A reflection by Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault on St. Brenan, as she acquires a new icon of the saint and looks back on its meaning throughout her life. St. Brenan has a special place in our society, as our first logo, and continues to be a part of our organization today.

I have come to see that our yearning for intimacy is the way in which we human beings show ourselves to be most profoundly made in the image of God. Too often our pictures of God distort this essential point.

We long for that more than anything, don’t we? – that feeling of absolute security and safety in God. We long for it in this world and hope for it in the next. We long for the deep inner knowing that, as Lady Julian of Norwich says, “All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well”: to know that everything is going to be all right.

Wake up! The season of Lent is like an alarm clock that starts ringing on Ash Wednesday.  As we journey through its forty days, we intend to become more and more awake, more and more conscious, more and more alive.  Our hope is to be as fully present as we can be for the feast of Easter, the great celebration of the Life That Never Goes Away revealed in the Risen Jesus!

In Darlene Franz’s workshop on Sacred Chant here in Victoria last November 19th, she suggested something that made a deep impression on me. And for the life of me, I couldn’t pull it back, I couldn’t remember it. I could only feel it. Until… I read the above excerpt in the devotional God Calling last month.

Two weeks into this winter hermit adventure, and I’ve already pretty much lost track of what day of the week this is, so at the moment I’m even more clueless than usual about when Ash Wednesday will arrive. Is it next week or the one following?

Well, the long-awaited time has at last arrived! After more than ten years in the planning and ground-laying, I have arrived back on Eagle Island for six weeks of winter solitude. Six weeks!!!  I have no official commitments until March 9.

Last October Cynthia received a wholehearted endorsement and reference to her book Mystical Hope in a blog entry by scientist, business executive, and entrepreneur Ricardo Levy. Cynthia was delighted at how profoundly the essence of her book was captured in such an unexpected context, that she suggested we re-post here. So thank you to Ricardo Levy for allowing us to share your insights on this blog page.

Surprise!!! I have a new home. On the Monday before Christmas I slipped off of Eagle Island in the trough between two storms, and early that afternoon closed on a little house in Stonington, Maine, a picturesque little fishing village about five miles from Eagle. It will serve as the staging platform for my hermit times out on the island, and for my travels and local teaching during the other seasons of my life.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a joyous and blessed Christmas – and to share this brief excerpt of Cynthia’s writing capturing how one very special, timeless moment can glow “with the fullness of God.”

In early December Margaret Haines, founding president of The Contemplative Society, slipped peacefully from this life on her beloved Salt Spring Island, surrounded by family and close friends. She was 86 years old.

One of the things I most love about the line of work I’ve fallen into—writing books that push the Christian theological envelope—is that it brings me into conversation with so many fascinating people around the world. The majority of these folks belong to the general category of what I’d call “heartbroken Christians:” thoughtful, prayerful, sincere spiritual seekers, often deeply committed to other spiritual paths, who have found in my books permission to re-open their own de

Triduum, of course, is the name applied in Catholic liturgical circles to those great three days that form the heart of the Holy Week celebration: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the great Vigil of Easter (Triduum means “three days.”)

Welcome to our brand new Contemplative Society blogspot!

A 12-part series of observations and reflections with Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault and Christopher Page at www.contemplative.org During Lent 2011 in Victoria British Columbia, Canada eight church clergy, academics, and spiritual teachers (including Cynthia Bourgeault) shared their thoughts and insights over six Wednesdays on “The Future of Church". Christopher Page created a synthesis of twelve observations that emerged from these presentations and Cynthia Bourgeault will offe

May 2011 Dear friends in The Contemplative Society, What a blessing it was to spend time with you again earlier this spring! Our three Victoria events—the retreat at Poet’s Cove and my talks at The Lenten Noonday Forum at St. John’s and at UVic -were each in their own way intense, stimulating, and deeply rewarding. It was wonderful to see the creative energy and teamwork percolating! I was also amazed at how intense and provocative my short sojourn at Christ Church Cathedral

The following interview, conducted by Christopher Page, took place as part of an on-going discussion in the church about the role sacraments may play in the spiritual journey. (First posted on Christopher’s blog at: http://inaspaciousplace.wordpress.com/ ) CP: Cynthia Bourgeault is a recognized spiritual teacher in the Christian contemplative tradition. She is a writer and an Episcopal priest. Tonight she has agreed to talk to me about her spiritual journey. Cynthia, lots of

hese notes are reflections and notes from Christopher's time at Cynthia's Through Holy Week with Mary Magdalene at the at Poet’s Cove, Pender Island, BC in 2011.

“All Saints’ Greetings to all you Saints!” I am writing to you on the eve of All Saints from Our Lady of The Holy Spirit Abbey in Conyers, Georgia, where I am a spending a few respite days in the midst of the teaching rounds. It’s a great pleasure to call you all to mind as I reflect back on the highlights of the past six months and ponder the shape of what may lie ahead. The big watershed event has been the publication of my book The Meaning of Mary Magdalene, which official

Dear Friends in the Pacific Northwest (and Beyond), How I look forward to being with you again in April! It seems unbelievable that I have not been on the Canadian side of the border for more than a year now, and I am counting the days until the chance to reconnect with many of you at our silent meditation retreat April 12 -16 at Cowichan Lake, a site new to me. We’ll be inviting “the medium to be the message,” as we focus our attention on Robert Sardello’s marvelously subtle