BRINGING IN THE LIGHT
 Kindling Love, Joy, Peace and Hope

During the month of DECEMBER Reverend Glenda and Reverend Judy will help us celebrate the great gift of light that reminds us that each of us has a unique way that our light can be used in the world.

We see the world around us through the light of our own awareness.

It, therefore, becomes important for each of us to cultivate the capacity to expand into an experience of bringing in more and more light. When we have more light to see by, our experiences of love, joy, peace and hope grow fuller, richer and deeper.

Through this kindling we begin to experience a whole new world; transforming both ourselves and our environment. Bringing in the light of the world is an opportunity for us to remember why we are here.

We invite you to join us at Common Ground every Sunday for our 10:30 am inspirational service.

Resources include:

Alchemy of Light, Light of Oneness and Working with Oneness, by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

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

Sunday Morning Inspiration Service Weekly:
10:30 am

Kids' Care Program available during service for infants through 5th grade

Talk titles for DECEMBER

December 2: Hope ~ Bright Trust ~ Sue K. Riley, guest vocalist

December 9: Love ~ Spreading the Wings of the Heart

December 16: Joy ~ Living Remembrance of the Divine

December 23: Peace ~ No Opposites ~ Daniel Nahmod: Music as Message

December 30: Offering the Divine Spark Back to Life ~ Teri Wilder, guest vocalist

Watch Recent Talks On Video
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Robert Fields: Appearing Sundays in December

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

2011/2012 Newsletter Archives

 

 DECEMBER CLASSES & EVENTS
 Sunday Morning Inspiration Service 10:30 am

DECEMBER SPECIAL EVENTS

ADVENT SEASON IS CELEBRATED BETWEEN DECEMBER 2 & DECEMBER 24

HANUKKAH IS CELEBRATED BETWEEN DECEMBER 8 & DECEMBER 16

KWANZAA IS CELEBRATED BETWEEN DECEMBER 26 & JANUARY 1

HOLIDAY POTLUCK & COOKIE EXCHANGE ~ Sunday, December 16, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm

LIVE HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE ~ BLANCA NIEVES' CHRISTMAS ~ Sunday, December 16, 7:00 to 9:00 pm and Saturday, December 22, 7:00 to 9:00 pm

CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICE ~ Monday, December 24, 5:00 to 6:00 pm

NEW YEAR'S EVE SERVICE ~ Monday, December 31, 6:00 to 7:00 pm

KID'S CALENDAR

Kids' Care Program ~ ages infant thru 5th grade ~ Weekly, Sundays, 10:30 am

FOCUS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

RECYCLE SUNDAY ~ Third Sunday of the Month, December 16

Local Certified Farmers' Markets

ONGOING

A COURSE IN MIRACLES, facilitated by Karen Akers (co-facilitated by Ken Radcliffe) ~ Tuesdays, Weekly, 12 Noon (Okay to bring lunch) ~ Love Offering (No class on Christmas Day)

EVENING ECKHART TOLLE BOOK STUDY ~ Power of Now ~ Tuesdays, December 4 & 18, 7 to 8:30 pm ~ Love Offering

ECKHART TOLLE BOOK STUDY ~ New Earth ~ Fridays, Weekly, 12:30 to 1:30 pm ~ Love Offering

REIKI HEALING CIRCLE ~ Tuesday, December 11, 7 to 8:30 pm ~ Love Offering

WOMAN'S WISDOM CIRCLE & Book Study: Still Here, by Ram Dass ~ Tuesdays, December 11, 10 to 11:30 am ~ Love Offering

VENUE EVENTS

Orange County Spiritualist Gathering, with Medium Kathleen Vance ~ Wednesdays, December 12 & 26 ~ $10 suggested donation

Development 1: Developing your spiritual path & intuition, with Bob Lewis ~ Saturday, December 1, 9:30 am to 12:00 pm ~ $20 per person

Development 2: Advanced students in spiritual and psychic awareness, with Bob Lewis ~ Saturday, December 1, 12:30 am to 3:00 pm ~ $20 per person

Development 1: Developing your spiritual path & intuition, with Bob Lewis ~ Saturday, December 15, 9:30 am to 12:00 pm ~ $20 per person

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.

 

 HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
 A Place of Belonging

Common Ground is the perfect place to find a sense of community and loving energy during the holiday season.

Each Sunday Reverend Glenda and Reverend Judy invite the spiritual community to join with them in creating an embracing field of warmth and acceptance. This is particularly true during the holidays when the feeling of loneliness or stress can be stronger than at other times of the year.

Common Ground is a place to find a "lifeline" and regain a sense of humor and inner strength in those times when there is a need to reach out for support and say, "Could you please remind me that I'm a worthwhile human being... right now I've completely forgotten." (There will be someone to help you remember the truth of your being.)

Staying connected in spiritual community is a possibility not only each Sunday but throughout the week. There are opportunities to participate in various activities and ways to be involved beyond Sundays.

Everyone is invited to participate in the Holiday Potluck after service on December 16th, to attend the Candlelight Christmas Eve Service, and to be part of the New Year's Eve Celebration of releasing the old and setting intentions for the coming year.

Take time to celebrate community by extending an invitation to someone who might welcome being included at Common Ground or by accepting an open invitation to be part of spiritual community during this holiday season of love, hope, joy and peace.

 

 FOCUS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
 Owls May Hold the Key

Airlines and airports could soon be relying on nature for a unique way to reduce noise pollution after researchers found owl feathers are designed to minimize sound while in flight.

Owls have long been known to have the uncanny ability to fly silently, relying on specialized plumage to reduce noise so they can hunt in acoustic stealth. Now researchers from the University of Cambridge, England, are studying the owl's wing structure to better understand how it mitigates noise so they can apply that information to the design of conventional aircraft.

"Many owl species have developed specialized plumage to effectively eliminate the aerodynamic noise from their wings, which allows them to hunt and capture their prey using their ears alone," said Justin Jaworski with the department of applied mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge.

"No one knows exactly how owls achieve this acoustic stealth, and the reasons for this feat are largely speculative based on comparisons of owl feathers and physiology to other not-so-quiet birds such as pigeons."

All wings, either natural or engineered, create turbulent eddies as they cut through the air. When these eddies hit the trailing edge of the wing, they are amplified and scattered as sound. Conventional aircraft, which have hard trailing edges, are particularly noisy in this regard.

Owls, however, possess no fewer than three distinct physical attributes that are thought to contribute to their silent flight capability: a comb of stiff feathers along the leading edge of the wing; a soft downy material on top of the wing; and a flexible fringe at the trailing edge of the wing. At present it is not known whether it is a single attribute or the combination of attributes that are the root cause of the noise reduction.

The researchers attempted to unravel this mystery by developing a theoretical basis for the owl's ability to mitigate sound from the trailing edge of its wing, which is typically an airfoil's dominant noise source. Earlier owl noise experiments suggest that their wing noise is much less dependent on air speed and that there is a large reduction of high frequency noise across a range where human ears are most sensitive.

Using mathematical models, the researchers demonstrated that elastic and porous properties of a trailing edge could be tuned so that aerodynamic noise would depend on the flight speed as if there were no edge at all. "This implied that the dominant noise source for conventional wings could be eliminated," said Nigel Peake also of the University of Cambridge.

"The noise signature from the wing could then be dictated by otherwise minor noise mechanisms such as the roughness of the wing surface."

Reprinted from an e-article in Click Green Newlsetter

 

 PREMIER HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE
 Blanca Nieves' Christmas

In the Spirit Productions and Common Ground are proud to present a premier performance of "Blanca Nieves' Christmas: A Fairytale for Adults Who Have Lived It".

This is an original play written by Yolanda Mendeviles. Yolanda has been a playwright for the past five years and says this is her favorite story to date.

Drawing from her own experiences of Latina culture, Yolanda has woven together a thoughtful depiction of real-life issues and concerns of modern-day Hispanic families using the Christmas season as a backdrop for the story.

Regardless of ethnicity, the themes portrayed in this play relate to everyone. Especially in today's economic climate, the complexity and struggle of a mother's efforts to keep a roof over her children's heads, keep her family together and make ends meet are universal human concerns.

This story is about love, about strength in the face of adversity, and about the gift of ancestral values and traditions.

The play will be an up-close and personal experience. Two performances will take place at 7 pm in the Sanctuary at Common Ground. The first performance will be on Sunday, December 16th, and the final performance will be on Saturday, December 22nd.

Tickets will be available at the door, however, advance purchase is highly recommended. Seating is open and limited.

Click on the Add to Cart button to purchase tickets. Tickets are $10 for adults/$5 for students/free for children 10 years and younger. Please call Common Ground to reserve a 'free' seat for a child 10 years and younger.

There will be a brief intermission and time of hospitality. This is a unique opportunity to support Yolanda's work and to enjoy a fun holiday event. .

 

 FYI
 What's Up?

Shop the shops at Common Ground. The GreenLady Boutique and Bookstore offer a unique, conscious and meaningful way to find gifts for everyone on your list. The items in The GreenLady are top quality and sophisticated. Among other interesting things, the Bookstore has a wonderful selection of reasonably priced stocking stuffers, Pashmina shawls and fine jewelry. Shop Common Ground first before heading to the malls. Your purchases in the shops support the operating costs of Common Ground.

Support GreenLady Boutique. Please donate upscale women's fashions and accessories as well as artwork and fine quality decorations. Tax receipts available.

Giving-Made-Easy Offering Envelopes for the purpose of mailing checks or giving by credit card are available on the wall in the Gallery.

Share Hospitality on Sunday mornings. Bring a simple plate of cookies, basket of grapes or other easy treat to share after services. Sign up now for Sundays in 2013.

A large selection of Used Books is currently available. All items on the Used Book Cart are available at a cost of $2.00 each. (Donations of used books are always welcome ~ all genres accepted.)

Common Ground offers Hearing Assistance in the Sanctuary on Sundays. Please let the sound technician know if you would like to have a receiver ordered for your use

Recycle plastic and aluminum to support a portion of Common Ground's monthly rent expense. Please participate by bringing your recyclables each month.

 

 PRAYER & MEDITATION
 Learn by Shimmering Light

Read by the poet at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree, Washington, D.C., December 1, 2005

AMAZING PEACE

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues.

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.

We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.

It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.

Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.

Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
implore you to stay awhile with us
so we may learn by your shimmering light
how to look beyond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.
On this platform of peace, we can create a language
to translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ

Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues the coming of hope.
All the earth's tribes loosen their voices to celebrate the promise of Peace.

We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud. Peace.

We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace.

We look at each other, then into ourselves,
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation:

Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul

By Maya Angelou



Life is prayer at Common Ground.

If you need comfort and inspiration please visit our website and click on Prayer.

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

There are no fees for prayer at Common Ground.

 

 TITHING 2012
 May All That We Give and All The We Receive Be Blessed and Multiplied. 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 2012 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; Direct Relief International, supporting the immediate medical needs of earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan; The American Legion, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization advocating for veterans; and, The Humane Society of Dover-Stewart County, a not-for-profit organization rescuing abused, abandoned and neglected animals and placing them into good homes.

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 2013 EVENTS
 Mark Your Calendar Today

CURRENTLY SCHEDULED:

PLANNING IN PROCESS

In preparation for Common Ground's May 2013 move to a new location, a Capital Campaign will be introduced within the next few weeks to address anticipated move-out costs, move-in costs, lease requirements, permit fees and other factors.

The Capital Campaign is vital since Common Ground has no option other than relocating by May.

The time has come to look to the future and make provisions for what comes next. A working model and comprehensive plan taking us forward with strength and sustainability is being formulated.

To bring this project into manifestation will take commitment, hard work and trust. It will require a cooperative effort in spiritual community to take the project across the 'border' from possibility to expression.

Reverend Glenda, Reverend Judy, and the entire leadership team at Common Ground ask the support of all who believe inclusive spiritual community is important; who want to be the change they hope to see in the world; who hold the vision of Embracing Humanity and Expressing Divinity in a complex world.

Support in every way ~ prayer, presence, creative ideas, enthusiasm and financial resources ~ will be needed to reach the goal and be prepared for what comes next.

Be looking for more information in the next few weeks.

 

 HOLIDAY GIFT TREE
 The Bare Necessities

Each year during the holiday season Common Ground invites the spiritual community to give itself gifts that help fill the hospitality cupboards and cleaning closet.

Not at all glamorous, but ever so important, are gifts of basic supplies that keep Common Ground operating at top-quality.

The first Sunday of December will find a small Christmas tree filled with gift tags standing in the Salon. Those interested in participating are invited to take a tag with an item written on it and return the gift to Common Ground sometime in December.

With only a few exceptions, such as Clorox, coffee cups and coffee, the Gift Tree has yielded enough supplies to see Common Ground through the entire year.

This project is an important means of helping meet operating costs. Thank you for your generosity.