Together to Gather: A Six-Point Plan to Find Meaning

Arthur Brooks comes to us via video to talk about the six points he finds are central to a life of meaning and fulfillment. Take the six points with you as you listen to Michael Atwood talk about the event that changed his life (see event details for Atwood’s talk below).

Michael Atwood has dedicated his life to the principles embodied in Servant Leadership. He is the original host, creator, and executive producer of the popular Across Indiana series, exploring the people, places, and passions of the Hoosier State for 20 years. He won an Emmy Award for his work. Michael later turned his volunteer work with Hospice into a second career as a bereavement care manager. In 2021, he suffered a brain aneurysm and spent many months in rehab and recovery; he is thankful for caregivers and family, and today recognizes each day as a gift. Michael currently volunteers as an advocate for the Indiana Donor Network, promoting the life-giving benefits of organ and tissue donation. 

First Friends is inviting the Shalom Zone churches to their annual summer picnic. Please bring a side dish or dessert, or a bit of money to help cover the cost of chicken and hot dogs. There will be a bounce house with water for the kids, plus plenty of time to relax with old friends and meet new ones. See you there! Sunday, August 2, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., First Friends Meeting, 3030 Kessler Blvd, E. Dr., Indianapolis.

Dr. Burnight’s book bridges the science of the brain with the wisdom of the heart, offering practical ideas for a life of meaning and well-being at any age. Come ready for the first session having read Part 1: Why Your Joyspan Matters. Facilitated by Karen Walker and Genene Kambs, both of whom bring with them many years of book study experience.

FCC's Foundation Board is hosting an after-worship Pitch-In on Sunday, August 16, with guest speaker Benjamin Cloud (Goelzer Investment) speaking on charitable giving and financial planning. Lunch starts around 12:15, program around 12:45. All Garden folks are welcome — it's fine to head out once the FCC-specific portion begins.

Sacred Romance is a live concert pairing the music of electric violinist Cathy Morris with mystic poetry by Rumi and Hafiz, read by Pam Elliott and Richard Brendan. This is a collaboration of poetry, music, and art that calls you into deeper engagement with the world. Morris has performed for crowds of 250,000 at the Indianapolis 500, shared stages with jazz greats including Al Jarreau and Burt Bacharach, and collaborated with Brendan on a Sacred Romance recording of violin and Sufi poetry in 2006. Elliott was co-host of "Daybreak" on WISH-TV and continues PRN broadcasting on WISH and WRTV. Brendan is a hospice chaplain, host of the JourneysFire podcast on the art of living and dying well, and Associate Pastor at The Garden. He brings decades at the bedside to his reading of the mystics. A 3-week discussion group on mysticism follows, facilitated by Rev. Dr. Brenda Freije.

For thousands of years, humans have wrestled with life’s deepest questions: Why are we here? What is our purpose? How should we live? The great mystical traditions developed practices pointing toward a common experience, a kind of waking up to a deeper reality, recognized across cultures and centuries. In this three-week discussion group, Rev. Dr. Brenda Freije guides us through that territory, drawing on contemplative and mindfulness practices to explore what spiritual awakening looks like and what it means to live with greater wisdom and compassion. An ordained United Methodist minister with advanced degrees in theology and law, Freije serves as President and CEO of the Rethink Coalition in Indianapolis.

Grief doesn’t follow a script. It’s deeply personal, nonlinear, and unpredictable, yet our culture’s discomfort with death has allowed plenty of myths to take root. Joy Dyer, MSW, brings 37 years of clinical social work experience, including eight years in an ICU focused on end-of-life decision-making, plus post-graduate training in advanced bereavement care. Now in private practice in Indianapolis, she specializes in grief in all its forms: death of a loved one, divorce, medical diagnosis, job loss, and any life change that turns your world upside down. She’ll help us separate fact from misconception and find a more compassionate framework for our own grief.

David Forsell has spent his life helping the natural world and people thrive. That passion was shaped by living with a genetic cancer condition, Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease, which has required numerous surgeries, and by a singular, extraordinary spiritual experience as a young man. His career has included executive stints with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and Keep America Beautiful, along with lifetime achievement recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation. In Indianapolis, his leadership led to the city’s first green building, the development of scores of community-led, artful parks, the planting and care of tens of thousands of trees, and the creation of hundreds of green jobs. He and his wife, Shannon, live in the Arden neighborhood, where he’s most content tending their home’s native gardens. His memoir, On Earth As It Is in Heaven, publishes in September. 

Jan Lucas is the author of My Beautiful Leukemia, a memoir in which she shares her story of navigating cancer and divorce after 30 years of marriage. An actor, writer, and musician, she is also a dog lover and mother of three awesome sons. She can be found a couple times a week walking dogs at the humane society shelter and coming home to her own beloved pup. She recently moved from a house in the country to a small house in town and is finding a whole new way of living in community. A 3-week discussion group will follow.

A Death Café offers space to talk openly about life, death, and everything in between. It’s not a seminar or grief counseling—just a relaxed, agenda‑free gathering without judgment or religious ties. A three‑week discussion of From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty follows, exploring funerary practices worldwide with insight and humor. Sponsored by The Garden and Joy’s House.