Aldea Spiritual Community

Special Guest Speaker | Kevin Skinner

Hear from the founder of Aldea, Kevin Skinner, as he shares how to incorporate the Hero's Journey into our workplaces and personal lives.

The Journey & Heroes of Aldea | Jean Gage

Join us as Jean Gage walks us through the "Hero's Journey" that Aldea has been on over the last 25 years! 
 
Quotes: 
 
Paulo Coelho:
When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back.  
 
Will Craig: 
When the hero is ready, the mentor appears.
 
Aldea's Application for Tax Exemption: 
Aldea is a progressive Christian church and we recognize that there are many ways to be Christian, and there are all kinds of churches for all kinds of people. At aldea, we affirm this truth. We also celebrate that we are progressive in our approach to faith. So the question is: What does it mean to be progressive? Here are a few things it means to us: We are passionate about living our lives in the way of Jesus, and we hold love as life’s highest value. As progressive Christians, we affirm that how we live out our faith in daily life is more important than the specific beliefs we hold. We seek to live as Jesus lived. We find beauty in his way of life. Central to that way of life is love. Jesus once summarized his way using these words: Love God with all your heart; love your neighbor as yourself. Love God; love people. Love. Period.
 
We take the Bible seriously, but we don’t always take it literally. Our reading of the Bible is most often characterized by a historical and metaphorical approach. We appreciate that the Bible tells the story of our tradition, it’s the history of our faith. It was written by people struggling to make sense of God and spiritual matters. It reflects their thinking and the evolution of that thinking from generation to generation. We also read the Bible metaphorically. Rather than taking the stories of Scripture as always factual and always literal, we appreciate the power of metaphor. From the opening words of Genesis, to the final words of Revelation, we read Scripture seeking to find meaning for the present day. We are deeply rooted in the Christian faith, but we appreciate the wisdom of other traditions. Too often, faith communities make exclusive claims on God and spiritual Truth. At aldea, we make no such claims. We practice our faith with passion but also with humility. We appreciate the wisdom of our tradition, but we also celebrate that other people and other traditions can speak into our lives. We believe that appreciating the wisdom of other faiths can actually enrich our own Christianity. Because of this approach, we look for opportunities to create dialog with others. In this way, we seek to be “evangelized” rather than evangelizing others. Even within aldea, we do not all believe exactly the same way; these internal differences are also enriching. 
 
Discussion Questions: 
 
What does Aldea mean to you?  Do you have a story about Aldea you would like to share?
 
What ideas do you have for Aldea to become sustainable?
 

The Hero’s Journey (Part 3): Becoming The Guide | Jake Haber

Tune in for Part 3 of our Hero's Journey series as we look at what some consider to be the most important step - becoming the guide for other heroes. 
 
Quotes: 
Donald Miller: 
“In a way this book has been deceptive. It has taught you to become a hero on a mission even though the hero is not the most evolved role. The most aspirational role for any of us is the role of guide. So why spend so much time teaching people to live as heroes when the goal of life is to become the guide? The reason is, of course, that we cannot become guides unless we have lived as heroes on a mission” 
 
Donald Miller:
"The world, to a guide, is larger than themselves and their personal story. Guides care……As we surface guide energy, helping others win, we find a deeper and deeper experience of meaning. It is in us all to become guides"
 
Sacred Circle Project:
"Not all older or elderly people are considered elders. An elder is a person that has accumulated a great deal of wisdom and knowledge throughout his or her lifetime, especially in the tradition and customs of the group"
 
Bhagavad Gita - Ch. 18 V. 47 (paraphrase)
"It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly then to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection.”
 
Kahlil Gibran: 
“The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of  wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.”
 
Discussion Questions: 
1. Who has been a “guide” in your life? What impact did they have? 
2. Where in your life can you transition from being a “hero” to being a “guide”?
 

Guided Meditation: Grounding & Connection | Kathleen Roberts

Enjoy this guided meditation for grounding & connection led by Kathleen Roberts.

The Hero’s Journey (Part 2): Walking The Path | Jake Haber

Check out Part 2 of our Hero's Journey series as we explore the steps of Joseph Campbell's framework in more detail, seeing ourselves in the various stages of the path. 
 
To make a one time or recurring gift to Aldea, visit this link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=E79XD47A5DWJ2
 
Quotes: 
 
Carlos Castaneda:
“Before you embark on any path ask the question: Does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path”
Thomas Moore: 
"We are on the hero's journey when we submit to the deep processes of life and allow them to affect us and bore their necessities into us. We are the hero when we take on the challenges and go through our initiations and transformations, enduring loss and gain, feeling happy and sad, making progress and falling back. The hero is engaged in life… The hero may not look heroic from the outside but may go through powerful developments in a quiet way. The difference is that the real hero engages life and reflects on it. She becomes more and more what he or she is destined to be"
 
Thomas Lloyd Qualls:
“At one time or another we are all called to leave the safety of our homes, the certainty of what we know, the illusions of who we are. Not everyone will heed this call, of course. And those who do will risk losing themselves completely. But if we choose to ignore the invitation, we risk never knowing who we might have become. We risk dying without knowing what it is to live” 
Joseph Campbell:
“Furthermore, we have not even to risk the adventure alone; for the heroes of all time have gone before us; the labyrinth is thoroughly known; we have only to follow the thread of the hero-path. And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence; and where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world”
 
Joseph Campbell:
"What I think is that a good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again, you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare? And then if you do dare, the dangers are there, and the help also, and the fulfillment or the fiasco. There's always the possibility of fiasco. But there's also the possibility of bliss"
 
Discussion Questions: 
At the current moment, is there a specific stage of the Hero’s Journey that you are most resonating with? 
Share a memory or past experience that was a crucial part of your Hero’s Journey, and what stage you think it might have been. 
 

Guided Meditation: Mindfulness & Relaxation | Kathleen Roberts

Enjoy this guided meditation for mindfulness & relaxation led by Kathleen Roberts. 

The Hero’s Journey (Part 1): Full Circle | Jake Haber

Join us for Part 1 of our Hero's Journey series as we look at Joseph Campbell's "monomyth" structure, the process of leaving & returning, and the gifts that we discover in the unknown. 
 
Quotes:
 
“Meaning is not an idea to be agreed with. It is a feeling you get when you live as a hero on a mission. And it cannot be experienced without taking action and living into a story.” - Donald Miller
 
“What each must seek in (their) life never was on land or sea. It is something out of (their) own unique potentiality for experience, something that never has been and never could have been experienced by anyone else” - Joseph Campbell
 
"Whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth" - Paolo Coelho (The Alchemist)
 
”Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” - Howard Thurman
 
“The most beautiful people I’ve known are those who have known trials, have known struggles, have known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.” - Elizabeth Kübler-Ross 
 
Discussion Questions:
1. Can you recognize the hero’s journey structure in your favorite stories? 
(Film / TV / Books) 
 
2. What are some things you learned from leaving the “known” 

After/Life | Jake Haber

Check out the finale of "The Great Beyond" with a message addressing the question, "is there life after death?"
 
Quotes from this message ---------------
 
Gladiator (Film): “What we do in life echoes in eternity”
 
Alan Cohen: “The most important thing to know about the afterlife is that there is no afterlife. There is only life. Nothing can come after what always is. The forms through which life expresses change, but the energy that expresses through them is unchangeable and eternal”
 
Ram Dass: “In our Western culture, although death has come out of the closet, it is still not openly experienced or discussed. Allowing dying to be so intensely present enriches both the preciousness of each moment and our detachment from it.”
 
Carlos Castaneda: “When you need an answer, look over your left shoulder and ask your death.”
 
Buddha: “The trouble is, you think you have time.”
 
Inscription on St. Paul's Monastery on Mt. Athos: “If you die before you die, you won't die when you die.”
 
John 12:24: “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.”

Our Cosmic Neighborhood | Jake Haber

Check out the second message in our "The Great Beyond" series as we ask the question: "are we alone in the universe?" 
 
Quotes from this message---------------------------------------------
 
World Economic Forum 2020:
“We humans view ourselves as separate, dominant and superior to nature. We see nature as a commodity to buy, sell, extract and exploit for our own interests. For well over a century, academics, thought leaders and indigenous leaders have warned against the commodification and exploitation of nature, and yet this attitude persists. We have developed a dualistic view of our existence on this planet – one that blinds us to our interdependence and interconnectedness with nature, and which has also created enormous divides in our society and across humanity… shift to ecocentric ..
The environmental crisis is in fact a deeper spiritual crisis. We must shift the way we view and relate to nature, and understand that it is a single living organism which is inextricably interconnected. We must adopt an ecocentric mindset whereby we are grateful to and revere nature, rather than consider ourselves superior to it”  
 
Genesis 22:17-18:
"I will make sure your descendants are as many as the stars of the heavens and the grains of sand on the shores. I reaffirm My earlier promises that your descendants will possess the lands and sit in the gates of their enemies, and from your descendants all the peoples of the earth will discover true blessing." 
 
Matthew 5:43-44:
"You have been taught to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you this: love your enemies."
 
Rainn Wilson: 
“What may be most important about Star Trek is that the human race has worked out its problems on planet Earth through both science and an emotional wisdom comprised of restraint, reason, and maturity. This spiritually and intellectually awakened humanity then seeks to spread and share its evolved nature while exploring the galaxy in a peaceful manner” 

The Great Beyond | Jake Haber

Check out the first part of our new series "The Great Beyond" as we explore the mystics, the power of myth, and the relationship between science & spirituality. 
 
Quotes from this message -------------------------------------------
 
Zen Proverb: “Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.” 
 
Richard Rohr: "Mystery is not that which is unknowable but that which is endlessly knowable” 
 
Parashara: “In the leaf, there are innumerable components. It has a boundary, a colouring matter, a sap inside and they are not visible to the naked eye.”
 
Joseph Campbell: “Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical. It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth--penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words.”
 
Attributed to the Buddha:  “Imagine someone is trying to show you the moon by pointing at it…don’t mistake the finger for the moon” 
 
Rumi: “You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the ocean in a drop”.
 
Richard Rohr: “When God is no longer out there or over there, we have begun the mystical journey”
 
Joseph Campbell: “People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.” 
 
Alan Watts: “The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.” 
 
Frederick Nietzsche: ”Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived.” 
 
Matthew 10:39: “To find your life, you must lose your life”