ARE-Workshop: The Gift of Presence

Please join us in the Groome Building Multipurpose Room on Sunday, September 22, at 9:15 a.m. for a Workshop on the Gift of Presence. This workshop will explore several dimensions of what it means to be present in service to another, what can get in the way, and how we might overcome those obstacles. While focusing primarily on presence at end of life, we will also explore simple practices for being present to all of life. We will draw from several sources, particularly Frank Ostaseski’s book, The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us about Living Fully. Our time will include experiential practice and sharing of experiences and inner wisdom.

It’s been said that “presence” is the most important gift we give to another, especially at the end of life. True presence for another means more than physical presence. It involves “...an offering of our awareness, our willingness, and our participation,” says author Gunilla Norris. At times our calculating minds can get in the way, and we think we must “do something,” defaulting into helping or fixing mode, or getting distracted and not really seeing or hearing the other. Yet what the one with whom we sit most needs is for us to simply “be” there in self-giving service.  

The workshop will be led by a BFM member who offers individual spiritual guidance and serves as Lead Volunteer Chaplain at the Delaware Hospice Center in Milford. He also teaches in the Shalem Institute's program for spiritual guidance and serves on the Board of Companioning the Dying: Opening Fully to Living, a 9-month formation and enrichment program in Montgomery County for those accompanying persons at end of life.

Please use the "Contact Us" form to request child care by September 13.