[Oe List ...] OE Digest, Vol 4, Issue 29

[David Flowers]

Randy refers to Walter Brueggemann, an Old Testament scholar, with regard
to scarcity and abundance - here's a link to a video of him speaking on
exactly that topic as the bottom line narrative of the Bible.

http://www.marquette.edu/cps/BuildingaBetterMilwaukeeBrueggemann.shtml



On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 12:27 PM, <oe-request at lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:

> Send OE mailing list submissions to
>         oe at lists.wedgeblade.net
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>         http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
>         oe-request at lists.wedgeblade.net
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
>         oe-owner at lists.wedgeblade.net
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of OE digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Re: My report on Rio+20 (Charles Hahn)
>    2. The Three Moods in Christian Worship (R Williams)
>    3. [Dialogue] The Three Moods in Christian Worship (George Holcombe)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2012 20:08:44 -0500
> From: Charles Hahn <cfhahn30 at gmail.com>
> To: Order Ecumenical Community <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
> Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] My report on Rio+20
> Message-ID:
>         <CACA=
> 4B7gLM6Oybr+omB3TJWdG_8OKUgPjFfraFMHmct7J8HnXg at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
>
> Herman, I have been out of town, and just now reading your Rio+20 piece.
> It is such a hopeful piece.  Much work to do, but hope filled. Thanks so
> much.
> Charles Hahn
>
> On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 7:19 PM, Herman Greene <hfgreene at mindspring.com
> >wrote:
>
> > ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
> >
> > Here?s the report I wrote on **Rio**+20:****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > *NOTES FROM RIO+20: WHY IT DIDN?T FAIL*
> >
> > *By Herman F. Greene*
> >
> > I was in Rio from June 13-22 for the UN Conference on Sustainable
> > Development (**Rio**+20) and events preceding it. The prevailing
> > sentiment is that **Rio**+20 was a failure. Scott Simon of NPR described
> > it as the biggest UN conference ever and perhaps one of its biggest duds.
> > *The New York Times *quoted a representative of CARE as saying it was
> > ?nothing more than a political charade,? and a representative of
> Greenpeace
> > as declaring it ?a failure of epic proportions.? When the official
> outcome
> > document from **Rio**+20, titled ?The Future We Want,? is not rejected
> > outright, tepid assessments are generally given such as ?it partially
> > salvaged prior commitments, but offered little new.?****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > Evaluating **Rio**+20 as a failure has consequences. For some, the
> > ?failure? of **Rio**+20 underscores the weakness or the UN processes as a
> > whole. Because blame for the alleged failure has largely been placed on
> > ?governments,? the faith of some in the ability of governmental and
> > intergovernmental organizations to address major problems has fallen. In
> > the ****United States****, where the event was seldom reported, summary
> > reports of failure may lead some to say, ?I didn?t know about it and it
> > wasn?t important anyway.?****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > My view of the conference is, however, different. I had to educate myself
> > to understand the UN sustainable development process, of which **Rio**+20
> > is only the latest chapter in a 40-year long and continuing history. I
> > began to engage directly in this process in October 2011 in order to
> > promote formation of an International Ethics Panel on Ecological
> > Civilization (IEPEC), a panel first proposed by Professor **Ryoichi
> > Yamamoto** at a September 2011 conference in ****Tokyo****. Returning
> > from that conference, I learned Rio+20 was the place to take this idea as
> > many NGOs and some governments were emphasizing the need for new ethical
> > structures in UN governance in connection with one of Rio+20?s two major
> > themes, ?Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development.?****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > In the course of attending three preparatory events in **New York** and
> > the final **Rio**+20 conference, I have learned the UN?s sustainable
> > development process is not primarily about the environment. It is about
> how
> > the peoples of the world, as a whole, can improve their lives and the
> forms
> > of development that are most appropriate for achieving this. Environment
> > comes in because it must: after all Earth is the living planet and
> resource
> > base on which humans depend both physically and culturally. Economics
> > enters because our current understanding of social development is
> dominated
> > by it and by certain established conventions, such as GDP,
> neo-liberalism,
> > globalization, and industrialization, all of which were questioned in the
> > Rio+20 debates, especially in relation to the conference?s other major
> > theme, ?The Green Economy in the Context of Poverty Eradication and
> > Sustainable Development.****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > I have learned that equity and security, in unfamiliar ways, are at the
> > heart of every sustainable development debate. Small island states ask if
> > it is equitable that they should be flooded due to global warming and
> > rising seas attributable to the actions of others. The President of
> Ecuador
> > raises the question how much should his country be paid to leave
> > rainforests intact in order to produce oxygen for the world. The ?Green
> > Economy,? is viewed by many in the Global South (the term commonly used
> in
> > place of the ?**Third World**?) as a further expansion of global
> > capitalism, the commodification of nature and a threat to indigenous
> > people. Security becomes a question for many of whether they will have
> > enough food to eat in a world, soon to be populated by 9 billion people,
> > facing erosion of land, desertification and land grabs by both foreign
> > governments and corporations. Subsistence farmers wonder why they must
> > enter the monetary economy to become ?sustainable? or ?be lifted out of
> > poverty,? and why their occupation of land for centuries does not
> > constitute ?title.?****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > I have learned that civil society, largely composed of nonprofit
> > organizations (also called nongovernmental organizations or NGOs) and
> given
> > quite limited official status, by holding to ideals of the future,
> > commenting on intergovernmental negotiations and making their voices
> heard,
> > are collectively a major force in the UN sustainable development process.
> > Yet I have also learned that, now more than ever, government is the
> > indispensable actor in bringing about the future we want.****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > With this growing knowledge, I have come to understand **Rio**+20 as not
> > being a failure. The language of outcome documents in UN conferences such
> > as **Rio**+20 are arrived at by consensus. Thus, the outcome document of
> *
> > *Rio**+20 reflected where there was and was not a global consensus on
> > future commitments. The current financial crisis (and related national
> and
> > regional politics) hung like a shadow over the proceedings. While
> progress
> > on new commitments would have been preferable, the central issue in the
> > proceedings became whether governments would preserve the basic
> principles
> > of sustainable development adopted at the First Earth Summit in Rio in
> > 1992, principles such as social equity, gender equality, common but
> > differentiated responsibilities (requiring greater responsibility for
> > developed countries), human rights (including, heretofore unrecognized
> > rights to clean, drinkable water, basic sanitation, food security, a
> > minimum standard of living, and a social protection floor), the polluter
> > pays, the precautionary principle and the right to development (the right
> > of all peoples to develop their own resources for their own needs,
> > interests, and cultures). The reaffirmation of these principles became
> the
> > limited success of the governmental portion of **Rio**+20.****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > The greater achievements came in the civil society portion. More than
> > 30,000 civil society representatives participated in the official Rio+20
> > conference and 100,000 more in the concurrent People?s ****Summit**** and
> > protest marches. There were also large concurrent business and
> professional
> > gatherings in **Rio**, such as Business Action for Sustainable
> > Development Business Day and the World Congress on Justice, Governance
> and
> > Law for Environmental Sustainability. Knowing of the limitations of the
> > official outcome document, activists released 14 People?s Sustainability
> > Treaties and a People?s Sustainability Manifesto. President Rousseff of
> **
> > Brazil** was justified in calling **Rio**+20 the most participatory
> > conference in history and ?a global expression of democracy.?****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > People who gathered in **Rio** knew the official results of the
> > conference would be limited. They came nevertheless to network and to set
> > the stage for the next phase of the UN sustainable development process,
> the
> > shaping of the post 2015-development agenda in which the present
> Millennium
> > Development Goals will be integrated into broader and more ambitious
> > sustainable development goals. Those from civil society left to form a
> > global citizens? movement to take action now for sustainable development
> > and to develop the political will for global policy change. **Rio**+20
> > was not an end, rather it was a new beginning. ****
> >
> > ** **
> >
> > Herman****
> >
> > *_____________________________________________*****
> >
> > **Herman Greene******
> >
> > ********************2516 Winningham Drive************************
> >
> > ********************************Chapel Hill************,
> ********NC*******
> > * ********27516**************
> >
> > 919-929-4116 (h)****
> >
> > 919-624-0579 (c)****
> >
> > 919-942-4358 (f)****
> >
> > Skype: hgreene-nc****
> >
> > hfgreene at mindspring.com ****
> >
> > ** **
> > **
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > OE mailing list
> > OE at lists.wedgeblade.net
> > http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net
> >
> >
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: <
> http://lists.wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe-wedgeblade.net/attachments/20120729/9136ecb4/attachment.html
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2012 04:08:24 -0700 (PDT)
> From: R Williams <rcwmbw at yahoo.com>
> To: Colleague Dialogue <dialogue at wedgeblade.net>,       Order Ecumenical
>         Community <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
> Subject: [Oe List ...] The Three Moods in Christian Worship
> Message-ID:
>         <1343646504.73792.YahooMailNeo at web125506.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Colleagues,
> ?
> A couple of weeks ago we had a conversation on this listserv?about the
> acts of Worship.? I remember distinctly that in the RS-1 short course on
> worship we said there are 3 overarching?acts; Confession, Praise (or
> Thanksgiving) and Dedication.? You may confirm this by reviewing the Daily
> Office that we did every morning.
> ?
> My focus has been?more?on?what we said are the 3 "moods" associated with
> those acts of worship: for the act of confession the mood is humility; for
> thanksgiving, gratitude; and for dedication, compassion.? I've been
> keeping?journal notes?on these?for several years.? I think they are key
> to?our being?profoundly human.? I want to share some brief reflections and
> invite you to share your thoughts.
> ?
> The opposite of humility is arrogance.? Tillich told us that "sin" is less
> about immoral acts and more about the state of "separation" in which we
> all?live.? I have concluded that confession in?humility is
> not?self-depreciation?in light of our imperfection but
> is?rather?acknowledgement that we, in our separated state, are incomplete.?
> We deny our interdependence on the "other" in our quest for
> self-sufficiency and self-determination, which are delusions.? When we own
> up to our incompleteness (i.e. confess) in humility, this opens us, at the
> very least,?to?learning (i.e. having?our hearts and minds changed,
> metanoia), and?to?entering into new relationships and friendships and
> partnering?with all creation.
> ?
> The opposite of gratitude is greed.? Old Testament scholar Walter
> Brueggemann has suggested that in our culture we need to move from a
> paradigm of scarcity?to one of abundance.? We may thus?come to acknowledge
> that life is not a zero sum game, and that there is plenty for all as long
> as no one has more than her, his or its?share.? Gratitude is acknowledgment
> that we have all we need to live with dignity?and to respond to?our
> calling, as long as we are willing to share rather than hoard it,?like the
> magician's urn of water, the more it's poured out, the fuller it becomes.
> ?
> The opposite of compassion is?insensitivity to the?suffering of the other,
> and gracelessness, the inability to be responsive to those who
> suffer.??This,?of?course,?plays off H. Richard Niebuhr's understanding of
> "church" as the "sensitive and responsive" part of society.? So to be
> compassionate is?to be "sensitive and responsive," which leads to living?an
> active?life?service.? I think of?compassion more as something we "do"
> rather than something we "be."
> ?
> There is a sense in which all of these are inter-related to the extent
> that you can't talk about or embody?any one of them without?the other two.?
> Humility leads one to be both grateful and compassionate.? Gratitude has a
> prerequisite for humility, and is ultimately expressed in compassion.?
> Compassion is humility?and gratitude in action, i.e. the life of empathic
> service.? We can see clearly how these three "moods" or "attitudes," as we
> called them, are appropriate to the 3 acts of Christian worship as we
> practiced it.? But because we understand that worship is a rehearsal of,
> and is therefore transparent to, all of?life as encountered in the world,
> we understand that there is nothing religious about humility, gratitude or
> compassion, but that these qualities are?exhibited by?all who decide to?be
> "profoundly human."
> ?
> Randy
> ?
>
> "Listen to what is emerging from yourself to the course of being in the
> world; not to be supported by it, but to bring it to reality as it desires."
> -Martin Buber (adapted)
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: <
> http://lists.wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe-wedgeblade.net/attachments/20120730/a2d3e7ba/attachment-0001.htm
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2012 11:22:04 -0500
> From: George Holcombe <geowanda at earthlink.net>
> To: Order Ecumenical Community <OE at wedgeblade.net>
> Subject: [Oe List ...] [Dialogue] The Three Moods in Christian Worship
> Message-ID: <ADFE3EF5-0461-43A3-B82C-56C4F0B48212 at earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
>
> Good one, Randy.  I appreciated reading that, and then I turned to Rohr's
> daily and couldn't keep from recommended this one.  I associate it with the
> Tillich paper.
>
> George Holcombe
> 14900 Yellowleaf Tr.
> Austin, TX 78728
> Mobile 512/252-2756
> geowanda at earthlink.net
>
> Hope appeareth, but it is not your Hope?you do not have anything to do
> with it. It just appeareth. It comes as a stranger, as an alien?it just
> appeareth! You do not even know why you hope. How in the world could you
> hope when there is absolutely nothing to justify any hope?    ~Joseph W.
> Mathews
>
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> > From: Center for Action and Contemplation <cac at cacradicalgrace.org>
> > Subject: Daily Meditation: The Art of Letting Go -- July 30, 2012
> > Date: July 30, 2012 1:10:45 AM CDT
> > To: geowanda1 at me.com
> > Reply-To: cac at cacradicalgrace.org
> >
> >
> > Having trouble viewing this message? Click here to view as a webpage.
> >
> > Snow Goose Day Flight, by ? Shirin McArthur.
> >
> >
> > THE ART OF LETTING GO
> >
> >
> > It is good to remember that a part of you has always loved God. There is
> a part of you that has always said yes. There is a part of you that is Love
> itself, and that is what we must fall into. It is already there. Once you
> move your identity to that level of deep inner contentment, you will
> realize you are drawing upon a Life that is much larger than your own and
> from a deeper abundance. Once you learn this, why would you ever again
> settle for scarcity in your life? ?I?m not enough! This is not enough! I do
> not have enough!? I am afraid this is the way culture trains you to think.
> It is a kind of learned helplessness. The Gospel message is just the
> opposite?inherent power.
> >
> > Thomas Merton said the way we have structured our lives, we spend our
> whole life climbing up the ladder of supposed success, and when we get to
> the top of the ladder we realize it is leaning against the wrong wall?and
> there is nothing at the top. To get back to the place of inherent
> abundance, you have to let go of all of the false agendas, unreal goals,
> and passing self-images. It is all about letting go. The spiritual life is
> more about unlearning than learning, because the deepest you already knows
> (1 John 2:21).
> >
> > Adapted from The Art of Letting Go (CD)
> >
> > Prayer:
> > May I learn to let go.
> >
> >
> >
> > Share on  ? Share on
> >   More sharing options ...
> > Permalink (for linking to this): http://conta.cc/OdoAWt
> > Click here to forward this to a friend.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Join Fr. Richard as
> > he presents the upcoming conference
> > Franciscan Mysticism:
> > I AM That Which I Am Seeking
> >
> > October 28-29, 2012
> > With special pre-conference events
> > October 26-27.
> > Santa Fe, New Mexico
> > More information and registration ...
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Did you get this message forwarded from someone else? Wish to sign up
> for CAC's email lists yourself? Subscribe to CAC email lists here.
> >
> > You are receiving this message because you subscribed to the CAC's
> "Daily Meditations" email list. You can unsubscribe or change your
> preferences or email address at any time.
> >
> > Please direct inquiries to cac at cacradicalgrace.org.
> >
> > Copyright ? 2012 Center for Action and Contemplation
> > 1705 Five Points Rd SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105 (physical)
> > PO Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195-2464 (mailing)
> > (505)242-9588
> > www.cac.org
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > This email was sent to geowanda1 at me.com by cac at cacradicalgrace.org |
> > Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe? |
> Privacy Policy.
> >
> > Center for Action and Contemplation | 1705 Five Points Rd. SW (phys) |
> PO Box 12464 (mailing) | Albuquerque | NM | 87195
> >
>
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: <
> http://lists.wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe-wedgeblade.net/attachments/20120730/3c91e948/attachment-0001.htm
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> OE mailing list
> OE at lists.wedgeblade.net
> http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net
>
>
> End of OE Digest, Vol 4, Issue 29
> *********************************
>



-- 
David*

There is no cup.
It's a flame. Feed the flame.
*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe-wedgeblade.net/attachments/20120730/99f7a343/attachment-0001.htm>