July 2021
Dear Boundless Compassion facilitators,
A warm welcome to the twenty one women from across the country who received their certification at the Facilitator Training Workshop, held at St. Benedict retreat center in Nebraska on June 25th. Whenever I think about you, our Boundless Compassion facilitators, my heart fills with hope and joy. We have a strong foundation of kinship with one another because of our mutual desire to live and to teach others to be compassionate. I am confident that our activities on behalf of Boundless Compassion will continue to positively influence a world much in need of healing. Please trust this on the days when you are unsure about this possibility.
You might want to go into the BCF website section and take a look at the variety of locations where our BCF are from. You might also want to make a personal file or a copy of the updated Membership for your Word or Pages folder, for easy reference, networking, and communication. (The button on the BCF site is labeled: Membership)
Also, there is a brand new button under “BCF Resources titled: “DVD Outlines for Teaching.” If you are using the DVDs on Boundless Compassion, you’ll want to take a look at these excellent outlines for each of the five videos. Bobbi Bussan created them as handouts, allowing for breaks for questions and discussion during the various talks. I think you’ll find this resource helpful whether used as a Four Day Retreat or a shorter event like a day retreat or workshop, or even a Book Study.
If you have trouble with your password for getting into the site, remember to contact Kate Coates: katarapublications@
As per usual, the resources to strengthen and enhance our programs and personal lives regarding compassion keep appearing on the Internet and coming into my view. Thanks to those of you who send them my way. Below you’ll find some of these recent resources and other news, as well.
With you on the journey—always with gratitude for your compassionate presence,
Joyce
Kinship Day for 2021 Cancelled
By now you’ve received notification from your BCF Group Leader that the Kinship Day scheduled for this coming Oct. 2nd has been cancelled. It became apparent that having a single day event was not feasible for those who live at a distance and would be spending either auto expenses or airfare to come for just that one day. So we are rescheduling this as a full weekend in the autumn of 2022. We’ll use the BCF Group Zoom meetings to continue our get-togethers and look forward to the in-person time that awaits us next year.
(related to Maggie Beaudette’s work with First Nation people)
“A Canada Day Like No Other” – Memorial Ritual for First Nation Children
Maggie ministers in the NW Territory, Canada and writes about joining with the community of Katlodeeche First Nation Reserve for a ceremony to honor and remember the children who never returned home from the Residential School. (Their graves have recently been discovered.)
Workshop by Dr. Paul Gilbert
‘Working with Fears, Blocks and Resistances” July 30th
From Kim Voyle: “I thought some of you might be interested in the following low-cost presentation by Dr. Paul Gilbert. (Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and Compassionate Mind Training (CMT) Here’s the description: There can be many reasons why we might experience a resistance to compassion, whether it is for ourselves, for others, or from others. Drawing on clinical work and research, we will explore how and why we might experience fears, blocks and resistances, and how we can work with these, within ourselves and within others, to help us cultivate a compassionate mind. It will be live in the UK, so the start time is 11:00 PDT. You can use this link if you want to register. I can highly recommend Paul Gilbert and his teaching on compassion from a secular viewpoint.”
Resources Related to Boundless Compassion
Colleen Shephard writes: “Green Renaissance makes absolutely exquisite short films (around 10 minutes). They are so well done.”
Two samples of these films:
“Rise Up Again”, (on resilience of nature/humans)
“Dance of Life” (gorgeous film on our union with creation)
Self Compassion Meditations (audio) These are downloadable.
Includes:
· Fierce Friend Meditation
· Protective Self Break
· Yin and Yang Meditation
· Providing Self-Compassion Break
· Motivating Self-Compassion Break (on fierce compassion)
There is also a usable graphic: Fierce Compassion Ifographic
Interview with Greg Boyle, SJ.
Greg Boyle speaks about compassion and his work with L.S. gang intervention at Homeboys Industries. (If you want only Fr. Boyle’s talk, you’ll need to move the cursor to about 20 minutes for the actual time with him. The first part consists of paintings and quotes associated with compassion.
Songs for Compassion for Creation:
“The Power of Kindness”, Mamuse
The lyrics by K.Longaker (Scroll down the page to find lyrics)
“God’s Eyes”, Mamuse (scroll down the page to find the song)
The lyrics by S. Nutting. (as above for lyrics, scroll down…)
Poems by Joy Harjo (U.S. Poet Laureate) read by the poet
Outstanding, compassionate poem: “Calling the Spirit Back,”
read by the poet (from CD: I Pray for My Enemies)
Other poems/songs by Joy Harjo related to compassion:
“This Morning I Pray for My Enemies”
“Opening Song for the Maker”, (Winding Through the Milky Way)
Book: Nomadland, Jessica Bruder
Perhaps you’ve viewed the film that has the same title as the book. Reading this documentary provided me with a rather astonishing revelation about the increasing number of transient, mostly older, people in our country who are living in vehicles as small as a Prius or as large as an old school bus. I had the mistaken notion from the title that these “nomads’ were financially secure folks who wished to have the freedom of few attachments and to travel for leisure and pleasure. Instead, I learned of their survival mode and having to take on low-cost temp jobs in order to live from day to day, such as working at Amazon warehouses, with long hours of labor that are cruel to the human body. This resource would be valuable for personal awareness of a marginalized group, as an example used in a Compassion and Marginalizationpresentation,
Boundless Compassion Events
If you are leading a BC event that is open to persons beyond your own area, I am happy to include this information in my regular monthly newsletters and also on the “Events” section of my website. You need to send this info to me at least a month previous to when the newsletter is to come out, and the information must include the following (in this order):
- date(s) of the event and the time (opening/closing)
- title of retreat
- indicate whether it’s virtual or in-person, or both
- place of the event (or who is sponsoring the event if it’s virtual)
- name(s) of presenter(s)
- where to write for Information (email and/or website)
- where to register (website or other…)
Please encourage participation in the following through your programs, newsletters and personal contacts.
Four Day Boundless Compassion retreat
Oct 29 – Nov. 2 (In person) Bobbi Bussan, OSB & Joan Doherty,
Benet House, Rock Island, IL (https://smmsisters.org)
(BC Training Day for Facilitators will be led by Joyce on Nov. 3rd)
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Here is how you can locate BCF files: www.joycerupp.com
Boundless Compassion Facilitators, click on this and log in.
Go to: BCF Resources and click on it; this takes you to: BCF Programs
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There may be times when we are powerless
to prevent injustice,
but there must never be a time
when we fail to protest.
(Elie Wiesel, survivor of the Holocaust)
