“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.

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.

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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.