Tag: Creation
Praying at the Wishing Wall of Jerusalem
The first thing I noticed about the Western Wall is that everybody was crying. I had been lost in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, and when I rounded the gate above the Wall (the Kotel) t... Read More
Being the Change You Wish to See in the Middle East
Today is the first full day in Israel. Jet lag woke me up at 5:45am and I grew restless waiting out the dawn in my twin bed, so I pulled on running shoes and trotted out into the indigo chill. The Sea... Read More
Religious Wisdom the World Needs Now
This was my first visit to the Zen Center. One of the Buddhist priests had invited me to encourage his students to engage in interfaith environmental work. I was a little nervous, but something about ... Read More
Seeking Freedom Behind the Partition
I arrived at Gate 6 in Terminal 3 at JFK an hour before departure to Tel Aviv. It was technically yesterday, but due to the flight and the travel I’ve only scraped together some shallow dozes, and t... Read More
Embracing Darkness, Kindling Light
The lighting of Chanukah candles can be seen as a ceremonial process through which we enact the destruction that necessarily precedes rededication. We place our candle in its holder, light its tiny fl... Read More
Touring the Ironbound: Environmental Justice Made Real
I was on a chartered bus with about 40 other people—Christians, Jews, Muslims, Unitarian Universalists, one Buddhist, and one Wiccan priest. We were united in being people of faith, in being mostly ... Read More
Love and Weight Loss
Weight. The very word is heavy, overweighted. Weight on my plate. Weight in my gut. Weight in my heart. Weight of the world. Heavy, heavy, heavy…it’s such a bad word. It’s something none of ... Read More
The Danger of “Us v. Them” Thinking in Our Work for Social Change
I know it’s easier, when there are disagreements, to see the “other side” as completely wrong and “our side” as completely justified. But there is real danger in casting any conflict as a bl... Read More