DANCING THE WORLD: A SPIRITUALITY OF WISDOM AND IMAGINATION
WHEN: Wednesday, June 21 through Sunday, June 25, 2017
[Wednesday’s Session begins at 12:00 pm; Sunday’s ends after lunch] COST:$475.00
John Lee, Liz Pray, and Shirley Sullivan, leaders
This seminar is for people desiring to be fully alive!
Being “fully alive” is waking up, living with eyes and hearts wide open to what is emerging and life-giving, creative and authentic, engaging and challenging to all of one’s faculties. It’s about seeing beneath the surface of ordinary events to what is trying to be born into our awareness. Spirituality, being fully alive, is a journey of awakening.
At the center of the Guild’s work is a man who spent his short life guiding people into waking up. He simply identified it as “If you have ears to hear, then hear.” We might even say, “If you want to be fully alive, then wake up and live.” His name was Jesus of Nazareth. In his day, he was identified as a subversive, controversial and dangerous teacher of Wisdom.
In spite of many impressions placed on him by culture and religious tradition, Jesus was not about dogmas, believing in rational propositions, living by restrictions that squeezed the joy out of living, He was concerned about people experiencing an abundant life, meeting life challenges with wisdom, taking delight in the daily aspects of family and friends—and he partied a lot! He was even labeled a “drunkard” by the religious authorities of his day.
His teachings, parables, and actions were designed to develop an imaginative capacity in each person that enabled one to see below the surface, to discover deeper and deeper possibilities of what is trying to come alive and needing help. No answer was the final answer. No rule the final rule. Living fully is fully living the emerging possibilities of each moment. Wisdom is learning the creative way through life’s mazes.
Guild seminars are not to teach rules, final perspectives, what needs to be conformed to. Instead we take a passage of scripture from the Gospels and simply ask questions that assist participants to develop the imaginative capacities in themselves to read life deeply, imaginatively, and to become artists of their own Life. The visionary poet William Blake said, “Jesus was an artist, so were the Apostles and all the disciples.” This is what Jesus intended for all of us. It’s about learning to “Dance with the World!”
The resources for this seminar will include The Records of the Life of Jesus (Sharman), Hebrew Scriptures, art, movement, poetry, and other materials.
“[Jesus’] message was not one of repentance and return to the covenant. Rather he stayed close to the perennial ground of wisdom: the transformation of human consciousness.” -Cynthia Bourgeault, Wisdom Jesus
“Whether we like it or not, the depths within us are always throwing up treasures. For the awakened imagination there is no such thing as inner poverty.” – John O’Donohue, Beauty
“Bringing together what appears externally and what lies hidden in the life of the human spirit, will involve us more in a consideration of the religion of Jesus than of the religion about Jesus — that factual instruction which has hitherto been the chief concern of Orthodox Christianity.” – Dom Aelred Graham, Contemplative Christianity
JOHN LEE, D.Min., is a pastoral psychotherapist in Denver. He has been working with the Records of the Life of Jesus for over 30 years, and has been a Guild leader in Colorado since 1981. He is co-editor of Acts of the Heart: the Spiritual Psychology of Robert Sardello.
LIZ PRAY, D.Min., is a resident of Grand Junction, Colorado. She has been working with and leading the Records in Colorado since 1981.
SHIRLEY SULLIVAN, M.A., M.Div., works with groups and individuals to explore spiritual issues and dreams. She is a Guild leader and has been working with the Records since 1992.
DETAILED INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION PROCEDURE
This 5-day seminar is held at A Mountain Retreat, located in Colorado between Conifer and Pine Junction, a few miles off highway US 285. The $475.00 cost includes board and room and all supplies, except for the text, which costs $25.00. This is a not-for-profit event. Please send a $95.00 registration fee (non-refundable if your application is accepted and you are unable to attend) and a brief paragraph explaining why you want to attend the seminar. In your paragraph, please address these three questions:
1. What expectations do you bring to this experience?
2. What questions are you bringing to this seminar?
3. What is your religious history and you present relationship to it?
Please send this material, including your street address and email address to: Guild for Sacred Studies, 1810 West Crestline Drive, Littleton, CO 80120. You will be informed regarding your acceptance well prior to the seminar. Please email Jim Redmond at jgr@ecentral.com or phone him at 303-798-7931 if you have any questions regarding this seminar.
Sign up with registration fee by June 1, 2015 for a discount of ———— $25.00 ——————-
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