Spiritual Reflections - gather on Oct 28

On good authority, we hear that we SHALL meet this friday!

How exciting! It will marvelous to see all our friends again!

There are but two assignments in preparation for Friday (Oct 28):

1. Prepare to be an active participant.
2. Look forward to an exciting meeting

Are you Willing to Be Disturbed

Earlier in 2011 we reviewed the article by Margaret J. Wheatlry entitled "Willing to Be Disturbed" from Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future (Berrett-Koshler, 2002).

The essential question was: Are you able to experience the full impact of the opinions of others, and hear their concerns, even if you are inclined to prejudice and presupposition (which we all are)? Can you abandon certainty to grow and work together with others to obtain changes and cooperation in a future that you do not design, alone? But we felt the main question for us, in general was: Can you really listen?

The opportunity to be the one who listens comes and goes many times a day for some.

Listening moves us closer. Listening presents the opportunity to incorporate knowledge that we may have failed to realize that we do not yet have. Listening can allow us to keep abrest of a world that's rapidly changing, and have understanding, lest we be taking by surprise, when great changes come.

We generally disagreed with there being an advantage to letting go of concrete knowledge, and confidence in that knowledge. We also collectively agreed that it is dangerous to treat our spiritual knowledge as though it us currency to be traded for any value, including social harmony.

Everyone looked at this question and was compelled to look deeper and ask "Will I pay attention even when the knowledge is troubling, and my precepts are shaken?"

With some limits, we do need one another. I think this article found some 70-80% agreement in the group. Thank you, Charlene, for facilitating this session.

Reflection on a Series on "Tyranny of the Urgent" by Charles E. Hummel.

I was moved by the article and the exercises that were facilitated by Mark. The areas covered included issues such as time, balance, choices, and yes, rest and relaxation. One quote that still resonates is "your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important." So where are you placing your priorities? This series enabled me to make a personal assessement and commitment to focused attention on that which is truly important.

For Friday, August 12th - Spiritual Reflections

Hello all:

For our upcoming Friday meeting, an article is provided that I am confident will generate a thought-provoking discussion. The article is about Gratitude. Follow this link to access the article and we look forward to personal reflections and yes, questions.

Gratitude

See you there!

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You have 2 assignments in preparation for Friday:

1. Please respond by Thursday, 8/11 if you will NOT be in attendance so that we can plan accordingly.
2. Review the article and prepare to be an active participant.

Looking forward to an exciting meeting

C&R:M

Taking Spiritual Reflections with you

Since 2009, we've anticipated some wonderful times of sharing, learning, refreshing and support on Friday evenings. Spiritual Reflections got started with a desire to be in touch with, and share thoughts with people for whom "regular church" wasn't really making an impact, or filling needs in the way it might be supposed to.

Richard and Charlene made sure we all had copies of A Purpose Drive Life, and every session would launch from the concepts presented by Rick Warren. We certainly didnt agree in all is comments, and we didn't always agree with each other, but a great blend of insight, evaluation, testimony, and exploration developed. We learned and are still learning to pray for one another, and to share some heartfelt needs with friends.

We have had discussions of bible prophecy, world politics, church's and ministry, time management, family relationships, and are looking forward to opening a number of good "ingredients" to start the pleasant mix that comes from our Spiritual Reflections.

We are believers, semi-believers, wanna-believe-more-ers, who have a passion to examine what spiritual things make us tick, and to talk about what spiritual things may be drawing us to a greater and more meaningful life - while dealing with some common issues, together.

Now, with this blog, we are inviting members and maybe virtual visitors to let these reflections linger and extend into the thoughtful times of your week.. Look here for program material, and discussion. Hope to see you around!