What's Happening at
SpiritualityandPractice.com
March 6, 2020
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By Mary Ann Brussat
A willingness to love enemies is foundational to reaching across racial and political divides. As civil rights activist Will D. Campbell put it, "If you're gonna love one, you've got to love them all." This blog illustrates how with the films
Burden
and
Best of Enemies
, based on real-life stories of Klansmen befriended by black leaders.
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By Alexandre Jollien
Alexandre Jollien has established himself as a profound moral thinker and spiritual teacher, the first to consistently reflect on what it means to be born and live with disability as a source of strength and creative energy. Here he considers the essence of practice, rooted in our becoming devoted to loving others and relieving pain.
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By Patricia Campbell Carlson
In 1847, Dred Scott -- an enslaved person whose master had died -- filed a lawsuit in quest of freedom for him and his wife. The case slowly made its way to the Supreme Court, which decided in 1857 that slaves were property, not citizens. What actions can we take to heal such historic wrongs?
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By Patricia Campbell Carlson and Darren Polito
An equal world is an enabled world. How will you help forge a gender equal world? This year's theme is "Each for Equal."
More Practices
: Jean-Pierre de Caussade Day, Purim, Honoring Harriet Tubman, Election Day of Pope Francis
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By Philip Goldberg
Since 1893, a stately parade of swamis, gurus, and yoga masters have journeyed from India to grace the shores of the United States, irrevocably changing the spiritual landscape. With the help of audio and video recordings, this new e-course dives into the lives and groundbreaking teachings of six masterful teachers: Swami Vivekananda, Paramahansa Yogananda, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Swami Muktananda, and Swami Satchidananda. Read more and sign up:
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If you got caught off guard when Lent started on February 26 and you would like to follow spiritual teachings during this season of reflection and transformation, please feel free to join any of the four e-courses currently underway. When you do, all the sessions covered so far will appear in your Spirituality & Practice account, allowing you to catch up at your own pace -- or simply to dive in and work from the most recent mailing. Read more and sign up:
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By Ken Loach
This film exposes the vulnerability behind what appears on the surface to be a sound gig economy. Work sucks the life force and love out of a man and his family, leaving them desperate even after they have played by all the right rules.
More Films
: Burden, Go Back to China, Run This Town
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DVDs and Streaming Releases
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Directed by Marielle Heller
This moving drama conveys the impact that children's television host Fred Rogers had upon a cynical journalist assigned to write a story about him for a 1998 issue of
Esquire
devoted to heroes. Tom Hanks radiates Rogers' kindness, humble creativity, and genuine respect for others -- and powerfully captures Rogers' spiritual practice of silence.
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By Roger Lipsey
This short work delves deeply into the extraordinary life and legacy of the second secretary of the United Nations, whom John F. Kennedy called "the greatest statesman of our century."
More Books
: Dorothy Day, This Is the Life, Wicca, The Yoga Almanac
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By Martha Seif Simpson
It's not often that you get a toy shop, a brave girl, a caring brother, a powerful community outcry, and a parade all rolled into one. This book also has pages explaining
Purim and its practices
, what graggers are, and how to make your own noisemakers.
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Spiritual Literacy Blog
By Frederic Brussat
Americans are not moving as much as they did in the past. While some may view this trend toward not-moving as a crisis, counter to the dream of upward mobility, some spiritual teachers see it differently. Here are two practices you can try to get in touch with the soul of the place where you live.
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Short & Sweet Spirituality Blog
By Frederic Brussat
Howard Thurman, the great African-American theologian and civil-rights activist, offers this reminder: "Follow the grain in your own wood." What other short and sweet wisdom captures your attention in this blog?
More Blogs
: KidSpirit Youth Voices - Submission for Salvation
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Practicing Democracy Project
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By The We the People Book Club
The Fire
and
Between
were published during times when a critical number of white people were ready to listen to hard truths about the dangers of being black in America. While both books speak uncomfortable truths, they do so from an intimate place.
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By Patricia Campbell Carlson
National Freedom of Information Day offers an opportunity to reflect on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and what it means for citizens of the United States. These quotes and a spiritual practice help you reflect on the public's right to know.
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By Bradford and Hillary Keeney and Darren Polito
This creative gallery of photos matched with a spiritual practice encourages you to keep a flashlight handy to remind you of the holy light and to prepare yourself to bring more light into the world.
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A Thought to Carry with You
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On this day in 1970, the Beatles released the song "Let It Be" as a single. People often take the lyrics to refer to Mary, the mother of Jesus:
"When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be …"
Paul McCartney, who wrote
the lyrics
, didn't discourage anyone from interpreting them in whatever way they wished. But at a difficult juncture in his life, the lyrics came to him in a dream that he had about own mother, Mary Patricia (née Mohin). She had died of cancer when he was only 14 years old, so you can imagine how grateful he was for the chance to visit with her in the dream. During this dream visit she told him, "It will be all right, just let it be."
These words carry echoes of Julian of Norwich, the English anchorite from the Middle Ages, who heard in a mystical vision the words "All shall be well … and all manner of things shall be well." Especially during tense and scary times, it's wise to remember this kind of ultimate and essentially maternal reassurance, not bound by circumstances. The confidence that all will be well, if we let it be, comes from a deep and rooted place in which we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is still a light that shines on us. How we let it shine
through
us helps it "shine on until tomorrow" for the sake of all life.
Blessings,
Your Spirituality & Practice Team
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Patricia Campbell Carlson
Margaret Wakeley
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