Dear Friends,

Please join us for our Lenten program, beginning on Ash Wednesday, March 1st at 10 am. We begin Lent facing the profundity of death as we say the words, " Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Every Wednesday at 10 am we gather for Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina   and our Lenten themed weekly Sunday and weekly Wednesday gatherings  for the 40 plus days of Lent will explore "Following Mary Magdalene into the Cave of Contemplation."  Our special Easter sunrise  service will be at Torrey Pines State Park Beach, April 16th at 6 am All are welcome!

Lent is a time of inner retrospection as we metaphorically follow Jesus into the desert to face our inner demons just as he does and spend time in prayer as we  commune with God/dess.  Mary Magdalene has been mostly left out of the traditions of the church and here at Church for Our Common Home we are working to intentionally place her back in her rightful place of honor as perhaps Jesus most advanced disciple, and his partner in ministry and companion in death and eternal life. Together they embody the heart of Christianity that love is more powerful than suffering and death. 

In leaving her out of our stories, practices, and rituals we have left out the divine feminine in our own inner life.  It is past time we reinstate her in order to help balance the horrific imbalance that is the national and global crisis we now face. Many of us sense that this split with the divine feminine is one of the major causes of our environmental crisis, for we have demonized the female and all of nature with her and now find ourselves longing for the mercy, nurturing and embodied holiness that Mary Magdalene represents.  She is also the feminine archetype of contemplation and union with the Source or God/dess.  It is past time to restore her to her rightful place in our collective unconscious. As we follow her in her journey into the cave of contemplation as well as Jesus's journey into the desert during Lent we will seek and find her within us and among us.  

We will retell Mary's story, part myth and part reimaging of her spiritual pilgrimage, as well as Jesus story of spending 40 days in the desert this Lent. Mary Magdalene's journey to Egypt, then on to the South of France, to  a place many believe she lived the last thirty years of her life teaching and praying in the caves of La Sainte Baume, where there is now a cathedral in the cave in southern France.  A cave is a uniquely feminine  symbol and like a womb is an inner sacred chamber where new life lives and grows in mystery and holy darkness. We will follow Mary Magdalene with an inner microscope of the spirit to explore the small parts within us. We will also follow Jesus with a telescope of the spirit as we watch and learn from him on his pilgrimage in the desert. 

As we retell Jesus's spiritual challenges in the desert where he faced the many temptations we also face including, sadness, anger, ignorance, self indulgence, lust, injustice, slander,  greed, deceit,  craving, fraud, haste, ill will, etc.  We are called in Lent to look at our  own worst aspects, our own pathology, or our 'Shadow'- those parts of ourselves we do not know or want to acknowledge about ourselves. 

Sister Margaret Magdalen, an Anglican nun,  is quoted by Bishop Desmond Tutu in his brilliant book,  No Future Without Forgiveness.   She offers us a unique metaphor for forgiveness that many woman may be able to  relate to. Her insight is that the vacuum cleaner sucks up dirt and keeps it in the bag, but the dishwasher cleans the dishes and then spews out all the filth down the drain. "...Jesus acted more like a dishwasher than a vacuum cleaner. He absorbed all that came to him and then, as it were, passed it out - passed it on to (God/ess) the Father.(Mother-my additions in italics) " I would add that the spirit of the divine feminine that has too often been left out and dishonored, women like Mary Magdalene are calling us now to create new guiding metaphors as we follow Mary Magdalene into a cave of inner contemplation. 

 Net of Light with Sharon McErlane from Laguna Beach who will lead us in our first San Diego gathering.  March 26th Sunday from 2-4 pm. www.netoflight.org

"We are women and men, ages 18 to 85, looking for a personal connection with the Divine-one free from rules and formal religion. We want a sense of community, more joy in our lives, and wish to be of service during this time of radical change on our planet. The Great Council of the Grandmothers first appeared in 1996 to Sharon McErlane as she walked her dog.  "The world is in grave danger,"  they said,  "and we will not allow its destruction. For too long Yang or masculine energy, has dominated life on earth, causing feminine energy to become deficient and weak. We have come to restore Yin to full beauty/power and return the world to balance. We are calling you to this work."

 Join us here in our newly forming Net of Light San Diego Group!

Thanks so much Sharon for joining us in San Diego and for your inspiration and courage to share your visions! You are protected and blessed in the spirit of Mary Magdalene and all those visionary women in our history, who have come before us.

In gratitude and love,

Bonnie