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+ A must read > Paul Krugman’s Sunday column on Obamacare > Inventing a Failure.

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So, it looks like "Obamacare" is not the boondoggle some rightwingers continue to proclaim.  Let people know the truth.

Health Plan Cost for New Yorkers Set to Fall 50%

www.nytimes.com

State officials estimate as many as 615,000 individuals will buy health insurance on their own in the first few years the federal health law is in effect.

 

 

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+ updated at 12:52pm ESDT on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

+The Theological Wanderings of a Street Pastor offers "Religious Liberalism 101: A Book Review of Paul Rasor’s ‘Faith Without Certainty’"

+ I am taking a Spirituality and Practice ecourse on Practicing the Presence of God.  Here is what I shared today in the Practice forum:

2 Corinthians 12 is one of the great peaks of the Bible. Read it all when you get a chance. I was required to preach a sermon to my Presbytery before ordination in 1975. This was my text and it has always been close to my heart.

I think it's all about TRUST ... trusting the process ... trusting the here and now at all times, at this time, all the time ... trusting everything to work out beautifully, wondrously, miraculously, naturally. The Heavenly Council is working for us night and day. Now is the time to surrender, to rest in the "peace which passes all understanding," the sufficient grace which is offered so freely "not as the world gives" but in the mysterious and marvelous way heaven gives ... unconditional Love ... unlimited Love... uniting Love ... amazing Grace.

Breathe deeply. Breathe fully. Be still. Be silent. Be centered. Be grounded. Lighten up. Loosen up. Let go. Let God. Celebrate. Enjoy. Be glad all over!

+ Not yet 90 BUT the high humidity makes it feel like its 96 already (12:12pm). You could see how high it goes today at http://www.wunderground.com/US/NY/Whitesboro.html?bannertypeclick=bigwx

+ Almost 90 out now at noon.

+ As I just said (below), Shuck and Jive is always fascinating and provocative.  Read today's post.

+ I have to go inside now (11:44am ESDT).  It has been nice to be outside but the heat is starting to get unbearable for a Norwegian-American like me!

+ A lot has been happening (of course) since I last blogged here. Among other things ...

• Family and friends gathered in Durham, Cary and Chapel Hill, North Carolina in late May for a memorial service for my dad who died in on March 27, 7 weeks before he would have turned 100.  He was born on May 21, 1912.
• Mary, my wife, suffered a concussion during a short bus ride taking the University of Rochester Nursing School faculty to graduation at Eastman Hall on May 19.  Recovery has been slow and frustrating.  The symptoms seem to be lessening but she still has some bad days. 

+ The Theological Wanderings of a Street Pastor offers "The Garden of Your Mind" by J. Barrett Lee. Barrett likes being a posthumous colleague of Mr. Rogers.  I have always liked being in that company too, the company of fellow Presbyterian pastors.  I particularly like those who "think outside the box" as Fred Rogers did and Barrett does.  And, oh yes, John Shuck comes to mind, too.  Shuck and Jive is always fascinating and provocative.

+ Spirituality and Practice offers "Are We Living in Sensory Overload or Sensory Poverty?" by Mary Ann and Frederic Brussat.

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+ updated at 5:46pm ESDT on Thursday, August 4, 2011

+ Salon offers "Asthma and Clean Air: One Mother’s Fight in Texas" by Marcia G. Yerman. Excerpt: "I recently listened to a call sponsored by the League of Women Voters that discussed the need for citizens to be proactive. The participant that engaged me on a visceral level was Alexandra Allred, the mother of an asthmatic child. Her comments stayed with me as an example of a mother who had decided that speaking up and acting on her beliefs was essential—not just for her son, but also for the 7.1 million other children who have asthma."

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+ updated at 4:04pm ESDT on Monday, April 11, 2011

+ The New York Times offers "Religion Does Its Worst" by Roger Cohen. Excerpt: "I see why lots of people turn to religion — fear of death, ordering principle in a mysterious universe, refuge from pain, even revelation. But surely it’s meaningless without mercy and forgiveness, and surely its very antithesis must be hatred and murder. At least that’s how it appears to a nonbeliever." Read it all. 

I put this link on my Facebook nwall with the following thought:

This is a Must Read because the Extremists in both Christianity and Islam must be exposed and challenged and changed. Other Religions too.

+ Must work on tax returns now!

+ Still delighted by the Red Sox victory last night: 4-0 over the Yankees at Fenway with Josh Beckett at the top of his game.  Maybe the Sox are beginning to recover from their terrible start.  They are 2-7 now.

+ TruthOut offers "Why the Right-Wing Bullies Will Hold The Nation Hostage Again and Again" by Robert Reich.

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+ updated at 4:01pm EST on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 (1/11/11)

+ Thom Hartmann offers "Could better gun control have prevented the Arizona massacre?"  It begins: "Could better gun control have prevented the Arizona massacre?  The President of the Brady Center to prevent gun violence perhaps put it best in an interview yesterday saying, '[Loughner] probably couldn’t have gotten a job at a fast food joint if they checked out any references, but we allow him to buy as many guns as he wants.'" Read More.

+ Repeal Healthcare Reform? Most Americans are not in favor. Check out a recent poll that shows only 37 per cent of Americans think it is Too Liberal. Don't let the GOP noisemakers fool you. Scroll down to "CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. Dec. 17-19, 2010. N=1,008 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 3" at http://www.pollingreport.com/health.htm

Scroll down to "McClatchy-Marist Poll. Nov. 15-18, 2010. N=810 registered voters nationwide. Margin of error ± 3.5" and discover something very important: A majority of Americans either want the Law to stand OR WANT TO EXPAND IT SO IT DOES MORE!!! ‎35 per cent said "Change it so it does more" as compared to 11 per cent saying "Change it so it does less." 33 per cent said "Repeal it." So, more people actually want to expand it than want to repeal it! ‎16 per cent said" Let It Stand."

Sadly, the GOP wants to make us believe most Americans are against it because it is Too Liberal. This is simply NOT TRUE as the CNN Poll definitely says that only a minority think it is Too Liberal.  Go to the Polling Report.

+ “And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” -- Micah 6:8

+ The hate and violence rhetoric of the Right Wing is definitely a huge problem in this nation. Let's stop the denial. Yes, some on the Left also have this flaw in their character but it is not nearly as pervasive. The Talking Points Memo Muckraker offers "Before Shooting, A Campaign Season Rife With Gun Rhetoric" by Rachel Slajda. It begins: "The person who shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), a federal judge and 18 other people Saturday may or may not have had a coherent political philosophy or a rational motive. But his actions still come after a campaign season rife with gun imagery and borderline violent rhetoric. There is, of course, Sarah Palin's map in which targeted districts were marked by crosshairs (spun as "surveyor's symbols" by Palin aides), but there was much, much more over the 2010 campaign." Read More.

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+ updated at 12:10pm ESDT on Thursday, September 23, 2010

+ The Spirituality and Practice Spiritual Literacy Blog offers "New Census Figures Confirm Rising Poverty, Big Income Gaps." It is extremely important for Christians to expand their efforts on behalf of the poor. Here is the blog post in its entirety:

Writing in Change.org, Kathryn Baer reports that the latest Census Bureau figures show that the poverty rate has increased again — from 13.2 percent in 2008 to 14.3 percent last year. This means that the total number of officially poor people was the largest in the 51 years the government has been publishing figures. The report also contains other shocking statistics including:

• The poverty rate for children increased to 15.5 million
• About 44 percent of the individuals in poverty — somewhat over 19 million — had incomes below 50 percent of the poverty threshold. That's 6.3 percent of the total population.
• We still see a huge income gap between the richest and poorest households. Last year, the bottom fifth had 3.4 of the nation's total money income and the top fifth had about half. And the top five percent of this fortunate fifth had a whooping 21 percent.

Meanwhile, safety net programs are being cut by both the federal and state governments — programs such as health-care for low-income families and children and services for elderly and disabled and child care programs.Oscar Romero once said: "A church that does not join the poor, in order to speak out from the side of the poor against injustices committed against them, is not the true church of Jesus Christ."

It is time for not only churches but synagogues and mosques to take the side of the poor and their plight today in America.

-- Mary Ann and Frederic Brussat

+ The New York Times offers "For Many, Health Care Relief Begins Today" by Kevin Sack. Excerpt: "Sometimes lost in the partisan clamor about the new health care law is the profound relief it is expected to bring to hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been stricken first by disease and then by a Darwinian insurance system."

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+ updated at 10:17am ESDT on Friday, April 2 + GOOD FRIDAY

+ The Network of Spiritual Progressives offers "Responses to the Health Care Debate" by various contributors.

Excerpt 1: "A new book, Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America by John Avlon describes the large numbers of Americans who hold extreme views of President Obama. This Harris Poll seeks to measure how many people are involved. It finds that 40% of adults believe he is a socialist. More than 30% think he wants to take away Americans' right to own guns and that he is a Muslim. More than 25% believe he wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a world government, has done many things that are unconstitutional, that he resents America's heritage, and that he does what Wall Street tells him to do."

Excerpt 2: "Now we are in this moment with a President who is Black and finally we are discussing the things that are vitally important to people of color and the poor and yet the same refrain is heard, 'We need to take our government and country back!' It is the Third Reconstruction and the question is: will we allow the clock to be turned back again?" -- Graylon Scott Hagler

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+ updated at 12:56pm ESDT on Monday, March 29, 2010

+ The New York Times offers "Going to Extreme" by Paul Krugman. Excerpt: " ... if you care about America’s future, you can’t be happy as extremists take full control of one of our two great political parties."

+ Most Republicans continue to say that most Americans oppose the new Healthcare Reform laws BUT a Gallup Poll taken just after the vote shows that these Republicans are not correct.

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+ Updated at 3:30pm Tuesday, March 23, 2010

+ Shuck and Jive offers "A Church Without God" by John Shuck.  Like usual, John is provocative.  I just wrote two comments, numbers 6 and 7.  Not surprisingly, John liked my comments, numbers 8 and 9.

+ I am crying tears of Joy like when Obama won and when he was inaugurated as the Healthcare signing takes place. It's a New Day! Elections matter. 

Sadly, my Congressman, Mike Arcuri, who I once enthusiastically supported, is not part of the celebration and of history in the making.

+ Perspective is needed as we ponder the consequences of the new Healthcare laws. The Washington Post offers "How big is the bill, really?" by Ezra Klein. Excerpt: "The bill wouldn't really kick in until 2014. To get a more accurate annual figure, look at a year in which the bill is fully operational. In, say, 2016, the bill's spending will be about $160 billion (you can find these numbers on page 22 of the CBO report). According to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, total health-care spending that year will be about $3.7 trillion. In other words, the bill's spending is equivalent to about 4 percent of what we'll spend in health care in a year, and it will be covering 30 million people."

EUGENE ROBINSON SEES THE ARC OF HISTORY BENDING TOWARD FAIRNESS AND INCLUSION

+ TruthDig offers "Tea Party Bigotry Can’t Stop History" by Eugene Robinson.

Excerpt:

At the White House there was elation after the final vote. Obama’s much-criticized strategy of pushing forward on health care despite the economic crisis had been rewarded with a historic victory. His tactic of letting Congress shape the legislation had been vindicated. His promise of change had been given new substance.

Even with the “fixes” that now have to be approved by the Senate, the health care bill is something of a mess. But it’s a glorious mess, because it enshrines the principle that all Americans have the right to health care—an extraordinary achievement that will make this a better nation.

It may take years to get the details right. The newly minted reforms are going to need to be reformed or at least fine-tuned, and those will not be easy battles. But the social movements that allowed Obama to become president and Pelosi to become speaker proved that the arc of history bends toward fairness and inclusion.

E. J DIONNE SAYS THAT THEY MADE HISTORY

+ TruthDig offers "Yes, They Made History" by E.J. Dionne.

Excerpt:

To understand how large a victory this is, consider what defeat would have meant. In light of the president’s decision to gamble all of his standing to get this bill passed, its failure would have crippled his presidency. The Democratic Congress would have become a laughingstock, incapable of winning on an issue that has been central to its identity since the days of Harry Truman. This is why Republicans decided to put everything they had into an effort to defeat the measure. They said its passage would hurt the Democrats in November’s elections. They knew that its failure would have haunted Democrats for decades.

I have appreciated E.J. Dionne for a long time and this column makes me even more appreciative. He nailed it! He gets to the heart of why I feel so betrayed by the negative vote of my Representative in Congress, clearly now a Democrat in name only (DINO), Michael Arcuri. Sometimes you do have to be loyal to your political affiliation.

This was definitely a moment when all Democrats should have been aboard. Fortunately, there were enough loyal Democrats to get the job done and to make history and -- please note Mr. Arcuri -- to save the Obama Presidency and everything we Progressives have worked for in recent years.  A failure to get Health Reform would definitely have, as E.J. Dionne says, "crippled (the Obama) Presidency."

ARCURI'S BETRAYAL

MONDAY, MARCH 22 UPDATE:

+ DailyKos offers "Can New York's Working Families Party Impact the 2010 Elections?" by DavidNYC. He closes this informative article by focusing on Arcuri and how his vote (and he did vote NO despite my prayers and the prayers of many) may cost him the election because of the decision of the Working Families Party to refuse to endorse any one who voted against Healthcare Reform.

+++

FRIDAY'S POST:

I sent the following to many people in the 24th Congressional District of New York:

http://www.arcuri.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=939:arcuri-announces-stance-on-proposed-health-care-reform-package&catid=56:2010-press-releases&Itemid=117 

I know the legislation is far from perfect but it is a step in the right direction and Arcuri's reasons for voting against it, just like when he voted against the Energy bill, are such a political dodge. He speaks as if he is a disappointed progressive to some of us and as a concerned fiscal conservative to others.

His seat is in danger no matter how he votes. He is clearly trying to win Republican and Independent votes. But I believe he will not have much of a Democratic Party base after these 2 votes for the Plutocrats and against the people.

This is NOT what I worked for and contributed money for in 2006 and 2008. I am really disappointed in this guy.

love, john + http://www.abundancetrek.com/ + "We can have a democracy or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few. We cannot have both." – Justice Louis Brandeis quoted by William Sloane Coffin in Credo

+++

I am in disbelief and shock that this man could actually decide to be on the wrong side of history.  Has he ever read the Platform of the Democratic Party?  Healthcare is a right.  This bill will extend basic healthcare to millions of Americans and will save thousands of lives.  I would be delighted with even more reform in the future but this is a GIANT step in the right direction and the man I worked for so hard in 2006 and 2008 has chosen to be on the wrong side of history. 

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+ updated at 5:16pm EST Monday, March 1, 2010

+ Chuck Currie offers "Time For Up Or Down Vote On Meaningful Health Care Reform In Congress". Excerpt: "The insurances companies and the special interests on K Street have spent millions to kill off health care reform and to protect their record profits but we sent the politicians to Washington to do the difficult work of governing."

+ Shuck and Jive offers "I Want To Be An Ancestor--A Sermon" by John Shuck.  John deals with the report of the PCUSA Middle East Study Team which is the subject of my previous entry (below).  Here's an excerpt from another great sermon by my favorite Presbyterian agitator:

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be meeting in Minneapolis in a few months. Once every two years Presbyterians gather to celebrate, lament, and make decisions in a revelry of Roberts Rules of Order.

Among the many issues that divide us, the General Assembly will consider a report from the Special Committee to Prepare a Comprehensive Study Focused on Israel/Palestine. This committee was formed in 2008. It has not yet finished its report but has made some recommendations. According to the Presbyterian News Service:

The report affirms historic PC(USA) positions — an immediate cessation of violence by both sides, an immediate freeze on the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements on occupied territory, the relocation of Israel’s “separation barrier” to the internationally recognized 1967 border, a shared status for Jerusalem, equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and immediate resumption of negotiations toward a two-state solution.

The report also calls on the U.S. government to end its acquiescence in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, and to “employ the strategic use of influence and the withholding of financial and military aid in order to enforce Israel’s compliance with international law and peacemaking efforts.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a statement this past Monday saying that the "adoption of this poisonous document by the Presbyterian Church will be nothing short of a declaration of war on Israel and her supporters.”

The statement from the Wiesenthal Center got results. This past week during meetings in Louisville, Presbyterian leaders were flooded with over 2,700 emails protesting this committee and its report, even as the report has yet to be completed.

We are warming up for another thrilling General Assembly.

Meanwhile Jesus sits on the hill weeping over Jerusalem, like a mother hen who “longs to gather her brood under her wings.”

Sadly, as usual, no one is willing to be gathered.

+ Presbyterian News Service offers "Middle East study team nears release of its final report: 'Time for action is now,’ nine-member panel urges" by Jerry L. Van Marter. Excerpt:

With several sections of its massive final report still to be completed and edited, the committee approved with just one dissenting vote a package of 30+ recommendations calling for an immediate end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank; endorsement  of the emphases on hope, love, non-violence, and reconciliation found in an ecumenical statement by Palestinian Christians called the Kairos Palestine Document; and urging the U.S. government to take swift action toward a just peace that guarantees secure states for both Israel and Palestine — the commonly called “two state solution.” Their first and key recommendation, committee members emphasized, is that the years 2010-2012 be declared by the upcoming 219th General Assembly  “as a time of Presbyterian prayer and action for the Middle East,” including travel/study to the region, study of the Reformed theological  and historical understandings of the area, itineration throughout the church by Middle Eastern Christian partners and local conversations between Christians, Jews and Muslims.

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+ updated at 4:33pm EST

+ HOPE: "Prayer is hope's breathing. When we stop praying, we stop hoping." — Dom Pedro Casaldaliga quoted in Lent by Megan McKenna < http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/practices.php?id=12&g=1

+ HEALTH CARE REFORM: The California Senate has the right idea. TruthOut offers "California Senate Approves Single-Payer Health Care Bill" by Jason Leopold.

+ THE WEATHER: While much of the South gets hit with a lot of snow and ice, we are enduring another Big Chill here along the Erie Canal.  The temperature dipped to Minus Eight F. last night and at 11:20am has only reached 5 degrees F.

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+ updated at 5:06pm EST

+ Shuck and Jive offers "Meaning of Life, Part 39" by John Shuck with a great quote by Matthew Fox.  This is what the ecumenical movement needs to come back to life.  Here's the quote:

The universe was not created by tolerant dualisms but by mutual interpenetrations. Of course this implies letting go: Hydrogen must let go of its hydrogenness and oxygen of its oxygenness when the two come together and create water. Letting go is demanded as much of religious traditions as it is of individual religious believers.
--Matthew Fox, Original Blessing, pp. 215-6

+ A great Christmas gift I received: THE END (The Energy Never Dies) by the Black Eyed Peas, an absolutely fantastic Hip Hop band.  I'm simply blown away.  Wow!

+ The New York Times offers "Numerical notes on health care reform" by Paul Krugman.  He sees a lot of Progressive victories in the Senate and House bills as they now stand.

+ A thaw melted most of the snow here over the weekend but we are getting replenished rapidly this morning.

+ FiveThirtyEight offers some excellent analysis of the current state of the Healthcare Reform bill by Nate Silver.

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+ Updated at 3:17pm EST

+ It’s 3:16pm and I’m in the presence of angels + So are you!

+ The fascinating conversations in the Presbyterian blogosphere continue today at "The Universe and the Bible" and "Jesus, the coming King".  I have added to the conversation at the former post.

+ 2:40pm Weather Update:  The Lake Erie Snow Machine is dumping snow on Rochester again.  I was going to go shopping but decided to stay in.  I took Gracie the Poodle out for a walk and enjoyed it because I have a coat and gloves and boots.  It is quite windy.  I love snow.  Gracie does too.

+ "Supporting the Palestians -- 7" at The Abundancetrek Blog is an invitation to participate in the third annual Bethlehem Prayer Service jointly conducted via satelite in Bethlehem and Washington DC.  Here's an excerpt from the invitation:

In Bethlehem, behind the wall that separates neighbor from neighbor, patient from hospital, student from school and farmer from land, Palestinian Christians continue to bear witness to their faith this Christmas, as they have done for generations. Once again, let us join our voices with theirs in seeking and offering hope for a better future.   

+ It's Advent.  Here is the eleventh answer to the question Presbyterian Welcome has asked:

When the table is set, and one by one, or in twos or threes, they come in, the hungry, the lonely, the brokenhearted, the rich, the settled, the just-getting-by, the suburban mom, the single dad, the teen-aged boy, the toddler, the crazy old lady, the star soprano, the shy young man, the nerd, the preoccupied, the too-blessed-to-be-stressed, the neighborhood drunk, the wild-eyed mystic, the of-no-account, the beautiful newborn baby in the arms of her older brother, the tenderhearted, the junky, the old man with the parrot --- when they all come in, in such variety so as to defy describing -- each one carrying their burden of dreams and joy and sorrows -- and the table is round, and there is space for all of them, and more come, and there is laughter, and sobbing, and riotous communion, and time for each to say what is in their heart, and all of them together dwells in the assurance of the boundless goodness of God's grace -- I will know that the realm of God is near.
-- Lisa Larges, Minister Coordinator, That All May Freely Serve, San Francisco

+ The Lake Effect Snow machine is dumping snow in a couple of narrow bands East of Lake Ontario and East of Lake Erie.  Here in Rochester, about 3 inches fell overnight.  It covers up a lot of ice created by the slush which did not melt during yesterday's brief "heat wave."  This can be dangerous for pedestrians and automobiles.  I couldn't stop my car at a stop sign.  I slid right through the intersection.  

+ It's Advent.  Wake up and be aware. Pay attention. Make changes. Participate joyfully in building God's realm of abundance, joy, wisdom, beauty, love, truth, peace, justice and freedom.  Come quickly, Lord Jesus.  Liberate us from our captivity within the bounds of a too-limited faith.

+ I just discovered that my friend John Preston offers "Countdown to CO2PENHAGEN", a very informative article for the Presbyterian Global Eco(n)-Justice e-Newsletter. Excerpts:

• In the past, environment and social justice were too often separate tracks. Eco-justice acknowledges the inter-connections between environmental and social justice. Climate change exemplifies this as we see those already impoverished in the world encountering and suffering the impacts of global warming most severely, in the form of fatal droughts and floods. The developed world, as the major climate polluters in the world, is coming to recognize our responsibility for this suffering. More of us are accepting our moral obligation to support the current and future victims of climate change. The term for this cushioning is adaptation, which includes the social justice side of the equation.
• Wendell Berry in a recent essay entitled "Inverting the Economic Order" radically questions the basic paradigm of developed world economics. His agrarian perspective is a key to sustainability and the faithful stewardship of creation. Berry's way of looking at the economics of our earth is to understand that nature comes first, land use second, the manufacturing economy third, and the consumer and financial economy last. He charges that we of the developed world has exactly inverted this order, to our detriment.
  

+ I'm finding it hard to be excited about Obama going to Oslo to get his Nobel Peace Prize after his decision last week to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

+ There are some good things in the proposed Healthcare bill in the Senate such as extending Medicare to people between 55 nand 64; making Insurance companies Non-Profit; and ending the exclusion of people for pre-existing conditions. If Progressives want more (and I do!) we are going to have to get more Progressives elected to Congress.

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+ updated at 4:01pm EST

+ My latest Tweet: There are some great videos at http://www.youtube.com/breadfortheworld #hunger #justice #abundance #peace #compassion #joy #giving #politics

+ Move On says: "Senator Reid, don't let a few senators derail what the majority of Americans want and need. We're counting on you to use every tool at your disposal to make sure the Senate bill includes a public option." Sign the petition.

+ Abbey of the Arts offers "When I began to wake" by Christine Valters Paintner. Here's what I saw there:

+ Bread for the World offers us an opportunity to "petition the White House for a Global Development Strategy." Excerpt:

Right now, President Obama and his senior advisors, led by National Security Advisor James Jones and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers, are preparing recommendations that will shape the future of U.S. efforts to alleviate poverty, fight disease, and create economic opportunity for the world’s poorest people.

The White House needs to hear your voice! Sign the first-ever development community petition asking the White House to send a strong signal about America’s commitment to development. We need 150,000 signatures by December 17. Add your name today!

+ Don't miss this! Shuck and Jive offers "The Great Turning" which is a poem about compassion and change by Christine Fry. It begins:

You've asked me to tell you of the Great Turning
Of how we saved the world from disaster.
The answer is both simple and complex.

We turned.

+ It's Advent: Wake Up!

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+ updated at 1:08pm

+ The Charter for Compassion has now been affirmed by over 14,000 signers. Here's an excerpt: "We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies."

+ Spirituality and Practice offers many quotes on compassion.

+ Spirituality and Practice offers "An Excerpt from The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Tradition" by Karen Armstrong. Excerpt from the Excerpt: "Before the Axial Age, ritual and animal sacrifice had been central to the religious quest. You experienced the divine in sacred dramas that, like a great theatrical experience today, introduced you to another level of existence. The Axial sages changed this; they still valued ritual, but gave it a new ethical significance and put morality at the heart of the spiritual life."

+ Walterblog (a new discovery) offers "Healing Power of Kwan Yin" by Walter Mason. Great wisdom and beautiful photos shared. Kwan Yin is the Buddhist Goddess of Compassion.

+ The New York Times offers "Drug Makers Raise Prices in Face of Health Care Reform" by Duff Wilson. Excerpt: "In the last year, the industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9 percent, according to industry analysts. That will add more than $10 billion to the nation’s drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992."

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+ updated at 12:05pm EST

+ I’m preaching this Sunday at "Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Little Falls NY.

+ The Environmental working Group offers “Climate Change Will Cost Farmers Far More Than a Climate Bill." Excerpts:

"A more careful examination of the facts shows that climate change itself, not climate legislation, is the real threat to American agriculture, and that climate-induced crop losses will cost US taxpayers and farmers far more than could ever be caused by the ACES bill."

"Instead of wringing our hands about the negligible costs of a climate bill, Congress should be very worried about how much climate change will cost farmers, our food supply, and the environment."

+ SFGate offers "The menace of the public option" by M.C. Blakeman. I found this provocative and humorous (but also disheartening) article thanks to my friends in the Orange County Progressive Christians Yahoo! Group.