School of Wisdom Classes
School of Wisdom & Practical Spirituality
Courses for Spring 2012
Monday classes start January 9
Dinner at 6:00 PM Classes start at 6:45
Wednesday class starts January 11
1:30 - 3:00
REGISTRATION
To register, find the "School of Wisdom Registration Form"
in the Forms link at the top of this page.
INFORMATION
For more information, call the church office (512-353-1979).
Monday Classes
LIVING THE QUESTIONS
Facilitator: Diana Beardsley
The class, Living the Questions, challenges us to look deeply at our beliefs, faith, and how our faith intersects daily living. Join leading progressive Christian thinkers and activists (Walter Brueggeman, James Forbes, John Dominic Crossan, Matthew Fox, Helen Prejean, John Shelby Spong and others) as we enter more deeply on our journeys both personally and in the world. Come with an open mind and an even more open heart.
The class will center on a weekly 20-minute video supplemented with participant study guide and discussion. Gathering will end with 20 - 30 minutes of silence for prayer, contemplation or meditation.
This is the continuation of a course offered in the fall, but new members are welcome and can fit in easily. Contact Diana by email at diana78131@att.net or phone 830-626-3991 for more information.
CRUCIBLE OF STRUGGLE: EXPLORING THE MYSTERY AND HISTORY OF SPIRITUALITY IN MEXICO
Facilitator: The Rev. Dr. Michael Miller
Text: Red, White, and Green: The Maturing of Mexicanidad, by Michael Nelson Miller
In this School of Wisdom offering, we will look respectfully into the soul of a people close to us and yet far away. Our goal will be to understand a little of the mystery of this ancient people, what they hold sacred and how Mexican spirituality has evolved over time, informing and shaping their nation.
We will begin with 800 years of struggle in Islamic Spain and its aftermath, and conclude with "Quetzalcoat to Pepsicoatl: Spirituality in Modern Mexico."
This is a one-semester course.
CHRIST OF THE CELTS
Facilitators: Dr. Jim and Jerry Kimmel
Text: Christ of the Celts by J. Philip Newell
"I explore the Celtic image of Christ as the Memory of what we have forgotten. He remembers the dance of the universe and the harmony that is deep within all things. He is the Memory also of who we are."
J. Philip Newell
John Philip Newell is an ordained minister in the Church of Scotland and lives with this wife Ali in Edinburgh, but recognizes that he is a "wandering scholar" in the ancient Celtic tradition. He is the companion theologian at the American Spirituality Center at Ghost Ranch in Northern New Mexico.
Jim and Jerry Kimmel have studied with him there for several years.
Newell's approach to the healing of our fragmented world is poetic and beautiful with a deep understanding of human nature and the love of Christ as it is interwoven through the written Word and through the natural world.
This is a one-semester course.
MYSTICAL TRADITION: JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, AND ISLAM
Great Courses video series produced by The Teaching Company
Speaker: Professor Luke Timothy Johnson, Emory University
Facilitator: The Rev. Gary Gooch
The primary object of most, if not all, religions, is to experience the living God. A way that Christian evangelicals might express that is "to KNOW Jesus, not just know about him." The lifelong quest of mystics is to eperience the living God. Their chosen instrument is prayer.
This course "examines the ...tradition of mysticism within the major Western religions of Judaism, Christiany, and Islam. These religions are usually thought of in terms of external observance - doctrines, laws, rituals - rather than in terms of intense prayer experiences or forms of contemplation. In fact, however, all three monotheistic religions of the West have robust and complex mystical traditions."
Mystics are also responsible for some of the most impressive literature produce by their respective religions. An introduction to the varieties of mystical literature throught the ages, and to the great spiritual teachers within each tradition who composed such writings is an important element in this course. As much as possible, this course will use the words of the mystics themselves.
This is the continuation of a two semester course, but new members are welcome and will be able to connect with the material easily.
Wednesday Class
THE PSYCHOLOGY AND PRACTICE OF CENTERING PRAYER AS TAUGHT BY FR THOMAS KEATING
Facilitator: Carol Husbands
Text: Open Mind, Open Heart by Fr. Thomas Keating, Newest edition (2006)
Centering Prayer is a method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer (prayer in which we experience God's presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself).
This method of prayer is both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship. Centering Prayer is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer. Rather, it adds depth of meaning to all prayer and facilitates the movement from more active modes of prayer - verbal, mental of affective prayer - into a receptive prayer of resting in God.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
3039 Ranch Road 12
San Marcos, Texas
School of Wisdom And Practical Spirituality
Course Offerings Spring 2012
Mondays starting January 9
Parish Hall
Dinner at 6:00 PM Classes start at 6:45
Wednesday class starts January 11, Parish Hall library, 1:30 - 3:00
Cost: $20 tuition plus costs of books
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