Fr. David Denny is a lifelong  seeker whose commitment to the unfolding mystery of life has brought him to explore the deserts of place and soul.  In 1975 Fr Dave entered the Spiritual Life Institute, a contemplative monastic community rooted in the Carmelite tradition. And in 2005, he left that community to co-found the Desert Foundation with Tessa Bielecki. A writer, a poet, retreat master and teacher, Fr. Dave now hangs his hat in Tucson, Arizona.  In our conversation, Fr. Dave and I talk about the roundabouts, the striking insights, the totality of the journey of his life that lead him to be an urban hermit. Fr. David Denny has co-authored Seasons of Glad Songs: A Christmas Anthology, Desert Voices: The Edge Effect and is a part of the collection The Nature of Desert Nature edited by Gary Nabhan. Visit Fr. Dave’s website: sandandsky.org Visit contemplify.com

Vitality Out of Emptiness with Fr. David Denny

The Contemplify podcast kindles the examined life for contemplatives in the world. Through artful musings & conversations with scholars, creatives, and master teachers each episode delivers a subtly intoxicating* exchange on the contemplative lifestyle with practical takeaways to emulate in daily life. 

Host, Paul Swanson, is a husband, father and contemplative educator at the Center for Action and Contemplation and co-host of Another Name for Every Thing with Richard Rohr**.

*Contemplify is best served with a pint in hand. Please listen responsibly.

** All shenanigans, tom foolery and bally-hoo posted on Contemplify are my own. Contemplify is not representative of the Center for Action and Contemplation or Richard Rohr on any matter.

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Reduced to the Scale of Our Competence

A musing on wild things and ingesting God

Eat the Wild Thing

Each solstice and equinox Contemplify offers a public Lo-Fi & Hushed contemplative practice session for both free and supporting subscribers of the Non-Required Reading List. For those interested, go tell it on the mountain…   The third week of Advent salted on joy. Not because of the circumstances, but despite them. The work remains to create the conditions for the gift of joy to emerge. The candlelight had built around the Advent wreath and solstice was breaking into a light jog. The arms of Advent and winter solstice were outstretched, reaching towards embrace. We were so close to completing the circle. Our own sweet darkness yields in a protected and patient trust. Let us welcome the gift. Wendell Berry’s “To Know the Dark” was the vessel for the Winter Solstice Lo-Fi & Hushed Practice Session. You can follow the link to peek at the entire poem. Welcome this dark knowing into practice. May we show up with expectation under its seamless cloak. Advent rejoices within the crackles of reality. Let us slow our pace to hear this joyful song. visit contemplify.com

Lo-Fi & Hushed / 2023 Winter Solstice Session / To Know the Dark

"Oshida’s life and legacy is an experience of the spiritual senses knowing the mystical voice. Biblical in sources and Buddhist in form, reading this book took me as a reader to the great pause of silence." — Sister Meg Funk, OSB   Lucien Miller received his PhD in comparative literature from Berkely and taught Comparative Literature and Chinese at the University of Massachusetts. He is a deacon, spiritual director, and author.   Lucien and I talk about his book, Jesus in the Hands of Buddha: The Life and Legacy of Shigeto Vincent Oshida, OP. Fr. Oshida taught with a clarity born of mystical devotion, bent towards right action, flowing from community.  Lucien regales me with stories about Fr. Oshida; his memorable first visit traveling to Takamori Hermitage that landed him in jail, Fr. Oshida’s elemental fire-mass, the foundational difference between word-idea and word-event, and much more. Visit Contemplify.com for shownotes

Listen to the Rice, the Rice Will Teach You Everything with Lucien Miller

"You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves." — 'Wild Geese' by Mary Oliver   Carmen Acevedo Butcher, PhD, is an author, teacher, poet, and award-winning translator of spiritual texts. Today Carmen and I talk about the importance of practice; chanting, lectio divina,walking meditation, poetry, drawing, and other customized pecularily particular practices. Carmen models what her practices looks, sounds, and feels like shares the impact on her life. This conversation is a reminder that in times of anguish, joy, or suffering, practices keep our heart pumping and our internal hearth fired. Visit Carmen at carmenbutcher.com | IG: @cab_phd | Visit Contemplify.com Looking for a live practice with a dispersed community? A few options...  Lo-Fi & Hushed Contemplative practice every Wednesday with Contemplify (virtual) Center for Spiritual Imagination (virtual and in-person) 

Vitality Out of Emptiness with Fr. David Denny

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