January 15, 2015
What's Happening This Week at SpiritualityandPractice.com
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Editor's Pick
The Elder Spirituality Project reframes limiting and negative ideas about the experiences of the last stage of life. Through art, books, films, e-courses, prayers, blogs, and a wealth of other resources, it reveals the rewarding adventure that growing older can be when viewed through the lens of spiritual practice. We've just updated the "What's New" page -- check it out.
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Practices
An ethic of reverence for life enabled Dr. Albert Schweitzer -- a doctor of philosophy, of theology, and of medicine -- to expand his circle of compassion from family, friends, and co-workers to plants, animals, and all creation. How much we can still learn from his inspiring example!
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E-Courses
A Year-long Program with Contemplative Outreach
To foster in our hearts a peaceful vision based on deep listening and daily practice, our friends at Contemplative Outreach have composed a series of four e-courses supplemented by rich and vibrant weekly meditations during the interstices between them. The series just started and still has space for you!
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By Thomas Keating, Mary Anne Best, and Susan Rush
February 10 (Ash Wednesday) - March 25 (Good Friday)
Take this e-course as part of Contemplative Outreach's the year-long program or on its own. Email, video, and audio teachings plus an online Practice Circle draw you into an atmosphere of trust that is ideal for exploring the perennial themes of Lent.
Coming Soon: A sign-up page for "The Spirituality of the Gospels: Lent 2016" with Thomas Moore.
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Films
Directed by Fernando Leon de Aranoa
Based on the Spanish novel
Dejarse Llover by Doctors Without Borders veteran Paula Farias, this antiwar film about tenacious and resilient humanitarian aid workers in the Balkans embeds itself within our souls with its unique mix of comedy and immense sadness.
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DVDs
Directed by Ridley Scott
Fifty million miles from earth, astronaut Mark Watney wakes up stranded with only his ingenuity, remote support from Houston, and a few helpful things like duct tape and rover parts. His death-defying strategies tutor us in hope. (One of the Most Spiritually Literate Films of 2015)
More DVDs: The Look of Silence (one of the Most Spiritually Literate documentaries), The Second Mother (one of the Most Spiritually Literate foreign language films), Good Morning Karachi
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Books
Reclaiming the Wild Soul
By Mary Reynolds Thompson
Have you ever stopped to consider the major landscapes in our lives -- deserts, forests, ocean and rivers, mountains, and grasslands -- as mirrors for our own wilder selves, accessible through spiritual practices?
More Books: The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs, Jewish Wisdom for Growing Older
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Children's Books
by Jennifer Berne (author) and Keith Bendis (illustrator)
The story of a starling who gets glasses will appeal to all those who can recall the delights and the disappointments of their first pair.
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Blogs
By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Handheld gadgets and their extravagant features dazzle us with the instant ability to communicate and keep up, but injuries using them while walking distractedly are on the rise.
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By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
The United States, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq are the five countries which, according to Amnesty International, most often use capital punishment. The New York Times calls this practice "morally unacceptable, inhuman, barbaric, unjust and useless," and we couldn't agree more.
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From Our Wisdom Archive
We were sad to learn of the death of actor Alan Rickman, best known for his role as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series. Our favorite Rickman film is Truly, Madly, Deeply in which he plays a recently deceased cello player who visits his grieving lover. It is one of 12 featured in our collection "Films about Heaven, Angels, and the Afterlife."
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A Thought to Carry with You
Have you ever noticed how many advocates of human dignity were born in January? Here's a small sample: Folk singer and activist Joan Baez, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr., Harlem Renaissance writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, Trappist monk and interreligious pioneer Thomas Merton, suffragist Alice Paul, prolific Christian writer Henri J.M. Nouwen, leading architect of Chicana feminism Martha Cotera, and peacemaker Mahatma Gandhi.
So January is an excellent time to be reminded, as we are by Edward Hays, that if conflict is necessary, then for the sake of humanity and all creation we need to carefully choose our weapons. "If you are foolish enough to use the same weapons as those who attack you," he writes, "you will lose even if you win. If you know in advance that conflict is ahead of you, create an inner blueprint of how you wish to engage in the conflict. Design with prayerfulness only weapons of light, craft only shields of love, and wear no armor but the presence of God so that you do not turn into the evil forces that you fight."
Our wish for you this week is that your inner blueprint for resolving conflict will be clear, courageous, and compassionate, like those of the many great souls who have gone before us, blazing a trail to peace.
Blessings,
Your Spirituality & Practice Team
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Patricia Campbell Carlson
Darren Polito
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