And the circle goes round and round...

Three young women from the college approached me several weeks ago and asked if I would lead a women's spirituality group for them. Most of the women in their group had graduated and their leader had moved on. I was totally, I don't know, wowed, by this request. So I said yes, and last night we met for the first time.

We discussed our spiritual journeys and I suddenly remembered what it was like to be 21 years old and have a million questions about faith. Here I am 41 years old and I still have tons of questions, but different ones. I tried my best to do deep listening, and realized that there is much I can learn from these women. They've all experienced life overseas. They come from a different faith background. They are very loving people. So--candles were lit, we talked about our journeys, faith, god-language and prayer, discussed where we'd like this group to take us, and agreed to meet in two weeks. We decided to use a framework of creation spirituality--something that opened wide my faith when I was in my twenties. The four paths of this Christian tradition, the via positiva (delight in God's creation), via negativa (embracing the dark night of the soul and the contemplative tradition), via creativa (expressing ourselves through creativity) and via transformativa (taking our spirituality outward in works of justice and compassion), seem to resonate with the group. Then hugs and goodbyes. I came home and couldn't sleep for excitement. It holds both promise and humility. I'll try my best.