Labor day reminds us of the love for our neighbors. God does not merely call us to love ourselves and our immediate families and friends. God calls us to love all of our neighbors. This love for neighbors includes the love for the millions of workers in our own country and in the world. Let us not forget that most of us work for a living as well because work is optional only for the wealthiest one percent. Small and mid-size business owners are working people too.
Read MoreMy first "real" job was the summer after graduating from high school. I worked for my uncle at a salmon cannery on the far side of Kodiak Island, Alaska. Days off were few and far between. The 4th of July celebration happened on the 5th that year because the boss said so. The long hours made for tired bodies, albeit with bigger paychecks.
Read MoreThe incidents in Ferguson and New York have not only highlighted longstanding racial tensions, but have also laid bare the disparities facing black citizens throughout our country. While these cases raise questions about the prevalence of racial profiling and police misconduct, they also reach far beyond that, stressing ongoing issues of economic inequality, housing discrimination and unequal access to adequate education. And it rises from the deep fear and despair that clings to walls of inner-city tenements, and reeks from the tar paper shacks that still dot the Old South.
Read MoreThe following story is part of the Vocation of Peacemaking series where we asked members and friends of the BPFNA to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This essay comes from Linda and Bill Mashburn, long-time BPFNA members who recently moved to a retirement community in Abingdon, VA.
Read MoreIf tomorrow is anything like today, we’re in for a hard day’s night, scented with tear gas. It’s hard to blink without missing another beat of voracious and brutal hearts unleashed in the world. It’s a cable news network bonanza, with anchors as breathless as reporters on the Weather Channel during a hurricane.
Read MoreThe following is a sermon by BPFNA member Meredith Guest that she shared with the Unitarian Universalist congregation of Petaluma, California on September 1, 2014.
Read MoreWhen did peace become a peripheral issue? How can ministers read the Gospels and think peace is an optional topic? When Jesus preached, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” he included preachers... When ministers are afraid to speak prophetically about peace they fail to be a voice for the Prince of Peace.
Read MoreI’m feeling confused in general these days, especially about the threatened attack on Syria. We have a President who was elected in part because of his criticism of the war in Iraq, and a Secretary of State who had a hard time, originally, getting elected to the US Senate because earlier in his life he was an outspoken critic of the war in Vietnam. These two public figures are dual drum majors in the march to war with Syria, while many Republican war hawks are saying “hold on, not so fast.”
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