A conversation with Terry Doyle
Terry Doyle is an Oblate of the World Community living in Middlesbrough in the economically deprived North-East of the UK. For many years he has worked with those in the greatest need and worst neglect on the margins of society. In this contribution to A Contemplative Path he speaks with passion, humour and hope of the crisis we are passing through. He is the person who welcomes in those who are used to having the door slammed in their face.
His daily meditation is inseparable from his work with poverty, hunger, and homelessness and sustains his practical compassion for asylum seekers, refugees, prisoners and addicts.
He speaks of the present crisis as a dark night we are passing through and sees it as a purging of the long-repressed shadows of our modern way of life from which we will, we must hope, emerge cleansed. Seeing how ‘we are all on the margins’ has also led him to see the importance of helping those in most need, not only at the material level but in re-affirming their personal sense of dignity.
In all this, meditation is central and foundational to his Christian faith and meaning and his openness to all traditions. ‘Meditation,’ he said with a laugh,’ is the most empowering thing for everyone’. Not only does it build his resilience. It is also the gift he communicates to those on the margins of society among whom the centre of true reality shines more visibly than in the corridors of power and the centres of control .
Watch all Terry’s conversations with Fr Laurence below.
