Carl McColman's Blog, page 70

Carmelite Review reviews “Answering the Contemplative Call”

The latest (Winter/Spring 2013) issue of Carmelite Review includes a review of Answering the Contemplative Call. Here’s the review.

You can purchase a copy of the book by clicking here.

Concerning Stillness, Songs, and Soul Friends

Photo by Fran McColman

A reader writes:

Carl, when you are sufficiently silent with the “waters stilled” how do you experience revelation. I suppose a better question would be what is your experience “there” like? Does God float into view … or does God whisper … ?? Or do you find a path to look inwardly in order to find answers, results, etc. I guess that one overarching question here would be “Do you have a purpose or question in mind before you start out?”

I believe radically that “silence is...

Simplicity and Silence

Photo by Fran McColman

This message came to me the other day.

Hi Carl. Love reading your blogs. From one who is a struggling contemplative can you tell me what form of contemplative prayer you do and why? Also can one do more than one form of contemplative prayer? ie, will one complement the other?

Two questions here. First, what does my own daily practice look like? And secondly, what do I think about using more than one method of contemplative practice?

First, about what I do. I’m assuming you...

Plunging Thought Into Light

Writings from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart

The Philokaliais an extensive anthology of writings on prayer by Eastern Orthodox contemplatives. The anthology was first compiled in the 18th century, and a number of editions have been published over the years, in Greek, Russian, and other languages; currently a four volume set is available in English (which does not include the entire anthology; I hope the editors plan on translating the rest!).

If you want a more succinct introduction toTh...

Growing in Love and Wisdom

Growing in Love and Wisdom

Readers of this blog know that my love and commitment to the Christian contemplative tradition is balanced by a heartfelt desire to learn more about other faiths, particularly the contemplative dimension of other traditions. Naturally, Buddhism, as a school of wisdom with many rich resources in the practice of meditation, is a particularly appealing tradition to me. I live only about three miles from the Atlanta Shambhala Center, so I’ve taken several classes there a...

Thank you, Patheos!

[image error]A staircase at the Chateau d’Amboise in France, as seen on the cover of Answering the Contemplative Call.

Good morning, my friends. First of all, my apologies for leaving this blog mostly untended over the past eight weeks. It’s hard to believe it’s been (as of tomorrow) two months said my dad passed away, but it’s not so hard to acknowledge that my grief journey has been a bit deeper and more chaotic than I would have anticipated.

The first month or so after dad’s death, I poured most of my en...

Photographs by Fran McColman

My wife is an amateur photographer, but as amateur photographers go, I think she’s pretty good (of course, I’m not biased, not at all). Most of these photos were taken in the metro Atlanta area or on the Florida gulf coast. We hope you enjoy them.

Regarding usage: These photographs are by Fran McColman. You may use any of these imagesfor non-commercial purposes on your blog or website, as long asyou provideattribution and a link back to this page, like this: Photo by Fran McColman. For print o...

Impermanence

Our mailbox as it appeared before yesterday morning, as photographed by the Google Maps camera.

Early yesterday morning, about 5 AM or so, Fran and I were both awakened by what sounded like a small explosion in our neighborhood. It seemed close enough that Fran got up and peered outside the window. She thought a car hit something. I said it sounded more like an explosion than an accident. We speculated that maybe a transformer blew somewhere in the neighborhood. Then we went back to sleep.

Thre...

Answering the Contemplative Call ebooks now available

Now available on the three most popular ebook formats.

I’m happy to announce that three different ebook versions of Answering the Contemplative Call are now available. Pick your preferred version:

Kindle Version


Nook Version
iBooks Version

And of course, if you’d rather have the old fashioned paper-&-ink version:

Buy it atAmazon
But it atBarnes & Noble
But it at anIndependent Bookstore (Online or Near You)

Hope you enjoy the book.

A Christian Prayer for Daily Contemplative Practice

Seagrove Beach, FL. Photo by Fran McColman.

O God of Uncreated Light, we come before you now to offer you our selves. We can only do this through your grace.

Grant us the grace of mindfulness. Help us to be calm, so that we may rest in your silence and peace.

Grant us the grace of willingness. Transform our will into yours, with delight and joy.

Grant us the grace of heartfulness. Unite us with you in the mystery of love, that we may love our neighbors as ourselves.

All this we ask with glad confi...