End of Year Letter 2006

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 events last year, culminating in our highly successful Vancouver Island Wisdom School on Thetis Island last September, attended by nearly fifty people from all over the Pacific Northwest. It's also sustained  regular teaching and retreat events during the times I'm not in BC, including the Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop in Victoria and the Remembrance Weekend retreat at the Sorrento, both of them effectively led by Christopher and Heather Page. In places as farflung as Kamloops, Nelson, Calgary, Salt Spring Island, and Campbell River, regular Centering Prayer groups and "Living Presence" groups continue to till the ground of the contemplative reawakening; and in the greater Seattle area a number of small groups have joined together to form the new Contemplative Wisdom Community. You are a strong network now, and your presence is making a real contribution, both to your local communities and to the growing spiritual consciousness of the world.

Part of the Society's mission has been to support me in my hermit time, and I can only report that this support has been much appreciated—and hopefully, used effectively. I turned a major corner on building my hermitage on Eagle Island this past summer: able to woodshed got built and two cords of hardwood are now seasoning inside it, so year-round "deep immersion" hermiting is finally a real possibility. I was also able to complete work on my latest book, CHANTING THE PSALMS, which will be published by Shambhala in fall 06 or early winter 07. My attention now turns to resuming work on the Trinity and The Law of Three.

In this season of Thanksgiving, my special thanks go as well to Michael Burtt, our Contemplative Society administrator. During this first year at his post, Mike has already made major contributions, including upgrading the website, forging strong new links with the student community at the University of Victoria (yep, it IS possible to be a contemplative before you have grey hair!), and designing and orchestrating the very successful visit of contemplative writer Robert Inchausti last October.

2006 is already shaping up around a number of exciting events. Among them: the annual Centering Prayer Intensive at Rivendell February 26-March 3; a groundbreaking Holy Week Wisdom School in Vancouver, called "Turning the Passion," jointly sponsored by the Contemplative Society and our Sufi friends in the Open Secret School of Whirling; and the second annual Seattle Wisdom School on the Hood Canal June 25-30, where I'll again be sharing teaching with Lynn Bauman. My teaching week at Vancouver School of Theology (July 10-14) will focus on the timely and controversial topic of Mary Magdalene. Check out the calendar page of our website (www.contemplative.org) for further details.

If all goes well, I will be returning to the Pacific Northwest for a two-month residency in January 2007.

As we come to this annual time for renewing your pledges, I hope that you will once again be generous. Many good things are happening, thanks to you. Let's keep them happening.

See you at the Annual General Meeting in Victoria on March 4. Meanwhile, have a blessed holiday season.

Cynthia