The Spirituality of Imperfection, a Quiet Day for the second half of life

Saturday September 22, 2012, 9:00 –3:00,
by The Rev. John Holliger, retired, Delaware

Register at https://diosohio.wufoo.com/forms/m7p0p1/ by September 19 so that a  packet of poems will be waiting for your arrival.  $15 includes lunch and poems

This  Quiet Day provides  a reflection on the Spirituality of Imperfection, the spirituality of the second  half of life. 
There are spacious times for quiet reflection, journaling, walking meditation, silence, and
quiet conversation with one or two others. 

There will be no large group discussions.  A short time at the end provides for brief reflection on the day.  Some will prefer to offer their silent witness.

In the first half of life we are establishing our careers, our households, and our personas with  perfection. Success and building our reputation are our priorities.  
 
In the second half of life  our striving for perfection has lost its appeal.  The masks we have created are coming loose. 
We are learning more from our disappointments, losses, and failures than from our successes. 
We begin the inward journey, each in  our own unique way. 
There is wisdom embedded within our imperfections. 
Our flaws lead us to our Center, our Essence, where a Great Mystery has been waiting our arrival.
 

In the second cycle

we will consider the poetry of Wendell  Berry, “The Sycamore” “…Fences  have been tied to it, nails driven into it, hacks  and whittles cut in it, the lightning has burned it.   There is no year it has flourished in,that has not harmed  it.” 
and David Whyte’s“The Faces of Braga”— " If only we knew as  the carver knew, how the flaws in the wood led his searching chisel to the very core, we would smile, too and  not need faces immobilized by fear and the weight of things  undone.”
 
and Ted Kempel’s, The  Gift of Being Unfinished …”Thank you for unfinishing us, offering us the possibilities of being undone, allowing  us to willingly surrender the imperfect gifts of our lives.”

 Several beautiful, imperfect pieces of black walnut and cherry will be available for participants to hold for a spacious time for reflection,
meditation,  walking, looking, sitting.

 

In  the Third Cycle 

we will sit quietly to conclude, with a brief time for reflection on the day.   Some may wish to offer  their silent presence as their gift.

The potter has been a spiritual guide for little communities for thousands of years.  Here the meek of the earth have  simple, profound wisdom for our journey. 

The wisdom of trees and carvers expressed by poets like Wendell Berry and David Whyte can open us in surprising and unexpected ways for the journey ahead.