"Every day, we need to start anew. Every day, we need to show up as beginners."

Season 2, Episode 8 of Messy Jesus Business, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh

IN THIS EPISODE:

In Season 2, Episode 8, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Father Adam Bucko about contemplation, new monasticism and the messiness permeating seemingly everything. "This is, I think, in a way the nature of our lives, that there are surprises every single day," Father Adam reflects.

The same holds true for spiritual life, he says. "Every day, we need to start anew. Every day, we need to show up as beginners. And be humble. And listen with the ear of our hearts to that voice of God that is here to guide us."

Sister Julia and Father Adam also discuss contemplative life. "To me, contemplative life, or contemplative life in the world, is a life where our practices and things that we commit to in a sense help us to kind of awaken that Christ within us. And then, our job is to be in a state of receptivity and consent so that Christ can begin to live, laugh and maybe even sometimes protest through us."

Father Adam explains, "Contemplation and action are really two sides of the same coin, in fact, contemplation is not complete unless it involves action."

He also explains what he says when praying with those who don't have a sense of God's presence. "During that part of prayer, speak to an imaginary friend, who you can imagine maybe loves you more than you have ever been loved." In that moment, Father Adam says, they often they begin to experience the real presence they had otherwise been missing.

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Father Adam Bucko has been a committed voice in the movement for the renewal of Christian Contemplative Spirituality and the growing New Monastic movement. He has taught engaged contemplative spirituality in Europe and the United States and has co-authored two books: "Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation," and "The New Monasticism: An Interspiritual Manifesto for Contemplative Living."

Committed to an integration of contemplation and just practice, he cofounded an award-winning non-profit, the Reciprocity Foundation, where he spent 15 years working with homeless youth living on the streets of New York City, providing spiritual care, developing programs to end youth homelessness and articulating a vision for spiritual mentoring in a post-religious world.

He currently serves as a director of The Center for Spiritual Imagination at the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York and is a member of The Community of the Incarnation, a new monastic community dedicated to democratizing the gifts of monastic spirituality and teaching contemplative spirituality in the context of hearing and responding to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth.

You can find Father Adam Bucko on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AdamBucko/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/satyagratha/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/adambucko?lang=en

Or on the web,