But he was also a struggling North African pastor who had a flair for teaching and who meditated deeply on the complexities of the human heart. The Christian conscience is the arena in which the most basic decisions of the disciple of Jesus occur. Human freedom makes choices not only about particular ethical issues, both individual and social, but also about the basic life direction of the person. The importance of authority in the Christian community, the binding force of tradition, and the responsibility of the individual Christian interact to create the dynamic of a living spirituality functioning in the real world. Drawing on the work of major poets, the course will explore Gospel themes as reflected in the poetic imagination over the last two millennia.
Poets are contemplatives by vocation, for whom the world is the vehicle of the soul's awakening.
When their meditation is on the Gospel, word meets Word in new ways of seeing and knowing. The course examines great masters of prayer and discernment, including writings of Augustine, Ignatius, The Cloud of Unknowing , as well as biblical and contemporary authors. One of the great Christian mystics, Hildegard offers new insight into the beauty and richness of an integrated Christian spirituality. The course will focus on this twelfth-century mystic, prophet, author, musician who points us today toward a holistic understanding of religious experience and our Christian call to live in harmony with our Creator, with all of creation and within ourselves. The universal call to holiness is recognized in a specific and unique way in marriage.