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Tree
Trees play an important role in many of our most formative human tales, whether personal or communal, literal or symbolic, and they stand silently bearing witness to our present lives. Where has your story intersected with a tree in a meaningful way?
Craft
From the latest trend in crafting to the great cathedrals, from hobbies to professional skills—making things with our hands from the stuff of earth is an impulse we humans can’t ignore. Stories of learning to appreciate our own handiwork and that of others.
Call That Profit
Terms like “investment” and “profit” conjure notions of coins or bills or figures preceded by dollar signs, and yet humans cannot live on hard cash alone. The Mad Farmer (a.k.a. Wendell Berry) writes, “Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold. Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.” What are the benefits of the non-monetary ways we share profits, raise capital and make exchange for goods and services?
Backward Movement
Responding to our issue on the Enbridge oil pipeline, this issue asks whether we need to rethink progress. Today, we are confronted with accelerated movement toward cheaper, faster, newer, hipper, bigger. Progress is synonymous with production, and financial gain is understood as forward movement. But, if there is one thing that we learn from Christ's sacrifice and weakness, it is that progress is not always a forward, linear movement.
The Acceleration of Time
It seems that with every generation comes developments that alter our understanding of time. Inventions like trains transformed our understanding of speed. Then came automobiles, planes, jets and rocket ships. Now we are living in a world of instant access, prompt connections, immediate information, and fast "food." How has living in this environment altered the way we think about time, for better or worse?
The local newspaper, an endangered species of late, has been a critical chronicler of places around the world, recording the life of many communities in a way no history book ever would. What is the role of print journalism in your community, and in society at large? Beyond journalism, what is the role of books in a digital age?
(In)Efficiency
The Industrial Revolution may have given us a gazillion useful objects, but it also radically re-shaped our expectations about human purpose and the use of time. When has efficiency improved your life in a meaningful way? When has inefficiency been the better way?
Fast Food Nation
Many people and cultures throughout history have demonstrated willingness to privilege efficiency over other values like compassion, curiosity, beauty and stewardship. In what areas of our lives today is the “fast food” mentality most prevalent? What could convince us to slow down and savor the moment?
Arms Are for Hugging
Pronounced correctly, it sounds like “new clear,” but there’s certainly no consensus on what’s “clear” when it comes to nuclear weapons. Are they a justifiable last resort or an inexcusable artifact of human pride? How are Christians responding to this issue? Or is it simply a non-issue for most?
FaceSpace
Online social networking is a complex phenomenon that is both shaping and being shaped by twenty-first century sensibilities. More than just a tool for connecting with people we know, Facebook and MySpace have become arbiters of identity as we friend and un-friend, poke and post, join and leave with abandon. How do such tools help or harm our face-to-face relationships?
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