I have been reading an interesting and insightful article on the subject of restoration.  Unifying our scientific and religious world views is possibly the most important action we can take in managing the challenges of population growth and global degradation that we now face.

Radical Restoration

The relentless pursuit of materialism destroys both men and women and their environment. The carrying capacity of the world cannot sustain limitless growth, and the related need for moral development cannot be ignored. In addressing this problem of access and excess, perhaps it is timely to consider the pertinent wisdom found in Judeo-Christian literature. 

• Ours is a world largely divided between those who have too little and those who have too much.

• “Modern man does not experience himself as a part of nature but as an outside force destined to dominate and conquer it.” — E.F. Schumacher 

• “The care of the earth is our most ancient and most worthy and, after all, our most pleasing responsibility.”—Wendell Berry 

• Every person’s obligation toward the Creation is summed up in two words from Genesis 2:15: ‘Keep it.’”—Berry

Read More at: http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/publisher-david-hulme/access-and-excess/37422.aspx

Three important markers have been at the center of child-rearing debates for decades: 1) a positive sense of self; 2) the ability to practice self-control; 3) and effective decision-making skills.

• Will creating a tension and demand-free environment promote self-esteem in a child or lower it?

• Can individuals feel good about themselves without also doing well?

• How can a parent or other significant persons assist a child to form a sense of reality that will develop the self-esteem needed for success and happiness in life?

• A set of values and aspirations will provide a means of measuring success and achievement.

• A child must learn to deal with negative appraisals and use these to overcome failures.

JERUSALEM, March 15 (Reuters) - Israeli-U.S. relations have hit a 35-year low over a West Bank settlement plan that threatens to derail peacemaking efforts with the Palestinians, Israel's envoy to Washington was quoted as saying on Monday.

The comments attributed to Ambassador Michael Oren, a noted Middle East historian, clashed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assurances that the row resulting from a settlement announcement deemed "insulting" by the Obama administration was under control.

"Israel's ties with the United States are in their worst crisis since 1975 ... a crisis of historic proportions," the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted Oren as telling other Israeli diplomats in a telephone briefing over the weekend.

The remarks, also carried by other Israeli media, appeared to refer to U.S. pressure in 1975 for an Israeli redeployment in the Egyptian Sinai, occupied by Israel since the 1967 war and the site of renewed fighting in 1973.

Read more at http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=27522

As humans, we are at the center of our own universe. How we rightly relate to other humans and to the environment we inhabit is dependent on spiritual laws. They govern all relationships. We can ignore them to our detriment or align ourselves with them and reap the benefits they promise.

Custodian. The word means a keeper, a guardian or a caretaker. It is a proactive word that implies action on the part of the bearer. Custodians hold something in trust on behalf of others. Custodianship does not imply behavior motivated out of self-interest.

A custodian, then, is an individual who upholds what is best for all people, even if it may not be in his or her own interest to do so. A custodial role must be approached as a temporary role, preserving something greater than the self—principles of enduring and lasting value. This embodies an attitude that focuses on the task at hand and not on what the leader may gain from the position. It implies a caring and concerned relationship between leaders and followers; it implies individuals motivated by their constituents’ best interests.

   - Micheal McKinney. Rediscovering Leadership: Service Versus Self-Interest (http://bit.ly/8JB2mp)

I had a dream the other night, a powerful and interesting dream.  And the really frustrating thing about it is that I can't remember what it was about.  I had a flash of it as I woke up, enough to make me think how extraordinary and meaningful it was; and the it was gone.  And so, to misquote T.S. Eliot, I had the meaning but missed the experience.

Our passion for justice often seems like that.  We dream the dream.  We glimpse, for a moment, a world at one, a world put to rights, a world where things work out, where societies function fairly and efficiently, where we not only know what we ought to do but actually do it.  And then we wake up and come back to reality.  But what are we hearing when we're dreaming that dream?

It's as though we can hear, not perhaps a voice itself, but a echo of a voice: a voice speaking with calm, healing authority, speaking about justice, about things being put to rights, about peace and hope and prosperity for all.  The voice continues to echo in our imagination, our subconscious.  We want to go back and listen to it again, but having woken up we can't get back into the dream.  Out people sometimes tell us it was just a fantasy, and we're half inclined to believe them, even though that condemns us to cynicism.

                                                                             - N.T. Wright, Simply Christian (pg. 3)

What dream are we missing in our lives?  Are we dreaming the right dream?