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News From New Mexico

A monthly newsletter from the Center for Action and Contemplation

Thank You for Being a Part of the Final CONSPIRE!

While many conspire for greed, and many conspire for power, and many conspire for supremacy and domination, may your spirit fill us, Holy One, to follow the way of Jesus, joining in a creative and liberating conspiracy for your peace, your shalom, your ubuntu, for all. Amen.

–Brian McLaren

We humbly share our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who made this conference possible: our teachers, presenters, partner organizations, and this community.

We pray this experience will renew and deepen our commitment to each other and God as we work together for a more loving and connected world.

Thank you for being a part of this Great Story.

Listen to Our Newest Podcast, The Cosmic We with Barbara Holmes

Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) faculty member Barbara Homes and co-host Donny Bryant bring you The Cosmic We, a new podcast 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, Barbara and Donny unveil the “we” of us beyond color, continent, country, or kinship to conjure new ways of perceiving the interconnectedness that fills our lives with light and purpose.

Listen to The Cosmic We online or subscribe on your favorite podcast player.

Returning to the Center: A Reflection on the Legacy and Impact of the CONSPIRE Conference Series

We offer this reflection from CAC Senior Program Designer, Paul Swanson on the unfolding journey of the CONSPIRE series:

When the CONSPIRE conference series began in 2013, the finale seemed cast beyond the visible horizon. Yet conference by conference, CONSPIRE found its feet and together we walked the trails of the Alternative Orthodoxy towards that horizon. It was not a linear path. We could not always tell by sight or sound our exact bearings, but like a desert fox we zigzagged our way towards that horizon in good faith. Hard as it is to believe, we are now approaching that end.

Teaching the path and practices of the Alternative Orthodoxy as illuminated by Richard has been the core commitment of the CONSPIRE conferences. Spiritual teaching like this needs to breathe in the open air of reality to test the timbre of its heart, and the Alternative Orthodoxy has been tested under the exposure of the burning sun of reality; the heat of wars, refugee crisis, lack of public elders, climate change, systemic racism, religious malfeasance, and social uprisings to name but a few. Shadows cast under this harsh light reveal much while saying little. Meanwhile, Center for Action and Contemplation has been on its own journey of becoming, wrestling with the persnickety challenge of strengthening our mission and culture as an institution in a world thirsting for guidance on how to be, become, belong, and gather. It is no feeble journey. It is a constant surrender to both reality and the mercy of God. I can vouch for that. The practical and evolving wisdom espoused by the Alternative Orthodoxy allows me to see these as givens. And I know I am not alone.

Read the rest of Paul Swanson’s reflection on our website.

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.

2020 Annual Report: Selections, Highlights, and Stories from CAC's Community

Despite the uncertainty and disorder, our present moment is an opportunity to awaken to deeper transformation, love, and hope. Amid the widespread need for healing, reality offers us an invitation to depth—to discover what is lasting and what matters.

This 2020 Year in Review offers highlights from each of our core program areas as well as an overview of CAC’s financial and operational stewardship. We hope it will give you a look “behind the curtain” at what we do and the community we serve.

It takes many kinds of people to make the CAC's work possible — readers, listeners, donors, staff, and volunteers, just to name a few! That’s why you’ll find voices from our community included in each of the following program highlights.

Read the CAC's 2020 Annual Report

Now Available: Breathing Under Water 10 Year Anniversary Edition with Companion Journal

This September, pick up your copy of the Tenth Anniversary Edition of Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps, and companion journal. In this new revised edition of the beloved book, Richard Rohr shows how the Twelve Steps offer a spirituality that can help us face our dependencies head-on and in doing so find fulfillment and true joy. Those who are ready to break negative patterns and experience greater internal freedom will find bold hope and transformation in this insightful book.

Learn more about the 10 Year Anniversary Edition of Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps.

Reader Favorites:
Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations

Find additional meditations by Father Richard in the online archive.

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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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