March 23, 2018
What's Happening This Week at SpiritualityandPractice.com
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Editors' Picks
By Joyce Rupp
Joyce Rupp is a master spiritual teacher of the Christian way who describes herself as a "spiritual midwife." As the
co-director of the Servite Center of Compassionate Presence, she has developed a six-week program on practicing compassion as a transformation from hostility to hospitality, a loving presence, a reverence for our common humanity, and a way to reach out to others with empathy.
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By Joyce Rupp
This wonderful companion volume to
Boundless Compassion offers prayers, blessings, and meditations that express the heart's yearning and address common concerns in everyday life. This
prayer to embody compassion could be life-changing if taken deeply into yourself in steady practice.
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Practices
On Saturday between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. in your local time zone, turn out your lights and enjoy the dark night sky. You will be in the company of others glad to indulge in wonder and to reduce the world's gas emissions.
More Practices: Oscar Romero Day, Birthday of Catherine of Sienna, Birthday of Flannery O'Connor, Walt Whitman, Meister Eckhart Day, Birthday of Pearl Bailey
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E-Courses
A new e-course by Ed Bastian, Cynthia Bourgeault, Kabir and Camille Helminski, Rami Shapiro, Mirabai Starr, and Swami Atmarupananda
April 2 - May 10, 2018
Our hearts are broken by the news of suffering caused by catastrophic fires, floods, hurricanes, violence, and deaths of friends and strangers both near and afar. Yet we know that life's tragedies can also yield hidden gifts of profound healing, renewal, and thriving. Read more about this benefit e-course and sign up:
www.SpiritualityandPractice.com/CopingwithCatastrophe
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Films
Directed by Roland Joffe
This drama draws us into conflicts faced by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, called out of retirement to head South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Although the film's recreated events took place more than 20 years ago, the lessons learned about forgiveness have relevance today all over the world.
More Films: Arthur Miller: Writer, Back to Burgundy, Claire's Camera, Journey's End
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DVDs
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Winner of the 2018 Oscar for Best Picture, this sensuous film tells an intriguing love story about a lonely woman who is attracted to an equally lonely creature -- against a backdrop of the Cold War with its raging prejudices.
More DVDs: Call Me By Your Name; The Divine Order; Downsizing; I, Tanya
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Books
Beyond the Comma
By Robert Chase
In his immensely creative, wide-ranging, and stirring memoir, the author -- an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ -- provides ample evidence of the value of staying open to new ideas and revelations.
More Books: The Journey Never Ends, Meta-Talk, Skilled Dialogue, Salons, Soul to Soul, Uncommon Decency
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Children's Books
Be Kind
By Pat Zietlow Miller
A girl trying to understand kindness comes upon many illustrations of this essential practice, such as making donations at a consignment shop, opening the door for someone at the post office, buying a "get well" bouquet, adopting from the animal refuge, returning books at the library, and giving directions at a bus stop.
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Blogs
By Frederic Brussat
Being in a green cathedral of trees is genuinely therapeutic. Research shows that forest environments lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormone production, boost the immune system, reduce depression scores, and soothe the spirits.
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KidSpirit Youth Voices Blog
By Jocelyn Ruffner
A thirteen-year-old poet explores cosmic themes of creation and destruction alongside other polarities that stretch our minds and our vision of who we are.
More Blogs: Grief Takes a Road Trip, A Prayer in Solidarity with the Walk-out and 7,000 Pairs of Shoes
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The Practicing Democracy Project
Fortress America
By Elaine Tyler May
This book renders us all a helpful service by pointing out the extent to which the culture has embraced fear and in turn, has abandoned freedom and equality as foundational principles of American democracy.
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From Our Wisdom Archive
In the mood to refresh your spirit with select readings chosen for you from some of the finest contemporary books about spirituality? This circulating collection of excerpts is one of the hidden gems of the Spirituality & Practice website, a getaway that allows you to return to your life with new perspectives. The link above takes you to an archive. Click on the link in the "Today" bucket at the bottom of the homepage to find a new one each day.
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A Thought to Carry with You
In Memories, Dreams, and Reflections, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung recalls the story of a student who comes to a rabbi and observes that "in the olden days" there were people who saw the face of God. Why, asked the student, don't they anymore? The rabbi replied, "Because nowadays no one can stoop so low."
This week, look for God in the lowly and the small. Spring has begun for those of us in the northern hemisphere, so you may explore holiness in new bulbs you find humbly rising from the thawing earth. Or you may wish to give of your time or resources to an organization with outreach to those on the margins of society, knowing that Mercy dwells with the displaced and neglected. Or you may even seek out and care for forgotten parts of yourself that you didn't consider worthy of your attention but that you realize now could not possibly be separate from the spark of divinity that animates your being.
If you have trouble finding God in the lowly, don't worry. Perhaps simply intuiting that you needn't look only towards the lofty and sublime can bring you fresh courage for your quest.
Blessings,
Your Spirituality & Practice Team
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Patricia Campbell Carlson
Margaret Wakeley
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