Title: sacred activist

Location: Pacific Northwest, USA

Jayne is the Director of Interfaith Sanctuary Homeless Shelter and the Viriditas Center. She is a contemplative, an activist, a humanitarian, and an advocate for those who are poor, marginalized, and overlooked within our world.  Since 1991, Jayne has provided service for organizations including the Idaho Hunger Action Council, Idaho Roundtable Against Hunger, Temple of Light Prison Ministry, Ada County Juvenile Court Services, Habitat for Humanity, Ada County Human Rights Task Force, the Interfaith Alliance of Idaho, and Wellbriety for Prisons/White Bison. She is currently the resident Catholic Worker at Dorothy Day Place, a transitional House of Hospitality for women in Boise, Idaho. In 2009, she was honored with a Women Making History award from Boise State University.

Articles/Media:

Heart of the Treasure Valley: Idaho Statesman, Dec. 8, 2008
Women Making History 2009,  Boise State University
Sacred Activism , Living in the Fire of Change

“At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.” - Mother Teresa

About the Viriditas Center

The Viriditas Center is a community of faith, rooted in contemplative Christianity and open to the wisdom of the world's sacred traditions. We are called by Love to serve and care for those who are poor, marginalized, oppressed, and overlooked within our community and our world. Our emphasis is on being a compassionate & healing presence to all, especially those who are most in need.

Our Service Initiatives

“Service is more than helping or doing a task. It is a way of being - a disposition of the heart, with no beginning and no end. Service is a deep form of stewardship for God's people and God's creation, arising out of an experience of Oneness. It is a call from God to serve God in others and as such, is both motivated and inspired by Divine Love.” - Fr. Thomas Keating

• Spiritual Direction, Training & Mentorship for individuals called to an integrated path of contemplation and action. 
• Circle of Friends - provides spiritual and physical support, resources, and friendship to individuals who are incarcerated, living on the streets, in the shelters, or transitioning out of homelessness in Boise, Idaho.
• Viriditas Houses - A residential model where sacred activists live among men and women who are transitioning out of homelessness, re-entering the community from jail or prison, or who have fallen between the cracks of society. The model is inspired in part by the Catholic Worker Houses of Hospitality, founded by Dorothy Day & Peter Maurin in the 1930's in the slums of NYC. Viriditas Director, Jayne Sorrels, is currently a Catholic Worker at a House of Hospitality for women in Boise, Idaho. (upcoming late 2009-2010)

Some of the people who inspire & influence our lives and work:

• Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement
• Fr. Thomas Merton
• Pema Chodron
• Andrew Harvey
• Mother Teresa of Calcutta
• Father Thomas Keating
• Mother Antonia
• Br. David Steindl-Rast
• Catherine de Hueck Doherty
• Br. Wayne Teasdale
• Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arche
• Bill Strickland
• Henri Nouwen
• Leymah Gbowee
• His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• Ken Wilber

”Love cannot remain by itself - it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service.” - Mother Teresa

“This is the reason for prayer, my daughters, the purpose of this spiritual marriage: the birth always of good works, good works.  So be occupied in prayer not for the sake of enjoyment but so as to have the strength to serve.  Mary and Martha must combine.” -Saint Teresa of Avila

“It is possible to serve meals in a nursing home, to cook in a homeless shelter, or read stories to children at an inner-city library and never let others into your heart. It is possible to do the good thing and end up feeling satisfied with yourself and even just a bit superior. It is possible to do the good thing and not be changed for the better by it. Hospitality includes cooking the meal, and reading to the kid, but it demands that you let the people you are serving into your heart. Only in opening yourself wide to another are you transformed by the power of love.” - Radical Hospitality, Fr. Daniel Homan and Lonni Collins Pratt

”A spirituality that is only private and self-absorbed, one devoid of an authentic political and social consciousness, does little to halt the suicidal juggernaut of history. On the other hand, an activism that is not purified by profound spiritual and psychological self-awareness and rooted in divine truth, wisdom, and compassion will only perpetuate the problem it is trying to solve, however righteous its intentions. When, however, the deepest and most grounded spiritual vision is married to a practical and pragmatic drive to transform all existing political, economic, and social institutions, a holy force - the power of wisdom and love in action - is born. This force I define as Sacred Activism.”  -  Andrew Harvey

Alliances

The Viriditas Center is an organizational ambassador for Humanity Unites Brilliance (HUB), a “for-profit” philanthropic organization dedicated to providing 'total giving programs' to end poverty through a model of sustained, expansive giving. HUB's Global Humanitarian Programs generated by its Members and Global Impact Partners: Feed the Children; Feed 333; Raincatcher; Micro-Credit Summit; The Bank of HOPE; Pachamama Foundation and Youth Action International, provide food, clean water, sustainable housing, education and micro-loans to impoverished communities in Africa, South America, and other areas of the world.


Where to Find Me on Gaia:

Contemplation & Beyond (co-administrator)

On the Web:

Twitter - “sacredactivist”
Viriditas Center
Interfaith Sanctuary
Humanity Uniting Brilliance

Member Since: Wednesday, July 04 2007

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