My LIVING Group

January 24, 2015
Day 269

Several years ago, I created an online group for spiritual discussion, and it had a very successful, very happy run at the time.  I called it LIVING, which stood for Long Island Voices In and Near God.  On September 18, 2006, we began meeting regularly at my apartment in Central Islip, where 5-10 of us would watch a movie or documentary with some spiritual theme, and then discuss it for a while afterward.  This went on happily until our last such gathering on May 6, 2009.  Andy and I bought our house in Malverne that summer, and though I had every intention of restarting the group in our new home, it still hasn't happened.

The experiences I had with this group were sometimes fun, sometimes sad, and sometimes extraordinary.  We listened to each other's stories and upbringings in different faith traditions, shared our truths and beliefs in a safe, nonjudgmental way, and mostly just enjoyed the time we spent together stretching our hearts and minds to all possibilities.

I'll never forget the time we were watching a movie called Let It Ride, with the theme of luck and prayer, and halfway through the movie, we heard the sound of a car crash outside.  It was a hit and run, as the driver had side-swiped the car of one of our group members and then driven off!  What a thing to have happen to him, especially on a night dedicated to a discussion of luck!

On another night, we were watching an informational video on the Passover meal.  It was a beautiful DVD I still have, which detailed why the meal is celebrated, and what various traditions surrounding the holiday entail.  We were all thoroughly enjoying it, but then the father of the family featured in the film, the man talking to the camera the whole time, paused suddenly and said something like, "And Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of this prophecy."  We all looked at each other in shock.  It was a Jews For Jesus DVD, a propaganda film made to convince Jews to follow Jesus in a most subversive way--and we had no idea!  We laughed a bit after the shock wore off, but it was definitely one of the most surprising movie twists I've ever seen!

I genuinely hope to restart these spiritual gatherings again at some point, at my home or elsewhere, and with or without the cinematic portion.  I'm proud of the group, and happy to have helped facilitate some incredibly meaningful conversations during those years.  The reason I started it then is the same reason I'd restart it now: because we don't spend enough time talking about the big picture.