ORDINARY LIFE - Thoughts and Ideas to Help You Live a Happier Life
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Summary for May 14, 2017
Dear Folks -
Last Sunday was the last that our spiritual guru, Bill Kerley, will be away from our Ordinary Life class. Bill has completed his pilgrimage in Italy and is on the way home. Bill says, "I miss my dog and I miss my bed." We miss you, Bill.
You can read about Bill's journey by clicking the link at http://www.ordinarylife.org/st-nicholas-pilgrimage/
Our next Ordinary Life Happy Hour will be held next Friday, May 19 at the home of Ashok and Debbie Balsaver from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. It will be held at 226 S. Keswick Ct., Sugar Land, TX 77478. Call 281-980-5173 for more information. There is also more information available on the Ordinary Life website at http://www.ordinarylife.org/events/.
Please bring a beverage of your choice and an appetizer to share.
There is an Ordinary Life Community Lunch to be held this Sunday, May 21, immediately after Ordinary Life, from 11 AM to 12:30. The lunch is to be held in Fondren Hall. If you are planning on joining us and haven't already signed up, please email Wayne with a headcount so that we can order sufficient food for all.
St. Paul's is once again participating in Houston's annual Gay Pride Festival, to be held on June 24. Team building for the parade begins in earnest this coming Sunday, May 21. You can get more information about the festival, the parade, and how you can participate at http://www.ordinarylife.org/pride-parade/
If you were unable to attend Ordinary Life this last Sunday, you missed our friend and Ordinary Life regular, Brooke Summers-Perry, who gave a presentation she titled
False Impressions - True Expressions
Brooke summarized her talk, "We used diagrams and investigations of everyday events to identify how specific practices influence outcomes and impacts."
Brooke has combined the audio of her talk and her presentations slides together to create a viewing and listening experience that closely matches her presentation on Sunday. You can watch/listen on YouTube at https://youtu.be/gvchlhHmGQE
Brooke used these foundation quotes as an entree to her presentation.
"Between Stimulus and Response there is is space. In that space lies our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." - Viktor E. Frankl
"Fear is going to be a player in your life, but you get to decide how much. You can spend your whole life imagining ghosts, worrying about your pathway to the future, but all there will ever be is what's happening here, and the decisions we make in this moment, which are based in either love or fear." - Jim Carey MUM 2014 Commencement speech
"What we don't transform we transmit." - Father Richard Rohr OSF
Brooke explored:
- Why everything you say and do matters
- How various practices affect what you say and do
- What true expressions I discovered laying dormant under false impressions of myself and others
Brooke introduced the first images in a series she calls "Interconnecting Illuminations".
Brooke Summers-Perry is a mom of three, a spiritual director, and the founding director of the Bishop John E Hines Center for Spirituality and Prayer in downtown Houston, Texas.
Brooke's life experiences and studies encompass psychology, sociology, architecture, communication, and spiritual direction and practice. Through her writing, art, public speaking, coaching and facilitating, she shares simple practical applications that identify, celebrate, and illuminate grace in the ups and downs of daily life.
The slides and audio presentation of Brooke's talk can be found HERE.
This is the last week that I will be filling in for Bill, for the next little while at least, and once again, I close with Bill's words:
Be well and much love,
Wayne Herbert