Listen to Moore's archived program about Jesus

Today, Amy Miller hosts Thomas Moore on Connect as he talks about his latest book, Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels. According to the Connect site, "Thomas discusses how, regardless of your religious or spiritual beliefs, one can make the Gospels an important source of their spiritual life and practice." This archived program is available as Windows Media Streaming, Open (stream) with QuickTime or an MP3 Download.

Give yourself a treat for seasonal contemplation

Thomas Moore's site, careofthesoul.net will send you an unpublished 19-page chapter for his book, Writing in the Sand, after you register for this free .pdf download with your name and email address. The chapter, "No Room in the Inn" explores the birth of Jesus, emphasizing nature, magic, inclusivity and the ways of the kingdom. Visit Moore's homepage for instructions.

Moore suggests, "Jesus also represents the possibility of a transfiguration of human life. It is possible to transcend corruption and violence on a cultural level. It is possible for genuine community to succeed. But this good outcome entails a spiritualization of the ordinary, an interpenetration of ideals and ordinary situations. God becomes human so that humans can become divine: the two-sided mystery of incarnation. [John Moriarty]"

A few pages after this passage, Moore writes, "The traditional Christmas crèche is more than a sentimental nod to virtues of peace and brotherhood. The combination of manger, animals, magic, star, and angels perfectly pictures the scope of the Jesus event from the very beginning. He is deeply human and alarmingly humble. But he is also a turning-point in the development of the human species, indeed of the cosmos itself, according to [Teilhard de] Chardin. The challenge is to embrace a spirituality of such scope and radical implications. How can each of us be completely human, foolishly humble, and imaginative enough to see our roles in the unfolding of human potentiality?"

Register to download the chapter. Read Moore’s reflections.

Moore asks UU ministers, "Are you prepared?"

On Sunday 6 December, Rev. Diane Rollert, of the Unitarian Church of Montreal delivers the sermon "Dark Nights, Bright Stars" in which she talks about the Unitarian Universalist ministers’ October convention in Ottawa. Thomas Moore was featured speaker at the event and Rollert was one of twenty-five attendees whose name was drawn to attend Moore’s on-going workshop during the gathering. Rollert describes some of Moore's workshop activities and shares,

"On our last day together, Tom tells us about the phone conversation he has just had with his wife. Early in October, in their rural New Hampshire community, two teenage boys were arrested for killing a woman and injuring her daughter with a machete. His community has been in shock. These are boys they know, and no one can comprehend why they committed this murder. Psychologists and social workers were called in to the schools. Ultimately, the clergy were called upon to help the community make sense of the incomprehensible. Who else do you call in a crisis of faith but the clergy?

Now Tom is spending a week with us, a group of ministers who have placed all our concerns about leadership in the 21st Century on the table. He and his wife ask each other, are they prepared?

"What are you doing to prepare yourselves?" he asks us. As one of our colleagues said during the week, we may be living in the time of the great unravelling. How do we prepare ourselves to respond? Tom reminds us that in the great Indian traditions, gurus know from an early time in life that they are called to lead. They begin preparing themselves at an early age. They are "big" in their presence. "Are you prepared?" he asks. In his mind, the work that has to be done is the work of the soul.

We’ve known tragedy here in Montreal. I stand here beside fourteen candles burning in the memory of the fourteen women shot down in cold blood by an enraged young man at L’École Polytechnique, twenty years ago today. I remember the day a young man stormed Dawson College three years ago, harming many and killing one young woman. I remember how we gathered a group of students here so that they could talk in a neutral place outside of the school. At the end of the sharing of memories that so needed to be spoken, we gathered in a circle, we held hands, we lit a candle and I said a prayer. Were we prepared? Not really, but we are learning out of necessity.”

Rollert includes quotations from Moore’s Care of the Soul in her sermon as she describes soul needs.

Listen to Moore during The Enrichment Hour

Media consultant Mike Schwager twitters December 5  that he will interview Thomas Moore, Tuesday 29 December, for The Enrichment Hour, an offering by Sedona Talk Radio. His other guest that day is acting coach Anthony Abeson. Schwager's show premiers Tuesday 15 December at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Mountain Time, 6:00 p.m. Central Time, 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time). You can listen to the live show or to an archived version after the program airs.

During The Enrichment Hour, Schwager plans to interview “celebrities, authors and opinion leaders on subjects that include spirituality, human potential, humanitarian news, culture and the arts, and the movies. The hour will be divided between interviews with guests, which you are invited to call-in on, and Comments & Views by Mike on the news stories of the day and week.”

Eckerd College hosts Moore on Feb. 22, 2010

EDITOR'S NOTE: The lecture is moved to Fox Hall, Eckerd College.

St. Petersburg’s Eckerd College promotes Thomas Moore’s free appearance in Miller Auditorium on Monday 22 February, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. Moore is a featured speaker in the Center for Spiritual Life’s Burchenal Lecture Series.

For more information about this event, contact: Events Administrator.

Eckerd College "was founded in 1958 as Florida Presbyterian College and admitted its first students in 1960. In 1972, the College’s name was changed to honor the late Jack M. Eckerd, a prominent Florida civic leader and businessman whose gifts and commitments to the institution have helped to insure its continuing excellence."

Care of the soul in medicine guides 2010 talks

Thomas Moore’s sessions at Hay House’s 2010 I Can Do It! conferences in San Diego (May 16) and Toronto (May 30) flow from his book, Care of the Soul in Medicine: Healing Guidance for Patients, Families, and the People Who Care for Them, to be published by Hay House next April.

According to Hay House, “Through stories from Thomas Moore’s patients, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers, Thomas speaks to the importance of healing a whole person — body, soul, and spirit — a person with emotions, history, family, and work rather than simply treating a body. He gives advice to both healthcare providers and patients for maintaining dignity and humanity during illness and treatment. Providing spiritual guidance for dealing with feelings of mortality and depression, Thomas encourages patients to not only take an active part in the healing process, but also to view illness as a positive passage to new awareness and possibilities for life.”