More Synchronicity and You: Exploring Your Experience

 

 

 Dreamwork Canada presents

 an opportunity via Zoom to explore

our dreams as a means of deepening                  

and expanding our spirituality.

 

 More Synchronicity and You: Exploring Your Experience 

 led by Greg Little

Join us:
     Tuesday, March 11, 2025 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. EST  (two hours) 
     On Zoom
     Cost: $40, or pay what you can

 In his essay, On Synchronicity, Carl Jung declares, “I have therefore directed my attention to certain observations and experiences which, I can fairly say, have forced themselves upon me during the course of my long medical practice. They have to do with spontaneous, meaningful coincidences of so high a degree of improbability as to appear flatly unbelievable.” Jung named these “meaningful coincidences” synchronicity. 

In our last workshop in January, Jung’s concept of synchronicity was introduced and explored using examples that were offered by Jung and by the workshop leader.  In this follow up workshop we will delve more deeply into how to identify synchronicity from mere coincidence and provide opportunity for participants to explore the concept more fully and explore personal experiences of synchronicity.  In small groups, participants will have an opportunity to discuss their experiences of synchronicity and explore the impact on their lives. 

Since Dreamwork Canada believes that exploring our dreams is essential to our psychological health, participants will also have an opportunity to examine dreams in a group experience. We invite participants to bring one of their dreams to share in the small group. 

Led by Greg Little, an Anglican Priest and Honourary assistant at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Strathroy, Ontario. He is a Certified Dream Group Leader and spiritual director from the Haden Institute.

Registration deadline: March 10, 2025 

To register: 
Step 1  Send your name and e-mail address to dreamworkcanada104@gmail.com so we can forward the Zoom link to you.
Step 2  Send your payment by e-transfer to dreamworkcanada104@gmail.com or request an alternative method of payment.  E-transfers are automatically deposited, no passcode required.
 
Questions?  Contact the registrar at dreamworkcanada104@gmail.com

God's Language

Tomorrow, I will be facilitating a dream group in an event sponsored by Dreamwork Canada. If you are interested, you can find more information at https://dreamworkcanada.squarespace.com/.  We will be using a group process of exploring dreams which I was trained in with the Haden Institute.  In this process we consider dreams to be God’s Forgotten Language.

Dreams are a way in which God “speaks” to us.  However, our culture has lost the knowledge that  God is communicating with us through our dreams.  In the case of dreams and in many of the other ways in which God speaks to us, we no longer understand how God is speaking to us or even that God is speaking to us.  God does speak to us in many different ways and in many modes.  In the case of dreams, God uses the language of metaphor and symbols.    By exploring the images in dreams and treating them as metaphors and symbols, we can unpack the message and meaning contained in the dream.

Our culture generally does not appreciate the value that dreams bring to each of us.  We maintain that dream come in the service of health and wholeness of the dreamer and of society.  As a Christian, I have faith that dreams are used by God to help us become the people that God intends us to be.  However, even if you don’t believe this, dreams can still be understood as necessary and beneficial for our health and wholeness and will enable us to live life more fully.

If you would like to explore what dreams can say to you, the best way to begin is to record you dreams by writing them down i.e. keep a dream journal.  That will assist you in remembering your dreams which can be a challenge for many people.  Look at the images in the dream and begin to explore the images by identifying the associations you have with that image.  For instance, if it is a building, what kind of a building is it – a house, a school, a government building.  What is the purpose of the building and what kind of activity might occur in the building.  Look for the ‘aha’ moment when the meaning is revealed in this exploration. 

There are many books which can help you on this journey into the world of dreams.  Many sources are available on the internet but as with all information of the internet, be careful not to be led down rabbit holes.  A good place to start is the Dreamwork Canada web site which has resources listed and information on upcoming events where you can gain experience with working with dreams.

I will close with the prayer we use when working with dreams in our group process.

Holy Dream Maker, Creator of All,
Be with us as we open our hearts and minds 
to the divine wisdom in our dreams.
We thank you and honour You.
As you guide us in the way to health and wholeness,
may we be open to the blessings of your message.

May you be blessed to know the meaning of your dreams on your journey.

 

ZOOMing With God

Last week, I was attending the Summer Dream and Spirituality Conference presented by the Haden Institute.  I am not sure if ‘attending’ is the correct word – perhaps ‘participating in’ is better because I was participating via ZOOM.  I have attended the Conference many times since my first time in 2005, but those have always been attendance that was on site at the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville N.C. 

This was my first experience of any such endeavor by electronic means and I was very aware of both he positive and negative aspects of using a such a means of coming together.  Many of us are now getting very familiar with ZOOM (is Zooming or ZOOMing the verb) and similar ways of being in community in the time of COVID 19 with many worship services being so offered and meetings utilizing the internet for meetings.  It is something which will become to a lesser or greater extent the “new normal” in the post COVID 19 shut down.  As the Rev. Sherry DeJonge noted yesterday when four of us gathered at St. James Anglican Church, Parkhill in the traditional way yesterday to worship (keeping social distancing) while Donna Lamb-Gunness recorded the service for Facebook, we will need to continue providing worship services electronically after the shut down is eased as many people will be reluctant to attend church physically  - at least initially.

In addition, it was announced at the end of the Conference that next year, the Conference could be attended either in person or electronically for the first time.  This option, which has been used in a limited way in many instances I past years will, I believe, become the new normal way meeting in the years to come.

That being said and turning to the Conference itself, it is a wonderful exploration of ways that we can enhance our connection with God or the Divine - however you personally define it.  One of the primary ways which is offered at the Conference, is through dreams which we consider to be God’s forgotten language.  In addition, there are many ways included such as prayer, meditation, art and poetry to name a few.   

On reflection, it struck me that ZOOMing (or Zooming) is a great metaphor for how God communicated with us.  I believe that God is continually trying to connect with us – to ZOOM - in many different ways.  Unfortunately, we are not willing or able to be open to many of those ways.  Sometimes we will be open to a few familiar ways in which God speaks to us such as in scripture or music or prayer.  However, we can both deepen those ways though those ways through practice, participation and reflection, as well as exploring other ways in which we are naturally not as attuned to.  I believe we can do both, that is, deepen the ways which we have been accustomed to in our lives as well as explore new ways which we haven’t considered as possibilities for God speaking to us.  I have found the Conference to be a wonderful way of exploring both possibilities. 

I will close with a short poem which was offered to me - possibly from a divine source in one the workshops during the Conference which explored this avenue for communication with the Divine.  It explores the idea of our names being formative to who we are and the reality of my life that I almost was named after my father rather than someone else.

In the Name of the Father

What if my father,

Who was the one who baptized me,

Had honoured his agreement

With my mother

And had named me Milton

After my father,

Instead of Gregory after

His philosophy prof.

Would I be the same person

I am now,

Or would I be someone else?

Blessings on you journey.

What is an Apostle Any Way?

A few days ago, I finished reading Miracles, By C.S. Lewis.  I should say re-reading but it was as if I was reading it for the first time (wish I had the kind of memory that would retain more of what I read the first time).  This is the best exploration of the phenomenon and theological implications of miracles that I know of.  It was recommended by a professor when I was studying theology at Huron University College.  I would recommend it to anyone struggling with the concept of miracles, biblical or otherwise.

In the opening sentence of the chapter, Miracles in the New Creation, Lewis declares, “In the earliest days of Christianity an ‘apostle’ was first and foremost a man who claimed to be an eyewitness of the Resurrection.”  This reactivated a memory from some years ago when I was challenged on this definition.  I was at one of the intensives (residential session) for my training as a Dream Group Facilitator with the Haden Institute.  Someone asked me how I would define an apostle.  Apparently, someone in their group had a dream about being an apostle.  I defined it the way that Lewis was speaking of it i.e. someone who had seen the risen Christ.  The person did not like this definition as it did not fit with her understanding.  She referred me to passages in the Gospels which referred to the disciples as Apostles which was prior to the crucifixion.   Unfortunately, I had not thought much about this definition and was not able to support this definition in what I considered a satisfactory way. 

As Lewis notes, when two candidates where proposed to fill the vacancy in the inner circle of disciples created by the betrayal and death of the Judas their qualification was that they had known Jesus before and after his crucifixion and could offer first-hand evidence of the Resurrection in spreading the Good News of Christ resurrected i.e. the Gospel, to the world.  St. Paul claimed to be an apostle on this basis, “Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen the Lord Jesus?” 

I had been introduced to this concept but, as I note, I was not able to give an apology for that position, at least to my satisfaction.  This bothered me for some time afterwards.  This was actually because my ego was wounded and I felt inadequate.  Here I was a priest (fairly newly minted) but did not have a good grasp on what was a basic concept in Christians theology.  In effect, I did not look on this encounter as the opportunity it was to engage the person more fully and to explore where they were coming from.  My ego got in the way of an opportunity to engage life and people more fully which is what we are called to do as Christian.   What was most important to me was proving myself right and the other person wrong.

I believe that the ego is the one of God’s greatest gift to humanity.  It can be considered part of how we are created in God’s image.   It is a blessing; however, it can also be a curse.  The ego, in its normal state will believe that it is charge; that it is the center of life.  It does not surrender that position of self-deluded primacy easily.  It is usually a long journey for the ego to reached its proper place which is being in service to God rather than believing that God should serve it.  However, that is what we are called to be and do as Christians―in service to God and God’s creation. Perhaps that could be a working definition of apostle, one who is in the service of God in the world.  Thanks be to God. 

Blessing on your journey.

A Time of Spiritual Renewal in Huron

As reported in the Huron Church News (June 2016), in her address to Synod Bishop Linda Nicholls declared that there are no “quick fixes” for our diocese or the church.  She declared that, “We do need spiritual wisdom and revelation.  My prayer is that God will provide that wisdom as we come to know him as we pay attention to our own spiritual lives”.

To put this in action Bishop Linda encouraged each person in the room and by implication every Anglican in Huron, “to commit to one new way of deepening your knowledge of Christ this year!”  Bishop Linda suggested ways of doing this such as joining a bible study, participating in an Education for Ministry group, and going on retreat.  Bishop Linda also suggested that people find a spiritual director.  It is my experience that many people in Huron are not familiar with spiritual directors and spiritual direction.  I thought it would be helpful to some readers to provide an introduction to the practice of spiritual direction which I hope will encourage people to explore this spiritual practice as a way of enhancing their experience of God.

First I will share with you a bit about my background which is relevant.  I am an Anglican priest in Huron who retired from full-time parish ministry a few years ago.  I am a graduate of the spiritual direction program offered by the Haden Institute through the Mount Carmel Spirituality Centre in Niagara Falls completing the program in 2013.  Through the auspices of the Rev. Canon Todd Townshend, Dean of Theology at Huron University College and working with Rev. Canon Greg Smith, Director of Field Education, Worship, Community & Formation I have been offering spiritual direction to students in the faculty of theology beginning first as part of training and continuing once I completed the program.  I also work with lay and ordained people outside the Huron College context.

With that let me give you some information about spiritual direction and spiritual directors. A spiritual director is somewhat misnamed as a spiritual director doesn’t actually direct. It is the Holy Spirit—the third person in the room who directs the session.  A spiritual director is a companion on your journey as you deepen your relationship with God.  Here are some of the things which a spiritual director/companion may help you with on you journey:

·         Identify and trust your own experiences of God recognizing God’s unending love for you

·                        Acting with continued integrity and participation in your religious tradition

·                         Integrate spirituality into your daily life

·                         Discern and then make difficult choices

·                         Share your hopes,  your struggles and your losses

·                         Develop a sensitivity for justice and the concerns for the poor and compassion for those you               meet in everyday life

Most important thing in your journey is LOVE.  The spiritual companion can help you to understand and appreciate how the love of God in Jesus Christ can be recognized mire fully and shared with others. 

As St. Paul tells us there are many members but one body.  Each of us will have different ways in which we are open to the Holy Spirit. A spiritual companion can help you to identify the ways in which God through the Holy Spirit is active in your life and how you can be open to deepening and expanding your experience of the divine.   Blessings of you journey.  

Sermon February 28, 2016 – Lent 3

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. ²Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. ³Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. Isaiah 55: 1-3

It can feel at times in our journey in this world that we are in danger eating food that does not feel our souls as the prophet Isaiah says.  Last Sunday I introduced you to an exploration into the journey which has is its goal Spiritual Renewal—bread and wine for the soul.  That is the type of renewal in our culture which is a special calling of the church.  Spiritual Renewal is a way which can help us navigate through those times in life in which we feel as if we are tottering on the edge of the pit.  It can also help us to more closely follow our Saviour each day – in the good times as well as the bad times.

Last Sunday we looked at one form of prayer – Lectio Divina or Holy Reading as a way of listening to how God is speaking to us and where God is leading us through scripture.  If you would like to explore that there will be a Lectio Divinoa Group that will meet at 9:30 before worship service starting next Sunday.  This will be led by Joe Wooden.  For more information please talk to Joe or me.  Today I want to offer you another way which can help you navigate on that journey in life.  Today we are going to explore the Sacred Path of the Labyrinth.  The first thing that is important to know about the labyrinth is that it is not the same as a maze. 

You may be more familiar with the maze which is a network of paths that are a puzzle which has to be solved to find your way out of.  In a maze you can take wrong turns and run into dead ends.  It is something that you might not actually solve. 

However, the labyrinth is different.  As I noted last week there are many different ways of spiritual practice.  As we are all unique children of God it is important to find the way that is best for you.  Lorna finds the labyrinth to be a particularly meaningful Spiritual practice.  Lorna has even constructed a seven course labyrinth at our cottage in P.E.I.  I, on the other hand, don’t find it as meaningful.  However, I do use a labyrinth when I have the opportunity. 

The labyrinth It is a path that if followed will lead to you on the inward journey to the centre and out again on the return journey.  There are many twists and turns but the path will never lead you astray.  The labyrinth is an ancient form which has—as far as we know—always been used as a spiritual practice.  The oldest surviving labyrinth is found in a rock carving at Luzzanas in Sardinia which dates from about 2500 B.C.E. The remains of a labyrinth can be found in Mount Knossos on the Island of Crete.  Labyrinths have been known to people for over four thousand years and have been found in almost every religious tradition around the world. 

Although it is an ancient spiritual and religious tradition it fell out of use in modern culture and was only rediscovered and moved into popular culture in the 1990’s with the work of different people including clergy and laypeople at Grace Episcopal Cathedral in San Francisco. 

Since then it seems to have taken the western world by storm and labyrinths have become almost common place in different cities. 

There is a beautiful outdoor labyrinth at the Kanuga Conference Centre of the Episcopal Church in North Carolina where my wife Lorna and I attend dream Conferences’ and an indoor one at the Mount Carmel Retreat Centre in Niagara Fall which hosts the spiritual direction program we completed.

Walking the labyrinth can represent different things to different people.  It can represent the journey into wholeness which is undertaken as we seek to become the people God intends us to be.  It can be a form of walking meditation or prayer.  It can represent the twists and turns our spiritual life takes which never seems to be a straight line.  But if we follow the path which God intends for us and listen to where God is leading us it can represent the journey that God will guide us on throughout our lives until we reach our final goal—union with God when our life on this earth have run its course. 

We can’t experience a full-fledged walking of the labyrinth this morning of course but we can walk it with our fingers.  You should have received with the bulletin a diagram of the 11 course labyrinth.  Using a finger I invite you to follow the path of the labyrinth to the center and back again – as time allows.  As you follow the path notice and experience how at times you will seem to be approaching the destination on the inward journey—the centre and then there will be a sharp turn which will take you away from the centre. 

There are many ways to approach the labyrinth walk.  I am drawing the work of Rev. Lauren Artress who is a canon of Grace Cathedral, San Francisco.    One beneficial way is to simply quiet you mind letting go of all thoughts and cares.  As thoughts enter your mind just note them and release them.  The goal is to let a gracious sense of attention flow through you. 

Another way is to ask a question before beginning you walk and focus on it was you walk.  Keep the question in your conscious mind and you proceed and see what response you receive. 

Take your time – it is important to proceed at a slow steady pace.  We will have five minutes or so and I encourage you to continue your journey later at your leisure and experience it.  If you have a chance to walk a full sized labyrinth I encourage you to experience it—a number of times. 

Sermon February 21, 2016 Lent 2

In my sermon last Sunday I spoke of the special calling of the church – that is a calling for a kind of renewal that is not based on action and activity in the outer world.  Our culture is very good at that and the church also sees the need in our society and responds by doing things to meet the needs which are there.  However, there is another kind of renewal which is unique to the church and is something that our society is very much in need of – it is Spiritual Renewal. 

I finished a program in Spiritual Direction in 2014 at the Mount Carmel Centre for Spirituality in Niagara Falls.  In that program I studied how to help people discern where God is in their lives and how to be more aware and open to where the Holy Spirit is calling them.  The ministry of Spiritual Direction is actual not the best name for what we are learning to do.  What the Spiritual Director does with the directee does not actually direct them.  Rather a Spiritual Director is a companion on their spiritual journey.  There are actually three persons in Spiritual Direction – the Director, the Directee and the Holy Spirit.  It is the Holy Spirit who does the direction and shows both the Director and Directee the way in which God is working in their life.

During the Sunday’s in Lent, I will be a Spiritual Companion for St. Anne’s and St. John’s.  Each Sunday in Lent we are exploring a different way in which we can learn to pay closer attention to how God is working in our lives and where The Holy Spirit is calling us to travel in this Lenten journey which lies ahead of us.  It is also my hope that you will find some of these ways to be meaningful for you and that you will chose to incorporate into your lives on an ongoing basis.

As I mentioned Spiritual Direction involves listening and recognizing how God is working in your life.  A significant part of that is developing an active prayer life.  Of course God has made us as unique beings—each one of us is unique and different.  Not every form of pray will be something which resonates with each of us and a way which we will find meaningful.  Often it is a matter of finding one or two that is right for us. There are many ways of prayer and I want to begin our journey by exploring one particular way.  The one I would like to explore with you today is Lectio Divina.  Don’t be put off by the Latin name – it actually means Holy Reading. 

There are four steps in Holy Reading.  The first is to read the passage—the Lectio.  During the reading the intention is to be non-judgmental—just be open to what the passage is speaking to you.  Is there something especially in the passage that catches you attention – a phrase or a word?  Make a mental note of this.  You can use any passage from scripture or an inspirational work that is meaningful for you.  I will be using the scripture passage that we head from Philippians.

The second step is meditation—meditatio.  Here we reflect and ponder on what we have read or heard.  Remember that Mary, at the nativity pondered what she had seen and heard in her heart.  Ponder and see how Jesus is speaking to you in the passage of phrase or word that resonates with you.  Ask yourself what does this mean for my life today?  Direct it to God at work in your life. 

The third step is Responding – Oratatio.  This is a prayer—a prayer which is unique and personal to you and comes from the heart.  This may lead to response in your outer life but it is an inner response initially.  It may be surrendering your will to God – not something we do easily but something which is important if we are to follow where Jesus leads us. 

Finally there is Rest – Contemplatio.  This is resting in the presence of God.  It is a knowing that God is with you and that you are in God’s hand.  As it says in the passage from Philippians:

Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you.

Now let us have a few minutes of silence to centre ourselves and I will begin by reading the passage.  You don’t need to remember the steps – I will guide you at the beginning of each step.  

Acedia and Me?

I have begun to read Acedia & me, a book by Kathleen Norris. I have just started get into the book but I find the subject fascinating and want to share early impressions with you.   Acedia is a term which has fallen out of favour is not in general use in the modern world.   I was vaguely aware of this concept but was introduced to it in the Spiritual Direction program I completed with the Haden institute and the Mt. Carmel Spiritual Centre in Niagara Falls.  Lorna found out about this book which was not on the reading list of the program (and should be) and purchased it used on-line.  

As I noted, I began to read it recently after Lorna recommended it and am finding acedia to be a concept and condition which appears to be very much something which is part of modern life and deserves more consideration.  Kathleen Norris delves into the concept of acedia drawing her life long experience with the condition.   As Norris notes acedia is often considered to be another name for depression.  Norris notes that there are many similarities between the two conditions.  However, the two conditions are not synonymous.  Norris suggests that, “while depression is an illness treated by counselling and medication, acedia is a vice that is best countered by spiritual practice and the discipline of prayer.” (3)  Categorizing acedia as a vice is not done lightly by Norris.  She traces the early thoughts about acedia and notes that Evagrius, a 4^th century Christian monk and ascetic, classified it as “one of the eight bad thoughts that plagued a monk, whole John Cassian discerned in acedia a stubborn sadness that could lead a monk into a far worse state of distress”. (20)  The eight bad thoughts eventually became of seven deadly sins of Christianity.   The theologian dropped acedia form the list and conflated it with sadness. 

As I noted, it is often thought of as depression.  It is rather hard to get a definitive handle on just what the condition—or vice—entails and how it differs from depression.  The simplest way of thinking about it appears to be a state of generally not caring about the world and others.  Norris describes the condition—which she diagnoses as acedia—as one in which she would avoid life by obsessively reading anything and everything as a way of running away and “consuming books rather than reading them”.   With acedia the ‘not caring’ can take can take the form of sloth or laziness of body and mind.  But it can also take the form of escapism either in nostalgia about a golden past or fantasy about the grass being greener in the other places.  It can even take the form of being a rescuer who wants to obsessively help and rescuing people.  However, the common factor in this is avoidance.  The sufferer is not able to engage the world around them.  They do not/cannot care about anything and do not take the effort to engage in anything.   I believe that acedia is what people in other times and places were addressing when they talked of ‘loss of soul’.  Norris notes that, “John Cassian and Thomas Aquinas recognized that acedia operates on the borders between the physical world and the spiritual life.” (35)  It is also interesting that Norris notes Aquinas recommended ‘a hot bath, a glass of wine, and a good night’s sleep’ as a remedy.   However tempting that may be, I suspect that someone who is in the thrall of acedia will not get a good night’s sleep.  Rather, they will be pursued by the demon of acedia.  Indeed considering acedia in the realm of demons or evil spirits has some validity if we consider the world of the early monks who were very familiar with acedia as the demon of mid-day which brings lethargy.  I think the understanding that we are dealing with a condition that allows temptations in the form of thoughts to take hold.  Norris notes that the demons “arouse evil thoughts by working on the memory and imagination.”  We may have difficulty believing in demons or evil spirit in today’s modern material, world.  However, it can be useful to understand the thoughts that creep unaware into our consciousness that encourage us to avoid what we know is in our best interest in this way.  Indeed after I had begun to be engaged by the book I had the thought that I have done enough and deserve to play a computer game which I must confess I surrendered to quite willingly.   

I am looking forward to reading more and will probably share more of it with you next time.  Blessings and don’t let the demon of acedia or any other catch you unaware.