Practices Search Results
Creator God, we give you hearty thanks for the work of Living Lands & Waters (livinglandsandwaters.org), the only industrial-scale river cleanup organization in the world.
Fact: The crew of LL&W spent nine months a year conducting dozens of river cleanup projects with the help of volunteers. In 2012, they relieved American riverbeds of some 84,000 bags of garbage, 68,000 tires, 1,300 propane tanks, 950 refrigerators, along with portable toilets, lawn mowers, couches, TVs, and cars. (The Week)
Companion of the Lonely, tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the United States, a time when many will gather with family and friends for a feast. Others will be alone and feeling lonely on this day.
Study: 27% of Americans lived alone last year, In contrast, in 1970, only 17% lived in single person households. (Wall Street Journal)
O Keeper of Justice in the Universe, we are troubled by the use of children as
suicide bombers by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Fact: Recently a 10-year-old sister of a Taliban commander was given a suicide vest and sent to destroy a police check point. She was pulled from a river and rescued. Afghan police report that last year they intercepted 41 children between the ages of 6 and 11 years old being trained and outfitted as suicide bombers. (The Week) O God of Mercy, let us try harder to save children from participation and exposure to the murder and mayhem of war.
O Merciful One, we ask that you send your tender mercies to men and women suffering unjustly in prisons for minor offenses.
Report: As of 2012, there were 3,278 prisoners serving sentences of life without parole for nonviolent crimes such as stealing a $159 jacket, trying to cash a stolen check or shoplifting. Many of them were struggling with mental illness, drug dependency, or financial desperation when they committed these crimes. (ACLU)
O God of Justice, animate us to action and help us to end cruel mandatory sentencing laws.
O Great Nourisher, we give thanks for nuts from trees.
Study: Eating nuts can reduce your risk of dying from cancer, heart disease, and several other ailments, according to Harvard research published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Over the three-decade study, people who regularly ate nuts were 20 percent less likely than non-nut-eaters to die of any cause — even if they didn't exercise. (Boston Globe) May we make the most of these life preservers.
Spirituality & Practice celebrated its 16th Birthday on March 21, 2022. The team gathered on Zoom with people from our community for an hour of sharing about the work we do and why we are happy doing it. Micah Bucey, one of S&P's film reviewers and the author of The Book of Tiny Prayer, launched our time together with a tiny prayer for those who need to be celebrated.
O Loving One, Ya Wadud, we grieve with the parents, family, and friends of the 145 school children who were murdered at their school in Peshawar, Pakistan, by the Taliban, on December 15, 2014. May these innocents rest in peace surrounded by your loving presence.
News report: The New York Times reports that the Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for this attack, saying it was revenge for violence by the government against their families and women. It is part of the larger campaign by this terrorist group to try to overturn the Pakistani government and establish a religious state.
Fountain of Wisdom, we, along those who responded to this poll, give thanks for and strongly value the public libraries in our communities for promoting literacy and improving the overall quality of life.
Poll: Some 90% of Americans ages 16 and older said that the closing of their local public library would have an impact on their community, with 63% saying it would have a major impact. Asked about the personal impact of a public library closing, two-thirds (67%) of Americans said it would affect them and their families. (Pew Research Center)
Most High, help us to make the most of the plentiful resources of our public libraries and to support them in as many ways as we can.
Shekinah, we ask for your guidance and direction to protect wives assaulted in their own homes by husbands and partners.
Fact: Serbia is in the grips of a domestic violence crisis: official figures compiled by a network of social care centers showed 9,325 reported cases in 2012 compared to 3,441 in 2006. Women are increasingly dying at the hands of their husbands and partners in a culture where the justice system treats wife beaters with kid gloves. (abcnews.go.com) Dear Miracle Worker, give victims of domestic violence everywhere the courage to leave home and come forward and report crimes committed there.
Dear Source of Life, the amount of e-waste is growing every day, and the nations of the world are not dealing safely or efficiently with it.
Fact: By 2017, the global volume of discarded refrigerators, TVs, cellphones, computers, monitors and other electronic waste will weigh almost as much as 200 Empire State Buildings. It will swell by a third in the next five years, led by the United States and China (UN Report: Solving the E-Waste Problem (StEP) Initiative).