April, 2008
April 27, 2008
Communities of Compassion
Imagine to yourself several hundred people discussing in small groups ways to actualize passion for responding to needs. The energy in our meeting rooms is the same stuff that launched hundreds of schools, hospitals and social systems over the centuries.
My own small group is discussing communities of compassion.
We began the conversation by telling stories of the neighborhoods in which we grew up to help capture a glimpse into what being a neighbor was in the past. Here is a sampling of what was said:
When we saw a need, we filled it.
We always received a friendly greeting.
Everyone was welcome in our home.
Everyone knew everyone. Everyone's need was our need.
Loving without distinction — almost — judgment was not always absent.
I learned to get along with people who are not like me. My family was the only Catholic family.
Everyone’s mom was everyone’s mom.
Remembers the tension that not everyone was accepted. Father’s ethic: if someone needs help, help them. The situation is the need. Need is the bigger issue.
Father and his brother were beaten up for being Catholic. Father never said anything against these people. He was a good neighbor even to those who were cruel.
One vision beginning to emerge is to intentionally create communities of compassion. For example, as the CSJs reach out to others, those to whom we reach out also reach out to others and we stay in touch — each an intentional community of compassion. Strength comes with the connection and knowing that all around the world we can be connected to people who are intentionally creating such communities.
The concept is so simple it may seem odd that we discuss it for lengths at a time. However it’s the intentional part that creates the difference. At our next meeting we'll discuss essential elements of a compassionate community. Here is a peek at a sketchy, first draft about that which we will be discussing. Stay tuned for the development; this could be big!
Intentional Communities of Compassion(unifying love in being a good neighbor)
Convening
· bringing people together
· remove barriers
Consistent Ethic of Life
· reduce violence
· respect all life
Cultural Competency
· skill building
· audit
Evoke a Spirit of Helping Out
Possumus
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April 24, 2008
Food for Thought
Each day I glance at the headlines hoping to retain the content without absorbing the sting of hate and violence. I've developed a severe—almost allergic--reaction to the poisonous words of war. I quickly move past the first sections until I come to Taste, the only section of the paper that I can stomach—no pun intended.
Imagine how the world would change if both local and national news simply stayed with the topic of food. Articles of Chinese officials traveling to Thailand to understand curry and those who grow it would be alongside Guatemalan and Mexico officials comparing coffee beans. Minnesota farm reports would include pesticide-free farmlands producing products that can be purchased and consumed by new immigrants who have not developed a tolerance for chemicals.
Major leaders would be photographed exchanging recipes. Top Secret documents would refer to family recipes with value measured by love—those who cook and those who consume. Consumption would reference food and not inanimate objects.
Government dollars would go towards food—growing, processing, distributing, eating. Environmental issues would leap to the forefront. Land and water abuse would stop since both add quality to food. Differences would be sought after, not despised.
I suggest the TASTE section of the paper be the only section. Now I am off to make a grilled cheese sandwich on rosemary ciabatta bread. Spell check doesn't even have ciabatta in it! Too bad, it's a great tasting bread.
Possumus
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April 23, 3008
Different Points of View
When I put myself in another's shoes, the world seems to right itself. “Different points of view” is a skill taught in elementary school. What I didn't learn until later is that it is actually a survival skill.
As a youngster I thought it was for fun only. We read The Three Little Pigs From the Wolf's Point of View and imagined spring from the earthworm's point of view and on and on. I don't remember learning to put myself in someone else's shoes and imagine them looking out at me and asking what do they see or think or feel when they see me and why is it that way for them? “Different points of view” suddenly has an importance equal to oxygen.
Earth Day is an opportunity to put ourselves in the earth's shoes. I ask questions like, What does earth know about me? Am I good to her? Do I take advantage or take her for granted? If the earth were to express a feeling about me, what would it be? Our Sisters of St. Joseph take Earth seriously. Keep an eye on our websites for updates and insights on ecology and mother earth.
I recommend taking time everyday to sharpen your skill of taking different points of view. In no time you will feel the world begin to right itself under your feet and in your heart.
Any insights? Post them here.
Possumus
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April 3, 2008
Retrospective Show - Art of Joanne Emmer, CSJ
Bells are tolling all around the city announcing the upcoming Art Retrospective of Sister Joanne Emmer (formerly known as Sister Photina). The show opens with a public reception, today, Thursday, 6:30 P.M. at Carondelet Center, 1890 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN. For more information and viewing hours, call 651-690-7026. The exhibit will remain on view through April. Acrylic paintings and limited edition prints of Emmer’s Earth series will also be for sale as a benefit for the programs of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
The paintings in Joanne Emmer’s Earth Series are among the exhibits most recent works. Using acrylic wash, Joanne rendered Twin Cities area landscapes between 2002 and 2008. The wash technique creates beautiful, dream-like effects.
Wash painting is executed on a horizontal canvas. The artist wets the canvas, drains off the water and lets the canvas dry until damp. A color wash is then applied. “You can pour it, spatter it tilt the canvas around to create shapes,” Emmer says. “The important thing is to get one color down so that it begins make suggestions about what to do next.”
Emmer used the acrylic wash technique to create her Jubilee Series in 1999 in preparation for the Jubilee year of 2000 declared by Pope John Paul II and to help mark the 150th anniversary of the Sisters of St. Joseph in St. Paul in 2001. In an interview with writer, Bill Stieger, Joanne said, “I wanted to ponder the great jubilee themes of our spiritual forbears as as preserved in the Hebrew Book of Leviticus, the Christian Scriptures and the community lore on which the Sisters of St. Joseph”s celebration would be based.”
For more of Joanne Emmer's interview with Bill Stieger at the Highland Villager, click here.
Even better, come and meet her tonight!
Emmer2008 (information about the show and the art)
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April 2, 2008
Got Hope?
Here I go again—feeling hopeful! No, it's not that we made it through another winter or that more donors than ever are giving to our Ministries Foundation to support our programs. It's not even that more and more people are discovering the Sisters of St. Joseph as a spiritual home. It's that hope actually spawns more hope! Even physicists are talking about it!
When people talk about hope—even if they only say “that Irene is always so hopeful,” it goes beyond me and into them whether they want it to or not. My goal is for hope to become part of our genetic code. Future generations will then know hope before they are born. Why Not?
The pathway to change is change itself. If you want a good dose of hope to get yourself moving, call the Ministries Foundation. Those of us here living and working among the Sisters of St. Joseph have enough hope for everyone. Come and get some!
Possumus!
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