Reflecting on our days in community at Hallelujah Farm, what shimmers for me is the creative essence of all who gathered to share, to contribute, work, worship, rest and play, and the magical creation of the invisible container that held us in trust and love.
It all began the moment we arrived, continuing within our larger practice circle and in our time in small groups while learning. We were free to experiment, create worship, share from our minds and hearts, or try something completely new. There was no threshold too difficult for us to cross.
And what was magical, you might wonder? Hearing wisdom from the shared perspectives of both learning and teaching grounded and fed us daily. In addition to our teachers teaching– all were engaged in the dance of participation too, sharing what worked within their circles and what did not. Many times ideas flew in our conversations like swift arrows. I simply could not catch them all.
The beauty and diversity of the gifts each person brought to our times of community worship, work, and circle sharing embodied “seeing from oneness with our heart”. This blending of teaching, music, poetry, prayer, singing, chanting, movement, wood stacking, truck bed loading, vegetable chopping, and yes, even dish washing together, drew us in.
Then there was the spoken Word. Leslie’s speaking the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic added to the blend of worship her small group was transmitting within our circle transported us to a truly felt sense of the early communities who gathered around our Lord – alchemy in action.
Alchemy, defined as the “process of transforming into something precious”, captures the essence of our being together. I believe we were touched and changed in invisible ways, and deeply energized to return to our home communities with ever more to offer with love.
My deep gratitude to Bill, Lois and Deborah for their teaching, generosity of giving of themselves to help us grow, and holding the space for us during our time; and to Kerstin and Laura, for seamlessly guiding us with grace and hospitality during our stay at Hallelujah Farm.
Creativity in community blooms and thrives within the container of trust and love, and we lived that out together.
posted January 2, 2018 by Laura Copeland
Laura Copeland lives in Nashville, TN, with her husband, and sweet 14 yr old puppy dog, Tailor. She has studied Cynthia’s books and on-line courses for several years, and attended Wisdom School at Kanuga, Claymont and Glastonbury Abbey. In addition to participating in Bob Sabath’s Fourth Way online work group, she is part of a Fourth Way work group that she travels to meet with monthly.
After attending the Three Centered Awareness Wisdom School at Claymont in 2016, Laura brought together a small group to practice and study Cynthia’s, The Wisdom Way of Knowing, which meets at Vanderbilt University in St. Augustine’s Chapel. Following the Enneagram in Motion intensive at Claymont in March, 2017, led to inviting Jeanine Siler Jones to facilitate a wisdom weekend intensive in January, 2018, at Christ Church Cathedral for this group, and for the three Centering Prayer groups at the Cathedral, where Laura serves as a facilitator and group coordinator.
Beautiful! Thank you Laura!