COMMUNAL CONTEMPLATION
Oak Park Library – Maze Branch Meeting Room
845 Gunderson Ave, Oak Park, Il 60304
Saturday September 12, 2026  –  10:30 am – 12:30 pm

[Note: In this event, we will explore a new and somewhat experimental approach to communal contemplation. Participation is free but registration is required, with a limit of 30 participants. Open to all who have an active silent meditation practice.]

When we arrive together, we each bring with us the conscious and unconscious sets of reactive emotions that occur in our lives.  Living in a society of much polarization, chaos, and conflict, we will enter into our common, shared space with the high energy of recent political, social, and personal events coursing through our bodies and minds.

Contemplative practices do not allow us to avoid these energetic thoughts – to repress or resist them. And we may feel as though it is difficult to let go of them and return ourselves to remembering God’s presence – allowing the movement of the Spirit to flow.  We will practice observing our highly energetic thoughts, not judging or engaging with them, and returning to the divine Presence within.

In order for this to happen, we need to enter a spacious form of consciousness that is larger than our individual minds.  Our communal contemplative gathering will invite us into a spacious Presence that is not only within each of us individually but is shared among, between, and all around us in communion.

We will participate in several meditative prayer periods, and will also share our reactions and our wisdom with each other in structured periods of dialog.  We will accept and welcome all perspectives, trusting the action of the Spirit within us in a compassionate, empathetic, and open embrace of our lived reality.