Meditations with Howard Thurman: a choice of online retreats

Longing for some reflective time and space? Hoping for something that fits your schedule? Interested in (re-)discovering the life and words a wise guide? 

 

Join us for one (or two) 

of the following three

online retreats.

 

 

Scroll down for an overview of Dr. Thurman's life and work

and for registration for the retreats..

A LABOR DAY NOTE: OPTIONS 1 and 2 are now past.
Option 3 below is still ahead of us. Sign up now!

Option 1: 

Meditations with Howard Thurman

A morning retreat on Zoom

Friday, August 16, 2024

at 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time / 8:30 Mountain Time / 

9:30 Central Time / 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time

(hello, early birds!)

 

We will spend two hours listening to selected reflections by Howard Thurman, pondering them in meditative silence, sharing some of our responses in conversation, and enjoying some related images and music. (Yes, there will be a little stretch break in the middle.)

Option 2: 

Meditations with Howard Thurman

An evening retreat on Zoom

Monday, August 19, 2024

at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time / 6:30 Mountain Time / 

7:30 Central Time / 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time

(hello, East Coast night owls!)

Same content as in Option 1: We will spend two hours listening to selected reflections by Howard Thurman, pondering them in meditative silence, sharing some of our responses in conversation, and enjoying some related images and music. (Yes, there will be a little stretch break in the middle.)

 

Option 3:

Nine Days with Howard Thurman

 

An online retreat on your own time
September 10-18, 2024

 

Got 20 minutes a day? Visit the retreat blog any time, day or night,

 for nine consecutive days

 

The retreat takes place on a blog accessible only to those who have registered. Signing on to the blog is easy. (And if needed, tech help is available from your friendly retreat leader.) For each of the nine days, you will find on the blog:

one short excerpt from the writings of Howard Thurman
one spiritual exercise
one prayer

Conversations can take place in the comments to each blog post, or you may choose to remain silent and anonymous.

 * * * * * * *

Howard Thurman (1899-1981), a philosopher, educator, theologian, and pastor, was an African American born in the segregated South during the Jim Crow era. Nourished by the rich traditions of the Black Church and ordained as a Baptist minister, he was deeply influenced by Quaker thought, especially the mysticism and nonviolence of Rufus Jones. He was also a pioneer in interreligious understanding. His writings --books, prayers, meditations, and sermons-- are rooted in Christianity yet accessible and pertinent to people whose wisdom path is "spiritual but not religious."

Howard Thurman exercised a deep influence on some of the Civil Rights Movement's leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He traveled to India to meet Gandhi in the 1930s with the first group of African Americans to do so. Thurman served as the first Black Dean of Marsh Chapel, the university chapel at Boston University, and founded the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, a multicultural, multiracial, and interfaith congregation in San Francisco which is still in existence today. Thurman's book Jesus and the Disinherited (1949) predated Black liberation theology by a generation.

See also here.

* * * * * * *

There is a sliding scale for the retreat fees, as you will see below.

If even the "hardship rate" is too high, write me 

so we can arrange a full or partial scholarship.
If you wish to register at the "benefactor" rate, 

your fee will help offset the cost of scholarships 

and will enable me to keep offering these retreats

 

PLEASE REGISTER AND PAY HERE.  

Remember there are three options. 

Sign up for the one you want!

 

Thurman morning retreat 08/16/24 Zoom - pick one rate

Regular rate $45.00 USD Benefactor rate $80.00 USD Hardship rate $25.00 USD

Message (optional):

 

 

Thurman evening retreat 08/19/24 Zoom - pick one rate

Regular rate $45.00 USD Benefactor rate $80.00 USD Hardship rate $25.00 USD

Message (optional):

 

 

Thurman 9-day (Sept. 10-18) online retreat - pick one rate

Regular rate $95.00 USD Benefactor rate $155.00 USD Hardship rate $45.00 USD

Message (optional):

 

 Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration. 

 

In August and September, we are also offering an online (Zoom) group on grieving and grief. See here for details.

 

Book group (and spiritual sharing) on When in Doubt, Sing: Prayer in Daily Life

I'm going to be hosting a book group (and spiritual sharing time) once a week online, on Zoom, a video-conference platform with which some of you are already familiar.

The group begins next week, the week of March 29, 2020.

You don't have to have a Zoom account to participate. You just receive an invitation via e-mail and click on a link.

The group will be based on my book When in Doubt, Sing, Prayer in Daily Life.

We'll focus on one chapter (topic) per session. I am also adding to the series a couple of bonus topics that I would have included if I were writing the book today.

Each session will run for 90 minutes. It will be live and we'll be able to see and hear each other.

We can go for less time in any given session if we run out of things to say before the 90 minutes are over, but I want to leave enough time for

a) some brief meditative silence at the beginning;
b) conversation about the chapter and topic of the day with questions and clarifications';
c) sharing of our own stories of prayer and spiritual practice on the topic of the chapter; and
d) a brief prayer, meditation, or poem at the end of each session.

These will all flow into each other, but having a structure will help free us to slow down, reflect deeply, and listen carefully to each other and to the Holy One.

The group will meet once a week but I will offer it  this opportunity on two different days of the week, each at a different time, in order to make this experience accessible both to people in the Americas and to people in Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. I live in the U.S. in the Eastern Time Zone.

You can pick EITHER

(1) the Tuesday group, which will meet at 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time

OR

(2) the Thursday  group meeting at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time.

I will run both groups if I get enough people signed up for each, and by "enough," I mean half a dozen people or more.

Bear in mind that Daylight Saving Time has already begun in North America and will begin in Europe on Sunday, March 29. Here's the World Clock site so you can make the time conversion from the above times to your time zone.

Both groups begin next week: the Tuesday one on March 31 at 8 p.m. Eastern and the Thursday one on April 2 at 10 a.m. Eastern. The chapter will be the Introduction (pp. 2-9) and we will also have a chance to introduce ourselves.

By happy coincidence, my publisher has been in the middle of an overstock sale this month (going till late April at latest notice) and the book is available for only $3 (list price is close to $20 w/tax). Click here for more information.

The press's website is open for orders 24/7, but the offices have just closed until April 13 due to current coronavirus-related travel restrictions in Indiana, where the press is located. Books ordered now won't ship till after April 13 However, you can buy the e-book version on various platforms including Amazon, which appears to have a sale on the paperback for less $ than the e-book.

If you don't already own the book and you can't afford the cost right now, please write and let me know and we will figure something out (probably a chapter-by-chapter scan sent via e-mail) so you can read the chapter for each week.

There will be no charge for the group itself. Donations are welcome (see PayPal button below) but I want this to be accessible and a source of spiritual formation and support in these challenging times

All you need to do is to e-mail me here and let me know (1) that you wish to sign up for the book group and (2) which day and time you plan to participate each week.

I'll keep posting reminders here of what the topic of the week is so that you can attend one session at a time (you'll still need to sign up so I can send you the Zoom link) if you're not sure about making a long-term commitment. It would be great if you could participate every week, for continuity and for the fullest possible experience, but life being what it is, I know that's not always possible, and the book has a lot of chapters, though they are short!

In addition to the two groups above, I am open to running a group for clergy and other religious leaders, who are especially stretched in these difficult days and may wish to have a confidential group of colleagues with whom they can talk about the book and about their spiritual life and prayer practice. If you are interested in this, e-mail me and let me know! Also let me know what days of the week are good and not good for you. (And save your Sabbath time for rest!) If we get half a dozen people or more, I'll run the group.

Feel free to write me with any questions, either below in the comments, or privately, at readwithredmont at earthlink dot net (or just click here).

I hope this will be a nourishing opportunity for you. Stay safe and well, and remember to let me know of your interest and commitment by signing up via e-mail!

A donation button is below. Donations are welcome but not required.