Author Archives: John Lundin

About John Lundin

JOHN LUNDIN (www.JohnLundin.com) is a self-described "spiritual agitator" and the author of THE NEW MANDALA – Eastern Wisdom for Western Living, written in collaboration with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He was recently invited by the shamanic Elders of the descendants of the Tayrona in northern Colombia to be one of the few outsiders to ever live with them and receive their sacred teachings. The Elders have specifically asked him to share their urgent spiritual and environmental message with the world. Rev. Lundin earned his Master’s Degree in theology from Chicago Theological Seminary at the University of Chicago, and teaches world religions and cross-cultural spirituality, and leads meditation workshops and spiritual growth retreats throughout the world. He is currently living with the indigenous peoples of La Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia while researching and writing on issues of universal responsibility toward all humankind and the environment within which we all live.

The Boy Scouts and Gays: What Would Jesus Do?

  By John Lundin | June 3, 2013 - 1:32 pm |
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“The essential element in Christianity as it was preached by Jesus and as it is comprehended by thought, is this, that it is only through love that we can attain to communion with God. All living knowledge of God rests upon this foundation: that we experience Him in our lives as will-to-love… “The thinking (person) must oppose all cruel customs, no matter how deeply rooted in tradition and surrounded by a halo. When we have a choice, we must avoid bringing torment and injury into the life of another.”  - Rev. Dr. Albert Schweitzer   Recently the Southern Baptist denomination announced that their members would be leaving the Boy Scouts en masse in protest over the Boy Scouts of America’s … Continue reading →

Tipping Points

  By John Lundin | May 21, 2013 - 3:44 pm |
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“Tipping Point” – Recently I have been struck by how many times I have heard that term lifted up. I heard it in reference to our atmosphere passing beyond the “tipping point” of 400 parts per million CO2. Climate change has happened – we’ve passed the tipping point. I saw this graphically presented this week in the striking images in the feature-length documentary, “HOME.” I heard the term used in the PBS documentary series, “Why Poverty? Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream,” which I also viewed this week. It’s a look at the dangerously widening gap between the rich and poor, and the Koch brothers and others who are promoting and exacerbating that gap. And finally I heard … Continue reading →

Gun Control and Terminal Absurdity

  By John Lundin | January 30, 2013 - 8:45 pm |
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The internet is full of articles and video from today’s Senate testimony regarding gun violence. I can’t read them or watch them anymore. One after another the witnesses, both sane and insane, revealed what is wrong with America at the depths of its core: the conservative-liberal schism; our propensity for violence in general and guns in particular; our devaluing of human life, especially that of women and children; the total loss of common sense within our collective polity; our willingness to stage these hypocritical kabuki charades in our legislative chambers, even as people are being murdered outside. In today’s case it was beyond absurd: at the very same time that Gabby Giffords, herself a former congressional legislator from Arizona, was … Continue reading →

Sandy Hook and Gun Control: Will This Time Be Different?

  By John Lundin | January 16, 2013 - 10:37 am |
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  It has now been one month since twenty 6-and-7-year-old children and six adults were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The grief and outrage following this second deadliest school shooting in US history was predictable – and also perhaps different. Since the Columbine shooting in 1999 there have been more than forty School shootings in the United States, including Virginia Tech where 33 were killed. In his remarks at the Newtown memorial service the President referred to four mass shootings that have occurred on his watch: “Since I’ve been president, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings, fourth time we’ve hugged survivors, the … Continue reading →

7 Resolutions For a Better Earth in 2013

  By John Lundin | January 6, 2013 - 8:52 am |
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2013 is here, and everyone is busy making (or already breaking) their New Year’s resolutions. Mother Nature took a few minutes out of her busy schedule to share a few thoughts on how to improve the situation here on our planet with some New Year’s resolutions that should be taken up by mankind. Here are the top seven resolutions for the Earth in the New Year. Take it away, Mother Nature:  1. Prevent species from going extinct Earth is in the midst of an enormous extinction crisis, the biggest spate of die-offs since the disappearance of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, according to several studies. The world’s level of biodiversity is also down by 30 percent since the 1970s, … Continue reading →

Climate Change Won’t Wait – by Bill McKibben

  By John Lundin | January 5, 2013 - 1:42 pm |
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An Op-Ed by Bill McKibben in the Los Angeles Times, January 6, 2013 Societal change usually happens slowly, even once it’s clear there’s a problem. That’s because, in a country as big as the United States, public opinion moves in leisurely currents. Change often requires going up against powerful, established interests, and it can take decades for those currents to erode the foundations of our special-interest fortresses. Think civil rights, gay marriage, equal rights for women. Even facing undeniably real problems — say, discrimination against gay people — one can make the case that gradual change is the best option. Had some mythical liberal Supreme Court declared, in 1990, that gay marriage was now the law of the land, the … Continue reading →

JFK Asked for the Moon—Now It’s Time for Obama to Ask for the Earth

  By John Lundin | January 4, 2013 - 4:41 pm |
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Will the President finally use his bully pulpit to stop global warming in its tracks? Reprinted from TakePart.com – By Stephen Lacey – January 3, 2013 After a long period of silence on the issue during the campaign, President Obama now says that climate change is one of the top priorities for his second term. The President has been almost completely silent in his defense of the scientific community. If he wants to elevate the issue, he must defend the science. Period. As part of his 2012 “person of the year” interview with Time magazine, Obama said that he would make environmental issues—particularly climate change—a major focus in the next four years. “And so, on an issue like climate change, … Continue reading →

#365 Acts of Kindness

  By John Lundin | December 27, 2012 - 12:38 pm |
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By now you’ve no doubt heard about Ann Curry’s response to the horrific shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Curry found herself asking the same question many of us have asked, “What can I do?” and responded by challenging her followers on Twitter to commit to 20 “random acts of kindness,” one for each of the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Her appeal ended with the challenge, “Are you in?”  The response was overwhelming: “Yes, I’m in!”  people tweeted, with the hashtag #26acts. The campaign quickly went viral on social media, and the number expanded to 26 acts of kindness in honor of all who were killed at Sandy Hook. Anne Curry is best known as the co-anchor of NBC’s … Continue reading →