An online wisdom school

See with the eye of your heart; hear with the ear of your heart

Join an online course in Wisdom

What is contemplation? What is seeking? What is Wisdom? Wisdom isn’t about knowing more things or more facts that you can access through your intellect alone. It’s about seeing with more of you participating, seeing from deeper being. It’s about seeing with the eye of the heart in order to go through the eye of the needle.

The French Jesuit priest and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin put it this way: “Voir ou périr” (“See or perish”). St. Benedict wrote: “Listen with the ear of your heart.”

What if the deepest reservoirs of Jesus’ path of surrender in order to rise are our own hidden treasures, buried in the ground of our being, waiting to be discovered and manifested collectively?

The greatest gift of the spiritual life is that no one can do it for you. The greatest challenge of the spiritual life is that no one can do it for you. You are your own starting point. A course being offered online this fall provides such a starting point.

The Rev. Benjamin Thomas of St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton, Florida, will lead a six-week course for members of his parish and others from around the country. The Rev. John Jenkins has arranged for St. Stephen’s parishioners to be among them, using Zoom.

In “An Introduction to Wisdom: Christianity from the Inside Out,” participants will take a journey into the heart of the path of ancient Christian contemplation and spiritual mysticism. This introductory course to Christian Wisdom will include spiritual practices and teachings of Jesus, St. Benedict, G.I. Gurdjieff, and others. Texts and teachings will enable us to begin seeing in order to release the agendas we pursue in what Father Thomas Keating called “our personalhappiness programs,” and drop deeply into the heart of God.

Ben is an Episcopal priest and Wisdom teacher. Primarily a student of Jesus, G.I. Gurdjieff, and the Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault, he seeks to facilitate the transformation of others and our planet by living the fruits of the spirit through the conscious work of a meditative and surrendered heart. Ben takes Wisdom students through spiritual practices, retreats, and book studies by some of the great spiritual masters. He is an Oblate in the Benedictine Community of St. Mary, a contemplative Episcopal community that links care for the environment with Christian spirituality. This Virginia native and his wife, Anna, have five children.

Dr. Bourgeault calls Ben “a powerfully emerging presence in the contemporary Wisdom renewal of Christianity. To a degree I have rarely seen, he combines prophetic eloquence, deep mystical understanding, and a compassionate and inviting pastoral presence. If there was ever a young leader with heart, mind, and shoulders broad enough to carry a new vision of Christianity to joyful fruition, it is Benjamin.”

The course takes place each Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., October 6 through November 10. The cost is $145. A personally meaningful financial commitment is an essential element of this inner work, but no one should allow the cost to prevent their participation. We encourage “Graceconomics,” where knowing the cost of this opportunity, you discern what the experience is worth and make an offering based on your own resources and circumstances. This may be more or less than the actual cost. John Jenkins is available to discuss options with you, and answer other questions you may have, jjenkins@ststephensRVA.org.

The Rev. Ben Thomas will lead this series.