Winter walks guided by neela de zoysa

Co-sponsored by Sudbury Valley Trustees!

Fresh air and nature beckon us to the many conservation areas that surround us. Get some respite from the isolation and uncertainties by getting outdoors. Open Spirit member and nature aficionado Neela, will lead us on a series of socially distanced monthly winter walks.

Enjoy vistas of the Sudbury River from Weir Hill at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and Puffer Pond and World War II bunkers at Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge managed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. Visit Wolbach Farm, Greenways Conservation area and Memorial Forest all of which are properties of Sudbury Valley Trustees. Forests, fields, marshes, ponds and glacial sands are some of the highlights of these walks. 

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Enrollment is limited to eight participants. Sign-up here. A surgical or cloth face mask is required. Remember to dress warm, wear comfortable hiking or winter boots and bring your own water. There are no restroom facilities. No dogs please for these organized walks.   

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4/17 - Greenways Conservation Area

multi-faith collaborative's Presents "experiences from Ramadan- the significance of this holy month"

Via Zoom

A Virtual Ramadan Celebration Featuring Aida Mansoor

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Open Spirit has a long tradition of hosting an Iftar (a fast-breaking) as a way to honor and show our support for our Muslim neighbors celebrating Ramadan. Most years, the Iftar involves a large gathering in Edwards Hall, with overflowing tables of delicious food, inspiring speakers and engaging conversation.

We look forward to eventually being able to share overflowing tables of delicious food again. In the meantime, we are that we will have an inspiring speaker and engaging conversation for our virtual iftar! Please join us in welcoming Aida Mansoor, who will speak on “Experiences from Ramadan! - the significance of this Holy Month.”

Aida Monsoor, Coordinator of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program at Hartford Seminary, was recently featured in Hartford Magazine’s Thirty Women of Distinction. She has a Joint Honors B.S. degree in Biochemistry and Physiology from King’s College in London and Masters Degrees in Community Health and Christian-Muslim Relations. She is a board members of the Connecticut Council for Interreligious Understanding, Hartford Hospital and St. Francis Hospital Pastoral Service Committee, and the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford. She is married and has two children, Yasmin and Yusuf.

Please register to receive the link for this thought-provoking and inspiring conversation.

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To participate, please complete this form.

Practicing Spiritual Wisdom in These Times:
A Three-Part series

Sponsored by Open Spirit's Multi-Faith Collaborative

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Open Spirit's Multi-faith Collaborative invites you to explore spiritual wisdom In this time of loss, uncertainty and possibility, we have an opportunity to draw upon rich resources from many spiritual traditions to help us cope and thrive.

The Multi-Faith Collaborative of Open Spirit invites you to join in a virtual exploration of some of these traditions. We will hear from inspirational community leaders, who will lead us in spiritual practices and conversation.

Part 1: 
Honoring Grief and Loss
Sunday, May 2  4-5:30 pm

Sacred readings, prayers and stories, led by Layli Maparyan, Ph.D.

Layli Maparyan, Executive Director of the Wellesley Centers for Women, Professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College, and active member of the Framingham Baha’i Community, will guide us in our reflections, drawing upon a Baha’i devotional format, African ancestor-honoring practices, and shared storytelling. Together, we will build a community experience of processing personal and collective grief and loss, as we also affirm each other as protagonists in the realization of health and healing for the world.

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Register for May 2nd

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Part 2:

Living with Uncertainty

Sunday, May 16  4-5:30 pm

A guided reflection led by Joti Royster

Joti is a Buddhist Lay Renunciate affiliated with Temple Forest Monastery in Temple, New Hampshire.  She returns this year as we explore the experience of uncertainty, in our shared world and in our personal lives. With guided meditation and collective reflections, we will investigate the unique and universal aspects of our experience, with opportunity for questions and shared discoveries and insight. 

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Register for May 16th

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Part 3:

Claiming the Courage of Joy
Sunday, May 23  4-5:30 pm

Watch for more details on this third in our series, which will be led by Father Carl Chudy.

As a Catholic interfaith leader, Carl draws the courage to hope in the unfinished messiness of his own faith tradition through an interfaith lens.  

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Register for May 30th

honoring the elders interview project

We are very excited to be joining Transition Framingham in this project.

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The goal of this project is to conduct interviews with Framingham resident elders 65+ to capture stories from an earlier time when energy usage was lower and people had different life skills. By learning from the past, we can learn lost skills to help guide us forward.  

This project provides a great opportunity to connect with someone and deepen your relationship to them and to the Framingham community.

Virtual art gallery

We have launched a new virtual art gallery!

We hope you will enjoy our latest show "Angels in Human Skin: Honoring a Family's Journey Through WWII" by artist Reverend Dr. Dirkje Legerstee.