whatcha reading? friday 5

For today's whatcha reading friday 5, Mary Beth hosts and asks: What are you reading these days? Any genre, give us novels, magazines, websites, newsletters...

books:


1. By Richard Martin, Coal Wars: The Future of Energy and the Fate of the Planet

2. Walter Brueggemann, Out of Babylon—I am soooo Brueggemaniac!

3. Our next discussion document on the Faith, Order & Witness Committee will be the World Council of Church's Faith & Order Paper 214—The Church: Towards a Common Vision.

4. Let's All Be Brave: Living Life with Everything You Have by Annie F Downs

5. Oh My Goodness! publicity sent me a book I hadn't even heard of, just finished, and enjoyed very much: Jesus Swagger: Break Free from Poser Christianity! I need to post my blog and reviews soon.

websites:

I especially love houzz and Better Homes & Gardens

WaterIs: world water day 2015

WWD 2015, Sunday, 22 March, #WaterIs – Water & Sustainable Development, "Greening the Blue"

Every year on 22 March, United Nations World Water Day focuses on an aspect of [mostly] freshwater. This year's WWD theme is Water & Sustainable Development (of all kinds). Hashtag phrase for WWD 2014 is... #WaterIs.

Especially where I live, work, play, and dream, for me...

#WaterIs:

You probably can fill in the details!

life • creativity • thirst-quencher • health • trees • a future • hope • celebration • carefulness • conservation

Sometimes in southern California #WaterIs:

scarcity • drought • smog • loss • sorrow • wildfires

#WaterIs those and many other gifts for many other people. Why wouldn't all of us do whatever possible to keep the future real?

land, sun, community, crops: synchroblog!

What I appreciate about other religions on Synchroblog Central.

This month I'm bouncing parts of my post off a synchroblog from 2012 that gave us an opportunity to consider what religion other than our current one we might decide to try: choosing another way.

I resonate deeply with heathen, pagan, celtic spiritualities, with their earth-focused ways of being and living with and within nature. Whether in city, suburb, or countryside, they integrate (astronomical/meteorological) seasonal rhythms into every day routines and remembrances. Spiritual ways that particularly honor land, ocean, sky, sun, and crops have deep roots in earth and sky, similar to those of the church's liturgical year of grace and the Jewish festivals. As they intentionally reflect solstice, equinox, planting, harvesting, fallowing, or cross-quarter, they involve every one of each individual's five senses.

In ways not unlike Judaism and Christianity, earthen spiritualities provide liturgical rituals for marking individual, earth, and community transitions and milestones. In my Reformation brand of Christianity, sacraments are central, and in order to celebrate sacraments we need to be friends of the earth!

Final note: although celtic, pagan, and other earth-centric practices affirm cycles of death and resurrection, unlike Christianity's eighth day new creation theology of the death of death itself and the ultimate triumph of life, their cycles are endlessly unchanging.

Other Synchroblog Participants for March:

What I Appreciate about [Other Religions].

• Mark Votava – How Christianity Can Learn from Buddhism
• Justine Steckbauer – Christianity and Other Religions: Many roads or exclusive path?
• Glenn Hager – The Thing About Labels
• Clara Ogwuazor-Mbamalu – What I Appreciate about Islam
• Stuart Delony – I Love Atheists
• Bram Bonius – What can Christians learn from neo-pagans and ‘magickal’ traditions?
• Mictori – Buddhism Reshaped my Easter
• Loveday – What I Don’t Appreciate About Your Religion
• Pastor FedEx – 3 Things Christians Learn from Other Religions
• Leah Sophia – Land, Sun, Community, Crops
• Dr. Samuel Mahaffy – My House Shall be a House of Prayer for All People
• J. D. Myers – What I Appreciate About Pagans