Spirit at Work presents   Thursday, May 21st, 2009       12:00 - 1:30 p.m.     Nature Spirituality in Cascadia: The sacred power of the Pacific Northwest     with Douglas Todd, Editor of Cascadia: The Elusive Utopia and Religion Writer/Blogger for The Vancouver Sun How do you define and nurture your own unique “spirituality of place”? Residents of the Pacific Northwest, from British Columbia to Oregon, savour the region’s remarkable mountains and forests, its rugged beaches and livable cities. But few know that the area, known as “Cascadia” for its cascading waterfalls, is home to the least institutionally religious people on the continent. That doesn’t mean we’re a haven of atheists. Instead, most of the 14 million residents of this untamed territory are often deeply spiritual, gaining their sense of the sacred through the humbling, spectacular presence of nature. Join us as Douglas Todd outlines the types of spiritual practices found in Cascadia, with a particular focus on nature spirituality. He’ll draw on the eclectic views offered in the 2008 book he edited, Cascadia: The Elusive Utopia. It features 15 leading contributors, from noted historian Jean Barman to Canadian poet laureate George Bowering.                                   click here to RSVP  or  phone: 604-685-6560 Date:           Thursday, May 21, 2009  –  12:00 - 1:30 pm Location:    Main Floor, Conference Rooms, Terasen Building,                    1111 W. Georgia St. (at Thurlow), Vancouver Cost:           Without lunch: $10                    With lunch:  non-members - $20;  members - $15 Lunch:        Catered sandwiches, salad, tea and coffee                               __________________________ About our Speaker: Douglas Todd is editor of Cascadia: The Elusive Utopia, published by Ronsdale Press in 2008. He is a blogger and long-time religion and philosophy writer for The Vancouver Sun and other newspapers. He has twice won the Templeton Religion Reporter of the Year Award, which goes to the top spirituality writer in North America’s secular media. Vancouver Magazine has referred to Todd as “arguably Vancouver’s most thoughtful journalist.” He has won National Newspaper Awards in Canada several times. Todd is the author of Brave Souls: Writers and Artists Wrestle with God, Love, Death and the Things That Matter (Stoddart, 1996).                click here to RSVP  or  phone: 604-685-6560 back to top