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Hey folks – a short blurb this week, but with an important housekeeping item in it. Details first. We’ll meet at our home at 10:45 am (e-mail me if you need the address or a ride), livestream here, podcast here. We’ll share some Community Time, then go exploring in the realm of childhood and belief formation. […]
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Hey all – When we gather this week we’ll be continuing our exploration about systems of belief with a bit of a deeper dive into those mysterious, below-the-waterline things called “Core Beliefs”. In the model we have used so far we’ve referred to this piece of the system as “Core Assumptions,” and I’ll expand a […]
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Hey folks – it recently occurred to me that although this community has been exploring beliefs for years, I don’t think we’ve ever explicitly considered how they are formed. We’ve kind of treated them as though they simply “are”. And that might be a bit ironic, considering that when we treat our beliefs as “givens”, […]
read moreThe Deep End – Part 10 (last?)
May 3, 2026
Hey folks – as promised, our series on religious trauma and Religious Trauma Syndrome is drawing to a close. It’s been a while coming, for sure, but I’m glad to be turning the page into this chapter. As we will discover together, reconstruction isn’t simply substituting one belief system for another, but rather the choice […]
read moreThe Deep End Part 9b
Apr 19, 2026
Hey folks – last week we planned to explore the place that anger has on the road to recovery from religious trauma and Religious Trauma Syndrome. And we almost did. 🙂 However, as sometimes happens, our Community Time conversation expanded and “poof” – it was time to go home! I want to acknowledge that there is some tension […]
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Sorry/not sorry – I couldn’t resist adding the all-caps “MORE”. I think it’s because the subject line was starting to sprawl… In any case, that is also all true. This Sunday, we’ll gather at the Plett house once again (details below). We will start with an Easter Egg hunt for the kids. For those joining us online […]
read moreThe Deep End Part 8 (and a drive in the country)
Mar 29, 2026
Hey folks—last week’s blurb was long partly because I needed to provide a lot of details about the “where” part of our gathering. There will be some of that in this one as well because the search for our next gathering space is ongoing. Some of you have sent suggestions – much appreciated, and be […]
read moreThe Deep End Part 7, Relocated
Mar 22, 2026
As most of you may know, VA Cafe has closed. That’s sad for several reasons, one of which is that we now have no gathering space. We’re working on that but it might take a bit of doing to find our next “home”. In the meantime, we still exist to make room to explore what we believe, […]
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Hey folks – we’ve taken a bit of a breather from our exploration of religious trauma and RTS (religious trauma syndrome) for the past couple of weeks, and (as promised) we are now returning to this topic. In particular, we’re going to move into some consideration of what healing might look like. I’m not going to […]
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Hey folks – our journey this week will take us through some more critical thinking about what to watch for if we’re trying to identify / steer clear of toxic belief systems. If you caught the Talky Bit last week, you know I have a very long list that I’m working from, but I promise […]
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