Global Interfaith Compassion Challenge
Starts Sep 11, 2022!
Starting September 11, 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 do it in concert with kindred spirits from around the globe! For each of the 21 days of the challenge, you'll be emailed a thoughtfully-crafted prompt from a unique faith or tradition -- with "heart" music, "head" reading, and "hands" compassion-in-action practice. 21 days, 21 faith traditions, 21 practices.
And you do this as part of an interactive global community, with opportunity for deepening relationships. Once you share a reflection, you can read and interact with the reflections of other global participants. Every Sunday of the challenge (starting Sept 11, 2022, 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. Altogether, the Pod process is designed to weave a collective field of our emergent wisdom and transformations -- grace.
To get a deeper overview of the 21-day journey, check out this deck (click on the image below to view subsequent pages):
This challenge is offered entirely by volunteers, who have been inspired by previous offerings and want to pay it forward. It is hosted on the Pod platform, a strictly non-commercial platform gifted and run by ServiceSpace. We are particularly grateful to be in community with and in service to the many organizations that are actively participating in this challenge to collectively build the field of compassion:
(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!