December Indoor Gathering

Written By Ancient Hearts Collective .

12/7/2025

December Message: The Love That Unites

OPENING MEDITATION

✧ Attuning to the Heart. We opened with a guided contemplative meditation to attune to our hearts - the bridge to our soul and the loving presence within all of us, that is us.

If you are looking to begin a meditation practice or introduce new meditations into your existing practice, here are a few heart-opening contemplative meditations led by our Founder, Jen Carew:

✧ GATHERING MESSAGE

There is a golden thread of love that unites us all – all of life – across species, across continents, across generations, and across traditions. This golden thread is interconnectedness, interbeing, interdependence. The presence of this golden thread is felt - it is not readily accessible to us through our five senses – it relies on something deeper within us. An intuition, a knowing…like when we hear a truth for the first time – we’ve all had that experience of knowing something was true even if we could not necessarily prove it.

This golden thread is not only essential for our survival, but also what spurs us toward oneness, toward true global community.

When we remember that the golden thread of love connects us to all of life – that the same creative force that gave us form is what gave form to all other species – plant and animal – many of us intuitively know this, and we can see proof in the many patterns of nature – the way our fingerprints look like the rings in a tree trunk, and the way our lungs branch out just like trees…when we remember this – that we are all connected by the same Source – and in reciprocal relationship with one another – exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide – water and inhabiting the same land – we are able to give and therefore receive love from our more than human friends… see our sameness, our oneness gives us the key to unlock our closed hearts – to unchain them and breathe into the love that our hearts yearn to feel for all of life.

When we remember that the golden thread of love connects us across continents, we are connected by the ways we love - that caring for our loved ones, and keeping our traditions alive, are things we have in common, that matter to all of us. In East Asian cultures, love is transmitted through reciprocal responsibility. Parents invest heavily in their children, who, in turn, support their parents in old age, ensuring material comfort and emotional support. Co-residence, maintaining household altars, and cleaning graves are all part of their heritage. Ubuntu is an African philosophy often summarized by the maxim "I am because we are," or "A person is a person through other persons". It emphasizes community, shared humanity, compassion, and collective responsibility. Love is transmitted through communal Child-rearing, creating a deep sense of belonging and fostering a commitment to the well-being of the whole community. Across many Indigenous cultures across the globe, oral traditions and storytelling are central to their education systems and cultural survival. Love is transmitted through stories. Stories are living records used by elders to transmit history, language, moral lessons, and essential values—including respect for the natural world, resilience, and the importance of relationships. The act of sharing and listening together in a circle strengthens communal bonds and nurtures intergenerational relationships.

When we remember that the golden thread of love connects us across generations, when we remember that literally thousands of people came before us and made it possible for us to be born. When you do ancestral mathematics, you become aware that we each have around 4,000 ancestors in just the last 400 years alone. And we typically think of only the last 2-3 generations, but that is like trying to read a 1,000-page book by the cover. There are wise, well, and healed ancestors somewhere in your lineage, just as there are unhealed ancestors. With this awareness, we can become aware that there are both gifts and trauma that have been passed down. It’s not only the trauma that was passed down and inherited, but also the compassion and the ways of loving - the way our ancestors gathered, shared, and cared for one another lives in our DNA. This explains why we feel love at times we cannot explain, when gratitude rises while doing a simple task – stirring a stew, making a fire, spring cleaning, foraging, even simply being in nature, are all things are ancestors did with care and love that made them who they were.

And across traditions, across religious and non-religious spiritual traditions -  we find the golden thread of love woven through the universal principles that unite all traditions. I want to spend time sharing the wisdom of love from many traditions with you…

And as I do, I want to offer a practice of love that is brought to us by the Sufis. Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam. And, if you remember from our last gathering, that mysticism is simply seeking direct experience and union with the divine – it’s going to direct to Source, and Sufi’s practice is around love and honoring the golden thread of love that ties all traditions together.

Closing thoughts:

Across different faiths, the message that love serves as a profound unifying force is a common and cherished theme. In our spiritual practice, we will sit with six scriptures or sacred texts from diverse religious and non-religious spiritual traditions that speak to the love that unites us all.

“Never during its pilgrimage is the human spirit completely adrift and alone. From start to finish, its nucleus is the Atman, the god-within... underlying its whirlpool of transient feelings, emotions, and delusions is the self-luminous, abiding point of the transpersonal god. As the sun lights the world even when cloud-covered, “the Eternal is never seen but is the Witness; it is never heard but is the Hearer; it is never thought but is the Thinker; it is never known but is the Knower. “Huston Smith – The World’s Religions.

We are held, we are guided, we are loved.

✧ SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

The Golden Thread - inspired by Sufi Universal Worship Service. The Universal Worship service honors the One Truth by lighting seven candles—six for the world’s great traditions, and a seventh for all who have carried the light of wisdom through darkness. It does not seek to change anyone’s faith, but to unify humanity in love, reverence, and shared spiritual devotion. Each candle is lit with respect for its tradition, accompanied by sacred words that reveal its essence. Through these voices, we listen for the single golden thread of love that connects every path.

✧ PERENNIAL WISDOM SOURCES:

✧  SUFISM

 “The Way of Illumination” by Hazrat Inayat Khan

  • Order here (not available through our local bookstore).

 

✧ CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM

 “Prayers of the Cosmos: Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus” by Neil Douglas-Klotz

 

✧ BUDDHISM

  * “Heart of The Buddha's Teaching” by Thich Nhat Hanh

 Morning Practice - Start each day with this intention:

Waking up this morning, I smile.

Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.

I vow to live fully in each moment

and to look at all beings with the eyes of love.

✧  INDIGENOUS

 * “This is My Heart,” a poem by Joy Harjo of the Muscogee Nation. The poem is in her book “A Map to the Next World.”

✧ HINDUISM

  * “The Bhagavad Gita” translated by Eknath Easwaran

✧ DIVINE FEMININE

  * “The Prophetess” by Chelan Harkin

✧ SPIRITUAL INVITATION FOR DECEMBER

Reflect on the statement “I am held, I am guided, I am loved.” Contemplate what that truly means to you. Do you know this to be true, and if so, how? Write about the time that you first realized that you are held, guided, and loved. Tell the story of how the knowing came to you.  

We would love to hear your story. Send an email to contact@ancienthearts.org with your story if you are interested in sharing it at an upcoming gathering.

✧ QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

  • When was the first time you knew, beyond a doubt, that you are held, guided, and loved by Source, God, Creator, Universe?

  • What wisdom traditions are resonating with you during this season in your life?

  • How might you create unity within yourself and your community?

MUSICAL INSPIRATION:

  • Featured Song: “Answer” by Sarah McLachlan

 

NEXT GATHERING:

  • Sunday, Dec. 21st: 🕯️Winter Solstice Celebration🕯️ | 10am-Noon (will be shortened to 1 hour if the temperature is below 30 degrees)

    • Location: Carver-Roehl Park

    • Map link: 4907 S Carvers Rock Road, Clinton, WI

    • What to know/how to prepare:

      • Join us as we explore the park and connect with the land

      • Bring water and wear comfortable shoes and protective clothing.

✧ MONTHLY COMMUNITY EVENT | One Heart: Sacred Listening Circles

Each of us has a unique story to tell, and we each long to tell our stories - to bring them out into the light to be seen and heard.

Yet, too often, we keep our stories inside, and we miss our chance to speak our truth and share our authentic selves. Not just because life moves quickly, but also because it's not easy to find others we feel comfortable sharing our story with.

💗 That's why we created One Heart: Sacred Listening Circles for Ancient Hearts Collective community members.

One Heart circles are a form of group spiritual companionship where we get to practice "walking each other home," as Ram Dass once shared. These monthly circles are an opportunity for deeper, authentic connection with others in the community and companionship on your spiritual path.

🪶 Facilitator: Jen Carew, Certified Interspiritual/Interfaith Spiritual Director

🪶 Frequency: One Heart Circles will be offered once a month. Attend every month or when you can.

🪶 Open Seats: Max registration is 18 people.

🪶To Register*: Please donate between $5 - 20 (sliding scale- pay what you can) to reserve your spot here: https://givebutter.com/1heart

* To ensure this experience is open to all AHC community members, no one will be turned away for lack of funds - simply send an email to contact@ancienthearts.org. to reserve your spot.

Ancient Hearts Collective . https://ancienthearts.org
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November Nature Gathering