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The latest programs, events and offerings from Shalem Institute.
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Deep Interconnection in this Election Season

by Patience Robbins, excerpted from a Wednesday Election Guided Prayer Session

“Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the Earth is our mother, this we know. The Earth does not belong to us. We belong to the Earth. This we know. All things are connected, like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the sons and daughters of the Earth. We did not weave the web of life, we are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.” ~attributed to Chief Seattle.
 
Let yourself be aware of this web of life and be grateful for it. The words above remind us of this web of life.
 
So let us be grateful for ourselves and for the power of this love and compassion that flows within us. Let us be grateful for everyone who is listening or sharing in this meditation. For the Shalem community, for everyone we are connected to, family, friends, faith community, coworkers, neighbors, let us feel the gratitude for all of them. And now allow yourself to feel grateful for every living being, every creature, all of life. Allow your heart to expand with gratitude and appreciation for all that is.
 
Knowing that deep interconnection that we’re speaking of, this web of life, feel the oneness with yourself, the divine source, all of life, all of humanity. And really trusting in that and sinking into that connection with open hearts, let us hold the United States, all of the people who reside in this country. The land, the water, the air, all living beings -- let’s hold it all with great appreciation and love and care.
 
And now encircle all those who want to offer themselves as leaders in our cities, states and country. Encircle them with appreciation, this peace and care, and this reality of our interconnection with one another and all of life. May we have wise, compassionate, caring leaders who glimpse this oneness with one another. 

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UPCOMING CALENDAR

Now through early 2017 - Holy Interruptions - online
Nov 6 - Contemplative Voices Award honoring Constance FitzGerald
Nov 7 deadline - Living Word, Living Way - online
Nov 16 - Free discernment conference call for Paris Pilgrimage
Nov 16 - Free discernment conference call for Leading Contemplative Prayer Groups and Retreats Program
Nov 30 - Free discernment conference call for Spiritual Guidance Program
Nov 30 - Early bird deadline, Spiritual Guidance Program
Nov 30 - Final deadline, Leading Contemplative Prayer Groups and Retreats Program
Dec 1 & Dec 10 - Taste & See Events, Paris Pilgrimage
Jan 7 & Jan 12 - Taste & See Events, Assisi Pilgrimage
Jan 22-Feb 26 - Living from the Spiritual Heart - online
 

Transforming Community: Leading Contemplative Prayer Groups and Retreats Program - This program is designed to equip, encourage and support those called to lead spiritual groups and retreats. Its focus is on nurturing deeper communion with God, contemplative awareness of Gods presence, and an openness to letting God guide. If you need help in discerning about this program and its rightness for you, please join us in a free conference call with inquirers and program graduates. This is a special, informal opportunity for asking about this leadership program. The program director, Ann Dean, will facilitate the conversation at 1 PM EST on November 16. Click here to sign up for the call. The final application deadline is November 30. Click here to read more.

Nurturing the Call: Spiritual Guidance Program - This program offers both academic resources and experiential support for the ministry of spiritual direction or holy listening. At the heart of this program is the radical conviction that spiritual companionship is a form of prayer and that contemplative listening comes from being grounded in ones relationship with God. If you need help in discerning about this program and its rightness for you, please join us in a free conference call with inquirers and program graduates. This is a special, informal opportunity for asking about this leadership program. The program director, Liz Ward, will facilitate the conversation at 12 PM EST on November 30. Click here to sign up for the call. The early bird application deadline is November 30. Click here to read more.

Soul of Leadership Program - The Soul of Leadership recognizes that leaders today face particularly difficult challenges. The commitment to inspire others while also increasing productivity and balancing the needs of the organization can leave leaders feeling depleted. Long hours and countless demands often result in a deep need for renewal. There are programs in Boston, England and Tennessee. 
Click here to read more.

Going Deeper: Clergy Spiritual Life and Leadership Program - Although our other Shalem programs connect with certain dimensions of congregational spiritual leadership and many clergy participate in them, none give the context of the local church as the explicit and shared focus as this program does. Going Deeper is for clergy of all denominations and geographic locations who serve on the staffs of local churches or whose ministry involves the local church. Click here to read more.

Do you desire support and enrichment for your prayer life?  
Do you wish to develop or deepen a consistent spiritual practice?

Join Patience Robbins as she guides you through the use of lectio divina, walking meditation, the practice of gratitude and intercessory prayers. Whether you feel like a beginner or want to deepen a particular practice; whether you want to explore new ways of praying or are seeking the support of like-spirited others in an online setting – this course offers something for you.

Dates: This six-week online course runs now through December 4, 2016.
Cost: $75. (Group discounts available!) Deadline to register is Nov. 7.

Register now!


Do you yearn to see, listen & act more deeply from your spiritual heart? 
Do you wish to develop or deepen a consistent daily spiritual practice?

Give yourself the gift of spaciousness in the New Year. Join Tilden Edwards, Shalem's founder and senior fellow, for six weekly sessions. With material designed specifically for this eCourse, Tilden offers video teachings, guided meditations, reflection questions, and midweek check-in emails.

Dates: January 22 to February 26, 2017.
Cost: $75. (Group discounts available!)

Register now!

Would you benefit from taking a day during this Advent season to rejuvenate, recharge, and refocus?
Through audio teaching, poetry, art, music, guided meditation, reflection questions and invitations into silence, Ann Kulp invites you into intentional quiet space to help you learn to notice and embrace unexpected, holy moments that happen each day. Join Shalem for a retreat day —ONLINE.

Dates: This one day retreat can be taken anytime now through Feb. 1, 2017. You may access the retreat immediately upon purchase.

I want a retreat!

Gerald May Seminar with Mirabai Starr
The Passion of the Mystics: A Contemplative Journey


Mirabai Starr, MA, is an author, translator of the mystics, and a leading voice in the emerging inter-spiritual movement. She speaks and teaches nationally and internationally on the teachings of the mystics, contemplative practice and the transformational power of grief and loss.

She is known for building bridges not only between religious traditions but also between contemplative life and compassionate service, between cultivating an inner relationship with the Beloved and expressing that intimacy in community, between the transformational power of loss and longing for the sacred. Join us for this engaging weekend conference!
 

Friday, April 28, 2017, 7-9 PM
The Friday night lecture will draw on the works of the great Christian mystics and more.

Saturday, April 29, 2017, 10 AM-4 PM
In the Saturday workshop, we will read short passages from the works of the great Christian mystics and respond to writing prompts to access our unique voice and deepen our personal journey. Inter-spiritual chanting and simple body practices will support and balance our contemplative readings and writing exercises.

Register here

Margaret's Travels


Follow our Executive Director, Margaret Benefiel, as she hits various spots around the world!

Margaret's upcoming schedule:


Nov 17, 3-5:30pm, Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, Houston TX (RSVP here)

Dec 9-10, Soul of Leadership Workshop, Columbus Ohio

Glimpses of Shalem Society 2016


Shalem Society members gathered at Bon Secours Conference and Retreat Center in October, sharing in the theme: Keeping Radiant Love at the Center. Click here for more pictures.

Contemplative Collaboration

At the initiative of Thomas Keating, the founder of Contemplative Outreach, the founders of three other major Christian contemplative organizations were invited to meet with him in early October at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado: Tilden Edwards of the Shalem Institute, Richard Rohr of the Center for Action and Contemplation, and Laurence Freeman of The World Community of Christian Meditation. Subsequently, the executive directors and appointed representatives of their respective organizations met in Washington, DC.

These meetings were focused on deepening our friendships and beginning to explore the possibility of collaboration in furthering the contemplative awakening in the world today. Read more here!

Change your email address? Let us know!

We don’t want to lose you! Please let us know when you change your mailing address or your email. Send a note to info@shalem.org.

Friends of Shalem


Friends of St. Benedict
Symposium on Benedictine Spirituality
November 4-5, 2016
Click here for more information.

Center for Spiritual Deepening, Alexandria VA
Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul
                  
Thursday Mornings, 10:30 to noon, through Dec 8
Body Prayer
November 30, 7:30 pm
Facing the Empty Chair: Grief & the Holidays                           
December 7, 7:30 pm
Click here for more information.

UPCOMING SHALEM OFFERINGS:

Contemplative Voices Award
You are invited to join us as we honor Constance FitzGerald, OCD at this special fundraising event.
Nov 6, 2016
Pilgrimage to Paris 
A contemplative pilgrimage to Paris allows us to slow down and savor the presence of the Holy. March 21-30 2017.
Learn more
Pilgrimage to Assisi
Come with us to the awe-inspiring town of Assisi where pilgrims have sought wisdom for centuries. May 10-20, 2017.
Learn more
Share Shalem’s vital ministry of spiritual deepening—become a Shalem donor today!

Copyright © 2016 Shalem Institute, All rights reserved.


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