Adult Spirituality Group notes, 5/15/11

On Sunday 5/15, we discussed the chapter, "Week 7 - Risen" to conclude the book, Calmly Plotting the Resurrection:

EMPTINESS - Thea W. highlighted that there are many ways to gain insights about God from one's personal experience in creation. "In God's house there are many mansions. Many rooms. There is a place for you who failed to keep alive or to love perfectly your own child." (p. 80)
- Rose B., a school teacher, responded that it's necessary to hold emptiness in one's heart for insights to arise. "Everyday, I lead class in group breathing exercise to center people's attention for study."
- Charles begins stressful encounters with a brief prayer.
- Don added that a person needs to release the sense of failure to persist for success.
- Bob, "We all benefit from finding emptiness, a balanced space to be able to focus and integrate disparate elements that cause stress."
- Day M. spring-cleaned and child-proofed the entire house & yard to prep for my sister's and nieces' arrival to allow them to experience the wonder of discovery untainted by the stress of dangers.

BOOK QUOTE ABOUT STRINGS - "We remain string to short to be saved until God forgives us and then we connect. We become something strong and useful and capable of holding other stuff together. String separated is nothing; string connected is something."(p. 83)
"It's important to not just house-clean our hearts, but to butler (organize & bring harmony) them." (Day M.)
"I think our reactions to others should be nuanced to encompass what they intend. Therefore, we should spend some time to craft our response to be able to be effective, heart-to-heart, not just have a visceral polarizing gut response that can pull people apart." (Francis)

Regarding DAY 4, Pastor Dan mentioned that his ministerial role is to be a keeper of the story, the vessel.
Regarding DAY 5, Rose B. noted that it's really important to have depth of conversations.

Charles passed out our next read, Seeing Gray- in a World of Black and White (Thoughts on Religion, Morality, and Politics).
- For next Sunday, we'll read the Forward, Introduction, and Part 1 - Chapter One. (until page 8).

Adult Spirituality Group notes, 5/8/11

(10 attendees)

5/8/11 Adult Spirituality Group:

(Rose) "Forgive others so you can move on in your life."
(Charles) "Donna E Schaper is talking about individual spirituality."
(Dan) "The best parts of us are willing to suffer personally for vast benefits for others and the common future."
(Day) "It helps me to relate with others in periods of conflict to remember my center is at my heart as a whole, not getting stuck with a viceral polarizing gut reaction."
(Bob) "What we consider evils change over time. They vary from context to context. Perspective of the universe has changed over time."
(Charles) "There is a greater power game going on in the U.S. than the power game going on in rape. Power is reversed, through control over weaker societies. This structure is accepted."
(Francis) "We need to nurture males to enjoy & experience our feminine qualities. Otherwise, males are set up to only express themselves through dominance."

For Sunday 5/15/11, please read chapter 7 through to the end of the book.

The next book we'll read:
Black and White (a series of short essays sent to Tom & Thea Ward, which cover many subjects)

Adult Spirituality Group notes, 5/1/11

We discussed Week 6 - "Rising", pp. 66 - 79.

For Next Week, we'll discuss "Day 6" & "Day 7" of Week 6, pp. 76 - 79.


Members of the group expressed interest in us together reading fiction, possibly over the summer. Check out the description of The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Poisonwood_Bible
- Barbara Kingsolver's books generate a lot of thought and discussion.
- It made Frances so grateful!