InSpiritry

 The God that we serve is so big

that we don’t have to be limited

by the world that we now see.

This quote by Mariama White-Hammond was part of a recent post  on the always  insightful and encouraging blog,  God’s Politics. 

Ms. White-Hammond is the inspiring young executive director of Project Hip-Hop (Highways Into the Past—History, Organizing and Power), a youth-led, secular, nonprofit organization that provides a space where predominantly young people of color from traditionally low-income communities in Boston can develop and exercise their individual and collective leadership. The blog entry is excerpted from an interview with her that appears in this month’s issue of Sojourner magazine in a feature about young Christians who are making a difference in the world.

This particular quote came in answer to the question, What would you like to tell other Christians? While I think it is a great statement of faith, for me it is more than a Christian guidepost. (more…)

Today, January 21, 2008, is Martin Luther King Day, the only American national holiday to commenorate an African American. As you celebrate it, consider the idea that this could be the day you have been waiting for — the day you decide take up Dr. King’s challenge to follow your heart and make a difference in the world.  Indeed, today is the day: (more…)

Sleep in Heavenly Peace…

During this last week of the Christian Advent season and near the end of another violent year in the world, true Peace deserves our consideration more than ever. That said, for spiritual people of all traditions at any time of the year, there is no greater hope and no more essential calling than Peace. It is our most pure path to God.

But what is Peace? (more…)

“…a little child shall lead them”

Meet Laura.

Laura is a ten year old American girl who is ready to lead. With a belief in every person’s power to make the world a better place, Laura has launched a December, 2007 project called Twenty Five Days to Make a Difference. For those whose faith experience includes a season of Advent as well as those who just love Christmas, Laura is giving us a new approach to the holidays. How? (more…)

 

In India, where the streets are full of homeless children, a compassionate woman created a 24-hour toll free hotline to connect street children with food, shelter, medical care, safety and access to people who care. Who staffs the phone lines? Other children who have been saved from a life on the streets! 

In South Africa, hundreds of thousands of people every year lie alone in their squallid homes dying of AIDS. Now, thanks to a wonderful nurse, some patients are being given home hospice care. Who would provide that kind of care? Young people once unemployed and hopeless, now trained to ease the pain and suffering of others!

 In the U.S., thousands of low income high school students never make it to college because there is no one to show them how to apply or how to find funding. One man took action. His four-day College Summits  offer help with college applications, essays, scholarship applications and financial aid forms. Of those who attend, 80% get into college!

In his new book,  How to Change the World - Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, noted author David Bornstein, whose first book shared the story of the Grameen Bank and microfinance, offers a look at the inspirational individuals like these who have used their innovative ideas to change the world rather than accept the status quo. Bornstein describes them as “social entrepreneurs”, a term increasingly used interchangabley with “social enterprise” to describe those who combine creative innovation, corporate strategies and social awareness to address persistent problems. (more…)

A 79-year-old-mother of five and grandmother of twelve with a lifetime of experience in early childhood education volunteers as a grandmother for troubled children at her local elementary school.

An 84-year-old Marine who began writing award-winning poetry in her 50s now mentors young poets via email submissions

A 70-year-old retired professor serves as a supervisor for probationers on Saturdays building wheelchair ramps for needy local residents

These amazing anecdotes are not inspirational fiction–they are about friends of mine, one of whom is my mother! In fact, they and so many others are more than friends, they are my elders. (more…)

A Noose!?!

After years of being locked away as a relic of American heartlessness, the reality of a rope knotted into a noose is back! First, during the Jena Six case and now at another American high school where its barbarous symbolism is being used for intimidation. It is nothing short of heart-breaking for me. (more…)

There is so much happening in the world!

To know how to respond requires our attention, our discernment and our Greater Good thinking. The problem is that most of us count on one or two sources for our information.  As a result, we Americans develop our ideas about things based on a western, mostly Anglo version of the world without realizing there are other points of view.

Consider how Iceland might view our resistance to environmental wisdom or how South Africa looks at China’s burgeoning economy or what Palestians think of the war in Iraq.

InSpiritry calls us to see ourselves as part of a global family. If you are ready to do that, here are some outlets you might visit. America’s freedom of information is an amazing gift, but we must listen for other voices if we want to understand the world.

A word of warning — this can be a study in open-minded contemplation! (more…)

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InSpiritry PODCASTS - Twenty Minutes to Rekindle Your Spirit!

Theme: Community

The word, Community, suggests with-Unity. Are you living in full Community with God, with your inner Self, with Humanity as a whole and with Nature? Join Anne McCrady for this as she takes a look at how we can best make a difference in the world by first living in Unity.

Listen as Anne shares how we need Unity on many levels and how we can use our sense of Community for the Greater Good as we live each day. In this compelling program, Anne inspires listeners to make Unity a personal intention and Community a daily practice. She reminds listeners that when we use our passions within the wider network of God, Self, Humanity and Nature, the outcome can be a better world, a stronger society, a more healthy planet, a more loving family and that greatest of blessings: a peaceful heart.

Quotes from: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Buddha, Psalms, Jimmy Carter, The Quran, Eleanor Roosevelt and others

An Inspirational Story about: Betty Elder, Local Activist for Children of Low Income Families

Books Recommendations for: Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community; Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World; How Are We to Live? Ethics in an Age of Self-Interest; Peace Be Upon You: The Story of Muslim, Christian and Jewish Coexistence; A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet’s Future

Poems: Heaven and Early Morning, Thinking of Jerusalem by Anne McCrady

Read the complete text for this Twenty-four Minute Podcast! (more…)