Today was the second session of an 8-week course we are offering for women at the jail which I discovered during a Circle of the Word series on the theme of forgiveness. This is the second time I have done this course at the jail (the first time being a year ago). We also offered it at the women’s prison last Spring. Each time I teach it I think more highly of it. I will be rotating this course with a series of Circle of the Word classes.

Houses of Healing is not a “religious” program, but it does encourage spiritual as well as emotional growth. This time I had one-on-one conversations with each of the 18 women who the chaplain had identified as eligible, to tell them about the course and see if they wanted to attend. They all did. I also asked about their faith tradition, if any. One woman self identified as Wiccan; the others all as Christian, though many said they were not active Christians.

As an introduction to the program’s basic concept that all of us, no exceptions, have a “Core Self” that is good, peaceful, loving, and wise, last week I told excerpts from the ancient Creation story found in Genesis 1. This week, to reinforce the metaphor of this Core Self as a light, and as an introduction to relaxation and meditation, I taught a simple song: “Be Still and Know”). This was followed by a telling of the first few verses of John 1, ending with the assurance that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

It was a very good session. The women are doing their “Self-Work” and participate well in class. Of the 18 women who signed up, we had 2 no-show’s, 3 went home after the first session, and 1 got in a fight and isn’t allowed to come. Wo we now have a perfect size group–12.