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Forward to a friend.
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All you need is love
You may have heard of my new hero. He is
Austin
Perine, a mild-mannered 4-year-old from Birmingham, AL. Austin learned some people are homeless -- and some are hungry – and felt compelled to do something about it. He told his mom and dad that he wanted all his allowance and money they would spend on toys to go toward chicken sandwiches, which he distributes to homeless people. He encourages each recipient with, "Don't forget to show love!”
As much as I admire young Austin for his empathy, generosity, and willingness to put his values into concrete action, it’s his message that speaks to me most: “Don’t forget to show love!”
Our world can
seem awash
in something other than love. At times the hardness and coldness can feel overwhelming, and I’m wondering whether Austin is telling us something important.
The problem, perhaps, is not that more people hate than love. The problem, perhaps, is that people who hate tend to display and employ it more than the rest of us display and employ love. And, if that’s the problem, maybe the answer is for us to unleash our love as a great tsunami, as an unavoidable, unstoppable, indefatigable wave of positive passion and compassionate conviction. In the words of Bishop Spong, “Love wastefully.”
From the Gospels, I learned that: God is love; if we do not love, we do not know God; love is both the first and second most important divine commands; love is fulfillment of divine law; of faith, hope, and love, love is the greatest; if I can do all things, but do not love, I am nothing; if I live in love, I live in God and God in me; and love is what God offers us, desires from us, requires of us, and inspires in us.
Whatever your faith tradition or philosophical framework, may you find the Christine Center both a haven and a beacon of love. And may we all, as we go about the mundane tasks of our lives, make every moment sacred by heeding little Austin’s plea. “Don’t forget to
show love
!”
Russell King, executive director
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Upcoming June Programs
Cultivate your inner being
and embrace your unique gifts...
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Yoga Nidra 24: A Day of Deep Relaxation
June 5 – 6 (Tuesday–Wednesday)
With Patricia Wack
Tuition: $95, plus meals and lodging
Enjoy 24 hours of Restoration and Rejuvenation through the easiest yoga practice of all – simple, deep, natural rest! The Christine Center welcomes you to a monthly day designated for health, well-being, and ease. Each month, one of our featured instructors will offer a mid-week Yoga Nidra based program designed to help you experience quiet clarity and calm from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Join us as we take a 24 hour “time out” from our busy lives to unwind one serene breath at a time. You may even choose to extend your stay and create your own customized personal retreat. Our woodland sanctuary awaits you!
This program includes time for physical movement in the form of gentle exercise; simple yoga w/ chair assistance and Qigong; information and discussion and three sessions of Yoga Nidra of varying styles including Himalayan technique as taught at the Christine Center by Roberta Hodges. This program requires the ability to get down and up from the floor with chair assistance or without. Please dress comfortably.
Learn More
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The Heart of
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
June 8 – 10 (Friday-Sunday)
With Barbara Wulf
Tuition: $150, plus meals and lodging
Mindfulness is about being fully awake in our lives. It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness of each moment.
– Jon Kabat-Zinn
Based on the principals and practices of the 8-week MBSR Program started by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979, this workshop offers a “taste” of the program. Through the use of MBSR mind/body techniques one can feel more alive and joyful, and gain immediate access to powerful inner resources for improving health and healing.
The Heart
of
MBSR Includes:
- The Seven Foundational Attitudes in establishing mindfulness
- Guided instruction in mindfulness practices (Body Scan, Sitting with Breath, Loving Kindness Meditation, and Walking Meditation)
- Gentle mindful yoga
- Group dialogue
- Tools for practicing Mindfulness in daily life
There will also be time to rest the spirit and commune with nature in the peaceful setting of the Christine Center.
Learn More
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Live out loud and make new connections...
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Venerable Women: Living LOVE
June 8-13 (Friday–Wednesday)
With Dawn Morningstar
Tuition:
Entire program, June 8-13: $475 (Early bird discount $375)
Part I – Relationship with self: $190 (Early bird discount $150)
Part II – Relationship with divine: $190 (Early bird
discount $150)
Part III – Relationship with others: $190 (Early bird discount $150)
Deadline for the Early Bird Discount is May 8, 2018
Experience rejuvenation, grace, and ease and immerse yourself in love. No matter where you are on your journey, gently transform your life by focusing on your most important relationships: with yourself, with your Divine, and with others.
This is for you if:
- You want to stop feeling alone on your journey
- You want to be uplifted and inspired
- You are ready to make lasting change in your life and want to feel safe and supported
- You are a spiritual seeker, healer, leader, coach, minister, teacher, or other who serves— and want to nurture yourself
- You want to learn the twelve secrets (already inside you) to live an extraordinary life
- You want to connect with others on the path who choose to manifest a kind and loving world
Living LOVE
is the life-changing Venerable Women program that provides a space for personal self-discovery and the deepening of spiritual understanding. In addition to moonlight meditations and deep wisdom sharing, you will learn the twelve divinely inspired Venerable Attitudes (the 12 V-Attitudes).
Venerable Women
provides materials, best practices, and proven ways to grow.
Learn More
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The Diamond Approach to Inner Work
June 14 – 17 (Thursday-Sunday)
With Carol and Neal Carbon
The Diamond Approach is a path of spiritual realization characterized by sincere inquiry into one’s experience, fueled by the love of truth. The immediate contact with the truth of our experience allows the unfoldment of our Soul to reach increasingly deeper levels of truth. Our work includes meditations, teachings, movement, and experiential exercises. Carol and Neil Carbon are senior Diamond Approach teachers and lead groups around the country.
Learn More
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Create and celebrate a dynamic life...
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World-Making with Our Bodies, Hearts and Radical Imaginations
June 20 – 24 (Wednesday-Sunday)
With Kate Karshna and Angela Coffee
Tuition sliding scale: $150 – $250, plus meals and lodging
How can we create space in our minds, lives, and bodies to open up to opulence, grace, and wisdom? How can we attune ourselves to desire in a way that sparks passion, clarity, and resilience? During this 5-day retreat, we will deeply rest, replenish, be curious, and play together around these questions. Incorporating the wisdom and practices of yoga, Ayurveda, and mindfulness, we will create a time of spacious and nourished inquiry to support the unique world-making we are each being called into. We will dance, make art, chant, and cultivate ceremonies that clarify and support the work of creation and manifestation. This retreat is open to anyone who wants to playfully move, celebrate, and create within a community of supportive and collaborative world-makers.
Learn More
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Invite deeper love and wisdom
into your divine purpose.
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Hope and Sacred Activism
May 24 – 27 (Thursday-Sunday)
With Andrew Harvey
Tuition: $250 Before April 30; $300 After April 30, plus meals and lodging.
These chaotic and challenging times are challenging all of us to put love and wisdom into clear, wise action urgently.
Andrew Harvey will present his vision of Sacred Activism, the Holy and transforming force that is born when the profound peace, passion, and stamina of deep spirituality is combined with radical action.
He will present by drawing on his books; The Hope – a guide to Sacred Activism, Savage Grace the five Sacred Passions, and the nine Laws of Sacred Activism, along with the fundamental practices that can ground you in Divine peace, joy, strength and give you the energy to persist and thrive even in difficult circumstances.
Guidance will also be given into inner and outer shadow work that is essential for the success of Sacred Action.
You will leave this retreat with renewed hope, purpose and meaning and have simple essential tools in which to confront with Grace the challenges our contemporary crisis.
Learn More
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BIG LOVE for our Christine Center garden volunteers who raked, weeded, dug, cleaned and spruced up our gardens this week! The center is alive in all its spring glory. Our volunteers are an integral part of our Christine Center community, and we are so very grateful to you for opening your hearts and sharing your time and talents to help beautify our landscape. THANK YOU!
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We are eternally grateful for your donations!
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Or mail your gift to
The Christine Center W8303 Mann Road Willard, WI 54493
Thank you for your support!
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