After seeking to deepen and express the idea of a truly Christian priesthood, Jonah and Patrick now turn their attention to that which all true “shepherds of souls” are called to build and cultivate: community.

Why would we ever want to join be a part of a community?

What is the nature of Christ-Community, what is unique about it?

What does it mean that this community, in the course of history, has done things that one could only be deeply ashamed of?

Five Butterflies, by Odilon Redon, ca. 1912. From the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

Beginning in a more biographical way, Patrick and Jonah share how they found their way into the Community of Christians, the walls that prevented them from entering it and the doors that opened, calling them in.

We look forward to exploring the question of community into the summer and hope this first episode stirs your own reflections on community, Christ-Community and very much welcome your comments, reflections and questions.

With warm June greetings to all!

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Our thanks also to Emily Watson for her excellent digital production work behind the scenes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christ creating the human being, sculpture from the North Portal of Chartres

In this final episode on the question, What is a Priest, Patrick and Jonah turn their attention away from the consecrated priesthood and towards the "Priesthood of all Believers." They take up the idea that everyone who comes into contact with Christ is in the process of consecration, is in the process of changing and transforming into his likeness. 

This meeting with Christ, though, is vital to the consecration process - to the process of reuniting that which has been profaned with that which is utmost sacred.  Patrick brings a reading from 2 Corinthians (verses 14-17), which opens a beautiful line of questions, including, "What does it mean to live for more than just myself? For someone who has died for me? Who am I, where do I go, when I am no longer just myself, but myself for him, with him, in him? 

Jonah brings forth the concept that in relation with this being, it transforms us from our old selves into a new self, into a relationship, into a community. They explore the feeling that, when united with Christ, one has the feeling, "I am more myself than I ever was." 

We are so grateful that you have joined us along the way with this series, "What is a Priest?" and we look forward to hearing your thoughts and reflections in the comments. We will be back next week with a new theme. 

Notes from this Episode:

- John 2:13-22 

- 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Our thanks also to Emily Watson for her excellent digital production work behind the scenes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks for your patience with our erratic posting of episodes! Now that the ordinations have taken place we are hopeful this will settle into a more regular rhythm.

This past weekend (May 14-16, 2021) eight individuals stepped forward to be consecrated into the priesthood. It was a powerful, spiritually potent and beautiful event, blessed by some of the most glorious Ascension-in-nature experiences.

During that weekend Jonah and I took the opportunity to sit down with fellow priest, Julia Polter, and have a conversation. 

Jonah asked Julia about how she experiences her priesthood in the hospital rooms where she has been serving as a chaplain this past year and this opened up essential new elements in our exploration of the question: What is a priest?

We hope you enjoy this conversation and are not distracted by the background sounds! Far away from our ‘studio’ in Toronto and in the middle of a large community event, this was the best we could do.

Julia will be moving to the Pacific Northwest to the city of Bellingham, WA, which is located 50 miles from Vancouver,  Canada.

Her new work includes supporting The Christian Community in the Vancouver/Seattle area while leading a Clinical Pastoral Education Center at Peace Health, a 300-bed city hospital in Bellingham. She will design and direct a  program there to educate divinity school students and seminarians in spiritual care.

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The focus this time for Patrick and Jonah is on the image of Priest as Creator.  It is no longer enough, we come to understand in this episode, to just be there at the threshold between the Spiritual World and the Physical World. Priests, and all humanity as consecrated individuals, are called into active participation in the creation of a new humanity, a new community and even "a new earth." 

In order to deepen this, Patrick and Jonah lead us into a contemplation of how a new, ”third world” - a consecrated world - comes into being that is neither just earth or just heaven, but like a child born of their marriage.  A guiding image is given out of esoteric Christian geometry of the “Vesica Piscis”*:

Jonah also shares a story about Emily (editor of the podcast and this blurb, hello from behind the scenes!) and her experience of recognizing a mystery in what happens at the giving of the peace at the conclusion of communion in the Act of Consecration (Eucharist service in The Christian Community).  She could ’see’ how this peace blessing worked as a kind of weaving of community. 

And where is this new, ”third world”, to be found?  Are we all still stuck in the world as it always has been?  To illuminate this question, Patrick shares the secret meaning behind the tradition of the Easter Egg Hunt and the true feelings this can awaken with the child to search for this new world that is hidden within the old.

As always, we so look forward to your questions and thoughts and send you all our very warmest greetings.

Notes:

• 2nd Corinthians 5:17 - Jonah worded this as, "if we are all active in christ, we are in a new creating power"
• Book of Revelation 1:5-6 - “To him who loves us and has freed us from the sickness of sin through his bloody and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father…"
• Book of Revelation 3 - White Robes
• John 14:12 - “[You] He will do even greater things than these…"
• John 15:5 - “I am the vine, you are the branches…"
• Matthew 25:14-30 - Parable of the talents
• Matthew 13:1-9 - Parable of the sower
• John 20:27 - "Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.' "
• Acts 9:1-19 - Damascus experience of st. paul
• Matthew 25:40 - what you do to the least of these, you do to me
• * The Vesica Piscis in Geometry and in the Artwork of Christianity

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The Shoreline of the north side of the South Fork of Long Island. Long Beach, Sag Harbor, NY. 

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Our thanks also to Emily Watson for her excellent digital production work behind the scenes, and this week for her photograph of her hometown, above.

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Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer ("Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog") by Caspar David Friedrich.

In this episode of The Light in Every Thing, Jonah and Patrick continue to unpack their question, "What is a Priest?"

Two central elements have now emerged: what is offered from the shoreline to the divine ‘ocean’ of God’s spirit and what ‘laps upon our shores’ from that world of Goodness, Beauty, and Truth, a gift from that world that blesses ours.  The priest is called to stand at that shoreline, turned in the one direction when bringing the offering gift of the human community and turned towards the shore bearing the blessing of that higher world into ours.

In this episode Patrick and Jonah deepen this picture by asking about each of these ‘gifts’, exploring the ways in which a priest works between these two worlds.  One source of offering is explored in relationship to the harm we have done.  How can we heal what we have desecrated -  the world and ourselves? Can we, through offering, make amends?  And how can what we offer become a ‘substance’ that can be made use of by the Creator in sharing further blessing?

We end today with a forward-looking image of the Priest cultivating a consecrated city, as opposed to a backward-looking hope of returning to the Garden of Eden.

Notes from this Episode:

- Hebrews 7, Melchizedek blessing Abraham's line

- Genesis 4, Abel's Offering

- John 8, Jesus writing on the ground

- Luke 15:11-32, Prodigal Son

- Genesis "Garden of Eden", and  Book of Revelation “New Jerusalem”

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.  

Our thanks also to Emily Watson for her excellent digital production work behind the scenes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Light in Every Thing, Patrick and Jonah enter further into the question, "What is a Priest?" 

What has the activity of a priest been in the ancient, pre-Christian world? How did Christ renew the priesthood in Jesus? And what is the future of this priestly work?

Today, two fundamental ideas build the core focus for the conversation: the work of consecrating and the activity of offering at an altar. To unfold these two ideas, Jonah and Patrick discuss many stories and images from the Old Testament, including the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, and the figure of Melchizedek, the first "Priest" named as such in the bible.  It becomes clear that we can only come to the idea of ‘priest’ through a cosmology - or larger, world context - in which priestly activity is needed.

Central to the reclamation and rediscovery of priesthood is a whole new approach to what is usually translated as "sacrifice".   In this episode we explore the original from Hebrew meaning and why this activity at an altar has - for so many millennia - been the way human beings have sought to draw nearer to God.

Notes from this episode:

• Click here for more on the Garden of Eden.
• In this episode we give a shout out to The Bible Project. You can find their podcast episodes on the images and descriptions of priest in sacred scripture here.
• Click here for the story of Melchizedek in Genesis 14.
• More here about Wendell Berry.

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Our thanks also to Emily Watson for her excellent digital production work behind the scenes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following their conversation last week about the story of Jonah and the whale as a sign of the Spirit, they turn this week to explore the idea of a "Priesthood of all believers," and look at how every human being can be a sign of the spirit and have a quality of priesthood in their work. Using the example of Marie Condo and her Netflix show, Tidying Up with Marie Condo, they discuss her ability to invite her clients into a reverence for their home and performs a kind of spiritual connection and greeting of gratitude for the being of their home.   In such a simple action we see how one person can bless and consecrate this world through a connection to the higher world of beings and inspire the people with her to join in this reconnecting, consecrating work.

In addition, Jonah shares his experience of one of his early guides and teachers, Orland Bishop, and how the words from his mouth felt like something that was coming from a deeper, more real world than the one apparent to the senses.

How can we each become a "sign" of the Spirit? How can we each work to become a consecrated one, and become a beacon in our daily lives for others to see, recognize, and follow?

In this episode they explore the question from the perspective of direct experiences in life.  In the coming epispdes we will explore what a priest is through the help of imagery from the Old Testament, the gospels and Apocalypse and through the renewed priesthood in the movement for religious renewal.

Notes from this Episode:

- The story of Jonah and the Whale, which was referenced in regards to last week's episode (Episode 34).

- Marie Condo, and Tidying up with Marie Condo.

- The Sacrament of Confirmation: a free PDF from Floris Books is available, on all seven Sacraments of The Christian Community. Written by Evelyn Capel.

- The Story of Moses, from Exodus 

- The High Priestly Prayer, John 17

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Our thanks also to Emily Watson for her excellent digital production work behind the scenes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Passiontide we hear a diagnosis of what is afflicting humanity: we have lost the spirit, the place of our hearts has become empty.  This loss becomes the experience that leads to a longing - a reaching for - the spirit, the spirit that enlightens us, that will bring healing - the Holy Spirit.

They explore what it means to grasp the spirit and end up taking a turn towards the mystery of “The Sign of Jonah”.  We hope this conversation stirs your own thoughts and reflections and look forward to hearing from you!

Episode Notes

- Correction - the part of the Book of Revelation referred to regarding the work to “buy gold refined in the fire” was the letter to Laodicea, chapter 3:14-22

- The Sign of Jonah - See the Book of Jonah in the bible for the biblical tale of Jonah in all its details.

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Hilma af Klint, “Group IV, The Ten Largest, №1, Childhood” (1907).

How do we then, as human beings, become creative with Him? If God the Son “creates through all that we create,” do we have any independent power of creation? Or does Christ do it all? When are we, as humans, truly creative? Through their contemplation, Jonah and Patrick find and work with a threefold distinction between types of creativity: The Originator (Genesis/Word), The Weaver, and The Alchemist. Through these aspects they consider Christ’s process of creation in us, and how our own experiences as creative beings echo this pattern.

This necessarily leads to the question, "What about things [which humans create] that can cause problems and be harmful, like technology?" How do we meet this new, technological element of human creation with the continual hope that we’re able to unite and align our use of technology with the creative power of Christ?

"What is it that leads me into the inspiration of my creative work? What is our imagination of the future that inspires the work we make?" This leads us to begin a contemplation of the Spirit, which we will pick up again in the next episode.

Notes from this Episode:

- The Gospel of John, chapter 1, verses 1-5 on The Word.
- Steiner’s 1908 Lecture Series "The Apocolypse of St. John"
- The temptation in the desert: Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13, Mark 1:12-13

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Our thanks also to Emily Watson for her excellent digital production work behind the scenes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Notes from this Episode:

For an introduction to the idea of Karma, see:
- "Manifestations of Karma" by Rudolf Steiner. Available on RSArchive or from Steiner Books.

For further thoughts on Christ as the so-called "Lord of Karma," see:
- Lecture Three of Steiner's lecture series "From Jesus to Christ." Available on RSArchive or from Steiner Books.
- Bastiaan Baan's booklet "Christ's New Presence" from our Fruits of the Seminary Series.

For the whole story of the Garden of Eden, referenced in this episode, see Genisis chapters 2 and 3.

For the story of the temptation in the desert:
- Matthew 4:1-11
- Luke 4:1-13
- Mark 1:12-13

Further background reading:
- "Inner Aspects of Evolution" by Rudolf Steiner, available on RSArchive or from Steiner Books.
- "An Outline of Occult Science" by Rudolf Steiner, available on RSArchive or from Steiner Books.

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Our thanks also to Emily Watson for her excellent digital production work behind the scenes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mother and child, by Marc Chagall 1956

In this highly anticipated episode of The Light in Every Thing, Patrick and Jonah ask the question, "Where is Mary in our movement?"

Picking up from last week's discussion of the Father God, we are led to questions about the Mother, and where she is in our liturgy, our community, and our hearts. Patrick shares a story of a poignant interaction he had with a cook around a dinner-prep table while Co-Directing a Christian Community youth summer camp. Jonah brings an image of the feminine as the "hidden element" in this stream of Esoteric Christianity and they discuss the divine feminine as "The Womb of our Becoming."

We look forward to your thoughts and comments, please share them below!

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Our thanks also to Emily Watson for her excellent digital production work behind the scenes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To begin, Patrick and Jonah explore their own experiences of God the Father, particularly at the beginning of their relationships with The Christian Community and the Act of Consecration. They discuss mindfulness practices that are doorways, so to speak, to connect with the “Ground of the World.” They touch on the importance of finding love, gratitude, and trust for and from this being, God the Father. They reflect on their own experiences of awareness of this "other," noting how humanity can fall prey to a kind of self-centeredness if we neglect to see the being of the Ground of the World, beyond just ourselves.

They leave off for next week with a question, "Why is it God the Father, as opposed to Mother? What can this tell us about God the Son?" We welcome your comments and questions below!

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Our thanks also to Emily Watson for her digital production work behind the scenes!

Our apologies for the presence of Patrick's children and accompanying background noise.  

Venus, goddess of love, to accompany Patrick's comments about Venus in this episode. Excerpt of The Birth of Venus, painted by Sandro Botticelli, 1485-86.

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Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Our thanks also to Emily Watson for her digital production work behind the scenes!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Greek word for sin, "hamartia" or "ἁμαρτία", has a meaning of "missing the mark."  We hope you share your thoughts and experiences on this topic - and in response to this episode - in the comments below.

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Our thanks also to Emily Watson for her digital production work behind the scenes!

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They begin by looking at the Epiphany Liturgy, and discuss the birth of Epiphany "Season" within The Christian Community. They explore the imagery of Son and Sun, as well as "true light" of the Star of Grace as opposed to "false light" and how to discern between the two. Jonah tells a story about an experience his father had of recognizing this Star of Grace. Patrick and Jonah close the conversation by discussing the courage needed to have humility in the midst of our shortcomings and failings. 

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road", the musical interlude, "Water of Life", and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

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In this Episode, Jonah and Patrick reflect on the extraordinary year that was 2020, and look forward into 2021. 

What did 2020 ask of you? 

What did it give you?

The God of the Door, of Gateways and Transitions, was named Janus in the Roman tradition.  He was a God of Beginnings and is depicted (see the above sculpture) as looking backward with one face and forward with another.  This practice of stepping out of oneself in the evening and looking back over the day that was and ahead to the day that is coming is a core element in the spiritual disciplines we encourage here at the seminary.  Standing at the gateway of the new year and the close of the old at the end of the Holy Nights is a powerful time to practice this on a larger scale: looking back of the ‘day’ of the previous year and ahead to the coming one.  

We invite you to do the same!  What did 2020 ask of you?  What did it gift you?  And what do you anticipate is coming your way in 2021?  These are the guiding questions of Jonah and Patrick’s conversation in this episode and questions we’d love to hear your answers to.  Please share your reflections in the comment section below.

The conversation we share today is a conversation of many firsts: the first episode of the new year, the first conversation over Zoom (instead of our usual sit-downs), and the first since Patrick's move back to the United States. Patrick has returned to Spring Valley to shepherd the Ordinands in their Ordination semester.

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Our thanks also to Emily Watson for her digital production work behind the scenes!

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Part of how we can do that is through the art of conversation.

Once a month (about) we will be sharing conversations with our patrons that serve this intention, conversations that reach out beyond the seminary, crossing national, cultural, religious, spiritual and geographical divides.

***

Today, we share with you a conversation between Jonah and Fiona Hughes, a health coach and consultant in the greater Toronto area.  Fiona has been working with Hesperus, our neighbor community which is an Anthroposophically inspired home for aging adults,  on developing a "Curriculum for Aging".

We spoke about Fiona’s process of developing this curriculum;  how she worked with various images, and how they worked within her. We touch on Steiner’s concepts of trials of initiation in Knowledge of Higher Worlds, as well as his lectures on the Three Kings.

Fiona's Bio
Fiona Hughes is a health coach and consultant who works with individuals to improve wellbeing, with groups running workshops, and with organizations developing strategies to deliver health and care. With a degree in medicine from the University of Witten/Herdecke, a cultural studies degree from Trent University, and training in anthroposophical medicine and new adult learning, Fiona is passionate about healing, karma, and creating the new.

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin, who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

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In this last episode before Christmas, Jonah and Patrick take up these questions by exploring the special elements that appear in the sacred act of worship during Advent time in The Christian Community.

(scene along the 'fairy stream' in Spring Valley, NY, where the ordination students will be begin in January)

Themes that are touched on in this episode include:

• What is True Life?
• The Service as an “Apocalypse of the Heart”
• The New Birth in the Gospel of John
• The Advent Liturgy Heresy: God is Evolving!
• The Mystery of Golgotha Speaking in each Human Soul
• The Divine Soul: A New Revelation of the Mary Mystery
• How We are Made Truly Social & The Self that is Full of True Life

In many ways these themes and this event of Christmas touches the very core of our mission here at the seminary.  We would be a schooling that serves to work like a kind of 'birth center' for its students.  A place where the different teachers and fellow students serve as 'doulas' for each other on the path and where the nearly daily entrance into the sacred space of the chapel becomes an experience of being inside the 'womb of becoming' where the new human being is forming, gestating and stirring to life.

We hope and pray that this Christmas Word as New Advent might be heard in your souls this Christmas time.

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The powerful gospel reading for Advent is not of the Annunciation to Mary but an apocalyptic image taken from the gospel according to Luke (chapter 21:25-36), where we hear: "then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with power and great glory."

Why doesn't it say here, "the Son of God"?  

In this episode, Jonah and Patrick dive deeply into riddle of this phrasing, "the Son of Man", opening up and referring to many essential aspects of esoteric Christianity that help us to understand the challenge and nature of this moment in world history.

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin, who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Painting by Raphael of the 'Transfiguration', 1517-1520

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Part of how we can do that is through the art of conversation.

Once a month (about) we will be sharing conversations with our patrons that serve this intention, conversations that reach out beyond the seminary, crossing national, cultural, religious, spiritual and geographical divides.

***

Today, we share with you a conversation with John Plummer.  As Patrick describes in the introduction, John and he first met at a meeting of The Christian Community in Nashville, TN.  Though quite conversant in spiritual science, having studied it for many years, John's destiny led him into ordination in a different tradition than our movement for religious renewal.  Knowing he was working as a pastor and priest in the middle of these tension filled, challenging times, we thought this would be a good time to reach out.

And what a rich conversation we had! We end up touching upon Cain and Abel, the role of personal development and grace and the whole mystery of ‘loving of our enemies’.

We spoke shortly after the recent U.S. election.  He spoke about the incredible divisions that have opened up in his community - revealed around both the reactions to the coronavirus regulations as well as the political season - and the deep priestly and Christian work of healing what divides us.

At one point in the conversation John brings up a story about "Mother Ann Lee".  This founder of the influential Shaker movement in the United States describes having "a spiritual experience of seeing in spirit the gulf between humanity and the divinity, between human beings and one another - all the ways we are divided...and then she experienced being given great wings.  And then she flew and landed on the gulf and just placed, gently, one wing on each side, and then let herself become the bridge."

In such rich imagery and theology, John brought out the core of Christian priestly work, work all of us are called towards.  Our heartfelt gratitude to John for this conversation.

John's Bio

John was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee.  After theological education, he returned to Tennessee.   He was ordained in the independent sacramental movement in 1996 and currently serves as pastor of St Basil’s parish in Nashville.   He has written a number of books and articles on churches from his tradition, notably The Many Paths of the Independent Sacramental Movement.

In this conversation Patrick asks John to describe the church he serves at. If you’d like a glimpse at some photos of this church, feel welcome to see it on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/stbasilscathedral

We want to thank John so much for his time, humor and deeply open heart and hope you receive something from our conversation.

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin, who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

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Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin, who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Painting by Georgia O'Keeffe

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Jonah and Lisa dive into essential questions for our future: the human heart and being of Christ; the moral forces of our humanity in relationship to technology and the spiritual beings connected to it and how this impacts the future of human culture and the earth.

Our heartfelt thanks to Lisa Romero for her time with us.  Lisa is an author of inner development books and courses, a complementary health practitioner and an adult educator who has been offering healthcare and education enriched with anthroposophy since 1993. From 2006 the primary focus of her work has been on teaching inner development and anthroposophical meditation.

You can find out more about Lisa and her extensive work to support the spiritual development of individuals for the benefit of the the world at her website, and follow her warm invitation to participate in her Advent offering this year by clicking here.

As always, our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin, who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Bridging the Divide conversations are always open to non-patrons as well; please feel free to share this link.

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In particular, they turn to the practice of connecting, through prayer, to those who have died.  It is a longer conversation that touches the depths of the history and experience of Christ-Community, which has always transcended the boundary of death.  They also look closely and carefully at the intimate practices of how to 'find' those who have died in prayer and they also share out of the concrete experiences from their priestly practice - in funerals and in the Communion service - that reveal the kind of inspiration, blessing-strength and "sheltering power" that can stream to us from what is sometimes called in Christian tradition, "the cloud of witnesses". 

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road", the musical interlude, "Water of Life" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Episode Notes and Resources:

- Painting by Mondrian

- The dead and the effects of the Resurrection on them are recounted, in part, in Matthews gospel (Matt 27:50-53).  

- Christ's Descent into Hell is a part of earliest creeds in Christianity as well as some aprocryphal accounts.  You can learn more about it here. Here is an image of this event from the 17th century:

Descent into Hell, with Hellmouth, engraving by Michael Burghers(1647/8–1727)

- The Creed of The Christian Community, mentioned by Patrick and containing the sentence on Christ's help for the dead after his death, can be found here.

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“...I tell you this
to break your heart,
by which I mean only
that it break open and never close again...”

- Mary Oliver in the poem, “Lead”, from New and Selected Poems, Volume 2

This week, guest author and ordination preparation student, Jeana Lee, brings us five poems by Mary Oliver. Her piece is really a spoken word piece; a beautiful reflection on each poem and how it has helped, comforted and guided her soul through life - and how these poems can do the same for us.

You can read the text of the poems on our seminary blog here. 

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music for this episode, "In Great Depths" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

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Jonah focused in on three elements of this 'Christ Impulse' in the first talk (see blackboard below): 1) perseverance in pain, 2) seeing true life in death and 3) sacrificing for the life of another.

In this second lecture Jonah guides us even further, cultivating a sense for the invisible impulses that express the working of the Mystery of Golgotha in human beings.  Taking on sometimes controversial topics, like masks, Jonah offers us truly helpful and hopeful practices for seeing others - and ourselves - in a way that can bring social health and healing.

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

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What happens in a human heart that feels the Healing Spirit pouring into it?  And how does Michael lead us, through the vision this Spirit gives us, into a way of seeing that discovers Christ's working in the world, in the cosmos - as well as in his deed of life and death on Golgotha? - These are the guiding questions of this episode.

Resources:

- Blackboard and Quote: Patrick wrote elements from the following quote by Rudolf Steiner on the blackboard during the talk: “Now, however, they were as transformed: like people who had achieved a new state of mind or soul disposition, like people who had lost all the narrow restrictions, all the egotism of life, who had gained an infinitely wide heart and all-embracing tolerance, a deeply heartfelt understanding of all that is human on earth. They could also express themselves so that everyone present could understand them. One felt also that they could see into each heart and soul and clarify the secrets of the soul, so they could comfort the other, could tell him exactly what he needed." - Rudolf Steiner in The Fifth Gospel, lecture 2, October 2, 1913.

Patrons who are supporters, friends or benefactors will have access to all four of the webinar videos.

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

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They begin by seeking ways to imagine the 'realms of the angels' in which Michael is working.  This leads them to the mystery of what is known in the book of Revelation as the ”Key of David" and, eventually, they take up Michael's "earnestness" and its special role in our time.  Swept up in the enthusiasm of witnessing Michael's work to facilitate the very redemption of the forces of intelligence in human beings, Patrick and Jonah close the conversation focused on how he prepares our hearts for Christ's gentleness.

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road", the musical interlude, "Water of Life", and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

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In our work at the seminary we seek ways of knowing that are able to enter into the depths of things.  Bill shares with us how an artistic approach can provide a key to such a knowing in his piece, titled, "Learning to Love a Forest".

In his piece on our seminary blog, Bill shares with us some of the poems that have emerged out of his work learning to love the forests of Vermont. One of the poems is a beautiful one titled, "Prodigal Son".  Here is a short selection:

...The sky cleared, as did my path into the forest.

I put my feet in the brook - splashing

with the brook’s liquid peace

Home washed over me.

A calm day with little breeze, the trees greeted

me with shy waves.

We entered silence, deep companionship.

Something in me released, opened

from my inner landscape. I expanded

into the forest.

To read more, please visit our blog by clicking here. Or see the attached longer booklet.

Bill Hutchins is an architect and artist living in Vermont with his wife, Beth. He is the author of Dwelling, a book that explores the spiritual question of home and how this could inform the way we build ‘homes’.

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music for this episode, “Water of Life” and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

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In this episode, Jonah and Patrick begin a series of contemplations on the special words spoken from the altars of The Christian Community during the festival season of this Archangel, which begins on September 29th and lasts over four subsequent Sundays (through Saturday, October 31st in 2020).  Unique and new revelations of Michael's working with human beings are revealed in this Michaelmas liturgy and today we begin with the theme of Michael's core question: How can the light of heaven not be lost for human beings?

Our thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed the opening music, "On the Road" and the closing music, "Seeking Together".  You can find more of his music here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.