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August 2024

August 24, 2024

I Believe Prayer Changes Things. Here’s a Few Thoughts Why.

I posted this on Facebook not long ago... A couple of people posted comments to...

August 20, 2024

You don’t have to become a monk to be a mystic

A reader wrote to me recently: Hello, I am interested in becoming a Christian Mystic....

October 2022

October 03, 2022

Gnosis and Mysticism

A reader of this blog named Brian writes: Carl, How would you compare and contrast...

January 2022

January 18, 2022

New Online Course: the Contemplative Wisdom of “Meditations on the Tarot”

Thomas Keating loved it. So did Basil Pennington and Bede Griffiths. In our time,...

December 2021

December 14, 2021

Two Essential Questions for the Mystical Journey

I was speaking with a few friends of mine who are spiritual directors recently, and...

November 2021

November 10, 2021

Critics Say “Centering Prayer Empties the Mind.” They are Wrong.

Sigh. Last night I stumbled across yet another website from a well-meaning, but obviously misinformed,...

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...

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 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...

November 2020

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....

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...

August 2020

August 07, 2020

Do Christian Mystics Believe in Redemption?

An email came to me today, with this question: Dear Carl, I read your Big Book...

July 2020

July 28, 2020

Questions After a Retreat: What Books to Read, What Steps to Take Next

Shortly after concluding my Praying with the Spanish Mystics Retreat, one of the persons who...

July 25, 2020

Praying with the Spanish Mystics

This week I facilitated my second Zoom retreat hosted by the monks of Holy Cross...

June 2020

June 18, 2020

A Drop of Water is Not the Ocean (Understanding Christian Mystical Teachings of Union and Nonduality)

A reader named Beth writes: Hi Carl, I started reading "The Big Book of Christian...

May 2020

May 26, 2020

An Examen of the Senses

Today I want to share with you something I co-wrote with my wife, Fran. For...

February 2020

February 03, 2020

Less than 12% of the Catholic Catechism is devoted to spirituality. That, in a nutshell, is what’s wrong with the church today.

Over the years I have discovered that there are three types of people interested in...

May 2019

May 08, 2019

Julian of Norwich’s Timeless Message

We know the first woman who wrote a book in the English language (at least,...

April 2019

April 23, 2019

Advice to a Young Christian — about Witchcraft and the Spiritual World

Since I have written about witchcraft and neopaganism — both books and posts on this...

April 08, 2019

Intention, Attention, and the Practice of Contemplative Prayer

This is the third of a series of blog posts in response to a lengthy...

March 2019

March 08, 2019

Five Ways to Think About Christian Mysticism

Mysticism is a notoriously squirrelly word to try to define. In The Big Book of Christian...

February 2019

February 14, 2019

How to Find God in Your Dreams

One night in a dream I found myself near the Ballston Metro station in Arlington,...

January 2019

January 30, 2019

A Contemplative Perspective on Tithing (At Church… and Beyond)

A friend on Facebook named Stephanie posed this question to me: Hello Carl, I am...

December 2018

December 26, 2018

Silence and Words are Like Yin and Yang: a Contemplative Spirituality Needs Both

How does language help us — or hinder us — as we try to express...

December 20, 2018

Planting the Seed and Watching it Grow

I grew up in the suburbs, and gardening was not something my family devoted much...

August 2018

August 02, 2018

What To Do When Mystics Feel Like Misfits

In response to my recent article Why Are Mystics So... Weird?!?, one reader posted this comment

July 2018

July 25, 2018

The Self, Self-Esteem, and Dying to Self: Contemplative Spirituality and the Ego

A reader of this blog named John wrote to me a while back and asked...

July 19, 2018

Saying Yes to “Prayer Without Ceasing”

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Saint Paul throws down the spiritual gauntlet. He instructs his readers...