justice

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You Can’t Delegate Compassion

[Thanks to my husband for setting my mind on this track!]

There are certain “spiritual” practices that most Christians would agree are a Good Idea—practices such as reading the Bible, praying, and fellowshipping with other believers. If you stop and consider, you might add additional items to this list—meditating on God and His word, practicing hospitality, generosity (aka giving), and fasting. We often aren’t aware that those among us are fasting, but I’m sure they are. Jesus assumed his followers would fast; it just isn’t something that we’re supposed to notice. Continue reading →

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Spending Influence

A friend of mine posted a link to the following article on her Facebook page:

Made in America Christmas: Are You In?

The average American will spend $700 on holiday gifts and goodies this year, totaling more than $465 billion, the National Retail Federation estimates. If that money was spent entirely on US made products it would create 4.6 million jobs. But it doesn’t even have to be that big. If each of us spent just $64 on American made goods during our holiday shopping, the result would be 200,000 new jobs.

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Need an Opinion? Ask for God’s!

I was originally planning to be the only blogger on the planet who didn’t comment on the Caylee murder trial verdict. In case you’ve been in a coma for the last several years, you know by now that Casey Anthony was declared “not guilty” in the murder of her daughter Caylee. Since I have only skimmed a few headlines pertaining to the case, I’m not qualified to have an opinion about the outcome, although that hasn’t stopped anyone else.

While I have largely ignored the trial, it’s pretty much impossible to ignore the outpouring of opinion. My friends’ facebook pages, the headlines on every news feed on my homepage, the assorted blogs I follow—all are consumed with the topic. You’d think nothing else of importance happened anywhere else on the planet.

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What Shall We Then Eat? (Part 3)

A while back, I posted a couple of blogs about eating responsibly—“What Should We Then Eat?” (Part 1 was about eating to be healthy, and Part 2 was about eating with the environment in mind.) Today, I’d finally like to finish this mini-series with “Part 3: Eating with a Social Conscience.”

Here in the U.S., it’s easy to forget that our food choices have a global impact. A quick trip through the market can remind us. There are bananas from central America, coffee from Kenya, and apples from Australia. Tropical species (such as chocolate) have to be imported. Out of season produce is grown in the southern hemisphere and flown north so we can eat oranges all summer and grapes all winter. All in all, when it comes to food choices, we’re pretty spoiled.

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Living Responsibly

Social justice. Healthy lifestyles. Environmental stewardship. Sometimes it’s awfully hard to pull it all together….

My phone alarm chirps, waking me from dreams of tropical beaches complete with coconut palms, perfect waves, and a bathing suit figure. It’s morning, six o’clock. Time to get out of bed and start another day of responsible living.

I reach over to turn off the electric blanket. Yes, it’s electric. Is that environmentally correct? It uses electricity, and we’re trying to conserve. Yet, we’re able to keep the house cooler, turning the heat off at night even in the middle of winter. Surely that saves more energy than my blanket uses.

Dragging myself out of bed, I stumble towards the shower. The water feels wonderful, but I don’t want to take too long—that hot water is a precious, limited resource. I reach for the soap and shampoo. Wait—were they tested on animals? I’d better read the label. Should I use a disposable razor? All that plastic will end up in the landfill. Maybe I should just opt for hairy legs.

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