Campaign for Love & Forgiveness Web contributor, Mary Ann Brussat of spiritualityandpractice.com, attended the Gathering the Spiritual Voices of America in Aspen, Colorado recently. Below, she provides the second in a series of reports from this event.

At the Gathering Spiritual Voices of America conference, a lot of networking went on. The participants came from all over the US and from as far away as China and Australia to talk about their experiences of Oneness and what spiritual practices offer our world today. The goal: to create a coalition of contemplatives working for the transformation of the world.

Outside the The Doerr-Hosier Center meeting space, there is a sandstone stone wall created by the nature artist Andy Goldsworthy. Its structure reminds me that coalitions are built stone by stone, and the little things we each do in our work is what creates the flexibility and the power of the whole. So I was listening for stories about what’s happening locally that has global resonance.

Here’s one. At the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, an exhibit for children is called the Bridge to Forgiveness. On one end is a paper shredder. Children are encouraged to write on a piece of paper all the bad names they have been called at school, at the playground, or at home. They then put their papers in the shredder and walk across the Bridge to Forgiveness. What I love about this simple exhibit is that it is interactive on the spot and can also be done at home whenever we are shredding papers. That’s a way of making forgiveness a regular practice.

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