Photo by Donna Ruparell

“Contemplative Solidarity” introduces us to a powerful practice for times of instability and fear. This practice takes us on a deep dive into meditation, where—in addition to our sense of the Holy Presence—we learn to experience a felt awareness of our entanglements across time, space, and realities. The goal of the workshop is a more stable and steadfast practice, a revised and reliable sense of hope, and the pervasive knowledge that we are not alone. The work we do together in the sessions will serve as a template for times when we practice by ourselves, struggling to meet our own suffering and the suffering of the greater world.

This workshop situates the practice of meditation (with a primary focus on Centring Prayer) within the current chaotic world, as it is. We’ll be using movement and chanting to introduce each of the three sections of the workshop, followed by a short talk and then practice together. Part One begins with an examination of the unconscious conceptual frames we use for meditation; Part Two explores our entanglement across human and more than human worlds; and Part Three invites us to find our place within the communion of saints.

This workshop will be led by Therese DesCamp. Therese has studied for fifteen years with Cynthia Bourgeault and is a member of the 2020 cohort of the Living School, Center for Action and Contemplation. She has been leading in-person workshops and retreats for 35 years in British Columbia, Oregon, Washington and California, as well as online retreats.

Therese is an ordained United Church of Christ and United Church of Canada minister, writer and spiritual director. Her Ph.D. focused on the application of cognitive linguistics in Biblical Studies. She has taught courses at Vancouver School of Theology, Pacific School of Religion, The Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley; and the University of California, Berkeley.

Therese is the author of the recently published “Hands Like Roots: Notes on an Entangled Contemplative Life,” (Santos Books). She currently works as a community-based pastor in the village of New Denver, BC, and is a member of the board of The Contemplative Society.