A month or so ago, a fellow WAYfinder sent me Barbara Brown Taylor’s Learning to Walk in the Dark. What a gift this book has been to me. Such a gift that I’ve decided, this spring round, to share it with all of you. Each week we’ll gather to discuss a chapter or two, as well as (as always) engage in a spiritual practice and “check in” with one another. Read a beautiful description of the book below and then sign up to join us for conversation and connection this spring. …
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That Is Not Love's Way
| Anne C. Williamson |
We’ve spent the last six weeks exploring prayer and Sabbath. The intention has been to learn and listen for, when it comes to prayer and Sabbath, what makes sense to you – in terms of how you understand these practices – and what works for you – that is, offers you c/Connection, peace, growth, joy.
I did not “set out” this round to spend so much time here; but, it makes sense. If we are wanderers on the way of love but do not practice being still (internally), do not practice making space for rest and reconnection, do not practice listening and being glad and going to g/God – however we understand g/God – by any means, then we will still love, of course; but, my experience has been other active emotions – like resentment, fatigue, shame, anger, cynicism, pride – will join us on the journey and begin to crowd out love.
We've read, watched, listened to many ideas over these weeks; in part, this was to remind us that people understand and approach prayer and Sabbath in many ways. In this remembrance, there may have been ideas you’d like to try again or for the first time; wonderful! Mostly, though, I hoped it would give you permission; permission to practice prayer and Sabbath in whatever ways are most c/Connective and restoring for you; permission to figure it out and then change your mind again and again.
I also hoped…
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An Honest Response to a Human Life
| Anne Williamson |
Mine has been a checkered history with prayer. I imagine most of us would say the same. As my understandings of God changed, the ways I prayed made less and less sense. So I stopped praying those ways; I felt both relief and grief. I found my way to new forms of prayer – some did not call them prayers at all. I stopped caring what they called them.
But, lately, I have wanted to pray in old ways again. I find myself wanting to lament and petition and intercede and thank, as well as what I have learned to do so much better: listen, be silent and still, receptive. I am struggling with this a little (mostly, why these prayers again, when I don’t believe in a Super Being God on the other end) but only a little, for I think I understand why. ...
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DO I STILL SAY "DEAR GOD"?
| ANNE WILLIAMSON |
I had been in seminary a year when I found myself in an hotel room, alone, and feeling incredibly sad. It was the start of vacation, no papers were due, nothing to distract. So, I had to listen, listen to a truth I'd been pushing down for months: my beliefs about God did not make sense to me anymore. There, I'd said it. And the truth kept rolling: maybe they had always not made sense to me. Maybe this is why I went to seminary.
It felt like a kind of death. The God I knew was no more. And, I was sad. Sad and worried: what would become of my faith? A grief, and its process, that I realized then had already begun months earlier, swept over me. I let myself cry.
I also remember, though, experiencing a kind of lightening of the air around me. I think now I'd call it hope. I hoped in that moment there would be another way to imagine God. I chose to continue trusting the spirit-filled reality I knew, even though I now no longer had words to explain it.
In the years that followed, words came. I was introduced to new images, metaphors, ideas, theologies. They made sense to me. I found God again without abandoning myself.
Interestingly, translating these new images into my daily, personal relationship with God was much harder. Intellectually things made sense but my ability to be present with God suffered. I could think and talk about God all day long, but ask me to practice the presence of God, to pray, and nothing. I would sit there like a novice trying desperately to repeat a necessary technique she'd only ever lucked into the first time.
The problem, of course, was my understanding of prayer hadn't yet caught up to my new ideas about God. What was prayer to look like now? How should I begin? Do I still say "Dear God"? Or, "Dear Sacred Spirit, Energy, the One Who is Both Us and Greater Than Us"? Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. How did prayer work now? Does God still intervene? Does prayer work at all?
These are the questions we'll be wondering about together in group this week. Consider adding your voice. If not, read on and LEARN : LISTEN : LOVE.
Read MoreSIGN-UPS ARE OPEN FOR THE FALL 2018 ROUND!
SCHEDULE & DESCRIPTION
The fall round begins the week of September 10th and ends the week of November 5th. It's 8 weeks with a one-week break at the halfway point (groups will not meet the week of October 8th). This round will include a community week in late October.
Why gather in spiritual groups like these? Why gather for spiritual or religious reasons on Sundays or Fridays or whenever? What is the point? Does it do anything for us? For the world? What do we, as humans, need now, at this specific time in history, from these spaces? Can they deliver?
Join WAYfinding this fall as we explore these questions. Each week will begin with a possible answer, falling under one of three “macro” reasons for gathering: We gather because it helps. We gather to h/Hear s/Something deep and true. We gather to b/Be s/Something deep and true. Authors (and, for many, spiritual guides) Sue Monk Kidd, Parker Palmer, Brene Brown and Shawn Achor, among others, will be our teachers.
As always with WAYfinding, you will be encouraged and led to question, challenge, wonder, discuss and dive deep into your own experience. If you’ve ever been simultaneously drawn to and resistant to spiritual or religious gatherings, this will be a great round for you, helping you discover what is true for you and resting easier in it.
Hope to have your voice in the conversation this fall!
GROUPS
Mondays, 7:30 – 9:00p – Mom’s Group (Meridian-Kessler) (Facilitator & Host: Anne)
Tuesdays, 12:00 - 1:45p (Meridian-Kessler) (Facilitators & Hosts: Rotating**)
Wednesdays, 10:30a - 12:00p (Meridian-Kessler) (Facilitators: Carolyn & Rick; Host: Anne) (Childcare available; cost split between parents.)
Wednesdays, 7:00 – 9:00p (Irvington) (Facilitators & Hosts: Rotating**)
Wednesdays, 7:00 - 9:00p (Downtown) (Facilitator: Julie; Host: Stew)
Thursdays, 7:00 - 9:00p (Meridian Hills) (Facilitator & Host: Bob)
** Newcomers are not asked to facilitate or host. Of course, you’re welcome to, if you’d like.
SIGN UP
COST
For those who can afford it, there is a cost with the WAYfinding experience. Each round we ask you make an investment in yourself of $50 - $150. It's a sliding scale; you pay what you can. And, if you can't pay, simply select our Scholarship Fund when signing up - that's all there is to it. Invest online here.
Or, you may become a sustaining member of WAYfinding by making a recurring donation of at least $30 per month. This option is not just an investment in yourself - all rounds are included - but in others. Your recurring donation (or quarterly/yearly, if you prefer) helps us sponsor new and existing participants, "get the word out," invest in public speakers and new programs, etc. You can learn more about our different investment levels here.
INCH BY INCH
Note from Anne: Hello WAYfinding community! I am back to work and looking forward to all that is in store for WAYfinding this fall. Stay tuned for some exciting announcements in the coming weeks, including details about our Fall 2018 Round - which will begin in mid-September.
Many of you have jumped back into "fall" routines or are easing your way into such space. I am too. One truth I became acutely aware of over the past month is life does not stop so I can make new (healthier) habits. While each seasonal beginning brings an opportunity to reflect, edit and add, new ways of being necessarily take shape in the midst of the mess of it all. So, as I encourage myself in this truth, I encourage you too.
What edit, add, shift would help you to live more fully and compassionately this fall? And, how can you help yourself accept that its implementation will be irregular, imperfect because, well, you're a human living a human life?
"Inch by inch... and do it again... one day you'll see... you set yourself free." - India Arie
JOY, WONDER & THE KID IN ALL OF US
| Carolyn Lesmeister |
Young children live for joy and wonder.
It’s what they do.
It’s who they are.
Our role is to provide them with experiences and things that are worthy of their wonder.
Those insights provided the foundation for a recent intensive training on how the Montessori Method can be applied to children’s spiritual formation.*
Throughout the training, I was surprised to find myself moved to tears and having new insights about stories and symbols I thought I already understood. After all, I have two masters’ degrees in theological fields and have been serving as a Lutheran pastor for almost 9 years; the presentations from which I was learning so much were meant for 3-to-6-year-olds! It was truly humbling and awe-inspiring.
One of the key assumptions of the whole approach is that children are hard-wired with a desire to connect with something greater than themselves; in other words, that all children have an innate spiritual longing that seeks fulfillment, just as they have innate drives for other types of learning according to the more traditional Montessori Method.
The role of the adults – whether teachers or parents – in the process is to introduce the child to that greater t/Thing and then allow joy and wonder to take it from there. My favorite metaphor for the process was that it’s like setting up a blind date: you introduce the two parties, but you don’t go on the date!
Because the approach comes out of the Catholic church and thus is Christian, a lot of the details involve introducing the child to key stories from the Bible in such a way that allows them to get “hands on” with it by moving around simple yet gorgeous figurines while the story is read, and then pondering very general questions such as: “I wonder how the sheep felt?” Or, “I wonder who this God might be?”
The goal is not to get the child to come to a particular “right” answer, as is so often the case in more traditional approaches to religious education, but to genuinely spark their sense of curiosity and wonder. The adult is not to affirm nor correct anything the child might say; instead, s/he is to wonder right alongside the child. Then, whatever insights or answers the child might find are truly their own, making the insights both held more deeply but also more flexible and open to the child’s continuing process of growing, questioning, and learning. It’s about exploration, not indoctrination.
I wonder how different many people’s experiences with church might have been had they been invited into such a beautiful process of wondering from the start, and if that wondering had been encouraged as they grew older and their questions became more sophisticated and more challenging. The training was meant to equip people to work with 3-to-6-year-olds, but so much of it could apply to anyone and everyone; I believe that all people have an innate longing to connect with something greater than themselves, regardless of how they might conceive of that t/Thing or what name – if any – they might give i/It.
I wonder how we can continue to cultivate that sense of joy and wonder … in ourselves, with one another, and most especially with the children in our lives?
*The training Carolyn attended is Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.
Carolyn has served as a Lutheran (ELCA) pastor for more than 8 years but is currently transitioning out of that role and into some new ones. She has an MDiv from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and an MA in Ethics and Social Theory from the Graduate Theological Union, both in Berkeley, CA; right now she loves learning about joy and wonder (and mindfulness) from her almost 2-year-old son, Xavier.
An Honest Response to a Human Life
| Anne Williamson |
Mine has been a checkered history with prayer. I imagine most of us would say the same. As my understandings of God changed, the ways I prayed made less and less sense. So I stopped praying those ways; I felt both relief and grief. I found my way to new forms of prayer – some did not call them prayers at all. I stopped caring what they called them.
But, lately, I have wanted to pray in old ways again. I find myself wanting to lament and petition and intercede and thank, as well as what I have learned to do so much better: listen, be silent and still, receptive. I am struggling with this a little (mostly, why these prayers again, when I don’t believe in a Super Being God on the other end) but only a little, for I think I understand why. ...
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INVITATION: RISKY & WORTH IT
| Anne Williamson |
Invitation is tough. It involves risk, courage, vulnerability… Will they like my idea? Will he say, “Yes”? Does she value my friendship like I value hers? Will she show up? Gladly? Lovingly? Will I sound like an idiot? Will they care as much as I do? No, but will he show up anyway?
Sometimes, for fear of what we may hear, we're not even sure we want these questions answered. Past experiences, current insecurities, ignorance, all make us wary of extending that invitation, of extending ourselves. It’s far easier and much safer simply not to ask.
For all we risk in invitation, though, the alternative is actually far riskier....
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CURIOSITY - THE WAY OF THE WISE
| Anne Williamson |
Have you heard of Jimmy Fallon's "Do Not Read" list? In this "bit," he humorously draws our attention to books we seemingly would not want to read because they're obviously too boring or off-putting. The problem is I've wanted to read a few - not "The Complete Book of Exercise Walking" or "The Joy of Uncircumcising," but admittedly, I was somewhat curious about "The Natural History of Vacant Lots." I don't know, maybe it's the dormant urban planner in me or environmentalist. It doesn't really matter; the point is, it's a problem. It's why I have 6 partially read books and another handful of magazines on my nightstand at all times. My curiosity runneth over!
Curiosity may not lead to magazine-ready bedsides, but in my opinion, it does lead to the best kind of life....
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FINDING ACCEPTANCE FROM WITHIN
| Sabrena Suggs |
I once would have loved to convince you through this article that I am a phenomenal writer. I honestly would have hoped to write such an intriguing and thought-provoking article that you would share it on your social media or bring it up at dinner with family or friends. It sounds vain, but it’s the truth. I have often hoped that my words or actions would be seen as impressive by people in order to secure my esteem with their admiration, acceptance, or approval. Although many are likely to identify with these same desires at times, my journey has shown me first hand how this growing obsession of our culture has made us unhealthy. My obsession at times caused me quite a bit of mental and emotional instability – so much so that my instability began to take on the form of anxiety and depression.
Acknowledging this fact was quite a challenge....
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EXPLORING YOUR NARCISSISM AS A TOOL FOR HEALING
| Chad Brown |
Now I know what you might be thinking, “Did he just call me a narcissist?” The answer is no… and maybe. I want to state from the beginning that this post is in no way making light of someone’s otherwise serious condition or diagnosis. The purpose of this post is to review some interesting points about this subject in the interest of becoming more aware of our internal and external experience, and looking more deeply at a subject that we seem to recognize more in others than ourselves.
I have been on a general spiritual journey for about 23 years; however, for the last four years, I have been on a more specific journey focused on what many of us refer to as “healing,” and what I have more recently come to call “integrating.” (More on that integration part later.) I have explored, studied and participated in a multitude of healing modalities and stress relieving techniques, all of which have taught me more about myself and helped me understand why I have been in such confusing pain and, sometimes, so painfully confused.
Recently, I came across an article on the many different types of narcissism. I was intrigued by this; I didn’t know there were several kinds. As I read more articles, educating myself on the potential signs of this condition, a question crept up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder, “Are you a narcissist?”...
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SPIRITUALITY & THE TWELVE STEPS
An atheist Twelve Steps participant recently wrote that the Twelve Steps do not require him to believe in God, but rather, to stop playing God. This statement expresses beautifully what sits at the foundation of any true spiritual journey: humility. The Twelve Steps offers this truth – which is a process – perhaps better than any other tradition.
In America we love to play Master, riding the two delusions of our own absolute rightness and own absolute control. Deep down we know the truth – we ache inside its walls – but our ego, oh our ego – as poet W.H. Auden put it, our ego would rather us “be ruined than changed.”
The spiritual journey begins and continues with humbly facing the truth of your own life. It is being honest about what is, accepting it as part of your story and then including it as you transcend it. This is the process – not the destination – of enlightenment, salvation, recovery, liberation, whatever-you-want-to-call-it. True freedom is knowing “all is well” not because God is in control but because we have access to a Consciousness – some call it God – that allows us to be strangely at peace with not being in control.
And then, despite this knowing, to get to work anyway. Because, it is not just our own journey that will continue (or not) with whether we humbly face the truth, but our American journey as well. The Twelve Steps knows this; the whole process is done in community, and eventually, for community.
This is the spiritual path of the twelve steps. Join us over the next eight weeks as we raise our consciousness. To do so is for our own wholeness and peace as well as the communities in which we live.
Week of...
April 3 - The Four Assumptions
April 10 - Power(lessness) (Steps 1 & 2)
April 17 - What Does "Surrender" Mean? (Step 3)
April 24 - 360 Degrees of Honesty (Steps 4 & 5)
May 1 - Letting Go & Opening Up (Steps 6 & 7)
May 8 - Transcend & Include (Steps 8 & 9)
May 15 - Consciousness (Steps 10 & 11)
May 22 - A Love That Is Greater Than I (Step 12)
Click for group meeting times and locations, cost, and to sign up.
WHY I'M EXCITED ABOUT THE TWELVE STEPS
| Anne Williamson |
Though I've yet to write the official description for the coming spring round, I want to share with you why I'm excited about our topic of Spirituality and the Twelve Steps, and why I think it is the right topic now….
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THIS IS WHAT THIS ELECTION WAS ABOUT
| Anne Williamson |
This has been a tough year. And, the past two and a half weeks have ached in a way I perhaps haven’t yet experienced. It’s not just that as a woman I feel rejected and widely unseen. Or, that as a sister, friend and ally, I cry for the pain and fear my Muslim, immigrant, people of color, and LGBTQ human family is experiencing. Or, the worry I feel for Mother Earth. And, it’s not even just that I am afraid. I was afraid after 09.11. It’s that I’m starting to doubt whether this grand melting pot experiment called America is going to work. Our nation feels divided and to quote Lincoln, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
So, I’ve been asking, “What do I do now? What do we do now?” And, honestly, I’m still sorting this out. I’m not entirely sure. But, two things are bubbling to the surface....
FACING THE SHADOW SIDE
| Kim Parker |
When I first began learning about the Enneagram and its nine personality types, I hadn’t yet taken any sort of test or assessment. I learned about all nine types within a two-day workshop. So, on my own, with all the new knowledge I had gathered, I identified my type – or so I thought.
I was fairly confident I was a type 3; but, when I took the test, the results indicated I was a type 9. My immediate thought was, “What?! I am not a sloth!”...
THE ENNEAGRAM: THE WAYFINDING WAY
| Anne Williamson |
Questions are central to the WAYfinding experience. Through the use of diverse resources, we release ideas and curiosities into the community so each of us can strengthen our i/Intuition or w/Wisdom or whatever-w/Word-works-for-you muscles. Then, we encourage each other to live out what we h/Hear. This is our way of being.
So, it's a little odd to be embarking on a topic for an entire round that requires so much instruction. The Enneagram to a certain extent must be taught. We're discovering, though, we can still inject the WAYfinding way. Here are two examples as to how....
ON BEING WRONG
WAYfinding and Speak Your Story present... On Being Wrong
Ira Glass, host of NPR’s “This American Life,” told “Wrongologist” Kathryn Schulz that “as a staff, we joke that every single episode of our show has the same crypto-theme: I thought this one thing was going to happen and something else happened instead.” This is the crypto-theme of every good story because this is the truth of life. So, why do we resist it!?
Join us as we hear from three individuals whose stories were broken open and made infinitely more interesting by being wrong. They'll share, we'll ask questions, consider our own stories, and all walk away a bit braver when it comes to being wrong.
Doors open @ 6:30p. Event begins at 7:00p. Beer, wine and non-alcoholic refreshments provided, as well as a few nibblies.
Sugguested donation: $10 per person
LET US KNOW YOU'RE COMING ON FACEBOOK OR EMAIL
Our Storytellers:
Jonathan Cracraft
Jon has often felt caught searching for compromises between opposing forces and identities: mainstream vs counter-culture; materialism vs anti-materialism; commerciality vs spirituality; establishment vs revolution. After dropping out of graduate school, he wandered, lived on communes - eventually becoming a teacher at an alternative school. Upon moving back to Indianapolis, he was unexpectedly offered a management position by the regional agency for MassMutual, where he eventually became the director of financial planning. He is currently the director of client services for a local wealth management firm, C.H. Douglas & Gray. He lives with his wife and young daughter. He is well qualified to speak about being wrong.
Sandra Gutridge Harris
Sandra has been a storyteller since 1976. She has told in festivals around the country and in venues as varied as the Indiana Women's Prison and the White House Easter Egg Roll. She and her husband were active in civil rights in Birmingham, Ala. during the 60's, and were "encouraged" to leave that city by the KKK in 1963. She counts this as her proudest achievement.
Rev. Rae Karim
A 2014 graduate of Christian Theological Seminary, Rae is a poet, entrepreneur, vocalist with the multicultural worship group Limitless, daughter, sister, friend, and aunt to the best nieces a girl could ask for! Recognizing the gift of words she has been given, Rae enjoys expressing that gift through aspects such as preaching, poetry, and worship through the arts.
YOUR WHOLE LIFE IS SPEAKING
| Anne Williamson |
Recently, for an article coming out in October on WAYfinding, I was asked this question, "What's your ultimate goal?" My response:
For me, one of the most interesting and important questions in life is: To what do you live faithfully? Because, we all live faithfully to something. As theologian Paul Tillich would say, “We all have an Ultimate Concern.” You would think this would be a question we’d be encouraged to explore in school, at work, at home – since it impacts everything we do – but it’s generally not. Often, our Ultimate Concern develops and resides in our subconscious alone. For me, this is no good. Our Ultimate Concern, that to which we live faithfully, needs to be drawn out and evaluated: Is it what you thought? Is it worthy of your whole life?
On a deep level, this is the point of WAYfinding: to help people discover an Ultimate Concern worthy of their whole life. And then, to help them learn to live faithfully to that Concern everyday, to learn to listen to it. This, to me, is faith, and it requires a kind of bravery and permission beyond the mandatory checking of certain belief boxes.
This, then, is why, in WAYfinding, our lens, our shared commitment, is not a statement of beliefs but a process. ...
Read MoreHAVE I REALLY STOPPED TO LISTEN? - TAKE 2 (OR 1,002)
| Anne Williamson |
A couple weeks ago, I was re-reading old blog posts for a sermon I'm writing when I came across this one...
October 7, 2014
On Sunday, WAYfinding folks and friends got together for a sensory nature walk through a local park. The kids involved received a scavenger hunt list - things to touch, hear, see and smell. One of these items was to hear a bird. As my daughter and I took off, we felt rough and smooth bark, saw light streaming through the trees, heard friends laughing, but no birds. I remember thinking to myself, "Well, this is too bad. It must be too cold for the birds this morning. None of the kids are going to be able to complete their list."
We went on like this for maybe 25 minutes when a question appeared in my mind's eye, "Have you really stopped to listen?" I had not. So, I scooped my daughter up, used the universal sign for "shhh," and asked her to close her eyes with mommy. ...
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