Good morning…
Friday, November 15th has been excitedly filled in on my calendar for a very long time. My dear friend Dr. Cathy Snapp, Director of Behavioral Sciences and Professor at the Medical College of Georgia, will be one of the keynote speakers at the “Finding Peace of Mind” symposium hosted at The Carter Center.
Then yesterday, I received a detailed description of the event to share with our written word community. Another dear friend, therapist Martha Tate, emailed me this invitation to pass along to you.
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Finding Peace of Mind
Through brain science and spiritual practices
A faith-based symposium.
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One Lamb Initiative, Carter Center, 11-15-2024, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm
We are living in the “best of times and the worst of times.” Our communities, country and world seem to be swirling in chaos and challenged by unforetold circumstances that confound our existing paradigms. AI generating a “new reality” that has the potential to spiral us out of control as a species. The emergence of gender ambiguities that have always existed in human beings, but never taken center stage in the consciousness and conversation of our communities, confusing some and championing others. Drugs penetrating our people in hidden doses of lethal ways. Racial tensions remaining.
And on and on.
We are betwixt and between in liminal space.
For, we are also living, perhaps, in the best of times. We are living in a time in which the historic great schism between the secular and the sacred is narrowing as we begin to recognize what has always been true: BODY~MIND~SPIRIT are not separate but intertwined as strands of a given thread: humanity. God’s highest creation. We are truly wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14
Science is beginning to validate what scripture has always shown: God has designed us to be whole beings. The interplay between body~mind~spirit is our birthright. And yet, due to confused schisms over the centuries between church and state; physics and metaphysics; science and soul-our forefathers bought into what is referred to as the “Cartesian Divide” between body and soul.
Ironically, the advancement of science began to offer new lens through which we can come to reclaim and empirically see the exquisite synthesis of our triune natures. Science now documents the impact of thought, prayer, and practices on our physical bodies. “As a man/woman thinketh in the heart so he/she is.” Proverbs 23:7 is now displayed and documented through PET scans and SPECT scans tracing patterns of a thought and its import on our neurology and physiology.
This is an exciting time to be alive.
We, as people of faith, stand at this threshold with a sacred opportunity to participate in the recognition of this dawning re-cognition (to think again) of the ancient reality. Spirit and matter are joined in an inextricable singularity of being – interacting in a miraculous synchronicity that we experience as life.
This new era invites the church to become a vessel for fulfilling its eternal message of spreading the gospel. For, inherent in Jesus’ message is that God is within us. That our relationship with God is our health and our salvation. That body~mind~spirit is one.
Mental health and physical health are health.
Jesus’ many miracles attest to this exquisite union. The power of prayer. The physical transformation through the metaphysical. Sometimes this healing is manifest in changing the body. Sometimes it is manifest in how one lives in the body she/he is given. However it does it, healing happens.
In this reclamation of Jesus’ ancient truth, let us as people of faith join as harbingers of healing. Sewing threads that reunite schisms.
One Lamb is an initiative that arises like a wave on the ocean of this new era. With the stated purpose of “Nurturing and embracing mental wellness in a faithful community of connection and support,” we seek to be active agents in faith-based communities supporting collective awareness of the integral nature of body~mind~spirit. And, the many ways in which bringing issues of mental health into our faith-based communities can free us all to speak openly and honestly about the challenges and opportunities for healing mental and emotional health issues. And, in so doing, offering avenues for the abundant lives to which we are all called.
This symposium is designed to provide scientific information and spiritual inspiration and we learn together the true nature of healing. And, how we might best encourage conversations of mental health challenges within our respective faith-based communities.
We are gifted by presenters who are highly acclaimed in their respective fields as thought leaders, researchers, and practitioners.
We would love for you to join us.
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Each of us are designed to connect with our Creator. You will keep the peace, a perfect peace, for all who trust in You, for those who dedicate their hearts and minds to You (Isaiah 26:3, VOICE).
I would really love for you to join us for this inspiring gathering. Check out this link and register if God’s Spirit moves you.
…Sue…
