Session 2: The Power of Community and Moving Towards Personal and Societal Wholeness

January 28, 2023 // 9am-11am ET

Join the session here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81788771047?pwd=ZE41TnZwTVRVUFhrUDZqYUpzcFhuUT09

Meeting ID: 817 8877 1047

Passcode: 452564

“If we are willing to embrace the challenge of becoming whole, we cannot embrace that challenge all alone. At least, not for long: we need trustworthy relationships, tenacious communities of support, if we are to sustain the journey toward an undivided life. That journey has solitary passages, to be sure, and yet it is simply too arduous to take without the assistance of others …. That kind of community—one that knows how to welcome the soul and help us hear its voice—I call a ‘circle of trust.'”

– Parker J. Palmer

Session Overview

In the second session, we’ll define the Courage & Renewal form of community, identifying the ways in which this particular way of seeing community can help us listen to our inner teacher and create trustworthy space our souls to show up. We’ll also explore how seeking clarified self knowledge within a trustworthy community helps move us towards personal and societal wholeness. As is the norm during our time together, you’ll have time to reflect in smaller groups on the questions below.

In advance of the session we invite you to:

• Read the Core Values document, that includes an introduction about our approach in relation to personal and societal wholeness.
• Read page 2 of the ‘Foundations of the Courage & Renewal Approach’ document about our mission, what we do, and why we do it. You could also explore the Mission and Approach pages of the CCR website to find more of this information.
• Read page 11 of the ‘Foundations of the Courage & Renewal Approach’ document about the Movement Model of Social Change, by which our work at CCR is informed.
• And watch the video below of Parker speaking about life on the mobius strip, a metaphor for the journey toward wholeness.

“We all need people to invite, amplify, and help us discern the inner teacher’s voice for at least three reasons:

– The journey toward inner truth is too taxing to be made solo; lacking support, the solitary traveler soon becomes weary or fearful and is likely to quit the road.

– The path is too deeply hidden to be traveled without company; finding our way involves clues that are subtle and sometimes misleading, requiring the kind of discernment that can happen only in dialogue.

– The destination is too daunting to be achieved alone; we need community to find the courage to venture into the alien lands to which the inner teacher may call us.”

– Parker J. Palmer

Questions for Reflection

How have the forms of community you’ve experienced been helpful and/or harmful in listening to your inner teacher and showing up as your authentic self?

What are the forces within you and around you that have shaped your experiences of community and your journey toward wholeness?

How have any of these core values helped you build the kind of community you long for? In what ways have any of these core values been challenging for you to embody?

“What if we could sit together in circles of honesty and trust, sit in stillness, welcome silence, be patient, discover wonder and mutual gratitude, learn together, and gradually build new confidence in our ability to create spaces in which to hear and speak our unique stories and find our common truths? What if we could learn to listen and let our lives speak? What kind of world could we create together on this earth if we were able to speak to and hear one another from our deepest yearnings and our most heartfelt concerns and dreams?”

– Diana Chapman Walsh