July 4: Attend the "My Recipe for Peace" Dinner

July 4 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Attend the Annual Louisville "My Recipe for Peace" Dinner and hear ten community leaders give short presentations on how they make peace...and enjoy food prepared from their recipes!

http://paths2peace.org/My_Recipe_for_Peace.html

Join us to hear ten of Louisville's outstanding community leaders share their personal "Recipes" for how they go about peacemaking in their daily lives.  

And as you listen to these powerful presentations, enjoy a delicious vegetarian dinner created from culinary recipes provided by the
evening's speakers!  

This Year's Presenters Include:

Muhammad Babar ~ Physician, Peacemaker and Philanthropist representing Louisville’s Pakistani-

                                        American Community, a group which promotes interfaith cooperation.

Martin Brooks ~ Regional Director, Peace Catalyst International, an organization fostering dialogue

                                 between Evangelical Christians and Muslims.

Jack Jezreel ~ Founder of JustFaith Ministries, a Louisville-based national organization offering

                            programs that transform people and expand their commitment to social ministry.

Libby Mills ~ Executive Director, Restorative Justice Louisville, a group that brings juvenile offenders

                           and their victims together in a constructive rather than punitive response to crime.

Rita Philips ~ Interim Operations Manager, Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, a facility

                            highlighting the long dormant history of African Americans in our region.

Geshe Kelsang Rapgyal ~ Tibetan Buddhist Monk and Resident Teacher, Drepung Gomang Institute,

                                                   Louisville’s Tibetan Buddhist Community.

Brian Riendeau ~ Executive Director, Dare to Care Food Bank, an organization that each year serves

                                   over 12 million meals to families in 13 counties in Louisville and Kentuckiana.

Gaylia Rooks ~ Co-Senior Rabbi, The Temple (Congregation Adath Israel Brith Sholom), Louisville's

                               largest and Kentucky’s oldest Reform Jewish congregation.

Dianne Timmering ~ Vice President for Spirituality, Signature Healthcare, a business providing quality

                                         long-term healthcare in 73 communities in seven states.

Xiao Yin Zhao ~ Executive Director, World Affairs Council of Louisville and Southern Indiana, a group

                                providing international programs, speakers and educational activities.

July 3: Self Care--Beware "the busyness trap"

July 3 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Self Care Tip from the NY Times: Beware the Busyness Trap

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/the-busy-trap/

If you live in America in the 21st century you’ve probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It’s become the default response when you ask anyone how they’re doing: “Busy!” “So busy.” “Crazy busy.” It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as a complaint. And the stock response is a kind of congratulation: “That’s a good problem to have,” or “Better than the opposite.”

July 2: Businesses Emphasize Spirituality

July 2 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

Learn how Louisville businesses are emphasizing spirituality in the workplace (from Peter Smith at the Louisville Courier-Journal)

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120701/BUSINESS13/307010007/More-businesses-emphasizing-spirituality?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CBusiness%7Cp

While there’s a long history of chaplaincy in health-care fields, its presence in a for-profit arena mirrors a steady growth in emphasis on spiritual values in various businesses, from food service to high tech to soda bottling.

 

July 1 Tip: Importance of "just doing" spiritual practices

July 1 Compassionate Living Tip from Interfaith Paths to Peace

From Krishna Das: Learning the importance of "just doing" any spiritual practice.

http://www.soundstrue.com/weeklywisdom/?source=podcast&p=6342&category=WW&version=full

The most important part of any spiritual practice is doing it. That is why we should always just “do the practice” and not be overly concerned with or focused on what we think the results might be, or even on our own state of mind. The truth is, it can’t be what we think! It just is! It is not up to us to create it—we are simply cleaning the mirror of our hearts so we can see the reflection of our own true face without distortion.

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.