Innovate~Educate~Collaborate

Tag: discipleship

  • Green Junction: Amazon~not the rain forrest. By Julie Peller Ph.D.

    Amazon, the giant, US-based, e-commerce company recently had its annual shareholders’ meeting. One discussion point was a proposal to report the company’s plastic use and determine the benefits of reducing plastic. With only 48% of shareholders voting in favor of evaluating the company’s plastic usage/waste, the proposal fell short of the majority and was rejected. […]

  • Two Quotes from Thomas Merton: Do we understand violence?

    These two quotes from Thomas Merton are key to understanding and discovering the root cause of violence in our society. Violence is a symptom. A symptom generated by the root cause. If we only treat the symptom it will never end, we must as a society treat the root cause. Treating the root cause of […]

  • Secret Revelation of John

    There are hundreds of gospels and related texts about the movement of the early followers of Jesus in the first three centuries. We have given them many names, such as gnostic gospels and Apocrypha writings. Given our modern-day political environment, we find similar situations exist in churches & the political world of the early followers of Jesus […]

  • Green Junction: Masks are becoming vogue again By Julie Peller Ph.D.

    Health protection measures throughout the pandemic have involved an enormous amount of one-use plastics. These have included personal protective equipment (masks, gloves, gowns), take-home food packaging, test kits, syringes, wipes, and more, unfortunately intensifying the global plastic waste problem. Billions of disposable masks, mostly made of a plastic called polypropylene, have been used and thrown […]

  • Written in the 60s… But…

    Thomas Merton’s voice is heard decades after his death. Maybe it has a lot to do with human nature and who we are, and who we think we should be in the world we live. I often wonder what Merton would think today if he were alive about Propaganda. The 60s really didn’t have the […]

  • Green Junction: We take for granted Water by Julie Peller Ph.D.

    Many areas worldwide experience shortages of fresh water and/or severe problems with contaminated water supplies. At the same time, populations of people use significant amounts of water to create unnatural green lawns through daily watering and overuse of fertilizers. In contrast, Nature’s rainfall is concentrated along or near the equator; daily rain is rare in […]

  • “What does Love have to do with it?”

    Does evolution always win in The end? Is violence why empires grow and fall?  The evolution of the universe and the particular species on this plant adopt a change to survive. It is why viruses mutate. One of the differences in humans is humans are prone to addictions. And violence and violence against their own […]

  • 56 years ago Thomas Merton warned…

    56 years ago, Thomas Merton warned that the failure to enact the Gospel’s social implications would result in an “Earthly Hell.” “Social Implications” is about the Great Good. Merton’s role as a mystic voice of awareness, soul searching, compassion, and peace is even more remarkable considering the ways conflict, confusion, doubt touched his personal life. […]

  • Reflecting on the year, as a historian

    Is authoritarianism the default model for nations? Do we understand that authoritarianism produces a level of conceit, militarism, overextension, and bureaucratic calcification in leadership? Study the patterns throughout history. Is authoritarianism the new wealth, power & Prestige? History/Philosophy teaches us that when governments move toward authoritarianism, it is because the people don’t believe it could […]

  • 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 […]