Thinking about Christmas

I wonder how many pastors or parishioners understand the history of Christmas. From the time of Jesus’ death, the birth never had the same significance as Easter until the 1400s. It didn’t become a liturgical celebration until around 333 because the Holy Roman Empire needed to deal with the pagan solstice. What better way than […]

Green Junction: The Treacherous Reality of Tree Loss By Julie Peller Ph.D.

For areas of the Northern Hemisphere that experience four distinctive weather seasons, it is the time of the year when trees provide an ablaze of colors, one of nature’s stunning wonders. In addition to their visual beauty, trees provide oxygen, shade, ecosystems, and so much more to life on earth. The tree cover worldwide plays […]

In the time of our lives….

This weekend in David Bentley Hart’s, Leaves in the Wind, part two of “Mind, Nature, Emergence” we find much to reflect upon in our world of the autonomous revolution where AI will become the dominant factor as much as what automation was to the industrial revolution. In the world that Kevin Kelly calls the “Technium” […]

Eudaimonia is the Anthesis of Authoritarianism

Eudaimonia is the Antithesis of Authoritarianism The Wisdom of Aristotle and the ‘Greater Good’ is the Difference in being human and the Difference it makes in the words of Peter, Paul & Mary: “When will we ever learn, when will we ever learn.” Examples of authoritarianism are throughout history. We see the path to the […]

Green Junction: New Ideas Turn Into New Products by Julie Peller Ph.D.

New ideas often turn into products marketed as more stuff to buy to make life easier and better. Detergent pods were launched in 2012, an example of newer stuff for cleaning clothes. Even though there have been many different detergents available, the lure of popping a pod into a washing machine, evidently easier than measuring […]

Sue Monk and After Jesus Before Christianity

Sue Monk who wrote the Forward to the book “After Jesus Before Christianity” hosted a one-hour discussion with two of the authors of the book. Keep in mind The work of this book is the work of three authors and the Christianity Seminar part one, team which is a multitude of biblical scholars and historians. The research lasted […]

Something Special about Halloween, All Saints and ClimateSe

There is, for me, something special about Halloween and All Saints Day. Together they are the Apex of the FALL season.Living in the Midwest, you get to experience four and sometimes five seasons, LOL. In each, we experience change. Reflecting on Richard Rohr’s “The First Bible,” we see a theology of creation. The Significant Other […]

Green Junction: Glass is a Beautiful Thing. By Julie Peller, Ph.D.

Glass is a beautiful material that is believed to date back to 2400 BC. Glass is made of roughly 70% silica sand with other components, namely limestone (calcium carbonate) and soda ash (sodium carbonate). By heating these materials in a furnace above 2700 degrees Fahrenheit and then cooling, glass forms. Soda-lime glass is the most […]

Green Junction: A Circular Economy by Julie Peller Ph.D.

A circular economy is a sustainable approach for the use of resources and materials. In contrast to a linear economy, where the production model is taken, made, and disposed of, a circular economy works in a way that reduces/eliminates waste and pollution. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, this takes place by “keeping products and […]

What’s it all about?

I view life in three stages: first, we engage in formal learning; second, actively earning, and third, we should be returning and sharing our wisdom.At the end of earthly life, we often gather to celebrate the life led. But, we who are living should view our third stage of life as the living celebration of […]