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.

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READERS OF SWEDENBORG DISCUSSION GROUP
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Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Swedenborgian Theology Discussion: Rebirth
6:00–7:00pm Central time
With Rev. Dr. George Dole, Bath, Maine, via Skype
On Tuesday, February 7 at 6 pm central time, we will continue our discussion on Swedenborg's compelling essay on the growth and development of the soul. Join us as we reach out via Skype to Rev. Dr. George Dole for this discussion. We will be discussing chapter 13, "Rebirth" from Swedenborg's "The Heavenly City." The book is available on loan from the Swedenborg Library. If you would like to receive a PDF of the pages under discussion, email info@swedenborglib.org.

If you would like to participate via Skype yourself, contact us at info@SwedenborgLib.org for information on how to do that. A microphone and webcam attachments to your computer are required to use Skype.
LOCATION: Swedenborg Library, 77 W. Washington St. Room 1700, Chicago, IL.
TIME: 6-7 pm Doors open at 5 pm; the one-hour class/discussion begins at 6 pm.
Fee: Free will offering. Sponsored by the Swedenborg Library.
Discounted parking coupons for the lot at 172 W. Madison St. (north side of Madison between LaSalle and Wells St.) are available for $10, for parking between 4 pm and midnight.



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 (UK, 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 autumn.
Note that there is a $10 fee payable to Common Ground for these programs. The programs are held on the 2nd floor, James Parlor, at 77 W. Washington St. (at Clark) in Chicago. Join us for refreshments between 6-7 pm in the Swedenborg Library, on the 17th floor prior to the program. Discounted parking coupons for the lot at 172 W. Madison St. (north side of Madison between LaSalle and Wells St.) are available for $10, for parking between 4 pm and midnight.

If you would like to participate in a worship service prior to the Common Ground event, consider participating in The Methodist Church's Taizé -style worship service that is held from 6-6:45 pm every Friday in Dixon Chapel (also on the 2nd floor of 77 W. Washington St.) The public is welcomed to participate in this service that includes prayer, candle-lighting and singing chants in Latin, in the lovely, small Dixon chapel. Taizé worship originated in France; it takes its name from the small town in France where Brother Roger founded an ecumenical monastic community. For more information, see About Taizé in Wikipedia



Friday, February 10, 2012
JOHN WASIK
Nikola Tesla: Genius Inventor, Visionary, and Mystic
When Nikola Tesla came to Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, his dazzling electrical show not only amused hundreds of thousands, it changed the world. Most of the industrialized world is still using his electrical system and motors. He was also a great visionary who designed a world power system and perhaps "death ray" for world peace as well as hundreds of inventions we use daily. John Wasik, who is researching a book on Tesla, will tell this remarkable man's story and show that his ideas are more relevant than ever.
LOCATION: 2nd Floor, 77 W. Washington St. (at Clark St.), Chicago.
TIME: 7-9pm. Join us for refreshments anytime from 6-7pm.
FEE: $10 fee payable to Common Ground will be collected at the door.


John Wasik is the author of "The Audacity of Help: Obama's Economic Plan and the Remaking of America." He has lectured across the U.S. and has appeared on NBC, NPR, PBS, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, FOX and on radio stations across the world; his column for Bloomberg News reaches readers on five continents.



Friday, March 9, 2012
JERROL LEITNER
"I Ate the World"—Emerson's Spirituality
Ralph Waldo Emerson once dreamed that he saw the world, diminished to the size of an apple, floating above him. “Then an angel took it in his hand and brought it to me and said, ‘This thou must eat.’ And I ate the world.” Emerson devoured life. He read voraciously, wrote relentlessly, and averaged 80 lectures a year. He returned always to the same topics:trusting oneself rather than authorities and scriptures, finding the divine within, and realizing that "every natural fact reveals a spiritual fact." This presentation examines the roots of Emerson's spirituality and the call to the spiritual life found in his major writings. LOCATION: 2nd Floor, 77 W. Washington St. (at Clark St.), Chicago.
TIME: 7-9pm. Join us for refreshments anytime from 6-7pm.
FEE: $10 fee payable to Common Ground will be collected at the door.


Jerrol Leitner holds an M.A. in Theology, from St. John University, Collegeville, MN; and an M.A. in English from Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL. He is retired from 40 years of teaching English and Theology at St. Viator High School, Arlington Heights, where he was the English Dept. chair.









Friday, April 13, 2012
JIM KENNEY
The World's Religions: Two Revolutionary Turnings
The Axial Age in Religions – in the millennium before the birth of Jesus Christ – saw the laying of the foundations of most of the great world religions we know today. It wrought a profound transformation in the lives of human beings. Jim will explore that period, which Karen Armstrong has called “the Great Transformation.” He’ll then move on to offer the remarkable hypothesis that our own time is a “Second Axial Age,” bringing an evolutionary change in religion and spirituality that may well equal the first. LOCATION: 2nd Floor, 77 W. Washington St. (at Clark St.), Chicago.
TIME: 7-9pm. Join us for refreshments anytime from 6-7pm.
FEE: $10 fee payable to Common Ground will be collected at the door.

Friday, May 11, 2012
JIM KENNEY
Three Great Moments in Buddhism
The Mahayana Buddhist tradition (the schools that flourished in Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan) has an extraordinarily rich and complex history, distinguished by over twenty major schools of interpretation and practice. In this presentation, we’ll explore three of the greatest teachings to emerge from that tradition. We’ll meet Nagarjuna, the 2nd- and 3rd-century philosopher who shaped the Buddhist teachings of emptiness and interdependence. We’ll sketch the emergence of the Ch’an (Zen)school, the path of meditation, and its connection to Chinese Taoism. Finally, we’ll examine the Pure Land school that gave rise to the most widespread form of Buddhism practiced today – faith in Amida Buddha as the savior.
LOCATION: 2nd Floor, 77 W. Washington St. (at Clark St.), Chicago.
TIME: 7-9pm. Join us for refreshments anytime from 6-7pm.
FEE: $10 fee payable to Common Ground will be collected at the door.


Jim Kenney is the director and co-founder of Common Ground. He is the editor of the journal "Interreligious Insight" and author of "Thriving in the Crosscurrent."



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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:

Glimpses of Eternity by Dr. Raymond Moody, MD. Since Dr. Moody published in 1975 his landmark Life After Life on near death experience, the ever-growing testimony of NDEs has been recently dismissed through a materialist view that consciousness is just a creation of the brain, and that the near death visions of the resuscitated are the results of oxygen deprivation. In his latest book, Glimpses of Eternity, Dr. Moody presents the results of his latest research into shared death experience, when the moments surrounding our final departure are sometimes shared with the living, in a variety of sensory experiences.
For more information on Dr. Moody's work, see Raymond Moody MD



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

William James's Revolution by Ron Miller. When it was first published in 1902, James's The Varieties of Religious Experience caused a revolution, a quantum leap, a paradigm shift. James opened the door to the scientific study of religious experience, probing the relationship between religion and psychology. It is obvious no one can have a religious experience without brain activity. The salient question is whether this brain activity is the mediator or creator of the experience. This classic text by William James should be required reading for anyone wanting to study religion. But years of college teaching convinced the author that this is a daunting read for most undergraduate students, and even for some older adults. Miller parsed sections of James' text and provides commentary and insight on each one throughout this must-read book, thus opening the world of James like never before.
To order a copy of the book, see Ron Miller


Unpacking the Parables: The Wisdom Teachings of Jesus by Ron Miller. Miller explains in his Introduction that by starting with parables found in the Gospel of Thomas, a text made available to us only approximately sixty years ago, the parables are seen from a distinctly different premise. Rather than seeing Jesus as an apocalyptic preacher, using Thomas, Miller's orientation moves from an understanding of Jesus primarily as a wisdom teacher. This difference in starting point is not an inconsequential matter. It lies at the heart of any efforts to undersand Jesus and his basic message. To order a copy of the book, see Ron Miller



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Current Exhibit in the Library:

Daniel Burnham and The Chicago Plan
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To add your name to our mailing list and receive timely updates, call The Swedenborg Library ~ 312-346-7003


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