Sunday, January 26th – Martin Wagner Workshop

Immediately following Coffee Hour in the Parlor

Being alive and awake on Earth today is hard. If we pay attention, we are confronted daily by environmental, social, political, or personal crises that break our hearts, enrage us, or both. Facing these realities can wound us morally and spiritually in ways that undermine our well-being and interfere with our ability to offer our gifts and service to the world.

Despite this, we often avoid acknowledging our grief and pain, fearing it will be too painful, will interfere with our ability to function, or will cause others to reject us. But such avoidance requires emotional numbing that can lead to cynicism, despair, burnout, or worse, and that blinds us to the beauty the world continues to offer.

This workshop will include a brief discussion of how personal, societal, and planetary pain can wound us spiritually and emotionally. The bulk of our time will be devoted to exercises and rituals, inspired by Joanna Macy’s Work that Reconnects, to help us support one another in honoring our experience of the pain of the world and building a foundation for hope for the future.

A little about Martin:

I came to chaplaincy after 35+ years as a human rights and environmental lawyer, the last 28 of which were as the managing attorney of the International Program at Earthjustice. This work gave me first-hand experience of moral and spiritual wounding caused by daily attention to the brokenness of the world. Other experiences I have with this work include:

• Over 15 years of study with engaged Buddhist Joanna Macy
• Study of the spiritual needs of social change movements
• Training as an interfaith spiritual companion (certificate expected in 2025)
• Over a decade of study and facilitation of anti-racism and white caucus work, as well as of conscious communication techniques (T-Group)
• A lifetime of dedicated spiritual exploration grounded in Christianity, Buddhism, and the Sacred Feminine
• Extensive experience as a ritualist