By Mary Jane Holden
My daughter, Lily, and I went to the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last summer. We have gone to the last two General Assemblies together. (I hope she joins me for the next one in Salt Lake City, Utah.) Each time, we peruse the catalog looking for interesting workshops to attend. We like the workshops where we can learn about something we can bring back to Throop Church and we find personally appealing.
This time we found a workshop about the new Tapestry Series for adults. The workshop was an introduction of the new curricula that is available on the UUA.org site. There are two curricula out so far Spirit of Life and Spirit in Practice.
We were introduced to the Spirit of Life curriculum first and then the Spirit in Practice. We were then taken through a class of Spirit in Practice. At the end of the class Lily turned to me and said, "I would like to do that curriculum." As many of you know when ever I hear those words "I would like to do that..." I think of how I can help make that happen.
Lily and I held the first class of Spirit in Practice on Sunday, November 2, 2008. Our plan was to offer the series and see who showed up. The attendance was inspiring. During the class we explored what spirituality meant to each of us individually. I found the exchange very uplifting. I think others did too because we decided this was a curriculum we wanted to continue.
We will be holding classes every first Sunday of the month in the Fireside Room. I led the first class and Lily will lead the second on Sunday, December 7th at 12:45 p.m. There will be a total of 10 classes in all. Each class is designed to explore a different aspect of spiritual practice. There are eight practices in all with the intention that if you do all of the practices to some extent your holistic self will be spiritually grounded and connected to the sacred. This program is define the eight spiritual practices and explore the variety of way to practice.
Our hope for ourselves and others is develop an essence of the spiritual in all that we do and to start classes at Throop Church were we can do a few of the spiritual practices we find most appealing. Please join us.
