship service last month. But then he quipped, “We don’t talkin the monastery much.”

Brother Elias Marechal, OCSO speaks with Carl McColman at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit (photo by Rosary Mangano).

Grace Fellowship in Athens, GA (home of the University of Geo...

Why I Wrote a Book About Christian Mystics

Or, What Trent Reznor and John O'Donohue Have in Common

St. Francis: He’s Not Just For the Birds

When Peter Gabriel came to Atlanta in 2003, my wife Fran and I were able to get tickets to the concert through a friend who works in the music business.

Not only did we have the best seats in the house (right behind and above the soundboard), but we were seated next to a row of VIPs. In fact, the man sitting right next to Fran had a copy of the setlist, so obviously he was connected with the band....

The Flicker of the Screen

Is the Biggest Threat to Contemplation Hiding in Our Pockets?

For if there is no dark night of the soul anymore that isn’t lit with the flicker of the screen, then there is no morning of hopefulness either.

The above quotation comes from a fascinating, and I believe vitally important, article by Andrew Sullivan, called I Used to Be A Human Being. Originally published inNew Yorkmagazine, it’s long for an internet article (7000 words) — but read it anyway. Take the time. Savor the beautiful lan...

Who’s Your Favorite Christian Mystic?

Here's a Book to Help You Find Out

I’m happy to announce that my latest book —Christian Mystics: 108 Seers, Saints and Sages — has been published. The first printing has been delivered to my publisher’s warehouse, and they are now in the process of being shipped out to bookstores (both online and brick & mortar). So your favorite bookseller should have stock any day now.

Self-portrait of the artistas a middle-aged man

I got my firstcopies yesterday, and even though this is hardly my first boo...