Beloved Way

Reaching out for support for your mental health, whether that's therapy, medication, or something else, does not mean your faith isn't big enough or you haven't prayed hard enough. God sends us healing and care through the therapists who treat us, psychiatrists who help us find the right medication, and supportive communities who hold space for your story.

Wishing you and your family a fun, safe, and happy Halloween! 🎃

“Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement.... Get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”
―Abraham Joshua Heschel

Let this be our prayer of loving-kindness toward all of God's creation:
May all beings be held in compassion.
May all beings be safe and well.
May all beings be free from suffering.
May all beings be at peace.

Greetings! BELOVED Way is celebrating it's Sabbath Weekend and will not gather online this morning. Instead, we'd like to close out Mental Health Awareness Month by sharing this news report featuring BELOVED's own Jim Randall. Jim is a Clinical Supervisor in the LA County Department of Mental Health, and this report features his work and the ongoing work of NAMI -- one of BELOVED's partners in Mental Health Awareness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLYTDlSLPHw . Join BELOVED Way next Saturday, Nov. 2, 10 AM - 12 PM PT, for our next hybrid retreat. You can find us via Zoom through belovedway.org or in-person at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Del Mar, CA. Have a great Sunday! And remember . . . You are a beloved child of God. God delights in you! With compassion, PASTOR DALE

National Alliance on Mental Illness brings families together for annual walk This year's NAMI Walks will be at LA State Historic Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Amanda Starrantino reports.

In the beautiful diversity of the human family we see the refraction of sacred light— the multitudes of God. We don't have to look the same, love the same, or behave the same to be loved by God. We already are, just as we are.

What do you need right now? Perhaps it is already within you.

We're not meant to be on our own, only looking out for #1 and ignoring everyone else on our way to the top. God created us for far more — for togetherness, for goodness, for compassion. Our task is to open our eyes to this counter-cultural reality and live in love.

Our online Compassion Practice groups are back! Join us on Tuesday evenings in our Zoom Room at 7:00 PM as we seek self-compassion...the foundation of the Compassion Practice, a way to ease our own anxiety and feel more grounded, a way to respond not from fear but from our own sacred wisdom, and more.

RSVP required: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScfpP06yHRzTBH5FloeGD8ZJqjU_dPnDiG9p-Ov10uuEsvljQ/viewform

DON'T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY!

STARTING SOON! REGISTER TODAY! Three different cohorts of BELOVED’s Compassion Practice-Level 1 Series, "Principles & Practices of Compassion," will launch the last week of October and the first week of November!

CP-Level 1 consists of three 90-minutes sessions in which participants engage three fundamental contemplative practices to cultivate compassion . . . particularly for themselves! Participants also will learn some of the basic principles undergirding the Compassion Practice.

PACIFIC TIME ZONE RESIDENTS! Please note the addition of a Thursdays at 6:30 PM PT option!

Here are links to the Eventbrite registration pages for the upcoming cohorts:

- Mondays, 1:30 PM ET, 10/28-11/11: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1044324481637
- Tuesdays, 10 AM ET, 10/29-11/12: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1044329968047
- Thursdays, 6:30 PM PT, 11/7-21: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1044341873657

Join us in the journey towards making compassion a way of life!

BELOVED was honored to host a table at this year’s Out of Darkness Walk, an important annual event presented by the American Foundation for Su***de Prevention to raise awareness and create a brave space for people to share how su***de has touched their life. Event-goers stopped by our table to learn about our community and add a link to our prayer chain as we all paused and held space for compassionate healing. The full prayer chain will be dedicated to God at our next in-person gathering.

Trusting God doesn't mean ignoring fear or burying our heads in the sand. It means letting go of control, acknowledging that we can't do this all on our own, and knowing deep in our bones that our lives are held in God's loving hands.

Greetings! BELOVED Way will gather this Sunday morning. Our next installment of "Fall into a Story" will be our monthly hybrid retreat on Saturday, Nov. 2, 10 AM -12 PM PT. This weekend, we are thrilled to report that BELOVED hosted a resource table at the AFSP "Out of Darkness" Walk yesterday in San Diego. And Dale Suggs & VeAnn Clark hosted two workshops at the PSWR Regional Assembly in Fullerton, CA, on Friday and Saturday. What a weekend it has been! For those seeking a worship experience this morning, we suggest engaging the video from last week's BELOVED Way Sunday Gathering found by scrolling down on our page: facebook.com/belovedway.org/ Or, check in on any of the video of the three magnificent worship services from the PSWR Regional Assembly. Those can be found on YouTube (fast forward 13, 25 & 10 minutes respectively):
youtube.com/watch?v=vUdKqfZK8II&t=20s
youtube.com/watch?v=wlfaxu3p4RM
youtube.com/watch?v=aWGFdokMOJo
Have a great Sunday! And remember . . . You are a beloved child of God. God delights in you! PASTOR DALE

Election Day is coming up, and with it comes rising tension for many of us. How can we stay open to different perspectives, even if we disagree? Check out this podcast episode from The Greater Good Science Center on acknowledging the limits of our own knowledge and experience.

How to Let In New Perspectives (The Science of Happiness Podcast) With the U.S. election swiftly approaching, the political divide can feel overwhelming. But what happens when we recognize the limits of our knowledge?

When you're living with mental health challenges, some days feel better than others. But just because some days feel more difficult doesn't mean you're failing. God knows the mountains you're climbing and walks with you every step of the way.

Join BELOVED Compassion Network this season for online Compassion Practice workshops! With three new cohorts beginning this month, Compassion Practice Level 1 is an accessible introduction to the Compassion Practice designed to give you the foundation and tools to start making compassion a way of life.

More information: https://belovedcompassionnetwork.org/what-we-do/upcoming-events/

We never face anything alone. God walks with us through the darkest nights, sustaining us and upholding us to make it to the other side, where brighter days await.

God loves diversity. If it were not so, why would God create a world brimming with a beautiful, vibrant spectrum of different people, animals, foods, and even colors? The Good News of God's great love is that we don't need to fit into any box that humans created — we were never meant to, anyway.

Those who seem the strongest are sometimes the ones carrying the heaviest burdens. May we walk gently into other people's lives, knowing we never have the full picture.

Please join us today in praying for all those affected by Hurricane Milton tonight, in the words of Fr. James Martin:

"Creator God, we ask you to calm the wind and the waves of the approaching hurricane, and spare those in its path from harm. Help those who are in its way to reach safety. Open our hearts in generosity to all who need help in the coming days.

In all things and in all times, help us to remember that even when life seems dark and stormy, you are in the boat with us, guiding us to safety."

Last week was the birthday of Sufi poet and mystic Rumi. One of his most famous poems, "The Guest House," invites us to see emotions as visitors to be welcomed and entertained, bringing messages to impart, because "each has been sent as a guide from beyond."