11-21-2015
9:30 am - 1:00 pm
Fireside Room

Can we talk about them in our religion?

Led by Lonnie Moseley, M.Ed.
Suggested Donation: $10 – all donations go to UUCB
To register, email Lonnie Moseley or call (510) 655‐1444.

THE PARANORMAL: Events or phenomena that “seem to be” outside the bounds of established science.

Everyone has had or knows someone who has had a paranormal experience. Experiences that we’ve all heard about using some of these terms: ghosts, ESP, telekinesis, reincarnation, auras, psychics, prophetic dreams, mystical experiences, life after death, auditory messages.

How do we talk about these “real,” albeit anecdotal, experiences? How do we listen to others who have had genuine, unexplained events occur to them, their friends and family? Do we roll our eyes secretly or obviously? Do we try to explain away these events to reassure ourselves of our “rational” world?

Can we, as an inclusive, religious denomination, be open to stories of paranormal experiences? We talk a lot about being “open to the Mystery.” But are we really open?

This workshop is for people who are open to listening to, and sharing stories of, paranormal events and phenomena that have happened to them. This workshop is not for people who want to debunk, rationalize or dismiss others’ real experiences. Rather, it will be a safe place for deep listening to the mysteries of life and the self.

Some will be concerned about sharing their experiences, so we will agree to a covenant of confidentiality at the beginning of the workshop.

The workshop will include readings from respected scientific and religious voices about paranormal experiences. There will be a time for writing about these meaningful experiences, followed by a sharing in a small group discussion. We’ll come back into the larger group to share (if comfortable) some of the most compelling experiences.

You will come away from the workshop with a renewed sense that life is bigger than we normally experience, and that we are connected in more ways than we can explain.

Lonnie Moseley, M.Ed., is coordinator of the Awakening Wisdom workshops at UUCB. Growing up in a family that was no-nonsense and practical, but who also respected paranormal experiences as a part of life, Lonnie has read widely and walked carefully among the literature in this area. She says, “Events that we call paranormal today will one day be understood as part of our everyday world. Just like our ancestors who in their time didn’t have rational explanations for what we now can explain scientifically, so will we in the future be comfortable with understanding and walking in multiple dimensions.”