How can I pray when I feel so scattered? Is there a way to experience more of God in the midst of my busy life?
Can I find more meaning in the daily tasks I do?
How do I respond redemptively to the rise of violence and fear in our world?
Click here to go to the website for more information or to pre-register!
Prayer isn't an escape from the world, nor is it merely asking God for things, for security, for safety. Prayer is relationship with the Beloved, it is the experience of union with the One who made and loves you.
Prayer is, of course, words. But it's got to be more than words just as a relationship must be more than words if it's going to do what good relationships do. And prayer also must turn us outward in meaningful engagement with the daily tasks that are ours to do, and in compassion that helps transform the world into the world God is making it to be.
Prayer is the most basic expression of our faith; in fact, aside from breathing, is is the most basic act of being human.
Each year, UPC hosts the Central California Prayer of the Heart Conference. This year's conference combines our Prayer of the Heart Conference and the Interfaith Scholar Weekend. Fr. Laurence Freeman is one of the world's greatest living teachers of Christian prayer and meditation. If you want your life to count, to act in whatever small or great way you feel compelled to act in this world, then meditative prayer is a necessity. It grounds you in Jesus Christ, the center of life.
This conference will help bring meaning, perspective, power, and dignity to your life, and it will join you with others, who, like you are offering their lives for the sake of healing the world. It will help you walk courageously, yet gently as a redemptive force to bring hope and healing to the world around you.
Schedule:
Friday, February 8, Location: Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno (no charge)
7:00pm Lecture "Meditation into the Common Ground"
Saturday, February 9, Location: Temple Beth Israel, Fresno ($45 advance, $50 at the door, $10 students)
8:30 am Continental Breakfast and Registration
9:00 Shabbat Observance (Torah Commentary)
9:15 Lecture: "The Crisis of Religion is the Time for Contemplation"
10:45 Lecture: "The Cave of the Heart: The Stages of Meditation"
Lunch
1:15 Session: "Questions and Answers with Fr. Laurence Freeman"
2:15pm Closing
Sunday, February 10, Location: University Presbyterian Church (no charge)
9:30am Worship with a sermon and guided meditation by Fr. Freeman
For more information about Fr. Laurence Freeman click here.
To register for Saturday's conference click here.