Dear Friends,
We hope that you are safe and well.
Today's Meditation features Joyce Rupp reflecting on what keeps us going. Are you an unbeknownst angel who renews hope in another?
We invite you to join us as we commit ourselves to working tirelessly to end systemic and structural racism in our society, in the church, in healthcare, in the workplace--wherever it shows up so that everyone may come to have more abundant life. May this meditation nourish our contemplative-active hearts and sustain all of us in action.
In the spirit of our philosophy of co-creating community and our awareness that the Spirit speaks through each of us, we invite you to share your meditations with us as well. We truly believe that it is God's economy of abundance: when we share our blessings, our thoughts, our feelings, we are all made richer.
We hope and pray that you find peace, healing, hope and the infusion of joy in your life!
With our love and care,
Ron and Jean
MEDITATION: Joyce Rupp: November Reflections
Reflection - November 2021
Two events in November come together as hope-filled bookends. The month opens with a favorite feast of mine: All Saints. It closes with another: the Thanksgiving holiday. This year these two events especially capture my attention due to the disturbing travails that continue to cloud clear-seeing and prevent equanimity in our society. A layer of thick grief disguises itself in many as anger and blaming. For some, this moves into an even harsher direction, leading to futility and the taking of one’s life.
So I was especially grateful to come across the following Biblical story. It tells of the prophet Elijah’s dismal spirit. He’s fleeing from his enemies and has lost hope that his society will change. I thought of those whose suffering today bears down on them so intensely that they, too, lose confidence, believing like Elijah that death would be easier than remaining in their immediate situation.
“Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert, until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death, saying: “This is enough, O Lord! Take my life…” He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree, but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat. Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water.” (1Kings19:6)
I marvel at this unknown presence who “touched him,” bringing Elijah what sustained his life, encouraging him to go forth with restored strength for the journey:
Who are the unknown angels, the nameless,
faceless ones, who come to us unsought,
who arrive to ease our agonizing journey
through the desert of lost hope and dashed joy?
What are the hearth cakes, the jugs of water,
left there to revive our desolate spirit—
those brief encounters that only afterward
we realize the balm they have been for us?
These angels travel not with silver wings
but with compassionate, human hearts,
moved by a guided nudge from far inside,
to speak a word, leave a smile, send a message.
We are gifted with restored hope and purpose
to carry us through another day of desert,
perhaps far beyond that one precious deed
into a longed-for freedom, away what spiraled us
downward into thinking there was no reviving.
This November I invite you to consider who has entered your life to sustain your hope and renew your spirit.
Abundant peace,
© Joyce Rupp
New Podcast with Joyce Rupp
Benburb Priory in Northern Ireland interviews Joyce on topics such as Spiritual Growth, Compassion, The Camino, Finding Rootedness and True Pilgrimage. Watch the interview here.
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Events
Led by certified Boundless Compassion Facilitators
November 7 - 12
Ankeny, Iowa
“Boundless Compassion Pre-Holiday Book Study” (Zoom)
Sundays 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. CST
Six Week sessions led by Marla Inks
Information and Registration
_______________
November 11, 18, 25, Dec. 2 (2021)
Zoom retreat series in two parts
Thursday evenings 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. CST
Series 2: March 3 -24, (2022)
same day & time
Queen’s House, Saskatoon, SK Canada
“Boundless Compassion:
Creating a Way of Life”
Led by Gisele Bauche
Brochure available
Information/Registration
_____________
December 3 – 5;
Fri. 6:00 p.m. – Sun. 11:00 a.m.,
St. Benedict Center
St. Benedict Retreat Center
Schuyler, Nebraska
Advent Weekend Retreat
“Now I Become Myself”
(Compassion will be the lens
in becoming an explorer of our soul)
SoulCollage® retreat
Information/Registration: Jodi Gehr
402-432-9479
Registration deadline: Nov. 8
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October/November
March/April
“Four Seeds of Compassion Flavored by Enneagram Type”
(Choice of date/time when registering; CDT)
Small group series
of four 90-minute sessions
Zoom virtually or in-person
The Thoreau Center
Des Moines, Iowa
Facilitator: Julie Honsey
Certified coach Narrative Enneagram Tradition
Registration and Information
_______________
January 2 – 6, 2022
“Boundless Compassion” Retreat
(in person)
Sun., 7:00 p.m. – Thurs., 4:00 p.m.
Jesuit Retreat Center, Parma OH
Led by Mary Dean Pfahler SND,
Information 440-884-9300
Registration
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February 25-27, 2022
Charleston, West Virginia
“Embraced with Compassion,
Embracing the World”
Women’s Weekend retreat
Friday 7:00 p.m. – Sunday noon
St. John XXIII Pastoral Center
Led by Mary Dean Pfahler, SND
Information, Registration Gerri Wright 304-552-3662
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Boundless Compassion
Four Day Retreats 2022
(the retreats below are on my website)
Dubuque, Iowa
Shalom Spirituality Center
June 26 – 30, 2022
Sun. 7:00 pm. – Thurs. 4:00 p.m.
Led by:
Mary Jo Wulf & Jeannine Kosman
Information/Registration
Connie Palm 563-582-3592
CEU’s available
Facilitator Training Day July 1
led by Joyce Rupp
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Schuyler, Nebraska
St. Benedict Center
June 19 – 23, 2021
Sun. 7:00 pm. – Thurs. 4:00 p.m.
Led by Patty Forsberg & Jeanne Johnson
Information: Jeanne Johnson
Registration
Facilitator Training Workshop
(same site as for the above retreat)
June 24, 2022, 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Led by Patty Forsberg & Jeanne Johnson
Information & registration same as for the retreat:
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