Episode 7 celebrates the December 30th “black moon,” and the impending new year, commencing with Michigander Carrie Newcomer’s video for the song “Sanctuary.” This beautiful song was inspired by a letter she received from her good friend, Quaker writer Parker Palmer, who was responding to her wanting to know what can we do now, when things seem so bleak. Parker’s response is both hard and easy — we do what we can, and when we falter, we need to find sanctuary and refuge where we can, in the beauty nature still retains, in friends and family, and in the wisdom of artists, writers, and thinkers. This song and video is a beautiful summary of Parker Palmer’s trenchant advice, which is certainly apropo as we approach the new year ahead.

Next up is “Prayer For Peace,” written by Seth Handelman, and performed by Mark and Deb Bonds, who hail from New Hampshire. “Prayer For Peace” laments a world rife with unnecessary wars, and calls for a new era of peace, to be ushered in by the collective power of millions of fervent voices.

The next song and video are from activist songwriter Purly Ray Gates, who urges us to “Wake Up Now” — because we have a lot of urgent work to do to make the change that we seek. It is up to us, and we need to start right now.

The final song is an anthem, “Peace, Salaam, Shalom,” from Emma’s Revolution, the folk duo partnership of Pat Humphrey and Sandy Apatow, whose name is inspired by the anarchist and revolutionary Emma Goldman. Their song was written in response to the 9/11 attacks, but is equally relevant in today’s context, where global warming, toxic pollution, and geopolitical strife threaten us all.

In Last Winter, Mark Lagerwey expresses his longtime love of winter weather, and his sadness at its diminishment as global warming eats away at it all over the world. In floods, fires, and heatwaves, the warmth is overwhelming the cold - but we can solve the problem if we just muster up the will power, and the good will, to honestly address it.

James Kahn's Workin' That ER is a poignant, tender look at the life struggles of those around us, as seen through the lens of the emergency room. A reflection of the wounded and damaged souls wandering the world, it asks us to see the humanity in them - to help heal them, and ourselves, by coming together, supporting each other, and understanding the power of community to bind us in the mystery of life.

Starting Now, written by Glen Phillips and performed by Toad the Wet Sprocket, is an introspective musing about what a person needs to do after being lost and directionless, looking at wasted years looking for life to change - and realizing change doesn't just happen, we have to make it happen, we have to "dig a little deeper." Maybe the "best time to change was years ago," but the next best is here and now.

In Melanie DeMore's One Foot in Front of the Other/Lead With Love, she leads a rousing, a cappella group singalong about overcoming life's struggles by confronting them together, by sharing our feelings of fear and sometimes despair, and facing them in common. "Don't give up hope/Keep movin' on," is a joyous battle cry of protest and empowerment. And it just makes you feel good.

Seth Bernard's The Time Has Come asks us to come together now, there's no more time to wait in the fight against the men whose greed is accelerating the climate change that is destroying our planet. The heartfelt lyrics implore us to find meaningful pathways to action, in our shared humanity.

Our House is on Fire, by Emma's Revolution, is a bluesier rock song with a similar message: our house - the earth - is going up in flames, literally and metaphorically, and we have to join hands to put those fires out. The fires of polluted air and oceans, dying trees, melting glaciers, rising seas, bleaching coral, growing drylands, racism, homophobia, hunger, poverty - it's up to us.

Changemakers, by Crys Matthews, feels like a soulful, moving prayer, asking us all to battle hate and racism, and stand up for all the starving children, dreamers, homeless, and vulnerable members of our society - appealing to the soul of America, with the poetry that symbolizes us to the world: "Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.

"Seth Handelman's Imagine as You Dream addresses the horrors of school shootings by asking why this keeps happening, why we keep leaving our children to face these nightmares alone. He wonders if we may be dreaming the fears and turning them into our own reality - and if that's the case maybe we can start to turn things around by dreaming the possibilities of how to fix this intractable problem. We must visualize the solutions first, and only then can we effect them.