In Spiritual Friendship, students will explore the theme of friendship in the Gospel of John, Celtic Christianity (anam cara), Anglo-Saxon spirituality, Cicero, St. Augustine, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Merton, and most of all, in the life, work, and teachings of the English Cistercian abbot St. Aelred of Rievaulx, author of the Christian medieval classic On Spiritual Friendship. Students will engage in spiritual practices that deepen and enhance one’s experience of friendship, such as Loving-Kindness (Metta) meditation, activating the “heart sense,” Forest Therapy, and writing Goodwill Prayers. Students who successfully complete the course will gain a robust understanding of friendship within the Christian spiritual tradition that will inform, inspire, and potentially transform their relationships with God, others, themselves, and the planet.
Instructor: The Rev. Daniel London, PhD, serves as the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA. He earned his doctorate in Christian Spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He is a certified Forest Therapy Guide and the author of several books. He has also published articles and presented papers at academic conferences around the world. He serves as the Ecumenical Officer for the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California and lives in the Transfiguration House in Eureka CA with his wife Dr. Ashley London Bacchi and their two Yorkies, Seabury and Gubbio.