If I believed in God as a supreme being it would be fun to take his place during the Holidays!
For example!
If I were God I would immediately take away all weapons from dangerous and cruel human beings!
If I were God I would instantly take away power from current world leaders and elevate into power every poor and honest non-profit organization working to save lives.
If I were God I would instantly grow large trees in every empty space and create flower and vegetable gardens near or under those trees using companion planting and without using pesticides.
If I were God there would be an abundance of free food and water and clean air for every living person.
If I were God every child would have a loving mother and father.
If I were God there would be no sick children, anywhere!
If I were God fear would not exist and would be replaced with love and compassion.
If I were God every adult would have a fulfilling and creative employment.
If I were God every human being would have the capacity to learn all the secrets of the universe.
Sadly, I do not believe in God as a supreme being but happily I do believe that God is a great name for the eternal energy of the universe. I also accept and understand the idea that I am energy compiled into a human form and therefore I am a small part of the eternal energy of the universe. In other words you and I and all living things are part of God...but before you become too ego inflated...so are all inanimate objects.
I also accept, during the Holidays, every other religious name created by human beings attempting to understand the eternal energy of the universe. Happy Holidays!
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JOSEPH Raglione,
We so appreciate all you do as a member of our Community. Just wanted to be sure you saw this.
All the best,
Michael
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The coming holidays are the high season of consumerism. Around the world, people are gripped by a frantic push to get into shopping malls and buy, buy, buy. This is all part of The Story of Stuff, a tale of infinite growth and constant work that is ripping up our planet and making us miserable in the process.
But together with you, we at the Story of Stuff Project have been writing a different narrative, full of stories that focus on improving our quality of life, not the quantity of Stuff in our lives.
Our stories have reached more than 10 million people this year alone, inspiring countless heroes to grow Solutions – from the Community member who started the first recycling program for Goiania City in Brazil, to the member who created the app Think Dirty to inform women of toxins in beauty products, to the member who created Zip 2 Water, a portable water filtration system to cut down on bottled water usage at outdoor events.
You, The Story of Stuff Community, are why we do our work. Whether working alone or together, you are living proof that a better world is possible. Together, we are pushing back against the hectic consumption and highlighting a better world. We cannot do it without you, the 800,000-strong global Story Community members, and we want to further empower you become even stronger agents of change.
This fall, we launched our Citizen Muscle Boot Camp, a four-week online program that helps participants discover their purpose and talk about and gather friends around that purpose to make a difference. Already hundreds of you have used the Boot Camp to identify the issues you are passionate about and start flexing your citizen muscles. We are on track for thousands more of you to follow in the year ahead.
We are planning to invest in new technology and staff to work directly with Boot Camp graduates to bring their Solutions to life in their local communities. Your contribution will enable us to harness the energy of the Story Community and begin building a better world from the ground up in local communities across the planet. We want to empower you to successfully pass a plastic bag ban in your local community, work to preserve the natural landscape, or improve your local recycling program.
Individually, we are inspired to find Solutions to the many problems we’re facing, but as Annie highlights in The Story of Change, individual action is only the first step. That’s why we’re growing our Campaigns Team, to leverage your collective power to create positive change around the world. Together, you are telling a new Story -- standing up for ourselves, our neighbors and this incredible place we call home. We already accomplishing big things, from helping pass America’s first state-level plastic bag ban in California to supporting the community of Fryeburg, Maine in its fight for a local water resource to helping Australians preserve the primordial forests of Tasmania.
You are speaking out to preserve our natural resources, reduce waste, and push back against the rampant consumerism making us miserable. Though the campaigns program has only been up and running for a few months, you have already taken over 800,000 actions. In the coming months we hope to hire more campaigners to amplify your voice even further, taking it to decision-makers in governments and multinational headquarters around the globe.
That’s not all – we are also building out local Chapters of the Story around the world, allowing you to connect with other Community members and share your own stories. These will allow you to connect with people who share your values, to talk about positive Solutions and engage in the collective work of making those Solutions real.
We have a big task ahead, but we have an incredible Community behind us. We know that a better world is possible, and we are seeing it created with each person who hears our message and uses it to better their lives and the lives of those around them.
Thank you for all you do!
Michael O'Heaney, Executive Director of The Story of Stuff
P.S.