Wednesday, May 10, 2006
A sip for a thirsty soul
Did something unusual last night. My mother and her friend were attending a 3-night lecture series by a Franciscan Monk named Richard Rohr. Rohr is a big name in the world of contemplative theology ( a rarified enough world, but still) and he was talking about the contemplative life and the non-dual, trinitarian mind. After their first night, my mom called me and told me that I should go to the second night if possible, because it was right up my alley and this man is a great teacher. Well, I looked forward to it all day and went, and I'm very happy that I did. Rohr is not only a great teacher but an enlightened soul -- a rare creature. I'm always grateful to meet (or hear) someone who is more spiritually evolved than I am, and everything he said just went straight home to my heart and soul.
I've done a bit of studying of world religions over the years, with an emphasis on the contemplative and mystical side of the spritiual life. I've been interested in this since I was a young child, when I sometimes thought I would like to be a nun because nuns seemed so free to pursue their spiritual interests and then to go out and work for good in the world (my experience of nuns was very positive, obviously). What's strange is that I had been thinking about doing something called spiritual direction at the Ignatian center near my home, and this series was sponsored by the center, so I picked up some literature on their programs while I was there.
I hope to return this evening for the last installment in Rohr's series. I feel lucky to have been alerted to this event, and feel that somehow I needed to be there last night and to hear what this man had to say.
Did something unusual last night. My mother and her friend were attending a 3-night lecture series by a Franciscan Monk named Richard Rohr. Rohr is a big name in the world of contemplative theology ( a rarified enough world, but still) and he was talking about the contemplative life and the non-dual, trinitarian mind. After their first night, my mom called me and told me that I should go to the second night if possible, because it was right up my alley and this man is a great teacher. Well, I looked forward to it all day and went, and I'm very happy that I did. Rohr is not only a great teacher but an enlightened soul -- a rare creature. I'm always grateful to meet (or hear) someone who is more spiritually evolved than I am, and everything he said just went straight home to my heart and soul.
I've done a bit of studying of world religions over the years, with an emphasis on the contemplative and mystical side of the spritiual life. I've been interested in this since I was a young child, when I sometimes thought I would like to be a nun because nuns seemed so free to pursue their spiritual interests and then to go out and work for good in the world (my experience of nuns was very positive, obviously). What's strange is that I had been thinking about doing something called spiritual direction at the Ignatian center near my home, and this series was sponsored by the center, so I picked up some literature on their programs while I was there.
I hope to return this evening for the last installment in Rohr's series. I feel lucky to have been alerted to this event, and feel that somehow I needed to be there last night and to hear what this man had to say.
# posted by becca : 7:44 AM
