MIDWEEK Mar. 15: Eva Whittaker | Experiencing Spiritual Seasons: Winter
About this MIDWEEK practice
We all move through cycles in our lives. In times of change or transition, we can feel unsteady or uncertain. In times of stillness or settling, we can feel restless or questioning. Many spiritual seekers and teachers have used the metaphor of seasons (periods of time/space, characterized by different qualities and callings), often to better understand some of the complexity and contradiction we hold through the mirror of the natural world.
As Parker Palmer writes, "The notion that our lives are like the eternal cycle of the seasons does not deny the struggle or the joy, the loss or the gain, the darkness or the light, but encourages us to embrace it all — and to find in all of it opportunities for growth." (Let Your Life Speak)
What do we do when we come to a threshold? How do we hold ourselves with care and with grace in times of transition? How can we better understand the cycles we embody, and our callings or leadings in different movements, through the four seasons?
In this part of the world, Winter can be a time of grounding down, moving inward- trees are bare, water is frozen - the outward world grows quieter and softer, as inner life prepares to bloom in Spring. In this MIDWEEK practice, Eva will guide us through meditation and discussion around what we have been called to hold in Winter.
Eva Whittaker is a Program Fellow at Beacon Hill Friends House. She grew up in Friends schools in Philadelphia and recently finished a fellowship with Quaker Voluntary Service in Boston. Eva is interested in living the questions how faith and spirituality can ground and deepen how we show up for one another, and what it means to be called to Quaker practice and Quaker community in this moment. She feels called to work at the intersection of spirituality and social justice, and is currently participating in NEYM's Nurturing Faithfulness program, where she is delighted to be exploring spiritual deepening and how to live in integrity with her values.
What is MIDWEEK?
In the Quaker tradition of Midweek (Wednesday) worship, Beacon Hill Friends House brings you MIDWEEK: Experiments in Faithfulness. This is a weekly, one-hour, facilitated spiritual practice with Quaker flavor and an experimental ethos. Each week, a guest facilitator engages us in a unique spiritual practice that is meaningful to them, and that we can bring into our own lives.
MIDWEEK is always free and open to the public. If you'd like to support this program, you can make a donation here.
Attending events in-person at BHFH
All MIDWEEK practices going forward are offered on Zoom and in-person at Beacon Hill Friends House. If you choose to attend in our space, YOU MUST REGISTER BEFOREHAND and please read this information:
Covid policies: All in-person attendees are required to be up-to-date on vaccination against COVID-19 and to wear a mask while inside. We ask for proof of vaccination upon entering the building. Masks will be available for those who forget them.
Getting to BHFH: Use the address "8 Chestnut St., Boston, MA, 02108" for navigation. We recommend taking public transit to get here: We are a short walk from every transit line in Boston. If you choose to drive in, paid street parking is available on Charles Street (and on Beacon Street before 6 pm). We also have parking passes available for $9 to the Boston Common Garage.
Event accessibility (covid policies are below): Beacon Hill Friends House is working on making our historic space accessible to everyone.
Automated Closed Captions will be available for all participants (on Zoom and in-person).
Physical space: This event will take place in our Parlor, which does not have a ground-level entrance. Our primary entrance is up a flight of stairs. If you would like to attend this event but need it to be held in a different space, please indicate so on your registration. On the basement level, we have a single-user, all-gender bathroom with wall-mounted handrails and ample space for chairs and/or aides. We are not a scent-free space but tend to be low-scent.
