A Month of Sundays
Our Monthly theme for August is Prayer and Meditation. These are spiritual practices that are well suited to help us listen to our life. Both slow us down, help us center, and push the ego to the side so it does not dominate our contemplation. Done well, both practices take us deeper into our own life. Distractions disappear, assumptions are uncovered, and fear is diminished, as we move from willfulness to willingness. Of course both practices involve some sacrifice of which time is the most obvious, but any sacrifice is more than compensated with an increase in our well-being. This is to say that both prayer and meditation are profound forms of self-care. They shift the equation from human doing to human being. The fruits of both are subtle, sweet, and luminous.
August 4: On a Wing and a Prayer
This Sunday, Rev. Rost celebrates her 11th anniversary at All Soul’s and her 30th anniversary as a minister. Join us this week as Rev. Rost talks about the many ways prayer and meditation have both grounded her and guided her in her spiritual journey.
Religious Exploration – Our Guest in the Classroom will be Emily Walen. She will share her passion for all things natural as we make artwork from fresh flowers and other natural items.
August 11: Prayer: the Language of the Heart
In 1955, Rev. A. Powell Davies, the minister of All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, DC published (via Farrar, Strauss and Cudahy) a book of prayers. Those prayers are about as close to a Psalter as the Unitarian Universalists have (imho!). In his foreword, Powell Davies writes: The closer prayer is to life, the less likely is it that what is expressed at one time will be consistent with what is expressed at others. And it is to life above all that prayers should stay close…Prayer should arise from whatever we really feel, directed towards mastery of our lives through growing insight and guided by our moral nature….It is the language of the heart, akin to poetry…Prayer goes on where other language leaves off: it has to do with what is least known and yet most deeply felt.
Join Rev. Roger Butts as we explore prayer as devotional tool, together.
Rev. Roger Butts is Affiliated Community Minister at All Souls in Colorado Spring, an Associate Minister at Unity Spiritual Center in the Rockies, and a Staff Chaplain at Penrose St. Francis Health Services. His essay, Carl Scovel Saved My Life appeared last year in Testimony (Skinner House Books) and two of his prayers: “I long for you God” and “After Psalm 119” are slated to appear in an anthology that is appearing later this year or early next year.
Religious Exploration – Today will be an intergenerational service. Children and youth are invited to join us in service. There is no RE or Youth Group but nursery/PreK care is available. Their sign-up sheets will be downstairs. We have purple Doodle Boxes in the Great Hall for those that like to keep their hands busy.
August 18: Around the World in 80 Prayers
In this country, we tend to associate the term “prayer” with Christianity or Judaism, but a reaching out for connection with the Divine—whether that is outward or in our very souls, is a key component in many faith traditions around the world. This Sunday Rev. Rost will explore how world faith traditions seek communion with the Mystery. And don’t worry—we won’t really look at 80 prayers!!
Religious Exploration – Our guest, Linda Rossetti, has an interesting hobby. She like to make mosaics art projects from broken pottery pieces. What a great and fun way to recycle AND make beautiful art!
August 25: The Crack in Everything: the Theology of Leonard Cohen
Of the great songwriters of our time, Leonard Cohen was perhaps the most spiritual. He spent five years in a Zen monastery. His songs are cryptic koans, about the contradictions of seeking light, love and justice in a dark and fallen world, while holding onto humor and hope. Songwriter Steve Brooks sings and unravels several of his favorites, while he explores their lessons for surviving the New Dark Age.
Religious Exploration – – Suset Rosario and James Rosario will be our guest teacher and assistant in our Guest in the Classroom summer programming. Suset will share her passion for hula hoops! You do NOT need to know how to hoop to attend. Hula hoops will be provided and there will be opportunities for all ages and skill levels to enjoy the meditative and engaging process of hula hooping!