Thursday, November 19, 2009

Minister reflects on Moore's Convo 2009 talk

Rev. Kathryn Bert blogs about the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Convocation 2009 held in Ottawa over last weekend. In her post,
"Day #1 Convo"
she writes, "Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, Education of the Heart, and The Soul of Sex, is the keynote speaker. His thesis is that ministry (and caring for the soul) is more about acceptance and trust than improvement. He says that virtue as a goal gets in our way...(yes!)"

In her post today, "The Soul and Spirit of Leadership", she reflects on Moore’s descriptions of soul and spirit. Rev. Bert includes, "Moore equates Soul with attachment. Spirit with detachment. This is not how I’d have framed these concepts, but I find it intriguing. Soul: attachment, immanent God, belonging, body, emotions, individual, the physical. Spirit: detachment, transcendent God, perspective, the other or others, community, thought. (Please remember this is just my novice interpretation of Moore’s words, not his understanding!)"

On her About page, Rev. Bert explains the name of her blog, The Stole’n Word as "The Stole represents my theology and those I love: the family which made it and the congregation I serve wearing it. The Word, of course, is the theology I share in my ministry and in this blog."