Spirit in Action

Frances Ford conceived of The War Plays Project, Inc in the period leading up to the US invasion of Iraq, a way to invite people to think of the too-little-thought-of aspects of war. She and the other folks with The War Plays Project have produced a series of short plays going beyond what the mainstream media is willing to consider.

Judy Hyde is a perpetual source of healing and fun for the world. She's been working for Free the Slaves for several years, finding ways to stem the record numbers of people - and especially kids - held captive for slave labor.

Elizabeth Gordon recounts the spiritual & cultural odyssey in her newly released book, Walk With Us . When she and her female partner take into their home a 14-year old expecting triplets, it is a learning experience on multiple levels, mixing as it did Black Muslims and white Quakers, straight and gay, not to mention the generational differences. Elizabeth recounts the deeply emotional and po...

A visit with Poppy Moelter about the wholeness/healing modality called Integrative Breathwork, a method using music and breath as keys to access healing and change along the developmental levels corresponding to the chakras.

On September 11, 2007, the people of Eau Claire gathered at Phoenix Park to remember the events of 6 years earlier, but also to seek a way forward to a better, healed world. Take part in the music, reflection and visioning of the event on this program, including the keynote by Mike Boehm, founder of the My Lai Peace Park & Loan Fund, and other acts of reconciliation with Vietnam, Japan and Cen...

Laura and DeeAnn caught a passion for the work because of Ending Hunger Now, a book by George McGovern, Bob Dole, and Donald Messer (Democrat, Republican, and minister - but all Methodists) as part of a Lenton study group at River Falls United Methodist Church. The work of Ending Hunger Now is endless, but Laura, DeeAnn & others bring nearly boundless energy & creativity to the work.

A visit with Amy DeLong, founder of Kairos CoMotion, an organization aiming to Reform, Network and Act-Up within the United Methodist Church to confront discrimination, including that against gays and lesbians.

Mary Rehwald spear-headed the successful effort of the city council to declare Ashland, WI an ECOmunicipality, incorporating the Natural Step process. Mary is a member of Ashland's City Council and a Northland College faculty member. A life-long Unitarian, she has a special spiritual calling toward building community. She has a stong connection to caring for the earth and living responsibly upon i...

A visit with Peder, Adam & Megan in Jerusalem, on site in the Middle East to shoot a film about the Israeli occupation. They hope to provide a picture of the Palestinians to humanize them and their plight in face of the very unbalanced media picture we typically see in the USA. Peder, Adam & Megan are college Juniors and Seniors with studies in Political Science, Anthropology and Film.

Snapshot visits at this year's Energy fair, including Stan Gruszynski keynote, Steve Mellenthin, Mike Miles of Anathoth, music by Pine Wilson & Kevin Soucie, Community Homestead visitors, Ned Boyles workshop on Reality 101, exhibitors TS Designs, Tall Grass Bioneers, SonLight Power and Lake Michigan Wind & Sun, and part of Judith Levine's keynote on her "Not Buying It" book.

The Midwest Renewable Energy Association Energy Fair is an amazing event, rich in speakers, workshops, vendors, music and more than 16,000 attenders. I went with an ear for the voice of the Spirit - and heard PLENTY. A collage of many folks who took part, as I roamed around the fair grounds on June 15-17, 2007.

Bill Wiese has served as a kind of representative of 6 Eau Claire area churches to UW-Eau Claire in a program known as "The Ministry". Bill, a life-long Methodist, provides a portal to the community for the students and enriches their lives by doing things like teaching free yoga sessions and sharing from his more than a decade under a Native American teacher.

A visit with Ruah Swennerfelt and Louis Cox about their role with Quaker Earthcare Witness , the paths that led them to lives of earth & spiritual activism, their lives "off the grid" in Vermont ... and much more. Interviewed July 8th, 2005 at the Friends General Conference gathering held at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia

Kelly has served one year in Colombia, South America, as part of the International Peace Observatory (IPO), and is heading back now for further volunteer service doing human rights accompaniment. She shares stories "from the ground" in Colombia, the people, the violence and the causes.

John Williams was a Catholic priest in his 20's, till he felt another calling. He taught for decades at University of Wisconsin - Stout, in the Human Development and Family Living Department. Now in semi-retirement, he has help found a Pax Christi chapter at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Menomonie.

David Orr, chairman of the Environmental Studies program at Oberlin College and author of 5 books, spoke at UW-Eau Claire this past April. His talk was passionate, thoughtful, challenging and inspirational, as it discussed the dangers and hopes surrounding the fate of life on this planet.

Jo Vallentine was the first Australian Green Party Senator. She brought principled action to Australia's federal Senate, earning her the scorn of many "business as usual" politicians, as she served as advocate and voice in Australia's Parliament for a number of progressive issues for 8 years

Ina May Gaskin is an internationally recognized leader in advocating for Spiritual Midwifery. She is also an author, activist and advocate whose spiritual insights and empowerment have been part of the incredible exploration which is The Farm, the spiritual-based intentional community in Tennessee, founded in the early 1970's.

Partners For Peace sponsors Israeli & Palestinian peace-working women to speak throughout America, to tell their first-hand stories and call all to peace & justice. Tal Dor, Huda Abu Arqoub and Amal Nassar spoke to students of North High School in Eau Claire this April.

Professor Dewitt dwells comfortably, even passionately, in two worlds that many see as inconsistent. Cal is a Professor of Environmental Studies, teaching Environmental Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as part of the Gaylord Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies. I speaks - and acts - on the Evangelicals & the Environmental, and on the spiritual journey of John Muir.

Sami Rasouli is an Iraqi-born American citizen who returned to Iraq in the aftermath of the US war there, in order to try to help rebuild Iraq. Inspired by the example of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) , he has helped organize the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT).

Martha Nieman and Brenda Gagnon are nurse midwives in Eau Claire with a few decades of experience between them. They share of the spiritual nature of their work and how it flows from and is rooted in their spiritual lives.

Mike Boehm was angry after the Vietnam War, a war for which he volunteered, as he learned of the deceipt and injustice that were part of that war. After a retreat from society, he found a new and powerful calling as he became the leading force toward establishment of 2 peace parks and many micro-credit loan funds to heal some of the wounds of the war, both for Americans and Vietnamese.

Pete Wagener spoke at the 2006 Veterans Day event sponsored by the Veterans for Peace . His stories about what he learned in his 4 years with the Marines, in facing his alcoholism, and in the course of the 5 years he spent in Russia, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, are personal and powerful.

A visit with 5 men of the men's group, The Clearwater Men's Council. The group has been meeting in Eau Claire since 1990, changing the lives of hundreds of men over that time.