Author Archives: Catherine Ann Lombard

An Understanding Light of Welcome

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A refugee child seeking asylum in Gronau.

A refugee child seeking asylum in Gronau, Germany.

News headlines have recently been shouting about the refugee crisis and Germany’s prominent role in welcoming them. Estimates are that more than 1.5 million refugees will enter the country by the end of the year, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Since I live in a small town in Germany, I thought I might share my personal experience and reflections.

The town where I live is a poor one by German standards and a rich one by world standards. Gronau has a beautiful heated community swimming pool, a Jazz Festival every May, and a well-stocked public library. But the town also has many boarded up factories with smashed windows. Gronau was once a boom town centered around the textile industry. But by the 1970s, all the jobs disappeared, first to Eastern Europe and then to China.

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Tasty Bites of Wisdom

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Archive announcementRoberto Assagioli, the visionary founder of psychosynthesis, left a treasure trove of thoughts when he died in 1974 at the age of 86. A great scholar, linguist, educator, and philosopher, Assagioli’s creative ideas compelled him to handwrite his reflections onto small pieces of paper which he would then assemble under subjects just as Joy, Compassion, and Will.

I have visited Assagioli’s Archives three times in his home in Florence, most recently this September, as a guest of Gruppo Alle Fonti (The Group at the Well Spring). This time they also launched their new website www.archivioassagioli.org. Everyone can now register for free and, with the aid of an excellent search engine, delve into Assagioli’s fascinating, invigorating, and moving archived papers.

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When Spider Webs Combine

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Faith in the Future Conference. Photo by ARC

Faith leaders representing 24 world religions gathered at Bristol, England, this month and committed to helping the world’s poorest people. Photo by ARC.

One of my favorite Assagioli quotes, which I actually have printed on my business card, is as follows:

“When spiritual light is focused on the most complex of individual or collective problems, it produces solutions…and spares us much suffering.”

These words resonate with the news that the UN is now actively inviting spiritual leaders to become involved in 17 sustainability commitments for the next 15 years. On 25 September, world leaders will gather at the United Nations in New York to adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These commitments include a worldwide end to poverty and hunger, full employment across the globe, and gender equality in every country.

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