Dear Friends,
Two more states this month and my work travels for 2018 are done. My calendar shows this has been a very busy year. There’s been lots of work and lots of Light- 18 trips in 11 states. I’ve been on the road for 36 years.
There was a wide range of work also – bodywork for People with AIDS, mediating staff conflicts, spiritual disciplines for deeper seeking/avoiding burnout for crisis workers, deep rest and calm for sexual abuse survivors in an atmosphere of danger and disrespect, and the fifth occasion I’ve helped a spiritual community reestablish trust following the crimes of a pedophile.
I continue to work with many people who are made ill physically and emotionally by the tone of malice and ignorance coming out of our politics. From the separation of children from parents to the plans to cut social services, from the rise of neo-Nazi groups to the dangers befalling women, people of color, and LGBT people – people are heartsick for themselves and their families, friends, and neighbors. The need for deep peace and calm has grown to a necessity to make good choices and stay grounded.
While I am still enjoying the praises for my first book, The Dance Between Hope & Fear, I am finishing up book 2 – How Far Have You Traveled? with editors and expect to go to print soon. This winter I’ll be in seclusion to work on book 3.
I have now been on the road working primarily by invitation and living mainly on gifts since 1982. This was the year my first trauma client appeared. With some gentle massage, she recovered a memory of being drugged, kidnapped, and tortured- it was the beginning of my life’s work.
Since that time I have worked in the AIDS wars and the rape crisis for 35 years, taught in 5 prisons in the US and Canada, presented in 6 countries, worked with tortured refugees from all continents, given keynotes to 9 Yearly Meetings, founded The Quaker Initiative to End Torture- QUIT! in 2005, and I get my hands on hundreds of people each year.
All this has been done with the financial support of many. Your help has kept me on the road, teaching and touching people surviving trauma. Please help me now as need grows and the economics of charity are not lush. I need your help. I want to continue so long as my gift to release pain keeps my hands warm and the invitations still arrive. Please send a gift now.
In the Light,
John Calvi