October 2021
Greetings to each of you,
My heart is still rejoicing with the experience of our BC Core Team meeting when we met in late September at Benet House in Rock Island, IL. We created a video on the various aspects of the BC program and also did exciting visioning regarding the future of BC. What a difference to meet in person, instead of via Zoom (which is the only way most of the team has known each other). I’m happy to report the filming went well and the video will be available onYouTube early in 2022.
An exciting direction that the Core Team is taking is to create a Boundless Compassion website that will be easily accessible to the public and also make it easier for BCF to access the private site. The BC materials on my website will eventually be migrated to that website. We hope to have this new website up and running by next summer at the latest. BCF Wendy Mospan will lead the way with this, along with Bobbi Bussan. (One of Wendy’s skills is in the area of marketing.)
While lots of positive vibes and thoughts surfaced amid our conversation, we also talked about a troubling issue: the facilitators who do not respond to emails from the BCF Group Leaders. I, myself, have experienced this and consider it to not only be rude but to show a lack of kindness. When we do not receive a response, the leader has to take more time to send another message, and another, and another. If we still do not hear, then we question whether or not this BCF is really committed to being a part of the BC program. So, please, all it takes is a brief response of “Thank you,” or “I’ll be there” or “I’ll not be there,” or “I’ll get back to you soon.” What a difference a minute to send a few words of response can make.
Another Four Day retreat and Facilitator Workshop Training will take place Oct 29 – Nov 3rd at Benet House. Bobbi Bussan, OSB and Joan Doherty will lead the retreat and Joyce will facilitate the workshop. Please send good energy and prayer. (I just learned that one registrant had to drop out so there is now an opening in case you know of anyone who would want to take part.) Contact Bobbi for information, etc. [email protected]
Autumn is here, and with it comes a reminder that along with the beauty of the colorful trees, there is also the reality of the dying leaves. I know you are aware of the many persons in our midst and in the larger world who are experiencing painful departures. May our compassionate presence be a source of support and comfort to people who are bearing significant loss.
with you on the journey,
Joyce
Events
BC Book Groups
If you are planning to lead a Book Group and are open to having general registration for participation, you are welcome to send that information to me. I intend to have a section under BCF Events on my website that will list Boundless Compassion Book Study Groups Here are the details I need in order to post an event: Please send in this order:
- Origin of the Book Study (city/state or if in Canada, city/province)
- Day and time of meeting, (be sure to include time zone)
- Facilitator’s name
- Email (and/or website) for information/registration
(If there are book studies open to the general public, I will include a note in a future monthly newsletter of mine: “Book studies using Boundless Compassion. Visit “Events 2021” on my website.”)
The Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit.
This free event begins today and continues for five days. It has a great lineup of topics and speakers who will be offering enriching content regarding compassion. It’s not too late to register. Just click here.
Boundless Compassion Resources
BC Core Team Closing Ritual (on YouTube)
Wendy Mospan filmed our closing ritual. We named all of our facilitators and sang a blessing for each BCF Group. You can watch the video here. You might want to use the idea for a ritual of your own at a BC group gathering.
Women’s Weekend Retreat on Compassion
Hope Moran from Brownsburg, Indiana was certified as a BCF this past June and has already led a retreat. She sent the following: “I designed this for Messiah Lutheran Church Women’s Fall Retreat. I based it on the pattern we have followed for the last 3 years which is structured on Group Publishing kits.” I asked Hope if you could write to her to receive the material she used and she graciously responded, “yes.” While some of it may not fit with your spirituality or belief system, the retreat contains creative approaches, reflections and integrations that you could adapt and use when you offer your own BC events. Hope’s email address.
Lament for Indigenous Children
Jan Evans led me to this powerful lament of injustice.
“In late May of 2021, the remains of 215 children were found at the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia that closed in 1978. Schools like this one were run by the Church on behalf of the government across Canada. The number of unmarked graves at Residential school sites continues to grow and has reached into the thousands.”
Song “By Breath” now available on YouTube
This song by Sara Thomsen is one often used when teaching about “compassion and our oneness.” https://www.
Compassion for Creation resources
Film “Turtle World”, 8 minutes
I was thrilled to discover that “Turtle World,” is now available to view for free. When I first discovered and purchased it, the film cost $150! This is a powerful film that speaks for the pain of our planet without any words.
Films for the Planet: Call of the Forest (can be rented or purchased through their website or through Amazon Prime) Another option when studying Compassion for Creation.
“At Home in Creation. Keep On Breathing,” Michael Downs.
Thanks to Nancy Brown for pointing to this article in the National Catholic Reporter. Here is a research fact from it that could be used:
“It is true that we all breathe the same air, but the reality is that the quality of that air varies significantly based on where we live. I never thought about this as a child breathing pure Rocky Mountain air. But as an adult I have learned that, according to the United Nations, air pollution continues to be our single biggest environmental health risk today; 90% of the global population is breathing polluted air.”
Compassion and Neuroplasticity
William Martin in The Sages Tao Te Ching writes:
“There is a backpack in the mind
which over the years has become
filled with rocks and stones.
You do not have to carry them anymore.
You can empty your pack
and carry only compassion
from one day to the next.”
~ William Martin
A question we might reflect on and also take to our participants: “What is in your mind’s backpack that could be emptied in order for it to be filled with compassion?”
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…)
Love is a form of sweet labor: fierce, bloody, imperfect, and lifegiving — a choice we make over and over again. Love as labor can be taught, modeled, and practiced. This labor engages all our emotions. Joy is the gift of love. Grief is the price of love. Anger protects that which is loved. And when we think we have reached our limit, wonder is the act that returns us to love.”
(Valerie Kaur)
