Warming up where you live? The
Warming up where you live? The first day of spring came over the weekend, and already windows are open and people share sidewalk lunches at area cafes. Planning a picnic or gathering with friends and family? Stock up at garage sales and thrift stores on mismatched plates and flatwares to have on hand and share at these events. Eliminate the need for plastics and non-recyclables, show up in style, and savor the land for future outdoor activities.
image via http://pinterest.com/pin/8354245/
It is one of those
It is one of those odd winter days where it suddenly warms enough to open the windows. Robins with chests as orange as bricks peck in the withered brown leaves outside, dipping their necks into a bowl of water puddled beneath our rain barrel. Spring is not hard to imagine at this point, though we hope the tree buds don’t become overzealous, because we know winter will fight back before long. Most of are aware that indoor air pollution can be up to 10 times worse than outdoor air pollution. Opening the windows, first chance you get (and often) can clear out some of the VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) produced from heating, the off-gassing of paints, mattresses, flooring and tracked-in pesticides.
(Photo via Natural Home Magazine)
Then, when you are ready to set in with some spring cleaning, here are some easy recipes to remove grime while neutralizing the air in which you breathe. It’s a slight time investment to make your own household cleaners, but as you will see, it is easy, healthier, and saves money over the long haul.
These recipes are via Natural Home Magazine.
All-purpose cleaner and disinfectant
Just as effective as popular antibacterial cleansers, this formula is perfect for kitchen and bathroom surfaces.
2 cups hot water
¼ cup white vinegar
½ teaspoon washing soda (similar to, but more caustic than, baking soda)
15 drops tea tree essential oil
15 drops lavender essential oil
Combine all ingredients in a reusable spray bottle and shake well. To use, spray on surfaces, especially cutting boards, countertops and toilets. Wipe with a dry cloth.
Creamy nonabrasive cleaner
Perfect for acrylic and fiberglass surfaces, this smooth cleanser won’t scratch tubs, stovetops or laminate countertops.
¼ cup borax
Vegetable oil-based liquid soap (also known as castile soap)
½ teaspoon lemon essential oil
In a small bowl, combine borax with just enough liquid soap to create a thick paste. Add essential oil and blend well. To use, scoop a small amount of cleaner onto a damp sponge. Scrub surface and rinse well.
Let us know how it goes! E-mail us at media@rswr.org if you have recipes, or other eco-tips to share.
~Betsy B.
Sabbath Economics 101
An evening with Will O’Brien
“The Bible says more about economics than it says about sex!” Will O’Brien tells an intergenerational gathering inside a Lexington, KY living room.
It’s an interdenominational crowd, as well. We’ve just shared a potluck meal and Will, sitting cross-legged at the front of the room, gently pushes his glasses up his nose, opens a tattered Bible and begins the topic on why we’ve come together—something called “Sabbath Economics.”
Sabbath Economics is a bit nebulous to define, but boils down to living one’s life in a rhythmic manner, instructed through scriptural teachings, that promotes a life (and world) that is properly balanced. Through this practice, there is adequate work and rest, needs are met, and the societal burdens of both poverty and excess are alleviated.
Will muses at how much time and energy our faith communities spend tangling on issues of sexuality, of which the Bible speaks little and sometimes vaguely. This contrasts the Bible’s vast teachings on economic practice—that is how we spend our time and resources—and is often more explicit.
Will is a respected educator on this topic. Based in Philadelphia, he is a long time advocate for the homeless and those living in poverty. He is coordinator of the Alternative Seminary, and is a writer and editor for inspiring and artful Consp!re magazine.
I first came to know Will through a related class series last year at the Alternative Seminary in inner-city Philadelphia. I found my faith journey richly enlivened as Will powerfully demonstrated that dusty, youth-taught Bible stories are actually pulsing,
relevant instructions for a modern life lived faithfully and wholly. The discussions and realizations in that class have led me to reconsider much in my own life.
On this particular night, we only have about an hour to meet and the topic of Sabbath Economics is broad. Will does his best to succinctly share some ideas and guidelines.
Pointing to the “Loaves and Fishes” story of Jesus feeding the 5,000—a story that appears prominently in each of the gospels—we see that out of perceived scarcity, there ends up being enough for everyone with some even left over. Will draws our attention to the language Jesus uses in this story. Jesus seems to be referencing instructions given to the Israelites when Moses led them from bondage into a new covenant and way of being. (Read Exodus 16.)
In this model, you take only what you need—no more and no less—and have faith that God will provide the rest. “Provide the rest” is a powerful theme in Sabbath Economics, in which we are asked to labor, it’s true, but we also are invited to rest. Trust in a loving Creator provides the freedom that we can (and need to) take time to rejuvenate, enjoy, refuel and relax. It is commanded.
We will not always get it right. We miscalculate what we have, or what it takes to meet our needs. Our needs will also change unexpectedly through life-shifts that we can’t always anticipate. Through Sabbath Economics teachings however, there are systems in place to restore balance to individuals, communities, and lands. If we do not observe these, gross inequities occur. We see this exemplified in scripture and today in our surrounding world. God’s children are allowed to be crushed into poverty, the wealthy choke on excess, crimes against one another ensue, and destruction overtakes. We burn out. In the story of Moses, we see that this is the system—the old way—that the slaves have been freed from, with an opening, as God’s Chosen, to pursue life in a new way.
This is the new way:
We are to labor six days and rest on the 7th. We are to possess only what we need. Every seventh year, we are to observe a sabbatical as a community. While in sabbatical, we are to forgive (and be forgiven) of misdealings, to free those who have been forced to become debt slaves, and to let the land lie fallow (interpretable in both literal and various personal ways.) We are to focus on spiritual and physical restoration. After 49 years (7 x 7), we enter into the 50th year, which is called “Jubilee.” This season in Jewish law, instructs every household to recover its absent members, the land to return to its former owners, any slaves to be set free, and the remission of debts.
This is a time for us (as a community, group, or nation) to initiate the pardon of debts, release inequities, and open an intentional space for joy.
In both Greek and Hebrew, the word for Spirit also means “breath.” Will led us in a physical exercise drawn from the Burning Bush story in which Moses first encounters God whose name is given as “Yahweh.” As the name is repeated, Yah-weh, we notice that it sounds an awful lot like the intake and exhalation of breath. Could God be, at least in part, something of the life force being brought in, out, and through us? Is God as close as the pulse of our heart, the opening and constricting of our lungs?
Indeed we are brought back to this simple act of rhythmic grasp and release. Will demonstrates this motion, clenching his fists to him, then opening his palms outward.
We toil and we rest. We seek to control and be free from control. We clutch our possessions, then by sharing, unburden the weight. We need, we are needed. We forgive, we are forgiven.
This is part of the vision that God has for us. This is Sabbath Economics.
by Betsy Blake (betsy@rswr.org)
To learn more, visit:
Sabbath Economics Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbath_economics
Sabbath Economic Collaborative: http://www.sabbatheconomics.org/content/index.php
Sojourners Magazine article:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4010/is_200805/ai_n27899610/
More photos from the evening:
And a short video clip:
