Saturday, July 6, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
JPANet: The Time is Now to Address Gun Violence
This is a critical week in the U.S. Senate for legislation that would begin to address the terrible toll of gun violence in this nation. For the first time since 1994, we have the opportunity to pass meaningful, sensible legislation to help end gun violence.
While tragic incidents of gun violence like the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Aurora, Colorado, Oak Creek Wisconsin and Tucson draw national headlines, in many communities across the country, the impact of gun violence is a day-to-day reality that rarely draws attention or action.
In the next several days, the Senate will debate amendments on legislation that would strengthen background checks on commercial gun sales (known as the Manchin-Toomey amendment) and strengthen anti-gun trafficking legislation. Yet even this modest proposal to strengthen background checks on commercial and online gun sales is under threat. Although the Manchin-Toomey amendment falls short of the stronger universal background check provision included in the original legislation, it is a step in the right direction.
How much longer must we wait and how many more lives must be lost before Congress takes action to help end gun violence? Contact your Senators TODAY and tell them the time is now to pass meaningful, sensible legislation to help end the scourge of gun violence. Send a letter or call the Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121 to be connected to your Senators.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Monday, April 1, 2013
Meredith Andrews - Burn Away
This is now my favorite song. I LOVE the whole album. She's amazing! Enjoy!
........"Burn away everything that breaks your heart....everything that is not love....purify my every thought.....take away.....everything that comes between us....everything that isn't true....Jesus make me more like you....."
paz.
Going Plastic Free!
My Plastic Free Life - here.
Buy in bulk.
Use glass jars....I love these: http://weckjars.com/
Use cloth bags for all types of shopping.
Seek out alternative packaging - that's better for the environment!
paz.
Buy in bulk.
Use glass jars....I love these: http://weckjars.com/
Use cloth bags for all types of shopping.
Seek out alternative packaging - that's better for the environment!
paz.
Drift Studio
I love finding well made, cool, functional products that put people to work and give hope!! Made in the USA too.....Check out the site here. You can use these chests for anything! Toys, yoga stuff, books.....blankies....
Friday, March 29, 2013
Neighborday!!
Bake some bread. Write a note. Introduce yourself to your neighbor. What a gloriously simple idea.
http://www.good.is/neighboring
http://www.good.is/neighboring
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Sculptor Marion Perkins
Sculptor Marion Perkins | Chicago Tonight | WTTW
For beauty.....You have to go see the exhibit They Seek a City. It's a show of more than 80 works by southern-and foreign-born artists. There are so many incredible artisits I've never heard of. I loved Marion Perkins the most. What a story too! He was clearly brilliant.
paz.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Epidemic of the Invisible Children
I sometimes feel like I need out. I need to escape suburbia and the materialism and the television. I love Target. I love quiet in my house when my kids are watching a show. Life is short though. What am I doing? Is it just a fantasy to move to a farm and give this way of life up? I don't want to look back and regret. That's all. We are doing the best we can......or are we?
A friend sent me this letter. I don't know its origin. I'll give more info if I receive any. paz.
Here's to dreaming......
SUBJECT: Epidemic of the Invisible Children
When my kids were toddlers, we lived in a
town home right in the city. Every day we would go for a walk on the trails. We
just wanted to get outdoors.
One day it stunned me that there were no
children playing outside. <---- Dropping the pendulum from far point
Inside the homes I saw the flickering of
television through the windows.You knew children lived there because their toys were outside.
But you never saw the children.
I would talk to my friends who were moms and they would complain that they would park their kids in front of the TV so they could get something done.
I had to confess I did that too. I would turn on PBS Kids. My oldest son Dylan was obsessed with Buzz Lightyear. He watched Toy Story about 14 times.
I started to notice that my boys would only play games that they had SEEN ON TV.
Then something very interesting happened.
My husband got a special assignment in
South Africa. We went on an extended leave and lived in Pretoria for 2 months.
There, my boys had no TV. They began
using their imaginations again. They started using natural materials to build
forts and castles. Their play was completely self directed.
In just two months, the change in my boys
was profound. <------ Pendulum swung all the way across to opposite side
Then I remembered… I used to play that
way, I had a great life of imagination and wonder.
My friend Kim and I would build fairy
castles at the bases of trees - complete with tables, chairs, homes, using
everything we could find: acorns, bark, cotton, flower petals and pine straw.
When I was 22 I went around the world
sailing and working as a chef on yachts with my husband. We hit 40 different
countries in 8 years.
Only later did I realize that those
afternoons building fairy castles with Kim and given me the imagination it took
to sail around the world, instead of… I don't know, getting an MBA.
And I was depriving my boys of all those
gifts.
One video game at a time.
Dear parent, I truly know how hard it is
to spin 900 plates and raise kids and pay the mortgage and all that. I get it.
But it's damaging your kids.
You can't undo that damage.
You can't rewind the hands of time.
Your kids are only young once.
I wanted to find a way out - out of the
mechanized, computerized, artificial world. I wanted to give something back.
So I decided to create an event. We hold
it at our farm once a month. Parents from all over the metro drive their kids
out into the country, and as soon as they cross the threshold of our property
they are in a different world.
For 2+ hours parents play with their kids
petting llamas and bunnies, feeding the cows and chickens, and kids scampering
down a nature path through the forest.
And Donald takes the kids on a special
fishing trip at the pond with the kids, while I talk to moms and dads about the
challenges of growing up natural children in plastic suburbia.
Everyone goes home closer to nature and
closer to their children.
Our next Farm Family Getaway is on _____.
I'd love you to come. It's free, all you have to do is sign up here. We do have
limited space - only ___ people per outing are permitted. Beyond that number,
we put you on a waiting list.
I've love to re-introduce you to the
world God made that kids were intended to play in and grow up in. I can't wait
to shake your hand and meet your sons and daughters.
You put them in a coma with Disney DVD's.
I began to heal the rift by showing kids
where their food comes from.
QUESTIONS:
What life are you programming your child
to live?
What tracks will they be stuck on as an
adult that you laid this week? This month?
Are they going to roll down pre-made
industrialized tracks, or are they going to blaze their own trails?
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Meredith Andrews - Not For A Moment (After All) - Live
Just returned with some wonderful women from a Conference. We heard this woman sing this incredible song there! Hope it touches your heart!! paz.
Happiness from LifeEdited
The Difference Between Pleasure and Happiness
We at LifeEdited talk a lot about happiness. It’s in our tagline: Design your life to include more money, health and happiness with less stuff, space and energy. We see the word splattered across bestseller lists: “The Happiness Project,” “Stumbling on Happiness,” “Delivering Happiness” and so forth. People cannot seem to get enough happy. But what the heck is it? And what is the difference between pleasure and happiness? And why should we care?
To answer these questions, we looked to an expert: Buddhist monk, author of ’The Happiest Person In The World’ and former molecular biologist, Matthieu Ricard. In a Huffington Post article entitled “Why Happiness is Not Pleasure“, he said this of happiness:
Happiness is a state of inner fulfillment, not the gratification of inexhaustible desires for outward things…genuine happiness may be influenced by circumstance, but it isn’t dependent on it. It actually gives us the inner resources to deal better with those circumstances.
Of the difference between pleasure and happiness, he says this:
Happiness is often equated with a maximization of pleasure, and some imagine that true happiness would consist of an interrupted succession of pleasurable experiences….There is no reason to deprive ourselves of the enjoyment of a magnificent landscape, of swimming in the sea or of the scent of a rose, but we must understand that the experience of pleasure is dependent upon circumstance, on a specific location or moment in time. It is unstable by nature, and the sensation it evokes can soon become neutral or even unpleasant.
In other words, pleasure is externally motivated and fleeting, while happiness is internally generated and constant.
Most of us know pleasure. It’s the sensation that drives us to eat a bag of chips even when we know it’s bad for our health; it’s the euphoric feeling of anticipation when waiting overnight to buy the new iPhone even though we know our current phone is perfectly adequate. Our pleasurable sensations are inextricable with the thing–the chips or the phone in this case. The things make us happy.
The trouble with equating pleasure with happiness is when the thing is gone, so too does our happiness. No chips, no happiness. Having last year’s phone can send us into a depression. Check out the movie “The Queen of Versailles” if you want to see the pleasure hunt play itself out to surreal proportions.
Conversely, happiness allows you to enjoy the chips, but not require them; use the phone, but realize it’s just a phone and a new one with slightly more power won’t make you happier in any meaningful way. Focusing on happiness is not better per se, but it’s more reliable.
One litmus test to distinguish pleasure from happiness is something a teacher once told me, “If something is a source of happiness, the more you do of it, the happier you will become.” Do more chips, phones, square feet or bacon (my personal fave) make us happier? Of course not. Sure, these things might be pleasurable, but after a while and in excess they lose their appeal and become “neutral or even unpleasant” as Ricard explains (any buffet-goer can testify to this).
If pleasure doesn’t make us happy, what does? One idea is that it’s experiences, not stuff that makes us happy–in other words internal states rather than objects. One theory promoted by Dr Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of “The How of Happiness“ asserts there are three main factors that comprise our happiness:
- Set-point. This is essentially our biological level of happiness–it’s our happiness default setting. Some people might be literally hardwired to be less happy than others–or vice versa. This is thought to comprise up to 50% of our overall sense of happiness.
- Circumstances. Our physical circumstances do affect our happiness, but to a much smaller extent than most think (10% or so). Circumstances that can thwart happiness are things like no access to clean water, unsafe homes, etc. Circumstances that probably don’t thwart your happiness are having too large a tablet computer and too wide lapels on your blazer.
- Voluntary Variables. This is our behavior and thoughts. This makes up 40% of our overall happiness and can actually offset the set-point and circumstances.
The voluntary variables are what my teacher would say are the things that, when increased, promote happiness. These are behaviors and actions like generosity, kindness, love, gratitude, etc. The more we live in these states, the more we act in line with them, the happier we become.
How can LifeEdited be so bold as to say that we can help design your life to include more happiness? Full disclosure: We can’t make you happy. Sorry. But our mission to “edit” the things that don’t promote our happiness–the extraneous stuff and space–might help. No, the best designed apartment, most awesome stacking bowl or greatest towel will never, ever make you happy, but this “less, but better” stuff might give you less to think about, affording you more mental space for the stuff–those experiences and voluntary variables–that do.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
None of the Above: Religious Implications
None of the Above: Religious Implications
So many goodies from Religion and Ethics News Weekly!! Enjoy. paz.
So many goodies from Religion and Ethics News Weekly!! Enjoy. paz.
Free at Last
Joshua 5:9
The Lord said to Joshua, "Today, I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt."
Kenneth L. Samuel
How long does it take for a victim of rape to recover from that single act of violence and violation? How long does it take for a neglected child to garner a healthy sense of self-worth? How long does it take those who commit crimes in the recklessness of their youth that carry mandatory sentencing to become fully reinstated into society? How long does it take a woman, who has been treated for most of her life as a man's co-dependent to step into her place as a man's co-equal?
It's one thing to be released from an abuse or an imprisonment; it's quite another thing to be free from it.
In her seminal work, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, Dr. Joy DeGruy argues that every African American person needs to be in therapy because we have never recovered (psychologically, economically or socially) from the multi-generational oppression and the institutionalized racism associated with chattel slavery in America.
Some forty years after the Israelites made their triumphant exodus out of bondage in Egypt, they come to a place in east Palestine where God confirms God's covenant with them through the rite of circumcision. After marking the children of Israel as God's own, God says to Joshua: Today - forty years after your liberation from Egyptian bondage; Today - a generation after Moses led you out of captivity with signs and wonders; Today – after decades of wandering in the wilderness and countless days of anxiety regarding your identity and your destiny; Today – I am redeeming you from the profound damage of your oppression and bringing you out from under the chronic pains of your past.
We know from Old Testament history that Israel's healing did not end with this event. Israel's history, like our own histories, is a continuing saga of recovery.
The bad news is that our healing is still in process. And the good news is that our healing is still in process.
Prayer
Gracious God, give us the wisdom to recognize and participate in the processes of our own recovery. And give us sufficient care and regard for the healing processes of others. Amen.
Joshua 5:9
The Lord said to Joshua, "Today, I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt."
Kenneth L. Samuel
How long does it take for a victim of rape to recover from that single act of violence and violation? How long does it take for a neglected child to garner a healthy sense of self-worth? How long does it take those who commit crimes in the recklessness of their youth that carry mandatory sentencing to become fully reinstated into society? How long does it take a woman, who has been treated for most of her life as a man's co-dependent to step into her place as a man's co-equal?
It's one thing to be released from an abuse or an imprisonment; it's quite another thing to be free from it.
In her seminal work, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, Dr. Joy DeGruy argues that every African American person needs to be in therapy because we have never recovered (psychologically, economically or socially) from the multi-generational oppression and the institutionalized racism associated with chattel slavery in America.
Some forty years after the Israelites made their triumphant exodus out of bondage in Egypt, they come to a place in east Palestine where God confirms God's covenant with them through the rite of circumcision. After marking the children of Israel as God's own, God says to Joshua: Today - forty years after your liberation from Egyptian bondage; Today - a generation after Moses led you out of captivity with signs and wonders; Today – after decades of wandering in the wilderness and countless days of anxiety regarding your identity and your destiny; Today – I am redeeming you from the profound damage of your oppression and bringing you out from under the chronic pains of your past.
We know from Old Testament history that Israel's healing did not end with this event. Israel's history, like our own histories, is a continuing saga of recovery.
The bad news is that our healing is still in process. And the good news is that our healing is still in process.
Prayer
Gracious God, give us the wisdom to recognize and participate in the processes of our own recovery. And give us sufficient care and regard for the healing processes of others. Amen.
Empathy
Check out the Teaching Tolerance blog at the Southern Poverty Law Center....
It's a great site for teachers, pastors, Christian educators, mothers, fathers......We can all play a part in reducing hatred in our communities. It's how we can move closer to God's Kingdom.
This is a sample of the information you can find there:
It's a great site for teachers, pastors, Christian educators, mothers, fathers......We can all play a part in reducing hatred in our communities. It's how we can move closer to God's Kingdom.
This is a sample of the information you can find there:
My Way Is Not the Only Way
Objectives:
Students will:
- Learn about different belief systems.
- Appreciate the benefits of living in a country with many different religious beliefs.
- Identify similarities and differences of different belief systems.
Essential Questions:
- What do religious traditions and beliefs say about people? What can I learn from the religious traditions and beliefs of others?
- How would our nation be different if there was only one religion?
- What connections can we make between different religions? What can we learn from the uniqueness of different belief systems?
My yoga instructor at Focus Yoga in Brookfield read this to us as we rested in some peaceful postures. I was so moved. It applies to so many other areas of our lives. Let us choose life and optimism, strength, and courage! paz.
I'm sorry I don't know the author.....let me know if you do.
I'm sorry I don't know the author.....let me know if you do.
Yoga is not about being bendy….
It’s about showing up to your mat consistently
not knowing what is going to happen and being ok with that.
It’s about rehabilitating yourself and not
believing the “experts” when they say you are too injured or too old.
It’s about believing that you can do anything
even if it’s the most scariest impossible thing you could ever dream of.
It’s about uncovering who you really are.
It’s about being kind to yourself so that you
can then be kind to others.
Yoga is about discovering that most of the
crazy thoughts in your head are not true.
It’s about being healthy without pushing
yourself to your limit.
It’s about slowing down to get strong.
It’s about breathing and moving and smiling on
the inside.
It’s the hardest thing I have ever done, but
also the best.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
WRETCHED NO MORE: THE BLOG IS HERE!By demand, Dr. Cooper-Lewter has established the Wretched No More blog to keep everyone updated about the status of his upcoming book and related events.
His first post, What is a Recovering Ugly Duckling?, features a 22 minute video of his keynote speech for the Black History Month reception hosted by the University of South Carolina's Athletic Department. We encourage you to share it!
Upcoming posts include that of other Recovering Ugly Ducklings. So stay tuned!
You can go to the blog by clicking here or pasting this link into your browser:
http://www.wretchednomore.wordpress.com
*I heard this gentleman speak at a conference I recently attended and it was life-changing. I hope you are moved as well.
paz.
His first post, What is a Recovering Ugly Duckling?, features a 22 minute video of his keynote speech for the Black History Month reception hosted by the University of South Carolina's Athletic Department. We encourage you to share it!
Upcoming posts include that of other Recovering Ugly Ducklings. So stay tuned!
You can go to the blog by clicking here or pasting this link into your browser:
http://www.wretchednomore.wordpress.com
*I heard this gentleman speak at a conference I recently attended and it was life-changing. I hope you are moved as well.
paz.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Lotte Reiniger - Papageno - (1935).m4v
These area paper cut outs. There are more of her films on youtube. Amazing!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
"Dayenu!"
A Prayer to Avoid Entitlement
Maybe we all should begin our days with a litany of satisfaction, abundance, and enoughness. God, you have given me another day of totally gratuitous life: my health, my eyes, my ears, my mind, my taste, my family, my freedom, my education, clean water, more than enough food, a roof over my head, a warm bed and blanket, friends, sunshine, a beating heart, and your eternal love and guidance.
by Richard Rohr
The Jewish people have a beautiful prayer form, a kind of litany to which the response is always "Dayenu!" (It would have been enough!).
They list, one by one, the mirabilia Dei, the wonderful works of God for their people and themselves, and after each one, shout out DAYENU! As if to say, "How much is it going to take for us to know that God is with us?!" It builds satisfaction instead of feeding dissatisfaction.
If we begin our day with any notion of scarcity, not-enoughness, victimhood, or "I deserve," I promise you the day will not be good--for you or for those around you. Nor will God be glorified.
To any one of these we must say, "And this is more than enough!"
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Auditorium Theatre :: performances :: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
If you haven't seen this dance troup you should consider treating yourself and maybe your family to tickets! They are amazing!
If you haven't seen this dance troup you should consider treating yourself and maybe your family to tickets! They are amazing!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
New Religious Intolerance
"The
New Religious Intolerance:
Overcoming
the Politics of Fear in an Anxious Age "
Speaker:
Dr. Martha Nussbaum
Date:
Feb. 5th, 2013
Time:
6:00pm Reception, 6:30pm - 7:30pm Lecture and Q&A
or
watch live on Ustream channel "AICUSA"
This
lecture will be followed by a book signing.
RSVP REQUIRED
Speaker Bio:
Martha
Nussbaum received her BA from New York University (1969) and her MA and PhD from
Harvard (1972, 1975). She taught philosophy and classics at Harvard in the 1970s
and 1980s, before moving to Brown. Her 1986 book, The Fragility of Goodness, on
ancient Greek ethics, made her a prominent figure throughout the social sciences
and humanities. Nussbaum's other major area of philosophical work was on the
emotions, where she specifically defended a neo-Stoic approach.
From
1986 to 1993 Nussbaum was a research advisor at the World Institute for
Development Economics Research, a part of the United Nations University. She has
chaired the Committee on International Cooperation, the Committee on the Status
of Women of the American Philosophical Association and the Committee for Public
Philosophy. She has been a member of the Association's National Board. Professor
Nussbaum was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been a
member of its Council. She is also a member of the American Philosophical
Society. In 2008 she was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy.
She has also been a member of the Board of the American Council of Learned
Societies. She has received honorary degrees from thirty-two colleges and
universities internationally.
Professor
Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics,
appointed in the Philosophy Department, Law School and Divinity School. She is
an associate in the Classics Department and the Political Science Department, a
member of the Committee on Southern Asian Studies, and co-chair of the Human
Rights Program. She is the founder and coordinator of the Center for Comparative
Constitutionalism and co-director of the Center for Laws, Philosophy and Human
Values.
Interfaith Call-In Day
Tested by our grief,
Inspired in our pursuit of justice,
Strengthened by our love for country and for God's children
Resolute in our faith.
We call on our lawmakers and say:
Enough pain. Enough despair. Enough injustice. We can and must transform our grief into action.
Ensure that the voices of faithful Americans ring throughout the halls of Congress.
Call your Senators and Representative and insist that they act to prevent gun violence.
We know that among millions of you in the faith community there are differences in viewpoint and we ask you to convey whichever policies with which you are comfortable. The major components of legislation that Congress is considering are listed below. When you call your Senators and Representative, let them know that you are calling as a member of the faith community, and emphasize those of the policies which you support.
Inspired in our pursuit of justice,
Strengthened by our love for country and for God's children
Resolute in our faith.
We call on our lawmakers and say:
Enough pain. Enough despair. Enough injustice. We can and must transform our grief into action.
Ensure that the voices of faithful Americans ring throughout the halls of Congress.
Call your Senators and Representative and insist that they act to prevent gun violence.
We know that among millions of you in the faith community there are differences in viewpoint and we ask you to convey whichever policies with which you are comfortable. The major components of legislation that Congress is considering are listed below. When you call your Senators and Representative, let them know that you are calling as a member of the faith community, and emphasize those of the policies which you support.
- Require universal background checks for all gun purchases
- Ban semi-automatic assault weapons and high-capacity magazines
- Make gun trafficking a federal crime
- Improve access to mental health services
"The time is always right to do what is right"
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
more here:
UCC Radio
WELCOME SUNSET RADIO
Sunset Congregational Church, Brings You Free Christian Listening
Sunset Radio is looking to become the premier internet provider of online streaming Christian radio broadcasts and programs. Listen to your favorite Christian music, Pastor Rev. Dr. Danny Roman, Richard Singleton (Sunset Congregational Church Web Ministries) and many more. You'll enjoy listening to our audio broadcasts finding both the newest Christian music to the classic ole time Gospel songs to include some of the most up lifting sermons and messages on issues important to you including Christian living, Bible study, prayer, Jesus Christ, parenting, and many more. Stay connected with your favorite radio broadcast ministries through monthly devotional newsletter. Listen to today's broadcast using the computer, Tablet, iPhone or any smart phone application!. Grow in your walk with Jesus Christ, be encouraged in your faith, and build your knowledge of the Bible with Sunset Radio.com Christian radio programming.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Honoring MLK - DuSable Museum
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration!
Celebrate with the DuSable Museum on Monday, January 21, 2013 for our annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration! The theme for this year’s celebration is, “Nothing Without a Demand,” commemorating the legacy of many of the iconic men and women that help to shape and advance Civil and Human Rights throughout America. This day long affair is filled with live performances, dance, films, and art to inspire, entertain, and educate all audiences.
This historic day begins with the inauguration of President Barack Obama, for his second term as President of the United States of America. As part of our morning activities for the 2013 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, we will host the live screening of the inauguration ceremony. Our inauguration broadcast begins at 10:30AM, and will end following President Obama’s inaugural address. We hope that you will come out and experience this historical occasion with us. The inauguration event will take place from 10:30 AM until Noon, Central Time—Doors Open at 10 AM
Also, walking through the museum’s galleries will be historic personalities, as part of our new educational outreach initiative “Walking with Heroes.” “Walking with Heroes” brings notable African American figures to life. Characters include Ida B. Wells, Elijah J. McCoy, Jean Baptise Pointe DuSable’s wife Kittihawa, and more!
Admissions:
FREE – Children under age 6
- $8 – Member Adult
- $10 – Non Member Adult
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Prisons for Profit
Prisons for Profit
We have to all reflect upon the fact that we are a nation of prisons, mostly of brown people. What are possible options other than prison? Job training, better schools, fostering communities of hope and transformation......?
paz.
We have to all reflect upon the fact that we are a nation of prisons, mostly of brown people. What are possible options other than prison? Job training, better schools, fostering communities of hope and transformation......?
paz.