Notes from the Field - I spent my last week in silence at the Seven Fountains Jesuit Retreat Center in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I'm not intimidated by silence, but eliminating language, technology, and many of the comforts I rely on in Nong Khai made this week uniquely challenging.

Get out your old state driver's manual, the one that helped you to prepare for the written driving test before you ever got behind the wheel. Turn to the section on road signs and find the sign for two-way traffic. It may just be what's needed to help you negotiate what's being called our "post-truth" era.

"Being called is about recognizing a need and filling it. That need is not just in the world, it’s also in yourself."

GSR Today - The brief documentary film "Sister Jaguar's Journey" conveys the moving story of Sister Judy, a tale of childhood trauma, healing from memories and an encounter with an actual jaguar in the Amazon.

In 2001, Phu Cuong Dominican Sr. Mary Cecilia Bui Thi Hong Hanh launched a savings program for domestic migrant women to cover their children's school fees. Hanh tried to encourage them to save money out of the monthly scholarships their children were awarded from the Binh Trieu Development Center that she runs on the outskirts of the city, offering free elementary education to children in first to fifth grades.

Calling for an end to human smuggling and trafficking, the Sisters of Divine Providence of San Antonio, Texas, are inviting people of faith to their prayer vigil Friday, July 28, following the fatal smuggling of undocumented immigrants in San Antonio.

"The happiest days are those that make us wise."

GSR Today - Millions were relieved that efforts in the U.S. Senate to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act had failed. But, as Social Service Sr. Simone Campbell pointed out to opponents of the repeal effort, it is not over yet.

A letter signed by 7,150 women religious from all 50 states was delivered to the Senate on July 24, urging senators to vote against any bill that repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or cuts Medicaid. The effort was coordinated by NETWORK, a Catholic social justice lobby.

Recently, Mary Hunt, a good friend and co-director with Diann Neu of WATER (Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual), emailed me. Mary is very committed to contemplation and asked me about swimming as a type of contemplative practice similar to Thich Nhat Hanh's walking mediation.