A long time ago I started a monthly Prayer Music and Meditation service on the first Wednesday of every month. When finally I had to skip a Wednesday because of travel, I had to look around for someone who could step in and work with Christopher, our music director, to maintain the spirit and flow of the service. It had become a popular service and those in attendance often named exactly why they made a monthly date to sit with us. They enjoyed the tone of the service, the selection of prayers that were read, the interlaced music, and so on.
I had worked with Diane Tapogna on other projects before, and her mindful attention to detail in those endeavors sprung to mind. So I asked her to co-present one of our First Wednesday evening services. We sat together on stage and inbetween music that the
community sang with us, she read poetry from Rumi I believe and I read prayers. I knew I could turn the service over to her.
community sang with us, she read poetry from Rumi I believe and I read prayers. I knew I could turn the service over to her.
What I didn't know is that she was starting to fall in love with the devotional prayers of Ernest Holmes. That's what I call them. The meditations that occur at the back of the book, The Science of Mind. These are written in a poetic, I-Thou style, that is not typical of contemporary prayers at the Center for Spiritual Living. They are, nevertheless, beautiful and perfectly suited to our First Wednesday Evening Service.
Now, fully in love with the prayers, Diane is offering a workshop to introduce devotional prayers. Here is what she writes about the workshop:
Devotional prayer opens the heart and leads to a deeper, more personal relationship with the Divine. Join practitioner Diane Tapogna in this exploration of some of the most beautiful, love-filled prayers of Ernest Holmes. Discover your own inner connection through contemplation, passage meditation, and other prayerful practices. Our 2012 Summer Workshops have been designed to meet the call from our community members for more opportunities to expand and deepen daily spiritual practices.
For convenience, I have included a complete list of all the workshops being offered in this series below.
I wanted to mention also, that another of our Professional Prayer Practitioners, Sanna Rose, has collected these devotional prayers from the public domain version of the original text of
The Science of Mind, and printed them in a pocket sized, spiral bound book which is easy to carry around. I like the index which organizes the prayers into topics. It is available at Stepping Stones Books and Gifts.
Here is the information on the Summer Workshop Series:
Expand and deepen your spiritual practices and community connection with these Saturday workshops. Each has been designed to meet the call from you, our friends and members, to be supported in going deeper in our daily practice, learning new tools, engaging in collective wisdom, sharing, and having fun!
Each workshop is $25 and pre-registration is encouraged as we do not want to cancel due to low enrollment. During the five days prior to the workshop and at the door, tickets will be $30. You may register at the Education Ministry table in the Social Hall on Sundays or with staff at the front desk during office hours.
Click on a workshop title for details.
Saturday
|
9:30 am to 12:30 pm
|
2 to 5 pm
|
July 7
| ||
July 28
| ||
August 11
| ||
August 18
| ||
August 25
|
No comments:
Post a Comment