The lama and the pastor
When Jeff Gill advocated for the Newark Earthworks, some in the community reacted with hostility. His old friend taught him to be compassionate.
Jeff Gill says that the Newark Earthworks have been a place of great opportunity, and great conflict. The 25-year struggle to create permanent public access to the sacred site, and remove a country club from it, generated hard feelings. These were challenging to manage for Gill. He's a minister, widely involved in his community. It was tough to endure hostile interactions in public.
His longtime friend, former journalist and current Buddhist lama Kathy Wesley, gave Gill a compassion practice that proved transformational.
We walk into the Earthworks on a windy summer day to explore the practice in real time.
Lama Kathy Wesley and Pastor Jeff Gill under a black oak in the Octagon Earthworks. Photo by Doug Swift.
Lama Kathy Wesley and Pastor Jeff Gill under a black oak in the Octagon Earthworks. Photo by Doug Swift.
I feel the colossalness of this space. And that, to me, is the colossalness of the human mind. I want to talk about compassion. I want to talk about the expansiveness of it.
-Lama Kathy
This audio story is part of a podcast-in-progress by Doug Swift called A Year of Living Compassionately (In a Hostile World). The podcast will be released in September 2026. Music is by the string quartet ETHEL.
Built with Shorthand