Newsletter
 

1. Do good deeds. We can help mend the wound left in all of us by appalling acts of evil by choosing to extend a million acts of ordinary kindness. Beyond the immediate heroism of workers in New York and Washington, many examples pour forth for us to learn from and decide what to do in our own communities. In many US cities, Christian church members are patrolling around mosques to discourage vandalism and developing a spiritual buddy system with Muslim families. People are tithing a portion of their salaries to Red Cross and other relief efforts, or sending $5.00 a paycheck to New York banks to help people suddenly out of work for an unspecified time. After we donate blood and money, we can look for other areas of need: what else needs doing that could be done in a few hours a week? Do something, and pass along the story to help us all get creative in our caring!

2. Talk with everybody. This is a crucial time to initiate and participate in conversation - with families, especially children, with neighbors, with co-workers. It is important to keep reweaving the fabric of our lives, to keep helping each other express thoughts and feelings in a respectful way. And it is equally important to converse with people who feel differently about issues than we do: talk to the folks in the grocery line, at the post office, the UPS delivery man, the veterans and the pacifists. One of the gifts we can give each other is to engage in conversations of curiosity and diversity. We need to be courageous enough to show each other our core values and explore them: the unity being called for by our leaders is only as strong as the diversity alive within it. Any show of unity which is only rhetoric, which overpowers the complexity of thought that makes up wisdom, will quickly fall apart.

3. Let the people in power know what you think. President Bush and members of Congress do tally letters and e-mails that address decisions facing them. Right now, decisions are being made about whether we follow a path focused on bringing the guilty to justice or whether we wage all out war against "the enemy". We must strive to impact these decisions, for how the United States responds to this act of terrorism will shape the future of the global human community in ways we cannot even comprehend. This may be one of the defining moments of the century: register your assent/dissent/opinion/options as often as you can. The comment-line at the White House is: 202-456-6213. (When we dialed to confirm this number, it rang and rang with no response.) The e-mail address is president@whitehouse.gov. Send emails, calls and faxes to your senators and representatives. To find their contact information go to: http://www.senate.gov and to http://www.house.gov/. These sites are getting heavy use, be patient, keep trying. If you are outside the US, your opinion also counts: talk to US leaders and your own. Put a sign on the car, yard, email signature: that speaks from the best wisdom of your heart and mind. There is a slogan building quickly around here: Reason and Justice! No more civilian casualties - Anywhere!

4. Do a spiritual practice: this is the time to be in rigorous prayer. Whatever your mode of honoring the sacred in each day and in each of us, practice this now, daily, several times a day. The world and its peoples need all of us to respond to this moment with as much spiritual strength as wisdom. Every faith tradition teaches the power of prayer, of collective thought, of chant and meditation: now is the time to believe all this and practice, practice, practice. And finally, spend time outdoors. Take your troubled heart and mind to the ground. Sit with nature, even if it's a potted tree at the entrance to a building, for the earth reminds us that though change comes, destruction comes, healing follows.

May the beauty we love be what we do,
There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground. (Rumi)

For more information on many applications of circle, contact us and make sure you have autosubscribed to receive this newsletter using the buttons below. Your e-mail address will not be shared or used by anyone other than PeerSpirit.

If you have a tale to tell, call the office and we'll help you share it.

PeerSpirit Circling: Making the World Round Again ....
brought to you by Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea from PeerSpirit, Inc.

[ Back to Top ]