skip to Main Content
Spirituality Beyond Religion

May 7 

Click here for zoom recording.

John Van Auken

“Edgar Cayce: Prototype of Our Future”

John Van Auken is the Director of the Legacy Education for the Edgar Cayce Foundation. He will speak to us via Zoom. He has written 31 Cayce-based books, presented on radio, TV, and conferences. He’s led over 90 Cayce tours to sacred sites around the world. He is a popular teacher and considered to be an expert on ancient religions, reincarnation and karma, meditation methods, chanting, dream study, and holistic health and healing.

Soon the amazing extra-sensory skills demonstrated by Edgar Cayce (known as the ‘Sleeping Prophet’) will become our natural skills. As a prototype, Cayce foreshadowed the potential for us to reach beyond our finite, individual state, and into an expanded infinite, transpersonal awareness. The collective consciousness to which all souls are connected will be accessible to us, despite the illusory limitations of personal privacy and physical distance. Cayce’s fourth-dimensional mind will be commonplace. Accessing the Akashic Records will be like accessing the internet, but without using any physical devices. Empathic and intuitive perception will be our norm. When we meet each other, we’ll perceive each other’s whole soul and mind. With over 50 years of studying and practicing the Cayce methods, John will reveal our soon-to-be natural, normal condition.

 

May 14 

(Click here for the Zoom Recording)

Rabbi Jenny “Skylark” Steinberg-Martinez, JD CHT

“The Gift of Patience: Learning to Wait for the Harvest”

Rabbi Jenny is the lead Rabbi at the Joliet Jewish Congregation in Joliet, Illinois. She is a teacher of Jewish spirituality and mysticism, a Certified Interfaith Counselor and is well versed in all major spiritual traditions. A major focus of Rabbi Jenny’s work deals with helping patients and professionals shift the paradigm that those who suffer from trauma and addiction are in the role of victim to one of a visionary and hero.

Rabbi Jenny is the author of ‘The Terrible and Wonderful, Ugly, and Beautiful Story of My Life So Far’ and ‘Ahavatar: Awakening to Your Divine Self’ (which is used all over the world to help others heal from grief, addiction, and trauma). In addition to her publications, she is also a Certified Hypnotherapist and Certified Master Teacher of Reiki Energy Medicine. She is a student and practitioner of Andean Shamanism, Teacher and Practitioner of Vocal Healing, and a licensed attorney in the state of Florida. Rabbi Jenny has also studied at the Rabbinical Seminary International under 3rd generation Hungarian Kabbalah Mystic, Rabbi Joseph Gelberman.

For her Zoom talk at Morning Star, Rabbi Jenny will speak on ‘The Gift of Patience: Learning to Wait for the Harvest.’ She will also lead us in a guided meditation to one’s own sacred garden in the heart.

 

May 21 

(Click here for the Zoom Recording)

Pamela Olson

“The Dark and Slippery Mountain: Spirituality without a Map”

Pamela Olson grew up in the small town of Stigler, OK. She studied physics at Stanford University, spent two years in the occupied Palestinian Territories after college, and wrote an award-winning book called Fast Times in Palestine.  Her spiritual journey began at age 14 when her fundamentalist Christian worldview imploded and she realized she was alone on a dark and slippery mountain with no map—or rather, countless maps and no clear idea how to judge the quality of each one.  So she followed her nose to, among many other things: Improvisation for Theater as a practicum in Taoism, a moment in Jordan under a full moon when her consciousness expanded infinitely (and she had no idea what to do with that), channeling wisdom through novel-writing, parenting as a deeply challenging spiritual practice (with incredibly high stakes), Internal Family Systems therapy, and most recently a ten-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat. All the practices are finally beginning to come into focus as different aspects of the same basic truths.

 

May 28

(See Zoom joining details below)

Twila Wilson

“Spirituality in Action -A Life of Service”

For Twyla Wilson service became her love language at a very young age. As the oldest child in her family, by age 8 she was cooking dinner, planning weekly menus, and even inventing meals of her own for the whole family. Through these experiences she came to believe that, “food is love, service is love, and service is bonding.” Over time, Twyla also came to view volunteer work as helpful and personally rewarding. Service to others rather than self, became her spiritual path. For Twyla being in service to others not only feels good, feels right; but is rewarding in and of itself.  Twyla’s involvement in numerous projects over the years led to an understanding that there are many marginalized people in the world, who through no fault of their own, are in need of help. Her most recent endeavor in meeting this need is through the “3 Squares Project”, a program designed to provide tasty, nutritious meals to people locally, nationally, and globally. This project serves people in the U.S. and Africa. Since its inception 10 months ago 72,000 meals have been sent to Africa.

At Morning Star Twyla will share spiritual lessons she has learned through acts of service and will describe the “3 Squares Project” in greater detail. There will also be a “3 Squares Tasting Party” following the service as Twyla generously provides samples of some of the meals for us to experience for ourselves.

 

June 4

Elder Gideon (on Zoom)

(See Zoom joining details below)

People of Breakthrough

” Elder Gideon has walked with Tau Malachi and The Fellowship since 1996. The teachings and practice of Christian Kabbalah have reoriented every aspect of his life, career, and creativity. He edited Tau Malachi’s Gnostic Path of St. Thomas for Llewellyn Publishers forthcoming this fall. Twice nominated for the 2023 Pushcart Prize, his third poetry collection Sophia’s Wisdom with EPS Press launches later this year. His sculpture show “Black Mirrors” will open in Sacramento early next year. He teaches high school creative writing, mythology, and African American literature.

At Morning Star, he will explore the mystical legends between the lines of a pivotal story in Genesis: Jacob wrestling with the angel. The message of this struggle is familiar to anyone in a transition in life. Accusations from the past, of lack, or anxiety all personify the shadow with which Jacob wrestles and ultimately pins to the earth. What he most feared was an angel in disguise, who blessed and renamed him Israel. We will explore mystical meanings of “Israel” and the promise that in our own wrestling with God, we’ll prevail. He lives to connect. Feel free to reach out: www.eldergideon.com

 

June 11

Andrea Foster (on Zoom)

(See Zoom joining details below)

Express Yourself?

Andrea Foster is an editor and author who has been working in every aspect of the book business since 1977. She began as an Op Ed Writer and Editor for various newspapers and magazines in both New England and Houston, Texas. She eventually became a marketer and events-person for some of the biggest names in publishing and the music industry. Some of the authors with whom she has worked in the past include President Jimmy Carter, newsman David Brinkley, author John Grisham, Power of Prayer author Larry Dossey, and baseball star Mickey Mantle and his sons. She currently teaches Creative Writing online and how to Write, Publish & Market Your Book at the Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno.

At Morning Star, Andrea will share that everybody has a story to tell, whether childhood stories, war stories, made-up stories, poetry, or tall tales.  Some of us like to write them down and keep them in a notebook.  Others put them on Facebook or other online locations or computer files.  She will also tell us how she teaches people to take these literary dreams and put them into a hard copy they can hold in their hands.  Expressing oneself can be both invigorating and inspiring or full of woe.  One thing is certain: writing is healing, and publishing one’s stories can force a shy person out of their shell and give confidence even to the meekest. Andrea Foster’s passion is as follows: when you have spent time, sweat, and tears creating something, you should receive acknowledgement for it—and maybe some money, too!  She’ll tell us how.

 

June 18

Dana Carpenter

(See Zoom joining details below)

“Surrendering into Grace”

Dana Carpenter, B.S, M.P.H., is a spiritual adventurer who began meditating at The Lotus Center in Oklahoma City, OK (OKC) in 1974 with Sat Guru Audle Allison (AKA Nirvananada). Since retiring from the medical profession in 2014 Dana devotes her time to exploration of the inner world through meditation, and implementation of the knowledge she has received into everyday life. Dana began teaching meditation in 2002 and directs the Teachings of the Masters School of Meditation (currently meeting on Zoom). She also helps conduct meditation retreats with the Friends of the Lotus meditation organization based in OKC.

Dana’s primary focus is to assist her students and workshop participants in connecting more deeply with their divine selves, spiritual guides and teachers; to guide them through their practice of various meditation techniques to enter into and become adept at navigating and energetically exploring their own inner world; to teach them how to clean, clear and heal energy blockages that may be preventing them from fully living and enjoying their lives; to recognize when their own energy field is out of balance and teach them what they can do to bring it back into balance; and to encourage them to learn to live each day consciously and deliberately, doing whatever is necessary to complete their soul growth and development this lifetime.

At Morning Star, Dana will introduce a simple spiritual energy process for letting go of any burdens we may be carrying and surrendering them into the powerful, transformative energy of the Christ Consciousness. She says, as we clear out space inside ourselves, we can receive the gifts of unconditional love, peace and calming, healing, harmony and balance, serenity, compassion, and forgiveness.

 

June 25

Byron Jackson

(See Zoom joining details below)

Recognizing Possibilities

Over the past 40 years, Byron Jackson has created an impressive track record of community training on many subjects, including cultural diversity and team building. These experiences have led him to develop a “special sauce” of experiential learning, humor, music, and fun that creates a safe environment where people can deal with their differences and share who they truly are. His skills in working within diverse groups, along with his extensive community contacts, his humor, and his odd assortment of clothing, have touched the lives of many around the world.

In the late 1980s, Byron began making group presentations on the issues of substance abuse. His interest soon turned to the process of motivating groups of people to work together. Over the years, Byron’s interests have grown to include community development and teaching people how to become engaged in their communities. Byron believes humans are social beings, meaning we work best in interaction with one another. He helps humans connect and work toward common goals.  Byron has worked with groups as far away as Hawaii and Saipan and as diverse as people with disabilities, Native American tribes, and computer geeks. Byron’s work is always full of laughter, interaction, and many “aha!” moments (mostly on what style of clothing he’s going to wear!).  Byron holds a degree in social work from the University of Oklahoma. After graduation, Byron worked as a family and adolescent counselor at the Norman Alcohol Information Center and served as youth director at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Norman. He has trained in group process with Virginia Satir (People Making), Don Lowery (True Colors), and many other innovators of group work. He joined Possibilities, Inc., twenty years ago as a Training and Facilitation Specialist and was named Executive Director in April 2019.

At Morning Star, Byron will share his passion, his goal in life—how he helps groups create safe environments where people can find their own voices. He believes the more each of us allows ourselves to get out of the way of their own agenda and ideas, the more this allows others to create and express their own personal power.

 

HOW TO JOIN OUR VIRTUAL ZOOM OPTION

The virtual meeting room will be open at 10:00 a.m. for virtual visiting and the service will start at 10:15 a.m. If you have trouble connecting or have technical issues on your end, please don’t worry or concern yourself about it.  Just disconnect, go on about your Sunday, and wait for the recording to be posted on our public Facebook page (Morning Star Center for Spiritual Living) and on our website (www.morningstarcenter.org) under the Speaker’s tab. Instructions for you to download ZOOM and connect are included below.

You have 2 options.

  1. Attend by using the computer or laptop.
  2. Attend by using your mobile phone.

Choose the option that works best for you. Be sure to prepare and install ZOOM in advance. It takes a few minutes to set everything up.

Know that using ZOOM as an attendee is always free. You don’t need to buy an account.

Instructions for using ZOOM on the computer or laptop.

  1. Be sure that you have internet.
  2. Click on this link to download the software >> https://zoom.us/download
  3. Install ZOOM.
  4. Accept all the features and questions (don’t worry. It’s safe!)
  5. On Sunday morning, click on this link around 9:30 to join the meeting. We want to be sure everything is working. Be on time so we can help you out! https://us04web.zoom.us/j/441871663
  6. Turn up your sound so you can hear us.

Instructions for using ZOOM on your phone:

  1. Be sure that you have internet.
  2. Go to the app store on your phone and download the ZOOM app.
  3. Accept all the features and questions (don’t worry. It’s safe!)
  4. On Sunday morning around 9:30, open the app on your phone and click on ‘ join meeting’.
  5. Fill in the following meeting id number: 441-871-663.
  6. Accept using camera and phone (otherwise you can’t hear us).
Back To Top