Eupan - Good for All - www.eupan.net

If I were making a list of “Top Ten Most Distressing/Depressing Events to Study in the World” – Genocide would be on the list. (I wonder what else I would include in my Top Ten List. How about you? What are the Top Ten Most Distressing/Depressing Events in World Today?) That being said, in our commitment to eupan, if I were to list a “Top Ten Most Encouraging/Exciting Events in the World” – Student Involvement and Student Initiative would be on the list! Really! As a University Professor who has worked with college students for over a decade, I can testify to the incredible power of students who get motivated to act. Students – sometimes out of sheer determination and strength of will – apart from having money, resources, capital or even “all the information” – do more than those of us with more money, more resources, more capital and more information. Hooray for student led initiatives!! Here are a couple of links for student led initiatives that have effected and continue to eff...

I have had opportunity to travel to a few different states over the last few months – spending time at a variety of locations from campgrounds to conference centers. The past three weeks, in particular, I have had the opportunity to be on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Every place I visit has trash receptacles, waste baskets, dumpsters, refuse containers. Human persons generate “trash” – a large volume of it from a variety of sources. Of course this is true. Every place has containers to deal with this human reality. But, only a few of the places I have visited have clear containers and prepared intentional plans for some form of recycling. Where I have been for the past three weeks, at Calvin College – my observation is that in every campus hallway – in all campus buildings – they offer – side-by-side, not one, but four options for disbursing of one’s trash. At each location where a receptacle is offered – there is the option for me to disburse my tras...

I had the privilege of reading Contagious Holiness, Jesus Meals with Sinners this morning. The text is authored by Craig L. Blomberg in the series published by InterVarsity Press entitled New Studies in Biblical Theology. The book probes and in-depth discussion of what it means to understand meals and fellowship in the old testament and new testament. The book takes into consideration the Greco-Roman context for when the text of the Bible came together, and more importantly, how Jesus was himself a participant in the culture of the Greco-Roman society, though Jesus himself was clearly Jewish alongside many of those who followed him. It is not the intention of this simple blog entry to parse out all of the various dynamics that Blomberg achieves in his full text, but instead I want to pick up on a simple aspect of Jesus as table fellowship. In my immediate situation, as part of my professional work, I have been participating in a seminar dealing with issues of genocide in the modern...

Is it possible that Christianity as a way of life in the world means nothing? While the efforts of the Eupan Global Initiative are not exclusively Christian - and while members of our effort to advance eupan do not need to advocate any specific religious perspective - it is true that I am Christian. And I want to believe that being Christian and being a part of a group of people in the the church matters. But, sometimes, it does not matter. And that pains me - and it pains David P. Gushee. In the text Genocide in Rwanda: Complicity of the Churches? - Gushee has an essay entitled: 'Why the Churches were Complicit: Confessions of a Broken-Hearted Christian." Among other things he writes: Rwanda was the most heavily Christianized country in Africa. Christian churches, seminaries, schools, and other instituations were sprinkled throughout the land. [L]ong study of the Holocaust, and now fresh study of the Rwandan genocide, has led me to the heartbroken realization that t...

The phrase "Reduce - Reuse - Recycle" have been around for quite a few years as a sort of "mantra" for thinking about how we use goods and resources and how we need to be wise stewards of the resources provided to us. The leadership team within the Eupan Global Initiative is considering various avenues through which we can effect both local and global change. In the suburbs of Oklahoma City is an old "Route 66" town known as Bethany. Bethany offers trash service two days per week - but has no recycling efforts. In fact, in our experience, trying to recycle is actually a difficult task because recycling services are very limited in the entire city of Oklahoma City. The Eupan leadership team is making plans to start with our local community to effect and change the way *this* local community trashes the environment. It seems likely to us that the local city governance could change one of the two trash days into a recycling day. In this way, the city w...

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 ...