Stephen Dinan, founder and President of The Shift Network

When we invited you, our worldwide Shift community, to submit ideas and articles for Catalyst, we didn’t know what to expect...

As your submissions rolled in, we were not surprised to confirm that you are creative, passionate, and wise in all the ways that matter most.

As life has turned into an obstacle course of never-ending challenges, we can find comfort and strength in being a part of a community of like-minded souls who are actively working to bring about the Shift — and a world that works for all.

If you’d like to contribute to Catalyst, and share your thoughts, views, and discoveries about coping with the pandemic, advocating for racial justice, or simply making the world a better place, please send your submission to editor@theshiftnetwork.com.

Speaking of making the world a better place, click here to read the profound, moving, and inspiring comments posted on our Facebook page when we asked you, our Shift community:

 “What is the nicest thing a non-family member
has ever done for you?”

This issue of Catalyst is also dedicated to the life and legacy of Congressman John Lewis, the conscience of Congress and of America itself. Lewis, who passed away July 17 at the age of 80, was a tireless advocate for social justice and human rights.

In the photo, at left, Lewis marches across Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 8, 2020, to commemorate the 55th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," the pivotal March 7,1965, march from Selma to Alabama's capital, Montgomery.

Click here to listen to Morgan Freeman narrate the op-ed that John Lewis wrote to be published on the day of his funeral. We also posted a tribute to Congressman Lewis on Facebook that day.

EDITOR’S NOTE: “The Master Key” by Robert Peng, a featured speaker in The Shift Network’s 2019 Qigong Global Summit, is one of the most profoundly important books I’ve ever read. I can say that it’s life-changing with complete confidence, because it changed my life before I even finished reading it. I was so impressed with this book that we are serializing the section called “One Hundred Days of Darkness and Light” in future issues of Catalyst. You can read the twentieth installment (as well as the previous ones) here.
— Phil Bolsta
 

The uplifting stories in this issue’s “The Nicest Thing” section come from somatic healer Bernadette Pleasant, whose new 7-week live video course, Discover Somatic Dance for Emotional Alchemy, begins this Wednesday...

... and Sarah Moran, a Shift community member who shares the story of how a magnanimous married couple gave her the gift of a lifetime!

Finally, we’d love to hear your answer to the question, What action can you take today, no matter how small, that can make someone’s day? To share your thoughts in our Facebook Page community, click here.

You don’t have to fight to live as you wish. Live as you wish and pay whatever price is required.
— Richard Bach
 

Forgiving George Wallace
By Congressman John Lewis
The New York Times, 9/16/98

The George Wallace who sent troops to intimidate peaceful, orderly marchers in Selma in 1965 was not the same man who died this week. With all his failings, Mr. Wallace deserves recognition for seeking redemption for his mistakes, for his willingness to change and to set things right with those he harmed and with his God.Rarely does our country witness such a conversion by an elected official. Such a conversion of principle can be shaped only by courage and conviction. To read more, click here.

Click here to read a 7/31/19 opinion column by George Wallace's daughter, Peggy Wallace Kennedy, who wrote the book, The Broken Road: George Wallace and a Daughter’s Journey to Reconciliation.

Click here to read a 3/08/17 Washington Post article, George Wallace's Daughter: From Segregation to Making Things Right.

I Didn't Understand John Lewis at First
By Michael A. Fletcher

I have always admired John Lewis. But early on, I have to admit, I held something back. His courage was unquestioned. His vision was unwavering. He shed blood for many of the rights that I, my family and every African American enjoy today. Yet, I sometimes felt a pang of suspicion when I heard Lewis lauded as the conscience of the Congress. To read more, click here.

Apologies to John Lewis
By Tamar Hallerman
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It wasn’t uncommon for Congressman John Lewis’ staff to find apologies in his mail. In January 2009, former Ku Klux Klan member Elwin Wilson confessed to being part of the white mob that bloodied Lewis and another Freedom Rider in Rock Hill, South Carolina, nearly 48 years earlier.

Lewis noted in his 2012 book “Across that Bridge” that Wilson was the first of his attackers to apologize for his actions. Wilson traveled to Washington a short while later to meet Lewis face-to-face and ask for forgiveness. “Without a moment of hesitation, I looked back at him and said, ‘I accept your apology,’” Lewis wrote. “This was a great testament to the power of love to overcome hatred.” To read more, click here.

Click here to watch Montgomery, Alabama police chief Kevin Murphy's moving apology to John Lewis on behalf of the department.

Indian Country Leaders Pay Tribute to John Lewis
By Dalton Walker

Rep. Deb Haaland, Laguna and Jemez Pueblo, a New Mexico Democrat, posted a short video on social media after attending the Capitol service. “I sat there just realizing how fortunate I was to serve with John Lewis for nearly two years, but also have him in this world to fight for many people,” Haaland said. “I’m incredibly grateful for him and all his amazing work he did. He really made his life count." To read more, click here.

Here are actions The Shift Network is taking to advance racial justice and healing, to uplift BIPOC voices, and to support key organizations whose mission is to transform racism. 

We hosted 30 speakers in June in the free Transforming Racism Facebook Live Series. Click here to view the names of all 30 Transforming Racism speakers and their presentations. You can watch all 30 sessions here.

You can also watch these 20 archived interviews from our African American Wisdom Summit, and the 23 archived interviews in the Healing Cultural Wounds section of our World Peace Library. 

Click here to read our Company Statement regarding George Floyd and incidents of police brutality.

You’ll find more resources and information here and in the “Racial Justice and Healing” section in future issues of Catalyst.

A Call to Community
By Shift community member Diane Drummond

We cannot avoid individual responsibility. The struggle and chaos of the virus have given us our second chance. Let us examine the format of cooperative community as a supportive medium in which to make these changes. Let us research websites, read books and talk to those who have already made community, and then talk with each other about how we might do the same. It is time. We need community if we ourselves are to survive. The whole supports the many, and the many support the whole. To read more, click here.

Not All Bad…
By Shift community member Mary Spain

The coronavirus has brought grief, fear, and economic breakdown. It has also given rise to a sense of global uncertainty and impotence. Nonetheless, may I, for a moment, put forward the argument that the situation is not all bad.

Take self-isolation. This may be, and is, frustrating and limiting... but it has also produced innumerable acts of generosity and kindness. It has brought communities together, and it has forced a society, which formerly never even paused between actions, to sit and reflect. Self-isolation has caused us all to look out of our windows and ponder on what we can see... it has given us time to think. To read more, click here.

Visionary Fiction and the Global Pandemic: A Brave New World
By Shift community member Jodine Turner

We’ve catapulted into isolation. Thankfully, modern technology allows many of us a semblance of contact. Still, uncertainty and stress barrage our thoughts. Anxiety floods our emotions and trembles through our bodies. We heave a collective lament of shock, of grief, of mourning. We isolate from each other for all-around safety yet are entrenched in this together. Forced to slow down while life as we knew it changes. 

I hope this will prove to be a crossroads that activates a global shift in consciousness. Just like in Visionary Fiction stories. To read more, click here.

The Master Key
By Robert Peng, a featured speaker in The Shift Network’s 2019 Qigong Global Summit

It's 1972 in the industrial city of Xiangtan, China. A frail child with a heart condition sneaks into a hotel boiler room and befriends the elderly yet vibrant attendant, who eventually reveals his true identity as a revered Qigong master. He heals the boy and, for the next 13 years, secretly teaches him the keys to unlocking the spiritual and healing dimensions of the Life Force.

It sounds like a modern-day fable, but the story is true. And with The Master Key, that grateful student, Robert Peng, invites all of us to enter the next chapter of this empowering path. Here, Master Peng brings together the unique insights of his teacher with the moving account of his own journey.

Click here to read the twentieth installment (as well as all the previous installments) of this profoundly moving book.

In this special video series, prominent authors, speakers, thought leaders, and others answer the question, “What is the nicest thing a non-family member has ever done for you?”

Bernadette Pleasant's Story
Creator of The Emotional Institute and Femme!, a mind-body wellness program

EXCERPT: I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't eating, I was stressed out, I'd left my husband. I can recall getting a phone call from my boss. I didn't quite understand the phone call and why he was calling me. He says, "Bernadette, where have you been?" I recall looking at the phone, thinking, What are you talking about? He says, "Are you okay?" "Sure, I'm okay." I have all this question in my voice, because I don't understand why he's calling me. And he says, "Bernadette, it's Thursday. You haven't been to work all week. You haven't called in. I don't understand."

To watch the video and read the transcript of Bernadette’s 5-minute story about the caring friend who transformed her life, click here.

Sarah Moran's Story
Shift community member

EXCERPT: One day I was really feeling really low about that, and I saw them and I asked... Jim was outside... and I asked him if he would pray for me about my health issues and he said, "Oh yes, come sit down." He sat me right down on the porch and grabbed his wife Florence, from inside, "Come on out. Sarah’s here. We need to pray for her." I certainly wasn't expecting this on-the-spot thing, but they sat me down in this chair and they both kind of put their hands on me, and went through this really lovely prayer for me. Of course I was crying and I was so touched by everything that they said. So it was a really sweet moment.

To watch the video and read the transcript of Sarah’s 6-minute story about the amazing couple that fulfilled her dream, click here.

“Explore the Near-Death Experience Through Science, Spirituality & Sound” Facebook Live Q&A with Eben Alexander, MD, and Karen Newell

Would you like to discover insights and practices, including powerful sound-healing journeys, to access the knowledge and transformations of the NDE experience — even if you haven’t had one yourself? Eben Alexander, MD, renowned academic neurosurgeon and bestselling author of Proof of Heaven, and Karen Newell, spiritual journey facilitator, co-founder of Sacred Acoustics, and author, will be leading a special Facebook Live Q&A call on Wednesday, August 12, at 10:00am Pacific to share how you can live a more love-filled, fearless, and fulfilling life NOW. Click here to get a Facebook Messenger reminder when the event goes live.

“Embodying Grace in Times of Challenge” Facebook Live Q&A with Miranda Macpherson

“Spiritual Allyship” Facebook Live Q&A with Dereca Blackmon

Your Voice:

We want to know: What action can you take today, no matter how small, that can make someone’s day? To share your thoughts in our Facebook Page community, click here.

Original Politics: Making America Sacred Again
By educator, ecopsychologist, and political philosopher Glenn Aparicio Parry

Original Politics aims to facilitate a seemingly impossible task: unifying a socially and politically fractured United States. Interweaving hard-hitting facts of U.S. history with Native American philosophy and other perennial wisdom, Parry foresees a political evolution that ultimately returns America to wholeness through our true sacred purpose: unity in diversity. For more information and to order your copy, click here.

Click here to watch Glenn Aparicio Parry’s Facebook Live interview with Philip Hellmich, The Shift Network’s Global Ambassador of Peace.

One Planet Peace Forum

One Planet Peace Forum (OPPF) is pleased to announce its inaugural interfaith, interdisciplinary gathering for building a culture of peace. With a holistic approach to peacemaking, OPPF was created as an annual gathering to offer a universal platform for people of all religious, spiritual, and secular expressions to co-create solutions to the most challenging issues facing humanity today.

The program, from Noon to 2:30pm Pacific on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, September 25-27, will integrate short keynote talks, panels with discussion, contemplative practice, and sacred performance to create a safe place for collaboration by applying universal principles, values, and tools, such as truth telling and unitive justice, to find common ground through the promotion of interfaith and interdisciplinary dialogue and cooperative action. Speakers include Philip Hellmich, The Shift Network’s Global Peace Ambassador.

People of all backgrounds and interests are invited to register for this September 25-27 virtual gathering and help make this a lasting contribution to global harmony. For more information, and to register for One Planet Peace Forum, click here.

Learning to Bend
By Shift community member Michelle Davis

Jenna Moore's flawlessly orchestrated life and engagement to Ben Kelly, "the perfect man," vanish when she discovers a controlling side of her fiancé. Confused and unsure of who she is without Ben, Jenna decides to uproot from her safe, predictable life in Boston and move to Bend, Oregon, hoping to find her answers there. It's when she meets Jackson, a former Navy SEAL who battles demons of his own, that she acquires the courage to let go of being perfect and embrace uncomfortable risks, transforming her life through forgiveness, compassion, surrender, and acceptance. Yet the rewards from discovering her true self exceed Jenna's expectations — not only does she find the greatest love of her life, but she also understands what's kept her from learning to bend. To learn more and order your copy, click here.

For several years, The Shift Network has hosted Indigenous leaders from around the world and invited them to share their sacred knowledge, rituals, and practices to guide us in a way of living that is sustainable, healthy, and just. We’re thus delighted that the Global Indigenous Wisdom Library makes this “virtual council” of leaders and their wisdom available for everyone, everywhere for free. The Global Indigenous Wisdom Library is a collection of audio and video interviews featuring Indigenous leaders from around the world sharing prayers, sacred songs, prophecies, spiritual teachings, and pathways to healing, as well as concrete examples for birthing a new era — one in which all members of the human family are treated with respect, understanding, compassion, and justice. This sacred wisdom is important medicine for us all.

The production of The Global Indigenous Wisdom Library is a gift from The Shift Network, designed to inspire, inform, and involve you by highlighting the voices and important messages of Indigenous leaders from around the world. We want to give a heartfelt thanks to Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr. (“Brother Phil”) for his partnership in helping create this Indigenous Wisdom collection. And we thank all the speakers who have contributed to this body of knowledge. To discover more, click here.

World Peace Library. Designed for the layperson and professional peacebuilder alike, the World Peace Library has over 425 audio and video interviews with some of the most remarkable, inspiring peacebuilders in the world available to you at NO COST. You’ll find hundreds of hours of inspirational, peacebuilding, compassion-spreading talks and trainings at your fingertips with this FREE global resource. There’s no way you can’t come away from the World Peace Library deeply inspired, transformed — and part of the solution. Click here to find out how to take peace to the next level — and help co-create a global culture of peace that leaves a legacy of good for our children, our children’s children and all of humanity and life on earth.

Book by Stephen Dinan: Sacred America, Sacred World. Infused with visionary power, Sacred America, Sacred World is a manifesto for our country’s evolution that is both political and deeply spiritual. It offers profound hope that America can grow beyond our current challenges and manifest our noblest destiny, which the book shows is rooted in sacred principles that transcend left or right political views. To order your copy, click here.

If you would like to submit something to Catalyst, please see the submission guidelines: click here.