Where we are going

I had a wonderful evening last night leading the Tao group at our local fellowship...

If you know tao you may ask how does one lead a tao group. And how clever a question that would be. When I came home last night my husband asked me that exact question and I replied it's a lot more like facilitation lite.

We simply start with light snacking and there are always new faces so we give brief introductions with a focus question, last night it was how did you live tao over the last month. I talked about the fear and worry I often feel about physical danger and how I threw it away to take the red flyer wagon down the hill at the park. Quite a few laughs incurred and that is at the heart of what we try to accomplish. We then take a Tao verse (there are 81) and read both a common version we all had emailed to us and any other translation we bring ourselves. There are at least 6 or 7 other translations read. We use events from our own life and experience to try to understand the meaning within the verse and end up sharing a lot of wisdom, insight, saddness, and laughter. We gain peace, acceptance, confusion, dialogue, good will, understanding, and often more questions. The goal is to find balance and our own path of understanding in life.

It is truly an amazing group to be a part of. As a facilitator I think of questions to further the dialogue, and pay attention to other participants in case they are not given a chance to participate or maybe need a connection made between the verse and the most recent comment. Really we all take our turn with these areas. I feel very blessed by my ability to join in this group. It makes me reflect on my life in a meaningful and necessary way...it slows me down...I even rode my bike last night to get there. Peace.