August 20, 2006
Krista Moore-Woods offers a meditation upon joy. “Part of joy … for me is when I take a risk and I become like a child and I say yes.” She shares times in her own experience when she has confronted the “no” of fear and opened herself to the possibility of joy: auditioning for a part in community theatre, playing with her son, singing karaoke with an 80–year–old neighbour. She concludes with a reading from Walt Whitman’s “A Song of Joys.” She also draws on Mark 10:13–16 and the sonnet “Is There Not Joy?” by Dr. John Celes.
13.6 Mb; 18:59 min.
August 13, 2006
Leslie Wright speaks about comfort, homes and connecting with spirituality. She begins with John 14:1–19 which opens with the very comfortable: “Let not your heart be troubled…” But not everything from this passage sits so comfortably. For example, John quotes Jesus as referring to God as “Father.” Leslie walks with us through this passage and through her own experiences as she explores ways of spiritual connection. Along this journey, she treats us to photographs, one of her personal ways of finding such connection. She refers to the writings of Viktor Frankl, Bart Ehrman, and Marcus Borg.
Click here to download Leslie’s meditation as a 3.2 Mb shockwave slide show. (16.9 Mb; 19:31 min). All images in this presentation are the property of Leslie Wright and subject to the following copyright terms.
August 06, 2006
This morning, David Barker reflects upon prayer and uses photography as a model for how prayer works, suggesting that prayer — at least this kind of prayer — demands three things: 1) that we pay attention, particularly to the beauty in creation all around us; 2) in our attentiveness, that we take responsibility for finding beauty (things worthy of praise) even where this seems impossible; and 3) that we move from a passive attentiveness into an involvement with our world. Readings are from Psalm 104:24-34 and an excerpt from an interview with Leonard Cohen.
Click here to download David’s meditation as a 5.2 Mb shockwave slide show. (17.2 Mb; 15:44 min). All images in this presentation are the property of David Barker and subject to the following copyright terms.