• Chalice and matchers

Use the Opening designed by your group or the one provided below.

Gather around the chalice. As a volunteer lights the chalice, ask the group to focus on the words "spiritual guides," in silence. After about fifteen seconds, invite participants to speak freely into the space a word or two that they associate with the words "spiritual guides." When everyone who wishes to speak has had a chance to do so, close by saying,

May the space we create here today be wide enough to hold all our individual ideas and deep enough to allow those ideas to grow, to fruit, and to provide seeds for new beginnings.

Introduce today's workshop. Say,

Who and what are our spiritual teachers? How do we absorb a lesson from a teacher and live it ourselves? In our culture, which celebrates independence in thought and deed, seeking or taking guidance from a teacher may be seen as weak or submissive. However, anyone who has had a truly great teacher or guide knows that there is something of the spiritual and sacred in this relationship. Guides and lessons can come in many forms. Today let us see what poetry has to say about expanding our openness to teachers. It is up to us to recognize a good teacher, temper her/his guidance with our own sense of what is right for us, and take a lesson to heart and run with it!