Listening to the power of listening

As I continue to read Jim Wallis’ Faith Works, I draw your attention to the second section which includes these three chapters:
Do the Work and You’ll Find the Spirit
Recognize the Three Faces of Poverty
Listen to Those Closest to the Problem
The third chapter of this section really affected me. It ended with this:
“It’s difficult to [...]

Listening to what I read

On my reading agenda now is Faith Works: How to Live Your Beliefs and Ignite Positive Social Change by Jim Wallis.
The first three chapters, which he has organized as lessons, have me hooked:
Trust Your Questions
Get out of the House More Often
Use Your Gift
If we started with these three lessons, what might happen? [...]

raising awareness

I recently launched a new resource called 2dollardifference to raise awareness about hunger and poverty.
http://2dollardifference.com encourages people to experience in a meaningful, albeit partial, way the situation of half of the population of the world: eating for $2 a day.
“Simple but not easy,” participants eat for $2 a day for one week, then give the [...]

Fair weather friend?

“Scrrrrritchhhhh….sssscrrrraaape…,” were the sounds that roused me from my slumber in the wee hours of the morning. Could that be someone clearing the driveways of snow? Snow? Was it supposed to snow? I had heard something on the radio about possible flurries, but enough to scrape?
I pulled myself back deeper under the covers with [...]

Energy Justice

Last Thursday and Friday I attended the Energy Justice Conference at the University of Colorado in Boulder. It was organized by Dr. Lakshman Guruswamy, Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Security at the School of Law. More than forty speakers representing multiple disciplines took us through the challenges facing the energy [...]

A visit to the past

As the photo in the previous post suggests, I visited the Denver Museum of Science and Nature yesterday.   It was like a trip down memory lane since we used to go there quite often with a trail of youngsters in tow.   Now my little one is taller than me, but she was still enthralled by [...]

“This is a test, this is only a test…”

These words never fail to strike fear in my heart despite their intention to calm.  Yesterday was test day for the Emergency Broadcast System in Boulder.  Thank goodness we have this available.  Let’s just hope we never need it!

Listening to Listening to…

Today I visited St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church in Boulder for both the 8:15 and 10:00 a.m. services.  I went to announce the start up of a new Listening to… group there and to talk about what topic might be of most interest to the folks in the congregation. The list of possibilities includes (but [...]

Whoooo is it?

At dawn every morning this week I have heard an owl just outside our home.  I’m wondering why suddenly he (or she?) is hooting; is this a seasonal owl behavior?  Never lasting very long, the song is distinctive.  I wish I knew what the bird looked like too.  Is it a Great Horned Owl?  I [...]

Words

Listening is noting what, when and how something is being said. Listening is distinguishing what is not being said from what is silence. Listening is not acting like you’re in a hurry, even if you are. Listening is eye contact, a hand placed gently upon an arm. Sometimes, listening is taking careful notes in the [...]