‘Confessions of a Fake Contemplative’ – I used to tell people that would probably be my first book! Since my early 20’s, I’ve been drawn to the contemplative pathways but anyone who knows me recognizes there is a lot of energy within me.  Many people have said to me: ‘Anne, you make things happen.’ To have an action based temperament and a longing for the stillness and spaciousness of contemplation seemed like a recipe for the impossible. I’ll just call myself a ‘fake contemplative’ and laugh. Usually they laughed with me.

Then I met Philip. He called himself ‘The Galloping Contemplative’. Hmmm. This sounds like a positive twist on my dilemma. Is this someone who could understand? Philip had started a community called Contemplative Fire. Hmmm again. Doesn’t even the name describe my interior dilemma and longing?  Perhaps I’ve found a community that allows me to be me in all the multiple ways that I am.

I’ve found I’m not alone. There are lots of people like me who mix a longing for stillness, with longing to bring change into the world. This is a blog for us. We’re not fake. We’re real. Sometimes we’ve been called ‘contemplatives-in-action’. Contemplative Fire puts an intentional bit of sparkle into that phrase, for we’re a community of eclectic, creative, and slightly edgy people.  We can embrace our longing for action and change as well as embrace our longing for stillness and silence. Ahhhh – room to breathe.

I hope to explore and describe Life through Contemplative Fire Eyes – to explore the depth of it, to describe the anguish, the joy, the challenge, the radiance and hope of a full life following in the dusty footsteps of Jesus. I’m persuaded that he was a Galloping Contemplative.

Coming next… some ‘Lessons from a Hurricane’

Anne

Community Leader (Canada) Contemplative Fire