What I think I'm doing

This web site is where I'm collecting material - my own or others' - which help shape my understanding of Christian spirituality and in particular the business of hope and holiness, and of the practice of contemplative prayer, lectio divina and the work of grace that is our Deification, Theosis or Oneing with God the Holy and Blessed Trinity through Christ.

There are so many writers and writings but I have decided to keep my core texts to a minimum:

    Scripture, of course. The Letter of James is a mystical text that fascinates me, as do Ephesians and Colossians where Pauline mystical theology begins to mature. And the first few chapters of Genesis are a bottomless quarry of wisdom and insight. Isaiah, particlularly Chapters 40 - 55 inclusive (Deutero Isaiah or Second Isaiah in academic terms) keeps us close to the heart of the Old Testament. John's Gospel, the Sermons on the Mount (Matthew) and the Plain (Luke) and the Parables of the Kingdom must never be far away.

    The Sayings of the Desert Fathers (4th/5thC)

    Revelations of Divine Love (Mother Julian of Norwich 14th/15thC)

    The Cloud of Unknowing (unknown author 14thC)

    The Patristic  and other Theologians of the Eastern Church up to about the end of the first millennium but one or two later.

That doesn't mean I don't look outside these sources, not least to those of Modernity (16thC onwards) such as William Law or Thomas Merton. Poets too are important, such as John Donne or R S Thomas and T S Eliot. Then more contemporary teachers such as Thomas Keeting, Cynthia Bourgeault and Richard Rohr are essential companions on this journey. Art is wonderful way to rethink our ideas and I get a lot from studying paintings - without much clue about what I'm doing in terms of academic art appreciation! But it is important to hear what other people have to say so I hope I am doing a lot of learning.