~ A Hearty Welcome ~
The spiritual life cannot be made suburban. It is always frontier, and we who live in it must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed. ~Howard Macey
Welcome to Contemplative Monk! You’ve just entered the grace zone. I hope you feel a sense of release. This is the absolute no judgment zone.
I have no idea how you found us, but I’m so glad you did.
I’m Bob Holmes, your resident contemplative. I’m a Franciscan Postulant withthe Company of Jesus, and I’m a part of Worship on The Water at the Flora Bama Lounge and Package. You might say I belong to a monastery without walls and we go to a church without walls, right on the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Alabama line. Both are seriously awesome and radical to the bone.
When Everything Changed
I had a dramatic conversion from Buddhism and Native American Shamanism during the Jesus Movement. And because I’ve explored the Blue Ridge Mountains my whole life, I’m one of those guys who goes off into the mountains to seek God. And yes, I’ve had visions in caves, one big one, an open vision of Jesus on the cross.
I kept a lid on it while He seasoned me for over forty years. I’m that much of a mess. He’s just started turning me loose, so I hope you’re up for a transformative journey with God. Anything less isn’t worth your time.
So what do I bring to the table for you?
I can best express it with a recurring dream I’ve had since I was seven. It’s the reason I started this blog.
My Dream
I’m walking up this babbling stream, deep in a mountain forest, searching for something. I step over the rocks as the early morning sunlight shafts through the misty hemlock trees. I’m excited to breath in the fresh mountain air, to see the beautiful flowering rhododendrons, and to feel the cold waters and sands beneath my feet. Its one of those moments you can feel everything falling into place. I search and search. further up the mountain stream. Then I see it. There buried in mud along the banks, gems of all shapes and sizes. I pick them up out of the mud one by one, holding them up to the light. Then the dream ends.
I discover stuff that’s lost and buried in our traditions. Things that should have not been forgotten. Most of them are in full sight, but we don’t know their value.
Our Time and Season
We live in a time and a season of recovery in the midst of all the chaos. It’s why I’m a friar and why I go to church in a bar.
I’m not here to give you a well rounded vision. I’m here to help you to zero in on the contemplative, the mystical, and the dynamic that changes our lives eternally. Now, more than ever, this is what we need, right here and right now. It’s been lost with the academics, and the gate keepers, but now it’s time to let it loose.
When we’re ‘born again,’ we’ve just walked through the door. And we do need the dunamis of God, but we need more than wild fire. We need the integration of this power into our lives and that’s restoration.
Our Ever New Life
As our new life in Christ is first and foremost spiritual. And as all true change and transformation begins in our spirit, I want you to get it. I want you to taste it. I want it to become your native land, because it is.
You are a spiritual being who inhabits a body and has a soul.
I want you to get that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. I want you to get that your heart and mind can be renewed constantly. And yes, we’re a mess but God is greater than our mess. We can’t fix ourselves up. We can barely begin to get a glimpse of what the perfection of God is.
But You are a child of God. Let that sink in. You can go and get to know your Father God intimately. But as God is spirit, you enter in through your spirit, not through your soul. It’s a balanced approach. One of grace and mercy and rest. We enter God’s presence through Jesus and not through ourselves.
Here’s what most of us trip over
Here’s the catch. Because we are created in God’s image, we have access to the eternal through our spirit, but we only have access to our Father through Jesus. One enlightens, while the other transforms. We are hardwired for eternity and we are transformed bit by bit by the Holy Spirit. It’s a win/win combo.
So before you get sidetracked, go ahead and bookmark this page. Better yet, sign up Here. You don’t want to miss out.
Enjoy, Savor and Grow
So come along relax, shift, and take a slow, deep Breath.
Grab a cup of coffee or tea. Savor the moment, and let’s dive in.
~*~*~*~
OK, Here’s The Disclaimer:
I’m not going to cover the basics of the faith over and over again. I’m not out to convert the converted. I’m not preaching to the choir. And I’m not teaching to the test.
- I hope you know Jesus Christ as your Lord, not just a church formula.
- I hope you’re already a disciple of Jesus, not just a cultural believer.
- I hope you have the Holy Spirit activated in your life, not just living under your own will power.
- And I hope you have a working knowledge of Scripture, not just your own spiritual experience.
These help, but they aren’t necessary. We’re all a mess being fashioned by our creator.
Contemplation is about transformation through revelation.
It’s simple, the way it’s meant to be.
~ Enjoy, Savor and Grow ~
