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“We don’t have a healthcare system in this country, we have a disease management system.” ~ Andrew Weil M.D. “The American healthcare system is broken. American healthcare costs are rising so rapidly that they could reach $4.2 trillion annually, roughly 20% of our gross domestic product, within ten years. We pay more, yet our health outcomes are worse!” Watch the movie ESCAPE FIRE. It “examines the powerful forces maintaining the status quo, a medical industry designed for quick fixes rather than prevention, for profit-driven care rather than patient-driven care. After decades of resistance, a movement to bring innovative high-touch, low-cost methods of prevention and healing into our high-tech, costly system is finally gaining ground. Award-winning filmmakers Matthew Heineman and Susan Froemke follow dramatic human stories as well as leaders fighting to transform healthcare at the highest levels of medicine, industry, government, and even the US military. ESCAPE FIRE is about finding a way out. It’s about saving the health of a nation.” The present healthcare system is generating rivers of money that are flowing into very few pockets. We need a whole new kind of medicine. Here are the issues: An Entrenched System – Pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, hospitals, and insurance companies are all profiting on our declining health. And all those companies spend their money lavishly – millions of dollars go to Washington lobbyists – to ensure that nothing ever changes. Overmedication – We spend roughly $300 billion annually on pharmaceutical drugs – nearly as much as the rest of the world combined. Overtreatment – One of the hardest things to understand as a patient is that “more” doesn’t necessarily mean “better.” But it’s imperative that we do. Recent studies have shown that “more” can often mean “worse” when it comes to our health. Paying More Getting Less – We pay more, yet our health outcomes are worse. We give well-intentioned doctors, nurses, and hospitals the wrong tools and the wrong incentives, and it results in higher costs and poorer health. Preventing Disease – 75% of healthcare costs go to treating diseases that are largely preventable. That’s a lot of unnecessary money, and worse, a lot of unnecessary disease. Reimbursement – The healthcare system often uses a “a fee-for-service” model of payment – government or private insurers pay a hospital or a physician every time a procedure is performed. Treating the Whole Person – Your body isn’t a car, but that’s how it’s handled when you take it into the doctor’s office. Instead of being treated as a person, your broken parts get fixed separately, one by one. Get educated on these issues and add your voice to a growing chorus for change. Click here to open The First Aid Kit – your chance to speak up, spread the word, and be a part of the solution.

Douglas Tallamy’s books have awakened thousands to the problem of wildlife decline and the solution that resides in habitat restoration. This is a solution of which you and your faith community can be a part. The solution can be as close as your backyard or the property surrounding your place of worship. In this webinar, Tallamy will outline the crisis faced and what we can do in response. The green teams and green thumbs of faith communities will learn not only about cultivating native plants in the landscapes around them, but also what can be done to create a transformative movement full of actions ordinary people everywhere can take. To care for God’s creation, we can start by simply stepping outside the doors of where we gather for worship to make the most of our sacred places. In this webinar, Tallamy will raise our awareness and equip us to make a difference in our world. This webinar is co-hosted by the Rev. Dr. Brooks Berndt who serves as the Minister of Environmental Justice for the United Church of Christ and the Rev. Carol Devine who serves as the Minister of Green Chalice for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Interim Director of Blessed Tomorrow. REGISTER FOR EVENT HERE Event Co-Sponsors: Blessed Tomorrow, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Interfaith Power & Light, Multnomah Athletic Club, Oregon-Idaho Conference of the United Methodist Church, Planet Church of First United Methodist Church of Portland, and West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District.

“In Ireland, some still follow the tradition where Catholics wear green and Protestants wear orange. These colors are associated with the religious sects and are the represented on the Irish flag; the white on the flag is symbolic of the peace between the two.” In the 1700’s Irish immigrants in the U.S. started the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City. The historic post card above shows the marriage between patriotism and Irish tradition. I’m wear’in white!

Faith groups in the Rogue Valley have been involved in advocacy through Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon and several other organized groups: Divest Oregon Divest Oregon is "a statewide grassroots coalition of individuals and organizations representing unions with PERS members, racial and climate justice groups, youth leaders, and faith communities with the goal of calling the Oregon State Treasury to account for its funding of climate devastation rather than prudent investing in a sustainable future. Divest Oregon is a part of a national movement; a member of the Climate Safe Pensions Network and the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition. 350PDX was the founding member of Divest Oregon in mid 2021 and the campaign formally launched in September. They are an open-membership, non-partisan coalition that does not endorse candidates." Oregon Clean Energy Opportunity Campaign The goal of the Oregon Clean Energy Opportunity Campaign is "to reduce energy bills, support home upgrades that help keep families healthy, and create good jobs in clean energy projects across Oregon." With that objective in mind they advocated to pass three bills in the Oregon Legislature in 2021: House Bill 2475 Affordable Energy - the goal of this bill is to decrease utility costs for families already struggling in the economic recession by establishing a Low-Income Utility Rate Class. Click here for a factsheet on this bill. Click here to view Representative Maxine Dexter’s floor letter on House Bill 2475, including organizations in support of the bill. House Bill 2842 Healthy Homes - the purpose of this bill was to support home upgrades to help improve the health of families across Oregon. Click here for a factsheet on this bill. Amidst a record heat wave, on July 25, 2021 the Oregon Senate passed bipartisan bill to Invest $10 million in new healthy homes repair fund. House Bill 2021B 100% Clean Energy for All - Designed to "create living-wage jobs in the renewable energy sector and invest in local energy projects that are good for communities and reduce pollution while achieving 100% clean energy as soon as possible. Click here for a factsheet on this bill. Oregon Clean Energy Campaign's leadership consisted of rural and BIPOC-led environmental justice groups convened by the Oregon Just Transition Alliance and its members. Click here to see a list of supporters of HB 2842 Renew Oregon Renew Oregon is "a clean energy advocacy coalition of businesses and workers, healthcare professionals and parents, farmers and ranchers, faith and community organizations, and individuals coming together to move our state away from polluting energy to a clean energy economy. We are working to create good-paying jobs for all Oregonians, protect air and water from pollution, and help families stay healthy." "We believe in a clean energy future for the state we love: An Oregon with good-paying jobs, clean air and water, and healthy communities. A prosperous Oregon protected for future generations. We’re working to transition away from dirty, polluting energy to a clean, equitable economy."

In her 2020 book The Dream of the Cosmos, author Anne Baring "synthesizes the work of Teilhard de Chardin, Margarita Gimbutas, and Carl Jung with her own story—of traveling extensive in India and the Far East and becoming a fashion designer and Jungian analyst." Baring's YouTube presentation explores five different cosmologies which have influenced Western civilization: The Lunar Era of the Great Mother 25,000 BCE - 1,000 BCE The Solar Era of the Great Father 2,000 BCE - 2,000 CE The Myth of the Fall 621 BCE Kabbalah Scientific Materialism She explains her understanding of a currently emerging New Cosmology, exploring the relationship between the feminine and masculine archetypes manifested in these five cosmologies and how our relationship with this planet and the cosmos has been affected by them. "This new emerging cosmology offers hope for our survival as a species and restores our forgotten relationship with an intelligent, living and sacred cosmos." Anne Baring, has a PhD (Hons) in Wisdom Studies from Ubiquity University (2018); is a Jungian Analyst; author and co-author of several books including: The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image (1993) The Mystic Vision with Andrew Harvey, The Divine Feminine (1996) with Andrew Harvey Soul Power: an Agenda for a Conscious Humanity (2009) The Birds Who Flew Beyond Time The Dream of the Cosmos: A Quest for the Soul (2020) "The ground of all her work is a deep interest in the spiritual, mythological, shamanic and artistic traditions of different cultures. Her website www.annebaring.com is devoted to the affirmation of a new vision of reality and the issues facing us at this crucial time of choice."

Ashland Culture of Peace Commission (ACPC) is hosting various concerts, labyrinths, vigils, talking circles for the 11 Days for Peace. 9/11/18 is the beginning of 11 Days for Peace culminating on 9/21/18 the United Nations’ International Day of Peace. “ACPC is celebrating one year of exploring a new culture that may become peace in our community. Individuals come together to take on hard questions and reveal solutions. Our focus is on how we can change from a culture that promotes separation, fear and violence into one of compassion and peace. Every individual, business, organization and agency is invited to be a “Pathway To Peace”. Schedule of events at the Thalden Pavilion, Southern Oregon University: Tuesday, 9/11/18, 6-7 p.m. – Sophia (sacred theater & community peace ceremony) Thursday, 9/13/18, 6-7 p.m. – Norma Burton & Adey Bell (soulful wisdom & music) Saturday, 9/15/18, 6-7 p.m. – Sound Healing (community experience) Monday, 9/19/18, 6-7 p.m. – Wild Honey (musical inspiration) Wednesday, 9/19/18, 6-7 p.m. – David Kai (musical inspiration) On Friday, 9/21/18, the International Day of Peace, after a minute of silence at noon there will be a World Peace Flame Lighting Ceremony. Savitri MacCuish, Executive Director of the World Peace Flame Foundation, along with State of Oregon and City of Ashland OR dignitaries, will light the World Peace Flame at the Thalden Pavilion, Sustainability Center, Southern Oregon University. A Native American song of healing will be sung by local tribal member Dan Wahpepah. The ceremony will be live-streamed via Peace Day Global Broadcast to over a million people internationally. Sustainability Center designed by Christopher Brown Architect On Saturday, 9/22/18, from 1-5 p.m. Savitri MacCuish will lead a benefit workshop Creating Balance in a Changing World: The Transforming Power of the Heart at Wesley Hall, United Methodist Church, 175 N. Main St. Ashland OR. Tickets are $35 advanced or $40 at the door. Click here to buy tickets.

The California Institute of Integral Studies will be hosting a Sacred Activism Conversation between Andrew Harvey and Sean Kelly on August 3, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. at 1453 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA. “Renowned mystical scholar and spiritual teacher Andrew Harvey shares his vision of Sacred Activism as a solution for the chaotic and dangerous times we are all facing.” “Sacred Activism is the transforming force that is born when the profound peace, passion, and stamina of deep spirituality is combined with radical action.” “In this conversation, Andrew shares stories about his development of practices that can ground you in divine peace, joy, and strength to give you the energy to persist and thrive even in difficult circumstances.” Join CIIS professor Sean Kelly in conversation with Andrew as they explore what it means to put love and wisdom into clear, wise action. Tickets are $15 for pre-registration or $20 at the door. Andrew Harvey is an internationally acclaimed poet, novelist, translator, mystical scholar, and spiritual teacher. He has written and edited more than 30 books-including the best-selling titles The Hope and The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. He has won the Christmas Humphries Prize, the Nautilus Prize twice, and appeared in two recent films (Dancing in the Flames, and Ethan Hawke’s Seymour: An Introduction). He has taught at Oxford University, Cornell University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, the University of Creation Spirituality as well as at various spiritual centers throughout the United States and CIIS. He is the founder and director of the Institute of Sacred Activism. He is a kind-hearted rascal with a penchant for red pashminas, Maria Callas, white lions, and Chicago pizza. Sean Kelly received his PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Ottawa in 1988. Before coming to CIIS, he taught religious studies at the University of Windsor, the University of Ottawa, and Carleton University (Canada). He is the author of Coming Home: The Birth and Transformation of the Planetary Era and Individuation and the Absolute: Hegel, Jung, and the Path toward Wholeness. Sean is also co-editor, with Donald Rothberg, of Ken Wilber in Dialogue: Conversations with Leading Transpersonal Thinkers and co-translator, with Roger Lapointe, of French thinker Edgar Morin’s book, Homeland Earth: A Manifesto for the New Millennium. #AndrewHarvey #CaliforniaInstituteofIntegralStudies #SacredActivism

In the 2017 book Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet  the authors Michael Bloomberg and Carl Pope offer a "new approach to tackling climate change – exploring the solutions that hold the greatest promise, and outlining the practical steps that are necessary to achieve them.” Without agreeing on every point, Bloomberg and Pope “share a belief that cities, businesses, and citizens can lead – and win – the battle against climate change, no matter which way the political winds in Washington may shift… They turn the common line of thinking about climate change on its head: from top down to bottom up, from partisan to pragmatic, from costs to benefits, from tomorrow to today, and from fear to hope.” What is your take on this book? “Climate of Hope is an inspiring must read for anyone who wants to know how their local actions can have positive and significant impacts on the world.” ~ Al Gore

What are our shared beliefs in a divided Nation? In 2018 The Washington Post published an interesting project “What Unites Us? in an attempt to find some answers. They interviewed 102 people (2 in each state and Washington D.C.) and asked people “to contemplate what it means to be American in this time of upheaval and rapid change.” They used “census data to assemble a group of Americans that closely resembles the overall U.S. population in terms of gender, race, age, and class…. and included the same mesh backdrop in each portrait to create a unifying element in 102 different locations.” Spend some time reading these 102 portraits of Americans. Seven unifying themes: Community and empathy Opportunity and drive Diversity Fundamental rights A responsibility to engage Faith in the nation Fear for the future What do you think unites us? What words would you use? Note: The Washington Post article is behind their paywall.

According to David Vine, author of Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World (American Empire Project), the USA maintains approximately 800 military bases in more than 70 countries and territories abroad; see Vine’s maps for these base locations in 2015. And this does not include the military bases within the borders of the United States. Politico has a colorful map showing military bases and lily pads (military base locations with less than 200 personnel). It may not be politically correct to call it empire, but Abby Martin’s 2015 documentary refers to it as “The Rise of History’s Biggest Empire.” Journalist Abby Martin is the creator of The Empire Files @EmpireFiles and founder of @MediaRootsNews, Her Twitter account proudly proclaims that she was “accused by US govt of fomenting ‘radical discontent’ at RT’s @BreakingTheSet.” The Empire Files “explores the U.S. Empire, its rise to world hegemony and its impact on people and the planet… recording a world shaped by war & inequality.” Videos can be watched on TheEmpireFiles.tv or YouTube. You can also find some content from The Empire Files at TheRealNews.com. The Empire Files podcast can be heard on Apple Podcasts or SoundCloud. One might think that Abby Martin’s sensibilities are because she experienced political oppression, but Wikipedia says that she “grew up in Pleasanton, California, where she attended Amador Valley High School, graduating in 2002. She became interested in journalism when her old high school boyfriend enlisted in the military after the September 11 attacks in 2001. ‘I didn’t want him going to war, let alone fighting in one’, she recalls. ‘I began to critically ask ‘What is really going on?’ By the time she was a sophomore at San Diego State University, she began questioning what she called the ‘selling’ of the Iraq War by the media.” Millennial Magazine portrayed Martin in 2014 as an “unfiltered” media representative for the Millennial generation who reports “stories that deserve public recognition”. This 25 minute YouTube video traces “the rise of the U.S. empire to world hegemony and its impact on people and the planet.” Find out more on the subject from the series of books referred to as The American Empire Project. #AmericanEmpireProject #Geopolitics #TheEmpireFiles #AbbyMartin #BaseNation

Covid-19, Zoom, social media, the internet, and political polarization have changed the fabric of "community," Businesses, schools, churches, and other institutions are struggling to adapt and rebuild, but some things will not return to a prior "normal." Robert D. Putnam’s (2000) book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community chronicles the rise of civic participation during the fifties and sixties, followed by a decline in social capital over the next three decades. Social capital refers to connections among individuals – social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them. Social capital is simultaneously a “private good” and a public good”. As Claude S. Fischer puts it: “Social networks are important in all our lives, often for finding jobs, more often for finding a helping hand, companionship, or a shoulder to cry on.” Some small groups and clubs exist primarily for the private enjoyment of their members, although they may also serve public ends. “When economic and political dealings are embedded in dense networks of social interaction, incentives for opportunism and malfeasance are reduced.” As L. J. Hanifan notes: “Social networks and norms of reciprocity can facilitate cooperation for mutual benefit.” Civic engagement and social capital entail mutual obligation and responsibility for action. Frequent interaction among a diverse set of people tends to produce a norm of generalized reciprocity. Probably the most important dimension when discussing social capital is the distinction between bonding (or exclusive) and bridging (or inclusive) Quoting Putnam, “Some forms of social capital are, by choice or necessity, inward-looking and tend to reinforce exclusive identities and homogeneous groups. Examples of bonding social capital include ethnic fraternal organizations, church-based women’s reading groups, and fashionable country clubs. As noted by Xavier de Souza Briggs. “while networks and the associated norms of reciprocity are generally good for those inside the network, the external effects of social capital are by no means always positive for those outside.” Other networks are outward-looking and encompass people across diverse social cleavages. Examples of bridging social capital include the civil rights movements, many youth service groups, and ecumenical religious organizations. Churches have a tendency to emphasize the bonding needs of their members and miss the missional calling for bridging. Some emphasize pietistic, individualistic experience and personal salvation and underplay or entirely miss the church’s social responsibilities, except perhaps to their own. Some are rigidly exclusive, particularly on doctrinal matters, as if to protect their purity from the taint of the world. Other churches are overtly inclusive, welcoming all. Where is the balance in our community? How can we be both bonding and bridging? Is it possible to create bonding around the idea of bridging? I think so. #Bonding #Bridging #Community #Socialcapital

9/11 was over 20 years ago, but it still seems like just yesterday. Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues after a year and a half. The Global Conflict Tracker lists 27 current conflicts around the world. Will homo sapiens ever establish peace among peoples and nations? Sunday on Global Public Square (GPS) Fareed Zakaria took a deep dive into Artificial Intelligence: Its Promise and Peril, interviewing Eric Schmidt, Chairman of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. Schmidt said AI needs to be given human-like behavioral rules as it moves toward recursive self-improvement, perhaps within the next five years. Google's DeepMind details some AI risks. September 8, 2023, from 6:15 a.m. - 7:15 a.m. PDT the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is having an online conversation on AI and the Next Generation of Peacebuilders. The rapidly evolving world of AI offers "potential as both a beacon for peacebuilding and a challenge for global stability. The discussion will feature perspectives from USIP’s Youth Advisory Council and shed light on AI’s transformative implications for conflict resolution, societal structures, and the role of youth in shaping this digital future." Register here. About the United States Institute of Peace United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is "a national, nonpartisan, independent institute, founded in 1984 by Congress and dedicated to the proposition that a world without violent conflict is possible, practical and essential for U.S. and global security." The USIP works “to save lives, increase the government’s ability to deal with conflicts before they escalate, reduce government costs, and enhance our national security.” USIP has a Global Peacebuilding Center that has education programs, multimedia exhibits, and a Building Peace website with resources and activities. They focus mainly on students and educators, and seek to introduce the key concepts and skills in conflict management, and to the challenges and importance of peacebuilding. The website includes an interactive Virtual Passport experience and ways for young people to engage and connect as peacebuilders. It also features a Peacebuilding Toolkit for Educators – middle school and high school volumes – including lessons and activities to bring peacebuilding into the classroom. USIP concerns itself with three phases of conflict:  prevention, mediation and resolution, and post-conflict stabilization. The Institute is made up of three centers, with a fourth set of centers whose issues cross each phase of conflict. USIP identifies and applies best practices in twenty topical areas whose issues cross each phase of conflict through this series of Centers.

The mission of the World Association for Christian Communication is to “promote communication for social change. It believes that communication is a basic human right that defines people’s common humanity, strengthens cultures, enables participation, creates community, and challenges tyranny and oppression.” The Good News needs to be constantly reinterpreted from the perspectives of the poor and oppressed. This challenges church hierarchies to disassociate themselves from the power structures which keep the poor in a position of subservience. In this sense, the Good News for the poor embodies genuine reconciliation by means of which the dignity of all people can be reaffirmed. A Christian communicator proclaims God’s Kingdom rather than dividing our churches. Churches do not exist for their own sake, but for the sake of the Kingdom. For this reason, the Christian communicator gives preference to ecumenical communication so that Christians of different denominations can speak with one voice, thus bearing witness to the one body of Christ.”

PRAYER FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA by  Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk Creator, please help us to remember that the burden of responsibility for freedom means caring enough to not ignore the things that are hard to witness in the news. Please help us to remember that if others are living through the difficulties reported, We owe it to ourselves as a nation to witness and harness both knowledge and empathy to guide us. Creator, we recognize that there is never a guaranteed “someone” to fix every problem, but rather we are the ones who must seek solutions. Please help us to recognize that those solutions may arise from where and whom, we least expect. Please help us to respect each other, no matter what race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, economic station, or culture, enough to recognize the value we each can provide our community. Creator, please help our intellects to see past our prejudices, Please help our dreams to not be limited by our ignorance, Please help us face our fears with wisdom and not hatred, Please help us recognize there is strength in non-violence, Please help us fulfill the dream of collectively providing opportunity for all while remembering acting upon opportunity is our individual responsibility. Please help us in remembering we are tomorrow’s ancestors, so that we are the land where people are brave enough to break through the ignorance of old. And free enough to build upon the legacy left to us, so that one day, generations from now, America will still be the land our descendants love. Please help us remember that when we pray for your guidance through the night, That Night is born of our own ignorance and hate. Please help us remember when we pray for the Light Above to guide and protect America, that Light that is You, is only and always found in our ability to recognize our common humanity. Creator, please help the people living in the states we have drawn upon this blessed land, to rediscover that it is only through recognizing our common humanity, that we can truly be the United States of America in our hearts once again. Please help us remember that when we cover our hearts, we are pledging to safeguard this sacred pact with each other, in honor of those who came before,and for the generations yet to come.  Amen #Patriotism #Prayer