The fall semester at Meadville Lombard Theological School has begun! This semester I am taking “Healthy Boundaries, Healthy Ministries” and “Introduction to Pastoral Care”. There will be a lot of overlap in the material we cover in these classes. I’ve already started the reading and it’s been inspiring! I look forward to sharing insights and new learnings as I journey through the semester. Here’s a sneak peak, from the book Cultivating Wholeness by Margaret Kornfield:

A community itself can be healing. Here are some guiding principles that can help us develop and deepen our potential for supporting life (p11):

• People are whole: mind, body, psyche, and spirit are integrated in that whole.
• People need each other. We live in systems; we’re connected to one another, to the environment, and to the universe.
• We are always changing. Life is flux; chaos is an understandable aspect of creativity.
• We become aware of our wholeness in relationship; we stay aware in relationship. Some relationships can harm us.
• As we develop more flexible ways of thinking we are also learning to live with ambiguity.
• Individuals are to be respected, with all their uniqueness and diversity. They need community but they are not to be swallowed up by community.

Those are just a few of the principles listed, but I hope they give you something to think about, and even talk about with one another and with me! Growing this community, our hearts, minds, and spirits is joyful work, even in these especially chaotic times. But it really is the way to wholeness and the truth.

Take care of yourself and one another!