June 30: Learn another definition of compassion

June 30 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Learn a different definition of compassion (and spirituality) from spiritual master Matthew Fox

"A Spirituality Named Compassion"

In his book by that title (Harper & Row, 1990), Matthew Fox, a Dominican scholar and educator, writes that recent translators of Matthew 5:48 re-word the familiar, "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" as "be compassionate as your heavenly Father is compassionate."

Compassion, Fox further points out, is not simply feeling sorry.  Rather it is a deep, gut-wrenching identification of another's feelings as our own.  (The Hebrew Scriptures refer to Yahweh's "bowels of compassion.")  This is no abstract idea we are invited to entertain, but a physical sensation of shared feeling.  We are asked to enter the emotions, joy, and pain of all human beings wherever they are; whatever their situation in life.

But what does compassion have to do with spirituality?

Spirituality, for Fox and for most of the great spiritual leaders of the world, is not how often we say our prayers or read the Bible.  Rather, it is the way we live our prayers; the way we act on what we have learned from scripture.  It is literally the embodiment of our vision of God.

June 29: Learn about "Association of Community Ministries"

June 29 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Learn about Louisville's pioneering "Association of Community Ministries."

http://www.louisvilleministries.org/

 There are 15 Community Ministries in the Louisville area that serve residents from every zip code. Each community ministry is supported by member churches and faith-based groups residing in their service area.

June 28: View a video on "The Empathic Civilization"

June 28 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

View a short video on "The Empathic Civilization" on the web site for the Unitarian Fellowship for World Peace

http://www.ufwpeace.org/

The Unitarian Fellowship for World Peace (UFWP) is a non-denominational, not-for-profit organization that provides a common ground for problem-solving issues facing children and their families. We acknowledge the oneness of humanity and the commonality of the human spirit regardless of ethnic/racial origin, cultural/religious background, or nationality. Our purpose is to educate the public about the importance of recognizing that a sustainable world peace in the future is dependent upon how we raise our children today. Our tools are dialogue, using art as a universal language, emotional support for those in need of healing, and education about human potential, renewal, and sustainability of the environment.

June 27: Explore "The Cost of Discipleship"

June 27 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Learn about Protestant Theologian (and martyr) Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his book "The Cost of Discipleship"

http://www.crossroad.to/Persecution/Bonhoffer.html


Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks’ wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing....[45]

Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian 'conception' of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins.... In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the living Word of God, in fact, a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God.[45-46]

Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. 'All for sin could not atone.' Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin.... 

Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.[47]
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man’ will gladly go and self all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.

Costly grace is the sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. It is therefore the living word, the Word of God, which he speaks as it pleases him. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. It comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

On two separate occasions Peter received the call, “Follow me.” It was the first and last word Jesus spoke to his disciple (Mark 1.17; John 21.22). A whole life lies between these two calls. The first occasion was by the lake of Gennesareth, when Peter left his nets and his craft and followed Jesus at his word. The second occasion is when the Risen Lord finds him back again at his old trade. Once again it is by the lake of Gennesareth, and once again the call is: “Follow me.” Between the two calls lay a whole life of discipleship in the following of Christ. Half-way between them comes Peter's confession, when he acknowledged Jesus as the Christ of God....[48]

This grace was certainly not self-bestowed. It was the grace of Christ himself, now prevailing upon the disciple to leave all and follow him, now working in him that confession which to the world must sound like the ultimate blasphemy, now inviting Peter to the supreme fellowship of martyrdom for the Lord he had denied, and thereby forgiving him all his sins. In the life of Peter grace and discipleship are inseparable. He had received the grace which costs.[49]

As Christianity spread, and the Church became more secularized, this realization of the costliness of grace gradually faded. The world was Christianized, and grace became its common property. It was to be had at low cost.[49]

June 26: View the Film "Peace is Every Step"

June 26 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

View the documentary "Peace is Every Step" about Zen Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh
Available at Wild and Woolly Video in Louisville
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpyWD7y84ms

This 50 minute video makes a fine introduction to engaged Buddhism. It follows the life and work of Vietnamese zen monk and peace activist, C from his upbringing in wartorn East Asia, to his exile in France and his activity for peace worldwide. The video also makes a good introduction to the community he founded, Plum Village, and to the Buddhist concept of 'interbeing' ('co-dependent arising').

June 25: "Listen to "Evolving a City"

June 25 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Hear "On Being's" interview about Evolving a City

http://www.onbeing.org/program/evolving-city/4720

 David Sloan Wilson believes that evolution is not just a description of how we got here. He says it can also be a tool kit for improving how we live together. He’s taken what he’s learned in studying evolution in animals and is now applying it to the behavior of groups in his hometown of Binghamton, New York. His goal is to help people behave pro-socially — at their best, and for the good of the whole.

June 24: Read Rep. John Lewis's book "Across that Bridge"

June 24 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Read Rep. John Lewis's new book, "Across that Bridge"

Here's a link to a review:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4013-2411-7

Buy the book at Carmichaels!

Faith, patience, truth, love, peace, study, and reconciliation: these are the buckets into which Lewis pours his message about “the inner transformation that must be realized to effect lasting social change.” A civil rights pioneer and Georgia congressman, Lewis (Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of a Movement) seeks to inspire nonviolent activism in a time that he regards as the most violent in history. For his audience, Lewis targets Occupy protestors, and members of the movement will draw lessons from the anecdotes that are the heart of the book. At its best, the book provides a testament to the power of nonviolence in social movements, with moving personal accounts of the Freedom Rides, such as when Lewis describes being physically beaten in South Carolina or sitting out a 40-day sentence in the unrelenting Parchman Farm prison in Mississippi.

June 23: Can physicians learn empathy?

June 23 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

NY Times article: Can physicians learn to be empathetic?

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/can-doctors-learn-empathy/

June 22: Visit American Printing House for the Blind

June 22 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Visit Louisville's American Printing House for the Blind

http://aph.org/

American Printing House for the Blind (APH) is the world's largest nonprofit organization creating educational, workplace, and independent living products and services for people who are blind and visually impaired.

Founded in 1858 in Louisville, Kentucky, APH is the oldest organization of its kind in the United States. From 1858 until the Civil War began, APH organized its operation and raised funds to create embossed books. After the war, APH resumed operations and produced its first tactile books. By the early 1870s, APH was operating on a national scale.

APH received a federal mandate in 1879 when the Congress of the United States passed the Act to Promote the Education of the Blind. This act designates APH as the official supplier of educational materials to all students in the U.S. who meet the definition of blindness and are working at less than college level.

June 21 Compassion Tip: Explore Catholic Charities

June 21 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace
Explore Louisville's office of Catholic Charities

http://cclou.org/

Catholic Charities of Louisville offers programs and services for people of all religious, ethnic, social and economic backgrounds.

Including:

Catholic Identity
Case Management and Family Support
Housing Development
Interpreter & Translation Services
Legal Immigration Services
Refugee Resettlement Services

June 20 Compassionate Tip: Explore TimeBank

June 20 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Explore Louisville's TimeBank

http://louisville.timebanks.org/

We recognize that each person has talents to share, and that the overall community is strengthened when neighbors help one another. For every hour that you help meet the needs of another member, you earn a time credit for the exchange. This time credit can then be redeemed for services from others.

June 19: Explore Jewish Family & Career Services

June 19 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Learn about Louisville's Jewish Family and Career Services

http://www.jfcslouisville.org/

Jewish Family & Career Services.

JFCS isa non-profit comprehensive human services organization in Louisville, Kentucky founded in 1908, serving the entire community with programs focusing on:

• Adoption Services
• Career Management
• College Advisement
• Counseling and Group Workshops
• Klein Older Adult Services
• Multicultural Programming

JFCS helps people identify their strengths and provide them with the tools to manage the challenges of their daily life.

People from diverse backgrounds, each with a different personal need come to our “village” seeking support and fulfillment. At JFCS, we welcome them all, because their needs are human needs that transcend race, religion, ethnic origin, age and gender.

June 18 Tip: Join a conversation on empathy

June 18 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Join Ari Cowan of CAN International for an on-line conversation about empathy

http://pulse.changemakers.com/leaders/2012/06/ari-cowan/#comment-191

This week we welcome thought leader, Ari Cowan, who will facilitate a discussion on empathy.

Tell us about yourself, are you a parent, teacher, innovator, or student? How do you feel about empathy and where do you see it in your daily life? What tools are available to help cultivate empathy in our homes, schools, and communities?

June 17 Tip: Attend Monday's "Healing the Hate"

June 17 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

On Monday morning, attend "Healing the Hate": A community forum on hate crime and bullying


Monday, June 18, 2012
9:00 a.m.
at
Memorial Hall
970 South Fourth Street
Louisville, KY 40202

with Special Guest Speaker
Walter Atkinson
with the
United States Department of Justice
Co-sponsored by
Louisville Metro Human Relations Commission and the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights


For more information:


http://www.louisvilleky.gov/HumanRelations/Calendar/Healing_Hate_6_18_12.htm

June 16 TiP: Speaking the Unspeakable to the new Poet Laureate

June 16 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

June 16 Tip: Speaking the Unspeakable to the new US Poet Laureate

http://www.npr.org/2012/06/10/154584917/two-poems-from-the-nations-new-top-poet?sc=17&f=1008

NPR - June 10, 2012

Natasha Trethewey is the newly announced, 19th U.S. poet laureate. The position is described by the Library of Congress as "the nation's official lightning rod for the poetic impulse of Americans."

Trethewey tells Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin that it's a lot of responsibility.

"Just trying to be the biggest promoter of poetry; someone who's really got to do the work of bringing poetry to the widest audience possible," she says.

Poetry, she says, is one of those things people turn to when they need a way to "speak the unspeakable."

"That's because poetry not only can celebrate our joys with us, but it can also mourn with us our losses," she says.

June 15 Tip: Men Speak Out Against Domestic Violence & Rape

June 15 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Men: Speak Out Against Domestic Violence and Rape/Sexual Assault

Please stop by the Center for Women and Families TONIGHT Friday, June 15 anytime between 5:30 and 7 pm for just a few minutes and

Join other men in our community in speaking out against domestic violence, rape/sexual assault.

Your voice is urgently needed.

Here are the details:  

The Male Voices recruitment reception is an interest meeting to see who in our community may be interested in joining the committee and represent positive male voices against violence in our community.  The committee will promote positive messaging through a public relations initiative and community outreach among, other efforts to be determined by the committee.  President and CEO of The Center for Women and Families, Marta Miranda and other committee members will address the attendees and answer questions as to the importance of this initiative.

What:                   MALE VOICES RECRUITMENT RECEPTION

When:                  Friday, June 15, 2012 from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Where:                The Center for Women and Families' Joan E. Thomas Campus (927 South 2^nd Street, Louisville, KY)

Please RSVP to:                Steven Bowling at steven.bowling@cwfempower.org or (502) 581-7206

For more information visit:

http://www.thecenteronline.org/ 

 

June 14 Tip: "Like" the Plymouth Center

June 14 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

"like" the Facebook page for Louisville's Plymouth Community Renewal Center

https://www.facebook.com/PlymouthRenewal

About

Renewing and enhancing the quality of life and spirit of the Russell community and surrounding metropolitan area.

 

Mission

 

We strive to enhance the quality of life and to renew the spirit of the Russell community and surrounding metropolitan area through a variety of social, educational and cultural programs, as well as provide services to individuals, families and youth.

June 13 Tip: Explore World Affairs Council

June 13 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Explore the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana

http://www.wacaky-in.org/welcome/index.cfm?CFID=68067485&CFTOKEN=97538670

In 2010, World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary.

For twenty years the Louisville Community knew  us as the Louisville International Cultural Center (LICC). In order to highlight our role in bringing high-quality international programming to our area and to emphasize our role as the local chapter of the World Affairs Councils of America, we have become the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana!

 As the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana we continue to provide international visitor programs in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State and other governmental agencies, while increasing our level of service to the area through the speaker programs and educational activities for which World Affairs Councils are known throughout the nation.

 World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana is a Member of NCIV - National Council for International Visitors and World Affairs Councils of f America.

June 12 Tip: Stay Open to the World

June 12 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Learn to Stay Open to the World

http://www.soundstrue.com/weeklywisdom/?source=tami-simon&p=1310&category=PP&version=full

Pema Chödrön: Staying Open to the World

We sometimes think of our spiritual teachers as exalted beings who have discovered the way to transcend the everyday struggle and uncertainty of normal life. But when you listen to Pema Chödrön, you realize just the opposite is true—Pema teaches about Buddhism from a place of grounded vulnerability, tenderly sharing her first-hand experience of the nitty-gritty of the human journey. When asked to select a segment from Pema’s audio program Awakening Love, Sounds True producer Mitchell Clute says, “I chose this selection from Pema’s closing talk on awakening in this moment because it perfectly captures her approach to the dharma: direct, heartfelt, and open to all.”

June 11 Tip: The Power of Releasing Our Past

June 11 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Listen to Short Audio by Jack Kornfield on "The Power of Releasing Our Past"

http://www.soundstrue.com/weeklywisdom/?source=podcast&p=6295&category=AGM&version=

The past shapes the present, yet often we feel as if we’re trapped in its grip and cannot move forward. Both Buddhism and Western psychology agree on the importance of releasing the traumas of our past—yet how do we let go of the experiences that have helped make us who we are? Jack Kornfield, who has intensively studied both Eastern and Western philosophy, believes that healing our relationship to the past starts with one simple step. In this audio clip, he explains what that step is, and how we can immediately begin walking the path to freedom.

June 10 Tip: Learn about the Quakers

June 10 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Learn about the Quakers and Congratulate Louisville's Quaker Meeting; Today is its 50th Anniversary!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Society_of_Friends

The Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers, is a body of Christians that originated in 17th century England under George Fox. In 1988 the society had 200,260 members, with heavy concentrations in the United States (109,000), East Africa (45,000) and Great Britain (18,000). Quakers unite in affirming the immediacy of Christ's teaching; they hold that believers receive divine guidance from an inward light, without the aid of intermediaries or external rites.

Meetings for worship can be silent, without ritual or professional clergy, or programmed, in which a minister officiates.

Although their antecedents lie in English Puritanism and in the Anabaptist movement, the Society of Friends was formed during the English Civil War. Around 1652, George Fox began preaching that since there was "that of God in every man," a formal church structure and educated ministry were unnecessary.

June 9 Tip: Learn about Compassionate Friends of Louisville

June 9 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Learn About Compassionate Friends of Louisville

http://m.facebook.com/pages/The-Compassionate-Friends-of-Louisville/157598480982717?id=157598480982717&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch&_rdr

Grief Support After the Death of a Child

"The Compassionate Friends is about transforming the pain of grief into the elixir of hope. It takes people out of the isolation society imposes on the bereaved and lets them express their grief naturally. With the shedding of tears, healing comes. And the newly bereaved get to see people who have survived and are learning to live and love again." 
–Simon Stephens, founder of The Compassionate Friends

June 8 Tip: Become an Urban Farmer

June 8 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Join "15 Thousand Farmers" and Get Involved with Urban Agriculture

http://www.15thousandfarmers.com/Home_Page.html

Growing community through

neighborhood-based,

sustainable growing

How to Grow Food Simply in Your Yard!
We'll teach you everything you need to know to start growing a simple and easy food and herb garden in your backyard. We provide diagrams, instructions and checklists for starting to grow simply in a 4' x 4' box. We'll tell you where to buy or how to make the box, where to buy the soil and worm compost. And when and how many seeds and seedlings to plant. It's easy to follow and then let nature do the rest!

June 7 Tip: Learn about Hand in Hand Ministries

June 7 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Learn About Hand in Hand Ministries

http://myhandinhand.org/

Hand in Hand believes that all people deserve life’s essentials – food, water, clothing, shelter, education and medical care. Although we consider ourselves faith-based, we do not proselytize, and we welcome all people of good will – believers and non-believers – who wish to join us in changing the world.
It has always been vitally important, and is especially so in the world today, that people of different beliefs, races and all of the other factors that divide us, be able to work together for the common good.

• Hand in Hand Programs
Hand in Hand Ministries makes its vision a reality by establishing programs to serve specific local needs – determined in cooperation with the local population. We work where needed – but especially in Central America, the Caribbean and Appalachia.
While recognizing the dignity of those we help, our goal is to provide the hope and skills to one day become self-sufficient and enable them to help others.