Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat read the "book of the world" for spiritual meanings.

Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs

In The Reinvention of Work, Episcopal priest Matthew Fox writes: "A cosmological perspective on work can show us that all creatures in the universe have work — the galaxies and stars, trees and dolphins, grass and mountain goats, forests and clouds, chickens and elephants — all are working. The only ones out of work are human beings. The very fact that our species has invented unemployment ought to give us pause."

According to a recent article in The New York Times by Peter Goodman, more than 15 million people are currently unemployed in America. And 6.3 million have been unemployed for six months or longer, the largest number since the government began keeping track in 1948. That ought to give us pause. Even more depressing and disconcerting is the fact that experts say the economy needs 100,000 jobs a month just to absorb new entrants into the labor force. Even an incredible recovery will leave an enormous number out of work for years. Goodman explains why and illustrates just what this means in the lives of some people who can't find work.

If ever there was a need for a march on Washington and a concerted efforts by religious communities of all types, this is the time. Unemployment, as Matthew Fox reminds us, is not natural in the universe. God wants all creatures, including human beings, to work and find a source of meaning and sustenance in that labor.

(Posted 02/24/2010) Permalink

Global Marshall Plan

In Buddhism, everything starts with generosity. It lays the groundwork of the spiritual life because it is based on letting go. Generosity opens the heart, which is why it brings us close to freedom. Buddhist meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein has written: "When we have developed a heart of generosity, a heart that wishes well to all beings, not just a few, when we've come close to the suffering in the world, the heart moves to alleviate suffering."

That impulse is evident in the Network of Spiritual Progressives' proposed Global Marshall Plan. They believe that the United States needs a foreign policy based not on domination but on generosity. In place of war and mass killings, this plan offers hope and trust among the peoples of the earth and a co-operative effort to end poverty and environmental destruction. This article (pdf) outlines the essential ingredients of the Global Marshall Plan and responds to the criticisms of it as too idealistic for a world of power and conflict. We believe it offers a wise plan for the future based on ethical principles and the best path to the survival of American democracy.

(Posted 02/23/2010) Permalink

Will You Be E-Mailing This Awesome Column?

John Tierney in The New York Times reports on the fascinating findings of a research project at the University of Pennsylvania on which articles in the newspaper were e-mailed the most over a six-month period. A big surprise: people preferred e-mailing articles with positive rather than negative or sensational themes, and they liked to send long articles on intellectually challenging topics. But most interesting of all was the finding that readers wanted to share pieces that inspired awe. The Penn researchers defined this quality as "an emotion of self-transcendence, a feeling of admiration and elevation in the face of something greater than the self."

Were these articles about religion or spirituality or self-help? Nope, most of them were about science. We are glad to see what we would call the spiritual practice of reverence showing up in such a strange place. Reading this essay by Tierney moved us beyond words and brought us to a greater appreciation for the sacred in all things.

(Posted 02/15/2010) Permalink

What Happened to the News of the Apology to the Native Americans?

On the Love & Forgiveness Campaign Blog, Roselle Kovitz reports on a bill signed by President Obama in December 2009 that offered "an apology to all Native Peoples on behalf of the United States." She and all of us missed it because it was part of the 2010 Defense Appropriations Act last month. Kovitz laments: "An apology for institutionalized, horrific, and sustained transgressions against Native Americans in this country was buried in a defense bill and eclipsed by the news (Tiger Woods, etc)." She goes on to talk about what could and should have been done to make this an effective public act incorporating forgiveness.

We are so grateful to Kovitz alerting us to this bungled chance for America to take one small step toward dealing with its considerable shadow. The Obama administration should have made this apology into a major event similar to the Australian government's apology for their ill treatment of aboriginals.

(Posted 02/10/2010) Permalink

A Hymn for Haiti

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is the author of Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbor (Discipleship Resources Upper Room Books, 2009) and Gifts of Love: New Hymns for Today's Worship (Geneva Press, 2000) and the co-pastor of Limestone Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware. She has written many hymns to help churches and individuals respond to disasters and other current events. Carolyn visited Haiti on a mission trip when she was a Lebanon Valley College student. Here is her hymn for Haiti. You can read more about Carolyn and the hymn, and hear an audio download, at DelawareOnline.com.

In Haiti, There is Anguish
ST. CHRISTOPHER 7.6.8.6.8.6.8.6 (“Beneath the Cross of Jesus”)

In Haiti, there is anguish that seems too much to bear;
A land so used to sorrow now knows even more despair.
From city streets, the cries of grief rise up to hills above;
In all the sorrow, pain and death, where are you, God of love?

A woman sifts through rubble, a man has lost his home,
A hungry, orphaned toddler sobs, for she is now alone.
Where are you, Lord, when thousands die — the rich, the poorest poor?
Were you the very first to cry for all that is no more?

O God, you love your children; you hear each lifted prayer!
May all who suffer in that land know you are present there.
In moments of compassion shown, in simple acts of grace,
May those in pain find healing balm, and know your love’s embrace.

Where are you in the anguish? Lord, may we hear anew
That anywhere your world cries out, you’re there — and suffering, too.
And may we see, in others’ pain, the cross we’re called to bear;
Send out your church in Jesus’ name to pray, to serve, to share.

Tune: Frederick Charles Maker, 1881.
Text: Text: Copyright © 2010 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette.

Churches that support Church World Service are granted permission for free use. Other groups can email Carolyn for permission at bcgillette@comcast.net.

(Posted 01/16/2010) Permalink

Religion and Women

The Kogi, descendants of a pre-Columbian civilization in Columbia, see themselves as guardians of the Earth. They call themselves the Elder Brothers. In a column in The New York Times, Nicholas Kristof writes about the concerns of another group called the Elders, a small council of retired leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela. They have issued a joint statement calling on religious leaders to "change all discriminatory practices within their own religions and traditions." Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter spoke out on this subject at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Australia:

"Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths, creating an environment in which violations against women are justified. The belief that women are inferior human beings in the eyes of God gives excuses to the brutal husband who beats his wife, the soldier who rapes a woman, the employer who has a lower pay scale for women employees, or parents who decide to abort a female embryo."

It is refreshing to see these Elders speaking out when many religious institutions still exclude women from their hierarchies and rituals. Like the Kogi, they have wisdom to offer the world that is sorely needed. It is also imperative for us to be receptive to what these Elders are saying out of respect for their lives and service to humanity.

(Posted 01/13/2010) Permalink

Faux Friendship

Friendship is not what it used to be. In this era of Facebook and other social media, we have "friends" we may not know very well. In this well-developed article for The Chronicle Review, William Deresiewicz runs through a brief history of friendship from ancient times to the present. The capitalism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries took the idealism and emphasis upon virtues out of friendship and made it more impersonal, focusing on affection and affinity.

In modern times with the faltering of family life and the rise of divorce, friends become the family we choose. Deresiewicz notes: "We're busy people; we want our friendships fun and friction free." Facebook enables us to devolve this closeness from a relationship to a feeling. Instead of conversations, we and our friends engage in "broadcasting our stream of consciousness." The author is very hard on the idea of this new group friendship and claims that it fosters an emphasis not upon experience but information.

We agree with some of Deresiewicz's criticisms of the new face of friendship in the era of social networking. That's why we have made our Spirituality & Practice Facebook page a content-rich arena where people can share stories and experiences from their spiritual journeys. We are also emphasizing the ancient virtues — many of them also known as spiritual practices. When we engage with practices, we can upgrade the way we interact with social media.

(Posted 01/11/2010) Permalink

How to Train the Aging Brain

In The New York Times Barbara Strauch reports that in middle age (from the 40s to late 60s), the brain has trouble holding on to information. One example is that you get interrupted and instead of picking up where you left off before the distraction, the brain falls into the default mode where it wanders off and begins daydreaming. Another is that the brain's neural connections weaken and we experience "tots — those tip-of-the-tongue times when you know something but can't quite call it to mind."

But there's good news. Researchers have discovered that there are ways of training the aging brain: it is possible to "jiggle our synapses a bit" by confronting new or alien viewpoints. Another way is to critically reflect on long-held assumptions. We leaped for joy upon reading this fascinating article for it presents the spiritual practice of openness as "a way of cracking the cognitive egg and scrambling it up." This receptivity to the bizarre, the unknown, and the alien has many more advantages than we ever thought possible!

(Posted 01/06/2010) Permalink

This Emotional Life

On January 4-6, 2010, PBS will air a three-part documentary series titled This Emotional Life. Vulcan Productions and NOVA/WGBH have joined forces with Harvard psychologist and bestselling author Daniel Gilbert (Stumbling on Happiness) to examine the important role of emotions in our lives. We were able to screen it in advance and highly recommend this series.

The first two-hour episode, "Family, Friends & Lovers," covers the social relationships that are central to our development as human beings. The second segment, "Facing Our Fears." examines feelings we consider to be obstacles to our happiness — anger, fear, anxiety and despair. The last episode, "Rethinking Happiness," covers the positive emotions (silence, compassion, forgiveness, and altruism) which play a major role in our happiness and well-being.

Each of these two-hour programs includes stories of ordinary people and the latest scientific research on the emotions. Anyone interested in emotional intelligence and the impact of our feelings upon all dimensions of our lives will want to tune in. It also provides an added perspective to two books edited by Daniel Goleman that grew out of conversations with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the confluence of science, the mind, emotions, and spirituality: Destructive Emotions: How Can We Overcome Them? and Healing Emotions. This Emotional Life also nicely complements our recent map to Happiness. The film is supported by a content-rich website, www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife.

(Posted 01/04/2010) Permalink

Mystical Experience or Unitive Seeing

Cynthia Bourgeault, one of our Living Spiritual Teachers, challenges Christians not to use mystical experiences as brownie points but to open their hearts and minds to unitive seeing which "requires and confers far greater capacities of spiritual attention, surrender, clarity, and equanimity." She salutes letting go and humility as pathways to seeing from Oneness. It is good to end the year with a thoughtful essay on nondual consciousness in times when either/or and good/evil hold sway in the public consciousness.(Posted 12/31/2009) Permalink

United States' Shameful Land Mine Policy

Jody Williams was the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, for which she was awarded, along with the organization, the Nobel Peace Prize. So imagine her shock when she learned that the latest Nobel Laureate, Barack Obama, and his administration have decided to follow George W. Bush's example and not sign the International Mine Ban Treaty which was established in 1997 and has the support of 156 nations. All of the United States' major allies — including the 27 other members of NAT0 — are on board. All the countries in the Western hemisphere have signed, except the U.S. and Cuba. Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, and Algeria support the ban. The holdouts besides the United States are Russia, China, and India.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly explained the Obama Administration's decision: "We determined that we should not be able to meet our national defense needs nor our security commitments to our friends and allies if we sign this convention." Williams finds this answer to be patently absurd and goes on to say that Obama's position on land mines calls into question his expressed views on multilateralism, respect for international humanitarian law, and disarmament. How true and how sad. We hope and pray that one day these insidious weapons of indiscriminate violence will be banned by all the nations of the earth.

(Posted 12/14/2009) Permalink

Our New War President

John Dear is one of our Living Spiritual Teachers, and we treasure him as one of the most articulate and passionate advocates of nonviolence in our time. In his column in the National Catholic Reporter, he laments President Obama's decision to expand the war in Afghanistan even though most Americans want us out of there and only about 100 Al Qaeda members remain there. Dear writes: "The war is illegal, immoral, impractical, and plain foolish. It will further divide us. It will lead us into debt beyond our means. It will sow the seeds of terrorist attacks to come."

Pondering the messages of this Advent season, he lays out things to think about including the challenge to stop making an idol out of Obama, the need to rise up and speak out against our nation's imperial ambitions, the necessity of building a new nonviolent movement from the ground up, and the importance of putting our hopes in the peacemaker of Jesus who modeled for us a life of forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion, and love.

(Posted 12/09/2009) Permalink

We May Be Born with an Urge to Help

Scientists are finding by testing children and then comparing this data with research on chimpanzees that helping is a natural inclination, not something imposed by parents or culture. In this article by Nicholas Wade in The New York Times, he points out that many children are more cooperative outside the home where they are not acting within a pattern of family competition. Michael Tomasello, a developmental psychologist and author of Why We Cooperate, notes that "Children are altruistic by nature." What animates them to do good is shared intentionality.

Much of same conclusion is reached by Frans de Waal in The Age of Empathy. Now if we could only rid ourselves of the cooperative venture of war making, the world would certainly be a better and more peaceful place!

(Posted 12/03/2009) Permalink

Three Clergymen, Three Faiths, One Friendship

Here's something to be thankful for: three clergymen who call themselves "the interfaith amigos." Laurie Goodstein writes in The New York Times about their presentation at a Presbyterian church in Nashville, Tennessee, with 250 people in attendance. Rabbi Ted Falcon, the Rev. Don Mackenzie, and Sheik Jamal Rahman "put everything on the table: the verses they found offensive in one another's holy books, anti-Semitism, violence in the name of religion, claims by each faith to have the exclusive hold on truth, and of course, Israel."

This certainly takes interfaith dialogue beyond the traditional areas of discussion. Each also emphasized what was most important in his faith: the rabbi chose "oneness," the minister "unconditional love," and the shiek said "compassion." We have reviewed their book Getting to the Heart of Interfaith. The three amigos are to be commended for offering churches, synagogues, and mosques a viable and imaginative model of the spiritual practice of hospitality.

(Posted 11/24/2009) Permalink

Three Clergymen, Three Faiths, One Friendship

Here's something to be thankful for: three clergymen who call themselves "the interfaith amigos." Laurie Goodstein writes in The New York Times about their presentation at a Presbyterian church in Nashville, Tennessee, with 250 people in attendance. Rabbi Ted Falcon, the Rev. Don Mackenzie, and Sheik Jamal Rahman "put everything on the table: the verses they found offensive in one another's holy books, anti-Semitism, violence in the name of religion, claims by each faith to have the exclusive hold on truth, and of course, Israel."

This certainly takes interfaith dialogue beyond the traditional areas of discussion. Each also emphasized what was most important in his faith: the rabbi chose "oneness," the minister "unconditional love," and the shiek said "compassion." We have reviewed their book Getting to the Heart of Interfaith. The three amigos are to be commended for offering churches, synagogues, and mosques a viable and imaginative model of the spiritual practice of hospitality.

(Posted 11/24/2009) Permalink

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