Month: November 2011

The “Desplazados” varied group of Mexican citizens who for a variety of reasons since 1994, including fall out from NAFTA, have been “displaced.” hence the name. You may have heard of the famous masked resistance group called the “Zapatistas.” Since 1994 Chiapas, Mexico southern most state has lived in low intensity warfare, struggling to preserve their ways of life, culture, land and health I went there with a Christian Peacemaking Team to visit the area of conflict and to meet, “Las Abejas,” (the Bees) a nonviolent Christian group. I was eager to learn from them. I did not expect to learn so much about knowing when to dance and when to mourn. I would have got it backwards.

29 Days of Hope

29DaysofHope Chiapas Dance Las Abejas Mexico NAFT Zapatistas

5 Counterintuitive Things to do to Perfect Thanksgiving.

Published November 23, 2011 by Doug Harrison

Be Alone Thanksgiving is a good day to be together and it is an important day to be alone. The pressure of guests and kitchen can make it difficult to really find the deeper levels of gratitude without a little silence or at least quiet. Be especially kind and help make sure your spouse, friends, kids and others get time to leave the house and go for a walk. Be present today to yourself and to God so you can be present to others.

Tohu-Bohu

Taking Cobbler from Family: grace and the everyday gift economy pt. II

Published November 17, 2011 by Doug Harrison

A second reflection on grace and gifts: Here is the first: Taking Candy from Strangers.

My Aunt Pauline’s peach cobbler, and mysterious. She is one of those magical cooks who does not work from a recipe. She has mastered the art form, knows how to do what she does and does it effortlessly. Several of us in he family, including me, have tried diligently to reproduce the magic without any notable success. For years for my birthday it is the one thing I have asked from her. Not only does she not mind, it honors her. Its like “our thing.”

Uncategorized

Published November 15, 2011 by Doug Harrison

“If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus is just as selfish as we are or we’ve got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition. And then admit that we just don’t want to do it.”
– Stephen Colbert

Worth Repeating

How Colbert’s ‘truthiness’ can teach us that truth telling and lying are both art forms.

Published November 15, 2011 by Doug Harrison

Stephen Colbert’s act is a sham, and it is a brilliant one. He executes the act so well that it took an entire segment of America months to figure out it was parody. Colbert’s greatest contribution to American politics is a word he himself coined, “truthiness.”

Uncategorized

Taking Candy From Strangers: grace and the everyday gift economy pt. 1

Published November 12, 2011 by Doug Harrison

“Don’t take candy from strangers,” is one of the first proverbial lessons we try to teach our children. Its up there with looking both ways before you cross the street. It is even higher than, “stop, drop and roll.” Its an important precursor to, “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” But it is also why my friend Rich thinks that Halloween (not all saints day, not all souls day, not a ‘harvest festival,” but Halloween) is one of the best holidays for Christians and Burners to celebrate, precisely because it is so much about candy and strangers…

The Burner life Tohu-Bohu

burning flipside burning man candy gift economy giftedness gifts halloween thank you trust

Day of the Deadline

Published November 3, 2011 by Doug Harrison

Today is All Soul’s Day. It is a day designated to remember loved ones who have died and to do so with hope and mercy. When you miss someone, like I miss my Dad, you tend go look back with mercy. I don’t forget our little conflicts or misunderstandings but I certainly care less about them, a lot less. I’d take 100 more spats to have him back around for just a little while. Its why I am so fond of All Soul’s Day. It feels like “All Saint’s Day for the rest of us.”