I expect this may sound like heresy to some, but I think the contemplative prayer movement needs to move beyond Celtic Christianity if its ever going to be truly missional in this multireligious and multicultural world of ours.
Its just too ethnocentric, too colonial, and dare I say it, too Catholic.
More missional approaches to meditation are called for, and that means rethinking both our practice and our understanding of Christian and non-Christian meditation.
Mike Lowe has alerted me to a book launch coming up next week that may interest a few of you, particularly if you're in Melbourne.
The book is called 'Emerging Downunder'
The blurb goes: "Emerging Downunder: Creating Celtic New Monastic Villages of God taps into the current hunger for spirituality, the death pains of obsolete church forms, and the rising tide of hope felt by many Christians. It suggests ways the fragmented church may reconnect both with its roots and the contemporary environment, providing practical examples of church that bring praying, eating, learning and hospitality together in one place."
"This book was first published as Church of the Isles by Ray Simpson for a British audience. In collaboration with Brent Lyons Lee, it has tapped in to worldwide conversations about ‘emerging church’ and ‘new monasticism’ and applied it to a ‘downunder’ context."
Tim Costello will be launching the book in Melbourne at 6:30pm on Thursday April 3 at Credo Café, (The end of Baptist Place Laneway off Little Collins St between Swanston & Russell St.)
If any of you can make the launch I would be interested in hearing your take on it.
I seem to be on a bit of a roll here with the art albums. Today I started a massive revision of my Celtic Christian art album, deleting what was there and uploading over 30 images for you to explore. And this is only half of what I have in my Celtic Christian archives. There is more to come as I get my act together so keep posted! Oh, and the image to the left is from the Book of Cerne. It's the opening page from the Gospel of Mark. NeoMonastics, enjoy.
Came across this thru Wild Hunt Blog.
"AN Anglican and a Roman Catholic bishop are to attend the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, which begins next week. The Bishop of Clifton, the Rt Revd Declan Lang, and the Bishop of Bath & Wells, the Rt Revd Peter Price, will be at the festival on Sunday 24 June.
About 177,000 people are expected. The gates open next Wednesday, and the festival starts on Friday.
During the week, Celtic eucharists of earth, fire, air, and water will be celebrated in the “Healing Fields” zone. The eucharists — developed by the Revd Adrian Prior-Sankey, a Baptist minister, and the Revd Mark Bond, an Anglican priest — were part of an effort by Christians to be present among the hundreds of faiths, cults, and beliefs that would be represented on the multi-acre site, Mr Prior-Sankey said last week."
See the rest of the news article, Celtic rites for Glastonbury, here.
I was pleased to see Wild Hunt identifies a member of our group as amongst those wanting "to understand and build trust in hope for better relations (and eventually conversions)" with NeoPagans.
If you are ever interested in finding out more about Druidic spirituality a good place to start is The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. There you will find information on their history, practices and beliefs, including articles on tree lore, stone circles and more.
Make sure you check out the audio introduction and note the emphasis on oral tradition. I find it interesting how they are adapting this path to the internet age.
Christians would be particularly advised to wander over to their section on Christianity and Druidry. This will test out your understandings on the difference between critical contextualisation and religious syncretism if nothing else. For instance, is Celtic Christianity what is really on offer here? Or is the Celtic Spirituality they invite you to here more a form of ChristoPaganism? What's the key differences? What's not? I will leave you to ponder over that.
For information on Druidry in Australia see:
This one should interest the celtophiles.
"An ancient prayer book found in an Irish bog is being hailed as one of Ireland's most significant archeological discoveries.
The National Museum of Ireland said fragments of what appeared to be an ancient Psalter or Book of Psalms, written about AD800, were uncovered by a bulldozer in a bog in the south Midlands.
"In discovery terms, this Irish equivalent to the Dead Sea Scrolls is being hailed by the museum's experts as the greatest find ever from a European bog," the museum said in a statement."
For more read here.
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