WELCOME TO THIS MID-OCTOBER NEWSLETTER Spiritual life is not meant to be boring! In fact, being diverse and human is spirit in action whether we reco
WELCOME TO THIS MID-OCTOBER NEWSLETTER
Spiritual life is not meant to be boring! In fact, being diverse and human is spirit in action whether we recognise it or not. Join the London events wherever you are and find out.
There is only a month and a half to go before Just this Day. In it's 9th year, it now seems quite a grown up and established event. This year you can watch the central events from wherever you are as long as you have 3G. Both London events will be live-streamed and can be watched by you as they happen. We have wonderful speakers and musicians but most important is the founding idea. Being Still together. In stillness there is no division, no competition, no striving. To be still together is a remarkable gift but utterly natural and welcome. Please join wherever you are and invite friends to join you. Some people have invited friends to come and watch the live stream with them. You could bring them with you to St Martin-in-the-Fields to the morning or go to St James's Piccadilly in the evening. Please follow the blue links and register for these free events by clicking on the name of the Church in blue.
For livestreaming information go to the www.justthisday.org website. Information about how to do this will be there soon.
Rosalind says:
Ambition is a natural phenomenon of being human; it comes with the territory! Being 'spiritually' curious keeps my human ambition in check; the bigger perspective allows me to see ambition for what it is. It can be a helpful positive tool to motivate, focus and follow through my intentions and goals whilst seizing those opportunities which allow me to live creatively and grow. Nevertheless it has a darker side which can cloud my vision making me self centred and unaware to situations around me. At its extreme, ambition can corrupt and destroy.
Just this day is an auspicious opportunity to be still amongst others and to reconnect with my souls purpose, which ultimately is to be found in this moment right now!
We are so pleased that Dr Eve Poole is joining the evening event. She is making a special journey from Edinburgh to join Jeremy Sinclair and Rosalind Wyatt on our panel. She is someone not to miss.
Dr Poole specialises in leadership, ethics, and the reform of capitalism. She has two Theology degrees (Cambridge and Durham) and an MBA (Edinburgh). She has published books on Ethical Leadership, the Church on Capitalism (both Palgrave 2010), and Capitalism’s Toxic Assumptions (Bloomsbury, 2015). She is active on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin, and keeps a blog. She is the first female Chairman of the Board of Governors at Gordonstoun School in Moray, which specialises in character education. Her background in the church and in workplace spirituality makes her well-placed to talk about the interface between faith and business, and to comment on ethics in finance and public life. Eve also has a keen interest in how female leaders can increase their confidence and impact.. Eve lives in Edinburgh and has young twins.
Don Kipper at Art in Action
Don Kipper are a multi-award winning innovative ensemble playing and transforming a wide range of traditional musical forms, from Turkish Fasıl and Greek Rebetiko to Gypsy Jazz and Klezmer. While they attempt to root themselves deeply in these traditions they also seek to explore radical interpretations and taut arrangements full of complex harmonies, polyrhythms and imaginative improvisation.
Aren't we lucky to have two of them to play at the start of our evening
The Study Society is very happy to support Just This Day in its ninth year.
Philip Marvin, Chairman of the Study Society writes:
Seemingly we live in a world where increasing fragmentation and conflict is the order of the day. It is not of course reflected simply on the world stage in terms of the conflicts we are experiencing in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere. Such conflicts without are always a reflection of a conflict within. That conflict within in turn is reflected in the huge growth in mental health issues both in this country and elsewhere not to mention the increasing dependence on drugs (both medicinal and recreational) and alcohol among 'ordinary' people. High incidences of crime, family breakdown and social upheaval all follow on from this.
Amongst all this unhappiness and distress what practical actions may be taken? Politicians, theologians and expert commentators of all types seem to be at a loss. Meanwhile the consumerist pursuit of the next pleasure fix is a road to nowhere.
Beyond the fixed positions taken by people of particular political, religious and non-religious interest groups where is there a meeting point?
It seems to us that the meeting point will never be found in the ever-changing turmoil of what we call 'mind'. What mind really is and what consciousness is remain areas of active debate and controversy. But peace of 'mind' is something that would surely be universally recognised and valued even if in many cases rarely experienced. Whether you live in Mongolia, Peru or Latvia to be at peace rather than to be agitated and disturbed is surely recognised as a universal 'good' and implies a certain harmony and balance within.
Anyone who has pursued meditation, mindfulness and other similar techniques clearly seeks that peace of mind. The interest in 'mindfulness' among many people who have no particular religious or spiritual inclinations, indeed some of whom might consider themselves fierce atheists, is striking these days. Shorn of religious connotations a broader sweep of people seem inclined to explore the possibilities of 'presence', of the secrets of the Here and Now. Whether this is seen as a path to enlightenment or a path to relieving pain and confusion or simply a path to generally 'feeling better' doesn't really matter. Any way that anyone gets a taste of stillness within is surely a positive and points to further possibilities. And the earlier that taste is experienced in life the better, hence the importance of making practices conducive to stillness an intrinsic part of any educational programme.
Peace, silence, stillness need to be naturalised as a common currency and no longer seen as a province of 'religious' or 'spiritual' people. That peace which may be discovered in a multitude of ways is not static or self- absorbing, rather, it is dynamic, creative, spontaneous and of the nature of delight. It sheds light into the darkest corners and that is what is needed today more than ever before. A Hindu's peace, a Muslim's peace, a Buddhist's peace, a Christian's peace, an atheist's peace, are one and the same. And that peace ultimately is not something we return to, it is what we ARE. Now. Just This Day is a reminder of this.
