Our Mission
We are a center for experiential education, rooted in the Gospels, encouraging the transformation of human consciousness through contemplation, and equipping people to be instruments of peaceful change in the world.
September 1, 2011
Untitled by © Shirin McArthur
Contemplative Prayer
I think some kind of experience of God is necessary for mental and emotional health. You basically don't belong in the universe until you are connected to its center, and one word for that center (and everything else by implication) is “God.” When you live in the false self you are “eccentric” or off center. You're trying to make something—yourself—the Center that is not the center. It will never work in the long run, because it is not true. A part can never pretend to be the Whole.
So I would call the false self your “relative identity,” and I would call the True Self your “absolute identity.” A relative identity is not bad. The false self is not bad either. It's simply not the True Self! If you do not have some experience of your True-Self-in-God, by which to relativize and limit your false self, it has to pose as the real thing—and tries to get away with it. But it cannot work. It is not true. An edge can never pretend to be the Center.
Adapted from CAC Foundation Set: Gospel Call to Compassionate Action
(Bias from the Bottom) and Contemplative Prayer
(CD, DVD, MP3)
Starter Prayer:
Clear my mind for Your Truth.
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