Urban Abbey meeting 9/27
The Urban Abbey will meet in community for reflection, fellowship, study, prayer and a chapter meeting on Saturday, September 27, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at Virginia Theological Seminary. This is a particularly important meeting where our Abbess will announce the new Listening Groups as well as give us an opportunity to review the reasons and procedures for Listening Groups. Because we have several important decisions facing the Abbey, Raima wishes to gather us in a formal chapter meeting for discussion and decision.
Gibbs Room in Aspinwall Hall at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria provides a quiet setting and good accommodations for our time apart. If you have a problem getting a ride, e-mail Ron Crocker and he will help you.
The cost for the day including coffee break and lunch is $20 per person. You may give Ron Crocker cash or a check. Make the check payable to St. George’s Church. As in the past, members of the abbey have brought light snacks to share at the beginning of the day. I encourage you to do that.
Dress comfortably; bring writing materials and anticipation for being together in community. We need to prepare material and tell the kitchen how many people will attend so please let me know whether or not you will attend by tomorrow, September 19.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Intention, Formation, and ActionSaturday, September 20, 9 am-noon
The Community of Reconciliation
Join us for a morning of exploration to learn more about the Community of Reconciliation at Washington National Cathedral, an emerging, ecumenical network of individuals offering the ancient Christian wisdom and practices of Benedictine spirituality as an alternative way of life to our often fragmented world. Learn what it means to become a companion in the Community, experience time for spiritual renewal, and explore how to begin bringing reconciliation to the world. RSVP/Questions: (202) 537-6217 More information>>
Friday, September 5, 2008
Sermon by Anne Omelianowich
Dear Abbey -- Several weeks ago, Abbey member Anne Omelianowich gave a fabulous sermon at St. George's about the importance of silence. Her message seems especially appropriate for Abbey members, so I've asked her for permission to reproduce it on the Abbey blog. Thank you, Anne, for this reminder of the importance of silence in our lives.
-------------------------------------------------
‘Now, there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, a sound of sheer silence.'
We fill our calendars with appointments and load our lives with words and events; and somehow, we think that in the chaos of living, we will find life. Perhaps, we do find a life, but is it the life that we desire?
On Wednesday evenings, I often attend a prayer service at St. John's. It is a hour filled with long spaces of silence. When some have questioned the length of those silences, others have responded that they have a need for silence in their lives and seem only to find it there.
In those moments of sheer silence, we find the place where we are one with God, the space where we have been created in his likeness. We find the Peace that is ours when we live a life conscious of that integral part of ourselves. It isn't a peace without conflict, or without the presence of the racket that life pours on us, but a peace as a sense of really knowing who we are and what we are becoming.
We drink in the excitement of spectacular events. The opening of the Olympics this weekend reminds us of the expectations that we have of the spectacular. We hold our breath against the possibility of the fury that may accompany these events. Everyone has a statement to make. All want to be heard.
But God doesn't clamor for our attention. God waits for us in silence, waits for us to become silent.
We set aside a time of silent prayer and then rush to fill the space with words that neither God nor we require. By some, silence is seen as a waste of time and space that could be used for something.
We are constantly lured into the religion of acquisition, be it of possessions or ideas or the attention of others.
A couple of weeks ago, I arrived at my daughter's home to spend the evening with my grandsons, Isaac, who is nearly 6, and Ethan, 3 and a half. Noise assaulted me when I opened the door. The usual din of their household. I prepared the evening meal for the boys and myself, as Carol and Marty prepared themselves to go out for the evening. The din continued as we sat down to eat. We waved goodbye and sent them away with wishes to ‘have a good time'. The door closed, and silence fell on us like a cool breeze on a steamy, hot day. The struggle for attention had been silenced by the closing of a door. On both sides of that door, there was relief at the peace it brought. Even the perpetrators of that struggle for the attention of their parents were suddenly pleased by the silence.
We suffocate the very essence of who we are and allow no time for the process of becoming.
We pay so much attention to getting what we think we want, to what others are thinking of what we do, and where we go, and with whom we keep company, and what we are wearing that we find no time to clear away the rubbish to see ourselves, stripped of all the trappings, to find the presence of God in us, and to know when ‘we find ourselves in the place just right' as the Shaker Hymn says.
I invite you to schedule a place for silence in your lives where God might meet you. The place where you are at home with yourself without the distractions of phones ringing (particularly cell phones), clocks ticking away the minutes until your next appointment, chores that will still be there if not done during these precious minutes.
Henri Nouwen said that ‘Silence is a place where we all become pilgrims. It is what guards that fire within us and it teaches us how to speak.' Paul writes to the Church in Rome that ‘The Word is very near you, on your lips and in your heart.' We don't have to go somewhere else to find God, we need only to clear away the clutter so that when God speaks to us, we can hear the Word in our hearts.
We have thought that silence belongs to monasteries. But I can tell you that silence is what welcomes us home to ourselves and where God waits for us.
When I lived in Nevada, there were some years when I worked in Las Vegas and spent the day pressured to produce the product of my employer. I drove home in traffic that rivals rush hour here. But once I reached the mountain pass that separates Boulder City, the small town where I lived from the Valley where Las Vegas spreads across its entire floor, I could once again see the vastness of the desert and the canopy of blue sky unobstructed by buildings and highways, and the noise was left behind like a door closing against it.
I can breath again. There is space and solitude and great beauty in the desert. When I first came to the desert, I read in Hosea about how God called the one he loves into the desert to win her back there with words of love. It was a message with my name on it, and I understood the desert to be the place where, in solitude, God would wait for me.
God has a desert for each of us, where he waits to win us back with those words of love.
In the Gospel today, we see Jesus, once again leaving the throngs of people who have been listening to him teach, and go up into the mountains to be alone, to be alone with God, to restore his spirit and to find there the words to speak. There he is alone with God, in silence.
We see Jesus, time and again, taking himself off. We need to take ourselves off for the very same reasons. God will speak to us there, not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but in the silence.
The monk and theologian, Thomas Merton, wrote: "I, Solitude, am Angel
And have prayed in your name.
Look at the empty, wealthy night
The pilgrim moon!
I am the appointed hour,
The ‘now' that cuts
Time like a blade.
I am the unexpected flash
Beyond ‘yes', beyond ‘no',
The forerunner of the Word of God.
Follow my ways and I will lead you
To golden-haired suns,
Logos and music, blameless joys,
Innocent of questions
And beyond answers.
For I, Solitude, am thine own self;
I, nothingness, am thy all,
I, Silence, am thy ‘Amen'. "
In Spiritual Literacy by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, they write:
"Silence is a special place you must go regularly. Silence is a grace that nurtures, heals, reveals and renews. ‘No spiritual excercise,' counsels St. Seraphim of Sarov, ‘is as good as that of silence'.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be."
--------------------------------------
Readings for this sermon are from Proper 14 Year A (see below). The original sermon was delivered on August 10, 2008 at St. George's Episcopal Church in Arlington, VA
1 Kings 19:9-18
Psalm 85:8-13
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33
-------------------------------------------------
‘Now, there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, a sound of sheer silence.'
We fill our calendars with appointments and load our lives with words and events; and somehow, we think that in the chaos of living, we will find life. Perhaps, we do find a life, but is it the life that we desire?
On Wednesday evenings, I often attend a prayer service at St. John's. It is a hour filled with long spaces of silence. When some have questioned the length of those silences, others have responded that they have a need for silence in their lives and seem only to find it there.
In those moments of sheer silence, we find the place where we are one with God, the space where we have been created in his likeness. We find the Peace that is ours when we live a life conscious of that integral part of ourselves. It isn't a peace without conflict, or without the presence of the racket that life pours on us, but a peace as a sense of really knowing who we are and what we are becoming.
We drink in the excitement of spectacular events. The opening of the Olympics this weekend reminds us of the expectations that we have of the spectacular. We hold our breath against the possibility of the fury that may accompany these events. Everyone has a statement to make. All want to be heard.
But God doesn't clamor for our attention. God waits for us in silence, waits for us to become silent.
We set aside a time of silent prayer and then rush to fill the space with words that neither God nor we require. By some, silence is seen as a waste of time and space that could be used for something.
We are constantly lured into the religion of acquisition, be it of possessions or ideas or the attention of others.
A couple of weeks ago, I arrived at my daughter's home to spend the evening with my grandsons, Isaac, who is nearly 6, and Ethan, 3 and a half. Noise assaulted me when I opened the door. The usual din of their household. I prepared the evening meal for the boys and myself, as Carol and Marty prepared themselves to go out for the evening. The din continued as we sat down to eat. We waved goodbye and sent them away with wishes to ‘have a good time'. The door closed, and silence fell on us like a cool breeze on a steamy, hot day. The struggle for attention had been silenced by the closing of a door. On both sides of that door, there was relief at the peace it brought. Even the perpetrators of that struggle for the attention of their parents were suddenly pleased by the silence.
We suffocate the very essence of who we are and allow no time for the process of becoming.
We pay so much attention to getting what we think we want, to what others are thinking of what we do, and where we go, and with whom we keep company, and what we are wearing that we find no time to clear away the rubbish to see ourselves, stripped of all the trappings, to find the presence of God in us, and to know when ‘we find ourselves in the place just right' as the Shaker Hymn says.
I invite you to schedule a place for silence in your lives where God might meet you. The place where you are at home with yourself without the distractions of phones ringing (particularly cell phones), clocks ticking away the minutes until your next appointment, chores that will still be there if not done during these precious minutes.
Henri Nouwen said that ‘Silence is a place where we all become pilgrims. It is what guards that fire within us and it teaches us how to speak.' Paul writes to the Church in Rome that ‘The Word is very near you, on your lips and in your heart.' We don't have to go somewhere else to find God, we need only to clear away the clutter so that when God speaks to us, we can hear the Word in our hearts.
We have thought that silence belongs to monasteries. But I can tell you that silence is what welcomes us home to ourselves and where God waits for us.
When I lived in Nevada, there were some years when I worked in Las Vegas and spent the day pressured to produce the product of my employer. I drove home in traffic that rivals rush hour here. But once I reached the mountain pass that separates Boulder City, the small town where I lived from the Valley where Las Vegas spreads across its entire floor, I could once again see the vastness of the desert and the canopy of blue sky unobstructed by buildings and highways, and the noise was left behind like a door closing against it.
I can breath again. There is space and solitude and great beauty in the desert. When I first came to the desert, I read in Hosea about how God called the one he loves into the desert to win her back there with words of love. It was a message with my name on it, and I understood the desert to be the place where, in solitude, God would wait for me.
God has a desert for each of us, where he waits to win us back with those words of love.
In the Gospel today, we see Jesus, once again leaving the throngs of people who have been listening to him teach, and go up into the mountains to be alone, to be alone with God, to restore his spirit and to find there the words to speak. There he is alone with God, in silence.
We see Jesus, time and again, taking himself off. We need to take ourselves off for the very same reasons. God will speak to us there, not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but in the silence.
The monk and theologian, Thomas Merton, wrote: "I, Solitude, am Angel
And have prayed in your name.
Look at the empty, wealthy night
The pilgrim moon!
I am the appointed hour,
The ‘now' that cuts
Time like a blade.
I am the unexpected flash
Beyond ‘yes', beyond ‘no',
The forerunner of the Word of God.
Follow my ways and I will lead you
To golden-haired suns,
Logos and music, blameless joys,
Innocent of questions
And beyond answers.
For I, Solitude, am thine own self;
I, nothingness, am thy all,
I, Silence, am thy ‘Amen'. "
In Spiritual Literacy by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, they write:
"Silence is a special place you must go regularly. Silence is a grace that nurtures, heals, reveals and renews. ‘No spiritual excercise,' counsels St. Seraphim of Sarov, ‘is as good as that of silence'.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be."
--------------------------------------
Readings for this sermon are from Proper 14 Year A (see below). The original sermon was delivered on August 10, 2008 at St. George's Episcopal Church in Arlington, VA
1 Kings 19:9-18
Psalm 85:8-13
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33
Monday, June 30, 2008
Dear Urban Abbey,I would like to add a word of thanks to all who helped make our Fifth Anniversary celebration a big success. Kathie Panfil and Marlee Norton did a great job organizing the community discussion and we experienced an outpouring of creative ideas thanks to Kathie’s skillful guidance of our conversation. Thanks, also, to Pat Loudis for organizing a wonderful meal of soups, breads, fruit and all sorts of goodies. Thanks, in addition, to all who contributed food and who pitched in to help set up the tables and the food and to clean up afterwards.
A special thank you to Marlee Norton, our celebrant, to Ron Crocker for assisting in the Eucharist, to our readers Anne Omelianowich and Patrick McCabe, and to Marcia Towne Devens for guiding us musically throughout the evening and playing the piano during our rousing final hymn. And thanks to all who attended and participated, making the evening such a huge success.
Please respond to Kathie’s request for corrections, additions or any other ideas you’ve had since our meeting. If you were not able to attend the meeting and would like to add your ideas to the list below, please feel free to do that as well. The leadership team will take all your input and use it to help us discern where the Abbey is being called next.
Our next community meeting is likely to be in September. Watch for an announcement of a specific date and place as these plans are firmed up over the next few weeks.
Raima Larter
Dear Urban Abbey,
On June 26, 2008, we commemorated the 5th anniversary of the Urban Abbey. We did so with simplicity, setting up for supper together, and after eating, reflecting on how the Abbey has contributed to our own lives and to our larger community. Then we celebrated the Eucharist together. I think we agreed that the evening was one of grace.
Below are the notes from our discussion. Raima Larter will use them to guide the leadership team this year. If there is something you would like to add, please send it on to all of us by using the Urban Abbey’s e-mail group.
We might have more discussion, electronically, as we move ahead.
Kathie Panfil
- - - - - - - - - -
5th ANNIVERSARY DISCUSSION OF THE URBAN ABBEY JUNE 26, 2008
WHAT EFFECT HAS THE ABBEY HAD ON US AS INDIVIDUALS AND AS A COMMUNITY?
5th ANNIVERSARY DISCUSSION OF THE URBAN ABBEY JUNE 26, 2008
WHAT EFFECT HAS THE ABBEY HAD ON US AS INDIVIDUALS AND AS A COMMUNITY?
Group A
Contributions:
Deepened sense of spirituality.
Enhanced our skills of listening to God.
Intentionality committing to listening groups Concentric rings: St Georges, and within it, Urban Abbey Support in times of difficulty Helps us recognize face of Christ in others More open heart.
Deepened sense of spirituality.
Enhanced our skills of listening to God.
Intentionality committing to listening groups Concentric rings: St Georges, and within it, Urban Abbey Support in times of difficulty Helps us recognize face of Christ in others More open heart.
Growth from retreats Helps to know others are also reflecting, listening.
What else are we looking for?
More commitment to listening groups.
Reorganize some groups and keep groups doing well together. Reawaken midday prayer.
Group B
More commitment to listening groups.
Reorganize some groups and keep groups doing well together. Reawaken midday prayer.
Group B
Contributions:
Learn what spiritual growth means.
Others to talk with.
Community of the heart.
Learn what spiritual growth means.
Others to talk with.
Community of the heart.
What else are we looking for?
Service: what else does it mean/might it mean?
Not more tasks, but want to explore ways Abbey could support our service.
Call on others through abbey channels.
Abbey members as yeast in other groups.
Deeper spiritual foundation should enable us to reach out.
Helping ourselves/others to deepen spiritually is indeed service.
Service: what else does it mean/might it mean?
Not more tasks, but want to explore ways Abbey could support our service.
Call on others through abbey channels.
Abbey members as yeast in other groups.
Deeper spiritual foundation should enable us to reach out.
Helping ourselves/others to deepen spiritually is indeed service.
Group C
Contributions:
Personal growth.
Healing services/Taizé.
Personal growth.
Healing services/Taizé.
What else are we looking for?
How do we let others know what the Abbey offers?
Difficult for new members to fully grasp focus of abbey.
We should sponsor events with theme, speaker. Invite Region 3 or others.
Add to Web presence/blog.
Use labyrinth as a ministry.
Group D
Contributions:
Feeling God's presence more often.
Profound friendships made in Abbey.
Experience of deep, shared prayer.
More comfort with silence.
Rule of life: makes it easier to do what we want to do anyway.
A different way of making decisions (not voting).
What else are we looking for?
We aren’t growing (but should).
We should help others find their spiritual center.
Some prayer groups have started and ended; should we start something else?
We could start a healing community: home visits for prayer Try body-centered prayer: learn from/share what we do with others.
We aren’t growing (but should).
We should help others find their spiritual center.
Some prayer groups have started and ended; should we start something else?
We could start a healing community: home visits for prayer Try body-centered prayer: learn from/share what we do with others.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Abbey Celebration June 26
On Thursday, June 26, 2008 from 6-9 pm we will gather in the Parish Hall at St. George’s to celebrate our fifth anniversary. The history of the Urban Abbey can be traced to discussions that began more than five years ago, including a parish retreat in November, 2002, followed by the formation of a task force and a second retreat the following spring. On June 26, 2003 twenty two individuals made a commitment to God and one another to take on a Rule of Life and, thus, the Urban Abbey was formed.
As is our tradition, our meeting will begin with food and fellowship. I suggest the following rough agenda:
6:00-6:30 Gather & Prepare Dinner
6:30-7:30 Dinner & Fellowship Time
7:30-7:45 Clean-up
7:45-8:30 Community Meeting or Program
8:30-9:00 Liturgy (Including Installation of Leadership Team & Joining of any New Members)
Notice that new members of the leadership team will be formally installed at this meeting. Please let me know as soon as possible, but by June 15 at the latest, if you feel called to service on the leadership team this year – we do need at least two more individuals to serve on this team, so please prayerfully consider this possibility for service to the Abbey community.
The third component of our Rule of Life is to “Serve others, share the tasks of the Urban Abbey Community and be mindful of God in my daily work.” Our upcoming meeting provides a perfect opportunity for each Abbey member to live out this aspect of our rule, so please volunteer for one of the following tasks. Let me know which of these you would like to help with and I will put people in touch with each other.
Volunteers needed for:
Development of program ideas
Food Coordinator
Food Preparation and Set-up
Clean-up
Design of Liturgy
Any other ideas you may have (maybe a birthday cake?!)
I look forward to hearing from you and celebrating with you in June!
Raima
As is our tradition, our meeting will begin with food and fellowship. I suggest the following rough agenda:
6:00-6:30 Gather & Prepare Dinner
6:30-7:30 Dinner & Fellowship Time
7:30-7:45 Clean-up
7:45-8:30 Community Meeting or Program
8:30-9:00 Liturgy (Including Installation of Leadership Team & Joining of any New Members)
Notice that new members of the leadership team will be formally installed at this meeting. Please let me know as soon as possible, but by June 15 at the latest, if you feel called to service on the leadership team this year – we do need at least two more individuals to serve on this team, so please prayerfully consider this possibility for service to the Abbey community.
The third component of our Rule of Life is to “Serve others, share the tasks of the Urban Abbey Community and be mindful of God in my daily work.” Our upcoming meeting provides a perfect opportunity for each Abbey member to live out this aspect of our rule, so please volunteer for one of the following tasks. Let me know which of these you would like to help with and I will put people in touch with each other.
Volunteers needed for:
Development of program ideas
Food Coordinator
Food Preparation and Set-up
Clean-up
Design of Liturgy
Any other ideas you may have (maybe a birthday cake?!)
I look forward to hearing from you and celebrating with you in June!
Raima
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Some of us have enjoyed on line courses in spirituality offered by “Spirituality & Practice.” They are offering the following, for your information.
Ron Crocker
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Lectio Divina—An Online Retreat and Practice Group
And now for something a little different: “Spirituality & Practice” is partnering with “Contemplative Outreach,” founded by Fr. Thomas Keating and best known for its pioneering teaching of centering prayer, to present an online workshop on Lectio Divina (Divine Reading), one of the great treasures of the Christian tradition of prayer.
Lectio Divina flows out of the Hebrew method of studying the Scriptures which is called haggadah, learning by the heart. Haggadah was an interactive interpretation of the Scriptures by means of the free use of the text to explore its inner meaning. This online retreat will present the Christian version of this spiritual practice working with passages from the Bible. However, the method of divine reading can be used with any sacred text, so people of all traditions are invited to join us.
The Lectio Divina online retreat and Practice Group will run from May 19 to June 16. Participants will receive a weekly e-mail with step-by-step instructions in the Lectio Divina method. Two other weekly emails will provide answers to your questions and links to audio programs with commentary on this classic practice.
Replicating what you might experience during a face-to-face retreat, you will have access to a private Practice Group at SpiritualityandPractice.com, where mentors from “Contemplative Outreach” will provide further guidance and support. Here is an opportunity to report on your experiences with this practice and learn from others working with it. The Practice Circle will be available for an additional month for further sharing as you incorporate Lectio Divina into your daily life.
The fee for participation in this very special online retreat and Practice Group is $39.95. To sign up, click here then go to the bottom of the page that will be opened and click on the “Subscribe to E-Course” button. We and our friends at “Contemplative Outreach” are very much looking forward to sharing this beautiful practice with you.
-- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Ron Crocker
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Lectio Divina—An Online Retreat and Practice Group
And now for something a little different: “Spirituality & Practice” is partnering with “Contemplative Outreach,” founded by Fr. Thomas Keating and best known for its pioneering teaching of centering prayer, to present an online workshop on Lectio Divina (Divine Reading), one of the great treasures of the Christian tradition of prayer.
Lectio Divina flows out of the Hebrew method of studying the Scriptures which is called haggadah, learning by the heart. Haggadah was an interactive interpretation of the Scriptures by means of the free use of the text to explore its inner meaning. This online retreat will present the Christian version of this spiritual practice working with passages from the Bible. However, the method of divine reading can be used with any sacred text, so people of all traditions are invited to join us.
The Lectio Divina online retreat and Practice Group will run from May 19 to June 16. Participants will receive a weekly e-mail with step-by-step instructions in the Lectio Divina method. Two other weekly emails will provide answers to your questions and links to audio programs with commentary on this classic practice.
Replicating what you might experience during a face-to-face retreat, you will have access to a private Practice Group at SpiritualityandPractice.com, where mentors from “Contemplative Outreach” will provide further guidance and support. Here is an opportunity to report on your experiences with this practice and learn from others working with it. The Practice Circle will be available for an additional month for further sharing as you incorporate Lectio Divina into your daily life.
The fee for participation in this very special online retreat and Practice Group is $39.95. To sign up, click here then go to the bottom of the page that will be opened and click on the “Subscribe to E-Course” button. We and our friends at “Contemplative Outreach” are very much looking forward to sharing this beautiful practice with you.
-- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
