Joy of writing I've really been enjoying writing the blog lately. Feels like I may be near to making some kind of point. I do agree with Thomas Merton, Karl Rahner, Matthew Fox, Richard Rohr, and others who have issued an urgent call to create a culture of mysticism within present-day Christianity. In due … Continue reading ‘Mysticism,’ so what? →

Chiaroscuro? A technical term within the art realm, chiaroscuro deals with a relationship between light and dark. Shadow, the interplay of light and form, allows the artist to convey depth in a two-dimensional illustration. Analogously, we, as humans, are only able to discursively perceive the divine to what we might think of as a two-dimensional … Continue reading Chiaroscuro →

'Divine darkness' [cont.] Last week we began unpacking the history of the way of negation (apophatic way). We began with Pseudo-Dionysius (5th or 6th century C.E.) and the image of 'Divine darkness.' Prior still, Gregory of Nyssa (c.335-c.395 C.E.) was perhaps the earliest Christian proponent of apophatic theology, and though he never used the term … Continue reading Jesus, the mystic →

"Divine darkness!" Um, what?  'Divine darkness?' I used that image last week (The point of peace) and offered a quote from Bede Griffiths to help illustrate. But what does the expression indicate? This week we'll begin unpacking the history of just what that phrase means. We'll see that far from some ethereal, esoteric, altered-state woo-woo, rather, … Continue reading Divine darkness →

  'Peace,' a feature of the Divine ...  In the Center for Action and Contemplation daily meditation published on July 29, Friar Rohr relates the teaching of Life School faculty member, Dr. Barbara Holmes. Writing about "God's Abiding Presence," Rohr quotes at length from Holmes' book, Joy Unspeakable [Fortress Press, 2nd ed. (2017)]: Holiness is a concept that … Continue reading The point of peace →

Paradox (number 43) My understanding is that randomness exists, but is a subset of Providence. Yeah, the only way to visualize such a thought is with the lens of paradox. I only raise this point because Providence was at work in my experience this week.   Providence I stumbled upon a fascinating Scientific American [SA] article this … Continue reading Trump’s ‘American jeremiad’ →

An even half dozen... Striking how often the issues of racism and white supremacy have been the focus of my weekly blog posts over the past year. Today's post makes seven of fifty-five (12.72%). Cf. archive: "Like a rainbow;" "Gag on political speech" (subhead); "Beauty and protest?" "He took a knee;" "White privilege" (subhead); "Relentless is change"—I … Continue reading Is the POTUS a racist? →