Articles on Contemplation in Action
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An Amazing Journey
Article by Lerita Coleman Brown (February 2019 eNews) My religious and spiritual life is an amazing journey. I began my prayer life kneeling at the foot of my bed pleading to a white man in the sky and moved to the foot of a mountain where I felt the Presence there. In between I learned that…
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Knowing yourself
Knowing yourself is the beginning of wisdom. ~Aristotle
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Welcoming Christ, Welcoming Others
Today’s post is by Mary van Balen Stepping out of the parking garage elevator and starting down the walkway to the office building, I stopped to look at the nativity scene that had been placed outside the large windows. All the faces were painted pink-white. Sure, that nativity was probably bought decades ago and spends most…
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Cultivating Contemplative Conversations
Article by Margaret Benefiel (December 2018 eNews) In conversations with our “contemplative cousins,” both in follow-up discussions since the August 2017 Snowmass gathering where 20 young contemplatives gathered and in other settings, the question often arises, “What method of prayer does Shalem teach? Contemplative Outreach teaches Centering Prayer, World Community for Christian Meditation teaches the…
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Uselessness and Benefitting Others
Today’s post is by Shirin McArthur I recently read a Buddhist story, shared by Andō, a Zen poet I follow online, about The Useless Tree. In a nutshell (!), the story is that an oak tree grew so twisted and gnarly that its wood was not considered useful, so it was not disturbed. The point…
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Mr. Rogers: Restoring the World to Wholeness One Neighbor at a Time
Today’s post is by Mary van Balen When my oldest child was three, friends with a son about the same age asked how I liked Sesame Street. I admitted that neither I nor my daughter had seen it. We rarely turned on the television, but after hearing other young parents extolling the show’s merits, I…