Monday 3rd January, 2022
James Finley, Christian Meditation: Experiencing the Presence of God (HarperCollins, 2004), 91.
Image: Behnam Jaafarianpoor, @behnamjjp
This quote is from James Finley's Christian Meditation: Experiencing the Presence of God (HarperCollins, 2004), 91 - see a review, here. Jim, as he's known, is a renowned teacher of contemplative spirituality. In the 1960s, during his late teens and 20s, Finley was a novice monk At Gethsemani Monastery, Kentucky, under the spiritual direction of the well-known trappist monk and author, Thomas Merton - see here. After leaving the monastery, Finley went on to become a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist whose clinical practice was fundamentally informed by contemplative spirituality. For many years Jim FInley has been one of the core Faculty teachers at Richard Rohr's Centre for Action and Contemplation - see the CAC website, here - and is the host of their deeply nurturing and gentle, intimate podcast, Turning to the Mystics - here - which offers insights and teaching on the contemplative practises of Christian mystics like Thomas Merton, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and more.