Citylights Community

Hello Lights,

Yoga class last Saturday, June 2, was awwwsum!  It will continue every 1st and 3rd Saturday from 9:30 to 10:45.  Please count on helping with paying for space and other costs, $10 per session. NOTE: No need to sign up for whole season.  Just come for the sessions you can.  Sessions left before Summer break: Jun 16, Jul 7, 21. To register and sign up for updates, please contact our Yoga teacher Carmen Rusu at: carpathian_air@yahoo.com, or  phone:  201-805-1739 See you on the mat!  Om and amen!

As a reminder, here is our Saturday schedule:

9:30 – 10:45 Yoga Class with Carmen Rusu (all are welcome, donation $10) every 1st and 3rd Wednesday only.

11:00 BREAKFAST (unless noted otherwise)

11:30 breakfast ends and SERVICE STARTS

1:00 SERVICE ENDS followed by 1 hour of great convo and cleanup

2:00 WE ARE OUT

As we like to say, don’t come late, don’t come on time, come early.  The best part of gathering is meeting people and sensing the silence which God is about to fill.

Last Saturday, June 2, we started a new series called “Christianity After Religion” and kicked off with one of our favorite teachers Bowie Snodgrass, titled “I sing a song of the saints of God.” We explored saints old and new, people that touched our lives. And we sang some great songs, including one that Rev. Vince created for our community, definitely a keeper for our new hymnal.

This coming Saturday, June 9, Mairim Pina will lead to an encounter with Centering Prayer, “Christianity After Religion (Part 2): Centering Prayer, A Path to Contemplation.” We will hear her personal story, explore the roots of the practice, experience the practice, and share.  Who needs to go to a Benedictine monastery when we have a teacher of Centering Prayer at Citylights?  (She does!)

Please participate in this new series.  Here is how: 

We spend a lof of time saying “no” to religion of the past, but what is our “yes”?  Workign title of the series is ”Christianity After Religion,” focused on making our experience and discussions more re-constructive, rather than de-constructive (although sweet discipline of de-construction will always be at hand!). So, if you have a spiritual or life practice, way of being, or ritual that sustains you, please email me. We want to feature what we are really doing, believing in, hoping for, and practicing. If at all possible, I would love to hear from you, so we can learn from one another. It doesn’t have to be thought through, I will help you clarify and find a way to participate the way it works for you. Nothing is insignifiant or off limits!

Our next Leadership Team meeting will be June 20, Wednesday, 6-8 pm at Cosi’s just South of Union Sq.

Facebook Group update:  Bo and I are still lazy bums and have not done it yet, but there is a small movement, as soon as he comes from Ohio we will tackle it. If any of you want to join us, please let me know.

Wild Goose Festival in North Carolina is June 21-24 and it is time to meet with our sister communities from all over the country! And it’s time to register!  Also subscribe to the updates.  This year, we expect 3000 people, twice the size, twice the fun!  Go to: www.wildgoosefestival.org Here is the mission statement which I am proud to have participated in creating over a long walk on the streets of D.C.

The Wild Goose is a Celtic metaphor for the Holy Spirit. We are followers of Jesus creating a festival of justice, spirituality, music and the arts. The festival is rooted in the Christian tradition and therefore open to all regardless of belief, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, denomination or religious affiliation. In adopting the image of the Wild Goose we recognize that in the current climate of religious, social and political cynicism, embracing the creative and open nature of our faith is perhaps our greatest asset for re-building and strengthening our relationships with each other, with our enemies, with our stories, our texts, and the earth. In that spirit, in a festive setting, and in the context of meaningful, respectful, and sustained relationships, we invite you to create with us!

Sabbath can’t come too soon,

Samir Selmanovic, Coordinator, Citylights Community