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A novena is nine days of focused prayer. This Novena of Peace focuses on praying for peace in our hearts, peace in our lives, peace in our world.
Like most Americans, I’m grateful that the 2016 political cycle is over. What isn’t over is the anger, angst, and division that marked it. Yet I know that we collectively possess the power to change this discomforting and destructive reality. Compassion, true understanding, and peace are possible. This is not a naïve Pollyanna dream (as I’ve sometimes been … Read more
After another enjoyable time on the Architect of Change radio show, Connie Whitman asked me to share Dr. Sauvage’s 4-Step Spiritual Action Plan and a version of St. Ignatius Examen. Both can help with the spiritual discipline needed to be an architect of change for yourself and the world. During the show (which I will post … Read more
Our Novena of Peace concludes with the realization that peace is the fruit of love. Love is expressed so many ways large and small. Love is mercy, gratitude, vulnerability, forgiveness, responsibility, awareness, and all the habits we consciously choose that reveal our belief in the sacredness of all life and of our world. It gives … Read more
Like peacemaking, mercy is a habit of being. Conscious choice is the key to creating any new habit. Habits are the things we do repetitively. They are helpful to our being (such as exercise or meditation) or harmful (substance abuse or smoking). Habits are conscious or unconscious. To create peace we have to consciously choose … Read more
Mercy flows from response-ability; the ability to respond. This story illustrates how we are intrinsically hardwired to respond to each other: Once there was an elderly couple who delighted in the little boy who lived across the street. They loved his daily visits to play on the tire swing they had put up for their … Read more
Peace is impossible without truth and reconciliation. On December 29, 1890, soldiers of the US Army’s 7th Cavalry massacred 300 Lakota Sioux (including women and children) near Wounded Knee creek on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Tomorrow, December 29, 2015, Lakota elders who are descendants of the original seventy-five survivors (known as Takini) … Read more
Here, then, is the reason for the Jubilee: because this is the time for mercy. It is the favorable time to heal wounds, a time not to be weary of meeting all those who are waiting to see and to touch with their hands the signs of the closeness of God, a time to offer … Read more
Mercy and compassion flow naturally from gratitude. I’ve seen this exemplified in people who have instinctively grateful personalities. One especially inspiring, grateful-by-nature person I’ve observed was Dr. Lester Sauvage. I was lucky enough (and very grateful!) to work with him on his final book Opening Hearts, which was his treatise on everything he found important: … Read more
Christmas is a holy day commemorating extreme vulnerability. Jesus coming into the world as a tiny infant connects him to every other human being. In Jesus we see God’s vulnerability. Vulnerability, according to Brene Brown, PhD, a sociologist and researcher, is the willingness to say I love you first; it is a willingness not to … Read more
Mother Teresa (who is about to become a saint) once said, “We can do no great things. Only small things with great love.” This provides us the way to approach mercy, compassion, and peacemaking. Saint Teresa of Calcutta (as she will be canonized) was influenced by St. Thérèse of Lisieux , a nineteenth century nun … Read more