Open to the Spirit: The Soul’s Alphabet Awakening ~ Zeal

By Carole Martignacco, Mead Ross Baldwin, Lynn Dillabough and Lee Ann Hogle

Open to the Spirit—one word, four voices—came out of our direct experience as friends doing interfaith work in the community. Meeting and working together at shared social or social justice events, we already enjoyed promoting one another’s projects and good work. When a weekly religion column ended in our local paper, we seized the opportunity and agreed to form a writing team to fill the space with a message that was inclusive and welcoming.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546263753

Carole Martignacco

Reverend Mead Ross Baldwin is a United Church pastor serving Waterville, Hatley and North Hatley congregations in Québec. Reverend Lynn Dillabough is an Anglican priest serving St. Paul’s church of Brockville, in the diocese of Ontario. Reverend Lee Ann Hogle is a United Church pastor serving Ayer’s Cliff , Magog and Georgeville United Churches of Canada, in Québec. Reverend Carole Martignacco is Consulting Minister to the UUEstrie community of Unitarian Universalists in Québec’s Eastern Townships.

Book preview

OPEN

to the

SPIRIT

THE SOUL’S ALPHABET AWAKENING ~ ZEAL

CAROLE MARTIGNACCO

MEAD ROSS BALDWIN,

LYNN DILLABOUGH,

AND LEE ANN HOGLE

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© 2018 Carole Martignacco. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/27/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-6376-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-6375-3 (e)

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Awakening

Blessing

Compassion

Desire

Environment

Forgiveness

Goodness

Hospitality

Intention

Journey

Kinship

Listening

Mysticism

Now

Others

Presence

Question

Rest

Simplicity

Tenderness

Upheaval

Vastness

Wisdom

Expectation

Youthfulness

Zeal

Appendix I

Appendix II

Appendix III

INTRODUCTION

Contemporary debates juxtapose spirituality and religion, recognizing they are not one and the same. We are four pastoral clergy who, though trained in different theological traditions, share experiences of the spiritual that transcend denominational differences. We agree that all are believers, beliefs being a core feature of human nature. For us the spiritual is not ethereal or otherworldly, but grounded in the here and now. Foregoing churchy language, we write from our own personal perspectives, using everyday words to express the life of the spirit.

Open to the Spirit - one word, four voices - came out of our direct experience as friends engaged in interfaith work in the community. Meeting and sharing faith or social justice events, offering mutual collegial support, we already enjoyed promoting each other’s ideas, projects and good works. When a weekly religion column ended in our local paper, we seized the opportunity and formed a writing team to fill the space with a message that would be inclusive and welcoming. More than interfaith, what has evolved can best be described as inter-spiritual.

Our aim: to give voice to the depth and richness of our experience and to promote awareness of the spiritual dimension amidst the news of the day. Our area newspaper agreed to publish the shared column and the first word, Beginnings, appeared in August of 2014. Every Friday for most of the fifty-two weeks in the over four years since, with only an occasional skip, we’ve featured hundreds of words from what we call our alphabet of spiritual literacy. With a word list of over three hundred that continues to grow, we keep discovering more connections and aspects to explore. For each of us it’s become a significant spiritual practice, and our understanding has deepened of how pervasive and common is this life of the spirit we share.

We meet as a writing group every three or four weeks and take turns choosing a set of words from the list. Often one joins via computer screen. We set the timer and write for twelve minutes in a stream of consciousness style. When the chime sounds, we stop and read aloud, reflecting together over tea and potluck snacks: here’s how the word strikes us today. Then we choose another word, reset the timer and write another round.

This kind of writing - spontaneous, free and open - has deepened the bonds between us, which in turn extends to our wider community and those we serve. We’ve hosted non-denominational retreats to share the richness of this spiritual writing practice with our readers. We hope this book will further widen the circle of sharing.

How abundant is the sprit that moves so fluidly among us all! These regular writing sessions are soul feasts; conversations we have echo throughout our days; it overflows and enriches our engagement with others. By way of introduction, here’s what the other members of the team have to say about involvement in Open to the Spirit:

Rev. Mead Ross Baldwin writes: When I was 14 I was quite agitated about an issue I read about in the local news. I was already the editor of my high school paper. Someone said, If it bothers you so much why not write a letter to the editor? The next day I put my letter in the mail, and a few days later it appeared in the Sherbrooke Record. That was in 1969; I’ve been writing ever since. Writing is therapy sometimes. I have bookshelves full of notebooks, and most of that will never see the light of day. It seldom occurred to me that my words might be shared with the public until a colleague suggested we write a weekly column. I never expected the appreciative reaction in the…community.

Rev. W. Lynn Dillabough says: I count it among one of the greater blessings of my life to be part of this writing group. What began as a random response to an invitation has become one of the backbones of my spiritual life. Sharing our thoughts together, first with each other and then with our readers, is both a privilege and an honour. The time we spend together is a delight. Our ritual of lighting a candle together at the beginning and blowing it out at the end remind us of the sacredness of our task. Sometimes the weeks are busy and sometimes we arrive frazzled, or not at all. However we arrive, we always leave refreshed.

Rev. Lee Ann Hogle adds: To be given the opportunity to write about the spiritual underpinnings that support all of life is a privilege. I do believe we are first and foremost spiritual beings, having an earthly experience. Each one of us is unique and will interpret these words we give ourselves, and indeed life in general, according to our innate characteristics, what we’ve learned thus far and how our past history has formed us. There is no one right way to make meaning. The more we share our interpretations and our stories, the more we nurture understanding, compassion, and hopefully an appreciation for diversity.

For my part, I appreciate these three colleagues and friends in faith for their dedication to making the language of the spiritual accessible to all.

The poet Adrienne Rich wrote of the dream of a common language. Words featured in this collection comprise but one alphabet of many possible combinations from our expanded word list. They are chosen to represent a balance of common familiar themes. Mindful of the difference between reading a newspaper column and a meditation manual, we have edited our entries to remove or revise seasonal references, details of local or current events, or references to personalities. At the outset we decided not to claim our individual writings, but to let our voices flow together, distinct but nameless, much as we feel the spirit flows through and between us when we gather. For any who wish to track the authorship of specific texts, a key is provided in the Appendices to satisfy your curiosity.

Whether reader or writer or both, whatever your religious affiliation - or claiming none - may you find here some common ground, food for the soul and encouragement for your life journey. We do not presume to offer answers but simply to open a window into our own grappling and groping toward the elusive mystery of being. We invite you to reflect with us, argue, agree or disagree, fill in the blanks, tell your own stories, celebrate or commiserate, and explore more deeply these simple words we have for the spirited existence we share.

The Reverend Carole Martignacco

1 October 2018

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Open to the Spirit is a project involving far more than the efforts of four interfaith clergy writers. It is impossible to name all who have contributed to our project’s growth or helped promote its influence. Nonetheless, we especially thank the Sherbrooke Record for making space since 2014 in the Friday edition of the local newspaper, and for the patience and supportive assistance of the Record’s editorial