Archive for Spiritual Activism

Jul/06/10//Gibrán Rivera//Spiritual Activism

And Justice for All

Lords Prayer

This past weekend Samantha and I went to what I would call a “movement wedding.”  Our friends Justin Francese and Doyle Canning, who co-founded smartMeme, decided it was time to tie the knot.  It was a beautiful event and there are many highlights to share, but there is something in particular that has stuck with me since.  Towards the end of the ceremony they invited us to join them in praying “the liberation theology version of the Lord’s Prayer,” and I feel like I’ve been contemplating this line since – Read the rest of this entry »

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Jun/08/10//Gibrán Rivera//Spiritual Activism

The New Way

armsopenLast week I wrote a raving review of the Movement Strategy Center’s report on organizers transforming the practice of social justice:   “Out of the Spiritual Closet.”  I really think it’s amazing.  Here are nine themes that the report outlines as part of the emergent “new way:” Read the rest of this entry »

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Jun/01/10//Gibrán Rivera//Spiritual Activism

It’s all two both!

I’ve just read “Out of the Spiritual Closet,” a report out of the Movement Strategy Center, and it is one of the most exciting pieces I’ve read in a while.  It is a timely read, in tune with a lot of the conversation we have been having here on the IISC Blog for the last few weeks.  This persistent question of whether to take a “transformational” or a “structural” approach leads us to a false dichotomy – it really is “All two both!” Read the rest of this entry »

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Nov/24/09//Gibrán Rivera//Spiritual Activism

A Little Contemplation

I am just returning from a weeklong spiritual retreat for which the central focus was selfless service.  I literally spent the week gardening!  (And yes, those of you who know me are right to find that funny!)  I did chant and meditate every morning, noon and evening, but in this very special place selfless service is considered a spiritual practice on the same level as meditation.

I bring this up because it felt like as soon as I got there I had all sort of “stuff” come up.  It was like the minute my life became a bit more silent all of the things that lie below the surface came bursting up in an overwhelming rush.  I had real moments of emotional upheaval very early in my stay.

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Nov/02/09//Marianne Hughes//Spiritual Activism

Mindfulness and Social Justice

Mirabai Bush founded the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society in 1997. While no longer the Executive Director, Mirabai is steeped in the work. I had an opportunity to both see her in action and to have lunch with her and talk about bringing contemplative/transformative practice into our organizations and the work of social justice. The title of her talk was Bringing Mindfulness into Public Life where she looked back to the seventies as the moment of the great divide between spirituality and politics; the inner and the outer, the personal and the professional. Ironically it was the same decade when many great teachers from the east came to the United States to introduce the west to the power of meditation. The tool of meditation and mindfulness was quickly adopted by leaders in the alternative medicine field like John Kabat Zinn and Dr. Herb Benso and then taken out to the world.

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