We hope you are enjoying the beautiful autumn weather as much as we are. As I start to pull out my warmer clothes I am realizing how long it has been since we sent out a newsletter. Seasons have changed and lots has happened. Here is a little update to let you know what's been going on.
We are delighted to report that we are still going strong and we are as committed as ever to our 4 pillars:
Spreading kindness and hope
Encouraging spiritual exploration
Caring for humanity and the planet
Promoting personal wellbeing
The fourth pillar explains, perhaps, why it has been a while since we reached out. I experienced some health issues over the past few months that sapped my energy. I needed to take some time to focus on my own health and wellbeing and I am happy to report that I am feeling much better. I am thrilled to be able to get back to doing some of the things I love. And one of those things is connecting with you!
This update contains a few exciting updates and another thought-provoking blog post from Derek Hinchliffe. I know many of you enjoy his articles as much as I do.
In closing, I just want to say how grateful I am to be a part of a community that focuses on kindness and inclusion. We have created a microcosm of what I believe is possible for the world - a diverse community of kind-hearted people who come together in the spirit of peace and connection. It is possible! And we are doing it! Thank you for being a part of this community.
Much love,
Amanda Pope
Spiritual Director
Here We Grow!
Our Meditation Made Easy sessions are going well. We are excited to be coming up to the 2nd anniversary of offering these weekly free drop in meditations in partnership with the local library. It has been a joy to practice a variety of meditation and mindfulness techniques with a lovely group of participants.
We love how the group grows and changes. We have a few meditators who have been coming since the very beginning. There are people who drop in occasionally when their schedule allows and we are always delighted to see them when they do. And we have new people coming to check us out all the time. I love that it is such a welcoming space for everyone who joins us.
There is something very powerful about a group of people coming together for one simple purpose - to sit in peace together. It has been my joy to facilitate these meditation sessions over the past couple of years. And I am super excited to also welcome a new guest facilitator to our community, Aurora Stevens.
I met Aurora when I joined a new book club and she quickly became a dear friend. Aurora is a counsellor in the area and she has many years of experience with meditation. She will be joining us occasionally to share some of her meditation practices with us. Find out more about Aurora here.
Welcome Aurora !!
Welcome Nicola!!
We are delighted to welcome the newest member of our leadership team, Nicola Archibald. Nicola became a Licensed Practitioner with Centers for Spiritual Living this summer and she has chosen to join our community. And we are delighted she did!!
Nicola lives in the lower mainland with her husband and their two cats, so you won't necessarily see her at the meditation in Nanaimo very often but she is planning on serving our online community. The word on the street is that she and Derek are planning on offering a book study on Zoom. Stay tuned for more details on that!
Please join us in welcoming Nicola!!!
Going Rogue
When I think of someone “going rogue” the first thing that comes to my mind is Jason Bourne. He’s the fictional character who was played on screen by Matt Damon. Bourne is a CIA agent – an assassin – who gets amnesia, and “goes rogue” as he tries to reclaim his identity.
I don’t go rogue very often. (At least that’s my self-perception, others may disagree). At my core I’m a rule-follower. But if someone called me a rogue, I would take it as a compliment.
But neither little old me, nor even Jason Bourne could hold a candle to planets that have gone rogue.
Yes, it’s true. The universe has an unknown number of rogue planets.
Don’t worry we’ll get to the spirituality part in a moment, but please allow me to indulge in a little science.
Rogue planets are celestial objects that do not orbit a sun. They can be huge, some the size of 1,600 planet earths. I learned of them a few days ago in an article from the CNN science newsletter. (Yes, there are no limits to my nerdiness).
The article went on to explain how the infrared technology of the James Webb Space Telescope helped find these rogue planets. But that’s not important to this blog.
What is important is this is just one of the many mysteries the universe contains. We live in a time of artificial intelligence. Yet we are still trying to figure out why planets behave so differently; or why time goes faster at the top of a mountain than it does at the valley bottom. (The difference is infinitesimally small, but the fact that time is not consistent boggles my mind).
“The concepts of spirituality are generally just the physics we haven’t understood yet” ~ Nassin Haramein
Nassin Haramein is a physicist from Switzerland, who is currently tackling the complex and difficult problem of Unification Theory.
Some people say they “know everything they need to know” because they have read it in a book (religious or secular). I am not one of them. And if you have made it this far through the blog, I expect you are not one of them either.
Haramein is smart enough to try unifying general relativity with quantum mechanics. But he doesn’t think he knows everything. In that quote, he’s saying the opposite; that there is still so much we don’t know.
That’s why I’m always asking questions. I don’t know which age is best known for a toddler to be constantly asking “why” but I never outgrew that stage. That’s one of the things I loved about being a TV journalist, there were so many opportunities to learn about something.
It’s also why I’m so excited about a book study I’ll be co-leading with my fellow practitioner (and my favourite sister-in-law) Nicola Archibald. Stay tuned for more details about that, and many other opportunities in the coming months to explore the mysteries of the universe and why we are here.
You never know, just like Jason Bourne, we may discover we have also gone rogue.
Except we are “Spiritual Rogues of the Universe!”
That has a nice sound to it.
Who’s with me?
Peace,
Derek Hinchliffe
Co-Spiritual Director
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