UU SpiritLife Conversations, is a series of facilitated zoom conversations on spiritual topics, offered on Saturday mornings, 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM. This free program is open to all members of the three Hartford area UU churches on a drop-in basis – you don’t need to register or commit to the whole series.
Participants are asked to read and reflect on the session topics in advance and to come prepared to share their reactions and reflections, as we collectively deepen our spiritual life.
Participants may join the conversations at www.zoom.us using the Meeting ID: 952 722 999. Telephone access is available at 646-558-8656. Please plan to join a few minutes before the 9:00 AM discussion start time. No preregistration necessary.
Conversations – Fall 2023. There will be three conversations scheduled in October, November, and December. These conversations will be based on selected chapters from the book Handbook for the Spirit. Participants are encouraged to purchase used copies of this book, but copies of discussion articles will made available for those who do not purchase this book. Please check back here for more information about our upcoming conversations to be posted by around Labor Day, 2023.
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Verse 2 of the Tao Te Ching
2022 November 5. Verse 2 of the Tao Te Ching. In this session, we’ll reflect on the Taoist concepts of non-dualism and wu wei – effortless action – by reading verse 2 of the Tao Te Ching.
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A Spirituality for the Second Half of Life
2022 October 22. A Spirituality for the Second Half of Life. Spiritual director Margaret Guenther describes the second half of life as that time “when we are finally grown up…. our perspective changes.” A different kind of spirituality may be helpful than at other times. What would it look like? What life changes should it take into account?
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On The Road With Thomas Merton
2022 October 8. On The Road With Thomas Merton. This long article by Fred Bahnson won a Best Magazine Article award in 2020. Merton was a Christian monk but his ideas range far beyond his chosen faith. This is not a quick read but you will find ideas that drill deep. Although there are options to: 1) watch an 11-minute condensed-version video or 2) to listen to a narration by the author, we suggest that you take your time reading it. The words are important and will spark many ideas and reactions in you. Jot some notes!
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Anne Lamott Reflects on Prayer and Living
2022 September 24. Anne Lamott Reflects on Prayer and Living. Anne Lamott published this reflection in a New York Times op-ed in June (the reflection is copied into this link). Lamott has written many times about prayer. We’ll consider our own contemplative response to living and the call to deepening as we go through the tumult of our modern lives.
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Journey to the Sacred: An Interview With Mark Nepo
2022 May 28. Journey to the Sacred: An Interview With Mark Nepo. As a cancer survivor, Nepo is most concerned with what he calls “the great ordinary things that all of us have to face: the prospect of dying without having truly lived and the prospect of living without having truly loved. And the joy of discovering this with others.”
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Mirabai Starr – Wild Mercy
2022 April 23. Mirabai Starr – Wild Mercy. Mirabai explains women mystics’ emphasis on interbeing as well as the innate connection between spiritual seeking and the fate of the earth (note Earth Day is April 22).
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Redefining Prayer for UUs
2022 March 26. Redefining Prayer for UUs. Although many think of prayer as directed to a supernatural being or for something (supplication), this is too narrow a definition for UUs. In this session we take a wider view of prayer including how an atheist might pray.
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Bishop John Shelby Spong on Being a Mystic
2022 February 26. Bishop John Shelby Spong on Being a Mystic. Spong was a prominent religious liberal Episcopalian Bishop. The focus of this discussion will be on personal experience of our spiritual source and how that affects our life journeys.
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Finding Balance in an Unstable World, by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
2022 January 29. Finding Balance in an Unstable World, by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee. We are not separate but an integral part of the web of life, which is why we need to find right relationship with each other and the world around us.