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Friday, December 14, 2018
Thursday, December 13, 2018
The Dark Night of Soul
Just before the Dark Night came calling, Fiona Robertson felt she was on top of the world. She was the co-founder of an award winning health project, had a charismatic new boyfriend, and felt more physically fit than any time in her life.
Yet in quiet moments she felt that something wasn’t quite right. The material success she’d achieved wasn’t really giving her peace. Within a relatively short time, a series of circumstances occurred that undermined her carefully constructed sense of self-esteem.
“Becoming the person I had believed I should be did not bring about the happiness or contentment I had imagined it would, simply because it wasn’t who I really was,” she writes in her new book, The Dark Night of the Soul: A Journey from Absence to Presence.
Robertson here shares how she navigated the spiritual crisis first described in a poem by St. John of the Cross. She explains how the process involves the disintegration of a false self that masks fear and unworthiness, and the emergence of a mature, stable and integrated true self. She describes what she’s learned by comparing her experiences with those of a group she calls her amam cara, a group of friends and associates who’ve also experienced the Dark Night of the Soul.
Links:
- Book site
- Robertson’s main site
- Wikipedia’s description of the Dark Night of the Soul
- Diversity and Spirituality Network's site
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Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Saturday we'll talk about Navigating the Dark Night of the Soul. Join us. It's free!
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Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Monday, November 26, 2018
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Facing Death Without Religion
How do non-religious people – which now comprise nearly 30% of the American population – face the coming of death? That’s the subject of Dr. Christel Manning’s John Templeton Foundation-funded research project.
Although a fair amount is known about how religious people face the certainty of their demise, relatively little is known how non-religious people do. This category, which religious studies scholars refer to as “the nones,” now comprises 27% of the population, up from about 7% in the 1980s.
Unlike their religious contemporaries, this group lacks the powerful set of stories, symbols and rituals that have for generations characterized the predominate American approach to dealing with dying. This group instead relies on different types of what Manning refers to as “maps of meaning.” These might include the sense-making that comes from personal growth narratives gained from such processes such as engaging in a 12-step program or therapy after surviving a divorce.
In this podcast, Manning describes her own belief-system journey; what is currently known about how aging people in general approach the coming of death; and the new types of secular rituals that are emerging to help non-religions people become more comfortable with death and dying.
- Manning’s faculty page
- Her research project’s description
- Death Cafe website
- Diversity and Spirituality Network's site
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Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Friday, October 26, 2018
Someone painted this rock and left it outside in my progressive town...
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Friday, October 19, 2018
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Improvisation and Spiritual Practice
For Jules Munns, the art of improvisation he’s devoted his life to is much more than simply a type of theatrical performance. Improv, he says, is as an activity that helps people uncover previously hidden aspects of their selves and thus become more fully human.
Munns here explores the notion of improvisation as spiritual practice. Just as is the aim of passive meditation, improvisation helps practitioners achieve mindfulness, awakening and a connection to a larger Mystery and deeper meaning. In addition, it helps practitioners do something that most forms of mediation do not: connect and interact with others in surprising and unscripted ways.
Munns is the co-Artistic Director of the Nursery Theater and the founder of Slapdash International, London’s longest running festival of improvisation. He’s also a performing member of the Maydays, an award-winning improvised comedy company with bases in Brighton and London. One of the UK’s most prolific improv teachers and actors, he's performed and taught at festivals across the UK and in countries including the US, Pakistan, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Finland.
Links:
- The Maydays
- The Nursery Theater
- Jules Munns Site
- Diversity and Spirituality Network's site
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Sunday, October 14, 2018
I stand with my indigenous brothers and sisters, whose legacy...
I stand with my indigenous brothers and sisters, whose legacy endures despite Trails of Tears and attempts to disappear them from their country’s memory… (at Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian)
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo6S6urAy84/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=tsyms4h3cd1p
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My new thrift store kicks! Even though they were a bit too big,...
My new thrift store kicks! Even though they were a bit too big, had to have them. Put a new insole on these babies and a little shoe-stretch stuff on them, and let them walk my body around. Italian leather, square front. Jello’s in the house! (at Lambertville, New Jersey)
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Friday, October 05, 2018
The One Thing that all women, POC, LGBT and all...
The One Thing that all women, POC, LGBT and all “marginalized” people share… ( listen to the entire podcast here: https://radiopublic.com/the-podcast-of-the-diversity-and-GqzL4P/ep/s1!db096 )
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Thursday, September 27, 2018
The Radically Inclusive Ministry of Yvette Flunder
It was a gradual process that led the young Yvette Flunder to question the tenets of the United Church of Christ in which she was born and raised. She couldn’t reconcile her emerging beliefs with her church’s patriarchal orientation and its emphasis on preparing adherents for the next world rather than addressing the injustices and inadequacies of this one. She also realized she never again could call herself a member of a church that completely rejected same-gender-loving people such as herself.
Bishop Flunder here traces the path that led her to become a visionary religious leader with a mission of tending to the spiritual needs of marginalized people around the world, particularly those of African-American descent. She speaks of her vision of radical inclusion,which she believes requires an equally radical social ministry reaching to the furthest margins of society to serve all in need without prejudice or discrimination.
“The greatest mistake at the Christian church has ever made was to put a back cover on the book, to somehow suggest that we could make a manual out of the living word of God,” she said.
Reverend Flunder is the founder and senior pastor of the City of Refugee United Church of Christ in Oakland, California. In 2003, she was appointed Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, a multi-denominational coalition of over 56 churches and faith-based organizations from all over the world. She’s also the author of Where the Edge Gathers: A Theology of Homiletic Radical Inclusion.
Links:
- City of Refuge United Church of Christ
- Fellowship of Affirming Ministries
- Diversity and Spirituality Network's site
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Friday, September 14, 2018
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Creating Communities of Choice
Organization Development Robert Leventhal explains why there’s a decline in synagogue and church attendance, how congregations can reverse this trend, and his thoughts on next generation engagement strategies.
According to Leventhal, external force fields make it necessary for churches and synagogues to change to remain relevant to a new generation. Synagogues in particular can no longer be content to be ethnic enclaves but instead must evolve to be more outward facing and responsive to the needs of potential new members.
A former sales and management consultant, Leventhal for the past two decades has had a synagogue consulting practice that has worked with organizations that include Yeshiva University, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and the UJA Federation of New York. Previously a consultant with the Alban Institiute, he’s now the Kehilla Leadership Specialist for the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the largest network of Conservative Jewish congregations in the world.
Leventhal is the author of Byachad: Synagogue Board Development and Stepping Forward: Synagogue Visioning and Planning.
Links:
- About Robert Leventhal
- UNCJ
- Diversity and Spirituality Network's site
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Thursday, August 16, 2018
Flame Wars in Spiritual Spaces
During the summer of 2018, what happened behind the scenes of two online events exposed the painful fact that the wound of race is as present in the spiritual space as anywhere else. The run-up to both of these events sparked heated flame wars, contested on one side by white women with a history of promoting progressive causes and on the other side primarily by woman of color who perceived these events as reeking what some described as cultural appropriation and others described as racism masked by privilege.
One woman who described herself as triggered by these events is Wendy C. Williams, an African-American spiritual life coach and energy healer. In this podcast, Williams reflects on what went down during the run-up to ill-fated Urban Priestess Summit and Danielle LaPorte's Lighter program, lessons that each group might learn from their participation in the flame wars, the psychology of triggering and appropriate ways to react.
Williams also talks about growing up in a Jehovah’s Witness household, the emerging agency of African-American women, and how to harness spiritual power. In addition to having practiced spiritual counseling for the past decade, Williams has a degree in counseling psychology and has lived internationally.
Links:
- Wendy’s site
- Facebook background on the Urban Priestess Summit
- Facebook background on Lighter
- Diversity and Spirituality Network’s site
- Record a response to this episode
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Tuesday, August 07, 2018
Friday, August 03, 2018
Have you heard ‘The Poet, the Buddhist, the Transssexual’ by Diversity and Spirituality Network on #SoundCloud? #np http://bit.ly/2vwT3fP
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Thursday, August 02, 2018
The Poet, the Buddhist, the Transsexual
Esteemed poet Diana Goetsche talks about anti-gay and anti-trans attitudes within the American Buddhist community, how people fiercely protect the gender divide, and how her Vajrayāna practice sustained her during her transition.
In between discussing these and other topics, she reads poetry from her eight collections, including the poem, Black People Can’t Swim, which merited her the 2012 Pushcart Prize. Because of this and others work, Diana’s been cited as one of the few white poets willing to write on the subject of race. She also reads from The Diana Updates, a series of letters to friends about her transition that was republished in The American Scholar.
In reaction to her American Scholar letters, she received supportive letters from people in all walks of life. “We are all, I was learning, in transition, people between people, longing to be fully ourselves. The only essential difference with my deal is that it’s glaringly obvious and can’t be hidden from anyone.”
A former varsity athlete and concert jazz dancer, poet with award-winning collections, a dedicated meditation practitioner and instructor, Goetsche is a multifaced advocate for America’s newest visible minority.
Links:
- Diana Goetsche’s site
- Her Life in Transition letters
- Diversity and Spirituality Network
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Saturday, July 21, 2018
My social connect team at the just ended annual NTL annual conference #NTLAMM2018
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Friday, July 20, 2018
My Doylestown neighbor, Bridgette, grabbing some food here in North Leigh, Oxfordshire, UK. #ntlamm2018
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Me and the Global Connect team havin’ fun while doing work at the NTL Institute’s annual meeting. #ntlamm2018
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Thursday, July 19, 2018
Monday, July 16, 2018
America’s president made quite an impression here in this UK rural/ suburban community. See the headline under the masthead.
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Thursday, July 12, 2018
More Than Just an Art Festival: Burning Man as Pilgrimage
For some, it’s an art festival, for others, a networking event. For others, it’s merely a time and place to get away from it all.
But for Maria Lambert Bridge, the 7-day annual middle-of-nowhere Burning Man event in the desert of Nevada, is all of that, but much more. It’s a time of renewal, a pilgrimage: something akin to coming home to sacred ground.
Bridge, a thirty-something consultant and occasional mindfulness instructor, here describes her experiences at Burning Man; her yearlong experiment aimed at embodying the ten underlying principles of Burning Man; and her thoughts on Generation Xers perspectives on spirituality. She also expands on what she learned during a month-long part of her yearly transformational journey: one in which she lived out the principle of radical inclusion.
Links:
- Maria’s personal site
- Topo Group (business site)
- Maria’s Ten Principles Project
- Her Radical Inclusion Experiment
- Burning Man
- Radical Inclusion Symposium Page
- Diversity and Spirituality Network
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Sunday, July 08, 2018
Saturday, July 07, 2018
Thursday, July 05, 2018
Sunday, June 24, 2018
Friday, June 15, 2018
A Sufi Approach to Business
Fourth generation entrepreneur Mark Silver is a pioneer in the integration of spirituality and business. He believes that commerce doesn’t need to involve hype or manipulation but instead can be based on transparency, integrity and heart. In this podcast, he describes how life circumstances led him to embrace the Sufi path, his belief that right business practice is inherently spiritual, and how when done correctly marketing can be a form of healing.
The founder of the Ithaca, New York-based Heart of Business company, Silver also discusses how political activism informs his sense of spirituality, common misconceptions of Islam, and his belief that capitalism is a both distortion of business practice and a root of many of the world’s social problems.
He also describes the essence of his daily spiritual practice, the Sufi heart-centered process of Remembrance.
Links:
- Heart of Business
- Sufi Remembrance
- Diversity and Spirituality Network Events
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Monday, May 21, 2018
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Thursday, May 03, 2018
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Monday, April 16, 2018
Monday, April 09, 2018
New Religious Movements
Pejoratively called “cults” by some, there are by some estimates more than 300 New Religious Movements in the United States and tens of thousands worldwide. These include offshoots of established religions, congregations with unique scriptures, and “New Age” churches that claim celestial origins. Some of these groups last less than a decade, whereas others span generations.
W. Michael Ashcraft, the Philosophy and Religion Department Chair of Truman State University, has been studying New Religious Movements for most of his professional life. The author of the recently published book, A Historical Introduction to the Study of New Religious Movements, Ashcraft here discusses the anticult movement that flourished in the ‘60s and '70s, why some groups survive and others don’t, and the similarities between New Religious Movements of the nineteenth century and those of the present day. He also draws distinctions between those groups with negative cult-like tendencies and those that are more benign.
In addition to his most recent book, Ashcraft is the co-author with Eugene V. Gallagher of the five-volume set, Introduction to New and Alternative Religions n in America.
Links:
A Historical Study of New Religious Movements (most recent book)
Ashcraft’s Academia.edu page
Diversity and Spirituality Network
Diversity and Spirituality Network Facebook Group
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Thursday, March 22, 2018
From Near-Death Survivor to Legend in Diversity
Although he grew up with privilege and an unconscious sense that he was better than others, a near-death experience caused Lewis Brown Griggs to see things differently. While hovering between life and death, he was “told” that he needed to come back and to “do his work.” This meant overcoming what he saw as his principal weakness: learning to bridge the gaps between himself and other people. He’s been helping others do this through diversity and inclusion work for more than 25 years.
Since surviving his near-death experience, Griggs has worked with companies all over the world, written three books and a host of multimedia projects, and been formally recognized as a “legend of diversity” from the International Society of Diversity and Inclusion Professionals.
But he’s more that simply a diversity trainer and entrepreneur. He’s also is a co-active leadership coach, a relationship coach and a facilitator of Spiritual Consciousness gained form Near Death Experiences and Recovery.
In this podcast, Griggs talks about his near-death experiences and how they motivated him to cross-cultural work, how the diversity movement has evolved in the past 25 years, and the importance of coming to terms with death for both valuing diversity and growing spiritually.
Links:
The Gift of Near Death (Ted Talk)
Beyond Our Sight (documentary about near-death experiences)
Diversity and Spirituality Network
Diversity and Spirituality Network Facebook Group
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Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Wednesday, March 07, 2018
Gay Spirituality: A Primer
Two male gay priests talk about the distinctive nature of gay spirituality, institutional Christianity’s attitudes towards LGBT people, and why there are high numbers of gays in the clergy. They also share how they realized their spiritual calling despite growing up within a hostile religious environment, the advice they would give to a young gay person who sees him or herself as religious and spiritual, and their belief that the on-the-ground acceptance of gay people is often at variance with doctrinal non-acceptance.
Interviewees include Michael Ruk, the pastor of the Episcopal St. Philips Church in New Hope, Pa, and John Stasio, a “post Roman” Catholic priest and founding director of Easton Mountain, a retreat center near Albany New York.
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Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Thursday, February 15, 2018
The Personal, The Political and the Spiritual
Author and advocate Jim Brown believes that restoring civility will go along way towards reversing the nation’s political dysfunction. And that striving to do so is as much an internal process as it is an external one. In this increasingly polarized climate, Brown says, the way to political recovery and spiritual renewal begins with a practice that is at the heart of the world’s great religions: love your enemy.
In this podcast, Brown describes the process that led him to write his book, Ending Our Uncivil War: A Path to Political Recovery and Spiritual Renewal. He explains how working with the homeless transformed him, how he practices what-he-calls agape while working as a professional advocate, and why he believes a commitment to selfless love is essential to political recovery and spiritual renewal.
Brown is the Tennessee State Director for the National Federation of independent Business.
Links:
Center for Action and Contemplation
Diversity and Spirituality Network
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Sunday, February 11, 2018
My answer to What are some good habits to follow? https://buff.ly/2GSTCFr
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Wednesday, February 07, 2018
Travel, Religion and Spirituality
Psychotherapist, author and world traveler Greesh Sharma talks about the transformative aspects of travel; how to trek without being a tourist; and how religion influences national culture. He shares stories from his visits to some 150 countries that illustrate the diversity of human experience, how religious practice differs from place to place, and how spending time abroad has expanded his sense of self.
Sharma sees travel as a form of spiritual practice and one that paradoxically provides a vehicle for inner exploration. It’s helped him become more open to others, sharpened his decision making skills, and generally broadened his view as to what it means to be human.
He experience of traveling to countries with and without national religions had shaped his opinions on the differences between religions, the relationship between religion and spirituality, and the roots of interfaith conflict.
“Travel to me is so transformative that I think even before people pay lots of money to pay a a psychologist for therapy, I think they should travel,” Sharma says. “They will grow much faster and it will be much cheaper."
Links:
Greesh Sharma’s Website
Sharma’s Amazon author page
The Diversity and Spirituality Network
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Sunday, February 04, 2018
In the unlikely event, I join the 1 (or even 10)%, this will be my new rod!
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Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Monday, January 15, 2018
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
From Theist to Atheist
Sociologist Douglas E. Cowan talks about New Religious Movements, the cult wars of the 1970s and the influence of the internet on religion. He also traces his own personal journey from mainstream Protestant believer through agnosticism to atheism. Regardless of what you believe, he says, “atheism matters."
Links:
Doug Cowan’s Amazon page
New Religious Movements (Hartford Institute for Religion Research)
Diversity and Spirituality Network
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