Over the past year or so I've been learning a lot about the various environmental, health, economic, and moral implications of the American food system. Some of this has come through my relationship with a thoughtful and compassionate vegan, some through growing public awareness and some through my previous ministry with a faith-based volunteer/intentional community program.
This Lent I've signed up for "Living Earth," daily emails from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America that address issues relating to the environment and stewardship of creation. The links included for further learning, reflection, and action include an article about the environmental impact of food traveling long distances between production and consumption, and an excellent blog about "factoids" from the author's research into "the converging issues surrounding agriculture, food, nutrition, health, education, economic development, and climate change."
The issues are complex and deeply intertwined. I have lots of thoughts (and questions) that I don't have time to share just at the moment, but I would welcome conversation... What does it mean to eat ethically?
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Not an endorsement: Barackspeak, courtesy of Slate
As mentioned last week, I'm supporting Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. But this widget from Slate is too funny not to share:
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Ah, February...
... month of blizzards and 65-degree days (this is Colorado), groundhogs and chocolates. And this year, Ash Wednesday and Lunar New Year.
Today, the Australian government issued a formal apology to aboriginal/indigenous people who were inappropriately removed from their families as children. Speaking as someone who is still an Australian citizen and lived there for 9 years as a child, I hope this can be a symbolic first step toward greater racial reconciliation.
The U.S. presidential campaign continues with great fervor and speculation. In case you're wondering (and not connected to me on Facebook yet), I'm supporting Hillary Clinton.
Life goes on... pretty well, really. Doing a bit of juggling with the three areas of work/ministry, but not too overwhelmed yet. I'm leading two Lenten study groups with the same book, The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach about Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem, by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. We're off to a good start, and the book is fascinating. I highly recommend it for anyone who likes Jesus and was troubled by Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ. The book explores a different way of understanding what Jesus' "Passion" was really about.
And on a much, much lighter note, I would really like to get me some "Looking Good for Jesus" cosmetics... but I may be too late. Anyone who can get me one of these products will have my eternal gratitude.
Today, the Australian government issued a formal apology to aboriginal/indigenous people who were inappropriately removed from their families as children. Speaking as someone who is still an Australian citizen and lived there for 9 years as a child, I hope this can be a symbolic first step toward greater racial reconciliation.
The U.S. presidential campaign continues with great fervor and speculation. In case you're wondering (and not connected to me on Facebook yet), I'm supporting Hillary Clinton.
Life goes on... pretty well, really. Doing a bit of juggling with the three areas of work/ministry, but not too overwhelmed yet. I'm leading two Lenten study groups with the same book, The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach about Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem, by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. We're off to a good start, and the book is fascinating. I highly recommend it for anyone who likes Jesus and was troubled by Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ. The book explores a different way of understanding what Jesus' "Passion" was really about.
And on a much, much lighter note, I would really like to get me some "Looking Good for Jesus" cosmetics... but I may be too late. Anyone who can get me one of these products will have my eternal gratitude.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.
Okay, so I wimped out on participating in Denver's annual MLK Day Marade ("march" + "parade," because there's still work to be done, but there's much to celebrate as well). In my defense, it was 12 degrees (Fahrenheit) and snowing when I would have had to leave in the morning. I know, civil rights and freedom shouldn't be fair-weather activities.
At any rate, I've enjoyed reading and hearing the various sermons, speeches, and letters of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., being shared and talked about this weekend. In particular, Sarah Vowell has a nice column in the New York Times that includes this snippet:
I am also intrigued by how little attention race gets in the media these days - direct attention, anyway, and within the limited "mainstream" media that I choose to tune in to. (A recent report on NPR noted how little mention there has been of race in the presidential campaigns, which I find an interesting contrast to the many ways in which Senator Clinton's gender is subtly - and sometimes not-so-subtly - brought into play. Of course, this could well be my own bias in noticing media bias.) Maybe I'm just not paying attention, but my impression is that white people think we've come a long way and we're doing well in terms of racial/ethnic equality in the U.S., and it's not an issue any more. Conversations I've had with people of color, and the xenophobic overtones of the current immigration debate, suggest that this is a case of denial. And denial, of course, is a common symptom of white privilege, which has the luxury of ignorance wrapped in a cloak of invisibility to those who are advantaged by having pale skin and speaking English in one of several accepted regional (US) dialects, not with the inflections of someone who learned a different language first.
Disorganized rambling aside, I hope that more and more people will look to Dr. King's legacy of nonviolent action for justice and social change as they consider how our nation can continue to grow as a community and as a leader in the world. That's worth a day off to think about.
At any rate, I've enjoyed reading and hearing the various sermons, speeches, and letters of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., being shared and talked about this weekend. In particular, Sarah Vowell has a nice column in the New York Times that includes this snippet:
Her main point, contrasting MLK with President Ronald Reagan, is a bit lost on me since I didn't live in the States during Reagan's time in office (plus I was a kid, and not very politically aware), but I found her description of herself as a "culturally Christian atheist" intriguing.Here’s what Dr. King got out of the Sermon on the Mount. On Nov. 17, 1957, in Montgomery’s Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, he concluded the learned discourse that came to be known as the “loving your enemies” sermon this way: “So this morning, as I look into your eyes and into the eyes of all of my brothers in Alabama and all over America and over the world, I say to you: ‘I love you. I would rather die than hate you.’ ”
Go ahead and re-read that. That is hands down the most beautiful, strange, impossible, but most of all radical thing a human being can say. And it comes from reading the most beautiful, strange, impossible, but most of all radical civics lesson ever taught, when Jesus of Nazareth went to a hill in Galilee and told his disciples, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.”
I am also intrigued by how little attention race gets in the media these days - direct attention, anyway, and within the limited "mainstream" media that I choose to tune in to. (A recent report on NPR noted how little mention there has been of race in the presidential campaigns, which I find an interesting contrast to the many ways in which Senator Clinton's gender is subtly - and sometimes not-so-subtly - brought into play. Of course, this could well be my own bias in noticing media bias.) Maybe I'm just not paying attention, but my impression is that white people think we've come a long way and we're doing well in terms of racial/ethnic equality in the U.S., and it's not an issue any more. Conversations I've had with people of color, and the xenophobic overtones of the current immigration debate, suggest that this is a case of denial. And denial, of course, is a common symptom of white privilege, which has the luxury of ignorance wrapped in a cloak of invisibility to those who are advantaged by having pale skin and speaking English in one of several accepted regional (US) dialects, not with the inflections of someone who learned a different language first.
Disorganized rambling aside, I hope that more and more people will look to Dr. King's legacy of nonviolent action for justice and social change as they consider how our nation can continue to grow as a community and as a leader in the world. That's worth a day off to think about.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
To all of us in any form of exile
I find many of the posts at the God's Politics blog to be meaningful or helpful in my own life and ministry, but every once in a while one comes along that just about knocks me over with its power. This is one of those times.
Voice of the Day: 'Loneliness will be filled'
The word of the Lord to all of us in any form of exile is, "You shall be called Sought Out." Those who believe they are far from the life they envisioned may hear the news that someone is looking for them. Lostness is not our permanent state. Loneliness will be filled with the arrival of the One who seeks us.
- Gerrit Scott Dawson, Called by a New Name
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