“Cosmic Suspended Animation"

Dear ones,

Last Thursday was Ascension Day, a feast in the Christian liturgical calendar commemorating Jesus’ ascension from this earthly realm, forty days after his resurrection and subsequent appearances. On this day during the recent Wisdom School with Cynthia Bourgeault, she invited us to become consciously present to the ten day period we are in now, marking it as a "thin space"—a spiritually potent period similar to Holy Week or All Saints.

Between Ascension and Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, we are within what Cynthia calls the “cosmic suspended animation,” a time of quiet waiting and subtle inner transformation. In relinquishing his physical form, Jesus becomes universally accessible—no longer bound to one place, but present everywhere to those open to him. This transformation enables him to become an unlimited intimate force, available to all who are receptive. Thus, Ascension marks a key transition, from an embodied spiritual teacher to a subtle, ubiquitous one.

Cynthia suggested that if Lent is a season of purification, this passageway is is one of "subtilization"—learning to perceive and live from the finer frequencies of spiritual experience. It calls us into stillness, reflection, and attunement to a deeper, more subtle spiritual reality.

A core theme of her reflection was the idea of the ascension or “rising force” of the spiritual energy within us that counters the pull of heaviness, despair, and habitual patterns. This is not just a poetic metaphor, but something real and embodied. Just as we experience gravity's pull, we also carry within us a counterforce capacity to rise, lift, transcend. This force is expressed and can be found in the simple upward movements of our bodies throughout the day, such as picking something up, reaching, walking, etc.

Cynthia invited us to bring awareness to them with particular attention to the "upstroke." As we shift our awareness from the familiar focus on downward motion to the ascending motion of ordinary physical movements, we actively engage the ascending energy within ourselves. By tuning into this upward current, cutting through automaticity and opening up awareness, we begin to sense the spiritual dimension of levitation, a real and present energy that reminds us of our ever-present capacity to rise. It’s a subtle but transformative shift.

In this light, Ascension becomes more than a story about Jesus. It becomes an invitation to embody his journey—the activation of the rising force within, the energy of love, compassion, evolution, and inner trust. It is time, she says, for “traveling at the speed of love.” As many around the world collectively attune to this sacred time, we are supported in amplifying our capability to simultaneously be present to and untangled from the fear, inertia, and ego. Collectively, we move steadily toward lightness, connection, and divine presence.

This week, let us consciously engage Cynthia’s invitation to a joyful and subtle exploration of how the rising force is already alive within us, waiting to be noticed, felt, and lived.

May we open to the possibility of collectively "traveling at the speed of love,"

Heather

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Readings from last week's Daily Contemplative Pauses

*All previous readings & reflections can be found here*

Tuesday, May 27th with Chris

Reading: "Design" (another way to see surrender) by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Imagine the self as a canyon in the making,

once solid, and then, ongoingly,

made more spacious, shaped by water,

by wind, by forces beyond its control.

Whatever is sacred, I feel it in canyons,

these earthen temples to surrender—

such holy architecture

with their deep and ancient silence,

with their steep and crumbling walls.

How sacred the angle of light

as it enters from the rim and slants

through the belly of air.

Sacred, too, the shadows,

like those most secret parts of ourselves

that never see light.

When I think of the self as a canyon,

it is easier to believe I, too,

can be made more spacious

through surrender, the shape of my life

an ever-changing record of where I resist

and where I release,

oh this practice I am still learning

to trust, this erosion of self

into reverence.

Wednesday, May 28th with Joy

Reading: "Although there are any number of spiritual practices both ancient and universal to bring a person to this state of permanent inner "yieldedness," the most direct and effective one I know is simply this: in any situation in life, confronted by an outer threat or opportunity, you can notice yourself responding inwardly in one of two ways. Either you will brace, harden, and resist, or you will soften, open, and yield. If you go with the former gesture, you will be catapulted immediately into your smaller self, with its animal instincts and survival responses. If you stay with the latter regardless of the outer conditions, you will remain in alignment with your innermost being, and through it, divine being can reach you.

Spiritual practice at its no-frills simplest is a moment-by-moment learning not to do anything in a state of internal brace. Bracing is never worth the cost." — Cynthia Bourgeault, The Wisdom Way of Knowing

Chant: I/we surrender 

Thursday, May 29th with Lacey 

Reading: "So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samar′ia and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” — Acts 1:6-11 

Chant: Stay together friends do not scatter or sleep, our friendship of being awake — Henry Schoenfield

Friday, May 30th with Henry

Reading:

Chant:

Saturday, May 31st with Heather 

Reading & Chant: Keep within. And when they say, ‘Look here or look there is Christ, go not forth, for Christ is within you. And those who try to draw your minds away from the teaching inside you, are opposed to Christ. For the measure’s within, and the light of God is within, and the pearl is within, though hidden. — words by George Fox, 1652 put to chant by Paulette Meier 

Sunday, June 1st with Heather

Reading: “Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved.

“They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again.

“It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

“To stay with that shakiness—to stay with a broken heart, with a rumbling stomach, with the feelings of hopelessness and wanting to get revenge that is the path of true awakening.

Sticking with that uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic-this is the spiritual path. Getting the knack of catching ourselves, of gently and compassionately catching ourselves is the path of the warrior. We catch ourselves one zillion times as once again, whether we like it or not, we harden into resentment, into a sense of relief, a sense of inspiration.” — Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart

Chant: When we are with you, what fear of loss could we possibly have, we swim in mercy, as in an endless sea — Susan Latimer

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