This Sunday in the Sanctuary ~ April 23, 2023

Join us at 10:15 am ET/ 8:15 am MT for Our Weekly Sunday Gathering with Rev. Beverly Toporowski

Title: “Listening to Only Truth”

Description: What happens when we are willing to listen to only Truth? What are we giving up when we hand over our own understanding, our thoughts, our fears, and our feelings about what we have accepted as truth? Let’s explore the miracle of what it means to listen.

Reading: Melody Brauninger will read The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament (NTI) Luke Chapter 24.

*Weekly gathering is held every Sunday morning at 10:15 am ET/8:15 am MT in the Awakening Together Sanctuary. Join us after the Gathering for our Fellowship Time, hosted by Rev. George Maddox.

Enter Sanctuary Here.

Join us at 1:30 pm ET/ 11:30 am MT for Freedom Practice Sangha Facilitated by Anne Blanchard

This will be a time of sharing our inquiries, insights, and challenges, listening to others, or just knowing that we are in community as we find that undefended place within ourselves that longs to be free.

Join us at 5:00 pm ET/ 3:00 pm MT for The Mighty Companions

Revs. Glen Ganaway and Yolanda Mapes, who are interfaith ministers, share a delightful, funny, and inspiring hour of A Course in Miracles. Come join in on the fun, the laughs, and the music while unlearning the ego through the lessons and chapters of ACIM.

Join us at 6:00 pm ET/ 4:00 pm MT for Enlightened Leadership: Building the Foundation (Reboot) – Revs. Jacquelyn Eckert & Rhoda Makled

The Tao Te Ching (The Way), written by Lao-Tzu (Old Teacher), is a guide to enlightened leadership. While most people believe effective leadership lies in knowledge and power, the Tao teaches it lies in emptiness, stillness, and presence.

Awakening Together’s President-Minister, Jacquelyn Eckert, and Vice President-Minister, Rhoda Makled share from the Tao as they contemplate its principles in order to fully embody them. In addition to the 3 versions already being read from the Tao, now the pair will also read Regina Dawn Aker’s translation of the Tao Te Ching.

Join us at 7:00 pm ET/ 5:00 pm MT for Deepening Into Clarifying the Teachings Together – Facilitated by Rev. Jacquelyn Eckert

During this program, we will listen to a portion of each previously recorded “Clarifying the Teachings” program. Afterward, we will spend time contemplating and teaching ourselves what is most alive for us at the moment. We may also spend time practicing what Regina is teaching. And…we will start at the very beginning.

Bring your journals, openness, and curiosity as we explore what is most alive in us and ready to be seen. We hope you feel inspired to join.

Join us at 8:00 pm ET/ 6:00 pm MT for Movie Discussion Group – Facilitated by Rev. Jacquelyn Eckert

To the Wonder is a mystical meditation on the many manifestations of yearning and love. Like the wind that blows across the plains as the main characters engage in a playful chase, the Spirit of God teases us and invites us to follow. “Teach us where to seek you,” says another character in the film, Father Quintana, echoing the call of spiritual people through the ages. The response is equally universal: Everywhere you turn you see the face of God.

There is within all human beings a deep yearning for transcendental meaning and a connection with the Source of Life. As the Nicaraguan poet Ernesto Cardenal put it: “We have always wanted something beyond what we wanted.” This desire is characterized by a restlessness in our souls. We desperately want to break out of the prisons of separateness that our egos construct for us. This film seems to suggest that our yearning draws out the mystic inside of us, reminding us of our need for unity.

To the Wonder delves deeply into the different kinds of thirst or desire or yearning which give our lives texture, substance, and meaning. Within many religious traditions, these qualities have been seen as problematic. In watching and discussing this film, we will have an opportunity to contemplate whether all desire is reflective of True Desire, which seems to be the message of the filmmaker.

You can find this movie on Hulu, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Vudu, and iTunes.

The playsheet for deep contemplation of the themes of this month’s movie, “To the Wonder,” is available here.