Naturalistic Animism: Seeing the Trees for the Ents

It takes an artist’s eyes—or a lover’s—to really see. It takes a willingness to get our hands dirty, to get up close and personal with messy nature, and to use all of our senses. But most of all, it requires a willingness to be open to receiving, as well as perceiving—an openness to being “touched back” when we touch nature.

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Miracles of Reality: Reflections on the Impending Solar Eclipse

It’s spectacular. Seriously. When I was a little kid, my parents took me to North Carolina to view a total eclipse of the Sun. I couldn’t have been more than six, but I remember those 2-1/2 minutes of totality vividly, right down to the taste of the chives growing in the field where my father … Continue reading Miracles of Reality: Reflections on the Impending Solar Eclipse

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Spirituality Without Politics Is Lame

A politics without spirituality is blind, but a spirituality without politics is lame.  And that is why I worry about an apolitical spirituality.  I worry that individual spiritual practice in isolation from engagement with the world will never lead to real personal development and thus never lead to positive social change. And I worry about an apolitical spirituality which tells us that we need to accept the world as it is because we are powerless to change it.  Finally, sitting back and practicing equanimity and a contemplative attitude is a privilege that many people do not have.  It is not a option for many people of color.  It is not a option for many gay, lesbian, queer or transgendered people have.  It is not an option for many poor people or for many women.

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Spirituality Without Politics Is Lame

A politics without spirituality is blind, but a spirituality without politics is lame.  And that is why I worry about an apolitical spirituality.  I worry that individual spiritual practice in isolation from engagement with the world will never lead to real personal development and thus never lead to positive social change. And I worry about an apolitical spirituality which tells us that we need to accept the world as it is because we are powerless to change it.  Finally, sitting back and practicing equanimity and a contemplative attitude is a privilege that many people do not have.  It is not a option for many people of color.  It is not a option for many gay, lesbian, queer or transgendered people have.  It is not an option for many poor people or for many women.

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Potok and the Hundred-Thousand Year Fire—A Campfire Tale, by Mark Green [an Atheopagan Life]

One night, meat was plentiful. A man named Potok had killed a cave bear after a fierce battle. Our bellies were full and grease hissed in the fire, and when we had eaten, Potok stood and told his tale: how he had lured the bear and crept upon it, how his spear went deep, and then he leapt upon the bear with his flint knife. The bear’s fangs hung, fresh and bloody, from a thong about his neck.

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Book Review Special: Malala Yousafzai and Maajid Nawaz by Megan Manson

“Extremists have shown what frightens them the most: a girl with a book.” – Malala Yousafzai On May 22nd, Salman Ramadan Abedi bombed the Manchester Arena following a concert by Ariana Grande. He used a nail bomb, designed to maim and mutilate….

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