The Course in Miracles is led by Cliff Jackson. The course is more of a different way of looking at the world than a book to read. It is a way of living. Cliff's goal is world peace. As the Buddha said so long ago "the only way to bring peace to the earth is to make our own life peaceful." The course is peppered with Christian terms, God, Son, and Holy Spirit. Cliff started learning from the course 15+ years ago as a New Age Christian. He is a very contented atheist and is currently finding more peace and love through the course's teachings than ever.

The basic teaching of the course is that all decisions are based on either love or fear. So, we have a choice of looking at the world through love- colored glasses or fear-colored glasses.

Most of Cliff's life, he thought there were only fear-colored glasses. In America we grow up thinking we are all seperate. We constantly judge others and are being judged. We tend to look for happiness outside of ourselves, the right job, right spouse, car, etc., etc. The bottom line result of this belief in seperation is pain, suffering, and fear.

The course introduced Cliff to an option, oneness. Love-colored glasses see us in this experience together. We all want to love and be loved. The trick is that it is inside instead of outside. We all have an unlimited supply of love. We just keep our love faucet turned off most of the time. The weekly meetings are to learn how the fear/love decision is present in every aspect of our life and to share what happens when we try this love option in real life.

TOASTMASTERS Many people pay high fees for seminars to gain the skill and confidence necessary to face an audience. Toastmasters provides an option that is less expensive and held in high regard in business circles. This organization has been around for more than 80 years and offers a proven – and enjoyable – way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. You will… • Learn to communicate more effectively • Become a better listener. • Improve your presentation skills • Increase your leadership potential • Become more successful in your career • Build your ability to motivate and persuade • Reach your professional and personal goals • Increase your self confidence. How you do it. . . • Build speaking and leadership skills with time-tested methods • Focus on areas of interest in our self-paced curriculum • Receive suggestions for improvement through constructive evaluations Toastmasters programs are . . . • Inexpensive • Interactive • Convenient • Friendly • Supportive More than four million people have discovered the benefits of this proven learning formula. What are you waiting for? We meet each Tuesday 6:00 - 7:00. Come in and look us over, have some fun. Mystic Mel

POETRY SALON

We meet at 7:00pm the second Tuesday each month in the large meeting room. We generally have a featured poet who begins our evening with 5 poems and then each poet reads 3. Some poets bring copies of their work so that participants can read along as they listen to the poems being read but it is not necessary. After this first round we break for refreshments and have informal conversation until we reconvene for a lightning round during which we each read one piece. We have recently decided to try writing one poem on a general theme and bring it to share as one of our offerings for the evening.

We welcome the accomplished poet and the novice as well. Many people who have joined our group come because they enjoy hearing poetry but are not poets themselves. Poets are delighted to have an ear for their work so come to hear and to be heard. For more information contact Bonnie Bostrom at 672-2203.

BOOK CLUB