The Camino a Santiago de Compostella

This coming Sunday, May 8th, we're going to hear from Jo Jo Morrison about his recent walk on the Camino de Santiago de Compostella. This is one of Christian Europe's oldest, most renown pilgrimages. You can read more about the destination here: Click me. The walk to the destination is taken on by tens of thousands each year.

Jo Jo is a regular visitor. He is the son of John and Mary Ellen Morrison.  He has been walking long distances since he went backpacking with his Father to Philmont Scout Ranch in 1981.  After high school he worked at Philmont for three summers as a backpacking guide and staff member.  To support his walking habit, he went to law school, graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law.  After law school he clerked for a federal circuit court judge and then taught constitutional law for four years before becoming an assistant public defender in Miami where he met his wife, a Cuban-born accountant.  After their wedding, she surprised him by telling him that she needed to go to medical school.  Over a decade and eight moves later, she is a physician at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.   He currently lives in the Upper West Side of Manhattan with his wife while working long-distance for the Miami Public Defender's Office.  In July-August 2014, they walked together from the French border to Santiago, Spain, and then on the the Atlantic ocean.  That is the route of an ancient medieval (or older) pilgrimage, and he will share the story of that pilgrimage, and the spiritual lessons learned along the Way, with us at the Adult Forum.

Please Join Us.

Carrie Newcomer's Commencement Address

Well, it is the season of graduations, so it seems fitting to listen to a delightful commencement address, one given by Carrie Newcomer at Goshen College. It's deeper and truer than any I've heard. Here's the link: Click me. Please join us for a group listening and discussion. We'd love to see you.

How spiritual experiences underpin our prosperity and our survival

This Sunday, April 24th, we're going to use a video presentation by Prof Roland Griffiths as a starting point to explore how our thoughtful, mediative self-awareness forms the basis of our reducing our suffering and increasing our caring for each other and the world. It's biology, neuropharmacology, spirituality and growth.
Here's a link to the video. Especially note minutes 13 though the end.
Please join us!

On Being -- Carrie Newcomer

Here's the link: http://www.onbeing.org/program/carrie-newcomer-a-conversation-with-music/7049

Pet Therapy! with Julie Wade

April 10--The Mission of Pet Therapy:  Julie Wade, with the assistance of her therapy dog, Jake, will describe their 7 years of therapy work at our local hospitals and nursing homes.  Therapy animals have been used to help individuals with disabilities such as  physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, and other conditions.  We’ll talk about some of the groups that animal therapy helps (autistic individuals, the elderly, veterans, etc.)  and provide some personal experiences that have made this 7 years a very rewarding mission for both Jake and Julie.  Come join us, and get some “free” therapy from Jake!

John O'Donohue OnBeing with Krista Tippett

For March 20, and following several recommendations, we'll listen to the first portion of Krista Tippett's interview with John O'Donohue on "The Inner Landscape of Beauty." You can preview the dialogue by clicking here.
According to the website, "The Irish poet and philosopher John O'Donohue was beloved for his book Anam Ċara, Gaelic for "soul friend," and for his insistence on beauty as a human calling. In one of his last interviews before his death in 2008, he articulated a Celtic imagination about how the material and the spiritual — the visible and the invisible — intertwine in human experience. His voice and writings continue to bring ancient mystical wisdom to modern confusions and longings." It's a beautiful narrative. Please join us.

We Choose Welcome

WE CHOOSE WELCOME

On This Sunday, March 13, we will dedicate the day to stand with our Muslim neighbors as we join with many other churches of all denominations across our nation as choose to WELCOME Syrian refugees who are fleeing for their lives, looking for a new home.

We will meet at 9:45 in Martin Hall for the Adult Forum, followed by worship in the sanctuary at 11 AM.

We will have our picture taken with a banner, followed by a time for letter writing to our elected officials. 

PLEASE COME THIS SUNDAY SO WE CAN BE WELL REPRESENTED AS WE CHOOSE WELCOME!!