About Us
What is Jubilee?
- etymology: a ram’s horn trumpet
- refers to African American folk songs celebrating/predicting future joy and deliverance, and is used as the term to annually honor the 1863 emancipation proclamation
- joy, celebration, festival — jubilation & cherries “jubilee”
- Abrahamic religions, (including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, representing 53%+ of global population), use it to describe debt and servitude forgiveness
- the oldest Egyptian papyrus scroll uses a word that translates to “jubilee” to denote, “the moment we remember who we really are”
What is Gift?
“Gift” refers to a depth in our awareness that all that we have has been a gift, and that in our time on this Earth we are meant to both share our gifts, and ensure others are able to give theirs as well. It is a capacity that comes from the both/and perception of the heart, rather than the either/or perception of the mind. It is the reciprocal way of this place as Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be…This is the inter-related structure of reality.”
It also requires forgiveness and healing. As Orland Bishop, one of our co-creators says, “the prerequisite for giving is forgiving”. We don’t put all our chips on the table because we don’t trust each other – it requires practice.
Our logo expresses much
about our work.
The outer ring represents the reckoning, healing, and connecting work that builds trust and Belonging.
The inner heart is that state of love where we want to share, where your joy is mine.
The infinity loop acknowledges that even in trusting relationships, it is difficult to see and act beyond the habitual nature of the societies we grew up in and the stories we’ve been told.
Unless we “practice” at love, to see beyond this mindset and culture, and then translate that from the personal to the institutional and systemic – we are likely to cause more of the same. We are called to an infinite loop of practice – sharing the Gifts of our unique destinies, and softening around money in ways that make it easier for others to give their Gifts too. This enhances our hearts’ perception to see new paths forward, not only for ourselves, but for and from all life – including ourselves.