Stay up-to-date with the latest happenings and publications from CAC with our May eNews! https://tinyurl.com/58z5k2a3 This month, we've released new episodes of our podcasts "Turning to the Mystics" and "Learning How to See.” We’re excited to announce two new offerings: The Living School is now enrolling for our new Essentials of Engaged Contemplation year-long course, and this October, we're hosting a 3-day conference, "ReVision: What Do We Do With Christianity?"— both in-person and online. Explore more of what's new from the Center for Action and Contemplation. https://tinyurl.com/58z5k2a3 (fb)

In this meditation, Brian McLaren invites students to both honor and wrestle our inherited faith traditions: “When we begin exploring contemplative life, we discover a rich heritage, an ancient Tradition. For millennia, scholars, mystics, theologians, our ancestors, and people of faith in general have been blazing the trail we are now walking. We don’t have to figure out everything on our own. But being part of a tradition brings both blessings and challenges. For example, our tradition can be the ground on which we build, or it can be the ceiling above which we aren’t allowed to grow. It can be a greenhouse that protects us from certain dangers … but that also deprives us of needed challenges. My original tradition was a very conservative wing of the Protestant movement called the Plymouth Brethren. There were blessings in my inherited tradition to be sure, but it didn’t provide much breathing room for someone like me. I found it confining and problematic as I grew older. I was so relieved to discover there were wider and deeper Christian traditions that I could explore. I realized that there’s a difference between a living tradition and a dying or dead one. A living tradition is still learning and growing. Yes, it looks back to celebrate its many discoveries, lessons, wisdom, and gifts from the past, but it doesn’t act as if it already has all the answers. It uses its blessings from the past to prepare participants in the present for new discoveries, new lessons, new wisdom, and new gifts. If we’re part of a tradition over time, we realize it can change, for the better or for the worse. It can become narrower and more rigid or wider and more flexible. It can become more argumentative and arrogant or more curious and humble. It can become deeper or shallower, more self-centered or generous, more ingrown or expansive, more loving or cruel, more stagnant and complacent, or more vibrant and alive. Every tradition is “in the making,” constantly growing and changing, just as we do as individuals. Even resisting change changes a tradition! I think what we are all really seeking is a living and healthy tradition, something that isn’t just about words or arguments, but that is about life in all its fullness and about deep, deep love—a love for this earth, a love for each other, and a love for God who we experience both within us and all around us. When we find a way into a tradition like that, a tradition of love and growth and wisdom and humility and respect—what an honor and blessing! What a waste to only live your life for something small and self-centered when you have a chance to be part of a bigger story and a deeper tradition.” (fb)