Podcasts about United Religions Initiative

Honoring Leadership Authority (2) (audio) David Eells, 5/6/26 Precious Father, we thank You so much for opening our understanding so that we can cooperate with You in these days to come. Lord, put a sense of Your sovereignty in us that we might know that You are in control of all these things, and that history repeats because there's only One mind in control, and that is Yours, and that we can put our trust totally in You. You are teaching us not to lean upon the arm of the flesh, or the strength of man, but to lean on You in faith, to trust in You as our Savior in all things. And we thank You, Father. Lord, this teaching of honoring leadership authority certainly puts us in a position of weakness, where we need to trust in You to be our defender. And we thank You, Lord, that You are omnipotent, You are all-powerful to take care of Your people, to defend them, and provide for them. And we thank You, Lord. We can trust You. We thank You, Lord. Hallelujah! Amen.  In thinking on Revelation 13, how in verse 7 that the beast is making war on the saints, He commands the saints that if any man shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. The Lord has put us in a position of weakness. Here, the beast is making a physical war on the saints, but they can't do any physical warfare. They need to fight using the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and trust God as Savior.  And it wasn't any different with Jesus. He said to Peter and the disciples, Mat.26:52 Then saith Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into its place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. In the next verse, He said He could call down twelve legions of angels, if he really wanted to fight. He trusted Himself to God as Savior. We just looked at quite a few promises to the people who will not go out and fight with the beast. And on the other hand, God made quite a few very ominous threats to those who do. There's a revelation in Ezekiel 17, which I'll just touch on. Here's a parable that the Lord gave to me through the word of knowledge, which helped me to understand what was being said. Israel in this story was between two great eagles. One of them was Babylon, and the other was Egypt. Except that the Father pointed out to me that these two eagles represented the same country. And that Egypt here represents a bondage that God's people were to forsake. He forbade them from ever going back to Egypt. And what He meant was Egypt represented the old man in their baptism in the Red Sea. The old man died, and He never wanted them to go back to being in bondage to the old man, or to trust in the strength of Egypt, as He said in Isaiah 30. So you can understand that the beast kingdom, the Great Eagle that was ruling over the nations, at that time was literally Babylon. It was the head of the nations, just like America is today, as the Great Eagle. The Lord showed me in Ezekiel 17 that a civil war would come in which the Great Eagle would be pitted against the Great Eagle. And that's the story here in Ezekiel 17, and many people have never actually seen that, but once it's pointed out to you, it's very clear. Babylon was bringing God's people under dominion. It was taking authority over them, taking their freedom from them. They had their own country, they were free, but now they were coming under the dominion of Babylon. Much like Christianity has been in freedom. But increasingly, we see that it has come under the dominion of the beast, and many laws are taking away Christian freedoms. And that's the parable here. So when He speaks about making a covenant with Israel, He's talking about the end time covenant. Ezekiel represented the Man-child of Revelation 12. Ezekiel was caught up to the throne of God. He saw God. He was ordained of the Lord there, and he received an anointing there in Ezekiel 2, verse 1. When this happened, he immediately began to be called the Son of Man, like Jesus, Who was also the Man-child. Throughout the whole Book of Ezekiel, he's called the Son of Man. The ministry of the Man-child is going to be opposed by the apostate church. The Jews wanted Jesus to fight with Rome, but He would have nothing of it. His battle was always with the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He didn't want any battle with Rome whatsoever. Rome had been given authority over Israel because Israel was rebellious, and Jesus wasn't going to go against His Father. It's the same situation with Ezekiel. He was trying to tell them not to fight with the king of Babylon. Like Jesus and Jeremiah, his battle was with the apostate leadership of God's people.    Let's start in Eze.17:11 Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, (he's warning the people) saying, 12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and brought them to him to Babylon. (Well, this literally was Jehoiachin, who was the king when Babylon came, and took him, took the princes, and thousands of God's people away to Babylon. But then he did something else.) 13 And he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;  So here's the word ‘covenant', and the Lord showed me in previous revelations that this person was Zedekiah. His administration was the one that the king of Babylon set up. He took of the seed royal, and he made him a ruler over Israel, and He made a covenant with him. Now, I believe that this first part of Jeconiah and that whole leadership being taken into bondage has already happened. I believe where we're headed now is the covenant, and the covenant was made with the Zedekiah administration.  A bondage of the world beast of seven heads and ten horns is coming. I'm going to share a portion of what this ‘taking into bondage' represents, which will be a time in our day. The name of the article is Baiting the False Prophet. Ecc.3:15 That which is hath been long ago; and that which is to be hath long ago been: and God seeketh again that which is passed away. Our modern-day revival of the Roman Empire, the U.S. over the Alliance of Nations, is doing exactly what Constantine did to unite the earth. Those false prophets sat at Constantine's table, and a modern-day false prophet leadership will sit over the Alliance of Nations. A modern equivalent or type has happened. The Reverend Sun Myung Moon, was the leader of the Unification Church. And he claimed that Christ failed in His mission, that he himself was the new Messiah who had come to finish the job and to unite the world through uniting religious forces. Almost all of the well-known evangelical Christian leaders and their organizations were beholden to this man. It was not by accident, it's was by design. He took his work very seriously. As a billionaire, he targeted these influential leaders with the hook and bait of bailouts and grants and political power and prestige, and so on. I couldn't believe how these men showered admiration for this lost man. He brought them what they lusted for while unifying them through his related organizations: the Council of National Policy, the Coalition for Religious Freedom, the Council of 56 of the Religious Roundtable, and others. It is here that he associates them with the leadership of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Council of Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, Freemasonry, all closely tied to the Bilderbergers. Do you think this couldn't happen again on a larger scale?This shadow government was joining the leaders of apostate religions together as a false prophet of unity to the masses of Christians who don't know that they, as a harlot, were being sold into bondage to the beast. History repeats as the apostate leaders were set at Constantine's Round Table to build an end-time Catholic or Universal Church. In like manner, Babylon took the leadership of God's people captive and made a covenant with them. I give these verses Eze.17:12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and brought them to him to Babylon. (and that was Jehoiachin or Jeconiah; His name has been used in those two different ways. That's just a different version of the same name.) But then, in verse 13, where we just read, he raised up one of the royal lineages and made a covenant with him. Before I read that, I want to read this. An assortment of other ecumenical movements has worked on the whole religious world to bring this unity to pass. In other words, we see in the United States that this has been an effort for many years but not only that, it's happened around the world. The United Religions Initiative was putting together a UN of all religions worldwide called United Religions in their hope of bringing peace And Dominion. Like Constantine formed to make peace between the religions to bring peace to the world. George Bush, along with influential people like billionaire George Soros, the Dalai Lama, and Reverend Moon, threw their weight behind the UR. And all of this was in preparation for a US/UN/UR type Roman Empire. So they are lusting for a one-world religion, and they are capturing, through devious means, these people who have found themselves in trouble, money-wise. As we have seen “the things that have been shall be.  Reverend Moon, who's actually acting for this shadow religious beast government, under the tutelage of the CIA got the leaders out of trouble. So that makes them beholden unto him. All of these historic examples and more have come as a type for the future. Thank God their efforts failed for the time was not yet. This second part is yet to come, and that is verse 13 And he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him (that was Zedekiah); he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land. And so, when I reached this point, the Lord asked me a question when I got to verse 13, and He said, “In how many verses is the word covenant mentioned?” So I started in verse 13, and as I read, I counted and discovered that it was seven verses. And He pointed out to me that that represented the seven years of the covenant. The word covenant is used in seven verses here. And then He asked me, “How many verses until the covenant is broken?” And I counted, and it was about three and a half, in the middle of the sixteenth verse, where he says, Covenant he brake. And then He asked me, “How many times ‘covenant' is spoken in those seven verses?” And it was spoken six times, the number six is the number of the beast and the number of the covenant. Well, I think it's pretty neat. Reading on, He speaks about the covenant, and also about this puppet of the seed royal that the king of Babylon made the covenant with, that he's the one who broke the covenant and rebelled to fight against the great eagle king of Babylon. And not only that, he went to the great eagle of Egypt to seek help, strength, horses, and so on, to fight with the king of Babylon. Well, that was a very bad thing to do, because Babylon was already conquering Egypt at the time. So there really wasn't going to be any help from Egypt. They put themselves in a very bad position, because now the king of Babylon was making war upon them. And he tells them that they won't escape. You can read it for yourself when you get time.  But he also said in Eze.17:19 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, I will even bring it upon his own head. The Lord is saying that these people who fought against the king of Babylon were breaking His covenant. Now, He wasn't talking about the beast covenant being His covenant. He's talking about this being His covenant, the Word of God, and His commands. They had been commanded to submit to the king of Babylon (for chastening) and not to fight with him, and they broke their covenant with God.  And he went on to say that these people who fight against the king of Babylon are just like those who will fight against America, in verse 20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me. 21 And all his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it. Meaning that those who fight against Babylon, this is the promise that God makes to them. This is a type and a shadow. “That which hath been is that which shall be” … (Ecc.1:9) This is a type and a shadow for our day and the seven-year covenant and what's about to happen when God's people rise up to fight, trusting in the arm of the flesh, because of the mark of the beast. Many other “Christians” will just take the mark to hold on to their standard of living. As we saw, submit does not mean to take the mark. This will cause a civil war in the midst of the Great Eagle kingdom and the Christians will lose as our text proves. The mark is to separate the wheat from the tares for the end approaches. Those without faith in God will take the mark. But a new leadership is being raised up to give last minute understanding to many rebels. 22 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain: That's talking about the Man-child ministry; it was Jesus in His day, and then Jesus in the Man-child ministry in our day as history repeats on a larger scale. The mountain is spiritual Mount Zion. Rev 14:1  And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand (man-child), having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. (the mark of God)… 4  These are they that were not defiled with women (False sects of Christianity.); for they are virgins (Having not received the seed or word of man). These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, to be the first fruits unto God and unto the Lamb.  So, going back to this Jehoiachin administration and the administration that was taken out of that, the Zedekiah administration, and we go to 2 Kings chapter 24, we can see the whole story. And it shows there are two different people: those who rebel and those who don't. He makes promises to those who don't, and He makes judgments upon those who rebel. This is a type and a shadow for our day and what's about to happen. 2Ki.24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And verse 14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. (This was in the time of Jehoiakim, when they were taken captive, and when Babylon invaded.) 15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon; and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the chief men of the land, carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. 17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's father's brother, king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. (which means, ‘Yah is might'. This guy felt like he needed to exercise his might against the king of Babylon. They were the people of God, and they thought they didn't deserve this. But Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the writer of Kings here believed that they did deserve what was happening because it was because of their rebellion. This caused God to deliver them over to the king of Babylon. They felt like they should fight to deliver themselves. In other words, to trust in the arm of the flesh, to go back down to the eagle of Egypt, and let the old man rule.) 18 Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem… And verse 20 For through the anger of Jehovah did it come to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. So this is the same place we were in Ezekiel when the covenant was made. He made a covenant with Zedekiah and the people of Israel. They broke it, and rebelled, and they fought. And Jeconiah or Jehoiachin (the same king), and his followers were taken into bondage.  And I want to tell you that the leadership of Christianity will repeat history. They will be taken into bondage except for the righteous. And we're coming to the time of this covenant and this civil war that's about to happen during the time of the Great Eagles. And Zedekiah here represents that apostate ministry. It was said of both Jehoiachin and Zedekiah that they did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. These were evil kings who rebelled against the Lord. And it's the same today. The leadership of God's people is evil as it was in Jesus' time. They have departed from the word of the Lord and done their own thing. And 2Ki.25:2 So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. In their rebellion, God did not defend them, He wasn't preserving them, or feeding them, and He wasn't taking care of them because they had rebelled. He had given them the order to submit, which they hadn't done.  And it reminded me of the apostates who had rebelled against him in Isa.65:12 I will destine you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not. (Listen to this now.) 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be put to shame; 14 behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for vexation of spirit. See, this is the exact same thing he says about those who rebel against the king of Babylon and those who don't. He threatens those who rebel with starvation, hunger, and so on. And they eventually flee their land into the nations, and they don't escape even then. This war is going to be totally lost by those who call themselves Christians who stand up to fight will lose this war badly. They're going to be scattered among the nations. And verse 4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city round about); (the Babylonians, the Great Eagle.) and the king went by the way of the Arabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. 7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon. Now, the ultimate end of this situation was that these people were the harlot. I'm sure they considered themselves the people of God, but you remember in Revelation 17, at the end of the tribulation, the beast burned the harlot with fire. And it is the same thing here. 8 Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem. (apostate Jerusalem) 9 And he burnt the house of Jehovah, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burnt he with fire. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. We see the same story in Jeremiah 24. First, a couple of verses in chapter 23, he said, Jer.23:39 … and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave unto you and to your fathers, away from my presence: Now, why is it in some of the beast attack types, like Assyria, do the people of God escape? Let me read this to you: 2Ch.32:22 Thus Jehovah saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side. 23 And many brought gifts unto Jehovah to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah; so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from thenceforth. Now, there's the seven-headed beast. Well, Assyria was one of the heads, and Babylon was one of the heads. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, Rome, and revived Rome. It's a seven-headed beast. So all of those kingdoms were types and shadows of this end time corporate beast. So how come we see that the time of the Assyrian beast, Jerusalem, and their king were righteous, and they're the only ones that are preserved. Whereas in the time of the Babylonian beast Jerusalem and their king were taken captive? Because we're talking about two different leaderships. God is saying that the backslidden leadership of apostate Jerusalem is going into judgment. And everybody who follows them will follow them into judgment. At the same time, there is a good leadership over the people of God. There is a real Jerusalem, which is the heavenly Jerusalem. So, these people are going to be defended by God; the others are not. That's the difference. There's one unregenerate Jerusalem, as the leadership of God's people, and there's a regenerate. Each one of those beast empires has a type and a shadow for the end time that fits into it. So in Jeremiah chapter 23, He says he's going to cast those apostates off, out of His presence. And Jeremiah, here, represents the Man-child ministry; he's speaking against the rebels, like Ezekiel was doing. What was Jesus doing? Speaking against the rebels like Barabas. Resist not him that is evil, love your enemy, do good to those who despitefully use you, etc. Now, Jer.24:1 Jehovah showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of Jehovah, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 2 One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3 Then said Jehovah unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. 4 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 5 Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good. The whole government of America is going to take more authority over Christianity in general. Have you seen that the Christians have lost their rights in the UK while the invaders have rights while Starmer kisses Muslim leaders? The rights that Christians have had to speak to other people, and to raise their children the way they want, and on and on. The rapists are set free. Some are going to fight and try to take the country back but prayer, faith, and spiritual warfare, is the method. Some are not going to fight. But He said that this bondage is coming for good to the good figs, but not so for the bad figs.  He said in verse, 6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: (He's talking about New Jerusalem Paul said we were to come to. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed apostate Jerusalem? So what land and what city were they coming back to? The New Jerusalem and the new land.) … I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.  Now these are the people who do not rebel against the king of Babylon. And then He starts to speak about Zedekiah and the people who do rebel. 8 And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus saith Jehovah, So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: (who trust in Egypt for strength). 9 I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; (That's a terrible threat! I think a large portion of Christianity in America will rise up and fight. The more liberal, the more authority used over them, and when their rights have been taken away, the more the corrupt UN demands its rights, the more treaties are made that give the UN authority in the United States. Very leftist treaties  are just waiting for more liberal leadership to come in and loose them or agree with them. But God says that these people who rebel are going to be tossed to and fro among the kingdoms of the earth for evil. They're going to be scattered all over the world, and they're not going to be free there  …to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers. And why? Because they are rebelling against the word of the Lord. God says, ‘Go to your cross,' and they say, ‘I'm not going.' Jesus went to His cross. The Lord is not necessarily demanding a physical death for His people in this cross. But the ones who rebel will definitely find a physical death. That's what He's saying here. They will repent or be destroyed from the face of the Earth. And the next chapter is all about Babylon conquering the nations of the Middle East. The first one is Israel, which represents the church spiritually. Jeremiah the prophet was the one speaking this judgment upon not only the church but the rest of the world. He was the one speaking this judgment and releasing it through the words that he spoke in verse 2 and all of it was because he said, from verses 4 - 6, that they had not hearkened unto the Lord; they were paying no attention whatsoever to what God said in His word. That's why He said this was coming. Listen, there's a judgment coming very fast upon the people of God. The whole world is going to turn, and the head of the United States, too, is going to turn against Christianity for the sake of peace. You're going to see  judgment upon what we loosely call Christianity.  Now go to Jer.27:1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim (some of your Bibles say Zedekiah there; it's supposed to be Zedekiah, not Jehoiakim, because he'd already spoken about Jehoiakim back in verse 26. Now he was coming down to Zedekiah. My Bible says properly, Zedekiah. The Amplified version used Zedekiah here instead of Jehoiakim, because Jehoiakim doesn't fit here at all; somebody made a mistake here.) Jer.27:1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, 2 Thus saith Jehovah to me: Make thee bonds and bars, and put them upon thy neck; 3 and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers that come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah; 4 and give them a charge unto their masters, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say unto your masters: 5 I have made the earth, the men and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it unto whom it seemeth right unto me. (We know through reading scriptures that God has given the Earth over into the hand of beast kingdoms that persecuted God's people unto repentance. In every case, they had been rebellious, they had ignored His word, it was not important to them to obey, and so He had given them over into the hand of these beast kingdoms, and now it was Nebuchadnezzar's turn.) 6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon (The Great Eagle in Ezekiel 17. In this case, Jeremiah is the one speaking the word against the people of God, as Jesus did and Ezekiel did, and Jeremiah here represents the Man-child. He preached against the rebels, the bad figs.), my servant (That doesn't mean he was a Christian. But he was serving God in the creation of His people. And since they were rebelling, He was going to bring them a necessary chastening.); and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him. The beasts of the field or the beasts of the world. The field is the world, and the beasts here represent the other kingdoms of the world. Babylon was the head of the nations. It was the head of the U.N. in its day. That's exactly like America is today. Jer.27:7 And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land come: and then many nations and great kings shall make him their bondman. 8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith Jehovah, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. He's talking here about the bad figs, because that's the exact same wording he used about the bad figs, who were the people who rebelled against the king of Babylon. See, when God sends you a chastening, you don't want to rebel against Him. You want to humbly submit to your cross. And that's what's going on here; these people were rebels, and self-willed and wanted it their way. They had taken control over the kingdom of God, and God was sending a chastening, and He said, ‘Submit.' 9 But as for you, hearken ye not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:(Let me tell you something, we've been hearing from them for some time, that the church is not going under the authority of the beast. “We're out of here. We're flying away.” But that's not going to happen. This is exactly what they were prophesying then.) And even after it happened that the beast, at the end of chapter 28, it says, Jer.28:11 And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the nations. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. (So he said, “Okay, okay, so we did come under the bondage of the kingdom, but we're out of here in two years.” And Jeremiah says, “No, you're not. You're going to be here 70 years. You're not going to be out of here until the Lord visits you.”) For instance, in Jer.29:8 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets that are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither hearken ye to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. 9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith Jehovah. 10 For thus saith Jehovah, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, (That's the coming of the Lord. Babylon, in the Book of Revelation, was seven years after this happened. God said He was going to shorten the time. And this is how he shortened it. Seventy years was the type, and it was shortened to seven.) …After seventy (seven) years are accomplished for Babylon, (In other words, your bondage in Babylon, after seven years.) I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. Notice, he only said that about the good figs, who were going to return to that place. We just read that. The rebels were not returning. Now, there will be people who are going to rebel, and they're going to repent, and switch sides because they will gain understanding and submit to God. God's going to be with them; He will be their Savior. He's going to forgive them. But there are going to be people who will not repent, and they're going to be what the Bible calls, “the bad figs, very bad they can't be eaten.” He said in Jer.27:10 for they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish. 11 But the nation that shall bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, that nation will I let remain in their own land, saith Jehovah; and they shall till it, and dwell therein. 12 And I spake to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. 13 Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Jehovah hath spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, (We're going to hear a rash of this stuff, how this is not going to continue, that it's all going to be turned around. We've already heard these false prosperity prophets speaking lies about the things that are coming. All the peace and the prosperity and the blessings. I believe the blessings will be gone after NESARA provides to get the Gospel out. And yet, these are the same people who will rebel.) saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you. 15 For I have not sent them, saith Jehovah, but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that ye may perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you. Those who rebel are going to receive this judgment. But God said that He was going to bless and preserve, and He was going to give a heart to the people who did not rebel to know Him - the good figs. He called Hezekiah, his leadership, and Zedekiah's people the bad figs. They were going to be swept from nation to nation under the judgment of God until they perished from off the face of the earth. When God's people get stubborn and rebellious against His Word, He raises up a beast to chasten them, to bring them to humility, to turn them back to the Lord, and when He's through doing His sanctifying work on them, then He turns on that beast and destroys it. God separates the harlot from the true church through persecution. When He's through doing that, then He destroys the harlot by the beast. They think, “We're God's people. God's on our side. We'll fly away.” Well, no, He wasn't, because they were rebelling. How many apostate religious people do you know who sincerely believe that they're the people of God, but ignore the Word of God to trust a preacher who doesn't agree with the full Gospel? You can share the Word of God with them, and they will still ignore it, because they're self-willed. God knows what He's doing. If He tells us to submit, and to turn the other cheek, to love your enemy, to do good to them that spitefully use you, then we have to obey Him. That's what our cross is all about. Some people are not willing to give up their carnal life to gain their Godly life, which Jesus commanded us.

Sande is a mother, grandmother, wife, aunt, and sister from the steep seaside cliffs in Southern California. She is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith grassroots international organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 22nd year. Sande is actively engaged in leadership in the peace, interfaith, compassion, community building, and women's empowerment sectors. ​ Sande served on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of The World's Religions, developing and producing the first-ever Women's Village at the 2023 conference. She founded and served as Director for the international organization The Charter For Compassion's Women and Girls sector, creating the 9th sector of the international organization focused on compassion.  She served as Chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and is also the Founder of Compassionate California, which recently became established into law by the governor's office as the first Compassionate State in the world.    Sande has conducted countless workshops and produced major and smaller events in more than seven countries, presented on panels in universities, global and local organizations, and city and state-level institutions.  Sande is currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Archives for Claremont Colleges in California. Sande will barter for chocolate.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-x-zone-radio-tv-show--1078348/support.Please note that all XZBN radio and/or television shows are Copyright © REL-MAR McConnell Meda Company, Niagara, Ontario, Canada – www.rel-mar.com. For more Episodes of this show and all shows produced, broadcasted and syndicated from REL-MAR McConell Media Company and The 'X' Zone Broadcast Network and the 'X' Zone TV Channell, visit www.xzbn.net. For programming, distribution, and syndication inquiries, email programming@xzbn.net.We are proud to announce the we have launched TWATNews.com, launched in August 2025.TWATNews.com is an independent online news platform dedicated to uncovering the truth about Donald Trump and his ongoing influence in politics, business, and society. Unlike mainstream outlets that often sanitize, soften, or ignore stories that challenge Trump and his allies, TWATNews digs deeper to deliver hard-hitting articles, investigative features, and sharp commentary that mainstream media won't touch.These are stories and articles that you will not read anywhere else.Our mission is simple: to expose corruption, lies, and authoritarian tendencies while giving voice to the perspectives and evidence that are often marginalized or buried by corporate-controlled media

Is your communication relationship-enhancing or relationship-destroying?...Dr. Whitney is a global social entrepreneur. She is the founder of Corporation for Positive Change, a global consulting cooperative; co-founder of the Taos Institute, an international think tank dedicated to relational processes in business, education, families and communities; and a founding advisor to the United Religions Initiative, a global network of interfaith cooperation circles working for peace and social justice. Diana is a prolific, provocative, and practical author. Her award-winning books on Appreciative Leadership and Appreciative Inquiry, the revolutionary process she helped to develop, have been translated into over a dozen languages and are used as textbooks in business schools, universities, and corporate learning centers around the world. As a master consultant, Dr. Whitney's work spans the globe. Diana consults with executives and their teams in support of strategic planning and organization development, organization culture creation and transformation, and leadership capacity building. Diana serves as Distinguished Consulting Faculty with Saybrook University, and a Ph.D. advisor with the Taos Institute. She is Expert Faculty for the NCR Picker Patient Centered Care Institute and a Fellow of the World Business Academy.Today, Abbie and Diana explore Appreciative Inquiry as focusing on what we do when we are at our best; Positive Change as a process for shifting narratives, not people; and Appreciative Leadership as an implicitly relational process....Stories Lived. Stories Told. is created, produced & hosted by Abbie VanMeter.Stories Lived. Stories Told. is an initiative of the CMM Institute for Personal and Social Evolution....Music for Stories Lived. Stories Told. is created by Rik Spann....⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Explore all things Stories Lived. Stories Told. here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Explore all things CMM Institute here.

Sande is a mother, grandmother, wife, aunt, and sister from the steep seaside cliffs in Southern California. She is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith grassroots international organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 22nd year. Sande is actively engaged in leadership in the peace, interfaith, compassion, community building, and women's empowerment sectors. ​ Sande served on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of The World's Religions, developing and producing the first-ever Women's Village at the 2023 conference. She founded and served as Director for the international organization The Charter For Compassion's Women and Girls sector, creating the 9th sector of the international organization focused on compassion.  She served as Chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and is also the Founder of Compassionate California, which recently became established into law by the governor's office as the first Compassionate State in the world.    Sande has conducted countless workshops and produced major and smaller events in more than seven countries, presented on panels in universities, global and local organizations, and city and state-level institutions.  Sande is currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Archives for Claremont Colleges in California. Sande will barter for chocolate.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-x-zone-radio-tv-show--1078348/support.

Sande is a mother, grandmother, wife, aunt, and sister from the steep seaside cliffs in Southern California. She is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith grassroots international organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 22nd year. Sande is actively engaged in leadership in the peace, interfaith, compassion, community building, and women's empowerment sectors. ​ Sande served on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of The World's Religions, developing and producing the first-ever Women's Village at the 2023 conference. She founded and served as Director for the international organization The Charter For Compassion's Women and Girls sector, creating the 9th sector of the international organization focused on compassion.  She served as Chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and is also the Founder of Compassionate California, which recently became established into law by the governor's office as the first Compassionate State in the world.    Sande has conducted countless workshops and produced major and smaller events in more than seven countries, presented on panels in universities, global and local organizations, and city and state-level institutions.  Sande is currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Archives for Claremont Colleges in California. Sande will barter for chocolate.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-x-zone-radio-tv-show--1078348/support.

A Thousand Kisses: A Family's Escape From the Nazis to a New Life by John W. WeiserIntimate and harrowing, this memoir of love, escape and redemption is a rich account of the Weiser family's life and flight from Nazi Vienna to Hungary to Brazil and to the U.S. It will keep the reader glued to a narrative that skillfully recreates the palpable tension of multiple escapes. A Thousand Kisses is at once instructive about a family's courage and determination to stay together and about the dangers of remaining silent while a government tightens immigration laws and promotes racial scapegoating.A  graduate of Holy Cross College and Harvard law school, Weiser was a partner in the Wall Street law firm of Shearman & Sterling. Afer 20 years there, he accepted an offer to become the General Counsel of Bechtel Group Inc., an international engineering construction company. On retirement Weiser joined the board of the Graduate Theological Union, a consortium of nine seminaries of different religions. He eventually served as Chairman of the Board for eight years, the maximum allowed. Then Weiser joined United Religions Initiative, the world's largest grassroots interfaith organization. There he served as Chair of the President's Council, a senior advisory group. Weiser and his wife Maria had nine children. They have 12 grandchildren. Maria died of cancer and Weiser later married Sue Cony, an old friend. They live in Dominican Oaks, a retirement community in Santa Cruz CA.https://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Kisses-Familys-Escape-Nazis/dp/1978318073/ref=monarch_sidesheet_titlehttps://www.ecpublishingllc.com/http://www.bluefunkbroadcasting.com/root/twia/101024jwec.mp3  

Sande is a mother, grandmother, wife, aunt, and sister from the steep seaside cliffs in Southern California. She is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith grassroots international organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 22nd year. Sande is actively engaged in leadership in the peace, interfaith, compassion, community building, and women's empowerment sectors. ​ Sande served on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of The World's Religions, developing and producing the first-ever Women's Village at the 2023 conference. She founded and served as Director for the international organization The Charter For Compassion's Women and Girls sector, creating the 9th sector of the international organization focused on compassion.  She served as Chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and is also the Founder of Compassionate California, which recently became established into law by the governor's office as the first Compassionate State in the world.    Sande has conducted countless workshops and produced major and smaller events in more than seven countries, presented on panels in universities, global and local organizations, and city and state-level institutions.  Sande is currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Archives for Claremont Colleges in California. Sande will barter for chocolate.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-x-zone-radio-tv-show--1078348/support.

My guest this week is Sande Hart. Sande is a mother, grandmother, wife, aunt, and sister from the steep seaside cliffs in Southern California. She is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith grassroots international organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 22nd year. Sande is actively engaged in leadership in the peace, interfaith, compassion, community building, and women's empowerment sectors. Sande served on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of The World's Religions, developing and producing the first-ever Women's Village at the 2023 conference. She founded and served as Director for the international organization The Charter For Compassion's Women and Girls sector, creating the 9th sector of the international organization focused on compassion. She served as Chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and is also the Founder of Compassionate California, which recently became established into law by the governor's office as the first Compassionate State in the world.    Sande has conducted countless workshops and produced major and smaller events in more than seven countries, presented on panels in universities, global and local organizations, and city and state-level institutions. Sande is currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Archives for Claremont Colleges in California. Sande will barter for chocolate.Link to purchase her book, Liminal Odyssey https://www.liminalodyssey.com/online-store Rev. Wendy Silvers Rev. Wendy Silvers helps moms embody their power, raise healthy, empowered kids and lead with love and vision.  She is a Mom, Minister, Spiritual Teacher and Sacred Activist.     Nicknamed 'Mama Wendy' by her clients, she is known for her keen intuitive wisdom and honesty, fierce dedication to moms, children and families thriving, and, freedom. She is the founder of the Million Mamas Movement, creator of The Awakened Mother TM series, host of The Awakened Mother Show and a co-author of the International bestselling book, Balance for Busy Moms.  Her next book will be published in Spring 2025. Connect with Rev. Wendy Email: ⁠⁠hello@wendysilvers.com⁠⁠ The Awakened Mother Show: Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/39GUrXsQBJlpf3JFvLQu1n⁠⁠ Follow Rev. Wendy on socials: Ig: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/revwendysilvers⁠⁠ Ig: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/millionmamasmovement⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/mamawendysilvers⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/revwendysilvers⁠⁠ YouTube LIVE: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MamaWendy/stream⁠⁠ Power Prayers ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/power-prayer-with-Rev-Wendy⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wendysilvers/message

Sande Hart is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith international grassroots organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope). On the morning of 911, Sande had the instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred. S.A.R.A.H. is now in its 20th year. Sande founded and served as director of Charter for Compassion's Women and Girls sector, served as chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America, and serves on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of World's Religions. She's currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Library of Claremont Colleges. Her book “The Liminal Odyssey: The Alchemical Power Of The Spaces In-Between” explores the transformative power of the space between crisis and action with synchronicities and possibilities for creativity.

Like the readers she attracts, Sande Hart is a seeker. As she shares, in the introduction to The Liminal Odyssey, "I figure, this is just an idea that has been floating in the Universe, waiting to bump into, and burrow into someone who was a perfect specimen, with a combination of life experience, suffering, wild adventures and insight; one who felt this exploration as a bigger responsibility to ride, and/or follow until it became meaningful. Once it identified me as a ripe recipient, it picked up speed and accelerated in my direction. As this concept was hurtling through space, it collected particles of other philosophies and wisdom, from those I have personally had the privilege to bump into in  Sande Hart is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith international grassroots organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 20th year. She founded and served as director of Charter for Compassion's Women & Girls sector, served as chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and serves on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of World's Religions. She is also the founder of Compassionate California. Sande is currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Library of Claremont Colleges.  Sande Hart joins to talk about the Alchemical Power of Fear  The Liminal Odyssey 

Can the space between crisis and action offer new possibilities for creativity? Tune in Tuesday, December 6th at 3pm PST/ 6pm EST for an inspiring discussion with Sande Hart on her new #book The Liminal Odyssey: The Alchemical Power of The Spaces In-Between.#MomentsWithMarianne with host Marianne Pestana airs every Tuesday at 3PM PST / 6PM EST and every Friday at 10AM PST/ 1PM EST in the Southern California area on #KMET1490AM & 98.1 FM, ABC Talk News Radio affiliate! Not in the area? Click here to listen! https://tunein.com/radio/KMET-1490-s33999/Sande Hart is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith international grassroots organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 20th year. She founded and served as director of Charter for Compassion's Women and Girls sector, served as chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and serves on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of World's Religions. She is also the founder of Compassionate California. Sande is currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Library of Claremont Colleges. https://www.sandehart.com For more show information visit:www.MariannePestana.com#bookclub #readinglist #books #bookish #healing #MariannePestana #author #authorinterview #nonfiction #kmet1490am #SandeHart #theliminalodssey

 In this episode I speak with Georgette Bennett and Jerry White, co-authors of, "Religicide: Confronting the Roots of Anti-Religious Violence." Georgette founded the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding to combat religious prejudice, Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees and co-founded Global Covenant Partners. Jerry leads the United Religions Initiative (uri.org) – the world's largest grassroots interfaith network promoting peace and shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Their through lines have been two lifetimes of bringing peace to the world. https://www.amazon.com/Religicide-Confronting-Roots-Anti-Religious-Violence/dp/1637581017/

How's your Odyssey going? Have you ever called your life and Odyssey? How about a liminal Odyssey? If you're wondering what a liminal Odyssey is? I have the perfect guest on today to share all about it from her recent released book, the liminal Odyssey, the alchemical power of the spaces in between.Her name is Sande Hart and she is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith international grassroots organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 20th year. She founded and served as director of Charter for Compassion's Women and Girls sector, served as chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and serves on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of World's Religions. She is also the founder of Compassionate California. Sande is currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Library of Claremont Colleges.Insights to add to your spiritual toolbox from this episode:1. Calling your life an odyssey2. What is liminal?3. Uncharted new territories4. DNA rearranged after 9115. Interfaith activist and SARAH6. Power the feminine holds7. Remembering who we are8. Bodies following our heart9. Heartmath10. Message from the 13 Indigenous GrandmothersSande's Website, Facebook, TheLiminalOdysseyFacebookGroup, SARAH4hopeFacebookgroup, HartPeaceLoveTwitter, Twitter, LinkedInHoliday season 2022. It is here and it is time to share some enthusiastic vibes with those you love. Head over to the TNT SpiritWorks Enthusiastically Spiritual Merch shop and pick up some great gifts for yourself and others. Use the code ESP25 to take 25% off your whole first order. Happy Holidays! Are you looking for an all natural, lab tested, high quality products to help with your chronic pain, improve sleep and reduce stress? Then you will love the CBD products from Feel Good Hemp. Check out the link to the Feel Good Hemp Shop and use the code tnt25 to get 25 % off your first order.Support the show"Life is too short to not be enthusiastic about YOUR UNIQUE JOURNEY!"Need support for YOUR UNIQUE JOURNEY?Then check out: Spiritual coaching sessionshttps://tntspiritworks.com/beginning-spiritual-coaching/MERCH shop for inspiring gifts to give to others or for yourselfhttps://merch.tntspiritworks.com/UPCOMING events https://tntspiritworks.com/spiritual-events/

Would you like to explore the transformative power of the space between Crisis and Action? Are you ready to realize the gems of creativity within to help you move on from old problems, beliefs, and myths to experience your Highest Self? If your answer is YES, Join Sande Hart and me on Wednesday, November 9th, from 10 - 11 A.M. Central Time U.S. Our conversation is about her remarkable life journey and her latest book, The Liminal Odyssey - The Alchemical Power of the Spaces In-Between. Sande Hart is an award-winning leader in women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women!s interfaith, international grassroots organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 20th year. Sande founded and served as director of Charter for Compassion's Women and Girls sector, served as chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America, and currently serves on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of World's Religions. She is also the founder of Compassionate California. Sande is presently being inducted into the Women!s Oral History Library of Claremont Colleges. In The Liminal Odyssey, Sande combines true stories and lessons from her life with practical wisdom to inspire readers on their journey. She details how we can alchemize our life's journey with the 12 skills she deems foundational. They include the art of listening, forgiveness, grace, cultivation of synchronicities, and trust. These skills, among others, provide the tools and lay the groundwork for a paradigm shift, allowing us to explore the gifts that exist in the everyday.

Imagine being invited on a grand life adventure that transforms the mundane to the extraordinary and the lulls to a playground brimming with profound insight. This is what materializes when you visit the spaces in-between, where you'll discover wisdom filtering through the interstices of your life's stories. In The Liminal Odyssey, Sande Hart invites readers to step into, not over, the thresholds of their daily lives to explore the transformative power of the space between crisis and action. Sande Hart is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building.She founded the women's interfaith international grassroots organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 20th year. She founded and served as director of Charter for Compassion's Women and Girls sector, served as chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and serves on the Women!s Task Force for The Parliament of World!s Religions. She is also the founder of Compassionate California. Sande is currently being inducted into the Women!s Oral History Library of Claremont Colleges. More about Sande Hart  More about The Liminal Odyssey ~ The Alchemical Power of the Spaces In-Between  

Sande Hart is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She is the President of the Women's Interfaith global organization S.A.R.A.H., (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) now in its 19th year. Sande served in leadership as Chair for the North American region of the United Religions Initiative, Founder of Compassionate California, and developed and served as Director for the Women and Girls sector for the Charter for Compassion. She recently released her book, The Liminal Odyssey, Alchemical Power of the Spaces In-Between. Sande is currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Archives of Claremont Colleges. Above all, Sande is a mother, grandmother, wife, aunt, and sister from Southern California. Long Sande Hart is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith international grassroots organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 20th year. Sande is actively engaged in leadership in the peace, interfaith, compassion, indigenous peoples, community building and women's empowerment sectors. She founded and served as director for the international organization Charter For Compassion's Women and Girls sector, served as Chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of World's Religions. She is also the Founder of Compassionate California, which recently became established into law as the first Compassionate State in the world by the governor's office. Sande is currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Library of Claremont Colleges. Sande has conducted countless workshops and produced major and smaller events in more than seven countries, presented on panels in universities, global and local organizations, and city and state level institutions including a historic project at a women's prison. She has also had the honor of offering keynote addresses and currently presents regularly on podcasts and social media webinar platforms. Sande is currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Archives for Claremont Colleges in California. She recently released her book, The Liminal Odyssey, Alchemical Power of the Spaces In-Between.

What about the dog? Join me and my guest, Sande Hart, an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building and author of "The Liminal Odyssey", What is the psychology behind liminal spaces - the space between “what was” and “what's next”? The Liminal Space is a threshold to the unknown and frightening though it might be, it is also the passage to unknown growth and potential. The better we can tolerate and negotiate the anxiety associated with the liminal space – the better we can change it from a place of peril to a place of potential. She founded the women's interfaith international grassroots organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 9/11 on an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred...it's now in its 20th year. She also founded and served as director of Charter for Compassion's Women and Girls sector, served as chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and serves on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of World's Religions. Sande is currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Library of Claremont Colleges. We also talk about the dog. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tokens, secret doorways, and pearls of wisdom fall at our feet on our life's journey. We often dismiss these as mundane or don't notice them at all. Sande Hart believes that the liminal space … the spaces in-between … is where transformative wisdom and deep insight reside. She invites us to find the extraordinary in the mundane, and tap into wisdom in the synchronicities and messages of our pauses. Sande will share practical ways we can alchemize our lives through the power of these spaces. Sande Hart is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith international grassroots organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual and Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 20th year. She founded and served as director of Charter for Compassion's Women and Girls sector, served as chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and serves on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of World's Religions. She is also the founder of Compassionate California. Sande is being inducted into the Women's Oral History Library of Claremont Colleges. She is the author of The Liminal Odyssey: The Alchemical Power of the Spaces In Between. Find out more at sandehart.com.

Tokens, secret doorways, and pearls of wisdom fall at our feet on our life's journey. We often dismiss these as mundane or don't notice them at all. Sande Hart believes that the liminal space … the spaces in-between … is where transformative wisdom and deep insight reside. She invites us to find the extraordinary in the mundane, and tap into wisdom in the synchronicities and messages of our pauses. Sande will share practical ways we can alchemize our lives through the power of these spaces. Sande Hart is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith international grassroots organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual and Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 20th year. She founded and served as director of Charter for Compassion's Women and Girls sector, served as chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and serves on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of World's Religions. She is also the founder of Compassionate California. Sande is being inducted into the Women's Oral History Library of Claremont Colleges. She is the author of The Liminal Odyssey: The Alchemical Power of the Spaces In Between. Find out more at sandehart.com.

https://www.liminalodyssey.com/ The Liminal Odyssey The Alchemical Power of The Spaces In-Between Sande is a mother, grandmother, wife, aunt, and sister from the steep seaside cliffs in Southern California. She is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith grassroots international organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 19th year.Sande is actively engaged in leadership in the peace, interfaith, compassion, community building and women's empowerment sectors.​ Sande serves on the Women's Task Force for The Parliament of The World's Religions, and founded and served as Director for the international organization The Charter For Compassion's Women and Girls sector. She served as Chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and is also the Founder of Compassionate California, which recently became established into law by the governor's office as the first Compassionate State in the world. Sande has conducted countless workshops and produced major and smaller events in more than seven countries, presented on panels in universities, global and local organizations, and city and state level institutions. Sande is currently being inducted into the Women's Oral History Archives for Claremont Colleges in California.Sande will barter for chocolate. The Problem Of Women In America SARAH Blog Post What is a Compassionate City? The Excellence Reporter Partnership in Action The Alchemic Power of Circle The Center for Partnership Studies Hearing the Voices of Women and Girls Empower Radio Let Them Eat Cake Compassion Games Collaboration, Cooperation, Coopitition The Interfaith Observer Celebrating 10 Years of SARAH The Interfaith Observer Love The Hell Out of This Place with Rev. Jim Lee Archived Talks on The Shift Network World Peace Library Archived Publications on The Interfaith Observer The Shift Network's World Peace Library collection of podcasts​ Select Global Presentations​ "Compassion 101" Parliament of the World's Religions, Toronto Addressing 600 High School Students on the power of Compassion and understanding the Charter For Compassion​ Fuji Declaration Symposium “Co-creating a World in Harmony and Balance” United Nations University, Tokyo​ The Alchemy of Women's Collective Wisdom and Power 200 Women in circle, Toronto, Canada ​United Nations Commission on the Status of Women New York, NY​ ​Compassionate Community Building with International The Charter For Compassion ​Dialogo Multi-cultural Conference Guadalajara, Mexico ​Alchemy of Our Collective Wisdom and Power​ ​Compassion Literacy/Compassion101 Cities of Compassion/ The Grace-Full Power of Compassionate Community Building​. ​​ Youth Empowerment This workshop is ideal for Girls, Youth and Community Organizers and anyone wanting to maximize their community service goals. Considered the most essential focus of today's world, impressing upon your next current generation their role in their community, how to identify their calling, how to see their neighbor as an ally and how absolutely amazing they are is essential in our world today. Sande's book, Make A Difference 101, Community Service; A Practical Step-by-Step Guide for Kids launched a entire speaking and dynamic workshop program. Just given the simple tools, stories, and universal systems of looking at themselves and the world around them through the lens of compassion, youth ages 9-99 walk out of these workshops taller, inspired by their own creativity, and ready to go out and make the world a better place.​​

Imagine being invited on a grand life adventure that transforms the mundane to the extraordinary and the lulls to a playground brimming with profound insight. This is what materializes when you visit the spaces in-between, where you'll discover wisdom filtering through the interstices of your life's stories. In The Liminal Odyssey, Sande Hart invites readers to step into, not over, the thresholds of their daily lives to explore the transformative power of the space between crisis and action. Sande Hart is an award-winning leader in the fields of women's empowerment and interfaith community building. She founded the women's interfaith international grassroots organization S.A.R.A.H. (The Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) the morning of 911, an instinct to gather women of diverse faiths to protect all that they consider sacred, now in its 20th year. She founded and served as director of Charter for Compassion's Women and Girls sector, served as chair for the United Religions Initiative for North America and serves on the Women!s Task Force for The Parliament of World!s Religions. She is also the founder of Compassionate California. Sande is currently being inducted into the Women!s Oral History Library of Claremont Colleges. More about Sande Hart  More about The Liminal Odyssey ~ The Alchemical Power of the Spaces In-Between    

If you've ever wondered who you really are, why you're here, and what you could do to make a difference in the world, then do have the discover your greatness and change the world show for you.   Today we're joined by Audrey Kitagawa, JD, the current chair of the UN Task Force and the Programmatic Areas Standing Committee of the Parliament of the World's Religions, the United Nations Representative for the United Religions Initiative, and Chair Emerita of the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns.   We talk all about discovering our own spirituality and greatness, and how we can make a true difference in our own lives, and the entire world.     Key Points Discussed:  What we can do to discover/re-discover our true divine nature Floating on the ceiling incident in Elementary school The cry baby who became a lawyer and the experience that transformed her from within Who was she referring to, who are the two masters that you were serving? The wind of the divine and how it knocked her diploma off the wall Being open and receptive to whatever direction the divine will dictates The possibility of making a bad decision while on a sacred journey The art of being able to have the acuity to be able to change with life experiences so we don't become rigidified The healing power of humor and going to the upper room What does it mean to work with the light? Cultivating the inner essence within us that is deeply connected to the divine The importance of love versus the importance of forgiveness (and self-forgiveness) How important is compassion today and what have you learned from working with children in armed conflict? What's wrong with the words “Just a kid”? Is there a way to make a conscious choice to view the world in a different way? We are perfect children of God, immortal, eternal, and already in God's light   Visit: https://www.lightofawareness.org/   To find out more visit: https://amzn.to/3qULECz - Order Michael Sandler's book, "AWE, the Automatic Writing Experience" www.automaticwriting.com  https://inspirenationshow.com/ ……. Follow Michael and Jessica's exciting journey and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access. Go to https://www.patreon.com/inspirenation   For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: https://inspirenationshow.com/   We've got NEW Merch! - https://teespring.com/stores/inspire-nation-store   Follow Inspire Nation, and the lives of Michael and Jessica, on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/InspireNationLive/   Find us on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@inspirenationshow 

This podcast was produced in cooperation with URI: United Religions Initiative.Social justice champion, San Francisco Bay Area Interfaith leader, and first Global Council Chair of United Religions Initiative, Rita Semel has spent most of her life building bridges between diverse religious and ethnic communities. Rita is a leading voice in rallying people against discrimination in San Francisco and across the world. Religica Co-Founder Michael Reid Trice had an opportunity to speak with Rita about finding fulfillment through repairing the world. Take a listen!More from URI at https://uri.orgThe Religica Theolab is now at home at The Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement at Seattle UniversityMore from The Religica Theolab at https://religica.orgMore from The Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement at Seattle University at https://www.seattleu.edu/thecenter/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Religica.org/Twitter: https://twitter.com/religicaYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPuwufds6gAu2u6xmm8SBuwSoundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-religicaSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3CZwIO4uGP1voqiVpYdMas?si=0k2-TSmwTkuTQC2rgdGObQApple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/religica/id1448005061?mt=2The Religica Theolab is a comprehensive online platform at the axis of religion and society that provides non-sectarian, coherent, integrated and accessible awareness about the role of religion in society, with a focus on strengthening local communities.

This podcast was produced in cooperation with URI: United Religions Initiative.Social justice champion, San Francisco Bay Area Interfaith leader, and first Global Council Chair of United Religions Initiative, Rita Semel has spent most of her life building bridges between diverse religious and ethnic communities. Rita is a leading voice in rallying people against discrimination in San Francisco and across the world. Religica Co-Founder Michael Reid Trice had an opportunity to speak with Rita about finding fulfillment through repairing the world. Take a listen!More from URI at https://uri.orgThe Religica Theolab is now at home at The Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement at Seattle UniversityMore from The Religica Theolab at https://religica.orgMore from The Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement at Seattle University at https://www.seattleu.edu/thecenter/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Religica.org/Twitter: https://twitter.com/religicaYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPuwufds6gAu2u6xmm8SBuwSoundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-religicaSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3CZwIO4uGP1voqiVpYdMas?si=0k2-TSmwTkuTQC2rgdGObQApple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/religica/id1448005061?mt=2The Religica Theolab is a comprehensive online platform at the axis of religion and society that provides non-sectarian, coherent, integrated and accessible awareness about the role of religion in society, with a focus on strengthening local communities.

“There is a lot of talking going on in the world right now. There is not a whole lot of listening. If we switched it around – more listening and less talking – we would see miracles.” – Kay Lindahl In a social zeitgeist that emphasizes talking, verbalizing, and presenting one’s self, Kay Lindahl has steadfastly worked to reverse this equation: since the early 1990s, she has been teaching people how to listen – a composite form of inner and outer listening with a deeply spiritual grain. Kay’s mission began around 1991 when she founded The Alliance for Spiritual Community (ASC), a grassroots interfaith organization creating dialogue among people of diverse faiths, cultures, and spiritual practices. Having recently relocated to a new community with her husband, she started ASC from their living room to bring a “strong spiritual presence” to her new community. Her decade-long work with ASC underscored for her that building peace and diversity in a true sense requires a reformation in how we communicate – beyond words, and through channels of our attention. And so unfolded the next chapter of her journey: supporting listening as a critical exercise not only across diverse faith, cultural, and other traditions but also as a sacred art in itself – a spiritual exercise that an individual undertakes in the interior of their being. To Kay, the inner and outer pieces of listening incorporate each other into what she terms an embodied “listening presence”. This kind of listening is a multi-dimensional practice that operates through listening to one’s body, soul, silence, life, heart, mind, emotions, and the earth. “Listening encompasses more than words,” she says. “It is a way of being in the world.” To Kay, sacred listening is an interface, a conduit between community and faith in its diverse forms. For the past twenty-four years, Kay has been working on stretching the collective and individual imagination about “listening” – what it offers when viewed as a spiritual art form, how it might re-shape community dialogue, and how best people might “prepare” to listen. This has been her marching orders, her living manifesto. In 1997, she started The Listening Center (TLC). She conducts workshops and retreats around the world on the art form of listening for religious, spiritual, community, campus, and business groups. Kay has authored several books including The Sacred Art of Listening, Practicing the Sacred Art of Listening and How Does God Listen?  The premise of her work and TLC is that listening is a creative force. It is at the heart of transforming relationships. Listening requires practice and teaching. But it goes beyond the mechanics and modalities. Listening is a form of “beingness” for Kay, an attuning with the present moment that arrives when space is prepared for it. This “listening presence” significantly differs from effective and performative types of listening – responsible, inter-cultural, productive, interdisciplinary types. Spiritual listening emerges from an inward-facing stillness and attentiveness that creates space from which we can listen across our differences. Listening is a choice. When one chooses to listen deeply, it sets in motion a recognition of the life force of another, and we find ourselves able to understand even those opining differently. Born into a community-oriented family of Scandinavian immigrants, Kay’s hands-on exposure to paying attention to and heeding the calls of the world outside of her began from within her family. As a child she witnessed her father in community leadership roles in fraternal organizations, and later serving on the city council in Jamestown, New York. He also hosted a weekly radio program in Swedish, serving the local immigrant population. The founding elements of her work and way of life lay also in her deep spiritual grounding. “Ever since I was a little girl I have had this sense of knowing. I felt connected to something I couldn’t describe.” The essence of her origin – a predisposition to serving and leading community – kept reappearing in myriad forms throughout her adult life. Her own journey has been a testament to her listening to the opportunities that showed up in her non-linear path. It took her from the role of a registered nurse, to running her own financial consultancy for seventeen years, to being a regional leader for La League Leche. In 1993 she attended the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago and heard theologian Hans Kung's statement – that there will be no peace among nations until there is peace among religions. She realized that there will be no peace among religions until there's dialogue among religions and that listening – to one another and to Source – is a key component of building a world of peace and harmony. A long-time member of the Episcopal Church, Kay became an ordained interfaith minister and a board member of The Interfaith Observer, the Rumi Educational Center, and Women of Spirituality and Faith (to bring more female voices into the spiritual community). She is a past Ambassador for the Parliament of the World's Religions, a past (founding) trustee of the Global Council for the United Religions Initiative, and Past Chair of the North American Interfaith Network. She also is a member of the Forge Guild for Spiritual Leaders and The International Listening Association. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is expanding her own understanding and practice of spiritual listening. The isolation and enhanced need for connection put the sacredness of listening in a unique context for Kay. She sees the inability to gather in person as an extension of the ongoing need for “finding ways to communicate differently”. Even while recognizing the hardships of the pandemic, she views this struggle as a fountainhead of opportunity for “learning to tune in to the hive – where we connect telepathically, without depending on time and space”. This is “a season of not knowing” -- when the answer to so many questions is I don’t know. She believes new grounds are opening to practice being present in the moment, to listen with patience. Kay lives in Long Beach, California, and enjoys keeping in touch with her seven children and ten grandchildren. Please join us in conversation with this gifted practitioner of the creative force of listening.

  We continue our global conversations with Deborah Muldow in this episode. Rev. Deborah Muldow has had an amazing journey from child TV actor to the Broadway stage to the United Nations and beyond. Deborah is founder of Garden of Light, a nonprofit for those aligned with emerging global spirituality.  Deborah served more than 20 years as representative to the United Nations group, “May Peace Prevail on Earth International.” She is also a founding member of the United Religions Initiative. She currently is director of Evolutionary Leaders, a project of the Source of Synergy Foundation. This group brings together visionaries from around the world committed to the acceleration of the conscious evolution of humanity. So you can see that our Presence connection with Deborah opens up a truly global conversation. It's time to take down the walls of religious separation and evolve into a new heaven and earth where the Spirit of God is the guiding principle of our identity. All of this is movement toward a greater manifestation of that which is all in all.  

How might we better understand and embrace diversity so that it leads to greater intercultural communication and empathy? In a world of so much challenge and conflict through division, what is the role of education to create peace?In today's episode, Louka speaks with Peter Mousaferiadis, an internationally recognised thought leader of culture as a driver of peace and innovation. Before founding Cultural Infusion in 2002, Peter had an extensive career in the arts as a creative director, producer, artistic director, music director, composer, and intercultural dialogue champion. He is an expert in intercultural understanding and has produced major intercultural productions for the United Nations, the Parliament of World Religions, and the United Religions Initiative. His latest initiative is Diversity Atlas, which provides deep insights into organisational workforce and unlock the potential of diversity.

“Bowing…can be considered a technology for changing one’s consciousness.  How will the world be better if I don’t change myself?” About a year after being ordained a Buddhist monk at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Talmage, California in 1976, Reverend Heng Sure undertook a walking pilgrimage along virtually the entire length of California’s coast, together with then-fellow Buddhist monastic Dr. Martin Verhoeven (formerly Heng Ch’au). The walking pilgrimage the pair embarked on consisted of taking “Three Steps, One Bow” throughout the 800-mile coastal journey on California's Highway 1, progressing at the pace of one mile per day. Maintaining a vow of total silence and eating only one meal a day, Rev. Heng Sure’s knees endured more than a million bends in the 2 years and 9 months of the journey, even bowing to gun-wielding men in three separate instances.  Much like the California landscape he encountered, the inner terrain traversed included both defilement and divine insight. The pilgrimage opened a humbling space of vulnerability and sensitivity where Heng Sure could closely observe how the microcosm of the self influences the macrocosm of the world, leading to a heightened awareness of how what he generated in the mind directly led to what manifested in the world -- how the more peaceful he became inside, the more peaceful the treatment he received from people on the outside.  Yet the pilgrimage never ended, initially extending for 3+ subsequent years of silent circumambulation of the Buddha Hall at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in the same three-steps-and-a-bow format, and then becoming a template and compass for a lifelong practice of inner and outer transformation that radiates through all he does -- across music, interfaith dialogue, vegan advocacy, Buddhist text translation, and lectures, seminars, and retreats around the world. His monastic name could be translated as “Constantly Real” or “Fruition of Truth”, and it's impossible to meet Rev. Heng Sure without feeling the living vibrancy of its meaning. Whether humbly and disarmingly sharing how his teacher chose his name, or strumming his guitar to a folk ballad he composed, his words often land as simultaneously light and deep, both precise and expansive at the same time. Now more than 45 years in robes, he’s the most senior western monastic disciple of the late Venerable Chan Master Hsuan Hua, though his journey to Buddhism began much earlier. Rev. Heng Sure was born Chistopher Russell Clowery to a Scotch-Irish Methodist family in Columbus, Ohio, growing up squarely in mainstream American culture "playing baseball and watching Mickey Mouse Club and gunfighter shows on television." At age 13, his aunt gave him a catalog of a Chinese painter’s exhibit, and the Chinese characters caught his eye, almost as if he’d seen them before. This sparked an interest in the Chinese language, which he was fortunate to learn in high school through one of the three such language programs in the country at public schools, which happened to be in Toledo where he lived. He soon happened upon the Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma-jewel, Platform Sutra in bilingual, Chinese-English translation, and realized that his heart was tuned to a Far Eastern faith tradition, not the Middle Eastern, Abrahamic stories of his parents’ generation. Following the Chinese language all the way through university, he received his Master’s degree from UC Berkeley in Oriental languages, which set the stage for meeting his teacher after a short collegiate career as a theater actor. A fortuitous call from a former college roommate encouraged him to cross the Bay Bridge to Gold Mountain Monastery in San Francisco where the abbot was lecturing on the Avatamsaka Sutra. Passing the threshold of the monastery doors, his doubts and fears about his political anti-war activism, academic career, and folk musical inclinations all melted away. He distinctly heard a quiet voice saying, “You’re back. Go to work. You’re home.” Master Hua, his eventual teacher, was a strict disciplinarian who taught Buddhism from its ethical foundations, emphasizing the importance of how you are as a person is equally important and in fact the very source of how you practice meditation. Inspired by the clarity and rigor of the teachings, as well as the example of other teachers in Master Hua’s lineage, Heng Sure asked for permission to go on a bowing and walking pilgrimage. Master Hua assented, but asked him to wait until his ‘dharma protector’ arrived. A year later, a martial artist named Martin Verhoeven arrived. Heng Sure recognized Martin’s desire and affinity to the pilgrimage, and took novice precepts and vows as a monastic to fulfill his role, armed only with the four weapons of a Bodhisattva: kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. “If either of you fights -- or even indulges in anger -- you will no longer be my disciples,” said their teacher before they began. Thus encouraged by his teacher to see everything as a test, Heng Sure recognized that if he could transform his own greed, anger, and delusions, then perhaps he could do something to make the world more peaceful. In essence, the bowing practice boiled down to cleaning up the part of the unpeaceful world that he could control: his own thoughts and words. It was a pilgrimage for world peace, starting with his own mind. The pilgrims maintained a written correspondence with their teacher where they intimately shared their experiences and insights, which were later compiled and published as Highway Dharma Letters: Two Buddhist Pilgrims Write to Their Teacher, a remarkable spiritual diary of the modern era. Rev. Heng Sure is the Managing Director of Berkeley Buddhist Monastery and an adjunct professor at Dharma Realm Buddhist University. He lectures worldwide on Buddhism, Buddhist texts, translation, meditation, interfaith dialogue, and plant-based eating. He serves as President of both Dharma Realm Buddhist Association and the Buddhist Text Translation Society. He’s fluent in Mandarin Chinese, French, and Japanese, and regularly leads lectures, seminars, and retreats around the globe including at the Parliament of World Religions. He’s a founding Trustee of the United Religions Initiative, a long-time trustee for the Interfaith Center at the Presidio, and on the core faculty of the Institute for World Religions. He also teaches Buddhist Philosophy at Bond University in Queensland, Australia. He earned a Ph.D. from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. A folk singer and guitarist who integrates his penetrating insights of reality with his “mainstream American” roots through the vehicle of song, Rev. Heng Sure has published three albums of original Buddhist folk music. His music and podcasts can be found at Dharma Radio, with his lectures available at DharmaRealm Live. His photography of the natural world can be found on his SmugMug site and Instagram @Rev.Heng Sure. A monk with many far-reaching talents, Rev. Heng Sure has been known to draw upon his puppeteering ability as skillful means to drive home fine points of the dharma. Join Nipun Mehta in a special conversation with this remarkably humble and insightful pilgrim.

“Bowing…can be considered a technology for changing one’s consciousness.  How will the world be better if I don’t change myself?” About a year after being ordained a Buddhist monk at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Talmage, California in 1976, Reverend Heng Sure undertook a walking pilgrimage along virtually the entire length of California’s coast, together with then-fellow Buddhist monastic Dr. Martin Verhoeven (formerly Heng Ch’au). The walking pilgrimage the pair embarked on consisted of taking “Three Steps, One Bow” throughout the 800-mile coastal journey on California's Highway 1, progressing at the pace of one mile per day. Maintaining a vow of total silence and eating only one meal a day, Rev. Heng Sure’s knees endured more than a million bends in the 2 years and 9 months of the journey, even bowing to gun-wielding men in three separate instances.  Much like the California landscape he encountered, the inner terrain traversed included both defilement and divine insight. The pilgrimage opened a humbling space of vulnerability and sensitivity where Heng Sure could closely observe how the microcosm of the self influences the macrocosm of the world, leading to a heightened awareness of how what he generated in the mind directly led to what manifested in the world -- how the more peaceful he became inside, the more peaceful the treatment he received from people on the outside.  Yet the pilgrimage never ended, initially extending for 3+ subsequent years of silent circumambulation of the Buddha Hall at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in the same three-steps-and-a-bow format, and then becoming a template and compass for a lifelong practice of inner and outer transformation that radiates through all he does -- across music, interfaith dialogue, vegan advocacy, Buddhist text translation, and lectures, seminars, and retreats around the world. His monastic name could be translated as “Constantly Real” or “Fruition of Truth”, and it's impossible to meet Rev. Heng Sure without feeling the living vibrancy of its meaning. Whether humbly and disarmingly sharing how his teacher chose his name, or strumming his guitar to a folk ballad he composed, his words often land as simultaneously light and deep, both precise and expansive at the same time. Now more than 45 years in robes, he’s the most senior western monastic disciple of the late Venerable Chan Master Hsuan Hua, though his journey to Buddhism began much earlier. Rev. Heng Sure was born Chistopher Russell Clowery to a Scotch-Irish Methodist family in Columbus, Ohio, growing up squarely in mainstream American culture "playing baseball and watching Mickey Mouse Club and gunfighter shows on television." At age 13, his aunt gave him a catalog of a Chinese painter’s exhibit, and the Chinese characters caught his eye, almost as if he’d seen them before. This sparked an interest in the Chinese language, which he was fortunate to learn in high school through one of the three such language programs in the country at public schools, which happened to be in Toledo where he lived. He soon happened upon the Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma-jewel, Platform Sutra in bilingual, Chinese-English translation, and realized that his heart was tuned to a Far Eastern faith tradition, not the Middle Eastern, Abrahamic stories of his parents’ generation. Following the Chinese language all the way through university, he received his Master’s degree from UC Berkeley in Oriental languages, which set the stage for meeting his teacher after a short collegiate career as a theater actor. A fortuitous call from a former college roommate encouraged him to cross the Bay Bridge to Gold Mountain Monastery in San Francisco where the abbot was lecturing on the Avatamsaka Sutra. Passing the threshold of the monastery doors, his doubts and fears about his political anti-war activism, academic career, and folk musical inclinations all melted away. He distinctly heard a quiet voice saying, “You’re back. Go to work. You’re home.” Master Hua, his eventual teacher, was a strict disciplinarian who taught Buddhism from its ethical foundations, emphasizing the importance of how you are as a person is equally important and in fact the very source of how you practice meditation. Inspired by the clarity and rigor of the teachings, as well as the example of other teachers in Master Hua’s lineage, Heng Sure asked for permission to go on a bowing and walking pilgrimage. Master Hua assented, but asked him to wait until his ‘dharma protector’ arrived. A year later, a martial artist named Martin Verhoeven arrived. Heng Sure recognized Martin’s desire and affinity to the pilgrimage, and took novice precepts and vows as a monastic to fulfill his role, armed only with the four weapons of a Bodhisattva: kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. “If either of you fights -- or even indulges in anger -- you will no longer be my disciples,” said their teacher before they began. Thus encouraged by his teacher to see everything as a test, Heng Sure recognized that if he could transform his own greed, anger, and delusions, then perhaps he could do something to make the world more peaceful. In essence, the bowing practice boiled down to cleaning up the part of the unpeaceful world that he could control: his own thoughts and words. It was a pilgrimage for world peace, starting with his own mind. The pilgrims maintained a written correspondence with their teacher where they intimately shared their experiences and insights, which were later compiled and published as Highway Dharma Letters: Two Buddhist Pilgrims Write to Their Teacher, a remarkable spiritual diary of the modern era. Rev. Heng Sure is the Managing Director of Berkeley Buddhist Monastery and an adjunct professor at Dharma Realm Buddhist University. He lectures worldwide on Buddhism, Buddhist texts, translation, meditation, interfaith dialogue, and plant-based eating. He serves as President of both Dharma Realm Buddhist Association and the Buddhist Text Translation Society. He’s fluent in Mandarin Chinese, French, and Japanese, and regularly leads lectures, seminars, and retreats around the globe including at the Parliament of World Religions. He’s a founding Trustee of the United Religions Initiative, a long-time trustee for the Interfaith Center at the Presidio, and on the core faculty of the Institute for World Religions. He also teaches Buddhist Philosophy at Bond University in Queensland, Australia. He earned a Ph.D. from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. A folk singer and guitarist who integrates his penetrating insights of reality with his “mainstream American” roots through the vehicle of song, Rev. Heng Sure has published three albums of original Buddhist folk music. His music and podcasts can be found at Dharma Radio, with his lectures available at DharmaRealm Live. His photography of the natural world can be found on his SmugMug site and Instagram @Rev.Heng Sure. A monk with many far-reaching talents, Rev. Heng Sure has been known to draw upon his puppeteering ability as skillful means to drive home fine points of the dharma. Join Nipun Mehta in a special conversation with this remarkably humble and insightful pilgrim.

Sande Hart is the Founding Director of the Charter for Compassion Women and Girls sector, Founder and President of the women’s interfaith organization S.A.R.A.H., Past Chair of the United Religions Initiative for North America, and co-Founder of Alchemy Productions. She is a Mother, Daughter, Wife, Sister and Aunt, and new grandmother! A certified Compassionate Integrity Trainer, Sande […]

How will inter-religious engagement stay relevant to Gen Z and beyond? What are the traps to avoid? How do we strike a balance between grassroots organizing and institutional engagement? Two leaders reflect on challenges and victories they’ve experienced in the interfaith movement. Tahil Sharma, based in Los Angeles, is regional coordinator with the United Religions Initiative, an international organization promoting grassroots interfaith efforts around the world. And Dr. Wolfgang Reinbold is an interfaith organizer with the Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church of Hannover, Germany, and one of the minds behind the House of Religions, an interfaith cultural center in the city. Learn more about: United Religions Initiative uri.org The House of Religions in Hannover Germany haus-der-religionen.de +++ Leave a Review! http://bit.ly/interfaithish Social: https://www.instagram.com/interfaithish/ https://www.facebook.com/interfaithish/ https://twitter.com/interfaithish Email: interfaithish@gmail.com

This is an especially good interview for anyone interested in Interfaith either personally or professionally. It contains valuable information for everyone from first time beginners, to seasoned interfaith veterans Robyn E. Lebron Writes in the arena of World Religion. Her books received the 2018 Best in class DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Award for Excellence in Religious Communication, given annually by Religion Communicators Council. Her book "Finding Common Ground between Science and Spiritually" was awarded the DeRose-Hinkhouse Award of Merit in 2019. She also was recognized internationally by The Books For Peace Commission 2019 for those who have distinguished themselves in the activities of peace and solidarity. Ms Lebron manages Interfaith Professionals on LinkedIn, with over 5,400 members, has written articles for United Religions Initiative, Harmony Interfaith Initiative, The Interfaith Observer. You can read along with a rough transcript of the interview here: --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/12gates/message

Many years ago, when Pope Francis was still the archbishop of Buenos Aires, California’s Bishop Bill Swing, was visiting that city. They talked of Bishop Swing’s dream of a United Religions Initiative and together gave the first interdenominational service at the Cathedral. Now, as Pope Francis, he carried that message of inclusiveness deep into the Muslim world at Ur, the birthplace of the prophet Abraham.

Sellena welcomes Byron Ballard to the show! H. Byron Ballard, BA, MFA, is a ritualist, teacher, speaker and writer. She has served as a featured speaker and teacher at Sacred Space Conference, Pagan Unity Festival, Southeast Women’s Herbal Conference and other gatherings. Her essays are featured in several anthologies, including “Birthed from Scorched Hearts“ (Fulcrum Press), “Christmas Presence“ (Catawba Press), “Women’s Voices in Magic” (Megalithica Books), “Into the Great Below” and “Skalded Apples” (both from Asphodel Press). She blogs as “Asheville’s Village Witch” (myvillagewitch.wordpress.com) and as The Village Witch for Witches and Pagans Magazine (witchesandpagans.com/The-Village-Witch). Byron is currently at work on “Earth Works: Eight Ceremonies for a Changing Planet”. She facilitates the Mountain Area Interfaith Forum in Asheville, NC and was active for many years in the United Religions Initiative. Other Links https://mothergrove.org/ https://wyrdmountaingals.podbean.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/crossroadsncauldrons/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/crossroadsncauldrons/support

Tahil Sharma is the Regional Coordinator for North America for the United Religions Initiative, the world's largest interfaith network. Tahil has been doing interfaith work for 8 years and has been continuously exploring the intersection of religion/spirituality with themes of human rights and social justice. He sits down to talk to us about his interfaith work, growing up as a Sikh/Hindu man in the United States, and what is demanded of someone who considers themselves to be religious. 

This podcast was produced in collaboration with URI: United Religions Initiative. Duncan Wielzen is the current URI Europe Chairperson. Mr. Wielzen is employed as a pastoral worker in the Roman Catholic diocese Rotterdam (Netherlands). He has MA degrees in Theology, Religious Studies (Intercultural Ministry), and Educational Studies. He also has a Ph.D. in Theology from Catholic University Leuven (Belgium). Mr. Wielzen works at the intersection of pastoral ministry and religious education, and is the Chief Editor of Interfaith Education for All: Theoretical Perspectives and Best Practices for Transformative Action (2017). Take a listen! More from URI at https://uri.org More from Religica at https://religica.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Religica.org/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/religica   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPuwufds6gAu2u6xmm8SBuw   Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-religica   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3CZwIO4uGP1voqiVpYdMas?si=0k2-TSmwTkuTQC2rgdGObQ   iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/religica/id1448005061?mt=2   Religica is a comprehensive online platform at the axis of religion and society that provides non-sectarian, coherent, integrated and accessible awareness about the role of religion in society, with a focus on strengthening local communities.  

This podcast was produced in collaboration with URI: United Religions Initiative.   The Rev. Victor Kazanjian leads URl's global grassroots interfaith peacebuilding network of over 1,000 groups working in more than 100 countries and at the United Nations to build bridges of cooperation between people of all beliefs and cultures. Co-Founder of Education as Transformation Inc., an international organization that works on religious diversity and spirituality in higher education, Victor is also an author, educator, recognized thought-leader and trainer in areas of intergroup dialogue, multicultural and interreligious understanding, conflict transformation, diversity and democracy, social justice, community organizing, and peacebuilding.  He holds degrees from the Episcopal Divinity School and Harvard University. Take a listen!   More from URI at https://uri.org   More from Religica at https://religica.org   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Religica.org/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/religica   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPuwufds6gAu2u6xmm8SBuw   Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-religica   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3CZwIO4uGP1voqiVpYdMas?si=0k2-TSmwTkuTQC2rgdGObQ   iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/religica/id1448005061?mt=2   Religica is a comprehensive online platform at the axis of religion and society that provides non-sectarian, coherent, integrated and accessible awareness about the role of religion in society, with a focus on strengthening local communities.

This podcast was produced in collaboration with URI: United Religions Initiative.   Mussie Hailu serves as the URI Director of Global Partnerships and URI Representative at the United Nations and African Union. Hailu considers himself a citizen of the world, working at numerous levels to promote peace and disarmament. Hailu previously served as a diplomat in the rank of Ambassador and Special Envoy of the President of Burundi. He is a founding member of United Religions Initiative. Take a listen!   More from URI at https://uri.org   More from Religica at https://religica.org   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Religica.org/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/religica   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPuwufds6gAu2u6xmm8SBuw   Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-religica   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3CZwIO4uGP1voqiVpYdMas?si=0k2-TSmwTkuTQC2rgdGObQ   iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/religica/id1448005061?mt=2   Religica is a comprehensive online platform at the axis of religion and society that provides non-sectarian, coherent, integrated and accessible awareness about the role of religion in society, with a focus on strengthening local communities.  

This chestnut was just found in the vault (or box, really). It's a cassette of 2 episodes from 1999. Please ignore all the promotion I do for the upcoming event that featured our guest Bishop William Swing. Feel free to FF through as much as you need. Perhaps I should have edited all that out. Perhaps, but who ever said I was that ambitious? Anyway, Bishop Swing is a very impressive person. If you have any interest in the interfaith movement you might find this of interest.

This podcast was produced in cooperation with URI: United Religions Initiative. Social justice champion, San Francisco Bay Area Interfaith leader, and first Global Council Chair of United Religions Initiative, Rita Semel has spent most of her life building bridges between diverse religious and ethnic communities. Rita is a leading voice in rallying people against discrimination in San Francisco and across the world. Religica Co-Founder Michael Reid Trice had an opportunity to speak with Rita about finding fulfillment through repairing the world. Take a listen!   More from URI at https://uri.org   More from Religica at https://religica.org   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Religica.org/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/religica   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPuwufds6gAu2u6xmm8SBuw   Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-religica   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3CZwIO4uGP1voqiVpYdMas?si=0k2-TSmwTkuTQC2rgdGObQ   iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/religica/id1448005061?mt=2   Religica is a comprehensive online platform at the axis of religion and society that provides non-sectarian, coherent, integrated and accessible awareness about the role of religion in society, with a focus on strengthening local communities.

Tahil Sharma is an interfaith activist based in Los Angeles who was born to a Hindu father and a Sikh mother who works as the North American Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative, the world's largest, grassroots interfaith network. Following the Oak Creek, WI shooting of a Sikh temple in 2012, Tahil became involved in efforts for interfaith literacy and social justice and has been doing this work professionally for the past seven years. Tahil serves as one of three Interfaith Ministers in Residence for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and as the Los Angeles Coordinator for Sadhana: A Coalition of Progressive Hindus. Tahil also serves various organizations in different capacities to educate, engage, and serve various communities that promote interfaith cooperation and ethical pluralism and social and productive norms in society including the Interfaith Youth Core, the Parliament of the World's Religions, The Guibord Center, and The Interreligious Council of Southern California. He is also a contributing author to books including Co-Human Harmony: Using Our Shared Humanity To Bridge Divides, Hindu Approaches to Spiritual Care: Chaplaincy in Theory and Practice, and Acting on Faith: Stories of Courage, Activism, and Hope Across Religions. Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/DnYgiwNF0zg Support this podcast

Tahil Sharma is an interfaith activist based in Los Angeles who was born to a Hindu father and a Sikh mother who works as the North American Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative, the world's largest, grassroots interfaith network. Following the Oak Creek, WI shooting of a Sikh temple in 2012, Tahil became involved in efforts for interfaith literacy and social justice and has been doing this work professionally for the past seven years. Tahil serves as one of three Interfaith Ministers in Residence for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and as the Los Angeles Coordinator for Sadhana: A Coalition of Progressive Hindus. Tahil also serves various organizations in different capacities to educate, engage, and serve various communities that promote interfaith cooperation and ethical pluralism and social and productive norms in society including the Interfaith Youth Core, the Parliament of the World's Religions, The Guibord Center, and The Interreligious Council of Southern California. He is also a contributing author to books including Co-Human Harmony: Using Our Shared Humanity To Bridge Divides, Hindu Approaches to Spiritual Care: Chaplaincy in Theory and Practice, and Acting on Faith: Stories of Courage, Activism, and Hope Across Religions. Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/DnYgiwNF0zg Support this podcast

This podcast is a collaboration between Religica and United Religions Initiative (URI).   Named one of "15 Faith Leaders to Watch" by the Center for American Progress, Rev. Jennifer Bailey is the Founder and Executive Director of the Faith Matters Network. An Ashoka Fellow, Aspen Ideas scholar on being fellow, and Truman scholar, Rev. Bailey's writing has appeared in Salon, The Huffington Post, Sojourners, and The Washington Post's "The Lily" publication. Take a listen.   More from United Religions Initiative at www.uri.org   More from Religica at www.religica.org   Facebook: www.facebook.com/Religica.org/   Twitter: twitter.com/religica   YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCPuwufds6gAu2u6xmm8SBuw   Soundcloud: @user-religica   Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/3CZwIO4uGP1…mwTkuTQC2rgdGObQ   iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/relig…d1448005061?mt=2   Religica is a comprehensive online platform at the axis of religion and society that provides non-sectarian, coherent, integrated and accessible awareness about the role of religion in society, with a focus on strengthening local communities.

I love a good serendipity story, and this is one of my favorites! Bill and my brother were both 20 minutes early, waiting for a store to open in San Francisco; they started chatting, talking about business and books — and next thing I know, I got a text saying that Bill and I had to meet. This is our first conversation, and I was riveted! Bishop William Swing is doing incredible work in the world — he is on a mission to build bridges between people and religions; helping people of (what seem to be) competing religious loyalties to discover each other and work together. The 20th anniversary of his organization, the United Religions Initiative, is in June, and he has over 1 million participants in over 1,000 interfaith cooperation circles. As Bill says, "If you’re really committed and you’re on the right track, the right person shows up at just the right time.” This mindset, and saying yes at every open door, led to meetings with the Pope, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, and many other religious leaders in his efforts to create the United Nations of religions. Happy Earth Day! I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did :) View full show notes from this episode at http://pivotmethod.com/195 What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask

Rico Ocampo was born in Morelos, Mexico and immigrated to United States in 1992. He is an undocumented/DACAmented community organizer and activist. He has engaged in local, statewide, and national platforms to advance advocacy and justice for homeless youth and immigrant communities. He serves as the Director for Camp Anytown's Social Justice and Leadership program. Through his decade of experience in youth development, he remains passionate about anti-racism work and amplifying youth voices. In addition, Rico also serves as the Youth and Programs Organizer for Make the Road Nevada, a non-profit organization that works with Latinx and working-class communities of color through policy innovation and transformative education. Rico spends his spare time volunteering for interfaith and peace building organizations like the United Religions Initiative where he serves on the URI North America Leadership Council and provides strategic direction and helps implement various programming and initiatives within the North America region. Connect with Rico online: FaceBook - Rico Ocampo Instagram - @ricoocampo_ Twitter - @ricoocampo_ Connect with Camp Anytown Las Vegas: FaceBook - Camp Anytown Instagram - @campanytownlasvegas Support this podcast

Rico Ocampo was born in Morelos, Mexico and immigrated to United States in 1992. He is an undocumented/DACAmented community organizer and activist. He has engaged in local, statewide, and national platforms to advance advocacy and justice for homeless youth and immigrant communities. He serves as the Director for Camp Anytown's Social Justice and Leadership program. Through his decade of experience in youth development, he remains passionate about anti-racism work and amplifying youth voices. In addition, Rico also serves as the Youth and Programs Organizer for Make the Road Nevada, a non-profit organization that works with Latinx and working-class communities of color through policy innovation and transformative education. Rico spends his spare time volunteering for interfaith and peace building organizations like the United Religions Initiative where he serves on the URI North America Leadership Council and provides strategic direction and helps implement various programming and initiatives within the North America region. Connect with Rico online: FaceBook - Rico Ocampo Instagram - @ricoocampo_ Twitter - @ricoocampo_ Connect with Camp Anytown Las Vegas: FaceBook - Camp Anytown Instagram - @campanytownlasvegas Support this podcast

If you've ever wondered who you really are, why you're here, and what you could do to make a difference in the world, then do have the discover your greatness and change the world show for you.   Today I'll be talking with Audrey Kitagawa, JD, the current chair of the UN Task Force and the Programmatic Areas Standing Committee of the Parliament of the World's Religions, the United Nations Representative for the United Religions Initiative, and Chair Emerita of the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns.   And that's just what I want to talk with her about today, about discovering our own spirituality and greatness, and how we can make a true difference in our own lives, and the entire world.     Key Points Discussed:  What we can do to discover/re-discover our true divine nature (03:30) Floating on the ceiling incident in Elementary school (04:30) The cry baby who became a lawyer and the experience that transformed her from within (06:00) Who was she referring to, who are the two masters that you were serving? (13:04) The wind of the divine and how it knocked her diploma off the wall (15:38) Being open and receptive to whatever direction the divine will dictates (20:40) The possibility of making a bad decision while on a sacred journey (25:12 ) The art of being able to have the acuity to be able to change with life experiences so we don't become rigidified (27:38) The healing power of humor and going to the upper room (30:20) What does it mean to work with the light? (34:43) Cultivating the inner essence within us that is deeply connected to the divine (36:55) The importance of love versus the importance of forgivessness (and self forgiveness) (40:14) How important is compassion today and what have you learned from working with children in armed conflict? (44:45) What's wrong with the words “Just a kid”? (49:11) Is there a way to make a conscious choice to view the world in a different way? (53:03) We are perfect children of God, immortal, eternal, and already in God's light (58:26)   Additional Resources: www.LightOfAwareness.org/   …….   For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: www.InspireNationShow.com   To support the show and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access, visit: www.Patreon.com/InspireNation And to follow Inspire Nation (and the lives of Michael and Jessica) on Instagram, go to www.instagram.com/inspirenationlive

SPEAKERS The Rev. Victor H. Kazanjian Jr. Executive Director, United Religions Initiative Rita Semel First Global Chair, United Religions Initiative The Rt. Rev. William E. Swing (Ret.) Founder and President, United Religions Initiative Michael Pappas Executive Director, San Francisco Interfaith Council—Moderator This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on October 25th, 2019.

Our distinguished panel will discuss the United Religions Initiative (URI), which was begun by Bishop William Swing in 1993 after he was invited by the United Nations (UN) to hold a large interfaith service to mark the UN's 50th anniversary. The URI envisions a world at peace sustained by a global grassroots interfaith network (known as cooperation circles) that cultivates peace and justice by engaging people to bridge religious and cultural differences. MLF Organizer: Celia Menczel MLF: Middle East In association with the San Francisco Interfaith Council Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Rev. Victor Kazanjian is the Executive Director of the United Religions Initiative (URI), a global grassroots interfaith peacebuilding network of more than 1,000 multifaith groups working in over 100 countries to build bridges of cooperation between people of all beliefs and cultures. Defying the conventional wisdom that issues of poverty, conflict and violence are best engaged by organizations with a heavy central infrastructure, URI’s decentralized, network-based, light-framed, shared leadership, relational organizational approach is giving people around the world the power to meet their challenges and build cohesive, connected and peaceful communities. “Peace and justice begin at the grassroots,” Victor says. “Cooperation Circles are the heart and soul of this organization, the foundation upon which a sustainable movement towards peace and justice can be built. Ultimately this effort requires work at all levels of society – local and national governments, public sector institutions such as education and social service, the private sector, and transnational organizations like the United Nations. But … while we strive to be active in all levels of peacebuilding, at its core, URI is a grassroots network.” Victor is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church and was trained as a community organizer working to address the systemic causes of poverty and injustice through the support of community-based groups. Prior to joining URI, Victor was an influential international voice addressing the spiritual lives of students, multicultural peacebuilding programs, and all manner of transformational education. He served as Dean of Intercultural Education & Religious and Spiritual Life and Co-Director of the Peace and Justice Studies Program at Wellesley College, where he “moved religious and spiritual life from the margins of the institution to a partner in implementing the college’s core educational goals” as well as invited “all people of all beliefs (theistic and non-theistic) to work together to build community at Wellesley.”  He also co-founded Education as Transformation Inc., an international organization that works on religious diversity and spirituality in higher education. Victor is an author, educator, recognized thought-leader and trainer in areas of intergroup dialogue, multicultural and interreligious understanding, conflict transformation, diversity and democracy, social justice, community organizing, and peacebuilding. He holds degrees from the Episcopal Divinity School and Harvard University, and is visiting faculty at the Malaviya Center for Peace Research at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India, where he served as Fulbright Professor of Peace and Justice Studies. “As a child, I grew up as one among many.  It was not unusual for me, when at my grandparents’ dinner table, to be surrounded by people of a wide variety of beliefs,” Victor described in a keynote address with Valarie Kaur to the 2018 Parliament of the World’s Religions. Victor’s grandfather, Harold Case, a progressive Methodist pluralist (before pluralism entered the interfaith lexicon), was Boston University’s president during Victor’s growing up years. President Case started an African Studies department at BU in 1953 and convinced Howard Thurman, the country’s first intentional interfaith minister, to leave San Francisco’s historic interfaith, interracial Church he’d helped found a decade earlier, to become Dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University. Victor remembers that Dr. Thurman turned out to be “like a wonderful member of our family” during his childhood and, in the long run, “the most important spiritual influence in my life.” “These were the civil rights days in the United States, and dinner table conversations at my grandparents inevitably included updates from the front lines,” Victor recalls. “Only later in life did I realize that those conversations had included visits from Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and, most frequently and most significantly for my life, Howard Thurman, … whose friendship with my grandparents left an indelible imprint on my life and shaped my understanding of religion in ways that continue to unfold.” As Victor noted in his 2018 keynote to the Parliament of the World’s Religions, “There is no place for exclusivism in religion or politics or in our world.  It has arguably been the single greatest source of suffering throughout history.  Religious exclusivism – the belief that my truth is the only truth – violates the core spiritual tenets of all beliefs.  The claim of exclusive knowledge of the truth is, in a religions sense, idolatry, in a political sense extremism, and in psychological sense narcissism.  In all these cases, exclusivism leads to the dehumanization and exclusion, not to love and inclusion.” His deep childhood grounding in celebrating “one among many” has led Victor to study and embody deeply Gandhian principles of pluralism and grassroots change.  Along with Gandhi’s grandson, he for many years led the Gandhian Legacy Tour to India and taught a January term class on “Grassroots Development, Conflict Resolution, and the Gandhian Legacy in India” while at Wellesley College. He also had the unique opportunity to teach about Gandhian perspectives on Diversity and Democracy at the Malaviya Centre for Peace Research at Benaras Hindu University while on a Fulbright.  Join us in conversation with this innovative, deeply committed, and transformational change agent!

Today on Extraordinary Women Radio, I'm honored to bring you Dr. Diana Whitney, a leading figure in the fields of Appreciative Inquiry and large scale change management. Diana recently launched her newest book Thriving Women, Thriving World: An Invitation to Dialogue, Healing and Inspired Actions, of which I was honored to contribute a short essay called, Circle of Women. I met Diana 10 years ago, when I working on my Certificate of Practice in Appreciative Inquiry – a positive psychology change management process – that I incorporate into all of my coaching programs, workshops, conferences and retreats. I love this model of working with the strengths of who we are – and building upon what is possible. Diana has been at the forefront of positive change theory and practice in the USA and world wide for three decades,  and it was such an honor to have her as a teacher/mentor, alongside Amanda Trosten Bloom – another one of my mentors in the Appreciative Inquiry field. Diana founded the international consultancy, Corporation for Positive Change and co-founded the social constructionist think tank, the Taos Institute. Her work, designing and facilitating strategic culture transformation, merger integration and leadership development with Fortune 100 companies, has gained her a worldwide following. Her clients include Novartis, Merck SA, British Airways, Sisters of Good Shephard, University of Virgina Health Systems and GTE (Verizon). She was a founding advisor to the global interfaith organization, the United Religions Initiative. Diana is a prolific and award winning author with twenty books and dozens of chapters and articles to her name, including The Power of Appreciative Inquiry; Appreciative Leadership; Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in Change; and Positive Approaches to Peacebuilding. With the launch of her newest book - Thriving Women, Thriving World.Today, Diana is  speaking around the world addressing gender inequality, sexism and intersectionality through an appreciative lens. This is a beautiful book is a delightful treasure chest of stories and artistry that helps raise up the conversations in our world around women empowerment. This book is an important resource to bring more self-love, connection and wisdom to women’s lives, creating a ripple effect on our world for positive good. Treat yourself to a copy on Amazon! Follow Dr. Diana Whitney on Facebook or Twitter or visit her websites Positivechange.org and TaosInstitute.net. Her book Thriving Women Thriving World: An Invitation to Dialogue, Healing, and Inspired Actions and her other books are available on Amazon! It is my pleasure to introduce you to Dr. Diana Whitney. Dr. Diana Whitney Show Notes  

Cafecito Break is back from their hiatus with Visionaries of Peace and Global Unity, Rick Ulfik, Andrew Kaen, and Paul Sladkus Rick Ulfik is the Founder of We, The World and the WE Campaign at WE.net. We, The World is a global coalition-building organization that annually connects and promotes thousands of socially conscious organizations and businesses to generate public awareness and action for peace, sustainability and transformation. Rick is the Co-Creator of the annual 11 Days of Global Unity - 11 Ways to Change the World. Launched in 2004 by We, The World and global partners, 11 Days of Global Unity is a platform for changemakers worldwide that annually includes as many as 700 associated events in over 60 countries. Participants have included Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall, Deepak Chopra, Eve Ensler, Daniel Ellsberg, Marianne Williamson, Ralph Nader, as well as Amnesty International, Oxfam America, United Religions Initiative, Earthdance, The Shift Network, The Compassion Games and many others. http://we.net Andrew Kaen is Founder and Executive Producer of Planet Heart’s annual world peace earth day celebration and a Events Coordinator of We, The World who was one of the Coordinators for the launch of 11 days of global unity in 2004. He is also a vibrational sound channel, singer/soulwriter and vibrational poet sharing his gifts to be a connector and transmitter for world peace, oneness and unconditional love, having been awakened to unity consciousness 22 years ago and activated with channeling, clairsentience clairaudience and receiving higher dimensional frequencies of galactic sound channeling, sacred chants, and sacred poetry all connected to oneness and peace. He is also an Ambassador For Peace. His name Andrew Kaen if scrambled is an ACRONYM spells ReAwakennd, which he feels is his true Soul Name to be ReAwakennd Andrew Kaen Re Awakening others to remember we are all one heart beat beating with earth mother Gaia and all her living creatures and plants. Paul Sladkus, who is an ordained Interfaith minister, environmentalist and humanitarian founded, Milestone Broadcast Corporation (MBC) in 1985. He has over 40 years in the communications industry where he helped companies like Sprint, IBM, US Postal Service, and Western Union… market to niche markets. Currently, MBC is involved with numerous network TV Projects, on travel, nonprofits, pets, a major project for 2017 with the “Respect for All” NYC Board of Education and schools worldwide tied into the UN International Day of Peace. Prior to MBC, Paul was an executive with CBS & PBS Television for fourteen years working on more than 150 television shows and series. Paul’s media credits include: Emmy’s for Love of Life on CBS, The Nature Series and The Brain Series on PBS/NHK/French. .Other credits: All in the Family, Sonny and Cher, Carol Burnet… Stay updated with Cafecito Podcasts, Events, and more. CLICK HERE

In this exciting two-part episode we welcome Sari Heidenreich to the podcast. Sari is Regional Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative of North America, an organization that mobilizes interfaith groups around the world to engage in peace-building efforts. Having grown up in a conservative evangelical home environment, Sari is well acquainted with the tenuous relationship between conservative-leaning evangelicals and mainstream interfaith initiatives, which seek to build bridges between diverse religious and non-religious backgrounds, but are not always successful in doing so with conservative religious communities. The central question in this two-part episode is whether there is any hope for change, and if so, what needs to happen to bring interfaith groups and conservative-leaning evangelicals closer together?

In this exciting two-part episode we welcome Sari Heidenreich to the podcast. Sari is Regional Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative of North America, an organization that mobilizes interfaith groups around the world to engage in peace-building efforts. Having grown up in a conservative evangelical home environment, Sari is well acquainted with the tenuous relationship between conservative-leaning evangelicals and mainstream interfaith initiatives, which seek to build bridges between diverse religious and non-religious backgrounds, but are not always successful in doing so with conservative religious communities. The central question in this two-part episode is whether there is any hope for change, and if so, what needs to happen to bring interfaith groups and conservative-leaning evangelicals closer together?

The power of being in the now is real but goals require future thinking too. How do you bridge the two? How do you plan and be in the moment? How do you set a big goal and then step back AND keep the big picture in mind? My guests today are two of my most popular guests so I brought them back on the show, together for the first time, to discuss focus, being present, setting goals and preparing for the new year. Swami Durga Das and Swami Anjani ask us to ask ourselves one really big question as we end the year and begin the new one. If you want to know what that question is that will change the way you think of, well, everything, you will have to listen in. It is an age old question that I am still working through. I think I know the answer yet I am uncertain. It has taken on new meaning since my mom passed away. When you find the answer to the question for yourself, let me know so I can hold that space for you! Swami Durga Das Hutner is the CEO of Kashi Ashram, an interfaith intentional community founded in 1976, more than 40 years ago. Durga Das had begun studying Martial Arts in1980; after many years of practice, he earned a 5th Dan Master’s degree in Tae Kwon Do and trained for the 1988 Olympic Games. He was the Florida State Champion in fighting from 1986 through 1988. Throughout this time Durga Das continued to be an integral part of the Kashi community. In 1996, he was ordained by Ma Jaya as a Swami (selfless servant to humanity).  In that capacity, he began formally teaching and mentoring younger generations about mindful meditation and service to others. He later was bestowed the title Acharya, which means one who shares spiritual teachings. From 1998 through 2010 he helped to develop Kashi’s real estate in a healthy eco-friendly method. He continues to work to foster healthy, sustainable living. He currently serves as the CEO of Kashi Foundation and works locally with agencies to serve those in need. He is also a member of the steering committee of Indian River County Needs Assessment in conjunction with the Senior Resource Association. Swami Durga Das believes in nurturing a healthy mind and body, and as a trained Kali Natha Yogi, he continues to do yoga regularly. As a holdover from his youthful days in Philadelphia, Durga Das is a devoted Flyers fan and is himself an avid ice hockey player. He and his wife, Saraswati Rose, are raising their daughters, Mira Jaya and Kali Devi, on the sacred grounds of Kashi.      Swami Anjani graduated from Brockport State University (New York) in 1967 with a degree in Secondary English Education.  She joined the Peace Corps and served in the Philippines until 1969, training teachers and directing a program for kids suffering from leprosy.     Swami Anjani met Ma Jaya in New York in 1975; she moved to Kashi in 1979, serving as the River School’s Principal for 24 years. Swami attended the Harvard Graduate School’s Principal’s Center in 1995. She helped organize the Treasure Coast Teen Institute, a youth leadership camp. In ’02, the Congressional Youth Leadership Council in Washington recognized her for her contributions as an advisor. She currently serves as Kashi’s Director of Community Relations and is Kashi’s representative to the United Religions Initiative. From 2003  - 2012, Swami Anjani served on the Board of Directors of the Economic Opportunities Council and as a member of the Sebastian Advisory Council of the Boys & Girls Club. She has served as  the President of the Sebastian Clambake Foundation since 2006, was elected Sebastian’s Woman of the Year in 2009, and was chosen by the Lion’s Club as the Grand Marshal of the 2014 July 4th Parade. Since 2010 she has spoken several times at Unity/Ft. Lauderdale during their September Interfaith Month services. In October, 2015, she represented Kashi at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Salt Lake City. Swami Anjani has spoken at Interfaith services in Vero and Sebastian, and she serves as a volunteer Interfaith Chaplain at Indian River Medical Center.  

Alison Van Dyk has dedicated much of her life and resources to advocating for interfaith education. She wants to inspire people to love each other and care about each other. Guest Biography Alison Van Dyk is Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Temple of Understanding, one of the world’s first international interfaith organizations. She grew up under the eye of Juliet Hollister, an interfaith pioneer who founded the Temple. Professionally, Alison holds graduate degrees in clinical psychology and transpersonal psychology and is a specialist in the Lowenfeld Sandplay technique. In 1990, she set up the Early Childhood Project, St. Luke's School, South Bronx, New York, and continues as a consultant there. She provides therapy for kindergarten children at risk. Alison has been involved with Temple activities since 1967, taking her to interfaith projects around the world. In 2010 she organized the Temple of Understanding’s 50th anniversary celebration. She frequently participates in North American Interfaith Network, Parliament of the World’s Religions, and United Religions Initiative activities. Show notes: http://www.inspiredmoney.fm/005 Links The Temple of Understanding Connect with TOU on Facebook Connect with Alison on LinkedIn Juliet Hollister, New York Times obituary In this episode, you will learn: How The Temple of Understanding, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit came to be established in 1960. The challenges encountered by founder Juliet Hollister in establishing TOU. What role TOU plays today under the leadership of Alison Van Dyk. Thanks for Listening! To share your thoughts: Leave a note in the comment section below. Share this show on Twitter or Facebook. To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes. Special thanks to Jim Kimo West for the music. Until next time!

Rick Ulfik is the Founder of We, The World and the WE Campaign at WE.net. Rick is the Co-Creator of the annual 11 Days of Global Unity - 11 Ways to Change the World which goes from September 11th to September 21st the U.N. International Day of Peace. Sande Hart is Director of the Women and Girls Sector of Charter for Compassion International. The mother of two, she is President of S.A.R.A.H. (Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) Women's Interfaith organization,   Past Chair of the North American Region of the United Religions Initiative,  Philip M. Hellmich is Director of Peace at The Shift Network, an international social enterprise mobilizing educational tools and cultivating alliances worldwide.  He also served for four years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone where he lived and worked in small remote bush villages. A published writer, Philip is author of God and Conflict: A Search for Peace in a Time of Crisis, --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/abwmitchellrabin/support

Rick Ulfik is the Founder of We, The World and the WE Campaign at WE.net. Rick is the Co-Creator of the annual 11 Days of Global Unity - 11 Ways to Change the World which goes from September 11th to September 21st the U.N. International Day of Peace. 11 Days is a worldwide convergence of events, festivals, campaigns, and broadcasts for peace, justice, sustainability and transformation with participants like Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall, Deepak Chopra, Barbara Marx Hubbard & Tavis Smiley..  Sande Hart is Director of the Women and Girls Sector of Charter for Compassion International. The mother of two, she is President of S.A.R.A.H. (Spiritual And Religious Alliance for Hope) Women's Interfaith organization,   Past Chair of the North American Region of the United Religions Initiative,   Founder of Compassionate California, and Member of the International Team for the One Humanity Institute - Auschwitz Project Philip M. Hellmich is Director of Peace at The Shift Network, an international social enterprise mobilizing educational tools and cultivating alliances worldwide.  He also served for four years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone where he lived and worked in small remote bush villages. A published writer, Philip is author of God and Conflict: A Search for Peace in a Time of Crisis with a Foreword by Lama Surya Das. He serves as adviser to The Global Peace Initiative  of Women. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/abwmitchellrabin/support

Breathing seems like it should be a natural and automatic thing yet so many of us shallow breath, hold our breath without realizing it or just in general don't do a full breath. There are over 200 different kinds of breathing that can transform your health, your focus, your life. Many of us are familiar with the panting breathing that pregnant women are taught to help them through childbirth. We may have heard of fire breath. If you saw the movie The Hulk, with Edward Norton, you saw that breath in action while he is training to control the triggers that turn him into the Hulk. Do we really need to learn how to breath? My guest on this episode is Swami Anjani. She shares with us some of the 42 types of breathing detailed in First Breath, Last Breath by Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavait, founder of Kashi and Kali Natha Yoga. We do an actual breathing exercise on the radio, and I have a major reaction to it! So settle in for this episode in a comfortable place and remember, In, Out. In Out. Breathe in. Breath out. Oh yeah, there is more in between the in and out! Swami Anjani graduated from Brockport State University (New York) in 1967 with a degree in Secondary English Education.  She joined the Peace Corps and served in the Philippines until 1969, training teachers and directing a program for kids suffering from leprosy.     Swami Anjani met Ma Jaya in New York in 1975; she moved to Kashi in 1979, serving as the River School’s Principal for 24 years. Swami attended the Harvard Graduate School’s Principal’s Center in 1995. She helped organize the Treasure Coast Teen Institute, a youth leadership camp. In ’02, the Congressional Youth Leadership Council in Washington recognized her for her contributions as an advisor. She currently serves as Kashi’s Director of Community Relations and is Kashi’s representative to the United Religions Initiative. From 2003  - 2012, Swami Anjani served on the Board of Directors of the Economic Opportunities Council and as a member of the Sebastian Advisory Council of the Boys & Girls Club. She has served as  the President of the Sebastian Clambake Foundation since 2006, was elected Sebastian’s Woman of the Year in 2009, and was chosen by the Lion’s Club as the Grand Marshal of the 2014 July 4th Parade. Since 2010 she has spoken several times at Unity/Ft. Lauderdale during their September Interfaith Month services. In October, 2015, she represented Kashi at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Salt Lake City. Swami Anjani has spoken at Interfaith services in Vero and Sebastian, and she serves as a volunteer Interfaith Chaplain at Indian River Medical Center.

Paul is publisher and editor of The Interfaith Observer (TIO), a monthly internet magazine promoting healthy interfaith culture. Prior to that he was the founding executive director of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio; sat on United Religions Initiative's original Board of Directors; was a trustee of the North American Interfaith Network (NAIN) and served as a Parliament Ambassador for the Parliament of the World's Religions. His publications include Accountable Leadership and Remembered Light. He was ordained in the United Church of Christ. We spoke about the interfaith movement and all he's learned in the course of his long career.

Sister Jenna welcomes Rev. Deborah Moldow to the America Meditating Radio Show.  Rev. Deborah Moldow is an interfaith minister who is committed to assisting in the transformation of human consciousness that will lead to a culture of peace. She contributes to this global awakening through her ministry, international peace efforts, interfaith work, speaking, writing and singing. Serving as the Representative to the United Nations of the World Peace Prayer Society, Rev. Deborah promotes the universal prayer "May Peace Prevail on Earth," and she has led Peace Pole dedications and World Peace Flag Ceremonies at the United Nations and around the world. She is a Co-Chair of the International Day of Peace NGO Committee at the UN and Facilitator of the United Religions Initiative at the UN cooperation circle. In 2009, she was a recipient of the Spirit of the United Nations Award, presented by the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns. Rev. Deborah is also Co-Director of the Evolutionary Leaders circle and is the founder and president of the Garden of Light, a non-profit website that offers a gathering place for those aligned with the emerging global spirituality. Visit www.gardenoflight.org. Get the OFF TO WORK CD & Off the Grid Into the Heart CD by Sister Jenna.  Like America Meditating on FB & follow us on Twitter.  

Rev. Deborah Moldow is an interfaith minister who is committed to assisting in the transformation of human consciousness that will lead to a culture of peace. She contributes to this global awakening through her ministry, international peace efforts, interfaith work, speaking, writing and singing. Serving as the Representative to the United Nations of the World Peace Prayer Society, Rev. Deborah promotes the universal prayer "May Peace Prevail on Earth," and she has led Peace Pole dedications and World Peace Flag Ceremonies at the United Nations and around the world. She is a Co-Chair of the International Day of Peace NGO Committee at the UN and Facilitator of the United Religions Initiative at the UN cooperation circle. In 2009, she was a recipient of the Spirit of the United Nations Award, presented by the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns. Rev. Deborah is also Co-Director of the Evolutionary Leaders circle and is the founder and president of the Garden of Light, a non-profit website that offers a gathering place for those aligned with the emerging global spirituality. Visit www.gardenoflight.org. Get the OFF TO WORK CD & Off the Grid Into the Heart CD by Sister Jenna.  Like America Meditating on FB & follow us on Twitter.

Robert Walter is an editor and an executive with several not-for-profit organizations. Most notably, he is the executive director and board president of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, an organization that he helped found in 1990 with choreographer Jean Erdman, Joseph Campbell's widow.  Prior to his work in publishing, Robert was a founding faculty fellow at the California Institute of the Arts; lectured widely on experiential education; and pursued a professional theater career, working for a decade as a director, production manager, and playwright.  He was also a founding trustee of the United Religions Initiative and has served that organization as treasurer and as a member of its Global Council.  Visit the Joseph Campbell Foundation's website at www.jcf.org Get the OFF TO WORK CD by Sister Jenna Like America Meditating on Facebook and Download our FREE Pause for Peace app. Visit our website atwww.meditationmuseum.org and follow us on Twitter

Robert Walter is an editor and an executive with several not-for-profit organizations. Most notably, he is the executive director and board president of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, an organization that he helped found in 1990 with choreographer Jean Erdman, Joseph Campbell's widow.  Prior to his work in publishing, Robert was a founding faculty fellow at the California Institute of the Arts; lectured widely on experiential education; and pursued a professional theater career, working for a decade as a director, production manager, and playwright.  He was also a founding trustee of the United Religions Initiative and has served that organization as treasurer and as a member of its Global Council.  Visit the Joseph Campbell Foundation's website at www.jcf.org Get the OFF TO WORK CD by Sister Jenna Like America Meditating on Facebook and Download our FREE Pause for Peace app. Visit our website at www.meditationmuseum.org and follow us on Twitter

Sandy Westin served as the North American Regional Coordinator of the The United Religions Initiative or URI from July 2009 through December 2011. The United Religions Initiative seeks "to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings." A chapter or cooperation circle of URI is active in the Tri-Cities.  Ms. Westin talks with me about the United Religion Initiative's work around the world and in our neighborhood.

Rev. Jacqueline Luck is my guest on Religion For Life.  She is the minister at the Holston Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Gray, Tennessee. Among many projects, Rev. Luck is active with United Religions Initiative and the Green Interfaith Network. She talked with me about the history and commitments of Unitarian Universalism, and practicing a liberal faith in East Tennessee.

Without a central government for almost two decades, Somalia is often referred to as a failed state. In recent years, it has endured an incursion by troops from neighboring Ethiopia, a thriving black market in ammunition and arms sales and the rise of piracy on its shores; all this while trying to end nearly two decades of civil war. No matter its many troubles, Somalia has survived and there are still some isolated pockets of stability. Reverend William Swing will discuss four groups of Muslims, all affiliated with the United Religions Initiative, who have come together to build on these elements of civil society in Somalia. The Rt. Rev. William Swing served as the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California from 1980-2006. He founded the United Religions Initiative (URI) in 2000 with the goals of promoting enduring, daily interfaith cooperation and ending religiously motivated violence. Today the URI is working in 75 countries, including 23 or the world hot spots of religiously-motivated conflict. URI work touches the lives of more than 2.5 million people each year.

In this episode I welcome back Sharon Vaswani as my guest. Last time, we spoke from her professional background, like what the efforts on the ground were in the Philippine/Asian context, but this time, we spoke about what has "nourished' her spirit during this time, and how this COVID era has ushered in a global network of gamechangers. The points we spoke about are: * Sharon's personal sojourn into the interfaith world * Sharon's background, a bit of contextualization * Sharon's first "immersive" experience of an interfaith youth camp in Mayapur India * How the YOUTH (as I work closely with them) began talking about being HOPEFUL in the midst of the pandemic * Some of what the youth have currently done, and how I term them as "game changers" during this COVID era. * Characteristics which make a game-changer * Building the future with a sea of YOU's. Sharon is currently the VP for Healthcare & Advocacies of the Federation of Filipino Indian Chambers of Commerce Philippines, Inc. (FICCI), Sharon plays an active role in working on community efforts in order to be of assistance to our fellow countrymen in their time of need. Moreover, as a licensed Optometrist, she has put up her own business, PanOphthalmics Enterprise which supplies ophthalmic instruments, machines, and Intra Ocular lenses to hospitals and eye care practitioners. She is also a licensed financial advisor for Sunlife of Canada Philippines where she enjoys spreading the message of financial freedom and is a proud member of the member of the Million Dollar Round Table ®, The Premiere Association of Financial Professionals which is a global independent association of the world's leading life insurance and financial services professionals. At the same time, she is an active interfaith youth leader, being part of the United Religions Initiative since 2008. Her role as the Young Leaders Program Coordinator for the South East Asia & Pacific region, has seen her giving leadership trainings globally, in the region, as well as in various parts of the country she lives in such as Mindanao. She is currently part of the global network of interfaith young leaders, the Global Youth CC. If you love this show, please leave us a review. Go to:- https://ratethispodcast.com/rate and follow the simple instructions. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-dave-pamah-show/donations

In this episode, we look at how the coronavirus (COVID 19) is impacting Asia with Sharon Vaswani. Sharon is currently the VP for Healthcare & Advocacies of the Federation of Filipino Indian Chambers of Commerce Philippines, Inc. (FICCI), Sharon plays an active role in working on community efforts in order to be of assistance to our fellow countrymen in their time of need. Moreover, as a licensed Optometrist, she has put up her own business, PanOphthalmics Enterprise which supplies ophthalmic instruments, machines, and Intra Ocular lenses to hospitals and eye care practitioners. She is also a licensed financial advisor for Sunlife of Canada Philippines where she enjoys spreading the message of financial freedom and is a proud member of the member of the Million Dollar Round Table ®, The Premiere Association of Financial Professionals which is a global independent association of the world's leading life insurance and financial services professionals. At the same time, she is an active interfaith youth leader, being part of the United Religions Initiative since 2008. Her role as the Young Leaders Program Coordinator for the South East Asia & Pacific region, has seen her giving leadership trainings globally, in the region, as well as in various parts of the country she lives in such as Mindanao. She is currently part of the global network of interfaith young leaders, the Global Youth CC. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-dave-pamah-show/donations