Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening by Cynthia Bourgeault (Cowley Publications) The Examen Prayer: Ignatian Wisdom for Our Lives Today by Timothy Gallagher (Crossroads Publishing Company) Spiritual Torrents by Madame Jeanne Guyon Moving in the Spirit: Becoming a Contemplative in Action by Richard J. Hauser (Paulist Press) Pilgrimage of a Soul: Contemplative Spirituality for the Active […]
by Mindy Durias The alarm rings. It’s 5:00am. I drag myself out of bed, prepare my favorite French pressed coffee, grab my stack of books and settle on the loveseat for the hour or so I have before the rest of the house begins to stir. I read words of wisdom and hope from […]
by Ashton Gustafson It was one of those days where I had simply just had enough. My inbox was overflowing with other people’s agendas, my voicemail was full, the list of to-dos grew every time I looked at it, and the smallest inconveniences were creating an unrecoverable derailment of my peace and purpose for this […]
by Mindy Durias Our world is moving forward at an unprecedented pace. The ability to be so easily connected to one another has made this planet very small indeed. Endless information and people around the world are literally a touch away. Yet, it is quite possible that we have never been more disconnected from our […]
by Damien Faughnan Last November, my acupuncturist bluntly stated, “The way you are living is not normal.” It stung, and not just because he was sticking needles in me at the time! The truth is, I spent last year in a fog of being “too busy.” Since then, I’ve been immersed in a conversation […]
As Shandra Woworuntu and Chris Heuertz speak at Gravity’s anti-human trafficking Vocare Speakers Series, many of those attending may ask what can be done. Shandra and Chris have put together this list of first steps to get involved in the fight for freedom for today’s modern victims of human slavery. Ways to Respond Educate yourself, […]
by Kelly Pigott Take a look at these two pictures. My wife snapped them at the same spot in Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas about six years apart. Aside from the obvious size differences in my children, you’ll notice the baby fat on my son’s arms has disappeared, replaced with lean […]
One Day Only :: Support Gravity on May 21st! Omaha Community Foundation Charitable Challenge It’s that time of year! Time for “Omaha Gives,” a once-a-year charitable challenge that people from all over the world can participate in. Gravity is developing the contemplative consciousness of people like you, to make the world a better place. And we need your […]
by Mindy Durias I am pretty new to contemplative prayer, but not new to faith. I have spent more than half of my life seeking God and learning about Him. But two years ago I was introduced to contemplative prayer. To be honest, I struggled with it at first. I found that there were obstacles […]
by Kelly Pigott I was in first grade the first time I participated in an Ash Wednesday service. I attended a parochial school, and our teacher, a very stern nun, paraded us into the chapel where we all knelt and were told to be still and quiet, an impossibility for six-year-olds. But we tried […]
February 28 – April 17, 2014 From February 28-April 17, 2014 Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism welcomes Nikole Lim as our first Contemplative Activist in Residence, a visiting practitioner sabbatical. The CAIR program supports leading, innovative activists who desire a sabbatical for renewal and personal, professional and spiritual development. CAIR is for bold and courageous leaders […]
Ritah Buguzi In her local Ugandan language, Ritah Buguzi means “owner of good things.” She’s an active member of Refreshing Assembly Church, a worshipping community within the Pentecostal tradition. Her parents are committed Christians who deeply love their family, and as the first daughter in a family of 8 children, Ritah knows she’s beloved. Currently […]
Walking the Labyrinth by Kathy Mansfield What is the Labyrinth? The labyrinth is not a maze. The labyrinth is an ancient spiritual tool—a single path of prayer and meditation leading to a center and returning back. Unlike a maze—there are no dead ends, only a clearly defined path. Labyrinths are thought to enhance right […]
We wanted to make the world a better place. Most people do. But those who give themselves to the hard work of fighting for justice, building peace, and bearing witness to hope find themselves in constant conflict. After serving 20 year with an international organization fighting human traffickers, caring for children dying from AIDS, and […]
Silence nurtures transformation by helping us quiet all the voices that threaten to define us, so that we can hear the One voice, so that we can then know that we are loved to such a degree. But without silence we too often numb ourselves, or mask over what’s going on in the heart of […]
We must connect to and listen to the voice from which we come, the voice that calls us beloved. In opposition to the many other voices that try to define us, this voice grounds us in a love of self that frees us to love others well. Contemplative practices help bring congruence to our inward […]
Why bother? Why cultivate contemplative spirituality in a demanding world with insatiable needs? To sustain, not just to sustain, but to thrive in difficult vocations of hope we found that we need to nurture a deep spirituality. We’re all interested in making the world a better place. But it’s not easy. Learning to develop contemplative practices […]
Today marks the one-year anniversary of Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism. We have much to celebrate—the press and publicity, the sold out retreats, the tens of thousands of people we spoke with at conferences or on campuses or on book tour, and the nearly quarter of a million dollars we raised this past year. […]
We often get the question, “So why did you choose the name ‘Gravity’?” It’s a great question. One of our teachers, Thomas Keating, O.S.O.C., helps shed light on the concept. Keating, a 90 year old Cistercian monk of the strict observance is one of the leading voices illuminating the relevance of Christian faith in the 21st century. […]
by Kevin Harris For about 20 years, Chris and Phileena Heuertz directed the organization Word Made Flesh. With communities around the world, they seek to serve Jesus among the most vulnerable of the world’s poor. They incarnationaly live among those in difficult situations such as sex slavery, prostitution, and with child soldiers. A commitment […]
The Road Ahead: Connections, Connections :: by Julian Collette A few months ago, my girlfriend Lisa Washio, co-director of The Pink House in Fresno, California (an InterVarsity Urban Projects program that immerses young adults in a 10-month residential apprenticeship in biblical community, urban ministry, and leadership development) called me from a pub in New Orleans. She was hanging out […]