Zoom Groups

How does one begin to develop a spiritual life?  It helps to find a community of people doing the same.  It helps to seek – give yourself the time and space to sit down and wait for the Divine Mystery.  Once you begin looking, you will find communities everywhere; communities of people committed to ‘learning to grow along spiritual lines’.   At least, that has been my experience. But the early steps into this process can be daunting, especially if you have no prior experience.  You are welcome to join one of the groups below. If you are interested, please contact me for information and the zoom link – rosalind.callard@gmail.com

Morning S.E.E.D. Group (ongoing)

You are welcome to join the morning S.E.E.D. group on Zoom, to see if sitting quietly is something that will help your journey. We do not offer meditation instruction. (There are many introductory resources on how to centre and settle into a mediation session online and I am happy to point you in a direction if you have trouble finding them, or give you a brief instruction myself at a separate time). Each morning after a brief reflection period, our small group sits together in silence. We find that joining together in a group at a regular time enhances the beneficial effect of prayer/meditation. This group is about each of us sitting together to support our individual journeys; it is NOT about persuading people what they are supposed to believe.

Daily
7:30 AM (EST)
45 Minutes

What we do

7:30am – room is open

7:45am – 7:55am – reflective sharing time

  • Participants offer seeds – words, songs or images for reflection.
  • Others may ‘water the seeds’ with silence to allow the seed to sink in, or by offering their response/hope/experience with that seed.
  • Occasionally, one of the group members will lead a meditation

7:55am-8:15am – silence

  • Participants share communal contemplative silence.
  • We mute our microphones.  Many find that staying ‘on camera’ makes it easier to stay still, but you are welcome to turn your video off.
  • After the bell rings, we ease out of contemplation by sharing a moment of silence together before opening our mikes to say ‘good bye’.

 

What happens on the meeting? The period before silence is a time for summoning the spirit of contemplation. To limit the time spent on ‘housekeeping’, participants post offerings in the chat or forward them for circulation.  

Initiating the ’sharing’ and ’silent’ time is done by whoever volunteers.

We mail out a collection of ’seeds’ weekly (more or less).

Exploring the Enneagram Group (fall 2024)

The enneagram is a system of human development based on nine personality types.  Its origin is somewhat obscure and it has very little scientific grounding, yet many people recognize their own experiences in it, and grow in self-acceptance as a result.  As a tool for understanding, it can be helpful – even though it will never fully describe anyone.

If you are interested in building your knowledge of the enneagram from a spiritual growth perspective, perhaps you would like to join this learning group.  The purpose is to deepen your understanding of, and compassion for, your unique growth pattern and the patterns of others who share your world. It will be a ‘stone soup group’, meaning that each of us chooses their own source materials, and each of us will contribute to the collective learning.  At the end, we will have a rich broth. 

The group will meet on zoom – Wednesday evenings from mid-September to the end of November(ish).   Contact me by September 10, 2024 if you are interested in learning more.