2016 Year In Review; "It's A Sign"
Spirit Fire, cultivating consciousness in everyday lives.
Steve Kramer, president
I am writing to tell you about the exciting 2016 we’ve had at Spirit Fire and to let you know what is unfolding for 2017. As you may know, Spirit Fire’s three founding pillars are meditation, education and the retreat center. Each supports Spirit Fire while they inform, encourage, and inspire each other. Any given year may see an inclination toward one particular pillar, yet amazingly, the others receive so much as a result of their interdependence. I am pleased to report that 2016 saw more guests come through the door of the retreat center than any other year in our organization’s history.That’s fantastic! Did you know that our educational non-profit is officially registered with these five words: Spirit Fire Meditative Retreat Center? I mention this because, with your support, the retreat center has received a lot of attention over the last few years and this is allowing our meditation practice and our educational offerings to evolve. For this we are grateful.
This is the time of year for our annual fund drive. We ask that you consider contributing to our organization and the endeavors of each of our three pillars. Spirit Fire Radio supports the visibility of our meditation training, which supports the offerings at our retreat center, which inspires continued education through online programming. It all works together to ensure that Spirit Fire can continue to thrive. Our fund drive goal is to raise $20,000. Your donations will allow us to develop new ways for The Practice of Living Awareness and associated retreats to reach a wider audience, ensure the success of the second season of our radio show, and allow us to expand our outreach through printed materials and digital recordings. As always, your contributions help us maintain our online presence with free daily meditations and educational programming throughout the year, they also help to keep our broadcasting technology current and extend our message through social media. Your financial support allows us to provide optimal learning environments and funding for scholarships through Spirit Fire's Rai$e It Forward program. Most of all, your giving inspires us to keep Spirit Fire's mission at the forefront of all we do: cultivating consciousness and educating people on the importance of spirituality in everyday life.
This is the time of year for our annual fund drive. We ask that you consider contributing to our organization and the endeavors of each of our three pillars. Spirit Fire Radio supports the visibility of our meditation training, which supports the offerings at our retreat center, which inspires continued education through online programming. It all works together to ensure that Spirit Fire can continue to thrive. Our fund drive goal is to raise $20,000. Your donations will allow us to develop new ways for The Practice of Living Awareness and associated retreats to reach a wider audience, ensure the success of the second season of our radio show, and allow us to expand our outreach through printed materials and digital recordings. As always, your contributions help us maintain our online presence with free daily meditations and educational programming throughout the year, they also help to keep our broadcasting technology current and extend our message through social media. Your financial support allows us to provide optimal learning environments and funding for scholarships through Spirit Fire's Rai$e It Forward program. Most of all, your giving inspires us to keep Spirit Fire's mission at the forefront of all we do: cultivating consciousness and educating people on the importance of spirituality in everyday life.
Thank you for your support!
I included the pictured quote above because it expresses our directive in focusing our attention on the retreat center. It has evolved to become a creative space of consistent cooperative spiritual activity... a living expression of practical loving understanding. The rejuvenation of the center and the influx of guests, students, teachers, and contemplatives offers valuable insight into the needs of those on the modern spiritual path. We recognize the longing for a mindful approach to everyday life, the desire to embody and apply basic spiritual principles, and an inherent passion for exploring the ways in which we are all interconnected. We acknowledge there is a pressing need for a place of respite, rejuvenation and inspiration as well as the need to be led in ways to cultivate compassion and empathy for those who may view the world differently, to develop patience, and to create the capacity to “go high” when the world around is perceived to be "going low".
Spirit Fire is able to meet these needs and desires through much of what it has to offer. Meditation acknowledges the mind as the ultimate tool for shaping our awareness, thus shaping our reality, thereby shaping our world. The Practice of Living Awareness offers this training through daily meditation and retreats. Study relies on the exploration of our shared and collected experience. We are forever students and our evolution depends on questions being asked and answers being sought. Our educational programming seeks to lead students to their truths. Service is community in action and it comes in many forms. At Spirit Fire, The Practice, educational programs, and our retreat center offer multiple opportunities for those in our community to experience group-mind and to connect to their innate purpose and creative potential. We are so pleased that you are a part of this community.
The rich experience of practicing a living awareness led to Spirit Fire Radio. 2016 saw us bring the ‘presence’ that our community has cultivated to a weekly radio show. On that show, we followed, in tandem, our online meditation training and invited guests whose passions, careers, or motivations embodied the essence of that week’s meditation tool. The results were wonderful and offered insight into the nuances of the meditative tools that The Practice of Living Awareness makes available. Our first season saw us follow three full rounds of our online practice. We delighted in stories that focused on the wonder, innocence, and excitement of children… we interviewed caregivers of children diagnosed with autism, developers of children’s meditation, children’s yoga and talent camp instructors. We featured artists and creative minds… singers, songwriters, painters, authors and musicians. We interviewed healers such as acupuncturists, art therapists, physical therapists, shamans, and energy healers. We talked to those who support our evolution… such as life coaches, astrologers, organic farmers, and educators; we chatted with lawyers and activists who use their passions to bring about change. We talked about ‘interludes’ with a bee-keeper, ‘focus’ with a researcher, ‘release’ with a grief counselor. It was a year of shows that painted the exquisite picture of the ever-evolving human spirit using tools that foster awareness to shape our world. We offer a heartfelt thank you to all of those who contributed to this project and to those who support us through listenership. If you haven’t listened, please visit Spirit Fire Radio’s website to browse our archives.
Spirit Fire Radio is an extension of our philosophy to pursue endeavors that challenge your mind, offer insight, move you toward activities that foster good-will, and present spiritual concepts in the language of practical loving understanding. We are pleased to announce that in 2017, Spirit Fire Radio is collaborating with the School for Esoteric Studies for the second season of the radio show. Both of our non-profit organizations have their roots in esotericism and wisdom teachings. The goal of esotericism is to reveal that which is veiled. The first season of Spirit Fire Radio consistently revealed the unseen principles at work within our meditation practice: acceptance, focus, momentum, alignment, aspiration, ground, connection, etc. We are moved to take this a step further in our second season and discuss the ways in which these principles are utilized upon the spiritual path. Our collaboration with the School For Esoteric Studies is not limited to the air waves; we are in the process of developing classes and retreats that bring forward the best of what each of our organizations has to offer. Additionally, Spirit Fire has three Living Awareness Meditation Retreats on the calendar: Foundations, Silence, and Deepening. We hope you will consider attending to experience all that has been created. See the upcoming events page on our website to stay informed of all goings-on throughout 2017.