Dear Folks -

I can't think of a more appropriate way to commemorate the 10th
anniversary of 9/11 than by considering our relationships.

Luckily, in Bill's absence we will be hearing from one of our class
favorites, Roddy Young. He "will compare Imago Relationship Therapy to
the 11 Principles of Ordinary Life and then provide a simple tool to
enhance communication skills."

Imago Relationship Therapy was developed by Harville Hendrix, PhD and
his wife Helen LaKelly Hunt, PhD. Hendrix, a pastoral counselor, was
teaching at Southern Methodist University when he began looking for
answers about why some relationships succeed while others fail.

Roddy Young, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Imago
Relationship Therapist counsels patients and caregivers at M. D.
Anderson Cancer Center and has a private practice specializing in
relationship therapy. Roddy's belief is that all aspects of life are
relational and that successfully dealing with relationships will help us
to transform ourselves."

I hope you are able to be present Sunday. That Fondren Hall's got some
swag!

And, no matter where you are on 9/11, please know you are loved.

Be Well,
Susanna

Click here to Download audio 20110911.mp3

Dear Folks -

This week in Bill's absence we will be hearing from Rev. Stacy Pell.
She is an ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church. She currently
serves full-time as a staff chaplain at The Methodist Hospital in the
Texas Medical Center. In addition to her clinical work at the hospital,
Stacy oversees the Lay Ministry and No One Dies Alone programs. In
December of 2010, Bishop Huie secondarily appointed Stacy to St. Paul's
UMC where she enjoys participating as a worship leader (typcially the
9:45 service) on Sunday mornings. Stacy loves spending time with
friends and family and is a huge fan of Aggie football and Duke
basketball!

Stacy describes, "this Sunday I will talk about the concept of
reverence. One of my favorite authors is Barbara Brown Taylor and in her
book, "An Altar in the World" she invites the reader to think
practically about reverence by simply calling it "the practice of paying
attention." I will use Genesis 28:10-19 to ground our discussion and
speak about how I relate this concept to my experience in the hospital
setting."

If you are traveling this weekend, be safe. All others in Houston, be
in class! ;) The new Fondren Hall is so refreshing. Hope you can make
it.

Be Well,
Susanna Hooper

Click here to Download audio 20110904.mp3

This week Bill Kerley is accompanying the St. Paul's fabulous choir to Exeter England. Where they will be singing a week of services in residence there.

Bill has asked asked Michael Butera to speak to Ordinary Life this week. Mike
is a former Roman Catholic priest who is now, as he has been for years, in private practice as a psychotherapist. He is a follower of the religious and spiritualteachings of Adi Da.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Da

Mike has spoken to Ordinary Life several times in the past and has always been one of our most popular guest speakers.

Download Buterra handout 2

Download 7-10-11 Buterra Audio File

Dear Ones -

If you are new to Ordinary Life and want to know the thinking that lies behind
the current series I am doing, please visit the Ordinary Life website. There is
an explanation there -

www.ordinarylife.org

If you would like to participate in an effort to increase interest in, awareness
of and attendance at Ordinary Life, we have created both a Twitter account an a
Facebook page for Ordinary Life.

You can follow Ordinary Life on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ordinarylifenow

You can check out Ordinary Life on Facebook at

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ordinary-Life/170099756389305

Thanks to Richard Wingfield for setting up the Twitter account and thanks to
Adam Delouche for setting up the Facebook account and taking on administrative
responsibility to guide this experiment in increasing awareness of Ordinary
Life.

This will be a way, for those of you who have twitter accounts to "follow"
Ordinary Life and effortlessly pass on invites and information about what our
gathering is about. We'll see how this experiment works.

As for this week:

I have asked Michael Butera to speak to Ordinary Life this week. Mike is a
former Roman Catholic priest who is now, as he has been for years, in private
practice as a psychotherapist. He is a follower of the religious and spiritual
teachings of Adi Da.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Da

Mike has spoken to Ordinary Life several times in the past and has always been
one of our most popular guest speakers.

This week he will talk more personally about his own spiritual path and
practice. The title he is using for
his talk is -

Spiritual Choice and Human Integrity:

Give Life True Meaning

I hope you will do yourself the favor of coming to hear Mike.

As you know, I am accompanying the St. Paul's fabulous choir to Exeter England
where they will be singing a week of services in residence there.

On the 17th Judy Willbratte will be presenting a class on the Enneagram. You'll
get a preview of that next week. I'll be back on the 24th.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

Click here to Download Buterra handout.pdf

Click here to Download audio 20110710.mp3