Gretta Stone became a musician because she loved being part of all the folk music that many Quakers shared together when she became part of Doylestown Friends Meeting, and at one point was part of a band called Faith and Practice. Gretta's path led to various travels, including her evolution into instrumental music and sacred harp singing. The Faith and Practice band no longer exists as it has morphed, with new members, into the band Fools and Prophets.
Jonathan Kuttab was born & raised in Jerusalem, and he helped found Nonviolence International and the Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, and is the author of Beyond the Two-State Solution and The Truth Shall Set You Free.
ISMAY is a musical experience wrapped around Avery Hellman. Without trying to limit ISMAY by any of the boxes we often put musicians in, their music is bluegrass, or country, or Americana, or folk, or something completely new. And Avery, a.k.a ISMAY, is a farmer, a singer-songwriter, an environmentalist, a cowburl, or some kind of person you're just going to be astonished by.
Peterson Toscano first appeared on Spirit In Action in 2007, talking about his work to support and heal ex-gay survivors, men who, like him, spent years trying to be cured from being gay, and being seriously, sometimes lethally injured by that treatment. I then observed Peterson as he dove deeply into Biblical study around non-conforming sexual roles, in the Bible, and transforming ways of seeing the lessons of that book. Finally, since 2012, I've seen Peterson's dedicated and creative work on Climate Change, and I've been delighted to feature his podcast contents on Spirit In Action quarterly, to enlarge his listenership and enrich the ears, hearts, and souls of my listeners.
Humbird is a musical experience with Siri Undlin at its center. Her music has been described with terms like contemplative folk musings and resigned tenacity, but I would simply call it heart and soul stirring combined with instrumental genius. Siri lives in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, while the rotating band membership of Humbird reaches further afield. With 3 albums to her name, there's lots of variety and depth to be explored, with decades of richness yet ahead for this young and accomplished singer/songwriter.
Past/present religious/spiritual influences: Lutheran, Earth-based Spirituality, Unaffiliated
Glen Retief grew up in South Africa, a story he captured in his book The Jack Bank, and he writes periodically for the South African publication, The Daily Maverick. Glen's perspective, a gay man poised between the US and South Africa is eye-opening, in particular his writings on historical events and landmarks to which we are often blind. Glen is an Associate Professor of creative nonfiction writing at Susquehanna University.
Our 2nd visit with Michael Beer, director of Nonviolence International since 1998. Last time Michael talked mainly about his book, Civil Resistance Tactics in the 21st Century, but this time we talk more widely about the nuts-and-bolts of the work of Nonviolence International, which, among other tasks, advocates for active nonviolence and supports creative constructive nonviolent
Amanda Udis-Kessler is not only a musician, but she's a sociologist, a social ethicist, a theologian, and a writer, and it's her writing that brings her here to us today. Her latest book is Abundant Lives: A Progressive Christian Ethic of Flourishing, and in it Amanda helps us chart a way forward beyond the usual statements of principles and creeds, looking at real humans and where and how we thrive.
In 2016, Peggy & Mark Halvorson picked up and moved to Liberia, West Africa, with 4 kids in tow, as part of their growing passion of adaption, but also healing for the people of that country. That devotion has only grown in the following years, and so has the organization that Peggy shepherds, Teamwork Africa.