September 2018

Join us this Thursday at L!VE Café, 163 S. Oak Park Avenue in Oak Park. Doors open at 7:00p, the study begins at 7:30p. If you can’t be with us in person, join us via Facebook Live.

NEW SERIES BEGINS IN SEPTEMBER
What kinds of spiritual practices and habits work best for us? How do we keep our faith life fresh? What do we do when things we’ve always done feel like they’re not working? How do we stay plugged in to God’s work in us and our community? This fall we’ll look at spiritual disciplines as our means of survival in an increasingly chaotic world.
Join us every Thursday from September 6 through October 11, as we examine Spiritual Disciplines for Undisciplined Times.

Practicing Mindfulness

Shea: Hey Tim, I’m loving this new series! What are we going to discuss this week?
Tim: Thinking through my own spiritual journey, I have found that often times the busyness of life is a great inhibitor to our spiritual practices.

Shea: Tell me about it! Between school, life, and work, I feel like I have so much on my mind that there are times when I cannot seem to find time for spiritual practices.
Tim: And it is spiritual practices that ground us in life, empowering us to live a life of faith. They sustain us in the work that we do–remember word, work, worship?

Shea: You are wise and correct, my friend. How do we embrace practices amidst our busy lives?
Tim: By practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness is a conscious desire and effort to open your mind, self, and senses to your surroundings/circumstances. Mindfulness meditation allows us to suspend judgment and unleash our natural curiosity about the workings of the mind, approaching our experience with warmth and kindness, to ourselves and others.

Shea: Wow, there’s a lot there. The word “open” really sticks out to me.
Tim: Yes, openness is key to mindfulness. If we aren’t careful, for various reasons, we can live lives closed off to the workings of the Spirit. Mindfulness helps us open up by being present and aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

Shea: I want to be mindful. How do I begin?
Tim: In the Hebrew Bible, God appears to Solomon and asks him a tremendous question: “What should I give you?” Solomon responds that he wants to be able to discern what is good and evil so that he can be wise in his service to others.

Shea: Solomon practiced mindfulness.
Tim: Exactly. He made the effort to be open and to learn. Rather than material possessions and riches, he asked for the gift of wisdom that comes through a posturing and centering of the self.

Shea: Where do we begin?
Tim: It’s important, first, to know that mindfulness is not a fixed destination. It is something that we have naturally available to us; we just need to practice and develop our capacity to be mindful.

Shea: I see. Well, I’m “open” to that.
Tim: Then you’re on your way. This week Reverend Michelle Hughes will lead us on this journey as she hosts our the study this Thursday night. She’s been on the forefront of social justice for a long long time and is no stranger to struggle. We’re truly blessed to have her bring this lesson. It’s not something you want to miss!

Join us this Thursday at L!VE Café, 163 S. Oak Park Avenue in Oak Park. Doors open at 7:00p, the study begins at 7:30p. If you can’t be with us in person, join us via Facebook Live.

NEW SERIES BEGINS IN SEPTEMBER
What kinds of spiritual practices and habits work best for us? How do we keep our faith life fresh? What do we do when things we’ve always done feel like they’re not working? How do we stay plugged in to God’s work in us and our community? This fall we’ll look at spiritual disciplines as our means of survival in an increasingly chaotic world.
Join us every Thursday from September 6 through October 11, as we examine Spiritual Disciplines for Undisciplined Times.

Owning Our Strength

Shea: Who is the woman above us?
Tim: That’s Irene Pappas, the 20^th-century Greek theater and cinema legend. It’s a shot from her most famous film in the States, Zorba the Greek (1964), in which she plays a young widow whose fate gets tangled up with a young man who meets with a tragic end. It’s the kind of role that would bury most actresses. The Widow (as she’s known) is a helpless victim. But Pappas invests her with a ferocity and pathos that turn a marginalized character into one of the most powerful women in 1960s film. And I bet you’re wondering where this is going, right?

Shea: Well, when you start talking movies …
Tim: Not to worry. I pulled the Pappas photo because I envision her when I read the story of Rizpah. She’s a character who intrigues me every which way.

Shea: We’re revisiting her story this Thursday night at Gather as part of our series on spiritual disciplines. The theme is courage, correct?
Tim: Yes and she personifies it in how she turns grief into triumph. I don’t want to give too much away. But suffice to say when state-sanctioned violence takes her sons, Rizpah refuses to let it slide. King David plays politics, placating longtime enemies, paying no mind to the human cost. But Rizpah, a relative nobody, courageously takes a knee and humiliates him.

Shea: Again, we’ve got a passage that feels ripped from the headlines.
Tim: We live in a time of cowardice and opportunism. We see things that don’t make sense, because folks who profess to have directly opposing values are content to play politics if they think it will get them what they wants. It’s a dangerous position to take. That’s why courage is becoming an increasingly vital spiritual discipline in these undisciplined times. We’ve got to have Rizpah courage to speak truth to power and refuse to bend. We’ve got to own our strength. As I picture Rizpah, in my mind’s eye she’s got that Pappas brand of fire and fury. She knows where she’s strong and she won’t be pushed aside. We need more of that in this day and age. It’s a story that resonates deeply.

Shea: And we have a fierce and courageous teacher to guide us this week.
Tim: We couldn’t ask for better. Our own Bishop Phyllis Pennese will lead the study this Thursday night. She’s been on the forefront of social justice for a long long time and is no stranger to struggle. We’re truly blessed to have her bring this lesson. It’s not something you want to miss!

Join us this Thursday at L!VE Café, 163 S. Oak Park Avenue in Oak Park. Doors open at 7:00p, the study begins at 7:30p. If you can’t be with us in person, join us via Facebook Live.

NEW SERIES BEGINS IN SEPTEMBER
What kinds of spiritual practices and habits work best for us? How do we keep our faith life fresh? What do we do when things we’ve always done feel like they’re not working? How do we stay plugged in to God’s work in us and our community? This fall we’ll look at spiritual disciplines as our means of survival in an increasingly chaotic world.
Join us every Thursday from September 6 through October 11, as we examine Spiritual Disciplines for Undisciplined Times.