Elizabeth Engstrom's Blog, page 13

Every Day at 5:50pm

Beginning July 1, I'm joining a group of people who will spend five minutes at 5:50pm (Pacific time; 8:50pm Eastern) every day meditating.

We expect that our energies will join to help eradicate fear and greed on this planet. We expect to concentrate on the concept of Rightmindedness in the hopes that this five minutes of concentrated effort will not only change us, but will ripple out and effect real change everywhere.

Please join us. Five minutes. Set your timer. Close your eyes and...

Who's to Blame?

I heard this on television the other day: All the oil that has spewed forth into the Gulf of Mexico to date equals what the US burns in one hour.

I also heard this: While the US comprises 2% of world population, we consume 25% of the world's energy resources.

I do not vouch for those statistics, although I don't doubt their validity.

My point is this: We are quick to vilify British Petroleum, but they are only doing what we asked them to do. More oil, please, and make it quick. My car is...

Spiritual Sustainability

On June 5, I presented my master's thesis at Marylhurst University. My topic: Spiritual Sustainability: A Personal and Social Imperative. This is the text of that presentation.

Ladies and gentlemen, professors, angels and other unseen friends. Thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning, the culminating act of an extraordinary education.  Let us begin this morning by acknowledging the miracle of having a fragment of the living God within each of us, and Jesus' spirit of truth which e...

Aren't We Lucky?

I grew up in a white, middle-class neighborhood. My dad had a good job; my mom was a homemaker, I have one brother and one sister, we had a dog and a cat, two cars and a house with a nice lawn. We went to the lake in the summer. 

All through my childhood, I was told how lucky I was. How privileged. How grateful I should be that I wasn't born in a desolate, disease-ridden part of the world, to poor parents, starving, uneducated. And I was grateful. I still am grateful.

But that's not enough any ...

Justice and Sustainability

An attorney friend not long ago asked me, "What is justice?"

Good question.

I had no answer for him, but the very next day, while doing research for a theology class, I read the answer. It came from Matthew Fox's book A New Reformation: Creation Spirituality and the Transformation of Christianity. In it, he says: "Sustainability is another word for justice, for what is just is sustainable and what is unjust is not." The flavor of that phrase resonates with me as truth.

Today, of course, I'm...

Too Busy

I'm too busy.

A variety of things have converged on my schedule for the last three weeks and for the next three. This six week period is the busiest time I can ever remember. This is when my training of "one day at a time" really comes in handy.

But really. What does "too busy" mean? Too busy to do what? To meditate? I make time for that. To appreciate my husband, my home, my health, my life? I make time for that. To work in the garden, to play with the dog, to buy groceries? I make time for...

The Twentieth Annual Ghost Story Weekend

…is now in the history books.

I have to say, this was perhaps the best weekend with the highest quality stories across the board. Everybody really rose to the occasion. You'll be reading some of those stories in magazines soon, I expect.

And now we turn our attention to Science Fiction Story Weekend this fall, perhaps in a new venue with accommodations more befitting our advancing ages, and the next Ghost Story Weekend next Spring, God willing.

We Choose Our Lives

Those of you who are parents have undoubtedly said to your pre-teen or teen, "You'll remember these times as the best times of your life." We worry that they want to grow up too fast, cutting short many childhood experiences, in quest for the more alluring adult activities. I was one of those kids; perhaps we all were. Eager to get out of high school and get a job, get out of the house, get on with life.

Well, the same holds true for today. Now that I'm "of an age" I'm in no hurry to get...

Race and the Census

I've heard all the silliness over the race options on the census form.

First of all, Black is not a race, neither is White. Those are colors. When I was in school, Caucasian and Negro were both races. African-American is a culture, not a race. So what's all the fuss about?African-Americans are insulted by being called Negro?  Am I insulted by being called a Caucasian?

Here's the real problem. There is absolutely no reason for the government to be asking such questions. All it does is inflame...

The Power of the Word

I am a writer. The job of a writer is to use the limited universe of word symbols correctly — to employ the word symbols that most precisely depict what I mean to say, and put those word symbols in the correct order so that I can be as accurate in my communication as possible. Communication is about taking what's in my head or heart and conveying that to you as completely as I am able.

When people consciously and with considered aforethought choose the wrong words to mislead, misdirect and...