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News From New Mexico
A monthly newsletter from the Center for Action and Contemplation
Now Available: Crisis Contemplation, a New Book from Barbara A. Holmes
Who are your people? How has your story been affected by their collective experiences of crisis and contentment, of love and suffering?
In Crisis Contemplation, CAC teacher and African American mystical scholar Rev. Dr. Barbara Holmes explores the Village Response that arises from our individual and communal experience of crises like pandemics, natural disasters, and systemic abuses—offering a roadmap for spiritual connection, healing trauma, and grounding ourselves in our shared cosmic origins.
Including reflection questions and practices to engage both individual readers and groups, Crisis Contemplation is more than a book—it’s an exploration of different futures through liminality and bio-spiritual resurrection.
CONSPIRE Schedule and Session Details are Now Available
Join thousands of spiritual seekers from across the world for the final CONSPIRE conference, an online global event taking place on September 24 – 26.
Discover your place among the emerging contemplative movement as six of the most prolific spiritual teachers of our time unite Richard Rohr’s seven themes of alternative orthodoxy in an exploration of the Great Story Line connecting us all in the One Great Life.
- Hear from James Finley, Barbara Holmes, Jacqui Lewis, Brian McLaren, Richard Rohr, and Mirabai Starr.
- Deepen your experience with presentations, workshops, and other activities.
- Take part in a variety of practices, including daily contemplative sit let by Richard Rohr.
- See the CONSPIRE schedule and learn more about session details.
Participants will also receive a series of preparatory emails leading up to the conference featuring videos and other materials from our presenters as well as opportunities to explore rituals, create inner space, and connect with other participants around the world.
New Podcast The Cosmic We Featuring Barbara Holmes and Donny Bryant
The Cosmic We podcast goes beyond race and racism to consider relatedness as the organizing principle of the universe, exploring our shared cosmic origins though a cultural lens that fuses science, mysticism, spirituality, and the creative arts.
Together with prominent cosmologists, shamans, biblical scholars, poets and activists, CAC core teacher Barbara Holmes and co-host Donny Bryant unveil the “we” of us beyond color, continent, country, and kinship to conjure unseen futures in exploration of the mystery of Divine connection.
Listen to The Cosmic We online or subscribe on your favorite podcast player.
Returning to the Center: In Service to the Healing of our World
“How can the CAC continue to be of service, building on what God has already done with us, and offer something of further value that can have authority and believability on its own, and not depend on me at all for its credibility?” —Richard Rohr
Returning to the Center is a series of updates and reflections from the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) on our discoveries and growing pains as we do the challenging work of reclaiming our founder’s vision for action and contemplation in a time of global change and contemplative renewal.
In his second reflection, CAC Executive Director Michael Poffenberger reflects on the work to articulate a clear vision for the organization:
Early in the process, CAC faculty member Jim Finley reflected, “Since its founding, the CAC has been about Fr. Richard. But Richard isn’t about Richard. So, the question is, how can the CAC be about what Richard is about?”
Jim’s insight summarized our challenge well. Richard always intended for the CAC to be about much more than himself. His hope was to found a “school for prophets,” as he wrote in the first edition of our Radical Grace newsletter, rooted in contemplative wisdom and supporting social and spiritual renewal. However, as he often shares, his teaching gift is largely intuitive. Translating his teachings into a clear organizational identity and strategy for the CAC has never been his gift. As a result, over the course of CAC’s history, the thread of Richard’s founding vision has always been present, but not always apparent among evolving priorities and interpretations.
Read the rest of Michael's letter on our website.
You can expect regular updates on our progress in Returning to the Center, as well as institutional history, community stories, staff essays, videos, and even opportunities to contribute. You will find the latest posts on our website as well as social media and in the News from New Mexico, the CAC’s monthly newsletter.
The CAC is Hiring!
We have a bold vision for our future and are seeking creative, skilled individuals to help us achieve our mission. We are actively recruiting for the following roles:
- Finance and Accounting Director
- CRM Product Manager
- Human Resources Director
Reader Favorites:
Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations
- The Sermon on the Mount: Go Ahead, Do Something
- Everybody Grieves: Vulnerability: A Divine Condition
- Everybody Grieves: An Accumulation of Losses
Find additional meditations by Father Richard in the online archive.
Join now for daily or weekly emails.
Explore Richard Rohr's Daily Meditations archive at cac.org.
The work of the Center for Action and Contemplation is possible only because of people like you! Learn more about how you can help support this work.
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