LIVING CONTEMPLATIVELY AND PRAYERFULLY
• MARRIED TO AMAZEMENT
Living a Wonderful Life
Life without wonder is not worth living.
– Abraham Heschel
Autumn Leaves by Gregory Braun
Within each and all of us is the innate inclination toward radical amazement. We were created for wonder. It is an integral and revealing part of our spiritual DNA. Yet to be “naturally” predisposed to wonder does not mean that it comes automatically. It needs to be deliberately nurtured and consciously enacted in order for it to come to fruition as awe, gratefulness, praise, communion, and compassion. Wonder is a consciously cultivated way of being in the world, a different way of seeing, and an attentive and engaged way of responding to life.
Come and rediscover that it’s a wonderful life, what it means to be married to amazement, and how to cultivate a spirituality of wonder and awe.
• THE INARTICULATE SPEECH OF THE HEART
A Series on Prayer & Practices
It is better in prayer
to have a heart without words
than words without a heart.
– Mahatma Gandhi
Praying is not saying. Praying is “the inarticulate speech of the heart.” Although we sometimes use words to pray, words are just one expression of prayer. After the momentous civil-rights march to Selma, Rabbi Abraham Heschel, who joined Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the front row, famously said, “I felt my legs were praying.” Praying is a way of being — a way of being oneself, a way of being with others, a way of being in the world and in nature and moving through life, and a way of being with God in whom we live and move and have our being. This way of being doesn’t just happen. It is not an accident but a conscious awareness. It is a deliberate practice – a regular, ongoing intention to be open and responsive to life and the source of life. Join us as we expand our imaginations about what prayer is, practice a variety of ways to pray, and encourage each other to be prayerful people.
Depending on the length of the series, we will sample various practices from this list:
Too Deep for Words (Lectio Divina)
In You We Live and Move and Have Our Being (Walking Meditation)
Praying without Ceasing (The Jesus Prayer)
Be Still and Know That I Am God (Centering Prayer)
Going through the Motions (Embodied Prayer)
In the Chapel of Eggs (Prayer and Daily Living)
The Nature of Prayer & the Prayer of Nature (Prayer and Creation)
Prayer in the Form of a Deed (Prayer as Holy Action)
Note Well – Any of the above can be presented as a One Time Talk or Day Long experience.
• THE POWER OF POETRY IN THE LIFE OF PRAYER
Poetry is eternal graffiti written in the heart of everyone.
~ Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Knowing the power and limits of language, many poets are insightful, able guides and trustworthy soul friends who help us both to touch more deeply into the sorrowful, joyful, and glorious mysteries of life and to give expression to them.This day (or series) will explore the intimate relationship between poetry and prayer. Special attention will be given to ways that both reading and writing poetry can be used to enhance our prayer life.
Come join us as we allow the beauty and power of the words of soul poets to evoke the poem-prayers that are written in our hearts.
Bring a notebook, pen, and if you like, a favorite poem. Bring a friend.
• SINGING FROM THE DEPTHS
The Psalms in the Life of Faith
Out of the depths I cry to you, O God.
~ Ps. 130: 1
Psalm Prayer, Julie Lonneman*
There is much wisdom to be gleaned from the psalms that can inform and enhance our prayer and our lives. We will use Walter Brueggemann’s organization of the psalms into song-prayers of orientation, disorientation, and new orientation as a lens through which we can look to better understand seasons, phases, and transitions in our lives and in the life of faith. With the psalm as a metaphor, we will consider how to recognize and give voice to the song that lies deep within our hearts. This approach will also equip us to hear more clearly the songs of those who are dear to us, the song of the anawim who are especially dear to God, and to the song of creation itself.
Join us. The psalms are best sung, understood, and lived in community.
* Psalm Prayer, Julie Lonneman. Used with permission. https://www.trinitystores.com/store/artist/Julie-Lonneman