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

*This reflection was featured on the home page of contemplative.org in late 2009 to early 2010. It comes from Goop by Gwyneth Paltrow's newsletter #62. Question: “The figure and teachings of Jesus are too often broken down, adapted, and then shaped to fit people’s own particular needs and desires. Who was the real, walking, talking, preaching Jesus and what lessons can we take from him today?” Cynthia Bourgeault replies: Don’t get tricked into confusing truth with facticity

September 19, 2009 Dear friends and fellow contemplatives, What a wild ride this summer has turned out to be! When I broke camp back in Colorado shortly after Easter and headed back to my hermitage in Maine, I expected several months of hermit reclusion in the classic style, my nose to the grindstone on the Mary Magdalene book. The manuscript did get completed—in about two months, rather than the four I was allotting—but what opened up for the rest of the summer flung me and

June 04, 2009 Everybody, without a doubt, told me I would love this place. And the adjectives were so glowing that I came prepared to discount them by a hefty percentage. But no, every glowing word turned out to be an understatement. Take the incomparable rugged beauty of BC, the extraordinary sailing waters of Maine, the sassy, "in-your-face spirit" of pioneer America...and throw in the incomparably haunting presence of the Maori culture, and it's all good. And that's before

June 15, 2008 Dear friends in the Contemplative Society, As some of you may know, this spring has served up a cornucopia of opportunities for spiritual pilgrimage. This March it was India; in May (after a week of Centering Prayer teaching in England), I was privileged to be able to spend two weeks in Turkey and on the Greek islands of Paros and Patmos. The teaching in England went splendidly, thanks to my extremely gracious and competent hosts in Norwich and London, who are e

Dear members and friends of the Contemplative Society, It's Thanksgiving Day in the States as I write to you—an appropriate occasion, since thanksgiving is the main content of my message. I have been so deeply blessed during this past year by the loving support of the Contemplative Society, and particularly by the inspired and dedicated leadership of our board of directors. What an amazing year of enthusiasm and abundance! Your support made possible several wonderful teaching

The Divine Feminine in Hebrew Scripture and Biblical Wisdom Literature FOREWORD By The Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault, Ph.D. You are now holding in your hands a small treasure. Prepare to be delighted—and transformed. When my friend Rami Shapiro asked me to contribute a Foreword to his soon-to-be-published manuscript on the Divine Feminine in Hebrew scriptures, I agreed partly out of skepticism. The Divine Feminine in the Old Testament?? It sounded like an oxymoron. Back in seminary

Aspen Chapel, April 2, 2006 by Cynthia Bourgeault “True love demands sacrifice because true love is a transforming force and the beginning of union at a higher level.” I first read these words more than ten years ago in an essay on the Lord’s Prayer written by an anonymous contemporary Christian mystic. Even then they sent a numinous shiver up my spine. I still don’t fully understand what they mean. But I recognize their truth and their overwhelming bearing on my own human

Dear Friends, Greetings from points east! As I write to you this morning, I'm now nearing the end of yet-another cross-country migration. This afternoon, God willin', I'll cross Penobscot Bay in Bob Quinn's lobsterboat and take up residence once again in my little hermitage on Eagle Island, Maine. It will be another summer of "gitting further" with construction, along with a few writing projects and preparation for the summer's round of teaching and retreats. Just to make the

a homily given by the Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault Talk given by The Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault at Aspen Chapel On March 7, 2004, to launch a month-long focus on Christian Mysticism *This homily was pulled from Archived site data, uploaded to contemplative.org in 2004. There's a famous, allegedly true-story I may have told you before concerning a school board in Tennessee debating about whether or not to introduce the study of foreign languages into the high school curriculum. "Hell