The Commonwealth of the Body
A woman’s body is not her own, a babies body is not her own…a man’s body is not his own—they are interconnected in a network of gifts—internal and external to the body. The human person is not private property…it is a commonwealth…
Occupy Babylon
We do not want a replacement for the current system of global capitalism, we want something altogether different, something that is hard to imagine in the midst of Empire…
A Love for Small Things
A deep love for small things forms and trains us to savor the world and to recognize the unsavory when it appears…While major protests and efforts against the forces of global extractive economies have their place, we have the opportunity daily to participate in a slower, more profound work…
All We Need is to Be Human
There was an evangelical environmental campaign several years ago that asked, What Would Jesus Drive?…meant to lead toward the idea that Jesus would be a low-carbon kind of guy who’d probably drive a Prius or maybe a grease bus…But what if Jesus wouldn’t drive anything?…
Front Porch Education
Set aside for a moment your own experiences with school and think about how, given ample time and resources, you would go about educating children. What contexts would you put them in? Who would you want them to learn with and how?…Who would be their companions on the learning journey?…
Life at a Human Pace in a Smaller Place
I set my bike up with a rack and saddle bags. I rode to the grocery store. I rode to work. I rode to friends’ houses for potlucks and parties. I rode the 6 miles to the school farm I help with. But I also found out how much I was dependent on a car for so many little things…
Some Other Saint
There are many people who want to live like Shane Claiborne or Wendell Berry, but that would be a mistake. This is not to say that we should not learn from lives well lived—there are lots of things worth imitating—but we have to ask where God has called us and to what he has called us…
Sawdust Resurrection
Four and a half miles from the end of our hike, we came across a gigantic pile of sawdust…this area had been clear cut and run through the mill. Now that history was mostly invisible except with careful observation…
Neighboring
I have heard people, mostly of my grandparents’ generation, talk of neighboring together. For them neighboring meant forming a cooperative relationship—a space of care.
Holy Cell Phones
Not long ago I had to decide—new cell phone, no cell phone; smart phone, plain phone…I found the most basic free phone I could—one that could make calls, text with difficulty, and maybe survive my abuse. In making this choice I was choosing much more than a cell phone—I was choosing a different form of life…
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