Hello Again

Wild flowers in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

After Watching "Lover's Walk"

Queer Theology and Identifying Categories

I'm thinking of criticisms of how queer theology/theory’s ideas of unravelling identity has damaging effects in the lives of those for whom identity is formative and in practicality, have everything to do with how people live.  

In considering suggestions that identity is not given, but made, I think of how this idea might play with the “born this way” narrative.  I think each perspective may effectively erase the other in ways that oppress particular experiences of the world.  The “born this way” narrative is a powerful one that combats harmful worldviews that oppress LGBTQ people, but it also erases experiences of identity that are more creative or consciously self-directed and equally as important to those who hold them.  The reverse is also true.  I also share in the criticism that queer theologizing and theorizing that is not carefully and intentionally done can have the effect of obscuring oppressive forces and thereby reinforcing them.  Goss calls for solidarity, but I wonder how that solidarity plays out if part of the work of queering the world is to upturn forms/categories of identity that are ways we discern and call out oppression.

Also, in considering the call for a heuristic narrative, I wonder the degree to which queer thinking resists narrative...

After Watching "Revelations"

After Watching "Band Candy"

Critical Theory

I think the insights provided by critical theory are crucial to the work of people of faith, perhaps especially those in social locations similar to my own (relatively privileged).  Some of these insights are difficult for me to see on the surface of my daily life.  I think critique has to be a continuing part of every aspect of our life if we are to see and address the needs of the world and do so in ways that are effective.  Cultural critique is perhaps one of the most important, since I think we are often blind to our cultural lenses in ways that we are not blind to other lenses (maybe because our culture/s doesn't necessarily have physical indicators).  When theology is not subjected to these kinds of critique, it operates within a closed system of "the text" (at least in my experience), which may or may not result in theologies which speak to the real needs of the world and its people.

Context, Context, Context

Kelly Brown Douglas suggests that ancient Germanic individualism was an inspiration to the "founding fathers" (Interesting-- I feel like my education suggested our system was modeled after Greco-Roman ideals, not Anglo-Saxon).  I think the dominant modern Western self-understanding and ideology promotes a sense of individualism that (I believe) is essentially false and damaging.  As Catherine Keller notes, discerning and acknowledging our complex interconnections and refuting, in a sense, individualistic ideologies, is important to the work of moving beyond oppressive structures and frameworks.

Moder-nitty-gritty

I believe Catherine Keller would suggest that any contemporary consideration of the Christian tradition and scripture must be read in the interstices of empire, since the Christian Scriptures arise out of empire and are promulgated through it.  

God

The views of God and Nature put forth by process theologians present a more helpful view of God and the world than traditional religious views tend to offer. When the classical view of an all-powerful, masculine God is rejected for a view of a God of Process which operates through nature and humanity, the responsibility of maintaining this world is put into the hands of people and creates a much more logical, useful worldview for environmentalists. When God is no longer an abstract, perfect God, humanity is responsible for the events of creation and destruction, maintenance and neglect.

“God cannot (really cannot) force people or the world to obey God’s will. Instead, God works by sharing with us a vision of the better way, of the good and the beautiful. God’s power lies in patience and love, not in force.” –C. Robert Mesle

After Watching "Homecoming"

JVP National Member Meeting

Equality

"While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God’s creation."

— Maya Angelou (via thisplacehasknownmagic)

Palestinians Stage Protest Outside Prison

Resisting Structural Evil

spinachandmushrooms:

Just wanted to share one of my fave textbooks by my professor for “Earth Ethics as Justice Ethics”. She does a great job of teasing out what systemic injustice looks like and highlighting our ways of complicity, as well as how the privatization of morality in a structured world creates huge gaps in how, when, and whose needs are met. Her writing is very organized and her style explicit, so I think if you hear things like “ systemic violence” and don’t really know what that’s about, this could be a good place to start. Her main push is environmental justice and her lens is intersectional. #ethics #earthethics #mdiv #seminary

Life in Ancient Rome

Life in Ancient Rome

After Watching "Beauty and the Beasts"

John Shelby Spong

"These theologians [we studied in seminary] never had to deal with the reactions of ordinary folks who felt that their spiritual leader was destroying their faith. That would be the job of graduates like myself. Most graduates, I was to learn, however, would not rise to this challenge. They would graduate, pack up their seminary notes, and revert to the piety of their youth, undergirding their preaching with traditional religious understandings. They would claim the power to explain the ways of God to their congregations, thus encouraging the unbelievable concepts of a manipulative, invasive, this-world-oriented deity who governed the intimate details of people’s lives from a position just beyond the sky. I vowed that I would be different when I finally became a priest. Little did I know how difficult that would be."

— John Shelby Spong, from Here I Stand

A Good Friday Prayer

Wiesel

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest."

— Elie Wiesel (via thisplacehasknownmagic)

Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary

Good morning, Berkeley, you magical place, you. #mdivlife (at PLTS: Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary)

After Watching "Faith, Hope, and Trick"

I Want to Change People

@Regrann from @rosariodawson - #Regrann

Behave?

@Regrann from @glennondoylemelton - If it’s safe, it’s probably not Jesus. Love is messy and risky.
Make a mess! #Regrann

SF Disc Golf

#sf #ggp

Forgiveness

In moments when I can’t seem to forgive myself for my faults and mistakes, I think I will try to remember that massive list of mistakes and faults of Christianity and Christians and how much I love that mess of a Church.  I come back and love it hard every day, wanting it to live up to its potential and capable of seeing the beautiful light in the world that it can be and is, in many ways.  

And maybe I can love myself.  MLK was an unfaithful husband.  The best of us have our darkness. 

Theological Anthropology of Critical Religious Pedagogy

It is important to critically analyse how we conceive of those we teach and beyond that, how we conceive of the human condition.  As a “heretical” Christian, I find little in “traditional” anthropologies that I can identify with or that I feel offers a life-giving understanding, although Rosemary Radford-Reuther’s calls toward a feminist anthropology hit home.  I like to think of people as co-partners in creating Kingdom.  

As a future minister, my task is to take all of the theoretical ways that I interpret scripture and the world and embody them with intentionality.  It is one thing to talk about equality and another to live it.  Groome’s suggestion that “we are now Christ’s representatives to each other” he turns in on itself– this means that I need to consciously think about how I represent Christ, but furthermore, how my parishioners will (Groome, 268).  It can be easy to step into hierarchical roles that lead us to abandon our “surface” theologies when we step into ministerial or teaching roles.  The ways that I manifest Christ’s presence in my life will be critically important, but I must be continuously conscious of the reality that while I must live my anthropology, I must also make sure that I do not grasp it so tightly that I articulate my worldviews in ways that become empire-building over kingdom-building.  Christ will work differently in different people’s lives and I must honor the ways that other people represent him (Groome, 268).  

Groome, Thomas H. Christian Religious Education: Sharing Our Story and Vision. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999.

Golden Gate Park

#sf #ggp

After Watching "Dead Man's Party"

Black Lives Matter

(Source: slightlybotheredbrownboy

"The Crucified Peoples of History"

"Unfortunately, during the course of 2,000 years of Christian history, this symbol of salvation has been detached from any reference to the ongoing suffering and oppression of human beings—those whom Ignacio Ellacuría, the Salvadoran martyr, called “the crucified peoples of history.” The cross has been transformed into a harmless, non-offensive ornament that Christians wear around their necks.Rather than reminding us of the “cost of discipleship,” it has become a form of “cheap grace,” an easy way to salvation that doesn’t fore us to confront the power of Christ’s message and mission. Until we can see the cross and the lynching tree together, until we can identify Christ with a “recrucified” black body hanging from a lynching tree, there can be no genuine understanding of Christian identity in America, and no deliverance from the brutal legacy of white supremacy."

— James Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree, pg xiv-xv (via lukexvx)

(via mormonmonastery)

Jack Spong: Church Reformer

Retired Bishop John (“Jack”) Shelby Spong led a career on the front lines of the Episcopalian Church as a voice for change. As an author and church leader, he led communities to confront their racism, sexism, and homophobia despite, often, a lack of support from fellow clergy. While Bishop Spong began his career without realizing the unjust nature of some of his worldviews, he would progress to accept and affirm the identity and authority of African Americans, women, and gay and lesbian persons and to advocate for their inclusion, care, and ordination rights. Through continual education, prayer, an openness to the voices of the oppressed, the supportive and counseling relationships of selected peers, and a commitment to speaking out truth, he would help his churches and denomination move toward integrating communities in an era of segregation, ordination of women, and ordination of gay and lesbian clergy, as well as bring scholarship to laity by emphasizing adult education in his churches. By examining his life through his education; his ministries in Durham, Tarboro, Lynchburg, Richmond, and as Bishop of Newark, one can see how prayer, a commitment to prophetic honesty, deep personal relationships, and his continuing religious education sustained a ministry that brought his churches forward into more inclusive and justice-filled ways of being.

John Shelby Spong was born in 1931 in segregated North Carolina. His circles tended not to talk about race or sexuality, topics that would be at the forefront of his ministry, though he recalls being told by his father, at the age of 4, not to use respectful titles of “sir” or “ma’am” for black people and how unfair it seemed to him, even as a child.(1) When he was president of his youth group in 1949, he asked his Bishop to invite young black people to their youth convention. Spong recalls that his bishop’s refusal, which suggested that “the people are not ready for... [the mixing] of Negro boys and white girls,” “was insightful about the depth and content of racial fear in the South,” which was both racist and sexist.(2) From a young age, Spong saw the injustices within his tradition and sought to find a path toward change while remaining committed to his church. While seeking reform, Spong found in Jesus Christ “a basis for meaning, for ethics, for prayer, for worship” that he sought to convey to others.(3) He was a poor student, but he knew that such a path would require education. Despite helping to support his widowed mother and siblings as a teenager, he turned his grades around in late high school to ensure that he could attend college and make his dream of the priesthood a reality.

Jack Spong attended a religious school, the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, for undergraduate work, where he majored in Philosophy and minored in Greek.(4) His education would open him to the joys of learning and the deep spiritual satisfaction of truly examining one’s beliefs and applying them to the world. During his undergrad work, he became lay leader in charge of a small church in Roxboro, North Carolina that offered him pastoral experience and taught him the importance of listening to the voices of those he served. He entered seminary at Virginia Theological Seminary promptly after graduation.

Jack Spong’s seminary education opened his eyes in new and exciting ways. Prayer was integral to his life at this time. He had always believed in the power of prayer and prayed vigorously for his father’s health during his illness. While in seminary, he created a 24-prayer circuit to pray for a professor’s wife who had cancer. After her passing, he was forced to reconsider prayer and what its purpose was-- a dilemma that he would ponder for years and eventually write his first book on.(5) His classes on theology, likewise, challenged his ideas of God. “My personal God,” he would write, “...began to shake visibly… I had begun my long theological journey into maturity.”(6) Seeing how little the knowledge provided by seminary leaked into congregational settings, he saw the priesthood’s reversion to “concepts of a manipulative, invasive, this-world-oriented deity” as an injustice to the communities they served and “vowed that [he] would be different when [he] finally became a priest.”(7) Spong increasingly came to value how academia and continual learning could influence and enlighten one’s faith. Even today, in his 80s and retired, he continues his research and writes books to share his quest with others.

During Jack Spong’s clinical work in seminary and the sessions with his supervisor, he began to realize the need for personal care and communities of trust. After his clinical work, he sought to extend the experience with his supervisor and began a covenanted group-therapy session with his supervisor and other young couples at his seminary. This journey helped him address his own needs, better understand his wife and their friends, and helped him to realize the importance of deep, personal, mentoring friendships.(8) Jack would continue to build deep, sustaining relationships with his peers, which would provide advice, counsel, and comfort in his difficult times. As a faith leader whose wife was severely ill (she had acute paranoia and later, cancer, both of which she refused treatment for) and who found himself often at odds with his institution on important issues, the support and confidence of these relationships would sustain him in some of his most challenging times.

When Jack Spong entered the priesthood, he knew that he would make adult education important to his career. “The world I lived in was not the thirteenth century, where only the clergy were educated. My world was a dynamic, intellectually exploding world… I wanted the church to speak to that world.”(9) He felt that the theologies and academic understandings that he explored in seminary were lacking in churches-- most churches continued to spout the “same old” pious theologies that disregarded seminary educations. Spong saw this as an injustice to laity, who were largely ignorant of so much knowledge regarding their tradition, and as a dimension for expansion of spirit that was not offered in churches. At his first assignment as priest at St. Joseph’s Church in Durham, North Carolina, he began offering Sunday night potlucks to discuss current issues of politics and science in relation to faith. The college town responded enthusiastically to the honest approach to religion and the willingness to dialogue. The church began to grow.(10) As Spong began to bring education, so important to his own spirituality, to others, he saw that others’ spiritualities were also heightened by the inclusion of academic and critical understandings, as well as opening up dialogue to modern science and social issues. Such forums allowed all to deepen their religious understandings and bring their faith into very real conversation with the issues that touched their lives. Bringing academia to faith allowed for the seeming dichotomy of “knowledge” and “faith” to dissolve. Educated people who had felt religion to be problematic were able to reconcile their beliefs through exploratory dialogue and the guidance of religious academia.

A few years later, Spong would be called to another small town church in Tarboro, North Carolina, where he would find himself in the middle of further racial tension in a Southern town resisting desegregation. As Jack would socialize and minister to black members of his community, folks within his home church, which was predominantly white, would struggle with his progressive attitude. “If preachers are going to touch life significantly, they must be willing to live deeply with their people.”(11) Jack would get up early to study and thus began combining his spiritual practice of study with community. He began taking his study sessions to a local coffee shop “to drink coffee with the farmers” and other laborers, many of whom were not white.(12) This would break down some divides that were present in his town and allow Jack to be present and in community with folks in a way that can’t be accomplished in a church setting. Listening to people in a variety of settings would inform and open his mind and heart to the concerns of others. “When trust developed deeply enough between [him] and the [black community],” they shared with Jack Spong and he was able to minister to them.(13) These simple acts of treating the people of color in his town with the same dignity as the white people led to many hateful and threatening phone calls, letters, and rises in KKK activity toward him and his family. While many in the Episcopal tradition still supported segregated communities, Jack Spong felt it was imperative to live and speak in ways that were radically honest. Perhaps this was due to his understanding that “life of prayer is… the responsibility to open myself in love to the transcendent in everyone I meet… It is to live with courage and honest involvement with [the] world.”(14) This time, early in his career, was a struggle. Many elements of his community, including the local press, were intent on removing Spong from their church because of his “radical” positions. Spong drew on the strength of his friends and mentors, understanding “sharing deeply” as a form of worship.(15)

When it was time for a diocesan convention, Spong attempted what he had in his youth: racial integration. He and another priest had to battle the racism of their peers, but they prevailed. “When issues are being fought over a changing world, those who risk rejection by embracing the future and moving beyond the barriers of past prejudices are never finally hurt. Those who cling to the insights of a dying world… are the ones who will ultimately lose both credibility and integrity.”(16) Spong learned the importance of speaking prophecy and calling for justice. Voices in his church in Tarboro would start to call for his resignation, but Spong continued to speak his truth. Honesty against odds would mark his career.

When Jack Spong was called to a larger church in Lynchburg, Virginia, he also brought this prophetic honesty to his spiritual education. When called to St. John’s, his adult education class would “duck no issues, compromise no truth, and avoid no frontier to which [his] thought and study led [him].”(17) He believed that churches could be intentionally deceitful in their presentation of the Bible and thus felt it important to challenge those presentations. Likewise, his understanding of prayerfulness as a way of living required him to be open and in dialogue with his world. Academia would continue to be a focal point of Jack Spong’s spirituality that he shared with others, believing that we must journey deeply into the faith to which we are loyal.(18) He believes strongly even today that critical inquiry into our religious traditions only brings us closer to the “deeper well” in which all religious journeys meet-- a level of mysticism beyond individual traditions and touching the reality of God.(19)

When Spong’s ministry moved to St. Paul’s in Richmond, Virginia, a more metropolitan area, he encountered racial tension and a class divide that he saw as unacceptable. He observed that the majority-black city had pockets of poverty and “patterns of deep racial injustice,” such as underfunded and limited access to medical care.(20) He pioneered the “Isaiah 58:12 Program” which would partner with other organizations to work on affordable housing and open a clinic so that folks in underprivileged neighborhoods would not have to go to the emergency room for care.(21) Spong understood that systematic injustice was the responsibility of all members of a community and that the lack of basic care for some members of society was a symptom of institutionalized racism-- one that had to be addressed head on, with honest speech and prayerfulness.

During his tenure in Richmond, Jack Spong began to realize more fully that women were treated unfairly in society and in the church. He allowed a woman to serve communion in his church (despite continual criticism) and supported publicly the ordination of 11 women that bishops in the church had performed despite official church positions against female ordination.(22) When Spong was nominated to serve as Bishop of Newark, he announced that he favored the ordination of women and suggested that the “church should meet the issues of our world head on and that truth was more important… than church unity” when it came to issues of justice.(23) He would write and speak on many occasions about the injustices of the church toward women as a sin and suggest that any position of the church should be available to women.(24)

Jack Spong would soon be elected as Bishop of Newark, a position of more authority that allowed him to bring his views to a larger subset of the church, as well as the ability to advocate for justice on a larger scale within the Episcopalian body. During his tenure, the Church was struggling with the humanity and authority of LGTBQ persons, as was Bishop Spong. Amid the rising tension and controversy, many priests in his diocese came out to him. He “absorbed [their challenges] like a body blow to [his] prejudices” as he faced the reality that his imaginings of what “homosexuality” meant necessarily dissolved.(25) As he was forced to deeply consider his own beliefs, he came to the conclusion that his views had been wrong; Bishop Spong made known his views and became the first bishop to ordain an openly gay and non-celibate man to the priesthood.(26) While earlier in his career he held prejudiced views, Spong would today suggest that “we can either follow Christ or maintain our prejudices. There can be no compromise.”(27) Equal rights, recognition, and welcome must be extended to all. While this issue would continue to plague his Church after his retirement, Bishop Spong continues to speak this truth in his books and lectures, believing strongly that God’s will is done in faithful and consistent truth-telling.(28)

Retired Bishop John Shelby Spong led a career as an outspoken reformer in the Episcopal Church. As a writer, speaker, teacher, preacher, and pastor, he brought his gifts to the people and asked all to honestly engage in prayer, honesty, study, and community to confront issues of injustice in church and in society. While his views have matured over time, he was and is a powerful voice for inclusion and respect of people of color, women, and gay and lesbian persons. Through continual education, prayer, an openness to the voices of the oppressed, support of deep personal relationships, and brave honesty, he moved communities toward justice. As Bishop Spong articulates, the goal of his career “has been to combine scholarship with faith, to bring honesty and the authenticity of citizenship in the modern world to the activity of worship while continuing to walk in the faith tradition established by Jesus of Nazareth whom [he calls] Lord and Christ.”(29) The history of communities he has touched and legacy he leaves behind him is testament to the importance of both deeply spiritual and critical engagement with faith.





(1)John Shelby Spong, Here I Stand: My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love, and Equality (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2001), 16.
(2) Spong, Here I Stand, 45.
(3)John Shelby Spong, A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith Is Dying and How a New Faith Is Being Born (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2002), 1
(4) Spong, Here I Stand, 48-49.
(5) Spong, Here I Stand, 67.
(6) Spong, Here I Stand, 68.
(7) Spong, Here I Stand, 68.
(8) Spong, Here I Stand, 71-73.
(9) Spong, Here I Stand, 265.
(10) Spong, Here I Stand, 68.
(11) Spong, Here I Stand, 89.
(12) Spong, Here I Stand, 98.
(13) Spong, Here I Stand, 104.
(14) John Shelby Spong, Honest Prayer (New York: Seabury Press, 1972), 29.
(15) Spong, A New Christianity for a New World, 70.
(16) Spong, Here I Stand, 102.
(17) Spong, Here I Stand, 135.
(18) Spong, The Sins of Scripture, 243.
(19) Spong, Lecture, PSR, July 18, 2014
(20) Spong, Here I Stand, 184.
(21) Spong, Here I Stand, 185.
(22) Spong, Here I Stand, 234-236.
(23) Spong, Here I Stand, 254.
(24) Spong, A New Christianity for a New World, 5-6.
(25) Spong, Here I Stand, 281.
(26) Spong, Here I Stand, 240.
(27) John Shelby Spong, The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2006), 126.
(28) Spong, Here I Stand, 211.
(29) John Shelby Spong, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: a Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture, Reprint ed. (San Francisco: HarperOne, 1992), 11.

Works Consulted

1. Spong, John Shelby. A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith Is Dying and How a New Faith Is Being Born. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2002.
2. Spong, John Shelby. Here I Stand: My Struggle for a Christianity of Integrity, Love, and Equality. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2001.
3. Spong, John Shelby.  Honest Prayer.  New York: Seabury Press, 1972.
4. Spong, John Shelby. Jesus for the Non-Religious. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2008.
5. Spong, John Shelby. Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: a Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture. Reprint ed. San Francisco: HarperOne, 1992.
6. Spong, John Shelby. The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic. Reprint ed. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2014.

7. Spong, John Shelby. The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2006.

Solution or Problem?

princeea:

Are you in your own way? Is your OWN negative mind creating a barrier between you and your goals, hopes and dreams? Before you tackle your nay sayers or anything else you perceive as a limitation, conquer that mindset!!! #princeea #mindsetmatters #changeyourmind #changeyourlife #positivity
——

Sermon for Family Worship

Trying to finalize my sermon for family worship tomorrow. I may or may not be comparing the transfiguration to Sailor Moon. #sermonwriting #nerdpastor

That Bible Thing

“This reveals something I wish every Christian knew, and I say this as a deeply committed Christian myself: sometimes the Bible is wrong. It not only tells us about the wisdom and insights and experiences of our spiritual ancestors, but also contains their limited vision, their acceptance of things like slavery and the subordination of women. That’s not uniform, of course. There are also texts that proclaim the equality of men and women and forbid a Christian from having a Christian slave and so forth, but it’s all there, including mistaken notions about how the second coming will be soon.

We would escape a whole bunch of problems if only we all knew that and weren’t alarmed by it. The whole Genesis versus evolution controversy. For me, it’s not that the first chapters of Genesis are wrong, but they’re not meant to be taken literally. So, also the issue of whether women are supposed to be subordinate to men. That issue disappears if people are willing to say, “sometimes the Bible is wrong.”

So also with the texts that are quoted in opposition to same-sex behavior. Those passages, and there aren’t many, tell us what some of our spiritual ancestors thought and clearly they were wrong about that. So many conflicts in the church could be either resolved or handled in a very different way if only we didn’t have this uncritical reverence for the Bible.”

"

—

Marcus Borg (via affcath)

(Source: religiondispatches.org, via 2ndhalfoflife)

I am of the view that anything we love is something we should be critical of when that criticism is necessary.  We discipline our children because we love them and we want them to be good people.  We speak out against our government because we love our country and want it to be a good country.  We speak out against the injustice in the Bible because we love our faith and want it to be a healthy, loving religion for everyone.

I sometimes feel like there is this dichotomy of fundamentalists and liberals.  It goes both ways and I acknowledge myself trying to distance myself from the hurtful things that religious conservatives do, but I see the same thing happening on the other side.  Progressives aren’t “real” Christians, we are DISREGARDING and CHERRY PICKING and justifying our sinfulness via Biblical criticism… even though I think that Biblical literalists are doing exactly the same thing.

So here’s today’s reminder that biblical literalism is a modern development, that I love the Bible and my faith just as much as my brothers and sisters who are part of the “religious right” and that I think I am doing it right just as much as they do.

I am critical of the Bible not because I want to justify my own worldviews but because I have a deep desire to get close to the real meanings and truths present within it and those truths are often times obscured by literalist interpretations and by human biases inserted into the text by its authors and translators.

Buy Less Stuff

Srsly. @Regrann from @stylewiseblog - It’s hard to change your spending habits and your lifestyle to reflect your ethics.
And it’s challenging to stop consuming at a breakneck pace when that’s what you’re used to. But too often we take it for granted that the best way to live more sustainably is to slow our consumption. It’s not enough to have a wardrobe made of ethical pieces if it means you’re still buying and disposing and repeating the cycle and again and again to keep up with trends or personal whims. Being an ethical blogger and adhering to an ethical lifestyle isn’t glamorous. Sometimes it’s absolutely devoid of mass appeal. But it’s worth it in the end.
Don’t get discouraged when you see others filling their carts with spring clothing. Instead, allow yourself to think about the ways you’re being transformed and transforming the world by slowing down. Stop and smell the roses. 🌷🌹 

After Watching "Anne"

Ethical Consumerism

spinachandmushrooms:

@Regrann from @zady - Read more about supply chain transparency in The New Standard. zady.com/thenewstandard #thenewstandard #Regrann