February 2014 - Dialogue - lists.wedgeblade.net

An important movement and a significant event
by David Dunn 31 Mar '14

31 Mar '14

Hello colleagues. I want to draw your attention to a conference that will be held in Denver during the first weekend in April this year: The Fourth Turning: Exploring the Future of Buddhism. Ken Wilbur and several Buddhist colleagues are the organizers and presenters. While the named topic is the future of Buddhism, the explicit purpose of the conference is to explore with a wide diversity of participants the possibility and necessity of integrating the great spiritual traditions with the insights of the modern scientific, urban, secular world. The conference will use Buddhism as an explicit case study and context for grounding the challenge of evolving spliritualites in real life. The use of ourselves as experiment and action research in grounding spirituality is a path and a quest that has been familiar to us for years. Many will be familiar with Wilbur's book Integral Spirituality and the website integrallife.com. Here is the conference website: http://fourthturningbuddhism.com/ and a short video of Ken Wilbur creating the context for the conference's work: http://fourthturningbuddhism.com/about/. I hope that many of you will consider being a part of this event. We've all been more or less deeply touched by Buddhist teachings and practices; we've been addressed by colleagues who have become practicing Buddhists; and if you're an evolving Christian in any way like me, you've been drawn to contemplative insight and practice that takes one deeper than the images and ideas that launched and carried us on our further journeys of expansion in the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, and beyond. We have much to add to this dialogue concerning the evolution of faith communities and their spiritual traditions. I've registered and begun to do my homework and personal orientation for the event. Grace and peace to all. David Dunn — "Mystery, possibility, and the power to choose" David Dunn 740 S Alton Way 9B Denver, CO 80247 720-314-5991 dmdunn1(a)gmail.com

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"Journey Reflection" February 2014 Top-viewed Blog Posts
by Lynda Cock 28 Feb '14

28 Feb '14

Friends, colleagues, and relatives, At this link now are the 16 top-viewed of 85 blog posts of <http://rejourney.blogspot.com/2014/02/journey-reflection-blog-review-februa ry.html> February 2014. As always, thank you for quote suggestions, comments, and for forwarding blog posts (even this e-mail) to others. Journey on, Lynda and John P.S. On March 7, we will celebrate the anniversary of the awe-filled day of losing c. 2,300 images/pics. We are not finished restoring/updating those images and posts, but trust we can be caught up by John's December birthday. >Blog: "Journey Reflection" main link ... Google or Google Plus: <http://www.rejourney.blogspot.com/> www.reJourney.blogspot.com >Web Page: <http://www.transcribebooks.com/> www.transcribebooks.com >Books: <https://www.amazon.com/author/johnpcock> https://www.amazon.com/author/johnpcock

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2/27/14, Spong: Part XV- Matthew: Understanding the Sermon on the Mount: Conclusion
by Ellie Stock 27 Feb '14

27 Feb '14

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR Part XV- Matthew Understanding the Sermon on the Mount: Conclusion Jesus never preached the Sermon on the Mount! That needs to be said again and again until it is embraced as a fact. The Sermon on the Mount was composed by the author of Matthew’s gospel in order to fill out his interpretive portrait of Jesus, not only as the messiah, but also as the expected prophet of whom Moses spoke and even one who was thought to have relived the life of Moses. This suggestion will be startling to some, which is why I have been so deliberate in developing the background material. Biblical ignorance is not a virtue, especially when the background material that I have cited has been known in the world of biblical scholarship for at least the last 200 years. The facts supporting these ideas are plentiful. Nowhere else in the New Testament was Jesus ever said to have preached the Sermon on the Mount. If, as Matthew suggests, it was such a climactic moment in Jesus’ life, does it not seem strange that this event did not make an indelible impression on anyone else in the developing Christian tradition? Paul, Mark, Luke and John never mention it. In fairness, let me say that some of the material included in Matthew’s version of the Sermon on the Mount is also included in Luke as part of Jesus’ preaching on the plains, but it is not nearly so beautifully set forth or dramatic. Luke’s Beatitudes, for example, are shortened to four and are accompanied by a series of four woes, portraying neither the grandeur nor the depth of Matthew’s sermon. Indeed, it appears to be derivative. Some scholars adhere to what is known as “the Q hypothesis.” They believe that both Luke and Matthew had an additional, now lost, common source other than Mark, which they have called “Quella,” the German word for “source,” which was quickly abbreviated to Q. Q, they argue, contained a number of the sayings of Jesus and is used to explain the similarities between Matthew and Luke that are not derived from Mark. Other scholars who deny the Q hypothesis, and I am increasingly one of them, argue that what has been called “the Q material” is really Matthew’s midrashic adaptations written on the text of Mark, and that Luke had both Mark and Matthew before him when he wrote his gospel. Thus Luke incorporated into his gospel some of Matthew’s adaptations and additions to Mark. This, rather than a speculative, now lost document, would account for the sometimes almost identical non-Marcan passages found in both Matthew and Luke. This would mean that Q is nothing but Matthew’s adaptations to Mark, which were then incorporated into Luke. The Q hypothesis has been a standard assumption of New Testament scholars for at least the last 150 years, but I find a theory based on a lost document to be a rather weak argument and I am delighted to see confidence in the Q hypothesis begin to wane, although that waning is more obvious among scholars in the United Kingdom than it is among scholars in the United States. In the Jesus Seminar, a scholarly think tank made up primarily of American scripture scholars, the Q hypothesis has achieved the status of an almost unchallenged dogma. In that body I was a lonely voice of one, who was never convinced of the accuracy of the Q hypothesis despite the complete confidence of the Seminar’s other fellows in it. My reasons for this skepticism are located in the Jewishness of the gospels in general and the Jewishness of Matthew’s gospel in particular. The Sermon on the Mount is the cornerstone of my dismissal of the Q hypothesis The more one understands that the organizing principle behind each of the three synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke) is not the remembered life of Jesus, but the pattern of synagogue worship in which the Jesus story was told and retold during the first two to three generations of Christianity’s life, the less need one has for the existence of a lost source called Q. As we look at the Sermon on the Mount from a Jewish perspective, the more this Jewish liturgical background becomes both apparent and appealing. Indeed the relationship between the Sermon on the Mount and the festival observance of Shavuot is only the first of these connections, which I will set opposite one another as we walk through the rest of Matthew’s gospel. It is on these connections that in my mind the necessity for the Q hypothesis disappears. What the Sermon on the Mount is to Shavuot the crucifixion will be to Passover, and between those two great celebrations Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkoth, and Dedication will all be related to significant and appropriate Jesus stories. In this analysis, literalism as a viable way of reading the gospels will quite simply die and we will begin to see new dimensions in the Christ portrayal, which will enable us to lay a new claim on our faith story. To begin this process we must make sure that the connection between the Sermon on the Mount and the celebration of Shavuot is clear. If you notice that I am repeating some ideas from the column last week, be assured that it is on purpose. New ideas have to be repeated until they find permanent lodging in our minds. Shavuot, as noted previously, is a festival coming 50 days after Passover and observed in the synagogue with a 24 hour vigil. For this vigil Psalm 119, the longest Psalm in the Psalter was specifically written. Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount is modeled on that psalm. Psalm 119 provides a psalm reading for the eight segments of the 24 hour vigil. Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount reflects this psalm in many ways. It too is divided into eight segments. In Matthew’s introduction to the Sermon on the Mount he frames eight verses in such a way that each begins with the word “Blessed,” causing these verses to be named “the Beatitudes.” In the introduction to Psalm 119 two of the eight verses begin with the word “Blessed.” Matthew’s sermon is then made up of eight commentaries on each of the eight Beatitudes, but he will do these commentaries in reverse order; that is, his first commentary is on the eighth Beatitude and his last commentary is on the first Beatitude. Psalm 119 in its entirety is a hymn to the beauty and wonder of the Law, the Torah. Among its words are these: “Blessed are those who walk in the law (the Torah) of the Lord.” “Let me not wander from your commandments (your Torah).” “Blessed are thou, O Lord; teach me your statutes (your Torah).” “I am a sojourner on earth; hide not your commandments (your Torah) from me.” “I will run in the way of your commandments (Torah) when you enlarge my understanding.” We could continue this kind of quotation with many, many references out of that Psalm’s text. Psalm 119 was clearly created to serve the liturgical needs of the synagogue during Shavuot’s 24 hour vigil. Both Matthew and his readers would know this and would recognize that the Sermon on the Mount was patterned after Psalm 119, the psalm of Shavuot. It was not a foreign practice for the Jews at the great celebrations of their liturgical life to read the biblical passages that tell the story behind the celebration each year. Liturgy is, after all, the act of recalling the historical moments in a nation’s sacred history. The book of Esther had been written to be read at the Feast of Purim, to celebrate the deliverance of the Jews from genocide in the days of the Persians. The book of Lamentations had been written for the Ninth of Ab, the day when the Jews recalled the destruction of the Temple at the hands of the Babylonians. The basis of the celebration of Shavuot would be the Sinai story from the book of Exodus in which the Torah was given to Moses, so this was the Torah lesson that was always read at this celebration. Before we can understand the Sermon on the Mount we must understand its Jewish antecedents. The Torah began with the Ten Commandments and Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount touches on each of the Ten, some quite overtly, but not missing any of them. Matthew’s readers would also recognize how the Sermon on the Mount was modeled on Psalm 119, the Psalm of Shavuot. That was how they understood Matthew’s gospel. From about 150 CE on, however, the Christian Church became a Gentile movement, so the Jewish background to the gospel’s Jesus stories was unknown. More than that there was an active and virulent anti-Jewish prejudice that was operating in this Gentile Church. So it was that the Jewish meaning behind the gospel stories was lost. That meant that for the next 2000 or so years of Christian history the only people who read, studied, taught or wrote commentaries on the gospels were Gentiles who were ignorant of and prejudiced against their original Jewish frame of reference. In that process symbolic Jewish stories were read as if they were literal history. Biblical literalism is at its heart a Gentile heresy, born in the ignorance of the Jewish background to the gospels. To recover the essential meaning of our own gospels we must learn to read them through a Jewish lens or with Jewish eyes. We must understand the Jewish context in which and for which the various segments of the synoptic gospels were written. We must be able to identify what I call the “Gentile Captivity of the Christian Story.” It was in the service of Gentile ignorance that Christians were taught first that the Bible must be understood literally; later it was the 4th century Christians were taught that the creeds had to be believed literally, and finally in the 13th century Christians were taught that worship forms were handed down from on high and were, therefore, not subject to change. The future of Christianity depends on breaking this stranglehold of imposed literalism, based on Gentile ignorance of Christianity’s Jewish roots and origins. I seek to counter the ignorance of literalism week by week in this study of Matthew’s Gospel. It is the celebration of Shavuot that makes the Sermon on the Mount what it is– deeply true, but not literal history. Stay tuned! The narrative becomes more and more exciting as its organizing secret is revealed. ~John Shelby Spong Read the essay online here. Question & Answer Carla Wehler from Spicer, Arizona, writes: Question: I consider myself to be a supportive follower of Progressive Christianity (PC), whose own spiritual beliefs closely parallel what is being espoused by leaders such as you in the movement to interpret the Bible in a way that is rational, scientific, contemporary, and not given to so much blind-sighted literalism. My exposure to PC includes having read all of your Question and Answer weeklies since you started them some years ago, frequently reading the contents of the Progressive Christianity.org web site and having started to read some of your welcomed books. You have made reference to many church congregations today not being exposed by their seminary-educated pastors to current and recent (the past 100 years or more) biblical knowledge that is based on scholarly agreement or consensus. I have heard and read of you mentioning a child-like, Sunday school level of understanding of the Bible on the part of many adult churchgoers who often do not see underneath or beyond the literal word. To borrow a now somewhat dated set of words, I assert that you are “right on.” I had a brother-in-law who was an ELCA seminary graduate and pastor and I know that seminaries could be placed on a continuum or range scale from conservative to liberal or some other defining set of words. It troubles me that certain conservative/fundamental/evangelical seminaries continue to promote belief and thinking going back to the third or fourth century CE. Does the problem of withholding more revealing scholarship to congregants lie primarily with the seminaries, the graduates of the seminaries, or both? Answer: Dear Carla, The issue is, I believe, more complex than you suggest. It has to do with our human security needs, with economic realities, with the audience to which the seminaries are responsible and with the quality of the candidates for ordination themselves. First, let me suggest that rethinking ancient religious symbols, scriptures and creeds in the light of contemporary knowledge raises human anxiety levels significantly. Most people wrap their security needs inside their religious convictions. When the truth that is claimed in our religious convictions is questioned, the anxiety that was born in the moment of our achieving human self-consciousness takes over. It is also the fact of self-consciousness that forces us human beings to raise questions of meaning and mortality that no other living creature has ever had to face. No dog or cat lives with the knowledge of its own death, but human beings do. No dog or cat raises questions about whether life has meaning, but human beings do. To face the possibility of mortality and meaninglessness throws us into the trauma that always accompanies self-consciousness. One of the driving forces behind the creation of human religion was the need to speak to this anxiety. That is why there is a desire in all religious systems to claim certainty for its religious convictions. Religious uncertainty does not alleviate anxiety so religious systems always have to postulate that what its followers believe is “changeless truth.” That is why the Catholic Church has declared its pope to be infallible. That is why for fundamentalistic Protestant Christians the Bible has to be “inerrant.” That is why every church seems bound to claim that it is the “one true church,” or that no one could possibly achieve salvation in a faith system other than “my own.” Part of religion’s power is found in the claim that it can and must provide the “answer.” In the history of Christianity, when new thought challenges religious convictions, one sees the religious organizations respond to destroy or deny that thought. Galileo was put on trial for heresy and barely escaped being burned at the stake. “Inquisitions” were formed by religious hierarchies to counter doubt. To this day in the Bible Belt of the South in the United States politicians still run against Darwin when they seek public office. In times of change, religion always moves to the right, becoming both loud and negative. No one escapes these unconscious religious motivators. So we discover that church executives do not want seminaries raising questions that might later disturb the security of the faithful. Congregations use the threat of withholding their financial support to keep “questioning clergy” in line. Reformations are always destructive to the religious status quo. The fact that the world always changes and that knowledge is always growing exponentially inevitably means that what religious people like to refer to as “eternal truth” is in fact always under challenge from new insights. That is the reality with which churches must always be dealing. The way to deal with this deep-seated human fear is to help people to grow up to a new level of maturity, but normally religious institutions and religious hierarchical people tend to respond by trying to suppress truth that is religiously “uncomfortable” or “inconvenient.” The quest for security is ultimately not an emotional way of life that allows growth to take place. Religion in general and Christianity in many of its forms seems designed to keep people child-like, docile and trusting. My conviction, however, is that real Christianity was born not to make us secure, but to enable us to live with insecurity; its goal was to enable us to achieve not childlike faith, but human maturity. I believe this is what Paul meant when he wrote that we are to grow into the full stature of Christ Jesus that is within us. Christianity points to God, to truth, to meaning, but it does not capture these entities. We learn as Christians to walk by faith, not by certainty. That kind of Christianity, however, will always be a minority movement for, far from giving people either the security they need or the “promised land” for which they yearn, it offers them only a journey into the ultimate mystery and wonder of God, which is beyond all forms and all known truths. Perhaps that is why Jesus is portrayed biblically as using only minority images to describe his movement. The gospels record Jesus as saying to his followers that they are to be the “leaven in the dough,” the “salt in the soup” and the “light in the darkness.” This sense of being a minority presence in the midst of life is not enough for most religious institutions or leaders who crave certainty. It is, however, enough for me, and perhaps it can be enough for you and even for that minority that wants to combine the search for God and meaning with the search for truth. No one can possess ultimate truth; all any of us can do is to walk toward it. Christianity is thus a journey that never ends. For Christianity it is the walk that is the reality. Do it then with integrity. John Shelby Spong Announcements Join the discussion and community on our Facebook pages! Where life, religion, theology, progressive Christianity, the teachings of Jesus and more topics are discussed. We hope to see you there! John Shelby Spong page: https://www.facebook.com/JohnShelbySpong ProgressiveChristianity.org page: https://www.facebook.com/ProgressiveChristianity.org Any questions or concerns, please contact us at support(a)johnshelbyspong.com or 253-507-8678.

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UPDATE
by David Zahrt 26 Feb '14

26 Feb '14

I thought you all might be interested in NCARE's Nevada climate change and clean energy news briefs for the week - leading off with a photo and short piece about David's march. Feel free to share it. Peace, David http://nevadanscleanenergy.org/nevada-climate-clean-energy-news-briefs/ -- Peace, David

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Fwd: Attendees of Great March for Climate - Kickoff, Rally, & March
by David Zahrt 24 Feb '14

24 Feb '14

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: SoCal Climate Action Coalition 350 <auto-message(a)eventbrite.com> Date: Mon, Feb 24, 2014 at 9:46 AM Subject: Attendees of Great March for Climate - Kickoff, Rally, & March To: 4deezee(a)gmail.com *A Message from SoCal Climate Action Coalition 350: *Good Morning Attendees, We are less than a week from the kickoff of largest coast-to-coast climate march in US History! We look forward to seeing you March 1st! Before the big day, we want to pass along a few updates and reminders. Speakers list will be posted by Sunday evening at the website: http://j.mp/GreatMarchWU - Please share the event through email, social media and word of mouth - Sign and share the *online petition:* http://j.mp/1e4tpwF - *Closing Ceremony Update:* The Closing Ceremony will be held at the Mercado La Paloma, 3655 S Grand Ave Los Angeles, CA 90007 (near USC). There will be many food options to choose from including vegan and gluten free. - Rally participants are encouraged to *learn the song:* "Do it Now" ( http://j.mp/ClimateSong) We will be recording the largest U.S. public performance of this song. - *Rideshare and transportation options* will be posted by Monday. We encourage people to post on *eRideshare to find/request carpooling:* https://erideshare.com/xprs.php?e=6Wn1pS2<https://erideshare.com/xprs.php?e=6Wn1pS2C> *All Marchers Please Remember to Bring:* - You Rally sign or Banner - Reusable water bottles +2 - Umbrella and/or hat - Rain jacket and warm clothes /jacket - Light breakfast - Snacks - Cash for food - Personal ID - Sunglasses - Surgical mask (to wear at beginning of march and signify the Port of LA air quality and that we demand better standards) - Sunscreen - Comfy shoes - Charged cell phone - Tap Card - Reusable bag or small bag to carry your own items - An extensive list for those marching more than one day can be found here: http://climatemarch.718.cldstr.com/wagn/Packing_list *Here is the Route:* https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=200180320168074346590.0004f149fd3ce018… Great March for Climate - Kickoff, Rally, & March<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/great-march-for-climate-kickoff-rally-march-re…> Hosted by SoCal Climate Action Coalition 350 Saturday, March 1, 2014 from 8:30 AM to 7:30 PM (PST) Wilmington Waterfront Park, W C St, Wilmington, CA 90744 | Directions <https://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.7722753+-118.27033719999997> Contact the Host <https://www.eventbrite.com/contact-organizer?eid=10425231147&utm_source=eb_…> This invitation was sent to 4deezee(a)gmail.com by SoCal Climate Action Coalition 350 <http://www.eventbrite.com/org/5983562783> the organizer. To stop receiving invitations from this organizer, you can unsubscribe<http://www.eventbrite.com/inviteunsubscribe?email=4deezee%40gmail.com&oid=5…>. [image: Eventbrite] <http://www.eventbrite.com/home/?ref=eemail&utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=e…> Eventbrite | 651 Brannan St. Suite 110 | San Francisco, CA 94107 -- Peace, David

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2/20/14, Spong: Part XIV Matthew - The Sermon on the Mount: Sinai Revisited
by Ellie Stock 20 Feb '14

20 Feb '14

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR Part XIV Matthew The Sermon on the Mount: Sinai Revisited Matthew is portraying Jesus as the New Moses who went to the top of a new mountain to deliver a new interpretation of the Torah. He is not a reporter for a local newspaper covering an event that actually happened. Matthew is quite specific in his gospel that Jesus is not delivering a new Torah! He was far too deeply Jewish to think that way. Indeed, he has Jesus say that not one “jot or tittle,” not one comma or period in the Torah is to be set aside by his re-interpretation. For Matthew the Torah will find its ultimate meaning and its fulfillment in the life and teaching of Jesus; that is what he is claiming. So, if the Sermon on the Mount is the time for Matthew to revisit Mt. Sinai and to understand Moses and the Torah in a new way, it behooves us to become familiar with the Exodus story in which the Torah was originally said to have been given. One can hardly understand Matthew’s portrayal of Jesus as the new Moses on a new mountain, if we do not know much less understand, the original story of Moses on Mount Sinai. The Jewish method of keeping the great events in Jewish history alive in every generation was to bind these events into their liturgical year. In this way, the essential meaning of these events in history could be celebrated annually, the origins of the tradition re-read or retold and the understanding of the people newly refreshed as the past is liturgically incorporated into each successive generation. This is what both liturgy and liturgical calendars are designed to do. That is why worship almost always celebrates the crucial moments in the religious history of the worshiping people. The first liturgical event in the Jewish year was Passover observed on the 14th and 15th days of the month of Nisan, the first month in the Jewish calendar according to Leviticus. Fifty days later, the second major celebration of the Jewish liturgical year arrived in their calendar and was observed. Some called this day “Pentecost,” which literally means 50 days, as in from Passover. It was also called “The Festival of Weeks,” because it was celebrated on the first day after the passing of 49 days or seven weeks. The Hebrew word for “weeks” is Shavuot, so that is also a name by which this day was known. Shavuot celebrated that biblical moment when the people of the Exodus, wandering in the wilderness somewhere between the Red Sea and the Jordan River, entered into a covenant relationship with the God who had delivered them from Egypt. This event took place at the foot of a mountain called Sinai. It marked the time when God was supposed to have given the Torah to the people through Moses. This annual Shavuot celebration came to be observed liturgically with a twenty-four hour vigil, divided into eight three-hour segments. As part of this vigil, the Exodus story would be read in all its fullness. Psalm 119, the longest psalm in the Psalter, was created to be used on this day. Its 176 verses were divided into an introduction and seven segments of three stanzas each, thus providing a reading from the Psalter for each of the eight parts of the 24 hour worship vigil. Two of the eight verses of the crucial introductory stanza of Psalm 119 began with a word that was translated by the word “blessed” or “happy.” The body of this Psalm was a hymn of praise to God for the beauty and the wonder of the law, the Torah. Thus it was that this annual celebration of Shavuot kept the Sinai experience current in every new Jewish generation. There were other major feast and fast days in the liturgical year: Rash Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkoth and Dedication (or Hanukkah), all of which, we will learn later, shaped Matthew’s gospel, but it is Shavuot that forms the background for Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount, our current focus. It was Matthew’s intention to portray Jesus in the role of the New Moses, the one who fulfills the Torah and the prophet that Moses promised would someday come. Before we can understand this connection fully, we must go back to the original Exodus story and fix the Sinai experience in our minds. When we do, Matthew’s Sermon will open up with a new intensity. Moses and the children of Israel had arrived in their wilderness wanderings at the foot of Mt. Sinai in the land of Midian. There Moses was reunited with the members of his family, whom he had left at the call of God to lead the people of Israel out of slavery and into freedom. His wife Zipporah and his two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, came out to greet him. Perhaps even more important to this story is the account that Jethro, the priest of Midian and not coincidentally Moses’ father-in-law, was part of the welcoming party. Jethro was portrayed as being impressed with Moses’ successes. This was to be a meeting of two holy men – perhaps two distinct religious traditions – that needed to come together, but in this narrative, they already appear to overlap significantly. After a brief family reunion, Moses and Jethro entered into a long conversation. Moses recounted to Jethro all the things that “the Lord had accomplished.” The crossing of the Red Sea and the story of manna from heaven were clearly in the background. Jethro rejoiced in these achievements and “blessed the Lord.” Then in an act of mutual recognition, the two “holy men” proceeded to offer burnt offerings and sacrifices to God. Aaron, the high priest of Israel, joined Moses and Jethro and “all the elders” of Israel ate bread together with the two leaders. The religion of Israel and the religion of Midian were coming together. The next day, Moses sat in the seat of judgment to hear all the disputes that had arisen among the people on this journey. It was his role as the tribal leader to render a decision in each dispute. The case load was so large that this “court” lasted from morning to evening. Jethro watched this process with increasing dis-ease. Later he shared his feelings about this process with Moses in private. Moses defended this process, saying that this was his way of teaching the people “the statutes of God.” Jethro countered by saying that one person cannot be the sole judge for an entire nation. Then he said to Moses: “You must teach them the statutes of God and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.” The way to do this, Jethro continued, was to divide the people into groups of 1000 and choose leaders for each group of 1000 from among those “who fear God and are trustworthy; people who hate a bribe.” Then, Jethro continued, you must further divide the groups of 1000 into groups of 100, then 50 and finally 10, with chosen leaders over each of these smaller units. Disputes that cannot be settled at the 10 level will be passed to the leader of the 50 level. If they cannot be settled at the 50 level, they will be passed to the leaders of 100 and then to the leaders of 1000. You, Moses, will then deal only with those issues that cannot be decided by the leaders of the units of a 1000. Moses agreed to this plan and this organization was set up. There was still a problem, however. By what standards would these smaller unit judges make their decisions? Only Moses seemed to know what the law of God was. Is every judge to render decisions based on the opinion of that judge alone? How could the confusion of their interpretations be avoided when these judges made different decisions? A unified nation needs a unified body of law, an objective standard on the basis of which judgments are to be made. It was not enough that Moses talked to God alone to discuss the divine will; that will must be revealed to all the people and then codified for all to read and to learn. While it was clear that this need was apparent, there was still the political problem that unless the law of God flowed through Moses, the authority of Moses would be undercut. So Moses laid down the process by which the law of God could flow through Moses to the people. It was to be a dramatic scene of divine revelation. Three new moons later, after the escaping former slave people were encamped at the foot of a mountain in the wilderness of Sinai, it was said that God called Moses to come up the mountain to confer. In that consultation, God offered a covenant or contract to the people: “If you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession.” I will turn you into “a kingdom of priests, a holy nation,” The people agreed that this was what they wanted. Moses then took their consent back to God. Then the plan was made whereby the will of God would be revealed to the people in a very dramatic, awe-inspiring moment. God was coming to speak through a cloud so that the people could hear the divine will for themselves. The people consecrated themselves for two days by washing their garments and refraining from sex to make themselves ready for the divine Epiphany that was to occur on the third day. Boundaries were set around Mt. Sinai; people who transgressed these boundaries would do so on pain of death. All was in readiness. When the third day arrived, the book of Exodus informs us that there was thunder and lightning and then a dark cloud covered the mountain. The people watched as the mountain was covered in smoke and fire and then the mountain quaked as the trumpets blew louder and louder. Next Moses called to God and God came down from the sky to the mountain. God instructed Moses to bring Aaron up. The high priest must also be validated. That was how the words of the Torah were said to have entered human history. In Shavuot the will of God became objective law, but Moses was the means of the revelation. Aaron and the priests were now in the loop of authority. An objective standard had been created to which every one who judged could appeal for authority. The only way the law could be altered was for a new Moses to reveal a new insight into the law and in the process be validated by all the people as a new deepening of an old revelation. That was what Matthew was claiming when he portrayed Jesus as delivering the Sermon on the Mount. Indeed Matthew created the Sermon on the Mount to validate the claim that Jesus was the New Moses. We will look at the Sermon in detail when this series resumes. ~John Shelby Spong Read the essay online here. Question & Answer Luis Salado from Seville, Spain, writes: Question: Please excuse my English. It is Google’s machine translation. I just wanted to thank you for your book A New Christianity for a New World. It seemed great and I fully agree with you on everything. To know that one is not alone in the way of understanding the change that must occur in Christianity is very rewarding. To those I can I am talking about your book and believe me its message is spreading, as also your articles translated into Spanish. It would be interesting and almost necessary that your website becomes available for translation into Spanish. Is there a possibility of that? Answer: Dear Luis, Thanks for your letter. You and Google translated very well. I am happy to tell you that my columns are now translated into Spanish by a group in Madrid. They worked out an arrangement with my publisher to do this. If you would like to have more information on that or to join their list of Hispanic subscribers please contact Domingo Melero at dmelero(a)marcellegaut.org. This group has also translated and published in Spain my book: Living in Sin? A Bishop Rethinks Human Sexuality. Its Spanish title is Vivir en Pecado? They are also now working on a translation into Spanish of my book: Why Christianity Must Change or Die. I spent three weeks in Spain in 2013 and one week in 2012. I was delighted with the response. John Shelby Spong Announcements Visit the Bishop Spong Spanish website here: http://johnshelbyspong.es There you can also sign up for a weekly Spanish version of some of Bishop Spong's essays and find information on his books in Spanish. En Español.... La publicación de esta página web, así como el objetivo de editar algunos libros de Spong, cuenta con la colaboración desinteresada de traductores, correctores e informáticos. No obstante, hay gastos de gestión, de derechos y de edición. Por eso, para conocer el alcance del interés por Spong, te pedimos que te registres antes de acceder a los textos que publiquemos. Además, te pedimos una colaboración económica que sea acorde con tus posibilidades, el interés de los textos que te ofrecemos y tu deseo de que algunos libros de Spong se publiquen en español. La AML (Asociación Marcel Légaut) de España ha llegado a un acuerdo con la organización Progressive Christianity, de Estados Unidos, para publicar, mediante entregas periódicas (en principio, semanales), diferentes series y artículos de John Shelby Spong, obispo retirado de la Diócesis de Newark, N.J.; columnista y escritor, actualmente.Como Asociación sin ánimo de lucro, la AML destina los ingresos obtenidos por los artículos a pagar los derechos de los mismos (un reconocimiento mínimo a la labor de Spong y del equipo de Progressive Christianity) y a continuar con las traducciones y las publicaciones. JohnShelbySpong.com, ProgressiveChristianity.org and La Asociación Marcel Légaut (AML) are proud partners! For more information visit: La Asociación Marcel Légaut (AML) or http://johnshelbyspong.es

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ICAI Winds and Waves Submission of Articles for April 2014 Issue
by ICA International 18 Feb '14

18 Feb '14

To read in your browser click here We invite your submission of articles for the April 2014 edition of Winds and Waves Magazine. Dear colleagues, We do hope you have enjoyed reading past editions of Wind and Waves. We are constantly exploring how we can make this magazine more user friendly and accessible to as wide an audience as possible, and are delighted to have your suggestions. Wind & Waves will publish its next issue in April on the theme of "Networking" in all its old and and new manifestations, with stories from around the world! This is part of so much of our work these days. We cooperate with various groups in our projects. We make new contacts during facilitation programmes who then open doors for us. When we look at our daily calendar of tasks, we see how networking is intrinsic to our work. In the next issue, we would like to highlight the Who, How and the Benefits of networking - who we are networking with, how we are doing it and the benefits of networking. Could you contribute an article on this topic for this issue? What we need are reports and stories about the people and organisations that you are networking with, the breakthroughs that you have had, your learnings and insights, and your thoughts on future directions. As the magazine is still developing, we are open to a wide range of articles in terms of both content and style. Those that focus on this theme would be ideal but others are also welcome. Do you, or someone you know have a story that highlights networking or the synergy of connections? Please forward an invitation as appropriate to your networks. For more information on the various sections in the magazine and ideas on what and how to write, please go through the attached "Revised guidelines for W&W contributors, February 2014". NB We are happy to receive items in English and Spanish. If this assists, please be in touch specifically with Isabel or Catalina or Mané re this. The deadline for submission of articles is 28th March, 2014. We would like a heads up from you by 8th March or earlier on the following points: By 8th November, please let us know these details on the article you / other plan to write: a. Title.......... b. A summary in a couple of sentences (or just the first paragraph of the intended article)............ c. Estimated length............ d. The number of photos, if any, that will accompany the article.... e. Your name and author's name...... We would like input on the following sections of the magazine (please see the attached guidelines for more details) Contributions for: 1. Features Yes/ No 2. How-to tips Yes/ No 3. Book review Yes/ No 4. Interview Yes/ No 5. Photo essay Yes/ No 6. News Briefs Yes/ No 7. Whats On Yes/ No 8. Boardroom Yes/ No 9. Readers write Yes/ No Attachments: Please see copy of the guidelines. Please send all contributions to Isabel, Robyn and Peter. With many thanks in anticipation, Robyn Hutchinson, Isabel de la Maza Contributions Coordinators, for the W&W team hutchinsonsydney13(a)gmail.com (please note my new email for W&W) isadelamaza(a)vtr.net Please send cc to Peter, peter(a)icai-members.org , for this issue as Isobel and Robyn will be away for most of March. If you did not receive a copy or notice of the last edition of the magazine, please contact: Peter Ellins: peter(a)icai-members.org; or Robyn Hutchinson: hutchinsonsydney13(a)gmail.com

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Celebration of completed life of Wayne Nelson
by Jeanette Stanfield 18 Feb '14

18 Feb '14

Dear Colleagues, Jo Nelson has asked me to send you the following note with 2 links to video of celebration of Wayne's life and a family slideshow. Peace, Jeanette I've put both of the videos on Dropbox to share. They are too big to put on YouTube. You can see a 15 minute preview on the Dropbox website, but if you download the file, you can watch the whole thing. The Celebration video is very large, and 56 minutes long. The slideshow is much smaller. I suggest downloading them when you want to watch them, then move them to a thumb drive or dump them to make room on your hard drive! Slideshow with music https://www.dropbox.com/s/uvnhe0cehcowxf2/wayne1024x768.mov Video of Celebration of Life https://www.dropbox.com/s/6ghf47ipe9wf69b/Celebration%20of%20Life.m4v Take care, Jo Jeanette Stanfield jstanfield(a)ica-associates.ca You have "The Courage to Lead" We need a global carbon tax now. Fatih Birol, chief economist International Energy Agency www.worldenergyoutlook.org/multimedia/videocontent/name,34603,en.html

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Fw: Once More, Into the Breach!
by Bill Parker 18 Feb '14

18 Feb '14

----- Original Message ----- From: Bill Parker To: Gordon Harper ; Jack Gilles Cc: Larry Ward ; Wendell Refior ; Sally Fenton ; Timothy Wegner ; Steve Harrington ; Paul Noah ; Beret Griffith ; Frank Knutson ; Marge Philbrook ; Rosemary Albright ; Jean Long Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2014 11:26 AM Subject: Re: Once More, Into the Breach! Jack and all, Thanks for your comments. It seems we have three tasks in front of us: 1) understanding the practical shape of systemic transformation that leads to sustainable life processes; 2) addressing the underlying contradiction that would unlock the massive global/local movement already indicatively present but incoherently related; 3) bringing to the forefront the different faces of the human community that while seemingly independent speak and act out of a mutual commitment and discipline for systemic transformation for the benefit of the entire human community. The underlying contradiction we have been working on since before the first Symposium at Oklahoma City University is "the disengagement of the population due to a closely held conviction that nothing could be done to affect the systemic reality" resulting in delimited action or none at all. Gene Marshall talked about this in his book "The Road from Empire to Eco-Democracy" as a disbelief in the plausibility of systemic change. People know...they see, and some act...but they do not see their actions altering the systemic reality, but most live with themselves managing the futility without going insane. Some are able to do even that. And Jack, the different faces of the human community are a reflection of your work on the guilds. We need NEW authorities, NEW types of expertise, people who can deal with the technicalities of different dimensions of the life processes AND who are absolutely clear about how systemic transformation can happen through them and others like them. Think of those "faces" as engaged global/local networks in areas of expertise and/or interests but who know the circuitry of their work in terms of what is needed from all the other faces and what it can give to all of the other faces as well. As you said, or someone said, "once more, into the breach". Bill ----- Original Message ----- From: Jack Gilles To: Gordon Harper Cc: Jean Long ; Rosemary Albright ; Marge Philbrook ; Frank Knutson ; Beret Griffith ; Paul Noah ; Steve Harrington ; Timothy Wegner ; Sally Fenton ; Wendell Refior Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 2:20 PM Subject: Re: Once More, Into the Breach! Dear Team, I presume most of you got Bill Parker's email on the up coming conference at OKC University. I like his term: "Human Community Network", his new title for what we used to call Those Who Care. Maybe we should think of using this name for the GRA event and it would also link with his work and OKC University work. Nice synergy. Jack On Feb 14, 2014, at 1:51 AM, Gordon Harper <gharper1(a)gmail.com> wrote: Oh, I also set up a subfolder called VGRA in our shared ICA Archives folder. That's where I then created the document I just sent you. We might start putting our thoughts and ideas into this folder as well as exchanging emails (that may be hard to find later). On Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 11:34 PM, Gordon Harper <gharper1(a)gmail.com> wrote: Here's my starting scratch at what our year might look like if we decide to go for what Paul and Beret propose. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qJ1Z8xaROnaxTXjKU7dszgx5IBEplnsc3iOG101… Someone with better layout skills than I could put this in a format that is more editable than this is (text boxes? PowerPoint slides? Spreadsheet? Graphic design?). I've done this in "terse" form to keep it simple--can explain what's behind some of the items when we meet. Look forward to your questions, critiques and suggestions next Wednesday (or before) -- Gordon

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Launch time approaching
by David Zahrt 18 Feb '14

18 Feb '14

Here is an article in the *Nevada Appea*l. http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/10185623-113/march-zahrt-carson-fossil -- Peace, David

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