Welcome to the Timistic Institute podcast.

Our mission is to promote the Catholic intellectual tradition in the university, the church, and the wider public square.

The lectures on this podcast are organized by university students at Temistic Institute chapters around the world.

To learn more and to attend these events, visit us at to mystic institute.org.

The word in Greek that's usually translated as contemplation, or to contemplate, is Theoria or Theorraine.

There are many other translations that could be given to Theorane, such as theorizing or speculative thinking.

But what all these translations have in common is that they stand in contrast to the kind of

thinking that is practical. That's to say, thinking about what is to be done or what is to be made.

I mentioned this because, although Father James and I will be both speaking about

Therain, we won't be doing so from a merely theoretical perspective. We have a decidedly practical

goal and we wish to come clean about it. Not because we're both bad at hiding, although that's probably true, but because

we think our project will go better if you don't feel like you're being manipulated.

And the best way to do this, of course, is for us to abandon our attempts at manipulating you

and concentrate on getting you on board with our project from the beginning.

We think that this is a relatively easy task because you probably wouldn't be on this retreat

if all you wanted was a weekend away from Ithaca with free room, free food, and a relatively

nice swag bag.

The practical goal that Father and I have in mind for you and for ourselves is nothing

less than conversion.

Conversion away from a particular worldview, which includes a particular understanding of

contemplation, and conversion toward a different worldview with a different

understanding of an openness to contemplation. We know that we can't force your conversion,

...