December 2020 - Dialogue - lists.wedgeblade.net

Study of TEN LESSONS FOR A POST PANDEMIC WORLD
by James Wiegel 02 Jan '21

02 Jan '21

32 of you have signed up to study Fareed Zakaria's TEN LESSONS FOR A POST PANDEMIC WORLD. Our first session (via ZOOM) is a week away -- Monday, January 4, 2021. 7:00-8:30 pm CST (Chicago time)12 weeks. 1/4/2021 to 3/22/2021 Intro, Ten Lessons, Conclusion Join us if you have interest. For those of you who have signed up, do you have the book? Is it paper? digital? audio? 1. We are looking for 1 or 2 of you who know Zoom to work with David Rebstock on set up and helping folks get connected. 2. We need 5 small group guides for break outs during the sessions3. We need volunteers to take each of the chapters, go through it in advance and do a 10-15 minute walk through of the chapter. Here is the last paragraph of the book:CONCLUSION: NOTHING IS WRITTEN 233 Inhis own way, Dwight Eisenhower was making a similar point to WalterCronkite as they sat overlooking the rows of graves in Normandy. Thesoldiers who died during World War II gave us all a chance to build abetter and more peaceful world. So, too, in our times, this uglypandemic has created the possibility for change and reform. It hasopened up a path to a new world. It’s ours to take that opportunityor squander it. Nothing is written. Jim Wiegel Theunknown is what is. And to be frightened of it is what sends everybodyscurrying around chasing dreams, illusions, wars, peace, love, hate, allthat. Unknown is what is. Accept that it's unknown, and it's plainsailing. John Lennon 401 North Beverly Way,Tolleson, Arizona 85353 623-363-3277 jfwiegel(a)yahoo.com www.partnersinparticipation.com

6 7

12/31/2020, Progressing Spirit: Rev. Irene Monroe: Where Do We Go from Here, Redux; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 31 Dec '20

31 Dec '20

#yiv9732030778 p{ margin:10px 0;padding:0;} #yiv9732030778 table{ border-collapse:collapse;} #yiv9732030778 h1, #yiv9732030778 h2, #yiv9732030778 h3, #yiv9732030778 h4, #yiv9732030778 h5, #yiv9732030778 h6{ display:block;margin:0;padding:0;} #yiv9732030778 img, #yiv9732030778 a img{ border:0;height:auto;outline:none;text-decoration:none;} #yiv9732030778 body, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778bodyTable, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778bodyCell{ min-height:100%;margin:0;padding:0;width:100%;} #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnPreviewText{ display:none !important;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778outlook a{ padding:0;} #yiv9732030778 img{ } #yiv9732030778 table{ } #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778ReadMsgBody{ width:100%;} #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778ExternalClass{ width:100%;} #yiv9732030778 p, #yiv9732030778 a, #yiv9732030778 li, #yiv9732030778 td, #yiv9732030778 blockquote{ } #yiv9732030778 a .filtered99999 , #yiv9732030778 a .filtered99999 { color:inherit;cursor:default;text-decoration:none;} #yiv9732030778 p, #yiv9732030778 a, #yiv9732030778 li, #yiv9732030778 td, #yiv9732030778 body, #yiv9732030778 table, #yiv9732030778 blockquote{ } #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778ExternalClass, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778ExternalClass p, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778ExternalClass td, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778ExternalClass div, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778ExternalClass span, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778ExternalClass font{ line-height:100%;} #yiv9732030778 a .filtered99999 { color:inherit !important;text-decoration:none !important;font-size:inherit !important;font-family:inherit !important;font-weight:inherit !important;line-height:inherit !important;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778bodyCell{ padding:10px;} #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778templateContainer{ max-width:600px !important;border:5px solid #363232;} #yiv9732030778 a.yiv9732030778mcnButton{ display:block;} #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImage, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnRetinaImage{ vertical-align:bottom;} #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent{ } #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent img{ height:auto !important;} #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnDividerBlock{ !important;} #yiv9732030778 body, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778bodyTable{ } #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778bodyCell{ border-top:0;} #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778templateContainer{ border:5px solid #363232;} #yiv9732030778 h1{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:26px;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;line-height:125%;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;} #yiv9732030778 h2{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:22px;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;line-height:125%;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;} #yiv9732030778 h3{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:20px;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;line-height:125%;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;} #yiv9732030778 h4{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;line-height:125%;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templatePreheader{ background-color:#FAFAFA;background-image:none;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-size:cover;border-top:0;border-bottom:0;padding-top:9px;padding-bottom:9px;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templatePreheader .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templatePreheader .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent p{ color:#656565;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;line-height:150%;text-align:left;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templatePreheader .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent a, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templatePreheader .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent p a{ color:#656565;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateHeader{ background-color:#FFFFFF;background-image:none;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-size:cover;border-top:0;border-bottom:0;padding-top:9px;padding-bottom:0;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateHeader .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateHeader .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent p{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%;text-align:left;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateHeader .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent a, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateHeader .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent p a{ color:#007C89;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateBody{ background-color:#FFFFFF;background-image:none;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-size:cover;border-top:0;border-bottom:2px solid #EAEAEA;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:9px;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateBody .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateBody .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent p{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%;text-align:left;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateBody .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent a, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateBody .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent p a{ color:#007C89;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateFooter{ background-color:#FAFAFA;background-image:none;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-size:cover;border-top:0;border-bottom:0;padding-top:9px;padding-bottom:9px;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateFooter .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateFooter .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent p{ color:#656565;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;line-height:150%;text-align:center;} #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateFooter .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent a, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateFooter .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent p a{ color:#656565;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;} @media only screen and (min-width:768px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778templateContainer{ width:600px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 body, #yiv9732030778 table, #yiv9732030778 td, #yiv9732030778 p, #yiv9732030778 a, #yiv9732030778 li, #yiv9732030778 blockquote{ } }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 body{ width:100% !important;min-width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnRetinaImage{ max-width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImage{ width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnCartContainer, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnCaptionTopContent, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnRecContentContainer, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnCaptionBottomContent, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnTextContentContainer, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnBoxedTextContentContainer, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImageGroupContentContainer, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnCaptionLeftTextContentContainer, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnCaptionRightTextContentContainer, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnCaptionLeftImageContentContainer, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnCaptionRightImageContentContainer, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImageCardLeftTextContentContainer, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImageCardRightTextContentContainer, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImageCardLeftImageContentContainer, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImageCardRightImageContentContainer{ max-width:100% !important;width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnBoxedTextContentContainer{ min-width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImageGroupContent{ padding:9px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnCaptionLeftContentOuter .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnCaptionRightContentOuter .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent{ padding-top:9px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImageCardTopImageContent, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnCaptionBottomContent:last-child .yiv9732030778mcnCaptionBottomImageContent, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnCaptionBlockInner .yiv9732030778mcnCaptionTopContent:last-child .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent{ padding-top:18px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImageCardBottomImageContent{ padding-bottom:9px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImageGroupBlockInner{ padding-top:0 !important;padding-bottom:0 !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImageGroupBlockOuter{ padding-top:9px !important;padding-bottom:9px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnBoxedTextContentColumn{ padding-right:18px !important;padding-left:18px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImageCardLeftImageContent, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnImageCardRightImageContent{ padding-right:18px !important;padding-bottom:0 !important;padding-left:18px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcpreview-image-uploader{ display:none !important;width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 h1{ font-size:22px !important;line-height:125% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 h2{ font-size:20px !important;line-height:125% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 h3{ font-size:18px !important;line-height:125% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 h4{ font-size:16px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent, #yiv9732030778 .yiv9732030778mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templatePreheader{ display:block !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templatePreheader .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templatePreheader .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent p{ font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateHeader .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateHeader .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateBody .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateBody .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateFooter .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent, #yiv9732030778 #yiv9732030778templateFooter .yiv9732030778mcnTextContent p{ font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;} } | | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Where Do We Go from Here, Redux | | | | | | | | Essay by Rev. Irene Monroe December 31, 2020 The year 2020 has been a stressful one. With George Floyd's death as an inflection point about race and racism in America, an unprecedented presidential election, and social unrest during an ongoing pandemic with a rising death toll, something is deeply broken in America's body politic. America has been divided and broken before: The American Civil War and the 1960's Civil Rights Movement. However, is America so broken now we can't turn back? Do we want to turn back? The daunting question as we approach 2021 is, "Where do we go from here?" invoking the words of Dr. Martin Luther King. We have revisited this question several times in American history, but have resisted the work and change needed to be done - individually, collectively, and systematically. The long, hot summer of 1967 is when Martin Luther King wrote the book Where do we go from here? It was King's fourth and final tome before his assassination a year later. King wrote the book because in that summer of 1967, there were 159 race riots across America. Many wondered, with the rage and frustrations of young black America, if the government could extinguish the conflagration. Sadly, what caught the nation's attention was not the protesters' plight but rather the violence. "Everyone is worrying about the long hot summer with its threat of riots. We had a long cold winter when little was done about the conditions that create riots" King stated that summer at a luncheon in his honor. The riots were the need for better jobs, higher wages, decent housing, quality education, health care, voting rights, and to end mass incarceration and police brutality. In other words, it was a clarion call to end systemic racism. However, the more things appear to change on the surface for people of color through the years, the more they remain the same systemically. This year proved it. Consequently, the summer of 2020 was a long hot summer, too. According to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), "between 26 May, the day after Floyd's death, and 22 August, ACLED records over 7,750 demonstrations linked to the BLM movement across more than 2,440 locations in all 50 states and Washington, DC." The protestors consisted of not only blacks but the entire face of America from all walks of life. Ninety- five percent of the protests were nonviolent. This year's demonstrations were the same old same old as 1967: the need for better jobs, higher wages, decent housing, quality education, health care, voting rights, and to end mass incarceration and police brutality. This time the clarion call is to end systemic racism, now! In order to know "where do we go from here?", we must honestly look at where we are now. While the Christian Right needs to talk to the right Christians, it doesn't excuse those who think they are the right Christians from looking at themselves, too. While many of the right Christians would not think of themselves as racist, the distinction must be recognized that being racist differs from being “anti-racist." White supremacy is an ideology and belief system. It is not the province of solely white people; there are black white supremacists, too. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Dr. Ben Carson are examples. They uphold a white heteronormative and nationalist government that has power shaping policy impacting us all - LGBTQ, women, and POC. The five pillars of white supremacy create dysfunctional notions of entitlement in the following ways: 1. Racial privilege in terms of internalizing beliefs in superiority. 2. Culturally in terms of relinquishing their actual cultural/ethnic/national identities to "become white." 3. Economically in terms of creating allegiance to an economic system that disempowers most whites, too. 4. Politically in terms of supporting public policy that is against their best interests. 5. Spiritually in terms of ritualizing white supremacist thought with dogma, creeds, theology, and liturgy. In Romans 12:2 Apostle Paul talks about the renewing of our mind. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." White supremacy is in the DNA of America. Clinging to it for as long as America has is precisely where we are today as a broken nation. The question "where do we go from here" means problems have not been solved. While the Covid vaccine will eventually stop the spread of the pandemic, sadly, the pandemic of racism will persist. Americans cannot be blamed for the misinformation we have been taught and have absorbed from our society and culture. However, we must be held responsible for repeating misinformation, unexamined racism and privileges in ourselves after we have learned otherwise. George Floyd's death, a cis-gendered male, symbolizes the new face of anti-black violence, as Matthew Shepard's face came to symbolize homophobic violence after his murder in 1998. His death forces us to look at what's broken in America as well as ourselves. But his death can also be an opportunity for reconciliation and healing the sacred in all of us, recognizing our shared humanity. It starts by calling out and addressing racists, whether they are well-intentioned white liberals or ill-intentioned white nationalists, because both erase our lived reality of a multiracial society. In the end, we cannot think that white supremacy and white privilege exist outside ourselves. Rather, it must be assumed. With that assumption, democracy can fully begin for those on the margin to experience what others take for granted. Otherwise, we won't be united as a country. Divided, we will continue to be petty people. ~ Rev. Irene Monroe Read online here. About the Author The Reverend Monroe does a weekly Monday segment, “All Revved Up!” on NPR's WGBH (89.7 FM). She is a weekly Friday commentator on New England Channel NEWS. Monroe is the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Trail, Guided Walking Tour of Beacon Hill: Boston’s Black Women Abolitionists. A Huffington Post blogger and a syndicated religion columnist; her columns appear the Boston LGBTQ newspaper Baywindows, Cambridge Chronicle, and the Boston Globe. Monroe states that her “columns are an interdisciplinary approach drawing on critical race theory, African American, queer and religious studies. As a religion columnist I try to inform the public of the role religion plays in discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. Her papers are at the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College’s research library on the history of women in America. Click here to visit her website. | | | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By Susan I have been an on and off member of a Assemblies of God church 15 years - the pastor is more liberal in his style of message giving. They can’t and don’t speak to the issues of gayness and they would say that Jesus is the only way to God. This pastor has meant so much to me. He introduced me to the person of Jesus, which has led to my graduate studies in theology. Problem is, I am much more progressive than they are. I’ve had a troubled childhood, so my journey to God has been fraught with questions, which theology school is helping me to investigate. I also have a child who dislikes Sunday school at this church, which makes me sad. I want her to feel excited about knowing God, but the language they use sometimes is a bit unapproachable–even reading the Bible to a kid with words like “righteous” means nothing–even to me. I was going to try the Universalist Unitarian church, but it seems to denounce God and lessen Jesus. I want to be a Christian and I want to show my daughter who God is and can be, but I’m at a loss. Do I stay where I am or do I join a less Christian church? Either way I will feel like an outsider. A: By Rev. Jim Burklo Dear Susan, You are in excellent company in your quandary, and in your quest to find your way into a faith community that serves the souls of you and your dear daughter. I pray that you won’t despair, and that you will find the church home that is right for you. Your story resonates with my own. Jesus captured my heart in a conversion experience when I was sixteen years old. But I was that kid who asked questions that the youth leaders and pastor could not answer. Finally, the pastor told me: “If you keep asking all these questions, you’re going to argue your way into seminary!” And that's exactly what happened. What a relief it was to arrive at seminary and find other progressive Christians who valued the questions even more than dogmatic answers! It took a long time for me to “find my people”, but I’m grateful I did. And I really hope that happens for you and your daughter. Good news! In your area there are many wonderful progressive Christian churches: open-hearted, open-minded, Jesus-loving communities. Look them up here. And if you otherwise appreciate what you find in the Unitarian community, you might also explore the network of Christian UUA’s. UUA congregations differ substantially: some lift up their Christian heritage, others do not. As you “church shop”, ask about the curricula in Sunday Schools. A Joyful Path is the wonderful new curriculum produced by ProgressiveChristianity.org, used in many churches in our network. Some otherwise progressive churches continue to use denominational Sunday School curricula that are not in “synch” with what is preached and taught to adults, so it’s important to inquire about the details. I urge you to abandon shyness about asking hard questions about the churches you visit. It will save you a lot of time and heartache! Many churches seem “cool” because they have rock bands and the preachers wear designer street wear. But upon further examination, they turn out to be fundamentalists in skinny jeans! More and more evangelical churches make a big deal about welcoming gay and lesbian people, but in fact they do not affirm their sexuality and do not celebrate same-sex marriages. Before suffering disappointment, it’s good to discover reality up-front. Here’s a “cheat sheet” of questions, to get you started as you visit a congregation: 1. Can I make great new friends there? 2. Does it have meaningful worship? 3. Does it offer Bible study? 4. Will it help me grow in my relationship with Jesus? 5. Does it practice meditative prayer? 6. Can it help to get me involved in activism for service and social justice? 7. Do its members take the Bible seriously without having to take it literally? 8. Does it take scientific and intellectual exploration seriously - for example, does it accept the validity of the theory of evolution? 9. Are women given the same opportunities for leadership positions in the church as men? 10. Does it fully affirm LGBTQI sexuality, and celebrate same-sex marriage? 11. Does it teach that how we treat others is the true test of our faith, rather than belief in a fixed doctrine? 12. Does it respect and celebrate other faiths? Does it teach that other religions might be as good for others as Christianity is for us? 13. Does it teach that because God is love, nobody is going to hell? If “yes” is the answer to all of these questions, you’ve probably found a solid progressive church. Here’s a “next-level” set of questions to pose to pastors and lay leaders of the churches you are exploring: 1. Who or what do you mean by the word "God"? Do you experience God? If you say you believe in God, what do you mean by "belief"? (For a list of different understandings of God, see my blog article, "Varieties of God".) 2. Is the Bible the Word of God to humans, or is it humans' words about God? What is your relationship to the Bible? How literally do you take its miracle stories (walking on water, physical resurrection, etc), if at all? (See my “musings” blog entry on "How to Read the Bible" to explore this topic.) 3. Who was Jesus? Who/what is the Christ? What is your relationship to Jesus and/or the Christ? 4. Can people be "saved" without Christ or Christianity? Are there ways to experience God/Ultimate Reality outside of Christ or Christianity? Can other religions possibly be as good for other people as Christianity is for us? 5. Do you think it is okay for LGBTQ people to have sex? Under what circumstances? Do you support same-sex marriage? 6. Do you support women as leaders in all roles in church and society? Do you support a woman's right to choose whether or not to have an abortion? 7. Does your faith lead you to take political action for economic justice and peace? (Lots more on such issues at ProgessiveChristiansUniting.org .) 8. What other questions should I be asking? Let me know when you find the church home you’ve been yearning to discover! ~ Rev. Jim Burklo jtburklo(a)yahoo.com Read and share online here About the Author Rev. Jim Burklo is the Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life at the University of Southern California. An ordained United Church of Christ minister, he formerly served as a community organizer, director of a homeless services agency, church pastor, and campus minister. He is a member of the board of directors of ProgressiveChristiansUniting.org and an honorary advisor for ProgressiveChristianity.org. Jim is the author of seven published books on progressive Christianity, including TENDERLY CALLING: An Invitation to the Way of Jesus, which will be in print in early 2021. His weekly blog, “musings”, has a global readership. | | | | | | | | Please continue to send us your feedback… we are listening. We aim to give voice to many different perspectives that are relevant and inspiring along this spiritually progressing path. We are not here to tell you what to believe or how to act. We are here to support your journey, to share and learn together.Thank you for being a part of this community - join us on Facebook! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Howard Thurman reminded us that the work of Christmas goes far beyond a single day or even a season. The work of Christmas — social justice that lies at the heart of the Gospel — is absolutely central to how we must live year-round. As we prepare for a New Year, we need your help to do continue the work of Progressive Christianity in 2021. ProgressiveChristianity.org and Progressing Spirit strive to live authentically at the intersection of faith, reason, and justice. We strive to be a bold witness for the work of Christmas that Thurman described. If you have not yet made a donation to ProgressiveChristianity.org, but believe in the work that we are doing, we hope that you’ll consider making a year-end donation. Your gift makes an enormous impact and helps to ensure that a progressive Christian voice is amplified. Thank you for your generosity. Thank you from your friends at ProgressiveChristianity.org and Progressing Spirit! | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited The Origins of New Testament, Part XXII: The Figure of Moses as the Interpretive Secret in Matthew Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong May 6, 2010 Matthew’s gospel has always fascinated me more than the others. It is not the most profound of the gospels, but it does open interpretive eyes for me more widely than the others. The doorway into this perception is found in the process of being able to ask the right questions. Matthew is the “Jewish Gospel,” par excellence, and if one does not understand what it means to be a Jewish Gospel, one will never understand this book. Two biblical characters are taken by Matthew from the Jewish scriptures and used as symbols around which he weaves his story of Jesus. Today I will look at both of them in an effort to illustrate that Matthew is deeply dependent on his audience having a sufficient understanding of Judaism to recognize his allusions both to Jewish history and to Jewish scripture. The first of these Jewish characters is Joseph, the patriarch whose story is told in Genesis 37-50. This is the Joseph of the coat of many colors, the first born son to Jacob by his favorite wife Rachel. In our earlier trek through the Old Testament, we noted the deep and historic division between Judah, the dominant tribe in the south and the Northern Kingdom of which Joseph was the principle ancestor. Recall that the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, both sons of this same Joseph, were the dominant tribes in that separate part of the Hebrew nation. You may also recall our earlier discussion of how it was that the tribe of Judah not only produced King David but also produced the Yahwist version of the Hebrew scriptures, while the Joseph tribes in the North produced the Elohist version of the same scriptures, and how these two strands of Jewish history were later put together by an interpreter to form a major step in the production of the Torah. One agenda that drove Matthew’s gospel was to present Jesus as the messianic life who was capable of binding up this deep historic division that had long divided the Jewish people. When we read Matthew knowing this background, we can watch just how he does it. Matthew opens his gospel with a seventeen verse genealogy in which he traces the lineage of Jesus through King David and the kings of the Jewish world that centered in Jerusalem. In this passage he clearly roots Jesus in the tribe of Judah, which was the tribe to which David and his royal house belonged. Jesus was clearly the son of Judah. Then Matthew introduced into the developing tradition the story of Jesus’ miraculous birth and, in the process, confronts us with a new character who is also going to be portrayed as Jesus’ father. His name is Joseph and he has never before been mentioned anywhere in Christian writing. In the new story of Jesus’ birth to a “virgin,” there is a clear need for someone to play the role of “earthly father” and to give the child the protection that only a man could give in that fiercely patriarchal society. By having Joseph name this child, thus claiming him as his own, Matthew sought to dampen the rumors of illegitimacy that were swirling around from the ninth decade critics of the Christian movement. In this manner, Joseph, the name of the other major patriarch of Jewish history enters the story as this child’s protector and defender. In this manner, Matthew has bound Jewish history together in the person of Jesus. Next look at the portrait of Joseph as Matthew painted him. Everything we know about Matthew’s character Joseph we learn in Matthew’s birth narrative. Joseph never appears in any part of the gospel tradition except in the birth narratives. From Matthew’s account we learn three things about Joseph. First, he has a father named Jacob (Matt. 1:16). Second, God only speaks to him in dreams (Matt. 1:20, 2:13, 2:19, and 2:22). Third, his role in the drama of salvation is to save the child of promise from death by taking him down to Egypt (2:13-16). Now go back to the story of the patriarch Joseph in the book of Genesis (37-50) and read that narrative. There you will discover three things about the patriarch Joseph. First, he has a father named Jacob (Gen.37:2). Second, he is constantly associated with dreams (Gen. 37:5-11) and was even called the dreamer by his brothers (Gen. 37:19). As the story of his life unfolds he is noted primarily as the interpreter of dreams (Gen. 40:1-19), and even rides into political power in Egypt based on that gift (Gen. 41). Third, his role in the drama of salvation is to save the people of the covenant from death by taking them down to Egypt (Gen. 46). Is this simply coincidence or are we beginning to discern how the Jewish Scriptures were used to interpret the Jesus experience? Matthew was not writing a biography of Jesus, he was interpreting Jesus in the light of the Jewish scriptures. Literalism is not the way to read a Jewish story. Literalism is, in fact, a late-developing Gentile heresy. To make Jesus simultaneously the son of Judah and the son of Joseph was something Matthew’s Jewish readers would understand. The second shadowy figure from the Hebrew Scriptures around which Matthew weaves the story of Jesus is Moses. Moses was the founder of the Jewish nation, the giver of the Law, or Torah, and the ultimate hero of Judaism. Moses makes his first appearance in Matthew’s birth narrative in the account of the wicked King Herod, who slaughtered the male babies in Bethlehem in a vain attempt to wipe out this threat to his throne (Matt. 2:16-18). Every Jewish reader of Matthew’s gospel would have recognized that story as a Moses story. When Moses was born, a wicked King Pharaoh decreed that all the Jewish boy babies were to be destroyed so that his power would not be threatened (Ex. 1:8-22). To save their son from this fate, Moses’ parents put him in a basket on the River Nile where, according to that story, he was rescued by the Pharaoh’s daughter. Matthew in these opening verses of his gospel is signaling to his readers that he was interpreting Jesus under the popular messianic image of the New Moses. This theme is picked up later in the birth narrative when Matthew quotes Hosea as saying, “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” This was once again a clear reference to Moses but used by Matthew to mark Jesus’ return from his flight to Egypt to which he had fled to avoid Herod. Matthew next interprets the baptism of Jesus in such a way as to frame it as an analogy to Moses’ crossing of the Red Sea, by separating the waters so that the people could walk through the sea on dry land. Once again Jewish readers would recognize this theme for splitting the waters was a regular theme in the Jewish Scriptures. Moses did it at the Red Sea; Joshua did it at the Jordan River. Both Elijah and Elisha also split the waters of the Jordan River on their way to and from the place of Elijah’s departure in a fiery chariot. Now Matthew brings Jesus in the first story of his adult life to the Jordan River for baptism. In this narrative, he was clearly seeking to say that the God presence we have met in Jesus is even greater than the God presence our ancestors met in Moses. It was a stunning claim. How did he develop this theme? At the baptism, Jesus steps into the waters of the Jordan River, but he does not split these waters. That had been done so many times that it represented nothing special. Jesus rather splits the heavens that we are told in the creation story was “the firmament” that separates the waters above from the waters below (Gen.1:7). Jesus thus splits the heavenly waters, which then fall on him as the Holy Spirit, for that is what “living water” means in the Hebrew Scriptures (see Zech.14:8). What did Moses do after his “baptism” in the Red Sea? The Torah says he wandered in the wilderness for forty years trying to determine what it meant to be the “chosen people.” What did Matthew have Jesus do after his “Red Sea” experience in the Jordan River? He wandered in the wilderness for forty days trying to determine what it means to be the chosen messiah. While Moses was in the wilderness he had three critical experiences. The first involved the shortage of food and it was solved with manna from heaven. The second was when the shortage of water forced Moses to “put God to the test” by striking a rock and demanding that water flow from it. The third occurred when his people in his absence turned away from God and began to worship a golden calf as “the god who brought them out of Egypt.” Matthew, as noted previously, is the first gospel writer to give content to the temptations, which Jesus had to endure in the wilderness. Examine that content. The first temptation involved the shortage of food. “Turn these stones into bread, Jesus.” The second had to do with putting God to the test. “Cast yourself off the pinnacle of the Temple, Jesus. He will give his angels charge over you.” The third temptation had to do with worshiping something other than God. “Bow down before me, Jesus, and I will give you all the kingdoms of this world.” Once more, do you think this is coincidental? Or are you beginning to see Matthew’s gospel as interpretive writing designed to show that Jesus relived the messianic image of being the new Moses by having Moses’ stories from the Hebrew Scriptures wrapped around him. Matthew’s Jewish audience would immediately have understood the interpretive tools he was employing. Western, non-Jewish, literalists still do not comprehend. The most distinguishing marks of Matthew’s gospel begin to form a pattern. The baptism story with the heavens parting is a Red Sea story. The temptations are shaped by the Moses narrative. Then comes the powerful Matthean portrait of Jesus giving the Sermon on the Mount. No other gospel in the New Testament includes the Sermon on the Mount. It is Matthew’s special creation because it enables him to portray Jesus as the new Moses on a new mountain, giving a new interpretation of the Torah. In this sermon, Matthew has Jesus compare Moses with him: “You have heard it said of old—-but I say unto you.” He reinterprets Moses driving the external Law of Moses toward the internal level of motivation. Moses is quite clearly one of the great interpretive clues to Matthew’s gospel. One has to read this book with Jewish eyes. ~ Bishop John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements | | | | | | | Contemplative Writing and Listening Starting January 3rd for 12 months - $299 Spirituality & Practice is excited to offer a year-long experiment in writing alone and listening together, facilitated by Judith Favor, a seasoned spiritual guide. This Practice Group will covenant together to form a community. We will ask participants to commit to regularly posting in the Practice Group and attending monthly Zoom listening sessions. READ ON ... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Facebook | | | | Twitter | | | | Website | | | | Email | | | | YouTube | | | | | | | | | | | | |

1 0

12/24/2020, Progressing Spirit: Rev. Jim Burklo: Just Looking at Christmas; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 24 Dec '20

24 Dec '20

#yiv2427070595 p{ margin:10px 0;padding:0;} #yiv2427070595 table{ border-collapse:collapse;} #yiv2427070595 h1, #yiv2427070595 h2, #yiv2427070595 h3, #yiv2427070595 h4, #yiv2427070595 h5, #yiv2427070595 h6{ display:block;margin:0;padding:0;} #yiv2427070595 img, #yiv2427070595 a img{ border:0;height:auto;outline:none;text-decoration:none;} #yiv2427070595 body, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595bodyTable, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595bodyCell{ min-height:100%;margin:0;padding:0;width:100%;} #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnPreviewText{ display:none !important;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595outlook a{ padding:0;} #yiv2427070595 img{ } #yiv2427070595 table{ } #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595ReadMsgBody{ width:100%;} #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595ExternalClass{ width:100%;} #yiv2427070595 p, #yiv2427070595 a, #yiv2427070595 li, #yiv2427070595 td, #yiv2427070595 blockquote{ } #yiv2427070595 a .filtered99999 , #yiv2427070595 a .filtered99999 { color:inherit;cursor:default;text-decoration:none;} #yiv2427070595 p, #yiv2427070595 a, #yiv2427070595 li, #yiv2427070595 td, #yiv2427070595 body, #yiv2427070595 table, #yiv2427070595 blockquote{ } #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595ExternalClass, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595ExternalClass p, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595ExternalClass td, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595ExternalClass div, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595ExternalClass span, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595ExternalClass font{ line-height:100%;} #yiv2427070595 a .filtered99999 { color:inherit !important;text-decoration:none !important;font-size:inherit !important;font-family:inherit !important;font-weight:inherit !important;line-height:inherit !important;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595bodyCell{ padding:10px;} #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595templateContainer{ max-width:600px !important;border:5px solid #363232;} #yiv2427070595 a.yiv2427070595mcnButton{ display:block;} #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImage, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnRetinaImage{ vertical-align:bottom;} #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent{ } #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent img{ height:auto !important;} #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnDividerBlock{ !important;} #yiv2427070595 body, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595bodyTable{ } #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595bodyCell{ border-top:0;} #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595templateContainer{ border:5px solid #363232;} #yiv2427070595 h1{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:26px;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;line-height:125%;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;} #yiv2427070595 h2{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:22px;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;line-height:125%;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;} #yiv2427070595 h3{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:20px;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;line-height:125%;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;} #yiv2427070595 h4{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;line-height:125%;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templatePreheader{ background-color:#FAFAFA;background-image:none;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-size:cover;border-top:0;border-bottom:0;padding-top:9px;padding-bottom:9px;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templatePreheader .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templatePreheader .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent p{ color:#656565;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;line-height:150%;text-align:left;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templatePreheader .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent a, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templatePreheader .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent p a{ color:#656565;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateHeader{ background-color:#FFFFFF;background-image:none;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-size:cover;border-top:0;border-bottom:0;padding-top:9px;padding-bottom:0;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateHeader .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateHeader .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent p{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%;text-align:left;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateHeader .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent a, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateHeader .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent p a{ color:#007C89;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateBody{ background-color:#FFFFFF;background-image:none;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-size:cover;border-top:0;border-bottom:2px solid #EAEAEA;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:9px;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateBody .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateBody .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent p{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%;text-align:left;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateBody .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent a, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateBody .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent p a{ color:#007C89;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateFooter{ background-color:#FAFAFA;background-image:none;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-size:cover;border-top:0;border-bottom:0;padding-top:9px;padding-bottom:9px;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateFooter .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateFooter .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent p{ color:#656565;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;line-height:150%;text-align:center;} #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateFooter .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent a, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateFooter .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent p a{ color:#656565;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;} @media only screen and (min-width:768px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595templateContainer{ width:600px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 body, #yiv2427070595 table, #yiv2427070595 td, #yiv2427070595 p, #yiv2427070595 a, #yiv2427070595 li, #yiv2427070595 blockquote{ } }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 body{ width:100% !important;min-width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnRetinaImage{ max-width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImage{ width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnCartContainer, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnCaptionTopContent, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnRecContentContainer, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnCaptionBottomContent, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnTextContentContainer, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnBoxedTextContentContainer, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImageGroupContentContainer, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnCaptionLeftTextContentContainer, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnCaptionRightTextContentContainer, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnCaptionLeftImageContentContainer, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnCaptionRightImageContentContainer, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImageCardLeftTextContentContainer, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImageCardRightTextContentContainer, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImageCardLeftImageContentContainer, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImageCardRightImageContentContainer{ max-width:100% !important;width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnBoxedTextContentContainer{ min-width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImageGroupContent{ padding:9px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnCaptionLeftContentOuter .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnCaptionRightContentOuter .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent{ padding-top:9px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImageCardTopImageContent, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnCaptionBottomContent:last-child .yiv2427070595mcnCaptionBottomImageContent, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnCaptionBlockInner .yiv2427070595mcnCaptionTopContent:last-child .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent{ padding-top:18px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImageCardBottomImageContent{ padding-bottom:9px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImageGroupBlockInner{ padding-top:0 !important;padding-bottom:0 !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImageGroupBlockOuter{ padding-top:9px !important;padding-bottom:9px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnBoxedTextContentColumn{ padding-right:18px !important;padding-left:18px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImageCardLeftImageContent, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnImageCardRightImageContent{ padding-right:18px !important;padding-bottom:0 !important;padding-left:18px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcpreview-image-uploader{ display:none !important;width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 h1{ font-size:22px !important;line-height:125% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 h2{ font-size:20px !important;line-height:125% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 h3{ font-size:18px !important;line-height:125% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 h4{ font-size:16px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent, #yiv2427070595 .yiv2427070595mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templatePreheader{ display:block !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templatePreheader .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templatePreheader .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent p{ font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateHeader .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateHeader .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateBody .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateBody .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateFooter .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent, #yiv2427070595 #yiv2427070595templateFooter .yiv2427070595mcnTextContent p{ font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;} } | | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Just Looking at Christmas | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Rev. Jim Burklo December 24, 2020 Our granddaughter Rumi and I have a Christmas tradition of doing arty projects together. Among them are making Christmas crèches out of wood and tin. We put them on the fireplace mantel at Advent. Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angels, and wise men gaze at the baby Jesus in the manger. You could hardly call them “action figures”. You could call them “looking figures”. Not just "looking", but "just looking". My daily contemplative prayer practice aims at this experience. Most of the time, if I'm looking at all, I'm looking for something. Looking up something. Looking into something. Most of my looking has agendas, preconditions, prejudices, assumptions. There's something I want, and I'm using my senses to find it. Looking without preconditions, looking without the intention of seeing any particular thing in a certain way, looking only for the sake of looking - now, that's a very different experience. Every day I take a long walk up a hill, with the intention of being as mindful as possible, aiming to take a God's-eye-view of all that is present within and around me. I love rocks, fossils, native plants, grand vistas. I find myself looking for these things along the trail. And that quest has its own charms and satisfactions. But far greater and deeper is the satisfaction of looking at this impulse to "look for", letting it go, and then practicing "just looking". Looking without any purpose or goal or aim. Just observing what is, as it is, in the moment that it is, then moving on and just looking at what is next, as it is, in the moment that it is. Without naming or describing or presuming anything about what is. And then being aware that the One Who Just Is is doing the looking. And that One is beyond observation, time, judgment, opinion, evaluation, or description. This kind of looking leads to awe and wonder and discovery. It is the wellspring of creativity. It makes it possible to see the needs of other people that might otherwise escape attention. After a while of practicing this divine way of looking, I begin to appreciate what I am seeing on its own terms, not just my own. Such is the looking at the figures in the crèche scene at the birth of Jesus. The crèche is a window into the eternal quality of the now, an icon of the divine point of view. It is the slack-jawed, timeless, aimless, free, worshipful Awe that is Love that is God. Maybe the wise men came to Bethlehem looking for the newborn King. But when they got there, and laid down their gifts, I like to think that they ended that quest and just looked at a little baby lying in the hay. Without believing anything about him, without assuming anything about him, without defining him. Just looking with full attention, total presence, and pure love. So, too, the shepherds looked. They had been "keeping watch" over their sheep. Then they were "keeping watch" over Jesus. Just looking. So it was with the angels in the myth of Christmas. The biblical Greek word for angel means "messenger". Somebody who reports on what is, as it is. Not on what is supposed to be. Not on what we wish it was. Angels "watch over": they just look, and then report what they see. The Greek word for "gospel" is related: "euangelion" or "good message". The gospel is not just a set of writings in the New Testament. It is the way of seeing the world that was born at Christmas. It is what we see when we just look at what is, as it is, when and where it is, without filters or interpretations or preconceptions. Abba Bessarion, one of the early Christian “desert fathers” who spent their lives in contemplative prayer in the wilderness, offered up this admonition on his deathbed: “The monk should be all eye, like the cherubim and seraphim.” The Cloud of Unknowing is a profound text of Christian contemplative mysticism by from the 14th century. Its anonymous author wrote that unlike humans, angels “are unable to waste time.” I aspire to this quality of angelic nature. When angels are doing nothing but hovering close and watching, they are doing something purposeful, useful, and priceless. In the depths of our souls, each of us wants to be known and seen as we really are. Sometimes just staying close and watching silently, with an open heart and mind, is the greatest gift we can offer another person - more precious than any tangible gift that can be wrapped and laid under a tree. It's an epiphany - the biblical Greek word for a sudden appearance or manifestation - to discover the difference between "looking for" and "just looking". When I'm "just looking", I can see divine incarnations that I might miss when I'm "looking for". And that kind is the seeing that we celebrate at Christmas. I imagine one of the wise men, while “just looking” at the newborn Christ, meditating this way: What wisdom I have Awakens me to my blindness. I cannot see light itself: What I know of light Is only an alluring shadow Of what it is and does. >From billions of years away in space-time, Through darkness intervening, At its inconceivable speed The light of an exploding star passes Through the dark seas of my eyes, Illuminating the dark curves of their retinas. But I cannot see the glow of their cells: I can only perceive the messages they send To my brain, and from there to my soul. Thus Hope passes, Unseen and undetected, Through this dark world. What retina receives and translates it Into Joy and Wonder? An eye comes into the world: A retina I cannot perceive That will see for me, Beyond my dark despair. A star in the East! This eye tells me To follow it All the way to the Source Of the truer Wisdom That is Love. ~ Rev. Jim Burklo Read online here. About the Author Rev. Jim Burklo is the Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life at the University of Southern California. An ordained United Church of Christ minister, he formerly served as a community organizer, director of a homeless services agency, church pastor, and campus minister. He is a member of the board of directors of ProgressiveChristiansUniting.org and an honorary advisor for Progressive Christianity.org. Jim is the author of seven published books on progressive Christianity, including TENDERLY CALLING: An Invitation to the Way of Jesus, which will be in print in early 2021. His weekly blog, “musings”, has a global readership. | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By Raymond I find the notion of human sacrifice abhorrent, and yet the whole dogma of the church is based on the crucifixion of Jesus. The cross wasn’t even used as a symbol for a hundred years AD, and yet we have it used in church today. I love the Lord, and I know my sins are forgiven, but worship in church is a problem. How do I cope? A: By Rev. Lauren Van Ham Dear Raymond, It’s true that some expressions of Christianity and different denominations lean more heavily on the crucifixion and Jesus’s death. Jesus, we know however, spoke for life and creation. Jesus looked for ways to include, to affirm and to love all beings, especially the ones who have been tossed aside. Jesus offered instruction, through teaching and acts of healing, that invited everyone listening to do their inner work and to find more and more ways to love publicly, generously, and inclusively so as to dismantle all forms of oppression and injustice. Jesus’s death - literal or symbolic - is important, but Jesus’s life and what the resurrection invites for His followers, is where Christian practice and community become engaging! If your current experience of church feels more connected with death than life, it might be an interesting experiment to notice and explore the places and spaces where you feel the life-affirming teachings of Jesus – is it in conversation with a dear friend? Prayer? In nature? Particular songs or pieces of art? Worship happens in many ways. Give yourself permission to discover what works well for you. Perhaps another piece is to expand the associations some of us hold with the cross. The late Angeles Arrien, a cultural anthropologist, researched 5 shapes that have appeared throughout the span of humanity, and across cultures and geography. The cross is one of the five, and regardless of the time in history or the geography in which it appears, interpreters agree that the cross speaks to relationship. Isn’t that interesting? In Dr Angeles’ words, the cross “symbolizes the process of relationship and integration. [It is a symbol] connected to a creative project, to another person or to oneself and it demonstrates balanced connection… Most societies see the symbol of the cross as two parts merging to create a greater whole.” (p.39)[i] In no way do I offer this as a distraction from how the cross was used at the time of public crucifixions. As you said, human sacrifice is abhorrent, and the public ritual that was Jesus’s torture and subsequent death evokes horror, grief, rage and disbelief because it should! But as you observe the cross in your church and in other spaces, perhaps there is additional wisdom in holding this multi-cultural understanding of the cross, as well? Jesus most certainly looked for and invited integration, balance and relationships that sought out the greater whole. Thank you for this provocative question! May there be some food for thought in the suggestions I’ve shared. ~ Rev. Lauren Van Ham Read and share online here About the Author Rev. Lauren Van Ham, MA was born and raised beneath the big sky of the Midwest, Lauren holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, Naropa University and The Chaplaincy Institute. Following her ordination in 1999, Lauren served as an interfaith chaplain in both healthcare (adolescent psychiatry and palliative care), and corporate settings (organizational development and employee wellness). Lauren’s passion for spirituality, art and Earth's teachings have supported her specialization in eco-ministry, grief & loss, and sacred activism. Her essay, "Way of the Eco-Chaplain," appears in the collection, Ways of the Spirit: Voices of Women; and her work with Green Sangha is featured in Renewal, a documentary celebrating the efforts of religious environmental activists from diverse faith traditions across America. Her ideas can be heard on Vennly, an app that shares perspectives from spiritual and community leaders across different backgrounds and traditions. Currently, Lauren tends her private spiritual direction and eco-chaplaincy consulting practice; and serves as Climate Action Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative (URI), and as guest faculty for several schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. [i] Arrien, Angeles. Signs of Life: The Five Universal Shapes and How to Use Them, Tarcher/Putnam. 1992 | | | | | | | | Please continue to send us your feedback… we are listening. We aim to give voice to many different perspectives that are relevant and inspiring along this spiritually progressing path. We are not here to tell you what to believe or how to act. We are here to support your journey, to share and learn together.Thank you for being a part of this community - join us on Facebook! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | As we approach the season of Christmas this perspective on Christmas is profoundly needed. Peace on Earth. Good will. Bringing that vision into being. ProgressiveChristianity.org and Progressing Spirit have long been a key voice in working to bring that vision into being. The resources we provide help us all have a better understanding of who it is that the words of Jesus and the stories of the Bible call us to be. Builders of peace. Bearers of good will. Bringers of that vision to the world. As a non-profit organization, we rely heavily on the good will of donors, most years we basically hope to break even. During these tough times, that's harder than ever to do. We want to not only continue to bring you messages of Peace on Earth, along with many of the tools needed to be bringers of that vision, but we also hope to expand those tools and resources to provide an even more robust offering for progressive Christians. The simple fact of the matter is, that in order to do it we need you. Specifically, if you are in a financial position to contribute to our efforts, we would be grateful for your donations. At this crucial time of the year, it's more important for us than ever. So, thank you for your consideration and, if you are able, thank you for your donation. | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited Looking at Christmas Through a Rear-View Window Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong January 7, 2009 It still has magic power. Across the Western world hearts beat lighter during the Christmas season, generosity expands and romance overflows its normal boundaries. Of course, there is a minority of the population for whom this is never true. For them the Christmas season is a cruel reminder of their plight. The picture of family members smiling around the decorated tree exacerbates the loneliness of those who have no families. The warmth of the burning fireplace seems insensitive to those who are cold. Yet, despite these hard reminders that Christmas joy is never universal, it is nonetheless true that the Christmas season grabs and warms the Western consciousness as does no other time of the year. These are data that beg the question why? Why is this the season of good cheer and romance? What is there about this season that brings dreams of peace and hope of good will so powerfully into focus? Part of the answer to this query is surely that in the Northern hemisphere the Christmas season comes at the darkest time of the year, when human beings yearn for the return of the sun that will inevitably hurl back this winter darkness. Perhaps we are still in touch, at least subliminally, with those elemental anxieties that marked our ancient ancestors, who feared each winter that the sun might be disappearing permanently and who were thus gripped by a deep sense of insecurity or angst. We do frame the Christmas story as one in which the darkness is penetrated first by a bright star in the East and later by an angelic chorus that opens the night sky to sing its heavenly message to hillside shepherds. We explain the power of Christmas through the symbol of light breaking darkness. Symbols, however, are tricky. We are always tempted to literalize them. Yet, increasingly, men and women today dismiss the literal understanding of the biblical Christmas myths. Only the biologically naïve still argue that a virgin can conceive. Only the astronomically challenged believe that a star can announce a human event or wander through the sky so slowly that wise men can actually keep up with it. Only the historically inept can still pretend that a decree was issued to all the descendants of King David ordering them to return to their ancestral home in Bethlehem to be enrolled. The time between King David and Jesus was about 1000 years, or some 50 generations. King David had multiple wives and numerous children. Stories about this family echo through the books of I and II Samuel. If this king had 50 direct heirs in his generation, which would represent a very conservative number for a royal figure in that polygamous and patriarchal age, try to imagine the number of direct heirs there would be 50 generations later. At the end of five generations the number would be approximately 30,000. Ten generations later that number would have expanded to more than 40 million and, by the twelfth generation, it would have passed the one billion number. Fifty generations would produce hundreds of billions of direct heirs. Can you imagine a real king issuing such a decree designed to reach all of the descendants of one who lived a thousand years ago, or that they would obey it? If that were literally true it should surprise no one that there was no room at the inn at Bethlehem, a village of less than 500 people! The myths are beautiful and appealing but they were never meant to be taken literally. Nonetheless, they have been read as the “Word of God,” placed into hymns, liturgies, pageants and repeated so often that most people grow up thinking of them as history. While no one with any scholarly background today regards them as literally true, their power is still undiminished. At pageants, we love to see that manger, listen to the angels sing and watch the wise men journey to Bethlehem. Something is powerfully real underneath even our non-literal symbols. Pious believers do not like to be confronted with facts. In the world of our experience, however, virgins do not conceive, stars do not wander, wise men do not leave their homes in search of a newborn king, angels do not sing and shepherds do not search for a baby lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Beyond that, it is an established fact that the birth stories do not appear in the Christian tradition until the ninth decade. Paul, who wrote from 51-64 CE, obviously had never heard of this tradition. Mark, the earliest gospel writer, portrays the mother of Jesus as thinking he was “beside himself,” that is, out of his mind, a kind of family embarrassment that must be put away by the time he was grown. That is not the response one would anticipate from the Jewish maiden to whom angels had made the annunciation and the promise that she would be the bearer of the “Son of the Highest.” Of course, Mark had never heard of the miraculous tales of Jesus’ birth because they had not been formulated when Mark wrote his gospel. It was in the 9th decade when Matthew first introduced this tradition to the Christian community. He did so, we now believe, to counter rampant rumors about Jesus’ questionable paternity that were being circulated by the enemies of the Christian movement. These rumors are stated quite overtly by Matthew in verse 18 of his opening chapter: “When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child…. And Joseph resolved to divorce her quietly.” Then Matthew tells us that Joseph learned from angelic sources that the child was holy and not illegitimate. Matthew explains this by saying that the miraculous birth of Jesus was predicted by the prophets and cites Isaiah 7:14 to buttress his case, but we now know that he mistranslated his proof text. Matthew said that this verse read, “Behold a virgin will conceive.” That text, however, announces only that “a woman is with child.” That is quite a difference. Matthew surely knew that and perhaps that is why in his seventeen-verse introduction to this narrative of Jesus’ miraculous birth he describes the strange genealogical line that he claims led to Jesus of Nazareth. The DNA that produced Jesus traveled, said Matthew, through some dark and sexually compromised waters. One of Jesus’ ancestors, he tells us, was born through an incestuous relationship between Tamar and her father in law, Judah. Others were born to the prostitute Rehab, through an act of seduction performed by Ruth and through the adultery of Bathsheba. That is quite a way to introduce a narrative of Jesus’ miraculous birth, but that is exactly how Matthew does it. About a decade after Matthew, Luke wrote his version of Jesus’ birth. He disagrees with Matthew on many details. Matthew says that the family of Jesus lived in Bethlehem, while Luke asserts that they lived in Nazareth. Only Matthew tells the story of a star and wise men, while only Luke has an account of angels and shepherds. Matthew has the holy family flee to Egypt, later return to their home in Bethlehem and finally make an angel driven retreat to settle in Galilee and Nazareth. Luke has this family remain in the Jerusalem area until the child is presented in the Temple on the fortieth day of his life before returning home to Nazareth in a leisurely fashion. When we come to the Fourth Gospel the birth stories, about which John must have known, simply disappear. John calls Jesus “the son of Joseph” twice, suggesting that his birth was quite natural. In this gospel it is not one’s natural birth that is significant, but one’s spiritual birth. That, John argued, was what made Jesus who he was. There is nothing even controversial about these data in the academic world where all birth stories are regarded as interpretive myths. That, however, does not diminish these myths’ power. Mythological truth is of a different order from either literalism or history. The purpose of the biblical stories of Jesus’ birth is to introduce us to this order. Hidden beneath these myths are expressions of the human hope that even in the darkness of winter we are not alone in this universe. There is within all human life a yearning to know that the realm of the spirit does enter and indeed does permeate the earthly realm that we inhabit. In our imagination we always tended to locate that spiritual realm above the sky. So our myths speak of mysterious signs in the skies of heaven all of which serve to announce that the Christ Child is the one life in whom God is experienced as fully present in the human realm. These symbols remind us that this planet earth is not just a tiny clod related to minor star located about two-thirds of the way toward the edge of our galaxy, but rather makes the claim that on this earth we bask in the direct gaze of the God, who is the source of the life that fills the universe. We further claim that it is within this life itself that we find meaning and purpose and that is how we know that we are not alone. That is the Christmas claim and its appeal is a very powerful one. That is also why we cling to our interpretive myths so tenaciously. No myth is literally true. It is the nature of myth to point to a truth that limited words cannot embrace. That is what the biblical stories of Jesus’ birth do and that is why we love them passionately and respect them so deeply. Our assertion in these stories is that there is a place in this world where God and human life come together. We call it Bethlehem, but it is not an external town located on a map, but a place deep within each of us. There is a manger at the end of the human journey where each of us lies in the crib of God, but to find it we must go deep within ourselves. There is a hunger in the human heart that only God can fill and so we tell of wise men and shepherds who take their journey in hope. That is why the search for God is always identical with and part of the search for ourselves. These meanings in the Christmas narratives never emerge until we surrender our need for truth to be literal. Perhaps that means that literal religion must die before God can be known. That idea grows on me the older I get. ~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements Contemplative Writing and Listening Spirituality & Practice is excited to offer a year-long experiment in writing alone and listening together, facilitated by Judith Favor, a seasoned spiritual guide. Starting January 3rd, each Sunday you will receive an email from Judith Favor with a focus word and writing prompts. READ ON ... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

1 0

May You Feel Blessed in This Holiday Season
by Karen Snyder 22 Dec '20

22 Dec '20

The year 2021 brings dual celebrations of 100 years since the ICA GreenRise building was constructed and 50 years since the ICA moved into the building. The ICA is wrapping up 2020 with an End of the Year Funding Campaign to celebrate these milestones and position its service in 2021. In a challenging 2020, ICA staff strengthened the GreenRise programs, learned to facilitate online, hosted online global assemblies and more. Attached is a summary page highlighting 2020 programs with glimmering visions for 2021. We invite you to continue to support ICA by going online at https://www.ica-usa.org/donate.html <https://www.ica-usa.org/donate.html> or send a check to ICA Finance Office, 4750 N. Sheridan, Chicago, IL 60640. We welcome your feedback and visions for ICA service next year (email karen.snyder10(a)gmail.com <mailto:karen.snyder10@gmail.com>). We hope this message finds you healthy. And we wish you all the best in the approaching holy days and the year to come. Peace, Beret Griffith, for the ICA Board Karen Snyder, for the ICA Staff and Volunteers

11 14

Sigh . . .
by James Wiegel 21 Dec '20

21 Dec '20

An Advent Lament in the Pandemic | | | | | | | | | | | An Advent Lament in the Pandemic Michael Luo COVID-19 has held a mirror to Christianity, just as the epidemics of the past did. | | | Jim Wiegel Theunknown is what is. And to be frightened of it is what sends everybodyscurrying around chasing dreams, illusions, wars, peace, love, hate, allthat. Unknown is what is. Accept that it's unknown, and it's plainsailing. John Lennon 401 North Beverly Way,Tolleson, Arizona 85353 623-363-3277 jfwiegel(a)yahoo.com www.partnersinparticipation.com

2 1

books
by Terry Bergdall 21 Dec '20

21 Dec '20

End of the year holidays always make me think about books as gifts. I’ve been mentioning three to friends who ask if I know any to recommend. I’m guessing everyone in this group is familiar with them but I figure a little “revisiting” would probably be a good thing. “The Critical Decade” by Robertson Work is a collection of talks he's given over the past ten years. After reading it, I wrote Rob speaks with “the urgency and power of a prophet along with the empathy and compassion of a fellow journeyman.” This book is fine exploration about the environmental crisis we face. “More Than Halfway to Somewhere” by John Burbidge immerses the reader in interesting places and experiences around the world. "A perfect book for satisfying curiosity, expanding one's perspective, and enjoying some very entertaining hours” was one of my reflections about it. "Tragic Investment” by James Addington takes a very deep look at the American experience of race. I particularly appreciated his focus on action. I wrote this about it: “He offers a practical vision about collaborative work in communities and its relationship to interrupting long-standing patterns within society as a whole. It is a book that every organizer should read.” These are recent offerings by some of our EI/OE/ICA colleagues. Please feel free to add others (the late John Epps's “Meanderings” is terrific). If you are moved to purchase any of these, consider doing so via alternatives to Amazon. While this may be a bit more expensive, I think of it as a "well-being tax" resisting growing trends of single source domination. Best wishes, Terry

2 1

Join us to study TEN LESSONS FOR A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD by Fareed Zakaria
by James Wiegel 20 Dec '20

20 Dec '20

Excerpt from the attached review: "Oh, no, not a book about the pandemicjust a few months into Covid-19. Not another series of snapshotsovertaken by tomorrow’s events. FareedZakaria, aCNN host with a Ph.D. from Harvard, does not fall into this trap.Wisely, he stays away from the dailybattles over masks and lockdowns. Nor is doom-mongering his business.Instead “Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World” employs a widelens, drawing on governance, economics and culture. Call it “appliedhistory.” What insights does it offer during a catastrophe thatevokes the Spanish flu after World War I, which claimed 50 million —some reckon 100 million — lives?"We are planning to start January 4 at 7-8 pm Central Standard Time (Chicago time) We will probably use Zoom as a way to connect. Send word if you are interested. Jim Wiegel Theunknown is what is. And to be frightened of it is what sends everybodyscurrying around chasing dreams, illusions, wars, peace, love, hate, allthat. Unknown is what is. Accept that it's unknown, and it's plainsailing. John Lennon 401 North Beverly Way,Tolleson, Arizona 85353 623-363-3277 jfwiegel(a)yahoo.com <Ten LESSONS REVIEW.docx>

7 7

Re: [Dialogue] books
by Vera M Barber 17 Dec '20

17 Dec '20

1 0

12/17/2020, Progressing Spirit: Rev Lauren Van Ham: Getting Beyond the Usual: Giving Birth to Jesus in the 2020s; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 17 Dec '20

17 Dec '20

#yiv3052404033 p{ margin:10px 0;padding:0;} #yiv3052404033 table{ border-collapse:collapse;} #yiv3052404033 h1, #yiv3052404033 h2, #yiv3052404033 h3, #yiv3052404033 h4, #yiv3052404033 h5, #yiv3052404033 h6{ display:block;margin:0;padding:0;} #yiv3052404033 img, #yiv3052404033 a img{ border:0;height:auto;outline:none;text-decoration:none;} #yiv3052404033 body, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033bodyTable, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033bodyCell{ min-height:100%;margin:0;padding:0;width:100%;} #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnPreviewText{ display:none !important;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033outlook a{ padding:0;} #yiv3052404033 img{ } #yiv3052404033 table{ } #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033ReadMsgBody{ width:100%;} #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033ExternalClass{ width:100%;} #yiv3052404033 p, #yiv3052404033 a, #yiv3052404033 li, #yiv3052404033 td, #yiv3052404033 blockquote{ } #yiv3052404033 a .filtered99999 , #yiv3052404033 a .filtered99999 { color:inherit;cursor:default;text-decoration:none;} #yiv3052404033 p, #yiv3052404033 a, #yiv3052404033 li, #yiv3052404033 td, #yiv3052404033 body, #yiv3052404033 table, #yiv3052404033 blockquote{ } #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033ExternalClass, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033ExternalClass p, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033ExternalClass td, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033ExternalClass div, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033ExternalClass span, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033ExternalClass font{ line-height:100%;} #yiv3052404033 a .filtered99999 { color:inherit !important;text-decoration:none !important;font-size:inherit !important;font-family:inherit !important;font-weight:inherit !important;line-height:inherit !important;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033bodyCell{ padding:10px;} #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033templateContainer{ max-width:600px !important;border:5px solid #363232;} #yiv3052404033 a.yiv3052404033mcnButton{ display:block;} #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImage, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnRetinaImage{ vertical-align:bottom;} #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent{ } #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent img{ height:auto !important;} #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnDividerBlock{ !important;} #yiv3052404033 body, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033bodyTable{ } #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033bodyCell{ border-top:0;} #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033templateContainer{ border:5px solid #363232;} #yiv3052404033 h1{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:26px;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;line-height:125%;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;} #yiv3052404033 h2{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:22px;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;line-height:125%;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;} #yiv3052404033 h3{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:20px;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;line-height:125%;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;} #yiv3052404033 h4{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-weight:bold;line-height:125%;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templatePreheader{ background-color:#FAFAFA;background-image:none;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-size:cover;border-top:0;border-bottom:0;padding-top:9px;padding-bottom:9px;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templatePreheader .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templatePreheader .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent p{ color:#656565;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;line-height:150%;text-align:left;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templatePreheader .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent a, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templatePreheader .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent p a{ color:#656565;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateHeader{ background-color:#FFFFFF;background-image:none;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-size:cover;border-top:0;border-bottom:0;padding-top:9px;padding-bottom:0;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateHeader .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateHeader .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent p{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%;text-align:left;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateHeader .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent a, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateHeader .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent p a{ color:#007C89;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateBody{ background-color:#FFFFFF;background-image:none;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-size:cover;border-top:0;border-bottom:2px solid #EAEAEA;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:9px;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateBody .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateBody .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent p{ color:#202020;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px;line-height:150%;text-align:left;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateBody .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent a, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateBody .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent p a{ color:#007C89;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateFooter{ background-color:#FAFAFA;background-image:none;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-size:cover;border-top:0;border-bottom:0;padding-top:9px;padding-bottom:9px;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateFooter .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateFooter .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent p{ color:#656565;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;line-height:150%;text-align:center;} #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateFooter .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent a, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateFooter .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent p a{ color:#656565;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;} @media only screen and (min-width:768px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033templateContainer{ width:600px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 body, #yiv3052404033 table, #yiv3052404033 td, #yiv3052404033 p, #yiv3052404033 a, #yiv3052404033 li, #yiv3052404033 blockquote{ } }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 body{ width:100% !important;min-width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnRetinaImage{ max-width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImage{ width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnCartContainer, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnCaptionTopContent, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnRecContentContainer, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnCaptionBottomContent, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnTextContentContainer, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnBoxedTextContentContainer, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImageGroupContentContainer, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnCaptionLeftTextContentContainer, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnCaptionRightTextContentContainer, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnCaptionLeftImageContentContainer, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnCaptionRightImageContentContainer, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImageCardLeftTextContentContainer, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImageCardRightTextContentContainer, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImageCardLeftImageContentContainer, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImageCardRightImageContentContainer{ max-width:100% !important;width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnBoxedTextContentContainer{ min-width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImageGroupContent{ padding:9px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnCaptionLeftContentOuter .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnCaptionRightContentOuter .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent{ padding-top:9px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImageCardTopImageContent, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnCaptionBottomContent:last-child .yiv3052404033mcnCaptionBottomImageContent, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnCaptionBlockInner .yiv3052404033mcnCaptionTopContent:last-child .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent{ padding-top:18px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImageCardBottomImageContent{ padding-bottom:9px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImageGroupBlockInner{ padding-top:0 !important;padding-bottom:0 !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImageGroupBlockOuter{ padding-top:9px !important;padding-bottom:9px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnBoxedTextContentColumn{ padding-right:18px !important;padding-left:18px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImageCardLeftImageContent, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnImageCardRightImageContent{ padding-right:18px !important;padding-bottom:0 !important;padding-left:18px !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcpreview-image-uploader{ display:none !important;width:100% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 h1{ font-size:22px !important;line-height:125% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 h2{ font-size:20px !important;line-height:125% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 h3{ font-size:18px !important;line-height:125% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 h4{ font-size:16px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent, #yiv3052404033 .yiv3052404033mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templatePreheader{ display:block !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templatePreheader .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templatePreheader .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent p{ font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateHeader .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateHeader .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateBody .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateBody .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateFooter .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent, #yiv3052404033 #yiv3052404033templateFooter .yiv3052404033mcnTextContent p{ font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;} } | | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Getting Beyond the Usual: Giving Birth to Jesus in the 2020s | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Rev. Lauren Van Ham December 17, 2020 ABOUT THIS ARTICLE: It’s my delight to co-author this article with one of my favorite teachers and respected colleagues, Lee Van Ham, who happens to be my Dad. There are 3 parts of Jesus’s birth story that we want to open here, like gifts. There are many parts of this story that, once unwrapped, hold great truth and importance including dreams, angels and what was going on for Joseph. But we’re exercising restraint and talking only about a radical genealogy, a surprise economist, and behaving unusually. If you’d like to learn more, please consider reading Lee’s book which was reviewed here. LEE: The prevailing story of America includes phrases like “land of opportunity” and “living the American Dream.” But increasingly we’re coming to understand that this country was born in the genocide of people who already lived here. They loved this land. The economy was built on enslaving Africans forcibly trafficked to this country. First Nations peoples and Chinese immigrants were also forced into servitude. The true story of America is male and white dominated; women have to fight for similar status; the same goes for Latinx. Religion has more often reinforced the prevailing story and continues to do so. But the story we’re about to get into challenges it with an alternative narrative of life. The story of America is generically true of all the superpowers of history. Rome’s story in the first century spoke of the “glory that is Rome” and the “Pax Romana” or Roman Peace. It was a peace that kept the Mediterranean world controlled in law and order. But slavery prevailed. Women could not vote or hold office. Seething resentment of many Jews toward Rome erupted in open warfare throughout the first century until Rome’s army finally went into Jerusalem and ruthlessly obliterated it in 70C.E. The vaunted Roman Peace was acquiescence forced by military might. It was not a peace of goodwill for all. LAUREN: Does any of this sound familiar? LEE: These superpower stories provide the living contrast for what Matthew and Luke have given us. They wrote around 85C.E. about the contrast societies, or churches, created by followers of Jesus. Throughout the Roman Empire, these groups formed with people who felt called out of superpower ways. Women and men were liberated, so too slaves and slaveholders; and it mattered not whether you were Jew or Greek. A whole different story was being lived by these people right in the middle of the superpower. Where did this story come from? The answer to that question lies in the stories of Jesus as told by Matthew and Luke, beginning with the birth stories. Matthew starts right off with a genealogy of this birth that echoes the many genealogies in the book of Genesis and its creation story. Matthew tells us of a new creation—one radically different from what Rome had created. He begins with an abbreviated genealogy that boldly breaks precedent by including four women—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba. All are outsiders, meaning not Jews. All use their erotic power to subvert the forces of patriarchy, male dominance, and superpower ways. I’m guessing, Lauren, that many of our readers may well have thought the first 17 verses of Matthew were a boring list of names. It’s easy to miss how revolutionary they are, and how they set the stage for a birth that’s all about liberation from superpower living. The women set the stage for Mary and Joseph as they break the strong social norms that would have put Mary on the street in order for Joseph to preserve his image. This is the story we need today, not because we can change the superpower story. But for a much better reason. We can live a better alternative to it, one that an oppressed Earth and her oppressed people cry out for and die for. This alternative has a really different economy from the endless growth economy that dominates economic orthodoxy today. The “economist” in Luke’s story comes as a surprise. LAUREN: It’s Mary! Mary (another woman who was in a scandalous, erotic relationship with a man, Joseph) is oppressed by Rome’s culture and power… until she is freed by a visit with Spirit where she receives a life-changing download, and a new economic manifesto. So infused is Mary, with this new worldview, that she simply gestates (yes) for a time until it is word ripe. Have you experienced this in your spiritual evolution – a moment when something True rearranged you and needed time to find its voice? With phrases reserved to address the Roman Emperor like, “Mighty One,” Mary describes her role within God’s creation. She speaks poetically of how Creation insists upon sharing, reciprocity, equality, and enough-ness: He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors to Abraham and to his descendants forever. (Luke 1:52-54, NRSV) There’s a reason why artists and musicians have lifted up Mary’s words as the “Magnificat.” Right now, as we ponder a “Just Recovery” from the pandemic, and ask Congress for a “Just Transition” away from fossil fuel addiction toward renewable energy, as we march for Reparations, Police Reform, and Land Return, Mary’s economic instructions define “justice,” “generosity,” “inclusion.” LEE: Turning toward Mary’s economics means we need to recognize that it differs from growth economics, but also that such turning is toward justice for all beings of the planet. And it seems to me that now Earth is requiring this kind of turning from us, even though mainstream systems are still largely resisting such turning. LAUREN: It’s true. But we know this didn’t bother Jesus much, nor Matthew or Luke. When we look closely, we begin to see many (MANY!) examples of Mary’s economy that thrive and even support our communities today. In what ways will we center our personal economies in these alternative spaces -- the ones that create Mary’s economy? Together, Jesus, Mary and Joseph created the (un)holy family which was, perhaps, not so different from the families we’re all participating in now -- work-arounds and detours, included. When work-arounds are born from love and inclusion, and when detours are the result of resisting dominant hierarchies, we begin to recognize when, how and which Spirit is infusing our lives. Lee, share some more about the Spirit. LEE: Luke, a Gentile, like his Jewish contemporary Matthew, lets us know from the start that he’s writing about the new creation being practiced in the contrast societies, or churches. But instead of genealogy, Luke introduces the Holy Spirit as an energy with enormous power to change society’s usual ways into the unusual. Zechariah, the priest, and Elizabeth, his wife — devout people in the respected, usual ways — experienced this special Spirit. Zechariah was told this Spirit would be upon his son even in Elizabeth’s womb. Then, six months into Elizabeth’s pregnancy, her cousin Mary arrives at her house. Immediately, Elizabeth greets her, not in her usual voice, but with an unusually, Spirit-filled, loud cry followed by poetic words about her babe leaping in her womb. Whereupon, Mary – as Lauren just referenced – breaks into some more unusual poetic speech about what the babe in her womb will accomplish in life. Later, Zechariah and Elizabeth break society’s norms in their son’s naming ceremony, and soon after Zechariah breaks into words about the unusual mission their son will have. Luke’s opening chapter has one incident of Holy Spirit after another. Zechariah, Elizabeth and Mary all experience their usual being overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit, upon which their lives become filled with the unusual. New creation is happening by the same Spirit that brooded over the chaos in Genesis 1 and brought forth an amazing creation. LAUREN: What role do we play now in bringing forth a story that embraces creation instead of acquiescing, normalizing or perpetuating our flawed and unjust systems? I think it’s really important that we recognize ourselves in the lives and experiences of Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph. Like us, they were going about their lives, in varying states of comfort and despair, until they were visited by, in Lee’s words, the unusual. The same Spirit can and wants to visit us today. This is not the spirit of our institutions, nations or advertising – those spirits are real and hugely occupying, but Luke wants us to welcome the Spirit that keeps nudging us. Are we open to it? In many instances, our tools of perception have grown dull – we write something off as a “coincidence;” we ignore the ache in our stomach, or we silence the Truth that’s on the tip or our tongue. Our over-reliance on screens, news and technology depletes our ability to perceive with our souls and other senses. But this Spirit is determined to break us into the New Creation. Luke and Matthew urge us to leave the “usual,” and to show up differently. 2021 is asking this of us, too! LEE: Notice how Luke contrasts the powers of Holy Spirit with what is happening under Jewish and Roman rule during the reign of Herod. The story he is about to tell, Luke emphasizes, happened while Herod, the great dark lord of Judea, was king. Imagine the spirit of the land under Herod’s rule. It was like the rule of dark lords today that oppress us and suppress truth, science, women, and basic help for those who hurt the most — even while these dark lords claim narratives of greatness and high-mindedness. In such circumstances, our spirits are drained from our lives, and all the while the spirit of the powers moves across the populace and destroys the ecology of our land. Luke’s story boldly proclaims that into this hurt, chaos and fragmentation comes a mighty Spirit from the cosmos. She dwarfs the powers of all other spirits, mighty though they seem, depressing as they are. People utter speech that is unusual by society’s standards, babes are born through unusual circumstances. The narrative that the powers have insisted upon as historical truth is burst apart with a creation born in the cosmos and delivered by the Spirit! How can this Spirit be called anything other than holy? She is sacred. She is whole. And where other spirits have split and splintered the world, she delivers a oneness that reaffirms the interdependence of all beings — a treasure smeared throughout our cosmos and the new creation our Earth yearns for. LAUREN: And THIS is the liberation that comes through the birth of Jesus – a liberation empowering us to address the crises of today. It is only liberating, though, if we allow ourselves to live it out. In the words of Meister Eckhart (1260-1328): We are all meant to be mothers of God. What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly, but does not take place within myself? And, what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time and my culture? This, then, is the fullness of time: When the Son of Man is begotten in us. Thank you, Lee, for sharing with me in these thoughts and ideas. Let’s all be on the look-out for the unusual. And let’s embrace the new creation in this new year!! ~ Rev. Lauren Van Ham Read online here About the Authors Rev. Lauren Van Ham was born and raised beneath the big sky of the Midwest, Lauren holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, Naropa University and The Chaplaincy Institute. Following her ordination in 1999, Lauren served as an interfaith chaplain in both healthcare and corporate settings. Lauren’s passion for spirituality, art and Earth's teachings have supported her specialization in eco-ministry, grief & loss, and sacred activism. Her essay, "Way of the Eco-Chaplain," appears in the collection, Ways of the Spirit: Voices of Women; and her work with Green Sangha is featured in Renewal, a documentary celebrating the efforts of religious environmental activists from diverse faith traditions across America. Currently, Lauren tends her private spiritual direction and eco-chaplaincy consulting practice; and serves as Climate Action Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative (URI), and as guest faculty for several schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lee Van Ham directs a U.S.-Mexico nonprofit, Jubilee Economics, focused in OneEarth living. Born to a bilingual, tenant-farming family in Iowa, he pastored in the Midwest for 32 years before switching to work explicitly on the interplay between ecology, spirituality, and economics. He and his spouse, Juanita relocated from Chicago to San Diego in 2002, where they live within ten minutes of their grandchildren, who are a big part of their lives. | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By Jennie How do we really know what Jesus said? They get so much wrong. Is it not a house of cards? A: By Bishop John Shelby Spong Dear Jennie, It is not easy to determine what Jesus actually said or did, but I believe it is more substantial than a house of cards. Probably the reason traditional Catholics and evangelical Protestant fundamentalists try to literalize the Bible is that they recognize how fragile their grasp on truth really is and, unable to be secure in that fragility, they make incredible claims for the literal words of scripture or for the teaching authority of the church. Literalism in any form is little more than pious hysteria. The problems are that we have nothing in writing from the time Jesus lived. The earliest material in the New Testament would be Paul's Epistles, written 20-34 years after the crucifixion and by a man who did not know the human Jesus. Paul's conversion is dated some one to six years after the crucifixion. From Paul we learn that Jesus was crucified, that he introduced the Lord's Supper and that he was perceived as alive in some way following the crucifixion and little more. The gospels are written between 70 at the earliest (Mark) and 100 at the latest (John). Yet all four gospels reveal the impact of this Jesus on a variety of people. The Fellows of the Jesus Seminar spent more than a decade going over everything that the four gospels record Jesus as ever having said. When they completed this study, they determined that no more than 16% of the sayings of Jesus are authentic to the man Jesus which, of course, means that some 84% of the sayings attributed to Jesus are not historically accurate. The Seminar did not find a single word attributed to Jesus in the Fourth Gospel (John) to be authentic. The Jesus of John's gospel speaks to the concerns of the Christian Church near the end of the first century, not the literal words of a man of history. I think I can demonstrate that all four of the gospel writers knew they were not writing either history or biography. Each was interpreting Jesus in the context of their relationship with the Synagogue and their time in history, most especially following the Jewish-Roman War when in 70 CE the city of Jerusalem was leveled by the Roman invaders. If we looked at the gospels as portraits of Jesus painted by the second or even third generation of Christians and not as photographs or tape recordings capturing his exact deeds and words, I think we would be closer to the truth. I believe the gospels give us insight into the impact of a man of history and they open the doors for an exploration into the mystery and wonders of God. That is why I treasure them. ~ John Shelby Spong December 11, 2008 Read and share online here | | | | | | | | Please continue to send us your feedback… we are listening. We aim to give voice to many different perspectives that are relevant and inspiring along this spiritually progressing path. We are not here to tell you what to believe or how to act. We are here to support your journey, to share and learn together.Thank you for being a part of this community - join us on Facebook! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Thank God for Religious Diversity Thursday marked the beginning of the Hanukkah, the Jewish celebration of the rededication of the Temple after the Maccabean revolt. Christmas and Hanukkah are just two of many religious celebrations that occur this time of year. For Progressive Christians, the diversity of religious celebrations is a great reminder of our respect for other religious traditions. In fact, at ProgressiveChristianity.org we have 8 points—or values—that help to define what it means to be a Progressive Christian. Point 2 reads: Affirm that the teachings of Jesus provide but one of many ways to experience “God,” the Sacredness, Oneness and Unity of life, and that we can draw from diverse sources of wisdom, including Earth, in our spiritual journey. At Progressing Spirit, we believe that there is value in all faith traditions and that by respecting those traditions and learning from them, we are able to live more fully into our own. If you too believe in a Christianity that appreciates other faith traditions, we invite you to consider making a gift this holiday season to ProgressiveChristianity.org, the parent company that brings your Progressing Spirit Weekly Newsletter. Thank you for your generosity! Progressing Spirit and ProgressiveChristianity.org are doing their best to continue the important work of sharing resources that support the growth of the progressive Christian movement and continue to build our international community. We simply can't do this without you - please donate today. Thank you from your friends at Progressing Spirit/ProgressiveChristianity.org! | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited The Origins of the New Testament, Part XXI: Introducing the Gospel of Matthew Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong April 29, 2010 The second gospel to be written is called Matthew. It made its debut into the world a decade or so after Mark, which would date it in the 82-85 CE range. Matthew’s gospel was heavily dependent on Mark; indeed he incorporated about 90% of Mark into his text with many of these quotations being verbatim. A revealing insight into the mind of this second gospel writer can be gained by analyzing the parts of Mark that Matthew omitted, but that is beyond the scope of this study. One only has to read a book called Gospel Parallels published by Thomas Nelson Co., to become aware of exactly what these omissions are. It is clear that Matthew bends Mark’s message toward a more traditional Jewish perspective. Who was Matthew? The early church tradition that linked this gospel with Levi Matthew, the tax collector, is today generally discredited. This gospel was written originally in Greek, indeed a better Greek than that which appears in Mark. A Jewish follower who sold his services as a tax collector to the unclean Gentiles would hardly have been expected to have the educational and scriptural background that is revealed in this book. This gospel also displays a rather sophisticated theological perspective, probably only second to that of John among the gospel writers. We have no reason to believe that any of the twelve were educated or learned men and this would certainly be true of one called Levi-Matthew. >From internal evidence we can discern that the author appears to be the leader of a synagogue, which followed the liturgical patterns and observed the high holy days of the ongoing Jewish tradition. Whoever the author was he had a deep knowledge of and appreciation for the Jewish Scriptures as well as the historic Jewish expectation that the messiah would come to and for the Jews. When we analyze the editing of the text of Mark’s gospel, from which he copies so freely, we discover that he is prone to remove from Mark things that might offend the Jews. Some scholars have even suggested that he wrote an autobiographical note into his text when he told the brief parable of the householder (Mark 13:51-52). Here he wrote: “Every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” Matthew was clearly dedicated to preserving what was old. Matthew at the same time adds a number of things to the developing Christian tradition. Most people do not know the gospels well enough to distinguish what parts of the Jesus story are added by each gospel writer. To make us aware of Matthew’s unique contributions, we need to note that this is the first gospel to introduce a genealogy of Jesus (Matt 1:1-17) that begins with Abraham and journeys through the high points of Jewish history to King David, then through the kings of the House of David to the Babylonian Exile and finally to the life of Jesus. Luke, writing 10-15 years after Matthew, also gives us a genealogy but he goes backward from Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, all the way to Adam, the father of all human life. In many details we need to note that these two biblical genealogies are very different and cannot be reconciled. They differ first on who Joseph’s father was. Was it Jacob, as Matthew asserts, or Heli (Eli) as Luke contends? Did Jesus’ line flow through the royal house of kings from David to Solomon to Rehoboam as Matthew states or did it avoid royalty altogether by going from King David to Nathan and skipping all of the Judean kings as Luke states? Luke’s genealogy also includes many more generations than Matthew. They cannot both be accurate. The consensus of the scholars is that neither is accurate. There are other distinctions between the two ancestral lists, but that is enough to make the point of their radical incompatibility. Biblical literalists generally simply ignore these differences hoping that no one will notice. Matthew is also the first person to introduce any account of Jesus’ miraculous birth into the developing traditions. Once again, Luke, writing 10-15 years after Matthew, also tells us a virgin birth story, but it is quite different from the one in Matthew. Only in Matthew do we have an account of a star in the east and magi who followed that star bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Christ child. Only Matthew involves King Herod in the birth narrative, both by having him give the magi directions to Bethlehem, and later developing the account of Herod sending his soldiers to slaughter all the Jewish boy babies in a vain attempt to wipe out the presumed threat to his throne. Only Matthew has the holy family flee to Egypt to escape this murderous wrath of Herod and then to return to their home in Bethlehem after Herod’s death. Later, God was said to have warned Joseph in a dream about the continuing danger represented by Herod’s son, who was now on the throne, and directed him to take the child to the safety of Galilee in order for Jesus to grow up in the village of Nazareth. In each of these episodes in Matthew’s birth story, he makes the claim that these maneuvers occurred “in order to fulfill the scriptures,” by which he always meant the messianic expectations of the Jewish scriptures. Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem? Matthew says it was to fulfill the expectations of Micah (5:2) that the messiah must be born in the city of David’s birth in order to demonstrate that he was the direct heir to David’s throne. Why was Jesus born of a virgin? It was, says Matthew, to fulfill a text from Isaiah (7:14), which interestingly enough does not have the word virgin in it. Why did Herod slaughter the male babies of Bethlehem? It was, says Matthew, to fulfill a text in Jeremiah (31:15) that spoke of Rachel weeping for her children who were lost. Why did Mary, Joseph and the child flee to Egypt? It was, says Matthew, to fulfill the words of Hosea (11:1) that “out of Egypt have I called my son.” Why did Jesus move to and grow up in Nazareth? It was, says Matthew, to fulfill a prophecy that he would be called a Nazarene, but we have no idea which prophetic text it was to which Matthew was referring! Were any of these particular texts being properly used by this author? If we are speaking literally, not one of them was! Indeed they are not even close! Micah was referring to a Davidic messiah coming out of Bethlehem who would restore the fortunes of the Jews. In all probability Jesus was born in Nazareth. The first gospel, Mark, assumes that. In Isaiah 7:14, the prophet was referring to a birth in the royal family that would be a sign that Jerusalem would not fall to the foreign armies of Kings Pekah and Resin that were surrounding the holy city as Isaiah wrote. He was certainly not referring to an event 700 years in the future. Jeremiah was referring to Rachel, the tribal mother of the Northern Kingdom, weeping for her children who were lost to the Assyrians when they conquered the Northern Kingdom in 721 BCE. Hosea was referring to the Exodus in which God called his people out of slavery in Egypt, not to a trip of safety engineered by Joseph for Jesus centuries later. Finally, we know of no expectation that messiah will be related to Nazareth. The fact is that Matthew quoted scripture in a fast and loose way. Matthew was also the first gospel writer to give content to the story of the temptations in the wilderness. Mark had only said that Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days being tempted. Matthew spells out the content of each of the three temptations and recorded Jesus’ response to each. To the surprise of many when they first hear it said, Matthew is the only gospel to record Jesus delivering the Sermon on the Mount. Luke scatters some of the Sermon on the Mount material throughout his gospel, but only Matthew pulls it together in the form that we know best. Parables unique to Matthew include the parable of the weeds (13:24-30) and its interpretation (13:36-43); the parable of the hidden treasure and the “pearl of great price” (13:44-46); the parable of the net (13:47-50); the parable of the unmerciful servant (18:23-25); the parable of the wise and foolish maidens (25:1-13), and the parable of the Judgment where the sheep are separated from the goats (25:31-46). When we come to the narrative of the final events in Jesus’ life, Matthew adds the unique notes that the betrayal by Judas was for thirty pieces of silver and that Judas hurled that money back into the Temple when he repented of his deed. Matthew alone tells us that Judas then went and hanged himself. Matthew is also the first gospel writer to portray Jesus as appearing to the disciples in Galilee following the resurrection. He said this appearance occurred on a mountain top and in this narrative we have the first occasion that the risen Jesus was quoted as saying anything to anyone. Those words you may recall are what we now call the “Great Commission.” Go into all the world. There is no Pentecost moment in Matthew, but only the promise that Jesus is “Emmanuel” which means “God with us,” “Lo, I am with you always” is as close to the coming of the Holy Spirit as Matthew gets. I believe it is necessary to absorb these special Matthean touches before we can begin to put this gospel into an interpretive context. For now, I ask you simply to embrace these special Matthew contributions to the developing Christian story. Try to isolate Matthew’s point of view as it is revealed in his additions to the story. Then we will begin the process of penetrating the mind of this writer of the second gospel in order to discern just how he perceived Jesus. To that story we will turn next. ~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements Learn to Read Hebrew You want to read the Torah and the prayers in the original Hebrew but the language seems complicated. In 7 online sessions, Judaic Scholars Ronit Scheyer & Rabbi Brian will have you reading sacred texts in the original Hebrew. Come learn with others live online for a community-type experience that teaches you how to read one of the world’s oldest living languages. Get it done in 7 weeks for only $108 - starting January 3rd, 2021. READ ON ... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

1 0

Are there examples of where police breaking down doors in the middle of the night has been an approach that worked??
by James Wiegel 16 Dec '20

16 Dec '20

CHICAGO MAYOR TRIED TO BLOCK VIDEO OF COPS CUFFING NAKED WOMAN Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s lawyers lost an emergency motion in federal court to block a local news station from airing body camera footage of police raiding the wrong home with guns drawn and handcuffing a distressed, naked woman. CBS2-TV broadcast the footage of officers forcing their way into the home of Anjanette Young nearly two years ago. The 50-year-old clinical social worker had just finished her shift at a hospital when a group of male officers broke down her door with a battering ram. [HuffPost] Jim Wiegel “A revolution is on the horizon: a wholesale transformation of the world economy and the way people live.” Fred Krupp

1 0