Replacing the Faltering, Out-of-Date Global Economy

We give primary attention on this website to contributing to the new economic model that makes the current one obsolete—just like the quote from Buckminster Fuller that we display prominently urges us. The pain inflicted by the obsolence of the current economy mounts in the rising use of carbon even though our atmosphere, oceans, and permafrost are overloaded and species from polar bears to forests are victimized by loss of habitat and disease. Increasing food prices and energy prices worldwide are not coming down as people use more of their incomes for both. The litany is extended in the news every day.

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Unwrapping Christmas in a Different Paradigm: Fear or Fear Not? (4 of 5)

Joseph was in a fix. He’d been excited about his upcoming marriage to Mary, but she just told him she was pregnant. As Matthew tells the story, Joseph was a man who lived righteously—in a good way. If he made a big deal about how Mary says she got pregnant, he might save face in the community for himself, but Mary would then bear all the social disgrace. She could even be stoned. Even if she was allowed to live, she had no economic viability, being unmarried, pregnant, and a peasant teenager. Joseph couldn’t resolve his dilemma, caught in fears of violating either social expectations or his own sense of what was right. What to do?

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Unwrapping Christmas in a Different Paradigm: Jesus vs. Caesar (3 of 5)

A lot of attention has been given to locating the birth of Jesus precisely in history. So, for example, 4 B.C.E. is a commonly seen year of his birth. But the Gospel writers had an opposite concern, namely, how to break their story out of the confines of history. They did it too—by making their story cosmological in scope.

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Unwrapping Christmas in a Different Paradigm: Mary's Song of Joy (2 of 5)

It’s widely known how Mary saw the Angel Gabriel and through him learned that she would conceive through the Holy Spirit, bear a son whom she was to name Jesus; that he would be “called the Son of the Most High,” given the throne of David, and that there would be no end to his kingdom. Wow! Imagine sitting still for that one!

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Unwrapping Christmas in a Different Paradigm (1 of 5)

“We won’t be able to have much of a Christmas this year” are words that could come from millions this December. But it’s true only if Christmas equals buying and giving commercial gifts. It’s true only if the story of the malls is the true Christmas event.

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