The Canaanite Woman:
Two Sessions to Write and Talk About Disability
with Ben Bagocius
September 21 & 28, 2022
7:30-9:00 pm in person at St. Aidan's
Registration required*
Join us for two sessions to write, talk, and reimagine the life of a woman sidelined across biblical history: the Canaanite Woman. The Canaanite Woman appears in both the books of Matthew and Mark and asks Jesus to heal her daughter from so-called demon possession, what some today might understand as a complicated distress or disorder. Matthew and Mark give the Canaanite Woman only a handful of lines before moving on to Jesus’s next encounter. Our sessions will draw from Ben Bagocius’s new book of poems, The Canaanite Woman, which pauses with her for considerably longer as she raises a child with disabilities and crafts a life of beauty and resilience. We will write and talk about biblical and apocryphal descriptions of the Canaanite Woman, as well as use Ben’s poems to write and share our own reflections and poems as we learn from and with each other. In this two-session series we will expand the Bible’s conversation about the Canaanite Woman together. No pre-reading or book purchase required! Bring a notebook, writing utensil, and a willingness to be surprised by the mysteries of Love that the Canaanite Woman has to teach us.
Benjamin Bagocius, PhD, MFA, writes and teaches broadly across literature, spirituality, and queer thought. He is associate professor of the humanities with the Bard Early College Sequence Program in Washington, DC, and his poems, essays, and academic articles appear in a variety of venues, including On Being, The Other Journal, Modernism/modernity, and Studies in the Novel. Ben is founding director of the Institute for Spiritual Poetry, which hosts writing workshops, a journal, and other events. Reach out and learn more at BenjaminBagocius.com and InstituteForSpiritualPoetry.com.
*To register for the workshop, send an email to info@centerforspiritualdeepening.org
Up Next
Monday, Oct. 10
Walking Meditation
9:30 am in person
Continuing Classes and Offerings
Meditations on
the Gospel of Thomas
1st and 3rd Thursdays, 7:30 pm Zoom
The Gospel of Thomas is new to most of us and it is at the same time ancient. It may well be the oldest of the gospel writings. This gathering of sayings of Jesus seems to have been a source for the writers of the canonical gospels. The sayings from this text, which was found in a cave in Egypt in 1945, have contributed to a new appreciation of Jesus as a wisdom teacher in the Eastern tradition. We meet twice a month to work with one or two of the 114 sayings through lectio divina, or sacred listening. All are welcome for this reflection/meditation/discussion gathering. You do not need to have attended previous meetings to participate.
Soul Circle
2nd and 4th Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Zoom
We gather on these Thursdays for conversation about the Spiritual Life. We meet in this community of others who, with us, long to become the sound, whole persons our traditions tell us we were created to become. The leader for the evening opens with a reading, we share the guidelines for welcoming conversation, then those who wish to are invited to speak about the experience of trying to live intentionally the life to which they feel called.
Labyrinths
St. Aidan’s has two labyrinths for walking prayer and meditation. The outdoor labyrinth, located between the memorial garden and Riverside Road, is always available. The labyrinth in the church is available most of the year and is used during special services and retreats. We can also arrange to open the church at other times for those who would like to walk the labyrinth.
Silent Prayer, & Meditation
In the Sanctuary on Tuesday mornings
via Zoom on Friday mornings
at 8:00 am
We light a candle and spend 25 minutes in silence. The last person out of the room blows out the candle. It is that simple. Those who seek to include meditation in their weekly practice often find it easier to do so in the company of others.