OVERVIEW: The Night School is an experience of deep thought. This spiritual exercise activates in those who attend a longing for more depth of life and cultivates in them a greater capacity to explore with intellect and feeling the profound riches of the deep Tradition. Each month, we are introduced to a new guest. Such "guests" were profound thinkers or missionaries or musicians or architects or philosophers or painters or poets or theologians or mystics. The structure of these evenings is this... Each evening stands alone as a complete experience, meaning that a person can attend the evenings that he or she can and never feel left "behind". The Night School meets on Tuesday evenings, typically during the third week of each month. People are invited to arrive at 5:30 PM to enjoy food, drink and fellowship, and to unwind from the work day. The class is then from 6 PM to 7 PM. In sum, The Night School is meant to be enjoyable, even startling at times (surprised by the wisdom and beauty we have available to us when given a chance to experience it), and most of all to be an experience of God. SERIES XI, PART I with MARCUS AURELIUS (GUEST SPEAKER: DR. TRAVIS PICKELL OF GEORGE FOX): Britannica - “Marcus Aurelius was the last of the Five Good Emperors of Rome. His reign (161–180 CE) marked the end of a period of internal tranquility and good government. After his death the empire quickly descended into civil war. He has symbolized the Golden Age of the Roman Empire for many generations in the West.” And Robin Wakefield: “Yet the Marcus of Meditations is regarded as a man of peace, a thoughtful philosopher offering sage advice for daily living and self-improvement. The moral to be drawn from this contrast is the one Marcus frequently stresses in his writing: everyone, even or especially an emperor, has to play the hand he has been dealt…. Marcus might have preferred to be a private individual with time for reading and making progress on the Stoic path rather than an emperor, but as a Stoic, he had to accept and make the best use of the lot that fate had handed him…. By the same token, the tone of Meditations is that of an aspirant, someone who urgently wants to do better and to live as a philosopher, but who is constantly thwarted by events and by his own weakness. But this is why Meditations is still so widely read, because no one is perfect and we recognize ourselves in Marcus’s flaws and aspirations….. The main influence on him was the Stoic practice of critical self-examination and exhortation to do better.” [Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations (pp. 8-9 & 14). Basic Books (2021). Kindle Edition.] LIVE STREAM LINK: Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82488993037?pwd=SU1GZnJCbGNaeGUyUk81L3pBY05OQT09 Meeting ID: 824 8899 3037 Passcode: 041292