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January 2010 Lumunos e-News
Greetings!
 
In my house, the "cleaning up after Christmas ritual" goes according to gifts and abilities.  Kathryn is careful and detail oriented, so she gets the job of wrapping the fragile ornaments.  My spiritual gifts are height and a willingness to get covered with sap, so I remove the ornaments from the tree and then wrestle the tree out the back door.  (I won the wrestling match, but lets just say that our nine footer did not go without a fight.)

Last night one ritual led to another.  As I removed the ornaments from the tree, I decided to use the time for reflection.  I called forth the events of the holiday, reflecting on what happened... wondering if there was more than met the eye, and what it might mean for the future.  

Why?  We move so quickly out of the Christmas season.  We move so quickly from one day to the next.  More is going on both outside and inside of us than we are aware.  Quite often there is more to be learned, particularly in an intense season like Christmas.  But only if we are willing to slow down, reflect, and move beyond the surface narrative.  

The surface narrative I have down cold.  The surface narrative is the description of events, with some modest descriptors thrown in:   First we did this, then we did that.  This was good/fun/enjoyable, that was hard/painful/stressful. It feels like almost every conversation I have had since January 1 has begun with the question, "How was your holiday?"  What follows  is the surface narrative. After the first few conversations, I was hardly thinking about it any more; I just fell into the story like a performer reciting well memorized lines. I am a little bored of the surface narrative, both mine and others.   

Last night as I removed the ornaments, I tried to revisit the events of the holiday one more time.  I tried to go a little deeper.  I asked myself a few questions-How could we build on that great evening we had with our neighbors?  Why was I so stressed out the day before returning to work?  And what a great learning -  that a day of skiing made all the difference.  In some cases, there was fresh insight and understanding.  Other times it was another wave of thanks to God.

I had a spiritual director once who used to begin our time by asking me, "How are you?"  And before I could answer, she would say "How are you really?"  As if to say, "Skip the surface narrative you were about to give me.  There is more to you than what you were about to say...how about we save time and start there?" 
 
Call Question:
     How was your Christmas?  How was it really? 

God's Peace,
Doug Wysockey-Johnson
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A Good Way to Listen, Enjoy and Join the Conversation on Call: 

call-coffee conversationWe send out a weekly short writing on call, hoping to inspire and encourage you.  You can receive this blog in your email, if you'd like.  Click here to go to our "subscriber" page, and in the upper right hand box you'll see a link that says "get Lumunos blog delivered by email." Click on that link, type in your email, and presto! you'll get a fabulous, short "bit on call" delivered right to you, weekly.  And you can always write your own comment or response back to us via that blog - we WELCOME the conversation, even if it's not in a coffee house or on a retreat! 

(this photo is from our "coffee house conversations on call" series in Silver Spring, MD)

Gifts of Light
                             
As one of the staff opening the mail over the Christmas Holidays, I want to say
THANK YOU 
in all bold caps to each of you who gave generously incandle votives prayer, finances, and with your "real life stories" of how it is going with your call.  We loved reading each letter, thankfully noted each donation, and treasure the gifts you gave in honor of others, or to help a friend attend on of our events. We help people listen for, discern, and live their call in the world, and you help, too.  Thank you.

Faithfully, Tiffany Montavon
Communications Coordinator

There are 3 ways you can contribute to Lumunos:

Use the Giving Envelope in the End of Year mailing,   
Call us at 1-800-245-7378
Give online at www.lumunos.org
 
Thank you for your generous support!
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Lumunos Events

January 13-14 Physicians Retreat with Centura Hospital, Denver, CO

Call to Living Justly workshopFebruary 19-21  Good Matters Annual Southeast Retreat  Epworth by the Sea, St Simons Island, GA.    What is Good? Seems simple ... seek justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God. Led by Laurel Van Ham & Tom Pappas

February 20 Light For Your Journey Retreat, Arlington, VA.  A 4 hour retreat on call that goes deep quickly.  Designed for busy people who want a spiritual retreat experience without going away for a weekend.

February 28 Light For Your Journey Retreat, Attleboro, MA  Covenant Church
men's small group
March 12-14 Waking Jesus: Tracking, Weathering, and Rebuilding Through the Storms of Life, Men's Retreat Lake Geneva, WI
        All of us experience rough weather in our life.  Come together with other guys to explore the story of Jesus calming the storm.

April 17 Light For Your Journey Retreat, Moline, IL,     Elim Covenant Church 

May 26 Emerging Christianity: Reframing our Beliefs for the New Millennium with Brian McLaren at First Baptist Church of Cleveland, OH.  Author, speaker, and Christian activist Brian McLaren hosts an interactive experience to offer you a fresh perspective on what it means to live in the way of Jesus. Contact the church (linked above) for more information. (note: we are happy to help publicize the work of 1st Baptist in Cleveland and Brian McLaren, although this is not a Lumunos event.)

small grp at tableOctober 15-17, Hearing God in a Noisy World: Discovering a Source of Living Water in Our Daily Lives, Women's Retreat in Seattle WA, Lake Retreat Camp and Conference Center

Registration is ongoing for the Make a Living, Have a Life groups: a 7 week small group experience that meets via conference call to support people in listening for their meaning and purpose in life. 
 
      (Those photos are from our events: men's & women's retreats, and our listening for your call to justice work 1/2 day event.) _______________________________________________