Sounding the Divine
Vonn
New
Short Description:
A participatory exploration of sensual experiences as doorways into worship, and artistic inspiration as Spirit-led ministry. Combine meeting for worship with musical improvisation, creative movement, visual art and other artistic expressions. In journaling and worship sharing, explore how alternative forms help open us to new, non-verbal experiences of the Divine.
Long Description:
The experience of union with the Divine that we experience in Meeting for Worship goes beyond what words can express or the verbal mind alone can grasp. Centering into that experience often involves allowing our personal thoughts and concerns to fade into the background so that we become aware of Spirit and allow Spirit to move through us.
In this workshop, we will explore techniques for centering that involve listening to external and internal sound, movement, vision, rhythm and other sensual experiences. We will share the internal experience of what centering feels like - both in our individual bodies and as a collective body.
We will practice a form of unprogrammed worship that invites ministry in the form of of improvised music, movement, visual art, and other forms of creative expression in addition to vocal ministry. Using simple instruments, media and our bodies, we will wait expectantly for divine guidance to lead us in creating together.
Each day, we will build on basic practices to expand our awareness and openness and then follow a different emphasis, such as rhythm, voice, movement, visual art, dreams, etc, followed by worship sharing about the experience. The instruments and materials we use will be so simple (such as bells, shakers, sticks, voices, crayons, etc) that no performance anxiety is expected.
Because it is possible to listen to more than on sound at a time, the instruction "leave space between messages" takes on new meaning as we all play together at the same time. Friends experience a cohesive sense of gathering that is at the heart of building peaceful community. We will discuss ways in which our experience of artistic inspiration has brought us closer to Spirit and what it can teach us about listening for leadings in other parts of our lives.
As we make a joyful noise together we will consider that perhaps this joy is the most effective way to defy violence and build peace.
This workshop is open to people of all levels of musical and physical ability. We expect to find great delight in our differences - not only in age, gender, and theology, but also in our affinities for sound, color, visual art, poetry, and more.
Instruments & materials will be provided and we will find ways to use whatever is at hand. Participants should bring journals and may bring their own instruments and art supplies (colored pencils, crayons, etc) if they wish, but are encouraged to leave song books behind.
