The other day I shared a clip from this conversation. Here is the full episode.
“There is a revolution taking place, right now, and it is time for us all, who have been interested in these ideas, to get to work at making the world better for us and those around us.” – Christopher Howell
In light of recent events, four compassionate men came together to begin a dialog related to the collective crisis in the U.S. This is the beginning of a journey we will be taking together. We do not know how long we will be on this journey or where it will lead us, but we do know, as two black men and two white men, it is a journey we must take together. Regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, we are all wounded by Patriarchy. This is our common ground, and we are searching to find our collective path forward. We invite you to join the conversation. Your comments below are welcome.
Touching hearts; freeing souls and transforming lives – its what Aliza does. Rev. Aliza Bloom Robinson, transformational catalyst, author, speaker and ordained Unity Minister is the Voice for New Humanity Now. She is committed to ushering in a new consciousness of Universal All-ness. She facilitates spiritual awakening through all of her programs, courses, retreats and books. [email protected]AlizaBloomRobinson.com
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Gray Henry-Blakemore is the founder and director of the interfaith publishing houses, Fons Vitae and Quinta Essentia, in Louisville, Kentucky, devoted to world spirituality. She is a writer and film producer under contract with the Book Foundation, and co-founder and trustee of the Islamic Texts Society of Cambridge, England. She has served as a contributing editor for Parabola magazine for over a decade. Besides having taught filmmaking at Dalton and Fordham University and world religions and art history at the Cairo American College, Cambridge University, Centre College and the Abbey of Gethsemane, she regularly lectures at such noteworthy venues as the 1995 Conference of World Spiritual Art in Tehran and most recently the September 2006 Congress on Islamic Spirituality in Singapore. In 1994 she arranged for His Holiness the Dalai Lama to speak in Louisville, and has in April 2006 organized the Dalai Lama interfaith congress in San Francisco in which the his main focus was to meet with Muslim dignitaries from the world over. Fons Vitae is now helping to arrange His Holiness’s visit December 2006 to Senegal and Ghana, which will continue the Buddhist-Muslim dialogue begun in San Francisco.
Gray is a founding member of the Thomas Merton Center Foundation and has organized a number of conferences focused on the work of Thomas Merton at Bellarmine University. She worked in Bosnian refugee camps in 1993, and subsequently published texts for their school system. Fons Vitae plays a key role in the annual interfaith festivals and programs sponsored by the Center for Interfaith Relations and Interfaith Paths to Peace Institute.
As a filmmaker, she produced Beads of Faith: The Universal Use of the Rosary, which is available both as a book and a video, Islam: A Pictorial Essay; Cairo: 1,001 Years of Art and Architecture; Ornaments of Lhasa: Islam in Tibet; and The Sacred Unconscious (Huston Smith). As an author she has written the classic, Understanding Islam and the Muslims, The Life of the Prophet Muhammad, articles for the “Fons Vitae Thomas Merton Series” (Merton & Sufism, Merton & Hesychasm, and Merton & Buddhism), as well as for Parabola and other journals.
Mrs. Henry received her B.A. at Sarah Lawrence College (Joseph Campbell was her don 1965, studied at the American and al-Azhar University in Cairo (1969-79), earned her M.A. in Education at the University of Michigan, was a research fellow at Cambridge University from 1983-1990, and is scheduled to receive her Ph.D. from the Faculty of Divinity at Canterbury, Kent in 2008.
Vince A. Di Dato – Earthian. Constantly thirsty of knowledge and always trying to learn Compassion. Don’t ask me where I come from. Ask me where I want to be and where I want to go. Share a bit of my way, if you like: traveling Life in good company is always more interesting. “Nemo Me Impune Lacessit”.
Strategy Designer, General Director of XERDAN Ltd. in Malta and 1st Captain of the Italian Army Special Reserve. He begins his career as Architect and Designer, mainly working on sustainability in industrial productions. He won the Compasso d’Oro in 1987 among many other important recognitions and prizes; his projects have been published and presented internationally, also at XVII Triennale di Milano and at Centre Pompidou in Paris. Later on, he re-oriented his activity towards systems analysis and their interconnections, until the most recent development of the
In June 2018, his Italian translation of Richard Buckminster Fuller“Operating Manual of Spaceship Earth” has been published by Il Saggiatore. He is now working on a new version of Sun-Tzu: “Vital Startegies, The Competitive Methods in the Vision of Life” and he collaborates with several magazines and media around the world.
Rick Kraniak is internationally recognized as an investor with great instincts for commercially innovative and viable businesses, and for a long track record of growing successful companies. His entrepreneurial background includes launching a number of businesses in the media and entertainment, health, software, Internet, and technology verticals. In particular, his entertainment industry experience has informed a unique approach to strategy and creating value with diverse enterprises ranging from startup ventures and mature public companies to supporting social cause related organizations and charitable non-profits.
He began his professional career in 1970 while he was studying sociology at Eastern Michigan University, when he founded Diversified Management Agency. For the next several years, he booked personal appearances for legendary music artists such as Bob Seger, Chuck Berry, Ike and Tina Turner, Iggy Stooge, MC5, Alice Cooper, and Ted Nugent. Following his success there, he founded Brass Ring Productions and produced over six thousand performances including concerts by The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, and many other artists. Starting in 1987, Brass Ring exclusively programmed the historic Fox Theatre in Detroit and produced tours with over 3,000 performances featuring Billy Joel, Anita Baker, Luther Vandross, The Police, John Mellencamp, and Broadway Shows such as “South Pacific”, “Fiddler On The Roof”, “David Copperfield”, and “Music of Andrew Lloyd Weber”. Kraniak was voted one of America’s top 10 promoters by Pollstar magazine.
Currently, he is an owner and CSO of Buz.FM, a leader in digital technology which is leveraging its unique enterprise software solutions for social search optimization and marketing to retail, consumer, and media brands. Kraniak’s personal fund maintains positions in 17 private and public companies representing his special interests in disruptive technologies healthcare, software, and entertainment ventures.
In addition, he is dedicated to corporate social responsibility and has devoted time, energy, and funding to charitable organizations on five continents including Opportunities International, a microfinance institution. Mr. Kraniak is also a seasoned world adventure traveller whose trips have spanned 90 countries on all seven continents.
Sara Jamil is a Muslim Woman, born and raised in Denmark, of Pakistani heritage, and she currently calls Toronto, Canada home. She is a Mother, Mentor, Author and Spiritual Activist. She is a skilled intercultural communicator, navigating various cultures as a world citizen. She engages with ease in interfaith dialogue and bridge-building. Sara uses her agency in disrupting stereotypical narratives and advocating for several initiatives near and dear to her heart.
Sara holds a Bachelor of Education and has 20 years experience of mentoring women and girls. She is the proud Founder and Visionary Leader of CompassionFirst, a mother-daughter venture on a mission to create a better world one woman at a time. Sara lives compassion by modeling the affirmation, which she coined: “A Better World Starts With Me“.
Lastly, Sara dedicates many volunteer hours as Co-lead Facilitator of the Charter for Compassion International Women and Girls sector.
“Budd’s commitment to, and work on behalf of interfaith understanding is remarkable. There may be no greater challenge in our world than that of building bridges between religions and religious cultures, and I know no Christian who works harder at this or is more effective. From the interfaith pilgrimages to the courses he’s developed to his own writing and service, he’s a leader in this important and challenging work. And what Budd teaches us is that the more we learn about the faith and religion of others, the more articulate we become about our own, to others and to ourselves. He helps us let go of the threat and embrace the challenge.” – Rev. Dr. Sally Purvis Colleague and Author
Rev. Dr. Gilbert (Budd) Friend-Jones has led Jews, Muslims, and Christians on interfaith pilgrimages in Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, and Turkey, and has preached and taught seminars in Russia, South India, Turkey, and the UK. – A native of West Virginia, Budd earned his doctorate at Howard University Divinity School in Washington, D.C., his M. Div. at Princeton Theological Seminary, and his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science at Frostburg State University. He has published two books and numerous articles. Dr. Friend-Jones is the Board Vice-Chair and Chair Elect of the North American Interfaith Network. He lives in Sarasota where he also serves as a Minister in the local Unitarian Universalist Church. Before moving to Florida in 2017, he served Congregational and UCC churches in Maine, Minnesota, Virginia, Georgia, and Illinois.
Rev. Dr. Gilbert (Budd) Friend-Jones North American Interfaith Network Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota First Congregational United Church of Christ
Recently, a friend was telling me about his experience leading a team of woofers, an acronym taken from the term, Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms(WWOOF). These are people who are somewhat nomadic and travel across the state, country and the world working temporarily on organic farms. The pay consists basically of food, shelter and an environmentally friendly culture within which to work.
Because of the nature of the work and the adventurous nature of the woofers, turnover was naturally somewhat high. This, not because the work was hard, environment was bad or the leadership poor. In fact, it was quite the opposite, even though some of the tasks were harder than the others and required working outside and getting sweaty. This was more than offset by the beautiful setting, the organic meals and how the somewhat transient team was led by my friend.
Work had come to a pause for the season and the last of the woofers had just moved on. My friend expressed how relieved he was not to be leading the woofers for a few months. He loved each one who had come to work, but he recognized he had earned his time for retreat and renewal, and taking off the mantle of leadership for awhile felt good.
Having kept up with him over the past couple of years, I shared how impressed I was with his situational leadership abilities. To this, he gave me a quizzical look. Even though situational leadership was innate to him and he used it daily, he had not given the technique conscious thought in many years. This sparked me to go back to my notes from the 1980’s to review Paul Hersey’s and Ken Blanchard’s theory on Situational Leadership.
In short, Situational Leadership is based on the theory that the best leaders vary their leadership style to fit the competence and commitment of the person or team being led, and there are sound principles and techniques that are well worth considering. This video is an excellent introduction:
Bret Williams is a life-long spiritual student and has served as Pastor of a Unity congregation in Austin, Texas. He and his partner of over 40 years have felt the calling to support a network of other spiritual seekers. Bret is also a serial entrepreneur and has created and helped numerous business endeavors.
In January, Bret will be launching, ProjectOne Network, a network for connecting spiritual seekers as they travel on their own journey and discover a deeper connection and oneness with a higher consciousness and presence; a journey best taken with others.
If you're looking for clarity or just need a fresh perspective, I'm here to help. Click here for a complimentary 20-minute 1:1 chat. No pressure, just a conversation to see how I can support you on your journey.
Alice Cooper, and Ted Nugent. Following his success there, he founded Brass Ring Productions and produced over six thousand performances including concerts by The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, and many other artists. Starting in 1987, Brass Ring exclusively programmed the historic Fox Theatre in Detroit and produced tours with over 3,000 performances featuring Billy Joel, Anita Baker, Luther Vandross, The Police, John Mellencamp, and Broadway Shows such as “South Pacific”, “Fiddler On The Roof”, “David Copperfield”, and “Music of Andrew Lloyd Weber”. Kraniak was voted one of America’s top 10 promoters by Pollstar magazine.
