Posts Tagged ‘Grand Canyon’
Let’s Learn About RAMADAN
Posted on: June 25, 2014
Life Standard: Learn from the World Community
RAMADAN:
Month-Long Fast for Muslims
June 28 – July 27, 2014
Ramadan, commemorating the revelation of the Koran to Mohammed, is the most sacred celebration in the Muslim world. The observance begins on the eve of the ninth month of the lunar year. Since the lunar year is eleven or twelve days shorter than the solar year, the incidence of Ramadan moves through all the seasons of the year in cycles of approximately 33 years. (In 1987 Ramadan began on April 29; in 2000 on Nov. 27; in 2010 on Aug. 11; in 2015 on June 18, etc.)
Celebrated for 30 days, the observance affects a large portion of the Third World. According to Islamic law, fasting from sunup to sundown is required of every able-bodied Muslim.
The fasting is meant to 1) help keep the observance in mind, 2) encourage spiritual discipline, 3) create an identification with the poor and 4) remind people of their ultimate dependence on God.
Popular celebrations of Ramadan sometimes involve lavish feasts after the sun goes down, but this custom does not represent the holiday’s true spirit, to bring about inner strength through austerity.
Tabletalk for Ramadan
Learning About Our Neighbors
Because Islam is a religious tradition little understood by most Westerners, perhaps during this fast, non-Muslims can use this time to learn more. During dinner one evening, identify popular stereotypes of Muslims. Then do some reading. Search out not only nonfiction, but also poetry and fiction written by Muslims. Make the acquaintance of some Muslims in your community. Then, at another family meal one evening, try to go beyond the stereotypes to real people.
You may wish to invite Muslim people to a community gathering as guest speakers. Find out if your religious community has an interfaith council and learn about interfaith gatherings in your community.
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Subscribe to SLW! Blog
Click “+Follow” at lower right of blog post, enter a name and email address. Welcome!
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What’s NOW with SLW!
- Why Are Danes So Happy? The Danes are considered to be the happiest people on Earth. Outwardly they don’t appear especially happy. That’s because their happiness is not a shallow veneer. It is an inner contentedness. And why? Largely because Denmark is a Socialist Democracy. They have little of the gross economic inequality that America has. They willingly pay high taxes and it really works. Copenhagen is on track to be the first carbon neutral capital by 2020! Why be concerned about happiness? One big reason would be that we Americans need to redefine happiness, away from consumerism toward contentedness. Why? Human civilization will go through immense trauma (some say extinction) by 2100. Let’s prepare ourselves, our children and grandchildren for the change now. Yes, we can mitigate some of the worst effects through simple, green living but we cannot reverse the inevitable through geo-engineering or magical, wishful thinking. (See my blog post Vision of the Future.)
- Tony and Shane Uncut – Tony Campolo & Shane Claiborne’s complete dialog on simpler living and global justice, in eight parts. To LISTEN, click the player at the top or the bottom of the Show Notes, or visit the Episode Index. NOTE: You can listen to each episode as it is released the 1st and 15th of the month, May-Aug. Or listen to several or all episodes at Preview/Back-up. The topics are different for each episode.
Topics for Part 3: Urban farming / guerilla gardening; recovering from Tony’s stroke; our meat problem; integrity in farming; dangers of piety; In what way am I living economically a lifestyle as Jesus wants me to live? The lesson of Ananius and Sapphira – pretense; being close to the poor; First John 3:16; redistribution in love; free enterprise, not capitalism – meeting needs, not manufactured wants; manipulated by advertising; Who owns the pond? Stories from sweatshop kids; Where do we shop? Paul’s wrestling with ‘principalities and powers’ (forces of evil) in church (Ephesians 6:12)
-
Simple Living 101: Tools for Activists – Jerry’s Excellent Adventure: eNewsletters and Email Lists. Read MORE
-
Frances Moore “Frankie” Lappe’ Shares Her Co-Creative Way to Ecological Healing – TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 48.
- Simpler Living Alternative Daily Calendar – June
- Check out a few of these thought-provoking, timely resources that might meet your personal, family or congregational/group needs. They’re all FREE.
- Treasury of Celebrations*: Create Celebrations That Reflect Your Values and Don’t Cost the Earth Earth – May-Aug.
- Worship Alternatives: Pentecost/Ordinary Time
- Spirit of Simplicity: Lent/Easter ART | QUOTES
- 10 Tips for Simpler, More Meaningful Celebrations | SPANISH: 10 puntas
- Alternatives’ Seasonal/Thematic Index
What’s Coming
-
Simple Living 101: Tools for Activists – Jerry’s Excellent Adventure – Blogging | Podcasting | Internet Radio | Basic Marketing Plan Checklist
What’s Happened
What Others Are Doing
- Simple enough: Spirit wind and fire by Bob Sitze
- Seeing Systems: Peace, Justice and Sustainability – New Course from Northwest Earth Institute
- Interviews, Book Groups, etc. – Spreading the Conversation about The OneEarth Project and the book, Blinded by Progress: Breaking Out of the Illusion That Holds Us, by Lee Van Ham. | TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 42 | Lee’s new Slide Show
- Spring of Sustainability: Turning Crises into Creative Solutions // Summer of Peace: Transforming Conflict in Your Heart, Your Relationships and the World, a free online event, June 13 – September 21, both from The Shift Network and Sustainable World Coalition
Podcast Reminder
You can access all SLW! podcast audio and the show notes either at SimpleLiving.startlogic.com/SLW-PODCAST or at SimpleLivingWorks.org (then click window #3). Listen through your computer, iPod, iPad, iPhone (or equivalent).
SUBSCRIBE through iTunes, Stitcher.com or your favorite podcast service. To SUBSCRIBE to email notices, click Comments at the bottom of Show Notes, then check ‘Notify me of new posts by email.’ Please rate us in iTunes and leave a review. Send us your email address to receive the free monthly SLW! eNews. Remember to like us on Facebook. Urge your friends to do the same.
Episode Index: #1-3: Getting Acquainted | #4-5: Beyond a Consumer Lifestyle | #6-11: Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? | #12: Living More with Less UPDATED | #13: Let’s Get Ready for a Simpler Lent & Easter | #14: Simple Living 101 + Social Media BONUS | #15: author Cecile Andrews, Champion of Simplicity Circles and Community Conversation | #16: Rites of Passage, including Wedding Alternatives | #17: Vicki Robin, co-author of the best-seller Your Money or Your Life | #18: Not Ordinary Time: Eco-Justice Ministries | #19: Simply Delicious: Quantity Cooking for Churches / Hunger / Alternative Summer Festivals | #20-27: Tony and Shane Uncut
Do your friends a favor. Share our blog and podcast.
Like SLW! on Facebook. | Follow us on Twitter. | Follow us on Pinterest. Share your thoughts on our podcast and blogs. Email Feedback AT SimpleLivingWorks DOT org [or SimpleLivingWorks AT yahoo DOT com or SimpleLivingWorks2 AT gmail DOT com], leave a message on our Facebook page or on the SLW! blog.
Peace, Gerald “Jerry” Iversen, Chief SLW! Activist
We do not solicit or accept donations, nor do we sell anything. All our resources and services are free of charge. We’re an all-volunteer organization. Instead, we urge Alternative Giving. Give away at least 25% of what you spent last year on all celebrations – Christmas, birthdays, etc. — to local, national and international causes.
Copyright: Creative Commons non-commercial attribution share-alike license.
*Treasury of Celebrations: published by Northstone, a division of Wood Lake Publications, BC, Canada, best known for its Seasons of the Spirit curriculum.
Through social media, we extend the mission and resources of the non-profit organization Alternatives, 1973-2011. Simple Living Works! web site home page | Theme/Seasons Index To learn more about SLW! – our MISSION, for example — please listen to our getting-acquainted episodes, especially #1 and 2. We produce a half-hour podcast twice a month, hopefully educational and inspiring for you, your family and your congregation or group. We blog several times a week.
Tony and Shane Uncut, Part 3
Posted on: June 20, 2014
Tony Campolo & Shane Claiborne’s complete dialog on simpler living and global justice, in eight parts.
To LISTEN, click the player at the top or the bottom of the Show Notes, or visit the Episode Index.
NOTE: You can listen to each episode as it is released the 1st and 15th of the month, May-Aug. Or listen to several or all episodes at Preview/Back-up. The detailed Show Notes are similar for each episode, though the topics are different.
Topics for Part 3:
Urban farming / guerilla gardening; recovering from Tony’s stroke; our meat problem; integrity in farming; dangers of piety; In what way am I living economically a lifestyle as Jesus wants me to live? The lesson of Ananius and Sapphira – pretense; being close to the poor; First John 3:16; redistribution in love; free enterprise, not capitalism – meeting needs, not manufactured wants; manipulated by advertising; Who owns the pond? Stories from sweatshop kids; Where do we shop? Paul’s wrestling with ‘principalities and powers’ (forces of evil) in church (Ephesians 6:12)
ABOUT the VIDEO PROJECT
Order the new DVD Choose Justice with beautiful 40 page Conversation Guide for $10US from The Simple Way store. The six-part DVD captures the heart of the dialog. Perfect for group discussion and action.
Going on the road; meeting Tony & Shane: Travel journals and photos. Scroll to Post #197. Share the adventure of making the original video.
Learn more about TONY and SHANE + More Mentions
* * *
Subscribe to SLW! Blog
Click “+Follow” at lower right of blog post, enter a name and email address. Welcome!
* * *
What’s NOW with SLW!
- Why Are Danes So Happy? The Danes are considered to be the happiest people on Earth. Outwardly they don’t appear especially happy. That’s because their happiness is not a shallow veneer. It is an inner contentedness.And why? Largely because Denmark is a Socialist Democracy. They have little of the gross economic inequality that America has. They willingly pay high taxes and it really works. Copenhagen is on track to be the first carbon neutral capital by 2020!Why be concerned about happiness? One big reason would be that we Americans need to redefine happiness, away from consumerism toward contentedness. Why? Human civilization will go through immense trauma (some say extinction) by 2100. Let’s prepare ourselves, our children and grandchildren for the change now. Yes, we can mitigate some of the worst effects through simple, green living but we cannot reverse the inevitable through geo-engineering or magical, wishful thinking. (See my blog post Vision of the Future.)
-
Simple Living 101: Tools for Activists – Jerry’s Excellent Adventure: eNewsletters and Email Lists. Read MORE
-
Frances Moore “Frankie” Lappe’ Shares Her Co-Creative Way to Ecological Healing – TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 48.
- Simpler Living Alternative Daily Calendar – June
- Check out a few of these thought-provoking, timely resources that might meet your personal, family or congregational/group needs. They’re all FREE.
- Treasury of Celebrations*: Create Celebrations That Reflect Your Values and Don’t Cost the Earth Earth – May-Aug.
- Worship Alternatives: Pentecost/Ordinary Time
- Spirit of Simplicity: Lent/Easter ART | QUOTES
- 10 Tips for Simpler, More Meaningful Celebrations | SPANISH: 10 puntas
- Alternatives’ Seasonal/Thematic Index
What’s Coming
-
Simple Living 101: Tools for Activists – Jerry’s Excellent Adventure – Blogging | Podcasting | Internet Radio | Basic Marketing Plan Checklist
What’s Happened
What Others Are Doing
- Simple enough: Spirit wind and fire by Bob Sitze
- Seeing Systems: Peace, Justice and Sustainability – New Course from Northwest Earth Institute
- Interviews, Book Groups, etc. – Spreading the Conversation about The OneEarth Project and the book, Blinded by Progress: Breaking Out of the Illusion That Holds Us, by Lee Van Ham. | TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 42 | Lee’s new Slide Show
- Spring of Sustainability: Turning Crises into Creative Solutions // Summer of Peace: Transforming Conflict in Your Heart, Your Relationships and the World, a free online event, June 13 – September 21, both from The Shift Network and Sustainable World Coalition
Podcast Reminder
You can access all SLW! podcast audio and the show notes either at SimpleLiving.startlogic.com/SLW-PODCAST or at SimpleLivingWorks.org (then click window #3). Listen through your computer, iPod, iPad, iPhone (or equivalent).
SUBSCRIBE through iTunes, Stitcher.com or your favorite podcast service. To SUBSCRIBE to email notices, click Comments at the bottom of Show Notes, then check ‘Notify me of new posts by email.’ Please rate us in iTunes and leave a review. Send us your email address to receive the free monthly SLW! eNews. Remember to like us on Facebook. Urge your friends to do the same.
Episode Index: #1-3: Getting Acquainted | #4-5: Beyond a Consumer Lifestyle | #6-11: Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? | #12: Living More with Less UPDATED | #13: Let’s Get Ready for a Simpler Lent & Easter | #14: Simple Living 101 + Social Media BONUS | #15: author Cecile Andrews, Champion of Simplicity Circles and Community Conversation | #16: Rites of Passage, including Wedding Alternatives | #17: Vicki Robin, co-author of the best-seller Your Money or Your Life | #18: Not Ordinary Time: Eco-Justice Ministries | #19: Simply Delicious: Quantity Cooking for Churches / Hunger / Alternative Summer Festivals | #20-27: Tony and Shane Uncut
Do your friends a favor. Share our blog and podcast.
Like SLW! on Facebook. | Follow us on Twitter. | Follow us on Pinterest. Share your thoughts on our podcast and blogs. Email Feedback AT SimpleLivingWorks DOT org [or SimpleLivingWorks AT yahoo DOT com or SimpleLivingWorks2 AT gmail DOT com], leave a message on our Facebook page or on the SLW! blog.
Peace, Gerald “Jerry” Iversen, Chief SLW! Activist
We do not solicit or accept donations, nor do we sell anything. All our resources and services are free of charge. We’re an all-volunteer organization. Instead, we urge Alternative Giving. Give away at least 25% of what you spent last year on all celebrations – Christmas, birthdays, etc. — to local, national and international causes.
Copyright: Creative Commons non-commercial attribution share-alike license.
*Treasury of Celebrations: published by Northstone, a division of Wood Lake Publications, BC, Canada, best known for its Seasons of the Spirit curriculum.
Through social media, we extend the mission and resources of the non-profit organization Alternatives, 1973-2011. Simple Living Works! web site home page | Theme/Seasons Index To learn more about SLW! – our MISSION, for example — please listen to our getting-acquainted episodes, especially #1 and 2. We produce a half-hour podcast twice a month, hopefully educational and inspiring for you, your family and your congregation or group. We blog several times a week.
Of Interest for Pentecost Season, June 8
-
SLW! Podcast Episode 18: Not Ordinary Times – Eco-Justice Ministries
- Pentecost Convergence: A new addition to our Featured Writers page, Pastoral Economic Struggles: Facing Together Global Capitalism’s Domination in Daily Life by Lee Van Ham. This faith-based essay focuses on changes that can happen thanks to the Holy Spirit. It is an inspiring piece for any believer, though written primarily for pastoral leaders. Pentecost is a time to think about and work toward change. The Holy Spirit is a force for change, an agent for transformation.
- Worship Alternatives: Pentecost/Ordinary Time
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Subscribe to SLW! Blog
Click “+Follow” at lower right of blog post, enter a name and email address. Welcome!
* * *
What’s NOW with SLW!
- Easter in Grand Canyon
- A Personal View of the Ascension. Jesus was taking a risk leaving the disciples on their own. He was making room for new leadership.
- Tony and Shane Uncut: Tony Campolo & Shane Claiborne’s complete dialog on simpler living and global justice, in eight parts.
To LISTEN, click the player at the top or the bottom of the Show Notes, or visit the Episode Index. You can listen to each episode as it is released the 1st and 15th of the month, May-Aug. Or listen to several or all episodes at Preview/Back-up. The detailed Show Notes are similar for each episode, though the topics are different.
-
Diane Nesselhuf of Sharing the Dream: Fair Trade, a Tool for People and Planet vs. Free Trade, a Weapon of Domination – TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 47.
- Since we’re in Eastertide, you may have something to contribute to our on-going collection Who’s Risen from the Dead, Anyway? for Lent/HolyWeek/Easter and to our most widely-read annual resource, Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? for Advent/Christmas/Epiphany. Submission Guidelines | Articles are carefully indexed — ADVENT/CHRISTMAS | LENT/EASTER.
- Check out a few of these thought-provoking, timely resources that might meet your personal, family or congregational/group needs. They’re all FREE.
- Simpler Living Alternative Daily Calendar – May
- Treasury of Celebrations*: Create Celebrations That Reflect Your Values and Don’t Cost the Earth Earth – May-Aug.
- Worship Alternatives: Pentecost/Ordinary Time
- Spirit of Simplicity: Lent/Easter ART | QUOTES
- 10 Tips for Simpler, More Meaningful Celebrations | SPANISH: 10 puntas
- Alternatives’ Seasonal/Thematic Index
What’s Coming
-
Simple Living 101: Tools for Activists – Jerry’s Excellent Adventure: Blogging | Podcasting | Internet Radio | Marketing Plan Checklist
- Alternate Memorial Day–May 26
What’s Happened
-
Alternatives’ Media Legacy
-
Audio/Video Stories about Alternatives by Others
- Murder and Resurrection: “What if we destroy the planet before Jesus gets back?” RELATED: What Might a Christian Life Look Like? | Vision of the Future | Chris Hedges: The Myth of Human Progress and the Collapse of Complex Civilizations (video).
What Others Are Doing
- Seeing Systems: Peace, Justice and Sustainability – New Course from Northwest Earth Institute
- Interviews, Book Groups, etc. – Spreading the Conversation about The OneEarth Project and the book, Blinded by Progress: Breaking Out of the Illusion That Holds Us, by Lee Van Ham. | TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 42 | Lee’s new Slide Show
Podcast Reminder
You can access all SLW! podcast audio and the show notes either at SimpleLiving.startlogic.com/SLW-PODCAST or at SimpleLivingWorks.org (then click window #3). Listen through your computer, iPod, iPad, iPhone (or equivalent).
SUBSCRIBE through iTunes, Stitcher.com or your favorite podcast service. To SUBSCRIBE to email notices, click Comments at the bottom of Show Notes, then check ‘Notify me of new posts by email.’ Please rate us in iTunes and leave a review. Send us your email address to receive the free monthly SLW! eNews. Remember to like us on Facebook. Urge your friends to do the same.
Episode Index: #1-3: Getting Acquainted | #4-5: Beyond a Consumer Lifestyle | #6-11: Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? | #12: Living More with Less UPDATED | #13: Let’s Get Ready for a Simpler Lent & Easter | #14: Simple Living 101 + Social Media BONUS | #15: author Cecile Andrews, Champion of Simplicity Circles and Community Conversation | #16: Rites of Passage, including Wedding Alternatives | #17: Vicki Robin, co-author of the best-seller Your Money or Your Life | #18: Not Ordinary Time: Eco-Justice Ministries | #19: Simply Delicious: Quantity Cooking for Churches / Hunger / Alternative Summer Festivals | #20-27: Tony and Shane Uncut
Do your friends a favor. Share our blog and podcast. Like SLW! on Facebook. | Follow us on Twitter. | Follow us on Pinterest.
Share your thoughts on our podcast and blogs. Email Feedback AT SimpleLivingWorks DOT org [or SimpleLivingWorks AT yahoo DOT com or SimpleLivingWorks2 AT gmail DOT com], leave a message on our Facebook page or on the SLW! blog.
Peace, Gerald “Jerry” Iversen, Chief SLW! Activist
GRAPHIC – Worship Alternatives: ART #4058
We do not solicit or accept donations, nor do we sell anything. All our resources and services are free of charge. We’re an all-volunteer organization. Instead, we urge Alternative Giving. Give away at least 25% of what you spent last year on all celebrations – Christmas, birthdays, etc. — to local, national and international causes.
Copyright: Creative Commons non-commercial attribution share-alike license.
*Treasury of Celebrations: published by Northstone, a division of Wood Lake Publications, BC, Canada, best known for its Seasons of the Spirit curriculum.
Through social media, we extend the mission and resources of the non-profit organization Alternatives, 1973-2011. Simple Living Works! web site home page | Theme/Seasons Index To learn more about SLW! – our MISSION, for example — please listen to our getting-acquainted episodes, especially #1 and 2.
We produce a half-hour podcast twice a month, hopefully educational and inspiring for you, your family and your congregation or group. We blog several times a week.
Tony and Shane Uncut, Part 2
Posted on: May 22, 2014
Tony Campolo & Shane Claiborne’s complete dialog on simpler living and global justice, in eight parts.
To LISTEN, click the player at the top or the bottom of the Show Notes, or visit the Episode Index.
NOTE: You can listen to each episode as it is released the 1st and 15th of the month, May-Aug. Or listen to several or all episodes at Preview/Back-up. The detailed Show Notes are similar for each episode, though the topics are different.
Topics for Part 2:
Moving in the direction of a Christian lifestyle (Philippians 3:13-14); the continuum of radicalism and travel; rescued food; EAPE; Shane’s book The Irresistible Revolution; responding to the needs of poorer churches; redistribution of speaking fees through The Simple Way community and $1 bills; Alternatives to Military Service; newly marrieds deciding their lifestyle permanently and then giving away any surplus; churches giving building funds dollar-for-dollar for water projects and scholarships
ABOUT the VIDEO PROJECT
Order the new DVD Choose Justice with beautiful 40 page Conversation Guide for $10US from The Simple Way store. The six-part DVD captures the heart of the dialog. Perfect for group discussion and action.
Going on the road; meeting Tony & Shane: Travel journals and photos. Scroll to Post #197. Share the adventure of making the original video.
Learn more about TONY and SHANE + More Mentions
* * *
Subscribe to SLW! Blog
Click “+Follow” at lower right of blog post, enter a name and email address. Welcome!
* * *
What’s NOW with SLW!
- Easter on the Colorado RiverI realized that I’m not working for the system, not for the office. Whom I am really working for, is grateful.
- A Personal View of the Ascension. Jesus was taking a risk leaving the disciples on their own. He was making room for new leadership, both human and the Holy Spirit.
-
Diane Nesselhuf of Sharing the Dream: Fair Trade, a Tool for People and Planet vs. Free Trade, a Weapon of Domination – TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 47.
- Since we’re in Eastertide, you may have something to contribute to our on-going collection Who’s Risen from the Dead, Anyway? for Lent/HolyWeek/Easter and to our most widely-read annual resource, Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? for Advent/Christmas/Epiphany. Submission Guidelines | Articles are carefully indexed — ADVENT/CHRISTMAS | LENT/EASTER.
- Check out a few of these thought-provoking, timely resources that might meet your personal, family or congregational/group needs. They’re all FREE.
- Simpler Living Alternative Daily Calendar–May
- Treasury of Celebrations*: Create Celebrations That Reflect Your Values and Don’t Cost the Earth Earth – May-Aug. Worship Alternatives: Pentecost/Ordinary TimeSpirit of Simplicity: Lent/Easter ART | QUOTES
- 10 Tips for Simpler, More Meaningful Celebrations | SPANISH: 10 puntas
- Alternatives’ Seasonal/Thematic Index
What’s Coming
-
Simple Living 101: Tools for Activists – Jerry’s Excellent Adventure: eNewsletters | Email Lists | Podcasting | Internet Radio | Basic Marketing Plan Checklist
- Alternate Memorial Day–May 26
- Resources for Pentecost and Ordinary Time
What’s Happened
- Alternatives’ Media Legacy: Alternatives has a timeless message. It’s revolutionary ideas are indeed newsworthy! Alternatives produced three videos in the first 25 years. All are still available on YouTube and the audio of each has been produced in a series of podcasts last fall.More recently, I was the guest on numerous radio programs and some of those are available on the SLW! site. I hope you’ll listen to one or a few and be inspired to contribute to our ongoing efforts, especially Whose Birthday? and Who’s Risen from the Dead, Anyway? Submission Guidelines.
Some of the AV stories done by others
- CONTACT Radio Program, Jesuit Productions, 4/30/00 (14:00). Short and regular length versions of the same program. CONTACT Radio Program, Jesuit Productions, 4/30/00 (29:00) Interviews with a couple who had used Wedding Alternatives and also with Brenton Dodge, a financial advisor (see Travel Journal, Post #110). Read the Producer’s Letter at 4/25/00.
- The Osgood File: Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network, 12/20/01, guest Bill McKibben (2:00) Want to hear Bill McKibben before he founded 350.org?
- 30th Anniversary: KCAU TV (ABC), Sioux City, 9/10/03 (1:39)
- Grace Matters, 5/22/05: Sorting Through Our Baggage (about 30 min.)
- YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip–Iowa, Nov., 2007 (10 min., follows a commercial!) I was honored to represent Iowa.
- The Common Good Podcast, Episode 27, 2012 (interview begins about minute 14.) And Episode 28. After my first interview on The Common Good Podcast, I became co-host and then producer later. This experience taught me how to become producer of the Simple Living Works! Podcast.
- Murder and Resurrection: “What if we destroy the planet before Jesus gets back?” RELATED: What Might a Christian Life Look Like? | Vision of the Future | Chris Hedges: The Myth of Human Progress and the Collapse of Complex Civilizations (video).
What Others Are Doing
- Interviews, Book Groups, etc. – Spreading the Conversation about The OneEarth Project and the book, Blinded by Progress: Breaking Out of the Illusion That Holds Us, by Lee Van Ham. | TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 42 | Lee’s new Slide Show
- Seeing Systems: Peace, Justice and Sustainability – New Course from Northwest Earth Institute
Podcast Reminder
You can access all SLW! podcast audio and the show notes either at SimpleLiving.startlogic.com/SLW-PODCAST or at SimpleLivingWorks.org (then click window #3). Listen through your computer, iPod, iPad, iPhone (or equivalent).
SUBSCRIBE through iTunes, Stitcher.com or your favorite podcast service. To SUBSCRIBE to email notices, click Comments at the bottom of Show Notes, then check ‘Notify me of new posts by email.’ Please rate us in iTunes and leave a review. Send us your email address to receive the free monthly SLW! eNews. Remember to like us on Facebook. Urge your friends to do the same.
Episode Index: #1-3: Getting Acquainted | #4-5: Beyond a Consumer Lifestyle | #6-11: Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? | #12: Living More with Less UPDATED | #13: Let’s Get Ready for a Simpler Lent & Easter | #14: Simple Living 101 + Social Media BONUS | #15: author Cecile Andrews, Champion of Simplicity Circles and Community Conversation | #16: Rites of Passage, including Wedding Alternatives | #17: Vicki Robin, co-author of the best-seller Your Money or Your Life | #18: Not Ordinary Time: Eco-Justice Ministries | #19: Simply Delicious: Quantity Cooking for Churches / Hunger / Alternative Summer Festivals | #20-27: Tony and Shane Uncut
Do your friends a favor. Share our blog and podcast. Like SLW! on Facebook. | Follow us on Twitter. | Follow us on Pinterest.
Share your thoughts on our podcast and blogs. Email Feedback AT SimpleLivingWorks DOT org [or SimpleLivingWorks AT yahoo DOT com or SimpleLivingWorks2 AT gmail DOT com], leave a message on our Facebook page or on the SLW! blog.
Peace, Gerald “Jerry” Iversen, Chief SLW! Activist
GRAPHIC – Tony and Shane
We do not solicit or accept donations, nor do we sell anything. All our resources and services are free of charge. We’re an all-volunteer organization. Instead, we urge Alternative Giving. Give away at least 25% of what you spent last year on all celebrations – Christmas, birthdays, etc. — to local, national and international causes.
Copyright: Creative Commons non-commercial attribution share-alike license.
*Treasury of Celebrations: published by Northstone, a division of Wood Lake Publications, BC, Canada, best known for its Seasons of the Spirit curriculum.
Through social media, we extend the mission and resources of the non-profit organization Alternatives, 1973-2011. Simple Living Works! web site home page | Theme/Seasons Index To learn more about SLW! – our MISSION, for example — please listen to our getting-acquainted episodes, especially #1 and 2.
We produce a half-hour podcast twice a month, hopefully educational and inspiring for you, your family and your congregation or group. We blog several times a week.
Easter in Grand Canyon
Posted on: May 20, 2014
Easter on the Colorado River
When I joined the National Park Service at Grand Canyon I was naïve. I fully expected a diverse, underfunded workforce with a “can do” attitude like I’d experienced working for Peace Corps.
However, as with work in any large bureaucracy, what I really experienced were hours of mind-numbing data entry, turf battles and “good old boy” clubs, even some hazing. Some days it can be frustrating, even demoralizing.
But every time I spend time actually in Grand Canyon, there is a renewal. Typically it takes about a day into a multi-day backpacking trip or day three of a river patrol to forget about the bureaucratic garbage, and leave it behind on the canyon rim.
Something about connecting to the true resource helps put everything into perspective and reminds me that that office junk doesn’t matter. I’m sure it’s the combination of clean air, intense physical exertion and mind-bogglingly beautiful scenery that cleans out my central nervous system.
This last river patrol over Easter, after ten years at Grand Canyon, I think will be my last. This time it took me six days to “leave it all behind.” This time I wasn’t so focused on interacting with the public, or taking data points, or drafting reports.
I was present. . . in Horn Rapid and Blacktail Canyon and Kanab Creek. I was present at Whispering Falls and Olo campsite. I just wanted to see, smell, feel, hear, experience Grand Canyon.
The last day of the patrol, we rowed the last five miles in silence. No one said a word. The sounds instead came from the water dripping from the oars, the canyon wren’s down-scale song. The sights came from the black-as-night schist, the granite, the sun’s reflection on the water. The smells came from the wetness, the creosote, the sage.
And then I was spoken to. Not in my ears. In my chest. The birds, the sun, the rocks, and thus their Creator, let me know. I felt gratitude as present and real as the canyon walls. I was being thanked for a job well done. Somehow this place knew that I am a very ephemeral being and appreciated the fact that I have committed so much of my life to its protection. It was the most profound thank you gift I had ever received. And then the sound of the water and the wren was joined by the sound of my tears.
I realized that I’m not working for the system, not for the office. Whom I am really working for, is grateful.
Although I would never compare myself to Jesus, I do feel as though I was given a task, completed it to my best ability, and was acknowledged. Matthew 12:18 – “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased.”
— Elysha Iversen, Easter, 2014
* * *
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What’s NOW with SLW!
- A Personal View of the Ascension. Jesus was taking a risk leaving the disciples on their own. He was making room for new leadership, both human and the Holy Spirit.
- Tony and Shane Uncut: Tony Campolo & Shane Claiborne’s complete dialog on simpler living and global justice, in eight parts.
To LISTEN, click the player at the top or the bottom of the Show Notes, or visit the Episode Index. You can listen to each episode as it is released the 1st and 15th of the month, May-Aug. Or listen to several or all episodes at Preview/Back-up. The detailed Show Notes are similar for each episode, though the topics are different.
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Diane Nesselhuf of Sharing the Dream: Fair Trade, a Tool for People and Planet vs. Free Trade, a Weapon of Domination – TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 47.
- Since we’re in Eastertide, you may have something to contribute to our on-going collection Who’s Risen from the Dead, Anyway? for Lent/HolyWeek/Easter and to our most widely-read annual resource, Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? for Advent/Christmas/Epiphany. Submission Guidelines | Articles are carefully indexed — ADVENT/CHRISTMAS | LENT/EASTER.
- Check out a few of these thought-provoking, timely resources that might meet your personal, family or congregational/group needs. They’re all FREE.
- Simpler Living Alternative Daily Calendar–May
- Treasury of Celebrations*: Create Celebrations That Reflect Your Values and Don’t Cost the Earth Earth – May-Aug. Worship Alternatives: Pentecost/Ordinary TimeSpirit of Simplicity: Lent/Easter ART | QUOTES
- 10 Tips for Simpler, More Meaningful Celebrations | SPANISH: 10 puntas
- Alternatives’ Seasonal/Thematic Index
What’s Coming
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Simple Living 101: Tools for Activists – Jerry’s Excellent Adventure: eNewsletters | Email Lists | Podcasting | Internet Radio | Basic Marketing Plan Checklist
- Alternate Memorial Day–May 26
- Resources for Pentecost and Ordinary Time
What’s Happened
- Alternatives’ Media Legacy: Alternatives has a timeless message. It’s revolutionary ideas are indeed newsworthy! Alternatives produced three videos in the first 25 years. All are still available on YouTube and the audio of each has been produced in a series of podcasts last fall.More recently, I was the guest on numerous radio programs and some of those are available on the SLW! site.I hope you’ll listen to one or a few and be inspired to contribute to our ongoing efforts, especially Whose Birthday? and Who’s Risen from the Dead, Anyway? Submission Guidelines.Now that Alternatives’ mission is being extended primarily through social media on the internet, I hope you’ll benefit personally from these programs and will share them with others, maybe even use with your congregation or group. I’m available to consult with groups via the internet. All for free.
Some of the AV stories done by others
- CONTACT Radio Program, Jesuit Productions, 4/30/00 (14:00). Short and regular length versions of the same program. CONTACT Radio Program, Jesuit Productions, 4/30/00 (29:00) Interviews with a couple who had used Wedding Alternatives and also with Brenton Dodge, a financial advisor (see Travel Journal, Post #110). Read the Producer’s Letter at 4/25/00.
- The Osgood File: Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network, 12/20/01, guest Bill McKibben (2:00) Want to hear Bill McKibben before he founded 350.org?
- 30th Anniversary: KCAU TV (ABC), Sioux City, 9/10/03 (1:39)
- Grace Matters, 5/22/05: Sorting Through Our Baggage (about 30 min.)
- YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip–Iowa, Nov., 2007 (10 min., follows a commercial!) I was honored to represent Iowa.
- The Common Good Podcast, Episode 27, 2012 (interview begins about minute 14.) And Episode 28. After my first interview on The Common Good Podcast, I became co-host and then producer later. This experience taught me how to become producer of the Simple Living Works! Podcast.
- Murder and Resurrection: “What if we destroy the planet before Jesus gets back?” RELATED: What Might a Christian Life Look Like? | Vision of the Future | Chris Hedges: The Myth of Human Progress and the Collapse of Complex Civilizations (video).
What Others Are Doing
- Interviews, Book Groups, etc. – Spreading the Conversation about The OneEarth Project and the book, Blinded by Progress: Breaking Out of the Illusion That Holds Us, by Lee Van Ham. | TheCommonGoodPodcast.com, episode 42 | Lee’s new Slide Show
- Bob Sitze’s blog Simple Enough: The Epic Struggle
- Seeing Systems: Peace, Justice and Sustainability – New Course from Northwest Earth Institute
Podcast Reminder
You can access all SLW! podcast audio and the show notes either at SimpleLiving.startlogic.com/SLW-PODCAST or at SimpleLivingWorks.org (then click window #3). Listen through your computer, iPod, iPad, iPhone (or equivalent).
SUBSCRIBE through iTunes, Stitcher.com or your favorite podcast service. To SUBSCRIBE to email notices, click Comments at the bottom of Show Notes, then check ‘Notify me of new posts by email.’ Please rate us in iTunes and leave a review. Send us your email address to receive the free monthly SLW! eNews. Remember to like us on Facebook. Urge your friends to do the same.
Episode Index: #1-3: Getting Acquainted | #4-5: Beyond a Consumer Lifestyle | #6-11: Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? | #12: Living More with Less UPDATED | #13: Let’s Get Ready for a Simpler Lent & Easter | #14: Simple Living 101 + Social Media BONUS | #15: author Cecile Andrews, Champion of Simplicity Circles and Community Conversation | #16: Rites of Passage, including Wedding Alternatives | #17: Vicki Robin, co-author of the best-seller Your Money or Your Life | #18: Not Ordinary Time: Eco-Justice Ministries | #19: Simply Delicious: Quantity Cooking for Churches / Hunger / Alternative Summer Festivals | #20-27: Tony and Shane Uncut
Do your friends a favor. Share our blog and podcast. Like SLW! on Facebook. | Follow us on Twitter. | Follow us on Pinterest.
Share your thoughts on our podcast and blogs. Email Feedback AT SimpleLivingWorks DOT org [or SimpleLivingWorks AT yahoo DOT com or SimpleLivingWorks2 AT gmail DOT com], leave a message on our Facebook page or on the SLW! blog.
Peace, Gerald “Jerry” Iversen, Chief SLW! Activist
GRAPHIC – Elysha at the Grand Canyon
We do not solicit or accept donations, nor do we sell anything. All our resources and services are free of charge. We’re an all-volunteer organization. Instead, we urge Alternative Giving. Give away at least 25% of what you spent last year on all celebrations – Christmas, birthdays, etc. — to local, national and international causes.
Copyright: Creative Commons non-commercial attribution share-alike license.
*Treasury of Celebrations: published by Northstone, a division of Wood Lake Publications, BC, Canada, best known for its Seasons of the Spirit curriculum.
Through social media, we extend the mission and resources of the non-profit organization Alternatives, 1973-2011. Simple Living Works! web site home page | Theme/Seasons Index To learn more about SLW! – our MISSION, for example — please listen to our getting-acquainted episodes, especially #1 and 2.
We produce a half-hour podcast twice a month, hopefully educational and inspiring for you, your family and your congregation or group. We blog several times a week.
Simple Living Works! 