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June 2021

June 24, 2021

Come to the Eternal Heart Publication Day Celebration — June 29, 2021!

Friends, you are invited to a special virtual event: the Eternal Heart Book Launch Celebration! We...

June 21, 2021

Companionship as a Key to the Spiritual Life: Therese Schroeder-Sheker Reflects on “Eternal Heart”

N.B. Today's guest post is by noted musician and thanatologist Therese Schroeder-Sheker. She wrote this piece...

May 2021

May 24, 2021

Union, Intimacy, and Love: the Dynamics of Christian Mysticism

The best way to understand Christian mysticism (if "understanding" is even a possibility, given the...

May 22, 2021

Take This One-Question Survey: Your Favorite Way(s) to Explore Contemplative Spirituality

Friends, could you take a half a minute and fill out this 1-question survey? I'm...

May 21, 2021

When You Pre-order a Book, It Makes a Difference (Here’s Why)

Please click on the button of your preferred retailer to pre-order Eternal Heart: If you...

May 18, 2021

“He Confuses a Lot of People” — Jon M. Sweeney on Writing About Thomas Merton

N.B. Today's guest post is by Jon M. Sweeney. Jon is the author of numerous books,...

May 08, 2021

Why Julian of Norwich Matters to Me

I first "met" Julian of Norwich through reading Evelyn Underhill's magisterial book Mysticism: The Nature and...

May 04, 2021

So Many Books, So Little Time!

Lately I've been posting a social media a "book of the day." It's a combination...

April 2021

April 21, 2021

Pilgrimage of the Heart: Why Pilgrimage Matters Even If You’ve Never Been On One

Today's guest post is by Lisa Deam, the author of 3000 Miles to Jesus: Pilgrimage...

March 2021

March 27, 2021

What do Christian Mystics Believe?

What do Christian mystics believe? Hidden in this question is really two questions: Do Christians...

March 23, 2021

Hunting Magic Eels: the Quest for a Re-Enchanted Christianity

Richard Beck, professor of psychology at Abilene Christian University in Texas, has just released a...

March 09, 2021

A Meditation on the Spirituality of Healing (A Patreon Sneak Peek)

A note from Carl: Friends, I am currently writing a manuscript that I am calling...

February 2021

February 17, 2021

Many Paths, One Way: Balancing Religious Commitment with Spiritual Diversity

A reader, who chooses to remain anonymous, posed the following question: "a world shaped by...

February 10, 2021

Theosis: A Misunderstood Mystical Concept

Theosis comes from the Greek θέωσις and literally means "divine state" — Theo (God, divinity)...

February 06, 2021

What is Centering Prayer?

Centering Prayer is a contemporary method of Christian spiritual practice that is based on teachings...

February 02, 2021

James Martin: Learning to Pray

"Everyone can pray" is the hopeful and helpful opening message of Learning to Pray, the...

February 01, 2021

A Dream About A High School Library and Standing Up For What’s Right

Last night, I had the following dream. I woke up and wrote the dream down,...

January 2021

January 28, 2021

Do We Lose Our Identity When We Become One with God?

A reader named Allen writes... I have heard some mystics talk about when we die...

January 14, 2021

Explore the Mystical Life — with a Christian Mysticism “Unknowledge Base”!

Friends, I'm excited to announce a major new initiative on my personal website (www.anamchara.com). Coming...

December 2020

December 28, 2020

A Mystical Catechism

One of my dreams is to create a Christian Mysticism Knowledge Base (or, perhaps better...

December 14, 2020

How do I choose a contemplative lay order? And do I have to be Catholic to do so?

A reader recently wrote to me: Dear Carl, I grew up as a Protestant, but as...

November 2020

November 28, 2020

Heart to Heart, Simple Awareness of Love

Recently I received this message from a new reader of this blog... Hi Carl, I...

November 24, 2020

The Prayer of Recollection: A Classic Mystical Practice as Taught by Evelyn Underhill

Contemplative spirituality has its own jargon, and this "language of prayer" evolves over time....

November 20, 2020

Seven Ways to Think About Christian Mysticism

Here is the third episode of my "Schola Mystica" podcast. The transcript of the episode...

November 17, 2020

Finding Your Perfect Prayer Posture

A question that sometimes comes up when people are first learning a practice like Centering...

November 13, 2020

Video: Mysticism and the Bible — Three Contemplative Verses

"Is mysticism in the Bible?" It's a question I get asked from time to...

October 2020

October 31, 2020

Help Santa Out: Seven Books to Give to Anyone Interested in Learning About Christian Mysticism

Okay, friends, I know we haven't even made it to All Saint's yet, but Christmas is less...

October 26, 2020

Nine Books for Exploring Franciscan Spirituality

This weekend I conducted a retreat on Franciscan spirituality for the Rock Hill Oratory Center...

October 19, 2020

What Mystics Do (and You Can, Too)

What do mystics do? The following list can be a way to begin answering this...

September 2020

September 09, 2020

Eternal Heart: The Mystical Path to a Joyful Life (Pre-Order Now)

St. Augustine said that the human heart is restless until it rests in God. I...