Voices of the Community
Title:
Our God of Surprises …
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Voices of Community
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Many years ago while taking a morning hike on Mt Tamalpais, north of San Francisco, I felt the urge to sit down and to silently pray to the Lord. I [...]
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Voices of Community
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Breathe in —the tide rolls out to the Mother Sea of Source in air-sucking return to the oceanic womb of life,pulling consciousness like a uterine contractionat three centimeters dilation Breathe out —the tide rolls [...]
Title:
Challenge
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Voices of Community
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Having just struggled with my 80th birthday, I resonated with Fr Arico’s challenge in the June 2015 CO NEWS: Challenge To BE and not to DO Experiencing ageChallenge to [...]
Title:
IONA
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Voices of Community
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We wear our small marble crossesto prayer every Thursday.They were brought from Iona,a “thin place”, where the spiritis more accessible, the landscaperough-hewn, rocky and barren.I wear mine and imagine a [...]
Title:
A Homemade Psalm
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Voices of Community
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Oh God, an owl in the night calls out over and again… “who…who-who … are you?” Dawn awakens the winter trees’ long bony fingers, scratching at the clouds…” tell us…tell [...]
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Voices of Community
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LIFE is Liturgy Unceasing! LECTIO DIVINA is Life;Every Word an utterance of the Divine. ASCETICISM is Life lived inthe Absolute Poverty of the Now;Empty of past and future,Empty of reflections [...]
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Voices of Community
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In contemplative consciousness, one is equipoised, in balance, at the center of one’s house welcoming what arises in quiet hospitality, free of prejudice and attempts to change, possess or [...]
Title:
See With New Eyes
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Voices of Community
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Centering prayer is an exercise of letting go. We let go so the Creator can create in us. What God manifests within us is up to God alone. These manifestations [...]
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Voices of Community
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How could we make Holy Week special? My husband cannot make the 3 p.m. Good Friday service as feeding time is 3:30 p.m. There was no way either of us [...]
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Voices of Community
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I experienced another person’s energy when I first started my medical career. As a trauma team lead during my medical training, a motorcycle wreck victim was brought in. It was [...]
Title:
On Becoming Myself
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Voices of Community
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My True Self, are you there hiding behind the fear? Are you there, my True Self; a shadow unknown, unseen, But felt in sudden shudders and closed heart? Are you [...]
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Voices of Community
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The St. Louis chapter hosted the Living Flame Program in 2012 and 2013. I was asked to share my experience of that time, which I recall fondly. The Living Flame [...]
Title:
A Blessed Psalm
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Voices of Community
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Blessed are those who, when there is nowhere left to go, turn inward; for they shall find the Center of all. Your love sustains Blessed are those who dwell in [...]
Title:
Que Sera Sera
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Voices of Community
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Lyrics from a popular Doris Day song from the 1950’s: “Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be;the future’s not ours to see, que sera sera” A few years ago [...]
Title:
Prayer in Secret
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Voices of Community
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An inner turningOf the heart and mind;An unseen embraceInto Love divine. What deep communionIs this secret prayer;A constant unfoldingInto Love’s great care. The sweetness of engaged delightAway from the worldYet [...]
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Voices of Community
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What is the relevance of a contemplative practice today? What fruits have you noticed in your life and what do you understand by the purification process? With the rapid evolution [...]
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Voices of Community
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Dear Fr. Thomas and Contemplative Outreach associates, I’m grateful to God for Fr. Thomas’ inspired vision in founding Contemplative Outreach 30 years ago, and for the many following years of [...]
Title:
A New Tree
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Voices of Community
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To see with new eyes the Christmas treeIs but an outward showOf a deeper realityThat we have come to know. For isn’t the Christmas tree,Hung with ornaments aplentyA deep reminder [...]
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Voices of Community
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Kneeling in a vast hemispherical hall, I am surrounded by what seem to me must be the souls of all who have ever lived and of all those who ever [...]
Title:
Words of Power
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Voices of Community
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God brought the beasts before Adamand he gave to each a name:bull, pig, goat, sheep, dog.His children called them by their names,and lo! they came when called.So shamans and savants [...]
Title:
Centering Prayer is …
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Voices of Community
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Centering prayer is cuddling with Christ.Centering prayer is taking out the trash of the subconscious.Centering prayer is releasing a handful of helium balloons; a heart-full of joy.Centering prayer is laying [...]
Title:
Presence in the Silence
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Voices of Community
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I had been working as a hospital chaplain for just a few months, when one morning I visited a patient (let’s call her Joan) who was due to have complicated [...]
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Voices of Community
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About five years ago, I was searching for a spiritual practice. One day, a notice appeared in our local paper about an event called “A Taste of Silence.” The rest, [...]
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Voices of Community
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Sometimes, I am goodness, truth & beautyand sometimes I act upon another nature,superimposed on mea life mask over my innocent self,the mask is made of projections, assumptions, and judgements [...]
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Voices of Community
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Anything less than a contemplative perspective on lifeis an almost certain program for unhappiness. – Father Thomas Keating Recently a group from Las Vegas enjoyed [...]
