Archive for the ‘Faith’ Category

Unexpected Returns

Monday, July 5th, 2010

by Michelle Nunn, CEO, Points of Light Institute

One Christmas season, my father took me with him to meet a young boy and his family who were visiting Washington for the holidays. But this family was visiting for a very special reason – they were fulfilling the Last Wish of the young boy who had cancer.

He wanted to visit the Capitol and meet his Senator and experience the beauty and majesty of Washington.

You can imagine that visiting with that young boy, just a few years younger than I was, made quite an impression upon me.

Fifteen years later I was at a leadership retreat at Camp Twin Lakes in Georgia, a camp that serves children with cancer and other illnesses.

As I walked through the cafeteria line for dinner, a young staffer helping in the kitchen approached me.

He asked me if I remembered meeting a boy in Washington many years earlier who was making a trip to Washington for his Last Wish.

I wondered how anyone would know about that visit, but, I said, yes, I did remember.

He asked me a few more questions and then he said,

“I was that young boy that you met who was fulfilling my last wish. I beat all the odds, survived my cancer, and I am now a counselor serving other children with cancer.”

For me this story evokes the power of service–its ripple effects, its unexpected returns, and the circle that joins people together–those serving and those being served in a continuing cycle of giving and receiving.

We live in a world of self-help, but the most profound and fundamental way to help ourselves lies in our ability to reach out and help others – to extend beyond our own needs to support those around us.

The Sky and the Sea and an Act of Faith: Lantern Floating, Hawaii, 2010

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

By Mark Farr, Mark oversees faith-based initiatives for Points of Light Institute.

When you think Hawaii, what comes to mind? Sun, sea, surf and sand; hula dancers and fancy shirts?

The evening sun sinking into the water, those perfect sideways-leaning palm trees?

For the more serious vacationer, perhaps Diamond Head and Pearl Harbor, go-to destinations?

So it might seem incongruous that two weeks ago I was celebrating what is perhaps the largest and most truly interfaith event in the world – in Hawaii.

Not only that, but I was celebrating with 60,000 of my closest friends.

And all of it on a beach a mere flip-flop’s throw from Waikiki’s whitest surf.

Lantern Floating, an experience created by the Shinnyo-en organization for American Memorial Day, has in twelve short years developed from a little idea, into a true celebration of the spirituality of the common people.

It contains no liturgy. No doctrinal adherence is demanded. No collection plate circulates.

Rather, what calls this flock-on-the-sand is the remembrance of their ancestors.

It is an act that is completely universal.

It is both religious: and it is a simple commemoration of the human family.

It speaks to the human heart. And it is perfect that it is enacted in Hawaii, the most feminine place in the world, and a place half-way between Japan and the continental U.S.: a fusion of east and west, producing joyous, universal, living faith.

It is one of the most moving events I have ever witnessed.

The occasion begins with an evening of music, readings and reflection.

Though much has a Buddhist flavor, it can be interpreted, “felt” by someone of any faith – or none.

All of us know the generations that have gone before.

Most of us want to remember someone, our mother, our brother, a lost love.

Across the beach thousands of individuals write prayers on little boats.

At dusk, those boats are sent forth, their tiny sails bobbing on the vast and measureless ocean.

Between the dark sea and the overwhelming sky, a flotilla of memories heads out.

It is an extended moment that is unmistakably a message, – a metaphor – about sending souls forth, about fond farewells.

Lantern Floating uses the human condition to bring us nearer to our own spirituality, whatever that might be.

A hush falls on the crowd.

On each boat, the candlelight drifts silently away from us, like a prayer. Or a person: in my case, my own father, who died between the last Floating, and this one.

Across the beach, people, standing knee-deep at the water’s edge, openly weep.

Isn’t faith supposed to lift us out of the prosaic, to speak to us through the sheer wonder of the world? To give us more, and make us better, to help us understand the faith of others?

If that is so, I nominate this event as an act of true interfaith belief. And I will see you there, with your own boat, your tiny candle and your own prayer, next year, at Hawaii’s Lantern Floating.

A Tribute to Janice

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

One of our colleagues, Ellen Ferber, lost her mother Janice last week.

After hearing stories about Janice from Ellen and reading her obituary, I am reminded once again (as I am in my own life) that apples don’t fall far from the tree.

Janice was a strong, sassy woman with family and community values, and an all around class act.

At such a vulnerable time, all I see is strength and commitment from Ellen, characteristics that we see in all of our volunteers and volunteer leaders each and every day.

I would like to pay tribute to a woman who I may have never met but who I feel like i know.  Thank you, Janice, for raising a daughter who has committed herself to a life of helping and leading others in service.

As her co-worker, I would like to honor the grieving process that Ellen will experience and promise to be there for her – to listen, to offer advice and to celebrate long after the official tributes to Janice are over.

Our work is not easy and does not slow down or stop for many reasons.

Although I am at my best when busy, I know this is not true of everyone.

The grieving process will be long, and we promise to be there for you, Ellen.


Janice Marie Cospito
(August 18, 1936 – May 20, 2010)

Virginia Beach, VA

Janice Marie Cospito, 73, of Salt Meadow Bay Drive went home to be with the Lord, Thursday, May 20, 2010. Born in Brooklyn, New York she was the daughter of the late Albert and Ellen Cripps and was predeceased by a beloved sister, Ilene Cripps. Janice will be remembered as a devoted wife, mother and grandmother who was passionate for Christ and invited all to her family table.

Left to cherish her memory is her husband of 54 years, James Cospito; a daughter, Ellen Ferber and husband Jim; three sons, Dr. Peter Cospito and wife Stephanie, James Cospito and wife Lianne and Anthony Cospito and partner Arlu; six grandchildren, Derek, Kristen, Meaghan, Jonathan, Kyle and Katelyn as well as a beloved friends, Muriel Behrens and husband Don, Jennifer Huffman and husband Glen, as well as a wide circle of intimate friends.

Janice’s life will be celebrated at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, May 22, 2010 at Virginia Beach Community Chapel, Virginia Beach. Pastors Tim McIntyre, Rich Hardison and Rick Leineweber will officiate. The family will receive friends following the service in the church’s fellowship hall.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Missions Ministry of Virginia Beach Community Chapel, 1261 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach, 23451 or to the American Cancer Society, 4416 Expressway Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23452.

Arrangements are under the care and direction of Oman Funeral Home & Crematory, Chesapeake.

On Service and Faith

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

Across all of the great faith traditions, we find absolute alignment and clarity around the example of service and the commandment to serve others.

Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, and Muhammad all lived out the life of service.

They manifest the divine, not through their temporal power or wealth, but through the powerful example of their sacrifice and service to others.

Jesus healed the sick and ministered to the poor and the needy.

Buddha sought to alleviate the suffering of the world through his own personal transformation and by sharing these principles with the world.

Muhammad gave away his wealth in order to live in solidarity with the poor.

Throughout my own service journey, I have found that people are inspired to act in service to others out by their faith and the values of their religious traditions.

Service is a powerful platform for people of all faiths to unite in action.

How has your faith inspired your commitment to service?

Everything Happens For a Reason

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

In celebration of AmeriCorps Week, today’s guest post comes from Tedd Cherry who is in his 2nd year  as a full-time AmeriCorps Volunteer. We are grateful to him for sharing his story with us.

You have to hit rock bottom before you realize where you are and can make the decision to pick your head up again and move on.

In the spring of 2008, I found myself barely alive.

Lost in a world of a bad economy as well as a lost job at a local newspaper, I did not want to live, the depression set in.

Spinning out of control, I had to find a way to slow down.

Without job opportunities in sight, the depression grew deeper.

“What looks like a loss may be the very event which is subsequently responsible for helping to produce the major achievement of your life” -Srully Blotnick

While losing hope, I saw the light in the distance.

That light was a summer camp in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.

Respite camp is a place for children and adults with physical and developmental challenges.

Never in my live has my soul been touched with the hearts of gold of the campers and staff who came to work there from all over the world.

They are partially responsible for my commitment to service.

Working along side AmeriCorps volunteers all summer, I decided to apply for positions with AmeriCorps.

The next week after applying, I was on an airplane to New Hampshire.

What is in New Hampshire, you may ask?

Besides the ocean, the mountains and the wonderful people, there is City Year where I lived and served with 50 amazing young adults being tutor’s, mentor’s and role model’s to middle school age youth.

My year at City Year was not an easy one, the long hours, the tears, and the physical exhaustion…

Above all I remember my time at City Year, with the love, joy, and feeling of accomplishment.

Even after my term of service with City Year, I couldn’t leave.

This place, my home, will be in my heart forever.

When I reflect back on my continuing roller coaster of service, I see the good times and the bad, though the good far outweigh the bad.

People can tend to be afraid of service, like I was.

You have to look at it as if it was a cliff over a river. You are terrified to jump the fifty feet into the air with only the Wisconsin River below you, but like I did, you need to close your eyes, run and leap.

You will never find out what is down there if you don’t try.

Take chances, loose yourself often to new possibilities.

Live for what it is worth.

No matter what happens, its not going to be the worst thing that happens to you.

“Just keep Swimming.”

Throw away inhibition and take the initiative to love yourself.

Now that my last year of AmeriCorps service is coming to an end, the time has come to look for employment and begin my life after AmeriCorps.

As a strong AmeriCorps alumnus I will continue to serve, because everything happens for a reason.