THE LIVING SCHOOL, PART ONE: GOBSMACKED BY AWE
Part One of My Living School Story with Richard Rohr, 3 Book Recommendations from the Living School Curriculum, + More...
Hello, friend:
If we’re connected on social media then you likely already know that I’ve just returned from a week of studying in person at The Living School. It’s been a long time coming and hard as it was to wait, it was worth it.
As my teacher, Richard Rohr might say, “I was gobsmacked by awe.”
Since I’ve only been home for two days, I’ve barely begun to process my experience. It will likely be several weeks ( months, years, a lifetime? ) before I can integrate some of the wisdom teachings I received from Richard Rohr, Mirabai Starr, Jim Finley, Brian McLaren, and Dr. Barbara Holmes.
My highlights from last week include the gift of gathering in person with my circle group, receiving the wisdom of our incredible teachers, and being immersed in a beautiful community of people from all across the globe who want to live more fully into the intersection of contemplation and action for the healing of our hurting world.
Over the next few weeks, I’ve decided to break this story into several parts. I’d love to tell you how many parts, but honestly, I have no idea. I’m going to let the story lead us and show us how it wants to unfold.
Let’s start with a bit of background on The Living School.
THE LIVING SCHOOL
If you’re new here, you might not have heard of The Living School. It is part of the work of The Center for Action and Contemplation, in Albuquerque, New Mexico founded by Father Richard Rohr. Most people are familiar with Padre Rohr, a Franciscan friar, prolific author, wisdom teacher, and speaker. Many come to know him through his profoundly impactful books and potent daily email newsletter.
Father Richard’s lifelong work has had a powerful influence on my spiritual path. Hundreds of thousands of others who hold his work dear will say the same. Even now, his impact continues to ripple out across the world finding welcoming and waiting hearts; often creating prophetic crashing waves while also keeping drowning people like me afloat, or helping us learn to breathe underwater. Many credit his work with helping to heal the wounds of their hurts associated with the Church of the Empire and guiding them more deeply into the Church of the Heart.
The Living School for Action and Contemplation was launched in 2013 to offer a unique opportunity to a select group of students to deepen engagement with their truest selves and with the world. Through rigorous study and contemplative practice, these students were invited to awaken to the pattern of reality—God’s loving presence with and in all things and embrace a rich heritage of faith from Christian mystical traditions. - CAC website
The CAC was established back in the late 1980s but The Living School is less than 10 years old. As someone who once began traditional seminary studies only to discern early on that it wasn’t for me; this is the kind of school my heart always longed for but couldn’t find until fairly recently.
Father Richard speaks from the inside edge of the church and his work at The Living School extends beyond traditional theological education and reaches into the heart and soul of the Perennial tradition and what it means to be a human being embodying the Divine as a transformed and transforming change-maker. The Living School provides an opportunity to learn to live from the dynamic center of our True Self where our contemplative practices and aligned, heart-centered action coalesce. From this new way of seeing from the heart and becoming in the world, we take contemplative action.
PART ONE: SUITCASES, SCOTLAND, SURRENDER +THE START
The day I discovered The Living School opportunity online, I knew immediately in my heart, mind, body, and soul that it was for me. A chance to study closely with Richard Rohr? Are you kidding me? I excitedly jumped to the application page only to discover that I had just barely missed the application window for the year. My heart sank. I would have to wait another year before I could apply. This was 2019 and no one could foresee what the next year would bring.
I did not know that the world was about to be devastated by the onset of Covid. I did not know that Ron’s mother would take ill and we would accompany her home via home hospice. I did not know that we would then sell our house of 21 years and most of our belongings and move temporarily from Louisiana overseas with three suitcases and two dogs.
In the summer of 2020, Ron and I were living in Edinburgh, Scotland. I remember waiting impatiently for the day the application would be released online and I immediately downloaded it so that I could give myself as much time as possible to complete it.
The application experience was a school in itself.
The questions were challenging and required patience and discernment. I spent many weeks pouring over the questions, listening to my soul, writing, and re-writing my responses. I spent hours hiking in nature, praying, listening, and rewriting again. The questions were intimate and deeply introspective. They called for a radical vulnerability and a willingness to show up in my full, raw humanness. They also had specific word limits which required that I not only discover the marrow of my stories but communicate them in concise soundbites.
It took me about six weeks to settle on my answers to the nine questions, one of which was a longer personal narrative. We also had to submit two letters of support, which likewise required the writers of those letters to spend much time in discernment themselves. This was no copy-and-paste recommendation. It was a big ask and my people took it to heart. I turned in my application on Sept. 8, 2020. We wouldn’t be notified until February of the next year. Another long period of waiting began.
PERSONAL CEREMONY OF SURRENDER
I felt a longing to mark the application submission day with a personal ceremony. I took myself to Holyrood Park nearby and climbed the ancient extinct volcano known as Arthur’s Seat alone, with a backpack carrying only a journal, crackers, and water. I danced in the wind and finally settled in among the wildflowers on a remote part of an adjacent hill, with a view of the North Sea. I kicked off my shoes and nested my toes into the lush grass, connecting closely with Mama Earth, breathing in Her comfort and connection. After some time in quiet contemplation, I prayed and gave thanks for the opportunity to apply and to be able to release the outcome, come what may. I gave thanks for the application process, and for the depth of questions that led me toward a fuller clarity within myself. Whether I was accepted into the program or not, I knew I had been given a gift through the process itself. I surrendered the outcome.
(I’ve only publicly shared one or two of the photos below. I took them for myself as a memory of a day I held dear. It feels right to share them now with you.)
THE START
We moved back to the States in October 2020 and planted ourselves in Northern Colorado.
On February 5, 2021, I received news of my acceptance into the Class of 2023 and I immediately burst into tears. I fell into my husband’s arms and wept with joy. I called my daughters. I reached out to my inner circle of friends who understood what this meant to me. I can feel that energy in my body even now as I recall that memory. The longing had been fulfilled. A gift given.
Of course, Covid lingered longer than expected and denied us the opportunity to meet in person over our first year of the 2-year program. It was difficult and disappointing, I’m not gonna lie. All our classes and intensives were held online, our circle group of 7 people met together online every 2 weeks. It was a rocky start for our little group, exhausted by the limitations of living with Covid and Zoom fatigue, but we persevered and together we made it through. We stumbled toward each other.
The slow, gradual kindling of our tiny fire over the last year or so of online classes and group meetings on Zoom burst into a bright flame of connection last week when we were finally able to meet our fellow/sister/family of students and sit at the feet of our teachers. (Ok, we were at banquet tables in the beautiful Hotel Albuquerque, but after a day or so, I did feel the need to move in even closer.)
I sat at their feet and even stretched out in front to take notes. I wanted to be close, to feel their energy and wisdom radiating in person from their hearts to mine. By the time we were mid-way through the week of the symposium, we had quite a crowd gathered down in the front, seated and stretched out on the floor near our teachers. After a year of online instruction, I wasn’t the only one who wanted to soak up the gift of being able to be present and experience our teachers up close.
Thanks for joining me here. Stay tuned for PART TWO next week!
"Earth is so thick with divine possibility that it is a wonder we can walk anywhere without cracking our shins on altars." -Barbara Brown Taylor
3 LIVING SCHOOL BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS :
Everything Belongs- Richard Rohr
Faith After Doubt - Brian McLaren
Meditations of the Heart - Howard Thurman
Go in Great Love, friends. See you next week!
xo Mary
Thank you, Mary. I am a Living School alum of 2016. I can resonate with much of what you've written! It is a wonderful community and one I cherish deeply.
Enjoying your sharing Mary !!