Wednesday, February 19

Freeing our Hearts

"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." ~Bernard Meltzer

                                                 

Our roles as women have been changing rapidly in the past several generations. In addition to the opportunities that have opened for us in the world of work, we also want satisfying intimate relationships. We don’t want to sacrifice our autonomy and lose ourselves in our relationships. To navigate the rapidly changing world of relationships, it is helpful to have “heart tools.”

In tonight’s program, Ani will offer us one of the heart tools from the her new book, written with her husband Bill, Heart Tools for Couples: 8 Ways to a Loving Relationship.

           

The Heart Tool we will focus on tonight is Transforming Hurt and Resentment into Forgiveness. Inevitably in relationships we hurt and disappoint each other. This heart tool is a step-by-step process to let go of the weight of resentments, while honoring ourselves and our partner. The workshop features guided reflection and journaling, followed by group discussion.

Ani Nadler Grosser, LICSW, is a psychotherapist in private practice in Lenox, and co-directs The Center for Compassionate Relationships. A Certified Imago Relationship therapist, she specializes in relationship issues.

Ani facilitates on-going Healing and Empowerment groups for women, which support women to grow in self-awareness, self-responsibility and self-acceptance.

Beginning April 22, Ani will again offer her popular 7 week workshop Manifesting the Love of your Life. This course focuses on learning to love yourself, and preparing yourself for the relationship you yearn for. You can learn more about these offerings at www.compassionaterelationships.com.

First Congregational Church of Stockbridge
4 Main Street     Stockbridge, MA 

5:45 Gathering with food

6:00 Welcome circle

6:15 Potluck Supper
7:00 Program

Annual Meeting and The Female Hero January 22nd

The Female Hero

Jungian analyst and psychotherapist Sarah Jackson will share her overview of the traditional hero, heretofore male, and the contemporary hero, who is not so strictly gendered. This lecture, accompanied by images, and discussion will focus on Sarah's particular interest: the new female heroes who are showing up in contemporary film-- cinema being the medium where our mythology is most visible.  We will explore what these new heroes have to tell us about our own heroism as women.

Sarah Jackson holds a BA from Bennington College, a Master's in Fine Art and a Master’s in Archetypal Psychology from Lesley University. She has studied group dream work with Robert Bosnak, archetypal & alchemical psychology with James Hillman, Sandplay Therapy at the C.G.Jung Institute in Boston, family therapy at the Family Center at BMC in Pittsfield MA,  and Process Work with Arnie Mindell. 

In addition to being a psychoanalyst and psychotherapist, Sarah is a professional visual artist, as well as a writer.  Her paintings, drawings and paperworks have been exhibited widely in the Berkshires, New York City, and elsewhere.

There will be a brief annual meeting @ 7:00.

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Women's Interfaith is a proud co-sponsor of:

The Second Annual Interfaith Forum on Death, Dying and the Afterlife

Sunday, February 9, 2014 - 1:00pm to 5:00pm

Berkshire South Regional community Center
Great Barrington, MA

In Feb. 2013 Rimon held the first Interfaith Forum on Spiritual Views of Death and the Afterlife.  Upon conclusion of the event there was a resounding request for another opportunity to delve more deeply into this topic.

This 2nd Interfaith  Forum will have two parts.
Part 1 will include Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Hindu clergy/representatives to present their tradition's views in a question and answer format with a moderator and also in a community conversation.
Part 2 will include smaller break-out discussion groups led by experts in a variety of fields pertaining the following topics:

Topics to be covered will include: spiritual preparation for death,  the journey of the soul, traditions around preparation of the body of the diseased, perspectives on suicide including physician assisted death with dignity, hospice care, grief rituals and support systems for the bereaved, the home funeral movement.

Suggested Donation: $10, to help defray the costs of the forum.

Kwanzaa Celebration at Whitney Art Center January 18th

                                                                     *******
Over the years, Women's Interfaith's focus has been on encouraging and nurturing meaningful conversation.
Here's a link to an interesting article:
the power of conversation

Wednesday, December 18

WII altar with lights December 2011

Annual Celebration of Light 

The season of light is upon us. Now is the time to reconnect to the light within ourselves, which is the essence of our being. How can we each share that light with the world? Join the Women’s Interfaith Institute in what has become a beloved tradition on Wednesday, December 18th for our annual celebration of Light, Spirit and Community. Through sacred music, healing prayer, divine dance and guided meditation we will share the ceremonial illumination of Light as expressed through various faith traditions. Rabbi Kaya Stern Kaufman, Rev. Susan Jameson, Shirley Edgerton, JoAnne Spies and others will guide the evening as we call forth brightness and hope, and set our light-filled intentions as 2013 comes to an end and the New Year approaches.

If so moved, bring an object for the altar that represents what brings forth your light.

THIS MONTH'S QUOTE:

"There is a crack in everything.    That's how the light gets in."   Leonard  Cohen

Wednesday, November 20

Harvest Gathering
with Satyena Ananda

 

Your gratitude is one
of your greatest powers,   

for only when you find gratitude
do you begin to be liberated     

Grace, Gratitude, and Joy

We gather together at this time of Harvest to give thanks for our many blessings and to share with each other the fruits of our lives as well as the gifts we have received. We all know the power and grace that comethrough gratitude. When we imagine a circle of "women of faith," connected and focused on Gratitude and Blessings, we tap into the incredible goodness that we have the power to unleash in the world.

Please join us for our traditional gathering as we share an evening of:

Connection, Inspiration, Ceremony, Gratitude, Prayer, Song

And a Harvest Feast

This year we will be using the power of our voices to acknowledge our appreciation for what we are harvesting: gratitude for what has been, what we have received, what we have learned, how we have grown, the gifts we have given,  the joy we have known, the strength we have called upon, the challenges we have conquered, the love we are harvesting,

the action we have been called to take.

Please bring an object for the gratitude altar that represents the blessings of your harvest along with a short written paragraph about the greatest blessing you have given and the greatest blessing you have received. 

There is such Power in collective Prayer and Intention

 Let us take this opportunity
to join our hearts

To call down a Blessing on all life!

Bio:  Satyena Ananda is a holistic educator and spiritual guide with thirty eight years background and training in designing and implementing programs and experiences for people of all ages in the areas of healing, personal transformation, holistic living , ceremony and spiritual direction.  Her work promotes spiritual connection, peace, self-acceptance, love and spirit-empowerment.  She is co-founder and director of Starseed, an interfaith healing sanctuary and holistic retreat center in the northern Berkshires. 

Wednesday, November 20, 2013   

5:45-8:45pm

  First Congregational Church
        4 Main Street, Stockbridge MA   

Maya Angelou

"Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to welcome good into your life."   *~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~ Meaningful conversation has been at the heart of Women Interfaith gatherings. Here's an interview with poet David Whyte about the importance of wholehearted conversation: David Whyte on 'Courageous Conversation'

Wednesday, October 16

Transforming Your Relationship    with One who has Passed with AnnE O'Neil     5:45-8:45pm   First Congregational Church         4 Main Street, Stockbridge MA      Most psychological models of grief focus only on coming to emotional closure. New age practices often look at the ongoing spiritual connection but do not deal with the pain of having lost someone dear to us.   In this evening, we will find the middle road between these paths by looking at the hard realities of mourning while also inviting a new and more open spiritual connection with our loved one's soul. This will be accomplished through writing exercises, one-on-one sharing, and guided meditation. Join us for an evening of healing, sharing, and opening. *  *  *  Rev. AnnE O'Neil, founder of your soul path, is an energy healer, Interfaith minister, and grief counselor. She was ordained by One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in 2008 and is a Certified Instructor and Practitioner with One Light Healing Touch.   Her work is primarily with those who have experienced a significant loss in their life, supporting them through the healing process to a place where they are once again excited by the possibilities of life.   AnnE's recently published memoir, If You Want the Rain, Welcome the Rainbow: A Memoir of Grief and Recovery, recounts her journey with this process and looks at the damage we do when we dismiss and/or diminish our feelings of grief. She also teaches energy healing classes to help people learn to release heavy and foreign energy and raise their own vibration.  For more information, go to www.yoursoulpath.com  Guests are asked to arrive at 5:45 pm and bring a dish to share  for a pot luck dinner which begins at 6 p.m. AnnE''s program begins at 7 pm.  WII’s monthly gatherings meet at the First Congregational Church of Stockbridge,  4 Main Street, Stockbridge, MA. All are welcome; suggested donation for non-members is $5-10. For more information, call Alison Gaines at 413-442-3604.

Wednesday, September 18

The Art of Mindful Conversation

What is mindful conversation?    What does it have to do with creating a healthy community? Wendy Krom, a community organizer and student of Shambhala Buddhism, is currently organizing local congregations to form the Berkshire Organizing Sponsoring Committee. The foundation of this congregation-based approach to community organizing is relationship building. As we get to know each other one-on-one  and learn one another's stories in community, issues of concern reveal themselves and leaders naturally emerge.Wendy will lead us in the practices of mindfulness meditation and conversation.  In describing the work of community organizing, the practice of meditation and the study of Shambhala Buddhism, she will help us discern how our relationships with one another form the fabric of enlightened society.

Wendy Krom 

Wendy Krom is Founder and Director of Community Consulting Services, which provides training and technical assistance to non-profit organizations and community groups. www.communityleadership.com

She has extensive experience in community coalition building as a means to prevent alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse and has helped neighborhood groups become organized and young people to form peer education groups in their schools and communities.

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A Prayer For Our World

Holy One of Blessing,  Source of Life                                                                                                     we offer our prayers for our Great Mother, our world of unspeakable beauty 

and unspeakable tragedy.

May the light of compassion grow in the hearts of all human beings, to transform the darkness of greed into the growing awareness that all life is sacred.

May You guide us with wisdom and strengthen us with courage to make the changes we need to make

to safeguard the future for our children and generations to come.

May You awaken our leaders to the one simple truth that we are all inextricably connected to one another.

At this time of particular danger and struggle in the Middle East we pray for all peoples who long to live under your canopy of peace.

Keep them safe when they are threatened and

protect them from harm.

When they are wounded and bereaved

grant them healing and comfort.

May they find strength and courage in the days ahead.

(this paragraph adapted from Rabbi Karyn D. Kedar)

Dear God, hear our prayers, grant us wisdom, courage

and the holy chutzpah

to continue the work for healing and peace .

Amen


received from Rimon in the Berkshires
Resouce Center for Jewish Spirituality
 http://www.rimonberkshires.org/

Share your prayer for peace..