We are delighted to present the spring 2024 session of Interfaith Explorations. Hosted by Bethlehem Centre in collaborative partnership with the Interfaith Center of Arkansas, the Cobb Institute and Process & Faith, “Poetry for the Journey” is a six week online series that will provide an inclusive environment for individuals from different religious traditions and spiritual independents to come together to share and discuss poetry.

The group’s primary focus is on “spiritual poetry”, a term inspired by Jane Hirshfield, an acclaimed poet, essayist, and translator with ten collections of poetry. On the Poetry Foundation’s website, Hirshfield shares 22 spiritual poems that delve into themes such as permeability, embracing life with a resounding ‘Yes,’ abundance, longing, spiritual dialogue, love, vibration, and meditation. These are the kinds of themes we will explore during the class sessions.

The selected poems will be ancient, classical, and contemporary works from diverse cultures and faith backgrounds. They will be presented in English to ensure accessibility for participants. The poems will serve as launching pads for reflection and discussion, allowing participants to contemplate on various aspects of everyday life, historical moments, and philosophical ideas.

The interfaith exploration series will be held on Wednesdays, with a guided exploration of three poems during each session. The three poems for each week will be distributed before the class so that participants can read them in advance if they wish.

Experienced facilitators of poetry explorations will lead each of these sessions. Zoom details will be sent to register participants.