"Christian Contemplative Thought and Practice in the Contemporary World" describes the growth and... more "Christian Contemplative Thought and Practice in the Contemporary World" describes the growth and development of contemplative and meditative practices within contemporary Christianity, focusing especially on the retrieval of ancient contemplative practices in the contemporary period by Thomas Merton, John Main, and Thomas Keating. It also attends to the varied expressions of Christian contemplative thought among contemporary thinkers and practitioners and movements, such as the new monasticism, to ask how and why it continues to thrive and develop in the contemporary period. Noteworthy here are the distinctive contributions made by emerging writers such as, in illuminating the role of Christian contemplative practice in responding to social injustice.
The Theological and Ecological Vision of Laudato Si, 2017
Spirituality is central to the great challenge presented to us in Laudato Si'. Without a profound... more Spirituality is central to the great challenge presented to us in Laudato Si'. Without a profound renewal of our spiritual lives, Pope Francis suggests, we will have little hope of cultivating the kind of deep and sustained ethical response the crisis of global climate change is asking of us. This chapter examines the particular contribution contemplative practice can make to this work.
The Christian mystical tradition gives expression to a varied, ambiguous, and shifting understand... more The Christian mystical tradition gives expression to a varied, ambiguous, and shifting understanding of creation. The dialectical tension between kataphatic and apophatic mysticism frames this complex attitude towards creation. On the one hand, mystics regularly affirm the sacramental character of the created world, its capacity to reveal and make present the reality of God. Central to this theological intuition is the presence of the logos, the very principle of creation that also becomes the deep source of sacramental spiritual experience. On the other hand, mystics show deep respect for all that cannot be known, especially all that remains hidden under the shroud of loss and suffering. The image of the crucified Christ and Christ dead in the tomb is not only an emblem of salvation, but also a call to pause, in humility, before all that can never be known or understood of God. Creation reveals. But it also conceals.
What does it mean to enter the night? This question has long haunted the Christian mystical tradi... more What does it mean to enter the night? This question has long haunted the Christian mystical tradition. There, entering the night almost always means accepting uncertainty, insecurity and loss as inevitable and necessary, part of what it is to come to know ourselves in God and in relation to one another. In our own time, amidst increasingly acute encounters with loss, suffering and insecurity, the language of darkness is taking on new meaning and significance. In this essay, I consider what it might mean to retrieve traditions of spiritual darkness as part of a transformative spiritual practice. How might such practice help us cultivate the courage and empathy to engage the profound loss and unknowing that has become so pervasive in our world and to stand in solidarity with those who suffer and struggle there? How might it help us become, in the words of Pope Francis, more “painfully aware?”
This essay considers the meaning of solitude in the spiritual life, focusing on the work of Thoma... more This essay considers the meaning of solitude in the spiritual life, focusing on the work of Thomas Merton, especially the writings on solitude that he produced while living as a hermit at the Abbey of Gethsemani. It argues for a vision of solitude which allows for a deep vulnerability and uncertainty as part of what it means to come to know God, and which leads to a profound resit-uating of the self in human community. Transformed, the self becomes a bearer of compassion, a healer, a witness to the mysterious presence of God in the lonely places of human existence.
"Christian Contemplative Thought and Practice in the Contemporary World" describes the growth and... more "Christian Contemplative Thought and Practice in the Contemporary World" describes the growth and development of contemplative and meditative practices within contemporary Christianity, focusing especially on the retrieval of ancient contemplative practices in the contemporary period by Thomas Merton, John Main, and Thomas Keating. It also attends to the varied expressions of Christian contemplative thought among contemporary thinkers and practitioners and movements, such as the new monasticism, to ask how and why it continues to thrive and develop in the contemporary period. Noteworthy here are the distinctive contributions made by emerging writers such as, in illuminating the role of Christian contemplative practice in responding to social injustice.
The Theological and Ecological Vision of Laudato Si, 2017
Spirituality is central to the great challenge presented to us in Laudato Si'. Without a profound... more Spirituality is central to the great challenge presented to us in Laudato Si'. Without a profound renewal of our spiritual lives, Pope Francis suggests, we will have little hope of cultivating the kind of deep and sustained ethical response the crisis of global climate change is asking of us. This chapter examines the particular contribution contemplative practice can make to this work.
The Christian mystical tradition gives expression to a varied, ambiguous, and shifting understand... more The Christian mystical tradition gives expression to a varied, ambiguous, and shifting understanding of creation. The dialectical tension between kataphatic and apophatic mysticism frames this complex attitude towards creation. On the one hand, mystics regularly affirm the sacramental character of the created world, its capacity to reveal and make present the reality of God. Central to this theological intuition is the presence of the logos, the very principle of creation that also becomes the deep source of sacramental spiritual experience. On the other hand, mystics show deep respect for all that cannot be known, especially all that remains hidden under the shroud of loss and suffering. The image of the crucified Christ and Christ dead in the tomb is not only an emblem of salvation, but also a call to pause, in humility, before all that can never be known or understood of God. Creation reveals. But it also conceals.
What does it mean to enter the night? This question has long haunted the Christian mystical tradi... more What does it mean to enter the night? This question has long haunted the Christian mystical tradition. There, entering the night almost always means accepting uncertainty, insecurity and loss as inevitable and necessary, part of what it is to come to know ourselves in God and in relation to one another. In our own time, amidst increasingly acute encounters with loss, suffering and insecurity, the language of darkness is taking on new meaning and significance. In this essay, I consider what it might mean to retrieve traditions of spiritual darkness as part of a transformative spiritual practice. How might such practice help us cultivate the courage and empathy to engage the profound loss and unknowing that has become so pervasive in our world and to stand in solidarity with those who suffer and struggle there? How might it help us become, in the words of Pope Francis, more “painfully aware?”
This essay considers the meaning of solitude in the spiritual life, focusing on the work of Thoma... more This essay considers the meaning of solitude in the spiritual life, focusing on the work of Thomas Merton, especially the writings on solitude that he produced while living as a hermit at the Abbey of Gethsemani. It argues for a vision of solitude which allows for a deep vulnerability and uncertainty as part of what it means to come to know God, and which leads to a profound resit-uating of the self in human community. Transformed, the self becomes a bearer of compassion, a healer, a witness to the mysterious presence of God in the lonely places of human existence.
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