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November 2022 Newsletter
Dear Fellow Mystics,

We are pleased to offer two wonderful opportunities this month:

  • Our first in-person Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop in three years is being held this Saturday at St. Anthony of Padua Church.
  • Our Holy Trinity Big Sit on Zoom featuring the First Nations’ translation of the New Testament on Saturday, November 12th.
The links to register or for more information are below.

On January 7th we are presenting an Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop at St Thomas More Church. More information to come.

Bill Moon’s “My Dreams with Samuel" and my reflection “Love Leads Us Home” follow below.

Please pray for the community at Saint Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, our spiritual home. A letter from Fr. Charles Albanese, OCSO, discussing their period of discernment can be found here.

May this season of gratefulness kindle in us an appreciation for how deeply blessed we are by all the people in our life.

Love draws us closer,
Maggie

Day 959 Two Thomases Hermitage

COA Upcoming Events

 

Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop

Sat, Nov 5th 8:45 AM - 1:00 PM ET In Person
St. Anthony of Padua, 928 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd., Atlanta, GA 30310 plus continuing sessions on Zoom

This Centering Prayer Introductory Program is designed to share the method of Centering Prayer and offer support in making it a part of daily life. It has two components

  • An Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop held in-person at St. Anthony of Padua, 928 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd., on Saturday, Nov. 5th from 8:45 am – 1:00 pm. The workshop includes themes of Prayer as Relationship, The Method of Centering Prayer, Thoughts and Use of the Sacred Word, and Deepening Our Relationship with God. We will spend time in Centering Prayer and you will have the opportunity to submit questions. Our presenter is Leslie Geer, who is a prayerful Contemplative Outreach presenter.

  • Four continuing sessions will be held (via Zoom) on Tuesday evenings November 15, 22, 29, and December 6, 2022 at 6:30 pm Eastern Time. These sessions include Centering Prayer, video, discussion, and Q & A to deepen the understanding of Centering Prayer and provide support in establishing a regular Centering Prayer practice.
Register & More Information


We Gather Together - Holy Trinity Big Sit on Zoom

Saturday, November 12th - 10:00 - 12:00 ET

Join us for a meaningful morning exploring the Holy Trinity theme inspired by the First Nations’s translation of the New Testament. This Big Sit incorporates two 20-minute silent Centering Prayer sessions with Lectio Divina (sacred reading four times), Taizé chant, and a Visio Divina meditation inspired by Father John Giuliani’s Holy Trinity.
Register & More Information

We need volunteers to help Contemplative Outreach Atlanta grow! We welcome your involvement on a one-time activity (such as helping plan or participate in a Big Sit) or on an ongoing basis (for things like Zoom/website support, event coordinators, or helping post on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram). Please contact us here if you would like to explore options or for more information.


Love Leads Us Home

By Maggie Winfrey

“I’m not coming with you,” my dad told me when I came to pick him up. Dee was snug in an easy chair with the TV on low – something good was cooking in the kitchen. I had left him with a carer that morning while I raced around arranging for me to be his legal guardian. Because of his dementia, I was the only thing he could remember anymore, and it took me 15 minutes of reassuring to convince him to get up and come with me, home.

When we are navigating unknown challenges, easy comfort can lull us into a false sense of contentment, like where Dee was. The illusory programs of pleasure and esteem, power and control, and safety and security can become like comfy chairs that we do not want to leave. What helps us find our way home?


( Photo by Abdul Muiz Khan Unsplash)
Read Maggie's full reflection in our Journal


My Dreams with Samuel

By Bill Moon

These three dreams came from three experiences I actually had on different occasions in California, France, and New Mexico.  
 

The Fox…This dream came from my encounter with a fox on a trail leading away from St. Mary’s College of California where I was taking a graduate course in organizational development. It was a hot summer afternoon in the East Bay. After lunch, others and I took some time off to leave campus by car or take walks on nearby trails.  I was walking alone toward the hills behind the campus, probably thinking about how the course I was taking could help our team in Atlanta and me develop our plan to open a school that would serve refugee and other disadvantaged families in the metro area.  I remember hearing some movement behind me, and I simply turned to my left, and there I saw a fox running alongside me.  I stopped and I shuddered as I watched the fox run ahead, paying no attention to me or the young woman who had been running behind me. “Did you see the fox?” I asked her.  She had stopped running, and responded, “Never seen one on this trail before…odd that he paid no attention to us.” A mystical experience. We are one: humans, foxes and trails leading all of us on.  
 

The Butterflies…

Click here to continue...


( Photo by Abdul Muiz Khan Unsplash)
Read Bill's full reflection in our Journal

Save The Date!

Watch for details on these upcoming 2023 COA events:


January 7th 9AM - 1PMET Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop at St Thomas More in Decatur.

February 11th 10AM - Noon ET on Zoom We Gather Together Big Sit on Love.

March 17-19th on Zoom  Centering Prayer Retreat hosted by Maggie Winfrey and Vernon Dixon.

March 2023 Very Rev. Michael Battle will lead two Saturday discussions on Ubuntu.


Details coming soon on our website and in next month's newsletter.


New to Centering Prayer?
Begin here.


Looking for inspiration?
Find resources here.


Need a Centering Prayer group?
Find one here.

Other Events

November 1, 8 and 15 &-8:30PM ET on Zoom. The Grieving, Healing and Hope Project hosts their annual retreat. Speakers include Rev. Dr. Sheila Harvey, Rev. Ed Bacon, Nelba Marquez Greene (Sandy Hook mother), Rabbi Sharon Brous, Dr. Dan Siegel, Imam Jihad Turk, Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams, Rev. Matthew Fox, and Dr Gary Slutkin. The event is free but donations are welcome.  Register here.

November 12th 11 am - 2 pm ET, Contemplative Outreach Colorado hosts “A Tale of Two Thomases (Merton and Berry)” on Zoom with Rick Klein. Register here.

November 19th  9AM - Noon ET Netanel Miles-Yepez, will discuss the famous Snowmass Interreligious Conference that was convened by Father Thomas Keating, bringing religious leaders into retreat with one another from 1984 to 2015. He will also talk about Father Thomas’ views on contemplative practice, dialogue, and interspirituality. Register here.

November 20th 2-4 pm ET Rebecca Parker at Mary and Martha’s Place at St. Dunstan’s Atlanta presents a report from a retreat with Cynthia Bourgeault The Encounter with Evil: A Teaching Retreat. Cynthia's reflection is here. The group meets in person with also a zoom link provided. Register here.

November 27th - December 18th An Interfaith Advent: Breaking Jesus Out of the Box, sponsored by Closer Than Breath. Speakers include Rev. Dr. Heiwa No Bushi, Rev. Matthew Wright, Dr. Carmen Alcevedo Butcher, and Rabbi Rami Shapiro.  Register here.

December 11th 2-4 pm ET Rebecca Parker at Mary and Martha’s Place at St. Dunstan’s Atlanta presents a workshop using the book Mystical Hope by Cynthia Bourgeault as a guide for exploring the structures of deep hope not based on outcome. The group meets in person with also a zoom link provided. Register here.

We’d love to hear what you think -

     What do you want to know
             more about?

     How can we support your Centering           Prayer practice?

Email us your feedback here. Thank you.
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