Practices Search Results
Photo Credit: Barbary Ape by Alexas_Fotos, courtesy of Pixabay
In The Week, August 30, 2019, we learn that according to the United Nations up to one million species face extinction. The Trump Administration has created new rules for enforcing the Endangered Species Act: These changes will "gut the landmark law which protects1,663 imperiled animal and plant species." Seven major environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, have sued the administration over these rules.
Compassionate One, we are concerned about global poverty. We have become too accustomed to facts about the plight of the poor in Africa — such as, in Sierra Leone, surveys have discovered that 82.5 % of the people are living in severe poverty.
Data: Now, as Americans, we learn from research done by Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Schaefer for their book $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America 1.5 million American households including 3 million children are living in extreme poverty. These writers and researchers were stunned by the pervasiveness of this devastating phenomenon and the finding that the number of those in this desperate economic situation has doubled since 1996.
Bountiful Creator, be with those who live with the fear and stress of extreme poverty. Forgive those who blame these deprived citizens for being lazy and not seeking work. Help the U.S. Congress to find ways to restore programs that provide a real safety net for the poor. May we hold in our hearts those living in such incredible poverty, both in the United States and throughout the world. Amen.
O Loving One, Ya Wadud, we grieve with the parents, family, and friends of the 12 people who were killed at the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015, by two French Muslim brothers presumed to want to punish the magazine for blasphemy over its depictions of the Prophet Muhammad. Comfort all those who have been touched and conflicted by this horrific event.
REPORT: "At least 12 people have been killed in a shooting attack on a French satirical magazine in Paris. Witnesses say masked gunmen entered the offices of the magazine, Charlie Hebdo, and opened fire. The dead include four cartoonists and two police officers. The magazine Charlie Hebdo has drawn multiple threats for its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. In 2012, the magazine’s cartoon depicting Muhammad in pornographic poses helped spark protests across the Middle East. The outcry forced France to close embassies and other official sites in 20 countries. Charlie Hebdo has repeatedly claimed it publishes the cartoons as a defender of free expression and against religious extremism." (DemocracyNow.org)
Peacemaker, give us the patience, the wisdom, and the empathy to discern the teachable moments from this tragedy. It has given rise to widespread expressions of support for free speech and against censorship and violence against journalists, cartoonists, satirists, and others. At the same time, we lament the fact that these murders have spawned a new wave of charges that all Muslims are fundamentalists and terrorists.
We ask for your guidance as we try to discern when the media is exercising its freedom of speech and when it is inciting hatred and division. We seek understanding of what it means to truly respect the beliefs of the faithful, including what is considered to be blasphemy and an insult to revered teachers and prophets. Finally, with sorrow and fear that the end result of this incendiary incident will only be greater Islamophobia, we vow to stand up against religious and secular violence and to advocate a deeper exploration and appreciation of the spiritual practice of reverence.
Source of Life, we are sorry for being so careless with our plastic bags, bottle caps, water bottles, and Styrofoam cups. We have played a lamentable part in harming and even causing the death of sea turtles, seals, and other marine mammals. Forgive us for our selfish obsession with pleasing ourselves and paying no attention to the consequences of our actions.
Report: An article in National Geographic charts the growth of garbage accumulations in the ocean. The largest is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. No one knows how much debris makes up this swirling vortex since not all trash floats to the surface. About 80% comes from land-based activities in North America and Asia. The remaining 20% comes from boaters, offshore oil rigs, and large cargo ships that dump or lose debris into the water.
The most toxic thing in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is plastic from bags, bottle caps, water bottles, and Styrofoam cups. They do not biodegrade but instead break into small pieces. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch puts many marine animals at risk who eat the plastic mistaking it for food. In addition, this trash blocks the sunlight from reaching plankton and algae below. (National Geographic Education
section). Mother of the Ocean, enable us to have the patience and the will power to end our personal dependence on disposable plastic. Help us to support individuals and businesses in their efforts to eliminate these products which harm the planet.
This is one of my favorite practices. It's one that Sylvia Boorstein, one of our Living Spiritual Teachers, uses regularly — reciting, usually silently, these two sentences:
"May I meet this moment fully.
May I meet it as a friend."
This two-sentence mantra, says Boorstein, can be used "as a mood-setter, an incliner of my mind toward relaxing. In recent years, I find this blessing comes to mind naturally in times of stress as I go about my life." — from Lionsroar.com, 11/7/17
On Friday and Saturday, December 10 and 11, 2021, an unusually large outbreak of tornadoes -- at least 30 -- ripped through six states in the United States -- Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Whole communities were destroyed, and at least 100 people are feared dead. Casualties were reported in a candle factory in Kentucky, an Amazon warehouse in Illinois, a nursing home in Arkansas, and elsewhere.