{"id":26020,"date":"2025-10-23T11:03:34","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T15:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=26020"},"modified":"2025-10-23T11:17:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T15:17:52","slug":"christianity-is-a-living-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=26020","title":{"rendered":"Christianity Is a Living Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"MercyMe - I Can Only Imagine (w\/ lyrics)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DU0MwNpRq6M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Community of Seekers<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Thursday, October 23, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Author Cassidy Hall describes the solidarity she feels with other contemplatives who continue to explore new ways of understanding themselves, their lives, and God.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>W<strong>e may wo<\/strong>rd things differently, but this <strong>perpetual search to know the unknowable is a familiar feeling for many contemplatives<\/strong>. We have an almost ravenous hunger, or some might say a palpable thirst, or a seemingly aimless dull ache that thrums through us. The ache reminds us we are in touch with the suffering of the whole world. All contemplatives, no matter their religion or spirituality, seem to have this in common, and recognizing this makes me feel less alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The contemplative life is not a way of knowing. It is not the path of certitude. In fact, that\u2019s what makes it so alive, so necessarily active. <strong>Our glimpses of \u201carrival\u201d along the way are places we can catch our breath<\/strong> <strong>and recall we are moving in the right direction<\/strong>, even if it\u2019s only because it\u2019s exactly where we are. Those times, we remember that the way is not meant to be easy, simple, or comfortable. But these moments only last for a flash in the midst of life because, as the Rev. Dr. Walter Fluker reminds us, \u201cLife will keep going because life itself is alive.\u201d [1]\u2026\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These instances are only signposts along the way, affirming us on the lifelong journey of contemplation\u2014this living, breathing, growing journey. <strong>Even though we know the search will never end, the hunt continues.<\/strong> In fact, \u2026 [Thomas Merton] concluded his best-selling spiritual memoir\u00a0<em>The Seven Storey <\/em><strong>Mountain\u00a0by writing in Latin, \u201cSit finis libri, non finis quaerendi,\u201d meaning, \u201cHere ends the book, but not the searching<\/strong>.\u201d [2]\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To\u00a0<em>live<\/em>\u00a0within the contemplative tradition is not only to keep searching. It is also an invitation to evolve within and alongside it.<\/strong> <strong>We are asked to engage with and deepen into the roots of its origins, while also being called to live into what it looks like in our ever-changing world. <\/strong>The contemplative path must grow in order for us to continue on, in order for us to be alive in the living, growing, and breathing tradition.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Hall\u2019s quest led her to the wide and evolving lineage of Christian contemplation\u2014from Thomas Merton\u2019s writings to the wisdom of the desert fathers and mothers, to the work of Dr. Barbara Holmes.&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We come from all walks of life, cultures, and markers of identity. <strong>There is a unity in our uniqueness, and <\/strong>that common thread binds us together, allowing us to recognize each other\u2026. <strong>As I learned from more <\/strong>diverse voices, I came to understand Christian contemplation as a living tradition. <strong>The word\u00a0<em>living<\/em>\u00a0insinuates an ongoing, even growing nature.<\/strong> L<strong>ife necessitates space, breathing room, and an openness to change. That which is living cannot exist in a place of complete certitude<\/strong>\u2014to do so would be to count it dead: not continuing, not evolving, not ever-becoming. <strong>In this way, contemplation is <\/strong>i<strong>ts own spiritual paradox, one of tradition and change, stillness and action.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarah Young Jesus Calling<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0You are on the right path. Listen more to Me, and less to your doubts. I am leading you along the way I designed just for you. Therefore, it is a lonely way, humanly speaking. But I go before you as well as alongside you, so you are never alone. Do not expect anyone to understand fully My ways with you, any more than you can comprehend My dealings with others. I am revealing to you the path of Life day by day, and moment by moment. As I said to My disciple Peter, so I repeat to you: Follow Me.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RELATED SCRIPTURE:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Psalm 119:105 NLT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nun<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; and a light for my path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>John 21:22 NLT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>22 Jesus replied, \u201cIf I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Community of Seekers Thursday, October 23, 2025 Author Cassidy Hall describes the solidarity she feels with other contemplatives who continue to explore new ways of understanding themselves, their lives, and God.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We may word things differently, but this perpetual search to know the unknowable is a familiar feeling for many contemplatives. We have an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26020"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26020"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26024,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26020\/revisions\/26024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}