More than once on this blog I have quoted an amazing few words from the American mystic Howard Thurman, who had this to say in 1939: Acts of worship must be tested by the degree to which they remain living channels for the direct release of God into the life of the worshipper. When they become institutionalized they are apt to become dead so the mystic seems always to be the foe of institutional religion. He is very sensitive to the crystallizing of acts of worship into dead forms. It is profoundly true that he does not stand in need of the institution or the institutional forms as such. Even ..read more

A reader named Paul wrote to me with the following question: Why is there more often than not such an intolerance, condemnation and even hatred between the different faiths and denominations ? Is it the Devil causing this? Paul, thanks for your question. Before I get into it, I must say that I think “The devil made me do it” is the ultimate cop-out, so I believe we need to dig deeper to understand why Christians can be so unkind — not only to one another, but to anyone. On his Redeeming God blog, Christian author Jeremy Myers wrote a post called “Why are Christians so mean? Here are 10 Excus ..read more

A reader of this blog sent me the following question: Hi Carl, I’ve been reading quite a bit of your blog. It seems like back around 2016-2017, you were making an attempt to be more orthodox, while in the last few years, you seem to have become more open. For example, back in 2016, you answered someone’s question about the Church with what seemed like a very strongly held belief about the importance of being part of the Church (“Do Contemplatives Need the Church?”). But a similar question in 2021 got a very different answer that I felt really beautifully distinguished between Catholicism as i ..read more

Recently I read Laura E. Anderson’s When Religion Hurts You: Healing from Religious Trauma and the Impact of High-Control Religion. Anderson, a psychotherapist specializing in trauma and herself a survivor of high-control religion, offers an unflinching look at the many ways that religion can cause harm, even (and especially) under the guise of protecting its “flock” from sin or evil. I think this is an important book because while Anderson is clear about the problems that are caused by religion, she recognizes that faith matters to people and so she doesn’t suggest that becoming an athei ..read more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksQxnWc4ERk Hi friends, I’m so pleased to announce the title — and cover art — of my forthcoming book! It will be published in 2025 by Broadleaf Books and represents my third book with Broadleaf (they also have re-published several of my older books). Even though it’s not being published until next April, you can pre-order the book now through major online retailers; you can also get an autographed copy directly from me (visit the store page here on Anamchara.com) — and if you are a member of my Patreon circle at $20/month ($216/year) or higher, I’ll send you an ..read more

Allen, who is a reader of this blog, recently sent me a thoughtful email; here are some excerpts from what he wrote: I have a profound connection with the teachings of Jesus, yet I struggle with certain aspects of Christian fundamentalism, particularly the exclusivity that sometimes accompanies it… For me, life seems to be about recognizing that we’re all essentially “children of God,” each of us being eternal spiritual beings. It feels like we’ve forgotten this truth and the journey is about rediscovering and reconnecting with our spiritual essence, often found in the stillness of the presen ..read more

In the middle ages — 1373, to be exact — an obscure English woman got sick, and while she was ill, experienced visions of God, Christ, Mary, and heaven. We know about her because she described her mystical visions in what became the first book written in the English language by a woman. We don’t know her name, but she was affiliated with the Church of St. Julian in the village of Norwich, so we refer to her as Julian of Norwich. Today, Julian is considered one of the greatest of the medieval Christian mystics; there are numerous editions of her book in print, and her message — that God lo ..read more

Many years ago, my very first spiritual director recommended a book to me; she suggested that I read Gerald May’s 1982 classic: Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology. I did, and it remains one of my favorite books on the psychology of contemplation. Among many other treasures that I gleaned from this book, it introduced me to two Greek words that I would run into again and again during my years of exploration into mystical and contemplative spirituality. The words kataphatic (also spelled cataphatic) and apophatic might seem overly academic and jargon-y to someone who is n ..read more

What is the relationship between language and silence? Between words and truth-telling? How can we foster a more truly contemplative relationship with the way we speak to one another? These are the kinds of questions that informed this episode of Encountering Silence, in which Carl, Cassidy and Kevin welcome author and spiritual teacher Marilyn McEntyre for a conversation informed by her mindful writing on topics such as language, peacemaking, and authenticity. Marilyn McEntyre is an award-winning spiritual writer, speaker, retreat leader, and professor of medical humanities and American lit ..read more

If you have been reading this blog (or participating in Christian contemplative practices) for a while, no doubt you are familiar with Lectio Divina. If not, you can see a post I wrote about it by clicking here. The classic four-step model of lectio divina — lectio/reading, meditatio/reflection, oratio/response, and contemplatio/rest, has stood the test of time and is now considered a core practice of contemplative spirituality, at least within Christianity (in a way, lectio divina is the core contemplative practice, since it draws together the four key practices in the contemplative/mystical ..read more