The Returning: The Way of the Activist

“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow,” Isaiah 1:17

For the Activist, compassion is not a concept — it is a calling. Justice is not ideology — it is worship. Action is not distraction — it is prayer embodied. This pathway is where the heart of God touches the wounds of the world. Where faith becomes flesh and love becomes action.

The Gospel of Solidarity

At the center of Jesus’ teaching sits a single line that cracked the world open: “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for Me.”— Matthew 25:40

God identifies with the vulnerable, the marginalized, the overlooked. Jesus' message was revolutionary. It redirected the entire moral imagination of the ancient world.

From this one teaching came:

• the world’s first hospitals, created by early Christians in the 4th century

• the foundation of public education, rooted in monasteries and cathedral schools

• orphan care, charity systems, and structures of social compassion

• the belief that caring for the weak is not optional but sacred

Christianity — at its purest origins — planted the seeds of a culture of care.

This is not Christianity-as-empire.

This is Christianity-as-mercy.

The Way of Jesus as healing presence in the world.

Tikkun Olam and the Call to Repair

Before Jesus spoke of “the least of these,” He was shaped by His Jewish tradition — a tradition anchored in tikkun olam, the calling to repair what is fractured in the world. This ancient ethic pulses through the Activist pathway:

We are not passive observers of suffering.

We are participants in its healing.

The mystics remind us that the Presence of God is not only found in stillness. It is revealed when we bind up what has been broken. When we say with our lives, “This, too, is mine to tend.”

The Nondual Lens: Action as Presence

From a mystical perspective, activism is not about “helping God out.” It is embodying God’s Presence through our choices and our courage. There is no separation between contemplation and compassion. Between prayer and justice. Between communion with God and care for neighbor.

The Holy Tension

Activists are often aflame with conviction — tender-hearted enough to feel the world’s pain, strong enough to confront it. The challenge is not apathy; it is exhaustion. It is the temptation to carry the world instead of partnering with God in its healing.

This is why the Activist pathway must be held with contemplative practices — silence, breathwork, Sabbath, embodiment. Justice and rest. Action and surrender. Compassion and grounded nervous systems. Contemplation keeps the Activist from burning out. Activism keeps the Contemplative from turning inward too long.

This is the sacred rhythm.

The Activist and Loto’s Mission

The Activist pathway runs straight through the heart of Loto Wellness Collective. Our work is not only about personal healing — it is also about collective healing, reparative action, and widening the table of access.

This is why we created The Lotus Fund: A scholarship initiative designed to ensure that women from marginalized, underrepresented, or systemically excluded backgrounds are not shut out of wellness, rest, or spiritual formation because of financial barriers.

This is one of our expressions of tikkun olam and activism. Our embodiment of “the least of these.” Our belief that healing should never be reserved for the few. We also stand with our Mission Partners in their efforts to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world.

At Loto, justice is not an add-on, it is the natural overflow of Love.

Reflection Questions

1. Where does your compassion naturally ignite into action?

2. What injustice breaks your heart — and might this be an invitation from God?

3. How can you create rhythms of rest that allow your activism to remain grounded, sustainable, and Spirit-led?

Suggested Practice: The Compassion Examen

At the end of each day, pause for five minutes and reflect:

1. Where did I encounter suffering today — in myself or others?

2. How did I respond?

3. Where did I turn away?

4. What is one small act of repair I can participate in tomorrow?

This is activism with a contemplative spine — a practice of discernment, tenderness, and courage.

Founder’s Note:

As the visionary behind Loto Wellness Collective, this pathway holds deep resonance for me. My spirituality has never been just internal — it has always moved me outward, into the world, toward the places where Love needs to take shape, take risks, and take responsibility.

This is the heart of the Lotus Fund: ensuring that those who have been historically excluded from wellness, rest, and spiritual nourishment have a place at the table. If you feel drawn to a faith that moves — to a spirituality that heals both the inner and outer landscape — you will find yourself at home here.

With Love, unconditionally— Jennifer

Next in The Great Returning

Some meet God through justice; others through gentleness. Next, we’ll explore The Way of the Caregiver — the pathway where Love becomes tenderness, Presence becomes healing, and service becomes sacrament.

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