Carmen Acevedo Butcher, PhD
Thursday, July 7, 2022
Can’t make it live? After each class, video and audio recordings are available to download and watch anytime.
Follow the wise and sacred teachings of Brother Lawrence to create a solid foundation of peace that enables you to return to love — whenever you choose.
The world is uncertain. It can seem like there’s nothing but chaos, tragedy, and hardship everywhere you look.
Whatever your feelings as the world appears to be crumbling around you, the demands of life still clamor — bills have to be paid, family members need to be cared for, homes require maintenance, food must be bought and prepared, and the laundry needs doing.
The list of things that pull upon your energy seems endless. And they all need to be done whether you have the emotional or physical energy to do them.
Knowing that the rhythm of life will always toss you from one storm to the next, what can you do to anchor or ground yourself — so that you can survive the inevitable existential hurricanes and earthquakes?
To cultivate greater compassion for yourself as you navigate life’s challenges, the anchor you create must come from within yourself.
As you free yourself from toxic perfectionism, you’ll be better able to find peace and joy in the midst of any situation — and thrive emotionally, physically, mentally, and financially.
Everything is possible for those who believe, even more for those who hope, still more for those who love, and most of all for those who practice and persevere in these three powerful paths.
― Brother Lawrence
According to Carmen Acevedo Butcher, PhD, an internationally acclaimed speaker and translator of spiritual texts, Brother Lawrence has given us instructions on how to build a spiritual anchor that can help us find greater resiliency within ourselves, expand our empathy and compassion for others, and strengthen our self-love — so that we have the stamina to weather any storm, and return to love again and again.
In Carmen’s new 7-week online course, she’ll show you how Brother Lawrence’s powerful teachings can guide you to return to love throughout each day — as you learn to cultivate your discernment and speak your truth — without feeling the need to cast blame or judgment upon others.
You’ll gain a deeper understanding of Brother Lawrence’s journey and how to apply his experiences as a roadmap for the betterment of your own life. Brother Lawrence found unspeakable joy in the midst of his own struggles — he was in constant pain from a disabling war injury and suffered terribly from the war-induced emotional traumas he endured.
How did he do it?
Carmen highlights how the depth of his love and connection to the Divine contributed to a life lived with awe-inspiring heroism. His devotion was so pure, there were times he would be moved to dance — in spite of his pain and limitations.
Brother Lawrence embodied love, and allowed it to permeate and transform his life. He was a clear channel of divine love whose teachings have continued to resonate with people of all faiths.
Brother Lawrence’s Unspeakable Joy
The Simple, Mindful Practice of Presence
The Feminine Energy of Brother Lawrence
During this heart-expanding course, you’ll:
- Embrace the gentle feminine energy of his prayer practice and its ability to reconnect us with our bodies with ease and comfort
- Explore what it means to experience peace in the middle of any moment — by returning to love and learning to rest there
- Learn how to integrate the “Naming Gratitude” meditation to find the joy in small everyday things
- Understand how to honor your voice and free your life from the demands of perfectionistic thinking through self-compassionate and meditative letter writing
- Develop awareness of your own connections with the Divine and with Nature
- Explore the power of practicing Brother Lawrence’s presence prayer to cultivate mindfulness of your direct connection with the Divine
- Rewire your mind through meditating on phrases Brother Lawrence himself practiced... to bring healing, calm, forgiveness, and love into your life
- Nourish a kind, open intention to strengthen self-love, empathy, resilience, and patience through the Gratitude chant and Centering Prayer session
- Understand and honor the role of discernment in determining your own path through the practice of the presence prayer
- Cultivate somatic wakefulness and self-compassion in your daily journey by remembering the accessible tools you’ve practiced in this course
- Discover how returning to love throughout the day can help you cultivate discernment — and speak the truth without blame or judgment
- Experience exercises based on the friar’s own practices — for embracing your true, divine self — with the Flow meditation, breathwork, and meditative letter writing
In this transformative exploration of Brother Lawrence’s divinely inspired wisdom, Carmen will take you on a journey that can help you find abiding peace, joy, self-compassion, and love within yourself — while providing you with a series of practices to integrate into your daily routine — to help you face whatever life brings to your door.
Carmen designed this program to help you quiet the internal dialogue that keeps you vibrating in fear, worry, anxiety, and despair.
If you choose to enroll, you’ll be welcomed into a community of like-minded individuals who embrace you just as you are… helping you feel safe, seen, and loved.
What You’ll Discover in These 7 Weeks
In this 7-week transformational intensive, Carmen will guide you through the fundamental skills and competencies you’ll need to successfully integrate the sacred teachings of Brother Lawrence into your life to help you create a solid foundation of peace that enables you to live your life as one long prayer.
The Power of Livestreaming Video
You’ll connect with Carmen and experience her teachings through livestreaming video via any connected device. This connection is easy to use and will enhance the impact of Carmen’s transmissions. Or you can listen to audio-only by phone.
(Can’t make it live? No worries! After each class, the video and audio recordings will be available for you to download or stream in a high-quality format at your convenience.)
Weekly Sessions Thursdays at 1:00pm Pacific
This course will feature LIVE teachings, interactive training sessions, experiential practices, and Q&A with Carmen. Each session will build harmoniously upon the previous ones to develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools, and principles you’ll need to help you quiet the internal dialogue that’s kept you vibrating in fear, worry, anxiety, and despair — so you can become grounded in peace and come to rest in love.
Module 1: Cultivate Peace With the Practice of the Presence (July 7)
Just as Brother Lawrence did, you can learn how to break free from the self-criticizing inner voice that whispers, I ought to do more, I must be better — so you can embrace your genuine and authentic self.
Under Carmen’s patient guidance, you’ll explore powerful ways to embrace greater self-compassion and confidence. She’ll walk you through the Practice of the Presence prayer by Brother Lawrence — a down-to-earth mystic, monastery cook, sandal repairer, and disabled veteran who suffered from a painful injury all his adult life.
You’ll explore how Brother Lawrence’s devotional practice grew from his suffering and divine experiences. Together as a community, you’ll learn how to embody and express his teachings, which are infused with a feminine energy, and move into a guided inner conversation with a meditation on love to put it all into action.
In this session, you’ll:
- Discover the calming, grounding power of the practice of the presence prayer to create self-ease, joy, peace, and compassion for others
- Embrace the gentle feminine energy of his prayer practice and its ability to reconnect us with our bodies with ease and comfort
- Explore what it means to experience peace in the middle of any moment, by returning to love and learning to come and rest there
- Sing yourself into a more awakened consciousness through the Stillness Chant
- Shift awareness from doubts, worries, and self-judgment to breath awareness and a gentle intention of praying without ceasing
- Begin to integrate the presence prayer by inviting it into small, everyday life experiences
Module 2: How the Dark Night of the Soul Sculpts Your Vision (July 14)
In each moment, whether you’re experiencing joy, challenges, or grief, you can embrace the practice of the presence prayer to find peace and love in that moment.
You’ll discover how the presence prayer can support you during even the darkest of times.
Brother Lawrence was an injured veteran with severe psychic wounds who suffered a long “dark night of the soul.” Practicing the presence prayer transformed his chronic pain into the solid ground of abiding peace.
In a group listening meditation, you’ll learn how to practice self-compassion when overwhelmed with turbulent, painful feelings.
You’ll explore how the friar’s teachings run counter to traditional perfectionism, and experience positive change in your life through proven practices that can bring healing to your inner self-critic.
In this module, you’ll:
- Discover the many ways that community and group practice can empower you as an individual, strengthen the group, and add loving-kindness to the larger community
- Learn how to integrate the “Naming Gratitude” meditation to find the joy in small, everyday things
- Understand how to honor your voice and free your life from the demands of perfectionistic thinking through the meditation of self-compassionate letter writing
- Develop the habit of micro-gratitude for shifting your perspective into spaciousness
- Learn how simple breathwork at night before sleep can release the day’s tensions and help you recover from stress, grief, and depression
Module 3: The Divine Feminine in Brother Lawrence’s Spiritual Imagery (July 21)
You’ll explore the feminine energy at the heart of Brother Lawrence’s presence prayer — and steep in the loving imagery that preoccupied his soul, spiritual writing, and practice.
Unlike past traditional translations, which imposed a stifling binary lens on the friar's teachings, you’ll discover a revolutionary translation that surfaces the feminine wisdom of his intimate conversation.
You’ll be guided through the Medicine Buddha chant in two versions to explore the universal healing possible when opening yourself to the wise, inclusive feminine energy of love for self and others.
In this module, you’ll:
- Discover the loving Divine Mother in Brother Lawrence’s spiritual writings — and how the presence prayer can infuse her compassion into your every moment
- Imagine the friar’s mystical experience at age 18 when he was looking at a barren tree in winter and felt oneness with all of creation
- Develop awareness of your own connections with the Divine and with Nature
- Explore the power of practicing the presence prayer to cultivate mindfulness of your direct connection to the Divine
- Contemplate the friar’s reflection that the loving connection you feel with the Divine is like that of an infant latching on and being nourished by the Divine's breasts
- Develop a greater appreciation for a simple attentiveness to the fact that both Mother Nature and your life are holy
- Experience the practice of the presence prayer through a guided group Self-Compassion meditation
Module 4: Healing the Heart Through Powerful Grounded Language (July 28)
As you arrive at the center of the program, you’ll dive deeper into Brother Lawrence’s sacred use of words. Language is who we are. It is how we communicate our experiences.
In the past, Brother Lawrence’s teachings were Interpreted through patriarchal, dualistic perspectives. The friar’s timeless teachings are released from these limitations in this new interpretation.
This translation’s groundbreaking perspective brings the original loving-kindness of the friar’s spiritual wisdom directly into focus. When you dig into the DNA of his words, you’ll encounter his consistent focus on the loving, all-inclusive, non-blaming divine relationship waiting there for you.
With the use of a simple exercise such as “Your Favorite Words” breathwork, you’ll practice the presence prayer, deepening your relationship with an ever-present love, and increasing your self-ease as well as your compassion for others.
In this module, you’ll:
- Observe yourself with clarity, while cultivating healing by embracing the friar’s kind vocabulary for human stumbling — falling, atoning, and experiencing divine friendship
- Discover the foundation of amour in the friar’s practice of the presence prayer, bringing loving reality into your every moment for comfort and peace
- Awaken into a world of sacred words where “everything is possible,” as the friar writes, because the Divine is your kind Friend, Teacher, Monarch, and Parent
- Hold space for the practice of the presence prayer to create peaceful spaciousness in your own life during day-to-day difficulties and annoyances
- Rewire your mind through meditation on phrases Brother Lawrence practiced to bring healing, calm, forgiveness, and love into your life
- Befriend yourself and nourish a kind, open intention to strengthen self-love, empathy, resilience, and patience through the Gratitude chant and Centering Prayer session
Module 5: Resting in the Spaciousness of Now in Uncertainty & Chaos (August 4)
You’ll explore how your daily life can be riddled with tension and fear from the never-ending unfolding of world events outside your control, which is why you must learn to find your balance in the midst of life’s storms.
You’ll learn how to rest in love’s openness and expansiveness through deepening your practice of the presence prayer.
You’ll explore how the friar’s simple prayer creates micro moments of profound calmness that build on each other and support a release from distraction, worry, and pain.
You’ll discover the 16 letters written by Brother Lawrence to colleagues in which he shared his secrets for building inner calmness when facing distractions and health challenges.
Through a guided group meditation, Befriending Your Inner Critic, you’ll explore how his presence prayer strengthens your resilience to challenges, your ability to live in the present with more hope, and the opening of your heart for compassion for yourself and others.
In this module, you’ll:
- Explore the letting-go-and-returning-home concept in your mind-heart to bring you back to love repeatedly, enabling you to experience greater harmony in the present
- Find grace as you embrace and engage the loving witness in your body through breathwork
- Discover anew the joy of yourself as friend, as the friar did, in the meditational writing, Letter to Your Self as Friend, Thanking Yourself for Your Kindness
- Create more equanimity in your life as you refine your understanding of life’s setbacks, annoyances, and health challenges
- Learn how to bring immediate peace into any difficult moment through breathwork combined with the practice of the presence prayer
- Be guided in a joyous meditation on an Antonio Machado poem
Module 6: Befriending Love by Surrendering Blame, Hate & Anxiety (August 11)
You’ll discover why you must learn to let go of your small ego to invite love in and let it become your friend. As you practice honoring your voice and self-compassion, you’ll grow your inner muscle that lets go of the clamoring and anxious ego, freeing you to embrace the peaceful, expansive ego.
In a divisive world, it’s important to embrace practices that release any need to blame, express resentment, or project insecurities onto others.
You’ll participate in a group meditation for self-compassion — (m)other-compassion and practice opening to sacred activism — even as “Everything is burning,” as the Buddha said.
Through a guided group Tonglen Meditation, you’ll enter into Brother Lawrence’s calm, kind wisdom, and experience connecting with love. Doing the work of meditative practice empowers us with gentle, nonviolent, loving energy for ourselves and others.
In this module, you’ll:
- Be guided in a meditation on a Mary Oliver poem to deepen somatic wakefulness
- Understand Brother Lawrence’s wise teachings for connecting to the Divine’s loving intentions for you and the world, as you relinquish the loud, weak ego, and grow the quiet, calm, strong ego
- Discover new possibilities for connecting with the Divine within you, as an inner power you can nurture, feed, and learn to trust
- Expand your understanding of how to strengthen the Mother compassion within you — and live as a sacred activist
- Discover how returning to love throughout the day can help you cultivate discernment, listen better, and tell the truth without blame or judgment
- Experience a simple exercise based on the friar’s practice for embracing your true, divine self with Flow meditation breathwork, and a meditational letter writing, Reflection on Self-and-Other-Care
Module 7: Coming Home to Unspeakable Joy With the Presence Prayer (August 18)
As you reach the end of this life-changing journey, you’ll have many new tools for self-compassion and healing you can draw on, using Brother Lawrence’s portable “methodless method” of the practice of the presence prayer.
You’ll reflect on your growth, contemplate any experiences you may have had with the friar’s “unspeakable joy,” explore your current level of self-appreciation, and express any new perspectives or new awarenesses about love and how it is ever-present and closer than your own breath.
You’ll take time to celebrate your newfound groundedness, self-compassion, empathy, and deep gratitude for the spaciousness of the present moment.
In this module, you’ll:
- Know how to return to the portable practice of the presence prayer and bring it back into your daily life whenever you need it
- Remember that the presence prayer is a gentle guide to help you grow what the friar calls “unspeakable joy”
- Experience a guided group meditation with Barbara A. Holmes’ “Joy Unspeakable” poem to cultivate deep calmness
- Access the presence prayer at any time through Sky Body breathwork
- Understand and honor the role of discernment in determining your own path through the practice of the presence prayer
- Cultivate somatic wakefulness and self-compassion in your daily journey by remembering the accessible presence prayer tools you’ve practiced in this course
- Integrate the practices you’ve been working on throughout the course, including breathwork, meditational letter writing, chanting, meditation, and prayer
The Unshakable Joy Bonus Collection
In addition to Carmen’s transformative 7-week virtual course, you’ll receive these special bonuses with leading visionaries and teachers to complement the course and take your understanding and practice to an even deeper level.
Chanting: A Powerful Way to Inhabit the Present Moment
Video Teaching and Chanting From Carmen Acevedo Butcher
Chanting’s physiological and psychological benefits are real, accessible, easy, and fun. During this video teaching by Carmen, you’ll learn and sing a beautiful Stillness Chant, I-Am-Gratitude Chant, and Medicine Buddha Chant, both in Tibetan and in Carmen’s English translation. By slowing your breath, activating the vagus nerve, and engaging that which is beautiful as well as embracing healthy thoughts, chanting brings more calmness and self-compassion into your lived experience. You’ll also consider how you might create your own chant(s), to honor your voice, creativity, sacred self, and experience.
Welcoming Practice: A Present Door to Unspeakable Joy
Audio Teaching and Meditation From Carmen Acevedo Butcher
Become present to your life in a healthy, self-compassionate way. This profound Welcoming Practice will help you make space for and strengthen your heart-centered awareness, whatever comes — freeing you from patterns of unhealthy reactions and opening an inner freedom for conscious intentions and action. Both a sitting meditation and a portable prayer, the Welcoming Practice brings unspeakable joy to daily life.
Excerpts From Practice of the Presence
PDF Preview of the Book Translation by Carmen Acevedo Butcher
The potent wisdom of the humble seventeenth-century Parisian friar Brother Lawrence is brought back to life and made accessible to all in the revolutionary translation by award-winning translator and teacher Carmen Acevedo Butcher. These sample pages are being released exclusively to course participants before the book’s publication in August of 2022. During the friar’s challenging life and traumatic times he found ways to find hope and experience love — no matter what. Developing the simple yet profound practice of the presence prayer, Brother Lawrence learned a simple way to embody kindness by entering into each present moment and resting there, with the loving Divine friend.
What People Are Saying About Carmen Acevedo Butcher…
“The beauty of [Carmen’s] scholarship is pure alchemy!”
As a teacher of The Cloud of Unknowing, I rely primarily on Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s clear and precise translation. While remaining faithful to the spirit of the original work, Carmen deftly transmutes a “difficult read” into an accessible and relevant contemplative journey for her readers. The beauty of her scholarship is pure alchemy!
— Dr. Jana Rentzel, spiritual director, teacher, counselor, and speaker
“[Carmen’s] work and teaching help readers understand why mystics are still so important to our daily lives and current times.”
The answer to your troubles, big or small. Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s translations are the most accessible while still retaining all the mystique of the contemplative genre. Her Practice of the Presence makes Brother Lawrence and his wisdom come alive, as her Cloud translation does for Anonymous. Her work and teaching help readers understand why mystics are still so important to our daily lives and current times. Many of us wish we could strengthen our relationship with God and have sought numerous, often unfulfilling methods for accomplishing that. However, these texts are tried-and-tested spiritual guidebooks for coming to know God in accessible ways, rendered in the most transparent language that speaks to the generation of the present.
— Dr. Ben McFry, educator
“[Carmen] brings a modernist perspective to mindfulness that welcomes everyone into the humble, knowledgeable, and warm-hearted world of mystics…”
Carmen's captivating translation of Brother Lawrence’s teachings brings about an inclusive approach while lovingly encouraging us to home in on developing ataraxy and compassion for the world around us. She brings a modernist perspective to mindfulness that welcomes everyone into the humble, knowledgeable, and warm-hearted world of mystics and helps us to understand new ways of incorporating presence into our day-to-day affairs.
— Kamilah Newton, journalist and speaker
“I would recommend [Carmen’s] work to any laypeople, clergy, ministers, scholars, and students who are serious about seeking and loving God…”
Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s exhaustive knowledge of Middle English, and her extensive etymological knowledge of Modern English support her ability to write beautiful, easily readable translations — both a pleasure to read, as well as extremely insightful into the contemplative practices. I would recommend her work to any laypeople, clergy, ministers, scholars, and students who are serious about seeking and loving God.”
— Peter Faile, assistant district attorney
Join the Global Community
Find Unshakable Joy With Brother Lawrence, the Friar d’Amour offers some of the most advanced online teachings available, within a thriving global community of learning and practice.
Join fellow students and practitioners to support and inspire each other as you integrate the teachings and practices Carmen Acevedo Butcher, PhD will share in this powerful training.
You’ll be part of an international community that’s on the leading edge of a global movement of people manifesting a world grounded in principles of cooperation, harmony, and reverence for all of life.
Here’s What You’ll Receive
Seven 90-Minute Class Sessions With Carmen Acevedo Butcher, PhD
Experience a unique opportunity to be mentored by and learn from author, teacher, and poet Carmen Acevedo Butcher, an award-winning translator of spiritual texts — from the comfort of your own home. Each class session includes a live streaming video option and guides you to discover specific skills and abilities to create a solid foundation of peace that enables you to return to love — whenever you choose. Course sessions are on Thursdays at 1:00pm Pacific.
Seven Video Recordings of Class Sessions
After each class, the digital video will be available for you to download or stream in a high-quality format. You’ll never have to worry about missing a session, and you can watch anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Seven Audio Recordings of Class Sessions
After each class, the audio will be available for you to download in high-quality MP3 format. You’ll never have to worry about missing a session, and you can listen anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Seven Transcripts of Class Sessions
In addition to the high-quality videos and MP3 audios, you’ll also receive the entire class transcription after each session is completed. You can then review, print, and highlight the most important insights and practices you were given.
Seven 30-Minute Interactive Group Practice Sessions
With live class attendance, there will be a 30-minute optional interactive practice session directly following each class. You’ll be placed in an intimate group with several other participants on the conference call to interact, share, and do additional practices to help you further integrate the weekly lessons. Practice sessions are available for live attendance only and are not recorded for playback. If you’re unable to attend the calls live, the Facebook online community group allows you to connect with each other and find alternative times to interact.
Interactive Exercises and Questions for Each Lesson
Between class sessions, you’ll have the option of completing related exercises, practicing new tools, and answering questions to accelerate your learning and integrate each week’s lesson.
Online Community
Our exclusive Facebook online community is the perfect place to continue your discovery process after each class. Here, you can continue the discussion about your course materials and interact with your fellow students to take your exploration to an even deeper level.
The Unshakable Joy Bonus Collection
- Chanting: A Powerful Way to Inhabit the Present Moment
Video Teaching and Chanting From Carmen Acevedo Butcher - Welcoming Practice: A Present Door to Unspeakable Joy
Audio Teaching and Meditation From Carmen Acevedo Butcher - Excerpts From Practice of the Presence
PDF Preview of the Book Translation by Carmen Acevedo Butcher
An Unprecedented Opportunity to Join the Find Unshakable Joy With Brother Lawrence, the Friar d’Amour Online Training
We feel honored that Carmen Acevedo Butcher has chosen to partner with The Shift Network to offer this exclusive LIVE online training. This is a unique opportunity to interact directly with an author, teacher, poet, and award-winning translator of spiritual texts whose powerful insights and pioneering work are helping us heal and awaken ourselves and our world.
If you’re serious about applying Brother Lawrence’s teachings to find peace and joy in the midst of any situation, then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and our world to take this one-of-a-kind training.
If you’re ready to take the next step in evolving yourself, click the register button below to reserve your space now.
Your Satisfaction Is 100% Guaranteed!
Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed! If you don’t absolutely LOVE Find Unshakable Joy With Brother Lawrence, the Friar d’Amour — or don’t feel that it meets your needs — please submit your refund request form on or before July 21 and we’ll happily issue qualifying customers a refund.
More Praise for Carmen Acevedo Butcher…
“Like the spiritual guides whose teachings she brings to us through inspired works of translation, Carmen is a master teacher.”
Like the spiritual guides whose teachings she brings to us through inspired works of translation, Carmen is a master teacher. As her colleague and partner teacher of many years, I have learned deeply from her practice of receptivity, focus, attention, curiosity, playfulness, and ego release. We suffer so much from a lack of these goods in the world — and I have witnessed, time and time again, how Carmen cultivates abiding faith in our ability to find joy through devotion to presence.
— Dr. Mary Grover, educator and author
“Carmen’s teaching invites us into a rich consideration of our human experience and with the focus on love…”
Over the years I have appreciated learning from Carmen the wisdom of the medieval women mystics. She brings us now into the world of a 17th-century French friar, Brother Lawrence, a down-to-earth mystic. Carmen’s teaching invites us into a rich consideration of our human experience and with the focus on love, all through Brother Lawrence’s living “the presence.” This practice is so timely in this Information Age when we are all bursting at the seams with input. [It] gives us hope and a path for personal peace.
— Phyllis Duhon, compliance audit manager
“Carmen is a delightful and gracious person, and that gracefulness shines through in her books and in her teachings.”
Carmen Acevedo Butcher is a treasure. Her deep understanding of Middle English is reflected in her scholarship as well as in the way she communicates these texts to modern readers. Her translations can be delved into as devotional readings of central works in the contemplative Christian tradition. They can be appreciated by contemplatives of all traditions, as shown by the fact that her translation of The Cloud of Unknowing is published by a Buddhist press. She gives a new accessibility and readability to these ancient masterpieces, making it a truly spiritual experience to read her books. Even the footnotes are worth savoring, as they contain so much to enrich the text. Carmen is a delightful and gracious person, and that gracefulness shines through in her books and in her teachings.
— Darrell Grizzle, author and Licensed Professional Counselor
“[Carmen’s] insights shine light in the dark places and help all of us let that light in even more.”
Carmen’s beautiful, inclusive translations and teachings make contemplative practices accessible and relevant as she brings everyone into the very down-to-earth, ordinary, wise, and loving world of mystics. She helps us learn new ways of seeing, connecting, and integrating presence into our lives to build stronger community and healing. Her insights shine light in the dark places and help all of us let that light in even more. She opens up the mystics and their love and kindness to all.
— Kimmetha Herndon, university library dean
About Carmen Acevedo Butcher, PhD
Carmen Acevedo Butcher, PhD, is an internationally acclaimed speaker, author, educator, poet, and translator of spiritual texts. Her dynamic work around the evolution of language and the necessity of just and inclusive language has garnered interest from various media, including the BBC and NPR’s Morning Edition.
From a young age, she was drawn to Brother Lawrence’s “practicing the presence” prayer, and with degrees in medieval studies and a linguistics background, Carmen brings history to life and makes its wisdom widely accessible and useful for healing, growth, and peace.
She is the award-winning translator of classics such as Practice of the Presence by Brother Lawrence… The Cloud of Unknowing, an anonymous work of Christian mysticism… Hildegard of Bingen: A Spiritual Reader… and A Little Daily Wisdom: Christian Women Mystics.
Her teaching reinvigorates the timeless insights of the humble French friar Brother Lawrence, The Cloud’s engaging contemplative teacher Anonymous, the creative genius Hildegard, and the deeply loving Julian of Norwich, among others.
A Carnegie Foundation Professor of the Year and Fulbright Senior Lecturer, Carmen currently teaches at the University of California, Berkeley in the College Writing Programs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What’s a virtual course?
A: It’s a great way to engage live and pre-recorded teachings and each other from the comfort of your home! All you need is a computer, mobile device, or telephone. If there’s more than one person in your household taking the course, you’ll each need your own connection. We use Zoom video conferencing to make it just like an in-person event, where you can ask questions and deepen your exploration of the course themes.
There’s no additional charge for connecting to Zoom with your computer or mobile device. Please note that dialing Zoom from your telephone is a toll call; your telephone service provider will charge you according to your existing long-distance calling plan. International access numbers are available.
“I’ve never seen a course so well put together ever...”
I had never participated before in an online course. The packaging, presentation, inclusion, and Facebook postings created a wonderful, safe cocoon within which to participate. I’ve never seen a course so well put together ever — not in all the years of taking college classes — and I had my doubts about doing an online course. The wealth of organization and ease of learning materials and support made this fun as well.
— Claudia F., Medford, Massachusetts
Q: Can I get benefit from the course if I miss the live classes?
A: Absolutely! You can download the recordings and transcripts of all course sessions from our online media archive, so you never need to worry about missing live calls. You can also engage the full community and leaders on our private online community group.
Q: Can you tell me about the private online community group?
A: We’ll have a private online community group for all course participants on Facebook that will support you in making connections with others, sharing insights, engaging in discussions, and completing homework assignments that can supplement your transformational journey. You’ll have the ability to share your experiences, projects, and growth throughout the course.
Q: Are there scholarships available for this training?
A: Yes, we always make a certain percentage of spaces available for partial scholarships, for those who otherwise would not be able to enroll at the regular rate. If you’d like to apply for a scholarship, please review our guidelines, which include a link to our online application form.
Q: What’s your refund policy?
A: Your satisfaction with The Shift Network and this course is our highest priority! We offer a satisfaction guarantee so that you can sample the course risk-free. The deadline to receive a full refund is July 21, 2022. To request a refund, please click on this refund request form and submit your request. Qualifying refunds will be processed within five business days and an email confirming the refund will be sent. However, we’d love to have a chance to address and resolve your concerns first. If there’s something we can assist you with, please email us at support@theshiftnetwork.com and we’ll be happy to help! (No refund requests accepted after the above date or with scholarship awards.)
Q: How can I reach Customer Support?
A: Please visit our Customer Support Center, where you should be able to find the answer to your question or the solution to your problem. And if you can’t, you can submit an online request form and we’ll get right back to you.
