Referring to the teachings of the French philosopher, Simone Weil, Jim Burklo begins by stating that God is love, and love is attention. Specifically, God is the attention that we compassionately focus on other people, on our own experiences, and on the world around us. How can we cultivate this attention in our lives ? Jim continues by leading us in exploring the spiritual discipline of attention.

“Kids In Need Of Defense” (KIND) is a nationwide non-profit organization that provides attorneys at no cost to represent unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children in their deportation legal proceedings. KIND ensures that no child stands in court alone. Many of these children are fleeing pervasive narco-trafficking, human trafficking, gang violence, and sexual abuse (rape, etc.) in Central America. Our speakers are two lawyers and a social worker from KIND.

As documented by historians and anthropologists, the diversity of gender is a normal part of human experience across cultures and throughout history. This talk will explain the dimensions of gender identity and explore the reasons we are seeing more people identifying as something other than the sex they were assigned at birth. This is an opportunity to explore gender with new eyes and ask questions to better understand gender’s complexity. Our speaker, Linda K. Reeves, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in working with LGBTQ individuals, couples, and families.