The Library's collection of books on spiritual topics is available by appointment and prior to/following programs.

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UPCOMING PROGRAMS:
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COMMON GROUND: MARCH 12, 2010 / 7 PM
Jim Kenney: OBAMA: YEAR ONE

His job approval ratings have vacillated as he’s struggled with the financial crisis, health care, unemployment, climate change and Afghanistan. How’s he doing?
And, almost as important in an election year,how do Democrats, Republicans and independents assess his first year? This presentation will offer quick but (we hope) insightful answers to those critical questions.

Jim Kenney is a co-founder of Common Ground and Executive Director, Interreligious Engagement Project (www.iep21.org).

$10 fee to Common Ground. Bring a friend, and your friend is free! Program location: James Parlor, 2nd Floor, 77 W. Washington St. (at Clark St.), Chicago. Refreshments. Doors open at 6 pm; program begins at 7 pm.

FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2010: 7 pm

PAUL QUINN: ARCHETYPES OF AWAKENING
Bring a friend to what promises to be another delightful and surprising evening with Tarot expert Paul Quinn as he explores the Tarot as a timeless container for the convergence of mysticism, myth, and parable -- a cosmic soup to nourish and expand the soul.

Location: Swedenborg Library, Room 1700, 77 W. Washington St. (at Clark), Chicago. Your $5 donation will go to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Paul Quinn is author of Quest Books' best-selling Tarot for Life,, now in its second printing. Tarot for Life has been endorsed by Sonia Choquette, Jungian analyst Dr. Kenneth James, and the American Tarot Association, among many others.

COMMON GROUND: APRIL 9, 2010 / 7 PM
AHMAD SADRI: THE AHMADINEJAD CONUNDRUM

How do you solve a problem like Ahmadinejad? He’s become the principal source of Iranian hostility toward the US and the West and the major focus of western misunderstanding and mistrust of Iran. From Holocaust denial to nuclear intransigence to repeated threats to peace in the Middle East, Ahmadinejad is Iran’s presenting problem. But how popular is he at home? And what is the level of his real power in the complex.

Ahmad Sadri is part of the Common Ground faculty; Ph.D., New School for Social Research; College Professor of Islamic World Studies, Lake Forest College; author of several books, in Persian and in English, including Max Weber’s Sociology of Individuals.

$10 fee to Common Ground. Bring a friend, and your friend is free! Program location: James Parlor, 2nd Floor, 77 W. Washington St. (at Clark St.), Chicago. Refreshments. Doors open at 6 pm; program begins at 7 pm.

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Recommended Reading:
From our November 13 program, The Audacity of Help by John Wasik.

Books by Robert Wright, recommended by Jim Kenney in his Oct. 9 program, "God Evolves":
The Evolution of God
Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny
The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are


Reading Ahead....
For upcoming programs, Karen Armstrong, The Case for God.

Next spring, Ron Miller and Jack Gilroy will team up to discuss William James...if you'd like to read ahead, we recommend:
Robert Richardson's biography of William James, William James: In the Maelstrom of Modernism;
Varieties of Religious Experience by William James, a recently published version with commentary from the University of Chicago's Martin Marty;
The Will to Believe by William James;
The Metaphysical Club by Louis Menand, a regular contributor to The New Yorker

All of these titles are available on loan from the Swedenborg Library. Call first, 312-346-7003.

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COMING APRIL 23-25, 2010: A WEEKEND RETREAT with Ron Miller
Making Space for the Spirit: Guidelines for Developing Your Spiritual Path
Everyone is on a spiritual path, whether they know it or not. Spirit is what we most deeply are. The poet Hopkins called it "the dearest freshness deep down things." But we can be on this path with greater or less skill, greater or less awareness. Our time together will be spent exploring ways of facilitating this process of growth. Participation is limited to 30 people.
Location: St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein Transportation will be arranged from the Mundelein Metra stop. Fee includes meals from Friday supper through brunch on Sunday. All rooms have private bath. Single room: $199; you and a friend sharing a double room: $179 each.
To RSVP, call the Library at (312) 346-7003 or send us an email using the "Contact" feature: RSVP for the April 23-25, 2010 Retreat

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Current Art Exhibits in the Library:
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Lily Gaines Watercolors


At right, July 4th at Navy Pier, watercolor by Lily Gaines. Happy 4th of July! Lily Gaines' rapturous watercolor reflect the city's marriage of beauty and usefulness. She finds the underlying value of that marriage in our elegant architecture, civil engineering innovations, the urban layout and its engagement with its natural setting, our many landscaped gardens and parks. Her paintings invite daily inspiration for all who live here.

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77 W. Washington – Room 1700
Chicago, IL 60602
312.346.7003