• Newsprint pad
• Easel
• Markers for writing on newsprint
• Optional: Microphone

• Arrange the newsprint pad, easel, and markers for use during the activity.

Invite the group to divide into groups of three and spend six minutes taking turns answering the question, "What brings you here?" Point out that this allows two minutes per person. Explain that it can be a powerful spiritual practice to fully and deeply listen to someone else-not to fill our heads with what we're planning to say when it's our turn or with judgments and responses to what we're hearing, but to simply listen to another person.

After six minutes, bring everyone back into one group. Ask for volunteers to respond to the following questions. Record responses on newsprint.

• Did you find that the individuals in your group had very different motivations for participation, or similar ones?
• What are some motivations that your small group had in common?
• What other motivations-perhaps less common-have brought you here?

Explain to the group that these sheets will be posted again during the last workshop so that they can assess whether they've gotten what they came for and whether their reasons for participation have changed over time.

Conclude by affirming participants' motivations for attending. Express your hope that this be a place where they can deepen and grow their spirituality.

If you notice participants struggling to hear one another in their small groups, allow some groups to leave the room and find a quieter space. If you two to three participants require ASL interpretation and you have only one interpreter, put those participants in the same group. If you have more than three participants needing ASL interpretation, find a second interpreter to help.