OVERVIEW
Howard Thurman reminds us, ”How good it is to center down!” – reflecting on the hunger deep in our spirits for the “still moment and the resting lull,” the space where balance can emerge. But in these unprecedented times, the tasks pile on – the care for home, work, and others – while at the same time, we don’t have access to the relationships and resources that ground us. The possibility for respite and retreat seems so far away. Indeed, we cannot go out, but perhaps we can follow Thurman’s lead and go in, deepening our interior lives and finding the presence of the life-giving Spirit right where we are, finding the sacred in the ordinary.
If this speaks to your experience, join us for our Community and Conversations series! Spend six monthly evenings with wise women who have found ways to anchor and sustain themselves spiritually in the midst of these times. Think of each session as a “micro-retreat,” a time set apart, including conversation, practices, community, and an experience of the gifts each of these women will bring. Registrants will be provided with materials to help connect the series together and will be encouraged to form cohorts of friends to experience the sessions with each other.
Schedule
All sessions will be held from 7:30-9:00 p.m. ET on the specified dates.
Oct. 22, 2020
The Sacred Rhythm and Dance of Life with Joan Prentice
“Foli” is a word used by Malinke tribes for rhythm. It means much more than drumming, dancing, or sound. Rhythm is found in every part of daily life. We want to pay attention to the rhythm of our lives. What is the space and the pattern of our lives that regulate our living, especially in this moment of pandemic, chaos, uncertainty, and pain? Yet, there is a sacred rhythm and dance into which we are invited by the triune God of Grace to experience the syncopated and dissonant, the regular and harmonious events of our lives.
Nov. 19, 2020
Spirituality of the Ordinary with Carrie Newcomer
The world is made of water and dust, ordinary physical things, but all of them are filled with miracle, Light and considerable magic. Viewing the world with this frame, small things take on a luminous quality and daily actions become a sacrament. There is no need to wait for a miracle as proof – the miracle we need is already here. Carrie will weave her music into her presentation to further illustrate how we may discover the extraordinary within the ordinary.
Jan. 21, 2020
Rooted: A Spirituality of Place with Barbara Brown Taylor
Making contact with humus (whether it is country acreage or a pot garden on a windowsill) is balm for harried souls—a way of tapping into the dust from which we came and to which we shall go. There is mortality in this notion, but that is also—literally—grounding.
Feb. 18, 2021
with Mihee Kim-Kort
March 18, 2021
Recognize Everyone is a Holy Child of God with Lerita Coleman Brown
Are you aware of your spiritual self? Howard Thurman (1899-1981), African American mystic, theologian, educator, and sacred activist was taught from an early age that he was a holy child of God. Cultivating a spiritual self served to inoculate him against the oppressive and racist atmosphere of the early 1900s and beyond. Howard Thurman observed and wrote about, among many spiritual issues, the connections among living from a spiritual self anchored in God, and high self-esteem, achievement, and self-actualization.
April 15, 2021
Making Space: Reclaiming Our Bodies, Our Lives, and Our Identities with Chanequa Walker-Barnes
The awakening usually begins when we realize that we have, perhaps again, given too much of ourselves away; when we realize that we have yielded our bodies, our lives, and our identities to other people’s agendas. Reclaiming ourselves is often a lifelong process. And it almost always requires learning how to make space for ourselves.
QUESTIONS
Call Continuing Education at 412-924-1345 or e-mail [email protected].