Yesterday Tom organized one of his famous parties here at the Mustard Seed House – this time with an Hawaiian theme. About 20 of us gathered to celebrat, not because it was an important day in Hawaii but just because we love to celebrate.
We had loads of food
Anneke taught us to do the hula (she grew up in Hawaii)
And even Tom got into the swing of things
In the many details of this day
let me be fully alive.
In the handling of food
and the sharing of drink,
in the preparing of work
and the uttering of words,
in the meeting of friends
and the interminglings of relationships
let me be alive to each instant, O God,
let me be fully alive.
From our sister community The Simple Way
6/20/07 12:30PM
This morning, a 7-alarm fire consumed an abandoned warehouse in our Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia. The Simple Way Community Center at 3200 Potter Street was destroyed as well as at least eight of our neighbors’ homes. Over 100 people were evacuated from their homes, and 400 families are currently without power. Despite this developing tragedy, we are incredibly thankful to share that all of our community members and every one of our neighbors is safely out of harm’s way.
This fire will forever change the fabric of our community. Eight families are currently homeless, and in many cases have lost their vehicles as well as their homes. One of our neighbors, the Mahaias Family, lost their three cars as well as the equipment one family member uses for her massage therapy business. Teenager Brian Mahaias is devastated not because he has lost his belongings, but because he fears that this fire will force him to move away from this neighborhood that is his family as well as his home.
The Simple Way has lost a community center that was home to our Yes! And… afterschool program, community arts center, and Cottage Printworks t-shirt micro-business as well as to two of our community members. Community members Shane Claiborne and Jesce Walz have lost all of their belongings, Yes! And…’s after school studio and library were ruined, and community member Justin Donner’s Cottage Printworks equipment and t-shirts were destroyed.
We are thankful that we are able to help each other during this time of need, and we will continue to keep your informed about today’s events.
We have established funds to support the families who have lost their homes, the Yes! And… afterschool program, and the Simple Way community.
A fund to support the families has been established through a partner organization, EAPE. Tax-deductible donations can be made at https://www.tonycampolo.org/online_donation.php . Please make sure to put “Kensington Families Fund ” in the memo section.
Donations to the Rebuilding Fund can be made via PayPal to contribute@awip.us.
-The Simple Way Community
Do not miss it – Tomorrow, Saturday June 9
The Mustard Seed House and Mustard Seed Associates invite you to join us in a community based learning party -
Thin Space: Celtic workshop at the MSH « The Mustard Seed House (MSH)
The new issue of The Other Journal is up with the theme of Pop Revolutions. It features interviews with Miroslav Volf, David Hopkins, Shane Claiborne and others.
These bright guys and gals know good art when they see it, and that’s why some of my street art photos are on the journal online gallery.
The Other Journal – creation
An art gallery that invites you to experience the diverse work of unique artists. Discover the digital aesthetics of a new generation.
Muestra de Arte Popular y Urbano en Puerto Rico
by Eliacin Rosario-Cruz
Last night we entertained out of town guests John & Jude Tiersma Watson. As you can see Eliacin dressed up for the occasion
Later in the evening he let his hair down and did a great imitation of John’s brother.
Ricci is reading:
by Barbara Kingsolver and she just finished a re-reading of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.Tom is reading:
Anneke is Reading:
by Peter PezelliCatie is reading:
by The Rev. W. AwdryChristine is reading:
Peter is reading:
by Alan Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk
by Azar Nafisi
by Vali NasrEliacín is reading:
The name of this blog is taken from a book of the same name by Sigurd Olson (see bottom of the post). The “listening point” for Olson was a secluded piece of wilderness shore on a remote lake in northern Minnesota where Olsen used to go, as he put it, “to think the long thoughts”. The “long thoughts” were the things that you just can’t think quickly, the things that you must ponder again and again, and so you need silence and solitude to think them. He eventually built a cabin there, and it became his treasured retreat and place of refreshing, and where he would write.
We all need “listening points” in our lives, places to slow, places to just be, places to listen, places to “think the long thoughts.” It is our hope that this humble spot in cyberspace will be its own sort of “listening point,” a place where we can come to listen to each other. Among the poems, stories, quotes, and personal experiences that our contributors will share here, we hope that one of these will be your sharing about your own “listening points” in your life.
Sigurd Olson was a biologist, educator, nature writer, and tireless campaigner for the preservation of wilderness. He, perhaps more than any other single person, is most responsible for the setting aside of what has come to be known as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, more than one million acres along Minnesota’s border with Canada, containing more than 1000 lakes, and more than 1500 miles of canoe routes.
by Dewi Hughes
by Bill McKibben