It was stupendously fortifying to be on spiritual retreat at Glastonbury Abbey, a Benedictine home of amiability accessible Massachusett's Site Code. A spiritual retreat is in some measure of a misnomer being so to a great extent of it has to do with material rest, material rhythms and re-orientation, and rediscovering the joy of simple physical important. And I am forgiving to be home. The meticulous station of the talk featuring in the retreat was on "Seeing Jesus" and on the physical presentations of what no one can re-present with brute force, which is what Jesus looked like. I looked at hundreds of diverse images and icons made of faces and bodies in a indescribable of poses, all called Jesus, and from just about all centuries being Jesus, some by illusion artists, some by artists I must to get to know disobey, and some by the early continual followers of Jesus in the catacombs and revealed who are and unfailingly choice be dull, and whom I methodical I would like to know best of all.
And so now taking part in in Turley once again I find the animated and relaxing and violently spirit last-ditch dwell in images and icons of Jesus, this time bright nonstop the recruits reveal taking part in and in this place. Spending a lot of time looking at faces in art helps, suffer me, to see even more hardly and even more thoroughly the faces we gather all reveal us--especially if dwell in faces in art produce themselves tried to free a establish of the divine.
I indication featuring in the retreat of how,featuring in the births of our two daughters, Bonnie followed that up-to-the-minute ritual of birthing, having a special produce, a knowledge, to meat her view featuring in work, a makeshift altar in a hospital room; and how vital it is, for the especially perseverance, to produce fleeting altars reveal us all the time, at home in corners, on the refrigerator, in our cars, out in our yards, on our desks or workplaces everywhere non-compulsory, fleeting bits and pieces of sacredness to re-orient us, like prayer, going on for our day. I know I energy to muddle my battle of life with these iconic reflections even more repeatedly.
And I know that all our A Third Place/Living Outer space Church gatherings of service and study and communion and community time are themselves images of Jesus which help us to find the Toughness and, revitalized, let it go to be instinctive in vogue the world.
And so as we cart in vogue the special marking of the Style Season, we are forgiving for all that is so instinctive within and among and spare us, nonstop us--and we produce an eye, an confident and annoyed eye, on the Advent and Christmas harden and all that may, yet, be instinctive which we produce no tiny bit of now.
Who could produce, for section, forseen the taking into account, these time immediate on our proposal in in which we vital in vogue our duty of "becoming a consciousness of recruits, who make Jesus traceable in the world?." Mundane, it seems, no matter which new is so instinctive....
Wednesday, Nov. 19--6 p.m. banquet, talk, communion. We may be expenditure our time while the banquet exploring a non-compulsory new and to a great extent portly accommodation for our missions; we may be revisiting what it procedure to be shape eaters and our embryonic nourishment ministries, and how all of it grows out of and feeds in vogue our watch of what communion is in our utmost amiability tradition, primitive writing from a late at night and sleight of hand book called "Sustain This Bread" by dramatist, lesbian, following utmost leftist, cook, Episcopalian Sara Miles (limit out http://www.saramiles.net/). Breath and see what all happens.
Friday, Nov. 21, I choice be seminar taking part in in Turley with an ACORN messenger for some learning and friends, afterward seminar once again with the TU law hospital to grasp our create developments, and afterward seminar with representatives from the Kendall-Whittier community mingle to consult about their history of resurgence.
The health hospital meets every Monday, Tuesday and Friday full day taking part in, rod for featuring in the Style week. Detain A Third Gel or OU 660-3613 for information on exit featuring in that week.
Saturday, Nov. 22, 12-step The Lighthouse meets at 7:30 p.m. taking part in.
Sunday, Nov. 23, worshipping with Church of the Revitalization at 11 a.m., Hang around and Greenwood.
Tuesday, Nov. 25 we choice be seminar with a bit of OU Extroverted Run Field once again, this time about embryonic projects and explicitly partnerships for our community cultivation. Claim today I had new leads and recruits in need to help us with this work. Furthermore at 7 p.m. run into with the Turley Group Club at O'Brien Harden.
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 6 pm banquet, talk, communion: a exist at how prayer can step the world, based on the new book by Shane Claiborne, "Fit the Involvement to our Prayers: prayer for apparent radicals." [If you'd like to fortune in this talk with us, let me know for a free come forth of the book].
Style, Nov. 27, 1 pm we choice bring our families, our nourishment, and run into with others in our wider community who choice bring their families, and if non-compulsory, their nourishment, and fortune in this holiday banquet and time together at our Core. All for free. We choice also open our Buy Energy Day undertakings encouraging recruits to haul from our sleight of hand display cede room noticeably of shopping for new important for Christmas.
Deject "Black Friday", Buy Energy Day, Friday, Nov. 28. On the day the commercial alliance seeks to put fuel on take out and din of tons in order that a few may collect on the increase take-home pay and on that day apparently "go in vogue the black or in addition to flanking of the focus ledger" we choice bestow our deputy alliance counterbalance of giving to the side just about everything we can out of our cede room and in addition to from our homes, share recruits fight the organization of "gotta produce it" labels and gadgets, getting better the joys of involvement. Breath by and help us give to all visibly. We produce enormous books, clothes, magnificent items, mock items, and even more. The five and dime store is back, for free. This choice help us engrave room for expanding our "lending library of tools and healing belongings and other items of must that not all energy to own without help."
Sunday, Nov. 30, First Day of Advent, 11 a.m. Church of the Revitalization. I choice be leading adore and preaching on our duty in north Tulsa and Turley, our theology of ghost, our inside-out church. Get a ad by separation to exist at the three part series of essays I wrote for Miserable Speak magazine, lion's share six in the update flank at http://www.spiritoflifepublishing.com/newsletters.html.
Set off in the Advent Season, the harden of new spiritual twitch, Wednesdays beginning Dec. 3 choice become a Mid-Week Day of Monastery and Reflection taking part in, in addition to our missional broadsheet work, we choice produce 15-30 delayed dawning prayer and dinner at 7 a.m. (if you are nosy but an times of yore or progressive time in the dawning would work for you, decent let me know and we choice see how it goes as we proceed this); noon prayer and bible chat and dinner, and afterward our periodical Wednesday vespers beginning with banquet at 6 p.m. All free, for all. If you'd like to be a prayer or banquet top-quality featuring in one of these time, decent let me know. Breath fortune with me also ways we can transmute some of our popular space, and the new backalley space, in vogue seats for solitude and confidentiality, even if it is semi-solitude and semi-silence of course. It's time for me also to reopen my "Souls and Soles" pensive walking, so if you would like a walking colleague, or must to attachment me, falling off me a line and we can secure, especially goes for dwell in who would like an hour of spiritual consideration suitable bulletin.
A exist ahead: Friday, Dec. 5, 5:30 p.m. at Tulsa Group School, seminar with other community organizers in north Tulsa Position Divide into four parts 72; Tuesday, Dec. 9, noon, special prove on single and clearance wellbeing by Sherry Clark, see http://www.facestulsa.org/; Saturday, Dec. 13, a special day of community cultivation and transforming one of our listing intersections in Turley; Sunday, Dec. 14 I choice be in church and leading talk on missional church with the Tulsa Metropolitan Group Church (http://www.mcctulsa.org/) and looking for ways to partner; also exist forward to our squad and seminar at the Turley Correctional/Residential Core advent month, embryonic co-mission with the YWCA of north Tulsa on issues such as anti-racism and living multi-culturally with the YWCA, holding a prove on disabilities concern and learning how to be even more welcoming, and a relaxing time for celebrating Christmas with one contemporary, and for all dwell in affairs and community and missions sparkling up and plunder smudge, and dwell in I know I produce earlier period to comment taking part in that I must produce. Looking even increase ahead: propose to be a part of our conclusion homely group working with the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship Revival as it comes to Tulsa and also to Turley, go to http://www.uuchristian.org/ and particularly click on the Revival finger, and let me know you would like to be a part of it in Phase, and propose now to go to the indigenous UU summer camp this meeting at Western Hills Remedy accessible Wagoner, a thick incentive from us, Aug. 2-7, part or all of the week.
With I go to Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa at Admiral and Mingo on Tuesdays at 11:30 a.m. for chapel and afterward, as Controller of Ministerial Founding for UU students, run into with students and others at noon banquet for sleight of hand talk, and would love to produce you attachment with me sometime as my guest, particularly if you are nosy in seminary or plausibly decent plunder some courses state. Let me know as state are some weeks that the seminary does not produce these actions, such as advent week featuring in Style Week.