common ground
April 2011 Newsletter - Volume 4, Issue 7 
 April Newsletter
 Embracing Humanity & Expressing Divinity
In This Issue
Quick Links

 SOUL PRINT
 Radical Uniqueness

During the month of APRIL Reverend Glenda and Reverend Judy will help us explore ways to experience wholeness and renewal, to hear and respond to the particular call of spirit in our lives, and to realign with our divine mission.

Drawing upon various spiritual traditions, they will take us on a journey toward realization and joy. They will introduce tools to help us naturally express the full promise of our 'radical uniqueness'.

Marc Gafni, Kabbalist and cutting edge spiritual teacher, says: "There is a frequency of divine light that is refracted through the prism of your uniqueness. It is a song only you can sing, the singular instrument of your destiny."

This month we will work together to break free of limitations and negativity, to integrate the personal blockages that prevent us from achieving true freedom in all areas of life, and to open to our partnership with divinity.

Please join us at Common Ground every Sunday for either the 9 am or 10:30 am inspirational service.


Resources include:
  • Sermon on the Mount, by Emmet Fox
  • The Soul of Money, by Lynne Twist
  • The Next Ten Minutes, by Andrew Peterson

    These titles are available in the Book Boutique. (Quantities Limited)


    Sunday Morning Inspiration Services Weekly:
    9:00 to 10:00 am and 10:30 to 11:30 am


    Kids' Enrichment Program at 10:30 am

    Talk titles for April:

  • April 3: Certainty in Uncertain Times, Chagai Shouster, Kabbalah University, guest speaker
    Harold Payne, guest vocalist

  • April 10: Dancing Through the Shadow

  • April 17: Walking in the Wide Places
    Earth Day Celebration
    Gino Walker, guest vocalist
    Palm Sunday

  • April 24: Seeing Through God's Eyes
    Easter Sunday


    Watch Recent Talks On Video

    Robert Fields: Appearing at Both Services Every Sunday in April.




    Thank You for Your Generosity!
    Common Ground is solely supported by the gracious offerings of its spiritual community and friends.


    2010/2011 Newsletter Archives

     


  •  APRIL CLASSES & EVENTS
     Sunday Morning Inspiration Services 9:00 to 10:00 am & 10:30 to 11:30 am

    APRIL SPECIAL EVENTS
  • KABBALAH WITH CHAGAI SHOUSTER: Certainty in Uncertain Times ~ Sunday, April 3, 9 and 10:30 am inspirational services
  • HAROLD PAYNE, GUEST VOCALIST ~ Sunday, April 3, 9 and 10:30 am inspirational services
  • ANNUAL SPRING YARD SALE ~ Saturday, April 16, 7 am to noon
  • EARTHDAY CELEBRATION ~ Sunday, April 17, 9 and 10:30 am inspirational services
  • GINO WALKER, GUEST VOCALIST ~ Sunday, April 17, 9 and 10:30 am inspirational services
  • EASTER CELEBRATION ~ Sunday, April 24, 9 and 10:30 am inspirational services
  • AWAKENING THE DREAMER, CHANGING THE DREAM SYMPOSIUM ~ Saturday, April 30, 12 noon to 4:30 pm ~ $20 suggested

    NEW
  • Movie Night: What on Earth? Inside the Crop Circle Mystery ~ Thursday, April 21, 7 to 8:30 pm ~ $10 Suggested

    KID'S CALENDAR
  • Kids' Enrichment Program ~ Weekly, Sundays, 10:30 to 11:30 am

    OUTREACH
  • Get on the Bus Planning Session, facilitated by Nancy Berg & Judith Freyer ~ Sunday, April 3, 11:30 am
  • Standing In Peace, facilitated by Carol Marshall, Irvine Blvd @ Prospect Ave ~ Tuesdays, 4 to 5 pm
  • Knitting for Good, facilitated by Jeanne Czuba & Friends ~ Saturday, April 9, 1 to 4 pm

    FOCUS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
  • OCICE General Meeting ~ Thursday, April 7, 6:45 pm ~ Aldersgate Methodist Church
  • RECYCLE SUNDAY ~ Sunday, April 17
  • E-Waste Recycling Drive ~ Sunday, April 17 through Saturday, April 30
  • Local Farmers Markets
  • Local Environmental Projects ~
    Zero Trash Laguna Cleanup
    ROOTS, Restoration and Native Vegetation Program: Upper Newport Bay
    Save Our Beach Program


    ONGOING
  • Eckhart Tolle Book Study ~ New Earth ~ Fridays, Weekly,12:30 to 1:30 pm ~ Love Offering
  • Healing Grief Circle: Life Transitions ~ Wednesday, April 20, 7 to 8:30 pm ~ $10 suggested
  • IONS Discussion Group Exploring Science & Spirituality ~Wednesday, April 27, 7 to 8:30 pm ~ $10 suggested
  • Presence Process ~ Tuesdays, April 12 & 26, 7 to 8:30 pm (Closed)
  • Processing Emotions Group ~ Wednesday, April 13 , 7 to 8:30 pm ~ $5 Suggested
  • Reiki Healing Circle ~ Tuesday, April 12 & 26, 7 to 8:30 pm ~ Love Offering
  • Way of the Bodhisattva: Training in the Six Perfections ~ Wednesday, April 6, 7 to 8:30 pm (Closed)
  • Women's Wisdom Circle ~ Tuesdays, April 12 & 26, 10 to 11:30 am ~ Love Offering

    VENUE EVENTS
  • Financial Services ~ How Money Works, with Brennan Jones & Patricia Milan ~ Wednesday, April 6, 7 to 8 pm ~ Free
  • Orange County Spiritualist Gathering, with Medium Kathleen Vance ~ 2nd & 4th Wednesdays of the month, 7 to 8:30 pm ~ $10 suggested donation
  • Development 1: Developing your spiritual path & intuition, with Bob Lewis ~ Saturday, April 9, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm ~ $20 per person
  • Development 2: Advanced students in spiritual and psychic awareness, with Bob Lewis ~ Saturday, April 23, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm ~ $20 per person
  • LightLovers Studio, Readings & Energy Balancing ~ Saturday, April 9 , 2 to 4 pm ~ $20 per session
  • Own Your Divinity, facilitated by Suzanne Banken ~ Thursdays, Weekly, 7 pm ~ $30 per person
  • Intenders' Circle & Conscious Enterprise, facilitated by Judith Freyer & team ~ Thursday, April 14 & 28, 7 to 8:30 pm ~ $5 suggested

    Be sure to look for updates and details of activities in weekly email notices.

    Ongoing weekly classes continue as scheduled. Check our At-a-Glance Calendar for information.


     


  •  MICROFINANCE
     Helping Create Opportunity Around the World

    As part of its tithing practice, Common Ground has an ongoing relationship with Kiva, a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people around the globe through lending to alleviate poverty.

    Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions on five continents, Kiva helps to provide loans to people without access to traditional banking systems.

    Kiva is primarily funded through the support of lenders such as Common Ground. 100% of every dollar we lend goes directly towards funding loans.

    Providing safe, affordable access to capital to those in need helps people create better lives. Even in the most remote areas of the globe, people hold the power to create opportunity for themselves, their families and their communities.

    Entrepreneurs repay their loans and Kiva credits the appropriate lenders with the loan repayments. Lenders can elect to re-lend their funds to another entrepreneur. Common Ground automatically re-lends funds.

    More information on How It Works.


    Currently, Common Ground is lending to the following two entrepreneurs.

    Munkhzaya Badarch, in Mongolia, and Dilorom Olimova, in Tajikistan.


     


     FOCUS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
     Earth Day 2011

    During the month of April, Common Ground is pleased to support the Earth Day Network, Earth Day 2011, A Billion Acts of Green, by committing to focus on promotion of planetary sustainability and reduction of carbon emissions.

    Our spiritual community will join with people all around the globe to demonstrate the power of small every-day individual acts of green. Collectively, each small act will count towards protecting the environment.

    Anyone interested in taking part in the world's largest-ever environmental service movement is invited to pledge to perform at least one green act during April 2011.

    Please make sure to register your acts with the campaign so the millions of individual green acts can be properly measured. The online registration tools are easy to use and only take a minute to complete.


    This Earth Day, Common Ground will help show the world that every small environmental act makes a difference by sponsoring an e-waste recycling drive.

    Beginning April 17 and continuing through April 30, we will collect electronic equipment from the community and recycle it with All Green Electronics Recycling, a company which guarantees that e-waste will not be exported to developing nations so that the ecosystems of these developing nations where e-waste treatment is not regulated will be protected.


    All Green Electronics Recycling accepts the following items:
  • Computers
  • Mobile Phones
  • Televisions
  • Computer Parts
  • Toner Cartridges
  • Printers
  • Portable Electronics
  • Monitors
  • Laptops
  • DVD Players & VCRs
  • Telephones
  • Cables/Wires
  • iPods
  • Calculators

    More information will be available closer to the date of the e-waste recycling drive.


     


  •  KABBALAH
     Certainty in Uncertain Times

    Common Ground is pleased to present Chagai Shouster, from Kabbalah University and Kabbalah Center of Costa Mesa, talking about Certainty in Uncertain Times.

    Join us on April 3rd during the 9:00 am or 10:30 am Sunday services and listen as Chagai shares with us the teaching of Kabbalah revealing how we create the reality we experience every day.

    He will help us explore how to use the power of our minds to create a better reality and to draw better situations and opportunities into our lives.


    He says: "The credit crunch, unstable job market, worry and unease everywhere, seem to demonstrate that simply nothing is guaranteed."

    "How are we to move forward, to be prosperous and secure? How are we to see our hopes for a good life become more than a distant dream?"


    Kabbalah teaches that inside each of us lies the power to create our reality, to make our dreams come true - for each of us personally, and for this troubled world.

    Yehuda Berg, internationally renowned authority on Kabbalah , says: "What people really want, deep down in the farthest reaches of their chromosomes, isn't to be successful. Instead, they want to be fulfilled. And by that I mean deeply and truly fulfilled - brimming with joy, satisfaction, and prosperity."


     


     ANNUAL SPRING YARD SALE
     Serving the Greater Good

    Common Ground is pleased to offer its Annual Spring Yard Sale on Saturday, April 16, from 7 am to noon.

    The yard sale is a major opportunity to help fund operating expenses of Common Ground and at the same time benefit our local community.

    In support of the environmentally sustainable idea, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, what is no longer useful or necessary for one person may be neede by someone else.

    Offering items at a low cost benefits everyone.


    Spring has sprung!

    Now is the time to clear your clutter, simplify your life, clean your closets and storage areas, and release unneeded 'stuff'.
    (Please do not donate large, heavy items such as sofas and refrigerators. Small, lightweight furniture is fine.)

    We will begin collecting donations on Saturday, April 9, at the yard sale location.(Please call to confirm that someone will be home to accept your donations. 714-744-6286. Any questions? Talk to Sharon.)

    17601 Rainier Dr.
    Santa Ana, CA 92705

    A crew of people to sort and organize items on Friday, April 15, and volunteers to work the yard sale on Saturday, April 16, are needed. Sign-up sheets will be available at Common Ground two weeks before the sale.

    Thanks for participating by giving your items or by 'shopping' the day of the sale.


     


     PRAYER & MEDITATION
     The Sermon on the Mount

    When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the hill. There he took his seat, and when his disciples had gathered round him, he began to address them. And this is the teaching he gave:

  • How blest are those who know their need of God; the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
  • How blest are the sorrowful; they shall find consolation.
  • How blest are those of gentle spirit; they shall have the earth for their possession.
  • How blest are those who hunger and thirst to see right prevail; they shall be satisfied.
  • How blest are those who show mercy; mercy shall be showm to them.
  • How blest are those whose hearts are pure; they shall see God.
  • How blest are the peacemakers; God shall call them his children.
  • How blest are those who have suffered persecution for the cause of right; the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

    Matthew 5:1-10, (Text taken from The Good Heart, by His Holiness the Dalai Lama)




    Life is prayer at Common Ground.


    Those needing prayer support are invited to make Prayer Requests on-line or by placing a request in the prayer box in the Lobby.

    There are no fees for prayer at Common Ground.


     


  •  TITHING 2011
     As We Give, So Shall We Receive ~ Common Ground is truly blessed and in turn becomes a blessing in the world

    Common Ground reaches out to the global community through our spiritual practice of conscious giving.

    Giving back to the world is an important aspect of our mission and vision. A balanced integral approach is reflected in conscious selection of 501c3 qualified programs and institutions to which Common Ground provides tithes each month.

    Recipients of Common Ground 2011 tithes include: IONS (Institute of Noetic Sciences), advancing the science of consciousness and human experience to serve individual and collective transformation; Kiva, empowering people to lift themselves out of poverty; Disability Rights California, affirmatively addressing the needs of the traditionally underserved and underrepresented disability community; Project HOPE School, (Homeless Outreach Program in Education), helping children without permanent homes transition into the mainstream educational system; Walking Shield, helping to improve the quality of life for American Indian families; Direct Relief International, supporting the immediate medical needs of earthquake victims in Haiti; and, Direct Relief International, supporting the immediate medical needs of earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan


    The organizations to which Common Ground tithes are meaningful programs where people from the spiritual community and its friends are already serving with heart and hand, and supporting with time and treasure.

     


     UPCOMING 2011 EVENTS ~ REVISED
     Mark Your Calendar Today

    CURRENTLY SCHEDULED:

  • Reverend Leo Booth: Say Yes to Spirit: Sun, May 1
  • Mother's Day: Sun, May 8
  • Freebo: Sun, May 15 (guest vocalist)
  • Father's Day: Sun, Jun 19
  • July 4th Pool Party: Mon, Jul 4
  • Karl Anthony: Sun, Jun 12
  • Melissa Suzanne: Sun, Jul 10 (guest vocalist)
  • Covenant Dedication: Sun, Jul 24
  • Daniel Nahmod: Sun, Jul 31
  • Darius Lux: Sun, Aug 14 (guest vocalist)
  • Backpack Outreach Project: Aug/Sept
  • Annual Common Ground Picnic: Sun, Sept 4
  • Daniel Nahmod: Sun, Sept 11
  • Karie Hillery: Sun, Sept 18 (guest vocalist)
  • Earthdance & Global Peace Prayer: Sat, Sept 24
  • Seventh Anniversary Celebration: Fri, Nov 18
  • Daniel Nahmod: Sun, Nov 20
  • Thanksgiving Eve: Wed, Nov 23
  • Christmas Eve: Sat, Dec 24
  • Christmas: Sun, Dec 25 (CLOSED)
  • New Year's Eve: Sat, Dec 31

     


  •  PACHAMAMA ALLIANCE
     Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream

    On Saturday, April 30th, Common Ground will host a dynamic Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium.

    The Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium is an interactive transformational workshop that will inspire participants to play a role in creating a new future: an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet.

    The Symposium is supporting the shift in humanity, from a dream rooted in consumption and competition, to one of sustainability and mutuality.

  • Which one of us doesn't want to be an agent of change?
  • Which one of us doesn't have a deep desire to turn our concern for the world into meaningful action and find our unique contribution in creating a just and sustainable world?

    The symposium is about Being, Knowing, and Doing.

    The following questions will be addressed:
  • Who am I? And how does my identity effect change?
  • How do I educate myself about the areas of crisis and possibility facing humanity?
  • What's mine to do in the world?

    The Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Program was developed as a full fledged department of the Pachamama Alliance, whose mission is to empower indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest to preserve their lands and culture and, using insights gained from that work, to educate and inspire individuals everywhere to bring forth a thriving, just and sustainable world.


    This is a "Don't-Miss Event"

  • Please join us for lunch.
  • Doors open at 11 am.
  • Event begins at 12 noon and ends at 4:30 pm.
  • $20 Suggested Donation (no one refused entry for lack of funds).
  • Purchase tickets on line or in the Book Boutique at Common Ground

     


  • Common Ground is a Teaching-Learning Center

  • where people bring their very souls
  • where people grow one another by sharing what they know
  • where people learn spiritual practices to support them in working with the complex possibilities of today's world

    May you hear and respond to the call of Spirit in your life