Mindful in the Dark
All to say this – in our gathering this week, Matthew Kent and I are going to have a chat about that “need to take action” part. Not from the vantage point of “three steps to beating the winter blues” (I think I’ll leave that to some internet sidebar), but from the perspective of the ways in which mindfulness / meditation practices can open our whole selves to a realm of spirituality that goes beyond “three steps” or “right belief” and opens into a way of moving through the challenges of life with a greater sense of peace and grace than we would otherwise experience. Matthew is someone whose exploration of these practices came out of a sense of the limitations of the traditional Christian practices he had previously known. I’ve experienced him as a gentle and practical guide in this arena, and invite you to come and see for yourself if there might be some “light in the darkness” in the conversation I’ll share with him this Sunday.
I should just add this – I don’t want to assume that your story is like mine. However, my story would include a sort of ill-defined fear of anything that included the word “meditation”. This entire realm of practice was presented to me as dangerous, a slippery slope, a kind of “spiritual gateway drug” that could lead to all sorts of “we’re not sure what might happen” dangers. What I’ve learned since is that this mostly had to do with fear of the unknown, and the inclination within my formative traditions to seek “right belief” rather than “connection with God”. In any case, it’s my perspective that there is much here to be genuinely intrigued to explore, and relatively little to fear. So if your story includes something like what I’ve described, I invite you to consider the possibility that there’s more than one way to approach the mystery of both God and ourselves and to come and sit in on the conversation. There’s no obligation, and no one will try to sell you a condo at the end…:)
We’ll be gathering at Pantages, trickling in as we tend to starting around 10:30, and making a point of trying to focus by 10:45.
Peace to you all,
-Tim Plett