Category Archives: Sustainability

Reaping to the Very Edge

Posted on October 8, 2014 by hessd

So…here’s an idea you might not have considered for a while. “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Biblical Studies, Society, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Save the Planet! O.K. How Long?

Posted on September 12, 2014 by hessd

I am not the first person to wince at “Save the Planet!” bumper stickers  I know there is a context that needs to be taken into account, but sometimes you can get a fresh look at an issue by refusing to … Continue reading →

Posted in Sustainability, Theology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Deciding to go to “war”

Posted on August 27, 2014 by hessd

Today, I want to consider how we go to war. We need to consider why “war” has those quotation marks around it. And, more crucially, I want to consider how we don’t go to war.  As Americans, we seem to … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Psychology, Politics, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Are the people of Feathertown, Tennessee, Idiotēs?

Posted on June 1, 2014 by hessd

I think so.  I am going to offer some information about Feathertown from Barbara Kingsolver, who invented it and described it in her marvelous novel, Flight Behavior.  She has set a major dilemma in Feathertown: what to do about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Political Psychology, Politics, Sustainability, ways of knowing, Words | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Eating Right”

Posted on May 28, 2014 by hessd

There are lots of other ways to say that.  One of the common ones, “eating healthy,” I reject on grammatical grounds.  It means “eating healthfully,” but no one says that anymore and saying it just changes the subject from “food” … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Sustainability, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Honoring the Elderly

Posted on May 8, 2014 by hessd

Respect for the elderly.  That was always a hard sell for me when I was young.  I think I was a more achievement-oriented than a traditional-values little kid.[1]  Now I’m old and it still seems mostly like a scam to … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Society, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

What to wear to the commons

Posted on April 2, 2014 by hessd

  “Nobody washes a rental car,” runs an oft-repeated conservative lament. “Farmers don’t prevent their cattle from overgrazing and killing the commons” runs an oft-repeated liberal lament. You can’t exactly say either of these is false, but I think we … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Political Psychology, sociability, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Mother Nature holds all the cards

Posted on March 25, 2014 by hessd

I want to think out loud for a little while today about the Oso landslide in Washington.  When I heard the news on Monday morning, my first thought was that they are now naming the landslides the way they name … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Psychology, Politics, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Being nice to Siri

Posted on March 18, 2014 by hessd

Siri, would you set an alarm for 3:30 please? Siri, set an alarm for 3:30. Damn it, Siri, I told you to set an alarm for 3:30 As you know, “Siri” is a “personal voice search assistant.”  She (Siri has … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Sustainability, ways of knowing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Should Obesity be a ‘Disease’?”

Posted on February 24, 2014 by hessd

“Should Obesity be a ‘Disease’?” That’s the headline on a piece in the New York Times by Crystal Hoyt and Jeni Burnett, both of the University of Richmond.  It irked me a little and I had to stop and remember … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Psychology, Politics, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments