Redemption
Note: See the Chalice
Circle Session Sequence for process guidelines
Gathering, Welcoming (2
minutes)
Business
As needed—checking in about who is coming, where you are meeting, service projects, updating your group covenant….
As needed—checking in about who is coming, where you are meeting, service projects, updating your group covenant….
Chalice Lighting and Reading (2-3 minutes)
God entrusts and allots to everyone an area to redeem:
this creased and feeble life, “the world in which you live,
just as it is, and
not otherwise.”—Annie Dillard quoting Martin Buber
May the spark we ignite today inspire us to redeem our
areas, our lives.
Check-in/Sharing
(3-4 minutes@ - 30-40 minutes)
This is an opportunity to share recent events and/or
current feelings that may (or may not) need to be set aside in order to be most
present for the session.
Transition
Meditation (optional, depending on the norms of the group—suggested meditation is at the end of this session plan)
Help the group move from check-in preliminaries to
silence with directed deep breathing, soft words, music, or other meditative
techniques.
Topic—Redemption
Although
religious usage of the word redemption may be wanting in some circles, the word
has been widely adopted by secular cultural critics today, who frequently
describe literature, films, and theater productions as having a redemptive
message. What do you suppose they mean?
A
story from Naomi Shihab Nye suggests one answer. A Palestinian American, Nye
was traveling in the United States some time after the September 11 attacks,
waiting in the Albuquerque airport after learning her flight had been delayed
several hours. Among the airport’s prerecorded messages about heightened
security alerts and the need for passenger vigilance and suspicion, she heard
another announcement asking anyone who understood Arabic to please come to gate
A-4, which happened to be her gate.
Arriving
at the gate, she found an older woman in Palestinian dress weeping on the floor
and an airline service person helplessly standing by, unable to communicate. In
faltering Arabic, Nye first explained to the woman that their flight had not
been cancelled, just delayed. Then the two of them began to pass the time by
making phone calls to their family members on Mye’s cell phone and introducing
each other to the loved ones on the other end. They told their stories to each
other, laughing together, with infectious results at the gate. When the woman
opened a bag of homemade cookies she was carrying and passed them around,
powdered sugar landing on everyone’s laps, the airline’s staff enlisted two
young girls to hand out apple juice. And looking around the waiting area at
Gate A-4 that day, Nye noticed that everyone had taken the cookies and no one
looked apprehensive anymore about anyone else. “This can happen anywhere,” Nye
asserted. “Not everything is lost.”
Redemption,
it seems to me, happens in this story because the ending opens into
possibilities not easily foreseen in the beginning. And like this story,
redemption can occur anywhere and anytime we live through stories of our own
that might begin with apprehension of one form or another; with long,
unbearable waiting; or with strangers in cold, impersonal settings. And then,
often starting with some small act of kindness, the stories open up into a
different, wider narrative, where trust and new relationships are again made
possible and real.
Deep
Sharing/Deep Listening (60 minutes)
As we begin Deep Sharing and Deep Listening, I invite you to reflect on the
ways in which your life is being redeemed day by day—the small, unexpected
moments of redemption. Here are some questions to consider:
·
What does the word redemption mean to you?
·
If, as Nye said, “Not everything is lost” then
what remains—what good exists when things seem bleak?
·
Do you have a story of redemption that you would
like to share?
·
Whom or what are you indebted to—how do you
redeem yourself?
·
What imprisons you—how do you free yourself?
·
How is your life being redeemed today?
Open Discussion (as time permits—this is the cross talk portion)
This is the opportunity to ask questions, and continue to engage the topic….
Check-out/Feedback (10 minutes)
Thank
the group. Ask what they liked in this
session and what changes they would hope for.
Closing
Reading/Extinguishing the Chalice
Excerpt from “Ordinary Time” by Tim
Dlugos—writing about recovery from addiction
Which are the magic
moments in ordinary
time? All of them,
for those who can see.
That is what redemption
means, I decide
at the meeting.
Mine consists of
understanding
that the magic isn’t
something
that I make, but
something
that shines through the
things
I make and do and say
When I am fearless and
thorough
enough to give it room
Meditation: Peace
Take a moment to
make sure you are comfortable
Uncross your legs
and arms
Place both feet
flat on the floor
Close your eyes
and
Take a deep breath in and let it go
Take another deep breath and let it go
Breathe-in
slowly. Breathe-out gently.
As you breathe, allow your body to just let go.
Allow your mind to
be peaceful and relaxed.
Now I am going to
give you some simple instructions
Breathe in and on
the out breath, Say silently - Peace to my thoughts
Breathe in and on
the out breath, Say silently - Peace to my heart
So it goes like
this
Breathe in Breathe
out - Peace to my thoughts
Breathe in Breathe
out - Peace to my heart
Breathe in Breathe
out - Peace to my thoughts
Breathe in Breathe
out - Peace to my heart
Breathe in Peace
to my thoughts
Breathe in Peace
to my heart
Breathe in Peace
to my thoughts
Breathe in Peace
to my heart
Now let’s simplify
it
Breathe in peace Breathe
out love
Breathe in peace Breathe
out love
Breathe in peace Breathe
out love
Feel peace enter
and fill you completely
Feel love flow
through you and from you
Become peace
Become love
Become
Breathe in
Breathe out
Take a deep breath
in and let it go.
Come gently back
into this room
Bringing the love
and peace with you
as you slowly open your
eyes
