Articles on Community
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Howard Thurman: Black Theologian, Mystic, and Mentor
Today’s post is by Mary van Balen The reading from Mark’s gospel about the Gentile woman’s request for Jesus to heal her daughter possessed by a demon is one of my favorites. Jesus had slipped away from the crowds, but the woman found him and threw herself at his feet, asking for help. When Jesus…
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The Everlasting Source
Today’s post is by Clair Ullmann Your physical attributes, like your body, are merely borrowed. Do not set your heart on them, for they are transient and only last for an hour. Your spirit in contrast is eternal: your body is on this earth, like a lamp, but its light comes from that everlasting Source above. ~Rumi…
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When we have become
When we have become completely free from the need to judge, we will also become completely free from the fear of being judged. ~Henri Nouwen
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Glimpsing God in the Dark Night
Article by Margaret Benefiel (December 2017 eNews) When 20 young contemplative leaders gathered at the beautiful St. Benedict’s Monastery nestled in the mountains of Snowmass, Colorado with Tilden Edwards, Thomas Keating, Richard Rohr, and Laurence Freeman for five days in August, one of the first themes that surfaced was societal impasse. In the midst of…
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Spiritual Companions across the Centuries
Today’s post is by Margaret Benefiel “Rebuild my church.” God used these words from Francis of Assisi’s story to speak to me as I sat in prayer with two spiritual companions in Greensboro, North Carolina, after a heartbreaking disillusionment. I had left a job that I had thought was my dream job, my dream shattered.…
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Compassion through Contemplation
Article by Catherine Kerr (featured in November 2017 eNews) Compassion means to understand another’s pain at such a deep level that it’s like feeling it yourself. Many mentors have told me over the years that the essence of pastoral ministry is connection and presence, being with. One seminary professor liked to say that the most…