A monthly community call built around the book Choosing Presence and the practice of presence. Everyone is welcome (men and women), and there’s no cost to join.

Presence Is the Doorway  ·  Session 2 of 6  ·  Advent

Saturday, December 19Not What We Do, but What Is Done to Us

• Pacific9:00 AM
• Central11:00 AM
• Eastern12:00 PM

90 minutes on Zoom

Everyone is welcome, whether you’ve joined every month or this is your first call. Each session stands on its own.

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This month

Not What We Do, but What Is Done to Us

In the last week of Advent we turn to the heart of the practice: what changes us is not what we do, but what is done to us when we become still.

Encounter can’t be manufactured. It comes as a gift. Mary’s yes holds both sides of it: a gift received, and a yes freely given.

“And in the stillness of God’s presence we realize it’s not what we do, but what’s being done to us.”

Jim Heaney, Choosing Presence, ch. 2, p. 14

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Luke 1:38 (RSVCE)

What to expect

1. We breathe together.

   A short poem, then ten conscious breaths.

2. We listen.

   Jim Heaney and Jim Taylor open the month’s theme in conversation.

3. We share.

   Small groups of three or four, one voice at a time, with no fixing or advising. Passing is always welcome.

• Jim Heaney

  Author of Choosing Presence

• Jim Taylor

  Pastor and weaver

• Brian Mueller

  Presence guide

Prepare for the gathering

Suggested reading: Choosing Presence, chapter 2, “Meeting God in the Moment” (pp. 13–23). A short reading also arrives by email the week before the call.

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The series: Presence Is the Doorway

Six monthly calls, November 2026 through April 2027, that follow one path: from presence, to encounter, to a changed life. Join for one or for all six.

1. 1Nov 21Presence Is the Doorway
2. 2Dec 19Not What We Do, but What Is Done to UsThis month
3. 3Jan 16From Calm to Peace
4. 4Feb 20Setting Down the Backpack
5. 5Mar 20Body, Mind and Heart
6. 6Apr 17Your Life Becomes the Test

Questions about the calls? Send us a note through our contact page.