Dear Friends in Silence,
I pray this weeks Silentium post finds you all safe, well and with peace.
Well resumption week has finally arrived and I'm really looking forward to being back with you again at our two gathering:
SILENTIUM's Spiritual Practice Group
Thursday's in The Wisdom Chapel, 8pm Irish Time (Check Here for the time in your area)
This week, after spending a little time catching up with each other again, we'll make a gentle start on our 4 weeks of reflection on the spiritual wisdom of John Philip Newell . The breadth of his work is enormous so, rather than trying to curate from it all, I thought I would sharpen our focus to reflecting slowly on the wisdom in one particular talk he gave at Boston College in 2017 which had the title: The Meeting of East and West: Spirituality Beyond Boundaries. This is the short description:
Just as the species of the earth need one another to be well, so the great spiritual traditions of humanity depend on one another to be whole. In this annual lecture, Rev. Dr. Newell discusses a spirituality of inter-relatedness.
By way of whetting your appetite for what's in store in the coming weeks I invite you to savour the wisdom in this short clip of JPN from a different interview:
We look forward to you joining us for these evenings of Silence, Sharing, Reflection, Challenge, Disturbance and Loving Support.
SILENTIUM's Silence on Sunday
Sundays in The Wisdom Chapel, 9am Irish Time (Check Here for the time in your area)
The theme for this week's Silence on Sunday is Following Jesus Does Not Come Cheaply and here is a link to where you can download the PDF of the liturgy text:
This week's liturgy includes the sharing of a simple Eucharist meal so if you are planning to come along, and would like to participate, I invite you to have a small amount of bread and a drink of choice close at hand.
The only other thing I'd like to share with you this week is a reminder that Season Of Creation begins tomorrow, the 1st of September and runs until the 4th of October. At some point during the season I'll intentionally focus the attention of our gatherings on this years theme which is: Listen to The Voice of Creation but in the meantime you can find more information by clicking HERE
That's all for this week but I would like to finish by offering you a 'Beginning Blessing' using the last two verses of John O'Donohue's 'For a New Beginning':
Though Your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm
for your soul senses the world that awaits you.
Until I see you in The Wisdom Chapel,
Go Well and God Bless
John