Mission Statement and Spiritual Vision
Science of the Heart
“In the fourth century the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Arabia and Persia were peopled by a race of men. They sought a way to God that was uncharted and freely chosen, not inherited from others who had mapped it out beforehand. They sought a God whom they alone could find, not one who was 'given' in a set stereotyped form by somebody else." -Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert
Contemplative Spirituality
* Science of the Heart is a community committed to daily living the contemplative dimension of the Gospel message encountering God in silence and stillness.
* Gathered from a variety of traditions, the community is defined as individuals who seek God in various forms of contemplative prayer in an attitude of listening and responding to the call and following the action of the Holy Spirit.
“When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen” Matthew 6.6
“Subjectivity is the appropriate epistemological mode for becoming a Christian because Christian faith is more relational than rational. The object of faith is not the teaching but the Teacher." Soren Kierkegaard
Interior Life
* Central to the focus of daily contemplative practice is the process of inner healing and transformation allowing one to yield more fully to union with God.
* The subjective experience of metanoia or conversion transforms the individual from an ego- centered to a God-centered consciousness.
* The contemplative life is one led not by dogmatic teachings or doctrines but an experience of inner awakening to the Kingdom of God within as outlined in the teachings of the Beatitudes.
“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
“We have learnt, after much observation, to recognize the difference between angelic thoughts, human thoughts, and thoughts that come from demons.” Evagrius Ponticus
Intellectual, Moral and Spiritual Growth
* Human development through spiritual growth is offered in formation opportunities of study, prayer, spiritual direction and contemplative retreats with fellow sojourners and like seekers.
* The ultimate purpose of spirituality is to experience freedom to choose love, embracing the movement of God found within, resulting in liberation from evil, holy illusions and compulsions.
“So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.” 1 Corinthians 14:15
“The free man is the one whose choices have given him the power to stand on his own feet and determine his own life according to the higher light and spirit that are in him. The slave, in the spiritual order, is the man whose choices have destroyed all spontaneity in him and have delivered him over, bound hand and foot, to his own compulsions, idiosyncrasies and illusions, so that he never does what he really wants to do, but only what he has to do.” Thomas Merton
Community
* The Body of Christ as a visible reminder of God in our midst offers refuge to the seeker in relationships of healing and welcome.
* In an attitude of humility and hunger for God, and as individuals living in the presence of God according to one’s own particular vocation, community is defined as individuals who are unified through the Spirit.
* In unity, the community joyfully celebrates relationships founded on principles of equality while honoring Christ in one another.
* Conforming to the will of God in faith through dialogue, the community assists in the process of discernment.
* Liberated by God and not by the ego, the prophetic community radiates divine goodness calling others to realize their authentic self through conversion.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.” 1 John 1:7
“A monk is a man who considers himself one with all men because he seems constantly to see himself in every man.” Evagrius Ponticus
Contemplation, Transformation, Action
* Transformed by love, the community becomes a prayerful presence to the various levels of society, as a catalyst for social change, to those we have been called to serve and minister by the gifts of the Holy Spirit we have received.
* Seeking justice through love in an attitude of service and moved by grace, the Divine Presence is recognized and embraced in all of creation.
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” Luke 4:18
“God is glorified not by mere words, but by works of righteousness, which proclaim the majesty of God far more effectively than words.” St. Maximos the Confessor
Interfaith and Ecumenical
* Interfaith and ecumenical relations are embraced and viewed as integral to the Christian life grounded the common search to experience Ultimate Reality.
* Silence as a key to entering into the mystery of the Sacred becomes the meeting place from which interfaith dialogue gains its strength, wisdom and shared vision.
* The goal of interfaith dialogue is to discover the way one can know and respect Ultimate Reality beyond theology, philosophy, categories, and concepts leading the community into experiences of transformation working mutually toward the common good.
“There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions and no peace among the religions without dialogue.” Hans Kung
“All that is true, by whomever it is said, is from the Holy Spirit.” St. Ambrose