Omega House announces winter programs
Omega House, a spiritual life center and creative learning alliance located in Ashland, has launched its new winter programs and activities.
"Romancing the Sacred and Singing the Blues" will begin Monday, Jan. 12, at 3 p.m. at the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. The program will focus on exploring the relationships between a variety of historical eras, cultural sensibilities, worldview perspectives, psychological needs, personality temperaments, aesthetic expressions and transcendent experiences. This gathering represents one of the Omega House's "most ambitious projects" in terms of the integration of multiple disciplines, domains, sensibilities and perspectives as aspects of the quest for "the universal human."
"Remedial Christianity: What Most People Don't Know and Probably Should" begins Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 3 p.m. at Omega House. The class is an introduction to the many-sided religious tradition of Christianity, engaged within the context of its historical developments as well as within the contemporary context of religious pluralism and the global age. This study includes all the good stuff they should have taught in seminary, but didn't. It explores the possibility of a new kind of Christianity for the 21st century.
"The Monk and the Poet" begins Wednesday, Jan. 14, at 3 p.m. at Omega House. The program takes a closer look at two influential 20th century writers, Thomas Merton and Herman Hesse. Both of these writers had a profound impact on Executive Director Rev. Rich Lang as he was coming of age in the '60s and '70s, and he still finds imself having the imaginary conversation between them from time to time. Merton was a young "man of the world" and a poet who became a Trappist Monk. Hesse wa a kind of secular monastic who became a poet and wisdom teacher, especially though his novels and short stories. Merton was influenced by Christian Mysticism, Hindu Vedanta and Zen Buddhism, while Hesse was influenced by Carl Jung and Archetypal psychology and Esoteric Gnosticism. What kind of conversation would you expect between Merton and Hesse? Each writer is concerned with the process of individuation and integration, of integrating the organic, somatic, psychological, cognitive and spiritual dimensions of human existence.
"Pizza and Theology" begins Thursday, Jan. 15, at 5 p.m. at Omega House. The class is technically only for SOU students, but Lang has seen a few adults from the community join these thoughtful and spirited conversations where students share their experiences and tell their stories from week to week. Talk to Lang if you think this is a gathering that you would enjoy attending. He may ask you to help serve the pizza and salad and clean up afterwards. If you enjoy being a friend and mentor to students, this might be an opportunity of service for you.
"The Practice of Contemplative Renewal" begins Saturday, Jan. 17, at 10 a.m. at Omega House. The program explores the various creative ways that people recover a sense of serenity, wholeness, wisdom, transcendence and joy in our frantic consumer society and superficial compulsive age. Lang believes that even in most of our various religious communities the true spirit of contemplative renewal is hard to find, as people live in a materially abundant but spiritually impoverished society. This group will meet on the second and fourth Saturday mornings of each month to encourage the practice of contemplative renewal, including the integral care of the body, soul, mind and spirit.
Copies of the winter program are available at Omega House, 371 S. Mountain Ave. or email Omegahouse@charter.net. For more information, visit www.ashlandomegahouse.org.
