Message from the ICCD President

As summer ended we experienced a resurgence in polarity politics. The vitriolic attacks against President Obama and his health care reform demonstrate the deep seated fears and anger that simmer in too many of us. Stirred by inflammatory rhetoric and downright lies of right wing talk radio, ordinary people get riled up and act out of their worst instincts.

The more reactionary element within the Roman Catholic Church has intensified. There is a Vatican Visitation of US women religious underway prompted by no clear reason. There is also a doctrinal assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious investigating how the conference promotes the official church's teachings regarding women's ordination, homosexuality and the belief that salvation comes only through the Roman Catholic Church. The Latin Mass is returning in some places and priests are choosing to say the liturgy with their backs to the people. A minority of US Bishops protested President Obama's commencement address at Notre Dame in ways that were barely civil.

Such actions are prompted by and cater to the small minority among us. Many more people are living their lives somewhere in the middle and are open to new ways of understanding the kind of changes that are happening. Actions which polarize and generate fear are not the ones that will move us forward toward a more loving and non-violent world.

Since 2003 more than 300 participants in the Engaging Impasse: Circles of Contemplation and Dialogue® have begun to imagine new ways of being and doing so as to move beyond either/or ways of thinking and to approach the challenges of our lives from a contemplative perspective. We continue to explore these vital questions: How can we keep 'taking a long loving look at the real' and acting and being in new ways? How can we communicate with each other? How can we invite each other into a transformation of consciousness?

This historical moment requires the ongoing involvement of all the members of the Engaging Impasse community and I hope the new reflections will continue to inspire and nurture your commitment.

And the challenges of this moment require the engagement of many more of us. So if you are a new visitor to this website I invite you to read the offerings and consider joining in the important work of the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue (ICCD).

Invitation to Engaging Impasse Circles
If what you read resonates with you and you would like to receive an invitation to the next round of ICCD's foundational program, Engaging Impasse: Circles of Contemplation and Dialogue®, please send your name and mailing address to Marianne Gaynor, IHM at mgaynor@ihmsisters.org.

New ICCD programs
ICCD will be coming to New Jersey and Pennsylvania this year.
Click here to read about the programs and the dates.

Training Seminar
As with these new ICCD programs the need to make the insights of Engaging Impasse: Circles of Contemplation and Dialogue® more accessible to a variety of persons at the local level prompted the first Training Seminar in the methodology of the Engaging Impasse Circles. The Training Seminar took place in August, 2009. A report can be found under Circles Gathering Updates.
Click here to read about this exciting event.

Spanish and French Translations
In 2009 and 2010 I have had the opportunity to design and implement a congregational reflection process for the various provinces of the Sisters of Providence of Montreal, Canada, an international community. As an outgrowth of that process they have translated several of the reflections from this site into Spanish and French. These are now available for your use.
Click on Contemplation, Dialogue, Related Topics to read these translations.

Book Club
In “To See More Slowly” Mary Jo Klick opens up Pat Kozak's reflection from Crucible for Change: Engaging Impasse through Communal Contemplation and Dialogue.
Click here to read that reflection.

New Reflection

In the Seeing through the Impasse section Margaret O'Gorman, FSM reflects on her experience in the Engaging Impasse Circle process and how it offers her “Hope in Times of Impasse.”

Circle Gatherings Updates - A Gallery of Pictures
Click here to see pictures from our most recent Circles.

These notes from the ICCD President and the website are updated on a regular basis to keep you informed of what is happening and how you can extend the work of Engaging Impasse.

Nancy Sylvester, IHM
President, Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue

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