You’re invited to join this one-hour conversation. Newcomers are welcome!
Hello friends,
This week we’re going to focus on two different but related stories about the power of talking to others. In the first, we hear how a university professor came to discover that even brief, casual exchanges with others are an antidote to loneliness and a building block in our well-being.
We’ll follow that up with a couple of brief excerpts from a video about “collective illusion,” a phenomenon where false beliefs about society are shared by many people within that society. We’ll focus on the section about social media and how our “offline” interactions have become a critical counterbalance.
Our warm-up question for this week:
Tell us about someone people tend to overlook, but who you know is special.
See you soon,
Alex
January 6, 2022
Recently the St. James’ Mental Health Leaders Group thought it would be helpful to release some “on demand” prayer videos. These prayers can accompany those who would like a companion or some guidance in their prayer time. We are happy to pray with you.
Our hope is to release a batch of four prayer videos each month. This month we have three prayer videos from the Rev. James Isaacs, and one musical offering from Jeanne Lehning.
Our first video this month, “Night Prayer,” addresses the times when we want to fall asleep, but are kept awake by regrets and thoughts of the day. In this compline prayer from A New Zealand Prayer Book, you are invited to release anxiety, regret, and fear to God, and to imagine a better morning.
Our second video, “Be still and know that I am God,” offers a repeated phrase, gradually decreasing into a single word, that is designed to slow and clear our minds. It concludes with a blessing by Rev. James Isaacs.
Our third video, “Veni Sancte Spiritus,” can be viewed whenever we are feeling alone. We ask God’s presence to be known to us with us in this familiar Taize chant, which means “Come, Holy Spirit.”
Finally, let us relax and feel God’s presence with music played by Jeanne Lehning on piano, recorder and flute: “The King of Love My Shepherd is.”
Are there other ways you would like to pray? Specific topics you’d like prayer videos for? Please let us know. Send email to Rev. James Isaacs at james@stjamespotomac.org.