Have you heard of the Golden Rule Poster?  Its creation was spearheaded by Scarboro Missions’ Paul McKenna.
And now…  Scarboro Missions has recently added Golden Rule Commentaries to its website…  It’s well worth a look!

Golden Rule Commentaries

Dear interfaith colleagues: Scarboro Missions is proud to announce the publication of these Golden Rule commentaries which can be downloaded free of charge from our site. We know you will find these to be of tremendous educational value in your work.

Researchers have discovered hundreds of expressions of the Golden Rule – from ancient and modern sources as well as from religious and non-religious sources. Research efforts have also uncovered numerous commentaries on the Golden Rule from well-known individuals in a number of fields.A number of these commentaries are presented in this compilation. Featured here are scientists, philosophers, politicians, writers, business people, religious leaders, companies, organizations and others.Included among these many Golden Rule commentators are Mahatma Gandhi, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, J.C. Penney, Charles Darwin, Karen Armstrong, Deepak Chopra, Frederick Douglass, President Barack Obama, Pope Benedict XVI, Steven Covey, Dale Carnegie and Jeffrey Wattles (Golden Rule scholar) Below is the link to these commentaries.

Please feel free to forward this link and announcement through your communities and networks for use in newsletters, bulletin boards, websites, mailing lists, list-serves, blogs, Facebook pages, twitter, etc. This document is also available in PDF format to facilitate crisp and clear print quality.

Do you dream of bringing about an ecologically sustainable, socially just, and spiritually meaningful human presence on our planet?  This is the goal of the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream movement.  The backbone of this movement is a one day symposium in which participants move through the four questions:

1.  Where are we?
2. How did we get here?
3. What is possible now?
4. Where do we go from here?

The process entails video clips, guided meditations, exercises and group sharing.

Sponsored by the Association of Religious of Manitoba, an Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream symposium was held in Winnipeg on a rainy Saturday in June.  The 35 participants included Sisters from several religious communities, lay Catholics, and members of the United Church and Mennonite communities.  Originally from Winnipeg, I was pleased to be able to bring back home my skills as a trained Awakening the Dreamer facilitator.  After the symposium was finished, we were all rewarded with a burst of sunshine and blue skies, and I was even more pleased to learn that four Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions would like to become Awakening the Dreamer facilitators.  As with any Awakening the Dreamer event, the enthusiasm and commitment of the participants is what made the day.  A great big thank you to all!

To learn more about Awakening the Dreamer, go to:

www.awakeningthedreamer.org

 Christine Gebel, olm

At the side door to the Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity just west of the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto there is a list of the names of all the homeless who have died on the streets of this city since 1997. On the second Tuesday of each month since 1998 a group of people gathers at this memorial at noon to pray for those named there and for better care and shelter for those still on the streets.

On Tuesday June 12, 2012 the group gathered as usual with an added component. Because this year marks the 25^th anniversary of the Out of the Cold program participants prayed both in gratitude for all that has been done for the homeless and in lament that this temporary assistance is still needed by so many.  At the same time they prayed that those in positions of power would recognize the need for more permanent housing for those with little or no income so that they will not be forced to continue to live and die on the streets.

After the prayer service everyone present was invited to a lunch in the church served by the parishioners of Holy Trinity parish, after which part of the group proceeded to Nathan Philip Square for another memorial prayer in front of City Hall. Again the theme was gratitude and lament that the need for more permanent housing still persists.

Following the prayer at City Hall, some of the participants, staff and volunteers of Out of the Cold programs, gathered in the coffee shop where they presented Sister Susan Moran with a picture of downtown Toronto painted by one of the regular guests of the program in appreciation for her years of service with the homeless.

by  Sr. Frances Brady, olm