Saturday, March 28, 2009
Week 1
I started marathon training this week. My first run on Tuesday kicked my butt, mostly because my pace was way too fast. I've since adjusted and feel a little more confident. I do need to buy new sneakers, though, since I've developed some pretty nice blisters on my feet. Tomorrow is four miles. Bring it on. (My approach right now is to taunt the miles, fight them, and defeat them. As the miles grow and the half marathon gets closer, I'm hoping the miles and I will reach an agreement and learn to enjoy each other's company.)
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The future of everything
Yesterday on Morning Edition was a story on the future of figher pilots, on how military planes exist now that can be piloted from the ground by remote. The interviewer and interviewee talked about the future of warfare as if they were talking about the future of television or cars, as if war were an inevitable and appropriate venue for technological advancement.
Why aren't we envisioning and ASSUMING a future without war? Every time I participate in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life they say, "Hope we don't see you next year," meaning that they hope cancer is cured and we'll no longer need to raise money for research. Why can't we approach war as something to cure, not as something to spread in the most efficient way? I puke in my mouth a little every time I think of how much money and intelligence is wasted on war and warfare and how much better the world would be if our energy went elsewhere. Like toward curing cancer.
The more I live and seek success and goodness the more I realize that we have it all wrong. My husband argues that we are Darwinist beings who will kill or be killed until we are all killed. He thinks our current state is our natural state. I don't believe this. If I did, I would never want to have children (which I do, someday) nor would I seek anything else in life besides wealth and physical health. This is not our natural state. We have chosen this state, and we can choose to return to Good. It's hard - I'm not by any means Good, but I could get there with help.
What should we do about it? I don't know. Spend money better? Seek education more? Eliminate borders? Share the REAL good news (which is that it doesn't have to be this way)? If you know tell me and I'll help you.
Why aren't we envisioning and ASSUMING a future without war? Every time I participate in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life they say, "Hope we don't see you next year," meaning that they hope cancer is cured and we'll no longer need to raise money for research. Why can't we approach war as something to cure, not as something to spread in the most efficient way? I puke in my mouth a little every time I think of how much money and intelligence is wasted on war and warfare and how much better the world would be if our energy went elsewhere. Like toward curing cancer.
The more I live and seek success and goodness the more I realize that we have it all wrong. My husband argues that we are Darwinist beings who will kill or be killed until we are all killed. He thinks our current state is our natural state. I don't believe this. If I did, I would never want to have children (which I do, someday) nor would I seek anything else in life besides wealth and physical health. This is not our natural state. We have chosen this state, and we can choose to return to Good. It's hard - I'm not by any means Good, but I could get there with help.
What should we do about it? I don't know. Spend money better? Seek education more? Eliminate borders? Share the REAL good news (which is that it doesn't have to be this way)? If you know tell me and I'll help you.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Coming Together for the Common Good
Tonight at 8:00 p.m. begins the annual 40-hour fast for change sponsored by the Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State. The fast ends Friday March 6 at noon. The goals of this fast are sacrifice (food - even missing one meal can help a person refocus his or her priorities), pray (for public officials making important decisions), and communicate (to others about why you are fasting: "an end to wage theft, a shrinking of the wage gap and increased attention to 'the least among us'").
A local ecumenical prayer service will be held tonight at 7:00 at Sarah Jane Johnson United Methodist Church in Johnson City, NY. A statewide event, this local event is sponsored by Broome County Council of Churches, Clergy for Peace, Catholic Community’s Justice and Peace Advisory Council, Social Justice Network of the Wyoming Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, and Just Faith Group at the First United Methodist Church of Endicott. For a list of events throughout New York, visit this Web site: http://www.labor-religion.org/fast09-statewide-events.htm.
A local ecumenical prayer service will be held tonight at 7:00 at Sarah Jane Johnson United Methodist Church in Johnson City, NY. A statewide event, this local event is sponsored by Broome County Council of Churches, Clergy for Peace, Catholic Community’s Justice and Peace Advisory Council, Social Justice Network of the Wyoming Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, and Just Faith Group at the First United Methodist Church of Endicott. For a list of events throughout New York, visit this Web site: http://www.labor-religion.org/fast09-statewide-events.htm.
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