even in the darkest days of winter, nature is still trying to tell us its secrets!

The Pacific NW has experienced the coldest summer on record and the governor has asked that the whole state be determined a farm disaster area.  On the home front we are wondering what on earth we will do with green tomatoes this year as it looks as though we will have plenty. To be honest [...]

Soft-wired for empathy – Rifkin on the Empathic Society

A couple of days ago Scott Hackman left a comment on my post On Line Community: Does It Work.  He included a link to this video by Rifkin on the Empathic Society.  Evidently we are all soft wired for sociability, attachment, affection and companionship.  This I thought was particularly encouraging though in some ways it [...]

On LIne Community – Does It Work?

Yesterday I posted statistics on how social media is shaping our lives .  It is interesting to see the response to this and recognize the different ways in which we grapple with deluge of social media in relation to our faith.  There are lots of resources emerging to help us maintain a strong and vibrant faith [...]

Does Social Media Shape Our Lives More Than God Does?

I just found this video – latest in the series on Social Media Revolution thanks to Rev Gene .  Yes that’s right I used social media to find it!!! and it made me wonder how much of our lives now is shaped by social media that pulls away from God rather than towards God.  Now I [...]

Solar City Tower for Rio Olympics is a Giant Waterfall

This is fascinating. This renewable energy generating tower located on the coast of Rio is one of the first buildings we’ve seen designed for the 2016 Rio Olympics, and boy, is it crazy! (In case you didn’t notice, it’s also a waterfall.) The Solar City Tower is designed by Zurich-based RAFAA Architecture & Design, and features a [...]

Internet Community – Is It Possible? post by Lynne Baab

This morning’s post comes from Lynne M. Baab. She is the author of numerous books, most recently Reaching Out in a Networked World, which considers the ways congregations can express their identity and values in an online world. She has also written several books and Bible study guides on spiritual disciplines, including Sabbath Keeping and [...]

We Have Met the Enemy and He is Powerpoint

In the last week I have spent a lot of time preparing powerpoint presentations for my time here at Overseas Ministry Study Centre here in New Haven CT.  So as you can imagine I was very interested to discover this New York times article about how much time officers in Afghanistan spend preparing powerpoints. Gen. Stanley [...]

What is Emerging in our Culture?

Yesterday I participated in a synchroblog on What is Emerging? referring to the emerging church movement and the changes we see happening in our churches and faith communities.  It was obvious that many of us continue to grapple with these issues.  For some they are never far from our thoughts. This discussion raised other questions [...]

Sustainable Urban Farming Inside the Box

I am still researching my article on Faith based community gardens and I find that Grist magazine has done it again.  They are one of the best places to connect to the innovative edge of green architecture, sustainable living and climate change. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the secret mall gardens of [...]

Technology & Social Networking – April Seed Sampler is Here

The MSA a Seed Sampler for April was published yesterday.  The topic is a hot one – Technology and Social Networking. As Andrew Wade our Seed Sampler coordinator says in the introduction It seems appropriate that I would be working on this edition of Seed Sampler in the same month that Facebook’s market share overtook [...]