Global Interfaith Compassion Challenge
Starts Sep 8, 2024!
Starting September 8th, join us for a global 21-day Interfaith Compassion Challenge! Although 9/11 has become associated in recent years with terror and conflict, the date across history has been associated with movements of nonviolence, interfaith cooperation, and discovery. For example, in 1893, the first World’s Parliament of Religions convened in Chicago on September 11. On the same date in 1906, Gandhi introduced nonviolent resistance (later called "satyagraha", or "soul force") at a mass meeting in South Africa -- and with that, a way of bringing about large-scale social action through compassion.
In the spirit of amplifying those values, we invite you to join us in exploring different ways to bring the timeless virtue of compassion into our lives -- and to weave together a tapestry of collective wisdom with kindred spirits (from 85 countries last time)!
Here's how it works:
- Daily Prompts: For each of the 21 days of the challenge, you'll be emailed an inspirational and thoughtfully-crafted prompt from a unique faith or tradition -- with "heart" music, "head" reading, and "hands" compassion-in-action practice (which you can complete on your own time each day). 21 days, 21 faith traditions, 21 practices.
- Your Reflections: For each of the daily prompts, you are invited to submit an online reflection, and once you share your reflection, you can read and interact online with the reflections of other global participants.
- Sunday Zoom Calls:
Every Sunday of the challenge (starting Sep 8th at 8:00AM PDT) will feature a group call with poetry readings, songs, inspiration from a wide range of luminaries, and peer-to-peer sharing.
To get a deeper overview of the 21-day journey, check out this deck (click on the image below to view subsequent pages):
Pods are offered as a non-strings attached gift, by volunteers of ServiceSpace -- an ecosystem established in 1999, whose many projects from DailyGood to Karma Kitchen to Awakin Circles attract 20 thousand website viewers every hour. The entire challenge will be run on a very innovative (and strictly commercial-free) "Pod" platform, technology built in-house during the pandemic. We're particularly grateful to be co-creating the Challenge in partnership with many organizations that are actively helping build the collective field of compassion. Including:
(Click on the image above for the full list of participating organizations.)
As former UN diplomat and President of General Assembly, Jan Eliasson eloquently noted, "Without passion, nothing happens; without compassion, the wrong things happen."
If you're able to join us on this 21-day journey, simply fill out the form below and you'll be emailed the follow-up steps. Thank you for your resonance with our shared values of compassion!