“Creating Hope” Sequel
Beyond The Front Row In April 2015, the “Front Row” video premiered in Rochester, New York. Since then it has been shared in major cities around the United States, at the UN committee on non-violence and in some foreign cities. It is shown in Rochester City Schools, Monroe County Probation and Parole, Rec Centers, Hillside, Industry, Pathways to Peace, city libraries and YMCAs, church youth groups and many other places. It is a valuable tool in helping combat gangs and youth violence. If you haven’t seen it, just click here to view it online. If you have seen it, you will recognize the...
Read MoreBlack Lives Matter
Most of us have heard and watched reports about activities carried out in the name of Black Lives Matter. Some have participated. Others have observed with varying degrees of sympathy or concern. Right now, in the midst of our national celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and legacy, it may be appropriate to examine whether Black Lives Matter is building upon the same spiritual foundation laid by Martin over 50 years ago. The Creation of a Movement In the words of Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter: I created #BlackLivesMatter with Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi,...
Read MoreMerry Christmas 2016
Who is this? Who is this, so weak and helpless, child of lowly Hebrew maid, Rudely in a stable sheltered, coldly in a manger laid? ‘Tis the Lord of all creation, who this wondrous path hath trod; He is God from everlasting, and to everlasting God.* May your Christmas be filled with HOPE this year. We appreciate each of you, dear family and friends, and hope to see you in the New Year. Click here to read our 2016 Christmas letter and here for some stimulating thoughts about “season’s greetings.” *from an old Welsh Christmas...
Read MoreHanukkah-Christmas
This Christmas across the country there may be fewer Jewish people eating Chinese food and going to the movies because in 2016 Hanukkah and Christmas share the same weekend. The first night (Jewish holidays begin at sunset) of the Jewish festival of lights falls on Christmas Eve and the first day lands on Christmas. The full dates for Hanukkah 2016 are the evening of Dec. 24 to the evening of Jan. 1. Some families will surely retain some of the modern tradition of consuming Asian-American cuisine and a film, one born of having a day off when most other businesses are closed. But this time,...
Read MoreJewish New Year
Rosh Hashanah or in Hebrew ראש השנה, which literally means “head of the year,” is celebrated in 2016 from sundown on October 2 to nightfall on October 4. The Hebrew date for Rosh Hashanah is 1 Tishrei 5777. The holiday actually takes place on the first two days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, which is the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar. This is because Rosh Hashanah, one of four new years in the Jewish year, is considered the new year of people, animals and legal contracts. In the Jewish oral tradition, Rosh Hashanah marks the completion of the creation of the world. Rosh...
Read MoreAn Essay on Community
by Parker Palmer “Whether we know it or not, like it or not, honor it or not, we are embedded in community. Whether we think of ourselves as biological creatures or spiritual beings or both, the truth remains: we were created in and for a complex ecology of relatedness, and without it we wither and die. This simple fact has critical implications: community is not a goal to be achieved but a gift to be received.” So starts Parker Palmer in a thoughtful essay called “Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community (With a Fourteenth Thrown in For Free)” published online this past...
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