Spring 2008
Session 1
“Being Here Now”
Opening Words
“Why should we live in such a hurry and waste of life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry. I wish to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life. I wish to learn what life has to teach, and not, when I come to die, discover that I have not lived. I do not wish to live what is not life, living is so dear, nor do I wish to practice resignation, unless it is quite necessary. I wish to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. I want to cut a broad swatch, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms. If it proves to be mean, then get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it is sublime, to know it by experience and to be able to give a true account of it.” - - Henry David Thoreau
Chalice Lighting
As we light this chalice, may our hearts be open to that within us, amidst us, and beyond us which inspires us towards a fuller, deeper, richer, and more abundant experience of life.
Check-in/Sharing
Before starting check-in, make sure to hand out and review “Guidelines and Expectations of Chalice Circle Participants.”
Topic and Questions
The Irish poet William Butler Yeats once said, "When I think of all the books I have read, wise words heard, anxieties given to parents…of hopes I have had…my own life seems to me a preparing for something that never happens."
* * *
The writer and physician Rachel Naomi Remen tells the story of being a medical student attending a retirement dinner for an older physician.
"Later in the evening," Remen says, "a group of medical students went to speak to [the retiring man] to offer him our congratulations and admiration. He was gracious. One of our number asked him if he had any words for us now at the beginning of our careers, anything he thought we should know. He hesitated. But then he told us that despite his professional success and recognition he felt he knew nothing more about life now than he had at the beginning. That he was no wiser. His face became withdrawn, even sad. 'It has slipped through my fingers,' he said.
"None of us," Remen says, "understood what he meant. Talking about it afterwards, I attributed it to modesty. Some of the others wondered if he had at last become senile. Now, almost thirty-five years later, my heart goes out to him."
* * *
A Buddhist monk is sent by his teacher to visit to a Roman Catholic Church to see what he might learn there. At first, the monk is hesitant to go, believing that Buddhism contains all necessary wisdom. Nevertheless, he visits the church, happening to visit on Bingo Night. The next day, he returns to his teacher very enthused the next day about what he observed.
"How was your visit?" the teacher asks the monk.
"The people at the church were very wise," he says.
"How so?" the teacher asks.
"They have a huge sign on the wall that was very instructive," he says.
"What does the sign say?" the teacher asked.
"You must be present to win!"
1. What reflections do you have on the readings? What feelings, memories, or thoughts do they evoke in you?
2. In many religious traditions, the importance of living in the present moment is emphasized. How well do you do living in the present moment? If this is a struggle for you, where does your mind spend most of its time, in the past or in the future?
3. What makes living in the present moment most challenging for you?
4. What helps you to live more fully in the present moment?
5. What is most important for other members of this Chalice Circle to know about you in order for you to get the most out of participating in Chalice Circles?
Reflections on the Empty Chair
There are most likely people in the church or people you know outside the church who would be interested in participating in this Chalice Circle. Who do you know who you might invite to come to the next meeting?
Likes and Wishes
What did you really like about this meeting? What do you wish would be different next time?
Extinguishing the Chalice
As we extinguish this flame, may we hold each other in our hearts until we come together again.
Closing Words
"So do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." - - Jesus
“Look to this day! For it is life, the very life of life. In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence: The bliss of growth, the glory of action, the splendor of beauty; for yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision; but today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of home. Look well, therefore, to this day.” - - Kalidasa