Spirituality Book Group Saturday March 16, 10am – The Universe Has Your Back

The meeting has been moved to March 16th.

All who are interested are welcome to come on Saturday,  March 16 at 10am when the Spirituality Book Group is meeting to discuss The Universe Has Your Back: Transform Fear to Faith by Gabrielle Bernstein.

“Through acceptance, surrender, and a commitment to her continually evolving spiritual path, New York Times best-selling author and international speaker Gabrielle Bernstein has been transforming her fear into faith. Her stories and universal lessons provide a framework for releasing the blocks to what everyone most longs for: happiness, security, and clear direction. These lessons can help us relinquish the need to control in order to relax into a sense of certainty and freedom–to stop chasing life and truly live.
Ride the swell of your energy and true power to find strength when you are down, synchronicity and support when you are lost, safety in the face of uncertainty, and joy in what might otherwise be pain. Bernstein has secrets to reveal, and she is determined to unleash the presence of your power with the comforting knowledge that the Universe has your back.”

We hope to see you March 16, at 10am.

For more information, or direction to Linda’s, contact Tom Yelton or Leslie Lowe.

Sunday 1/20/18 – This Morning’s Worship Service and Meetings at First Parish HAVE BEEN CANCELED, due to the Snowstorm

2/17 Bohm Dialogue — Death, Loss and Transition

For January our topic will be Death, Loss and Transition.

In 2015 we dialogued twice on the topic of death, first with Being Mortal, which turned into a practical, medical, end-of-life information session, and with the second (Death) we got back to our more intellectual/philosophical/spiritual charter.

All transition and loss is stressful and for most of us Death seems like the ultimate transition – we may dread it or welcome it, but why? For materialists it is simply the end of consciousness and thus suffering, and that thought can be a great comfort to the living. For others it is simply a gateway we must pass through to who-knows-what. The continuance of consciousness may be consoling but the prospect of the unknown and possible further suffering — maybe not so much.

Join us to listen to what others think and to share what you think.  The Religious Exploration Salon is a group that meets 3rd Sundays to discuss various topics in the format called Bohm Dialogue which emphasizes respectful listening and balanced, synergistic sharing. For more details about how Dialogue works, please see this intro.

Everyone is welcome. You are welcome to think about the topic beforehand but no preparation is required or expected — come as you are with whatever thoughts/intuitions you have, ready to listen, learn and contribute.  We next meet Sunday Feb 17 at 7pm in the Brackett Room.

Contact Paul Reising, Tom Yelton or Jan Hardenbergh for more information.

Spirituality Book Group Saturday Jan. 19, 10am – Blavatsky!

All who are interested are welcome to come on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 10am the Spirituality Book Group is meeting to discuss “Madame Blavatsky : the mother of modern spirituality” by Gary Lachman.

“A thoughtful biography of one of the most polarizing pioneers of alternative spirituality, the occult-mystic Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.

Pioneer. Visionary. Provocateur. Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky—mystic, occult writer, child of Russian aristocrats, spiritual seeker who traveled five continents, and founder (with Henry Steel Olcott) of the Theosophical Society—is still being hailed as an icon and scorned as a fraud more than 120 years after her death. But despite perennial interest in her life, writings, and philosophy, no single biography has examined the controversy and legacy of this influential thinker who helped define modern alternative spirituality—until now.

Gary Lachman, the acclaimed spiritual biographer behind volumes such as Rudolf Steiner and Jung the Mystic, brings us an in-depth look at Blavatsky, objectively exploring her unique and singular contributions toward introducing Eastern and esoteric spiritual ideas to the West during the nineteenth century, as well as the controversies that continue to color the discussions of her life and work.”

Interestingly, Lachman was an original member of the rock band Blondie.

We hope to see you Jan. 19, in the Brackett room at 10am.

For more information, contact Tom Yelton or Leslie Lowe.

Yule – Winter Solstice Ritual and Feast – Sat. 12/22, 6:00pm

Please join us for the Earth Center traditions group’s annual Winter Solstice Ritual.  We will celebrate the Shortest Day of the year on Sat, Dec 22 at 6:00pm.  We turn the wheel of the year and bring back the sun, a chance to leave things in the old year and gather others for the new.  The ritual will be followed by a pot luck feast and carols in the Parish Hall.

The ceremony is appropriate for those approximately 12 years and up – use your own judgment. Childcare is available if requested by Thursday before the event (12/20). The children are welcome to join the adults for the feast.

If you are interested in helping in any way ( reading, singing, drumming, setting up, clean up), see Tom Yelton.