News

Dying, a universal experience is a topic we often avoid. However, it holds profound lessons for our personal growth and understanding of life. In the video below, Carla Fernandez, co-founder of The Dinner Party, shares her insights on the importance of embracing this topic and the invaluable lessons it can offer us.

The QUESTion Project is significant because it gives people the opportunity to talk about life questions that are typically internalized, and the chance to interconnect with others. It is also significant because it widens perspectives … it inspired me to expand my wisdom, learn about the ideas and thoughts of people [who] live in my world, and serve … my community in … an extraordinary way. —Karla, QUESTion Project alumnus

How might our interactions transform when we see community not as a noun, but as a verb?

For this session of sacrality practice, we look to Scherto Gill, a research fellow at the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace, to help us reframe our cultural assumption of community, moving it from something outside ourselves to an active process we live into. Watch Scherto in the video below!

Join us as we experiment with the practice of “we-ness” that Scherto speaks of. How might you live as if community is an action, a verb?

“We are in trouble to the degree that we adhere to the myth of the separate self,” warns Rev. Ed Bacon, rector emeritus of All Saints Church in Pasadena. In the video below, Rev. Bacon shares a poignant example from nature that illustrates how we are not only inextricably linked, but we are part of something bigger and more sacred. Too often, we incline ourselves to think and live inwardly. However, we ought to look at ourselves as parts of a larger whole.

This month we turn to the wisdom of Oren Lyons, Indigenous rights advocate, for inspiration. Lyons' quote is featured in our Conversation Cards on Democracy, Freedom, Equality, and Common Good.

Stillness is the altar of Spirit. Where motion ceases, Spirit begins to manifest. —Paramahansa Yogananda

Whether you're transitioning from a tumultuous year or simply navigating a regular day, carving out moments of silence can be a powerful exercise for your soul. It's a way to escape the noise that surrounds us and look inward toward something more profound, even divine. As we embark on 2021, it’s crucial to remember the significance and potency of stepping away from our screens, our never-ending to-do lists, the constant news updates, and other distractions.

As we close out a year that has cracked many of us open, we offer a lovely practice designed by Kay Klinkenborg, spiritual director, retired RN, and LMFT: making a comfort basket. By harvesting items and memories that provide refuge in difficult times, this is a gift we can give ourselves.

The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.   —Coretta Scott King

Home is where the heart is. It’s a cliché but it also holds a lot of truth. For John Fetzer, Kalamazoo was home for most of his life. It is where he built his business, put down roots, and ultimately created the Institute that bears his name and advances his legacy. It is in this spirit that we are honored and excited to be turning our attention to our own backyard of Southwest Michigan. 

I was listening to a podcast recently, and a guest on the show spoke about the theory of “tending and befriending.”During the stress response, our bodies engage in fight or flight. This ancient tactic for survival allowed us to hide in places from predators and stand up to them when our safety was at risk. But more recent research has pointed to the possibility that the response is more complex. Our bodies do respond in fight or flight, but in some scenarios, they respond by tending and befriending.