Brinton’s Bridges
The “Brinton’s Bridges” Blog is moving to Substack.
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Begin With the End in Mind
In ancient Israel, the Day of the Lord was preceded by locusts, but the national disaster could have been caused by frogs, gnats, flies, boils, or hail—whatever would get the attention of the people. Today, we might be hit hard by a flood, a drought, a power outage, a...
The Rise of Nature Spirituality
Fiona Nordemann is a 28-year-old who works in development for a health nonprofit. According to The Washington Post, she grew up in a nonreligious home in Switzerland and has always found meaning in nature and animals, seeing this connection as “the base of who we...
Live Whole
As a teenager, Pastor Phanta Lansden battled obesity, anxiety, and self-doubt, as many young people do. She was bullied because of her weight. By the time she reached her mid-20s, she weighed almost 300 pounds. Later, as senior pastor of St. James Presbyterian Church...
New Life for Pagans
“It was such an extraordinary blessing to be in the physical presence of our beloved community of magickal peers again," said Gwendolyn Reece, president of the Sacred Space Foundation. "I know we all felt that,” According to The Washington Post, Reece and the Sacred...
The End is Near
“The climate time-bomb is ticking,” said António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in a recent statement. "Humanity is on thin ice – and that ice is melting fast.” According to CNN, the report is based on the findings of hundreds of scientists, and...
A Warning from the Hittites
The Hittites were a superpower in the area that is modern-day Turkey, dominating the region for nearly 500 years. For a time, they even rivaled the power of Egypt. But around 1200 BC, they mysteriously abandoned their capital and religious center. Stuart Manning, an...
Witches, White Sage and Sustainability
A 23-year-old witch named Kitha sells bundles of rosemary, cedar and black sage in an online shop. Not sold, however, is white sage. “I started my shop because I was always raised [with] Indigenous values, and one of those values is that, like, we don’t own Earth,"...
Creativity and Climate Change
"Stand-up comedians have long cast an amusing lens on our society," writes Kasha Patel in The Washington Post, "crafting observations about everything we might encounter, such as family, divorce, travel, a second divorce, pets and, more recently, climate change." Yes,...
When Faith Turns Green
"We need to learn about deep green faith," says the Rev. Kevin McGrane, an Episcopal priest, "then teach it, preach it, live it." A deep green faith is based on the belief that God loves the world so much that he sent Jesus into the middle of it, to be our Lord and...
Return of the Sun
The winter solstice, the longest night of the year, falls on December 21 this year. "Since ancient times," says Encyclopaedia Britannica, "people all over the world have recognized this important astronomical occurrence and celebrated the subsequent 'return' of the...
Thanksgiving Grief
“There is a picture-postcard myth that we all see everywhere we look – that everyone is going to be sitting down at the dining room table with the traditional family dinner,” says Dr. John Oldham of The Menninger Clinic in Houston. “That’s not going to be the case for...