NY Center for Nonviolent Communication at Brooklyn Ethical

NY Center for Nonviolent Communication at Brooklyn Ethical

A testimony by Rebecca Lurie

This past summer I took advantage of free training offered to members of BSEC in Nonviolent Communication. It was a weekend retreat we hosted for the NY Center for Nonviolent Communication (NYCNVC) and we are doing it again! In exchange for the use of space, we get a few free seats. (October 28-30)

https://www.nycnvc.org/discovery-weekends

I cannot say enough about how important these skills are! Many of us in the ethical movement, the left, and peace movements have studied and practiced NVC. Last year we hosted Leonie Smith who taught us aspects of this practice as well. At BSEC we practice the style of NVC when we sit in colloquy, when we teach our children how to speak to one another kindly, and often, (when we are lucky!) when we sit in meetings. But the training here deepens the practice to awaken skills we know we genuinely need to Be the Change we seek in the world.

Please consider being one of the participants later this month when we host it again. If you do, please reach out to me so we can take pleasure and practice the skills together! And if/when enough of us improve our practice, then in any circles we find ourselves in together, we will spread the skills and the practice further.

“Empathic connection is an understanding of the heart in which we see the beauty in the other person, the divine energy in the other person, the life that’s alive in them. We connect with it. The goal isn’t intellectually understanding it, the goal is empathically connecting with it. It doesn’t mean we have to feel the same feelings as the other person. That’s sympathy when we feel sad that another person is upset. It doesn’t mean we have to have the same feelings; it means we are with the other person. This quality of understanding requires one of the most precious gifts one human being can give to another: our presence in the moment.”
– Marshall Rosenberg, Speak Peace in a World of Conf…

Art Night with Friends

This week we had a lovely event, Art Night with Friends, guided by art educator and director of our Ethics for Children Program, Angel Thompson. Participants created their own petit landscapes, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and stayed long after the event sharing stories and enjoying our lovely backyard. It was a warm and fun multigenerational event. Some of the pictures can be found below:

Postcards to voters with Beth Elohim

Congregation Beth Elohim and the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture came together in the BSEC garden on August 17 to write almost 300 postcards encouraging voting in competitive states.
This postcard writing campaign is Reclaim Our Vote.  Some of the pictures can be found below.
 

Photo Credit: Dan Walsh

Postcarding to Voters (with pictures)

Postcarding to Voters (with pictures)

This past Tuesday, August 2nd, we had a Postcards to Voters – Community Day event at our building, organized by our Communications Committee. The event was outdoors and we had refreshments, a delightful brass band, Honk NYC, playing in our yard, and warm and dedicated company, which made the evening even more lovely. 
We are thankful for our members and neighbors who came to help encourage first-time and disenfranchised voters to go to the polls this year!
If you didn’t get to come to this event, there is still a way to participate. We will continue to do postcards to voters this month, on weekdays (weather allowing) from 5 to 7pm, at a table in front of our building at 53 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY 11215. We hope you join us!
A few pictures of the August 2nd event can be found below:

Get Out The Vote Postcarding At Brooklyn Society For Ethical Culture

Brooklyn Society For Ethical Culture members and neighbors are writing postcards to get out the vote in competitive states around the country.  Every weekday evening in July, from 5-7 a table is set up in front of the building at:
Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture,
53 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY 11215
where young and old volunteers write cards together.  It is a fun social time with a purpose.   All necessary material is provided by BSEC (postcards, stamps, pens, addresses, etc.)
Come and join us when it isn’t raining.  Bring friends and make new friends.

This ongoing civic project is in coordination with Reclaim Our Vote, which is one of the efforts of Center for Common Ground.