Carl McColman's Blog, page 6

Too Busy to Read? Check Out My Audiobooks

Everyone is so busy these days. I get it. So many books, so little time.

Which is why audiobooks are God’s gift to commuters and other busy folks.

If you have been interested in checking out some of my books, but would rather listen to them than read them, here are your choices, including two of my newer “contemplative” titles and two of my older “pagan” titles.

First up are your options if you are an Audible subscriber. Each of the following books can be streamed/downloaded through Audible (or ...

Queering Contemplation: Preorder Cassidy Hall’s New Book Now

The silence became
an emptiness,
a steadiness,
a solitude,
a sacred pause,
and a container of nothingness
I could bathe in.

— Cassidy Hall

My friend and colleague Cassidy Hall (who co-hosts the podcast “Encountering Silence” with me and Kevin Johnson) has a new book coming out. I’ve read it, endorsed it, and am sufficiently excited about it that I wanted to spread the word a bit in advance.

It’s called Queering Contemplation: Finding Queerness in the Roots and Future of Contemplative Spiritualit...

Meister Eckhart: A Deeper Dive (33 Books to Explore)

A Facebook friend recently posted a request for suggestions on books by or about Meister Eckhart. There are so many, that I couldn’t figure out a succinct way to respond to the request, so I figured I’d just post a list of books here instead. So what follows is a list of books featuring English translations of the writings of the medieval German theologian/mystic Meister Eckart, along with some books of commentary, and even a few collections of poetry inspired by (and drawing from) Eckhart’s own...

It’s Not Too Late to Sign Up for the Modern Mystics School!

Hi friends, just wanted to make sure that if you haven’t had a chance to sign up for the Modern Mystics School sponsored by Spiritual Wanderlust, it’s not too late to do so!

The program began March 2, but it runs all year long (until next February), so you’ll have plenty of time to watch the recording(s) of the class(es) that have already happened and you’ll still get to enjoy the once-a-month programs that are still to come!

Click here to learn more about this program and to register!

This mont...

More Dancing, More Tears: A Poem for Elias Marechal on the Anniversary of His Passing

Today is the one year anniversary of the passing of my dear friend, mentor, and partner in crime, Brother Elias Marechal, OCSO.

Last year I wrote about him at the time of his death, you can read that post by clicking here.

If you aren’t familiar with Elias, I encourage you to pick up his books. Tears of An Innocent God: Conversations on Silence, Kindness and Prayer came out in 2015 and is still in print in both paper and ebook formats. A bit harder to find (but worth the search) is Dancing Madly...

Books by Carl McColman

Carl McColman leads us to the brink of lessons no book can teach, then frees us to go forward to learn them, trusting the God who meets us at every step of the unknown way. — Barbara Brown Taylor

If you don’t know about Carl McColman, you should. — Brian D. McLaren

Carl McColman gives you much wise direction and broad understanding of contemplative practice. Here is your teacher! — Richard Rohr

I’m a doctor, not an engineer. — Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy

Okay, so that last quote didn’t have anythi...

When Contemplatives Talk About Love, What Do They Mean?

In the wisdom teachings of Jesus, there are several pretty explicit (and challenging) teachings about love. Consider these words:

“Love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” Luke 10:27“Love your neighbors as yourself.” Mark 12:31“Love one another, even as I have loved you.” John 13:34“Love your enemies.” Matthew 5:44

The teaching “love your neighbors as yourself” deserves some unpacking. I always interpreted it to be basically a t...

Join Me Online This Lent, for “Lent with the Mystics” (Spirituality & Practice e-Course)

To learn more about this e-course and to register for it, click here.

Spirituality & Practice is one of my favorite online websites/communities, offering a truly interspiritual approach to cultivating the interior life. I’ve been leading online courses for S&P for several years now, so imagine how thrilled I was when I was approached to lead their 2024 Lenten program! Naturally, we decided my theme would be “Lent with the Mystics” and I’d develop the course around how the Lenten themes of fastin...

Mary, Mother of… Socialism?!?

A seminarian I know is currently taking a class on the theology of Mary. She’s reading lots of stuff, both ancient and modern; as we were talking, I remembered an obscure pamphlet I bought years ago, called Mary, Mother of Socialism: A Jubilee Group Anthology edited by Andy Delmege. It was published back in the  mid-1990s by the Jubilee Group, a collective of leftist Anglo-Catholic theologians and writers; I originally picked this up because two of the contributors were writers I admired: Kennet...

Save the Dates! Here’s My List of Upcoming Events for 2024

Friends, I hope we can see each other at some point this year. Please review the list below to see the live and virtual events that I have confirmed for 2024.

The events are listed by date, followed by location (online or in person), sponsoring organization, and the topic of the retreat or talk. If the topic is linked, you can click on the link to register. Later events in the year have not been confirmed and/or are not yet open for registration, so please check back for more information as it g...