ROAD MAP FOR OUR JOURNEYS...
Introducing the Center for Action and Contemplation
Who we are
Our Teachers
CONTEMPLATION
Advent events at the Center for Action and Contemplation
Virtual Sit Meditations for Advent 2024 (4 Sunday's @ 11:30 AM ET)
Advent email series
Musical Preparation
Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)
Prepare Ye (from Godspell)
For those for whom the darkness seems overwhelming...yet somehow inviting...
"I will follow you into the dark..." (music)
"Hello Darkness, my old friend..." (music)
"The fruitful darkness...Is all around us...In bloom" (music)
Winter Solstice: Amid the darkness...enLIGHTenment...
ACTION
What to do while we WAIT...
"What are you waiting for" (music)
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Introducing the Center for Action and Contemplation
Sending along some mindful resources to enable us to find some light in this season of growing darkness, including some reflections from Richard Rohr and the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) - the person and group that's most influenced my journey of spirit...by enlarging my vision through introducing me to appreciate how other spiritual traditions sit before the mysteries of life...and...death...and rebirth...darkness...and...light...
Through these associations:
I found the wisdom of the 12 Steps...initially through Richard's "Breathing Underwater: Spirituality and the 12 Steps"
I became part of "Men2Men" - a monthly men's group that gathers regularly in Brentwood on 2nd Saturday's to sit together and share how these ways of seeing are helping our individual and collective journeys.
With my wife Eileen, we formed a monthly "Gathering" group that meets in our home to share our lives as we chew on topics related to Richard's offerings...
Who We Are
Franciscan Richard Rohr founded the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) in 1987 because he saw a deep need for the integration of both action and contemplation—the two are inseparable.
As Father Richard likes to say, the most important word in our Center’s name is neither Action nor Contemplation, but the word and.
Contemplation is a way of listening with the heart while not relying entirely on the head. Contemplation is a prayerful letting go of our sense of control and choosing to cooperate with God and God’s work in the world. Prayer without action, as Father Richard says, can promote our tendency to self-preoccupation, and without contemplation, even well-intended actions can cause more harm than good.
OUR VISION
"Transformed people working together for a more just and connected world."
Instead of accusing others on the left or the right, Jesus stood in radical solidarity with the problem itself, hardly ever offering specific answers to the problem. Instead, his solidarity and compassion brought healing.
In today’s religious, environmental, and political climate, our compassionate engagement is urgent and vital. When we experience the reality of our oneness with God, others, and Creation, actions of justice and healing naturally follow. If we’re working to create a more whole world, contemplation can give our actions nonviolent, loving power for the long haul.
Our Teachers (read more about each here)
Brian D. McLaren, Dean of Core Faculty
James Finley, Core Faculty
Barbara Holmes, Core Faculty
Richard Rohr, CAC Founder and Emeritus Faculty
Cynthia Bourgeault, Emeritus Faculty
CONTEMPLATION and ...
Virtual Sit Meditations for Advent 2024
Join us for free Advent Sits Meditations, guided by Richard Rohr’s book Preparing for Christmas.
Date: Sundays Dec. 1, Dec. 8, Dec. 15, and Dec. 22. @ 11:30 AM ET
Featuring: CAC Faculty & Staff
Location: YouTube (see links below) Replays will be available for each sit.
About This Event
Advent season can generate a wide array of emotions as we gather with others and reflect on the past year. We invite you to step away from your preparations this holiday season and join us—if only for a moment—in a place of stillness and grace.
These LIVE Advent Sit Meditations will be broadcast on YouTube each Sunday morning during Advent, December 1, December 8, December 15, and December 22, at 8:30am Pacific Time (PT).
Fr. Richard Rohr reminds us that “the celebration of Christmas is not a sentimental waiting for a baby to be born, but much more an asking for history to be born!” Join us for a series of contemplative gatherings designed to celebrate and release what has passed, and make room for what is to come.
“Advent is, above all else, a call to full consciousness and a forewarning about the high price of consciousness.”
—RICHARD ROHR
Event Details
Join our contemplative community on YouTube every Sunday during Advent, LIVE.
Click the YouTube link next to the day you plan on attending. @ 11:30 AM ET
Replays will be available for each sit.
December 1: Watch on YouTube
December 8: Watch on YouTube
December 15: Watch on YouTube
December 22: Watch on YouTube
Sign up for the Advent Email Series
In addition to attending these free online meditations, we hope you’ll sign up for our free Advent email series!
Every Thursday, you will receive a teaching in your inbox to ground your Advent practice and prepare you for the next virtual sit meditation.
Alternative: Prefer not to be on an email list? Simple click this link to explore the Daily Meditations: themes and individual ones.
Musical Preparation
Meanwhile...in Central Park...
For those for whom the darkness seems overwhelming...yet somehow inviting...
"Hello Darkness, my old friend..."
"The fruitful darkness...Is all around us...In bloom"
When I look back on those years gone by
All those mountains standing in my mind
I could have folded, could have turned around
But all good stories have their ups and downs
So, I had to find my way through
I had to find my way through
I had to find my way through
I had to find my way through
The fruitful darkness
Is all around us
In bloom
The dark within my dark
Is where I found my light
The fruit became the doorway
And now it's open wide
The dark within my dark
Is where I found my light
The fruit became the doorway
And now it's open wide
The dark within my dark
Is where I found my light
The fruit became the doorway
And now it's open wide
The fruitful darkness (the fruitful darkness)
Is all around us (is all around us)
The fruitful darkness (the fruitful darkness)
Is all around us (is all around us)
The fruitful darkness
Is all around us
In bloom
Winter Solstice: Amid the darkness...enLIGHTenment...
... and ACTION...
What to do while we WAIT...
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