Hi, my name is _____________
When the Spirit moves me . . .
______________________________
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This was on the nametag table in the foyer of the Hall of Thanks-Giving. Our new friends at Creative Mornings - Dallas were hosting their July event and this was the prompt on each nametag. With every new guest, the first blank was easy to fill-in, but the second blank stopped many in their tracks. Pens to chins. Heads raised to the ceiling. A peak to a neighbor's answer. How would you fill-in that second blank?
When the Spirit moves me ....
The work of the Thanks-Giving Foundation is to listen deeply to inspiration. Inspiration from the Earth, from sibling faiths, from our communities, these all play a role in how we listen. Without your constancy and faithfulness to the work of The Thanks-Giving Foundation, together, we could not accomplish what we are setting out to become. And, without the place, space, creativity, care, compassion, of our Thanks-Giving legacy and present collaborators, like you, our collective listening would be incomplete.
The Spirit (the Universe, the Essence, the True Self, Consciousness, Heart, and ...) is moving you!
And, She is calling your name...
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Faith Forward Dallas Welcomes Neighbors
Nonprofit agencies in the Texas/Mexico border regions are working hard to meet the needs of the global neighbors who are pushed from their homelands and arrive at the US doorstep. Only a small percentage of these migrants manage to meet all the requirements for entry into the United States, but the numbers are rising. Though the goal is to become self-sufficient as quickly as possible, upon immediate arrival, assistance is needed.
To welcome newly arriving immigrants, nonprofits and faith groups offer immediate help that includes transportation, food, and necessities for travel, and in some cases, short time shelter. Because Texas border service organizations are mostly based in small towns with limited resources, they need partnering groups in better-resourced Texas hubs such as Dallas.
From June 22nd to July 13th, Faith Forward Dallas and our partners have welcomed 166 migrants from El-Paso, Del-Rio, and Anson Texas. Our guests come from across the globe: Haiti, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guatemala, Brazil, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Peru, Honduras, Peru, Cuba, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Senegal, & China.
This effort is a collaboration of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square, Catholic Charities, Oaklawn United Methodist Church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Dallas Responds, Rio Valley Relief Project, First Presbyterian Church of Dallas, Office of Welcoming Communities & Immigration Affairs, and many volunteers.
FFD will continue to provide travel assistance, care and compassion in hopes that a more efficient policy and process will soon be put in place.
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 Serving Up Gratitude
Thanks-Giving Square is pleased to continue its Serving Up Gratitude initiative with additional meals to be purchased and delivered in late July and August. The partnership with the North Texas Cares! coalition of funders benefits the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department, the Dallas County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and Children's Health Emergency Department Staff.
To learn more or to make a donation, click here.
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 CONGRATULATIONS, Thanks-Giving Square!
Thanks-Giving Square is among the inaugural group to receive Copper Star Certification from 24HourDallas, a non-profit agency established to advocate for a vibrant nighttime economy in Dallas.
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 The Thanks-Giving Foundation joins the community effort to read The Accommodation with Big D Reads. We have been invited to host conversations and meetings around the reading, and, we are doing it in our own contemplative way. See below or the opportunities to connect with the Thanks-Giving Community.
AND, we will have a book for you! Please sign up to reserve your book. Books will be available at the end of August. 
IN-PERSON - Wednesdays, September 7, 14, 21, 28, at noon: The Thanks-Giving Foundation invite those who are participating in Big D Reads every Wednesday at noon in the Thanks-Giving Hall for a thirty-minute guided meditation on the “Inner Work of Racial Healing” to supplement the reading and support your spirit as we read together. These experiences will be led by Dr. Andy Stoker, Thanks-Giving Foundation’s Chief Engagement Officer and Certified Meditation Teacher.
VIRTUAL - Wednesdays, September 7, 14, 21, 28, at 7:00 p.m.: The Thanks-Giving Foundation invite those who are participating in Big D Reads every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. for a virtual forty-five-minute curated conversation on The Accommodation. Upon registering, each participant will be given a reading plan for the month. Each session will end with a ‘Metta’ practice in the Western Buddhist tradition. These experiences will be led by Dr. Andy Stoker, Thanks-Giving Foundation’s Chief Engagement Officer and Certified Meditation Teacher. REGISTER HERE.
WORLD GRATITUDE DAY, September 21: The Thanks-Giving Foundation is hosting a day full of contemplative and meditation activities, including our Big D Reads connections, to share gratitude for this present history we are living to affect positive change for racial healing and justice. It will be a day of peace and thanksgiving for our shared and common humanity.
For more information and to register for our Thanks-Giving Square Big D Reads events, please go to: https://thanksgiving.org/programs/bigdreads/
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Valarie Kaur: See No Stranger
Valarie Kaur will be coming to Dallas to teach us and inspire us toward revolutionary love. Ms. Kaur is a renowned civil rights leader, lawyer, award-winning filmmaker, educator, innovator, and best-selling author of See No Stranger. She leads the Revolutionary Love Project to reclaim love as a force for justice. Valarie burst into American consciousness in the wake of the 2016 election when her Watch Night Service address went viral with 40 million views worldwide. Her question “Is this the darkness of the tomb – or the darkness of the womb?” reframed the political moment and became a mantra for people fighting for change.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8th: Valarie Kaur will offer a Public Lecture and Book Signing, from 7:30 - 9:00 p.m.at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. The museum will be open for self- and docent-guided tours from 5:30 - 7:15 p.m. This lecture event—to include a book signing—is open to the public.
The following day, September 9, Ms. Kaur will lead us in an intensive workshop. Tickets for this workshop are $250. A copy of See No Stranger is included with this ticket purchase, as well as a box lunch. The workshop is being held September 9 at 11:00 a.m. at Paul Quinn College in the Grand Lounge.
(The Eventbrite page, above, has registration for the September 8th evening lecture and book signing
at the Museum as well as registration for the workshop on September 9th at Paul Quinn College.)
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Faiths in Conversation
Starting September 12, 2022, and running through February 13, 2023, our Inter-Faith Council is hosting "Faiths in Conversation: Ethic of Creation Care." Participants will join this monthly on-line series via a ZOOM link that will be provided upon registration. See below for details.
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Each month, visitors (of all ages) leave about 500 expressions of gratitude on our Gratitude Wall inside the Chapel of Thanks-Giving. Here (below) is a sampling of a few of our June and July favorites. You are invited to leave your own personal expression of gratitude on our Gratitude Wall when you visit Thanks-Giving Square, or online when you visit our Facebook Page.
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