Welcoming Waters: An Intentional Spiritual Gathering for Varigated Human Beings

Posted on February 23, 2015July 29, 2015 by rita kowats

Introducing…

Welcoming Waters is a gathering of people who seek to hear the message the spirit is speaking through one another. Many of us were asked to leave religious institutions because we revealed our authentic selves. Some of us told our worshiping community that we were members of the GLBT community, others of us expressed our doubts, and some of us expressed an understanding of faith that was outside the borders of the church we were attending. When we were all ushered to the door, formally, or subtlety of those communities, we found that the Spirit of love, the Spirit of God, the insights of our faiths did not stop working in our lives or teaching us profound truths. We simply lost a place to talk about them.

Recently, we decided to gather and begin to build for ourselves a place where we can talk about the Spirit’s work in our lives.

We are so blessed to be able to gather at the beautiful Lake Ballinger Community Center five miles north of Seattle on the third Sunday of the month at 10:30 and like the great blue heron who finds herself on the shores of Lake Ballinger, we wait and wade in the waters of the Spirit together.

If you sense the spirit has something to say but you have not found a safe place to express those words, or if you are seeking a faith gathering that will accept all of you, we invite you to come to our gathering.

We will gather again on March 15 at Lake Ballinger Community Center 1030am.
All are welcome.

If you would like to talk to someone before attending please email
Linda Roddis linda.heronspirit@gmail.com
or
Rita kowats soulseeing@gmail.com

www.welcomingwaters.org

https://www.facebook.com/PastorLindaRoddis

Mountlake Community Center
23000 Lakeview Drive
Mountlake Terrace WA 98043

Fire in the Belly: A Lenten Practice

Posted on February 19, 2015February 19, 2015 by rita kowats

Photo Credit: Deborah Koff-Chapin has created a technique she calls “touch drawing.” She calls them “SOULCARDS.” They come in two decks of 60 images and can be used alone or with others as reflection tools. They have enriched my meditation for years and have helped those I companion with. You can learn more at Deborah’s webpage www.soulcards.com

Cio Cio San

Posted on February 5, 2015February 5, 2015 by rita kowats

Longing

lives in human beings like a note that vibrates from the belly of a cello. When we listen to one another’s stories we often mistake the longing for its errant manifestations in behaviors which mask it. If I listen to Un Bel Di Vedremo without the translation- without my mind- I am transported to the depths of soul where we long for connection. In this place Cio Cio San is the unpinned butterfly waiting to fly, and I am overcome with compassion.

Words get in my way. When this feminist pacifist hears Cio Cio San plan her vigil for Pinkerton’s return she hears a fifteen-year-old victim surrendering to a racist, jingoistic misogynist who has used her then cast her aside. I get lost in those behaviors, missing the genuine longing for more than Pinkerton.

This is what I am learning:

When listening to another’s story, listen for the longing. Let go of judging, let go of the need to fix the behavior first. Only when we go straight to the longing and hold vigil there on that cliff with the other, is there a chance of changing behavior. The butterfly lives in the longing.