A SOUL IN WONDER
NEWSLETTER FOR A SNOW DAY FEB. 1, 2021
Today is the first day of Black History Month
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Mystics Summit: 2/1-2/5 Free. Starts today
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Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) Moral Monday’s: Today 3:30 pm ET
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Long Island PPC Monthly Zoom: Tonight 7 pm ET
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NYS PPC Faith Leaders’ Moral Monday Convening: Mon. Feb. 15 9 am – 5 pm ET
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Multicultural Solidarity-Long Island
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Diversity Listening Circles
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Recent Movies for Black History Month
MYSTICS SUMMIT Feb. 1-5 FREE EVENT
Welcome/Intro from host Mirabai Starr (link includes a 1-minute video welcome)
“Hello, friends. I am Mirabai Starr, and I’m so happy that you’ve signed up for this journey that we’re about to take together... this deep dive into the heart of the teachings and practices and poetry of the mystics of all spiritual traditions. In this gathering, I have had such profound soul conversations, so beyond anything I was expecting, with very well-known teachers of the mystics, and also some hidden jewels that I’ve had the great privilege of discovering — people who speak poetry from the depths of their being, people across the spectrum of the human condition and the spiritual family, as I said, known and unknown.
It’s going to be for you, I think, as it is for me, a true transformational expedition — a voyage of the heart from which you will return transformed, this I can promise. I’m so glad you’re taking the journey with me.”
5-day Schedule of Speakers (click the presenters’ images to see more about each)
See end of this newsletter for listing of times for all speakers.
PPC MORAL MONDAYS RESUME TODAY FEB. 1 @ 3:30 pm ET
Join us on Feb. 1 at 3:30pm ET / 12:30pm PT to launch Moral Mondays during the first 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration. *This event will be ASL interpreted and open captioned.*
On the anniversary of the start of the sit-in movement on February 1, 1960, in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Poor People’s Campaign will launch a new series of Moral Mondays to mark the first 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration.
This Monday, we will push Democrats, Republicans and independents to immediately enact a living wage of $15 an hour covering all minimum-wage workers, including tipped workers, and stronger, expanded union rights. We will hold a massive call-in to the offices of Senate leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell as we also demand just COVID relief.
LONG ISLAND PPC MONTHLY MEETING TODAY FEB. 1 @ 7 PM ET
Email or text me (516-850-2493) for the Zoom link. I’ll have it after 5 pm.
The guest speaker for our next monthly meeting is YuLing Koh Hsu, Co-Director of the Campaign for New York Health and a member of the Coordinating Committee of the NYS Poor People’s Campaign. YuLing will talk about the Healthcare for All bill and answer your questions. We believe that healthcare is a human right. As Rev. Barber likes to remind us, the question is not what universal healthcare will cost, but what it costs not to have it.
Housing Legislation: Now that the State legislature is back in session, we are asking you to contact your electeds to ask them to support the following bills which address housing issues. This information is provided by Rebecca Garrard, the Campaigns Manager for Housing Justice at Citizen Action NY and a member of the Coordinating Committee of the NYS Poor People’s Campaign.
The Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act forgives all back rent owed, and fully funds landlords who will experience financial distress due to a lack of rent collection.
https://www.nysenate.gov//legislation/bills/2019/S8802
Good Cause Eviction provides a defense against no fault evictions and unreasonable rent hikes:
https://www.nysenate.gov//legislation/bills/2019/S2892
Here is a digital form tenants can use to protect themselves from eviction through May 1st:
https://www.housingjusticeforall.org/tenants-declaration-form
For updates, here’s the website of Citizen Action NY:
https://citizenactionny.org/housing/
Although the NYS legislature has a Democratic majority, electeds on Long Island, while members of the Democratic Party, continue to run on progressive platforms, then vote against the bills that would benefit the majority of their constituents. So let’s put on the pressure: Tell them to vote for our issues or we will vote them out.
Forward Together, Not One Step Back,
Susan Karbiner, Co-chair, L.I. Regional Committee
NYS Poor Peoples Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
NYS PPC Faith Leaders’ Moral Monday Convening: Mon. Feb. 15 9 am – 5 pm ET
WHAT: New York State Moral Monday Faith Convening
WHEN: Monday, February 15, 9 am - 5 pm
WHO: This event is free and open to all faith leaders, broadly defined. This includes clergy or official representatives of congregations/religious organizations, people who are active in faith communities but may not have an official title or role, and people who may be spiritual or pastoral leaders in another setting.
Faith leaders have a crucial role to play within today’s social justice movements, beyond just mobilizing our members. Drawing on our spiritual resources, our religious traditions, and our moral commitment, we can help shift the moral narrative of our society and make more possible the healing and justice we seek. But we can only do it collectively.
On Monday, Feb. 15 join the NYS Poor People’s Campaign and the Labor-Religion Coalition of NYS for a statewide virtual convening of faith leaders to build community and reflect on our role as people of faith in the movement to end systemic racism, poverty, militarism and ecological devastation.
The day will include interfaith prayer/worship, keynote from national Poor People’s Campaign co-chair Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, an interfaith panel of faith-rooted social justice leaders, discussion of our policy demands in the context of a new state legislature, and time for fellowship and conversation.
Other speakers will include Rabbi Michael Pollack from the Pennsylvania Poor People's Campaign and March on Harrisburg; Rev. Sherry Chayat from Syracuse Zen Center; Arelis Figueroa from the New York State Poor People's Campaign and Freedom Church of the Poor; and Sister Grace Miller from the House of Mercy and Rochester Union of the Homeless (list in formation).
title or role, and people who may be spiritual or pastoral leaders in another setting.
Multicultural Solidarity-Long Island / Diversity Listening Circles
These two groups have been enabling me to meet with folks who were not part of the original “tribe” in which I grew up. Created by co-chairs Joel Diamond and Jim Banks, they bring together people from a wide range of races, religions, ethnicities, and genders. In our gatherings, we discover ways to find unity as we celebrate our diversity. Originally meeting in people’s home, these groups currently are meeting online.
To find our more, please email or text me (516-80-2493).
MYSTICS SUMMIT Feb. 1-5 FREE
5-day Schedule of Speakers (click the presenters’ images to see more about each)
Monday, Feb. 1
12pm Modest Magical Mysticism with Anne Lamott
1pm The Great Goodness of the Little Way: A Dialog With Richard Rohr with Father Richard Rohr
2pm Conversation with Gangaji with Gangaji
3pm Saints I’ve Met Along the Path with Krishna Das
4pm Radical Regeneration with Andrew Harvey
5pm The Way of the Mystic in the Sufi/Islamic Tradition with Imam Jamal Rahman
6pm Mystic Mother of the People: Leah Sharabi and the Path of Pure Faith with Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, PhD
7pm The Mystical Roots of the Enneagram with Russ Hudson
Tuesday, Feb 2
12pm The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness with Father Greg Boyle
1pm Jai Ma: In Praise of the Divine Mother with Trevor Hall
2pm Interspirituality & the Shadow of Cultural Appropriation with Rev. Aliah MaJon, PhD, Mirabai Starr
3pm Reclaiming Forgotten Women with Elizabeth Lesser
4pm Hildegard of Bingen, a Green Mystic and Prophet, a New Saint and Doctor of the Church and Renaissance Woman with Matthew Fox
5pm Cultural Mystics as Change-Makers: George Sand and the 19th-Century Woman Question in Russian Love Triangle Novels with Dawn D. Eidelman, Ph.D.
6pm Mystical Experience with Rabbi Rami Shapiro
7pm Sri Siddhi Ma: A Timeless Saint with Nina Rao
Wednesday, Feb 3
12pm Turning to Thomas Merton as our Guide in Contemplative Living with James Finley, PhD
1pm Art as Sacred with Tasleem Jamila
2pm Learning from Dorothy Day with Robert Ellsberg
3pm "Vernacular Mysticism" and the Women Who Live It with Carol Lee Flinders, PhD
4pm Joseph the Mensch with Father Bill McNichols
5pm The Holistic Embodiment of Mysticism with Kaitlin Curtice
6pm Through the Ear to the Heart: Sing the Music of St. Hildegard of Bingen with Devi Mathieu
7pm BIPOC-Centered Mysticism: Exploring the Frontier of the BIPOC Mystic Universe & Why It Is So Essential In This Moment with Teresa Mateus, LCSW, E-RYT 200
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Thursday, Feb 4
12pm Mystics Muse & Sage Songs with Jenny Bird
1pm Ahmadu Bamba: African Mystical Warrior for Peace with Imam Adé Mendes
2pm Ram Dass From the Mind to the Heart with Rameshwar Das
3pm The Black Madonna Climbs Down from the Altar & Walks out into the Street with China Galland
4pm The Beauty of Becoming: Teilhard and Bruteau's Vision for a Participatory Mystical Revolution with Brie Stoner
5pm Sacred Scandal: Origen of Alexandria with Rev. Michael Petrow, PhD
6pm Jewish Wisdom Keepers: Reb Zalman & Madame Collette with Eve Ilsen, MA
7pm Sacred Treasures Hidden Within Our World & Our Minds with Paul Levy
Friday, Feb 5
12pm Maps of the Mystics with Zuleikha
1pm Ripened Narcissism — The Way of the Mystic with Ari Honarvar
2pm Psychedelics and Mystical Experience Research: Implications for Living and Dying Well with Anthony P. Bossis, PhD
3pm For the Love of Gaia: Becoming a Holy Vessel in Service to Her with Lama Cynthia Jurs
4pm Basking in the Radiant Dark: The Wisdom of the Dark Feminine and Collective Initiation. with Vera De Chalambert, MTS
5pm A Most MisUnderstood Mystic with Alexander John Shaia, PhD
6pm Mother Ancestor Stories from the Womb of Love with Tamam Kahn
7pm Wisdom Beings I Have Known with Mirabai Bush
MUSIC FOR A SNOWY DAY…MUSIC FOR THE MOVEMENT
Get Up Stand Up - Playing For Change | Song Around The World
--features Bob Marley’s offspring: Daughter Cedella and grandson Skip plus Keith Richards
Takin’ It to the Streets – Doobie Brothers
What’s Goin’ On – Playing for Change
People Get Ready – Aaron Neville (0:10:11 also includes MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech)
--video includes civil rights images
Get Up Stand Up – Playing for Change (PFC Band & Keith Richards)
PPC Musical Samples
Pauline Pisano: Her music page………video page……Pauline’s a powerful 1-woman movement, getting’ by with some help from her friends (studio team).
Jamel Coy Hudson: Cover of Bob’s “Redemption Song” and his passionate version of Matisyahu’s anthem to equality and nonviolence - “One Day.”
--2-hour Facebook replay features Pauline, Jamel Coy Hudson and other performers using their voices and instruments as weapons for changing the system.
Peace,
tOM