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Our Business Sponsors
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For your real estate needs in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, or across the country contact SHOP AT |
Join our sacred gathering on Sundays normally at 6 PM at the Annapolis Friends Meeting at 351 Dubois Road, Annapolis, Maryland 21401.
Click here for directions.
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We must also be ready to seize the moment.
Every moment is potentially
a theophany in a God-filled universe.
God presents us with visions for this moment
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August 18, 2013
Ninth Sunday on the Path of Awe & Wonder
wonder...joy...trust...beauty...cosmos...awe...
Sacred Gathering at 6 PM
hospitality...amazement...delight...
Annapolis Friends Meeting
351 Dubois Road, Annapolis
REFLECTION BY BETH LANIER:
"The I Am that Who I Am?"
Gathering Leaders:
set-up/put-away: Rick Stewart
greeter/ushers: Rachel Welch and Roshi Chatlani
reader/communion assistant: Dave Miller
offering invitation: Dave Miller
community hour host: Suzie Robertson
Co-creating a progressive Christian Spirituality
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Evolve Chesapeake's 15th Anniversary
The Fifteenth Anniversary of the founding of Evolve Chesapeake Creation Spirituality Community by the Rev. Dr. Wayne Schwandt will soon be here. Please save the following special dates to join us as we mark this very important moment in the life of our community.
Saturday, September 14, 2013: a celebratory dinner 7 PM at West End Grill, 2049 West Street, Annapolis, MD 21401. If you would like to attend the Anniversary Dinner, please send a check to Evolve Chesapeake, PO Box 6159, Annapolis, MD. $40 per person. Reservations are due by September 7. For more information contact Beth Lanier at MusicLanier@verizon.net.
Sunday, September 15, 2013: a special celebratory commemoration at our Sacred Gathering 6 PM at Friends' meetinghouse.
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Thich Nhat Hanh says that our collective wisdom and experience as a community can be the torch that lights our path and shows us what to do.
"Looking deeply together
is
the main task of a community or a church."
from Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh
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Support our Local Food Bank
Help those in need by bringing to our Sunday gathering, an item or two for the local food bank when you are able. Most welcome are pantry staples: tinned meat and fish, boxed pasta products, infant formula, etc. and personal care products such as laundry detergent, toilet paper, disposable razors, bath and shower soap, dish soap, toothpaste, deodorant, and feminine hygiene products. Collection is ongoing every Sunday.
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50th Anniversary of the
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
August 28, 1963 -- August 24, 2013
On August 28, 1963, thousands of people marched on Washington, DC to call for civil rights, jobs, economic opportun- ity, voting rights, and equality for all. The March on Washington
for Jobs and Freedom led to the passage of some of the most important pieces of legislation of the 20th century.
This year marks 50 years since the March on Washington. On Saturday, August 24, the Maryland Democratic Party will join the NAACP, the National Action Network, and others to com- memorate the anniversary of the March. The focus of the National Action to Realize the Dream March will be on workers' rights, gun violence, immigration, LGBT rights and other critical issues affecting our nation.
Will EVOLVE Chesapeake be one of the groups marching? Contact Beth Lanier at musiclanier@gmail.com if you are interested in meeting to march together.
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Being mindful...
By Erine Sedicum, August 14, 2013
Being mindful are words
jumping in my head
and an image that follows...
Moments as we live by them
Imagine as we must do this to see
Nature as we have our own
Desires whether they be private or public
Freedom to hope and dream
Universe as we share this planet together
Love as no journey is complete without our companions.
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US Track Star Nick Symmonds Wins Silver Medal in Russia and Dedicates Medal to LGBT Friends Back Home
August 14, 2013
American runner Nick Symmonds, an established LGBT ally, had vowed not to get political during the World Track and Field Championships in Moscow this week. But after winning the silver medal in the 800 meters earlier today, he could not stop himself. The 29-year-old took the bold step of dedicating his medal to his LGBT friends back home. 'As much as I can speak out about it, I believe that all humans deserve equality as however God made them,' Symmonds told Russia's R-Sport after the race. He added: 'Whether you're gay, straight, black, white, we all deserve the same rights. If there's anything I can do to champion the cause and further it, I will, shy of getting arrested.'
Symmonds' comments could be a test of Russia's draconian anti-gay propaganda law which criminalizes public expression of support for 'nontraditional' relationships. Foreign citizens are subject to fines of up to 100,000 rubles, up to 15 days in prison, and deportation and denial of re-entry into Russia.
Source: http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/microsites/lgbt?cmpid=FCST_hero_LGBT_NickSymmonds
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NEWS FROM GAIN:
(GREATER ANNAPOLIS INTERFAITH NETWORK)
Eastport United Methodist Church
to Sponsor Program on
New Health Care Law
Major provisions of the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") will be implemented beginning January 1, 2014. Marian Callaway, Director of Communications of Health Care Access Maryland, will make a presentation on the topic, "The Affordable Care Act: What You Need to Know Now", on Saturday, September 14 at 2 p.m. at Eastport United Methodist Church, 926 Bay Ridge Avenue, in Annapolis. The program, which is being organized by Eastport United Methodist Men, will address these issues:
- How will my insurance work if I am 65 or older?
- How will my insurance work if I am under 65 and my employer currently offers insurance?
- What happens if my employer does not currently offer insurance?
- How does the "individual mandate" work?
- How will my health care premiums and coverage change?
- What will be the impact of the Affordable Care Act on the deficit?
A large part of the program will be reserved to answering questions of those who attend.
The program is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, call 410-263-5490.
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"Our Companions, come to us with many varied religious and/or spiritual experiences. Binding us together is our firm conviction that living our questions is more important than having the answers. For many of life's greatest questions, it seems there are no clear answers. But in acknowledging that as our truth, we seek to experience the Divine in our lives and come to some level of Truth about God and Jesus and meaning. The journey we travel finds its roots in Christianity, but we also seek the wisdom of other faith traditions and to find the common ground within them."
- from Evolve Chesapeake's Welcome Booklet |
We've earned $1,572.91 so far! Help us:
Do you use iGive.com to shop online?
If you answered "no" to one or both of those questions, you are missing out on donations to help fund our ministry. Talk with Pastor Wayne if you need technical assistance understanding how to do these passive donation options for YOUR community.
Other Ways to Support our Ministry:
Books for sale at our Welcome Table
Titles by Matthew Fox, John Shelby Spong,
Marcus Borg, and others, and
Rick Dove's cards with beautiful nature photos: See one of his photos at bottom.
And remember, your used cell phones and empty ink jet and toner cartridges can also help fund our ministry. These items fit nicely in the offering basket along with remembrance of time and talent you have offered to our ministries and your financial gifts. Bring them to Gathering with you.
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Recollections from the ChristPath Seminar
June 2013, Part 4 from Sylvia's notes
Andrew Harvey: "The Practice of the Sacred Heart"
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Drs. Matthew Fox, Bruce Chilton and Andrew Harvey
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This is a practice to fortify our hearts with truth, passion and energy so we are not terrified by the task before us. In all mystical traditions there is the heart-center: the placeless place in the psycho-spiritual body, the "pure land" place inside the body. It is the "white diamond light of heart consciousness." Jesus shows us our need to embark on a radical mystical journey. He dis- covered and intensely lived this path. The heart-center pumps the light around in us like the physical heart pumps our blood, bringing singleness and unity ("Theosis"= divinization): a new level of sacred power in us. The key to opening to this light and life is the heart-center. It is the birth of the Christ in the human. We are in the throes of evolutionary crisis on our planet, a fierce confronta- tion which will make or break us. Humans will not survive if we don't evolve to this new consciousness! In the 17th Century the Practice of the Sacred Heart was revealed to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in Paris le Monial. The practice is, in a sense, framed by the following two intimate and passionate prayers: "O sacred heart of Jesus, burning furnace of charity,
flaming out of the power of justice!"- In the quiet I birth the new human consciousness in me.
- I keep before me the image of Jesus, brother-lover, standing before me.
- With honesty about the state of my heart, my "battered, broken, twisted little heart," concerning the news of the world, I connect with that pain and how I deaden myself to it. I also connect with my exhaustedness and my dread.
- Jesus says, "Will you let me heal your heart and experience my heart with its immense love and power?" In the fire of this heart we won't burn but we will be "greened" tenderly and filled with joy.
- Then I see my heart vanish into one of the flames from Jesus' heart and be refreshed, made compassionate, given courage. I feel that heart and how I am now strengthened and grounded in the primordial Universe's heart.
- I put my new, transformed heart back into my own body. The Christ Presence is always with me and it impassions me to work.
"Jesus, how I long for the universe to be transformed into flaming fires of love for you!" |
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hazard
by Christina Borgoyn
there are whole pieces of me
out there, somewhere
floating around,
drifting along senselessly
until one day
something along the lines
of love comes and awakens
the beauty that once
was ignited by the infernos
burning deep below this earth.
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You can become an individual member of Creation Spirituality Communities or
sign up as a participant in the online
community for free. Join our online community, Chesapeake Creation Spirituality Community and take part in the discussion. You can get more information and/or sign up by clicking on the following link:
www.CreationSpirituality.info
NOTE: This website is well worth checking out, with its interesting videos of Matthew Fox and others describing various facets of Creation Spirituality. There is also news of upcoming conferences and much more.
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August Covenant Dates
birthdays, anniversaries, covenant dates
August 1 Louise Birch Abell Birthday (d. 2001)
August 4 Brian Patrick Riley Birthday
August 7 Christina Borgoyn Birthday
August 7 George H. Kresslein, Sr. death (1997)
August 10 Robert T. Abell & Michael P. Dyson Holy Union (2002)
August 11 Janet Bullitt Smith death (2002) August 14 Ralph Ferrante Birthday (d. 2003)August 19 Velma Blitch death (1999)August 27 Louise Birch Abell death (2001)
August 27 Janet Bullitt Smith Birthday (d. 2002)
August 29 John Petrosillo Birthday
August 30 Dave Miller Birthday
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 | Photography by Rick Dove, who has a large selection of his nature photography cards for sale at Evolve Chesapeake:
5" x 7" photocards @$3; matted photographs @10.
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Thank you from the Editor
Thank you to all who are making this newsletter a vehicle for sharing--a letter to the editor, an article you wrote, some news you feel is important for us to know, a poem you wrote or discovered, a song or piece of music that speaks to you, a book review, a photo you want to share, a link to a video, etc. Keep them coming to EvolveSylvia@gmail.com.
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Please visit our website:www.EvolveChesapeake.com and other interesting websites under Quick Links in the sidebar on the left.
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