We had such a good time last time we met, going around the circle and sharing how we felt, that we decide to do it again. I think we are all still on a high from having spent 4 days with Shahabuddin. It was a wonderful seminar, we did lots of practices with him, and it was so good to see him again, and feel his presence.
D says that now the election is over, she is finally getting back to seriously looking for work, but she has enjoyed the feeling of being retired for a few months, and wonders if she can cope with working again. She has been talking to her financial advisor, and trying to work out which Medicare Plan to use - she tells us it is incredibly complicated. We all tell her she will be able to advise us soon!
T says her company might be hiring at the beginning of the year. She explains about what her company does, and then it is her turn, but she says she is having "re-entry disease", and I can see it on her face.
UD says she went for a walk on Sunday afternoon, when she got home from the seminar, and she floated rather than walking! Then she started picking up Fall leaves, which were in beautiful shades of red, and that helped to reground her. The harmony and beauty of the colors moved her. She has laid them in a pattern on her dining table, and they really are lovely.
K says he was not aware of how high the seminar made him until after he left and tried to be "normal" again. T said that she thought if you did a lot of seminars regularly, or were like a healer and did "stuff" regularly, then you increased your capacity for absorbing the energy without becoming so dizzy. K says he wants to do the 40 Day Retreat that Shahabuddin told us about - this is a way to do a retreat while in the midst of daily life. When should he start, he asks? We talk about when the new moon will be and how close to which holidays. UD reminds us that the Winter Feast for the Soul starts on Jan 15th 09. Then it is M's turn, and he was glad to be at home the day after Shahabuddin. He has realized that even if he manages to reduce the number of things that he has to do, he will always have 6 things to be doing at once.
F likes to go over the notes she took at the seminar while it is still fresh in her mind. She survived work today, but the seminar is an emotional roller-coaster for her. UD remarks that she was on an even-keel afterwards, and spent an hour fixing a computer problem and stayed calm the whole time!
Someone asks D if she can go over the order that S has said we should do our practices in, and D says she is doing an abbreviated version of the 40 Day Retreat practices daily. Then we have this messy discussion about the order: moving energy to the souls of our feet, invocation, attunement, purification/ablution, prayers, Darood, Wazifa, Darood, where people chip in with suggestions and soon I don't know what the order is.
M says usually his job is very grounding - he works with stone, but he found himself today, walking on a narrow ledge 3 stories up, entirely unconcerned. Maybe he wasn't so grounded at all!
D has a great idea for our next meeting. Rabbi Arthur Waskow's Shalom Center in Philadelphia is promoting events around the country to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King (Jan 16) and the Inauguration (Jan 20); see www.TentofAbraham.org. This time also coincides with the Winter Feast for the Soul (Jan15 to Feb 23), and Murshid's Urs (Feb 5). Rabbi Waskow's group is proposing to focus this period on renewing Dr. King's mature vision, as put forward in his Riverside Church speech of April 4, 1967, one year before his death. Unlike the "I have a dream" speech which is commonly revived at celebrations of his birthday, the "Riverside" speech is harder for people to hear, because it is blunt in connecting the issues of peace and social justice, and about our failings in both arenas. Maybe, D says, we should take the time to listen to it again. We all think this is an excellent suggestion, and M offers to get a recording of it.When will our meeting be? Dec is 9th, and Jan is 13th. T also has some suggestions, about doing daily remembrance or practice during the Winter Feast for the Soul at the Interfaith Church. M will talk to the Pastor. (For details see www.winterfeastforthesoul.com/)
We say the Peace Prayer and hug each other. As we leave I reflect, that yes, our conversation was all over the place tonight - we are still "under the influence", it was like trying to take minutes at a cat conference, if you could ever get cats to have a meeting!
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