BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Cobb Institute - ECPv6.15.17.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://cobb.institute X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Cobb Institute REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20230312T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20231105T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20240310T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20241103T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20250309T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20251102T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20260308T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20261101T090000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250415T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250415T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20250321T231505Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250403T215051Z UID:10001128-1744711200-1744718400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:Process Explorations: Chris Hughes DESCRIPTION:  \n\nSeries: Responding to a Fractured World: Re-think\, Re-act\, Re-create \nTopic: As We Think\, We Live: Critical Challenges for Educational Systems and Teachers \n\n\n\nPresenter(s): Chris Hughes\, Dean of Cobb Institute Certificate Program \nPublic education serves the needs of a country\, but what happens when those needs become too narrowly articulated\, even partisan\, and the deep learning of young people is forgotten? Deep learning shifts thinking towards the big stage of speculative philosophy and open horizons. Narrow learning pushes a selected set of possibilities. \nPROcess is a seven-session course for young people. Why do we need it? The world is on a dangerous trajectory. It is young minds that carry the thoughts for tomorrow’s actions. Students breathe in not only the subjects they are taught but also how these subjects are framed by their teachers. Subject and frame together create transformative learning. Subjects and frames are fragmented in our schools today. At the heart of Whitehead’s thinking is a healing unity. For many people a first encounter with Whitehead’s vision is a romance\, a felt sense in the body\, a shift in the ground under their feet.  Whitehead himself saw romance as the first\, and necessary\, stage of deep learning. I think we can spark such a romance in young people. PROcess is a first attempt in this direction. This session explores both the need and the how of this attempt. \n\nAbout the Presenter(s)\n\n\n\n\n\nChris Hughes is the current Dean of the Certificate in Process Thought and Practice at the Cobb Institute. He came to Canada from the UK in 1975 after earning a BA in Psychology from Durham University. In 1986 he earned a B.Ed with a major in Science from the University of Calgary. Along the way he picked up courses and skills in experimental psychology from the University of McMaster and in philosophy from the University of Calgary. Prior to 1986 when he started a 30+ year High School teaching streak (Maths and Physics)\, he worked with young people who were “at risk” or who had custodial sentences. Towards the end of his teaching career\, he trained as a Mindfulness Instructor with the British Mindfulness in Schools Project and taught Mindfulness to both students and teachers. He lives in Calgary\, Alberta. During his teaching career he received the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence and the APEGGA Teaching Award. (The Association of Professional Engineers\, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta). \n\n\n  \n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nIf you experience any difficulty with the RSVP\, please send an email to events@cobb.institute. If you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. Can’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our recordings archive. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n  URL:https://cobb.institute/event/process-explorations-2025-04-15/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Process Explorations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chris-Hughes-As-We-Think-We-Live-Critical-Challenges-for-Educational-Systems-and-Teachers-Header.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250401T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250401T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20250321T230654Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250322T203210Z UID:10001127-1743501600-1743508800@cobb.institute SUMMARY:Process Explorations: Sheri Kling DESCRIPTION:  \n\nSeries: Responding to a Fractured World: Re-think\, Re-act\, Re-create \nTopic: Healing our Collective Pain: Whitehead\, Jung\, and Transformation \n\n\n\nPresenter(s): Sheri Kling\, Director of Process and Faith \n\n\n\nCan we understand both cosmos and psyche in a way that promotes integration rather than fragmentation? Our present societal landscape\, particularly in the West and the United States\, is marked by fragmentation and division across multiple dimensions. Societally\, there is significant polarization. Interpersonally\, many individuals face growing loneliness and isolation. Intrapersonally\, there is a surge in antidepressant use and a clear link between early adverse experiences and adult challenges. This highlights a deep-rooted crisis in how individuals perceive their existence and connections with others. \nTo heal our fragmentation\, we must seek an understanding of both the cosmos and the psyche that unifies rather than divides. In this talk\, Sheri D. Kling\, Ph.D.\, will offer Whitehead and Jung as integrating resources that reveal a Reality that shows us that we matter\, we belong\, and we can experience positive change. \n\nAbout the Presenter(s)\n\n\n\n\n\nSheri D. Kling\, Ph.D. is the director of Process & Faith with the Center for Process Studies and interim minister of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bradenton\, FL. Sheri earned her Ph.D. in Religion: Process Studies from Claremont School of Theology and her MATS from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. She is a theologian\, songwriter\, and spiritual teacher who draws from wisdom and mystical traditions\, relational worldviews\, depth psychology\, and the intersection of spirituality and science to help people find meaning\, belonging\, and transformation. Sheri is a faculty member of the Haden Institute\, adjunct faculty with Claremont School of Theology\, and the author of A Process Spirituality: Christian and Transreligious Resources for Transformation as well as a contributor to several other books. She regularly delivers dynamic “Music & Message” presentations to groups\, and offers courses\, concerts\, and spiritual retreats. Sheri may be found online at sherikling.com \n\n\n  \n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nIf you experience any difficulty with the RSVP\, please send an email to events@cobb.institute. If you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. Can’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our recordings archive. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n  URL:https://cobb.institute/event/process-explorations-2025-04-01/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Process Explorations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Process-Explorations-header-purple.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250325T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250325T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20250311T054215Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250322T203124Z UID:10001125-1742896800-1742904000@cobb.institute SUMMARY:Process Explorations: Eric Shafer\, Sid Mohn\, and Karla Leitzman DESCRIPTION:  \n\nSeries: Responding to a Fractured World: Re-think\, Re-act\, Re-create \nTopic: The US and its Global Leadership for Refugees \n\n\n\nPresenters: Eric Shafer\, Sid Mohn\, and Karla Leitzman \n\n\n\nIn the aftermath of World War 2\, the United States emerged as a leader in the resettlement of persons displaced by war.  With the birth of the United Nations\, the global community articulated a commitment to the protection of refugees to which the US was party\, and which was ultimately codified into U.S. law in 1980.  The Trump Administration in its first term significantly reduced refugee admissions and within the initial weeks of Trump’s second Administration\, all refugee admissions were suspended. The Rev. Dr. Sid Mohn\, The Rev. Eric Shafer\, and Karla Leitzman will join us for a discussion of the history of refugee resettlement and its current realities. \n\nAbout the Presenter(s)\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Rev. Eric C. Shafer\, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)\, is Global Refuge’s “Pastor-in-Residence.”  (Global Refuge is the new name for Lutheran Immigration and Refuge Service).  He recently retired after more thaneight years asSenior Pastor at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Santa Monica\, CA. There he helped open the Students4Students Shelter at Mt. Olive\, the first shelter for homeless college students in the USA.  For this work he has received awards from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints\, the Santa Monica Rotary Club\, and the Westside Coalition for Housing\, Hunger\, and Health.” His previous positions include Senior Vice President for Odyssey Networks in New York City and Director of Communication for the ELCA in Chicago. Shafer has taught in South Africa and Madagascar and made multiple trips to Jerusalem and the West Bank.  He is the host of the YouTube program Hope Matters and a regular contributor to the Church Anew website. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSid Mohn is Director of Interfaith Action of SW Michigan\, a peace and justice collaborative of more than thirty faith-based communities. As a non-profit leader\, he has focused on human rights advocacy\, especially migrant rights and child rights. He was President and CEO of Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights for thirty-five years (1980–2015)\, launching such initiatives as Neon Street Center for Homeless Youth\, International Children’s Centers for Unaccompanied Minors\, Kovler Center for the Treatment of Survivors of Torture\, and Mexico-US Advocates Network. He also worked closely with the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. For twenty-five years\, Sid oversaw Heartland Alliance’s unaccompanied child migrant programs\, working with governmental\, legal\, and social service organizations. Further\, he coordinated the second sanctuary church in the U.S. (Wellington Ave United Church of Christ\, Chicago)\, providing safe haven to refugees from El Salvador. His awards include: Executive Director of the Year (United Way of Chicago)\, Wright Award for Human Rights Leadership (Chicago Commission on Human Relations)\, LGBT Hall of Fame of Chicago\, Founder’s Award (Illinois Coalition on Immigrant & Refugee Rights)\, and Human Rights Leader’s Award (Centro Romero). \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKarla Leitzman has served as a Philanthropic Advisor with Global Refuge/ LIRS for two and a half years. A native Minnesotan who lives in St. Paul\, Karla is responsible for connecting with donors in the Midwest and Southern California to solicit and steward support for the missions and ministries of Global Refuge. In addition to her work\, Karla is also an endorsed candidate for Word and Sacrament in the St. Paul Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is a senior Master of Divinity Student at Luther Seminary. She is currently serving as a part time vicar/ pastoral intern at Faith Lilac Way Lutheran Church in Robbinsdale\, MN\, a northern suburb of Minneapolis. Karla is passionate about the church’s role in justice- and peace- making around the world\, and she is grateful for the multiple hats she is fortunate to wear during such a tumultuous time.  \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nIf you experience any difficulty with the RSVP\, please send an email to events@cobb.institute. If you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. Can’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our recordings archive. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n  URL:https://cobb.institute/event/process-explorations-2025-03-25/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Process Explorations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Process-Explorations-header-purple.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250318T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250318T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20250311T053629Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250313T170414Z UID:10001124-1742292000-1742299200@cobb.institute SUMMARY:Process Explorations: Jared Morningstar DESCRIPTION:Topic: The Practice\, Spirituality\, and History of Ramadan \n\n\n\nPresenter(s): Jared Morningstar \n\n\n\nIn this session of Process Explorations\, Jared Morningstar will introduce the Islamic holiday of Ramadan. Jared will share his own experiences of the spiritual and physical practices central to this holiday\, dwelling on the ways that this month of fasting offers opportunities for connecting more deeply with Muslim community\, the natural world\, and the Divine. He will also share the origins and the history of Ramadan\, drawing connections with other religious communities and practices. \n\n\n\nRather than just introducing the basic features of this central Islamic practice\, Jared will draw connections between aspects of Ramadan and central values and themes present in process thought. Through presenting Ramadan from both personal and academic perspectives\, Jared hopes to share insights and make connections that may be taken up by Muslims and non-Muslims alike and carried forward long after Ramadan 2025 has concluded. \n\n\n\nAbout the Presenter(s) \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJared is an independent scholar living in Madison\, Wisconsin with academic interests in philosophy of religion\, Islamic studies\, comparative religion\, metamodern spirituality\, and interfaith dialogue. His work in these areas seeks to offer robust responses to issues of inter-religious conflict\, contemporary nihilism\, and the “meaning crisis\,” among other things. Jared graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 2018 with degrees in religion and Scandinavian studies and currently works for the Center for Process Studies\, the Cobb Institute\, and the Psychedelic Medicine Association. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIf you experience any difficulty with the RSVP\, please send an email to events@cobb.institute. If you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. Can’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our recordings archive. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/process-explorations-2025-03-18/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Process Explorations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Process-Explorations-header-purple.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250311T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250311T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20250311T052418Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250311T054026Z UID:10001123-1741687200-1741694400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:Process Explorations: Kathleen Wakefield DESCRIPTION:Topic: Songs “Planted in Clay” \n\n\n\nPresenter(s): Kathleen Wakefield \n\n\n\nIn this session of Process Explorations\, Kathleen Wakefield shares her creative\, trans-disciplinary thinking in a program that promises to be evocative for poets and artists\, activists and philosophers alike. She will present “Songs ‘Planted in Clay\,’” a plea for the liberating and healing power of Whiteheadian metaphysics and poetry. This theme was her Springboard Project for the 2024 Certificate Program in Process Studies.Kathleen explores how the process of writing exemplifies Whitehead’s theory of prehensions and how poetry as an art form evoking the thickness of experience “embodies a protest against the ‘bifurcation’ of nature.” (PR 289) Poetry is gradually recognized as a form of earth speech\, aligning with Whitehead’s notion of a work of art as “a fragment of nature.” In the light of Process Thinking\, a family trauma is excavated through family letters which provide new lures for healing\, transformation\, and poetic expression. \n\n\n\nKathleen A. Wakefield is the author of two books of poetry\, Notations on the Visible World (Anhinga Press\, 2000)\, winner of the Anhinga Prize for Poetry\, and Grip\, Give and Sway (Silver Birch Press\, 2016). She holds degrees from Mount Holyoke College (Chemistry) and the University of Michigan (History of Art). She taught creative writing at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Rochester\, worked as a poet-in-the-schools\, and shares poetry through public libraries. Her work has appeared in numerous journals\, including the Alaska Quarterly Review\, Christian Century\, Georgia Review\, Poetry\, Sewanee Review\, and Visions International\, with work forthcoming in Half-Mystic and Amethyst Review. She serves on the leadership committee of the Cobb Institute Certificate Program. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIf you experience any difficulty with the RSVP\, please send an email to events@cobb.institute. If you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. Can’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our recordings archive. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/process-explorations-2025-03-11/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Process Explorations ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Process-Explorations-header-purple.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250215T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250215T163000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20250117T040808Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250117T041103Z UID:10001095-1739631600-1739637000@cobb.institute SUMMARY:Memorial Service | John B. Cobb\, Jr. DESCRIPTION:The Center for Process Studies is planning a public memorial for Dr. Cobb on Saturday\, February 15th\, 2025 at the Claremont United Church of Christ. The Service will run between 3:00pm – 4:30pm PST. We will also be livestreaming the memorial on YouTube. A reception will be held immediately after the service\, offering a time for fellowship and sharing memories of John. \n\n\n\n\nLearn More & RSVP URL:https://cobb.institute/event/memorial-service-john-b-cobb-jr/ CATEGORIES:Memorial ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/John-Cobb-Memorial-Header.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241217T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241217T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20241114T001955Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241210T070138Z UID:10001091-1734429600-1734436800@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Sheri Kling DESCRIPTION:Topic: A Season of Darkness and Light \n\n\n\nPresenters: Sheri D. Kling \n\n\n\nCosmologically\, this period of late fall marks the increase in hours of darkness until the winter solstice when the hours of light begin to make a return. Many religions have major holidays during this period. For some\, the period of darkness is not feared but is celebrated as a time of rest and renewal or of waiting in a kind of pregnant pause. Most celebrate the increase in light and see this turning of the season as the welcome return of the energies of rebirth and growth. \n\n\n\nIn this Cobb & Friends gathering\, Dr. Sheri Kling\, director of Process & Faith\, will introduce some of the major holidays in late fall and early winter\, noting their significance in each tradition. We’ll look at Diwali\, Advent\, Hanukkah\, St. Lucia Day\, Winter Solstice\, Christmas\, Epiphany\, Kwanzaa\, New Year’s Eve\, and Lunar New Year. \n\n\n\nSheri D. Kling\, Ph.D.\, is the director of Process & Faith with the Center for Process Studies and interim minister of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bradenton\, FL.  Sheri earned her Ph.D. in Religion: Process Studies from Claremont School of Theology. She is a theologian\, songwriter\, and spiritual mentor\, as well as a faculty member of the Haden Institute\, adjunct faculty with Claremont School of Theology\, and the author of A Process Spirituality: Christian and Transreligious Resources for Transformation. She regularly delivers dynamic “Music & Message” presentations to groups\, and offers courses\, concerts\, and spiritual retreats. She may be found online at sherikling.com. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis event is co-sponsored by \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIf you experience any difficulty with the RSVP\, please send an email to events@cobb.institute. If you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-12-17/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241210T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241210T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20241202T204324Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241202T204421Z UID:10001094-1733824800-1733832000@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Jo Paz Dominguez DESCRIPTION:Topic: Make Turtle Island Indigenous Again: Regenerating Land\, Identity\, and Community \n\n\n\nPresenters: Jo Paz Dominguez \n\n\n\nJo Paz (he/they) is an Indigenous community advocate\, organizer\, and trauma informed facilitator whose work is rooted in the belief that healing—both personal and collective—is a journey of interconnectedness. Guided by decolonial and regenerative principles\, Jo emphasizes relational well-being\, racial equity\, and hyperlocal\, place-based strategies that honor the wisdom of the land and community self-determination. \n\n\n\nJo summarizes the conversation they’ll have with Cobb and Friends this way:  \n\n\n\n\nWhat if the way forward is not forward at all\, but a turning back to the land\, to the stories it whispers\, and to the cracks in the systems that hold us captive? In this workshop\, we will lean into the wisdom of the Peoplehood Matrix and decolonial placekeeping\, unraveling how the entanglements of land\, language\, history\, and ceremony shape who we are and who we might yet become. This is not about fixing a broken world\, but about befriending its brokenness with compassion\, nurturing the soil of community\, and listening deeply to ancestral wisdom. Together\, we will name and weave our collective care\, dreaming strategies for liberation that honor the land\, disrupt the systems we inhabit\, and welcome the impossible. What does it mean to truly belong\, to truly thrive? Let’s ask the land—and each other. \n\n\n\n\nHere are a few links showcasing Jo’s engagement in community building in the Los Angeles area.  \n\n\n\n\nMeet the Outreach Workers Working to End Homelessness\n\n\n\nProtesters call on Garcetti to find shelter for 1\,000 homeless women\n\n\n\nEveryone In – Meet Elyse and Joseph\n\n\n\nL.A.’s homeless agency faces calls to dissolve ties with police\n\n\n\nOur Land\, Our Voice\n\n\n\nFirst Residential Community Land Trust Project in East Los Angeles\n\n\n\nCrenshaw Mall Redevelopment Plan Health Impact Assessment\n\n\n\nGreen Pets Program – Caring for Mother Earth\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIf you experience any difficulty with the RSVP\, please send an email to events@cobb.institute. If you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-2024-12-10/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241203T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241203T110000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20241113T235807Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241114T021055Z UID:10001090-1733216400-1733223600@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: David Rosen\, Osman Örs\, and Sheri Kling DESCRIPTION:Topic: Relational Abrahamic Faiths \n\n\n\nPresenters: David Rosen\, Osman Örs\, and Sheri D. Kling\, PhD \n\n\n\nSeveral locations around the world have taken concrete steps toward interreligious understanding and relationship by creating communities of faith that house all three Abrahamic traditions: Judaism\, Christianity\, and Islam. The House of One in Berlin\, Germany and the Abrahamic Family House on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi are two such communities. Each has its own unique way of approaching its mission. \n\n\n\nSeeking to learn more\, Sheri Kling\, director of Process & Faith\, reached out to invite a representative from each community to join her in this presentation to the Cobb & Friends gathering. Rabbi David Rosen and Imam Osman Örs readily agreed. They’ll share highlights and images from their communities and discuss the joys and challenges they’ve experienced. Dr. Kling will facilitate the conversation. \n\n\n\nSpeakers\n\n\n\nDavid Rosen serves as Special Interfaith Advisor to the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi. Rosen has been advancing understanding and good relations between religious communities for more than forty years – from the time he served as rabbi of the largest Orthodox Jewish congregation in South Africa\, during his tenure as Chief Rabbi of Ireland; and throughout the last more than thirty years based in Jerusalem. In addition to interreligious representation and education\, his work involves mediation and peace building and he is heavily involved in multi-religious engagement on ecological issues. Among the various awards and recognition he has received\, Rabbi Rosen was granted a papal Knighthood in 2005 for his contribution to Jewish-Catholic reconciliation and in 2010 he was made a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II for his work promoting interfaith understanding and cooperation. \n\n\n\nOsman Örs holds a Masters Degree (M.A.) in Islamic Sciences\, Education\, and Anglistics from George-August University in Göttingen\, Germany. Since 2015\, he has worked as a theological advisor and imam at the House of One Foundation in Berlin. He also collaborates with Demokratie Leben in combating antisemitism and racism\, conducts educational workshops\, and addresses theological and liturgical aspects of interreligious unity at the House of One. In addition to his work at the House of One\, Osman Örs is involved in various community roles. He has been a member of the coordinating committee of the Berlin Forum of Religions since 2016 and is a charter member of the Council of Imams of Berlin since 2021. Osman Örs is committed to fostering interfaith dialogue and combating discrimination in Berlin’s religious communities. \n\n\n\nSheri D. Kling\, Ph.D.\, is the director of Process & Faith with the Center for Process Studies and interim minister of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bradenton\, FL.  Sheri earned her Ph.D. in Religion: Process Studies from Claremont School of Theology. She is a theologian\, songwriter\, and spiritual mentor\, as well as a faculty member of the Haden Institute\, adjunct faculty with Claremont School of Theology\, and the author of A Process Spirituality: Christian and Transreligious Resources for Transformation. She regularly delivers dynamic “Music & Message” presentations to groups\, and offers courses\, concerts\, and spiritual retreats. She may be found online at sherikling.com.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis event is co-sponsored by \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIf you experience any difficulty with the RSVP\, please send an email to events@cobb.institute. If you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-2024-12-03/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241126T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241126T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20241114T183628Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241118T043351Z UID:10001092-1732615200-1732622400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Tze-Ki Hon DESCRIPTION:Topic: Yijing and Process Cosmology \n\n\n\nPresenters: Tze-Ki Hon \n\n\n\nDr. Tze-ki Hon\, a long-time scholar of contemporary interpretations and readings of the Yijing (The Changes in Our Times)\, was one of the lecturers at the recent celebration of the 100th anniversary of Alfred North Whitehead’s arrival at Harvard.  He will discuss with us the topic of that lecture\, “Yijing and Process Cosmology.”  \n\n\n\nDr. Hon currently serves as the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC). After obtaining his bachelor’s degree from the University of Hong Kong\, he pursued further studies in the United States\, earning a master’s degree from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Over the past twenty-plus years\, he has taught at Hanover College in Indiana (1992-1996)\, SUNY Geneseo (1996-2016)\, and City University of Hong Kong (2017-2021). Professor Hon specializes in the study of the Yijing (I Ching)\, Chinese cultural history\, modern intellectual history\, and the transmission of Chinese classics to the West. He has published three books: The Yijing and Chinese Politics (2005)\, Revolution as Restoration (2013)\, The Allure of the Nation (2015); and co-authored Teaching the I Ching (Book of Changes) (2014) with Geoffrey Redmond\, which instructs Westerners on how to read the I Ching. He has also edited six volumes of collected papers\, including Confucianism for the Contemporary World (2017)\, Cold War Cities (2021)\, and The Other Yijing (2022). His papers appear in journals such as the Journal of Chinese Philosophy\, Modern China\, Monumenta Serica\, and the Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIf you experience any difficulty with the RSVP\, please send an email to events@cobb.institute. If you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-11-26/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241119T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241119T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20241118T181204Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241118T181311Z UID:10001093-1732010400-1732017600@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Rolla Lewis and Mary Elizabeth Moore DESCRIPTION:Topic: Cultivating Beloved Communities in Divided Times \n\n\n\nPresenters: Rolla Lewis and Mary Elizabeth Moore \n\n\n\nThe Cobb & Friends session will invite participants to reflect on their own lives and those of others in small groups and all together. We will especially focus on the presence of cosmic Life and its potential for cultivating beloved communities and the thriving of life in individuals\, local communities\, and the universe\, even in the hardest of times. \n\n\n\nThe two leaders of this session have long experience in leading reflective processes in groups seeking to know themselves and the world in a deeper way\, and to contribute to creative transformation. \n\n\n\nRolla Lewis is the primary leader. He is the 2024 Dean of the Cobb Institute Certificate Program and Professor Emeritus of Educational Psychology at California State University East Bay. He is author of Lifescaping Practices in School Communities and co-author of What Is the Color of Your Heart: A Humanist Approach to Diversity. Rolla identifies himself as an advocate in public education\, a builder of eco-relational understandings\, and a researcher seeking to enhance schools\, student learning\, and wellness. \n\n\n\nMary Elizabeth Moore is co-leader. She is Chair of the Cobb Institute and Dean Emerita and Professor Emerita of the Boston University School of Theology. Among her books are Teaching from the Heart\, Teaching as a Sacramental Act\, and a recent book of poetry\, So Much to Love\, So Much to Lose. Her passion is to work with others toward tikkun olam\, repair of the world. \n\n\n\n* John B. Cobb\, Jr.\, “Cosmic life\,” in D. Bartosch\, A. Grandpierre\, and B. Peng (Eds.)\, Towards a philosophy of cosmic life: New discussions and interdisciplinary views (Singapore: Springer Nature 2023)\, 9-16. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIf you experience any difficulty with the RSVP\, please send an email to events@cobb.institute. If you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-11-19/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241112T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241112T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20241104T193506Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241108T022559Z UID:10001089-1731405600-1731412800@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Certificate Program 2024 Commencement DESCRIPTION:Topic: Certificate Program 2024 Commencement \n\n\n\nPresenters: Certificate Program Leadership\, Faculty\, and Participants \n\n\n\nSince its inception\, the Cobb Institute has provided a number of compelling and fascinating educational offerings. In our Learning Lab\, as we sometimes call it\, we’ve conducted a wide variety of experiments\, all with the aim of transforming education for ecological civilization. Whitehead once said\, “What education has to impart is an intimate sense for the power of ideas\, for the beauty of ideas\, and for the structure of ideas\, together with a particular body of knowledge which has peculiar reference to the life of the being possessing it.” As important as ideas are\, the impact they have on our lives is equally if not more vital. Indeed\, we offer an approach to learning that seeks to bring about transformations in both our students and the worlds they inhabit: from value-free research to personal growth; from isolated learners to learners-in-community; from attachment to dogmatic ideologies to openness to evidence; from gaining knowledge as mere data to knowledge as wisdom nourished by multiple ways of knowing; and from the primacy of analysis to the primacy of creative synthesis and embodied discovery. \n\n\n\nThe Cobb Institute’s most ambitious educational offering is the Certificate Program in Process Thought & Practice. The program provides an occasion for students to learn about the great diversity of process philosophies and the many ways in which those ideas can be expressed in everyday life. It begins with a general introduction to process thought and ends with an opportunity to creatively and concretely express what participants have learned. In between students participate in courses covering Whitehead’s philosophy of organism\, major religious traditions\, the complex landscape of ecological civilization\, and the relevance of Whitehead’s cosmology to the natural sciences. 15 students recently completed the 2024 program\, and for our gathering this week\, we will take a break from our usual format to host their commencement ceremony. During our time together\, we’ll hear from the program dean and the faculty members about their experience\, the graduates will each give a brief presentation on their capstone synthesis and springboard projects\, and we’ll take a brief look at what’s on the horizon for the 2025 program. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you experience any difficulty with the RSVP\, please send an email to events@cobb.institute. If you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-11-12/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241105T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241105T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20241104T191333Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241108T022604Z UID:10001088-1730800800-1730808000@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Layman Pascal DESCRIPTION:Topic: Metamodern Spirituality and Archaic Futurism \n\n\n\nPresenters: Layman Pascal \n\n\n\nLayman Pascal is the facilitator of the Metamodern Spirituality Labs that last week’s guest\, Brendan Graham Dempsey\, hosts at Sky Meadow.  In May\, 2024 Layman curated an experiential\, interactive presentation on the topic of  “Archaic Futurism” for the ICON Conference in Denver. For our Cobb and Friends gathering\, he’d like to expand on this topic and bring it to a process-oriented audience. His presenter information for that conference describes him this way:  “Layman Pascal used to be a Canadian meditation teacher\, yoga instructor & philosopher of Integral Metatheory\, but he’s feeling much better now.”  He does things like: lead the Metamodern Spirituality Retreats\, host the Integral Stage podcast\, and provide unique online courses. Layman specializes in metashamanics\, the metaphysics of adjacency\, nondualist theology\, developmental theory\, sacred naturalism\, psychotechnologies\, and cultivating human religious instincts suited to a post-postmodern civilization facing numerous accelerating and converging crises. He is also the author of Gurdjieff for a Time Between Worlds: Hyperpersonal Essays on the Grandfather of Metamodern Spirituality\, published by Sky Meadow Press.  \n\n\n\nLayman has also conversed with/interviewed a number of important voices in our process community\, including Matt Segall and Andrew Davis.  A portion of our Cobb & Friends conversation will include a brief interview by Jared Morningstar\, Communications Director serving the Cobb Institute and the Center for Process Studies. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you experience any difficulty with the RSVP\, please send an email to events@cobb.institute. If you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-11-5/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241022T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241022T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20241018T030026Z LAST-MODIFIED:20241021T145852Z UID:10001074-1729591200-1729598400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: David Korten DESCRIPTION:Topic: For the Love of Life: Finding Our Way to an Ecological Civilization \n\n\n\nPresenters: David Korten \n\n\n\nDavid Korten’s website headlines “Humans are Earth’s ultimate choice-making species. Our decisions have defining consequences for the whole of Earth’s community of life.” In this season of elections\, he will join us and encourage us to make Life-loving choices that help us find our way to a future defined as Ecological Civilization. \n\n\n\nDavid C. Korten is an American writer\, lecturer\, engaged citizen\, student of psychology and behavioral systems\, a prominent critic of corporate globalization\, and an advocate of Ecological Civilization. He is founder and president of the Living Economies Forum and a full member of the Club of Rome\, a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation\, and an Ambassador of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance. \n\n\n\nHe left a teaching position in the Harvard School of Business to work for thirty years with real-world solutions to economic development in Africa\, Asia\, and Latin America. Upon his return to the US he wrote When Corporations Rule the World\, his critique of a global economy that does not work for those most in need. It became an international best-seller.  See his website\, davidkorten.org\, for a list of the many books he has written to press for economic decision-making that serves life. Korten has been greatly influenced by the 1989 book by John B. Cobb and Herman Daly\, “For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy toward Community\, the Environment\, and a Sustainable Future.” John Cobb valued Korten’s participation in the 2015 conference in Claremont on Seizing an Alternative\, Ecological Civilization. \n\n\n\nCo-founder and former board chair of YES! Magazine (now YES! Media)\, he is the author of numerous influential books. A recent defining publication is “Ecological Civilization: From Emergency to Emergence.” He holds MBA and PhD degrees from the Stanford Graduate School of Business\, and served on the faculties of the Harvard Business School and Harvard School of Public Health. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you experience any difficulty with the RSVP\, please send an email to events@cobb.institute. If you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-amp-friends-gathering-2024-10-22/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241015T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241015T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240923T180648Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240923T180809Z UID:10001068-1728986400-1728993600@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Sharon Delgado DESCRIPTION:Topic: Divestment from Fossil Fuels as Climate Change Strategy \n\n\n\nPresenters: Sharon Delgado \n\n\n\nThe Reverend Sharon Delgado is a retired United Methodist pastor\, author\, and longtime activist and nonviolence practitioner\, whose introduction to John Cobb and process theology in the 1980s helped shape her theology and ministry. Sharon is Convener of Fossil Free UMC\, which advocates for the United Methodist Church to divest from fossil fuels. She is a member of the Coordinating Committee of the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement\, which works across annual conferences to coordinate actions related to creation justice. Sharon names the invisible powers that influence human behavior and that are embodied in today’s domination system\, and points in the direction of both personal and social transformation. Find out more and follow her blog\, Progressive Christian Social Action\, at sharondelgado.org.   \n\n\n\nSharon is author of Shaking the Gates of Hell (2007\, 2020)\, Love in a Time of Climate Change (2017) and The Cross in the Midst of Creation (2022). An updated Second Edition of Love in a Time of Climate Change will be released in the spring of 2025. The book is a Wesleyan approach to climate change\, which uses scripture\, tradition\, reason\, and experience to explore the issue. The inside cover of the first edition includes an endorsement by John Cobb\, who wrote: \n\n\n\n\n“Sharon Delgado makes it clear that we\, especially we who stand in the Wesleyan tradition\, cannot choose between being scriptural in the fullest sense and activity to save as much as possible from destruction through climate change. There is no tension between biblical preaching and preaching on the overwhelming\, life-determining issues surrounding climate change. Let’s stop hemming and hawing and work with God to save God’s creation.”  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-10-15/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241008T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241008T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240923T175952Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240923T180122Z UID:10001067-1728381600-1728388800@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Jeremy Schumacher DESCRIPTION:Topic: Recovering from Religious Trauma \n\n\n\nPresenters: Jeremy Schumacher \n\n\n\nSee Jeremy Schumacher’s self-introduction and description of his counseling practice.   Explore his webpage on “Religious Trauma\,” a resource he offers out of his own experience. \n\n\n\n\n“Maybe at some point church became unsafe for you. . . . \n\n\n\nNow the group that once felt close doesn’t feel so welcoming. Maybe you’re dealing with more than doubt\, maybe you’re dealing with fear of abandonment by friends or family. Maybe you’re dealing with the fear that the way you were taught to look at the world doesn’t seem accurate at all anymore\, and now you aren’t sure how to make sense of your life.  \n\n\n\n“This process can be scary\, but you don’t need to do it alone. Finding a safe space to ask questions\, to deconstruct old ill-fitting beliefs\, and to rebuild healthier\, more congruent beliefs is what I offer in therapy.  \n\n\n\n“I don’t claim to have all the answers\, but going through the deconversion process myself\, I know what it can feel like. I know the fear of being cast out\, being judged\, and losing friends and family. But like many of my clients\, I also know about the joy of having a belief system that wasn’t just handed down to you\, but that you cultivated and nurtured to fit who you really are.  \n\n\n\n“If you are having doubts about the faith you were raised with\, or if those doubts have led to turning away from your church\, I can help. I work with people who are actively deconstructing their old\, harmful\, dogmatic belief systems\, and help those who are recovering from religious abuse and other adverse religious experiences.” \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-10-8/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241001T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20241001T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240923T175038Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240923T175959Z UID:10001066-1727776800-1727784000@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Rebecca Shoot DESCRIPTION:Topic: How International Law Supports Citizens Seeking Global Solutions \n\n\n\nPresenters: Rebecca Shoot \n\n\n\nIn a world where so many conflicts are contested on the battlefield\, how can international law offer a better way? Rebecca A. Shoot is the Executive Director of Citizens for Global Solutions Education Fund\, which is Working for a Peaceful\, Free\, Just\, and Sustainable World Community. She will review some of the initiatives that Citizens for Global Solutions has taken to enhance awareness and compliance with international law particularly regarding use and control of nuclear weapons and preserving the world’s climate. \n\n\n\nRebecca Shoot is an international lawyer and democracy and governance practitioner with more than 15 years of experience in the non-governmental\, inter-governmental\, and private sectors supporting human rights on five continents.  She is recently involved with the “Summit of the Future” process\, which is being hailed as a once-in-a-generation opportunity for global governance reform. Citizens for Global Solutions specific advocacy has been to try to ensure that international justice\, human rights\, and the rule of law are a respective and central element of this process and its outcome document\, the “Pact for the Future.” In doing so\, Rebecca Shoot was a penholder on the Peace and Security chapter of the companion “People’s Pact\,” which contains recommendations to enhance the international judicial architecture. They will host a side event at the Civil Society “Action Days” around the Summit in late September on the future of global governance.  \n\n\n\nFor a more detailed biodata\, see this link. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-10-1/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240924T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240924T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240923T174054Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240923T174153Z UID:10001065-1727172000-1727179200@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Thomas Jay Oord DESCRIPTION:Topic: What I Learned When Defrocked and Excommunicated for Being Queer Affirming \n\n\n\nPresenters: Thomas Jay Oord \n\n\n\nThomas Jay Oord recently endured an official church trial for his full queer affirmation. The trial verdict: his license and membership were taken. In this Cobb and Friends session\, Oord talks about his journey from becoming queer affirming 30 years ago to eventually being defrocked and excommunicated. That journey included times of guilt and triumph\, emotional turmoil and social pressures. Oord also talks about principles in open and relational theology that guided him on this journey\, and he shares lessons learned in the process. To prepare\, participants might read Oord’s short essay that recently appeared in Newsweek: “I Was Expelled from My Church. I was Found Guilty\, But I Do Not Feel Sorry.” https://www.newsweek.com/defrocked-church-found-guilty-do-not-feel-sorry-1947556. \n\n\n\nThomas Jay Oord is a theologian\, philosopher\, and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies. Oord is a best-selling and award-winning author\, having written or edited more than thirty books. Academic Influence ranks him among the most influential theologians in the 21st century. Oord directs doctoral programs at Northwind Theological Seminary and directs the Center for Open and Relational Theology. He is known for his research and writing on love\, open and relational theology\, science and religion\, evil and power\, and the implications of freedom and relationships for transformation.  Explore his website at https://thomasjayoord.com. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-09-24/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240917T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240917T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240827T031547Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240917T173719Z UID:10001055-1726567200-1726574400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Audrey E Kitagawa\, JD DESCRIPTION:Topic: Moral and Ethical Imperative: Abolishing Nuclear Weapons \n\n\n\nPresenters: Audrey E Kitagawa\, JD \n\n\n\nWatch for further details about Audrey Kitagawa’s international interfaith media ministry.  She is the one who produced the inaugural ZOOMcast of the launch of the Living Earth Movement on John Cobb’s 97th birthday.  She has served as chair of the Board of Trustees of the Parliament of World Religions. \n\n\n\n       Audrey E. Kitagawa\, J.D.\, is President/Founder of the International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation\, President of the Light of Awareness International Spiritual Family\, Chair of the Anti-Racism Initiative & Co-Chair of the Gender Equality Working Group of the G20 Interfaith Forum\, and former Advisor to the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict at the United Nations.  She is an Ambassador of Religions for Peace International\, a United Religions Initiative UN Representative – as a member of URI CC “Voices for a Nuclear Weapons Free World\,” a co-facilitator of the URI UN CC\, and Chair Emerita of the NGO Committee on Spirituality\, Values and Global Concerns. She has been enstooled into the royal family of Ajiyamanti\, Ghana as the Nekoso Hemaa (Queen Mother of Development) where the Nana Ode Anyankobea Junior Secondary School which she helped to build is named after her. She is the recipient of the Spirit of the UN Award given to outstanding individuals who have demonstrated the vision and spirit of the UN as expressed through the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She was conferred an Honorary Interfaith Minister degree by the New Seminary. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-09-17/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240910T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240910T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240827T030355Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240827T030609Z UID:10001054-1725962400-1725969600@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Paul Kittlaus DESCRIPTION:Topic: The Tyrant Fears the Poet \n\n\n\nPresenters: Paul Kittlaus \n\n\n\nHere’s how Paul Kittlaus\, John Cobb’s neighbor at Pilgrim Place\, introduces himself. “The gifts of ministry given to me have included organizing people within the progressive church for social change. The civil rights movement\, Selma\, women’s liberation\, Chicano Moratorium\, opposition to the war in Vietnam\, aiding young men to turn in their draft cards\, the environmental issues\, these and other social issues have presented themselves to my generation.  \n\n\n\n“In 2014\, the year of my 80th birthday\, I was drawn into a weeklong workshop on Abstract Acrylic Painting.  Surprising doors in my spirit were opened. And I found myself in another resistance movement.” \n\n\n\nMy paintings are now in the permanent collection of the Claremont-Lewis Art Museum\, Claremont Heritage\, the Claremont United Church of Christ.  I have had solo shows in the Prison Library Project\, the Claremont Chamber of Commerce\, at the HoltxPalm Gallery in Ontario\, and in exhibition at the Community Arts Workshop Gallery in Santa Barbara\, and the Riverside Art Museum.” \n\n\n\nCheck out his art at https://paulkittlaus.art\, where you’ll find this brief bio:  “Reverend Paul Kittlaus was ordained in the United Church of Christ (UCC)\, San Diego\, CA and during his career served UCC church pastorates throughout Southern California and Madison\, WI. He also held ecumenical positions to advance theological training and social justice\, and served as the director of the UCC Washington Office for The Office for Church in Society. He is a published author and contributor to multiple journals and magazines. Retired in 1999 at Pilgrim Place in Claremont\, CA\, Rev. Kittlaus is an active steward of the community and a board member of Progressive Christians Uniting\, Southern California Ecumenical Council\, and Pilgrim Pines Camp. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Missouri\, a masters of divinity from the University of Chicago/Chicago Theological Seminary in 1959\, and masters in political science from George Washington University in 1981.” \n\n\n\nSee the video in which he is honored by Chicago Theological Seminary as their 2024 distinguished Alumni of the Year. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-09-10/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240903T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240903T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240828T191831Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240828T191940Z UID:10001056-1725357600-1725364800@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Leslie King DESCRIPTION:Topic: Leadership and Process Thought \n\n\n\nPresenters: Leslie King \n\n\n\nLeslie King\, chair of the Cobb Institute Education Team\, says\, “Leading a local community can be fraught with challenge.  This may\, in part\, be true because of a leader’s perception of right organization.  Process thought can alleviate unnecessary tension and stress as it informs a new model of leadership adventure. I have sought to discover in my career as a local pastor how process thought can strengthen leadership efforts.”  She is happy to be sharing her experiences and values with the Cobb and Friends Community.  \n\n\n\nRev. Dr. Leslie King is the Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Waco. She received her BA from Kansas University (’91) and her Masters of Divinity from McCormick Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Chicago (‘94). In 2010 she completed her Doctor of Ministry at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City Missouri with an emphasis in Spirituality and Organizational Change. She began her service to First Presbyterian Church of Waco in 2012. Process Theology has been a passion since 2007 when she began her Doctor of Ministry. Since September 2020\, she is a yoga instructor (RYT 200) with Spirit Bear Yoga and (RYT 500) with My Vinaysa Practice. She’s a member of Yoga Alliance. She enjoys leading yoga flows for the youth and adults of the church. Her particular interest is in Yin and Restorative yoga as it relates to spiritual well-being. Piano competency is slowly emerging and music is a source of joy. She has been married to DJ King since November of 1996 and together they enjoy watching their three young adult children\, Cody\, Katie and Claire make their way in the world. With a menagerie of stray animals\, the Kings are glad to call Waco home.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-09-03/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240827T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240827T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240815T192921Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240815T193311Z UID:10001053-1724752800-1724760000@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Zhihe Wang\, Meijun Fan and Friends DESCRIPTION:Topic: Celebrating the Summer Programs in China \n\n\n\nPresenters: Zhihe Wang\, Meijun Fan and Friends \n\n\n\nFor many years the Institute for Postmodern Development of China has been sponsoring learning events in China to explore the “process way.”  After a COVID-related hiatus\, the program was back this summer!  With Zhihe Wang and Meijun Fan we will celebrate their report.  Also\, participants in these cross-cultural learning opportunities will be sharing their experience.  We’ll hear from Jay McDaniel\, Bob Mesle\, Barbara Hiles Mesle\, Paul Bube\, John Becker\, and Kevin Clark.   \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-zhihe-wang-meijun-fan-and-friends/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240820T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240820T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240815T191631Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240815T192409Z UID:10001052-1724148000-1724155200@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Alyn Ware DESCRIPTION:Topic: Pursuing Peace\, Security and Nuclear Disarmament through our Common Humanity \n\n\n\nPresenters: Alyn Ware \n\n\n\nAlyn Ware began his career as a kindergarten teacher\, helping kids learn to get along.  This grew into educational strategies to promote peace in his native New Zealand\, a country that chose to  remain a “nuclear free” zone.  See this description of his role as Interim Director of the World Federalist Movement Institute for Global Policy\, including a long list of awards\, such as the Right Livelihood Award (the alternative Nobel Prize).  Check out his biodata in Wikipedia.  He’s coming to invite our support of current interfaith initiatives aiming for nuclear disarmament now.   \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-alyn-ware/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240813T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240813T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240805T011547Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240816T042130Z UID:10001051-1723543200-1723550400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Thomas Atwood DESCRIPTION:Topic: Akashic Follies:  A Fool’s Journey into Mysticism \n\n\n\nPresenters: Thomas Atwood \n\n\n\nWelcome to our play!  Thomas Atwood\, a Cobb Institute regular and retired fool\, will discuss his first large-scale creative writing project: a three-act play with musical elements called Akashic Follies. An imaginative story suffused with historical verité\, this “work in process” traces the co-evolution of four characters through multiple incarnations that span 3\,000 years — from the siege of Jericho to an NPR newsroom. A panexperientialist worldview is assumed\, revealed for the most part in non-coercive dialogue and action. Thomas will reveal a bit of his personal journey and influences\, followed by a brief scene synopsis and summary of next steps toward completion. The presentation will close with a dramatic reading of a draft scene titled Deception\, assisted by four readers familiar to the Cobb Institute community. \n\n\n\nBio:  In 1976\, Thomas Atwood earned a Bachelor’s degree in music education and voice from Boston University. Never one to allow formal schooling to interfere with his education\, he retired from a global software enterprise in 2014 with a job classification of Software Engineer\, without ever having taken a computer science class. He’s an anachronistic dinosaur as well as a fool. Other formative experiences include 30 years as an Associate Member of the Westar Institute (convener of the Jesus Seminar) and a community internship with the Faithful Fools Street Ministry in San Francisco. In retirement\, he co-founded a sister organization on the San Francisco Peninsula called Fools Mission. After a year and a half with the Cobb Institute community\, he is overjoyed to share this “process report” on his play in such excellent company. You can visit his blog site at Fool’s Tales. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-08-13/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240806T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240806T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240804T233320Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240816T042000Z UID:10001050-1722938400-1722945600@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Jared Morningstar DESCRIPTION:Topic: Process and Neoplatonic Theologies: Panentheism\, Theodicy\, and Ecology \n\n\n\nPresenters: Jared Morningstar \n\n\n\nIn this presentation\, Jared Morningstar will explore the resonances and contrasts between process theism and theologies influenced by Neoplatonic thought. He will show how Neoplatonic theologies think about the Divine and the cosmos in valuable ways that are distinct from the rigid “classical theism” process thinkers rightly critique.  Jared will explore the valuable contributions Neoplatonic thought can have on areas of concern for process thinkers such as the God-world relation\, the problem of evil\, and ecological awareness. He will also suggest ways that Neoplatonic and process perspectives can balance each others’ weaknesses and blindspots.  \n\n\n\nJared is an independent scholar living in Madison\, Wisconsin with academic interests in philosophy of religion\, Islamic studies\, comparative religion\, metamodern spirituality\, and interfaith dialogue. His work in these areas seeks to offer robust responses to issues of inter-religious conflict\, contemporary nihilism\, and the “meaning crisis\,” among other things. Jared graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 2018 with degrees in religion and Scandinavian studies and currently works for the Center for Process Studies\, the Cobb Institute\, and the Psychedelic Medicine Association.  \n\n\n\nTo get a head start exploring Jared’s topic for the day\, download his more detailed description.  Also\, he suggests these relevant resources:   \n\n\n\nParsing Process and Traditional Theodicies: A Hope for Synthesis and Collaboration; \n\n\n\nSeeing Beauty in All People through the Mystical Philosophy of Plotinus (on Open Horizons). \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-08-06/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240730T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240730T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240702T042853Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240708T190920Z UID:10001018-1722333600-1722340800@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Charles Betterton & Friends DESCRIPTION:Topic: Living Earth Movement:  A Progress Report \n\n\n\nPresenters: Charles Betterton & Friends \n\n\n\nThe Living Earth Movement is the latest organization founded in the vision of John Cobb.  Charles Betterton is bringing his networking gift of radical collaboration to the work of this earthist movement\, founded in the hope of cooperation of the United States and China\, aiming toward mutual contributions to an emerging ecological civilization.  See the website at https://livingearthmovement.eco and watch for further details of the guests who will assist us in this progress report. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-07-30/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240723T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240723T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240702T002630Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240708T190902Z UID:10001017-1721728800-1721736000@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Ernie Tamminga DESCRIPTION:Topic: Teilhard\, Technology and Technolatry: The Internet is Not the Noosphere \n\n\n\nPresenters: Ernie Tamminga \n\n\n\nErnie Tamminga describes himself as a “planet empath.” He is a member of the board of the American Teilhard Association and has been reflecting on Teilhard’s vision for over 50 years. He earned his PhD at the University of California\, Santa Barbara where\, under the mentorship of Raimon Panikkar\, his dissertation was an analysis and critique of Teilhard’s notion of a “privileged axis” of evolution. Ernie is a trained Spiritual Director\, and a former member of the board and teaching faculty of Stillpoint: The Center for Christian Spirituality. In the 1960s and 1970s he was a board member of “The Phenomenon of Man Project\,” a nonprofit that introduced thousands of people to Teilhard’s vision through illustrated lectures and retreats. For the past two years\, Ernie has been convening a Learning Circle for the Cobb Institute\, entitled “An Awakening Planet?” For the American Teilhard Association\, he is currently offering an extended study of Teilhard’s magnum opus\, “The Human Phenomenon.” Ernie and his wife Alison have\, between them\, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandson\, a fact that intensifies his sense of urgency about what we are doing to our beloved planet. \n\n\n\nABOUT THE PRESENTATION: In The Human Phenomenon\, Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) traces the evolution of reflective consciousness in the universe and on Planet Earth. He identifies major “thresholds” through which this process has unfolded so far\, including the emergence of life\, of consciousness\, and of reflective consciousness. “Noosphere” is the word Teilhard uses to describe the “sphere of reflective consciousness” around the Earth. He posits a “Point Omega\,” still ahead\, where the Noosphere will become conscious of itself. In recent years\, some voices in the “Teilhard community” have equated the Internet—and\, more recently\, AI—with the Noosphere\, some even maintaining that through technology\, the Noosphere is already aware of itself. In this regard\, Ernie is a “Teilhardian contrarian\,” insisting that the Internet/AI are not the Next Step in the evolution of human consciousness\, but rather (and only) powerful tools for the kind of consciousness we (humans) already have and already are. Crucially\, the fixation on technology has the effect of “defining-out” other-than-human forms of life on Earth. Echoing his late teacher Raimon Panikkar\, Ernie says he is “holding out for a mutation\,” for an emergent form of planetary consciousness that includes not only humans and machines but all life on this planet. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-07-23/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240716T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240716T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240702T001835Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240708T190840Z UID:10001016-1721124000-1721131200@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Nancy J. Ramsay DESCRIPTION:Topic: A Conversation about Moral Injury \n\n\n\nPresenters: Nancy J. Ramsay \n\n\n\nNancy J. Ramsay\, Director of the Soul Repair Center\, Brite Divinity School\, will discuss “Moral Injury\,” a new term for an ancient idea.  We find it described in ancient Greek mythology and in the Hebrew Bible or Christian Old Testament such as when after battle the Hebrew men would have a ritual of cleansing from the moral harm of killing and witnessing killing before they returned to their families. During the Crusades\, when soldiers returned home\, they spent a year in practices of penance including meeting regularly with a priest before they could once again take communion. This was not punishment\, but a recognition of the moral harm of taking the life of others and the need for ongoing reflection and hopefully coming to terms with the burden of one’s conscience—the awareness that each of us as reflective persons know the reality of failing to be who we intend to be or failing to act in ways that reflect our deepest conscience. These illustrations of such ancient practices remind us of the morally injurious power of suffering and the need to acknowledge it.  Moral Injury seeks to name this deep suffering that calls for our response. It is an experience of witnessing\, failing to prevent\, or learning about unnecessary violence as a betrayal of our obligations to one another.  \n\n\n\nMoral injury arises in two forms:  \n\n\n\nAgential moral injury describes harm we cause. It is our own failure to act in ways that align with our deepest values. \n\n\n\nReceptive moral injury is the harm that arises from the actions of others that cause our pain such as sexual and domestic violence and gun violence.  \n\n\n\nPastoral Theologian\, Larry Kent Graham: described moral injury as “soul wounds” (Moral injury: Restoring Wounded Souls\, Abingdon\, 2017). \n\n\n\nDr. Ramsay says\, “In our conversation\, I will draw on Graham; Holocaust survivor and philosopher Emmanual Levinas; medical sociologist\, Arthur Frank; marriage and family therapist\, Pauline Bos\, and scriptures such as Gen. 32:24-32 (Jacob wrestling at the Jabbok).  \n\n\n\nIn my experience\, moral injury—both agential and receptive—is familiar to any reflective person\, and I hope we will have a rich conversation about ways it informs our lives and relationships and convictions as citizens and persons of faith.”   (See her attached biodata.) \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-07-16/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240709T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240709T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240708T191024Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240708T191140Z UID:10001039-1720519200-1720526400@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: The Legacy of James M. Lawson Jr. DESCRIPTION:Topic: The Legacy of James M. Lawson Jr. \n\n\n\nPresenters: TBA \n\n\n\nA memorial service on July 6 at Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles honored the legacy of Dr. James M. Lawson\, Jr.\, who was their pastor for 25 years. He served the American civil rights movement by training young people in the methods of non-violent resistance. There were tributes from Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass\, President Joe Biden\, educators\, and leaders of labor organizations. Pulitzer prize winning presidential historian Jon Meacham said\, “James Lawson is a latter day founding father\, an architect of America as worthy of our respect and our reverence as Washington or Jefferson\, Adams or Hamilton\, Douglass or King.” We will listen to selected portions of that service and reflect on his legacy. You may find a collection of Lawson videos on the Holman website\, including Lawson’s tribute to the late John Lewis. You’ll find an archived recording of James Lawson’s January 11\, 2022 conversation with Cobb and Friends\, marking the publication of his book\, Revolutionary Nonviolence: Organizing for Freedom. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-07-09/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240625T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240625T120000 DTSTAMP:20260415T171723 CREATED:20240620T055133Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240708T190721Z UID:10001015-1719309600-1719316800@cobb.institute SUMMARY:John Cobb & Friends Gathering: Brian McLaren DESCRIPTION:Topic: Life after Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart! \n\n\n\nPresenters: Brian McLaren \n\n\n\nThis popular religion writer will discuss his most recently published book\, Life after Doom: Wisdom & Courage for a World Falling Apart. Sheri Kling\, director of the Process & Faith program\, will assist our conversation. \n\n\n\nBrian McLaren’s website describes this prolific author/lecturer in this way: \n\n\n\n\nBrian D. McLaren is an author\, speaker\, activist\, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor\, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just\, generous\, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He is an Auburn Senior Fellow\, a contributor to We Stand With Love\, and a leader in the Convergence Network\, through which he is developing an innovative training/mentoring program for pastors and church planters. \n\n\n\n\nHe has been appreciated by those who do theology in process and open and relational ways. Tripp Fuller describes his interview with McLaren about Life After Doom. “In it\, we wrestle with redefining faith\, civilization\, and ecological consciousness. We delve into theological reflections\, reinterpreting religious practices to align with Jesus’s teachings\, advocating for a paradigm shift in societal structures\, and emphasizing the urgent need for sustainable living. Moreover\, we discuss creating inclusive spaces for spiritual growth and action.” For a discussion of McLaren’s work from a process point of view\, see Jay McDaniel’s “Seven Lessons We Can Learn from Brian McLaren” in Open Horizons. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTo receive the Zoom info for this gathering\, click the Going button and enter your name and email. \n\n\n\n\n\nIf you would like to receive regular announcements and updates about activities and events at the Cobb Institute\, please join our list of Friends. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it to the live session? Click here to access our archive of Cobb & Friends recordings. URL:https://cobb.institute/event/john-cobb-friends-gathering-2024-06-25/ LOCATION:Online Via Zoom CATEGORIES:Cobb & Friends ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cobb.institute/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Cobb-Friends-header-1300x500-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Cobb Institute":MAILTO:events@cobb.institute END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR