A Letter From Cynthia Bourgeault, Resident Teacher, November 2002

*Image: Eagle Island, Maine (LOST)

Dear Friends,

This past July a quiet milestone passed: the Contemplative Society turned five years old! I still remember that original incorporation meeting in John Lowan's living room: five of us sitting there trying to hammer our hopes and dreams into a mission statement. While that task eventually got accomplished, I'm sure none of us had the slightest clue what we were setting in motion, or how providentially everything, including our original vision would grow.

Looking back on these five years, I would have to say that the most satisfying aspect (aside from wonderful growth of the Contemplative Society itself) has been to watch a whole new generation of teachers and guides come of age. This "rite of passage" was signaled quite clearly this past September when four members of the Society - Anita Boyd, Christopher and Heather Page, and Glenna Tiedje - journeyed to Oregon (assisted by a grant from the Meditation Trust Fund in Minnesota) to complete training for certification as officially trained presenters of Centering Prayer. All four are now out in the field leading retreats and workshops.

These emerging teachers clearly have their own style and voices, and are making their very unique and valuable contributions. Christopher Page, of course, is already well known as a writer and teacher of contemplative practice in the Victoria area. His courses on the Desert Fathers at the Victoria Lay School of Theology (repeated this fall by popular demand) have steadily attracted more than 40 people, and the contemplative Eucharist and lectio divina at St. Philip's have become an anchor point for many in the Victoria area. Meanwhile, Contemplative Society vice-president Diane Tolomeo, also a gifted writer and teacher, has taken on the hugely challenging job of heading up the newly formed Department of Religious Studies at the University of Victoria. Our president, John Lowan, is continuing his pioneering work with Meditation and brain wave research in close association with Anna Wise and her team in California.

On the Vancouver side of the bay, Wendy Eyre-Grey has opened a marvelous small retreat center called Dayspring, on the Sunshine Coast, and is doing her share of teaching and spiritual direction there. And Deborah Foster has developed her own wonderful workshops in Christian meditation and Benedictine practice and was a key player in last summer's Interfaith Global Meditation conference. In the BC interior, Brian Mitchell, Flo Masson, and Dey Stewart continue to facilitate lively "Living Presence" groups and to keep the light of contemplative practice burning brightly.

I must confess, I have been enjoying the additional slack that this carves in my own life. Back here in my little Seascape hermitage at Glenairley (I arrived home from Maine in late September, just in time for the Cloud of Unknowing retreat), I've had time to rejoin my own hermit vocation and catch up on some writing projects long overdue. For the first time in five years I am feeling a bit of spaciousness in the schedule, where I can simply take time to be. What a blessing!

Looking ahead to 2003, you will note the usual assortment of seminars, teaching retreats, and silent retreats on your spring calendar. I'd particularly want to call your attention to the February silent retreat at Glenairley, the Centering Prayer Intensive at VST, and the weekend with Kabir Helminski in Vancouver April 25-27, which is being co-sponsored with the Rumi Society and will include some sacred turning and chanting as well as a lot of heart-knowledge about "Presence and Beyond: Friendship with the Divine," the workshop's theme.

Meanwhile, your board of directors is in the midst of a couple of important discernments that will have a lot to say about the future shape of the Society. We are exploring a continued and deepening partnership with the Sisters of St. Ann in the managing of Glenairley, and with Vancouver School of Theology around a fuller partnership in contemplative formation programmes. Both initiatives are exciting but challenging in that they involve people-power, resources, and commitment.

We invite you more than ever to support this little network of contemplatives with your prayers, your presence at the annual general meeting - which is earlier this year: FEBRUARY 15; please note in your calendar!! - and of course, at this time of year, with your annual donation in whatever amount.

The Contemplative Society is changing the face of contemplative practice in the Pacific Northwest. In just five years, we already have a lot to be thankful for. I urge you to help out as generously as you can, as we hang onto our hats and discover what the next five years may have in store.

With love and gratitude,

Cynthia