Charlie King has been performing music since he was four, eventually finding a home with folk music. A lifelong Roman (or roaming) Catholic, he morphed from a Goldwater supporter in 1964 to an anti-war protester by 1967, and he's been an outspoken voice for peace and justice ever since.
In honor of Earth Day 2008, your host shares his own Song of the Soul as regards the music that speaks of his deepening connection and commitment to Care of Creation. Starting with music from the first Earth Day, in 1970, up to the present, Mark speaks of the layers of insight and understanding which have made Earth Day his "most valued holiday".
Jonathan Lutz is a musician and choir leader of diverse talents and with deep spiritual reflection. Born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, he's lived in Finland, at Europe's northern rim, for the past 30 years where he's part of a very small Quaker meeting.
As a dual citizen of Iraq and the USA, resident for 20 years of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, Sami Rasouli brings a special perspective to his work with the Muslim Peacemaker Teams.
Sami spoke at Eau Claire area schools, including UW-EC, on March 31, 2008, and in a personal interview with Northern Spirit Radio.
This was part of a 2-month tour across the USA to bring on-the-ground news to the American people. The speech at UW-Eau Claire was sponsored by Staff and Faculty for Peace and Justice and the midwest tour was assisted by Mike Miles of Anathoth Community Farm.
Missionary doing holistic development in Rwanda? To a lot of folks almost any other destination might have seemed preferable to God's call for Debby & David Thomas to become missionaries in Rwanda just after the genocide of1994.
But they obeyed, and both have found profound work in the course of their 10 years there, Debby with a call to energy alternatives, sustainable agriculture and transformational development.
Debby & David Thomas are supported by Evangelical Friends Mission and are from Northwest Yearly Meeting.
Chris Pfeiffer is a singer/songwriter from Southern Texas who found his career as a songwriter for the country music market interrupted by a spiritual awakening to the universal presence and blessing of God.
John Ikerd was the keynote speaker for the 2008 Midwest Value Added Agriculture conference, held in Eau Claire. Agricultural economics is his field, and his work with with sustainable agriculture and the move toward localization of food. The conference is hosted annually by River Country Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc.
David Rovics is a singer/songwriter with a cause - actually many of them. His music takes him wherever there are listeners for his activist selection, with concern for peace, social justice and much, much more.
David Rovics is a perpetual activist energy machine with his music, calling attention to the problems that need addressing and recognizing the successes of those working for social justice. He tours extensively in the US and Europe, and occasionally to the Middle East and beyond.
All the songs in this Spirit In Action program are by David Rovics:
New Orleans
Halliburton Boardroom Massacre
St. Patrick Battalion
Waiting for the Fall
Jenin
Song for Cindy Sheehan
Battle of Blair Mountain