Spirituality Book Group Saturday May 25, 10am – Why Buddhism is True

All who are interested are welcome to come on Saturday, May 25 at 10am when the Spirituality Book Group is meeting to discuss Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by Robert Wright.

… Wright leads readers on a journey through psychology, philosophy, and a great many silent retreats to show how and why meditation can serve as the foundation for a spiritual life in a secular age. At once excitingly ambitious and wittily accessible, this is the first book to combine evolutionary psychology with cutting-edge neuroscience to defend the radical claims at the heart of Buddhist philosophy. With bracing honesty and fierce wisdom, it will persuade you not just that Buddhism is true—which is to say, a way out of our delusion—but that it can ultimately save us from ourselves, as individuals and as a species.

We hope to see you Saturday May 25, at 10am, in the Brackett room.

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

To see some of our past readings click here.

Coming Up In Religious Exploration May 2019!

Religious Exploration In May – This month is all about empowering our children! What does it take to make kids feel secure enough in themselves to tackle the world we live in? It starts with knowing themselves; this month we are going to take a look at children who are changing the world, get a firm grasp on who we are as individuals and a group, and figure out what things are important to us as a young community of First Parish. This month’s work will begin to set the stage for our upcoming 2019-2020 year!

5/19 Bohm Dialogue — Socialism

For May our topic is Socialism. 

Many people consider the things government does for them to be social progress but they regard the things government does for others as socialism. — Earl Warren

Socialism proposes no adequate substitute for the motive of enlightened selfishness that today is at the basis of all human labor and effort, enterprise and new activity.  — William Howard Taft

To me, what socialism means is to guarantee a basic level of dignity. It’s asserting the value of saying that the America we want and the America that we are proud of is one in which all children can access a dignified education. It’s one in which no person is too poor to have the medicines they need to live.  — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude. ―Alexis de Tocqueville

A basic principle of modern state capitalism is that costs and risks are socialized to the extent possible, while profit is privatized.
— Noam Chomsky

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. — Winston Churchill

Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone. – John Maynard Keynes

Democratic socialism means that we must create an economy that works for all, not just the very wealthy.  — Bernie Sanders

Socialism – the word brings much heat and smoke but little light. For a heated debate on a usually civil channel see: https://iai.tv/video/socialist-dreams

For the difference between socialism and communism: https://www.dictionary.com/e/socialism-democracy/

Last time we settled the “hard problem” of consciousness — NOT! This month it’s Socialism! At least we promise to be civil. 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 May 19 at 7pm in the Brackett Room.

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

Religious Exploration April 14th & Easter!

Easter Sunday- This year’s Easter Sunday will include bag decorating for the children of First Parish followed by our annual Easter Egg Hunt outside (weather permitting) located behind the church on the playground and in and around the Memorial Garden. The children will have a chance to hunt for over four hundred eggs filled with treats and surprises! Please be aware that some egg will have products containing nuts and other possible allergens to those with food sensitivities so if your children have these sensitivities please check their eggs as they open them!

Religious Exploration April 14th – Easter is a religious holiday, but some of its customs, such as Easter eggs, are likely linked to pagan traditions. The egg, an ancient symbol of new life, has been associated with pagan festivals celebrating spring. From a Christian perspective, Easter eggs are said to represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and resurrection. Decorating eggs for Easter is a tradition that dates back to at least the 13th century, according to some sources. One explanation for this custom is that eggs were formerly a forbidden food during the Lenten season, so people would paint and decorate them to mark the end of the period of penance and fasting, then eat them on Easter as a celebration. This Sunday the children of Religious Exploration will get a chance to decorate their own Easter eggs as we discuss life, our own origins, and what individuality looks like!

Spirituality Book Group Saturday April 20, 10am – Prodigal Summer

All who are interested are welcome to come on Saturday, April 20 at 10am when the Spirituality Book Group is meeting to discuss Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver.

Prodigal Summer weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives inhabiting the forested mountains and struggling small farms of southern Appalachia. At the heart of these intertwined narratives is a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the region. Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, watches the forest from her outpost in an isolated mountain cabin where she is caught off-guard by Eddie Bondo, a young hunter who comes to invade her most private spaces and confound her self-assured, solitary life. On a farm several miles down the mountain, another web of lives unfolds as Lusa Maluf Landowski, a bookish city girl turned farmer’s wife, finds herself unexpectedly marooned in a strange place where she must declare or lose her attachment to the land. And a few more miles down the road, a pair of elderly, feuding neighbors tend their respective farms and wrangle about God, pesticides, and the complexities of a world neither of them expected.

Over the course of one humid summer, as the urge to procreate overtakes a green and profligate countryside, these characters find connections to one another and to the flora and fauna with which they necessarily share a place. Their discoveries are embedded inside countless intimate lessons of biology, the realities of small farming, and the final, urgent truth that humans are only one part of life on earth.

We hope to see you April 20, at 10am, at Linda’s home in Meadow Walk in Sudbury.

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

To see some of our past readings click here.

Religious Exploration April

Religious Exploration– What does it mean to be whole? Each week those that welcome us to First Parish invite us to bring our “whole selves” to our meetinghouse but how many of us understand what it means to be unified with the self, complete, or whole? This month the children of First Parish will be exploring the concept of the “whole self”, discussing what that means and untangling the many pieces that make us unique individuals. All about self-exploration, this month’s goal is to allow each of us to explore what makes us…well…us! Through a variety of expressive art exercises, games, discussions, and readings, the children will begin to put a voice to who and what they think they are, while at the same time learning about the inherent worth and dignity of those around them. Don’t miss this amazing opportunity for self-growth in April!