Dear Friends,

 We pray you are safe and well.

Yesterday was the Feastday of John of the Cross, a devoted Spiritual Seeker and Spiritual Director. He was imprisoned in his own Carmelite Monastery when he joined Teresa of Avila in trying to reform the Carmelite Community who had settled down into complacent self-indulgence.

He had grown up in a poor family and always had a special place for the poor in his heart, building bridges of compassion and care out to them. He is famous for his treatment of the Dark Night of the Soul and for his love poems describing the relationship between God and you and me, God's Beloved. In this poem read on Youtube below, John describes God clothing us in Beauty. It reminded us of John O'Donohue describing God as Beauty. John is a great model for us in this time of social division and pandemic contemplation. And a great model for Advent as he calls us from darkness to the light.

We invite you to join us as we commit ourselves to working tirelessly to end systemic and structural racism in our society, in healthcare, in the workplace, in the Church--wherever it shows up so that everyone may come to have more abundant life. May this meditation nourish our contemplative-active hearts and sustain all of us in action.

In the spirit of our philosophy of co-creating community and our awareness that the Spirit speaks through each of us, we invite you to share your meditations with us as well. We truly believe that in God’s economy of abundance, when we share our blessings, our thoughts, our feelings, we are all made richer.

We hope and pray that you and your loved ones experience genuine peace of mind and heart, and remain in good health during this challenging time.

May this Advent Season be a time of peace, of healing and hope, of the infusion of joy in your life!

With our love and care,

Ron & Jean

MEDITATION 226: Walk with John of the Cross seeking God the Beloved who clothes us in Beauty.

https://youtu.be/icbOWBscn7U