2018

‘How, Then, Shall We Live? Living, Dying, and Considering Our Legacy’

In a series of daily theme talks our team of speakers will offer their perspectives on the question of how we should live in light of the knowledge that we, just like all those who have ever lived, will ultimately die. What does a ‘good life’ look like? And how can we live a good and faithful life in practice, especially when we find ourselves in challenging personal circumstances, and as troubling world events unfold around us? What constitutes a ‘good death’ – and how can we best prepare ourselves for dying? And how might it prove fruitful to reflect on our own legacy – individually and collectively – while we are still in the midst of life, or even as we begin to sense that our lives are drawing to a close?

Engagement Groups

A: ‘Crossing and Dwelling: Marking Paths and Making Places’ with Claire MacDonald and Mark Stewart

How do we remember and honour our life journeys? How do we cross the thresholds to come? What parts of our lives do we want to bless, curse, lay flowers on, sing songs to, bury, forget, revive, weep over, laugh about, tell a story about? Our workshop will be an up on your feet exploration, working together, listening and walking, sharing stories and retelling bits and pieces of the journeys we have taken, in order to think differently about the road we have come along and where we still have to go.

B: ‘The Soulful Road’ with Kate Dean and Elizabeth Harley

Is it possible to prepare a good death? How does this affect our life? We will explore the subject through the concept of 'the soul midwife', the role of ritual with the dying and what we can do to prepare for our own death. Going beyond the taboos of mortality, we will consider ways to support others on their Soulful Road. We will explore this subject through a variety of different approaches including 'deep listening', writing and discussion as well as some simple creative activities.

C: ‘Tell Them Stories and Everything will be Well’ with Dot Hewerdine and Katie McKenna

We explain our lives, and understand the world, by using stories: in Philip Pullman’s land of the dead, it is only by telling stories of the richness of life that souls are released to the universe. How do we discover the truth in our own stories, and how do we listen to others so that we understand the truth in their stories? In this group we’ll look at the importance of story in communication between all humans, and investigate our own lives and values using our life stories.

D: ‘A Journey through the Valley of the Shadow: Love, Loss & Remembrance’ with Danny Crosby (and Jef Jones)

To be alive and to be touched by other people’s lives is a precious gift. When we lose someone we love and who has loved us, inside our sorrow there are questions: Where is the Love now that they are gone? What meaning can we make out of our loss? How do we create lives of remembrance? What love will we ourselves leave behind? In a safe and creative group setting we will work with our shared experience of grief and look for the treasure within it. We will explore together how lamenting, commemorating and honouring might make our lives more meaningful and more beautiful; we will explore ways in which our lives will prove worth dying for by the love we leave behind.