The Telos Channel

Hurricane Ida made landfall in southern Louisiana on Sunday, leaving a wake of devastation in its place and more than 1 million without power. Some of the hardest hit areas are home to Indigenous communities from the region, including the Houma people.
Today, we want to highlight their stories and offer a chance for you to give. Our friend Monique Verdin is a poet, activist, and artist, and part of the Houma people from southern Louisiana. Take a moment to hear her story, and consider giving to her organization, Another Gulf is Possible, which is providing emergency aid to folks on the ground who need it most.
Another Gulf is Possible Just Ida Recovery Fund - https://anothergulf.com/ida/

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What does it mean to call a place “home,” to stay and heal it when it's broken and hurting? In this episode, South Louisiana native and interdisciplinary storyteller Monique Verdin shares with us what her home on the disappearing coast of the Louisiana bayou means to her, and the radical ways she’s working to protect it—its land, its people, and its stories.

Monique shed so much light on the interconnectedness of place, story and justice in our conversation. The way she's worked to protect her home as an indigenous woman, artist, and activist inspired us to “remain and reclaim” the places we call home too.

Find more information about Monique’s work on her website - https://www.moniqueverdin.com/

Ten Palestinians killed in Jenin. Seven Jewish worshipers killed in Jerusalem. And more since then...What’s happening? Where are things headed, and what can we do about it?

This week, we discuss the escalating violence in Israel/Palestine that has caught international attention, unpack what CIA Director William Burns means when he says it bears an “unhappy resemblance” to the Second Intifada, and what it looks like to speak honestly about the violence— and call our political leadership to do so too. In this fraught and dangerous moment, telling the truth is our urgent calling as peacemakers.

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Carlos Rodriguez (@carloshappynpo): “Peace is the goal, justice is the way, and truth-telling is the starting place.”

What does it take to flourish? Both personally and collectively, even in the midst of profound and seemingly intractable conflict? Andrew DeCort, Christian peacemaker, teacher, and author has an idea. He says the formative practices of the prayer offered by Jesus at the beginning of his ministry, what many of us know today as the “Lord’s Prayer,” can shape us into the kind of people with the groundedness and courage necessary to be peacemakers.

This week on the show, we invited Andrew to discuss his new book on this prayer, “Flourishing on the Edge of Faith: Seven Practices for a New We.” He describes the seven practices that emerge from it, and the ways it challenges us to be transformed inwardly even as we practice justice externally. He also shared powerful stories from his personal life as a peacemaker, ultimately pushing him to the conviction that violence cannot save us. And he offers each of us an invitation to experience the flourishing available to us, to take up the call of peacemaking and begin to see the “new we” that is possible in our world.
Whether you identify with a faith tradition or none at all (or find yourself somewhere in between), Andrew’s example of the moral courage it takes to live a life of nonviolence and peacemaking will inspire you to practice a deeper life of flourishing for yourself, and for the world.
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Buy Andrew’s book, Flourishing on the Edge of Faith

Listen to our prior episode with Andrew, April 2022: The Check-in: How to Love Your Enemy, with Andrew DeCort

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What is the US’ role in the Middle East? In May, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh was killed while reporting in Jenin in the West Bank. The US finally released a statement last week both “urging accountability” for her death and saying that it cannot be determined who killed her—but if it was the Israeli military, which independent news agencies and the UN have concluded, it would surely be an accident. How can so much be held in one statement?

We discuss the statement, how it expands or contracts space for peace, and the US government’s broader strategy in the region as President Biden visits with Middle Eastern leaders in Israel, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia this week.

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Resources mentioned:

• On The Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, US State Department Press Statement
• UN OHCHR Statement

On Sunday, the Taliban entered the capital of Afghanistan and began reestablishing its rule. We’re horrified and deeply grieved by the reports coming out of Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan.
This week, we discuss our reactions, and we ask: what do we do when everything feels out of control and overwhelming?
*Join us Fri, Aug 20th for a webinar on Afghanistan

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Resources

*A comprehensive document with resources to aid in advocacy, organizations to donate to, and relocation and legal aid info

Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) offers resources for anyone grieving the loss of a member of the military

Hope for the Warriors offers services to benefit veterans and their families, including mental health services and funding to cover related treatment expenses

Ways to Learn

A collated Instagram list of helpful posts and accounts to follow

@omar.haidari - Afghan student and human rights activist currently in Germany)

@afghansempowered - Resources for community empowerment

@khyberkhaan - Kabul-based filmmaker offering daily updates

@yaldahakim - Afghan journalist reporting for the BBC

@everydayafg - Community of photographers telling stories of and by Afghans

Middle East Institute webinar on Afghanistan and the implications of the Taliban takeover - Monday, Aug 23.

Ways to Give

A long list of organizations providing aid, relief, and legal support to Afghans

Enabled Children Initiative supports children living with disabilities in Afghanistan and provides emergency relief for displaced Afghans, especially children

Afghan Aid is a UK based organization providing emergency aid to over 1 million vulnerable people across Afghanistan

Mina’s List advances women’s leadership and participation globally with special attention to Afghanistan.

Ways to Volunteer

World Relief is a global aid and refugee resettlement agency. See their website for opportunities to volunteer, guidance on advocacy, and a place to give

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services is a refugee resettlement agency in the US and is seeking volunteer help in Seattle/Tacoma, Houston, Fort Worth, and the DMV