A Gathering of Spirits
February 1, 2023
On Saturday, January 7, the Spiritual Companionship Internship class of 2024 gathered “live and in person” for the first time. It was a Spirit-filled afternoon of fellowship and sharing in a delicious potluck. Laughter filled the lovely meeting space at 76 Sherman St. and conversation flowed easily. It was delightful to experience our soul friendships in a different way.
We also had some time to reflect on the past semester, as we transition to the new one. The first months of the Spiritual Companionship Internship are filled with depth and new learnings: contemplative practices, deep listening skills, following the thread of the Holy, nature bathing, the Cosmos, exploring authenticity and testing the waters of one-on-one, and group spiritual companionship, as well as supervision.
Our gathering gave us the opportunity to reflect on what was and make room for what is to come, with a simple ritual. Perhaps you’d like to try it, too.
A Ritual of Transition
Choose 2 small stones you might find on a walk or in your yard.
- Consider the changes all around you, all the time. Seasons, family dynamics, births, deaths, leadership, etc. All of this has an impact on the whole of us, even if it's not obvious.
- Ponder what changes you have been noticing about yourself over the past season. What "ahas" have you experienced, what big upheavals; what has been a "cantus firmus,” or steady ground for you? Where have you welcomed change... where might you be resisting it.
- Hold one stone in each hand.
- In your left hand, consider what changes you have noticed in yourself that might not be serving you well, that might be weighing you down, and could be left behind. Take a few minutes to ponder these. Take a moment to honor and love that part of yourself, holding it with a loving, caring feeling. Once that feels complete, place that stone somewhere outside and away from you.
- In your right hand, consider what changes you have noticed in yourself that need to be honored and appreciated and brought with you into this new season. Take a few minutes to ponder and hold these changes. Offer them gratitude for their gifts. Place that stone someplace you will see it regularly to remind you of this gift.
We hope you will hold our Interns in your hearts, as they continue their amazing journey of becoming Spiritual Companions.
Nancy's Blog
On September 7, Oscar Brockmeyer, Lisa Hudkins, and I welcomed our 18th Spiritual Companion Internship class! Twenty seekers began their transformative journey to learn the craft of spiritual companionship. This is the largest class we’ve ever had and includes folks from a wide spectrum of faith traditions and life experiences. Many of them are experienced spiritual listeners in their own right: chaplains, pastoral counselors, ministers, and Cursillo leaders, to name a few. As always, we’ll learn as much from them as they will from us! I can still vividly remember my own Internship class. The moment I picked up the brochure, I felt electric energy emanating from the paper to my fingers, making its way effortlessly to my heart, landing there with a gentle burst. I knew I HAD to do this. It was one of those times when saying “yes!” to Spirit was easy. The excitement I felt at my first class, the nervousness, and the anxious hope that I would find my spiritual “peeps” in this new heart-home I had been led to, is still crystal clear in my memory. I hadn’t taken any sort of class for decades, so I was ready with brand new blank notebooks, crisp file folders, sharpened pencils, and fresh pens with blue ink. The books I had read over the summer, post-it notes sticking out from multiple pages, were tucked in a new tote bag I bought at Omega Institute for this very purpose. I was a little girl again, longing to learn. She knew this program would change my life. At Wednesday’s class, we wanted everyone to begin to know each other. After mulling over the usual icebreakers, we decided on one I learned at my UU church - share their spiritual life story. We all have stories to tell; we’re basically a library filled with powerful and interesting stories. And this program is all about listening to and noticing Spirit within our seekers’ stories. Of course, our class was only 3 hours long, so we wanted very short stories. So, we asked our Interns: “Tell us your spiritual life story in ONE succinct sentence.” We took two minutes of silence to ponder and then shared our stories. It was beautiful to listen to, illuminating to all of us, and a lovely way to get to know each other. How about you? What’s your spiritual life story? Take two minutes and ponder. How might you distill its essence into one sentence? Here’s mine: “Trying hard to follow Spirit’s call; failing, and trying again.” What’s yours? Perhaps you’d like to share it with your spiritual companion or ask them about theirs. If you’d like to share yours with me, I’d love to hear it. So, join me in welcoming our new class of emerging spiritual companions, as their spiritual life story continues! Blessed be.
This poem by Polly Castor found me during the quiet time between ending my communications job and stepping into this role as Executive Leader. It spoke to me with the ringing voice of Spirit and made me laugh in recognition and deep gratitude for its gift. “In this waiting place we loiter, hover, on a tentative cusp, a threshold, between the familiar and the unknown with no possible retreat…” I’ve spent the time in this “waiting place” celebrating love and weddings, savoring time with family, and experiencing Holy in new and delightful ways. I’ve felt deeply held in the “both/and” of the sure clarity of God’s calling me to this role, with the anxiety and humility of saying “Yes!” “The customary comfort zone is gone, and where the entrance ushers is not yet seen. Our new question (let alone its answer) still is ambiguous. We are in limbo. We can either hesitate or go forward…” As I sat with this poem more deeply, I realized our community at the Spiritual Life Center is also in this liminal space. New leadership, shifting staff roles, welcoming new interns to the craft of spiritual companionship, partnership with Hartford International University, and ushering in a new decade of sharing and supporting spiritual seekers and companions. God knows where we will be led. God knows. “The gossamer veil of divine nearness flutters ever so lightly, breathing inseparably close, as we step to embrace the unrevealed with trust, a shimmering opportunity for connection and listening and being led right on through. Lean into this portal; it is the doorstep to fruitful ground.” Yet, we also stand on solid and familiar ground. The Spiritual Life Center has a strong foundation built over 40 years of wisdom teaching, noticing Holy and holding each other as we move through all the changes 40 years bring. What might we discover as we pass over this new threshold? What do you envision? What might be revealed as we listen with our hearts open to the Holy? So, I invite you to lean into this portal with me. Let’s begin as we always do, by listening deeply to one another, noticing the thread of Spirit guiding our way. In the coming weeks, you’ll hear about a series of Community Conversations where we will gather to share ideas, ask questions, and be together as Anam Cara. I am so grateful to be stepping over this threshold with you.