HELLO!

On Tuesday November 10^th at 7 pm we will gather for the sixth session of our faith study, based on Karen Armstrong’s book, “Sacred Nature: Restoring Our Ancient Bond with the Natural World”. There is no expectation for participants to have read the book or to have attended previous sessions. I offer a summary at the beginning of each session, followed by comments by those who have read the chapter. In the remainder of our time, all of us discuss the issues and our experiences of the ideas raised by Armstrong. We have had as few as 15 participate and as many as 30 in the circle. The conversations are lively and free flowing.

This session is named “kenosis”, which means “an emptying of self, of ego” and a deepening understanding of ourselves. Armstrong claims this quest is particularly challenging now, in our part of the world as “we seem to value self-assertion as a sign of strength”. She reveals the great world religions point to the insight “we find liberation when we live beyond our concerns for status, needs and desires”. The Apostle Paul says, “you must be the same as Christ Jesus” emptying your minds of egotism, selfishness, and pride and be united in love. Armstrong contrasts the early church with its focus on “self-emptying” love with later church doctrines that insisted on fidelity to established orthodoxy. “Love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish” (1 Corinthians 13).

Paul writes in his Letter to the Philippians (2:2–4) “Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, so that nobody thinks of his own interests first, but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead”. Armstrong says this teaching is explicit in Islam where she points out the name itself means “surrender”, “this is first and foremost a surrender of the ego; a Muslim is a man or woman who has made this existential relinquishment of self.” Nature is part of this process, as we can become lost, losing ego and self-centredness, as we rest ourselves in Creation.

Armstrong urges us towards an attitude of humility. “Every day” she recommends, “for just a few moments we should consider three things: how little we know; how frequently we fail in kindness to other beings; and how limited are our desires and yearnings, which often begin and end in our self”. The question I will be asking participants on Tuesday, Do you feel, in nature, that sense of humility, of being part of something larger than self and if so, share a story where this came to life.

Peace, Kevin