Engage 2022 Conference Recordings – Package B

Package B includes the following Recordings from the SDI Engage 2022 Conference:

Plenary Speakers

Valarie Kaur

Valarie Kaur is a renowned civil rights leader, lawyer, award-winning filmmaker, educator, innovator, and best-selling author of SEE NO STRANGER. She leads the Revolutionary Love Project to reclaim love as a force for justice. Valarie burst into American consciousness in the wake of the 2016 election when her Watch Night Service address went viral with 40 million views worldwide. Her question “Is this the darkness of the tomb – or the darkness of the womb?” reframed the political moment and became a mantra for people fighting for change.

Valarie’s vision of “Revolutionary Love” is deeply rooted in her Sikh faith. She grew up on the farmlands of California, where her family has lived as Punjabi Sikh farmers for more than a century. As a child, whenever she felt lost, her grandfather would give her Sikh wisdom through song and point to the path of the sant-sipahi, sage-warrior. The sage loves; the warrior fights — it’s a path of revolutionary love.

 Yavilah McCoy

Yavilah McCoy is a renowned national speaker, educator, and spiritual practitioner. She is a pioneer of the Jewish diversity and equity movement and is an advocate and mentor for the empowerment of a transglobal community of Jews of Color. An anti-racism activist with an international platform, Yavilah provides training and consulting to numerous social justice projects that span multiple identities and communities. She is also the recipient of numerous awards. In this plenary, Yavilah offers insights that will broaden the horizons of all spiritual directors and companions.

Workshops:

 “Can You Receive People?” – An Approach to Spiritual Direction Based on Mutuality with Fr. Greg Boyle

Father Greg Boyle, SJ, is a master of engagement for positive social change. In this workshop, Fr Greg will share his unique approach to spiritual companionship as he offers it at his innovative organization Homeboy Industries. His style of spiritual direction was inspired by what he learned from a course taught by author and spiritual director Henri Nouwen at Harvard. Nouwen’s idea is that the work of spiritual companionship can be boiled down to this simple notion: “Can you receive people?” Can we simply receive someone’s story and experiences, and be present with them, while letting go of any need to direct or give advice?

 Engaging the Space Between us: Becoming Gates of Hospitality in a Broken World with Diane Millis & Bussho Lahn

Our hearts can break open, break apart, break down or armor up in response to pain. How can we as spiritual companions learn to hold heartbreak in such a way that our broken open hearts may provide a gate of hospitality in our broken world? This is the question we will engage during our time together. We will explore Christian and Buddhist principles and practices for honoring and learning from our pain rather than suppressing or spiritually bypassing it. We will experiment with practices that help us to recognize, investigate, and befriend inner patterns of wounding and defense that give rise to injustice and disengagement in our world. We will examine the deeper truths waiting to be revealed in our own experiences of heartbreak so that we may be better equipped to help our directees do the same. Through these activities, our aspiration is to help you discern how to follow your heartbreak and draw upon your pain as a source for healing activism.

 Spiritual Trauma – Happening, Hurting & Healing with Joan Alexander

This interactive workshop will provide definitions of trauma – including the differences/intersection between religious and spiritual trauma* – and offer ways to companion survivors. First person examples of traumatic occurrences (Two Voices) and roleplay between survivor/directee and facilitator/director will be presented. The beautiful words from the book Belonging, by Canadian author, Toko-pa Turner, will be woven through this workshop. *Ref: Trauma Informed Ministry by Diane J. Strickland, a Canadian trauma specialist and United Church minister

 Spiritual Companionship and Social Justice with Larry J Morris III and Sheila Spencer

This workshop will explore ways spiritual directors and spiritual companions can foster engagement in a variety of ways, whether it be social action in our communities or one-to-one heart/mind engagements with another person. This workshop will create space for participants to consider their social location, current practice, and ways to engage larger social issues. Spiritual companionship has often been a part of social movements (ie The Civil Rights Movement; The Stonewall Uprising; Black Lives Matter; Howard Thurman’s role in the Civil Rights Movement) and today’s spiritual companions are invited to continue the legacy of providing spiritual companionship for in the public square. Participants will explore models of spiritual companionship that fosters service in love and use these models as inspiration and motivation for their vocations as spiritual companions. Participants will also explore common spiritual themes involved in social action and social justice work.

Sharing Three Cups of Tea: Listen, Respect, Connect  with Imam Jamal Rahman

In this workshop we shall explore and practice the art of creating relationships with “others” – people outside our tribe and zone of comfort. The aspiration is to practice authentic listening and to gradually become aware of our conditioned biases and prejudices. By doing the inner inconvenient work, we heal and transform our difficult feelings, which increases our capacity to honor the “divine spark” in ourselves and others. This process opens our heart and allows us to bond with one another on a human level. The ultimate goal is to move beyond polarization and collaborate on projects of mutual interest, including social justice and earth care.

 Embodied and Receptive Listening: The Enneagram Map as Support with Sandra C. Smith

Presence is foundational to living and listening fully. When present, I’m available to myself and can be available to the Holy and to others. Adding receptivity to our presence deepens and moves us into the land of spiritual experience, creating a spaciousness for the other to show up more fully. We begin with presence and receptivity practices for spiritual directors and for those they companion. Group discussion will follow to share personal experiences and practices. Discussion of the Enneagram Map offers ways to hone our listening and better understand our own Enneagram type’s listening preferences and communication style. Secondly, knowing the Enneagram directees’ types, alerts us to listen for patterns and narratives that may be creating stuck places and blind spots that drive unhealthy behaviors. This information helps to shape questions that get at the heart of the matter for those we serve.