Spirituality Study Group notes

One thread of thoughts reflecting upon current events stood out from today's group discussion:
(Harry) - Radical narcissism is the root of evil, when you make yourself the center - God, e.g., the America First Trump policy of separating refugee immigrant parents from their children.
(Rose) - There was strong and compelling research that we come factory equipped for cooperation, compassion, and generosity." (p. 57)
(Judy) - We're also wired to survive, beyond compassion.
(Day) - It's good to take short breaks during the day to hold wonder, to ask "Where is God?"  and 'What is the whole?"  Strategic use of empathy and compassion can help us to get out of our crafty private strategic perceptual boxes looking at parts.
(Harry) - Other questions to contemplate are, "What is our strategy leading to?  Why does all I'm doing matter?"

For next week, please read chapter, "You Are a Masterpiece in the Making" (p. 78-92).

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Spirituality Study Group notes

I was the first to arrive at 8:43am for our Sunday meeting!  Ten total participants gradually coalesced.  We discussed further into The Book of Joy:

SUFFERING AND PAIN!

Judy reflected about how to see God's will in the universal problem of life suffering and pain, e.g., if one had a 45 year old brother acquiring Parkinson's Disease, or the difficulty of adjusting from being an intellectual snob to take care of a mentally retarded child.  

Shock red Carolyn decided that it'll take a long time to understand The Book of Joy's message. She didn't buy into the idea of Nelson Mandela's 27 years long suffering in jail having spiritual value for him to become South Africa's first black president.  Rather, his tribulations were not necessary to learn and grow in God.

Day vividly agreed!  An existential atheist (like Jean Paul Sartre) would problem solve more convergently towards a solution for suffering, unlike trans-rational Christians.  (Please see the article -> How Christians approach the problem of evil)  

KIND AND GENEROUS!

Rose questioned, how do we make those small choices to be kind and generous?  

Carla noted that the Dalai Lama winced when being kissed by Desmond Tutu on both cheeks.  Raised in the Tibetan monk tradition, he wasn't used to being touched.  Rather, physical touch is natural in relating with another human.  Joy comes from our interconnectedness and relationships, opposite of narcissistic self-care.  Right now, we have so many individualistic media channels that cater to one's own vantage that the skill of relating to another is being lost.

 

  For Next Week:  Read up through page 78.

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Spirituality Study Group notes

10 Sunday morning members started discussing a new book, entitled

The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World (URLs are underlined.) by Dalai Lama XIV & Desmond Tutu

On the cover is written,

"Two great spiritual masters share their own hard-won wisdom about living with joy even in the face of adversity.

The occasion was a big birthday. And it inspired two close friends to get together in Dharamsala for a talk about something very important to them. The friends were His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The subject was joy. Both winners of the Nobel Prize, both great spiritual masters and moral leaders of our time, they are also known for being among the most infectiously happy people on the planet.

From the beginning the book was envisioned as a three-layer birthday cake: their own stories and teachings about joy, the most recent findings in the science of deep happiness, and the daily practices that anchor their own emotional and spiritual lives. Both the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu have been tested by great personal and national adversity, and here they share their personal stories of struggle and renewal. Now that they are both in their eighties, they especially want to spread the core message that to have joy yourself, you must bring joy to others.

Most of all, during that landmark week in Dharamsala, they demonstrated by their own exuberance, compassion, and humor how joy can be transformed from a fleeting emotion into an enduring way of life."

Both Nobel Peace Prize winners have extraordinarily rich and complex personal histories. The complexity seemed untangled though.  These 'holy' leaders exuded simple honesty.

Highlights of our discussion:  
Kay saw the Dalai Lama at Safeco Field, in Seattle.  We all welcomed Carla who downloads the Father God universe through contemplation.  Joan noted that little children are just being in life, which can be relearned through contemplation.  Harry mentioned the importance of compassion in the Buddhist 8-fold path. Christian theologian Reinhold Neibuhr wrote that sorrow and joy comes from the same source.  Rose added that when we realize others suffering, our pain is lessened.

For next week, please read to page 64, "Lunch"!
  

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Spirituality Study Group notes

Though I'm not reading the 8:45am Sunday Spirituality Study Group's current book, I appreciate to occasionally drop in to check out the valuable exchange.  (YOU'RE WELCOME TO ALSO DROP IN.)  We're now discussing a book entitled Grateful Living (see URL at https://www.amazon.com/Grateful-Living-Dale-Turner/dp/0965374483 ).  More than 60 of the most enlightened and beloved articles by the late Rev. Dr. Dale Turner, Seattle Times columnist and Congregational minister.  Essays on love, gratitude, tolerance, acceptance, and more.

My two favorite quotes about coping-->

"God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try."  (Mother Teresa, recently anointed a saint by Pope Francis)

"Grief is our deepest most difficult emotion.  Integrate loss into your life."  (Sharon Wilbourn, Broadview UCC member)

Adult Spirituality Group notes

For our first Sunday morning gathering to open and discover our new book, some of the five participants had read the Introduction and Chapter 1, entitled "From Atheism to Belief".  We thought through concepts of atheistic, agnostic, and belief/faith in a higher power/God.   (Please check out a related online article book review of "Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto".)

The author synopsized his entry into faith:

"I had started this journey of intellectual exploration to confirm my atheism.  That now lay in ruins as the argument from the Moral Law "the law of right behavior" (and many other issues) forced me to admit the plausibility of the God hypothesis.  Agnosticism, which had seemed like a safe second-place haven, now loomed like the great cop-out it often is.  Faith now seemed more rational than disbelief."  

"It also became clear to me that science, despite its unquestioned powers in unraveling the mysteries of the natural world, would get me no further in resolving the question of God.  If God exists, than He must be outside the natural world, and therefore the tools of science are not the right ones to learn about Him.  Instead, as I was beginning to understand from looking into my own heart, the evidence of God's existence would have to come from other directions, and the ultimate decision would be based on faith, not proof.  Still beset by rolling uncertainties of what path I had started down, I had to admit that I had reached the threshold of accepting the possibility of a spiritual worldview, including the existence of God."

For next week:  Please read Chapter 2 (pp. 33-54) to discuss.

Adult Spirituality Group notes

It's a perfect time to join us next week!  We'll begin discussion of our new book, entitled The Language of God - A Scientist Presents Evidence For Belief (URL), by Francis S. Collins.

On the book is written the following:

     "Collins's argument that science and faith are compatible deserves a wide hearing.  It lets non-church goers consider spiritual questions without feeling awkward."  - The New York Times Book Review
     "The Language of God is a powerful confession of belief from one of the world's leading scientists.  Refuting the tired stereotypes of hostility between science and religion, Francis Collins challenges his readers to find a unity of knowledge that encompasses both faith and reason."  --Kenneth Miller, Brwon University, author of Finding Darwin's God
     "What an elegantly written book.  In it Francis Collins, the eminent scientist, tells why he is also a devout believer....A real godsend for those with questioning minds but who are also attracted to things spiritual."  --Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Dr. Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world's leading scientists.  He works at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life.  Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God and scripture.

Dr. Collins believes that faith in God and faith in science can coexist within a person and be harmonious.  In The Language of God, he makes his case for God and for science.  He has heard every argument against faith from scientists, and he can refute them.  He has also heard the needless rejection of scientific truths by some people of faith, and he can counter that, too.  He explains his own journey from atheism to faith, and then takes readers for a stunning tour of modern science to show that physics, chemistry, and biology can all fit together with belief in God and the Bible.  The Language of God is essential reading for anyone who wonders about the deepest questions of faith:  Why are we here?  How did we get here?  What does life mean?

Adult Spirituality Group notes

At the start of each meeting, we all ask around, "Where and how did you see God in your life this week?"  For instance, we reconnect with wisdom and perspective via (73 year old) Joan Baez' songs about God, overnight at 3am when all our cells are open, and Sunday morning bright sunrises.

For this week, we read Chapter 7, "The Practice of Living with Purpose -- Vocation" (An Altar in the World , by Barbara Brown Taylor.)

The author summarizes that no matter what we're doing, it's up to us to decide what that purpose is.  "The point is to find something that feeds your sense of purpose, and to be willing to look low for that purpose as well as high.  It may be chopping wood and it may be running a corporation.  Whatever it is, perhaps you will hold open the possibility that doing it is one way to learn what it means to become more fully human, as you press beyond being good to being good for something, in a world with the perfect job for someone like you." 

Day discussed the idea of karma yoga, which is the notion of approaching work as a spiritual practice.  The author writes, "Work connects us to other people....  Every human interaction offers you the chance to make things better or to make things worse.  To decide to make things better can cost you bundles of self-interest."  (p. 114)
--Pete added that all work must involve personal investment (ego) and have tolerable conditions.

Rose became enthusiastic to find out more about having a church social game night, perhaps at the Chili Cook-off next Saturday, or near the Winter Solstice at 6:30 PM, 12/20/14.

Looking forward to next week, please read Chapter 8, "The Practice of Saying No -- Sabbath" (p. 121).  Thank you.