winter/spring 2015 catalog

A Ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet1890 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105

www.wisdomwayscenter.org

Wisdom

WINTER-SPRING 2015

2 All programs are held at Carondelet Center, 1890 Randolph Ave., St. Paul, unless otherwise noted.

OUR MISSION

Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality offers programs to explore the spiritual dimensions of contemporary life for women and men and to re-imagine and embody all that we can be as agents of transformation in church and society. Established in 1994, Wisdom Ways is a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Paul Province, who build their ministries around love of God and the dear neighbor without distinction.

Your comments are welcome. Please contact us at 651-696-2788 or [email protected] to share ideas or to notify us of address changes.

WELCOME

EXPLORE. RE-IMAGINE. EMBODY.

WISDOM WAYS’ ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Mary Beckfeld, Consociate; Mary Farrell Bednarowski, Ph.D; Meg Gillespie, CSJ; Ginger Hedstrom, Consociate; Rev. Barbara Kellett, Consociate; Honorary member Eleanor Lincoln, CSJ, Ph.D.; William McDonough, Ph.D.; Joan Mitchell, CSJ, Ph.D.; Rev. Julie Neraas; Joan Pauly Schneider, M.Div., Consociate.

CONTRIBUTING WRITER Writing instructor and spiritual director ELIZABETH JARRETT ANDREW is author of Writing the Sacred Journey: The Art and Practice of Spiritual Memoir, the novel Hannah, Delivered, the spiritual memoir Swinging on the Garden Gate, and the essay collection On the Threshold: Home, Hardwood, and Holiness. Learn more about how her work

explores intersections between spiritual growth and the creative process at www.spiritualmemoir.com and www.elizabethjarrettandrew.com

Ever since She danced with God at the beginning of creation, Wisdom has bid us to feast at her table. This womanly embodiment of God beckoned Wisdom Ways to create a gathering place for spiritual seekers. Searching the ancient Christian household of images and words for God, Wisdom Ways’ founders chose to reclaim Holy Wisdom.

WISDOM

Wisdom dances with us still, inviting us to move in new ways as God continues to bring the world into being. She draws us toward the God with whom She dwells, beckoning us into relationship with God, encouraging us to speak honestly of our fears and hopes, to ask questions and listen to our longings, and to widen the circle in which The Holy dwells . . . here and here and here.

And see what has happened during this 20-year dance! Who could imagine the impact of two decades of offering a table where those hungering for spiritual renewal could draw deeply upon the wellspring of faith? Or the power of the community created by everyone welcomed to re-imagine and embody new ways to live faithfully and creatively?

How shall we encounter Wisdom this winter and spring? As we carve a stone, join a dance, listen to ancient stories of the land and its peoples, gaze upon a piece of sacred art, or just sit still and breathe? How grateful we are that Wisdom seeks and reaches us in so many and varied ways. Like prisms, we mirror the facets of her light.

This season, Wisdom invites us to surrender to her mysteries and discover the myriad of ways She abides in every part of our being. Won’t you join, as we dance our way from winter to spring?

Rev. Barbara Lund, Director

www.wisdomwayscenter.org 651-696-2788 [email protected] 3

WINTER-SPRING 2015

ExploreConversations about Sacred Wisdom, Divine Mysteries and Human Questions

* Four Sacred Arts: Cultivating Wisdom through Song, Movement, Story, and Silence ................................................4

* The Heart of Matter: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution – Hedgerow Seminar .................................................................5

* She Lifts Her Voice in the Streets: Jews and Christians Engage in a Quest for Wisdom .............6

* All My Relatives: An Exploration in Spiritual and Theological Reflection upon Our Relationship with Animals ....................6

* My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer with Christian Wiman .............................................................7

* A Morning for Writers: Craft Talk with Christian Wiman .......7

* Awakening to the Stories in the Land ....................................8

Re-imagineNew and Emerging Ideas and Understandings

* Belonging to Our Longings: A Retreat.................................. 10

* Let the Stones Shout Out! ..................................................... 10

* Visio Divina: The Art of Transformation................................ 11

* The Dream of the Cosmos: A Quest for the Soul ................. 11

* Accessing your Body’s Wisdom through Sand, Symbol and Imagination ........................................................ 12

* Men’s Spirituality: Bridges to Contemplative Living ............ 13

* Men’s Centering Prayer ........................................................ 13

Embody Spiritual Practices for Everyday Living

MEDITATION * Meditation: A Way of Contemplative Prayer ......................... 14 • Tuesday Evening Meditation ................................................ 14 • Christian Meditation during Lent ......................................... 14 • Day of Contemplative Prayer during Lent ........................... 15

SPIRITUAL PRACTICES* Meditative Art Inspired by Zentangle© ................................. 16

* Nine Gates: Thresholds of a Spiritual Journey .................... 16

* The Body as a Source of Wisdom ........................................ 16

* Practicing the Presence of Holy Week ................................ 17

* Walking in Harmony: A Labyrinth Journey ........................... 17

* Breathing: Listening and Discovery ..................................... 18

* Lectio Divina: Mornings of Reflection during Lent ............... 18

* Transforming Soul and Society ............................................ 19

ART EXHIBITS .................................................................. 20

ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES ~ SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH SPIRITUALITY MINISTRIES Celeste’s Dream: Spirituality for Young Adults ...................... 22Justice Commission ................................................................ 22Membership and Association ................................................. 23Rituals to Mark the Seasons ................................................... 23Second Sunday ........................................................................ 23Spiritual Direction ................................................................... 23

EVENTS IN THE WIDER COMMUNITYAmy-Jill Levine ........................................................................ 24Celtic and Nordic Services at Pilgrim Lutheran Church, St. Paul ..................................................................................... 24

WISDOM WAYS LABYRINTH RESOURCES TO RENT ................................................... 25

CALENDAR OF PROGRAMS ...................................26-27

LOOKING AHEAD ............................................................. 27

INDEX & REGISTRATION INFORMATION .............. 31

All programs are held at Carondelet Center, 1890 Randolph Ave., St. Paul, unless otherwise noted.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

You can learn more about programs and presenters at www.wisdomwayscenter.org


ExploreEXPLORE

FOUR SACRED ARTS: CULTIVATING WISDOM THROUGH SONG, MOVEMENT, STORY AND SILENCE What part of your spirit is asking to be voiced? What wisdom in your body wants to be expressed? How can the stories you tell reveal your sacred purpose? How might deepening your relationship with silence cultivate insight and possibility?

This workshop draws inspiration from cultural anthropolo-gist Angeles Arrien’s observation that in many indigenous cultures, singing, dancing, embracing our own stories, and being comfortable with silence are healing balm for those who feel dispirited or discouraged.

In five sessions, we will cultivate vitality and courage as we explore the essential wisdom of singing, moving, writing, and practicing silence, and celebrate the broader possibilities these sacred arts open up for a hopeful, joyful world.

Session 1: Giving Voice to SpiritExplore voice as your signature expression, be it in song, on the page, or in gesture. We will explore silence as the well-spring of all sound. What part of your spirit is asking to be voiced? How might you cultivate your authentic voice?

Session 2: Embodying WisdomOur bodies are a significant way we communicate with oth-ers. They are also a means of receiving communication from the Spirit. We’ll practice activating and heeding our full-bod-ied wisdom using dance, meditation, and body memories. How do our bodies speak? How might we listen?

Session 3: Authoring StoriesOur life stories are an intimate form of scripture. When we pay attention to our stories, we both shape them and are shaped by them. We will give form to our stories—on the page, in our bodies, and with our voices. Becoming authors, we come to know the Author of our being.

Session 4: Cultivating a Relationship with SilenceSilence is both empty and full, without form and pregnant with possibility. To nurture our relationship with silence and tap into its generative mysteries, we will use white space on the page, shared silent prayer, musical rests, and stillness as we explore how we create through silence and what si-lence creates in us.

Session 5: Moving into Whole, Vibrant, Hopeful LivesHow do these four sacred arts together bring forth our soul’s wisdom and cultivate healing in the broader world? Using ritual, we will celebrate the vital, courageous possibilities we have awakened.

Facilitators: Writing instructor and spiritual director Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew is our featured writer. Find her biography on page 2 on the inside front cover.

Healing artist and Artistic Director of Living Wisdom com-munity dance practice Emily Jarrett Hughes invites people of all ages and abilities into the joy of moving and creating in community. She has in-depth training in ritual dance and qi gong, which she artfully weaves together in her teaching. Emily is dedicated to awakening the capacity in each person to live a vibrant, courageous life. WHEN: Tuesdays, January 27, February 10, 24, March 10, 24,

6:30 to 8:30 pmCOST: $125.00 series, $30.00 for individual registrations

for first four sessions. Sessions are limited to 25 participants and session five is only for participants who attend all sessions.

Conversations about Sacred Wisdom, Divine Mysteries and Human Questions

“When we go to a medicine person or healer because we are feeling disheartened, dispirited or depressed, he or she might ask questions like: When did you stop singing? When did you stop dancing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories and by your own story? When did you stop being comfortable in the sweet territory of silence?”

* ANGELES ARRIEN, CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGIST


WINTER-SPRING 2015

HEDGEROW SEMINAR WINTER-SPRING 2015

THE HEART OF MATTER: SEEING THE INNER FACE OF EVOLUTION

French Jesuit priest, mystic and world-class scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) is often credited with creating a syn-thesis of science and spirituality that has been immensely helpful to many. In Teilhard’s Mysticism: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution, physics profes-sor Kathleen Duffy SSJ, explores the interior of that synthesis. “As Teilhard often complained, the God of our churches is too small,” says Georgetown University theologian John Haught in his foreword to Duffy’s book. “Their ‘fixist’ spirituality no lon-ger fits the dynamic cosmos that the natural sciences are now laying out so lavishly. Like Teilhard, the author of this evoca-tive work feels the need to expand our sense of the divine in proportion to the new horizon of science.”

Expanding the divine through science is the goal of these sessions. Through reflection, reading, writing, group dis-cussion and ritual, participants will join Teilhard de Chardin in recognizing and reflecting on the mystic experience in their own lives. “…I have experienced it through contact with Earth,” says Teilhard, “the Divine radiating from the depths of a blazing Matter: This is what I shall try to disclose and communicate.” Come journey into the hedgerow as we delve into the heart of matter!

Sample session topics include:

• Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, His Story

• What is Mystery?

• The Circle of Consistency: Micro and Macro The Fire of Divine Energy

• The Circle of Spirit: Matter and Spirit Evolving Together

• Matter and Spirit, Brain and Mind: The Energy of Love

• The Circle of Person: Contemplation and Communion

Hedgerow Advisors: Susan Hames, CSJ, ABD; Rev. Barbara Lund; Katherine McLaughlin, CSJ, Ph.D.; Mary Kaye Medinger, Consociate, MA; Joan Mitchell, CSJ, Ph.D.; Catherine Steffens, CSJ, MA; Joan Pauly Schneider, Consociate, M.Div.

Required Texts: Teilhard’s Mysticism: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution by Kathleen Duffy SSJ, Orbis Books, 2014, and The Heart of Matter by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Harcourt Books, 2002. Both available from www.

goodgroundpress.com (800) 232-5533 or at Wisdom Ways.

WHEN: Mondays, February 9 to April 27, 6:30 to 8:30 pmCOST: $240.00 for all 12 sessions, $25.00 per session

EXPLORE

HEDGEROW INITIATIVE The Hedgerow Initiative offers sustained, systematic programming in feminist theological education, spiritual integration, and leadership for a just and holy world. In a particular way, the Initiative highlights the scholarship of women who since the 1950s have worked to reclaim women’s presence and significance in scripture, church, history, theology and culture. The Initiative takes its name from the hedgerow schools in Ireland that kept alive the language, faith, culture and community of the people during the time of the British penal codes. A hedgerow is a biosphere and a haven.


ExploreEXPLORE


SHE LIFTS HER VOICE IN THE STREETS: JEWS AND CHRISTIANS ENGAGE IN A QUEST FOR WISDOM All religious traditions seek wisdom, yet have difficulty de-fining it. This three-session course will explore Wisdom/Chochma/Sophia, which is often portrayed as both radiant and hidden, kind and cunning, created and creative, seduc-tive and demure, granting both blessing and pain, crying out yet often ignored.

Anchored by three Jewish Hassidic stories, we will bring life experience and knowledge to the search, supported by words from both Jewish and Christian tradition. Enjoy a lively, fa-cilitated discussion inviting participants to hear the voice of Wisdom in their lives.

Facilitators: John Marboe holds advanced degrees in mythological stud-ies and theology but regards himself as a lifelong student of mythological and biblical reflection. An ordained ELCA min-ister, freelance writer, and convener of interfaith dialogues, John grounds himself by conducting funerals for persons without a church and by hauling trash for a St. Paul garbage company.

Born in South Africa, Rabbi Alan Shavit-Lonstein immigrated with his family to the United States as a young child. He grew up in Golden Valley, MN, and attended college at Washington University in Saint Louis. He lived in Israel where he attend-ed Machon Pardes, an egalitarian yeshiva, and graduated from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2000 with rabbinic ordination and an M.A. in Jewish Education. He has served as rabbi of the Tri-City Jewish Center in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa, and was a rabbi at the Temple of Aaron from 2002 to 2014.

WHEN: Thursdays, March 12, 19, 26, 6:30 to 8:30 pmCOST: $75.00 series, $30.00 per session.

ALL MY RELATIVES:AN EXPLORATION IN SPIRITUAL AND THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION UPON OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ANIMALS How should we relate to animals? Come read, reflect on, and discuss a variety of perspectives on our relationship with animals, domestic and wild.

Session One will consider the artistic depictions of animals from the earliest cave drawings, discovered in France, to contemporary expressions in film and the visual arts regard-ing their meaning and significance. Recommended reading: Gregory Curtis, The Cave Painters (Anchor Books, 2006)

Session Two will examine the emerging discipline of ani-mal theology and what might be learned from such spiritual traditions as Christian, Native American, Hawaiian, Celtic, Buddhist, and Taoist. Recommended reading: Andrew Linzey, Creatures of the Same God: Explorations in Animal Theology (Lantern Books, 2009)

Session Three will discuss animal rights and ethical consid-erations regarding the moral status of animals, the harms of confinement, keeping pets and zoo animals, animal re-search, and meat-eating diets. Recommended reading: Daniel DeGrazia, Animal Rights: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2002)

Presenter: Ed Sellner, Ph.D., is professor of theology at Saint Catherine University where he has taught for the past 34 years, and author of numerous books. He is also a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, Oxford, England. At the Centre’s recent international conference, he presented a paper on the Celtic saints and their kinship with animals. WHEN: Tuesdays, April 7, 14, 21, 6:30 to 8:30 pmCOST: $75.00 series, $30.00 per session


WINTER-SPRING 2015

MY BRIGHT ABYSS: MEDITATION OF A MODERN BELIEVEREight years ago, Christian Wiman, a well-known poet and the editor of Poetry mag-azine, wrote a now-famous essay about having faith in the face of death. My Bright Abyss, composed in the difficult years since and completed in the wake of a bone mar-row transplant, is a moving meditation on what a viable contemporary faith—respon-sive not only to modern thought and sci-ence but also to religious tradition—might look like.

Joyful, sorrowful, and beautifully written, My Bright Abyss is destined to become a spiritual classic, useful not only to believers but to anyone whose experience of life and art seems at times to overbrim its boundaries. How do we answer this “burn of being”? Wiman asks. What might it mean for our lives—and for our deaths—if we ac-knowledge the “insistent, persistent ghost” that some of us call God?

Wiman will read selections from his new book of es-says, My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer followed by conversation and a book signing. WHEN: Friday, May 15, 7:00 to 8:30 pm COST: $10.00

A MORNING FOR WRITERS: CRAFT TALK WITH CHRISTIAN WIMAN Writing requires solitude—but when soli-tude is too frequent and too deep, a writ-er can be isolated. This process-based morning will be a discussion with serious writers seeking to weave their spiritual walk into their work.

WHEN: Saturday, May 16, 9:00 to 11:00 am COST: $25.00

Christian Wiman is Senior Lecturer in Religion and Literature at Yale Divinity

School. He is the author of numerous books of poetry, prose, and poetry in translation, most recently My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer. Born in 1966 and raised in West Texas, for years he traveled the world – Guatemala to the Czech Republic – devoting himself to the craft of poetry. He taught at Northwestern University, Stanford University, Prague School of Economics and was editor of Poetry Magazine.

EXPLORE

TWO EVENTS WITH CHRISTIAN WIMAN

“ I have no illusions about adding to sophisticated theological thinking, but I think there are a ton of people out there who are what you might call unbelieving believers, people whose consciousness is completely modern and yet who have this strong spiritual hunger in them. I would like to say something helpful to those people.”

* CHRISTIAN WIMAN

“ My Bright Abyss is, above all, a book about experience, and about seeking a language that is adequate for both the fiery moments of inspiration and the “fireless life” in which we spend most of our days. It is a testament to the human ability to respond to grace, even at times of great suffering, and to resolve to live and love more fully even as death draws near.”

* KATHLEEN NORRIS


ExploreEXPLORE


AWAKENING TO THE STORIES IN THE LANDFor the First People of Minnesota (mnisota, water that reflects the sky), the stories and the land are inseparable. To dwell in this land is to be surrounded by a sacred story-scape that is little known or understood by most present-day Minnesotans. The land presents a silent testimony to the wisdom and spiri-tuality of its once-vibrant people, and to the modern history of their decimation. As a local Dakota Elder and historian said of the area at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, “From Genesis to Genocide in two and a half acres.”

Come awaken to these stories, and hear them told while walk-ing the places where they reside, accompanied by a Mohican-American, a Lakota-American, and a Euro-American.

Facilitators: A member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation of central Wisconsin, Jim Bear Jacobs is a cultur-al facilitator who works to raise the public’s awareness of American Indian causes and injustices, and founder of Healing Minnesota Stories, a group dedicated to creating events of dialogue and education between Native communities and in-terfaith organizations. Bob Klanderude, of Dakota and Lakota heritage, is a volunteer with Healing Minnesota Stories who also advocates for Native Father’s groups and works with the Department of Corrections providing spiritual services for Native inmates. Read about John Marboe on page 6.

WHEN: Saturday, June 6, 6:30 to 10:00 pm Meet at Carondelet Center at 6:15 pm for trans-port to Mounds Park, Cold Water Spring, and Fort Snelling Park and concluding with a fire at Pilot Knob near the Medicine Wheel under the stars.

COST: $30.00


WINTER-SPRING 2015 EXPLORE


BELONGING TO OUR LONGINGS: A RETREAT What would it mean to listen to your heart’s longing – and to fol-low it? Perhaps you already have, and would like to be encour-aged along the way. Perhaps you have just heard your heart speak recently and you are wondering how to begin. Perhaps, in the noise of the world and the busy demands of your life, you find it difficult to hear your heart’s soft voice at all.

Come turn your ear inward in a community of people seek-ing to follow their hearts. During this three-day retreat, we will encourage one another to belong to our longings. Using guided writing, small-group conversation, and activities both playful and contemplative, we will listen for the wisdom ris-ing from our own lives and bodies.

Facilitator: Karen Hering, author of Writing to Wake the Soul: Opening the Sacred Conversation Within is a literary minister and a fre-quent Wisdom Ways presenter whose retreats and programs engage writing as a spiritual practice and a tool for social action. Visit karenhering.com.

WHEN: February 20 – 22. Friday 7:00 to 8:30 pm, Saturday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Sunday 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Full retreat schedule available at wisdomwayscenter.org.

COST: $145.00, includes Saturday lunch.For overnight accommodations contact, 651-696-2788.

LET THE STONES SHOUT OUT! Rock and stone have played roles in religious tradition for millennia. Ancient Celts carved megaliths and stone circles. Native American Plains tribes come to Minnesota to quarry red pipestone for their sacred pipes. Jews gather stones to place on graves in memory. The Zuni and Inuit tribes still have strong traditions of hand carving fetishes for protection and healing.

Stones are mentioned in many sacred texts. In the gospel of Luke, when the Pharisees tell his disciples to be silent, Jesus replies, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry aloud!”

Come explore hands-on stone carving and spiritual traditions from world religions, and how these tra-ditions ground us in memory, home, and worship. We will open ourselves to this most ancient of elements with prayer, learn-ing, meditation and reflection. What is it that grounds us? Why is someone we con-

sider trustworthy a “rock”? Why are we drawn to stone ruins? We’ll discover why, around the world, stone is an essential ele-ment in matters of the spirit.

Participants will go home with an animal figure that they have carved and finished! Carving tools and stones will be provided along with teaching and encouragement. No experience nec-essary, just a willingness to get dusty and have fun doing so! Limited to 20 participants. Facilitators: Robin Keck has over 20 years of experience in stone carving. She has led carving classes at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico as well as impromptu ones in her studio. She is a picture framer and singer, holding a deep respect for carving tradi-tions, including Inuit and Southwest.

Diane Gardner is a spiritual director, teacher and seeker. She holds a master’s degree in theology from St. Catherine University and is a Consociate of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. She taught spiritual formation for Sacred Ground Center for Spirituality for 7 years and is a Commissioned Minister for Spiritual Direction in the United Church of Christ.

WHEN: Friday, March 6, 1:00-8:00 pm, Saturday, March 7, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

COST: $125.00, includes meals and program stones and tools.

For overnight accommodations contact, 651-696-2788.

Re-imagineRE-IMAGINE

New and Emerging Ideas and Understandings


WINTER-SPRING 2015 RE-IMAGINE

VISIO DIVINA: THE ART OF TRANSFORMATION Western Christianity has long used images to provoke spiri-tual transformation. Images we encounter in our daily lives have power as well. Examining images and architecture from ancient eras through the 21st century and advertising, we will ask: What philosophies, principles, purposes, and problems underlie the creation of these images? What images are miss-ing? What images are needed? How can the spiritual practice of “Visio Divina” help us let art transform us?

Session 1: Context: Image as Insight

Session 2: Problems in Representation: Carnal Knowing and Unknowing

Session 3: Examining Current Images and their Contexts and Messages

Session 4: Sustained Engagement with Selected Visual Image as a Prayer Practice

Readings: Margaret Miles, Image as Insight (Wipf and Stock, 2006) and Carnal Knowing (Beacon Press, 1998); John Berger, Ways of Seeing (Penguin, 1990).

Presenter: Baya Clare, a Sister of St. Joseph, works as an artist and writer and teaches classes and facilitates groups in area prisons. Learn more at bayadraws.com and bayapix.com.

WHEN: April 9, 16, 30, and May 7, 6:30 to 8:30 pm COST: $95.00 series, $30.00 per session

THE DREAM OF THE COSMOS: A QUEST FOR THE SOUL We live in an “ensouled” and sacred world, says Anne Baring in her book The Dream of the Cosmos: A Quest for Soul, which aims to restore a sense of communion between ourselves and the invisible dimension of the Cosmos that is the source of all we call “life.” Read this interesting and challenging book and join rich conversations exploring Baring’s main themes, including:

• The Lunar Era — the Great Mother and original participation in the cosmic soul

• The Solar Era — the separation from nature and battle between good and evil; myth of the fall

• The Resurgence of the Divine Feminine — instinct, body, interconnection as a manifestation of soul

• The Great Alchemy — the process of the soul’s transformation

Expect your intellect and creative imagination to be chal-lenged by deep dialogue and nurtured by guided meditation, centering, poetry and music.

Facilitator: Spiritual guide Nancy Cosgriff co-teaches a spir-itual guidance certificate program integrating wisdom tradi-tions with the Cosmic story that will be offered at Wisdom Ways in the fall (See page 19). Much of her work facilitating retreats and workshops has been inspired by her disserta-tion topic, “Reclaiming the Divine Feminine: Archetypes for Healing and Wholeness in Our Time.”

WHEN: Wednesdays, April 15, 22, 29, and May 6, 6:30 to 9:00 pm. Please order The Dream of the Cosmos (Archive Publishing, 2013) ahead of time. Reading directions and course outline will be provided upon registration.

COST: $95.00 series, $30.00 per session. Does not include required text.


ACCESSING YOUR BODY’S WISDOM THROUGH SAND, SYMBOL AND IMAGINATION It was Carl Jung who said the hands often know how to solve a riddle with which the intellect has wrestled in vain and that it is often necessary to clarify ‘a vague content’ by giving it a visible form. Sand, symbol and imagination are powerful tools that allow you to access and give visible form to aspects of your inner life, allowing you to see what is taking form inside you and, eventually, outer expression in the world.

These three sessions will use sand, symbol and imagination to explore what is calling us toward our next step. The research of Brené Brown and Kristin Neff on vulnerability, self-compassion, shame, resilience and authenticity will be woven through the sessions.

Session 1: Where Do You Feel Called to Show Up More in Your Sacred Life?

In the busy-ness of life we often lose sight of our true self. Sometimes we become small and at times invisible in our own lives. In this session we will explore what in us wants fuller expression.

Session 2: What Gets in the Way?We are often held back by messages like “You’re not enough” or “Who do you think you are?” Self-doubt, shame, comparison, and fear of making a mistake also get in the way. In this session we will explore tools to help us navigate this challenging terrain.

Session 3: What Lights the Way?Showing up fully in our own lives, with our families, and in our community takes vulnerability and courage. This session will use sand, symbol and our imagination to deepen our understanding of our values: that which lights the way.

Facilitator: Carol Burling, MA, D. Min, CDWF-Consultant, and spiritual director, is a lifelong learner of human development who focuses on spiritual development, shame, loss and grief, and resiliency.

WHEN: Tuesdays, May 5, 12, 19, 6:30 to 8:30 pmCOST: $75.00 series

“ I learn through my hands and my eyes and my skin what I could never learn through my brain.”

* M.C.RICHARDS

Re-imagineRE-IMAGINE

New and Emerging Ideas and Understandings


WINTER-SPRING 2015 RE-IMAGINE

BRIDGES TO CONTEMPLATIVE LIVING

Are you longing for a stronger connection to life’s quieter, contemplative dimensions? Seeking practical ways to integrate harmony and wholeness into your days? Searching for support in moving from your head to your heart, through silence and contemplation?

This series of gatherings for men is focused on contemplative living. Not an outcome-oriented process but a journey towards a more contemplative, compassionate and integrated life, our six sessions will look more fully into how contemplation as a way of life supports a deeper relationship with God. We will also explore the role of compassion in relating to others through the lens of contemplative living.

Reflective spiritual reading and journaling, periods of silence and prayer, and contemplative dialogue will help you slow down and pay attention to the inner rhythm of your soul’s life. Spiritual silence will be our teacher, writings from spiritual teachers such as of Thomas Merton, Teilhard de Chardin, Ira

Progroff, Rumi and Joseph Tetlow will mentor us, and shared reflection along with intentional listening will support us and guide us inward. Encouragement for this process comes from Psalm 42:7: “One Deep Calls to Another.”

Presenter: See bio for Terry Shaughnessy at the beginning of this section.

WHEN: Wednesdays January 21, February 4 and 25, March 4 and 18, April 1, 4:30 to 6:00 pm

COST: $90.00 (No drop-ins.)

CENTERING PRAYER CIRCLE To foster community among participants, Wisdom Ways Men’s Spirituality Series holds a monthly contemplative prayer circle. Each meeting begins with 20 minutes of contemplative prayer practice using the method of Centering Prayer. Opportunity for group sharing around this prayer is included, as well as occasional video teachings by Centering Prayer teacher and Trappist monk Thomas Keating. This ancient practice of Christian meditation is related to the classic tradition of contemplation and is easily accessible.

Facilitators: Louie Doering, a group leader for Centering Prayer groups at St. Stanislaus Parish in St. Paul, and Terry Shaughnessy, Men’s Spirituality Coordinator.

WHEN: Wednesdays, January 14, February 11, March 11, April 8, May 13, June 10, 7:00 to 8:30 pm

COST: Donation. RSVP to 651-696-2788 or [email protected]

MEN’S SPIRITUALITY Exploring Men’s Personal Journeys of Spiritual Growth

To preserve a sacred space for men to explore their spirituality together, we ask that only men register for the sessions.

Coordinator: Terry Shaughnessy is a longtime spiritual director trained in Ignatian Spirituality through the Masters in Christian Spirituality Program at Creighton University. For Contemplative Outreach of Colorado and other venues, he conducts retreats and workshops and teaches Centering Prayer. His primary passion is offering spiritual direction, “the ministry of compassionate presence” and supporting many men from a vari-ety of backgrounds in their inner lives. To learn more about spiritual direction, contact Terry at 651-328-7675.

“ Contemplative living is living in true relationship with oneself, God, others and nature, free of the illusions of separateness.”

* THOMAS MERTON


EmbodyEMBODY

Spiritual Practices for Everyday Living

MEDITATION

MEDITATION: A WAY OF CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

Meditation is a form of contemplative prayer in which we move beyond words, thoughts, and images. We open ourselves to God’s mysterious and silent presence within us and it be-comes more and more the reality of our lives. From this place we engage in our work in the world. This spring, Wisdom Ways offers ways to gather in silence. We invite you to this way of contemplative prayer.

TUESDAY EVENING MEDITATION During these times of prayer, we will sit in silent meditation with others. Meditating together is a way of deepening and supporting our personal practice. Come as often as you are able. The weekly sessions include a short reading and one 25-minute meditation.

WHEN: Tuesdays, January 6 to June 9, 7:00 to 7:40 pm COST: Registration is not required and sessions are free

CHRISTIAN MEDITATION DURING LENT Lent is a time of preparation. Through prayer and fasting, we ready ourselves to enter into the celebration of the central Christian mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Wisdom Ways offers varied ways to move toward the transforming ex-perience of this sacred event.

Ash Wednesday MeditationEnter into the season of Lent by gathering with others for contemplative prayer. The evening includes a short reading, a 25-minute sitting meditation and walking meditation, followed by a second 25-minute sitting meditation for those who wish an extended time of prayer.

WHEN: Wednesday, February 18, 7:00 pm to 8:15 pm (includes both sittings)

COST: Registration is not required and the session is free

Tuesday Meditations These weekly meditation sessions include a short reading and one 25-minute meditation.

WHEN: Tuesdays, February 24 – March 31 NEW Mornings, 11:00 to 11:40 am Evenings, 7:00 to 7:40 pm

COST: Registration is not required and sessions are free

“ We are already one, but we imagine that we are not. So what we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are.”

* THOMAS MERTON

“ We have to go beyond the outer appearances of the senses and beyond the concepts of the mind, and open ourselves to the reality of Christ within, the Christ of the resurrection.”

* BEDE GRIFFITHS


WINTER-SPRING 2015 EMBODY

Saturday Morning Meditations These meditation sessions include a short reading from Christian Mystics, two 25-minute sitting meditations, and walking meditation. Come for one or all Saturdays.

WHEN: Five Saturday mornings, February 21, March 7, March 14, March 21, and March 28, 9:00 am to 10:15 am

COST: Registration is not required and sessions are free

Day of Contemplative Prayer A Lenten day of contemplative prayer provides a more extend-ed and focused time to deepen our existing practice of medita-tion. On this day, a pattern of sitting and walking meditations, teachings, mindful movements, and chanting will offer an ex-perience of prayer and silence. Limited to 25 participants.

WHEN: Saturday, February 28, 8:30 am to 3:15 pm COST: $40.00, includes lunch

Holy Saturday Meditation Enter into the emptiness of Holy Saturday. This time of prayer includes a short reading, two 25-minute sitting meditations, and walking meditation.

WHEN: Saturday, April 4, 9:00 am to 10:15 am COST: Registration is not required and sessions are free

Facilitators: Susan Oeffling, CSJ, spiritual director and group facilitator, has masters’ degrees in theology and counseling and spiritual direction training from the Center for Spiritual Guidance. Deborah Chernick studies the history of Christian contemplative prayer and serves on the board of the Trust for the Meditation Process. Both facilitators have practiced meditation for many years.


MEDITATIVE ART INSPIRED BY ZENTANGLE® Think you aren’t an artist? Come and see! Use easy-to-learn multiple, simple repeated patterns to create miniature works of art that surprise and delight. Experience a refreshed way of using repetition like a sacred word that ties us to the present moment.

Facilitator: Although artist Ansgar Holmberg, CSJ, is not a certified ZENTANGLE® teacher, she has introduced Zentangle-Related Art to groups in California and at St. Catherine University. She enjoys showing others how to create and de-lights in their delight as they discover their creativity.

WHEN: Wednesdays, January 28, February 4, 11, 2:00 to 3:30 pm

COST: $35.00, includes supplies

NINE GATESThresholds of a Spiritual Journey Join brush painter Bob Schmitt for three meditative chats focused on his Nine Gates scrolls (on exhibit at Carondelet Center, January through March – see page 20). Each evening will focus on three of the scrolls as Bob tells stories of his experience in creating each image, which are grounded in the particulars of his own journey. Participants will be invited to enter into the energy held by each scroll and share the words, sounds, images and movements that are stirred from within. These will be evenings of individual and collective exploration of thresholds of spiritual journeys.

Presenter: Bob Schmitt is a Quaker and a student and teacher of Chinese calligraphy and painting. For over 50 years, he used ink and brush in the manner of Asian sumi-e (black ink) painters. Since meeting Chinese mas-ters Lok Tok and Yitong Lok and his current teacher Hong Zhang, he has more deeply explored Chinese calligra-phy and painting, which he teaches in weekly classes. He lives and paints in Minneapolis. Learn more at www.laughingwatersstudio.com

WHEN: Tuesdays, February 3, 17, March 3, 6:30 to 8:30 pm COST: $75.00 series, $30.00 per session

THE BODY AS A SOURCE OF WISDOM In our everyday lives, we may take our body for granted, see-ing it as an object to adorn, or to perform to our expectations. What if we shift the view, seeing the body as the carrier of memories, and the temple for the spark of the divine within, with the keys to wisdom and transformation?

You are invited, in this three-part program, to explore the body as a wise, loving and gentle guide on the spiritual journey, a journey of self-discovery. Breath, imagery, music and other simple tools will help you listen to the body, beginning to de-velop a meaningful relationship with it and, through it, your True Self. Curiosity and intent are key in this process.

True self-care is part of the spiritual journey, and broadens the approach to health and well-being. Using your body’s wis-dom as the guide, you will discover ways to live more in the present, more embodied, and more whole.

Facilitator:Margaret McRaith, MA, PT, has studied the science of the body (outer landscape) for over 40 years in her physical therapy practice, and the science of the soul or spirit (inner landscape) for over 30 years through transpersonal psychology (psycho-synthesis) and energy medicine (esoteric healing) based an-cient wisdom teachings. She weaves these seemingly sepa-rate paradigms together in her practice and programs.

WHEN: Thursdays, March 5, 12, 19, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm COST: $60.00 series

EMBODY

EmbodySpiritual Practices for Everyday Living

SPIRITUAL PRACTICES


WINTER-SPRING 2015

So many things I have not donecome back to haunt mewhen I cannot sleep, and therethey mingle with the things I have,which also can, in those small hours,undo me.

* MICHAEL DENNIS BROWNE

EMBODY

SPIRITUAL PRACTICES

PRACTICING THE PRESENCE OF HOLY WEEK Explore how poems can have the status of parallel scriptures in our lives and greatly enhance our prayer life in any season of the church year. Michael Dennis Browne’s newest book of poems, The Voices, will be featured.

Facilitator:Poet, essayist and lyricist Michael Dennis Browne is Professor Emeritus in English at the University of Minnesota. As a librettist, he has written many texts for music, working with composer Stephen Paulus and others, including John Foley S.J., David Lord, Carolyn Jennings, and Juliana Hall. Read more at www.michaeldennisbrowne.com.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 1, 7:00 to 8:30 pm COST: $10.00

WALKING IN HARMONY: A LABYRINTH JOURNEY Second Fridays, February - June

In the midst of daily challenges and conflicts within our greater communities, cultivating a spirit of harmony and peace is a gift for yourself and the world.

You are invited to walk the labyrinth indoors at Carondelet Center, whether this is your first walk or you are developing a spiritual practice.

After a brief reflection, you are welcome to walk as of-ten as you wish. There will be space for writing and ar-

tistic play as well as time for quiet prayer and meditation.

In 1997, Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality mowed an outdoor labyrinth in the lawn of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, the first in the Twin Cities community. Wisdom Ways has introduced the labyrinth to thousands through the many labyrinth conferences, programs and events we have sponsored since then. A new, permanent labyrinth for the grounds of the Sisters of St. Joseph is being planned.

Facilitators:Marilyn Larson has been making labyrinths since 1996. She creates labyrinths for personal and public spaces in a variety of media, most recently the labyrinth for the Spiritual Center at Hennepin County Medical Center.

MJ McGregor, Ph.D., Advanced Veriditas Certified Facilitator, introduces and facilitates labyrinth walks nationally and in Chartres Cathedral, France. MJ leads pilgrimages in Chartres, where she is a seasonal resident, and most recent-ly co-guided a walking pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres Cathedral.

WHEN: Fridays, February 13, March 13, April 10, May 8, June 12, 9:30 to 11:30 am

COST: Free. RSVP to 651-696-2788 or [email protected]


BREATHING: LISTENING AND DISCOVERY Third Fridays February-June

Breath is a basic tool to develop awareness of the interconnectedness of the inner and outer landscape, and to weave them into a more cohesive whole, bringing about, over time, real change in health, well-being, and relationships within and without. Come learn to pay attention to the simple profound spirit: the breath that is moving into every cell within and around you, and to breathe consciously. Paying attention in this way invites transformation and letting go.

We will gently explore the science of breath and how we can impact all aspects of our inner and outer self through choosing to pay attention to this force that enlivens us. Our time together will conclude with an invitational ritual of intent.

As you continue this practice, both you and your body will gently soften and slow down. Discover how all aspects of you and your interactions in and with the world around you begin to change. Come as you are able.

Facilitator:Read about Margaret McRaith, MA, PT on page 16.

WHEN: Fridays, February 20, March 20, April 17, May 15, June 19, 9:00 to 10:15 am


LECTIO DIVINA: MORNINGS OF REFLECTION DURING LENT

Lectio Divina or Sacred Reading is the slow, repetitive reading of a sacred text that leads one to the ultimate step of resting in God. It is not Scripture study, nor is it spiritual reading. It is an invitation to take a “long, loving look at Scripture” says spiritual director Teresa Blythe, “a time for falling in love with the Word and experiencing the goodness of God.”

This four-step process for being with Scripture in a prayerful manner includes: Reading (Lectio); Meditating (Meditatio); Praying (Oratio); and Contemplating (Contemplatio). Using texts for Lent, you will experience this ancient prayer form in a group setting, though it is easily adapted to individual practice and can be incorporated into your prayer life.

Facilitator: Pat Jones is a spiritual director, Psychologist Emeritus, and former Benedictine.

WHEN: Introduction to Lectio Divina experience: Monday, February 16, 10:00 to 11:30 am. Practice sessions: Mondays, February 23, March 2 and 9, from 10:00 to 10:45 am


EMBODY

SPIRITUAL PRACTICESEmbodySpiritual Practices for Everyday Living


WINTER-SPRING 2015 EMBODY

TRANSFORMING SOUL AND SOCIETY (formerly housed at WomanWell)

A transformative two-year journey that will both deepen your own spirituality and certify you as a professional spiritual guide! Through Sacred Story — personal, communal and cosmic — we awaken to the Divine Presence connecting all and compelling our service in the world.

Together with a spiritually supportive community you can co-create:

• A learning community where you experience the evolutionary Cosmic Story as it flows through you and the wisdom of diverse spiritual traditions.

• A sacred circle where you engage in story, ritual and creativity with others from diverse backgrounds and faith traditions who share your desire for spiritual deepening.

• A process of personally integrating the energies of the Cosmic Story and the Divine Feminine and Sacred Masculine to bring balance and wholeness to yourself and our planet.

• An opportunity for grieving the wounding of Mother Earth and her creatures and for finding the hope needed to take centered action on her behalf.

• A practice field for developing skills and practices—meditation/reflection, ritual, journaling, listening, questioning—to lead and influence in your part of our global world.

• A training program for becoming a professional spiritual guide.

The program…

• Welcomes women and men of diverse religious/spiritual traditions and ethnic/racial backgrounds. The application process, which includes recommendations and a personal interview, begins March 2015.

• Gathers 10 times from Friday afternoon through Sunday mid-afternoon, on the first full weekend of alternate months from September 2015 through May 2016. Overnight accommodations available upon request through Wisdom Ways.

• Gathers an additional 8 times to address skills and knowledge specific to becoming a spiritual guide and companion. A concurrent internship in year 2 and post-program supervision for 1 year is also required.

Core Faculty/FacilitatorsNancy Cosgriff, D. Min, Delmarie Gibney, FSPA, D. Min, and Corrina Thomas, FSPA, D. Min all bring extensive experience in education, theology, ministry, psychology, leadership and spiritual guidance. Each participant meets annually with a program leader for personal consultation.

More information about cost and application at www.wisdomwayscenter.org: 651-696-2788.

“ For me, the program was completely transformative. Right from the beginning, my old worldview was challenged and the new stories that emerged allowed me to view myself, others and the earth in a whole new light. My priorities have shifted and my day-to-day life is more joyful and less anxious. I am very concerned about our planet and know – to the core of my being – that we are all connected. What is good for you is good for me and what is good for Mother Earth is good for all beings. I highly recommend this program to anyone who is looking for a deep connection with All that is.”

* KATE REDPATH, GRADUATE

Coming in Fall 2015!


ART EXHIBITS

NINE GATESTHRESHOLDS OF A SPIRITUAL JOURNEYBob Schmitt created the Nine Gates scrolls to illuminate the 2015 Key West Literary Seminar’s theme: How the Light Gets in – Literature of the Spirit. The Seminar was organized around gates of spiritual passage. Given a list of 30-some possible spiritual gates, Bob chose these nine as having the most resonance with his own experience: longing, abandonment, rage, emptiness, compassion, unbridled joy, oneness, delusion and darkness. Over six months, Bob created a calligraphic representation for each gate, and then a painting, integrating his understanding of spiritual journey, his discipline as a brush painter, and his skill in using digital technology. The result is a series of digitally printed banners that appear to be like Chinese scrolls. The “silks” that surround each painting are actually a sample of the painting itself, digitally cloned to create the pattern and texture of a silk fabric. The effect is one of facing into thresholds of interior landscapes into which you are invited.

WHEN: January 1 to March 31

SEE PAGE 16 FOR PROGRAM SESSIONS AND MORE

ABOUT BOB SCHMITT.

WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM (WILPF)

20-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE ART EXHIBITIONCELEBRATING 100 YEARS The Minnesota WILPF chapter Arts Committee is a group of activists, artists, and scholars who aim to share and engage others in the stories of global women and raise public awareness of global and local issues of concern in women’s public and private lives. The images, photos, videos, paintings, costumes, and other media in this exhibit highlight the work and experiences of WILPF and celebrate the 100 Year Anniversary of WILPF, the 20th Anniversary of the UN Beijing Conference on Women, and the 93rd Anniversary of the Minnesota WILPF chapter.

WHEN: April 22-29


WINTER-SPRING 2015 ART EXHIBITS


ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

CELESTE’S DREAM YOUNG ADULT SPIRITUALITYNourish Spirit * Inspire Social Action * Experience CommunityHow do we connect spirit, work and learning in community? We offer young adults (20-35 years old) and others opportunities to integrate their education, values, spirituality, and work in the context of community. We offer active and contemplative space, programs and opportunities to intersect with local and international spirituality and justice work of the Sisters of St. Joseph and Consociates community. Rooted in the Catholic, Christian faith, we welcome people from all spiritual traditions.

Community Garden 2015Weekly gardening Tuesdays 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm starting in May• Learn organic growing methods and

enjoy healthy heirloom produce • Participate in a local food system

and build community with Earth

Visiting Women’s Religious Communities – Saturday, February 21Visit four different religious communities to meet, learn, share meals, and pray with Catholic Sisters. We visit local communities of Benedictines, Franciscan Poor Clares, School Sisters of Notre Dame, Sisters of St. Joseph and Visitation Sisters.

CSJ Earth Day Celebration – Saturday, April 26 Join us for communal ritual and ecological action that celebrates Earth.

For more information or to register, go to www.csjstpaul.org/celeste or contact 651-696-2873 or [email protected]

JUSTICE COMMISSIONThe Justice Commission of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and Consociates, St. Paul Province, acts for justice and equality for all by always moving toward profound love of God and neighbor without distinction. We join with other groups in addressing issues influencing human dignity and Earth.

11th Day Prayer for PeaceCreated in 2001 and offered on the 11th of each month, 11th Day Prayer for Peace provides the opportunity for those gathered to pray for peace in situations throughout the world where it is needed. Themes include a variety of issues such as anti-human trafficking, dismantling racism, eco-justice, immigration reform, life from womb to tomb and more.

WHEN: 11th day of each month, 6:30 pm to 7:15 pmWHERE: Our Lady of Presentation Chapel (CSJ Chapel),

1890 Randolph Ave., St. Paul

Visit www.csjstpaul.org or www.csjstpaul.org/justice_basic.aspxFor more information: 651-690-7054

SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH SPIRITUALITY MINISTRIES


WINTER-SPRING 2015 ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

CSJ MEMBERSHIP AND ASSOCIATIONThe CSJ Way: Community, Spirituality, and Justice – a half-day retreat!

Spend a Saturday morning with the Sisters of St. Joseph and Consociates learning about the many ways to become involved with this community of spirituality and justice. This year in honor of consecrated life, Pope Francis calls us to remember the past in gratitude while living the present with passion and embracing the future with hope. The CSJ Way will explore how:

* Gospel and Vatican II’s “Universal Call to Holiness” informs the CSJ Community and Ministries

* Women Religious tell the story of the Apostolic Visitation from the book, Power of Sisterhood

* People can engage in the CSJ Community as program participants, volunteers, friends, Consociates, Sisters and/or other ways of associating.

All spiritual traditions are welcome. Join this movement!

WHEN: Saturday March 21 9:00 am to 12:30 pmWHERE: Carondelet Center,

1890 Randolph Ave. St. Paul, MNCONTACT: Joan Pauly Schneider at 651-690-7063,

[email protected], or Jill Underdahl, CSJ, at 651-696-2873, [email protected]

Rituals to honor the Wisdom of the Seasons

A time to gather in prayer, ritual, silence and song to mark the sacred cycles of the Universe. (Begun by Sister Rosann Giguerre and Joyce Eckes).

January 28 Candlemas: Wisdom of the spark of light piercing the gloom of winter

March 18 Spring Equinox: Wisdom of equality of light and dark

April 29 Beltane: Wisdom of the passion for life

June 17 Summer Solstice: Wisdom of the longest day of light

July 29 Lammas: Wisdom of the first harvest

WHEN: Gather at 5:30 pm; ritual from 6:00 to 7:00 pm. Events are free.

WHERE: Carondelet Center, 1890Randolph Ave., St. PaulCONTACT: Mary Lou Flandrick at 612-724-6008

SECOND SUNDAYSecond Sunday is a community circle in which women and men and families gather to reflect together on the Sunday scriptures. Second Sunday began among the Sisters of St. Joseph in three community houses.

We reflect on the Sunday gospel and nourish one another’s lives with this sharing. We share bread and wine and lift up the prayers of all gathered and concerns for the world. Following, we drink coffee and enjoy treats. All are welcome and invited to come when you can. The group is a new blessing each month.

WHEN: Second Sunday of each month, 10:00 amWHERE: Carondelet Center, 1890 Randolph Ave., St. Paul CONTACT: Therese Sherlock, CSJ, 651-690-7011

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION Spiritual Direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divine. In spiritual direction, space is created for one to learn and grow in their spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of his or her encounters of the divine, or how he or she is experiencing spiritual issues.

Spiritual direction nurtures a deeper relationship with the spiritual aspect of being human. It is not counseling, psychotherapy or financial planning. If you seek spiritual direction, the following CSJ Spiritual Directors are available to support you on your journey.

Elizabeth Kerwin, CSJ 651-641-0008Mary Lamski, CSJ 651-695-5387Susan Oeffling, CSJ 651-696-2757Cathy Steffens, CSJ 651-696-2760Jill Underdahl, CSJ 651-696-2873 Gina Webb, CSJ 651-696-2757 Group Spiritual Guidance, contact Cathy Steffens, CSJ, 651-696-2760 or [email protected] or Kathy Berken, 563-581-8488 or [email protected]


CELTIC CONTEMPLATIVE COMMUNION a Celtic Journey into the Mysteries

January 11 Entirely Present Always

February 8 A Deep and Vast Unknowing

March 8 How Love Conceived Itself

April 12 At the End of My Darkness

NORDIC CONTEMPLATIVE EVENING PRAYER

the rich and haunting music of the Scandinavian peoples

January 25 The Brilliant Shadow of GodGuests: Cloudberries, American Swedish Institute Women’s Choir

February 22 There Lies a Fair LandGuests: St Olaf Hardanger Fiddle Group

March 22 So Many Lives Woven Into MineGuests: Fiddles on Fire

April 26 God Must Look Kindly on a Farmer in Stone Country

Guests: Members of the Twin Cities Hardingfelelag

SAINT CLAIR SUNDAY EVENINGS AT PILGRIM LUTHERAN CHURCH“A Clear Pure Note in the Silence”

May 7, 7:00 to 9:00 pm St. Catherine UniversityFor tickets and information, contact the SCU Theology department at, [email protected] or; 651-690-6017.

Amy-Jill Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies, and Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and College of Arts and Sciences, and author of many books. A self-described “Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominantly Christian divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt,” Levine combines historical-critical rigor, literary-critical sensitivity, and a frequent dash of humor with a commitment to eliminating anti-Jewish, sexist, and homophobic theologies.

All evening services are at 6:51 pm at Pilgrim Lutheran Church, 1935 St. Clair Ave., St. Paul. For more information, go to www.pilgrimstpaul.org, or call 651-699-6886

AMY-JILL LEVINE GIVES THE 2015 GOODMAN LECTURE

EVENTS IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

EVENTS IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY


WINTER-SPRING 2015 WISDOM WAYS RESOURCES

LABYRINTH RESOURCES TO RENTOne mission of Wisdom Ways is to share resources in ever-expanding circles. Wisdom Ways has over 70 multiple-sized labyrinths and ritual items for rent. Canvas labyrinths are available to rent for church or community events, retreat days, civic gatherings, weddings, celebrations and personal use. Additional ritual and creative resources are also available. To see selection, visit www.wisdomwayscenter.org or call 651-696-2788 to make arrangements.

Our labyrinth facilitators are available to bring presentations and portable labyrinths to your site or to guide you in the use of your own labyrinth. Contact us at 651-696-2788 to make arrangements or visit www.wisdomwayscenter.org

LIBRARYWisdom Ways’ collection of more than 3000 books, audio, videotapes and CD/DVDs on spirituality-related themes is located in the west parlor of Carondelet Center. Browse our labyrinth section of inspiring images and background on the labyrinth, grief and loss, spirituality and more.

DIRECTIONS TO CARONDELET CENTERCarondelet Center is located at 1890 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, between Cleveland and Fairview Avenues. From I-94, take the Snelling or Cretin/Vandalia exit south to Randolph Avenue. Travel west from Snelling or east from Cretin. From I-35E, take the Randolph exit west past Fairview to 1890 Randolph. Turn in at either of the two driveways marked by the brown and teal signs marked CSJ, Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Free parking is available.

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WINTER/SPRING 2015 CALENDAR

JANUARY Date Program Page 1/21 Men’s Bridges to Contemplative Living 13

1/27 Four Sacred Arts: Cultivating Wisdom through Song, Movement, Story and Silence 4 1/28 Meditative Art Inspired by Zentangle 16

FEBRUARY

Date Program Page

2/3 Nine Gates: Thresholds of a Spiritual Journey 16 2/4 Meditative Art Inspired by Zentangle 16 2/4 Men’s Bridges to Contemplative Living 13 2/9 Hedgerow: The Heart of the Matter: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution 5 2/10 Four Sacred Arts: Cultivating Wisdom through Song, Movement, Story and Silence 4 2/11 Meditative Art Inspired by Zentangle 16 2/11 Men’s Centering Prayer Circle 13 2/13 Walking in Harmony: A Labyrinth Journey 17 2/16 Lectio Divina: Mornings of Reflection During Lent: Introduction 18 2/16 Hedgerow: The Heart of the Matter: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution 5 2/17 Nine Gates: Thresholds of a Spiritual Journey 16 2/18 Ash Wednesday Meditation 14 2/20 Breathing: Listening and Discovery 18 2/20 Belonging to Our Longings: A Retreat 10 2/21 2/22 2/21 Saturday Morning Meditations 15 2/23 Lectio Divina: Mornings of Reflection During Lent 18 2/23 Hedgerow: The Heart of the Matter: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution 5 2/24 Four Sacred Arts: Cultivating Wisdom through Song, Movement, Story and Silence 4 2/24 Tuesday Morning Meditation 2/25 Men’s Bridges to Contemplative Living 13 2/28 Lenten Day of Contemplative Prayer 15

MARCH

Date Program Page

3/2 Lectio Divina: Mornings of Reflection During Lent 18 3/2 Hedgerow: The Heart of the Matter: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution 5 3/3 Tuesday Morning Meditation 14 3/3 Nine Gates: Thresholds of a Spiritual Journey 16 3/4 Men’s Bridges to Contemplative Living 13 3/5 The Body as a Source of Wisdom 16 3/6 Let the Stones Shout Out! 10 3/7 3/7 Saturday Morning Meditations 15

3/9 Lectio Divina: Mornings of Reflection During Lent 18

3/9 Hedgerow: The Heart of the Matter; Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution 5 3/10 Tuesday Morning Meditation 14

3/10 Four Sacred Arts: Cultivating Wisdom through Song, Movement, Story and Silence 4 3/11 Men’s Centering Prayer Circle 13 3/12 She Lifts Her Voice in the Streets: Jews and Christians Engage in a Quest for Wisdom 6 3/12 The Body as a Source of Wisdom 16 3/13 Walking in Harmony: A Labyrinth Journey 17 3/14 Saturday Morning Meditations 15 3/16 Hedgerow: The Heart of the Matter: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution 5 3/17 Tuesday Morning Meditation 14 3/18 Men’s Bridges to Contemplative Living 13 3/19 The Body as a Source of Wisdom 16 3/19 She Lifts Her Voice in the Streets: Jews and Christians Engage in a Quest for Wisdom 6 3/20 Breathing: Listening and Discovery 18 3/21 Saturday Morning Meditations 15

3/23 Hedgerow: The Heart of the Matter: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution 5 3/24 Tuesday Morning Meditation 14

3/24 Four Sacred Arts: Cultivating Wisdom through Song, Movement, Story and Silence 4 3/26 She Lifts Her Voice in the Streets: Jews and Christians Engage in a Quest for Wisdom 6 3/28 Saturday Morning Meditations 15

3/30 Hedgerow: The Heart of the Matter: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution 5 3/31 Tuesday Morning Meditation 14


WINTER-SPRING 2015 WINTER/SPRING 2015 CALENDAR

WEEKLY TUESDAY OFFERINGS:

Tuesday Evening Christian Meditation: Times of Prayer Tuesdays, January 6 – June 97:00 pm to 7:40 pm

Seeking The Sacred Thread With Barbara Brown Taylor and John Philip NewellAugust 2-5, 2015

Program and Registration information opens March 9 at wisdomwayscenter.org

Episcopal priest Barbara Brown Taylor is author of 13 books, including the New York Times bestsellers Learning to Walk in the Dark and An Altar in the World.

John Philip Newell is a poet, peacemaker, scholar of Celtic spirituality, and minister of the Church of Scotland with a fresh vision for harmony between the great spiritual tradi-tions of humanity.

Elizabeth Johnson, CSJSeptember 25, 2015

Elizabeth Johnson, Professor of Theology at Fordham University, reimagined God from the perspective of women’s experience in She Who Is and sees science and religion in communion, not conflict, in Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love.

LOOKING AHEAD

APRIL

Date Program Page

4/1 Men’s Bridges to Contemplative Living 13 4/1 Practicing the Presence of Holy Week 17

4/4 Holy Saturday Meditation 15 4/6 Hedgerow: The Heart of the Matter: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution 5 4/7 All My Relatives: An Exploration in Spiritual and Theological Reflection upon Our Relationship with Animals 6 4/8 Men’s Centering Prayer Circle 13 4/9 Visio Divina: The Art of Transformation 11 4/10 Walking in Harmony: A Labyrinth Journey 17 4/13 Hedgerow: The Heart of the Matter: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution 5 4/14 All My Relatives: An Exploration in Spiritual and Theological Reflection upon Our Relationship with Animals 6 4/15 The Dream of the Cosmos: A Quest for the Soul 11 4/16 Visio Divina: The Art of Transformation 11 4/17 Breathing: Listening and Discovery 18 4/20 Hedgerow: The Heart of the Matter: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution 5 4/21 All My Relatives: An Exploration in Spiritual and Theological Reflection upon Our Relationship with Animals 6 4/22 The Dream of the Cosmos: A Quest for the Soul 11 4/27 Hedgerow: The Heart of the Matter: Seeing the Inner Face of Evolution 5 4/29 The Dream of the Cosmos: A Quest for the Soul 11 4/30 Visio Divina: The Art of Transformation 11

MAY

Date Program Page

5/5 Accessing your Body’s Wisdom through Sand, Symbol and Imagination 12 5/6 The Dream of the Cosmos: A Quest for the Soul 11 5/7 Visio Divina: The Art of Transformation 11 5/8 Walking in Harmony: A Labyrinth Journey 17 5/12 Accessing your Body’s Wisdom through Sand, Symbol and Imagination 12

MAY continued

Date Program Page

5/13 Men’s Centering Prayer Circle 13 5/15 Breathing: Listening and Discovery 18 5/15 My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer with Christian Wiman 7 5/16 A Morning for Writers: Craft Talk with Christian Wiman 7 5/19 Accessing your Body’s Wisdom through Sand, Symbol and Imagination 12

JUNE

Date Program Page

6/6 Awakening to the Stories in the Land 8 6/10 Men’s Centering Prayer Circle 13 6/12 Walking in Harmony: A Labyrinth Journey 17 6/19 Breathing: Listening and Discovery 18

Wisdom Plays Hide & Seek©

* ELIZABETH JARRETT ANDREW

REFLECTION

1. My Daughter’s Fierce BodyAt five she walks with her soft belly

forward. When she’s excited she flails and flaps her arms like a flustered chicken; she stops whatever she’s doing to jump because how else should joy behave? She careens into me, climbs me, claims me and for now I claim her because I want to clutch all that wisdom as closely as I can.

2. SilenceThe teacher asks the class a question,

then waits. Between the cricket’s chirps, a pause. Friends pull up chairs at a table set with

soup and bread; they hold hands and, for a moment, sit.

In the flurry of thoughts and distractions that are supposed to be your morning meditation but aren’t really, just a desperate daily trying while your knees hurt and you wonder if holiness is a grand illusion, quiet brushes you briefly and passes.

The TV in the airport waiting room is broken.

A summer night when you wake, your heart travels out the open window and into the living darkness.

In the church when Sunday morning worshippers have cleared out, in drift the dust motes and saints.

A singer gathers breath deep into her being before she begins.

3. OnionsIn central Minnesota there’s a farm that

offers food preparation classes because so many of the people who buy their produce have never before peeled an onion. When I hear this I almost weep—for the flavor they’ve missed, yes, but more because those who’ve never peeled an onion don’t know how layer after layer surrounds that pearly bud, or that neglected onions get on with growing despite the lack of dirt, or how the pervading intensity that gives every soup its foundation comes at the expense of stinging blindness. The world offers us an abundance of onions and metaphors. We forget to slice them at our peril.

4. The Clothes LineI still have clothes pins my grandmother

used. They’re weathered gray and tough as nails. Our line extends from the second floor deck across the yard to the garage—clothes drop down into the grass all the time. Something about the pulley and

In honor of Wisdom Ways’ twentieth anniversary, I’d like to share twenty places I’ve found Wisdom hiding in the crannies of my days. I invite you to seek her as well, in your ordinary moments and at Wisdom Ways.

INDEX AND REGISTRATIONREFLECTION

cotton rope tugs at me. When I hang a sheet, then jeans, then a T-shirt, I can’t retrieve the sheet unless I first take down the T-shirt and jeans, and this strangely pleases me. The clothes line asks sun and air to clothe us. When I dress I don’t notice but my daughter smells it.

5. On the MarginsOf belief. Of my eyesight. Of our countries.

Of the page. Of society. Of our prayers.

6. MemoriesIn seventh grade, Mr. Pollice told us to

write autobiographies. I got carried away. Now was the time to record my childhood, I figured, before it was obliterated from memory by adolescence. I wrote forty pages, diligently, passionately, as though I was preserving my very life.

Then our class’s assignments were stolen from the front seat of Mr. Pollice’s car, along with a jar of change. He’d been grocery shopping. “I’m sorry,” he told us. “The thief probably threw them in a dumpster.”

So I lost those memories anyway. But not this one.

Why? Why do we remember anything? Memory is a sacred story, a scripture, wisdom written with our lives. I sit at the feet of that twelve-year-old self, who knew this and remembered.

7. Public TransitTo get from here to there,

it’s good to go together.

8. Within ParadoxWisdom perches like a red-tailed hawk

on a traffic light. When it’s green the traffic rushes beneath her. For breakfast she fills up on emptiness. The light turns briefly yellow, then red. Limitless sky rests on her wings. Her talons hold on for dear life,

or death. She stretches her wings in willful release. In her eyes even darkness is not dark.

9. The PageA monk asked the wise abbot what he

must do to find God. “Go to your cell,” the abbot said. “Your cell will teach you what you need to know.”

The blank page is my cell. The page is my guru, my prayer, my sanctuary, my birth bed. The page is silence and possibility, safety and strength. The page turns.

10. The YWe gather to sweat, soak, pump, run,

stretch, move alone, move together, move. Then in the locker room we strip down to our magnificent multitudes of skin. Come to the shower. Wash away separation. Return to our common body.

11. The Public LibraryWisdom is in the books, obviously, but

also in the after-school tutors working with Somali kids and in the fact of public bathrooms. Wisdom is in the shared civic hush—a palpable reverence—between old men reading newspapers and exhausted moms chasing toddlers and librarians behind their cluttered desks. She hangs on the bright bulletin boards of the summer reading program. In every town of this good country you find these democracies of learning. Wisdom always has a home.

12. DeathThe sunflowers turn their heads to the

earth; the goldfinches must eat upside down. The raspberry canes turn woody and stop producing. My partner prunes and bundles the thorny branches. The lilac tree, likely planted in 1937 when the house was built, has hollow limbs so now we also have woodpeckers. Frost burns the tomato

REFLECTION

plants, ending a glorious season of BLTs and Greek salads. Now I can scrape down the wasp nest behind the shutter. I put away the watering cans. There’s an end to growing and I’m glad.

13. In the MessI want order but live in chaos.

Some days I can hardly bare it.Then I sort through the papers and

broken pencils on my daughter’s table and find a toothy purple lion, claws extended, mane wild. We tear down a wall in the back of the house, dust coats everything, shoes clutter the wrong corners, and for the first time sunlight floods the kitchen. Nine years in, after hundreds of disastrous pages, the novel I’m writing suddenly reveals itself. The cherries are ripe now and even though it’s 8 p.m. we start canning, a thick bubbling sauce on the stove—dripping down the side of the stove—huge pots of boiling water, jars everywhere, and for a moment I’m absorbed, I’m no longer me but an elated preserver of summer. Afterward the dishes seem endless.

I always want to be done; I want cleanliness; I want completion. Sometimes I hope heaven is the great wrap-up.

Wisdom, on the other hand, refuses to wait.

14. Singing, Whistling, HummingBecause from some secret recess the

tune rises up. For a moment you become not just an instrument but music itself. Then anything—even cleaning the oven—fills with praise.

15, 16. Work, RestWhen it’s equitable and life-giving,

when it matters, when I press my full mind or body or heart into it, when it leaves me tired but gratified, work is wise.

As is rest.

17. RecyclingThe compost. The trash sculpture at the

State Fair DNR pond. Garage sales. Clean-Out-The-Freezer Soup. Solar energy. The gravestone surrounded and swallowed by a magnificent elm.

18. DreamsI’m in an old, familiar Victorian house—

my grandmother’s?—only now I discover a secret room just as my mother always does in her dreams, and I’m scared to open the door because who knows what’s been lurking there but then I do and it’s brilliant, moonlight pouring through open French doors and shimmering under my skin. How could I have not known?

19. ImaginationWhen I was five I imagined pumping so

high on the playground swings I flew off into some other realm where my hair was long, down to my knees just like I always wanted, and I wore soft royal green robes. Characters gathered in palatial halls and multiplied until this world spun around my own, year after year, sometimes so fast the people lost their footing and tumbled into the stories I wrote in grade school or sometimes reentered me, never with long hair but certainly kissing women and dancing, until sometimes I wonder what might be imagining me into existence. Then I remember—it’s me. But really it’s not, it’s some fabulously wise dreamer who’s always luring us off our small playground swings and into the air.

20. BirthdaysLight a candle, sing, and Wisdom

presses close because she loves frosting—I mean, she loves any ritual where people gather to celebrate endings and beginnings.

Happy birthday, Wisdom Ways!


WINTER-SPRING 2015

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PRESENTERS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER - WINTER-SPRING 2014

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 4Michael Dennis Browne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Carol Burling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Deborah Chernick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Baya Clare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Nancy Cosgriff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 19Louie Doering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Diane Gardner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Delmarie Gibney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Susan Hames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Karen Hering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Ansgar Holmberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Emily Jarrett Hughes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Jim Bear Jacobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Pat Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Robin Keck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Bob Klanderude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Marilyn Larson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Alan Shavit-Lonstein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Barbara Lund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5John Marboe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 8MJ McGregor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Katherine McLaughlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Margaret McRaith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 18Mary Kaye Medinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Joan Mitchell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Susan Oeffling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Bob Schmitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 20Joan Pauly Schneider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Ed Sellner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Terry Shaughnessy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Corinna Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Christian Wiman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Ways to register:Online registration at www.wisdomwayscenter.org • We accept American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa and personal checks.• Phone registration at 651-696-2788 or email at [email protected].• Mail registration to: Wisdom Ways, 1890 Randolph Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105• Gift certificates are available, call 651-696-2788.• Financial assistance is available, call 651-696-2788.• Full refunds with a week advance notice. See website for more information.

INDEX AND REGISTRATION

Unless otherwise noted, all events will be held at the Carondelet Center, 1890 Randolph Avenue, Saint Paul, MNFree and ample parking.

A Ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet1884 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105

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