Contemplative Prayer, with Richard Rohr
Here are two short videos from the wonderful spiritual writer and teacher Richard Rohr. Rohr, a Franciscan Friar, created and leads the Centre for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque. The Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) is an educational nonprofit introducing seekers to the contemplative Christian path of transformation.
Franciscan Richard Rohr founded the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) in 1987 because he saw a deep need for the integration of both action and contemplation—the two are inseparable. As Father Richard likes to say, the most important word in our Center’s name is neither Action nor Contemplation, but the word and.
Contemplation is a way of listening with the heart while not relying entirely on the head. Contemplation is a prayerful letting go of our sense of control and choosing to cooperate with God and God’s work in the world. Prayer without action, as Father Richard says, can promote our tendency to self-preoccupation, and without contemplation, even well-intended actions can cause more harm than good.
Additionally, if this is a subject of interest to you, there is a long - and wonderful - lecture by Father Rohr as well.
“There is a deep relationship between the inner revolution of prayer and the transformation of social structures and social consciousness. Our hope lies in the fact that meditation is going to change the society that we live in, just as it has changed us.”
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit. ”