Blog Series

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Stonington 2017 Part II: Celebrating Rhythm and Community
Laura RuthSep 7, 201714 min read

In Mornings with Teilhard, the first collection of reflections from the June 2017 Wisdom Ingathering in Stonington, a number of people shared their experiences of Cynthia’s morning teachings. Ultimately these […]

Fullness of Life: A brief poetic interlude before the final run-up on a conclusion (Part 6)
Fullness of Life: A brief poetic interlude before the final run-up on a conclusion (Part 6)
Cynthia BourgeaultSep 8, 20176 min read

The clear, simple truth: Nothing can fall out of God. Where would it go? God is not “somebody” (not me)—“somewhere else” (not here.) God is the ALL, the now, the […]

Healing the Elephant in the Womb (Part 7)
Healing the Elephant in the Womb (Part 7)
Cynthia BourgeaultSep 17, 201710 min read

As we come down the home stretch in this extended Wisdom inquiry into the abortion issue, I’ve tried to draw together here some of the most important implications and “business […]

Letting Go and Letting In: Finding One’s Self in Darkness
Letting Go and Letting In: Finding One’s Self in Darkness
Adwoa Lewis-WilsonOct 2, 201714 min read

A brisk, early morning – the bus I had hoped to take to Eucharist drove by me as I was seconds late to the stop. I felt helpless, frustrated, bracing, […]

Stonington 2017 Part III: The Voyage with Saint Brendan Begins
Stonington 2017 Part III: The Voyage with Saint Brendan Begins
Laura RuthOct 30, 201713 min read

    Parts I and II of Stonington 2017, “Mornings With Teilhard” and “Celebrating Rhythm and Community” can be found on Breaking Ground, where participants share their reflections on the […]

Stonington, Maine
Stonington 2017 Part IV: Singing Praises on the Journey
Laura RuthNov 14, 201712 min read

Parts I and II of Stonington 2017, “Mornings With Teilhard” and “Celebrating Rhythm and Community” can be found in Growing! on the Breaking Ground page of this website. The reflections […]

“What Enneagram Type is Cynthia?”
“What Enneagram Type is Cynthia?”
Cynthia BourgeaultNov 20, 201710 min read

For almost thirty years the standing joke has been “What enneagram type is Cynthia?” Leading teachers in all the various schools have typed me variously (frequently categorically) as a Four, […]

Strivings and Growth
Strivings and Growth
William EspinosaNov 22, 20177 min read

This spring Cynthia took us back to the five Obligonian strivings set out in Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson. The strivings are the work that Gurdjieff insisted was required for […]

Joyfully, Playfully, Collectively: Notes about the origins of the first-ever Cynthia Bourgeault Annual
Joyfully, Playfully, Collectively: Notes about the origins of the first-ever Cynthia Bourgeault Annual
Laura RuthDec 2, 201712 min read

In Cynthia’s Note to the Northeast Wisdom fundraising letter, she exclaims, “We’re Here to Make Wisdom Happen!” And Wisdom, as it is born in its unique configuration through each and […]

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Magnificat: God-Seeing, God-Identifying, God-Bearing Praise
Adwoa Lewis-WilsonDec 22, 201711 min read

My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior… he hath showed strength with his arm; he has put down the mighty from their […]

The Eucharistic Universe
The Eucharistic Universe
Matthew WrightJan 1, 20188 min read

“We intend to celebrate the Eucharist continually in our lives as well as in the liturgy, to offer ourselves in all that we do or suffer to God…” — from […]

inspiration for worship
Creativity In Community
Laura CopelandJan 2, 20183 min read

Reflecting on our days in community at Hallelujah Farm, what shimmers for me is the creative essence of all who gathered to share, to contribute, work, worship, rest and play, […]

“Gate, Gate, Paragate…”
“Gate, Gate, Paragate…”
Cynthia BourgeaultJan 28, 20186 min read

“Gate, Gate, Paragate…” “Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone utterly beyond…” We used to chant this ancient Hindu Chant in our small contemplative circle in Snowmass, Colorado, back in the early […]

“WHUR WE COME FROM…”
“WHUR WE COME FROM…”
Cynthia BourgeaultFeb 26, 20185 min read

“Teachers of contemplative Christianity, who acknowledged the limitations of human knowledge and the inconstant nature of human sentiment, instead encouraged a commitment to practice. A scripturally grounded commitment to practice […]

Pere Serra
The Difference that Mary Makes
Steven BonseyFeb 28, 20189 min read

Palm Sunday morning’s sun found us parading through patches of New Hampshire snow, waving cedar branches as we sang our Hosannas for Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Our procession ended in the […]

The Meeting of Wisdom and Quaker Mysticism Revisited: On the Eve of an Offering by Quaker Teacher Marcelle Martin
The Meeting of Wisdom and Quaker Mysticism Revisited: On the Eve of an Offering by Quaker Teacher Marcelle Martin
Laura RuthApr 5, 20184 min read

In May of 2017, almost one year ago, Cynthia joined forces with Quaker singer chant creator Paulette Meier and Quaker studies author and scholar Marcelle Martin for a retreat that […]

Holding the Post: Leadership Skills for Wisdom Practice Circles
Holding the Post: Leadership Skills for Wisdom Practice Circles
Bill RedfieldApr 6, 20183 min read

What Cynthia has initiated is nothing short of remarkable. By crisscrossing this continent (as well as planting seeds all over the world) in a couple of short decades Cynthia has […]

Come Holy Spirit! The Pentecostal Fire
Come Holy Spirit! The Pentecostal Fire
Matthew WrightMay 21, 20189 min read

Dear Wisdom Community, I was asked by our own dear Laura Ruth if I’d share my Pentecost sermon from St. Gregory’s in Woodstock with our community here. Of course! I’m […]

Christophany and the Holy Trinity
Christophany and the Holy Trinity
Matthew WrightMay 27, 20187 min read

An earlier version of this article first appeared at Contemplative Journal Happy Feast of the Holy Trinity, Wisdom Community! Today is the day the Christian calendar dedicates to the Dance […]

Whur Are We Going?
Whur Are We Going?
Gabrielle StonerJun 12, 201813 min read

Tucked away in the charming lobster fishing town of Stonington, Maine, a group of about 100 students gathered this past week for this year’s Wisdom Ingathering, exploring together with Cynthia […]

Stonington Town Hall
A Newcomer to the Wisdom Path: Stonington 2018
Bill BrittenJun 21, 20182 min read

The last bell bowl gong has sounded. The last chant echoes in the Stonington Town Hall meeting room. The Lupine and Solomon Seal blooms begin to shrivel in the vase. […]

Postcards from Stonington
Postcards from Stonington
Bill BrittenJul 14, 20184 min read

Please note: we encourage you to click on each of the images to appreciate the full quality of the photographs. Stonington, Maine, June 2018. The small village welcomes us to […]

The Offering of Emptiness
The Offering of Emptiness
Marcelle MartinJul 23, 20187 min read

As members of the Wisdom community and the Glastonbury Abbey community prepare to meet with Cynthia Bourgeault for a weekend retreat entitled, “Stabilitas: That Forgotten Virtue,” Marcelle Martin shares about […]

How Do We Stand? Stabilitas and Fidelity, Here, Now, and Glastonbury Abbey
How Do We Stand? Stabilitas and Fidelity, Here, Now, and Glastonbury Abbey
Laura RuthAug 6, 20184 min read

How do we stand in ourselves in these times? What do we draw from? What do we have to give? What is our responsibility as humans, and to what? Twenty-five […]

Bruteau Collection Update
Bruteau Collection Update
Joshua TysingerSep 11, 20185 min read

It is now closing in on the 2nd anniversary of my transfer of private documents into the Beatrice Bruteau archive at Emory University’s Pitts Library. My prior article for Northeast […]

Wagner, Einstein and Teilhard
Wagner, Einstein and Teilhard
Rudy HwaSep 18, 20188 min read

Here is a wonderful new blog post from Dr. Rudy Hwa — an emeritus professor of Physics at the University of Oregon as well one of my one of my […]

Wisdom Infused Distance Spiritual Direction Intensive Training Program
Wisdom Infused Distance Spiritual Direction Intensive Training Program
Marcella Kraybill-GreggoOct 26, 20189 min read

“I would like to attend your Spiritual Direction Training program, Marcella, but your program is located in Bethlehem, PA and I live in Georgia. I urge you to kindly consider […]

Introducing the Imaginal
Introducing the Imaginal
Cynthia BourgeaultNov 13, 20185 min read

Part 1 of a three-part blog series by Cynthia Bourgeault. See below for links to the full series.   As many of you know, I have been breaking ground on […]

Liquid Sky
“Where” is The Imaginal Realm Located?
Cynthia BourgeaultNov 18, 20183 min read

Part 2 of a three-part blog series by Cynthia Bourgeault. See below for links to the full series.   Traditional metaphysical maps based on “the great chain of being” will […]

Reflections After Garrison: Paradox and Practice
Reflections After Garrison: Paradox and Practice
Laura RuthDec 3, 20188 min read

How is it that we sense and participate in the larger movements at work in the world? What is this paradigm shift and how are we moving with it? How […]

Is The Imaginal Realm Real?
Is The Imaginal Realm Real?
Cynthia BourgeaultDec 3, 20185 min read

Part 3 of a three-part blog series by Cynthia Bourgeault. See below for links to the full series. ***** I cannot emphasize strongly enough that the word imaginal does not […]

The Coming of the Full Stature
The Coming of the Full Stature
Adwoa Lewis-WilsonDec 11, 201810 min read

We are at a turn of time. For those of us sculpted by the cycles of Christian liturgy, we have come again to the beginning, to Advent – the Preface […]

Christophany and Advent
Christophany and Advent
Bill RedfieldDec 13, 201810 min read

Christophany and Advent: A Broader, Deeper Incarnation There are probably many ways to know Jesus, but there are two general approaches. The first is from the outside, as an object […]

Rainbow
Solstice
Laura RuthDec 22, 20186 min read

This past weekend I spent time in a place of enormous beauty. The room was created for a group to enter into prayer and healing together for several days. I […]

Launching the Year of Bruno Barnhart
Launching the Year of Bruno Barnhart
Matthew WrightDec 27, 20185 min read

Dear Wisdom community, In January 2015 we launched “The Year of Teilhard de Chardin” and tasked our network with becoming more and more acquainted with Teilhard’s expansive body of writing.  […]

An Ode to the Small Hours
An Ode to the Small Hours
Adwoa Lewis-WilsonJan 1, 20193 min read

An Ode to the Small Hours It IS a new day      but before first ray has christened it      or first bird’s song proclaimed it In this moment, the […]

An Inner and Outer Reunion on the Soil of Africa
An Inner and Outer Reunion on the Soil of Africa
Marcella Kraybill-GreggoJan 24, 20197 min read

There was an inner and outer reunion that occurred while I was in Africa last December, 2017. Many had warned me ‘not to expect the same Nairobi, Kenya’ as I […]

Reading in The Piedmont: Musings on John and Mary Magdalene
Reading in The Piedmont: Musings on John and Mary Magdalene
William EspinosaFeb 13, 20198 min read

There is a richness we are discovering in the intimacy of small group readings. Some time ago a few of us in Virginia chose to supplement our weekly Centering Prayer […]

Bruno Barnhart’s Movement I: The Sapiential Awakening
Bruno Barnhart’s Movement I: The Sapiential Awakening
Laura RuthMar 5, 201912 min read

Bruno Barnhart brought me right into life in the world when he opened the second chapter of The Future of Wisdom with the words, “Wisdom begins in wonder. Something profound […]

On the Imaginal
On the Imaginal
Joshua TysingerMar 12, 20198 min read

“I was delighted to receive this wonderfully creative exploration of imaginal reality by my student Josh Tysinger. Aside from simply his completely singular and wondrous mind itself, Josh’s claim to […]

Bruno Barnhart’s Movement II: The Eastern Turn
Bruno Barnhart’s Movement II: The Eastern Turn
Matthew WrightApr 4, 20199 min read

Each month, a Northeast Wisdom voice is offering a reflection on a chapter from Bruno Barnhart’s The Future of Wisdom.  This month, it’s my turn with Chapter 3, “Movement II: […]

Encountering the Heart of Silence: A Conversation with Cynthia Bourgeault in Two Parts
Encountering the Heart of Silence: A Conversation with Cynthia Bourgeault in Two Parts
Laura RuthApr 12, 20194 min read

When people gather in silence, a deeper kind of collective, synergistic, numinous knowing unfolds. And that’s the only knowing that’s worth a damn, particularly when you’re working with the infinite. […]

Anointing Jesus: How Mary Magdalene Initiated the Love at the Heart of Christianity
Anointing Jesus: How Mary Magdalene Initiated the Love at the Heart of Christianity
Cynthia BourgeaultApr 16, 20196 min read

A response by Cynthia Bourgeault to the release of Mary Magdalene, the movie.

Not a mistake. Not a disaster. Not over: Bruno Barnhart on “Movement III: The Western Turn” in The Future of Wisdom
Not a mistake. Not a disaster. Not over: Bruno Barnhart on “Movement III: The Western Turn” in The Future of Wisdom
Mary Ellen JerniganApr 26, 20198 min read

Not a mistake. Not a disaster. Not over. This summarizes my reflection on Bruno’s analysis of the Western Turn in the re-emergence of Christian Wisdom in our time. I begin […]

Grounded in the Abyss
Grounded in the Abyss
Cynthia AvensMay 3, 20199 min read

Plant your feet firmly in the abyss. These were the words that I heard inwardly as I awoke one morning in December 2015, during a dark and chaotic time in my […]

No Question: A Pilgrimage to India with Rev. Matthew Wright and Br. Aidan Owen, OHC
No Question: A Pilgrimage to India with Rev. Matthew Wright and Br. Aidan Owen, OHC
Paula PryceMay 6, 201913 min read

Thousands of questions are silenced as if dissolved. There are neither doctrines nor heresies. The possibilities are endless, [living] creatively in me. ~ Paul Klee, 1916   Chennai, the city […]

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Beyond the Basics, Our Hearts in Advent: A Southeast Arising Wisdom School With Jeanine Siler-Jones, Laura Copeland and Rebecca Parker.
Laura RuthMay 28, 201916 min read

God is in full solidarity with the created world, form poses no impediment to divinity.  Surrender is connected to generativity, the Sacrament of Incarnation. ~ Cynthia Bourgeault In February of […]

Here, Between Ascension and Pentecost
Here, Between Ascension and Pentecost
Laura RuthJun 9, 20197 min read

The light is changing now, and it is true, the day has just passed into ‘civil twilight.’ I have been tracking this on and off this spring, and am consistently […]

Bruno Barnhart’s Movement IV: The Global (Postmodern) Turn
Bruno Barnhart’s Movement IV: The Global (Postmodern) Turn
Matthew WrightJun 13, 20197 min read

I loved this chapter!—particularly the way it weaves together and synthesizes the voices of Teilhard de Chardin, Ewert Cousins, and Karl Rahner—each of them pointing in their own way (planetization, […]

Creative Integration: The Enneagram Symbol and Bruno Barnhart’s Christian Nonduality
Creative Integration: The Enneagram Symbol and Bruno Barnhart’s Christian Nonduality
Carol JacksonJun 18, 201910 min read

Carol Jackson, a member of the The Future of Wisdom Northeast Wisdom Study Group, shares her work bringing her experience with the enneagram to Bruno Barnhart’s book. Looking specifically at […]