October 14

COALESCE: A time of connection in community:

We are reading John Phillip Newell’s, The Rebirthing of God: Christianity’s Struggle for the New Beginnings.  There are still a few books ($12.00) available at church, with the suggestion that it is good if you can read ahead of time, but is certainly not a prerequisite for listening and engaging in the seminar-like environment.

  

We began our time together with a John Phillip Newell Prayer and Chant

Whichever way you turn, There is the face of God

Prayer:Whichever way we turn, O God, there is your face

In the light of the moon and patterns of stars

In scarred mountain rifts and ancient groves

In mighty seas and creatures of the deep

Whichever way we turn, O God, there is your face

In the light of eyes we love

In the salt of tears we have tasted

In weathered countenances east and west

In the soft-skinned glow of the child everywhere

Whichever way we turn, O God, there is your face

There is your face, among us

Chant: Whichever way we turn, Whichever way we turn, Whichever way we turn, there is the face of God

This set up our time together as we finished discussing Chapter 1 “Reconnecting with the Earth” and Chapter 2 “Reconnecting with Compassion/  One of the insights gained from our discussion that there can be a sense of carrying out acts of compassion without fully seeing or feeling the pain that leads to the need for the action. HOW DO WE OVERCOME PARALYSIS? We may not know exactly how the action is going to play out, but we need to do something—start somewhere NO SINGLE ONE OF US IS ALL-IMPORTANT, BUT EACH OF US IS ESSENTIAL. DO/CAN WE BELIEVE THIS? No one else can play that role of compassion for us.  

Reading and discussion for Sunday October 20: Read and begin discussing Chapter 3: Reconnecting with the Light. A primary feature of rebirthing of God involves a reconnecting with the light (John 1:19), “The Light that enlightens every person coming  into the world” It is the Light, at the heart of every newborn child—the Light at the heart of life.  For a portion of our time together we will continue to hear Newell at the Harvard Divinity School Conference. COME JOIN US, WHETHER YOU ARE A REGULAR OR JUST A ONCE-IN-AWHILE DROP IN.  WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU!