We are deeply saddened by the passing of Pope Francis, a beacon of light and compassion whose open-hearted approach to peace-building and interfaith dialogue touched countless lives and profoundly impacted our world's spiritual landscape.

Transforming Global Development

Religions for Peace and Fetzer Institute Partner on a Sacred Shared Flourishing

Kalamazoo, Michigan-March 27 – Religions for Peace (RfP), the world’s largest multi-religious organization, in collaboration with the Fetzer Institute, today announced a pioneering new initiative, the “Sacred Shared Flourishing,” aimed at addressing the pervasive “polycrises” facing humanity by promoting a shared sacred worldview rooted in love and solidarity.

Michelle Scheidt is a senior program officer at the Fetzer Institute and lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA.  Deepa Patel is a facilitator, teacher and guide in the Inayatiyya (a Sufi lineage) and an associate at the Centre for Sustainable Fashion.  In the dialogue that follows, we explore some transformative experiences we have had together in our work over the past few years.

Michelle:  I like the story of how we met.

15 minutes. The time it takes to check and respond to the morning’s emails. To walk your dog. To power nap. To put in a load of laundry. To read a lengthy editorial or a chapter in your current book.  

What if you spent those 15 minutes differently? In ways that nourish you and, by default, the communities you move in — even professionally. We are sacred beings. Making time to connect with our divine source is as natural and as essential as breathing. Yet so few of us make time to do it on a daily basis.