Cultivating Connections Recommends:  

Events and More for Metro Louisville - February 2015

Affirming Connections between Planet, People, Power and Possibilities

Table of Contents - Click to Jump to the Details
Wednesday the 4th * Louisville Sustainability Forum with Water Step
Wednesdays starting the 4th * Wilber Wednesdays at the Loft
Saturday the 7th and 21st * Story Walks at Louisville Nature Center
Thursday the 12th * I Love Mountains Day in Frankfort
Sunday the 8th * Louisville TimeBank Potluck Dinner
Thursday the 12th * Compassionate Louisville Town Hall Meeting at Urban League
Friday the 13th * Earth and Compassion Gathering
Sat. the 14th and Sun. the 15th * Art and Soul's Journey with Doug and Marilyn
Monday the 16th * Social Change Book Club - Risk Savvy: How to Make Good Decisions
Tuesday the 17th * Greater Louisville Sierra Club presents Attica Scott
Saturday the 28th * NOKXL Pledge of Resistance Activist Training
Saturday the 28th * Day of Dignity at Muhammad Ali Center
Sunday, March 8th * Sustainable You Retreat: Personal, Communal, Environmental Health
Friday, March 27 - Merton, Eckhart and Calling with Theologian Matthew Fox
Saturday, March 28 - Becoming a Mystic Warrior for Our Times with Author Matthew Fox
Full 2015 Sacred Celebration Schedule Announced
Recommend Nominees for the 2015 Green Sparks Awards
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Wednesday, February 4, 12 - 1:45 pm
Louisville Sustainability Forum
Passionist Earth and Spirit Center
(located behind St Agnes Church at 1920 Newburg Road)

Presentations:

Sustainable Solutions for Clean Water
with Wes Reece of WaterStep
More people in the world die each year from waterborne illnesses and poor sanitation than do in armed conflict. Today, over 700 million people live without safe water.   

Using simple tools and effective training, an empowered community can care for its water for years to come. WaterStep provides safe water to communities in developing countries through implementing water projects or by training others to do a water project. Safe water has been provided to thousands of communities around the world with water purification, repairing hand pumps, and teaching health education.

 WaterStep has recently met the full amount of the Living Water Fund, a $100,000 matching grant by an anonymous donor. This funding will enable us to help communities around the world have access to safe water and health education.

Also presenting:
Lori Gibson with Zero Land Fill
and
Bethany Green with My Dog Eats First
 
Now in its seventh year, the purposes of the Louisville Sustainability Forum are:
1.We hold and promote the intention of sustainability for Louisville.
2. We establish and nourish relationships that strengthen
community and create change.
3. We create a space for discussion that inspires, motivates and deepens
our ability to catalyze social change.

Food & drink:
Feel free to bring a bag lunch. If you'd like to prepare extra food or drink to share with others,
that is always welcome!

 

 

 

Starting February 4th from 12:15 - 1:15 PM    

Wilber Wednesdays Brown Bag Lunch Conversations 

Engaging the "Spiritual But Not Religious"

The Loft, 107 Crescent Avenue 

 

This Wednesday lunch series, Integral Spirituality: 

A Startling New Role for Religion in the Modern and Postmodern World,

is especially designed for clergy, ministers and those working in religious related profession

who are seeking to engage the fastest growing group in our community the "spiritual by not religious."  

 

Jud Hendrix, a former Presbyterian minister, has been working in this context and

with this constituency for over 20 years and will connect the integral thought of

Ken Wilber to the practices of being a relevant spiritual community for this emerging population.

 

Donations and Drop-Ins Welcome

 

Ken Wilber is one of the most influential integral thinkers in the world.

He has published over 34 books, all of which are still in print.

This weekly conversation group explores Wilber's writings and thoughts and

their implications for cultivating a more integral approach to personal and social transformation.

 

Drinks are provided just bring your lunch.

 

For further information and the full February calendar of activities at the Loft visit their website. 

   

 

 

Saturday, February 7 and 21

 

STORY WALK® -- What a way to read a book!
Louisville Nature Center, 3745 Illinois Avenue

Have a great time as a family, reading the many pages of a book that
are spaced along a walking path. StoryWalk®. started in Montpelier, Vermont,
by Ann Ferguson and has now spread to Louisville and many other cities.

The StoryWalks® at LNC are self-directed and start at 10:30, wrapping up at 3:00.

It only takes a little while, and ohhh!, the joy of having read a

good book while taking a nice walk.

 

FREE and open to everyone!

 

February 7: The Birdwatchers, by Simon James
February 21: In a Nutshell, by Joseph Anthony & Cris Arbo

 
  

Sunday, February 8 from 5 - 7 pm
Louisville TimeBank Potluck 
Highland Community Campus, 1228 E. Breckenridge

Potlucks are a big part of the TimeBank community. We come together to share food,

fun and build community all at the same time. Members get to know each other,

and people who are not members can learn a bit about timebanking from chatting

with our members at the potluck. Many exchanges get set up at our potlucks too! 

 

RSVP here, and tell us what food you are bringing.

1 item is generally considered to be around 12 portions. 

  • If you can, please bring your own table service- plate, silver ware and glass as well as a serving piece for your dish. 

The address is 1228 E Breckinridge, but the parking is in the lot behind the building off of Barrett. Highland Community Campus is in the former Christ Evangelical Church. The entrance to the building is in the back as well. Please look at this map here to make sure you can find us!

  

For Louisville TimeBank members, in addition to bringing your dish, there are jobs for time credits listed as well to sign up for-- from set up to kids activities. 

 

Looking forward to seeing you! 


 
 

February 12 from 9am - 2:15 pm
I Love Mountains Day
The Capital in Frankfort

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth members and allies will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the I Love Mountains Day Rally and Lobby Day on Thursday February 12. This event calling for an end to mountain top removal mining and the transition to a clean energy future is attended by citizens from all across the Commonwealth.  If you plan on coming to Frankfort this year, KFTC requests you register on their website.

Schedule for the day

9 a.m. to 12 p.m. - Citizen Lobbying for the Mountains & Mountain Communities:
12 p.m. - Gather at the Kentucky River Bridge
12:30 p.m. - March to the Capitol
1:15 - 2:00 p.m. - Rally on the Capitol steps



Kentucky Interfaith Power and Light is providing bus rides to and from I Love Mountains Day again this year.  Pick and drop off point for is Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church on Brownsboro Road. For the bus schedule and registration click here.

Here is a link to the I Love Mountains Day Facebook event page.

February 12 at Noon
Compassionate Louisville Town Hall Meeting
Louisville Urban League
1535 West Broadway

Experience compassion in action.
Each month we invite Louisville on a pilgrimage to discover the city's
often hidden compassion gems.

Everyone is invited! Bring a Friend! No RSVP required.

Through intention and social innovation, Compassionate Louisville creates
and celebrates a community and world becoming more and more compassionate.

The mission of the Partnership for a Compassionate Louisville is to
champion and nurture the growth of compassion.


 
Friday, February 13
12 noon - 1:30 pm
Earth and Compassion Gathering
a Compassionate Louisville Constellation
at Central Presbyterian Church 318 West Kentucky Street

  The "Earth and Compassion" constellation's primary goal will be to bring compassion for Earth and the more than human world to the forefront of our city's journey towards becoming a Compassionate City.

Please consider joining us in this endeavor.

On November 11, 2011 Mayor Greg Fischer adopted a resolution declaring Louisville a Compassionate City. Compassionate Louisville is a group of citizen's working to support and realize that vision. We believe that by exploring the question: "What does Compassion want for Louisville," we create a world and a community that is becoming ever more compassionate.

One of the forms this exploration has taken is the formation of groups (or constellations) focused on Compassion and Healthcare,  Compassion and Organizations, Compassion and Practice, Compassion and Youth Education, Compassion and Seniors, and Compassion and the Arts.

Hosted by Mark Steiner, Cultivating Connections
cultivtaingconnections@twc.com 502-897-2721


Saturday, February 14, 9am - 4pm
Sunday, February 15, 9 am -  3pm
Art and Soul's Journey: 
What Myths are Living Through Us

With Doug Van Houten and Marilyn Stoner
at the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center

At one point in C.G. Jung's life, he asked himself, what myth am I living by? Realizing that he was without a myth, he wrote, "I took it upon myself to get to know 'my' myth, and I regarded this as the task of tasks." He immediately set about to discover a way to answer that question for himself, knowing that only from being fortified by that information, would he be of use to others.

During our time together we'll be tracking through art modalities the images, symbols, themes, dreams and archetypes of our personal mythos. Each of us is living a core myth that is central and basic to the way our individual life is lived. This myth provides us with a framework which helps us to make sense of the world, and to instruct us about a meaningful view of our lives that is both wholesome and grounded in the unfolding mysteries of life.

Fee: $100-200 
(a sliding scale to fit your financial needs. Your generosity allows others to participate.)  
A $50 non-refundable deposit required to hold your space - Preregistration required

One need not be an "artist" to participate

"The gaining of a deeper story is a kind of grace when it comes, and can only be evoked, not fabricated. Thus you are not "making up" a story. Rather you are availing yourself to the deep intention of the Godseed Story that is yearning to emerge." -Jean Houston

To register or obtain more information you may contact 
doug@dougvanhouten.com (502) 472-6563 or marilynstoner@fastmail.fm (502) 456-1502


 
Monday, February 16 at 6 pm
Social Change Book Club explores
Risk Savvy: How to Make Good Decisions
by Gerd Gigerenzer
Heine Bros. Coffee, 119 Chenoweth Lane, St Matthews

Numbers may not lie, but they are certainly often misunderstood, according to German psychologist and risk analyst Gerd Gigerenzer, author of Risk Savvy: How to Make Good Decisions. We make poor decisions on an array of issues, from health-care screenings to investment decisions to planned outings, because we blindly rely on data that may be incorrectly interpreted and reported.

Gigerenzer draws on psychology, sociology, and math to explain how data can start off clear and end up murky by the time it reaches its intended audience, leaving us helpless to make sound decisions about the risks involved.

In Risk Savvy, Gigerenzer reveals that most of us, including doctors, lawyers, financial advisers, and elected officials, misunderstand statistics much more often than we think, leaving us not only misinformed, but vulnerable to exploitation. Yet anyone can learn to make better decisions for their health, finances, family, and business without needing to consult an expert or a super computer, and Gigerenzer shows us how.

Hosted by Howard Mason

  
 Tuesday, February 17, 7 pm
Greater Louisville Sierra Club presents
Attica Scott on
"Environmental Justice + Public Health"
Clifton Center 2117 Payne Street

Please join us as we welcome Attica Scott to discuss "Environmental Justice + Public Health." Ms. Scott's program will focus on environmental justice in Louisville and how the movement for environmental justice is a public health priority.

Attica is a Community Coach with the National Network for Public Health Institutes and recently served on Louisville Metro Council. She also served as Adjunct Instructor at Jefferson Community and Technical College, is a former Coordinator of Kentucky Jobs with Justice, and former Adjunct Faculty member at Bellarmine University.

In 2013, Attica graduated from the Bingham Fellows Class of Leadership Louisville focusing on creating a smart food culture and received the Public Service Award from the Center for Women and Families. She is a Courier-Journal Forum Fellow, member of Rubbertown Emergency Action Network, and was featured in "People to Watch" in Louisville Magazine, "The Climb" in Business First and is the recipient of a National Organizers Alliance Respite Award. Attica is a Connector with Leadership Louisville and was honored with the Ms. Foundation for Women 2011 "Woman of Vision" Award.

Please join us for this timely presentation.
Our programs are always free and open to the public.

 
Saturday, February 28, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Activist Training in Louisville 
Join us for another round of training to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline
First Unitarian Church, 809 South Fourth Street

You are invited to join the Pledge of Resistance (Credo Action, Rainforest Action Network) in taking action against the tar sands carbon bomb known as the Keystone XL Pipeline. 

Join with over 90,000 people nationwide who have signed a pledge to engage, if necessary, in peaceful civil disobedience at over 100 actions should the State Department approve the pipeline.

Join with more than 60 other local citizens who have already participated in
this powerful and inspiring training!

This training is required if you do want to risk arrest or to fill any non-arrestable role in
a Louisville Pledge of Resistance action. There is a role for everyone who wants to participate, 
whether risking arrest or not.

We are building a community!

To sign up, or if you're just curious, please Email bdrewf@yahoo.com. 
For more information on the national level, 
or to sign the pledge, go to nokxl.org.

 

Saturday, February 28 12:30 -5:30 pm
Day of Dignity
Building Community & Enhancing Cross-Cultural Understanding
Muhammad Ali Center

Join the Muhammad Ali Institute at U of L and the Muhammad Ali Center for a grand community celebration of our diversity and the people-to-people connections that make our city a welcoming place. The event will feature access to Ali Center, live entertainment and dance lessons, delicious international food, family activities, community resources and health services - complimentary to all attendees! Day of Dignity is a community celebration of culture and people to people connections and is free and open to the public.

Details and contact information can be found here.
 


Sunday, March 8 10am - 4pm 
Sustainable You
at The Passionist Earth and Spirit Center
1924 Newburg Road

Sustainable You: Nurturing a Long and Healthy Life Through
Personal, Communal and Environmental Health

This experiential day will include great presentations, open conversations, body movement and more. All activities are designed to enhance and connect our modern lives to the wisdom of our individual, collective and environmental soul.

Topics will include:
Developing a Mutually Enhancing Relationship Between Self and Planet
Diversity in Community.

Experiential processes include:
Nia, breath work and guided meditation.

Presenting are:
Terri Leasor Knight,  Mark A Steiner of Cultivating Connections, Jud Hendrix of The Loft, Nia instructor Rachel Raphael and Shadow Work facilitator Becky Schupbach.

Suggested donation of $20 will hold your spot and NO ONE is turned away due to funds.

Email Terri at CommunityVision1@gmail.com for details and registration
 

Get Your Tickets Today!



Friday, March 27 at 7 pm
Merton, Eckhart and Calling:
The Blessings and Perils of Following Your Bliss in a Culture of Conformity
Bellarmine University, Frasier Hall

Cultivating Connections invites you to join us for this inspiring event exploring the benefits and risks of following your personal sense of calling over societal expectations. In addition to offering insights and stories from Thomas Merton and Meister Eckhart, author and theologian Matthew Fox will be dialoguing with a panel of local community members who have made a commitment to "following their bliss."

Matthew Fox is the internationally recognized, award-winning author of thirty books including his most recent Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Warrior for our Times, Original Blessing, The Reinvention of Work, A Spirituality Called Compassion and The Coming of the Cosmic Christ. He is an instrumental teacher and scholar in the revival of Western mysticism, particularly the work of Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, and Thomas Aquinas.

Matthew served as a catholic priest until 1993 when his progressive theological perspective resulted in his expulsion from the church by then Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict).  He presently serves as an Episcopal priest and resides in the Oakland California area.

"By connecting Eckhart's wisdom to the problems of today, Fox creates a sense of optimistic urgency; solutions do not wait in the future or lie in the past, but are present right now if people choose to act with compassion and conviction. The book is not only an excellent introduction to Eckhart's theology, but also an inspirational guidepost for connecting faith with activism."

                    - Publishers Weekly on Matthew's latest book:
                        Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Warrior for our Times

Friday tickets are available on a sliding scale: ($15  $25  $50)


Saturday, March 28 from 1 - 5 pm
Becoming a Mystic Warrior for Our Times
a workshop with Matthew Fox, Mark Steiner, kRi and Hettie
Unity of Louisville

In his latest book, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Warrior for our Times, Matthew Fox explores the idea that in order to respond to the needs of this moment in history we must become "Mystic Warriors."  Such a transformation will require us to go deep - "deep where the joy resides; where the darkness, pain and grief cry to us; where creativity is unearthed; where the passion for justice and compassion return again."

In addition to examining perspectives and tools for developing the depths of our personal compassion, this workshop will also explore the possibilities for justice-making that exist for the broader community in committing to "going deep."

Our exploration will be experienced through the powerful lens of the four paths of the Creation Spirituality tradition as articulated by our workshop's guide, theologian Matthew Fox.

The program will include a series of presentations from Matthew, corresponding processing opportunities facilitated by Cultivating Connections' Mark Steiner, topped off with the music and insight of the wonderful kRi and Hettie.

Fee is set on a sliding scale $40    $60    $95
Registration Open Now at BrownPaperTickets

Some work-study exchange and scholarship opportunities are available.
Email CultivatingConnections@twc.com for details.




Mark Your Calendars!
2015 Sacred Celebration Schedule

Spring Equinox
Friday, March 20 at 7 pm
at the Loft, 107 Crescent Avenue

Summer Solstice
Sunday, June 21 at 3pm - Note special time!
Louisville Nature Center, 3745 Illinois Avenue

Autumn Equinox
Tuesday, September 22 7pm
Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church, 4936 Brownsboro Road

Winter Solstice
Monday, December 21  7pm
Unity of Louisville, 757 South Brook Street

 


Recommend Nominees for
2015 Green Sparks Awards!


Project Warm's 2015 Green Spark Awards and Luncheon is Tuesday, April 21, at The Olmsted, and the nominating committee is presently seeking recommendations.   

The Green Spark Awards serve two purposes:

it's an opportunity to acknowledge some of the "many outstanding people and organizations in the Louisville community who tirelessly work to make Louisville a sustainable and healthy place for us all"

and it's a fundraiser that is vital to Project Warm's ongoing work to
"provide energy conservation services and education, and to promote energy saving practices in the community."

Visit the Project Warm website for details on the luncheon, nominating forms or to review the 2015 nominating criteria in these 5 categories:  Business Leadership, Educational Institution, Youth Achievement, Nonprofit Organization and Leadership.

This information brought to you by
Cultivating Connections
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cultivatingconnections@twc.com
502-897-2721
Louisville, Kentucky

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