A quiet week as I continue to explore the world of contemplative practice. The Living School is part of the Center for Action and Contemplation; Richard Rohr, the Franciscan monk who initiated the center in 1986, maintains that the most important word in the title is the and. To quote from their website, illustrative of my interest in the Center, one of their core beliefs is:

action and contemplation, once thought of as mutually exclusive, must be brought together or neither one would make sense. We wanted to be radical in both senses of the word, simultaneously rooted in tradition and boldly experimental. One of the expressions of the radical nature of our work was our extensive inclusivity, bridging gaps within the spiritual and justice communities, building a rhythm of contemplative prayer and Zen meditation into our days, and even more fundamentally, believing that external behavior should be connected to and supported by inner guidance.

Postings of interest to me

The Issues With Trump

And Now the Trump Presidency Begins to Fail for Real (20170629)

Amongst the usual hype that surrounds American politics, this comes from a very reliable source. As usual, time will tell, but I cannot imagine it being totally off.

Germany’s Merkel Just Declared War On Trump In Defiant Speech (20170629)

More fallout from Trump’s international stances. Necessary, but pushing a bully has consequences. I wonder where and how it will end.

Otherwise A Scary World

Warning: I suggest you do not (and do) watch these three videos. They scare me.

NRA Declares War on Half of America (20170629)

Marcus Luttrell – ‘I Cower To No One’ – National Rifle Association commercial (20150910)

NRA Charlie Daniels Commercial (20160523)

These terrify me — presumably they represent a significant portion of US citizens, those who actively support the National Rifle Association.

Global Warming

These experts say we have three years to get climate change under control. And they’re the optimists. 20170629

Scientific principles cannot be ignored; we can pretend we have lots of time yet, but the science disagrees. Two degrees (or more realistically, 1.5°C) does not seem much to fuss about, but irreversible tipping points are likely above this level. Imagine driving your car at high speed while having a strong possibility of the brakes being defective! Consequences!

Miscellaneous Items

What’s new on Amazon’s Plan to Take Over the World (20170628)

Wow. The commercial world amazes me sometimes with its machinations.

Eugene Richards Is the Photographer America Needs Now (20170626)

Photos of our culture as it is! not how we like to think it is.

Some Positives

A Swedish Billionaire Will Award $5 Million For Reimagining Global Governance (20161220)

A step in the right direction — our civilization desperately needs new models of governance, models which lead to the valuing of human activity in ways that provide guaranteed incomes, health benefits, and ongoing education.

Alberta is greenest it’s ever been under the NDP and that will be tough to undo (20170703)

Canada’s progress is slow, but overall steady. My basic concern is that it is not enough.

‘Love Thy Neighbor?’ (20170701)

Well worth reading. The story of a Muslim physician with a US mid-West practice.