ARE: Living in the Light of Death

Adult Religious Education: November 10, 9:15 to 10:45, Groome Building: Living in the Light of Death, presented by Bill Dietrich. (Please note the early start time.)

Denial of death pervades many cultures, reflecting our fear of the inevitable and perhaps our illusion of immortality. It denies the essential unity of death and life, which Richard Rohr calls "two sides of the same coin." As Etty Hillesum, echoing countless spiritual teachers from many traditions, once wrote: "[B]y excluding death from our life, we cannot live a full life, and by admitting death into our life we can enlarge and enrich it."

This forum will explore how a healthy awareness and acceptance of our mortality empowers us to reclaim life's essential wholeness and freedom. Through presentation, small group discussion, and experiential learning we will look at what our fear of death and dying might have to teach us about our fear of living (or, as Richard Rohr, suggests, our fear of God). Lastly we'll look at practices that can help us integrate our living and dying towards living more freely, courageously, and compassionately.