The
Cloud (as we will refer to it here)is the classic Middle English text
that has so deeply influenced contemplatives in the Western Church for six centuries.
Acquainted
with numerous translations and editions of The
Cloud, I have chosen Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s translation, The Cloud of
Unknowing: With the Book of Privy Counsel (Boston, Shambhala, 2009) as our
text. Praised by many, this edition of The
Cloud is an absolutely stunning “sense-by-sense” translation of the
medieval text. As Cynthia Bourgeault says in a back-cover blurb, it’s
“brilliant, bold, and breathtaking.” To follow along and enjoy The Cloud and this guide, you will want
to purchase a copy.
Acquainted
with numerous translations and editions of The
Cloud, I have chosen Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s translation, The Cloud of
Unknowing: With the Book of Privy Counsel (Boston, Shambhala, 2009) as our
text. Praised by many, this edition of The
Cloud is an absolutely stunning “sense-by-sense” translation of the
medieval text. As Cynthia Bourgeault says in a back-cover blurb, it’s
“brilliant, bold, and breathtaking.” To follow along and enjoy The Cloud and this guide, you will want
to purchase a copy.
There are seventy-five chapters in The
Cloud, and you will read all of them over the duration of our time with it. In September, 2013, at the beginning of each week (and surely by Wednesday!), I will post a reading
guide for appointed chapters. Because each one of the chapters is short,
sometimes it will be best to read several chapters together over a week’s time.
Although
some of you may be meeting as a group with others interested in contemplative literature, all are invited to follow along whether alone (although you never
are!) or in a community.
Whether
in a study group or by yourself, you may wish to read the designated chapter(s)several
times and mark up your text as you go by underlining or highlighting what you think significant in the text. You may also wish to keep a journal or
notebook in which you write down your responses to questions that will come up
as we work our way through The Cloud.
Whether you are in a study group or working
through The Cloud by yourself, you
are encouraged to post comments at the end of each week’s guide for others to
read and consider. Having spent some time in preparation, you will be able to
share insights, understandings, questions, and interpretive options with
others. And if all goes well, others may
wish to read your postings so that we genuinely share The Cloud with one another.
Finally
this: if you find this guide helpful in the development of your life, consider
putting something of your contemplative resources into service by helping a small orphanage for girls in Port au Prince, Haiti. Known as Chez Moi(“My Home”), the orphanage is
under the care of Grace Missions, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit Christian ministry.
Visit www.gracemissionsinc.org for more details.
Before
we get to Chapter 1, Butcher provides us with an excellent Introduction that
prepares us for reading The Cloud
within its historical setting. That
Introduction will be our gateway to The
Cloud through which we’ll pass in the next posting, scheduled for late August or early September, 2013.
Don’t
forget: comments are welcome.
