A Letter From Cynthia Bourgeault, Resident Teacher, May 2003

*Image: Eagle Island, Maine (LOST)

May 2003

Dear Members and Friends,

As I write this letter, it is with some sense of coming to the end of a long

winter that has had its share of growing pains as well some extraordinary

blessedness and joy. Like every young organization emerging from the

original "big bang" of enthusiasm and energy that launched it, the

Contemplative Society board has found itself wrestling with the good but

hard questions necessary to build a broader vision and ownership for the

long term future.

Is the Society primarily an organization to support my work and presence

among you as a hermit and teacher, or is it a primarily a grassroots

affiliation of Christian contemplatives supporting a variety of programmes

and teachers? Do visioning and leadership emerge primarily from the resident

teacher or do they emerge from the board? How does this leadership stay in

touch with and remain responsive to a membership that now extends over more

than a 300-square mile radius?

These are huge questions, and the board has been tackling them with

sincerity, courage, and commitment. But in a living demonstration of what

Fr. Bruno Barnhart refers to as "redshift," we are learning that change,

adaptation, and sometimes even the apparent (or real) loss of the original

direction and momentum are all inevitable aspects of the journey through

time. The real test of a contemplative is to be willing to meet these

challenges with an open heart and to surrender into the new becoming,

wherever it may lead. That's the energy that first brought the Society into

existence, and God willing, it continues to hold our feet to the fire.

I will be leaving BC on May 7 for my annual/seasonal migration to Maine,

although there will be trips back to BC in early July and early September.

While there, I hope to continue building on my hermitage, a project that got

further down the pike last summer than anyone would have dared believe

thanks to the incredibly generous help of Society members Felicity Hanington

and Larry Dawe. I will also continue to plug away on my Centering Prayer

manuscript, which is now more than halfway done.

While I'm away, I'm still in email touch, either directly (use my usual

email address; it connects via wireless wizardry direct to Eagle Island), or

else through the Contemplative Society. There will also be two residential

Wisdom Schools, jointly offered by myself and Lynn Bauman, in Texas and

Minnesota. For more information, check the inside pages of this calendar.

May you all have a blessed summer. I'll see you in November...or somewhere

along the way.

Blessings,

Cynthia