Newsletter

Welcome to June, the month of warmer temperatures and longer days! Summer in the Western Hemisphere is a season that most of us still like to celebrate despite the ever-present reality of wildfires aate warming.  In many ways, the time we are living in seems anything but ‘ordinary’. But for those who follow the Christian liturgical calendar this season is indeed known as  Ordinary Time . The word ‘ordinary’ in this context originated with the ‘ordinal numbers’ used to count t

Many blessings on this last day of May! In this newsletter we share several events being hosted in our contemplative community in the coming months. This includes a  Summer Centering Prayer Intensive  at Providence Renewal Centre, a  National Conference Retreat: From Anxiety to Peace  at UBC Vancouver, and a  Contemplative Retreat: Coming Home to Divine Light in Dark Times  at Sorrento Centre. Find out more below! Blessings, Tabitha Black-Lock The Contemplative Society Summer

As Lent nears its end and Easter approaches, we find ourselves amidst a journey of spiritual growth and reflection. During this time, we reflect on the significance of this transition, embracing the lessons learned during Lent and anticipating the joyous celebration of Easter. In this newsletter, we are excited to accounce a few upcoming events.  On April 20,  we will be hosting  The Faces of Mary: An Online Retreat  with Rev. Matthew Wright.  Matthew will lead us on a journe

Happy New Year! As we step into 2024, we are invited to reflect on the chapters of the past and set intentions for the journey ahead. In the spirit of contemplation, this newsletter offers opportunities to inspire your path in the coming year. Explore the transformative experience of the  2024 Centering Prayer Summit on January 20-21, 2024 with Closer than Breath . Immerse yourself in moments of stillness and connection to deepen your understanding and personal practice as we

As we immerse ourselves in the season of Autumn, watching as the leaves slowly fall from the trees, we are offered the opportunity to embrace the changes outside and within. This newsletter outlines upcoming offerings to guide us through these seasonal changes. There is still space to attend  The Web of Life: A Retreat for Contemplative Solidarity , from  November 20-23 at   Loon Lake, B.C. and online via Zoom . During the upcoming Advent season, two in-person retreats are be

As we slowly move towards the beautiful season of Autumn, we are pleased to share some wonderful upcoming events and offers to support your contemplative journey. This includes the  Web of Life Retreat with Cynthia Bourgeault , release of the  Re-Learning Trust E-Course,  an  online Wisdom School Study Group, and broadcasted Ecumenical Prayer Vigil.  This newsletter also includes an  important update regarding our Audio Store as well as details about our job opening  for th

Summer greetings! We hope you have been enjoying sunny days, relaxation, and time with loved ones. When things slow down in the summer, it can be a wonderful time to find new ways for contemplative practice. To support your spiritual journey in the last weeks of summer, we are offering a Summer MP3 Sale  on  all three parts  of  Practicing Living Presence: Discovering the Mind of Christ Within . Find out more below! In this newsletter we also share news about upcoming events

June Blessings! We hope you’ve been enjoying the magnificant blossoming flowers and soaking in the rays of sunshine that bless us during these warm summer months. This newsletter includes some exciting news. First, we are pleased to release  Part 3 of Practicing Living Presence: Discovering the Mind of Christ Within , a teaching by Cynthia Bourgeault . Below, Brian Mitchell shares a reflection of this teaching. A huge thank you to the team of volunteers who prepared this reco

Blessings Contemplative Friends, As we enter the month of March, we are excited to share several upcoming events to inspire and nurture our contemplative, spiritual journies. Please find details of these wonderful events below! This evening at 7:00pm, there is a webcast showing of the Sacred Earth: Growing Beloved Community with John Philip Newell, Bishop Marc Andrus, and Dr. Paloma Pavel. For those of you in Vancouver, on March 10 and 11 there are two events being hosted by

We are pleased to invite you to register to attend Wisdom School: The Encounter with Evil Retreat online via Zoom! This retreat is being hosted by Heather Ruce and Cynthia Bourgeault at the Mercy Centre in California and there is still room to attend virtually! Please see below for more details. For your awareness, Heather Ruce will also be leading an in-person Retreat during Holy Week, April 3 -5, 2023 at Bethlehem Centre in Nanaimo, B.C. Heather Ruce is a new member of The

Happy New Year, contemplative friends! A huge thank you to everyone who donated to our Fall Appeal.  Your generous support will make it possible for The Contemplative Society to offer exciting news over the next few weeks of upcoming retreats and events, and the publication of new audio and video resources.  All in support of strengthening our community’s capacity to walk the contemplative path and center our actions in divine wisdom and love, no matter what turmoil or creati

Today is Giving Tuesday! And while I am aware I am writing to you with a request for support, what I am feeling is immense gratitude for what The Contemplative Society has already received. This year marks our 25th anniversary. Since 1997, we have grown from a tiny group organizing retreats on Salt Spring Island, BC to a significant hub of the contemplative network , providing countless resources to promote contemplative wisdom and sustain contemplative practice. With hundre

Hello Contemplatives, In this part of the world, cold chill is in the air, leaves are tumbling off the trees, the sun is lower in the sky, days are shortening, and hummingbirds are competing for nutrients from the feeder. Winter is settling in and we’re all responding in our own God-given ways to the changing of the seasons. In the turning of the Christian seasons, we’re about to await and celebrate the Advent of Christ and know the Divine Love and Light that is ever present,

Hello Contemplatives! Greetings from Vancouver Island on the traditional, unceded territories of the Lekwungen speaking people. In this part of the world we’re enjoying the bright and verdant energies of summer and appreciating this present moment in our sacred connection to the earth, witnessing God’s regenerative love in land, water, air, and life, and in the depths of our hearts. As we are looking to the Fall, we’re delighted to welcome Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault back to Vanc

Hello Contemplatives! We’re excited to announce the publication of “ Practicing Living Presence: Discovering the Mind of Christ Within – Part TWO! “, Cynthia Bourgeault’s exploration of Kabir Helminski’s book “ Living Presence: A Sufi Way to Mindfulness & the Essential Self”,  and the accompanying Practice Manual by Lynn C Bauman,  Living the Presence: A Manual for Contemplative Christian Practice” In Part One (published in November 2021 – find it  HERE ), Cynthia explored Ch

Hello Contemplative Friends, What does contemplation have to do with heat domes, atmospheric rivers, landslides, clearcuts and forest fires? How do we, as contemplatives, weave the suffering and luminosity of our planet into our daily practice in a way that is real? What is our part in the much-called-for transformation of collective human and more-than-human consciousness? The Board of The Contemplative Society, in our Wisdom Circle last fall, discerned that part of our work

Hello Contemplative friends in the Greater Victoria Region, We can meet again in person! We can ditch the Zoom separation and gather again as living, breathing, contemplatives. Not on a 2-dimensional screen, but in multi-dimensional embodiment of community – to sit, walk, celebrate, and enjoy our living presence to each other and the Divine Presence in all Creation. Join us for a Spring Celebration with a gentle morning of Contemplative Silence.We’ll Celebrate with chant in t

Jesus replied, “Now the hour has come for the Chosen One to be glorified.  The truth of the matter is, unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.” John 12:24 IB It is the start of Holy Week, and everywhere on these traditional terirtories of the Lek’wungen speaking peoples the earth is waking from it’s long cold, wet and windy winter. The yellow daffodils and blue camas have broken through t

Hello Contemplatives! We’re very excited to announce the publication of our latest recording: Practicing the Living Presence: Discovering the Mind of Christ Within (Part One), by Cynthia Bourgeault   In this teaching, Cynthia is accompanied by a group Christian contemplatives in Victoria BC over a 4 year period from 1999 – 2003 and 30 sessions, as they worked their way through Kabir Helminski’s practical, ground-truthed Sufi text “Living Presence: A Sufi Way to Mindfulness &

Hello contemplative friends! In our part of the world, we’ve bid farewell to summer heat, and now feel the cool of fall settling on the west coast. The familiar turning of the seasons again reminds us of the never-ending rhythms of Sacred Presence. With the turn comes the shift of creative energy that is so needed to plan and implement the pieces that will see us through the winter months. Now is a good time to update you on the new movements here at The Contemplative Society