Exploring Contemplation + Mysticism Through a Queer Lens
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Recent Publications: Blessings & Reflections
This beautiful compilation of blessings from enflshed was a powerful project to be a part of. You can order this incredible book of blessings, “HELD: blessings for the depths” here. (Note: The first run of the book sold out and this is a pre-order for the second run). You can read the blessing I contributed… Read more
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Maybe it’s time for me to let go of Thomas Merton
Today marks 53 years since Merton died in Bangkok, Thailand. I wrote the following article originally published by The Christian Century on December 6, 2021. “How can we be sure younger generations learn about Thomas Merton?” Every time I show Day of a Stranger, the documentary film I made about the Trappist monk, I’m asked some form of this question. Viewers… Read more
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Speaking Down Barriers | A Conversation with Poet Davelyn Hill
Transcript: DAVELYN HALL: I don’t think I can say that I am a mystic without being connected to community. So I can’t say that for me. I need to be connected to community in order to be a mystic, how do you not? Cassidy Hall: Welcome to Contemplating Now, a podcast about the intersection of contemplation and… Read more
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Breathing Mysticism | A Conversation with Dr. Angela N. Parker
Transcript: Dr Angela Parker: I don’t often think about contemplative actions going together. But what does contemplative action look like among people where the breath of God is going through groups of people? And I think that’s what we see with protests, with the Black Lives Matter protests, that there’s that contemplative action that actually… Read more
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The Privilege of Contemplation | A Conversation with Dr. Anthea Butler
“being a contemplative doesn’t mean that you escape society, or you escape the world, but that you find a place to anchor yourself firmly first of all, and then secondarily, take care of those things in the ways in which you need to take care of them.” Read more
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Time, Tenderness, and Terror: Reflections from a Hospital Chaplain
the presence of personhood and accompaniment is an offering beyond words. The statue of immovable presence and peace amid unfathomable loss is at best a sentiment. 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
Cassidy Hall, MA, MDiv, MTS 