Council for Health and Human Service Ministries

Word and Deed: Thoughts on Faith-Based Leadership

Nine Steps to Design Outside the Lines

There are a multitude of books available on meditation and prayer and many are sources of nourishment that help us to quiet our restless mind and to connect with our spiritual essence. Andrea La Sonde Anastos has contributed to this pool of inspirational writings by offering beautiful depictions of the Divine through imagery, poetry and meditation in her book entitled Outside the Lines: Meditations on an Expansive God.

Primarily written for women, Outside the Lines can be used as a personal spiritual guide or as a guide for groups. It is a guiding light for anyone who desires to experience creative aspects of God. Anastos writes in a conversational style that invites a diverse group of worshippers to dine at her table. However, her interest in expanding the awareness of the feminine aspects of the Divine are evident throughout the book in which she shares stories about women whose lives were enriched by gaining a new perspective of themselves and "...becoming aware of the unique quality of the divine image within..." (47).

She explains why she was led to assist women in developing a broader experience of faith on the back cover of Outside the Lines: When Anastos began doing individual spiritual direction at her church, she was surprised to discover that the majority of her female participants shared the same feelings about their relationships with the church. "They wanted to break out of the deep silence in which the inadequacy of traditional religious language has often trapped women, to describe, authentically and accurately, ways of knowing the Divine and being in relationship with the Holy that are not rooted in dominant and predominantly male structures..." That awareness set the platform for her to start a spiritual circle to "...bring these women together into a common space where the Spirit they were experiencing individually could move among and between them" (5).

If you have felt similar yearnings and are led to create a place for people to gather to explore the sacredness of their lives, Anastos provides a road map to help prepare you for the journey. She says an ideal size consists of 12 or fewer people who meet weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly or whenever the group agrees to and you can start with the following guidelines:

  • Identify a warm, restful, quiet, and inviting location where you are not likely to be interrupted.
  • Ideally, use the same setting over the time that the group meets. Familiarity produces a feeling of safety and peace.
  • Allow time for gathering and brief greetings to one another.
  • Begin by lighting a candle and a call into silence and prayer or contemplation.
  • Share a guided meditation (your own or one in her book or another)
  • Allow time after the meditation to process it through journaling, drawing, or working with clay. Note ideas, thoughts and images that arose.
  • Allow time for people to check-in and offer support about one another's daily or weekly spiritual discipline.
  • Allow time for people to speak about and share the images and thoughts about the meditation itself.
  • Conclude with a blessing and the extinguishing of the candle.

This book is an invitation. Anastos has invited us to "...trust the invitation and trust the assurance that arises in your own soul when you begin to claim God's presence, which is there in the events and experiences of your life. Trust that God loves and needs your uniqueness, and then seek the unique imprint of God within you" (7).

Shirley Nelson

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