Christianity

Weekly Sermon: Learner's Mind- Between Empire and Kingdom Come

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Text:Jeremiah 29: 1-7; Luke 17: 11-18
In the first pages of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, the reader confronts a Columbus quite different from the one we learned in school. Some may be aware that he sailed on condition of receiving a large share in the profits from his gold-seeking adventure, but everyone knows that early on October 12, 1492, a sailor finally sighted land. Columbus’ ship was met by Arawak Indians swimming out to greet the visitors. In his journal, the explorer wrote of these Indians:
They are well-built, with good bodies and handsome features. .

Culture

Born to Belonging: Praying the Primal Elements

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In the Anthropocene Age of the human, we can see that our actions have caused high impact of global geophysical change and we are now living on a new planet that is different than that of our ancestors. As beings who have come from the elements of the earth, we need to learn to appreciate them before we cause our own destruction.

Culture

Working to Heal, Repair, and Transform Citizens so They Heal the World

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Perhaps the biggest challenge for activists to overcome is to remain truly hopeful, but that is not to say it is impossible. Sam Daley-Harris shares the stories of those who have faced their fears and transformed their lives in order to better the world, and shows why a little grassroots empowerment can help create movements that will change the world.

Environment

Cut Off from Nature: Air-Conditioned Synagogues on Rosh Hashanah

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Jewish law requires that all synagogues have windows. We’re not supposed to pray in separation from the world; we’re supposed to pray with the world, conscious of its cycles, in a space that invites connection with them. Unfortunately, most authorities interpret this rule as permitting synagogues to have windows that never open.

Environment

Agenda 21 vs. the TPP

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A new wave of reaction to Agenda 21 threatens to confound the public and undermine efforts toward global cooperation on both environment and development. Meanwhile, those who raise the alarm about Agenda 21, a non-binding agreement, are silent about negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a binding agreement that would grant corporations new rights to interfere with our democracy.

Culture

Summer's Gone, or The Bliss of Suburbia

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The irony: I moved to the suburbs and bought a house with a yard so I could grow a garden. I moved to a place where I envisioned long solitary walks. A writer’s dream. I imagined peaceful summers.
I came from Manhattan because the noise and bustle crushed my soul.
Yet the noise is here, every moment, everywhere. My neighbors run machines, buzz buzz buzz. We cannot leave windows open, sleep in a hammock, or read a book in the shade.

Environment

'The Talk' — How to Tell Your 8-Year-Old About Climate Change

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Bennett agrees that parents play a critical role in responding to climate change, but she said it’s not enough to limit climate action to the home sphere. Groups like Hoyos’ help to connect parents to the public sphere, where they can influence policymakers.
For Ian Kim, the parent grappling with how to talk to his daughter about climate change, those conversations are the foundation for breeding leadership.

Christianity

Weekly Sermon: The Word Is Very Near

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Riverside, our crises have arrived. There is the seemingly external crisis of climate change, which many deny; and the crisis internal to the church, namely, to hear together one word why Riverside must exist for a whole world; one word, deeper than all our differences. This word is very near. How will you hear it?

Culture

The Case Against Empathy

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However, if we are to survive as a society, if our planet is to survive, we are going to somehow have to become smart enough to rely on reason, and not empathy, to make our most important decisions. Yes, we will always be moral. And empathy will always, as an emotion, focus our attention on the personal stories we encounter. As it should.
But our survival depends, paradoxically, on our ability to overcome our emotionally-informed morality. On our ability to look at climate change statistics and say, “Yes, I must act. Immediately.”