The great English mystic Julian of Norwich (1342-1418) lived at a time of pandemic and war, a time of enormous suffering and anxiety similar to our own, yet she received a profound vision of God in which she saw that “Love was his meaning”, “all shall be well”, and “Peace and love are always in us, living and working”. The Rev’d Philip Carter* pays tribute to a remarkable woman and her book Revelations of Divine Love, which was the first to be written in English by a woman.
Christ-Consciousness and the new physics
The new physics has opened the door to a new vision of reality in which the physical, psychological and spiritual are interdependent and interrelated. This expanded consciousness also allows for the possibility that the Christ-Consciousness, a powerful cosmic force of love and wisdom, is drawing humanity into the hidden mystery of the Absolute, the Godhead, a communion of love which Jesus embodied. Meditation and mindfulness teacher Lydia Dyhin* reflects.
From silkworm to butterfly
Roland Ashby, Contributing Editor of Living Water, reflects on St Teresa of Avila’s understanding of prayer, in which God’s love is always available to us in abundance. She says that growing union with this love, if we let it, can transform the soul from a silkworm into a butterfly, and transport us into a life of true freedom.
Unblocking the heart
Contributing Editor of Living Water, Roland Ashby, reflects on his own recent experience of confronting his mortality, and how this relates to what Spanish mystic St John of the Cross termed the “dark night of the soul”. Through this “dark night” God is encountered as passionate, intimate lover who seeks to liberate us to live in true freedom, in the fullness of love.
Winter joys and the promise of new beginnings
Winter is a time of special consolations, including space for more interiority, reflects author and teacher Ann Rennie. Living in Melbourne, Australia, which is now in its final weeks of winter, she writes that winter is a time for the slow joys of poetry, letting go of the detritus of our lives, and looking forward to new beginnings.
Responding to the silent cry of our hearts: ‘Love me!’
14th century Sufi poet Hafiz invites us to be the love for others that we wish they would be for us. Author and founder of Benedictus Contemplative Church, Dr Sarah Bachelard, reflects on Hafiz’s poem With That Moon Language*, and also that if we are truly to live by Christ’s injunction to love others as we love ourselves, then we must let ourselves be loved by God, and receive the life God longs to bestow on us.
Meister Eckhart’s deep wisdom for our times
In October, the Australian Government, for the first time, will deliver a ‘well-being budget’. In so doing, Australia will join other countries including Bhutan, Iceland, Finland and New Zealand in recognising that economics alone is not an adequate measure of a nation’s well-being. German mystic Meister Eckhart (c.1260-1328) would approve. In the last posting on Living Water, the Rev’d John Stewart summarised Eckhart’s teachings*. Here he draws on Matthew Fox’s book Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for our Times to distil some of Eckhart’s wisdom in the fields of ecumenism, economics, ecology and education.
Go out of yourself and let God be God in you
The 13th-14th Century German mystic Meister Eckhart has been described as ‘the man from whom God hid nothing.’ The Rev’d John Stewart, Co-Director of the Living Well Centre for Christian Spirituality* in Melbourne, Australia, explores how Eckhart’s fourfold path of spirituality can lead to God continually being reborn in us so that we can carry on God’s work of re-creation.
Only ‘inner work’ can save conflict-riven humanity
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the Children of God,” Jesus said. But how can we be makers of authentic peace in a world so riven by conflict and violence? Author, priest and long-time meditator, Dr Sarah Bachelard*, considers one of the most urgent questions of our time in the light of a new book, Practicing[1] Peace: Theology, Contemplation, and Action, by Michael Wood.
Doubt, death and the Dark Night - a personal journey
Since childhood, retired Anglican priest Ron Browning OAM has lived with hidden doubts about an afterlife. But two years ago these doubts were brought into sharp focus when he was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. His journey into the Dark Night of the Soul has been a journey of naked trust which has brought pain and loss, but also profound insight into how Christ’s mystical love can be a bridge into the next life.
The time for uncommon courage is now, says Joan Chittister
The times are such that they demand that each of us find our inner prophet, says one of the great prophets of our age, Benedictine nun Joan Chittister. In her recent book, The Time is Now – A Call to Uncommon Courage, she quotes the late Jesuit priest and prophet Daniel Berrigan, who spoke out against the Vietnam War: “The prophet is one who speaks the truth to a culture of lies.”
Election campaign underlines the urgent need for contemplative wisdom
As Australia heads towards a federal election on 21 May, I am daily reminded of western culture’s urgent need for a deep wisdom arising out of a contemplative consciousness. During this election campaign, as in previous campaigns, the political discourse has largely been reduced to slogans and sound bites, shaped by advertising/PR agencies and focus groups, and there has been very little discussion of some of the underlying challenges facing Australians, and indeed humanity globally.
Safeguarding the soul in a time of evil
Finding our place of resurrection
As we celebrate Easter day, what meaning does resurrection have for our lives? Dr Cath Connelly, author and co-director of the Living Well Centre for Christian Spirituality* reflects on how the Celtic saints, and in particular St Gobnait, inspired us to have the faith and courage to launch out into the unknown to find our “place of resurrection”: a place where our spirit is most alive, and where our “deepest gladness meets with the world’s greatest hunger”.
Christians called to mirror God in simplicity and joy – Rowan Williams
Christians are called to a life of simplicity because they believe that human beings are made in the image of God, former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams said recently. “That means that as we learn simplicity in our lives we are engaged in rediscovering, re-entering our gifted existence as God’s image,” he said.
Finding hope in the midst of advanced cancer
Standing at the threshold of new and holy ground
Meditation as a ministry of compassion in a time of war
Contemplative consciousness vital for our future
With floods again devastating parts of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia, we are seeing yet more evidence of climate change. Apart from war, climate change is the greatest threat to the future of the planet, to which the latest report from the IPCC*, released this week, attests. Long-time Christian meditator Roger Layet* says that if the planet is to have a sustainable future, then human beings must develop a contemplative way of seeing which understands that we are part of nature, not apart from it. Meditation, he says, can help us overcome the illusion of separation from nature and one another, and help us realise our essential oneness.
‘A dark time for the world’ – Laurence Freeman
Laurence Freeman, a Benedictine monk and Director of the World Community for Christian Meditation, made the following statement of solidarity with the people of Ukraine on February 24th, and called on meditators worldwide to join him for an online meditation event on March 26th as an expression of their love and support, and for ‘decency and justice in the world order’.