What value does hope have right now? How do we invoke it without denying the real challenges we face? We live in the era of doom-scrolling, watching in shock as one story of increasing conflict, threat to life, economic insecurity, and climate disaster follows another, and another. For those of us who help others make sense of their experience and ease suffering (clergy, behavioral health workers, teachers, spiritual leaders, and others), it can be difficult to know how to keep despair at bay–for us, and for those we serve. And yet we know that each of us, and our communities, are surviving, developing new capacities, and imagining better futures for humanity and the planet.
In this conference, we will explore each of these crucial ideas — hope, resilience, and transcendence — as interpreted through various wisdom traditions, as well as in conversations with therapists, researchers, and clergy, and among participants.
