With so much need in the world, just thinking about making a difference can be overwhelming. Many of us yearn to keep service to others in our lives, yet become so drained by our involvements we feel inadequate to the task. Does this mean the need is so great that we are powerless to truly help?
The first Al Filipov Peace & Justice Forum was held Saturday night 7 PM, September 14th, at the Trinitarian Congregation Church on Walden Street. Paul Loeb, author of Soul Of A Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time, spoke on how to maintain hope and commitment while becoming involved in community issues without feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.
The Forum is in the memory of long-time Concord resident Al Filipov (pictured, top right). Al was on American Airlines Flight 11 on September 11, 2001, the first of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center. The goal of the Al Filipov Peace & Justice Forum is to host renown thought-leaders on the topics of justice
and peace grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
According to Booklist, Loeb's book argues that Americans, nurtured on a steady diet of cynicism, see themselves as
powerless to effect social change. They're also hampered by a national pragmatism that values work and money over
the seemingly whimsical--such as social activism..." Amazon.com says, Soul of a Citizen shows "we can be 'good enough' activists, assuming
the task of helping 10 people in need rather than taking on the globe. We can remember the power of storytelling
when convincing an audience, rather than angrily spewing scary facts. We can replenish ourselves so that we do not
burn out. We can emphasize themes such as community and forgiveness rather than separatism and blame."
Loeb (pictured, bottom right), Associated Scholar at Seattle's Center for Ethical Leadership, has spent three decades researching and
writing about citizen responsibility and empowerment, asking what makes some people choose lives of social
commitment, while others abstain.
Al Filipov was an engineer by training, but his family, friends, and fellow parishioners also knew
him as a family man, church Deacon, human rights activist, painter, gardener, inventor and
storyteller. The forum speaks to those issues about which Al cared deeply, and it
will demonstrate how a single individual can make a profound impact in the lives of his or
her community.
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