Relating, Creating, Transforming
———————-“I cannot be awake, for nothing looks to me as it did before, or else I am awake for the first time, and all before has been a mean sleep.” ― Walt Whitman He Qi, The Adoration of the Magi Matthew 2:1-2 NRSVIn the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of […]
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Friends, let’s take a moment to be present with each other, shall we? Breathe in, breathe out. Focus on your breath. Do it again. One more time. How ya feelin’ today? Be sure to check in with yourselves and to be extra patient and compassionate with yourself and with those who share a space with […]
Read MoreWhat if what we believe is far less important than who we choose to eat with?
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Our week came to an amazing close on Friday. We started with a visit to Bait-ul-Aafiyat Mosque – Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a dynamic, fast growing international revival movement within Islam. Founded in 1889, it spans over 206 countries with membership exceeding tens of millions. Its current headquarters are in the […]
Read MoreOn a rainy Wednesday, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Repair the World, Wepac, and W. C. Longstreth School. WePAC’s mission is to promote childhood literacy by engaging volunteers in Philadelphia public schools through re-opening and staffing libraries and academic mentoring. In their vision, every Philadelphia student will be empowered with […]
Read MoreOur day began with outdoor gardening work at the aptly-named urban oasis, Girarden, so named because of its location on Girard Ave. in West Philly. Muneerah and Sue, our two wonderful hosts, walked us through the work to be done–weeding, trash detail, prep for planting. The group got a lot done and we enjoyed the […]
Read MoreOur third day began with service-learning at SHARE Food Program in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. The SHARE Food Program is a nonprofit organization serving a regional network of community organizations engaged in food distribution, education, and advocacy. SHARE promotes healthy living by providing affordable wholesome food to those willing to contribute through volunteerism. […]
Read MoreLuke 6:27-31 Have you heard of the law of reciprocity? How about the golden ratio? In essence, the law of reciprocity is the social norm of responding to a positive action with another positive action, rewarding kind actions. Reciprocity means that in response to friendly actions, people are frequently much nicer and much more […]
Read MoreLet’s take a brief look at the concept of Gratitude across world religions [this by no means doing justice to each tradition]: Judaism: The first and last prayers of the day are of gratitude. For the Jewish people, all things come from Yahweh and thus their lives are filled with this recognition. A prayer is […]
Read MoreMark 9:38-41; 49-50 The Message (MSG) 38 John spoke up, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.” 39-41 Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down. […]
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