Bishop Brian Cole reflects on his recent retreat to Schuyler, Nebraska, where he was joined by other bishops and Brother James Dowd to explore contemplation and action in the midst of a hurting world. With the wildfires raging on the West Coast, we ask you to consider donating to either of the initiatives below:
Diocese of Los Angeles: https://diocesela.org/fire-response/
Episcopal Relief and Development: https://www.episcopalrelief.org/
Transcript
Hi, I’m Bishop Brian.
What would Jesus do? If you read the Gospels, you see over and over again, Jesus does two things: he engages deeply with people, and he engages deeply with prayer and solitude. Last week I was in Schuyler, Nebraska, with ten other bishops and Brother James Dowd, an Episcopal monk. We were there together to go on retreat together to reflect on our own contemplative prayer and practice, but also to reflect on what it means to lead from a contemplative posture, a contemplative place.
So we were there to reflect on action and prayer, contemplation and engagement. I was really aware, as I was away from you, that I was in the middle of the country, in Schuyler, Nebraska. I was between two places, experiencing deep hurt. Right now, thinking about East Tennessee in western North Carolina, where we continue to recover from Hurricane Helene. People continue to live in the aftermath of all of that harm. And I was also mindful of the fires in Los Angeles and all the people devastated, hurt, loss of life, loss of property, loss of churches, and that continues to take place. And we were there in Schuyler, Nebraska, each day praying and reflecting on prayer. And as we did that, we spoke about the places that we know where there’s hurt and there’s harm.
We did not go on retreat to leave the world. We went on retreat together to know how to pray and to know how to engage the world, how to care for the world that God has entrusted us to steward and love and nurture.
You will continue to hear more in the life of this diocese in 2025 about our establishment of a School for Contemplation, to continue to teach us and to teach all how to pray, how to be centered and grounded in a reactive, distracted world that so often wants to say to you, you are alone and God is not with you.
My friends, you are not alone and God is with us. Taking the time for deep prayer, for openness and receiving of that prayer is a way to be reminded of that. And it’s from that place of deep grace and mercy and joy that we can go out and care for the folks in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina and Southern California and all the places where our hearts go today, where people are in need.
We pray not to avoid the world, but we pray in order to see the world rightly and where God is calling us next. Thank you.
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