Spiritual Up-Links

Uplifting offsite story and site links. These float my boat, though they may not necessarily float yours.
(If interested, see also my "Cool Spirituality-Related Books".)

| Current News | Specific Stories | Story Sites | "Good Work" (charities) |

News

  • List of recent Decent News

    Specific Stories

  • Terry Dobson's Aikido Story paraphrased (Non-religious)
  • A Seeds of Peace story (from Guideposts)
  • Charles Camp's NDE in The Ripple Effect. (Religious, sort of)
  • One of my favorite Ben H. Swett stories (Religious)
  • A profound Ben H. Swett experience regarding forgiveness ... (Religious)
  • Monty Roberts and the Green Stone
  • Mystery of the Silver Rings ... amazing dolphin play behavior. A "Wow, that's cool" kind of thing. (More images at Scientific American)
  • A couple parrot stories: Detailed rescue and rehabilitation account of Hobbes and a tribute to Bongo Marie. (Non-religious) ...Bird Brains at PBS.org's remarkabe Life of Birds.
  • How Nancy Noel didn't take "no" for an answer.
  • An illustrator talks about wolves.
  • (Book review on Free the Children) How Craig Kielburger got to asking: "If child labour is not acceptable for white, middle-class North American kids, then why is it acceptable for a girl in Thailand or a boy in Brazil?"
  • How the fight to use the Breathalyser in the UK saved lives
  • When the Kids Aren't All Right Philadelphia's City Paper .net August 1997 "Medicine as it's supposed to be."
  • Beating the Odds a San Francisco-area news station plugging for kids who are beating the odds.
  • Not the Sex but the Ability, one of the many great pages at Undelete.org.
  • Renee Bondi's story
  • About an artist named Lori

    Story Sites

  • The Connection - these are radio programs, broadcast here in Boston by WBUR (90.9 FM), full of deep insight and information about various topics. Usually superb.
  • America's Best at CNN.com.
  • Current Guideposts Stories (Religious)
  • Current Angels on Earth Stories (Religious)
  • Current Guideposts for Teens Stories and actually, most of the rest of the site has some amazing stories too. (Religious)
  • Sample Heroic Stories (Non-religious)
  • The New Heroes at PBS.org (Non-religious)
  • SBIIH Essays on Mental Health ... there's some very interesting stuff here. (Non-religious)
  • Embraced by the Light has these story sections: God's Tiny Miracles, Mother's Prayers, Heavenly Encounters. Acts of Kindness stories.(Religious)
  • Ben H. Swett's true stories (Religious)

    Good Work

    The can be depressing, but they can also be calls to action, reflection, and courage. Why not get involved?
    Note: I divided these up by category, but really, anything that truly helps in one area is likely to truly help in others. By helping the environment we reduce medical risks, improve quality of life, and also prevent depletion of food resources. By teaching children wisely, we can help promote peace, environment responsibility, and self-sustenance. By exploring science, we learn how to cure disease, better manage resources, and improve the quality of life. By treating animals with compassion, we ourselves are helped and strengthened. Everything is connected.

    Human Rights
  • Human Rights Watch
  • Amnesty International
  • The Innocence Project, Truth in Justice and Centurion Ministries ... all trying to prove innocence in cases of wrong conviction and imprisonment.
  • Free the Children, for children, by children.
  • Free the Slaves has extensive links to other organizations.
  • Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) ... not pleasant but courageous. See also Octaves Beyond Silence.
  • End Violence against Women.
  • RAINN - Rape Abuse & Incest National Network
  • Sites that NY Times reporter Mr. Kristof lists as related to Ms. Mukhtaran Bibi's situation in Pakhistan:
    Environmental
  • Audobon Society, conservation.
  • Nature Conservancy, conservation. They have some very nice pictures and reports on this site.
  • Mount Kenya Game Ranch and their Bongo Repatriation project.
  • Case studies of ecologically friendly, solar-centered building designs.
  • Kenny Loggins' list of environmental groups
  • Environment-friendly shopping: Seventh Generation, Gaiam/Real Goods, Amy's Kitchen, Seeds of Change, Tom's of Maine... some fair trade coffee ... many others.
  • PERC - The Center for Free Market Environmentalism offers ideas for environmental solutions through capitalism. Interesting.
    Inter-Species
  • NARHA Therapeutic Riding. Horses as therapy.
  • Project Delphis, exploring dolphin cognition
  • Puppies Behind Bars. NY Times article and Christian Science Monitor article about the effects of having prisoners raising guide dogs. Story about one dog from a similar program.
  • United Animal Nation and Emergency Animal Rescue Service -- rescuing animals during disasters.
  • ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
  • Animal Rescue League of Boston and the MSPCA (MA) and some happy animals. Save a Dog, based in MA.
  • Bird Placement Program, Inc. (US & Canada) and Foster Parrots (MA) parrot rescue
  • Dog Breed Rescue list; Shetland Sheepdog Rescue and Sleddog Rescue
    Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Disaster Relief
  • Red Cross ... also had some inspiring stories on their site someplace.
  • InterAction "is the largest alliance of U.S.-based international development and humanitarian nongovernmental organizations." Members include Save the Children, World Vision, Heifer International, CARE, IRCInterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based international development and humanitarian nongovernmental organizations, etc.
  • International Rescue Committee "Refugee Relief, Respect, Renewal"
  • Save the Children, a non-religious charity fighting hunger and poverty among children.
  • World Vision, a Christian charity fighting hunger and poverty.
  • Food for the Poor, a Christian charity
  • Heifer International, providing livestock and a means of self-reliance to hungry families. Also teaches environmental responsibility.
  • Habitat for Humanity, helping families build decent shelter.
  • NASNA.org is the North American Street Newspaper Association promotes "self-help and empowerment among people living in poverty." Homeless Empowerment runs the Boston homeless newspaper Spare Change.
  • American Rescue Team International.
  • National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR).
  • Nat'l Disaster Search Dog Foundation.
  • Covenant House, helping runaway and abandoned children.
  • Rosamond Carr & the Imbabazi Orphanage story
  • Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco.
  • Kiva.org is a very interesting site that lets people loan money to people in third-world areas who need it. Over 99% repayment rate.
  • ModestNeeds, helping tide people over will small gifts of money. Resources of other agencies that can help.
  • Dress for Success, helping low-income women get and keep jobs.
  • Orion Afield "Highlighting grassroots efforts that explore, protect, and honor the land"
  • AAR Japan (Association for Aid and Relief/Nanmin o Tasukeru Kai), the first Japanese NGO for refugees. Also fighting landmines with this British group.
  • Fair Trade Federation promotes fair wages to the artisans and farmers of the world. Includes this list of catalogs.
  • Serrv International promotes fairtrade goods and products from chocolate to jewelry.
  • International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT) (fair trade) catalogs.
  • Organic Choice Teas for great Chai, and also Organic Bouquets.
  • St. Francis House shelter's art program
    Peace Amidst War
  • PPU provides education about genocides and other issues related to peace and war.
  • Seeds of Peace promotes peace between children from countries historically embroiled in war.
  • Friendship Force International
  • The Jewish-Palestinian town of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam.
  • Tikkun Magazine promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace.
  • Translators United for Peace (Japanese)
    Peace At Home
  • Childhelp USA exists to help abused and neglected children. They have a confidential hotline.
  • Stop Family Violence.org
  • Generations of Hope pairs troubled foster children with senior citizens.
  • Do Something for kids.
  • Koinonia Partners, where the concept for Habitat for Humanity was born.
  • The Ophelia Project working to reduce the culture of indirect aggression that hurts so many girls.
  • The Berkeley Center for the Development of Peace and Well-Being
    Bullying help for kids (URLs from Heroic Stories):
  • New Zealand: www.nobully.org.nz advice: "If you're different in some way, be proud of it! Kia Kaha - stand strong."
  • Great Britain: http://www.bullying.co.uk/children/pupil_advice.htm
    For parents (URLs from Heroic Stories):
  • Bullying Online, United Kingdom: http://www.bullying.co.uk
  • Anti-Bullying Network, Scotland: http://www.antibullying.net
  • Stop Violence Coalition, USA: http://www.stop-violence.org
  • HELP info... this is a domestic abuse shelter program in Japan.
    Technology
  • Design That Matters ... working on inventions of ALL kinds to help communities around the world. Plus the Lemelson Foundation and (also at MIT) D-Lab and IDEAS competition (also MIT).
  • Nick Berg Memorial Home Page is seeking to establing "Grants for new American enterprises focused on progress in poor or disadvantaged countries"
  • Sustainable Times
    Medical
  • Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, US site)
  • Healing the Children
  • Starbright.org, helping hospitalized and seriously ill children
    Inspirational
  • Heroic Stories is a mailing list that provides true good stories.
  • Guideposts Ministries Outreach Programs including the Sweater Project.
    Scientific Good Stuff
  • Some very cool books on sale at Science News
  • Hubble space image gallery
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Discovery.com
    Information Integrity
  • JunkBusters, fighting privacy-invading telemarketing
  • Snopes Urban Legends Reference Pages -- bringing truth to the piles of lies floating around the 'net and elsewhere.
  • Also, about.com does urban legends and net hoaxes.
    Good Advice
  • Benjamin Zander's website: Zander is an incredible promoter of positivity and enthusiasm, and is also an orchestra conductor.
  • Mary Kay's Wisdom... great sayings. I used to disparage Mary Kay as much as any other macho-geek culture nerd, but that's no better than people making fun of nerds, is it? Mary Kay Charitable Foundation supports efforts to fight cancer in women and to end violence against women.
  • The Paradoxical Commandments
    Some Prayer Request Boards
    There are lots out there... here are a few.
  • Guideposts Prayer Board - many prayers posted here; heavy-duty.
  • Pray the News Prayer Request
  • Disciples of Christ Prayer Board
  • Embraced by the Light Prayer Board
  • Mission of Angels/Fast Lane to Heaven Prayer Board
    Other Lists
  • Heroic Stories' reference site
  • Earthkeeper Heroes. Includes Albert Schweitzer, Harriet Tubman, Florence Nightingale, Puppies Behind Bars Program, and many others.
  • Ripple News at EmbracedbytheLight.com.
  • Help Jacqui
  • Joni Eareckson Tada
  • Renee Bondi
  • Christopher Reed
  • Hirotada Ototake
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