WELCOME! Because of the holiday weekend, we’re publishing a Reader Roundup today—so you won’t miss any of these great ideas … (And here’s a news tip: Dalai Lama and John Calvin both have birthdays this week. Those are just 2 items in our weekly Spiritual Season column.)
“50 WAYS TO HELP THE EARTH”
APPEALS TO A LOT OF EAGER READERS
MILLIONS OF US want to help preserve our natural world—so it’s not surprising that readers responded enthusiastically to our idea-filled interview with Rebecca Barnes-Davies, author of “50 Ways to Help the Earth.”
One immediate response came from Georgia, from the Rev. Rodger Murchison, a pastor on staff at First Baptist Church of Augusta. Like other readers, Rodger jumped at Rebecca’s approach to kick starting this effort in congregations. Rodger wrote:
“I was particularly taken with your interview of Rebecca Barnes-Davies. Our church has established a Creation Care Committee. This group’s primary responsibilities are to give emphasis to stewardship of natural resources, public utilities and financial resources. This is a new committee and our church is learning how to be more concerned about environmental issues.
“After reading your story, I ordered a copy of Rebecca’s book and also 2 copies of ‘The Green Bible.’ Thanks for letting me know about these!“
ONE REASON we selected Rodger’s note to share is that it illustrates the ecumenical cooperation possible in areas like “green” theology. Rebecca writes from her own base inside a “mainline Protestant” denomination (the Presbyterian Church USA) and Rodger is picking up her book for help in a nearly 200-year-old Southern Baptist church.
ALSO, if you’re interested in the preservation of nature—don’t miss our stories Wednesday and Thursday this week! We’re featuring a remarkable interview with a wise scholar from the Rocky Mountains who is internationally known for his creative teaching about creation care.
NATIVE AMERICAN RESOURCES
ARE DIFFICULT TO FIND … WITHOUT HELP
WE WANT TO BE HELPFUL, which is why we published the new “Dancing My Dream” memoir by Warren Petoskey.
AND, that’s why we want to select and highlight important Native American Web sites, books and films to recommend to our readers. We’ve started that by adding 2 important “recommended links” to the “Dancing My Dream” Web site.
Gina Boltz, director of Native Village Publications, sent back a note thanking us for this help—and thanking us for the tone of all of our online resources. Gina wrote:
“You have a way of speaking to us in words we understand and can relate to. Very welcomed. Very refreshing. Very comforting.
“Was so terribly grateful you included Native Village and Cedar Tree Institute on Warren’s Dancing My Dream page. What a total surprise and honor.”
You’ll be hearing more about multimedia projects related to Native Village—and other groups across the U.S. Stay tuned!
(If you’ve got a Native American Web site, book, film or group to recommend, send us an Email.)
FINALLY, MYSTERIES OF WAR
CONTINUE TO PERPLEX US
STORIES FROM WORLD WAR II show up regularly in ReadTheSpirit. We believe in the importance of remembering the aftershocks of the Holocaust and WWII—collectively a historic turning point that continues to shape our world.
That’s why we were pleased to recommend Carol Tyler’s innovative graphic novel, “You’ll Never Know.” I even shared a personal memory—and we encourage readers to Email us if you’ve got a related memory to share.
Reader Greg Mann did exactly that. Greg wrote: “My father was given an exemption for his heart and for the fact he was making machine guns at the A/C factory in Flint. But his friends had stories to tell. He had two high school buddies who were in the Philippines when the Japanese took over. One made it out, the other went on the Bataan Death March and survived. But as this family friend got older, he lived the March and his time in the POW camp over and over again. The last few times I visited him at the nursing home, all he talked about was the War. He talked about lying on the beach, watching the B-29s fly over, and praying that the pilots would be all right and make it back to base, night after night. He spent the entire war in Japan in a POW Camp.”
What Greg describes is precisely the experience Carol Tyler grapples with in her new multi-volume graphic novel. This certainly is true for the final remaining Holocaust survivors—the resurfacing of traumatic memories late in life. It’s also true for many Americans who served in the war.
Yes, this is related to health care issues, public policy issues and changes in our culture as well as these memories return in new forms. But, in a profound way, this is a spiritual issue. We welcome your thoughts.
PLEASE TELL US WHAT YOU THINK:
This is a good time to sign up for our Monday-morning ReadTheSpirit Planner by Email—it’s
free and you can cancel it any time you’d like to do so. The Planner
goes out each week to readers who want more of an “inside track” on
what we’re seeing on the horizon, plus it’s got a popular “holidays”
section.
Not only do we welcome your notes—but our readers enjoy them as well. You can do this
anytime by clicking on the “Comment” links at the end of each story.
You also can Email ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm. We’re also reachable on Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, YouTube and other social-networking sites as well.
(Originally published at https://readthespirit.com/)
