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Spiritual Wisdom from many traditions
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
9:18PM - Some Thoughts for Christians
"It is interesting that Jesus did not define the concept
of 'neighbor' by geographical closeness, or by race,
or by religion, but only by need."
- Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, PSR
"The Christian life is ultimately not about believing or
about being good. Rather, it is about a relationship
with God that involves us in a journey of transformation."
- Marcus Borg, PSR
"Our often unrecognized attitudes toward aging
help or hinder the shape of ministries we create
with older persons."
- Dosia Carlson, PSR
"Surely, we the Church, must ask ourselves,
'How shall we be true to the Spirit of our birth?'
The answer to that question will and must come in many ways
through many different people."
- Marcia Y. Riggs, PSR
"The Church should be an incarnate protest against
the 'US-THEM' mentality of this or any era."
- Michael Kinnamon, PSR
Tuesday, May 4, 2004
3:24PM - Education that Moves Us in the Depth of Things - E.F. Schumacher
The volume of education continues to increase, yet so do pollution, exhaustion of resources, and the dangers of ecological catastrophe. If still more education is to save us, it would have to education of a different kind: an education that takes us into the depth of things. -- E.F. Schumacher
3:23PM - United Nations Earth Charter
PREAMBLE
We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.
Earth, Our Home
Humanity is part of a vast evolving universe. Earth, our home, is alive with a unique community of life. The forces of nature make existence a demanding and uncertain adventure, but Earth has provided the conditions essential to life's evolution. The resilience of the community of life and the well-being of humanity depend upon preserving a healthy biosphere with all its ecological systems, a rich variety of plants and animals, fertile soils, pure waters, and clean air. The global environment with its finite resources is a common concern of all peoples. The protection of Earth's vitality, diversity, and beauty is a sacred trust.
The Global Situation
The dominant patterns of production and consumption are causing environmental devastation, the depletion of resources, and a massive extinction of species. Communities are being undermined. The benefits of development are not shared equitably and the gap between rich and poor is widening. Injustice, poverty, ignorance, and violent conflict are widespread and the cause of great suffering. An unprecedented rise in human population has overburdened ecological and social systems. The foundations of global security are threatened. These trends are perilous—but not inevitable.
The Challenges Ahead
The choice is ours: form a global partnership to care for Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life. Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living. We must realize that when basic needs have been met, human development is primarily about being more, not having more. We have the knowledge and technology to provide for all and to reduce our impacts on the environment. The emergence of a global civil society is creating new opportunities to build a democratic and humane world. Our environmental, economic, political, social, and spiritual challenges are interconnected, and together we can forge inclusive solutions.
Universal Responsibility
To realize these aspirations, we must decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole Earth community as well as our local communities. We are at once citizens of different nations and of one world in which the local and global are linked. Everyone shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world. The spirit of human solidarity and kinship with all life is strengthened when we live with reverence for the mystery of being, gratitude for the gift of life, and humility regarding the human place in nature.
We urgently need a shared vision of basic values to provide an ethical foundation for the emerging world community. Therefore, together in hope we affirm the following interdependent principles for a sustainable way of life as a common standard by which the conduct of all individuals, organizations, businesses, governments, and transnational institutions is to be guided and assessed.
PRINCIPLES
I. RESPECT AND CARE FOR THE COMMUNITY OF LIFE
1. Respect Earth and life in all its diversity.
a.
Recognize that all beings are interdependent and every form of life has value regardless of its worth to human beings.
b.
Affirm faith in the inherent dignity of all human beings and in the intellectual, artistic, ethical, and spiritual potential of humanity.
2. Care for the community of life with understanding, compassion, and love.
a.
Accept that with the right to own, manage, and use natural resources comes the duty to prevent environmental harm and to protect the rights of people.
b.
Affirm that with increased freedom, knowledge, and power comes increased responsibility to promote the common good.
3. Build democratic societies that are just, participatory, sustainable, and peaceful.
a.
Ensure that communities at all levels guarantee human rights and fundamental freedoms and provide everyone an opportunity to realize his or her full potential.
b.
Promote social and economic justice, enabling all to achieve a secure and meaningful livelihood that is ecologically responsible.
4. Secure Earth's bounty and beauty for present and future generations.
a.
Recognize that the freedom of action of each generation is qualified by the needs of future generations.
b.
Transmit to future generations values, traditions, and institutions that support the long-term flourishing of Earth's human and ecological communities.
In order to fulfill these four broad commitments, it is necessary to:
II. ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY
5. Protect and restore the integrity of Earth's ecological systems, with special concern for biological diversity and the natural processes that sustain life.
a.
Adopt at all levels sustainable development plans and regulations that make environmental conservation and rehabilitation integral to all development initiatives.
b.
Establish and safeguard viable nature and biosphere reserves, including wild lands and marine areas, to protect Earth's life support systems, maintain biodiversity, and preserve our natural heritage.
c.
Promote the recovery of endangered species and ecosystems.
d.
Control and eradicate non-native or genetically modified organisms harmful to native species and the environment, and prevent introduction of such harmful organisms.
e.
Manage the use of renewable resources such as water, soil, forest products, and marine life in ways that do not exceed rates of regeneration and that protect the health of ecosystems.
f.
Manage the extraction and use of nonrenewable resources such as minerals and fossil fuels in ways that minimize depletion and cause no serious environmental damage.
6. Prevent harm as the best method of environmental protection and, when knowledge is limited, apply a precautionary approach.
a.
Take action to avoid the possibility of serious or irreversible environmental harm even when scientific knowledge is incomplete or inconclusive.
b.
Place the burden of proof on those who argue that a proposed activity will not cause significant harm, and make the responsible parties liable for environmental harm.
c.
Ensure that decision making addresses the cumulative, long-term, indirect, long distance, and global consequences of human activities.
d.
Prevent pollution of any part of the environment and allow no buildup of radioactive, toxic, or other hazardous substances.
e.
Avoid military activities damaging to the environment.
7. Adopt patterns of production, consumption, and reproduction that safeguard Earth's regenerative capacities, human rights, and community well-being.
a.
Reduce, reuse, and recycle the materials used in production and consumption systems, and ensure that residual waste can be assimilated by ecological systems.
b.
Act with restraint and efficiency when using energy, and rely increasingly on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.
c.
Promote the development, adoption, and equitable transfer of environmentally sound technologies.
d.
Internalize the full environmental and social costs of goods and services in the selling price, and enable consumers to identify products that meet the highest social and environmental standards.
e.
Ensure universal access to health care that fosters reproductive health and responsible reproduction.
f.
Adopt lifestyles that emphasize the quality of life and material sufficiency in a finite world.
8. Advance the study of ecological sustainability and promote the open exchange and wide application of the knowledge acquired.
a.
Support international scientific and technical cooperation on sustainability, with special attention to the needs of developing nations.
b.
Recognize and preserve the traditional knowledge and spiritual wisdom in all cultures that contribute to environmental protection and human well-being.
c.
Ensure that information of vital importance to human health and environmental protection, including genetic information, remains available in the public domain.
III. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
9. Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social, and environmental imperative.
a.
Guarantee the right to potable water, clean air, food security, uncontaminated soil, shelter, and safe sanitation, allocating the national and international resources required.
b.
Empower every human being with the education and resources to secure a sustainable livelihood, and provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.
c.
Recognize the ignored, protect the vulnerable, serve those who suffer, and enable them to develop their capacities and to pursue their aspirations.
10. Ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner.
a.
Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations.
b.
Enhance the intellectual, financial, technical, and social resources of developing nations, and relieve them of onerous international debt.
c.
Ensure that all trade supports sustainable resource use, environmental protection, and progressive labor standards.
d.
Require multinational corporations and international financial organizations to act transparently in the public good, and hold them accountable for the consequences of their activities.
11. Affirm gender equality and equity as prerequisites to sustainable development and ensure universal access to education, health care, and economic opportunity.
a.
Secure the human rights of women and girls and end all violence against them.
b.
Promote the active participation of women in all aspects of economic, political, civil, social, and cultural life as full and equal partners, decision makers, leaders, and beneficiaries.
c.
Strengthen families and ensure the safety and loving nurture of all family members.
12. Uphold the right of all, without discrimination, to a natural and social environment supportive of human dignity, bodily health, and spiritual well-being, with special attention to the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities.
a.
Eliminate discrimination in all its forms, such as that based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, language, and national, ethnic or social origin.
b.
Affirm the right of indigenous peoples to their spirituality, knowledge, lands and resources and to their related practice of sustainable livelihoods.
c.
Honor and support the young people of our communities, enabling them to fulfill their essential role in creating sustainable societies.
d.
Protect and restore outstanding places of cultural and spiritual significance.
IV. DEMOCRACY, NONVIOLENCE, AND PEACE
13. Strengthen democratic institutions at all levels, and provide transparency and accountability in governance, inclusive participation in decision making, and access to justice.
a.
Uphold the right of everyone to receive clear and timely information on environmental matters and all development plans and activities which are likely to affect them or in which they have an interest.
b.
Support local, regional and global civil society, and promote the meaningful participation of all interested individuals and organizations in decision making.
c.
Protect the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly, association, and dissent.
d.
Institute effective and efficient access to administrative and independent judicial procedures, including remedies and redress for environmental harm and the threat of such harm.
e.
Eliminate corruption in all public and private institutions.
f.
Strengthen local communities, enabling them to care for their environments, and assign environmental responsibilities to the levels of government where they can be carried out most effectively.
14. Integrate into formal education and lifelong learning the knowledge, values, and skills needed for a sustainable way of life.
a.
Provide all, especially children and youth, with educational opportunities that empower them to contribute actively to sustainable development.
b.
Promote the contribution of the arts and humanities as well as the sciences in sustainability education.
c.
Enhance the role of the mass media in raising awareness of ecological and social challenges.
d.
Recognize the importance of moral and spiritual education for sustainable living.
15. Treat all living beings with respect and consideration.
a.
Prevent cruelty to animals kept in human societies and protect them from suffering.
b.
Protect wild animals from methods of hunting, trapping, and fishing that cause extreme, prolonged, or avoidable suffering.
c.
Avoid or eliminate to the full extent possible the taking or destruction of non-targeted species.
16. Promote a culture of tolerance, nonviolence, and peace.
a.
Encourage and support mutual understanding, solidarity, and cooperation among all peoples and within and among nations.
b.
Implement comprehensive strategies to prevent violent conflict and use collaborative problem solving to manage and resolve environmental conflicts and other disputes.
c.
Demilitarize national security systems to the level of a non-provocative defense posture, and convert military resources to peaceful purposes, including ecological restoration.
d.
Eliminate nuclear, biological, and toxic weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
e.
Ensure that the use of orbital and outer space supports environmental protection and peace.
f.
Recognize that peace is the wholeness created by right relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, Earth, and the larger whole of which all are a part.
THE WAY FORWARD
As never before in history, common destiny beckons us to seek a new beginning. Such renewal is the promise of these Earth Charter principles. To fulfill this promise, we must commit ourselves to adopt and promote the values and objectives of the Charter.
This requires a change of mind and heart. It requires a new sense of global interdependence and universal responsibility. We must imaginatively develop and apply the vision of a sustainable way of life locally, nationally, regionally, and globally. Our cultural diversity is a precious heritage and different cultures will find their own distinctive ways to realize the vision. We must deepen and expand the global dialogue that generated the Earth Charter, for we have much to learn from the ongoing collaborative search for truth and wisdom.
Life often involves tensions between important values. This can mean difficult choices. However, we must find ways to harmonize diversity with unity, the exercise of freedom with the common good, short-term objectives with long-term goals. Every individual, family, organization, and community has a vital role to play. The arts, sciences, religions, educational institutions, media, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and governments are all called to offer creative leadership. The partnership of government, civil society, and business is essential for effective governance.
In order to build a sustainable global community, the nations of the world must renew their commitment to the United Nations, fulfill their obligations under existing international agreements, and support the implementation of Earth Charter principles with an international legally binding instrument on environment and development.
Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life.
PREAMBLE
We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.
Earth, Our Home
Humanity is part of a vast evolving universe. Earth, our home, is alive with a unique community of life. The forces of nature make existence a demanding and uncertain adventure, but Earth has provided the conditions essential to life's evolution. The resilience of the community of life and the well-being of humanity depend upon preserving a healthy biosphere with all its ecological systems, a rich variety of plants and animals, fertile soils, pure waters, and clean air. The global environment with its finite resources is a common concern of all peoples. The protection of Earth's vitality, diversity, and beauty is a sacred trust.
The Global Situation
The dominant patterns of production and consumption are causing environmental devastation, the depletion of resources, and a massive extinction of species. Communities are being undermined. The benefits of development are not shared equitably and the gap between rich and poor is widening. Injustice, poverty, ignorance, and violent conflict are widespread and the cause of great suffering. An unprecedented rise in human population has overburdened ecological and social systems. The foundations of global security are threatened. These trends are perilous—but not inevitable.
The Challenges Ahead
The choice is ours: form a global partnership to care for Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life. Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living. We must realize that when basic needs have been met, human development is primarily about being more, not having more. We have the knowledge and technology to provide for all and to reduce our impacts on the environment. The emergence of a global civil society is creating new opportunities to build a democratic and humane world. Our environmental, economic, political, social, and spiritual challenges are interconnected, and together we can forge inclusive solutions.
Universal Responsibility
To realize these aspirations, we must decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole Earth community as well as our local communities. We are at once citizens of different nations and of one world in which the local and global are linked. Everyone shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world. The spirit of human solidarity and kinship with all life is strengthened when we live with reverence for the mystery of being, gratitude for the gift of life, and humility regarding the human place in nature.
We urgently need a shared vision of basic values to provide an ethical foundation for the emerging world community. Therefore, together in hope we affirm the following interdependent principles for a sustainable way of life as a common standard by which the conduct of all individuals, organizations, businesses, governments, and transnational institutions is to be guided and assessed.
PRINCIPLES
I. RESPECT AND CARE FOR THE COMMUNITY OF LIFE
1. Respect Earth and life in all its diversity.
a.
Recognize that all beings are interdependent and every form of life has value regardless of its worth to human beings.
b.
Affirm faith in the inherent dignity of all human beings and in the intellectual, artistic, ethical, and spiritual potential of humanity.
2. Care for the community of life with understanding, compassion, and love.
a.
Accept that with the right to own, manage, and use natural resources comes the duty to prevent environmental harm and to protect the rights of people.
b.
Affirm that with increased freedom, knowledge, and power comes increased responsibility to promote the common good.
3. Build democratic societies that are just, participatory, sustainable, and peaceful.
a.
Ensure that communities at all levels guarantee human rights and fundamental freedoms and provide everyone an opportunity to realize his or her full potential.
b.
Promote social and economic justice, enabling all to achieve a secure and meaningful livelihood that is ecologically responsible.
4. Secure Earth's bounty and beauty for present and future generations.
a.
Recognize that the freedom of action of each generation is qualified by the needs of future generations.
b.
Transmit to future generations values, traditions, and institutions that support the long-term flourishing of Earth's human and ecological communities.
In order to fulfill these four broad commitments, it is necessary to:
II. ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY
5. Protect and restore the integrity of Earth's ecological systems, with special concern for biological diversity and the natural processes that sustain life.
a.
Adopt at all levels sustainable development plans and regulations that make environmental conservation and rehabilitation integral to all development initiatives.
b.
Establish and safeguard viable nature and biosphere reserves, including wild lands and marine areas, to protect Earth's life support systems, maintain biodiversity, and preserve our natural heritage.
c.
Promote the recovery of endangered species and ecosystems.
d.
Control and eradicate non-native or genetically modified organisms harmful to native species and the environment, and prevent introduction of such harmful organisms.
e.
Manage the use of renewable resources such as water, soil, forest products, and marine life in ways that do not exceed rates of regeneration and that protect the health of ecosystems.
f.
Manage the extraction and use of nonrenewable resources such as minerals and fossil fuels in ways that minimize depletion and cause no serious environmental damage.
6. Prevent harm as the best method of environmental protection and, when knowledge is limited, apply a precautionary approach.
a.
Take action to avoid the possibility of serious or irreversible environmental harm even when scientific knowledge is incomplete or inconclusive.
b.
Place the burden of proof on those who argue that a proposed activity will not cause significant harm, and make the responsible parties liable for environmental harm.
c.
Ensure that decision making addresses the cumulative, long-term, indirect, long distance, and global consequences of human activities.
d.
Prevent pollution of any part of the environment and allow no buildup of radioactive, toxic, or other hazardous substances.
e.
Avoid military activities damaging to the environment.
7. Adopt patterns of production, consumption, and reproduction that safeguard Earth's regenerative capacities, human rights, and community well-being.
a.
Reduce, reuse, and recycle the materials used in production and consumption systems, and ensure that residual waste can be assimilated by ecological systems.
b.
Act with restraint and efficiency when using energy, and rely increasingly on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.
c.
Promote the development, adoption, and equitable transfer of environmentally sound technologies.
d.
Internalize the full environmental and social costs of goods and services in the selling price, and enable consumers to identify products that meet the highest social and environmental standards.
e.
Ensure universal access to health care that fosters reproductive health and responsible reproduction.
f.
Adopt lifestyles that emphasize the quality of life and material sufficiency in a finite world.
8. Advance the study of ecological sustainability and promote the open exchange and wide application of the knowledge acquired.
a.
Support international scientific and technical cooperation on sustainability, with special attention to the needs of developing nations.
b.
Recognize and preserve the traditional knowledge and spiritual wisdom in all cultures that contribute to environmental protection and human well-being.
c.
Ensure that information of vital importance to human health and environmental protection, including genetic information, remains available in the public domain.
III. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
9. Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social, and environmental imperative.
a.
Guarantee the right to potable water, clean air, food security, uncontaminated soil, shelter, and safe sanitation, allocating the national and international resources required.
b.
Empower every human being with the education and resources to secure a sustainable livelihood, and provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.
c.
Recognize the ignored, protect the vulnerable, serve those who suffer, and enable them to develop their capacities and to pursue their aspirations.
10. Ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner.
a.
Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations.
b.
Enhance the intellectual, financial, technical, and social resources of developing nations, and relieve them of onerous international debt.
c.
Ensure that all trade supports sustainable resource use, environmental protection, and progressive labor standards.
d.
Require multinational corporations and international financial organizations to act transparently in the public good, and hold them accountable for the consequences of their activities.
11. Affirm gender equality and equity as prerequisites to sustainable development and ensure universal access to education, health care, and economic opportunity.
a.
Secure the human rights of women and girls and end all violence against them.
b.
Promote the active participation of women in all aspects of economic, political, civil, social, and cultural life as full and equal partners, decision makers, leaders, and beneficiaries.
c.
Strengthen families and ensure the safety and loving nurture of all family members.
12. Uphold the right of all, without discrimination, to a natural and social environment supportive of human dignity, bodily health, and spiritual well-being, with special attention to the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities.
a.
Eliminate discrimination in all its forms, such as that based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, language, and national, ethnic or social origin.
b.
Affirm the right of indigenous peoples to their spirituality, knowledge, lands and resources and to their related practice of sustainable livelihoods.
c.
Honor and support the young people of our communities, enabling them to fulfill their essential role in creating sustainable societies.
d.
Protect and restore outstanding places of cultural and spiritual significance.
IV. DEMOCRACY, NONVIOLENCE, AND PEACE
13. Strengthen democratic institutions at all levels, and provide transparency and accountability in governance, inclusive participation in decision making, and access to justice.
a.
Uphold the right of everyone to receive clear and timely information on environmental matters and all development plans and activities which are likely to affect them or in which they have an interest.
b.
Support local, regional and global civil society, and promote the meaningful participation of all interested individuals and organizations in decision making.
c.
Protect the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly, association, and dissent.
d.
Institute effective and efficient access to administrative and independent judicial procedures, including remedies and redress for environmental harm and the threat of such harm.
e.
Eliminate corruption in all public and private institutions.
f.
Strengthen local communities, enabling them to care for their environments, and assign environmental responsibilities to the levels of government where they can be carried out most effectively.
14. Integrate into formal education and lifelong learning the knowledge, values, and skills needed for a sustainable way of life.
a.
Provide all, especially children and youth, with educational opportunities that empower them to contribute actively to sustainable development.
b.
Promote the contribution of the arts and humanities as well as the sciences in sustainability education.
c.
Enhance the role of the mass media in raising awareness of ecological and social challenges.
d.
Recognize the importance of moral and spiritual education for sustainable living.
15. Treat all living beings with respect and consideration.
a.
Prevent cruelty to animals kept in human societies and protect them from suffering.
b.
Protect wild animals from methods of hunting, trapping, and fishing that cause extreme, prolonged, or avoidable suffering.
c.
Avoid or eliminate to the full extent possible the taking or destruction of non-targeted species.
16. Promote a culture of tolerance, nonviolence, and peace.
a.
Encourage and support mutual understanding, solidarity, and cooperation among all peoples and within and among nations.
b.
Implement comprehensive strategies to prevent violent conflict and use collaborative problem solving to manage and resolve environmental conflicts and other disputes.
c.
Demilitarize national security systems to the level of a non-provocative defense posture, and convert military resources to peaceful purposes, including ecological restoration.
d.
Eliminate nuclear, biological, and toxic weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
e.
Ensure that the use of orbital and outer space supports environmental protection and peace.
f.
Recognize that peace is the wholeness created by right relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, Earth, and the larger whole of which all are a part.
THE WAY FORWARD
As never before in history, common destiny beckons us to seek a new beginning. Such renewal is the promise of these Earth Charter principles. To fulfill this promise, we must commit ourselves to adopt and promote the values and objectives of the Charter.
This requires a change of mind and heart. It requires a new sense of global interdependence and universal responsibility. We must imaginatively develop and apply the vision of a sustainable way of life locally, nationally, regionally, and globally. Our cultural diversity is a precious heritage and different cultures will find their own distinctive ways to realize the vision. We must deepen and expand the global dialogue that generated the Earth Charter, for we have much to learn from the ongoing collaborative search for truth and wisdom.
Life often involves tensions between important values. This can mean difficult choices. However, we must find ways to harmonize diversity with unity, the exercise of freedom with the common good, short-term objectives with long-term goals. Every individual, family, organization, and community has a vital role to play. The arts, sciences, religions, educational institutions, media, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and governments are all called to offer creative leadership. The partnership of government, civil society, and business is essential for effective governance.
In order to build a sustainable global community, the nations of the world must renew their commitment to the United Nations, fulfill their obligations under existing international agreements, and support the implementation of Earth Charter principles with an international legally binding instrument on environment and development.
Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life.
Wednesday, April 7, 2004
7:26AM - Reminders for you Garden of Life
FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING,
PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS:
1. Peace of mind
2. Peace of heart
3. Peace of soul
PLANT FOUR ROWS OF SQUASH:
1. Squash gossip
2. Squash indifference
3. Squash grumbling
4. Squash selfishness
PLANT FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE:
1. Lettuce be faithful
2. Lettuce be kind
3. Lettuce be patient
4. Lettuce really love one another
NO GARDEN IS WITHOUT TURNIPS:
1. Turnip for meetings
2. Turnip for service
3. Turnip to help one another
TO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN WE MUST HAVE THYME:
1. Thyme for each other
2. Thyme for family
3. Thyme for friends
WATER FREELY WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH LOVE. THERE IS MUCH FRUIT IN YOUR GARDEN BECAUSE YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.
Tuesday, April 6, 2004
11:41AM - A Poem for Spring - "Everything Rushes, Rushes"
"Everything Rushes, Rushes" by Jessica Powers
The brisk blue morning whisked in with a thought:
everything in creation rushes, rushes
toward God--tall trees, small bushes,
quick birds and fish, the beatles round as naught,
eels in the water, deer on the forest floor,
what sits in trees, what burrows underground,
what wriggles to declare life must abound,
and we, the spearhead that run on before,
and lesser things to which life cannot come:
our work, our words that move toward the Unmoved,
whatever can be touched, used, handled, loved --
So I, with eager voice and news-flushed face,
cry to those caught in comas, stupors, sleeping:
come, everything is running,
flying,
leaping,
hurtling through time!
And we are in this race.
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
7:56AM - The Best Things in Life
The best things are the nearest:
breath in your nostrils,
light in your eyes,
flowers at your feet,
duties at your hand,
the path of God just before you.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
11:37AM - For Christians this is a great essay by a 17 yo of how Jesus forgives
Jesus Forgives Us
Written by a seventeen year old not long before his fatal traffic accident.
Brian's Essay: The Room...
In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the
room. There were no distinguishing features except for the one wall
covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in
libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order.
But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly
endless in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew
near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read
"Girls I have liked." I opened it and began flipping through the cards.
I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names
written on each one. And then without being told, I knew exactly where
I was.
This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for
my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and
small, in a detail my memory couldn't match. A sense of wonder and
curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly
opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet
memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would
look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching.
A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have
betrayed." The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird.
"Books I Have Read," "Lies I Have Told," "Comfort I have Given," "Jokes
I Have Laughed at." Some were almost hilarious in their exactness:
"Things I've yelled at my brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at:
"Things I Have Done in My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My
Parents." I never ceased to be surprised by the contents. Often there were many
more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped. I was overwhelmed by the
sheer volume of the life I had lived.
Could it be possible that I had the time in my years to fill each of
these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this
truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my
signature.
When I pulled out the file marked "TV Shows I have watched", I realized
the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed
tightly,
and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I
shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of shows but more by the
vast time I knew that file represented.
When I came to a file marked "Bad Thoughts," I felt a chill run through
my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its
size and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content.
I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost
animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: No one must
ever
see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy
them!" In insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter
now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took it at one end
and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card.
I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as
steel when I tried to tear it.
Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning
my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh.
And then I saw it.. The title bore "People I Have Shared the Gospel
With." The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost
unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three
inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on
one hand.
And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt.
They started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and
cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The
rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever,
ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key. But then as
I pushed away the tears, I saw Him.
No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched
helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't
bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to
look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own. He seemed to
intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did He have to read every one?
Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at
me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped
my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over
and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say
a word. He just cried with me.
Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one
end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His
name over mine on each card. "No!" I shouted rushing to Him. All I
could find to say was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him. His name
shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich,
so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with
His blood. He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and
began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so
quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file
and walk back to my side.
He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished." I stood
up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There
were still cards to be written.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."-Phil. 4:13
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." If you feel
the same way forward it to as many people as you can so the love of Jesus
will touch their lives also. My "People I shared the gospel with" file
just got bigger, how about yours?
Sunday, March 28, 2004
7:09AM - What is God's Will?
Here is a short description of how to understand the concept of God's will using the example of the Incarnation, Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ.
God’s Will
Leslie Weatherhead in his book The Will of God defines three different kinds of "God's Wills".
THE INTENTIONAL WILL OF GOD God wants the best for creation and for humans but that has been spoiled. So God sends Jesus into the world intending that people would follow him back into a right relationship with their Creator. God did not intend Jesus to go the cross.
THE CIRCUMSTANTIAL WILL OF GOD This is the circumstances brought about by humankind and evil. In the life of Jesus circumstances caused by the use of free will of the humans that surrounded him brought Jesus to the dilemma –die or run! Therefore, the cross was the will of God in those circumstances.
THE ULTIMATE WILL OF GOD The goal that God reaches, not only in spite of all humans may do, but even using what we do (evil) to further his own plan. God's ultimate will – namely, the redemption of humans and winning us back takes place not in spite of the cross but through the cross. God uses the cross, born of human's sin, as an instrument to reach the goal of salvation which is God's ultimate will.
Friday, March 26, 2004
7:39AM - Progress Christianity
The 8 Points of Progressive Christianity
By calling ourselves progressive, we mean that we are Christians who…
1. Have found an approach to God through the life and teachings of Jesus;
2. Recognize the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the
way to God's realm, and acknowledge that their ways are true for them, as
our ways are true for us;
3. Understand the sharing of bread and wine in Jesus's name to be a
representation of an ancient vision of God's feast for all peoples;
4. Invite all people to participate in our community and worship life
without insisting that they become like us in order to be acceptable
(including but not limited to):
believers and agnostics,
conventional Christians and questioning skeptics,
women and men,
those of all sexual orientations and gender identities,
those of all races and cultures,
those of all classes and abilities,
those who hope for a better world and those who have lost hope;
5. Know that the way we behave toward one another and toward other people is
the fullest expression of what we believe;
6. Find more grace in the search for understanding than we do in dogmatic
certainty - more value in questioning than in absolutes;
7. Form ourselves into communities dedicated to equipping one another for
the work we feel called to do: striving for peace and justice among all
people, protecting and restoring the integrity of all God's creation, and
bringing hope to those Jesus called the least of his sisters and brothers;
and
8. Recognize that being followers of Jesus is costly, and entails selfless
love, conscientious resistance to evil, and renunciation of privilege.
7:37AM - GIVING GOD GLORY IN EVOLUTION:
This was just published in the Lent 2004 issue of Benedictine Bridge,
St. Benedict Center, Madison, Wisconsin...
GIVING GOD GLORY IN EVOLUTION:
HOW SCIENCE WILL USHER CHRISTIANITY INTO ITS GREATNESS
The Rev. Michael Dowd
"A mistake about creation will lead to a mistake about God."
- St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles II. 2. 3
Many Christians over the last century and a half have understandably
rejected evolution because, until recently, evolution has been depicted as a
chance, meaningless, mechanistic process. The growing edge of evolutionary
thinking today, however, points to a very different understanding of the
cosmos. We now see a universe of emergent complexity and nested creativity
(atoms within molecules within cells within organisms within planets within
galaxies, like Russian nesting dolls) perfectly suited for life and
reflective consciousness. Is this just a happy coincidence? Unlikely.
Scientists themselves are thus moving out of a mechanistic way of thinking
to an organic, or living systems, worldview. Evolution, from this
perspective, can be embraced as God glorifying, Christ edifying, and
scripture honoring.
It was once commonly believed that the history of the Hebrew people was the
history of the entire world. We now know, however, that 3,500 years ago,
more than 200 years before Moses was born or any part of the Old Testament
was written (including the story of Adam and Eve): King Tut III ruled the
Egyptian empire’s 18th Dynasty; Indo-European charioteers were invading
India; China entered the Bronze Age, ruled by the Shang Dynasty; people in
southeast Asia were boating to nearby Pacific islands; and indigenous tribes
could be found throughout the Americas. All these peoples told inspired and
inspiring stories about how the world came into being, how they as a people
came into being, and why they were special. To interpret the early chapters
of Genesis or any of the world’s creation stories as representing the
history of the whole world, or to imagine them as competing, rather than
complementary, views of reality, is both to miss the symbolic nature of
human language and, ironically, to trivialize these sacred texts. A high
view of scripture demands that we honor Holy Writ for what it is: a sacred
story of how the Hebrew people, inspired by God, imagined their beginnings
and their destiny.
While pastoring my first church, in Granville, Massachusetts, I went outside
one starry night with a parishioner, an 82-year-old farmer and amateur
astronomer affectionately known as "Gramps." Gazing at the Milky Way,
Gramps whispered, "You know, Reverend, the more I learn about this amazing
universe, the more awesome my God becomes!"
Thomas Aquinas thus offers us a glorious path to follow: As our
understanding of cosmos expands, so does our view of God and our
appreciation of the meaning and significance of the gospel. Seen as a
sacred story of nested creativity and emergent complexity (life becoming
more complex, more aware, and more intimate with itself over time), the epic
of evolution can inspire faith in God and revitalize the meaning and
magnitude of our faith.
The disciples and early Church leaders, reflecting on Jesus’ ministry within
the context of their own first, second, and third century A.D. political,
judicial, religious, and cosmological understandings, formulated creeds and
doctrines about him and the significance of his life and mission. Since
then, however, our view of reality has grown enormously. Whereas those
alive in biblical times (and well into the Middle Ages) believed the world
was flat, stationary, and at the center of the universe, and that stars were
pinprick holes in the dome of the heavens that allowed God’s glory to shine
through, we today know that planet Earth orbits a star in an outer spiral
arm of the Milky Way, a galaxy of some 100 billion stars, which is itself
one of 200 billion or more other galaxies in a cosmos 14 billion years old.
If our tradition is correct -- if Jesus truly did incarnate God’s great news
for humanity -- then the meaning, grandeur, and this-world relevance of the
gospel today must reach far beyond what any previous generation, including
the biblical writers themselves, could have possibly known.
In the words of literary critic and historian Gil Bailie: "It was not those
closest to the historical Jesus who first gave the gospel its geographical
breadth and theological depth. It was Paul, who had never known him. In
addition to that, impressive achievements in biblical scholarship have, in
many ways, brought our era closer to the constituent events of the Christian
movement than were, say, the Gentile Christians of the second century. If
the life and death of Jesus is historically central, then people living ten
thousand years from now will be in a better position to appreciate that than
we are. Furthermore, when they look back they will surely think of us as
‘early Christians’ – living as we do a scant two millennia from the
mysterious events in question. They will be right, for the Christian
movement today is still in the elementary stages of working out for itself
and for the world the implications of the gospel. There isn’t the slightest
doubt that the greatest and boldest creedal assertions are in the future,
not the past. It may be only at rare moments that this flawed and unlikely
thing we call the ‘church’ even remotely resembles something worthy of its
calling, but it is nonetheless embarked on a great Christological adventure.
Even against its own institutional resistances, it is continually finding
deeper and more profound implications to the Jesus-event."
As well as strengthening our faith in God, "The Great Story" (the epic of
evolution told as a sacred story), offers a renewed passion for honoring and
preserving the sacredness of all life. To think that we can "love God with
all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourself"
without cherishing our environment is to deny the very immanence and
omnipresence of God. Who is our neighbor: the Samaritan? the outcast? the
enemy? Yes, yes, of course. But it is also the frog, the whale, and the
forests. Our neighbor is the entire community of life, the entire universe.
As we Christians open our hearts to embrace a sacred, God-glorifying way of
understanding evolution, we will, in the decades to come, prove to be an
enormously positive force on behalf of all life, human and non-human. Our
destiny (as a species and as individuals) is to further God’s evolutionary
creativity in Christlike ways that bless the entire Earth community. The
role of the Church includes spreading the great news of the Great Story –
evangelizing the nations – and thus ushering the entire human family through
a process of cultural death and resurrection, to the glory of God. In this
way, like Jesus - and thanks to him - the Church becomes a vessel of God’s
saving grace. We no longer passively wait for Christ’s return; we fully
participate in it. This is our mission, our calling, our Great Work. And
it is why, I believe, the scriptures refer to the Church as the both the
body of Christ and the bride of Christ.
Monday, February 23, 2004
8:05AM - Wilderness Renewal
Renewal often comes in trips to the wilderness. Sometimes we choose
these trips, knowing that we need renewal. Sometimes God drives us
into the wilderness so we have to find the renewal we need and are
avoiding. In the wilderness, God leads us to renewal and rescues our lives.
For Christians, Lent, begins on Wednesday and they are reminded of the 40 days that Jesus spends in the desert wilderness. He is lead there by God after is baptism. He leaves the wilderness and begins his public ministry.
The wilderness is place where we face our interior judgments, receive inspiration and courage to change our lives. SJSpirit offers several wilderness retreats. Check out our website for more information -- www.sjspirit.org -- look under the retreats banner.
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
10:26AM - Navajo Song of the Earth
Now the Mother Earth
And the Father sky
Meeting, joining one another...
All is beautiful, indeed.
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
12:11PM - Moment of Love
A Moment of Love
Every person in the world has a heart.
Every heart has a place within
that wants only to love and be loved.
Let us connect with that
place of love in our own heart
and in the hearts of those around us.
Let us take a moment now
to open to the heart connection
we share with all people through love.
