A SOUL IN WONDER
NEWSLETTER 8/3/20
(Sent as email, Facebook post & added to the “Newsletter” page of my website)
Want to unsubscribe? If so, please reply, “STOP – in the name of love…” and I’ll remove you from my list…but not from my heart.
“I sense the urgency of the Holy Spirit, with [over] 7.5 billion humans now on the planet at the same time. Our future is either nonviolent or there is no future at all.”
--Richard Rohr
Hi! For the past few months I’ve reentered Facebook in order to have more interaction, albeit virtual, and I’m sharing my time between posting on my website and on FB. Since many of you are not among my FB friends, I put together this newsletter to let you know about various events and posts. Hope you find something that interests you, informs you, or simply helps you enjoy our shared journey.
Facebook friends: Please pardon the duplication if you also get an email from me. In the future, I’ll try to eliminate the dups.
Together on the shared journey…to the new world…
tOM
FROM THE EDITOR
Step 1: Begin with Ourselves
We are living in a time when violence – of words and actions - seems to be the only method for dealing with issues that are larger than us and with people who are different from us. Violence gives us the illusion that we are in control; when, in fact we are out of control.
NOW is the time to embrace and begin to practice the Teacher’s life-saving, Earth-saving, relationship-building wisdom in the Beatitudes and Sermon on the Mount which addressed: love of enemies, forgiveness, reconciliation, judgment, and harboring hate in our hearts. A few courageous folks who practiced this wisdom included Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
Because of this lack of nonviolent role models, we all need training in HOW to be so.
HOW we do something is as, if not more, important than WHAT we do.
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We first need to take stock of our interior landscape – are there areas of hatred, mistrust or fear of some class(es) of people that we deem as less than us? From this space of getting our own house in order, we can then move to the outside. HH Dalai Lama has said that inner peace must come before outer peace. Similarly, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that our inner attitudes and states are the real sources of our problems, preceding our outward behaviors.
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We need some form of contemplative practice to enable us to see in “wholes” rather than “poles.” Otherwise, we just take sides and spend all our energy defending our side and attacking the other. For me, contemplation is helping me see the “other” as “me” – and realize that at the level of soul, we are one.
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We need training in nonviolence – the world of church and state has been run largely by white males, seeking power and control. They conveniently overlook Jesus’ clear teaching on nonviolence and love for enemies. Because of this bias from the top, we need to listen to different voices that show us – those at the bottom - how to think and then live nonviolently and compassionately with one another.
Source: These comments are included in recent posts on racism and nonviolence. See links below.
EVENTS
FOR ALL
Today: Digital March on McConnell (info & register here) JOIN ME!!!
August 3 @ 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm EDT
We call on all people of faith and conscience to join us and hold up the universal teachings of our traditions. We recall the words of the prophet Isaiah as we witness and experience these actions: “Woe unto those who legislate evil and rob the poor of their rights.”
Join us for a Moral Monday to Stop McConnell’s Misery, Meanness and Mayhem, on Monday, August 3, 2020 at 3:30pm ET / 12:30pm PT. We will honor the dead and flood the phones of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to push for a full and just relief package.
Sponsors:
Kairos – The Centers for Religions, Rights and Social Justice
Campaign Nonviolence: Training, National Conference & Hiroshima Day Events
August 6-8 Online – Info, Presenters & Tickets here JOIN ME!!!
--Presenters from all faiths and walks of life – including Franciscan Richard Rohr
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020 - HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI COMMEMORATION ONLINE AT 8 P.M. EASTERN/5 P.M. PACIFIC. LEARN MORE HERE.
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FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2020 - NONVIOLENCE TRAINING ONLINE 3 P.M. EASTERN / 12 P.M. PACIFIC
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SATURDAY, AUGUST 8,2020 - CONFERENCE ONLINE BEGINNING AT 12 P.M. EASTERN/9 A.M. PACIFIC
FOR ALL
Four Monday’s starting Aug. 9 7-9 pm EST Zoom JOIN ME!!!
Introduction to Mindfulness Classes
My friend Tom is doing a second round of free classes. First set of 4 were very helpful. Here’s some feedback I included in my evaluation of the first set:
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“Good balance of information and personal examples delivered in a relaxed, casual style that felt like a conversation rather than a lecture. Pauses for breaths…helped me more easily digest and absorb what you were sharing with us.”
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“…your body language and your voice said, “welcome” Your smile invited me to feel part of an online family,,,sangha”
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“After each gathering, I felt satisfied, like after a good meal – I ate just the right amount of delicious food – I was nourished.”
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“…you created a safe space where I felt comfortable to ask any questions I might have had.”
FOR ALL
Poor People’s Campaign – National website
FOR ANYONE WITH OR NEEDING A SENSE OF HUMOR
Punderdome Pun Competition – currently still virtual – next show 8/6
FOR FILM LOVERS
Keith Crocker’s Movie Presentations – now virtual – next show 8/5
Wednesday, August 5 at 1pm Long Island, the Gold Coast and Hollywood- http://www.eventkeeper.com/mars/xpages/B/BRYANT/ekp.cfm?curOrg=BRYANT
Thursday, August 13 at 2pm Ed Sullivan and the Golden Years of Comedy- http://www.eventkeeper.com/mars/xpages/xp_newpopevent.cfm?zeeOrg=GNL&EventID=6345747&sw=1920
Wednesday, August 19 at 1pm Spaghetti Westerns- How Europe Changed the Face of Western Cinema- http://www.eventkeeper.com/mars/xpages/B/BRYANT/ekp.cfm?curOrg=BRYANT
NEW BLOG POSTS – FOR ALL OPEN MINDS
(& for those of us daring enough to risk getting holes in our overly-opinionated heads)
New: Many newer posts now contain links to YouTube playlists for all songs in that post. So…you can take my musical friends with you on your adventures into your own Wonderlands.
RACISM – There’s only one race – the human race
8/2: Resources, reflections & contemplative practices to help us examine our own hearts before we judge others.
8/1: As divisiveness rises, Gandhi & Dr. King courageously applied Jesus' teaching on nonviolence.
The Wind Cries Mary - of Magdala: “Apostle to the Apostles" (first evangelist)
7/24: Misinterpreted, here's her true story told by wisdom teachers thru art, music, movies & other imagery...
For older posts click this link.
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