Meditation Opportunities

Thursday evenings at First Presbyterian  

We will meet for meditation on all Thursdays in November and December from 7:00 – 9:00 pm in the fellowship hall (expect Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day). Our format for the first hour is two 20-minute periods of sitting in silence with a 10 minute walking meditation in between.  For the second hour, we are doing a contemplative listening book reading.  The book was recommended to us by Ruben Habito and is titled Selfless Love:  Beyond the Boundaries of Self and Others  by Ellen Birx.   Ellen shows how meditation can help us realize that we don’t love — we are love.  She draws from the Zen tradition, her experience as a mental health therapist, and the Gospels.  We will read a short portion of the book together out loud, sit with it in silence, and then share with each other.  You do not need to read the book ahead of time or even buy the book if you don’t want to.  You can just listen.

Tuesday evenings at Hei’s house

Hei has opened his house to those who would like to join him for meditation from 6:00pm – 6:30pm on Tuesdays.  It is one half hour of sitting meditation.    Please call him at 899-4845 for directions and to let him know that you are coming so he can prepare a place for you.                                                               

November Retreat Day 

Saturday, November 22, 2014

8:30 am -1:00 pm

In the Fellowship Hall

The Science of Connectedness

And How it Affects Our Daily Lives

In addition to our time of meditation, our presentation will focus on “The Science of Connectedness and how it affects our daily lives”. In 1989, the Benedictine monk Bede Griffiths published the book “A New Vision of Reality: Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and Christian Faith.” Based on his discussions with physicists and biologists in the1980s, Bede described the universe as a dynamic web of interdependent relationships in which everything is interconnected and in which the whole is present in every part. To Bede, this unifying understanding of reality means that our life in this world has eternal value and leads us toward a practical spirituality that impacts all aspects of our daily lives, including how we treat the earth and one another. In our presentation, we will delve deeper into Bede’s vision of reality and discuss scientific findings from the past 25 years that point toward the interconnectedness of the universe and illustrate that everything we do can be part of our spiritual life.

Coffee, tea and refreshments will be provided.  A freewill offering will be available.

Upcoming Events

Ongoing                                Hei’s Tai Chi class at Oldemeyer

Center (Tu/Thur at 10:30 am)

December 6                          Holy Night Embracing the Darkness

Soul Work Studio Retreat in Saratoga

j-pete@pacbell.net for more info

December 11                        Return Children’s gifts and grocery gift

cards to meditation

December 18                       Cookie Party in fellowship hall after

meditation

In closing,

Humankind has not woven the web of life.

We are but one thread within it.

Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.

All things are bound together.

All things connect.

Chief Seattle, 1854