A Heart to Heartfelt `thanks' to our supporters.

Byline: FROM HEART TO HEART By Ginny Nilsen For The Register-Guard

As you are reading this today, we invite you to celebrate the third-year anniversary of ``Heart to Heart,'' along with those of us who work on coordinating, writing, editing and publishing this column.

We thank faithful supporters with all of our hearts. Since 2003, your phone calls, e-mails and comments at various interfaith and community events have reinforced our conviction of how important a newspaper column on spirituality is for our community.

Can you believe 111 individuals have written for the "Heart to Heart" column at least once?

We now have more than 35 different faith traditions participating in the interfaith activities, and that number continues to expand as people see the spiritual community that is growing out of Two Rivers Interfaith Ministries.

The inspiration one can get from going to another's place of worship is uplifting. The review team members experience this same sacred and often profound insight when they meet once a month to get the articles ready to format and send to The Register-Guard.

The conversation allows for asking and answering questions about our religious beliefs and practices and gives understanding and appreciation for why others have chosen a specific faith practice. We believe the deeper implications contribute to global understanding and world peace. Every pure and compassionate seed sown has its possibility for fruition.

As column coordinator, I often feel much like a talent scout for writers when I attend faith-centered activities shown in the Bulletin listings on this page each Saturday. The dialogue with people to develop their articles, and sometimes their themes, is always enlightening.

Have you noticed what great headlines some gifted thinker gives to these articles? We thank the Register-Guard and those working on production for the thoughtfulness they put into supporting this column.

To those writers who have helped us out with very little notice, when situations such as Hurricane Katrina, commemorative features or social issues have come up in our community, we thank you. And to all the readers who have taken the time to call or e-mail their appreciation, comments and inquiries, we are grateful to have talked with you and referred you on to writers for further discussion.

Some of you are now attending TRIM events such as the Prayer and Reflection Service, the Forum, the Spiritual Saunter, the Potluck Dinner and Dialogue, and the Interfaith Books and Beliefs series. It's been quite a growing and expanding family, this interfaith community of ours.

We celebrated the first anniversary with heart-decorated cakes and the second anniversary with heart-shaped cookies. This year, we invite you to join us in stopping for a moment or more in heartfelt gratitude for what this column provides for our community.

For the next three weeks, the column will address a particular community challenge that many have faced: How can we uplift our collective approach to best help those asking for money on street corners?

You will read ideas from many spiritual perspectives that may inspire you. We hope this will bring new opportunities to readers for more spiritual openness, insight, growth or understanding. We love to hear from readers at any time.

This column is coordinated by Two Rivers Interfaith Ministries, a network of more than 35 religious and spiritual traditions in the Eugene-Springfield area. For more information, call 344-5693 or visit www.interfaitheugene.org.