You are here: Home / Archives for Spirit

Thank you for oil

By November 23, 2010
Prayer at Thanksgiving

As families gather around Thanksgiving tables to voice the things they're thankful for—usually family, friends, "this time together"—I'll be offering my thanks for oil. Not for the olive oil that might be used to sauté some of our veggies, though I'm thankful for that too. No, I'm talking about petroleum. When we think about oil we mostly see it as gasoline, or lubricant for a car. Petroleum so infuses every aspect of our modern life that its presence fades into the background. Oil is to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Spirit Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Greer finds power in nature spirituality

By November 1, 2010
John Michael Greer

No doubt about it. His long brown beard makes John Michael Greer look more like a Greek Orthodox archbishop than a writer on peak oil and the collapse of industrial society. And anyone who knows Greer as the mind behind the Archdruid Report will already know that Greer lives with a deep  commitment to the spiritual tradition of pre-Christian Britain, Ireland and Gaul. Leader of the Ancient Order of Druids in America, Greer heads up the US branch of an international movement to revive the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Spirit Tagged With: , , , , ,

Hope springs eternal

By November 1, 2010
A particularly stunning rainbow found at Elam Bend Conservation Area, McFall Missouri. Photo: Missouriskies.org.

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, hope is “desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment.” In other words, hope is faith-based belief. Derrick Jensen’s article in the May/June 2006 issue of Orion includes his own definition, which mirrors the dictionary's: “Hope is a longing for a future condition over which you have no agency.” Hope, in these words, is a case of wishful thinking. In that light, I feel we should abandon hope and move on to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Spirit Tagged With: , , ,

Everyman’s journey

By September 28, 2010
Pilgrim couple

Pilgrim's Progress: From This World to That Which Is To Come A Survival Sampler "So, can I ask you a personal question? What do YOU call this whole thing, whatever it is, that's gonna happen?"  I posed this to a man I had just met and who happens to be the largest supplier on the East Coast of long-term food storage and survival items.  He had just given us a tour, complete with samples of dehydrated applesauce and freeze-dried beef, as well as demos of some of the newest gizmos and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Spirit Tagged With: , ,

Waste and wisdom in the Gulf

By September 22, 2010
Gulf-oiled pelicans

As communities along the Gulf Coast continue to regroup from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, I think back to a snippet of conversation I overheard before the underwater well was capped. I got just enough of it to hear one person say “If this had happened on land, it wouldn’t even be a problem.” That got me to thinking. In the first place, I’m not entirely sure I agree — I think any oil spill, anywhere, anytime, is a problem. But that comment did lead me to two further … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Spirit Tagged With: , , , ,