Living Spirituality Connections

Resources for deeper living

Art as disruptive and prophetic intervention

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St James’s Piccadilly has hosted two striking and disruptive art installations in recent months. Below we hear from the artists concerned.

Her floe-fall lament by Sara Mark

At Advent, close to the culmination of the Paris Climate Change Summit (COP21), Sara Mark’s ice melt sculpture was placed at the entrance to the sanctuary at St James’s Piccadilly, preventing people from walking down the central isle. The sound of the sculpture was audible throughout the morning service. See the video at www.sjp.org.uk/ice-melt-2015.html.

sara_mark_st_james

Her Floe-fall Lament (COP21) – Sara Mark, 2016. Frozen water, steel, wood-ash. Duration 20 hours. Size approx. 200 x 200 cms. Photo credit. Sara Mark, 2016.

Sara comments: “Her floe-fall lament (COP21) was made by freezing 66 litres of water into an oil drum. I placed it in the central aisle of the church to cause maximum disruption to the usual events on Sunday and the constant amplified sound of the melt-water pouring into the oil barrel beneath was an insistent reminder of something happening in real-time elsewhere in the World.

My first ice-melt piece was made in 2006, after attending a Climate Change seminar for artists at the RSA. I was so shocked by what I saw and heard, I wondered how I could make work about anything else. Since then I have used ice as a symbol for issues that need time to transform and resolve. The outcome is inevitable. The ice melts drop by drop, but with it come release, warmth and a certain stillness after perhaps several days of thaw and agitation.”

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Exciting plans for a new Tavener Centre for Music and Spirituality

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tavener_centreIn an age of searching for meaning, music is often a place where people find hope and inspiration. The Tavener Centre for Music and Spirituality, directed by Revd Dr June Boyce-Tillman, will be a place where the links between spirituality and music can be examined – those established by the great world faiths and those made by people in their everyday lives. The Centre will produce writing and creative projects in this area and will attract people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.

The University of Winchester organised concerts in the Cathedral celebrating Sir John’s music, and an interview in 2005 in the Theatre Royal, Winchester in which he talked honestly and openly about the interplay between his own faith. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Winchester.

Sir John has given us a wonderful insight into interfaith dialogue. In 1997 he embraced the Orthodox faith where he was drawn to its traditions and mysticism. He stood clearly for religious tolerance throughout his work. He illustrated how to deal with intense suffering and he felt deeply for the suffering of the world. He saw the need to transubstantiate suffering through music in an artistic culture which saw fit to represent the most shocking and violent aspects of our culture in a raw untransformed state.

He stands as an icon for a view of artistic expression of a way of generating hope and transcendence. Our age owes him deep gratitude. The Centre celebrates this and wishes to bring together others who share this vision of music, spirituality and healing.

The Centre’s aims are:

  • to mount a festival of Sir John Tavener’s music every three years in the Winchester area
  • to explore the relationship between spirituality and music with particular reference to the great faiths
  • to organise a conference on music and spirituality associated with the festival, leading to publications in this area
  • to disseminate Sir John’s own understanding of the relationship between music and spirituality.

The Centre, led by June Boyce-Tillman in association with Lady Tavener, will work with the Tavener Foundation, Winchester Cathedral and Chester Music.

Revd Dr June Boyce-Tillman MBE FRSA FHEA is Professor of Applied Music at the University of Winchester, and is coordinator of LivingSpirituality’s Music and Spirituality Special Interest Area.

For the new Centre’s leaflet go to: www.livingspirit.org.uk/tavener_centre_leaflet.pdf.

For full information about the new Centre, email June.Boyce-Tillman@winchester.ac.uk.

Save the Date!

Tavener Centre event in Winchester: Nov 11th 2016 10.30-4.30. A day conference exploring the spiritual in music, its meaning and its place in contemporary life.

Nonviolence – a hidden treasure in the Christian tradition?

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by Heather-Jane Ozanne

“Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time” – Dr Martin Luther King

Nonviolence is not a specifically Christian concept, indeed it has been developed and lived by exponents from many different faiths and none. In the Muslim tradition Ghaffer Khan, dubbed ‘the border Gandhi’ was a leader who led a nonviolence movement in the North West Frontier of India. He rooted his belief in the teaching of the Quran, seeing nonviolence as the weapon of Jihad, or Holy War, based on patience and righteousness. Jewish exponents include Martin Buber and Abraham Joshua Heschel. For some, nonviolence is simply an expedient political/strategic tool but for those who come to it from a spiritual or faith background, nonviolence often becomes a way of life.

Nonviolence has good ‘provenance’ in the Christian faith and I believe needs to be taken more seriously in our world where violence or superior hard power seems to be an all too easy method of engaging in conflict. The numerous social platforms acting out conflict engagement whether via entertainment or community/national interactions express boldly the above. There are many definitions of nonviolence. Some definitions refer only to non-engagement in physical acts of violence whilst. others, which are far more inclusive, involve refraining from violating the spirit of another or what could be viewed as a holistic or broader scope of the idea of violence.

Martin Luther King’s role

Dr Martin Luther King Jr is a person who rings in many hearts and is on the syllabus in UK schools, not least because he was assassinated on 4th April 1968 and left an important legacy in American history. Yet, how many here know of his legacy in terms of the training and strategy he began to develop in nonviolent action? Based on his Christian ideals, he developed a method which can and did transform many conflicts, preventing them from becoming violent or violating whilst encouraging the highest possible outcome for all parties – a methodology Dr King Jr termed “Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation” instead of resolution.

From childhood I knew something of the U.S. Civil Rights campaigns in the 1950’s and 60’s and big inspiring speeches King is so well-known for. However I had little idea of the deep Christian theological and philosophical underpinnings of King’s social activism, nor of the legacy he has left both in what he achieved in the Civil Rights campaigns and in the teaching and training in nonviolence he originated, Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation (KNCR).

Training

That was until I attended an evening at St Ethelburga’s Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, London in 2008. As Dr Yehoeshahfaht Ben Israel presented some of the key life events and philosophy of King, it was as though Martin Luther King was present. Certainly something of his spirit seemed to come alive.

Subsequently I attended 2 day orientation training, inspiringly facilitated by Yehoeshahfaht, who is possibly the only qualified trainer of Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation in Europe. (He received his training from Dr Bernard Lafayette Jr, a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, who was with Dr King, a few hours on the fateful day, before an assassin’s bullet robbed the world of Dr Kings’ life). I had many light-bulb moments during the training weekend and it is not an overstatement to say that even this basic introduction was transformative in my personal and work life.

Taking root in our culture

How was it that I, with my background in social and community work and many years of work in the field of reconciliation and peace-building, had never before become aware of the depth of teaching and understanding the legacy of King provided, nor how deep-rooted they were in his Christian experience and theology? There are many answers to this question, one being that Kingian philosophy, thought and nonviolence in general are only recently beginning to take root in our culture where until now so many have been too ready to legitimise violence as a means of conflict ‘resolution’. This legitimacy squashes out any notion of the viability of reconciliation, establishing an emphasis on who is right rather than on what is right for social cohesion, harmony and onward development. All conflicts have an impact on society and community, whether large, small, delayed or in the moment unfolding.

Reconciliation rather than win/lose

King was a Baptist pastor and in 1957 he preached on loving your enemies, from the Sermon on the Mount. King says, ‘ it’s significant the he (Jesus) does not say, ‘Like your enemy’……Jesus says love them. And love is greater than like. Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love everybody, because God loves them’. This outlook did not condone naively the crux of the conflict, but allowed for the separation of the inherent dignity of all humanity and their ability to move towards higher human transformation from the dysfunctional or destructive elements or “evils” expressed as a part of the conflict.

This to me is the active ingredient in King’s nonviolent philosophy, which seeks to work towards a harmonious and just outcome, a reconciliation instead of a win/loss resolution, where all share in the ‘victory’ or outcome without resorting to physical violence or violation of spirit of ‘the other’, along the way.

Gandhi’s role

King was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and in Gandhi, perhaps the most famous leader of a nonviolent movement and Hindu ‘great soul’; we also see the influence of Christian teaching. Martin Luther King learnt much about nonviolent strategy from the example of Gandhi and pointed out that “Gandhi was probably the first person in history to lift the love ethic of Jesus above mere interaction between individuals to a powerful and effective social force on a large scale,” King suggested that,”Love for Gandhi was a potent instrument for social transformation.”

Gandhi too was deeply moved by the Sermon on the Mount which he says ‘went straight to my heart’. He also wrote that “the example of Jesus’ suffering is a factor in the composition of my undying faith in nonviolence which rules all my actions, worldly and temporal.”6

In this brief article I have barely scratched the surface of the underpinnings of nonviolence in the Christian tradition. It is something I am learning more of and seeking, however imperfectly, to put into practice in my own environment.

Spirit of Peace programme

In our charity, Spirit of Peace we are developing and delivering talks and workshops on nonviolence, combined with our core training in HeartWisdom.

We are delighted too in continuing to work with Dr Yehoeshahfaht Ben Israel, who has delivered some outstanding Kingian training to schools, community groups and prisoners, a training which can be taken as a basic taster right up to Ph.D. level!

If you would like further information about any aspect of these talks and trainings please contact me, Heather-Jane Ozanne. This link will take you to the contact page on our website from where you can email me: www.spiritofpeace.co.uk/contact.

Thanks to Dr Ben Israel for his contributions to this article.

heather-janeozanneHeather-Jane Ozanne is Founder and CEO of Spirit of Peace, and is a member of the Living Spirituality Connections Steering Group. She is also Coordinator of our Towards Human Flourishing special interest area, which you can find more information about here – www.livingspirit.org.uk/sia/towards-human-flourishing.

The Experience of a Group for Sharing Spiritual Journeys

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The LivingSpirituality Journeying Together Group (JTG) emerged out of an initiative in 2014 designed to “explore the spirituality and theology of giving equal weight to female and male language for the divine”.  After a few meetings we broadened our scope to reflect the original members’ interests.

Our aims now are to:

  • share our spiritual journeys;
  • use inclusive language and imagery exploring the feminine and masculine nature of the divine, particularly focusing on bringing forth the suppressed feminine strand within the Judeo-Christian tradition;
  • acknowledge our connection with the web of life;
  • make deeper connections to God, as we listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit in our time;
  • be open to insights from the contemplative tradition and from other faiths;
  • respect diversity.

I have written a detailed document explaining more about the group and how it works.

Topics covered include:

  • how we structure our monthly meetings
  • examples of the themes we have covered in our meetings
  • the group agreements we have made
  • a description of our creative liturgies and the resources we use for them
  • quotes from some of our members about how they have benefitted from the group.

The document can be downloaded here – www.livingspirit.org.uk/spiritual-sharing-group.pdf.

Petra Griffiths

Love for the Future: a book by David Osborne and related course

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“LivingSpirituality brings together the contemplative and active dimensions of life, broadly rooted within Christianity.” This is how our mission statement begins, and we want to embody this in an activity that enables us to explore how we can benefit from the resources of the contemplative tradition to give us a store of energy and inspiration for our active involvement in the world.

David Osborne

David Osborne

We are therefore very pleased to be able to pilot a new version of the course developed by Revd. Prebendary David Osborne which does exactly this. It focuses particularly on our relationship to the earth, but also on our connection with those around us and on issues of justice for disadvantaged people. The course involves group and individual activity, discussion and contemplation.

In the face of the environmental issues that are mounting up and endangering the future of the planet, “To meet the challenge we must also change ourselves. We need the courage to face up to what is happening, the determination to work at the problems and the freedom to let go of the old ways of living which are causing such damage to the earth.” as the course brochure says. To help us with this, the course draws upon Biblical sources, the work of theologians, and resources from the contemplative tradition, as well as some contemporary approaches such as mindfulness.

The course is being piloted as a Lent course at St James’s Piccadilly, and will then be launched via the LivingSpirituality website as an online resource that people can use to lead groups in their own area.

To be kept informed about the launch of the course, please sign up to our newsletter using the form on the right-hand panel.

Reviews of the book Love for the Future: a Journey on which the course is based, and the chapter headings, can be found at www.livingspirit.org.uk/davidosborne.

Report on Cynthia Bourgeault’s talk ‘The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three’

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by Jenny Sandler

Cynthia BourgeaultThe Reverend Doctor Cynthia Bourgeault spoke to an audience of about 200 people in London on Tuesday evening 30th June 2015 on the subject of Contemplatives and Mystics as Prophets and Visionaries and for the whole day on Wednesday 1st July on Harnessing the Power of Love: Unveiling the New Breed of Trinity. Both events were organised by Silence in the City.

To me, Cynthia Bourgeault is indeed a true visionary. She believes that embedded within the theological formula of The Trinity lies a powerful metaphysical principle that could change our understanding of Christianity and bring us tools so sorely needed to rekindle our visionary imagination and co-operate consciously with the manifestation of Jesus’s ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ here on Earth.

Reverend Bourgeault offered a completely new perspective of the traditional understanding of the Trinity based in part on her own extensive examination of new scientific discoveries. She encourages us to move away from traditional personifications of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and instead – as she expresses it – reframe this as ‘The Law of Three’, a true understanding of our unified Oneness.

She takes much of her inspiration from the teaching of Gurdjieff’s (1866-1949) principles of ‘The Law of Three’. The Law of Three is, she feels, first and foremost intended as a practical tool for solving interpersonal problems, affecting political outcomes and navigating impasses of every shape and form and permitting the Trinity to flow again.

She suggested, by giving many examples, that the Trinity is all about ‘process’ rather than ‘persons’, thus taking us forward in a progression. She encourages us to apply this understanding in order to move away from the traditional binary approach that our brains have been habitually conditioned to adopt (judging what we believe to be good and bad) and focus instead on seeing others in a non-dualistic way. Her theories are in strong alignment with many modern mystics, including Richard Rohr, who is also showing us how to apply non-dualistic consciousness in his online daily meditations.

Her talk was truly inspiring and clearly offers a very practical solution in its application, empowering us as individuals to focus on solutions, rather than problems, by actively being the ‘Third Force’ realising our true identity that ‘I and the Father are One’ in the equation and thus bringing about positive change.

Further references:
Book: The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three – Cynthia Bourgeault, Shambhala Publications.
CD of talk: Agape Ministries – www.agapeministries.co.uk.

Jenny Sandler is a member of the LivingSpirituality steering group.

September talk – Wanderings in the Cosmic Garden

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professor-lisa-isherwoodProfessor Lisa Isherwood will give a talk entitled Wanderings in the Cosmic Garden on Sunday 27 September 2015 at St James’s Church in Piccadilly.

We are creatures made from the stuff of the universe, creatures of belonging. Christianity has within itself a way to overcome the old dualisms and re-enchant the world. The Biblical Sophia or Wisdom will be key in our unfolding story, with her focus on relationality.

We need a transforming vision allowing for hope. Institutions with Christian incarnation at their heart can be at the centre of the new radical thinking taking place in the face of our new understandings of the evolution of the universe, and of the crises facing us, including climate change. Lisa Isherwood will address these issues in her talk, helping to stimulate reflection about the theological underpinnings of the planetary crises of our times.

Professor Lisa Isherwood heads the Institute for Theological Partnerships (ITP) at Winchester University, and is a liberation theologian who believes theology to be a communal project fuelled by notions of radical equality and empowered by divine companionship. Her work explores the nature of incarnation within a contemporary context and includes the body, gender, sexuality and eco-theology. Professor Isherwood has introduced a Cosmic Walk at Winchester University, illustrating the evolution of our universe.

Event Chair: Revd Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James’s Church.

sjp_logoThis talk is part of a Pilgrimage to Paris series of events leading up to the UN Climate Change conference in Paris in December – see www.sjp.org. This is an annual joint event run by LivingSpirituality and St James’s Church, Piccadilly.

Details

Date: Sunday 27 September 2015

Time: 1.45 pm

Venue: St James’s Church, 197 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL

Booking. The event is free and refreshments will be provided at the end of the talk. Please email Petra Griffiths, the LivingSpirituality Coordinator, at petragriffiths@livingspirit.org.uk to let us know you intend to come. Donations of around £5/£2 would be welcome.

A poster for the talk can be downloaded from www.livingspirit.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/lisa-isherwood-talk.pdf.

 

September art event

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art_event

I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart’s affections, and the truth of imagination

John Keats

Linda Courage, the coordinator of our Art and Spirituality special interest group, is organising a day in September to explore our ‘heart’s affections’ and ‘imagination’ using the arts.

This day is for people of any faith and none; art experience is not important. A range of approaches will be used to explore what it is that makes us feel fully alive.

The day will include using collage, time lines, mandalas and labyrinths, in amongst periods of quiet, time to reflect and share thoughts. There will be a table for you to bring and share ideas and resources with each other.

Below is an explanation of the background to the workshop by Linda.

Details

Date: Saturday 19th September 2015

Time: 9.30am for 10am until 4pm prompt (it is OK to arrive a bit earlier)

Venue: Portholme Church, Portholme Road, Selby, YO8 4QH (car parking is available)

The cost for the day is £15 which includes hot and cold drinks and basic art materials. Please bring a notebook and your own lunch.

Space is limited to about twelve people. Payment on the day by cash or a cheque to “St James’s Church” where funds are allocated to LivingSpirituality.

To book please contact Linda on 01757 709667 or Lp2work@talktalk.net. For more information about using art in this way and Linda, please visit our Art and Spirituality special interest group at www.livingspirit.org.uk/art-and-spirituality-group.

A pdf of the poster for the event can be found at www.livingspirit.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/art-event.pdf.

Why I am offering the workshop

by Linda Courage

I have known for a while that I would like to offer people art and spirituality workshops through the LivingSpirituality special interest group. I used to run them when I worked as a Development worker at St Bede’s Pastoral Centre in York.  Now I have the head and heart space to offer the workshop in September and to offer it in Selby in North Yorkshire because there aren’t many events of this nature offered locally.

Using art to express ourselves is something I stumbled upon about 17 years ago.  I was having sub-fertility treatment at the time (I really dislike the term infertility).  I had felt quite sick for a couple of weeks and had hoped that I might be pregnant.  When that turned out not to be the case, I had myself checked out at the GP surgery to make sure nothing organic was wrong.  Then a wise friend suggested that if I was otherwise well, the sickness might be about my needing to rid myself of something.  I came home, picked up a pen, and ‘vomited’ many poems onto the page – the sickness settled immediately and I was very surprised at the contents of the poems.

I’ve gone on to study and experience how art can be used regularly to give us images and insights into our interior worlds – to help us befriend ourselves in a deeper way.  To me, spirituality is about becoming more connected with ourselves, our world, and others.  It can be such fun and bring energy and fresh air into places we don’t appreciate exist.

If I can create a space to introduce people to using creativity in this way, and to network and share ideas, that would be very satisfying and totally in keeping with the aims of LivingSpirituality.