November 2026 Newsletter

The Contemplative Society

Nov 1

6 min read

“The heart overflows with gladness and goes leaping and dancing for the great pleasure it has found in God.”

- Martin Luther from his Commentary on the Magnificat.

In This Month's Issue...

Reflect with Virginia Bennett on No Conscious Work is Ever Wasted.
Encounter God Unfolding Through Us as taught by Cynthia Bourgeault in TCS's newest video.
Embrace ritual as God’s gift to humanity by joining, Why Ritual?, a TCS online retreat this November 2026 as facilitated by Paula Pryce.
Journey in the sacred season of Advent by joining with TCS for The Faces of Mary: An Advent 2026 Retreat of story and practice, facilitated by Gillian Drader and Lorie Martin.
Plan to join with your TCS community in Forthcoming Retreats, including gathering with Cynthia Bourgeault in February 2027.
Bonus: An additional, seasonal, spiritual reflection is offered this month by Lorie Martin on the theme of Practicing the Presence of God in the Days of Growing Darkness.
Visit TCS's "Cynthia Bourgeault Digital Archive."

No Conscious Work is Ever Wasted*

by Virginia Bennett

"I am one with the source insofar as I act as a source

by making everything I have received flow again – just like Jesus."

Ramon Panikkar ‘ (quoted in Cynthia Bourgeault’s ‘The Wisdom Jesus’, p. 72).

I have been considering the idea of ‘reciprocal feeding’ and ‘The Great Exchange’ as described in ‘The Eye of the Heart’. Of how the flow of nutrients like forgiveness, kindness and patience (‘the fruits of the spirit’) up and down the Ray of Creation is what keeps the connections between the realms vibrant and alive, and keeps the realms themselves, vibrant and alive and in dynamic equilibrium.

This photograph of a spider web in my garden is an example for how things can be hidden or revealed by the angle of light. It is nearly invisible until the light hits it in a certain way, or it is covered in dew. Our connection to the Whole can also be invisible until we are made aware of it by some subtle inkling or intuition. That new seeing can shift our understanding of the whole and our responsibility to it in a moment.

A sense of responsibility to the whole seems to be an integral part of the contemplative ethos. Because of the interconnection, our actions on a small, personal scale, effect the larger scale. These actions can be as small and personal as helping your neighbour in their garden, but the effect can be as large as, well, there is no limit to how huge it can be.

Photo Credit: Virginia Bennett

READ VIRGINIA'S FULL REFLECTION HERE

God Unfolding Through Us | Cynthia Bourgeault.

New TCS Video.

Join TCS in a 5-minute video of spiritual learning and contemplative practice.

"As we unfold, God unfolds in God's glory."

This video provides an excerpt from a live retreat where Cynthia Bourgeault offers a profound reframe on spiritual evolution, reminding us that God is actively for us, not against us. Moving past Western achievement culture around "enlightenment", Cynthia explores humility (kenosis), the non-dual self, and how each of our lives serves as a unique pixel of God's yearning to be known.

^{Photo Credit: The Contemplative Society}^.

The Contemplative Society

Presents:

"Why Ritual?

The relationship of stability and openness in contemplative prayer.

Facilitated by Paula Pryce.

Thursday 05 November 2026

6:30-8:30pm Pacific Time.

(This retreat will be recorded for later access by participants.)

$45 or pay-from-the-heart.

Ritual is God’s gift to humanity.

Whether formal liturgy or intentional living, ritual exists in every culture as a conduit to the Divine beyond our own imagination. Ritual provides an anchor that steadies us in the fluid, often unsettling world of moving beyond the ordinary and expected.

Photo courtesy of artofit.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REGISTER - CLICK HERE

In recognition of their membership, current TCS members who register in this retreat will receive a $10 discount coupon, valid until November 15th, 2026, for any purchases made in TCS's e-store.

Explore TCS membership HERE.

Presents:

The Faces of Mary:

An Advent 2026 Retreat of story and practice.

Thursday, December 10, 2026

6:30-8:30pm Pacific Time

Facilitators: Gillian Drader and Lorie Martin.

(This retreat will be recorded for later access by participants.)

$45 or pay-from-the-heart.

This evening Advent retreat offers time in the collective with the facilitators bringing fascinating facets of Mary. A variety of quiet, stillness, and hands-on practices will emerge from story and heart-felt sharing. The faces, postures, and heart of Mary hold the paradox of waiting; like winter when nothing seems to be happening, but so much is going on beneath first glance. Mary guides us with the art of holding paradox - waiting while much is being prepared to emerge. Together we will deepen into the necessary waiting and wondering of Advent in patient trust with what we can’t “see”.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REGISTER - CLICK HERE

"Forthcoming Retreats" with TCS

_______________________

An online retreat with Cynthia Bourgeault.

Saturday 13 February 2027,

9:30am to 12:30pm Pacific Time.

More details to come.

_______________________

"Tending the Threshold:

Drawing on the Wisdom of the Three Marys,"

in-person and online with Heather Ruce.

Thursday 22nd April 2027 (7pm) through to

Sunday 25th April 2027 (12noon).

The in-person retreat will be held on Vancouver Island, Canada at the

Cowichan Lake Research Station Conference Centre.

Registration soon opens.

→ TCS Members will be the first invited to register with member-discounted pricing.

(For information on becoming a TCS member, see: MEMBERSHIPS)

→ Next will be an Early Bird registration with Early Bird discounted pricing.

→ Follows will be an open registration with regular pricing.

Full details to come.

FORTHCOMING TCS RETREATS - CLICK HERE

Practicing the Presence of God in the Days of Growing Darkness.

by Lorie Martin

Growing darkness… tis the season where we wake-up mostly just to turn around and re-enter our cozy nests curling the blankets securely around our neck, so the draft doesn’t get us. The brief hours or simple moments of light that touch our cheeks are so fleeting. Then there is that hour change that doesn’t happen – for better or for worse. The damp dreary days of the Westcoast also remind us that we are in a season and space of slow, simple, perhaps a bit more sedentary, to match the bout of dark night of soul we may be bewildered at as well. How exceptionally reassuring it is to know that… ‘this is okay… and so are we.’ There just may be something hibernating beyond our reach that the presence and action of Spirit is up to that does not require our assistance, in the basement of our being. Perhaps it is time to consent to this deep regeneration within as does the wise willow out my window. Could this be a chosen time to surrender anxious trying, desperate clinging, incessant craving, and unnecessary struggle to once again abandon our whole selves into the glorious Mystery of Christ – the light of life (John 8:2).

Author Katherine May, in Wintering, The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, says it this way, “Ultimately, Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times.” May invites us to find nourishment in deep retreat and in the hushed beauty of these days. She encourages us at times to consider being busy doing nothing.” I wonder what entering ‘nothingness’ is like – being still long enough to enter intentional deep rest where we draw from a deeper Source, The Living Water of Infinite Love and Mercy that encompass us as a warm winter quilt.

Perhaps in these lengthening days of growing darkness, find a church or quiet space, to sit quietly doing nothing but listen, feel, contemplate and imbibe the unending Wellspring that is pregnant with peace. Rest here. In solitude. Where it is not lonely. Perhaps in the respite, in the Selah within the sanctuary of the sanctuary, while being a church mouse perched on an empty pew or wherever you gravitate for sacred space in these ‘crisping days’, these words of chant can accompany you.

Draw me deeper into silence, draw me deeper into you. no credit

I am Present to the Presence, it is my only care,

I am held by the Presence, the fountain of creative love. Kristy Christian

Within our darkest night, you kindle a fire that never dies away,

that never dies away. Taize

Lorie Martin - Fall 2026

Inspired by In the Days of Growing Darkness, by Mary Oliver

Photo credits:

Light in the darkness (photo 1): Alvis Wolff, Unsplash

Mystical Light on the path (photo 2): Lorie Martin

YOU CAN ALSO READ LORIE'S REFLECTION HERE

TCS is a non-profit society and registered charitable organization in Canada run by a volunteer board and a dedicated circle of contemplatives. It was formed in Victoria, BC, Canada in 1997 to serve an emerging contemplative renewal, and to support and spread the teachings of Cynthia Bourgeault and other distinguished Wisdom teachers. We lovingly carry forward this work, adapting to the changing needs of the present and future, while anchoring ourselves in the ancient Wisdom tradition.

We would love for you to join us as a member and to help sustain and build our offerings with a donation of any amount.

Please visit our website to find out more about membership & support options.