The
Divine Healing of Dying
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Most of us choose
not to think much about that powerful “D”word, dying:
it’s sad, it’s scary, and it’s the ultimate
unknown.What if, in addition to all of that, it had the potential
to be joyful and beautiful? What if it turned out to be the
time in our lives when we are most connected to the Divine and
filled to the brim with love? Would we be more inclined to ponder
it then? This is a talk about dying that will inspire you to
think about how you are living. |
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Tiffany Christensen
has lived with dying since she was 6months old, when she
was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a genetic illness that
primarily affected her lungs. She didn’t really get
to vote on pondering her mortality; during the course of
two terminal illnesses, she had little choice in the matter.
Yet now, after two life-saving lung transplants, she looks
forward to the dying she has to do in the future. Join us
for a glimpse into her experience as a twice-terminal patient
who dared to travel beyond the walls of her spiritual comfort
zone and hear her share the peace that came with having
“one foot on the other side.”
After a sickly childhood, Tiffany became acquainted with
in-patient hospital care when she was 12. At 23, she was
placed on the list for a double lung transplant at UNC Memorial
Hospital. After a long and difficult 5-year wait, during
which her lung function dropped to 18% capacity, she received
her first set of donor lungs in April of 2000. In May of
2002, she was diagnosed with chronic rejection, and once
again she grew gravely ill. Her lung function dropped to
10% of capacity and she was told she only had months to
live.
As her outer body weakened, her inner journey opened and
she found unexpected gifts of insight, perspective, humor,
and strength. She began to know an inner peace she had never
thought possible. Raised in a conservative Christian home,
she went seeking a more inclusive spiritual outlook, embracing
many traditions from shamanic journeying to Buddhism. Eventually,
her road brought her back to her roots with a deep acceptance
of her personal worth. Today, she uses all of the various
traditions she has explored as her life’s compass.
A series of wonderful and unusual events enabled Tiffany
to receive a rarely performed second lung transplant just
in the nick of time. After the surgery, she awoke with a
clear awareness of being “called” to work with
those touched by illness and death. As soon as her recovery
allowed, she trained as a hospice volunteer and began developing
her talks and workshops.
Since 2005, Tiffany has participated in many speaking events,
enjoyed coaching those in the medical maze, and finished
her book, Sick Girl Speaks! In January of 2008,
Sick Girl Speaks Inc. was created and she began working
withProject Compassion with a year long grant. Throughout
2008, she will lead workshops on patient advocacy, advance
directives, and organ and tissue donation. She’ll
be published in various newsletters and magazines including
Boom!, CFRoundtable, and Airways; and
she’ll appear on the popular national NPR radio show,
“The People's Pharmacy.” DukeContinuing Studies
will host her workshop, “10 Opportunities of Illness.”
These and many other exciting projects are the beginning
of a promising new voice in the medical community. Learn
more about Tiffany and her work at www.SickGirlSpeaks.com.
Tiffany’s story is for every human who will someday
cease to be (that's all of us!)—a story of dying that
will inspire you to find the divine in living each day.
After a lifetime of difficulty and victories, this illness
warrior has emerged with insight, clarity, and purpose.
Through her talks, her book, and the way she lives her life,
this “sick girl” is ready to speak! “There
are many kinds of healing, and dying is merely one of them,”
she says. We invite you to listen to her story and allow
her journey to inspire you to live your best life
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Calendar
of Events |
May
1 , 2008- Susan
Reintjes
Unmasking your True Awareness
**********
June
5, 2008 - Psychic
& Healing Fair
Our annual fund-raising event
**********
July
3 , 2008- No
Meeting
**********
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This Month's Angel
Door Prize
A hardcopy edition of Sick Girl
Speaks.
Copies of Tiffany’s book will also be available for
sale.
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SFF
Raleigh Mission
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At the Raleigh Chapter
of Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship International, our mission
is to enhance the spiritual, mystical, and metaphysical awareness
and consciousness of our community by sponsoring programs
that facilitate personal growth and development and a holistic
approach to health and living.
Within the scope of our mission, we choose speakers who offer
a variety of views and philosophies, but SFF does not endorse
any speakers’ staements or beliefs. You are invited
to come with an open mind and depart with all that feels true
for you. |
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Thursday,
April 3, 2008 |
Location:
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Hall
3313 Wade Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27607
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Doors
Open: 6:45
PM
Lecture: 7:15
- 9:30 PM
Cost: $10
Seniors/Students: $8 with valid ID
Early Meditation: 6:30
PM
Cost: FREE |
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SFF Lecture Recordings
We generally record all of our lectures and you may purchase audio
tapes of most lectures from the late 1980's through September,
2006. For lectures beginning with September, 2006, lecture recordings
are now availble on CD.
Tape recordings
are $10 which includes postage.
Cassette tapes are available of most SFF lectures dating back
to 1988. They may be available for future events as well.
CDs are available in two formats.
Two disk audio CD
sets are $15
Because audio CDs are limited to a maximum of 78 minutes, if you
would like an audio CD of a lecture playable on any CD player.
One disk MP3 CD
is $10
If you would like a CD using the MP3 format (playable on your
computer and many new CD and DVD players but not on older
CD players), it will be on one disk.
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Our
meetings are held in the lower level of the newly re-modeled and
expanded
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
of Raleigh
at 3313 Wade Avenue in Raleigh. |
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Healing
Meditation
with
Deborah
Gray
(See
Below)
Time: 6:30 - 7:00
PM
Cost: Free
An
open guided meditation will be held at 6:30 PM in the Ralph
Waldo Emerson room (the upper
building, lower level) at the UUFR
The lectures begins
at 7:15 PM following the meditation. We look forward to seeing
you! |
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Healing
Meditation
with
Deborah
Gray
Time: 6:30
- 7:00 PM
Cost: Free
Come early and treat yourself
to the gift of a healing and centering meditation. The first
few minutes are focused on sending healing love and light to
Mother Earth and her inhabitants.
Deborah Gray then will lead us
in a transformation mediation that may open you to the opportunity
to release blocks and to transmute thoughts and beliefs that
no longer serve you. Allow the experience of a deeper awareness
of your connections with God, humankind, and the universe. You
will be guided to a state of oneness in spirit, allowing you
to release those things you are ready to release and receive
the gifts of Spirit that you are ready to receive.
Deborah holds a Bachelor of Metaphysical Science, University
of Metaphysics; and Bachelor of Criminal Justice, Mount Olive
College. She is a Certified Metaphysical Practitioner, a support
and spiritual coach, a workshop facilitator, an ordained minister,
a prayer team leader, and the prayer chaplain at Unity Church
of Raleigh. She helps clients grow spiritually through healing
and coaching sessions, meditation CDs, and workshops. Contact
Deborah at DGInTheSpirit@yahoo.com.
If
coming from the front parking lot, go down the steps between
the two buildings. There's an entry door on the right side of
Peace Hall. Go in this door and down the hall, and the Ralph
Waldo Emerson room is on the left at the end.
If coming from the back parking lot,
go up the steps between the main building, which houses the
sanctuary in front and Fellowship Hall in the rear, and Peace
Hall, the building to the left. Entry door will be on the left
a short distance up the stairs.
Please
arrive on time to optimize the energies of the group dynamic.
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