What Buddhism Taught Me: A Sri Lankan Christian's Reflections
"Growing up Christian in predominantly Buddhist Sri Lanka, I learned early that there was much to be gained from the study of Buddhism. The teachings of the Buddha sometimes challenged my assumptions about Christianity, and at other times they illuminated and clarified the words and stories of Jesus. " Shanta Premawardhana shares three teachings from Buddha that enriched his own faith.... posted on Sep 15 2021, 4,995 reads

Working to Welcome and Resettle Afghan Refugees
"We've had 5,300 people sign up to be volunteers. That's beyond a record for us. We typically work with about 350 volunteers a year. We have more people who want to volunteer than we have things for volunteers to do at this point. But we're so grateful for all these people who want to step in and help." A number of different organizations are helping resettle the over 20,000 Afghan refugees who ha... posted on Sep 14 2021, 2,079 reads

What You Get Into Will Change You
"Sometimes in life you just dont know what youre getting into. Youre reminded of this, the day you kayak through an otherworldly stretch of sea caves in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. The Lakeshore is a preserve of almost 70,000 acres at the northernmost tip of Wisconsin. It includes a 12-mile ribbon of cave-studded shoreline along Lake Superior, or Gichigami, "the great sea," as the Ojib... posted on Sep 13 2021, 4,414 reads

Nature is a Jazz Band, Not a Machine
"From genetic engineering to geoengineering, we treat nature as though its a machine. This view of nature has deep roots in Western thought, all the way to Descartes and Hobbs, but its a fundamental misconception with potentially disastrous consequences, argues Jeremy Lent. His work investigates the underlying causes of our civilization's existential crisis, and explores pathways toward a life-aff... posted on Sep 12 2021, 4,809 reads

The Man in the Red Bandana
"On Sept. 11, 2001, one young man led several people down the stairs to safety after a plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Center. The people he helped only knew him as "the man in the red bandana." They now know his name was Welles Crowther. He died when the tower collapsed." More about his powerful story and legacy here.... posted on Sep 11 2021, 5,426 reads

Knepp Rewilded
Knepp Estate in Sussex, England has led the way in "rewilding" farms since the 1970s. Rewilding is also called conservation farming with the idea of allowing nature to take over. The caretakers have gradually allowed plants and animals to roam and grow without human intervention until it is time to take the livestock to market. This philosophy of farming is like taking one's hands off the steering... posted on Sep 10 2021, 1,752 reads

A Few Early Moments
"In the early 1980s, as my attention was drawn more deeply toward the art world, I was disturbed to feel the lack of sustenance in the art often getting the most attention. One day a description I'd read in Artweek about the meaning of art bothered me so much I decided to do some investigation of my own. What did ordinary people think about the meaning of art?" Richard Whittaker shares 'a few earl... posted on Sep 09 2021, 1,901 reads

How Small Moments of Empathy Affect Your Life
"Greg Depow at the University of Toronto and his colleagues conducted a study on people's experience with empathy in their everyday lives, to find out how it affected their actions and well-being. Their findings shed some interesting light on how small moments of ordinary, everyday empathy work to benefit us all."... posted on Sep 08 2021, 6,751 reads

The Muse Who Made Storefronts Bloom
"Joan Vorderbruggen's job title is cultural district artist coordinator, but she really is Joan the connector, Joan the problem-solver, Joan the nurturer, Joan the perfect balance of right-brain nonlinear creativity and left-brain organizational prowess. Most people with her nonstop manic energy would get annoying in a hurry, but her authenticity charms, whether she's trying to pitch corporate spo... posted on Sep 07 2021, 2,481 reads

Monet Refuses the Operation
"Doctor, you say there are no haloes
around the streetlights in Paris
and what I see is an aberration
caused by old age, an affliction.
I tell you it has taken me all my life
to arrive at the vision of gas lamps as angels,
to soften and blur and finally banish
the edges you regret I don't see..."
In this exquisite poem, Lisel Mueller l... posted on Sep 06 2021, 8,680 reads