Case Study: Marian David of Sustaining the Soul that Serves

Sustaining the Soul that Serves illustrates an emerging trend in an organization's primary mission/function: to help social activists to renew and sustain themselves in their work.

Contemplative practice is used a part of a comprehensive curriculum to teach social activists how to take care of themselves: "Secure your own oxygen mask first!"

Marian's Story

Marian David, the founder and director of Sustaining the Soul that Serves, worked in public schools for over 12 years as a teacher and guidance/career counselor. During her time as the director of the Children's Defense Fund Freedom Schools, Marian kept hearing stories from young social activists who were doing wonderful work but were severely burned out. She had a vision of supporting them to find better ways to sustain themselves so that they could continue to do the work they cared so much about.

In 1996, Marian was selected as a Community Fellow in the Department of Urban Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There she worked to develop a project to incorporate spiritual renewal practices into youth programs. This became the foundation for her current work. She designed Sustaining the Soul that Serves with these young people in mind, but more seasoned leaders approached her and said, "We need it too." In time, the workshops have become intergenerational.

Marian has a gift for seeing contemplative practices from a broad perspective and translating them into a language that people from diverse backgrounds can relate to. She says, "When I think about contemplative practices, I think about it as whatever is the thing to get me in touch with me, with the light in me...When I'm trying to explain it to young people, [I tell them it's] whatever gets you to really look at the light, the who of who you are, the essence of yourself."

In that same spirit, the curriculum for Sustaining the Soul that Serves was developed organically. Marian conducted interviews and focus groups to find out the kinds of practices that people were already doing to sustain themselves, and she wove these into the program. The first step in the training is to honor these practices. Participants are then offered other practices to explore, but are always encouraged to find or design practices that will "speak" to them.

Marian values her work. "I might find myself as a facilitator, but I'm a learner all at same time. It's never that I'm always giving, always receiving. I am always on both sides of it. The more I give, the more I receive."

In her own life, Marian draws on a number of traditions of contemplative practice. "I feel like the program we've designed, the book that we've published, is written with my blood. It's been a very personal journey. I thought I was doing it for the young people, but it has been about so much of my life."

"If I could transmit a message to the whole world, I would say, 'Be sure to secure your own oxygen mask before helping others.' And that means, find practices so that you can sustain yourself in your work. Because if you're here in this world, then that means you have a divine purpose. And if you're going to know what that purpose is, you're going to have to have some practices so that you can stay tuned."

Personal practices

Marian draws broadly from traditions to which she has been exposed in her life, including African and Native American traditions, and early church experiences (she was raised as a Methodist). Her specific practices include:

• Wakes up at 4 am for meditation, prayer, and quiet time. "It's a beautiful time of day-everything is a new beginning, all is forgiven, and I feel pure love."
• Time in nature early in the morning and at sunset. "Nature teaches me. There are different lessons that come from nature and they're always something that I need. Grass reminds me of patience; flowers look so delicate -- a rose might look like it would blow away in the rain, but it looks even more beautiful after the rain."
• Journaling
• Yoga, walking, exercise
• Listening to inspiring music

Organization Profile

Sustaining the Soul that Serves
Founded: 1997
Sector: Leadership (social justice focus)
Location of work: national
Staff size: 1.5 paid staff, 12 volunteers
Annual budget: $167,000
Contact information:
Marian David
1224 Hwy. 38 South
Bennettsville, SC 29512
ph: (843) 454-1744

Website: www.sustainingthesoul.org

Sustaining the Soul is a nonprofit organization which provides educational programs for service leaders. The mission of the organization is "to provide educational programs for emerging and seasoned service leaders that will support them in renewing and strengthening their inner spiritual foundations and help sustain them in their work for social justice and peace."

Launched in 1997 and established as a nonprofit in July 2000, Sustaining the Soul invites leaders to explore meditation, journaling, nature, prayer, music, and other creative expressions as tools to nurture and sustain themselves in their work. While initially focused on meeting the needs of emerging leaders (ages 15-30), the program has expanded to include seasoned leaders age 30 and above who work in the community and on behalf of children and youth.

Sustaining the Soul is based on the assumption that by enabling leaders to care for themselves, they may better serve others. The overarching goal of the project is to facilitate the development of a more sustained, productive, and spirituality-centered cadre of youth leaders and community activists.

Sustaining the Soul offers its program to a broad audience through one- to three-day retreats, workshops, conferences, and training of facilitators. In addition to youth leaders, the program is suited for educators, parents, women groups, social activists, and an array of people who touch the lives of others.

Sustaining the Soul trainings are structured around a framework of "four journeys":

• Journey to the Inner Self
• Journey to the Physical Self
• Journey to the Creative Self
• Journey from Self to Community

Activities in each of these pathways lead the participants to greater insight, inner strength, creativity, and interconnectedness.

At each training, at least one trainer is representative of the cultural background of the majority of the participants. Participants in these sessions have stated that they have never experienced more respect for their own heritage in a training and that this has allowed them to see the power of coming together at a spiritual level. Trainers are also diverse in respect to age, and comprise an intergenerational cadre of leaders

As a relatively young program, one of the organizational challenges is to build an infrastructure that will support the program. Marian also notes that working with the financial side of the organization can be challenging -- "I am good at program design and my heart is in it. But the other side of that is that you've got to handle the money and you've got to manage the organization while you're nurturing the growth and the vision of the program. It really is a lot to do."

Eventually, Marian would like to see colleges, universities, and national youth organizations using the curriculum and training she has been instrumental in developing. "We could work on the front end of going into the colleges of social work, before young people enter the field."

Key Accomplishments

In its short history, Sustaining the Soul has become a nonprofit organization and its program has been piloted with over 600 emerging and seasoned leaders, all of whom work for social justice and peace in their communities.

Participants come from culturally diverse communities, faith traditions, education levels, economic backgrounds, and sectors of community service. Some of the organizations they are affiliated with have included:

• Children's Defense Fund
• Tent City Latino Community, Boston, MA
• The National Indian Youth Leadership Project, Gallup, NM
• Educators for Social Responsibility and Resolving Conflict Creatively, Alaska
• Black Male Youth Conference, Clover, SC

An extensive evaluation of the program conducted by the Kellogg Foundation revealed that 90% of the participants felt that they had improved the way they managed stress in their lives. Most discovered or rediscovered a connection between their service work and spirituality and commented that their spirituality gave them the clarity and passion to engage in service work.

Organizational Challenges

• Building an infrastructure to support the program
• Fundraising and finances

Organizational Contemplative Practices

• Stillness Practice: Silence at the beginning of meetings and conference calls (staff and volunteers aren't often in the office together at the same time).
• Generative/Devotional Practice: Having a reading and quotes at the beginning of a meeting or planning session to help everyone focus. Readings used have included Alice Walker's story "Finding the Greenstone." Marian especially appreciates quotes from Howard Thurman (minister, educator, and civil rights leader) and this one from Mother Teresa: "In order to keep a lamp burning, you have to keep putting oil in it."
• Relational Practice/Stillness Practice: Staff and volunteers come together a day before trainings to have time to center themselves together. They stay for one day after the retreat to reflect on their work together and to nourish and replenish themselves.