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Center for Action and Contemplation
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CORE faculty

James Finley

Student of Thomas Merton and clinical psychologist, Dr. James Finley teaches how connecting to our Divine indwelling can transcend fear and shame and awaken to our True Self. A faculty member at the Center for Action and Contemplation, he is the author of Merton’s Palace of Nowhere and The Contemplative Heart, and the host of CAC’s podcast Turning to the Mystics.

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In The Healing Path: A Memoir and an Invitation, James Finley offers a window into his recovery from traumatic wounds, offering spiritual guideposts for readers as they walk their own path towards wholeness.

Daily Meditations

Unraveled by Love

Unraveled by Love

Mechthild of Magdeburg lived independently as a beguine until she could no longer care for herself. James Finley highlights what we can learn from Mechthild as she approached her…

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Turning to The Way of a Pilgrim

Turning to The Way of a Pilgrim

Welcome to Season 9 of Turning to the Mystics. This season we are turning to The Way of a Pilgrim for spiritual guidance, a 19th-century account of a pilgrim’s journey towards…

CAC Publishing

CAC Publishing

Free Audio Teachings

Drawing on his experience as a clinical psychologist and his knowledge of the Christian mystics, James outlines seven steps that intentionally invite spirituality into the healing encounter in these free audio recordings.

An illustration of a chamberstick with a lit candle in front of a paned window with a crescent moon.

A Story From Jim

My father was a violent alcoholic. Through my mother, a devout Catholic, I kept myself tethered to the presence of God. Sometimes, when having to endure the worst, yet finding God in the darkest place, you are liberated from the tyranny of shame over your heart. Where anguish and ecstasy intersect, it becomes incandescent—it becomes oneness.

“At the deepest level, it does not really matter where you seek this path because it is everywhere”

– Dr. James FInley

Daily Meditations

Wisdom from James Finley

Read Daily Meditations inspired by the words of James Finley.

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