Blog
Do not be afraid
“Do not be afraid, little flock. It is my Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
These sublime words from Luke 12 accompany me this morning as I awake to an America vastly different from the one I bid farewell to last night. The people have spoken; my country has collectively expressed its wish for the future. The decision was clean and unequivocal. By the hand of democracy, my fellow citizens have chosen this path. As fellow Americans, we will now walk it together.
A Wisdom Community at the Ready
One of the signature features of our particular lineage of contemplative Wisdom is that contemplation and action simply cannot be separated. A contemplative lifestyle does not mean simply letting the issues of our world pass beneath our notice; it means drawing on the resources of contemplative equanimity, timing, and inner body awareness to make a skillful response to the world (very different from kneejerk liberal progressive activism).
Connecting the Metaphysical Dots: Cynthia Bourgeault & Jonathan Rowson
Across every major sector, changemakers are coming to realize we will need more than just action plans and policies to stabilize our home planet and enact a vision of the world we want to become. The x-factor steadily re-emerging in these circles is a deep curiosity about the role of spirituality. And yet, in a post-modern and increasingly post-religious landscape, to whom does an activist turn to begin bridging these disciplines?
The Veepstakes and the Law of Three
In a recent Facebook exchange with Matthew Wright, I hopped on Matthew’s bandwagon, agreeing that a Kamala Harris/ Andy Beshear ticket was probably the Democrats’ strongest option and commenting that it might indeed carry powerful third force. Marty Schmidt queried me about where I saw third force in it. His insightful question has led me to further pondering on my initial “seat of the pants” response, and I will share that fuller response with you here. The occasion really invites our entire Wisdom Community to ponder the precipitous events of last week from a Wisdom perspective and consider how we might collectively help hold the space between now and November 5, regardless of our individual political perspectives.
Ten Practical Guidelines for Conscious Aging
As the humiliating debate around whether Joe Biden has “aged out” of the presidency continues to play front and center on the American political scene, it becomes more and more clear that America is basically repelled by the aging process and largely clueless about the deeper spiritual possibilities that may lie coiled within it.
Operation Coadjutor
What the Episcopal Church may have to have to teach the Democratic National Party.
Prospero to Joe Biden: Time to "Break Your Staff, Drown Your Book?"
On the evening of June 27 the election was essentially decided. The American electorate collectively awoke to the sobering realization that Joseph Biden was most likely unelectable. It is one of the more stunning phase transitions I’ve ever witnessed in American politics. Out of left field, more a “blink” (as Malcolm Gladwell would have it) than a deliberation. But like all phase transitions it is unanimous, and once the threshold has been crossed, the course is irreversible.
A World Gone Mad
Abba Anthony said, “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, ‘You are mad, you are not like us.’ “
Highlights of Cynthia’s Fall and Winter Teaching Schedule
I know that many of you are beginning to arrange your fall and winter schedules and are trying to figure out which on-the -ground CB retreats will work best with your particular interests and experience base. With that in mind, I thought I’d walk you through some of the highlights of my fall and early winter teaching schedule. Most of these events are now posted on both Wisdom Waypoints and cynthiabourgeault.org, but here’s the quick summary
Maundy Thursday: A Journey Through Holy Week
This is day four of a six day free Holy Week offering. On this Maundy Thursday and beginning of the Easter Triduum, in the Passion Libretto Part III: The Prince of this World, Cynthia talks about Jesus facing what is in the shadows of collective psychosis, madness, and frenzy. She invites us to do the same by way of asking ourselves how we might stand in truth and courageously see what is in our own shadow, how we participate in collective sin and stoke the fires of madness and frenzy. This gain in self-knowledge and deepening sense of humility allows us to stay in the truth which always sets us free.