¿¿ Too Darn Hot ?? > Heat > Humidity > Stoopidity ?

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A mentor once observed that it’s not who is right or wrong, but what is real which is important.  Honest discussion is essential.  “Tribalism” or what the Founders (authors of US Constitution) termed factionalism, is the problem.  And Newt Gingrich, the main factionalist of the day, actually declared war on dialog, across party lines.  War kills.  So we talk past each other, wounding and violating our community, signifying nothing with our warfare.

But your eyeballs don’t lie.   So have a look at this satellite animation compiled by NASA and NOAA, and watch 25 years of polar ice disappear in one minute.     NOT COOL!  Not a hoax.  Not fake. 

And this brings us to a compelling speaker who is a professor of climate science with an amazing resumé. But get this:  she’s also an evangelical Christian!   She wants us to talk about the problem of climate change, even tho’ our tribalisms have gotten in the way so often in the past.  Don’t miss it! We might learn a few things from each other.

 

Book Review

A project of breathtaking beauty and insight.

What an amazing project this American journalist who is a practicing Jew has hatched and nurtured!  He moved from Brooklyn to Israel in 1982, became an Israeli citizen, and sought dialog with open-minded, devout believers from the three Abrahamic faiths (Jewish, Muslim, Christian) for fellowship, and learning — even risking visits to a Sufi sheik’s mosque in Gaza.  

The book was originally released in New York on September 11, 2001, and immediately vanished in the chaos of that day.  Harper Perennial has re-introduced it this year.  Krista Tippet, host of public radio’s weekly, On Being, calls it “One of the most important spiritual memoirs of our time.”  Not to be missed!

The author’s journalistic skill, observational power, and clarity of language make this telling into an ineffable blessing for his readers.  The beauty of his honest engagement with his chosen candidates brought tears to my eyes several times.  Anyone interested in faith, peace, humanity, will find hope in this moving work.  (Thanks to the Divine Librarian for placing this volume into my hands!)