Exploring Earthiness

If we see ourselves as Earth, rather than Earth as existing for us, our perspective is transformed. A variety of religious, philosophical, cultural, and political self-perceptions that dominate our sense of human identity are deeply challenged by this shift in perspective. John Locke's doctrine of Earth as human 'property' has been central to current presuppositions about our selves: justified on the grounds of our possessing unique, divinely bestowed, rational abilities. But today, the effectsof that doctrine on Earth's resource base and on its other-than-human creatures directly challenge such assumptions. At the same time contemporary scientific findings about the evolution of Earthly life demonstrate that while we belong to Earth and nowhere else, Earth does not belong to us. Exploring this role reversal raises fundamental questions about current theological, philosophical, scientific, and economic presuppositions that underpin the 'business as usual' viewpoint and human-centeredaims of contemporary policies and lifestyles. It takes us beyond hierarchical Christian and philosophical doctrines toward a deeper, Earth-focused and peace-based understanding of what it means to be human today.

A textbook exploring such aspects of matter and energy as heat, electricity, and nuclear chemistry, with suggested activities and review questions at the end of each chapter.

There's been a curious upsurge in interest about the afterlife lately, but we're too often limited in our concept of heaven. The reality is we all do have questions about heaven: What does a resurrected person look like? What does a resurrected earth look like? Do we get our heart's desire in heaven? In What on Earth Do We Know about Heaven?, Randal Rauser considers twenty thought-provoking questions, each of which winds back to the core concept of heaven: what it is and what it isn't. Rauser uses Scripture to remind us that God's ultimate purpose is that the whole creation will be transformed and renewed, guiding readers through a vision of a glorious afterlife, consisting of a perfected earth, perfected bodies, perfected human culture, and perfected relationships.

Among the many causes of anxiety in today’s world are global concerns to do with social and economic inequality, the importance of sustainable development, and climate change. These raise human—that is moral and spiritual—questions about who we are, our destiny, how we can be helped to flourish, and what we hope for. Hope Rediscovered is about being re-oriented in the face of such challenges, Bishop David Atkinson, who has an abiding interest in Christian ethics, pastoral theology and science, has put some key questions to the Gospel of John—a text which says much about human flourishing, and which draws on the Wisdom themes of the Hebrew Bible, about misunderstanding our place in creation, and about practical living. Like his followers, Jesus was beset with conflicts within ‘the world’. The first century Christian community, to which the Gospel was addressed, discovered how to live hopefully in the way of Wisdom, energized by God’s Spirit. The focus of this timely book is deep practical wisdom for a troubled world.

Explores the connections between humans, the earth, and the matter that comprises them both. Humans are made of the earth itself, but how does this impact everyday life and experiences? Earthy Matters: Exploring Human Interactions with Earth, Soil and Clay explores humans' relationships with the earthly matter under their feet--sediments, soils, and clay--while examining how these relationships are embedded within, and responsible for, eco-cultural practices. It draws attention to the importance of understanding how humans are connected to the earth by highlighting our profound and physical entanglement with all earthy materials. It seeks to situate humans in relationship with a wider landscape of materials emerging underfoot. Through the distinct capacities of these substances, which both provoke and constrain how we interact and engage with them, the authors show how the substances we walk on have co-produced our daily activities and experiences of being in the world and continue to do so.

After Star Trek: Enterprise concluded in 2005, Star Trek went on hiatus until the 2009 film Star Trek and its sequels. With the success of these films, Star Trek returned to the small screen with series like Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds. These films and series, in different ways, reflect cultural shifts in Western society. Theology and Star Trek gathers a group of scholars from various religious and theological disciplines to reflect upon the connection between theology and Star Trek anew. The essays in part one, “These are the Voyages,” explore the overarching themes of Star Trek and the thought of its creator, Gene Roddenberry. Part two, “Strange New Worlds,” discusses politics and technology. Part three, “To Explore and to Seek,” focuses on issues related to practice and formation. Part four, “To Boldly Go,” contemplates the future of Star Trek.

The twenty-first century is a period of great environmental and social transformation as climate change increasingly marks lives at levels that are personal, familial, communal, national, and global. A Canadian Climate of Mind presents stories that emerge from the waters, lands, and climate of Canada, and which have the potential to renew a compassionate energy for changing human relations with each other and with our world. The turbulent effects of climate change are popularly discussed in the modern language of scientific knowledge, political policies, economic mechanisms, and technological innovation. While there is much to be learned from these views, Timothy Leduc suggests a more profound call for change by returning to past understandings of the land and climate. He argues that the world is initiating us into a broader and humbler sense of what it is to be human in an interconnected reality. The world is doing this by responding to unsustainable practices such as our devastating reliance on fossil fuels. Weaving together voices from numerous backgrounds and time periods with Indigenous views on present and past environmental challenges, A Canadian Climate of Mind illuminates a world that is being shaken to its core while we hesitate to act.

A critical introduction to how the Nagasaki atomic bombing has been remembered, especially in contrast to that of Hiroshima. In the decades following the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, the city’s residents processed their trauma and formed narratives of the destruction and reconstruction in ways that reflected their regional history and social makeup. In doing so, they created a multi-layered urban identity as an atomic-bombed city that differed markedly from Hiroshima’s image. Shadows of Nagasaki traces how Nagasaki’s trauma, history, and memory of the bombing manifested through some of the city’s many post-atomic memoryscapes, such as literature, religious discourse, art, historical landmarks, commemorative spaces, and architecture. In addition, the book pays particular attention to how the city’s history of international culture, exemplified best perhaps by the region’s Christian (especially Catholic) past, informed its response to the atomic trauma and shaped its postwar urban identity. Key historical actors in the volume’s chapters include writers, Japanese- Catholic leaders, atomic-bombing survivors (known as hibakusha), municipal officials, American occupation personnel, peace activists, artists, and architects. The story of how these diverse groups of people processed and participated in the discourse surrounding the legacies of Nagasaki’s bombing shows how regional history, culture, and politics—rather than national ones—become the most influential factors shaping narratives of destruction and reconstruction after mass trauma. In turn, and especially in the case of urban destruction, new identities emerge and old ones are rekindled, not to serve national politics or social interests but to bolster narratives that reflect local circumstances.

This Sacred Poetry Book introduces the reader to the concept of the Law of Forgiveness healing practice. It broadens awareness of this Graceful act of Divine Energy Healing one step at a time for the purpose of rebuilding the Soul, an ultimate act of SELF_LOVE, achieving sustainable happiness and joy. Through inspirational and motivational sequencing of Divine Energy through ITs words, this collection of spiritual, self-help poetry guides the reader through the steps of Igniting, Embracing, and Embodying their authentic self. Each word is delicate and sequenced beautifully with transcending meaning, carrying Divine Energy. In her state of BEing, Agatha Fallone Cretaro sat in union with God when she wrote Taking Back YOUr Right to Live Heaven on Earth. Her spirit, body, and mind were all aligned with the Divinity within her and, therefore, completely open for TRUTH to funnel through. How these Sacred words are organized on the page is Divinely purposeful; through them, the reader will be empowered to Take Back their right to live Heaven on Earth.

Engaging the writings of C. S. Lewis, Gary Selby contends that spiritual formation comes about not by retreating from the physical world but through deeper engagement with it. By considering themes such as our human embodiment, our sense of awareness in our everyday experiences, and the role of our human agency, Selby demonstrates that an earthy spirituality can be a robust spirituality.