ACPE's weekly digest to keep you connected, better informed, and well-resourced for the week ahead.
March 20, 2017
monday briefing header
Trace Informal
ACPE's Monday Briefing is a weekly digest from ACPE Executive Director Trace Haythorn. 
 
Each week you will receive related articles and updates on ACPE transitions. Also included are helpful links to keep you connected, better informed, and well-resourced for the week ahead.
National Conference
Thank you to everyone who has already registered for the national conference, "What We Need is Here"! We have had an unprecedented number of registrations - over 400 at this writing -  which we hope reflects excitement about both our 50th celebration and our outstanding program and keynote speakers. Keep watching email for updates as we expect to add more hotel rooms and provide more information about logistics in Minneapolis. What an exciting time in the life of ACPE!
Now Seeking
As many of you know, part of the new redesign includes three new positions, what we have been calling "area managers," largely because "program, membership, community of practice and center support wonder workers" is simply too long a title. If you know of people interested or want to check out the position, click here to directly access the link. 
Advancing Chaplaincy: Learning to Think and Act Strategically
Transforming Chaplaincy is hosting a series of 4 hour-long webinars in Spring 2017. Registration for each webinar is limited and filling up fast. Click here to save your spot.
In case you missed it
Six amendments to the Bylaws have been proposed, five from Gordon Hilsman and one from Jeffery Silberman. You can review them and make comments here .
A Poem for Reflection
There seems to be a lot of talk about narcissism and fame in the media today. It led me to think about this poem, a reflection on the need within to be remembered, to remember, to know why and who we are:
"Famous" by Naomi Shihab Nye

The river is famous to the fish.

The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.

The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.

The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.

The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.

The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.

The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.

I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.

Something extra
This is a surprisingly long ad made by a Danish television station, but in light of recent tensions there, here and elsewhere it offers a lovely alternative to the boxes into which we place ourselves and others:  This Danish TV ad is literally the best we've ever seen
This Week on the Calendar
Monday, March 20 spring equinox
*Spring Ohigon - Buddhism
For Buddhists who practice in the Jōdo Shinshu [Japanese Pure Land] tradition, this is a special time to listen to the teaching of the Buddha and meditate on the perfection of enlightenment as lived in the Six Perfections or Paramitas (generosity, morality, wisdom, honesty, endeavor, and patience).

*Shunki-sorei-sai - Shintō
The time of the spring memorial service, when ancestors' spirits are revered at home altars and gravesites are cleaned and purified.

*Ostara - Wicca
A time to mark the divine goddess's blanketing of the Earth with fertility as the god stretches and grows to maturity, manifested in the reawakening of seeds within the Earth as they are touched by divine love.

*Spring Feast - Native American spirituality
A day to mark the coming and going of seasons and to honor planting through songs, stories, and prayer.

*Naw Rúz - Bahá'í
Marking the beginning of the year 174 of the Bahá'í era, and the beginning of the first month of the year, known as Bahá or "splendor."

Tuesday, March 21
*Navruz [Now Ruz or Norooz] - Zoroastrianism
The beginning of the Zoroastrian new year, 1387 AY or 3755 AZ in the Fasli seasonal calendar, which also celebrates the renewal of the world and the creation of fire (which symbolizes righteousness). Zarathustra, the founder of Zoroastrianism, received his revelation on this day.

Saturday, March 25
*Feast of the Annunciation - Christianity
This festival marks the visit of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary of Nazareth and Mary's faithful response to God's plan by consenting to be Jesus' mother.

Sunday, March 26
*Khordad Sal - Zoroastrianism
The birth anniversary of the prophet Zarathustra.
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