The Wheel of Life

The Wheel of Life
"Cosmic Tree"/ Wheel of Life" illustration from "Scivias"

Description

Good Shepherd Jericho's "Listening Table" is an informal "Spirituality in Nature Group" that gathers weekly to listen to poems about nature, to the natural environment surrounding us, and to journal, sketch, and compose any artistic rendering one might wish. Our goal is to help participants listen more mindfully to creation and to one another. This blog is a resource space for our time together and a safe space for participants to extend conversations and to share works in progress. This gathering table is not an explicitly religious activity, and anyone in the extended community, whoever and whereever they might be in life's journey is welcomed to participate, the only requirement being kindness and mutual respect. No prior spiritual or artistic training is expected, but people of all traditions are welcome

Saturday, June 14, 2025

Table Manners and Cooking Utensils for Meditative Feasting

 Read and Respond To Our “Theme Igniter” Poems


Pick your favorite Poem, read out loud a verse. a line, or  a word that affected you

Identify  speed bumps (where you slow down or get stuck): anomalies, confusions, questions

Give your opinion: compare, connect, evaluate, but refrain from argument or debate


Read the Sacred Text of Creation, Listen to Nature with Heart, Mind, and  Body


Stop, breathe, quiet, be present, but move when and where you want

Look, Listen,  Notice your surroundings, senses, emotions

Name and ponder any thoughts, feelings, or memories that come to you

Express yourself somehow in response, but don’t try too hard, it’s ok to “let it be”

Rest in oneness. Bask in the love, both that you are giving and that which you are receiving


Make Marks in your journal,  cast Sparks in the Stubble,  Plant Seedlings in your soil

  

 Log the date, time, place, and  both the outer and inner weather (outer and inner)

 Scan your body and senses:  sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, energy

 Sketch one specific object in your line of vision 

 Jot down any memories, feelings, connections, questions that seem important

Write a letter to God or a person close to you using your ”I” voice

Make a mess; let it flow; turn off your inner editor


 Cultivate or Sculpt an “Organic Haiku”:

 

Plant an observation, grow a sentence, prune it with your special Japanese 5-7-5 gardening tool Grab  “clay” from a poem or journal and start shaping and  carving to discover what’s emerging


Listen to One Another’s Sharing


Receive  Sharing as a Gift and Return it with the gift of your attentiveness

Don’t Jump to Judgement, Advice, or Interpretation

Give “Warm” Feedback: What you like, what touched you, what you want  to hear more of

Make suggestions only if asked by the person sharing


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