Practicing everyday Justice

Tom & I are just finishing off our time here at Eastern Mennonite University.  We have enjoyed sharing with the students about how live on purpose in our consumer driven world.
I have particularly been impressed with some of the green initiatives on the campus here.  Their campus garden provides greens squash and grapes for the [...]

Junk Food Spirituality – Are We Addicted to the Wrong Practices?

Following my post yesterday Fruit That Will Last, my friend Andy Wade commented
I wonder, what would the difference look like between highly processed fruit and whole foods w/o all the junk? What are the parallels between how our bodies respond to processed foods and how our souls respond?
It was a great question that sent my [...]

Do You Believe in the Corporation?

This morning we have been talking about the challenges of the global economy and how it seduces us into its values.  We also talked about how easily we buy into the values of our secular culture – its work rhythms, its suburban lifestyles, its consumer patterns – and then living our Christianity over the top [...]

Are These the Top Trends for 2009?

As usual I am doing things a little out of order – looking at trends for 2009 before I reflect more on what I learned from 2008.  However this article by Jeremy Gutsche caught my attention and I decided to do ome reflecting about it.   A couple of the trends he highlights are

return to the [...]

Mustard Seed Alternative Calendar

Mustard Seed Associates has just launched an alternative calendar for 2009.  We don’t have to allow the dictates of the global mall and Hallmark’s subversion of the Christian saints run our lives.
Many of us have come to the realization that our daily religious devotion and creativity have been colonized by the big marketing strategists of [...]

Freeing the Saints from Their Hallmark Holidays

Well here it is the article that many of you have been waiting for .  It was written for the current edition of the Seed Sampler.  Enjoy
“Robyn was angry and confused. She had just discovered that her much-beloved roly-poly red-robed Santa Claus was a marketing ploy invented in the early 20th century by Coca Cola [...]

Art to Change the World

Well I missed Earth Day, but it is never too late to enter into the spirit of going green. Here are some powerful images by Chris Jordan that relate to the statistics of consumption & help us to recognize the extent of the problem.
This series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens [...]

What the World Eats

Some of you may remember that last year for Lent we encouraged people to commit to The Mutunga $2 challenge for a week as a reminder of the fact that half the world’s population lives on less than $2 per person per day. Here is the first in a great series of images [...]

Going to the Ballet

On Saturday evening I had a chance to go to the ballet.  It was a wonderful experience first because it gave me some very special time with my friend Linda but also because I have always loved the ballet but have had few chances to attend in the last 20 years.  In fact I think [...]

Buy Nothing Make Something

Here is a great idea from The Ecclesia Collective in San Diego. Instead of beginning the Christmas season with a frenzy of shopping why not spend the day after Thanksgiving making gifts with your family or friends. Thanks to Eliacin for making me aware of this.
“In response to the over-consumptive habits of western [...]