Culture Creating • dwight j. friesen

Bellevue Comprehensive Plan 2044

Bellevue’s Comprehensive Plan is updated about every 10 years. The 2024 update, to guide Bellevue’s development through 2044, is now underway. The update includes an environmental impact statement as a requirement of the State Environmental Policy Act. The EIS includes

Dwight J. Friesen January 24, 2024January 22, 2024

The Bible Intentionally Mistranslated

1946 is a feature documentary following the story of tireless researchers who trace the origins of the anti-gay movement among Christians to a grave mistranslation of the Bible in 1946. The film chronicles the discovery of never-before-seen archives at Yale

Dwight J. Friesen January 23, 2024January 22, 2024

Trevor Powers . Youth Lagoon

Prizefighter by Youth Lagoon (aka Trevor Powers) Hope you filled the sky at nighttime Diamond in the ring don’t feed your mind Maybe I never pictured bad times Brother in drugstore falls behind He’s got knuckles that no longer fit

Dwight J. Friesen January 22, 2024January 21, 2024

SDGs & Religion . Free eBook

On the Significance of Religion for the SDGs: An Introduction, by Dr Christine Schliesser, is part of Routledge’s “Religion Matters” series. And it is available for free as an eBook on Amazon. I’m not sure whether this is permanently free

Dwight J. Friesen January 20, 2024January 20, 2024

Spirituality & Polycrisis

Some of the people of faith I’ve been collaborating with to activate our respective traditions to engage the SDGs for a more sustainable urban future for all everything alongside UN-Habitat and the World Economic Forum have just published a new

Dwight J. Friesen January 19, 2024January 19, 2024

New Urban Agenda . Best Practices

This 2022 UN-Habitat report highlights of the numerous ways real people, governing bodies, and organizations are acting on the New Urban Agenda. As you may know, the New Urban Agenda is an audacious and beautiful activation of a better urban

Dwight J. Friesen January 9, 2024January 9, 2024

“What Was I Made For?”

Last night Billie Eilish performed on Saturday Night Live and I thought it was simply beautiful. What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish & Finneas Baird O’Connell I used to float, now I just fall down I used to

Dwight J. Friesen December 17, 2023January 21, 2024

Save the Date… WUF12

UN-Habitat, World Urban Forum 12 (WUF12), will be assembling around this time next year… November 4-8, 2024. Mark your calendar and begin making plans. I am hoping to convene – or co-convene – two gatherings in Cairo, Egypt to coincide

Dwight J. Friesen November 1, 2023November 1, 2023

Urban October 2023

For a number of years now, UN-Habitat has been earmarking the month of October as “Urban October.” Our goal is to draw humanity’s attention our cities in order foster conversation, engagement, and movement toward a better urban future for all

Dwight J. Friesen October 1, 2023October 14, 2023

Dying for Change: Two Loops Model

Systems thinkers, organizational innovators, and localists Deborah Frieze and Margaret Wheatley, with the Berkana Institute, have developed a very helpful model for better understanding the complex process of systems change. Their model – among other things – thoughtfully attends to

Dwight J. Friesen September 13, 2023September 13, 2023

Helpful Reports

Here are links to three very helpful UN-Habitat reports reflecting back on 2022. My apologies for not posting these sooner, but here they are: Peace, dwight

Dwight J. Friesen August 27, 2023October 14, 2023

“Fake Plastic Trees” . Covers

There are few songs that have met me, held me, and helped me get through and keep going when I was in a thin place, quite like Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees.” I love this song. Thank you Thom Yorke! I

Dwight J. Friesen July 31, 2023April 16, 2024

“Like a Prayer” Cover

Yesterday afternoon, I turned on the radio (KEXP, of course) DJ Eva Walker was in covering for Kevin, I wasn’t there for the beginning of it all, but a most unusual – dare I say sacred – thing was unfolding.

Dwight J. Friesen June 30, 2023June 30, 2023

Surgeon General on Loneliness

Last month The U.S. Surgeon General released an important report outlining the nation’s loneliness epidemic. Among other things the report demonstrates that loneliness has a equivalent impact on one’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes’ a day. The report provides some

Dwight J. Friesen June 25, 2023January 9, 2024

“Father, Son”

“Farther, Son” by Peter Gabriel Father, son Locked as one In this empty room Spine against spine Yours against mine Till the warmth comes through Remember the breakwaters down by the waves I first found my courage Knowing daddy could

Dwight J. Friesen June 16, 2023June 15, 2023

Art Battle . Seattle

Saturday night Lynette and I participated in Seattle’s Art Battle. Our first time. It was amazing. It’s painting competition. Two rounds of six artists in a circle, painting for twenty minutes. After each round the crowd votes for the painting

Dwight J. Friesen June 13, 2023June 14, 2023

The SDGs in their Rightful Place

UN-Habitat goes Local… putting SDGs in their rightful Place “Part of loving loving neighbor as oneself involves loving and serving one’s place, its peoples, & systems sustaining shared life.” – dwight j. friesen “My Neighbourhood” ‘MY Neighbourhood’ provides an extensive

Dwight J. Friesen June 8, 2023June 8, 2023

“…it feels good to be known so well”

True Blue by boygenius You said you wanted to feel alive So we went to the beach You were born in July, ’95 In a deadly heat You say you’re a winter bitch But summer’s in your blood You can’t

Dwight J. Friesen May 27, 2023May 28, 2023

“Love on a Night Like This”

Love on a Night Like This by Josephine Abbot Outside, air is balancing itself. We can hear branches in motion, some twigs breaking, wires like violin strings, trees breathy as bass flutes. The acoustics of friction. The science of equilibrium

Dwight J. Friesen May 12, 2023April 27, 2023

Vatican Repudiates ‘Doctrine of Discovery’

Yesterday the Vatican formally repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery,” a legal concept based on 15th-century papal documents that European colonial powers used to legitimize the seizure and exploitation of Indigenous lands in Africa and the Americas, among other places. As

Dwight J. Friesen March 31, 2023March 31, 2023

“River” Leon Bridges

River by Leon Bridges Been traveling these wide roads for so long My heart’s been far from you Ten-thousand miles gone Oh, I wanna come near and give ya Every part of me But there is blood on my hands

Dwight J. Friesen March 24, 2023March 24, 2023

Nones, Dones & Ums

I recently facilitated a Community Forum conversation at St Luke’s, in which we were trying to listen to and learn from some of the research on people who claim to be done with church. Here is my slide deck. Peace,

Dwight J. Friesen March 13, 2023March 24, 2023

Joplin & Jones

A good friend sent me a link to a stunning performance of “Raise Your Hand” by Janis Joplin & Tom Jones, which aired on his TV show back in 1969. Enjoy. Peace, dwight

Dwight J. Friesen February 6, 2023February 6, 2023

Church Post Christendom . Part 2

This weekend will be the second, in a three week conversation, I’m facilitating with my congregation about life after Christendom, during our Community Forum. I’ve titled the series: “Conversations After Church.” Below you will find my “week two” slide deck,

Dwight J. Friesen January 27, 2023February 3, 2023

Church Post Christendom . Part 1

Beginning this Sunday I will be facilitating a three week conversation with my congregation about life after Christendom, during our Community Forum. I’ve titled the series: “Conversations After Church.” Below you will find my “week one” slide deck, followed by

Dwight J. Friesen January 20, 2023February 3, 2023

SDGs as a Faithful Expression of One’s Spirituality

Last Saturday, at the end of the end of the Winter trimester low residency retreat, The Seattle School held its “Day of Scholarship.” There was a fantastic scholarship poster session showcasing some exciting submissions from current students, alumni, staff, and

Dwight J. Friesen January 16, 2023January 16, 2023

“O Holy Night”

O Holy Night performed by Ben Caplan I have to give a shout out to Zach W. Lambert for his outstanding Twitter thread in which he walks through the story behind “O Holy Night,” highlighting the prophetic invitation of its

Dwight J. Friesen December 21, 2022December 21, 2022

Fusion & Consent?

Lot’s of excitement from US scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California because for the first time ever they have successfully produced a nuclear fusion reaction resulting in a net energy gain. On

Dwight J. Friesen December 15, 2022December 15, 2022

Advent & Sabbath

Whatever hemisphere a person lives in, Winter is a season of long nights and short days. Located as I am in the Northern hemisphere, I witness winter turning colder, Canada Geese flying south, Monarch butterflies migrating, bears hibernating, and humans…

Dwight J. Friesen December 10, 2022December 12, 2022

“Stutz”

At the recommendation of my therapist I just watched a new documentary directed by Jonah Hill, looking into the life and work of the psychotherapist Jonah – himself sees – to help him in navigating his journey from depression unto

Dwight J. Friesen December 1, 2022December 16, 2022