Running along now

Maybe I should rename the blog "Running alongside streams and rivers".

You see, I am preparing to run my first half marathon.
I am going to be running more and more often that I have ever done.

Quite close to my house runs a cute, little stream.
Not far past that runs the mighty Mississippi river.
So the bright side of this is that I will always have a running partner... 
                                                                                Get it?  haha

Training starts immediately.

What have I done? I am half panicked, half "laisser faire"
(mutters obsenity).  No.   It's mostly panic.


Why oh why have I set this goal, you ask?

Believe it or not, the biggest reason is not fitness.
I am trying to bring my old "go-getter" self back from where ever in the heck it went.
Is this part of me dead? Inconceivable.
In a coma? Maaaaaybe.


So it is make-it or break-it time, Paula. 


I wonder, who will root for me...


Will you?

(broad smile)  Why, thank you very much. 
I promise you that I will really appreciate every bit of encouragement I get!

Well, I better be "running along now"    

Love Your Neighbor- The Value of Interfaith Events

I commented recently that modern society is compartmentalizing life. Neatly sealed off spaces for every kind of human activity imaginable. But non-proselytizing interfaith efforts are taking one of these compartments (religio!) and trying to help people expand their love across these boundaries. I believe in the value of this, and here is why:

"Love your neighbor as yourself"

This is a familiar command, isn't it? In fact, examples of this superlative command *greatly* exceed Leviticus19:18 to Luke 10:27 to Hadid 57:27, just to touch on the texts of the Abrahamic faith traditions. Yet human history reveals what a daunting task this has proven to be. I believe the key component of this difficulty is the element of fear.


"True love throws fear outside" (1Jo 4:18)

Getting our eyes from seeing enemies to strangers to neighbors to friends to brothers to the Beloved can not occur in the company of fear. We *must* choose love or loathing- You can't have it both ways. You can not- despite religious doctrines that define all of us as heretics and blasphemers to each other. Yet some outreach ministries/dawah's efforts try. Seriously. With the best of intentions, they cover the loaf of loathing with a crust of compassion. Take a bite: Does not the taste of compassion quickly give way to the bitter loaf beneath?

When people of any and every background find ways to bravely and earnestly seek accurate knowledge of each other, motivated by nothing but the desire to love each other without fear, does this not sow peace into the world? And for believers, do we not please God by our efforts to truly love each other?

Interfaith events provide a safe place to let fear go and familiarize ourselves with Others. Google interfaith, intercultural events where you live. Then go make some new friends. :-D

And that is my thought for this lovely Monday morning.
Thanks to my friends who gave me an ear. xxoo Paula

Breath of Life

The "ethereal force underlying the universe that Christian mystics refer to when they speak of the Holy Spirit" (Reza Aslan) is that which animates all living things. Called ruh or rah ("breath" روه Muslims 15:29) and ruach ("breath" רוח Hebrew 51:11), that which breathed life into Adam is also identified in religions not originating with Abraham, such as prana (Hindus), ch'i (Taoists), nge (Maori) woniya waken (Lakota Native Americans).

This is just one of several core beliefs shared among otherwise divergent groups composing the human family. Despite being able to find such similarities within belief and value systems, it is too often difficult to forge and strengthen lasting peace and mutual respect with groups different from oneself. Instead, the earth is filled with examples of overabundance and famine, healthy and deathly conditions, the marginalized illiterate masses and the well-educated powerful few, those living in relative peace and prosperity and those trying to survive the depravity of their war-torn country.

Where is the justice?

Are humankind's scales inherently non-equitable? Most religions agree, revealing various narratives describing the cause of mankind's deplorable moral condition (How the scale was dropped- sometimes referred to as original sin). The broken scale of the human soul needs recalibration to function properly. Whether this re-calibration work is said to be done through the power of the Holy Spirit, or ah-RAHman ah-RAHeem~ the Breath and Restorer of Life,  for the believer, the Divine Creator is the well-spring of Love from which springs mercy and justice in perfect measure.

What do you believe?

Seriously. I would like to hear what people living this Western American civilization believe about God intention for the future of humankind. For instance, many religions practiced in our Western civilization speak, not only of a heavenly paradise, but of the restoration of the Earth to it's originally paradisaical condition.

There are so many books which describe historical and prevailing religious beliefs about what God expects from and has planned for humankind. I recently read a (good) book that does a decent job of describing the differences (not just similarities) of eight of the major world religions. I recommend it. It is called God Is Not One, by Stephen Prothero. He does a nice job of showing the differences between religion-- but then going on to show how differences can create complementary relationships with each other! Cooperation and mutual respect for differences can help us find peace amidst our imperfections.

The Joint Project from Intermedia Arts on Vimeo.

I love the t-shirt "I am a Muslim.
Don't Panic."

In honor of International Women's Day, there are many special events happening.
Here are some of Intermedia Arts scheduled events:
Or click here http://www.intermediaarts.org/calendar.php?month=3&year=2012

Specialized Tweet-Newsfeeds

I don't really use tweets for individual communication. But it seems like a great place to quickly scan for newsworthy current events (plus I just love The Onion news parodies!)

While normal TV & online news channels give you BBC, Fox, al Jazeera, CNN, and so on, Twitter enables users to create their own Tweet-News roster- a tickler of news sources that can be far more precisely crafted. This is because "Tweet-News channels" can include non-traditional, non-mainstream sources that might not matter to most people. For example, physicists interested in the search for the alleged Higgs Boson particle may want CERN news-tweets; social activists may like UNPeacekeeping news-tweets; financial experts may get RealWorldEcon news-tweets; Catholic church leaders may choose CatholicNewsSvc, while Methodists may prefer MethEcuNews.


Let me make a broad leap, and ask a BIG question:
Is there a down-side to narrowing the spectrum of human attention and interaction with each other? Social bonding between members is important, but a balanced society needs to remain broadminded enough to understand and accept differences within and outside of their culture. Could people's ability to precisely sculpt their human affiliations through uses of technology cause or reflect a growing propensity towards a narcissistic culture?

Buber emphasized the value of I & Thou exchanges versus "I & It". When people watch a normal newscast, they are pulled out of themselves and pulled into a serendipitous array of news stories that can not all personally relate to their primary interests. This form of media communication seems to encourage empathy and increase social cohesion.

Customizing the intake and exchange of information through computer mediated communication (CMC) vastly reduces serendipitous CMC encounters with those outside one's one circle. Is this decrease harmless? Or is there a point where specialization becomes symptomatic of an attitude towards diversity and "otherness" that society should be concerned with? Furthermore, if even one's intimate, individual encounter with individuals among "one's own" are increasingly forsaken in favor of connecting with and projecting one's identity towards one's chosen groups, could this reduction of individual intimate connectivity reveal the seeping in of narcissism, even within one's own community?

We can use technology intentionally, or we can just use technology. The role and effects of computer-mediated-communication in human individuals and societies is affected by those choices. That is why it is valuable to examine, give thought to, then have plenty of discussion about these choices and their potential outcomes.

Our Global World

We live in a pluralistic society, but all of humanity is linked together. Is it not important for different groups to take the opportunity to acknowledge this by showing solidarity with each other where ever we share a commonality, such as like valuing freedom, believing in the power of love in the human spirit, and wanting safety and prosperity for our children? So let us have the respect to allow for our differences, have the love to celebrate what have in common, and stand united when it comes to defending the ideals we share.

Balancing our need for Autonomy with our need for Belonging...

Culture has a real, inextricable presence within the religious community. They are both tightly woven threads in the tapestry of humankind. The geographical sprawl of religion often causes cultural identity tension at the borders of the expansion. However, technology has given religious communities a different way of sprawling.

Technological sprawl looks much different than geographical sprawl. One of the differences is that religious and cultural identities converge deeper within and throughout the global group. Previously, undue tensions were resolved at the geographical borderline; however, technological sprawl means large groups must learn to mediate tensions rising up virtually (!) anywhere.

Now that technology is bringing the ends of the world into such close proximity, how do members of a religious group that are from a minority culture identity relieve the pressure and tension between themselves and the dominant cultural identity that is often (always?) tightly woven into religion?

It seems to me that people who join a group (i.e. religious) with a much different dominant culture will do one of two things to cope with the tension. They will find or create a subculture that reflects/aligns with their cultural identity, or they will adopt the dominant culture as their own.

My question is this: Why do humans have such a difficult time belonging to a like-minded group (ex: religious beliefs), while espousing a personal identity that does not necessarily conflict with this group, but also does not align with that group's dominant expression of identity?

Is it simply because we are social creatures with such a strong need to bond with fellow humans that we would rather sacrifice independence personal expression at the altar of group cohesion?