‘Christopher Pramuk’s latest work, At Play in Creation, offers a truly stunning introduction to the long-held but often forgotten Wisdom tradition. Priming our theological imaginations with the rich and sensuous language of poetry and with Merton’s poem Hagia Sophia as a guide, Pramuk opens us to the divine music hidden in each of our encounters and allows us to glimpse the unseen Reality whom Merton calls Sophia.’
Christopher Pramuk is the author of Sophia: The Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton and Hope Sings, So Beautiful: Graced Encounters Across the Color Line. I highly recommend you locate either one of these books as you also pluck the focus of our conversation today, At Play in Creation: Merton’s Awakening to the Divine Feminine. Chris Pramuk is a theologian, author, scholar and lifelong musician who just joined the faculty at Regis University as chair of Ignatian Thought and Imagination, and associate professor of theology. Chris is the type of professor you wished you had in college. In our conversation Chris shares how he uses Pink Floyd in his teaching, the suffering of God with humanity as we explore the meaning of Sophia-Wisdom, and we conclude our conversation with a story about Chris’ son, Henry, who when he was two and a half exemplified Sophia-Wisdom breaking forth on the shores of Lake Michigan. With that, here is my conversation with Chris Pramuk. You can learn more about Chris at hopesingssobeautiful.org.
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EPISODE SHOW NOTES
Books by Christopher Pramuk
- At Play in Creation: Merton’s Awakening to the Feminine Divine
- Sophia: The Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton
Resources Mentioned
- Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
- The Great Gig in the Sky by Pink Floyd (YouTube link)
- Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Sign of Jonas by Thomas Merton
- Solace by Scott Joplin (YouTube link)
- At Play in Creation: Merton’s Awakening to the Feminine Divine
People
- Walter J. Burghardt
- Thomas Merton
- Scott Joplin
- Roger Waters
- Pope John XXIII
- Sergei Bulgakov
- Walter Brueggemann
- Denise Levertov
- Joshua Abraham Heschel
Drinks Pairings
- Guinness with an inch or so of foam
Highlights
When you hear the word “contemplative”, how does that moniker relate to you or work, if you think it does at all?
How does that manifest in your day-to-day life?
How do the arts play into your own sense of contemplative practice?
If someone were going to teach a class on the formation of Christopher Pramuk, what 3 books that formed you would definitely be on that syllabus?
What does it look like in your classroom when you merge music and theology?
How do you define Sophia? What does it mean in the Christian tradition?
How did Thomas Merton’s experience on 4th & Walnut change him?
Why is the metaphor, ‘birthing’ so important for understanding Merton’s path with Sophia (and our own path)?
What does Merton mean by the ‘night face of Sophia’?
Walter Brueggemann writes that in times of deep hopelessness, we need to recover symbols from our deepest memories to contradict retractive consciousness. What deep symbols do you see emerging as Wisdom-Sophia in our times?
Can you share the story of your son, Henry at age two and a half, as he watched the sun go down and the connection you see to Wisdom-Sophia?
If you were going to pair this episode with a drink, what drink would that be?
Photo credit: Death To Stock Photo
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