Latest IPP News

Deeper Insights into Today's Lectio Dvina from the Baha'i Faith

2009-01-21T13:47:00.003-05:00

The following material was shared with us by IPP Board member Rita Butler of the Baha'i Community of Louisville.

The Valley of Knowledge by Bahá'u'lláh

... he (the seeker) will enter The Valley of Knowledge and come out of doubt into certitude, and turn from the darkness of illusion to the guiding light of the fear of God. His inner eyes will open and he will privily converse with his Beloved; he will set ajar the gate of truth and piety, and shut the doors of vain imaginings. He in this station is content with the decree of God, and seeth war as peace, and findeth in death the secrets of everlasting life. With inward and outward eyes he witnesseth the mysteries of resurrection in the realms of creation and the souls of men, and with a pure heart apprehendeth the divine wisdom in the endless Manifestations of God. In the ocean he findeth a drop, in a drop he beholdeth the secrets of the sea.
Split the atom's heart, and lo! Within it thou wilt find a sun.

The wayfarer in this Valley seeth in the fashionings of the True One nothing save clear providence, and at every moment saith: "No defect canst thou see in the creation of the God of Mercy: Repeat the gaze: Seest thou a single flaw?" [Qur'án 67:3] He beholdeth justice in injustice, and in justice, grace. In ignorance he findeth many a knowledge hidden, and in knowledge a myriad wisdoms manifest. He breaketh the cage of the body and the passions, and consorteth with the people of the immortal realm. He mounteth on the ladders of inner truth and hasteneth to the heaven of inner significance. He rideth in the ark of "we shall show them our signs in the regions and in themselves," [Qur'án 41:53] and journeyeth over the sea of "until it become plain to them that (this Book) is the truth." [Qur'án 41:53] And if he meeteth with injustice he shall have patience, and if he cometh upon wrath he shall manifest love.
(19)

There was once a lover who had sighed for long years in separation from his beloved, and wasted in the fire of remoteness. From the rule of love, his heart was empty of patience, and his body weary of his spirit; he reckoned life without her as a mockery, and time consumed him away. How many a day he found no rest in longing for her; how many a night the pain of her kept him from sleep; his body was worn to a sigh, his heart's wound had turned him to a cry of sorrow. He had given a thousand lives for one taste of the cup of her presence, but it availed him not. The doctors knew no cure for him, and companions avoided his company; yea, physicians have no medicine for one sick of love, unless the favor of the beloved one deliver him.
20

At last, the tree of his longing yielded the fruit of despair, and the fire of his hope fell to ashes. Then one night he could live no more, and he went out of his house and made for the marketplace. On a sudden, a watchman followed after him. He broke into a run, with the watchman following; then other watchmen came together, and barred every passage to the weary one. And the wretched one cried from his heart, and ran here and there, and moaned to himself: "Surely this watchman is Izrá'íl, my angel of death, following so fast upon me; or he is a tyrant of men, seeking to harm me." His feet carried him on, the one bleeding with the arrow of love, and his heart lamented. Then he came to a garden wall, and with untold pain he scaled it, for it proved very high; and forgetting his life, he threw himself down to the garden.
21

And there he beheld his beloved with a lamp in her hand, searching for a ring she had lost. When the heart-surrendered lover looked on his ravishing love, he drew a great breath and raised up his hands in prayer, crying: "O God! Give Thou glory to the watchman, and riches and long life. For the watchman was Gabriel, guiding this poor one; or he was Isráfíl, bringing life to this wretched one!" 22

Indeed, his words were true, for he had found many a secret justice in this seeming tyranny of the watchman, and seen how many a mercy lay hid behind the veil. Out of wrath, the guard had led him who was athirst in love's desert to the sea of his loved one, and lit up the dark night of absence with the light of reunion. He had driven one who was afar, into the garden of nearness, had guided an ailing soul to the heart's physician.
23

Now if the lover could have looked ahead, he would have blessed the watchman at the start, and prayed on his behalf, and he would have seen that tyranny as justice; but since the end was veiled to him, he moaned and made his plaint in the beginning. Yet those who journey in the garden land of knowledge, because they see the end in the beginning, see peace in war and friendliness in anger. 24

Such is the state of the wayfarers in this Valley; but the people of the Valleys above this see the end and the beginning as one; nay, they see neither beginning nor end, and witness neither "first" nor "last." [Qur'án 57:3.] Nay rather, the denizens of the undying city, who dwell in the green garden land, see not even "neither first nor last"; they fly from all that is first, and repulse all that is last. For these have passed over the worlds of names, and fled beyond the worlds of attributes as swift as lightning. Thus is it said: "Absolute Unity excludeth all attributes." [Saying attributed to `Alí.] And they have made their dwelling-place in the shadow of the Essence.
25

Wherefore, relevant to this, Khájih `Abdu'lláh [Shaykh Abú Ismá'íl `Abdu'lláh Ansárí of Hirát (1006-1088 A.D.) Súfí leader, descended from the Prophet's companion Abú Ayyúb. Chiefly known for his Munáját (Supplications) and Rubá'íyyát (Quatrains). "Ansár" means the "Helpers" or companions of Muhammad in Medina.] —may God the Most High sanctify his beloved spirit—hath made a subtle point and spoken an eloquent word as to the meaning of "Guide Thou us on the straight path," [Qur'án 1:5] which is: "Show us the right way, that is, honor us with the love of Thine Essence, that we may be freed from turning toward ourselves and toward all else save Thee, and may become wholly Thine, and know only Thee, and see only Thee, and think of none save Thee." 26

Nay, these even mount above this station, wherefore it is said:
Love is a veil betwixt the lover and the loved one; More than this I am not permitted to tell. []
At this hour the morn of knowledge hath arisen and the lamps of wayfaring and wandering are quenched. [This refers to the mystic wandering and search for truth guided by "Lights" or Súfí leaders. Bahá'u'lláh here warns the mystics that the coming of the Divine Manifestation in His Day makes further search unnecessary, as it was said by `Alí: "Quench the lamp when the sun hath risen"—the sun referring to the Manifestation of God in the New Day.]
Veiled from this was Moses Though all strength and light; Then thou who hast no wings at all, Attempt not flight. [] If thou be a man of communion and prayer, soar up on the wings of assistance from Holy Souls, that thou mayest behold the mysteries of the Friend and attain to the lights of the Beloved, "Verily, we are from God and to Him shall we return." [Qur'án 2:151]
27

After passing through the Valley of knowledge, which is the last plane of limitation, the wayfarer cometh to the Valley of Unity ... 28

And here's some further background information:

In "The Seven Valleys" Baha'u'llah writes about the seven stages of the lover’s journey on his search for his Beloved: God. Each valley represents a plain of consciousness such as Wonder, Love, Unity....

I would recommend this book to everyone who is seeking closeness to the spirit of God, and those who are beginning their research into the Writings of the Baha'i Faith.
This little book by Baha'u'llah is a very big statement about the nature of existence and the various conditions of the human soul as it attempts to unravel its mysteries and discover The Ultimate Unknown--God.

While the book is written in the early ministry of the Prophet of the Baha'i religion, it is couched in the language of the Islamic-Sufi-mystic. For the reader new to this style, some of the concepts may at first be unclear or foreign, yet at the same time to the heart it all seems somehow familiar, as the valleys unfold in their mysterious--yet universal and familiar--landscape.
For the Baha'i, this is a basic requirement for the personal library. For the investigator of truth, religious scholar, or mystic, it is the key to a whole new world ideas and insights, full of paradoxical wonder, and yet always simple in its truths.

This is one of the most powerful spiritual works you will likely ever read, and is one of the yet undiscovered classics to be placed among the likes of Rumi, Hafez, Saadi, and Khayyam.
While it is undoubtedly one of the great classics, make no mistake, it is both unique and peerless, among its contemporaries. No small wonder the Revelations of Baha'u'llah have given birth to one of the fastest growing, and second most wide spread, religious movements--since its inception in 1844--in the world today.

This little book contains an entire journey. As you grow, the meanings in the text will change for you. It is a book to return to, many times, as your outlook on life changes. It was written in response to a Sufi mystic during the 19th century. As such, it uses language and references that may be quite uncommon to a 21st century western reader. For a little background, readers should consider the Sufi poem "Conference of the Birds", wherein thirty birds set out to find their Ideal King. At the end of this journey, they are told they must pass through seven valleys, at the end of which they will find their goal. Baha'u'llah comments on these seven stages, and relates them to similar Baha'i concepts of God and spiritual development.

Seven Valleys

The Seven Valleys was written around 1860 in Baghdad after Bahá'u'lláh had returned from the Sulaymaniyah region in Kurdistan. The work was written in response to questions posed by Shaykh Muhyi'd-Din , a judge, who was a follower of the Qádiríyyih Order of Sufism.[1]
This work has been called by Shoghi Effendi his "greatest mystical composition",[3] and in the West was one of the earliest available books of Bahá'u'lláh, first translated directly to French in 1905, and English in 1906.[4]

The style of The Seven Valleys is highly poetic, though not composed in verse. Nearly every line of the text contains rhymes, and plays on words, which can be lost in translation. As the recipient was of Sufi origin, Bahá'u'lláh used historical and religious subtleties which sometimes used only one or a few words to refer to Qur'anic verses, traditions, and well-known poems. In English, frequent footnotes are used to convey certain background information.

The book follows the path of the soul on a spiritual journey passing through different stages, from this world to other realms which are closer to God, as first described by the 12th Century Sufi poet Farid al-Din Attar in his Conference of the Birds. Bahá'u'lláh in the work explains the meanings and the significance of the seven stages.[1] In the introduction, Bahá'u'lláh says "Some have called these Seven Valleys, and others, Seven Cities." The stages are accomplished in order, and the goal of the journey is to follow "the Right Path", "abandon the drop of life and come to the sea of the Life-Bestower", and "gaze on the Beloved". In the conclusion of the book, he mentions:

"These journeys have no visible ending in the world of time, but the severed wayfarer—if invisible confirmation descend upon him and the Guardian of the Cause assist him—may cross these seven stages in seven steps, nay rather in seven breaths, nay rather in a single breath, if God will and desire it." [5]

In its introductory section Bahá'u'lláh refers to new age beginning with a cycle of time beginning called a Kull-i-Shay' using metaphors of the Hindu end times expectations of a Golden Age arising from age of darkness: the creation of all things (lit. Kull-i Shay') in this black and ruinous age. It is also used in the Will and Testament of the Báb as well as in other Bábí contexts[6]

The Valley of Search

The valley of search is described as the first step that a seeker must take in his path. Bahá'u'lláh states that the seeker must cleanse his heart, and not follow the paths of his forefathers. It is explained that ardour, and patience are required to traverse this valley.

The Valley of Love

The next valley is the "Valley of Love" and in this valley the seeker is compared to a moth who has found a flame. Bahá'u'lláh writes that the heart of the seeker is touched, and the seeker has fallen in love with God.

The Valley of Knowledge

The knowledge referred to in this valley is the knowledge of God, and not one based on learning; it is explained that pride in one's knowledge and accomplishments often disallows one to reach true understanding, which is the knowledge of God. It is explained that the seeker, when in this valley, begins to understand the mysteries contained within God's revelation, and finds wisdom in all things including when faced with pain and hardship, which he understands to be God's mercy and blessing. This valley is called the last limited valley.

The Valley of Unity

The next stage is the valley of unity, and it is explained that the seeker now sees creation not by its limitations, but sees the attributes of God in all created things. The seeker, it is written, is detached from earthly things, is not concerned with his own self and has no ego; instead he praises God for all of creation.

The Valley of Contentment

The next valley for the seeker is the valley of contentment, where it is explained, that the seeker becomes independent from all things, and even though he may look poor or is subjected to suffering, he will be endowed with wealth and power from the spiritual worlds and will inwardly be happy. Happiness is explained to be the attribute of the true believer, and it cannot be achieved by obtaining material things, since material things are transitory.

The Valley of Wonderment

In the valley of wonderment the seeker, it is written, is struck dumb by the beauty of God; the seeker becomes conscious of the vastness and glory of creation, and discovers the inner mysteries of God's revelation. Being led from one mystery of creation to the next, it is explained that the seeker continues to be astonished by the works of God.

The Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness

The final valley is the valley of true poverty and absolute nothingness and it is the furthermost state that the mystic can reach. The seeker, it is explained is poor of all material things, and is rich in spiritual attributes. It is explained that it is the state of annihilation of self in God, but not an existential union: the essences of God's self and the mystic's self remain distinct, in contrast to what appears to be a complete union in other traditions.

Interfaith Paths to Peace Year 2008 Executive Director Reports

2008-12-31T10:10:00.001-05:00

Interfaith Paths to Peace Year 2008 Executive Director Reports

January 2008 Executive Director’s Report
Submitted by Terry Taylor

Since our December Board Meeting we accomplished the following things:

· Received a check for $2,000 from our friend, Nina Bonnie.
· Received a check for $500 from St. Matthews Episcopal Church.
· The executive director was invited to be the featured speaker at the Church Women United World Day of Prayers for Peace service on December 7 at Plymouth United Church of Christ. The service was attended by about 75 persons.
· Through the actions of Board member Hugh Ella Robinson the Executive Director and Hugh Ella met again with potential donor George Merrifield on December 11 to discuss possible projects.
· The Executive Director met on December 13 with Rev. Thich Hang Dat regarding the creation of an international school for the Louisville area.
· Interfaith Paths to Peace became a dues paying member of The World Affairs Council of Louisville at the suggestion of our friend, Lee Thomas. The Executive Director attended the December 14 luncheon presentation of the Council regarding issues related to immigration reform.
· The Executive Director and associate Cindy Humbert met with a representative of our accounting firm to resolve issues related to our accounting classifications, and as a result have streamlined our budget reporting practices.
· Board members Mark Isaacs and Bashar Masri in the company of the Executive Director made a brief presentation at the Holiday Program of Louisville Collegiate School on December 21.
· Board members Mark Isaacs and Bashar Masri met with the Executive Director to discuss possible follow up activities to the February 2006 trip to the Holy Land.
· The Executive Director was an invited participant in the luncheon discussion at Dare to Care Food Bank on December 17 to discuss a possible new event to raise funds to combat hunger in the Greater Louisville area. An event has now been scheduled for Sunday, October 19.
· The Executive Director took part in training by SPAVA (Society for the Prevention of Aggressiveness and Violence in Adolescents) to become a mentor and deliver non-violence training to students in the Louisville public schools. The Executive Director will now deliver a one day a week, ten week, 45 minute presentation on non-violence skills to students at a middle school in the Louisville public school system beginning in January.
· The Pizza and A Movie event for December featured the film Joyeux Noel. The film was attended by 22 persons including Rev. Fairfax Fair, pastor of Highland Presbyterian Church.
· IPP co-hosted with St. William Catholic Church a New Year’s Day Interfaith Service of Prayers for Peace. This event included presentations by the new head of Louisville’s Peace Havurah (Jewish Peace Organization) and a new representative of the Hindu Temple, Washwant Phatak. The service was attended by about 50 persons.
· The Executive Director took part in a portion of a Buddhist-Hindu dialogue on Saturday, January 5 at the Vietnamese Buddhist Temple in South Louisville.
· IPP co-hosted on January 6 with Bellarmine’s Thomas Merton Center a re-screening at the University of Molly Bingham’s film Meeting Resistance which is about the Iraqi insurgency. The re-screening drew about 150 people who made donations to IPP totaling $700. (The cost of screening the film was $500.)
· A meeting of the Nominating Committee was held on Monday, January 7. The committee reviewed a number of possible new Board members and will be making recommendations to the full board for election at the Annual Meeting.
· The Executive Director met with former Board member David Golemboski to congratulate him on his receipt of the Cardinal Bernardin Award and presented him with a small gift on behalf of IPP and its Board.
· The words of Board President, Donald H. Vish, on the topic of “civility” were featured prominently in an op-ed piece in the Forum section of the January 6 Courier-Journal.
· The Executive Director was interviewed on WHAS Radio on Tuesday, January 1, regarding the Interfaith Service at St. William and the screening of Molly Bingham’s film on January 6.

February 2008 Executive Director’s Report
Submitted by Terry Taylor

Since our January Board Meeting we accomplished the following things:

· Hosted the first-ever Interfaith Service in Southern Indiana in partnership with St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in New Albany, Indiana. The service was attended by over 120 persons and was covered by WHAS 11 TV. Plans are already underway to make this an annual event.
· Completed our annual IPP Board fundraising effort, achieving 100% participation by members of the IPP Board.
· Held two events on Wednesday, January 30 marking the 60th anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. The first was a special noontime “Meeting for Worship” at the Quaker Meeting House (attended by 3 persons). The other was an evening program at the Hindu Temple. At the evening event, which was attended by about 75 people, representatives of 26 different peace and religious groups from the Louisville area each read a brief quote from Gandhi. Each quote was followed by a minute of silence. This event also was the subject of an article in the Courier-Journal.
· Board members Mark Isaacs, Bashar Masri and the executive director made two public presentations about their February 2007 trip to Israel and the occupied Palestinian West Bank Territory. The first presentation was at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in New Albany, Indiana on Sunday, January 13. The second was at Christ Church Cathedral on February 3. Each event was attended by over 30 persons.
· Recruited seven new outstanding Board members for IPP: Dawn Dones, Rhoden “Rhody” Streeter, Tom Williams, Julie Purcell, Elwood Sturtevant, Ngawang Gyatso and Rev. Thich Hang Dat.
· Through the executive director, were part of the planning for an Interfaith Prayer Service for Darfur that will be held in March.
· Were part of the planning for a special event that will be held at the Muhammad Ali Center on Wednesday, March 18, marking the 50th anniversary of Thomas Merton’s “Shining Like the Sun” epiphany at Fourth and Walnut (now Muhammad Ali).
· Through the executive director (who serves on its board) were part of the annual celebration and report of Fons Vitae Press which is operated by Board member Gray Henry Blakemore.
· Through the executive director attended the annual Interfaith Shabbat Service at the Temple on Friday, February 1, 2008. (More than a dozen local citizens who would not have known about the service otherwise attend as a result of receiving IPP e-mails).
· Made a presentation via the executive director on Saturday, January 26, to two groups of middle school students at Kentucky Country Day School about the Middle East conflict.
· Met with new Board member, Rev. Thich Hang Dat regarding his plans for a new Louisville-based international school built around the “International Baccalaureate” curriculum.
· Through the executive director began taking part in a non-violence education program created by the “Society for the Prevention of Aggressiveness and Violence among Adolescents.” The executive director is delivering a once-a-week, 10-week 45-minute programs on non-violence techniques to a third grade class at Hartstern Elementary School in Okolona.
· Continued working, through the executive director, with Dare to Care Food Bank on plans for a hunger fundraising event to be held in October.
· Began a fourth Wednesday monthly noontime spiritual yoga program at Christ Church Cathedral led by local yoga instructor Alex Cleveland.
· Met with outgoing Board member Dianne Aprile to set a date for a spring fundraising event at the Jazz Factory which is owned and operated by Dianne and her husband.
· Had a get-acquainted lunch (via the executive director) with Rev. Fairfax Fair of Highland Presbyterian Church which we hope will result in partnerships in upcoming events.
· Hosted our usual noontime meditation programs with Richard Sisto and with the executive director filling in for Glenda Hodges Cook and Fr. Mark Bourlakas.
· On Tuesday January 29th, resumed hosting an evening meditation program at Christ Church Cathedral.
· Completed and submitted an application for a “Mayor’s International Award.”

March 2008 Executive Director’s Report
Submitted by Terry Taylor

Since our February Board Meeting we accomplished the following things:

· Arranged for a meeting between representatives of KIC’s Hunger Walk and representatives of Dare to Care’s hunger event which resulted in the two organizations coming together to present one combined hunger event on October 19, 2008.
· Participated through Board President Donald Vish in the Center for Interfaith Relations’ Faith Leaders meeting on February 14, which brought together 200 religious leaders from throughout the Louisville area for conversation and planning.
· Hosted a new and updated “Pizza & A Movie” night on February 23 featuring the film Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion and conversation with Louisville’s three resident Tibetan monks. The film and dinner drew over 50 people.
· Held a meeting hosted by Mitzi Friedlander on February 25 to begin planning for our annual Memorial Day Interfaith Service.
· Co-sponsored with the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University the annual Merton Black History Month Lecture featuring Albert Rabateau of Princeton University.
· Attended the Buddhist New Year celebration led by Board member Thich Hang Dat on February 17.
· Met with Mary Jo Gediman of “This I Believe” to iron out details related to cooperation on our May 14 fundraising event at The Jazz Factory.
· Held a meeting regarding our fall Peacemaker of the Year event including the executive director and Board members Mark Isaacs and Bill Friedlander.
· Met with Blaine Hudson, Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Louisville, regarding Pilgrimage 2008 and the role of the underground railroad. Dean Hudson agreed to serve as technical advisor for the Pilgrimage.
· Attended and spoke at, through the executive director, the Louisville Baha’i Community’s Intercallary Days Celebration on February 27.
· Met with web technician Nick Braden and initiated major updates to IPP’s website.
· Attended, through the executive director, a presentation hosted by the Louisville Chapter of the Religion Communicators Council on effective ways to use the internet for communication. The presenter was Aaron Marshall of DBS Interactive. This meeting was held at Southeast Christian Church.
· Had a follow up meeting Aaron Marshall regarding ways to manage our incoming and outgoing web traffic.
· Held a conversation including IPP Board members Gray Henry, Mark Isaacs and executive director Terry Taylor with artist and author Tom Block regarding his scholarly research on the connections between Sufism and Jewish mystical spirituality. The group also explored the possibility of bringing some of Mr. Block’s artwork to Louisville in the near future for an interfaith art exhibition.
· Continued planning for the March 18 Thomas Merton 50th Anniversary Event. Coordination of the event is being led by new Board member Tom Williams. IPP is a co-sponsor of this event along with the Louisville Bar Association, The Muhammad Ali Center and the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine.
· Began planning for second annual Peaceful Skies Picnic to be held on Saturday, April 12, at Iroquois Park.
· Began teaching non-violence techniques to third-graders at Hartstern Elementary School in Okolona as part of the SPAVA Non-violence Education Program.
· Held a meeting, through the executive director, with Betty Meadows of Mid-Kentucky Presbytery and Sam Dorr of Christ Church Cathedral regarding possible ways of enhancing security for the third floor.
· Took part, through the executive director and associate Cindy Humbert, in a tour of the Portland area as preparation for Pilgrimage 2008.
· Began contacting accounting firms regarding our forthcoming audit.
· Had a follow-up meeting, through the executive director, with potential 2009 Board member Steve Rose.
· Held noontime meditation program with Dick Sisto (15 attending) and held our second monthly noontime Yoga program with Alex Cleveland (4 attending).

April 2008 Executive Director’s Report
Submitted by Terry Taylor

Since our March Board Meeting we accomplished the following things:

· Co-sponsored with the Muhammad Ali Center, the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University, and the Louisville Bar Association, a 50th Anniversary Celebration of Thomas Merton’s famous 1958 Shining Like the Sun epiphany. This event, which was conceived of by new Board member Tom Williams and included Board president Don Vish, took place at the Muhammad Ali Center and was followed by a procession to Fourth and Muhammad Ali for the rechristening of that corner as Thomas Merton Square. The event and procession included more than 150 people and also involved IPP Board members Rhody Streeter, Rita Butler, Ngawang Gyatso, and Haleh Karimi. This major event received extensive media attention, including an appearance by Board members Tom Williams and Don Vish on WFPL’s State of Affairs radio program.
· In conjunction with the Merton Anniversary co-hosted with The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University an exhibit at The Muhammad Ali Center of selected photographs by Thomas Merton.
· As a result of IPP’s involvement in the Merton Anniversary Celebration we received a $1000 unsolicited contribution from Eleanor Bingham Miller.
· Through the executive director, was a major participant in the Center for Women and Families’ “Day in Denim” event, which was designed to draw attention to the problem of violence toward women. As part of the observance, the executive director took part in a news conference at the Center for Women and Families.
· On March 19 took part, through the executive director, in an afternoon vigil marking the Fifth Anniversary of the Iraq War. The executive director spoke at this event.
· Through the executive director, made a presentation to four visiting Indian interfaith leaders on March 10 at the Arch Bishop’s residence.
· Through the executive director and Board member Lindsay Carter, took part in planning for an upcoming interfaith service for the people of Darfur. This service will be held at Bellarmine University at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 13.
· Through the executive director, attended a Louisville Committee on Foreign Relations luncheon featuring a presentation on “at risk” nations and what can be done to help them.
· On Thursday, March 20, took part, through the executive director, in two different religious observances, Nah-Ruz New Year’s celebration for the Baha’is at the Clifton Center and the Purim celebration at the Jewish Community Center.
· Through the executive director, held a meeting with local artist Joan Zender about a possible performance art anti-war presentation.
· Met with local non-violence leader Christopher 2X regarding Pilgrimage 2008. Christopher agreed to be co-leader and to recruit young African-American students to take part.
· Had a second meeting with Christopher 2X, through the executive director, in support of an effort to create a local memorial for children who are victims of violence.
· Through Board treasurer Bill Friedlander, met with Natalie Andrews, director of the Portland Museum, regarding the museum’s possible involvement in Pilgrimage 2008.
· Through the executive director, participated in the community’s Good Friday “Way of the Cross” event on March 16. The executive director made a presentation about the role of the peacemaker and used the words of Board president Don Vish as they were shared with the Board at this year’s retreat.
· On March 20, through the executive director, organized a news conference held at the Muhammad Ali Center for Louisville’s Tibetan monks speaking to the horrible violence being suffered by Tibetans in their home country.
· On March 24, a number of IPP Board members and the executive director took part in a candle-light vigil and march on Bardstown Road, organized and led by Board member Ngawang Gyatso, designed to draw attention to the plight of the Tibetans. This event was attended by over 100 people.
· On the same day, the executive director and a number of Board members attended the Mayor’s International Awards ceremony at the Frazier Museum. During the ceremony IPP was recognized as one of the not-for-profit award nominees. This event was organized in part by Board member Lindsay Carter.
· On March 26, hosted a presentation at Christ Church Cathedral by visiting Israeli Rabbi Paul Feinberg on his involvement with the international organization Rabbis for Human Rights. This event was particularly outstanding because the 30 persons who attended the event included significant numbers of Christians, Muslims and Jews.
· Hosted a film and pizza event on Saturday, March 29, featuring the film “Cape of Good Hope” and discussion led by leaders of the Louisville Baha’i community, including Board member Rita Butler. This film event was attended by about 25 persons, including Jews, Muslims, Christians and Baha’is.
· Presented a Concert for Peace on Sunday, March 30, at Christ Church Cathedral, featuring the jazz music of artists Dick Sisto and Steve Allee. The concert was attended by 30 persons and brought in donations totaling $238.
· Hosted our usual noontime meditation programs with Dick Sisto, Glenda Hodges Cook and yoga with Alex Cleveland.
· Met with Dr. Timir Banerjee regarding future collaboration in bringing non-violence education to at risk students in Louisville’s west end.
· Met with Advisory Board member Markham French regarding possible collaboration on non-violence education in west end schools and at Markham’s Plymouth Community Center.
· Continued planning for IPP’s annual Memorial Day observance under the leadership of Board member Mitzi Friedlander.
· Continued planning for the second annual Peaceful Skies Picnic on Thunder Day, April 12. This year’s picnic will be held at the Americana Community Center.
· Completed, through the executive director, a 10-week non-violence education program for third graders at Hartstern Elementary School in Okolona.
· Through office associate, Cindy Humbert, continue to work on, update, and improve IPP’s website.

May 2008 Executive Director’s Report
Submitted by Terry Taylor

Since our April Board Meeting we accomplished the following things:

· Received a check for $65,000 from the J and L Foundation (the foundation supported by Lee and Joan Thomas).
· Dramatically improved our website with substantial support from Board member Rhody Streeter.
· Received and accepted an invitation to take part in an interfaith study group traveling to Egypt and Syria June 19-June 30. This all expense paid trip is co-sponsored by the National Peace Foundation and The Islamic Society of North America.
· Hosted in cooperation with more than a dozen other organizations the April 12th Peaceful Skies Picnic (an alternative to Thunder Over Louisville air show). The picnic was held this year at The Americana Community Center and was attended by about 100 persons. The picnic received major attention on the front page of the Metro section in the Louisville Courier Journal on Sunday, April 13th. At a pre-Thunder news conference held on Thursday, April 10th, IPP Board vice president Hugh Ella Robinson spoke eloquently to the media and was featured in a news report on WLKY TV.
· Hosted the monthly Pizza & A Movie event on Saturday, April 26th. This month’s event featured the Iranian documentary film BAM 6.6 featuring a presentation by Rostam Pourzal the founder of Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran. Approximately 80 persons, including a substantial number of Louisville’s Iranian community members, attended this event which featured food prepared and donated by members of the Independent Muslims of Louisville.
· Hosted an Interfaith Coffee House at and in cooperation with Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church on Thursday, April 24th. The Coffee House featured music by Confei Yona, John Gage, and a group of Quaker refugees from Burundi. This event was attended by about 75 individuals.
· Co-sponsored and helped to plan an interfaith prayer service at Bellarmine University on Sunday, April 13th, in conjunction with International Day for Darfur. This event was attended by over 150 persons.
· Received a dozen free copies of the book Three Cups of Tea and created an interfaith group to discuss the book consisting of Muslims, Baha’is, Jews and Christians. This multi-cultural group also includes Argentines and Iranians.
· Completed planning for our June 4th This I Believe fundraising event to be held at the Rudyard Kipling and featuring more than a dozen outstanding Louisville citizens from a variety of fields.
· Attended via the executive director and Board treasurer Bill Friedlander a workshop presented by the Center for Nonprofit Excellence on new audit standards on April 28th.
· Attended via the executive director the Holocaust Remembrance Day program held at Bellarmine University under the leadership of the Louisville Jewish Community Federation on April 21st.
· Attended via the executive director a special gathering of “young non-profit leaders” held on Thursday, April 3rd at the Louisville Museum of Arts and Crafts.
· Continued planning for the 24th Annual Memorial Day Interfaith Service.
· Attended a luncheon presentation on Islamic Militancy held on April 15th under the sponsorship of the Louisville Committee on Foreign Relations.
· Attended via the executive director the memorial service for local Palestinian rights activist Dr. Yacoub Yacoub, which was held on April 16th.
· Attended the SPAVA Awards Ceremony on April 22nd at Waggoner Traditional High School. At this event, evaluation forms from several of the executive director’s SPAVA students were read.
· Took part via the executive director in an invitational tour of the new Girl Scouts building in Louisville.
· Served via the executive director as a volunteer at the Dare to Care Food Bank booth at Festiville.
· Hosted our monthly meditation program featuring Dick Sisto as well as a noontime meditation program hosted by the executive director.

June 2008 Executive Director’s Report
Submitted by Terry Taylor

Since our May Board Meeting we accomplished the following things:

· Hosted our 24th anniversary Memorial Day Interfaith Service and reception honoring all who have died in armed conflict and war, civilians as well as military. This highly successful event, presented under the leadership of Board member Mitzi Friedlander, drew over 150 persons, including 16 visiting Iranians who were in town as guests of the World Affairs Council. Thanks to all of the Board members who planned and assisted with this event including Rhoden Streeter, Janet Irwin, Helen Starr Jones, Matt Hanka, Haleh Karimi, Rita Butler, Summer Auerbach, Myrtle Bingham, Hugh Ella Robinson, Johnny Alse and more.
· The visiting Iranians were also guests of honor at a potluck supper the next day hosted at her home by Board member Gray Henry Blakemore. The dinner included religious leaders from most of the world’s great religions and included the IPP executive director as well as Board members Haleh Karimi, Mark Isaacs and Bashar Masri.
· Took part through the executive director in the sixth annual Tent of Abraham, Hagar and Sarah conference May 17-19 at the Garrison Institute in New York. This conference, organized by Rabbis Arthur Waskow and Phyllis Berman through their Shalom Center, brings together Jews, Christians and Muslims from around the country to work together for peace and justice.
· Took part through Board Members Gray Henry Blakemore and Julie Purcell in the company of the executive director, a round table discussion on June 3 at the Muhammad Ali Center with a group of visiting Saudi Arabian educators.
· Arranged for the executive director to participate in a two-week Teachers Institute at Dar al Islam Mosque in New Mexico at which the executive director will be provided with indepth information about Islam.
· Hosted a book discussion group on June 1st at the home of Board member-emerita Sylvia Weinberg. The group discussed the book Three Cups of Tea which chronicles the humanitarian work of Greg Mortenson who has built scores of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan for impoverished children with a special emphasis on serving young women who are frequently denied educational opportunities in those countries. The discussion included Jews, Christians, agnostics and a former Muslim from Iran.
· Attended via the executive director the Governor’s signing ceremony at St. Francis School for the new Holocaust Education law in Kentucky.
· Assisted, through the executive director, local Bosnian Muslim leader Djenita Pasic with a videotaped interview for use at the Mosaic Awards.
· Took part through the executive director in planning led by community leader Christopher 2X for a monument honoring children who are victims of violence.
· Attended through the executive director the Buddha’s Birthday celebration at Board member Thich Hang Dat’s Ten Thousand Buddhas Summit Monastery in Corydon, Indiana, on Sunday, May 25th.
· Staffed a table, through the executive director, at a May 19th Peace and Global Citizenship Fair in Lexington, Kentucky.
· Acquired, at the suggestion of Board member Rhodie Streeter, a new inexpensive video “flip camera” that has already enabled IPP to post instant video of its events on You Tube.
· Took part through the executive director in the U.S. Department of Peace Campaign’s “Peace wants a Piece of the Pie” event on Friday, May 9, during which pies were delivered to the offices of Congressman John Yarmuth and other officials as a way of reminding them of efforts to create a cabinet-level Department of Peace in our country.
· Promoted our “This I Believe” fundraising event via an interview with the executive director conducted by WFPL’s Rick Howlett and aired on that station on Sunday, June 1.
· Prepared and mailed a fundraising letter promoting our “This I Believe” fundraising event.
· Changed the way our checking account draws interest, so that our monthly interest income went from a little over $3 per month to over $100 per month.
· Attended through the executive director a luncheon presentation on May 21st hosted by the Louisville Committee on Foreign Relations featuring Middle East Scholar Antony Sullivan of the University of Michigan. The executive director then hosted Professor Sullivan for the rest of the afternoon.
· Hosted our monthly meditation program featuring Dick Sisto as well as a noontime meditation program.

July 2008 Executive Director’s Report
Submitted by Terry Taylor

During the month of June we accomplished the following things:

· Took part via the executive director in a major international delegation which traveled to Egypt and Syria, June 19-30, under the sponsorship of the National Peace Foundation and the Islamic Society of North America with major funding provided by the U.S. State Department. (See attached sheet for further details.)
· Held a highly successful fundraising event on Wednesday, June 4th at the Rudyard Kipling restaurant built around the “This I Believe” concept and featuring 20 outstanding local individuals presenting “This I Believe” statements. The event drew approximately 150 individuals. We were told this was the largest attendance for any event ever held at the Rudyard Kipling. Total donations received from the event were $2,676 with expenses for this fundraising effort totaling $712. Also at this event IPP presented its inaugural Interfaith Peacemaking Organization of the Year Award to This I Believe, Inc.
· Held a book discussion event on Sunday, June 1st, at the home of Board member emerita Sylvia Weinberg built around the book, “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson. The event was attended by a dozen people including representatives of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baha’I faith.
· Attended via the executive director and Board members Julie Purcell and Gray Henry Blakemore a special World Affairs Council dialogue with a group of visiting Saudi Arabian Muslims on Tuesday, June 3rd at the Muhammad Ali Center.
· Took part via the executive director and several Board members in a special “Louisville as the Geneva of North America” think tank event on Tuesday, June 10th at the Muhammad Ali Center. The event was organized and hosted by Board member Tom Williams and his Louisville Peaceworks organization.
· Attended the June 11th Hunger Walk 2008 press conference via the executive director.
· Co-sponsored with Board member Gray Henry Blakemore’s Fons Vitae Press a special two-day presentation on Tibetan Buddhism by internationally renowned Tibetan Buddhist Monk Matthieu Ricard on June 13 and 14. A number of Board members also attended portions of this event.
· Attended a special United Nations Association of Louisville dinner event on June 16th featuring a presentation by Bob Edgar who is a former Congressman and the former director of the National Council of Churches. This event was organized by Board member Matt Hanka (president of the U.N. Association of Louisville) and was also attended by Board member Haleh Karimi.
· On June 17th met with Dave Thomas, executive director of Crane House, to seek that organization’s involvement and support for the upcoming July 11th visit to Louisville by several guests from Hiroshima.
· Presented our monthly noontime meditation by Dick Sisto.

August 2008 Executive Director’s Report
Submitted by Terry Taylor

During the month of July we accomplished the following things:

· Took part via the executive director in the 14-day “Teacher’s Institute” at Dar al Islam Mosque in New Mexico from July 6-20. This intensive program is designed to educate a selected group of teachers about the basic concepts and practices of Islam. The executive director experienced 58 hours of instruction (the equivalent of a graduate level class on Islam), offered by nationally, and in some cases internationally, renowned faculty. See the attached list for details about items covered during the institute.
· Created a three-part curriculum for instructing people in the Louisville area about basics of Islam, with the ultimate goal of eliminating misinformation and misunderstanding often associated with the world’s second largest religion. The overall curriculum includes:
· A 50-minute version designed for use with a church or synagogue “Sunday school” program.
· A 90-120 minute version designed for an evening, after dinner program.
· A version designed to be used over a 6-week period with two-hour programs delivered each week in a setting and format similar to that used by the Center for Faith and Action.
· Hosted two special events on July 11 featuring a group of distinguished visitors from the city of Hiroshima, Japan, including the director of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation as well as a survivor of the August 6, 1945, atomic bombing who currently lives in Hiroshima. The day’s events included a luncheon co-hosted by IPP with Crane House. Those attending the luncheon included our distinguished guests from Hiroshima, members of the Louisville Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, Lee Thomas, two atomic bomb survivors who live in the Louisville area, the director and staff from Crane House, IPP Board members Hugh Ella Robinson, Rita Butler and Elwood Sturtevant, and staff associate Cindy Humbert. The evening event was built around a presentation by the director of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation and the atomic bomb survivor from Hiroshima. The event was held at Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church through the courtesy of Board member Elwood Sturtevant who is pastor of the church and was attended by an estimated crowd of 85-100 persons who also enjoyed a post-event reception. The presentation was videotaped by Board member Rhody Streeter and copies of the video will be available to Board members and the public.
· Connected our guests from Hiroshima with peacemakers in Lexington, Kentucky, and Birmingham, Alabama, enabling our guests to complete their tour of the U.S. with successful presentations in both of these cities.
· Co-sponsored with Crane House an exhibition of posters regarding the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. The exhibition was presented from July 5-31 at Crane House.
· Met, through the executive director, with Jay Rock, coordinator for interfaith relations for the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., to discuss the executive director’s recent trip to Egypt and Syria and to discuss the challenges of interfaith work in general.
· Met, through the executive director, with G. A. Shareef of Louisville’s Islamic Cultural Center and River Road Mosque to discuss what the executive director learned during his experience of the Teacher’s Institute at Dar al Islam Mosque.
· Met with Board member Rhody Streeter, Joe Grant of JustFaith Ministries, and Elizabeth Vissing to discuss an upcoming film event.
· Planned and hosted four events on July 24 for a group of 13 visiting Islamic scholars from Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. This group of distinguished guests was visiting the Louisville area under the leadership of the National Peace Foundation and the Islamic Society of North America (the same two groups that sponsored the delegation that the executive director traveled with in June). The four events included:
· An early morning visit to Fons Vitae Press, which is owned and operated by Board member Gray Henry Blakemore.
· A mid-morning two-hour interfaith dialogue at the Muhammad Ali Center that included more than two dozen religious leaders from the Louisville area representing all of the world’s major religious traditions. These leaders included Board members Mark Isaacs, Hugh Ella Robinson, Rita Butler, Johnny Alse, Matt Hanka, Thich Hang Dat and Tom Williams.
· A luncheon and interfaith discussion for the international guests and local religious leaders at Christ Church Cathedral. The luncheon was presented with the leadership and assistance of Board members Mitzi Friedlander, Hugh Ella Robinson, Rita Butler and Myrtle Bingham. The luncheon was also attended by Board members Haleh Karimi and Julie Purcell who engaged in rich interfaith dialogue with our distinguished guests. Following the luncheon the international delegation performed their early afternoon Salat prayers in Dean’s Hall at the Cathedral. The international delegation was joined by local Muslims for this prayer event, and the prayers were led by the Imam of the Louisville Mosque that serves Louisville’s Bosnian population.
· A visit by the delegation to The Temple (Congregation Adath Israel Brith Sholom), Kentucky’s oldest and largest reformed synagogue. The tour was led by Rabbi Joe Rooks Rapport and Board member Mark Isaacs.
· Made, via the executive director, a noontime presentation on Tibetan Buddhist meditation techniques as a substitute for Richard Sisto’s monthly noontime meditation program.

September 2008 Executive Director’s Report
Submitted by Terry Taylor

During the month of August we accomplished the following things:

· Sponsored a series of events marking the 63rd anniversary of the atomic bombing at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These events included:
o A reading of selections from John Hersey’s classic book “Hiroshima” between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on August 6th at Fourth Street Live. As the selections from the book were being read volunteers distributed over 500 flyers providing information about Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemoration Events and historical information about the atomic bombing. The flyers also provided information to enable people to become involved in anti-nuclear efforts.
o A tolling of the bells at Christ Church Cathedral at noon on Saturday, August 9th, marking the Nagasaki Anniversary. This event also included a reading by Mitzi Friedlander and Helen Starr Jones of Thomas Merton’s famous “Original Child Bomb.”
o A screening of Stanley Kubrick’s famous anti-nuclear war comedy “Dr. Strangelove” at St. Matthews Episcopal Church at 5:30 on August 9th followed by a potluck supper.
o The traditional Lantern Floating Ceremony at the lake at Lexington and Grinstead with music by Heidi Howe. The event also included reflections by Louisville area citizens who were survivors of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings and by Quaker, Lee Thomas, who was one of the first Americans in Hiroshima after the atomic bombing. This event was attended by over 100 people including an interesting array of families with children, individuals from different religious backgrounds, and people from a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds.
· Began using a new high tech, high quality broadcast email service that has dramatically improved both the quality and speed of our communication with nearly 1000 people who support IPP events.
· Held numerous meetings and furthered plans for the IPP Interfaith Pilgrimage called Crossing Barriers which will be held October 2-5.
· Received a pledge of $1000 from the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky’s Peace and Justice Division to help defer expenses for the Pilgrimage.
· Established plans for a concert and storytelling event related to the Underground Railroad featuring African-American folk singer and Underground Railroad expert Kim Harris. This concert and storytelling event will be held on Saturday, October 4th from 5-7 p.m. at Christ Church Cathedral and will be followed by a community-wide candlelight march for peace and justice across the Second Street Bridge.
· Made a presentation via the executive director on August 23rd to a gathering of the Independent Muslims of Louisville about his trip to Egypt and Syria. Ten additional presentations have been scheduled including talks at Iroquois Library, the Baha’is, Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in New Albany, Friends Meeting of Louisville, St. Agnes Catholic Church, Highland and Beulah Presbyterian Churches, the Sanctuary of Eternal Truth in New Albany, and Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Louisville.
· Staffed a table at WorldFest with information about IPP activities and events on August 30th and 31st. Those staffing the table included Board members Elwood Sturtevant, Summer Auerbach, Myrtle Bingham, Rita Butler, Rhody Streeter, and emerita Board members Janet Irwin and Edna Sharif.
· Identified two outstanding potential new Board members for consideration. These are Joanne Lloyd of the Mayors Office for International Affairs and Kathy Karr, immediate past president of Temple Shalom.
· Met via the executive director with Advisory Board member Mary Nancy Todd and Sisters of Charity of Nazareth vice president Julie Driscoll, SCN, to discuss plans for our October 12th Interfaith Prayer Service for Peace on the campus of Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.
· Co-hosted with St. Matthews Episcopal Church a “Film & Food” event on Saturday, August 30th, featuring the documentary film “The Real Dirt on Farmer John.” This event was presented at St. Matthews Episcopal.
· Met via the executive director with the regional representative of CARE International to talk about the possibility of cooperation on projects related to international relief.
· Attended via the executive director the Open House for the Center for Non-profit Excellence at its new home at 323 West Broadway.
· Met via the executive director with emerita IPP Board member Sylvia Weinberg to catch up on recent activities and discuss the executive director’s recent trip to Egypt and Syria.
· Took part through the associate in ongoing planning meetings for this year’s Festival of Faiths.
· Met via the executive director with Stan Siegwald of Dare to Care Food Bank to discuss support for the Hunger Walk from the interfaith community in Louisville.
· Attended via the executive director an afternoon discussion event at Iroquois Library on August 17th concerning ways that we can better integrate immigrants and refugees into the Louisville community.
· Was featured on WHAS radio through an interview with the executive director by Denton Randall on August 30th regarding the “Film & Food” event at St. Matthews Episcopal Church and the upcoming Pilgrimage.

NOVEMBER 2008 Executive Director’s Report
Submitted by Terry Taylor

During the months of September and October we accomplished the following things:

· In October, received a check for $75,000 from Lee and Joan Thomas.
· Hosted the 3rd Annual Pilgrimage for Peace and Non-violence. This year’s event was called Crossing Barriers and followed the route of the Underground Railroad through Louisville and into southern Indiana. Two major highlights of the pilgrimage were a candlelight march across the Second Street Bridge on Saturday, Oct. 4, involving nearly 100 people and a statement of apology for the Church’s role in slavery delivered at one of the pilgrimage events by Episcopal Bishop Ted Gulick, Jr. of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky. The pilgrimage received major attention in the media including an article and photographs on the front page of the Metro section of the Courier Journal on Sunday, Oct. 5.
· Met with the pilgrimage planning committee to review the results of the pilgrimage and to begin planning for next year’s pilgrimage.
· Took part in a media luncheon on Sept. 22 in Bardstown hosted by Advisory Board member Mary Nancy Todd and six representatives of the greater Nelson County media, including television, newspaper and radio reporters.
· Co-hosted with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth the 6th Annual Nelson County Interfaith Service for Peace on Oct. 12. The event drew over 150 people and received major media attention in the greater Bardstown area including a front page article in the Kentucky Standard and an opinion piece about interfaith relations by the executive director.
· Co-hosted with Christ Church Cathedral and the Drepung Gomang Institute the creation of a Tibetan “Sand Mandala for Compassion” created by a group of visiting Tibetan monks from southern India. This took place at the Cathedral in Bishops Hall from Oct. 14 through Oct. 19. The closing ceremony was attended by approximately 100 persons.
· Following the closing ceremony for the sand mandala the Tibetan monks and a number of those present took part in the annual Hunger Walk.
· Via the executive director made a total of 13 presentations about this summer’s interfaith trip to Egypt and Syria. The presentations included being the featured speaker at the Fellowship of Reconciliation Third Thursday Lunch in September, along with talks at:
· Iroquois Library, Sept. 10
· St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in New Albany, Sept. 21
· Baha’is of Louisville, Sept. 22
· The Jewish Federation Community Relations Council, Sept. 25
· Quaker Meeting, Sept. 28
· Highland Presbyterian Church Adult Sunday School, Oct. 12
· Resurrection Episcopal Church Adult Sunday School, Oct. 12
· Amnesty International Student Group, Oct. 16
· Clifton Unitarian Church, Oct. 19
· Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral Adult Forum, Oct. 26
· Louisville Collegiate School World Religions Class, Oct. 29
· Beulah Presbyterian Church Combined Adult Sunday School, Nov. 2
· Attended and co-sponsored the U.S. Department of Peace potluck supper on Sept. 7.
· Met with Lori Kincaid at the University of Louisville on Sept. 17 to discuss their upcoming interfaith efforts.
· Attended via the executive director Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services as the guest of Rabbi Stan Miles at Temple Shalom.
· Hosted a potluck supper and presentation on “Rumi and Sufism” at The Temple (Louisville’s largest reform synagogue) on Sept. 27 in cooperation with Independent Muslims of Louisville and The Temple. This event was attended by relatively equal numbers of Christians, Muslims and Jews and featured Professor Fatima Keshavarz of Washington University of St. Louis.
· The next day, Sunday, Sept. 28, Professor Keshavarz also made presentations at Unity Church of Louisville and St. William Catholic Church.
· Took part in a dinner for visiting Muslim scholars from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh on Oct. 14 hosted by Board member Gray Henry Blakemore and including Board member Bashar Masri. This event was also attended by Tom Johnston of the U.S. State Department, who oversees funding for the program that took the executive director to Egypt and Syria in June.
· Co-sponsored and attended via the executive director and a number of Board members a presentation and retreat featuring Tibetan scholar Tsoknyi Rinpoche. These events were hosted by Board member Gray Henry Blakemore and her Fons Vitae press.
· Served via the executive director as moderator for the Oct. 16 Fellowship of Reconciliation Third Thursday Luncheon panel discussion on Iran and prospects for peaceful co-existence with that country.
· Co-hosted with St. William Catholic Church on Oct. 26 a presentation by Rabbi Phyllis Berman on “Chanting in the Jewish Renewal Movement.”
· Had an hour long get acquainted meeting with Catholic Archbishop Joseph Kurtz with discussion of ways that Interfaith Paths to Peace can assist the Archdiocese of Louisville in interfaith efforts.
· Attended via the executive director the annual Highlands Ministries Interfaith Dinner at St. Michael’s Christian Orthodox Church on Oct. 23. The interfaith program included presentations by Board members Johnny Alse and Rita Butler.
· Promoted and attended an interfaith service at First Unitarian Church on Oct. 26 honoring victims of domestic violence.
· Attended a portion of a program on Thomas Merton and Contemplative Living on Oct. 25.
· Initiated a new “last Wednesday” noontime meditation program at Christ Church Cathedral featuring veteran meditation instructor Deanna O’Daniel.
· Promoted and attended a dinner program at Bellarmine University on Oct. 12 focusing on Israeli/Iranian relations. This event, which drew several hundred people, was organized by Board member Haleh Karimi and Advisory Board member Peter Anik.
· Participated via the executive director, Board president Donald Vish and Board member Dawn Dones in a panel discussion at the Rare Books Gallery at Ekstrom Library at the University of Louisville on Nov. 2. The panel responded to the artwork in a special exhibition entitled “Four for Peace.”
· Took part in and helped to plan the unveiling ceremony for a new banner at the Center for Interfaith Relations featuring a photograph of Thomas Merton and the Dalai Lama during their historic meeting in India in 1968.
· Attended via the executive director, Board president Donald Vish and Executive Committee member Matt Hanka a presentation on how to use Facebook in social entrepreneurship. This luncheon was hosted by Religion Communicators Council Louisville Chapter on Oct. 21.
· Hosted our monthly noontime meditation programs with Richard Sisto and Glenda Hodges Cook.

December 2008 Executive Director’s Report
Submitted by Terry Taylor

Since our November Board meeting we accomplished the following things:

· Planned and organized via IPP executive committee member Matt Hanka and the executive director two events on December 10th marking the 60th anniversary of the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These events include a noontime brown bag lunch presentation at Christ Church Cathedral about the Universal Declaration and the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals featuring Matt Hanka and Mary Abrams, Chair of the Peace and Justice Division of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky. Also on that day, IPP will host a “My Mission” program at 7 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Assumption featuring brief statements by a dozen local leaders on their missions in life and what led them to these missions. This evening program will also feature music by Dick Sisto and Harry Pickens.
· Wrote, designed, organized and posted a fundraising mailing related to the “My Mission” program. This mailing was delivered to the homes of 1,250 families in the Greater Louisville area.
· Took part via the executive director in the first-ever statewide convention of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Kentucky held at Bellarmine University on November 23rd. The executive director was interviewed by a newspaper reporter at this event and his remarks figured prominently in an article about the convention that appeared on the front page of the Metro section of the Louisville Courier-Journal on November 24th.
· Held a discussion via the executive director on November 21st with staff of the Kentucky Derby Festival regarding ways to bring a more peaceful approach to the Thunder Over Louisville air show. At this meeting we learned that the Festival will offer a free table space to representatives of the Peace Corps adjacent to tables provided to military recruiters. The Festival is also exploring the possibility of eliminating flyovers by military jets in residential areas of the city.
· Inaugurated a Third Wednesday noontime meditation program at Christ Church Cathedral that features the executive director conducting programs using the Christian technique of “lectio divina” to deal with the sacred texts of all the world’s great religions on November 19th.
· Attended via Board member Elwood Sturtevant and the executive director an annual dinner event in Lexington, Kentucky, sponsored by that city’s Interfaith Dialogue Organization on November 17th.
· Took part via the executive director in a special training session for SPAVA (Society for the Prevention of Aggressiveness and Violence Among Adolescents) mentors.
· Presented via the executive director on December 2nd the first of ten one-hour weekly programs on non-violence skills to a group of 26 7th graders at Meyzeek Middle School.
· Served via the executive director as moderator for the Festival of Faiths film presentation and panel discussion on the topic of Reconciliation. The event was held on November 9th and presented in the theater at the Speed Museum and was attended by several hundred persons.
· Coordinated via the executive director a presentation by Tibetan Buddhist Monks and representatives of Soka Gakkai International to a local Jewish “Havurrah” group at their monthly meeting on November 8th.
· Made a presentation on November 30th via the executive director about his trip to Egypt and Syria to a combined group of members of St. Agnes and St. William Catholic Churches at St. Agnes.
· On November 21st the executive director represented IPP at a vigil at Sixth and Jefferson on the occasion of the execution of Marco Chapman. The executive director was interviewed that day by a reporter from WLKY TV concerning the execution and a photograph of the executive director accompanied the story on the execution that appeared in the Courier-Journal on November 22nd.
· Held informal discussions via the executive director with Rev. Phil Lloyd-Sidle of James Lees Presbyterian Church and Rev. Susan Eng Poole of Unity Church of Louisville regarding the possibility of the executive director offering a multi-week non-credit course on “Islam for Non-Muslims.”
· Attended via the executive director a morning-long presentation about major gift fundraising that was sponsored by the Center for Nonprofit Excellence.
· Attended via the executive director and several Board members the annual “Children of Abraham Dinner” held this year at Louisville’s Islamic Cultural Center on November 12th.
· Attended via the executive director and several members of the Board the annual Festival of Faiths’ “Prayer Breakfast.” Note that teacher Walt Kunau and two of his students from Louisville Collegiate School purchased tickets and joined us at our table for this event on November 13th.
· Took part via the executive director in the Festival of Faiths’ “Faith Leaders Forum” on November 13th along with approximately 30 other Louisville religious leaders.
· Participated in via the executive director a reunion of graduates of the JustFaith Peace and Justice Education Program held on November 15th at St. Agnes Catholic Church and attended by approximately 100 persons.
· Attended the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Third Thursday lunch event on November 20th at the Rudyard Kipling (these events are now co-sponsored by IPP). This month’s presentation concerned current issues in Guatemala and Columbia featuring FOR co-chair Dennis Bricking and peacemaker Cory Lockhart.
· Attended the Louisville Committee on Foreign Relations’ luncheon on November 21st via the executive director. This month’s topic concerned the current situation in Afghanistan.
· Participated via the executive director in a discussion of social entrepreneurship concepts held on November 20th at the Passionist Center in Louisville and moderated by Jud Hendrix.
· Held the usual noontime meditation programs featuring Richard Sisto, Deanna O’Daniel and Glenda Hodges-Cook (with the executive director filling in for Glenda).

Community Leaders Offer Statements of “This is My Mission”

2008-12-31T09:46:00.002-05:00

“This is My Mission”
Presented by Interfaith Paths to Peace and The United Nations Association of Louisville
Marking the 60th Anniversary of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“My Mission” essays presented at the event on December 10, 2008 at the Undercroft of the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville Kentucky:

Matt Hanka
President- United Nations Association- Louisville Chapter

My mission is to make a difference in this world, no matter how large or small. My mission is to respect people’s differences and cultures, and to promote peace and global understanding, in my community, city, and the world.

My mission with the United Nations Association is to give Louisville residents the opportunity to discuss major international issues affecting all Americans, such as global health, human rights, the spread of democracy, sustainable development, international justice, global warming and climate change, and provide specific recommendations and plans of action to improve the UN’s efficiency and effectiveness.

My mission is to educate and promote awareness of the UN and the US foreign policy toward the UN and to demonstrate the importance and relevancy of the UN our lives. Our mission is that the people of the Louisville metropolitan area understand that the UN needs and deserves their support and that the UN is essential for a peaceful and prosperous world.

The United Nations has received heavy criticisms over the Oil for Food scandal, the negative publicity from the US media and government, and the slow move towards UN reform plagued by an ineffective bureaucracy, but we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

The United Nations has a major impact and relevance in our lives, and if we destroyed the UN, we would have to rebuild something similar in its place. The UN is a part of our daily lives, whether we realize and accept it or not.

When I see the weather reports on TV or hear them on the radio, I think of the UN and the work the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), who was responsible for sparing million of people from the effects of natural and man-made disasters through early meteorological warning systems around the world.

When I buy my food at the grocery store, I think of the UN and the work of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), through improved agricultural techniques that protect the safety and health of our food.

When I go to school tomorrow or teachers go to their schools to teach, think of the UN and the impact of the UNESCO and its efforts to promote peace and international cooperation through education, science and culture.

When I think of Halloween, I think of the UN and the work of UNICEF and the “Trick or Treat” for UNICEF project, raising billions to help save lives of the world’s children and their efforts in establishing the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

When I go to work tomorrow, I will think of the UN and the International Labour Organization (ILO) who has worked to guarantee freedom for workers to organize, the rights of employees, and protections against child labor and discrimination in the workplace.

When I turn on the faucet to get a drink of water or take a shower, I think of the UN, and the countless agencies working towards making clean and safe drinking water available to everyone, and that access to clean and safe drinking water is a universal human right.

When I think especially about the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan , tackling AIDS and malaria in Africa , and the poverty, hopelessness, and despair in our own communities, I think of the work of the UN Human Rights Council to address these human rights violations. I think of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose drafters, lead by the vision of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, envisioned a world where the dignity of the human person is preserved and protected.

The UN impacts my mission in life every day. My mission is to carry out the ideals in the UN charter and the framework of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Those of us in this room who have not experienced effects of human rights abuse, poverty and despair are the one that most uphold the values and principles of the Universal Declaration, because it is more relevant today than it was 60 years.

In Louisville, Kentucky, my mission is to educate and promote awareness about the work of the United Nations, including its core mission (peace, collective security and human rights) and promote awareness of the issues and international problems in our world, including the Universal Declaration and its core values of equality, justice, and fairness that must be applied to everyone all over the world.

The United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights must become ours and must continue to be ours for the next 60 years. That is my mission.

Jonathan Montaldo
Past President, International Thomas Merton Society

My Mission:
My mission is to believe in kindness and realize that everyone everywhere is my kith and kin. My mission now is gratitude for the compassion that others have shown me throughout my life, my mother and father who created me, the friends who embraced my shoulders when I despaired, the mentors who invited me to do my best work, all those who have loved me in spite of myself and in spite of themselves.
My mission is to help create intentional communities of mercy and loving-kindness. I believe in churches where my sisters and brothers pray. I believe that nothing is more important than transparency in our relationships to one another through which we confess our weaknesses and our most ardent hopes for relationships of more love and peace.
My mission is to assist others in extending the legacy of Thomas Merton who has guided me since I was a boy. I believe in the power of his witness to encourage us that the world is good and that it is our destiny to enjoy the inner journey of being alive.
My mission on the staff of the Merton Institute for Contemplative Living and its retreat center at Bethany Spring is to be of service and extend hospitality to strangers and pilgrims who always arrive with “words” for my salvation.
To my sisters and brothers everywhere, and to all beings with whom I live interdependently, I pledge my conscious solidarity.
And then to God, Who is yet to be revealed as greater than our imaginings, I lift up my heart in gratitude for the gift of life and I place all my crazy hopes that, at the hour of my dying, I shall see God and witness—if only for a moment—Her absolutely gorgeous epiphany.

Allison S. Smith
Amnesty International Student Organization at University of Louisville

My Mission:
I am not a person of faith. By that, I mean that I do not subscribe to any organized or unorganized religion and I do not believe in a higher power, conscious or otherwise. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in anything. That’s a common misconception about people with my perspective. There are many things that I believe in that motivate my mission like my connection to every living thing on this planet, my obligation as a living, breathing entity to make the world better than I found it, and the belief that when people work together they can affect positive change.
While I do not believe in a divine creation story, I do believe that the molecules that make up our frail human bodies were all a part of some astronomical phenomenon billions of years ago just before the Big Bang (or whatever kind of Bang it was). I believe that this common ingredient list, if you will, connects all living things in existence, from people to plants to polar bears to protozoa. Knowing that I have this connection is what motivates my mission to work for basic human rights for all these that I’m connected to, whether they be death row inmates, prisoners of conscience or refugees from war.
I also believe in my obligation as a living, breathing entity to leave this world better than I found it. That’s only fair. This planet offers warmth, rain, natural resources, food, and so many other commodities that we daily take for granted. If I take more than my share or don’t work to make the world better, than those that share this world with me or those that come after will have to pay for my thoughtlessness. So like I said, it’s only fair to work to improve the world around us.
Lastly, working with the U of L chapter of Amnesty International has reminded me that when people work together they can affect positive change. I think of this as, what we call in my field, a positive feedback loop. It can be easy to become discouraged by the state of human rights in the world. The more you work to make a difference, the more you realize how much there is to accomplish. But working with people like Emily and Erika, two highly motivated and dedicated undergraduates, has helped me to lose some of my cynicism and reminded me that if we work together we can change the world. Not all at once but a little at a time. So even as I learn about new abuses of human rights, I am re-energized by the enthusiasm and dedication of the people I work with.
So my mission is motivated by my connection to all living things, an obligation to improve the world around me, and the belief that people working together are capable of great things.

John J. Johnson
Executive Director, Kentucky Commission on Human Rights

My Mission:
For almost fifty years, I have been blessed to have served in various capacities in the social justice and human rights movements in our nation. During the past twenty years I assisted in directing the work of the nation’s largest civil rights organization, the NAACP from its national headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to that time , I served more than 20 years as a volunteer in Kentucky including the state president of the NAACP, while at the same time an employee of the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights , the Associate Director of the Louisville/Jefferson County Human Relations Commission, and in a wide range of roles in the War on Poverty.
Now as the Executive Director of the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights it is my mission to administer the states only civil rights enforcement agency and to eradicate discrimination in the Commonwealth through the enforcement of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act.
Further at the commission it is our mission to serve as a protector of human rights, a voice for equality, and a catalyst for positive change.
My mission in life is not unlike thousands of other volunteers who spend many restless nights, long and dreary hours seeking to influence social change. We are frequently misunderstood and often ridiculed for addressing human rights issues in our society. We do this work because we believe it is what God would have us do -- to leave this world a little better than we found it.
Just as the Kerner Commission reported in 1968, today our society is still, in too many instances, divided among racial lines. Now, forty years later, America is not the bitter, separate dual society of black and white as it was in 1968, but it is not yet the promise land of racial understanding prayed for by Martin King and others. Therefore, my mission in life is to add my voice to others as we seek to speak truth to power-- to urge Kentucky and America to live up to the noble ideals of this nation; and to help challenge our state and nation to be more compassionate and caring for the less fortunate in society.
In that regard we seek to build a mechanism that serves as a voice and shield for people of color, the downtrodden, struggling and forgotten Kentuckians, the poor, dispossessed, disinherited, disenfranchised, victims of discrimination, the have-nots, left-outs and locked out men, women and children of the Commonwealth.
My mission is to serve as an advocate for affirmative action in the commonwealth and to provide hope for the hopeless in our state.
Entrusted in our care, in this state, are the dreams of our slave foreparents - of a life brimming with possibilities;
Entrusted in our care is the future of this generation that is often clouded with fear and in too many instances, mired in the quicksand of hopelessness;
And entrusted in our care – are the hopes and aspirations of generations yet unborn.
My mission is dedicated to creating a better life for our children and our children’s children—and for all those who come after us, whose names we will never know and whose faces we may never behold – for our time may have long passed.
But the mark we make today will stand the test of time and make all the difference in the lives of future generations.
So, finally, my mission is to keep my eyes on the prize of freedom and my hands on the plow of justice.

Joe Grant
JustFaith Ministries

My Mission:
“Where the Spirit of God is, there is freedom.” Paul’s Second Letter to the cosmopolitan Christian community at Corinth (3:17)
This nation prides itself on a tradition of spiritual liberty. In the U.S. people are free to practice their faith, and express their spirituality without fear of persecution or derision.
Yet many are unaware that it was not until the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978 that the Native people of these lands were granted Federal recognition of their own spiritual ways. Court deliberations continue to this day over access to sacred sites, the repatriation of the remains of Native people, and the public display of sacred artifacts.
“Mission” has been a vital concept in my life. At an early age I was formed as Roman Catholic Missionary and my theological studies focused on world mission. Yet, my first encounter with spiritual liberation occurred inside a prison, at a ceremony led by Native American inmates of the Sioux Falls State Penitentiary. The raw, primal experience of Spirit reality breaking through my well-crafted world of concepts and theories turned me inside out. I was overcome by the wisdom of a simple Lakota catch-all we used to end our prayer: “Mitakuye Oyasin!”— “All my relatives!”
Thus began a pursuit of spiritual deepening which led to a year in the Amazon rainforest and remote Kaiapó villages along the Xingu river. Here too, I encountered communities of free human beings whose expressions of life, culture and spirit are intimately woven into careful tending of the sacred biodiversity of the forest garden. As I was welcomed into the life of these communities, I discovered I was being gradually re-humanized. Surely there are many ways to be human! Gone were the notions of cultural or religious supremacy, the idea that one perspective or truth nullifies another. Gone was the nonsense that these people needed anything that my world could offer, especially a restrictive philosophical worldview. The Kaiapó of Aukré village taught me the rudiments of their ancient language and invited me into their timeless creation story, to reaffirm where we all come from. They respected my Christian identity assigning me the status of shaman. Yet, our practice of environmental desecration spoke more loudly to them of the soul-sickness of our globalized “free” society. So, after nine months in one village I was summoned to the men’s hut by my adoptive brother. There he informed me that it was time for me to go. They were done with me. They had restored me, made a true human being of me. Since I did not belong with them, they felt bad for me and I needed to return to my homeland. I was shell-shocked. “What should I do when I go back?” “Teach them (onía–kam…the far away ones) to be real human beings!”
The missionary had a new mission!
Culture, land, lifestyle, values, language, ritual, song, dance, art… these truly human qualities are expressions of a great diversity of spirit. If we pay any attention to our earth we will see that diversity is the norm and key to the abundance and tenacity of life. So too, with the expressions of our soul! Look around and look within. If we are the earth conscious of herself, embodiments of the creative heart of the universe, then we are made for this life-giving work of creative diversification. And there is so much that is under threat by a global tsunami of predatory and inhuman consumer culture.
Spiritual freedom means the right to relish, cherish and celebrate the many diverse paths to wisdom and fullness of life. But how do children of God express their deepest core: when holy land lies desecrated: when ancient truths and cultural values are trivialized or caricatured: when the dignity of human cultures and languages are deigned primitive vestiges or another age, and imperial religions call themselves higher? Each time a language dies, a human culture is subsumed or spirituality is suppressed, we lose a part of our humanity. For surely we are all spiritual beings trying to be human.
How do you express your religious freedom and reverence for other keepers of ancient spiritual pathways to wisdom?
My mission?... To live, encounter, celebrate and reverence the human expressions of spiritual diversity whenever and with whomever I can, and to delight in this, as a child of a greater mystery than any single tradition can ever hope to embrace alone.

Rachael Pass
Student, The Louisville Collegiate School

My Mission:
As a Reform Jewish teenage girl, I face the idea of acceptance every day. First, and foremost in my current mind, is acceptance to college. But more than that, I face acceptance in my social, academic and spiritual lives. At school, I find social acceptance through a closely knit group of friends who bond over guitars and upcoming ukulele musicians on YouTube. In my spiritual life, I see acceptance as a Reform Jew, welcoming in new ideas and philosophies on religion and beliefs. My Judaism is constantly changing (hence the word “Reform”), so I have learned to respect others’ beliefs, because I hope that they would respect mine. We hope the world tolerates different cultures, lifestyles and beliefs, but imagine what the world would be if we could begin to see past just tolerance and into acceptance and respect. Having found a place of general comfort in my own life, I find it necessary to help others find their place of comfort and acceptance in theirs.
In my social life, I help others feel accepted through my school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, a club my friend and I started this year. Our mission in founding the GSA was to provide a safe place for students, gay and straight, to talk about the issues that we all face throughout high school. All students are welcome to our club meetings, as long as they come in with an open mind. Our meetings provide a place of acceptance for all students at Collegiate, no matter who they are.
But the best way I have found to help others feel accepted is in my spiritual life, through my youth group, the North American Federation of Temple Youth, nicknamed NFTY. I fell in love with NFTY at my first Regional event; the strong Reform Jewish values mixed with the daylong Social Action projects and the powerful sense of community drew me in. Now, four years later, I am the NFTY Ohio Valley Regional President. My first job as President is, at every NFTY sponsored event (from soup kitchen afternoons in Columbus to weekend long conventions in Nashville) is to ensure that every single person at the event is involved, participating, and most importantly, making friends. NFTY, at its core, like nearly every other youth group for teens, is less about educating Reform Jewish high school students, and more about building a community for Reform Jewish teens to feel comfortable.
When it comes down to it, my mission is fostering acceptance. As humans we thrive on each other and the communities we form. The current state of the world is one where we promote tolerance for people and ideas different from our own; but consider a world where we don’t settle for mere tolerance, and instead strive towards acceptance, and respect. We underestimate our ability to change our world through acceptance. We must learn to respect one another, even if we disagree with each others’ ideas, because respect is the only way we can move forward. Human Rights, at its core, requires acceptance, for we cannot care for and protect people we do not respect. Tonight we celebrate sixty years of having officially documented Human Rights, but if we were to respect all people, maybe we wouldn’t need a document to tell us how to treat each other. It takes a lot of courage to respect ideas we disagree with, but if we could accept everyone’s differences, rather than merely tolerate them, we could move our world much further.

Timir Banerjee, MD
Founder, Society for the Prevention of Aggressiveness and Violence Among Adolescents

My Mission:
I believe that I have a responsibility to demonstrate to our children the value of loving and sharing this great land, we call America, with people of all nationalities. One of the ways that I try to show my love is by expressing gratitude everyday to all those who help me now and all those who have helped in the past. Children need to learn that from the time we get up in the morning to the time we go to bed we have used something that is made by someone else e.g. the toothpaste, the socks, the shoes, the milk bottle, the school bus and so many other things. I thank my teachers, professors, colleagues and nurses who have helped me to have become a doctor. I remember the first night I was on call in pediatrics. I was afraid and I felt inadequate. One of the nurses that night taught me how to start an IV on a child who had the croup. She built my confidence. I thank her every day. I believe in demonstrating respect and honor and that is what SPAVA teaches. I believe that I have a responsibility to demonstrate integrity even when it is unpopular. I believe that I have a responsibility to demonstrate charity and philanthropy whenever I can so the next generation can understand we are all products of someone else’s kindness and forgiveness and love. I came from a different land and I have made America my home and I have been given opportunities to excel in whatever I want to do. Life is not always smooth and God never gives us burden more than we can bear. The true American spirit is in loving and caring and this I believe is true.

Garrett Adams, MD
State Coordinator, Physicians for a National Health Program – Kentucky
“The Single Payer Vision for Health Care”

This is an essay fulfilling the request of Terry Taylor, Interfaith Paths to Peace, to describe, “My mission in life and what has led me to it.”

Half a million Kentuckians are uninsured, 85,000 in Jefferson County. These neighbors and friends forego doctor visits and necessary medicine; they postpone medical attention until illness is far advanced, more expensive and more difficult to treat. Twenty-two thousand Americans die every year because they cannot afford medical care.
The United States placed last in a Commonwealth Fund-supported study comparing preventable deaths among 19 industrialized countries. Every year America has more than 100,000 deaths from conditions considered amenable to health care, such as treatable cancers, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
We have the highest health costs in the world, more than twice that of other developed nations, all of which provide care to all of their citizens. We spend more, but we get less.
I visualize an America where financial barriers to health care are removed for everyone, a single payer vision. A vision where infant mortality rates fall, immunization rates and life expectancy rise, and the World Health Organization ranks the efficiency of American health care first, instead of 37th.
I visualize a reformed system where health care is disengaged from employment, freeing millions of health care hostages to pursue jobs they want, rather than jobs they take for “health benefits”, where self-employment and entrepreneurship become financially feasible. A sustainable system where American business and manufacturing again are competitive with countries that have national health plans; small businesses compete equally with large ones for employees and medical bankruptcies vanish.
I visualize a doctor-patient system where malpractice issues diminish; and where, because of vastly simplified billing to a single non-profit payer, doctors' overhead expense plummets; where primary care physicians are valued and reimbursed accordingly and more doctors choose primary care medical practice. A system where, with a one-risk pool insurance plan there are no more Medicaid crises, no unreimbursed care for doctors, hospitals or other providers, and no cost-shifting.
I visualize a new national system where health issues from natural disasters, such as hurricane Katrina, or pandemic influenza, are managed seamlessly throughout the country, and a national electronic medical record system detects medical errors quickly.
We can build this system and provide excellent health care for everyone. A bill in the U.S Congress, HR 676, describes the details of a single payer national plan. The majority of American citizens support a national health program, as well as the majority of physicians. We need to break through the disconnect between the people and Washington policy makers, and overcome the influence of lobbyists for the health care profiteers, especially the private insurance and pharmaceutical industries
My mission is to accomplish this vision.
How was I led to it? After a fulfilled career as an American physician, I have become dismayed at the downward spiral of our ability to serve in the way we were so carefully trained. Five years ago I discovered the Physicians for a National Health Program, a non-profit research and education organization of 15,000 physicians, medical students and health professionals who support single-payer national health insurance. The more I have understood the suffering Americans endure because of a health care financing system based on wealth rather than health, the more dedicated I have become to promoting public, non-profit health care reform.
Kentuckians for Single Payer Healthcare meets at 5:30 PM the first and third Thursdays in the Board Room of the Main Library on York Street in Louisville. Everyone is invited to attend. For more information see http://www.kyhealthcare.org/, 502-636-1551. See also http://www.pnhp.org/

Maria Hines
Kentucky Coordinator, Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation

My Mission:
In 1989 my brother, Jerry Hines, who was a Virginia state trooper, was shot and killed in the line of duty. He had stopped a car when he suspected a case of drunken driving and was killed by an occupant of the car. He was my baby brother and only sibling, born when I was eight years old, and I was devastated by his loss.
Shortly after Jerry's death, Dennis Eaton was apprehended and charged with his murder, as well as the murders of three other people whom he had killed in the same crime spree. For those three murders, he received three life sentences and waived his right to parole. For killing Jerry, he received the death penalty.
As a result of this death sentence, I began a great deal of soul-searching as regards what I believed about the death penalty. My search brought me only one answer, that killing another human being is wrong even when it is done in the name of justice - even when that human being was my brother's killer.
The next decision that I had to make was even more difficult, that of stating publicly my belief about the death penalty. I agonized over this for two years, mainly because I felt that other family members didn't hold the same belief, and I felt that Jerry's three children had suffered enough without my causing them further suffering. So I was immobilized in terms of coming to a decision. Then in 1996, I went to see the movie, "Dead Man Walking". When it came to the execution scene, I cried uncontrollably throughout the entire scene.
Afterwards I realized that I had to do something so I began attending the meetings of the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. I told myself that I would work behind the scenes in Kentucky and then, when it was time for the execution of Dennis Eaton, I would decide what to do. The only problem was that I didn't stay behind the scenes very long. I was asked to tell my story at a death penalty rally and, after that, continued to talk to various groups.
In November, 1997 while attending a death penalty conference I realized that, although I had forgiven Dennis Eaton in my heart, forgiveness is not in the abstract but rather, whenever possible, face to face. So I wrote to Dennis telling him of my forgiveness. I said, "It is also difficult to forgive one who has hurt you so deeply but I believe that, for me, forgiveness is the only way. I grew up as a Catholic and, from my earliest years learned the teachings of Jesus - the main one being that our lives must be governed by love and forgiveness. Hell has been defined as the absence of love and, likewise, with hatred instead of love in my heart, my life would be a living hell. So forgiving you is not only for you but also for me - and what it would do to my own soul if I refused to forgive."
He answered my letter and we continued to correspond for several months. Then I learned that the State of Virginia would execute Dennis Eaton on June 18, 1998. Dennis wrote and asked if I were coming to visit him, and whether I would be at his execution. I told him that I would do both.
Several weeks before the execution, I drove to Virginia for my visit. Over the two-day period, Dennis and I talked for six hours, and what I came to realize was that he was no longer the same person who had killed Jerry. He had experienced a religious conversion after going to prison and I saw that Dennis was a living example of what Christians refer to as redemption.
Several days before the scheduled execution, I returned to Virginia. Prior to this I had, through Dennis' attorney, requested of the Governor of Virginia clemency for him. The day before the execution, I again visited Dennis, this time for the last time. The following day, he called me at the motel where I was staying and, during the brief conversation, . said, "This started in tragedy and is ending in tragedy, but I'm glad I got to know you."
Several hours after this conversation, clemency was denied and, as immediate preparations were made for the execution, I took part in a prayer vigil held in a field outside the prison. We later learned that Dennis had died at 9:09 p.m.
The following night a memorial service was held. Several of us who had known Dennis gathered to remember him. It was a special time for me, made even more so by the fact that his 23-year-old nephew was present. This gave me the opportunity to express personally my sympathy to the Eaton family. In so doing, I felt that forgiveness and reconciliation had come full circle.

Tom Williams
Co-Chair, Louisville Peace Works of the Louisville Bar Association

My Mission:
My name is Tom Williams. I am immediate past president of the Louisville Bar Association and co-chair of Louisville Peace Works. Our mission is to show Louisville as a transformative space where peace and diplomacy can grow and flourish.
My mission is humble. It is to be wide awake, to get out of my car, in spite of the rain, and to help pull the tree to the side of the road.
I will say it again: my mission is to get out of my car, in spite of the rain, and to help pull the tree to the side of the road. Let me explain.
In May of 2007, I wrote a President’s Page in our Louisville Bar Association’s Bar Briefs—the monthly publication for Jefferson County attorneys. The title of the article was called, “Taking a Risk for Peace.” The article suggested that Louisville could become a city of peace and diplomacy…something like a Geneva of North America, but a Geneva with sweet tea and southern hospitability.
I threw out the article without any expectation that it would stick. I threw it out, without any plan, without any money, without any preparation, without knowing anyone in the peace community, without having taking a single step for community peace, without, in other words, any credibility.
After I wrote the article, several attorneys asked about it. They asked, do you have any plans? No. Where is it going? I responded, “I don’t know. Maybe nowhere.”
Then something magical happened. Someone responded. Just one person--but not just anyone. It was Judge Steve Mershon who was the Chief Circuit Court Judge at the time. He was the appointed member to the board of the Louisville Bar Association that I chaired.
Judge Mershon wanted to explore this idea and asked if I would I mind if we put a committee together to study it. Well, let me think about that, heck yea…I would like to explore it.
I will never forget what Judge Mershon said around the time of our first meeting. He said “Tom, remember, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” He asked then, what’s next?
Around this time what was next for me was a trip to San Francisco for the American Bar Association’s annual meeting. This was early August of 2007. One of the hallmarks of these trips is to take side trips. There, my wife, Sarah, and I visited Muir Woods. It was the first redwood forest I had ever seen: an amazing and beautiful place.
Deep within Muir Woods was a place called the Cathedral Grove. But it is not like the Cathedral we are in tonight. It is a place where the redwoods create a natural Cathedral that is simply awe inspiring. According to our tour guide, Franklin D. Roosevelt loved the place and thought that anyone who entered that space would be transformed by the space itself—that no one could be anything but peaceful while in this redwood Cathedral. In fact, to follow up on that vision, in May of 1945, delegates from all over the world (50 countries) met in San Francisco to sign the Charter of the United Nations. But Franklin Roosevelt tragically died on April 12, 1945 shortly before he was to have opened the United Nations Conference. So, on May 19, 1945, the UN delegates held a commemorative ceremony in tribute to his memory in Cathedral Grove—a dedication plaque was placed there.
When I went to visit Cathedral Grove, the spirit of Roosevelt and the United Nations was in the air. I had in mind our dream of making Louisville something of a Cathedral Grove—a place where anyone who entered would be transformed by the sprit of space and the beings that occupied it.
When my wife and I came upon the marker, however, the view was stark. A huge redwood tree had fallen directly behind the marker. When you read the marker and then looked up-- the view was this fallen tree. It seemed like some kind of exclamation point on the marker. As if nature herself cried out to say that we have failed in Roosevelt’s mission in the Cathedral Grove.
Later, I learned that this 800-year-old redwood tree toppled in Cathedral Grove as 50 awestruck visitors watched the 200 feet tall and 12 feet wide tree topple gracefully up-slope with a roar that could be heard all the way to the parking lot—almost a mile away. I learned that the tree fell on July 8, 1996—the 220 anniversary of the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence—the same date on which the liberty bell cracked.
As you can see, this view of the tree and the marker in Cathedral Grove stayed with me. The tree is still there I am told.
In any event, the next week we held our first meeting of Louisville Peace Works. It was exciting as we had several lawyers from the bar thinking about what we could become here in Louisville. What was fascinating happened next. That night when I drove home there was a big thunderstorm with a lot of rain. When I came upon my street just off of Bardstown Road, Trail Ridge Rd., the first part goes up a steep hill. Right in the middle of the hill that afternoon was a big tree that had fallen. Right behind the tree was a school bus blocked and about 3 or 4 other cars. No where to go…as other cars lined up.
Everyone just sat there as if waiting for the tree to move on its own. Then a mother and son got out of their minivan and started pulling on the tree. In this season of advent, we are thinking quite a bit in my house about what a mother and son can do. But there was no way they could move the tree. It was too big—too many branches. But they just kept tugging and pulling—going about their business without any cajoling of the rest of us in our cars.
Then, something came over me and I got out of my car in what was now a light rain with sporadic lighting. I stepped forward. Others also got out and together we moved the tree. Together we cleared the road. Then we returned to our vehicles.
I drove behind the school bus in my car and watched as worried parents looked relieved to see their children coming home. I had this tremendous feeling driving my car back home behind the bus—it was a rush of something like the Great Spirit telling me to pay attention to this—feel this—experience this—learn from it. I was, in that instant, in my mind back at Cathedral Grove gazing upon that fallen redwood.
Now with the passage of time and some reflection, I see how this incident symbolized and symbolizes my journey and my mission. My mission is to get out of my car, in spite of the rain, and to help pull the tree to the side of the road. That’s all—the rest has been or will be taken care of with the courage of others and the grace of God.
It’s not a big mission, it’s not hard, it’s not dangerous, but it requires me to get out, to walk up the road and to move a tree—not alone mind you, but with the help of others. Given my Catholic roots, how ironic it is to me that an unknown mother and her son would inspire me to my mission. How privileged I am to share it with you in this building where I was married to my wife and where two of my children where baptized. How privileged I am to share it with you at this time of the Merton/United Nations anniversary.
As you can tell, I don’t believe in accidents. I think Thomas Merton and the United Nations came together on this date because one day the spirit of Merton will dwell and will dance with the spirit of the United Nations.
Others like Thomas Merton and the United Nations built the road I see us on. Almost everyone here tonight got out first and started pulling the tree when it may have seemed futile—when no one else was getting out or even getting it. To all of you, I say, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
In my view, many have their eyes on the road; many are working to clear the trees; many are all preparing the way home. I want to help with this as I am able. So, I vow to see this through.

Ed Monahan
Public Advocate for the Commonwealth of Kentucky

My Mission: Advocate for access to legal services for the poor
The meaning of life is to see. Public defenders and their staff see the human dignity beyond the behavior, the person beyond the words, the client in need of help.
The falsely accused, overcharged, mentally retarded, mentally ill, those whose behavior is beyond all our comprehension are represented by defenders because defenders understand they are fellow human beings with whom we share much. We provide our clients with what is priceless especially in today’s world full of venomous invective – attention, care, respect for their dignity as human beings – we do it with our heart and soul because we value what is much more important than status, money or praise.
Many have an unappealing image of the legal profession. Some see lawyers as utilitarian, cynical, indifferent, people who believe that the end justifies the means. But the reality stands in stark contrast to that stereotype: public defenders help others in great need, selflessly.
The movement of this country has been towards unmitigated greed with shameless tax cuts for the rich and powerful, obscene profits for oil companies, and stark cuts in social programs that hurt common people. In contrast public defenders increasingly move towards helping others in need... against all odds, against the culture, despite the scorn. We do it with courage, heart and soul because we know what we are about---helping people in need.
These are dangerous times. In the name of liberty, our country’s leaders deny counsel to prisoners of war, wiretaps are conducted outside the law, and torture is used against our enemies. It is hard not to feel hopelessly adrift in these raging waters. But let us not underestimate our collective influence.
In the Day of Affirmation Address at the University of Capetown, Capetown, South Africa on June 6, 1966, Senator Robert F. Kennedy spoke about futility amidst our challenging history. “At the heart of that western freedom and democracy is the belief that the individual [person], the child of God, is the touchstone of value, and all society, all groups, and states, exist for that person's benefit. Therefore the enlargement of liberty for individual human beings must be the supreme goal and the abiding practice of any western society.…the road is strewn with many dangers. First is the danger of futility; the belief there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills -- against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and violence….It is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a [person] stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, [that person] sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
A song begins, I die a little every day. That’s not our song. We sing, I live more every day because we have the fortitude to face futility, to see that hope is realistic.

Sr. Mary Frances Schafer, OSB
Director, Community Coordination for the Coalition for the Homeless

My Mission:
Talking about my mission in life and what led me to it is a bit strange to me because I do not ever recall making a conscious choice about my overall mission. I think it is more of an attitude or realization that has led me to do what I do. My first recollection of making the choice to do something for someone else at the expense of my own fun or comfort was when I was about 10 years old. I remember it was Thanksgiving Day and my family was going to my Aunt’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. My grandmother had been placed in a nursing home close to our house sometime that year and this would be her first Thanksgiving there. I asked my mom if I could stay behind and be with my grandmother at the nursing home for the day. Now you have to understand that my grandmother was not the happy go lucky kind. She was not happy to be at the nursing home and she let everyone know it. I knew that it was not going to be a fun time staying with her. I only hoped to be a bit of a distraction so that she would not spend the whole day bemoaning the fact that she was in a nursing home on Thanksgiving Day. As it turned out – I provided a distraction to several residents when we got a card game going that afternoon. By the time my parents came back for me about 6 hours later, my grandmother was laughing and actually having a good time.
It wasn’t until I entered the Benedictine community in Ferdinand, IN some 10 years later that I remember meeting one of the sisters who worked in an agency in Rockport, IN. She would work with young women in poverty who needed someone “on their side” when navigating the welfare system, the legal system and the many other agencies most of us never have to encounter. She simply provided a caring presence, a listening ear, assistance interpreting information or much needed moral support. She taught these women how to cook, how to shop and how to give their children the love and support they needed. She taught me that it is the little things that make the biggest difference.
When it was time for me to enter into some kind of ministry as a young sister all I knew was that I wanted to do something that had a social service feel to it. At first I worked with the elderly in a rural county in Indiana. After 7 years I went to Washington University in St. Louis for my Masters in Social Work. I ended up in Louisville working with the homeless. I did this for over 12 years. I first worked in and then managed a transitional shelter for homeless single parent families. During this time I learned a lot about myself and my own prejudices. I learned that these are some of the strongest people I will ever know. I learned to stop and consider “the rest of the story,” a story of which I may have had no experience or understanding. I came to appreciate my own circumstances and story.
My years of working directly with the people taught me so much but it also confirmed that my real gift is not working directly with the people. My real gift and interest is to work at the policy level. So two years ago I began working for the Coalition for the Homeless. In that position I coordinate the efforts of the Louisville homeless shelter and service providers. I find this work to be very fulfilling. I know after working directly with homeless families some of the struggles and challenges the homeless face. I also know the struggles and challenges faced by those who try to minister to them. It is important to me to provide an atmosphere where people can express their frustrations and then try to find ways to work through or around them. Many times the frustrations and challenges of those who serve the homeless mirror the frustrations and challenges of the homeless themselves. With this position I feel I have a wider effect on the people who are experiencing homelessness although it is more removed from the daily struggles of the homeless themselves.
In 2007 the homeless service provider system in Louisville served over 11,000 different people who met the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of homeless. This is the population of Bardstown, KY. The definition used by HUD does not include those who are doubled up or going from couch to couch because they have no place of their own. The Department of Education uses a slightly more inclusive definition and Jefferson County Public Schools report that there are over 7,000 homeless children attending our public schools right here in Louisville. In a study conducted by the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville, it was shown that for the over 7,000 people included in the study, it cost our community over $88 million dollars over the span of two years. First, it is simply unacceptable that 11,000 of our fellow citizens are without a place to call home right here in Louisville. It also does not make good economic sense to ignore this disgrace. I believe we can do better both humanly and economically – but we must first stop long enough to listen to each other.
El Habib al Mahboub, Darfurian Refugee and Human Rights Worker
Advocate for the right of refugees and immigrants to be full-participants in our society.

NOTE: A written version of this presentation was not provided. Please watch for further posts that will include video of this presentation.

Three Small Epiphanies, a Disaster and a Miracle

2008-12-31T09:15:00.001-05:00

By Terence Cozad Taylor
Executive Director, Interfaith Paths to Peace

One night almost exactly six months ago I stood at a spot in the Middle East that is associated with one of the most famous epiphanies in the history of spirituality. I was part of a small interfaith delegation visiting Egypt and Syria , and that evening we were attending a dinner party in southern Syria near the Golan Heights . We were told that we were just half a kilometer or so from the exact spot where Saul of Tarsus was knocked off his high horse by a blinding light and the words of Jesus.
Epiphanies often knock us off our high horses, shake up our way of believing, change the way we see things.
Well, I haven’t had one single overpowering epiphany, I’ve had a series of three lesser ones, epiphanies that in sequence led me to a deeper appreciation for the worthiness of all people, to a clearer understanding of just who God is in my own life, and finally to the knowledge of how God links all of creation in one grand loving relationship. But as I share those brief stories with you, I also need to throw in the tale of a disaster and a miracle, but we’ll get to those two events a little later.
The first of my epiphanies happened on a wintry December morning in 1958 when I was seven years old. What happened that day didn’t knock me off my high horse. Instead, it knocked me off my low horse. Let me explain.
In the summer of 1958 my mother and I suffered the humiliation of being evicted from our apartment in a housing project and we had our possessions literally dumped on the curb by the Sheriff. In desperation my mother begged her sister Helen to take us in. With great reluctance Helen let us move ourselves and our paltry possessions into the basement of her house in a suburb of Chicago .
I slept in the unfinished, unheated basement of Aunt Helen’s house each night. When the lights were turned out at bedtime I was locked in. As winter came on, the dark, unheated basement grew painfully cold. I shivered at night, unable to escape this virtual dungeon. I didn’t feel like a part of Helen’s family or any family. I felt as bare and glum and unlovable as the cellar itself.
But on the morning in question, I was walking through the kitchen of my Aunt Helen’s house when my ears captured the words of a Christmas song playing on the radio. It was “The Little Drummer Boy.” As I listened, I had what were memorably my first spiritual thoughts. The song of course tells the story of a poor boy who visits the infant Jesus. The boy is so poor that he has no gift to give the newborn King. No gift to give except the music he can make with his little toy drum. When he plays for Jesus, the Virgin Mary smiles at him, affirming that his gift and he himself are acceptable…lovable.
Even though I was only eight years old, I instantly recognized that in some sense I was that little drummer. That even though I was desperately poor, homeless, and a prisoner in a place I didn’t want to be, I still had value…to the world, to myself, and finally, to God. I also felt a sudden connection to everyone in the world who was like me. I felt the love of God for me, for us.
In the months and years that followed that revelation empowered me to take responsibility for myself. It gave me the strength to earn a scholarship to college and pull myself out of poverty. But most importantly, that epiphany made me feel an instant and long enduring solidarity with people, especially children, who are impoverished, abandoned, abused. As I grew into adulthood it also prevented me from having any tolerance for injustice and war. As a child and later as an adolescent I lent my meager voice to African Americans clamoring for their civil rights, to people opposing the War that ravaged the people of Viet Nam , to folks who call for an end to nuclear weapons that threatened our very existence as a race.
More than 40 years later I had another encounter that changed the way I looked at things. It occurred on a cool, clear night in mid-November of 2001. That night I was in the midst of handling the logistical details for a retreat that brought together the members of the board of the organization I worked for. We were gathered in the family guest house that served the relatives of the monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani near here.

I finally finished my work about 10 p.m. I was feeling tired and discouraged and decided to walk down the long paved driveway, across the highway, and up a small knob to a statue of St. Joseph , where I could sit for a few minutes of solitude. I didn’t take a flashlight with me so I felt my way along the driveway in the darkness.
Then suddenly and for no explainable reason I had my first and so far only mystical encounter with God. My heart was suddenly filled with the vision of God as a being---feminine to my senses---that in some way had pre-existed the world and in that primordial nothingness felt a crushing loneliness. Because of her loneliness, she decided to create the physical universe and its living creatures, but she made that decision with the understanding that existence implies suffering. She knew that once she created the universe she wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop the suffering, but she realized that she could and would suffer along with us.
I remember being drawn at that moment to the words of one of my favorite poems, “Preludes” by T.S. Elliot. In it Elliot speaks of
“The notion of some infinitely gentle Infinitely suffering thing.”
Through this second epiphany, I found enough understanding of God to last me for a lifetime. I understood the word compassion in its literal meaning: to suffer with. I learned that even if I couldn’t do anything to ease the suffering of those around me, I could, through prayer, share in that suffering.
My third epiphany visited me at a talk by Rabbi Arthur Waskow that I attended here in Louisville a couple of years ago. Arthur is one of the great lights of the Jewish Renewal movement. On the day in question he was lecturing about a topic related to peace and justice (his two passions), but diverted into an explanation of his concept of God. He told us how when his grandmother read the Bible to him when he was a child, she would gloss over the name of God whenever she came to it in scripture. By my understanding, Jews are not supposed to write or intone God’s actual name. When she came to the letters YHWH, she would read them as the word Adonai or “Lord”. Arthur told us that when she did this he would challenge her, and point out that whatever she was saying, the book itself said, YHWH.
Arthur added that at some point later in his life he had his own epiphany about this problem. He came to realize that those four vowel-less consonants actually did represent the name of God and that the name could be spoken, not by inserting vowels (as some Christians do, turning the letters into the word “Yahweh”), but simply by making the sound of the consonants themselves. That sound, Arthur pointed out, communicated the real meaning of the Holy One’s name.
As Rabbi Arthur prepared to invite people to join him in making the sound, I suddenly had an intuition of where he was going with all of this: the name of God was the sound of a breath being taken by a living being. I’d like to invite you to join me in intoning that sound right now. SAY IT. As everyone gathered that day began making the breathing sounds that result from saying YHWH, Rabbi Arthur pointed out that breathing is one thing that all living things have in common. I instantly saw the connection to the often recurring imagery in the Bible of the breath of God, the spirit of God. I for the first time understood how that spirit, that breath reminds us that we aren’t stewards of our environment. Instead, we are part of it. All plants and animals are our relatives, our brothers and sisters. We must treat those relatives and the rocks and soil and air and water as members of our immediate family who deserve to be treated with love and care.
Well, those are my three epiphanies. But, as I conclude my remarks, I hope you will afford me just a few moments to share with you the story of a disaster and a related miracle that sum up the meaning of epiphany in my life.
In July of 2007 I was leading a week-long retreat in northern New Mexico at the Presbyterian conference center called Ghost Ranch. Mid-way through the week I suffered a horrible fall that resulted in my having to have shoulder replacement surgery and pins placed in my left wrist. I was shattered both physically and emotionally. In the months that followed, my shoulder healed nicely as did my wrist, but I developed a complication that left my left hand hugely swollen, stiff, painful and basically useless. The prognosis for this complication was grim. It looked like I might spend the rest of my life with my left hand unusable and painful. I felt desperate.
I sought the assistance of a specialist who got me into therapy for my hand. When I asked this doctor if my hand would return to normal, he only said, “Well, it may get a little better” But over the next six months, through hard work and the assistance of an outstanding therapist I went through a recovery that I can only describe as miraculous. Today, unless you looked closely you probably wouldn’t be able to tell that I had gone through terrible trauma on the left side of my body. I can now do just about anything I need to do with my left hand.
I experienced a disaster followed by a miracle. There is a phrase that I have come to use as my motto. It comprises the words that I want on my tombstone:

The very time I thought I was lost, the dungeon shook and my chains fell off.

Much of life is like that. We go through disasters, feel sorry for ourselves, feel lost. But more often than not, there is hope in the midst of disaster. Hope for us as individuals, hope for us as a species, hope for our planet that in so many ways seems imperiled.
The three epiphanies that I have had all confirm that. On three separate occasions (and more) God reached into my life to help me gain an understanding of who I am, who God is, and finally the reality that God is not separate from us…but is the ineffable something that connects us with all of creation. I feel blessed. Truly.
But I have one last tiny epiphany to share. As you know I am the head of a peacemaking organization. And I have told you that I have regained almost full use of my hand. But there is still one thing I can’t do with it. It’s a strange bit of irony: No matter how hard I try, I just can’t seem to make a fist. What a gift. What a miracle. What an epiphany. Thank you.
NOW I AM REAL, I AM NOT JUST A NAME. I HAVE A HEART, A VOICE, AND A LIFE STORY.

Chanting and Spirituality Workshop, Sunday 10/26/08 at St. William Church

2008-10-14T14:36:00.001-04:00

A Workshop on Chanting and Spirituality
From the Jewish Renewal Movement
(and also for Christians, Muslims, and persons of any faith or exploration!)

Featuring Rabbi Phyllis Berman of the Tent of Abraham, Hagar, and Sarah

12:30 p.m.-2 p.m.Sunday, October 26, 2008
St. William Catholic Church
West Oak Street, Louisville

Cost $15/person before Oct. 26; $20 at the door
(Make checks payable to Interfaith Paths to Peace)

Mail to

Interfaith Paths to Peace

425 South Second St.

Louisville, KY 4020

Phyllis Berman was for many years the summer director of Elat Chayyim, a Jewish retreat center for healing and renewal, sometimes called a spiritual summer camp for adults. She is the co-author ofA Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven: The Jewish Life-Spiral as a Spiritual Path (Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2002) and Tales of Tikkun: New Jewish Stories to Heal the Wounded World (Jason Aronson, 1996) with her husband Rabbi Arthur Waskow.

Berman has written on new liturgy (especially for or about women) and the relationship of liturgy to personal growth and transformation for the journals Good Housekeeping, Moment, and New Menorah, and for the volume Worlds of Jewish Prayer (Jason Aronson, 1993).

In 1979, Berman founded and continues to direct the Riverside Language Program, a renowned intensive English-language school for adult immigrants and refugees from all around the world. It is housed in Riverside Church in New York City. Out of that work she co-authored a book of stories about the lives of immigrants, Getting into It.

She chaired the board of P'nai Or Religious Fellowship for many years, and then served as secretary of the board of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. In 1991, Berman was ordained an Eshet Hazon (Woman of Vision) by the Jewish-renewal women's community, and in 2004 was ordained a rabbi by ALEPH.

Jewish renewal groups use creative ritual, meditation, and music (including chanting), along with Torah study to create services that illuminate Judaism's mystical and prophetic teachings. Among the best-known Renewal teachers are Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Rabbi Marcia Prager, and Rabbi Shefa Gold. The Jewish Renewal message has been spread through Elat Chayyim which draws Jewish scholars, artists, and rabbis to lead sessions in all aspects of Jewish spirituality, including meditation, drumming, Torah study, chant, dance, and "Jewish" yoga.

The Jewish Renewal movement has roots in the social activism of the 1960s, when political awareness, feminism, and the civil rights movement shook up some basic societal foundations. With the questioning of gender roles in all aspects of life, for example, came Jewish women's demands for a more inclusive place in Jewish life. Combining these social issues with the spiritual searching of the 1970s, which brought new interest in Eastern spiritual practices like meditation and yoga, has led many young American Jews to seek out a religious/cultural experience very different from that of their parents and grandparents. Their interest was less in maintaining a synagogue building, and more in creating intentional communities of like-minded people seeking a Judaism that spoke both to their desire for tikkun olam (healing the world) and tikkun halev (healing the heart).

Visiting Tibetan Monks to Create Sand Mandala in Louisville, Oct. 14-19, 2008

2008-10-14T11:31:00.001-04:00

Visting Tibetan Buddhist Monks from the

Drepung Gomang Monastery in South India will create a

Sacred Sand Mandala

for Compassion and World Peace

at Christ Church Cathedral, Bishop's Hall, 425 S. Second St.

14 - 19 October 2008

The Drepung Gomang Institute, the Monastery's sister organization in Louisville,

welcomes this group with the co-sponsorship of Interfaith Paths to Peace, Christ Church Cathedral, the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky, St. William Catholic Church,

and the Thomas Merton Center of Bellarmine University.

Opening Ceremony Noon, Tuesday, 14 October

The sand mandala design is created through a prayer-filled process, by painstakingly adding small amounts of sand over many days. At the end, recognizing the impermanence of all things, the design is ceremonially swept up and the prayers are released for the benefit of all. You are invited to be part of the prayer every day, from 10 am to 5pm.

Closing Dissolution Ceremony Noon, Sunday, 19 October (tentative)

Beautiful Tibetan monastery crafts, jewelry, clothes and religious items for sale.

Workshop on Eckhart Tolle, Saturday, 10/18/08

2008-10-14T11:25:00.002-04:00

Please join us for this powerful event!

Joan P. Kincade, M.A. jpkincade@insightbb.com

120 Meridian Avenue - Suite 4 (502) 895-1809

Louisville, Kentucky 40207

(502) 426- 1641

Awakening: An Eckhart Tolle Workshop

St. Matthews Episcopal Church

Oct. 18^th10am-4pm

330 North Hubbards Lane

St. Matthews Episcopal Church and Interfaith Paths to Peace are co-sponsoring Awakening; A New Consciousness Workshop based on Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth. The workshop will be on October 18^th, 10am-4pm, at St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 330 North Hubbards Lane.

Come join us if you are hungry for inner peace where one can nest in the gale that is swirling around and threatening our institutions - everything from our government to our finances to wind, rain and water storms. Instead of panic become a cooler head that responds rather than reacts. Come join us in looking inside rather than outside for security and fulfillment. Come join us if you want to be part of a new way of being and seeing.

Joan P. Kincade, M.A. a therapist and spiritual counselor, will be facilitating the workshop which focuses on the practices of living in the present moment, and learning deep meditation, surrender and detachment. Participants need not have read A New Earth before the workshop, but if you have you will go deeper as this work is enhanced by repetition so that you make it your own.

To register, please call Joan at 895-1809 or you can e-mail her at jpkincade@insightbb.com. Then, please bring a check for $25 (or cash) to the workshop. Also, bring a bag lunch. Tea and coffee will be available.

Join us. Come and find out why over 2 million people from 139 countries participated in a web-based seminar with Eckhart Tolle and Oprah in May. Come find out how you can find what you hunger for.

Interfaith Dinner Dialogue, Oct. 23, 2008

2008-09-16T13:33:00.002-04:00

Highlands Community Ministries Is Sponsoring an Interfaith Dinner Dialogue

Thursday, October 23, 2008
6:00 - 8:45 p.m.
ST. Michael Antiochian Orthodox Church
3026 Hikes Lane

DIALOG TOPIC:
The Role of Commandments within our Faith Traditions

6:00–6:30 P.M. Vespers
6:30 P.M. Dinner and Presentations

Presenters
Hinduism: Johnny Alse, Hindu Temple of Kentucky
Buddhism: Gene Kang, SGI Buddhist Center
Judaism: Rabbi Joel Wasser, Keneseth Israel
Christianity: Father Alexander Atty, St. Michael Antiochian Orthodox Church
Islam: Dr. G.A. Shareef, Education Committee Chairperson Louisville Islamic Center
Baha’i: Rita Butler, Baha’i Center

The dinner is $6.00. Please send the names of the persons attending and payment for the meal by October 6, to Highlands Community Ministries, 1140 Cherokee Road, Louisville, KY 40204, at 451-3695.

Jewish/Iranian Dialogue and Dinner, Oct. 12, 2008 at Bellarmine

2008-09-16T13:30:00.001-04:00

World Affairs Council of Kentucky/Southern Indianain Partnership with:
The Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Louisville
and Iranians for Peace Presents

The International Forum on Iran
Authentic Persian Cuisine, Q&A Session, and Lively Debate
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Dinner and Program 5:30 - 8:00 p.m.Bellarmine University, Frazier Hall2001 Newburg Rd., Louisville, Kentucky

Tickets are $35 per person and include the Persian Buffet
Buy Tickets Now
or
Contact Mary Jean at 451-8840 or Maryj@jcfl.com

Tickets Must Be Purchased by October 9 at 5:00 p.m.

World-Renowned Panelists for this event:
Dr. Trita Parsi
Acclaimed Author of: Treacherous Alliance - Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the U.S.
President of the National Iranian-American Council
Professor David Menashri
Director of the Center of Iranian Studies and Dean of Special Programs at Tel Aviv University
Author of many acclaimed texts on Iranian history, politics & culture.
Forum Moderator:
Jim Wehrle
Mediated Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in New York, Tel Aviv & Ramallah
Bi-Lateral training of Middle East diplomats in conflict resolution skills
US Secretary of State Commendation for contributions to Middle East Peace.Ticket Information: To purchase your tickets by phone using your credit card, call the World Affairs Council at (502) 561-5422. Tickets are $35/person and include the Persian Buffet. Tickets may be also be purchased online at www.worldkentucky.org with your Visa, Discover, American Express or MasterCard . Tickets must be purchased by 5:00 p.m. on October 9, 2008.
NOT A MEMBER?
JOIN NOW!
Membership in the World Affairs Council of Kentucky/Southern Indiana is easy, inexpensive, and truly rewarding. We have membership levels available forevery purpose and interest, begining with individual membership at $35 for an entire year! And don't forget, in addition to discounts on Council events, you will also receive travel opportunities, publications discounts, and much, much more. JOIN TODAY!
JOIN ONLINE AT WORLDKENTUCKY.ORG OR CALL (502) 561-5422. ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED

"This I Believe" Book Event, Sept. 30, 2008

2008-09-16T13:27:00.000-04:00

Venue: Main Library, 301 York Street
Date: Tuesday, September 30
Time: 7:00 PM
Tickets: Free, available at http://mobile.lfpl.org/tickets/author-tickets.asp

This I Believe executive producer Dan Gediman returns to the Main Library with the second compilation of essays from his popular National Public Radio series. Join us for an evening of selected readings and discussion about the book This I Believe II: More Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, which includes essays by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel, writer Robert Fulghum, and activist Sister Helen Prejean, as well as ordinary citizens, including a diner waitress, a middle school student, an Iraq War veteran, and many others.

Workshop on Revered Islamic Poet and Sufi Spirituality, Sept. 27, 2008

2008-09-10T15:15:00.001-04:00

Interfaith Paths to Peace and The Temple (Congregation Adath Israel Brith Sholom,) will present an interfaith workshop on Sufism (the mystical expression of Islam) and the poetry of the great Persian poet Rumi.

Saturday, September 27 at 7 p.m.
at The Temple, 5101 US Highway 42 (The Corner of Brownsboro Road and Lime Kiln)

The workshop, entitled "The relevance of Sufism, and Rumi's Poetry to our Contemporary Lives" is free and open to the public.

According to Terry Taylor, Executive Director of Interfaith Paths to Peace, “This is a wonderful occasion when we see people of different religions coming together to explore common elements of their spirituality.”

The workshop will begin with a presentation of the basic principles of Islamic mystical philosophy known as Sufism. It will also include a discussion of Rumi's life and work and will conclude with information about the relevance of his work to our life today." There will be plenty of time for questions and answers. Also, if possible, I would like to show some images which I will bring on flash drive. It would be great to have a total of one and a half to two hours for this.

About Fatemah Keshavarz
Fatemeh Keshavarz is an Iranian academic, writer and literary figure. She is a professor of Persian Language and Comparative Literature and chair of the department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures at Washington University in St. Louis.
Fatemeh Keshavarz holds a B.A. (1976) in Persian Language and Literature from Shiraz University, and an M.A. (1981) and a PhD (1985) in Near Eastern Studies from School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Professor Keshavarz has taught at Washington University since 1990. She has served as Director of the Graduate Program in Jewish, Islamic, and Near Eastern Studies, Director of the Center for the Study of Islamic Societies and Civilizations, and President of the Association of Women Faculty. She currently chairs the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures.
Among Keshavarz's works is her book Jasmine and Stars: Reading more than Lolita in Tehran. The book offers ideas in contrast to Azar Nafisi's Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books (Random House, 2003) that explores the relationship between literature and society in the post-revolutionary Iran. Keshavarz believes that Nafisi's book presents "many damaging misrepresentations" of Iran and its people, relying more on stereotypes and easy comparisons than on an accurate portrayal of the country and its people.
On April 2, 2008, the radio program Speaking of Faith: The Ecstatic Faith of Rumi, on which Fatemeh Keshavarz was a featured guest in 2007 for American Public Media, was granted a Peabody Award. Peabody Award is considered electronic media's most coveted trophy in the USA.

Thomas Merton Center – 2008 Fall Lecture Series:

2008-09-07T18:37:00.000-04:00

The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University has an exciting series of lectures planned for the fall. In this election year they will be focusing on Merton’s thinking on truth, society and politics. The following quotations from Thomas Merton’s Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander illustrate briefly Merton’s thinking on this area of our public life:

“Love, love only . . . can open the door to truth.”
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, 57.

“The basic falsehood is the lie . . . that we have the monopoly of all truth, just as our adversary of the moment has the monopoly of all error.”
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, 56.

The details are as follows, and please feel free to circulate this information:

Tuesday 16th September, 2008
Jim Douglass
"Merton, JFK and the Unspeakable"

Jim Douglass was a theological advisor on conscientious objection and nuclear war at the Second Vatican Council, and met Merton while a professor at Bellarmine College. He is the author of Resistance and Contemplation: The Way of Liberation, The Nonviolent Coming of God and, just published, JFK and the Unspeakable.

Wednesday 8th October, 2008
Morris Berman
"Destiny"

Morris Berman is the author of Wandering God, The Twilight of American Culture, and most recently Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire. From 2003 - 2006 he was visiting professor in sociology at Catholic University in Washington, and is currently visiting professor at the Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico City.

Thursday 6th November, 2008
Joyce Hollyday
"Truth and Reconciliation:
The Witness of Thomas Merton"

Joyce Hollyday is a United Church of Christ minister in Asheville, NC and a former associate editor of Sojourners magazine, and author of several books including Then Shall Your Light Rise: Spiritual Formation and Social Witness.

The lectures are all to take place in the Cralle Theater at Bellarmine at 7 pm and are free and open to the public.

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Dr Paul M Pearson.Director and Archivist,Thomas Merton Center,Bellarmine University,2001 Newburg Road,Louisville, KY. 40205.
Tel: 502 452 8177.Cell: 502 693 1937.Fax: 502 452 8452.
www.merton.org

Join us for "Awakening: A New Consciousness" Workshop, Oct. 18, 2008

2008-09-03T10:03:00.000-04:00

St. Matthews Episcopal Church and Interfaith Paths to Peace are co-sponsoring Awakening; A New Consciousness Workshop based on Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth. The workshop will be on October 18th, 10am-4pm, at St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 330 North Hubbards Lane .

Joan P. Kincade, M.A. a therapist and spiritual counselor, will be facilitating the workshop which focuses on the practices of living in the present moment, and learning deep meditation, surrender and detachment. Participants need not have read A New Earth before the workshop.

To register, please call St. Matthews Church at 895-3485 or Joan at 895-1809 or you can e-mail her at jpkincade@insightbb.com. Then, please bring a check for $25 (or cash) to the workshop. Also, bring a bag lunch. Tea and coffee will be available.

Join us. Come and find out why over 2 million people from 139 countries participated in a web-based seminar with Eckhart Tolle and Oprah in May.
Terry

Pilgrimage 2008: Crossing Barriers--IPP Pilgrimage for Peace & Justice, Oct. 2-5

2008-08-27T09:41:00.003-04:00

This year's pilgrimage will follow the path of the Underground Railroad from Louisville to Southern Indiana.

Honoring the Memory of Civil Rights Activists Anne Braden and Rosa Parks and 19th Century freed-slave and entrepreneur Washington Spradling, Sr. and inspired by the Life and Witness of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Thomas Merton.

Presented in Partnership with the Peace & Justice Division of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky.

Thursday, October 2 thru Sunday, October 5, 2008

SIGN UP TODAY!
We encourage folks to walk with us and bring a sleeping bag.
Please mark your calendar for the important dates and times below.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Focus on the history of the Underground Railroad in Louisville and Southern Indiana (major stations of the Underground Railroad which took slaves from bondage to freedom).

Additional focus on issues that prevent today's citizens from being full participants in society (e.g. war, poverty, homelessness, racism, violence, lack of affordable healthcare, etc.).

Sunday, Sept. 21: Mandatory for pilgrimage participants (not open to the public)-Orientation and introduction to the Underground Railroad in Southern Indiana 1-4 p.m. at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, New Albany.

Thursday, Oct. 2: (Gandhi's Birthday and International Non-Violence Day) Evening program at the Hindu Temple of Kentucky with ceremony marking the end of the Muslim fast of Ramadan.

Friday, Oct. 3: Presentation at the Quaker Meeting House (a site once associated with slave labor) on the role of Quakers in ending slavery in England and in aiding slaves traveling on the Underground Railroad.

Friday, Oct. 3: Tour of sites in Louisville 's downtown, West End and Portland neighborhoods associated with slavery, the Underground Railroad and the Civil Rights Movement.

Saturday, Oct. 4: (Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi ) Candlelight march for peace and justice from Thomas Merton Square to Clarksville across the Second Street Bridge .

Sunday, Oct. 5: Concluding potluck and dedication to service at Second Baptist Church in New Albany (a church which offered sanctuary to freed slaves who crossed the Ohio River ).

TO REGISTER
Complete form and mail to Interfaith Paths To Peace
425 S. 2nd Street , Louisville , KY 40202
or email Director@InterfaithPathsToPeace.org or call 502.214.7322

YES, I want to be part of Crossing Barriers: The 2008 Pilgrimage for Peace and Justice

Enclosed is my contribution of $________ to help defer expenses for this powerful four-day event

NAME (please print):_______________________________________________

EMAIL:_______________________________________________________

T-Shirt Size (circle): S M L XL XXL

ADDRESS:____________________________________________________

CITY:_______________________________ STATE:_____ ZIP:_________

Film and Potluck at 5:30 Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008, featuring "The Real Dirt on Farmer John"

2008-08-27T09:38:00.001-04:00

Please note that instead of "One: The Movie" and "Paradigm Lost" we will be screening the film "The Real Dirt on Farmer John" on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 5:30 p.m. at St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 330 N. Hubbards Lane. This Film and Potluck event is co-sponsored by St. Matthews Episcopal and Interfaith Paths to Peace.

We have rescheduled the screening of "One: The Movie" and "Paradigm Lost" for Saturday, November 29. Watch for more details about this event in future emails.

Here is an overview on Saturday's new film:

"The Real Dirt on Farmer John" will turn every idea you ever had about what it means to be an American farmer, or an American dreamer, on its head. Meet Farmer John, the incredible human being whose inspirational story of revolutionizing his family farm and redeeming his own life has won accolades and awards at film festivals around the world. Director Taggart Siegel of Collective Eye made the film in a most unusual way - shooting farmer John Peterson over 25-years of their evolving friendship, and using multiple media, from 8 mm home movies to modern video -- allowing him to capture his alternately humorous, heartbreaking and spirited life with raw drama and intimacy. With the death of his father during the late 60s, a teenaged John takes over the traditional family farm, slowly turning it into an experiment of art and agriculture, making it a haven for hippies, radicals and artists. The Real Dirt on Farmer John charts the end of this idealistic era as the farm debt crisis of the 80's brings about the tragic collapse of the farm. As the intricate weave of rural America unravels, vicious local rumors turn John into a scapegoat, condemning him as a Satan-worshipping drug-dealer. Threatened with murder, his home burned to the ground, John forsakes his farm and wanders through Mexico, where he is transformed by the soulfulness and pageantry of this ancient land. Mysteriously, his quest leads him back to his hostile homeland. Defying all odds, he gradually transforms his land into a revolutionary farming community, a cultural mecca, where people work and flourish providing fresh vegetables and herbs to thousands of people every week. The Peterson family farm has become Angelic Organics, one of the largest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in the United States, a beacon of today's booming organic farming movement.

3rd Annual Pilgrimage for Peace and Justice Scheduled for Oct. 2-5, 2008

2008-08-14T21:31:00.001-04:00

Please mark your calendar to hold the dates Oct 2-5 of 2008 for IPP's third annual pilgrimage for peace and justice.

This year we will plan to follow the path of and visit key sites related to
The Underground Railroad.

Our focus will be identifying and overcoming the obstacles that prevent people from being full participants in our society.

Details will follow soon.

U.S.Dept. of Peace Campaign to Host Global Potluck, Sept. 7, 2008

2008-08-14T21:26:00.001-04:00

IPP is pleased to be a co-sponsor of this event! Please join us.

A Global Potluck:
hosted by the U.S. Department of Peace Campaign of Kentucky in partnership with The Center For Interfaith Relations, Interfaith Paths To Peace, Cultivating Connections, Waldorf School of Louisville, Ramsi's Cafe On The World, and Doug VanHouten Design

To Honor our Global Community
Sunday, September 7, 2008, 3 - 5 pm

Join us for the International Walk For Peace after the Potluck 5:15 - 5:45 pm

Undercroft of the Cathedral of the Assumption
433 S. 5th Street - Louisville, Kentucky

Please bring a dish of food to share (Preferably from your country or town of origin)

Beverages provided.

Visit with old friends and make new ones!

Tell us where you are from and how long you've been in Kentucky.

Artistic guests will inspire us to continue this path of Peace!

Event is free and campaign donations are appreciated.

Call Kim Summers-Bates if you have any questions or thoughts to share (502) 472-1772

Go to www.KyDoPeace.org to see pictures from our last "Global Potluck" Click on "State News"

Richard Sisto to Lead Men's Meditation Retreat, Sept. 5-7, 2008

2008-08-14T21:23:00.001-04:00

Richard Sisto (who leads IPP's monthly noontime meditations) will lead a men's meditation retreat at the Thomas Merton Institute of Contemplative Living located on the beautiful grounds of Bethany Springs Retreat Center near the Abbey of Gethsemani.

The retreat will run from late Friday afternoon on Sept. 5 through Sunday morning, Sept. 7, ending with lunch.

The focus will be learning the art of meditating through the practice of Eastern and Western Spiritual Disciplines including, Prayer of the Heart, Zen Meditation, Hatha Yoga, Pranayama, Mantra, Japa and Kinhin or walking meditation. Time will be allowed for "in lectio" spiritual reading as well as group discussion during the nutritious meals.

Information is available at the Merton Institute by calling 899-1991 and asking for Vanessa.
The website is www.mertoninstitute.org

KIC and Dare to Care Present The Hunger Walk, Oct. 19, 2008

2008-08-14T21:15:00.000-04:00

Kentuckiana Interfaith Community and Dare to Care Food Bank request your presence at:

THE HUNGER WALK PRESENTED BY KINDRED HEALTHCARE
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2008 AT WATERFRONT PARK

The Final Faith Community Rally for The Hunger Walk is September 25, 6:00 pm, at the Jewish Community Center at 3600 Dutchmans Lane.

We need you there! Requests for emergency food assistance are up 30% this year. This is the year for our community to recharge around the commitment that none of our neighbors will be without access to food.

RSVP by replying to this email or by calling Lauren Hensley at 502-966-3821.

Learn more about this great event at www.thehungerwalk.org.

Sat., Aug. 9--Three events commemorating 63rd anniversary of atomic bombings

2008-08-08T20:45:00.001-04:00

Friends,

Please plan to join us for these three meaningful events on Saturday, August 9 (the 63rd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki).

Here are a couple of reminders:
The 5:30 p.m. film event is a potluck, so you are invited to bring a food item of your choice to contribute to the meal following the film. (NOTE: the screening of the 90-minute film will begin promptly at 5:30 to enable those who wish to also attend the candle floating ceremony at 8 p.m. to attend both events).
For the Candle Floating Ceremony please bring a blanket or chair to sit on.
See you Saturday.

Here's the list of events again.
Louisville Hiroshima/Nagasaki
Commemoration Events

Saturday, Aug. 9, 2008

All Events are FREE and Open to the Public

12:00 noon, Saturday, Aug. 9

Tolling of the Bell and
Reading of Thomas Merton’s “Original Child Bomb”
Location: Christ Church Cathedral, 421 S. Second Street , Louisville

Mitzi Friedlander and friends will read Thomas Merton’s powerful poem, “Original Child Bomb,” then the Cathedral Bell will be tolled 63 times---once for each year since the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The Bell will be tolled in memory of all those who died in these bombings and all of the bombings directed at civilians in WWII. The bells will also be tolled in hope that no city will ever again be subjected to the horrors of a nuclear war.

INVITE YOUR HOUSE OF WORSHIP
TO TOLL ITS BELL
AT NOON ON AUGUST 9th

To mark the 63rd Anniversary and to
call for the abolition of nuclear weapons

5:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 9

Film & Potluck: Stanley Kubrick’s classic anti-nuclear war comedy, “Dr. Strangelove”
Location: St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 330 N. Hubbards Lane , Louisville

Join us before the lantern floating ceremony (see below) for this outstanding film and food event. In the film, U.S. Air Force General Jack T. Ripper goes completely mad, and sends his bomber wing to destroy the U.S.S.R. He suspects that the communists are conspiring to pollute the "precious bodily fluids" of the American people. The U.S. president meets with his advisors, where the Soviet ambassador tells him that if the U.S.S.R. is hit by nuclear weapons, it will trigger a "Doomsday Machine" which will destroy all plant and animal life on Earth. Peter Sellers portrays the three men who might avert this tragedy.

8:00 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 9

Lantern Floating Ceremony
Location: The lake at Lexington & Grinstead

This family-friendly activity will feature prayers, readings about Hiroshima , testimony from a Hiroshima survivor and from one of the first Americans to visit Hiroshima after the atomic bombing in 1945, and music by Heidi Howe. At the conclusion of the event, those present will be invited to float lighted lanterns in a fashion that has become a tradition in Japan . In Japan , the lantern floating ceremony is a remembrance of departed loved ones, particularly those who died in the atomic bombings in World War II.

The events are sponsored by the Louisville Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemoration Committee
with the support of Interfaith Paths to Peace, and in cooperation with
The Fellowship of Reconciliation, Center for Faith and Action, St. William Catholic Church
and Pax Christi, the Roman Catholic peace and justice organization.

For further information about these events, call 502.214.7322 or visit www.InterfaithPathsToPeace.org
Terry

Free Noontime Meditation with Richard Sisto, Aug. 6, 2008

2008-08-05T14:49:00.001-04:00

Please plan to join us at 12:10 p.m. Wednesday, August 6th for our FREE monthly noontime meditation program with Richard Sisto. The topic for this month's program is "Thomas Merton: Friend and Teacher" The monthly meditation program takes place at Christ Church Cathedral, 425 South Second Street in Louisville. Please call 502.214.7322 for more information.

A Global Potluck and International Walk for Peace, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008

2008-08-05T14:40:00.002-04:00

A Global Potluck
Hosted by the U.S. Department of Peace Campaign of Kentucky
in partnership with The Center For Interfaith Relations, Interfaith Paths To Peace, Cultivating Connections, Waldorf School of Louisville, Ramsi's Cafe On The World, and Doug VanHouten Design

To Honor our Global Community
Sunday, September 7, 2008, 3 - 5 pm

Join us for the International Walk For Peace
after the Potluck 5:15 - 5:45 pm

Undercroft of the Cathedral of the Assumption
433 S. 5th Street - Louisville, Kentucky

Please bring a dish of food to share
(Preferably from your country or town of origin)
Beverages provided.
Visit with old friends and make new ones!
Tell us where you are from and how long
you've been in Kentucky.
Artistic guests will inspire us to continue this path of Peace!

Event is free and campaign donations are appreciated.

Call Kim Summers-Bates if you have any questions or thoughts to share (502) 472-1772
Go to http://www.kydopeace.org/ to see pictures from our last "Global Potluck" Click on "State News"

Free noontime meditation July 2: the Gentleness of Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Practices

2008-07-01T17:08:00.002-04:00

Please note that Terry Taylor will be filling in for Dick Sisto on Wednesday, July 2 for the noontime meditation program at Christ Church Cathedral, 425 South Second Street.

At 12:10 p.m., Terry will lead those present in a brief discussion of "the Gentleness of Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Practices." We will also use those practices for brief periods of time.

Voices from Hiroshima: Powerful visitors from Hiroshima July 11th AND Poster Exhibition on display now at Crane House

2008-07-01T10:56:00.005-04:00

Presenting two separate events
Both events are free and open to the public

Voices from Hiroshima
Nuclear Weapons Abolition: Now or Never

Featuring two outstanding visitors from Hiroshima, Japan

7 p.m. Friday, July 11, 2008

Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church
4936 Brownsboro Road, Louisville Kentucky

Presenters:
Ms. Miyoko Watanabe, Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Survivor and official witness for the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation. She will describe her experience to remind the audience of the effects of atomic and nuclear weapons, and raising a cry of warning about the future.

Steve Leeper, Chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation (the peace & international relations arm of the City of Hiroshima, Japan). He will make a presentation about why the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation believes that nuclear weapons are about to get out of control. Many people believe such weapons will be used in the next year or two, and if we do not make substantial progress toward disarmament in the near future nuclear weaponry will spread throughout the world.

~ ~ ~ AND ~ ~ ~

Voices from Hiroshima: Poster Exhibition

On exhibit through July 11th

9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Monday through Friday

Crane House
1244 South Third Street
Louisville, KY 40203
502-635-2240
Administration@cranehouse.org

Sponsors Include:
The Louisville Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemoration Committee
Interfaith Paths to Peace · Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church
The Fellowship of Reconciliation · Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
St. William Catholic Church · The U.N. Association of Louisville · and LEO Weekly

Give Peace a Dance, July 11, 2008

2008-06-23T13:14:00.000-04:00

A swingin’ celebration and silent auction to benefit Peace Education Program

Friday, July 11, 2008
The Clifton Center
8pm-12pm

Sizzle to the salsa, hip-hop to the hits and two-step with the best! Join us on the dance floor for a community celebration of peace building and conflict resolution with Peace Education Program. This family-friendly FUNdraiser will feature a silent auction with a wide variety of items for bidding, dance lessons on the half-hour, a bar and delicious refreshments. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door, $5 for students. Mark your calendar, tell your friends, and reserve your tickets today!
For more information visit: www.peaceeducationprogram.org

To reserve tickets send checks to:
Peace Education Program
318 W. Kentucky St
Louisville, KY 40203

Peace Education Program trainers have been teaching conflict resolution, peer mediation and prejudice reduction to youth and adults who work with youth for over twenty-six years. We have a network of 155 schools and 67 community sites in Louisville and the surrounding areas.

If you are interested in donating a silent auction item or volunteering, please contact Amy Shelton at 502.589.6583 peaceeducation@iglou.com
Give Peace a Dance 2008
A swingin’ celebration and silent auction to benefit Peace Education Program

Friday, July 11, 2008
The Clifton Center
8pm-12pm

Sizzle to the salsa, hip-hop to the hits and two-step with the best! Join us on the dance floor for a community celebration of peace building and conflict resolution with Peace Education Program. This family-friendly FUNdraiser will feature a silent auction with a wide variety of items for bidding, dance lessons on the half-hour, a bar and delicious refreshments. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door, $5 for students. Mark your calendar, tell your friends, and reserve your tickets today!
For more information visit: www.peaceeducationprogram.org

To reserve tickets send checks to:
Peace Education Program
318 W. Kentucky St
Louisville, KY 40203

Peace Education Program trainers have been teaching conflict resolution, peer mediation and prejudice reduction to youth and adults who work with youth for over twenty-six years. We have a network of 155 schools and 67 community sites in Louisville and the surrounding areas.

If you are interested in donating a silent auction item or volunteering, please contact Amy Shelton at 502.589.6583 peaceeducation@iglou.com