spiritual practice

Month of Opening to Joy

johnnyawwsome

Our theme for the month of December is Opening to Joy. We will be posting about it and incorporating it into our services.

Here is a poem to get us started:

Joy is Hard by Rev. Joe Cherry (Permission secured by Soul Matters)

Joy is hard.

Joy requires us to feel safe enough,

to be safe enough, to open to vulnerability.

To feel joy, you must be brave.

Joy walks into a room after the space has been cleared

Cleared of shame,

Cleared of doubt

Cleared of self-recrimination.

Joy is hard.

Joy is hard

and joy is worth the hard work of preparation.

Preparing oneself and setting down all the defenses

all the shoulds and could’ves,

all the should not haves and might haves.

Joy is worth the work.

You are worth the work.

You can start small:

the simple pleasure of your favorite tea,

the grand freedom of a full belly laugh.

Invite Joy to be your companion.

Here is a song:

Sunday, October 17, 2021

johnnyawwsome

“Herbie Hancock – Jazz musician and Buddhist – describes jazz as “a music of the moment”. Improvisation allows him to capture the essence of the present and express it; to provide for listeners an unmediated glimpse of the realm of the infinite.”

This Sunday, John Hall will lead a service on different types of meditation. This service is designed to be out of the box and to bring us together with different forms of spiritual practices.  

Please Join Us for Worship.

We are forgoing meeting in person during the coronavirus epidemic, meeting on Zoom. We share music, readings, and hymns on our usual presentation slides, have a story and a talk, and share joys and sorrows, as well as a virtual “coffee hour” discussion starting at 10:30, with the service at 11. If you prefer not to be seen, video is optional. If you would like to participate, please email westforkuu@gmail.com for details and a link, or for help with using ZOOM.

If you are a regular attendee, we have added you to our Google Group if we had an email address. If you have not gotten a group email already, please email westforkuu@gmail.com so that we can add you to the group, which we will be using for staying in touch with each other during this time. Public announcements will continue to be posted here on the website and on our Facebook page and Twitter account, as usual.

Email westforkuu@gmail.com or use our contact form for more information or write to us at PO Box 523, Clarksburg WV 26302

Sunday, September 5, 2021: Valley Falls State Park

Robert

Tygart Valley River

Tygart Valley River at Valley Falls

We have Spiritual Outings on the first Sunday of each month during the summer. For this year’s fifth outing, we will gather for a celebration of the end of Summer and the beginning of Autumn on Sunday, September 5, at Valley Falls State Park — picnic and hiking on the banks of the Tygart Valley River.

We will meet at 11 a.m. in the picnic area for a short service followed by a potluck picnic, conversation, and walking. Bring food to share if you are able and wish to share; otherwise, just bring food for yourself and share our company.

During this time of continuing covid-19 pandemic we are following current CDC guidelines (see https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/communication/guidance.html). Fully vaccinated people are safe without masks for themselves and for unvaccinated people.  If you are not vaccinated you should wear a mask and practice appropriate social distancing.

We would love to have you come worship with us.

For a map, please use this link: https://goo.gl/maps/CiiqyDAXiw42

Email westforkuu@gmail.com or use our contact form for more information or to carpool, or write to us at PO Box 523, Clarksburg WV 26302

A Month of Becoming

johnnyawwsome

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real…It doesn’t happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time.” – Margery Williams Bianco, The Velveteen Rabbit

This month we will be focusing on becoming in our services and our posts. We will have meditations about becoming posted on Wednesdays and articles/information about the spiritual practice of imagination on Saturdays. We hope you will join us on our becoming journey.

Here are some spiritual practices to consider –

The practice of discovering that inside you which wants to be born.

The practice of no longer hiding.
                                                 

The practice of continual growth.
 

A Month of Commitment

CZ

“The acorn becomes an oak by means of automatic growth; no commitment is necessary. The kitten similarly becomes a cat on the basis of instinct. Nature and being are identical in creatures like them. But a man or woman becomes fully human only by his or her choices and his or her commitment to them. People attain worth and dignity by the multitude of decisions they make from day by day. These decisions require courage.” – Rollo May, The Courage to Create

This month we will be focusing on commitment in our services and our posts. We will have meditations about commitment posted on Wednesdays and articles/information about the spiritual practice of commitment on Saturdays. We hope you will join us on our commitment journey.

Here are some spirtual practices to think about as we journey together to be a people of commitment.

 The practice of being loyal to something larger than yourself.  

The practice of loving even when it is hard.  

The practice of making, breaking and re-making our promises.

Try some of these …

johnnyawwsome

We’ve spent some time coming up with some imagination exercises. They should be a fun and easy way to practice using your imagination skills. Using your imagination is a spiritual practice.

Design a Cat

Make a Rainbow of Your Favorite Colors/Shades

Write a Haiku about the Weather Outside

Describe Your Prefect Dessert and if you’re feeling froggy, make it.

What Three Questions Would You Ask a Mermaid?

Ship Two Superheroes, but Tell Why and How They Fell in Love

Elf Names are a Color, a Season, and an Animal:

What is your Elf Name?

Combine Two Animals into One Creature.

Draw It and Name It.

Tell How the World Ended in Eight Words

Roll a D20 Twice. Add the Numbers Together. Write a Poem with That Many Words. If you don’t have dice here is a online dice roller

Pick an Animal then Write an Acrostic about It Using Its Name

What Three Questions Would You Ask an Alien?

Open a Book to a Random Page. Write the First Sentence. Do This Three More Times with Different Books. What is Your Secret Message from the Universe?

Draw an Animal but It is Missing Two Parts

A Magic Tree Grew Overnight Outside Your House. Draw it.