Exploring Contemplation + Mysticism Through a Queer Lens
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Slowing Down to Listen
Just a couple of months ago, in November of 2014, I was on a work trip in New York City. Naturally, and true to New York City, my days were filled with travel, organizing, preparing, and little to no down time. While I was there, my friend Bill called and left a voicemail on a… Read more
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Silence Is Speaking… Will We Listen?
Originally posted on my HuffPost Blog: As much as society tells me noise is more golden than silence; silence still whispers mystery to my mind and heart. I’m continually engulfed in modern day life with beeps, vibrations, commercials, news feeds — a variety of attacks on all my senses. Yet, silence’s mystifying self still delicately… Read more
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To Be OK with the Blank Page
Originally posted on my HuffPost Blog “You can’t anticipate a garden. Stuff won’t grow until it’s time to grow and when the season’s finished, it’s all over.” -Father Anthony, OCSO My friend Dave told me once that to be ok with loneliness, you have to be ok with the blank page. Most of us can’t stop… Read more
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Our Lady of Guadalupe Abbey
Guadalupe Abbey is amid the valleys of wine country in Oregon, just southwest of Portland and inland from the brilliant Oregon coastline. Appropriately so, the abbey grounds were in full bloom for Easter weekend, and the forest that rested in the background was aglow. I wasn’t sure what to expect at Our Lady of Guadalupe… Read more
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The Abbey of the Genesee
Genesee Abbey is in New York near Buffalo and Rochester – with the background of some beautiful rolling hills and even more beautiful people. Piffard, NY is a very small town, which seems to have allowed the Monk’s Bread (the primary source of income for the monks) to be a popular item amongst the entire… Read more
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Mount Saint Mary’s Abbey • Wrentham, MA
One’s usual response to Mount Saint Mary’s Abbey in Wrentham, is typically a response of senses to their incredible candy. I, however, was lucky enough to experience more beyond that within a greater grasp of this remarkable community and monastic way of life. My humble arrival began with a rented car slowly coming in through… Read more
What would it mean to queer contemplation? To disentangle contemplative spirituality from heteronormativity, patriarchy, and Eurocentricity, and instead engage with openness, curiosity, and a little weirdness?
Queering Contemplation: Finding Queerness in the Roots and Future of Contemplative Spirituality
Contemplation
Contemplation as a daily practice of reflection + action.
Mysticism
Mysticism as an accessible encounter of interconnection to self + others + the Divine.
Activism
Social Justice activism as the pursuit of love + liberation for all.
“Many poets are not poets for the same reason that many religious people are not saints: they never succeed in being themselves…”
— Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation
Dr. Cassidy Hall, DMin, MDiv, MTS, MA 