JPII Leader Gianluca Avanzato (Cohort XIII, USA) has been offering for some time an interfaith and multi faith programming around sacred reading and writing practices, the Sacred Writing Circles. He developed this program while at Harvard Divinity School during the time he earned his Master of Divinity after the Russell Berrie Fellowship.
In the upcoming online Sacred Writing Circles in August, he will guide participants on a month-long journey into writing as a spiritual practice. One of the participants of Gianluca’s previous editions of the Sacred Writing Circles writes: “Gianluca creates a warm, spacious, safe container for writing, sharing, and connecting with others and with self. It was magical to feel held by community as I did the hard work of setting pen to page after so much writerly angst and anxiety over the past couple of years.”
In the following lines Gianluca tells us more about this interfaith and multifaith experience.
“Reading and writing are my longest held passions. Since I was a child, I have turned to journaling, crafting poems, and writing stories as both a creative outlet and a means of self-knowing. Setting ideas and thoughts into writing is a sacred process for me: one that encourages contemplation, requires diligence and focus, and facilitates introspection. I have discovered much about myself and the world through creative writing, and I wanted to share this practice with others.
Since attending Union College, I have been a writing coach: supporting students and writers not only in refining their assignments and articles but also in crafting and articulating their stories. Writing and sharing written work can be vulnerable activities, and it has been an honor to hold space for people as they venture inwards through writing.
In the past few years, I have aimed to integrate my reverence for writing and my passion for helping others tell their stories with my studies in religion, interreligious dialogue, and spiritual care. The Sacred Writing Circles were developed at this intersection. With the support of Harvard Divinity School and several mentors, I designed gatherings oriented around writing as a spiritual practice of exploration and self-discovery. In these Sacred Writing Circles, I lead meditations and contemplative practices alongside close readings and creative writing exercises, encouraging participants to let go of inhibitions and insecurities and write freely around big questions of meaning and purpose: Who am I? How am I connected and disconnected from the world around me? What stories do I have within me that want to emerge?
Leading these Sacred Writing Circles has been the most authentic and fulfilling work I have ever done.”
