International Newsletter – Easter 2014
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Hope- the Deepest Ground of Being
Finally, the snow is gone. Spring gives a feeling of new hope. The earth is called to allow its frozen ground to melt away, so that its true ground can be found anew.
For each human life, for every human heart, like the earth at spring, we too are all called in life to again and again find new ground.
For how often is it that what we thought was stable ground in our life, something that would always be, like snow has melted away? Read more
Turning Suffering Into a Pearl
The oyster is an amazing being! For they hold within themselves a secret – the secret of how suffering can be useful – of how the pearl comes into being. First, sand gets caught between the shell and the membrane of the oyster, irritating it. The oyster responds to the irritant by giving it something. And little by little, this substance, called mother of pearl, that the oyster gives to the irritant, becomes the pearl.
From time to time, for each and every one of us, certain irritants also get caught in our shells. Read more
Video of Interfaith Forum on Death & the Afterlife
Click here to watch a video of this unique conference.
Presenters included Rev. Liza Marcato, priest in Taconic-Berkshire, and Ann-Elizabeth Barnes, a dedicated member of The Christian Community and part of The Future Initiatives Group.
North American Newsletter Spring 2014
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Reflections from the Youth Winter Conference
I adored my first Youth Conference. The effect that it had on the participants was described as a “Golden Bomb” in their year, and after experiencing one, I couldn’t agree more. The memories of that weekend will live with me forever. I still feel the confidence in our group as we sang, care free, parading down the street. I still see the sun and the smiles as we reflected on a labyrinth and conversed under an old oak tree. There was a power in reading I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King as the sun rose in the same spot where he read it. We made true connections with complete strangers during profound conversations with other teenagers. The sheer verve created by the youth conference instilled me with hope. All these joyous moments helped me grow and heal. Finally, I can testify that these youth conferences really do create a “Golden Bomb” in one’s year.Leap, Laugh, Love.
By Rachel Soliday, 17, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
Video of 2014 DC Youth Conference
Finding Your Star in the Darkness
Image courtesy of Mary Sinead Cards
It is Epiphany, the time we celebrate the kings, the star and the journey. But first we can ask, as we prepare ourselves for finding our star, how did the kings prepare themselves? What did they have to do first to become aware of their star of destiny? They had to look into the night – into the darkness. For it is only in darkness that we can see the stars. They sank into the emptiness of the unknown and asked for guidance. The darkness of the night sky became their altar. Read more
Bringing the Stars (in)to Life
To see the stars it needs to be dark. In the long dark winter nights we have many opportunities to lift our gaze and stand in wonder at the abundance of sparkling stars. Fixed stars we call them. They are always there and can be found reliably in that higher order, and they never stop shining. The experience is: stars stand above us. Even if they rise and set, we “look up” to them.
In contrast, the sun always rises up from below. Strong and powerful its rising light lets the stars recede as if they were no longer there. We don’t usually look up to the sun: we look into the world, work in the world, live our destiny in the bright sunlight. Ideals shine above our head like stars. There are moments, when we see them clearly, when they motivate and inspire the course we take in life. Then there can be long periods when we seem to lose sight of them, even doubt they are real. When in the soul, the darkness of confusion, loss of orientation and motivation spreads itself, it requires a decision to turn the inner gaze upward and trust that the star of one’s ideal is still shining. Read more
International Newsletter Advent 2013
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Darkness and the Nativity: a Contemplation
Many of the inner pictures connected with the birth of Christ, with the Nativity that we carry in our imaginations, place the light filled holy family into a protective sheath of surrounding darkness. We can think of Rembrandt’s Nativity, or of Ninetta Sombart’s Birth of Christ and sense the sheltering quality that the darkness lends to the holy event of his birth. The Christ Child is received into the blanket of night and, in equal measure the darkness of night has a role to play in the events surrounding Christ’s birth.
We can thus begin to distinguish between different qualities of darkness. Read more