MFTN: Disrupt! Interrupt! The Ground of Resistance is Ours

Image by Lynn Friedman via Flickr

The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published November 18, 2016
August 11, 2020

A smoothly functioning society is created and maintained by the people. Children go to school, workers show up at their jobs, shipments are made, groceries and purchases are bought, bills are paid, goods and services are delivered; and so on. In times of justice, when the workings of society are fair, respectful, and uphold the rights and dignity of humanity, then the people have every reason to collectively maintain functional workplaces, schools, roads, social events, and so on.

John Michael Talbot: He Is Risen + Pope Francis: Use Weapons of Love to Fight Evil of Terrorism + Royal Choral Society: Hallelujah Chorus in Isolation

Image by KaCey97078 via Flickr

Dandelion Salad
Originally published Mar. 27, 2016
Updated: April 12, 2020

Happy Easter!

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. — Mark 16:6

MFTN: The Sabotage of Division

Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr

The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Feb. 23, 2014
March 9, 2020

Enough! Enough of this senseless criticizing of one another. A Dandelion Insurrectionist who is imprisoned and beaten by the police is no more revolutionary than the mother who gets up in the morning and feeds her child. We all have tasks that are imperatives of our times and we must do them with humility. Those of us trying to make change through civil resistance are no nobler than the plumber trying to clear the shit out of the pipes.

Beyond Planting Trees and Changing Light Bulbs: A List of Things You Can Do About The Climate Crisis by Rivera Sun

Image by Lynn Friedman via Flickr

by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rivera Sun’s Website, Dec. 12, 2019
December 13, 2019

Here’s the good news: The debate is over. 75% of US citizens believe climate change is human-caused; more than half say we have to do something and fast.

Rise and Resist!

Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
July 19, 2019

Fiery. Evocative. Uplifting.

Fiction meets reality in these impassioned and hard-hitting essays on love, courage, politics, and resistance.

Blowing Up The Armory

Image by Pamela Drew via Flickr

The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Jan. 26, 2014
June 26, 2019

We have been losing ground. Corporate politics has invaded many sectors of our lives. In times of tactical retreat (in preparation for later advances), the military uses a tactic called blowing up the armory to describe a situation in which they will destroy any unsecured weapons and munitions to prevent their opponents from capturing them and using the arsenal against the retreating forces.

Keith Green: Easter Song + The Visual Bible: Matthew

Image by John Crane via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Happy Easter!

previously posted March 23, 2008

wiredfortravel on Mar 22, 2008

Hallelujah, Jesus is alive! Produced for our Easter Service, 2008, to be a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.

Disrupt! Interrupt! The Ground of Resistance is Ours

Image by Lynn Friedman via Flickr

The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published November 18, 2016
April 7, 2019

A smoothly functioning society is created and maintained by the people. Children go to school, workers show up at their jobs, shipments are made, groceries and purchases are bought, bills are paid, goods and services are delivered; and so on. In times of justice, when the workings of society are fair, respectful, and uphold the rights and dignity of humanity, then the people have every reason to collectively maintain functional workplaces, schools, roads, social events, and so on.

The Tools Of Nonviolent Struggle Should Never Lose Their Edge

Image by Lynn Friedman via Flickr

The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
January 6, 2019

The tools of nonviolent action and the skills of struggle are as vital to these times as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Training to use them is as essential as learning how to use a computer. The ability to boycott and strike is as important as the ability to drive a car. Every citizen who knows how to use email should also know how to protest, walk-out, shut-down, occupy, blockade, and more. This is the only way the power of the people can hold the power of oligarchs in check.

To Love This Broken-Hearted Country

Image by Chris Devers via Flickr

The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
December 9, 2018

I want to love this broken-hearted country, this land of shattered dreams and dashed hopes. I want to place my ear to the drumming cadence of our cities and hear the insistent pulse of life. I want to wander the forgotten highways of stories that run like wrinkles through our body politic.

A Christmas Journey to Freedom

Image by Ron Cogswell via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Originally posted Dec. 23, 2009

Day of Discovery

A Christmas journey unlike any you have ever taken before—the first in a series of special holiday presentations with soloist Wintley Phipps, author and professor Dr. Allen Callahan, and actress Gwendolyn Briley-Strand as Harriet Tubman in the dramatic presentation, A Christmas Journey to Freedom.

Our Way Of Life Must Die — Another World Is Possible

Image by The All-Nite Images via Flickr

The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 25, 2018

Greed is an addiction. Like lab rats choosing pain to get doses of opium, the greed that underlies our way of life is killing us – and make no mistake: our way of life must die. Pathological consumption is no more acceptable in human beings than in locusts. It will die or we will die. The question is only: will we go down with the sinking ship of our culture or will we evolve again, past the folly of homo sapiens’ dubious wisdom into a species willing to live in balance with our one and only planet?

The Time Is Up–The Time Is Now

Image by Robert Couse-Baker via Flickr

The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 18, 2018

The time is up. The time is now. Gather the people to do the work: the healing, transformative, deepening work of building community, solutions, understanding, skills, knowledge, and hope. You must be the one to make a change, to step out of the rutted tracks of the looming train wreck that is our culture. You must have the courage to walk into the wilderness of what you don’t know and embrace the solutions that will save our lives.

A Revolution of Democracy

Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 8, 2018

What do we do when we finally understand that the elections really are stolen? Or rigged? Or thrust out of our reach by the manipulations of rich and powerful people? Corrupted by corporations? How long does it take before we call the bluff? Another disappointing election cycle? Two? Three? How much more gerrymandering, corporate buying of elections, voter disenfranchisement, and outright fraud can we stand? When will we take seriously the necessity of change?

Elections and Politics are the Games of Elites

Image by Stacy Noland via Flickr

The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 2, 2018

The Vote – the beloved, abused, scorned, corrupted, stolen, hijacked, pointless, profound, hopeful, depressing, hard-won, cherished vote – is not the only way to take action for meaningful change. Currently, the elections operate in our nation like a cattle chute, all too often forcing us back into the deadly, no-win tracks of the two-party duopoly that serves only the moneyed class. It becomes a handy device for siphoning off the demand for revolutionary change by giving false hope that elected officials will actually enact their campaign promises once in office.