“Certain gardens are described as retreats when they are really attacks.”
— Ian Hamilton Finlay
I quit protesting and started a garden. It sounds absurd at first, I know. But bear with me.
Continue reading Why I Quit 350.org and Started a GardenCategory Archives: Activist Spirituality
On Sale Now: “Another End of the World is Possible” by John Halstead
I’m happy to announce that my little collection of essays, Another End of the World is Possible, is now available for sale in print and e-book. All proceeds from the sale will go to Gods & Radicals Press/A Beautiful Resistance. Continue reading On Sale Now: “Another End of the World is Possible” by John Halstead
The Yoga of Despair
This was a sermon or homily I recently gave at Beverly Unitarian Church, in Illinois, and First Unitarian Church of Hobart, in Indiana, on two consecutive Sundays. I began by showing the clip below, from the HBO series, The Newsroom. In the scene, a deputy director of the EPA is being interviewed by a news anchor.
I love that video. It’s funny, but it’s also accurate. Except for the part about permanent darkness, everything the EPA director says in that video is true.
I especially get a kick out of the reaction of the producer, when the EPA director says, “The person has already been born who will die due to catastrophic failure of the planet.” And she says “What did he just say?!”
I had my own “what did he just say?” moment a few years ago. Continue reading The Yoga of Despair
It’s time for the spiritual people to get active and activist people to get spiritual.
The following comments were given at the closing of the April 27, 2019 Prayer for the Planet interfaith vigil sponsored by 350 Indiana-Calumet in Gary, Indiana. Represented at this Earth Week service were Buddhist, Christian, Humanist, Jewish, Mormon, Muslim, Pagan, and Sikh religious communities.
A friend of mind recently sent me a quote:
“There’s nothing more radically activist than a truly spiritual life. And there’s nothing more truly spiritual than a radically activist life.”– Brian McLaren, Naked Spirituality
I believe that, but I’ve struggled to live it. Continue reading It’s time for the spiritual people to get active and activist people to get spiritual.
We Are Keepers, Bearers, and Builders of the Flame
This past Sunday, my family and I led our Unitarian congregation in a community ritual intended to celebrate the different ways we live out our Unitarian Universalist Values.
As congregants came into the sanctuary, they were given one of three cards which read “Keeper of the Flame”, “Bearer of the Flame”, or “Builder of the Flame”. Each of these designated a type of ministry. The Keepers of the Flame are those focused on creating a spiritual sanctuary from a harsh world. The Bearers of the Flame are those who carry the light of UU values out into the world through social action. The Builders of the Flame are the glue that hold it all together.
Continue reading We Are Keepers, Bearers, and Builders of the Flame
Is UU Atheism a Form of White Privilege?
A recent article by Mark Morrison-Reed in UU World, the Unitarian Universalist Association magazine, about the “black hole” in UU history, got me thinking about the connection between UU worship and race. According to Morriso-Reed, for all our proclaimed progressiveness, it seems we UUs have not really ever taken the lead in the fight against racism–internally or externally. I’ve been thinking about this history a lot lately, as my own UU congregation is discussing whether to display a “Black Lives Matter” sign on the church property. One part of Morrison-Reed’s article in particular jumped out at me:
Don’t Give Up on Your Conservative Friends and Family
Many people who know me know might be surprised to know that I used to be a political and religious conservative. Continue reading Don’t Give Up on Your Conservative Friends and Family
Anti-racism 101
This post was originally a tweet thread, but quite a few people wanted me to turn it into a blog-post, so here it is. I haven’t changed the order I wrote this in, just added relevant links.
Anti-racism 101. A thread.
— Yvonne Aburrow (@vogelbeere) 21 August 2018
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Harmony Day, CC BY 2.0, photo by DIAC Images.
A Guide to the End of Civilization (in 6 simple maxims), by Christopher Stanley
Editor’s Note: I am pleased to introduce guest contributor, Christopher Stanley. Christopher wrote this in response to my recent essay, “‘What If It’s Already Too Late?’: Being an Activist in the Anthropocene”, and it so impressed me I had to share it (with his permission). Christopher’s six maxims are a guide for sanity in an unsane world. Enjoy!
Civilization is not the World.
Civilization is ending, but the World is not. The World has lived through far greater changes than us. The World was here for billions of years before we came along, and will be here for billions of years after we’re gone. We are not so grand that we can kill Life itself. Continue reading A Guide to the End of Civilization (in 6 simple maxims), by Christopher Stanley
Rituals for moving home
[originally published at Dowsing for Divinity]
I have just moved from Oxford, England, to Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. As you can imagine, this will cause some emotional upheaval. I feel very rooted in England, and am concerned about the issue of land stolen from Indigenous people in Canada, and the effects of colonialism on their wellbeing and way of life.
Bridging the Divide Between Politics and Spirituality, by Jason Espada
It took a Sufi poet to put into words for me what I had been feeling for some time, about the limitations, or dysfunction of religions in America. It was about seven years ago that I read this verse by Unis Emrie:
Unless you can see the whole world
in a single glance,
anything you do is wrong,
even with all your religion
Continue reading Bridging the Divide Between Politics and Spirituality, by Jason Espada
21 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day: Take Care of Yourself
Each day of the month of April leading up to Earth Day (April 22), I will be offering a suggestion for how we can really honor the Earth this year. This list will go beyond the usual suggestions to change your light bulbs and take shorter showers. Instead, the focus is on collective action working toward radical social change.
Caring for the Earth can be overwhelming sometimes. If you’re just getting started, don’t try to do it all at once. Find a place to start. Find your focus. Not every cause must be your cause. Find a cause you are passionate about, something that fuels your spirit. Here’s a Starter Kit to get you going.
Continue reading 21 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day: Take Care of Yourself
21 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day: Face Your Death
Each day of the month of April leading up to Earth Day (April 22), I will be offering a suggestion for how we can really honor the Earth this year. This list will go beyond the usual suggestions to change your light bulbs and take shorter showers. Instead, the focus is on collective action working toward radical social change.
A genuine re-connection with nature inevitably leads to a confrontation with death … and with our own deaths. All around us in nature, there is as much death as there is life—for life feeds on death. And we are a part of that same cycle. We will all of us, one day, die and feed other forms of life.
Continue reading 21 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day: Face Your Death
21 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day: Let Yourself Grieve
Each day of the month of April leading up to Earth Day (April 22), I will be offering a suggestion for how we can really honor the Earth this year. This list will go beyond the usual suggestions to change your light bulbs and take shorter showers. Instead, the focus is on collective action working toward radical social change.
“This is a dark time, filled with suffering and uncertainty. Like living cells in a larger body, it is natural that we feel the trauma of our world. So don’t be afraid of the anguish you feel, or the anger or fear, because these responses arise from the depth of your caring and the truth of your interconnectedness with all beings.” — Joanna Macy
As you learn about the climate crisis and work for change, there will be times when you are overwhelmed with grief. Grief is not the same thing as despair. Grief is a natural and healthy reaction to the human desecration of the earth and its biosphere.
Continue reading 21 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day: Let Yourself Grieve
21 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day: Ground Your Religious Rituals
Each day of the month of April leading up to Earth Day (April 22), I will be offering a suggestion for how we can really honor the Earth this year. This list will go beyond the usual suggestions to change your light bulbs and take shorter showers. Instead, the focus is on collective action working toward radical social change.
Ecologist Dolores LaChapelle says that ritual is essential to creating intimate, conscious relationship with the places where we dwell. It is no coincidence that native societies tend both to be ecologically sustainable and to have a rich ceremonial life.
Continue reading 21 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day: Ground Your Religious Rituals
Pray Working
There are vigils being held around the country right now for the victims of the latest school shooting. I think these vigils are important: They bring home the tragedy of what has happened. Without these rituals, there is the risk that these terrible events will just sweep by us in the 24-hour news cycle, leaving us unchanged.
But vigils and prayers are not enough.
Pray With Your Feet 