December
The topic of our December 2 meeting, “Sing and Smile and Pray,” came from a hymn written by Virgil and Blanche Brock and published in 1934, the year our facilitator, Ed Miller, was born. This hymn was published by Homer Rodeheaver, who grew up in Jellico, also Ed’s hometown. Rodeheaver, who gained national attention as the song leader for evangelist Billy Sunday’s revival meetings around the country from 1910 to 1930. Throughout the Old and New Testaments we are exhorted to sing and smile and pray. The discussion featured ways to emphasis the joy of the season and ease the stress.
November
Liesl Bold used her decades of experience with various types of meditation to lead our discussion in November on “The Art of Contemplative Listening. Liesl began with Hatha Yoga in her 20s, joined a Centering Prayer group in her 30s, and has been on annual silent retreats of three to 10 days for many years. She was co-leader of a Centering Prayer group in Georgia for 11 years before moving to Tennessee. She plans to go on the Camino de Santiago in April and do an Ignatian silent retreat sometime after that.
October
At our October meeting, Carol Mullen led us through a thoughtful discussion about “Spiritual Journey,” citing many interesting sources, particularly Thomas Merton. She also had participants draw designs related to their own personal journey. Carol has been attending SOS for about five years and looks forward each month to gathering with other fellow contemplatives in community. She is a trained and experienced Spiritual Director, Certified Life Coach, Certified Spiritual Coach and workshop and Retreat Leader. As an experienced Spiritual Director Carol has the privilege to hear sacred stories from her clients and accompany them as they navigate their pathways toward spiritual growth, wholeness, and freedom. She has lived in Knoxville for 25 years, has two grown children and loves hiking, nature, reading, art, and deep conversations. Her website is: www.soulssanctuarycoaching.com
September
At our September 2 meeting, Carl Bello, a newcomer to Knoxville and SOS, led our spirited discussion on “Grief as a Spiritual Practice,” taking the group into the depths of the subject. Carl cited multiple sources of his research, including “The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief,” by Francis Weller; “The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise,” by Martin Prechtel; and “Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words,” by David Whyte. These titles can be found on Amazon.com.
August
Carl was looking for a meditation group in Knoxville and came across our website. He joined us at our August meeting and quickly volunteered to lead the discussion under our new format. Carl is a psychotherapist, veterinarian, and soul activist in practice in Knoxville. He was raised in the Roman Catholic tradition, but has found nourishment and wisdom from many religious traditions, Jungian psychology, myth, poetry and literature.
July
Ghislaine Miller, one of the three women who founded Seekers of Silence 20 years ago as a continuation of Father Terry Ryan‘s quarterly workshops on mysticism and contemplation, reviewed the history of the group at our August meeting. Those present contributed their own experiences with SOS. The group also agreed that SOS should continue with a modified format that features roundtable discussions facilitated by an SOS participant rather than programs with outside speakers.
June
Our Bookshare and Roundtable Discussion in June included reviews of several books, including “The Song of the Bird,” by Anthony de Mello, “Why Buddhism is True,” by Robert Right, “The City is My Monastery,” by Richard Carter, “The Dark Night oft he Soul,” by Gerald May, “The Future of Faith,” by Harvey Cox, a biography of Marjorie Meriweather Post, several books by author Alexander McCall Smith, and an introduction to Dolly Parton’s new song, “World on Fire” which debuted to much acclaim at the 2023 Country Music Awards, which Dolly co-hosted.
The Bookshare program was started several years ago by longtime SOS participant Val Whiting and has been a very popular addition to SOS programs.
May
Authors Dorothy Wilt and Theresa Nardi, both active SOS participants, discussed their book, Almost Holy People, at our May meeting. The book, set mostly in East Tennessee, describes the spiritual journeys of a mother and her two daughters and the important role that silent meditation plays for them.
April
Our meeting in April featured a video by Father Terry Ryan, CSP, on Lent and Lenten Practices. Father Terry’s frequent workshops on meditation and the lives of the saints when he was pastor of St. John XXIII in Knoxville was the inspiration for the creation of Seekers of Silence after his tenure here ended.
March
Our March meeting was an observation of World United in Prayer Day and featured a video from Contemplative Outreach by the late Father Thomas Keating, “Living the Paschal Mystery: Hope and Redemption.”
February
Myles Hixson spoke on “Moral Therapeutic Deism” at our February meeting. He discussed the work of Sociologist Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist. In particular, citing their book, The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers as his main reference.
Myles Hixson was the rector of Holy Cross Anglican Church in Farragut until his retirement in September 2002. Prior to his calling to Holy Cross, he served in both Lutheran and Charismatic congregations. He earned a BS in Biblical Studies/Literature from Bryan College, and Master of Divinity from Beeson Divinity School.
He now attends St. Anne Orthodox Church in Oak Ridge, TN. He lives on a farm in Philadelphia, TN where he practices regenerative agriculture and husbandry.
January
In January, Liz Parmalee presented a program on “Finding God in the Faith of Others: A Radio Interview with Author Brown Taylor. In the interview, Taylor, an Episcopal priest, discussed her book “Holy Envy.” The interview was conducted by Judah Smith, the host of Brigham Young University Radio’s program “In Good Faith.”