peace hill: a solidarity contemplative center
The Solidarity Contemplative Center is a small, interfaith group based in Durham that is committed to developing a community where spirituality and social justice are integrated and practiced. We meet monthly for discussion and meditation and are looking for a place where others can join with us.
As a group, we mourn the loss of Sister Evelyn Matter, SCC (1941-2003), who was to be the "seeker of gifts" in residence for our community. A tireless worker for justice, Sister Evelyn worked to create fair housing for farmworkers, protect the environment, end the death penalty, and guarantee equal rights for women. A program associate with the North Carolina Council of Churches, Sister Evelyn was also a poet and the author of Why Not Become Fire?: Encounters with Women Mystics (Ave Maria Press, 1999) and Blessed Are You — The Beatitudes and Our Survival.
From our covenant:
We are a group of persons from different spiritual and religious traditions. Together, we feel the calling to create an environment that honors the inner life of Contemplation and Practice and the outer world of Justice and Hospitality.
We gather as a community to support one another in living a life aligned with spirit, that which is often unameable, but which some of us call God. We stand as a sign that belief in God should unify rather than divide persons. And we do so with the conviction that time spent in each other's presence inspires growth, engenders humility, and makes each of us stronger in our lives and in our work.
Our contemplative practice begins with silence and also includes communal reflection, ritual, prayer, lectio divina, and praise. We understand contemplation as the ability to be open to life as it is in the present moment. Equal to our contemplative commitment is our dedication to action and caring for the world in which we find ourselves. We are in an ongoing effort to harness the spiritual energy of the inner life for the outer life of service and action.