Sacred Garden Urban Village Community

Meditation Garden

A community of spiritual diversity - what it means to us

Here find some invitations to personal reflections upon the guiding principles and what they might mean in our daily lives. In life, the meditation garden is a sacred space dedicated to quiet reflection and connection with the cycles of life and of the seasons. The questions that follow are intended to guide those considering becoming more deeply involved in the life of our community. It is our hope that this guided process of reflection, meditation and conversation will assist you to get clear about the nature of the community your heart and soul desire. Whilst we, as a community, aspire to embrace diversity, it is a diversity informed by a common vision. We recognise that our kind of community is not exactly what everyone is looking for, and we celebrate and call for a diversity between communities, as well as within them.

What happens when we become aware of our own smallness in the vast complexity of the cosmos...?

What happens when we begin to perceive the myriad patterns and invisible connections that bind all things together, and to honour and value each element, each individual as an essential part of the whole...?

return to home page / visit the chapel & meeting hall Seeking Community - What Speaks to Me? The call to greater community is a key note of our age. The following questions form the basis for the guided process of exploration used by the Village Community to clarify the nature of the community which we seek to create.

Through a process of interaction with existing members of the Village Community, individuals and families may further uncover their own desires and aspirations toward community. At the end of this process, some people may wish to take up our particular invitation to community. They do so by committing themselves to live by the guiding principles which inform our vision of living together. [Visit the Chapel & Meeting Hall for details of this commitment].

What does community mean to me? What am I looking for? What do I have to offer?

What would 'living centred on the sacred' look like? Am I currently doing this? If so, in what ways? If not, why not? How might a community support me in my spiritual journey?

What wounds do I and others carry from the dominant culture of materialism, domination and ownership? What would a 'safe and nourishing space' look like to me? Who is responsible? - individual responsibility for personal growth & healing vs. community commitment to mutual care and the transformation of our culture

What do I see as the 'place' or role of the various generations within a community? What unique needs and responsibilities do each have? What responsibilities should adult members of the community have toward each? How does this differ from my current experience?

What has been my relationship with the natural world? How can an urban community cultivate a sense of belonging to the Earth? What would it mean to 'accept my responsiblities within the Earth's eco-systems'?

How does my life currently serve the wider world / future generations? How might community support me in this? What support would I be willing and able to offer to others in their personal commitments to service? What unique opportunities might we as a communityhave to serve the wider world and enrich the possibilities for future generations?

What does it mean to be 'a prophetic community'? How can we express our shared vision as an open invitation? What kind of diversity is compatible with our underlying vision? Who might be excluded and why?

*** Mystery that weaves our lives, Make of our multiplicity of Dreams and Desires A single tapestry, A living Community wherein the Spirit of Life may Dwell and Shine. ***

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Meditations Upon 'Invitation'

Invitation calls forth our ability to respond, our willingness. And our responses (whether 'yes' or 'no') have consequences inherent in them. Yet even these consequences become invitations to further expansion. The universe is saying 'Let's Party!'. God's relationship with us is genuinely non-violent, not coercive: an invitation to relationship which we are completely free to accept or reject. The first step in acceptance is giving... Life is a moment by moment invitation to be all that we can be. This is a dynamic process - a dialogue with Mystery... in response there is only Love or Fear. To seek to frame our invitations in complete willingness to accept any response from the invitee.. What makes an acceptance is hearing the invitation that is actually given rather than the one you want to hear, and making a clear decision in response to it, ie. without fine print.

from conversations with David Nourish, circa 1998 CE.

Coming SOON! - Connection, Solitude and Reverence

Towards a collection of prayers and meditations for an urban Village Community

Your contributions of favourite prayers, inspirational readings and meditations are sought to create a communal 'prayer book' which reflects the diversity of our spiritual community. Please forward your contributions to [email protected].

A blessing for new beginnings, birthdays and anniversaries

Goddess, God, Great Spirit, Nameless Mystery
We ask Your blessing upon us (at this time*)
Bless the circles of our lives
    within the circles of our Community
    held within the great circle of the living Earth.
May we be given the grace
    to know the lightness of the dance
    and to embrace, with courage, the challenge to go deep.

(NB. The above can be adapted to include name specific people and occasions, eg. new members as they join our community, couples/family members as they form new families, individuals on their birthday)

return to home page / visit the chapel & meeting hall