The Swedenborg Library's collection of books on spiritual topics is available by appointment and prior to and following programs, and on Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 4 pm.

Discounted parking coupons ($9) for the Self-Park lot at 172 W. Madison St. (north side of Madison between LaSalle and Wells St.) are available from the Swedenborg Library, for parking between 4 pm and midnight weekdays, or all day Saturday or Sunday. Without the coupon, parking is $14 after 4 pm weekdays. Some metered spaces are available opposite 77 W. Washington, on Clark St., and on Madison, nearby.

The Swedenborg Library is located on the 17th floor of 77 W. Washington St. (at Clark St.) in Chicago, opposite Daley Plaza and diagonally across the street from City Hall.

To get to the Library by elevated train or subway: Brown Line exit Clark & Lake and walk 2 blocks south on Clark or exit Wells and walk 2 blocks east to Clark; Red Line: Randolph/Lake exit; walk north to Washington and west to Clark St. Blue Line: Washington exit. Green Line: Clark & Lake exit. The 22 Clark bus: exit at City Hall/Randolph Street and cross Washington and Clark to 77 W. Washington (southeast corner of Clark & Washington.) At street level, look for the BMO Harris Bank in the corner of the building. Enter the brass doors for 77 W. Washington St. using the Washington St. entrance.

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SPIRITUAL TOPICS DISCUSSION GROUP
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MONDAYS at 6pm beginning June 10. Discussion group working with A Book About Us, the Bible as the story of ourselves, with Rev. Dr. George Dole.

"In A Book About Us Rev. Dr. George Dole presents an appealing narrative of his own that helps us to see how the Biblical story, with its incredibly vivid characters, both paralles our personal life stories and calls us to reshape them. Underlying this account is an important challenge to the reader: to embrace, rather than resolve, the various paradoxes of our lives. This book offers a step toward heaven by affirming the human quest for meaning and the centrality of the Biblical message for that quest."--Inese Radzins, Assistant Professor of Theology at the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California

Copies of the 72-page "A Book About Us" are available on loan from the Swedenborg Library. We will begin with chapter 1 on Monday, June 10, 6-7 pm.

Monday evenings, 6-7pm,through May 6, 2013.
Location:Swedenborg Library, 17th floor, 77 W. Washington St., Chicago.
Fee: Free will offering. Sponsored by the Swedenborg Library.

Rev. Dr. George Dole is professor emeritus of the Swedenborg House of Studies at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Calif. and part of the translation team working on translating Swedenborg's original neo-Latin texts. He is the author of "Freedom & Evil," "A Thoughtful Soul," "A Scientist Explores Spirit,", and "A View From Within" in addition to several monographs on Swedenborgian topics. He is a scholar of the Bible and biblical languages with degrees from Yale, Oxford, Harvard and the New Church Theological School.






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UPCOMING COMMON GROUND PROGRAMS:
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As one of Common Ground's (Deerfield, IL) satellite locations, the Swedenborg Library will host the following Common Ground programs this season.
The following programs will be held on the 2nd floor (James Parlor) at 77 W. Washington St., Chicago. Join us for refreshments beforehand (6-7 pm) in the Swedenborg Library, on the 17th floor of 77 W. Washington. Note that there is a $10 fee payable to Common Ground payable at the door. Discounted parking coupons for the lot at 172 W. Madison St. (north side of Madison between LaSalle and Wells St.) are available for $9, for parking 4pm-midnight.

FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 7-9PM: RELIGION EVOLVING?
with Jim Kenney.
This past October, the extraordinary “Awakened World 2012,” conference was held in Rome and Florence, Italy. Co-Directed by Jim, the event took up a vital and exciting question: Do religion and spirituality evolve or do they merely change? The verdict from the 250 leaders, scholars, and activists brought together by the conference was a resounding “Yes” for religious evolution. Why? And just what does that portend? Jim has some exciting answers, possibilities, and insights to explore. $10 payable to Common Ground.


Jim Kenney is the director of Common Ground, and author of "Thriving in the Crosscurrent: Clarity and Hope in a Time of Sea Change."



FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 7-9pm: SPIRITUAL ECONOMICS: A DISCIPLINE WHOSE TIME HAS COME
with John Wasik

Most of the world's economic systems are based on material growth linked to expansion of the gross domestic products. What these gauges don't tell us is how people are really faring, their well being and prosperity. The U.S. has the largest GDP on the planet, but still has dramatic income inequality, a declining middle class, fractured health-care system and environmental maladies. How do we get beyond growth-based economics? John Wasik, author of The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome will share his latest research for an upcoming book and outline a strategy for a dignity-based economics.

John Wasik is the author of thirteen books including "The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome: Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream." He has lectured across the U.S. and has appeared on NBC, PBS, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, FOX, and on radio stations across the world.


Program from 7-9 pm; join us from 6-7 pm for refreshments prior to the program in the Swedenborg Library, 17th floor, 77 W. Washington St., Chicago. $10 fee payable to Common Ground.

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Recommended Reading:
Recommended reading: These books are available on loan through the Swedenborg Library, and information is also provided should you like to order a copy for yourself:


Beyond the Shadowlands: C.S. Lewis on Heaven & Hell by Wayne Martindale. C.S. Lewis's fiction is rich with reflections on the afterlife. For many, reading his books helps in forming a more vivid understanding of Heaven and Hell. In this book, Lewis scholar Wayne Martindale uses some of Lewis's best-loved fiction as an imaginative complement to his discussion on eternity.


The Art of Intuition by Sophy Burnham. Best-selling author Sophy Burnham contends that we all have hunches and sudden insights, and that we need only awaken to our inborn abilities in order to develop our inner wisdom. This book explores examples of intuition, from loved ones' ability to communicate telepathically to the mystery of artists' inspired creativity to skeptics who deny the very existence of such abilities.



Thriving in the Crosscurrent by Jim Kenney. Take heart, says Jim Kenney. Our current economic and environmental mess, and global violence, are indicators that we are caught up in another cultural sea change, like that of the sixteenth century Scientific Revolution. Historically, such upheavals are always chaotic, but they also advance evolution. Kenney explains these changes in intersecting waves of values. Currently the old values of patriarchy, racism, war mongering, and exploitation of nature are giving way to new values of gender equality, human rights, nonviolence, and ecological awareness. For more information, see Thriving In the Crosscurrent




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Current Exhibit in the Library:

Canvas reproductions of the original Revelation Angels, representing the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation. The artwork was originally created in 1902 as stained glass windows by the Louis Comfort Tiffany Studio, for the New Jerusalem church of Glendale (Cincinnati), Ohio, which was located at Oak Street and Winslow Avenue.The windows were removed when the church was dismantled to make way for Interstate 71 in the 1960s.

At left, Philadelphia, one of seven angels created by the Louis Comfort Tiffany Studio in 1902.

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