Hi friends, just want to make sure you’re aware of some upcoming events I have scheduled. Especially if you can join me in person in Georgia, South Carolina, or Maryland…
Author: Carl McColman
Soul Friend and Storyteller. Lay Cistercian, Centering Prayer Presenter, Author, Blogger, Podcaster, Speaker, Teacher, Retreat Leader.
Can Love Be Saved?
Can Love Be Saved? Recently I was speaking with a friend of mine who is a hospital chaplain. She was lamenting how challenging it is sometimes to bring a prayerful…
The Theology of the Hail Mary: Contemplative Wisdom or Dualistic Fear?
A long-term reader of this blog recently wrote to me and posed this question: Carl, what do you think the last line of the Hail Mary means? “Holy Mary, Mother…
Quotations and an Examen for Making Our Contemplative Practice Real
This weekend I had the honor of giving the closing talk at the 2025 Centering Prayer Summit, sponsored by Closer Than Breath. Since my talk was the last talk of…
Guidelines for Centering Prayer (Video)
This video is an excerpt from a talk I gave recently on Patreon, as part of my new Practical Mysticism series of monthly Zoom calls. It’s simply my explanation of…
Judge or Healer: Some Thoughts on a Mystical Approach to God
A reader of this blog recently wrote this message to me: Hi Carl, I recently enjoyed your book Eternal Heart. I have a fundamentalist/Evangelical background and am relatively new to…
The Radical Sacred Podcast: A Conversation About Contemplation, Mysticism and Merton
I recently was invited to be a guest on the “Radical Sacred” podcast, hosted by spiritual director Jenny Misslin and Methodist minister the Rev. Phillip Dieke. They had gotten their…
Religious Pluralism and the Fractal Theory of Religions: An Appreciation of Perry Schmidt-Leukel
From time to time I like to spotlight on this blog books and authors that I am finding interesting and/or compelling. These days, one such author if Perry Schmidt-Leukel. Schmidt-Leukel…
Join Patreon and Get Access to a Meditation Library
Throughout 2024 I wrote and recorded twenty-four meditations, based on wisdom teachings from three spiritual traditions: The Eight Beatitudes from the wisdom teachings of Jesus; The Noble Eightfold Path from…
Register Now for the January 2025 Centering Prayer Summit!
Friends, I’ll be part of the January 2025 Centering Prayer Summit sponsored by Closer Than Breath. This online event takes place on January 25 and 26 —click here to register!…
“Mystical Journey” — Contemplative Inspiration Delivered to Your Inbox
Friends, I hope you’ll join me on Substack where I’m creating a new series of brief inspirational writings called Mystical Journey. Subscribers receive up to 3-4 emails from me each…
Let’s Elect Silence
N.B. I wrote this post for my new Substack publication, Mystical Journey. But since the message is timely, I’m cross-posting it here. Despite its significant flaws, Thomas Merton’s The Seven Storey…