Why this text?
While we are still feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in multiple layers of our lives - work, family, schools, the economy, and health - we are also in the midst of political turmoil around the world and in the United States during this election year. Our church, where we seek refuge and healing in times of loss and change, is experiencing significant transition as well.
Discovering We Were Made for These Times and receiving the author's simple, calm, universal, and yet somehow deeply intimate instruction in spiritual deepening felt like an education in cultivating stability and tools for personal and institutional discernment, as well as a balm of resilience and hope.
In the shared experience of these Reflection Groups, we will consider not only our personal perspectives, but also how spiritual exploration might contribute to greater clarity around our congregation’s process of change during our ministerial transition, and our shared discernment of our call to action and service.
About the Author
Kaira Jewel Lingo was a nun in the Thich Nhat Hahn Zen Buddhist tradition for fifteen years. She is authorized to teach in this tradition as well as in the Vipassana Insight lineage through Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
Kaira grew up in an interracial family within an ecumenical Christian order that developed a new kind of monasticism for families working with the poor. As a result, she developed a life-long interest in blending spirituality and meditation with social justice.
Kaira has lived in Kenya, Mexico, Brazil, France and the United States. She attended Stanford University and chose to do her junior year at Howard University. She wote her bachelor's and master's theses on capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art.
Kaira now teaches and leads retreats internationally. She focuses on spiritual mentoring through art, play, nature, racial and Earth justice, and embodied mindfulness practice. She especially feels called to share the Dharma with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, as well as activists, educators, youth, artists, and families.
The book may be obtained through commercial sources or from public libraries, including in eBook format. We expect that our UUC Bookstore (open on Sunday mornings or by appointment) will also carry the book by September.