Contemplative Trove: A Curated List of Spiritual Practice Opportunities

Photo credit: Sandy Reich

By Melanie P. Moore, et al.
Each month, we publish a listing of upcoming contemplative and spiritual opportunities recommended by folks here at The Abbey. Many of us have floundered around in the past looking for community and deep engagement with other pilgrims on the spiritual path. Here we share a curated list of what we are finding, hoping you might find some of it helpful on your journey. We’ve included a Comments section with each listing detailing what we as participants have liked. If you know of something coming up in February or March and would like to have it listed here, please email the information as shown below to [email protected] by January 18 to be included in the post at the beginning of February. Please note that all times are listed in Central Time.

January

Metanoia Journey’s Sunday In-Person Contemplative Gathering

Dates and Times: Sunday, Jan. 5, 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. 
Registration: Not required
Cost: Free
Frequency: Monthly
Duration: 1.5 hours
Format:  In person at The Seminary of the Southwest’s Christ Chapel 501 E 32nd St., Austin, TX 
Recording Available: N/A
Description: The format of this gathering will include 20 minutes of Centering Prayer, a scripture reading from the sacred texts, a “message” offered by the ministers or guest speakers, community communion, and contemplative music. We invite anyone who wants to participate in performing a role to let us know. Otherwise, just come, rest in God, and receive. 
This is a “contemplative service,” with 20 minutes of silent, meditative prayer. For those that attend that have not practiced Centering Prayer before, we have a copy of the brief Guidelines to practice the prayer available at the entry to the Chapel for people to follow along.
At this time, we do not have an area for children to gather separately or have a children’s ministry. Older children are certainly welcome if they can rest in silence during that time. 
Comments: This is an opportunity to connect with other contemplative practitioners in person in Austin. While these are primarily Christian contemplative services, all are welcome.

There is More in This Life: How to Stretch Yourself Beyond Your Comfort Zone to Truly Live (from Eremos)

Dates and Times: Thursday, Jan. 23, 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Registration: Open
Cost: $40
Frequency: One-time event
Duration: 1.5 hours
Format: Online
Recording Available: Yes
Description: The turmoil of the past four years has led many of us to inadvertently shrink to keep ourselves safe. Can 2025 be the year we stretch ourselves to reach for more? Reach for our dreams. Reach for deeper connections. Reach for learning something new. Reach for new horizons.
Join Jeanne Guy as she invites you to experience more in this life no matter your age, health, or financial circumstances. From the story of how her children were stolen from her and how she stole them back in her acclaimed memoir, You’ll Never Find Us, to a big move in 2023 from Austin to Whidbey Island, Washington, Jeanne Guy knows a bit about stretching beyond your comfort zone.
Between compelling stories shared, insightful questions for you to ponder, and time for reflection, Jeanne will create a space for you to discern what is worth stretching for and inspire you to reach for more in your life.
Comments: We think she’s an engaging presenter. We always appreciate her depth and humor. She knows how to gently elicit participation by sharing from her own experiences to encourage participants to reflect on their own lives.

Introductory Wisdom Frame Drum Workshop (from Wisdom Waypoints)

Dates and Times: Friday, Jan. 24 and 31, 8:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Registration: Open
Cost: $15 donation
Frequency: Two one-time workshops
Duration: 1 hr. 15 min.
Format: Online
Recording Available: No
Description: Join us for two workshops in January offering a powerful introduction to Wisdom drumming. 
Ever wondered how to tap into the Magic Structure of Consciousness and bring it forward into your life? Have a frame drum at home and wondered how to play, or simply hoping to get started?  It Is easy and for everyone – please join us! you may join one or both workshop sessions.

  • We will learn simple rhythms on the frame drum in the upright and lap style methods of playing, applying them with wisdom chants that are featured on the Wisdom Waypoints website.
  • We will learn ancient middle eastern rhythms during practice, e.g. Maqsum, Ayub, Saidi, Masmoudi and more!
  • Our weekly practice time will include tips for your drum practice, warm-up, learning a simple rhythm with a wisdom chant, learning a world rhythm and playing it to music.
  • You may also join our monthly frame drum circle that meets monthly (no fee) on January 10 and February 7 to meet fellow wisdom drummers and practice more.

As one teacher wisely states – “It’s primal, and we all know how to do it.” For information, download 2025 Intro Frame Drum Workshop Flyer.
“The Great Spirit loved the drum so much, he gave everyone a heartbeat.” ~ Navaho Elder
Comments: We have participated in the monthly drumming sessions and, as beginners, appreciate the warm and accessible atmosphere and format. We’ve found it to be a joyful and rewarding spiritual practice to be “in rhythm,” as they say, with more experienced wisdom drummers.

Centering Prayer Summit (from Closer than Breath)

Dates and Times: Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 25 – 26; See schedule for session times
Registration: Open
Cost: $99
Frequency: One-time (annual event)
Duration: 2 days
Format: Online
Recording Available: Yes
Description: The Fourth Annual Online Centering Prayer Summit offers a sacred space to move beyond personal peace to embrace a shared, universal connection with the Divine and all of creation. Guided by renowned contemplative teachers, including keynote speaker Cynthia Bourgeault, we’ll explore how contemplative prayer not only deepens our relationship with God but also weaves us closer to one another, illuminating our shared journey. Other presenters include Carl McColman, Seifu Anil Singh-Molares, Nhien Vuong, Jana Rentzel, and Lawrence Hamilton.
Through shared silence and wisdom teachings, we’ll uncover the Divine thread that connects us all, revealing the wholeness amidst the fragments.
Comments: These topics are compelling and we like how they run this event. The variety of presenters is impressive; it’s wonderful to have an event like this with so many experienced presenters.

Midwinter Lectures Featuring John Pavlovitz, Wendy Farley, and Reggie L. Williams (from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary)

Dates and Times: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Jan. 27 – 29; starts Monday 4 p.m., ends Wednesday at noon.
Registration: Open
Cost: Free
Frequency: One-time event (annual)
Duration: 3 days
Format: In Person in Austin, TX; Lectures and Worship livestreamed
Recording Available: Yes
Description: This annual lecture series from the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is always good. This year’s speakers’ topics are: John Pavlovitz, “Turbulence is Coming: Preserving the Compassionate Activist Heart of Jesus;” Wendy Farley, “Quilting: Remembering Lost Voices of Contemplative Theology,” and “Transitive Delight: a Contemporary Model for Contemplative Theology;” and Reggie L. Williams, “The Problem of the Human as a Problem for Life Together” and “Wholly Holy: A Black Artistic Suggestion for Christian Ethics”
Comments: This is a local Austin, in-person event with lectures and worship livestreamed. It is an annual favorite among Austin attendees and this year’s lineup of speakers seems particularly compelling.

February

Silence as Presence: A Silent Wisdom Retreat with Cynthia Bourgeault

Dates and Times: Thursday, Feb. 20 – Tuesday, Feb. 25
Registration: Open for Zoom; Waitlist available for in-person retreat
Cost: $250 (Zoom only)
Frequency: One-time event
Duration: 5 days
Format: In-person (waitlist) and Zoom
Recording Available: Usually, for a limited time for participants.
Description: In this Silent Wisdom Retreat, Cynthia Bourgeault will focus on what contemplation needs in order to mature to the next step where it is pointing, beyond a lifestyle that favors silence, toward a capacity to directly encounter silence as a presence. Drawing on the teachings from her new book, Thomas Keating: The Making of a Modern Christian Mystic, we will explore this capacity which Keating was talking about so much in the final five years of his life. We are invited to take contemplation beyond going quietly into the silence and emptying our minds to vaguely sense the presence of God for self-calming and self-righting. And instead to cultivate the capacity to encounter a more subtle communication in which we are directly face to face with the assistance we receive from the imaginal realm, from the Great Chain of Being. As we begin to taste for ourselves a whole sensation of silence as subtle presence, we can learn to become proficient navigating the streams and currents of the information that gets contained in these transformations.
ogether we will engage a daily rhythm with centering prayer or silent meditation, chanting, teaching, time to be in the desert, optional yoga, Lectio Divina, and Sacred Movements, all in the container of the Great Silence.
Comments: For anyone interested in a deep immersion, following the rhythms of a Bourgeault retreat (Centering Prayer, chanting, movements), this is a wonderful opportunity to participate online. This seems to be an accessible entry point for those who have not participated before, as well as a meaningful experience for those who are familiar with Bourgeault’s retreats. There is always a lot of teaching material provided and the recording is nice for participants to revisit portions or all of the material.

Ongoing

Contemplative Chant

Dates and Times: Wednesdays at 4 p.m.
Registration: Open
Cost: Free
Frequency: Ongoing
Duration: 30 minutes
Format: Online
Recording Available: No
Description: 30 minutes of contemplative chant from Wisdom Waypoints, with chants led by Susan Latimer and Elizabeth Combs. Chanting is a wonderful practice for bringing both the Moving Center (body, breath, tone) and the Emotional Center (open heart) online. It is a spiritual practice that opens our hearts, nourishes our nervous systems, prepares us for prayer and meditation as a bridge into stillness, and connects us to our innate joy, courage, steadfastness, peace, beauty, truth and goodness. In times of great uncertainty and change, we find chant to be one of the things that most grounds us. These sessions draw chants from Wisdom Schools, various spiritual and religious traditions, sacred texts, old hymns and poetry. Because of the limitations of synching sound on Zoom, all participants are muted except for the one leading. This allows everyone to chant along in their own space. (Great if you are shy about sharing your voice! Fun if you like to try harmonies!)
Comments: Some of us join this contemplative chant weekly and enjoy it very much. We find it a wonderful contemplative practice. Wisdom Waypoints is the wisdom community started by Cynthia Bourgeault, one of our favorite wisdom teachers. Note that this is a small and warm group of regular participants. Therefore, it can be more difficult to participate anonymously.

The Abbey Tuesday Morning Meditation

Dates and Times: Tuesdays at 8 a.m. (Meditation at 8 a.m., optional discussion at 8:30 a.m.)
Registration: Open
Cost: Free
Frequency: Weekly
Duration: Ongoing
Format: Zoom
Recording Available: No
Description: A 20-minute sit, followed by a brief reading and discussion.
Comments: Of course we love this meditation group! It’s The Abbey, our own contemplative community.

The Abbey Spiritual Discussion Group

Dates and Times: Thursdays, 5 p.m.
Registration: Not required
Cost: Free
Frequency: Weekly
Duration: 1 hour
Format: Zoom
Recording Available: No
Description: This group reads books to deepen our spiritual lives and to build community among participants. Newcomers are welcome to join the group anytime. Register on The Abbey website and we will send you a Zoom link.
Comments: The group is starting a new book this month (October), Barbara Brown Taylor’s An Altar in the World. We enjoy this group and the lively discussion both in small-group breakout rooms and with the whole group.

Word of the Week

Dates and Times: Emails sent on Sundays, meets each Tuesday at 8 a.m. and Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Registration: Sign up for weekly emails here.
Cost: Free annual subscription (with recommended donation of $95/yr)
Frequency: Weekly, per above
Duration: One hour
Format: Zoom – link is sent weekly in the email on Sunday
Recording Available: No
Description: A beautiful email is sent on Sundays with the reading of Lectio Divina that will be done. There is a sit and then the Lectio Divina.
Comments:  We like this because it’s a chance to revisit the reading for the week—and they always include beautiful artwork (it’s Lectio and Visio Divina!). We like the sense of community. It’s a pretty stable group and there’s a chance to share. We also like the balance of it—they are very mindful of the time, it’s just an hour. There’s a rhythm of it that we like. We read the emails each week and appreciate having the email in advance to sit with it a little before the group reading. There are also opportunities to interact online with the group during the week. We will note that it can be difficult to find the link for the Zoom in the weekly email; it is also spelled out here—the third bullet has link to the zoom with poorly brown highlighted “Click on this link,” but it also provides the zoom code and passcode in the email.

Wisdom Waypoints Daily Centering Prayer/Meditation

Dates and Times: Monday – Friday 9:30 a.m.; Monday/Wednesday/Sunday 6 p.m.; Saturday 10:30 a.m.
Registration: No registration required, join via website
Cost: Free
Frequency: Daily, per above
Duration: 30 minutes
Format: Zoom
Recording Available: No
Description: A collective wisdom pause for “Silence and Stillness.” Wisdom members lead each sit with a brief reading, chant, and meditation/stillness.
Comments:  We like this because it is a way to maintain our personal practice alongside others with the degree of anonymity (or not) with which we are each comfortable. Wisdom Waypoints is a part of Cynthia Bourgeault’s network of teaching and practice resources.

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