How Cultural Differences Shape Gratitude
"Most of what we know about it [gratitude] comes from studying Americans--and, specifically, the mainly white American college students from the campuses where researchers work. That creates a cultural bias in the science, and that's why more and more researchers are exploring what gratitude looks and feels like in a range of cultures." This article shares more.... posted on Aug 11 2019, 10,067 reads

A Green Approach to Gun Control
"Tajinder Singh, 47, a farmer in the North Indian state of Punjab, applied for a gun license. He told the authorities that he needed a revolver for self-defense. While tending to his 20 acres of land, he often had to walk long hours to reach home after nightfall. He wanted to protect himself from wild animals and bands of armed robbers. Once the background checks were completed in June this year, ... posted on Aug 10 2019, 4,947 reads

A Young Poet Tells the Story of Darfur
Emtithal "Emi" Mahmoud writes poetry of resilience, confronting her experience of escaping the genocide in Darfur in verse. She shares two stirring original poems about refugees, family, joy and sorrow, asking, "Will you witness me?"... posted on Aug 09 2019, 9,355 reads

Mercy Beyond Borders
Sister Marilyn Lacey is committed to go where the need is great, which, in the case of Mercy Beyond Borders, includes South Sudan and Haiti. The mission of Mercy Beyond Borders is to forge ways for women and girls in extreme poverty to learn, connect and lead by providing educational, economic and empowerment opportunities, bringing hope to areas where there was no hope. This hope is witnessed in ... posted on Aug 08 2019, 2,038 reads

Toni Morrison: On Borders and Belonging
"What does home mean and where do we anchor our belonging in a world of violent alienation and alienating violence? I use "alien" here both in the proper etymological sense rooted in the Latin alienus, "belonging to another," and in the astrophysical sense of "from another planet," "not human," for the combined effect of a dehumanizing assault on belonging for those treated and mistreated as alien... posted on Aug 07 2019, 7,604 reads

Jane Baker: An Artist Who Gives It All Away
One day, San Francisco artist Jane Baker realized something. Now she operates from a new place -- new, but also very old: "I don't know art history that well, but it is only in the last few hundred years that art has been a commodity. Before that, most artists were doing it out of their love for, frankly, for God or their church. Most of the art that's been made has not been made for money. So I'm... posted on Aug 06 2019, 2,134 reads

Working for Peace in a Violent World
"The work of Joseph Campbell and countless others makes it clear that the destructive aspects of the world, and the knowledge that each of us will die, has forever been a deep challenge to reconcile with a celebration of life. It's not getting easier. There's a web of relationships in a globalized world that make it difficult to live without being destructive. Even when sincerely striving to be pe... posted on Aug 05 2019, 6,604 reads

Gratefulness Embraces Parkinson's
"I was diagnosed with Parkinson's just over three years ago when I was 50. Receiving the diagnosis from a matter-of-fact doctor was a traumatizing experience, and I felt that my life and my family's identity had collapsed. Life was difficult and still is difficult, yet something amazing is beginning to happen. I have slowly started to shift my attitude from the anger, fear, and loneliness brought ... posted on Aug 04 2019, 6,758 reads

Petra Wolf: Many Rivers Flowing
An early sense of abandonment, a missing gravestone, and an inheritance promised to her in a dream, were all part of the unusual chain of events that led Petra Wolf, a hairdresser-turned-environmental engineer, to the Camino de Santiago, and to Michael--the man she would one day marry. Over 15 years they followed an inner call and embraced the unknown together, walking to Jerusalem, sailing to Ind... posted on Aug 03 2019, 5,873 reads

Cherishing Our Connections
"We all belong to the world in concentric circles of relationship some more distant and others close, some with people different from us and others with people more similar. Living within this web of connectedness can bring us the greatest of joys and the deepest of challenges. The preferences, patterns, and habits we have learned can both build relational bridges and create great divides. Much o... posted on Aug 02 2019, 8,629 reads