Eupan - Good for All - www.eupan.net

According to James Waller, page xiv (Preface) in his text, Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing : "Throughout human history, social conflict is ubiquitous. Wars erupt naturally everywhere humans are present. As Winston Churchill said, "The story of the human race is war. Except for brief and precarious interludes there has never been peace in the world; and long before history began murderous strife was universal and unending." Since the Napoleonic Wars, we have fought an average of six international wars and six civil wars per decade . On average, three high-fatality struggles have been in action somewhere in the world at any moment since 1900. The four decades after the end of World War II saw 150 wars, involving more than 60 member states of the United Nations, and only 26 days of world peace - and that does not even include the innumerable internal wars and police actions. Buried in the midst of all our progress in the twentieth ...

We planted a garden several weeks back. I do not even remember when we planted for sure. We spent time today working it. Perhaps 6 total "man" hours were involved today. But, the mystery is that over the past several weeks - in incremental moment and times, the work of creation has been doing its work. While I believe in God - and uniquely believe in who God is made known in the person of Jesus - I like the language of Jesus in parables concerning gardens, soil, seeds, and harvest. In a parable of Jesus in Mark's Gospel, Jesus relates the following - which I have chosen to render in "my own translation" simply for consideration and pause - adding periods to slow down our reading: It is also like this with the Kingdom. A man scatters seed. On the earth. Night. Day. He sleeps. He wakes. The seed sprouts. The seed grows. He does not know how. By itself. The soil produces. Grain. First the stalk. Then the head. Then the full kernel in the head. As soo...

By our anthropocentric bias, it seems evident that many world crises are anthropogenic, perhaps leading to our anthropocide - and certainly the extinction of some species within the biosphere. We can change our ways. Will we? ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d.

I strive to be a person who effects, embodies, and lives toward eupan . It is not easy. I may, in fact, be a horrible model or example of it - and I am certainly no exemplar. Today I am reminded of the reality that individual persons continue to perpetuate and extend violence in our world. In the name of justice, sometimes violence is effected. I pray for many people; parishioners, kids, family members, criminals, students, administrators, politicians, sinners, saints, doctors, teachers, wives, husbands, addicts, lawyers - and the list could go on. I strive to be a person who effects, embodies and lives toward eupan . . . but sometimes prayer is easier. Praying for people is easy. Actually living out goodness, especially towards those who perpetuate and extend it, is much more difficult. So, I pray. I pray that God will help me to effect eupan . Prayer is easier than embodiment. Embodying goodness takes more work than prayer. But, I will continue to pursue prayer - and embodied go...

On page 32 of his book, Hot, Flat and Crowded , Thomas Friedman writes "To put it another way, the Industrial Revolution gave a whole new prominence to what Rochelle Lefkowitz, President of Pro-Media Communications and an energy buff, calls 'fuels from hell' -- coal, oil, and natural gas. All these fuels from hell come from underground, are exhaustible, and emit CO2 and other pollutants when they are burned for transportation, heating and industrial use. These fuels are in contrast to what Lefkowitz calls 'fuels from heaven' -- wind, hydroelectric, tidal, biomass, and solar power. These all come from above ground, are endlessly renewable, and produce no harmful emissions." This reminded of a June 26, 2008 post from a brilliant friend, James K.A. Smith on his blog , which I will cite below (with permission). If we are committed to eupan , we must consider ways in which we consume goods and resources for our good, that “take away” from the good of others. We...

At Southern Nazarene University, we are pleased to announce the formation of Student Government's Task Force for Campus Stewardship and Sustainability! This group will dedicate themselves to having their voices heard regarding practices of sustainability that affect students today, and students of the future! If you have an interest in being on this Task Force? Membership is OPEN to ALL!, the first meeting is Wednesday, April 15th at 2:00pm, at SNU, in the Student Life Conference Room located in the Webster Commons. by Stephen Vandervort posted by Marty Alan Michelson

The Oklahoma Society for Science and Faith (OSSF) is pleased to announce the Ecological and Environmental Ethics conference to be held on the Southern Nazarene University campus on April 23 - 25, 2009. Keynote speakers include Dr. Larry Rasmussen, Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth and Dr. Laura Ruth Yordy. I have the privilege of serving on the Board of the OSSF and have read written works by each of the authors and am certain the conversation and reflection will be worthy of your time. ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d.

I have returned from a week of teaching in Costa Rica - in the Cloud forest located in San Gerardo de Dota, a small community in the Talamanca mountains in the midst of a precious ecosystem. One of many observations I came home with has to do with simple practices of "reduce, reuse, recycle." We lack good models for reducing, reusing, and recycling. (And, particularly in Oklahoma, in my observation.) While I was with undergraduate and graduate students, professors and parents who work in the midst of the laboratory environment in Costa Rica, I noted that they reuse and recycle - well, everything! From writing on pages across the entire line (ignoring those faded pink lines that leave white space) - to printing on the back side of every piece of paper - to composting all food and sorting through all tin, aluminum, cardboard, paper, and more - I came home with a model that I can pick up on whereby I might learn to practice better the issues of care and concern for my own, per...

Passing along information here as I continue to learn. The size of the problem equals the size of the opportunity The Natural Step is an international not-for-profit organisation [sic] dedicated to education, advisory work and research in sustainable development. Since 1989, we have worked with thousands of corporations, municipalities, academic institutions and not-for-profit organisations [sic] that have proven that moving strategically toward sustainability leads to new opportunities, reduced costs, and dramatically reduced ecological and social impacts. The Natural Step Framework is a proven, scientifically robust model that helps organisations [sic] make pragmatic decisions to move toward sustainability. We research the science of sustainability and link it to real world applications. We create dialogue about the opportunities and challenges in building a sustainable future. We are accelerating change toward sustainability. ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d.

The Eupan Global Initiative will host Dr. Dennis Siegfried for a public presentation on Monday Night, April 6th. At 6:00 p.m., Dr. Siegfried will be presenting in the S.T. Ludwig Religion Building around the theme: "Environment and a Christian Perspective." Professor Dennis Siegfried is a faculty member in the biology department at Southern Nazarene University (SNU). He is extremely involved in the operations of Quetzal Education Research Center (QERC) and in its education and research missions. Dr. Siegfried holds the Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma and is a member of several scientific communities, including the Academy of Evangelical Scientists and Ethicists, the American Ornithologists’ Union, and the Ecological Society of America. For more information, see www.savegre.co.cr/qerceng.html and southernlight.snu.edu/QERC/ The presentation will last approximately 60 minutes and will be followed by a time for public Questions and Answers. Please direct any questions ...

I am not thrilled about violence. But I am thrilled to take note of an exciting opportunity for me, personally, and for future options for the Eupan Global Initiative . I have been selected to be among other scholars in considering issues of violence and the church. The Seminar I am now making plans to attend (based on the announcement of my selection today!) is part of the Calvin College series of Seminars in Christian Scholarship. The seminar focus includes: “Deliver Us From Evil: Genocide and the Christian World” will explore the role of the church as a social institution, with institutional actors, and how it shapes a culture in which genocidal violence may occur and how it responds to such a culture both during and after the genocidal violence. Over a three week period, participants will critically examine the role of the Christian churches in 20th century genocide and the subsequent consequences for Christian thought and practice in the contemporary world. Embedded throughout...

Crucifying Jesus or indebtedness in quantities that are this excessive?

In the context of the story of origins narrated in the Bible, it all starts with a garden. One way to frame the story of God, most briefly is that Creator creates creation. The idea of Creation and the quality of that creation - namely, "good" - is a core idea to the foundation of eupan and the Eupan Global Initiative . I have commented briefly elsewhere that one of the first distortions of Creators "good" creation arrives in the violence of Cain. Another interesting feature of the story of origins as found in Genesis (in the Bible), lies in the fact that as distortions in creation began to pervade the story, the story also indicates in subtle ways that persons move further and further "east" of God's garden. (See Genesis 4:16, 11:2, 29:1) It does seem to be the case that the story of creation demonstrates in geography as well as in orientation, that people "move away" from God's garden. To the extent that we can, metaphorically, get ...

Every few months I get the opportunity to teach a class on Biblical and Theological perspectives for understanding human personhood. For me, this means we have to talk about relationships since human personhood is fundamentally relational. I get the opportunity to teach L. Gregory Jones' text entitled Embodying Forgiveness . Jones argues that violence does not have to be our master. He articulates a cruciform way of discerning the world, whereby we understand that God in the person of Jesus offers an example of how to make forgiveness happen. This forgiveness is not cheap or "therapeutic" but "costs" Jesus something, and costs us something too. Perhaps I will have more to say about it later. We need more models and better models of embodied forgivness. We need exemplars of how to overcome the patterns of violence in our world. ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d.

I was reading God Gardened East by Louis Ruprecht the past few days. In the opening chapter he tells a story about an experience he had, meeting with a Philosopher while he was in Athens, Greece. The Greek Philosopher critiqued the American (Louis) for his failure to understand numbers. "The problem with you Americans," he noted with a sad smile, "is that you don't know how to count." Eyebrow arched, and a little defensive, Louis asked him what he meant. "You lack patience," he explained. "You don't take the time to think what numbers mean." The Greek Philosopher went on to note that, in his purview, most Americans do not understand the difference between a million and a billion . Louis would quip to the Greek Philosopher that he did know the difference - "Three more zeroes." The Greek Philosopher failed to laugh. One million seconds, the philosopher patiently explained, is roughly ten days long. Do you know how many days ar...