Newsletter

"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost.   From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king." ~ J.R.R. Tolkien: "The Riddle of the Strider." From his novel, The Fellowship of the Ring. In This Month's Issue... Reflect with Erin Carson DeWolfe on Creation Over Consum

"The reason why so few contemplative persons are found, is that so few know how to separate themselves entirely from what is transitory and created.” - Thomas à Kempis: "The Imitation of Christ." Book Three, The Thirty-First Chapter. In This Month's Issue... Reflect with Paula Pryce on The You-ness of Me. Listen for God's promptings through Here I Am , an Advent 2025 online retreat with Therese DesCamp, Lorie Martin and Milla McLachlan, to be held on December 11, 2025. Await

“Every seeing, no matter how calamitous to the ego, is an enhancement of Being….” – Cynthia Bourgeault: “Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening,” Page 132.   In This Month’s Issue… Reflect with Leslie Sandra Black on  Energy Healing: A Contemplative Practice. Journey in image through TCS’s “A Wisdom School on Wisdom Rhythms & Relationships, held with Heather Ruce @ Sorrento Centre”. Explore Contemplative Activism in Challenging Times, through an online retreat with Cynthia Bou

“The Wonderful Effect of Divine Love…. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger or higher or wider; nothing is more pleasant, nothing fuller, and nothing better in heaven or on earth, for love is born of God and cannot rest except in God, Who is above all created things….”

Enjoy the latest news from The Contemplative Society for September 2025

“Do this work until you feel the delight of it.” – The Cloud of Unknowing   In This Month’s Issue… A reflection from Gillian Drader on Returning to What Was Never Lost . Registration opens for TCS’s November 29, 2025 online retreat with Cynthia Bourgeault. Enjoy a “ Contemplative Summer 2025 ” e-store promotion. Membership Season.  TCS’s In-person & Online retreat with Heather Ruce in October 2025.   Returning to What Was Never Lost: A reflection on uncovering the authentic s

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…” – Ecclesiastes 3:1   In This Month’s Issue… A reflection from Therese DesCamp on couch grass. Share your contemplations with TCS through a short community survey. A new TCS video: “Meet TCS Teacher, Therese DesCamp.” Upcoming retreats. Wide Spot: Couch grass by Therese DesCamp Revulsion is not my instinctive response when someone confides their image of Love. But when she said, “I think of Lo

“Love is the religion and the universe is the book.“ (Rumi, his sentiment as expressed in Coleman Barks’ book, “Rumi: The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing.“)   In this newsletter for you:  A new reflection from Paula Pryce; Save-the-dates for two new and upcoming TCS retreats with Cynthia Bourgeault; Thanks to donors; Advance details on TCS’s Advent 2025 retreat; A poem by Ilka Fischer; and Continued registration opportunities for TCS’s October 2025 hybrid (in-perso

“ Our talent, our gift, is our willingness to enter the reciprocal dance with whatever cards we’ve been dealt in this plane.“ (Cynthia Bourgeault) In this newsletter are:  retreat registration opportunities, including for TCS’s upcoming annual in-person retreat; a 15% discount coupon for TCS’s online store; links to a new TCS video; and  an important update for donors. Witnesss by Therese DesCamp Every night at 8 p.m., after the war began, Pope Francis called Holy Family Chur

With great gratitude,  we acknowledge the life and work of Brian Mitchell , a longtime member of TCS and a central contributor to the work of sharing the good news of contemplative Christianity. Brian, who had struggled with debilitating illness during the last years,  passed into t he heart of the Beloved on Monday, April 8 , surrounded by his family.  We ask your prayers for Brian, his family, the contemplative community in Kamloops  whom he led with such grace and skill, a

“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.“ (From: John 13:34-35.)   In this newsletter are registration opportunities for: a TCS online retreat on May 08, 2025 with Heather Ruce; a TCS gift: a workshop on May 31, 2025 with Therese DesCamp a TCS online retreat on June 14, 2025 with Alana Levandoski; and an in-person (with a Zoom option) retreat with Heather Ruce over the dates of October 05-09, 2025.   Whirling Water Dervishes Tools for Turning arou

“All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”   “…Thou shalt not be tempested, thou shalt not be travailed, thou shalt not be distressed; …Thou shalt not be overcome.”     Julian of Norwich from Revelations of Divine Love.   A May 2025 online retreat with Heather Ruce is offered by TCS in this newsletter.   Silence, Presence, Creativity by Barbara Cecil     I write to fellow travelers, who, like me, are wending their way into the living hea

As spring approaches, Lent invites us to take a reflective journey. In these forty days before Easter, we’re encouraged to pause, shed layers, and renew ourselves. Beyond fasting, Lent is a time to think about our faith, compassion, and connection to others. In this newsletter, we are pleased to share a  new E-Course  to support your journey through Lent and Holy Week. This E-Course was developed from a retreat facilited by  Heather Ruce  titled  Holy Week Wisdom Teachings: A

Joyful blessings, fellow contemplatives. Offered in this newsletter: +  A new reflection by Paula Pryce . +  A TCS online retreat with Justin Coutts , held on February 22, 2025. + Links to access  TCS’s newest video  on: “Christian Contemplation”. +  A ‘Quiet Day’ , an in-person community retreat held on March 08, 2025. And more!   Home by Another Way: Trusting the Dark Journey of the Non-Sensorial  by Paula Pryce   If you are searching,you must not stop until you find.     

New Year 2025 blessings, contemplative companions. A February 2025 online retreat with Justin Coutts is offered by TCS in this newsletter.   “The Gate of Heaven is Everywhere” ~ Thomas Merton by Barbara Cecil (Dedicated to the young people who are inheriting the world we have created.) I was touched by how Heather Ruce opened the daily Pause of meditation and Centering Prayer earlier this month. She spoke of a great wave surrounding us, permeating us, which is itself the flow

Advent, with dragons by Paula Pryce "A most cruel and horrible dragon issued forth . . .  of various colours, with a beard and hair that seemed of gold, and teeth that seemed of iron, eyes sharp and brilliant as kindled flame." – The Legend of St. Margaret of Antioch Dragons curling, twisting, encroaching.  Many have said that this Advent feels different.  The soft hopefulness diminished, the growing light muted.  Instead a cavern of tangled serpents seems to be at our feet.

Holdfast. As a kid, I used to love finding seaweed on the beach after a big storm. We would wield short strands of kelp like clubs in mock fights, twirl the long ones above our heads so they’d whistle in the wind, and pop the little air-and-slime-filled bladders. Once in a while we’d even find a root-like holdfast. Holdfasts. Such a lovely name; such an unglamorous appearance. By the time a holdfast shows up on the beach, it is dead: brittle and broken, a woody knot no longer

Autumn greetings, contemplatives. Here I am, as I am.  We came, physically, from across western Canada. We came, virtually, from Texas and North Carolina and Quebec and North Carolina and Ontario and Washington and Illinois and Maryland and New York and Ohio and Alberta. We showed up with rescue dogs and gardening tools; we showed up from kitchens and studies and the top of a windy Alberta park, wearing a warm toque. In this world, as it is.  We came with grief over deaths an

SUMMER SPECIAL: Use the coupon code, 38T6TM3P, to receive a 20% discount on all TCS store purchases from August 01st to September 02nd, 2024.   August 2024 Newsletter content August Greetings from The Contemplative Society!  We wanted to get this newsletter to you early in the month so that you still have time to register for our upcoming September 2024 retreat with Heather Ruce.   Please note that the registration deadline is August 31 and we are also organizing a rideshare

“There is a great difference between comprehending the knowledge of things and tasting the hidden life of them.” Quaker mystic Isaac Pennington Summer greetings from the Contemplative Society!  This newsletter features a personal invitation from Heather Ruce to join our upcoming Wisdom School in Sorrento BC from September 8-12, 2024.  Since the earlybird deadline for registration is fast approaching, we hope you will find this a timely reminder and inspiration to click on the