CIRCLE OF CARE IDEAS

Looking for ideas for your Circles of Care? Below are great resources to share with you.  We'll be updating this page frequently, so please check back.  

• The Difference Between Healing and Curing by Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen

• Forgiveness | A formation exercise offered by Rev. Laura Masterson, COHI Board member.

• Richard Rohr Daily E-mail | A Hidden Wholeness
  We invite you to read this reflection and reflect on the questions at the bottom of the email.

• How Trauma Lodges in the Body - Psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk is an innovator in treating the effects of overwhelming experiences. We call this “trauma” when we encounter it in life and news, and we tend to leap to address it by talking. But Bessel van der Kolk knows how some experiences imprint themselves beyond where language can reach. He explores state-of-the-art therapeutic treatments — including body work like yoga and eye movement therapy — and shares what he and others are learning on this edge of humanity about the complexity of memory, our need for others, and how our brains take care of our bodies.

  Listen to this thought-provoking and fascinating podcast as a group and reflect on how it relates to your work as lay chaplains.

• The Loneliness Epidemic - US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy embarked on a listening tour to determine what was ailing Americans. The answer surprised him. In this soulful conversation, he speaks with Kate Bowler about loneliness as a public health crisis and how the experience of disconnection affects our ability to weather life’s most difficult storms. Listen to this powerful interview and reflect on your roles as COHI lay chaplains and how it relates to Benedictine Spirituality.

• Debriefing is an important part of our Circle of Care time. This month we invite you to review the Debriefing Power Point from our 2016 Annual Conference and discuss.

• Combating Loneliness in Seniors - MMLearn Presents
  Watch this 35 minute video as a COC and reflect on your findings.

• Watch Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper's beautiful conversation about grief HERE and use this to prompt discussion. Reflect on key points and how they related to your role as lay chaplains and Benedictine spirituality.

• Read Timothy Radcliffe’s book, What is the Point of Being Christian? and reflect on how it relates to our role as lay chaplains and Benedictine spirituality.

• A “Sacrament” of Hospitality by Dr. Teresa Angle-Young
  Read, reflect and respond as a group and discuss the gems that are gleaned from it.

• Coming Alive Through Small Acts of Kindness by Weekly Words of Wellness by Scott Stoner
  The Living Compass Wellness Initiative. Read the article as a group and reflect on what resonates with each member. Enjoy!

• Helping, Fixing or Serving? by Rachel Naomi Remen

• A few years ago we shared a Remen article with you titled In the Service of Life. We invited you to read, explore and reflect on this with your Circles of Care group. Laden with wisdom and spiritual gems we knew it would prompt great discussion.

• We recently came across a more vulnerable offering from her titled Helping, Fixing or Serving? In it she reveals bits of her experience living with Crohn's and a story about an ER doctor delivering babies. We commend this article to you for use in your Circles of Care. Enjoy!

• Sharing Faith Cards
  When have you experienced the Potter's hands upon you, molding and shaping you as seemed best to Him?...Share an experience when your faith sustained you in a particularly difficult time...Where is your favorite place to praise God?

  Sharing Faith cards invite people to gather around a meal and participate in life together. The process of sharing stories helps to deepen our own personal faith. Hearing others’ stories of God’s presence in their life brings us into deeper relationship with each other and with God.

  Click HERE to download your printable cards. Consider using them during your Circle of Care time.

• Contemplative Reflection and Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation on The Face of the Others.

  As a group read the meditation once.  After reading and before anyone talks, sit with your thoughts for a few minutes.  Then, consider the following.  

  • As you read this what feelings come up for you?  toward God?  yourself?  others?

  • Does this reflection speak to other relationships in your life?  Do you feel you are called to respond in some way?  How?

  • Do you feel drawn to one aspect on which to concentrate now?  How will you do that?

    Journaling Time (10 minutes)

    Witnessing (20 minutes)

• Timothy Radcliffe, OP and his Daily Theology Podcast Listen to a conversation with Timothy Radcliffe and discuss your takeaways as a Circle of Care group.  In this podcast Radcliffe talks about his bad boy days, the importance of friendship for vocation, and hope in the midst of suffering.

• Jesus and Visio Divina- Divine Seeing (Praying with Images) 

• The Open Door Meditation adapted from Open the Door by Joyce Rupp.  Experience a contemplative experience with this meditation. There's an introductory reflection followed by a Scripture reading, meditation, journaling and reflection as a group. Try it out with your group and we hope you find it to be a rich experience.

• The Power of Vulnerability by Dr. Brene Brown.  Watch her 20 minuteTED talk on vulnerability (one of the top 10 most watched TED talks in history) and spend time as a group reflecting on how this relates to your work as a lay chaplain. 

• Visio Divina- Divine Seeing (Praying with Images) Explore another way to pray with the Eyes of the Heart.  

• Humility - The Lost Virtue A reflective and powerful exercise on humility for your Circle of Care.

• Litany for Healing This Litany is a great way to open a Circle of Care meeting.  Taken from the Episcopal BCP.  

• In the Service of Life Exercise Article by Rachel Naomi Remen. MD

  "How can I serve" not "How can I Help" - Read article as a group and discuss questions. 

•  Listening Skills - Feelings Wheel Exercise

  Attached is the Feelings Wheel exercise which can help us better develop our listening skills and help us to identify the underlying emotions to a care receiver’s feeling.

• Listening Skills Presentation by Laura Masterson COHI Annual Conference