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Earthrise Witness: Wise Hope
by Karen Snyder 07 Jan '22

07 Jan '22

Thank you Sandra for your powerful reminder of the importance of hope in our lives today. The term ‘wise hope’ speaks to my heart. As I emailed you, in the Archives we have the perspective that anything that happened before today has become history - or herstory - and can be included. And special thanks for your willingness to have your words added to the Archives. In response to Ellie’s comment about resurrecting hope lectures, there are a few hope talks on the Archives website at: https://icaglobalarchives.org/collections/exploring-inner-life/spirit-life-… <https://icaglobalarchives.org/collections/exploring-inner-life/spirit-life-…>. If you have other messages about hope you feel would be helpful to add to these, please email them to me as a PDF to add to the website: Wise Hope, Sandra Conant, January, 2022 Harbingers of Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/7591.pdf>, David McCleskey, 19th Guardians Consult, October 17-19, 1980 The World of Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/7983.pdf>, Global Research Assembly, July 1980 To Deal with the Whole, To Care for the Whole, To Hope for the Whole <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/7037.pdf>, Joseph Slicker, October 10, 1975 Hope: 1975 Sydney <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/541.pdf>, Joseph Mathews, August 23, 1975 Living Endlessness <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/6852.pdf>, Ron Clutz, 11th Global Research Assembly, July 5, 1975 Consciousness of Hope Beyond Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/6718.pdf>, Gene Marshall, Global Research Assembly, July 3, 1975 Hope Beyond Hope, <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/7293.pdf> Notes, Gene Marshall, 1975 And Hope Appeareth <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/7252.pdf>, Gene Marshall, Collegium, December 30, 1974 Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/gold_path/data/meth/100288.htm>, Advent 1974 Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/4346.pdf>, Joseph Mathews, Seventh Guardians Consult, October 13, 1974 Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/539.pdf>, Joseph Mathews, Guardians Meeting, October 12, 1974 Fifth City: A Sign of Hope <https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/14916.pdf>, Joseph Slicker, January 1974 Peace, Karen karen.snyder10(a)gmail.com > On Jan 5, 2022, at 11:17 AM, Ellie Stock via Earthrise <earthrise(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: > > Maybe time to resurrect the Hope Beyond Hope lectures... > > Ellie > elliestock(a)aol.com > > >> On 5 Jan 2022, at 4:15 am, Sandra Conant via Earthrise <earthrise(a)lists.wedgeblade.net <mailto:earthrise@lists.wedgeblade.net>> wrote: >> >> WISE HOPE >> >> In this time when “optimism” seems naïve and the despair of hopelessness is unacceptable, I’m thinking about what others have called “wise hope.” The idea has been around a long time, but it was Vaclav Havel’s letter from prison that first impressed me: >> >> “Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. “ >> >> Then there’s Rumi: >> I died from a mineral and plant became, Died from the plant, took a sentient frame; Died from the beast, donned a human dress - When by my dying did I ever grow less? >> >> Finally, the image that has been on my mind lately is the journey of metamorphosis. A squat, ugly worm is born. Its life consists of munching its way through countless leaves and growing fat. Somehow or the other it weaves a shell and has an indefinite period of “life in the mush” as a friend called it many years ago. At some point, the cocoon breaks open, and a brand new, totally different creature emerges. It can be a small brown moth or a Blue Morpho or a Monarch, but whatever its frame, there’s simply no denying that it’s a miracle. The source of its happening is pure, unadulterated mystery. >> >> And somehow, these elements are combining to give me a sense of what I mean with “wise hope”. No, it’s not optimism about the future or dreams of life returning to “normal”. The entire world has been traumatized with the relentless reminder of its powerlessness. It’s not having MY personal timeline for ‘life in the mush’ or even for what will emerge when the cocoon opens. >> >> Confidence in a future with meaning must reside in the certainty that it will look different, that it may not be at all what you want, that positive change may not happen before you die. So it’s a miracle to be able to say “thank you” and dwell in gratitude that we’re here for this awakening. It’s a miracle that you’re alive, that every day comes new and opens a portal to the future. >> There’s a singer I love named Carrie Newcomer. Besides writing rich, thought-provoking songs, she has a quirk I appreciate. Her songs just sorta end. She’s singing, then she’s not singing. The song hangs in the air, unresolved. And there’s a whiff, a tiny whiff, of anticipation. >> >> Perhaps that’s as close as I can get. >> >

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Re: [Dialogue] [Earthrise] A Contemporary Christmas Story
by Ellie Stock 06 Jan '22

06 Jan '22

Thanks, Jo--cause for great gratitude and celebration! Ellie :) -----Original Message----- From: Jo Nelson via Earthrise <earthrise(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> To: earthrise(a)lists.wedgeblade.net; ICA Dialogue List <dialogue(a)wedgeblade.net> Sent: Wed, Jan 5, 2022 12:13 pm Subject: [Earthrise] A Contemporary Christmas Story A witness of sorts — some of you may have read this through a link to my blog in the Nelson annual family letter. This is a true story, happening in real time. The baby is due in a week. These events have brought me to a state of profound joy and gratitude. In these uncertain and dark times, I think we need a storyof joy and hope. Interestingly, it has resonancewith the story of the Christmas season. Itell this story with deep gratitude. It is shared without names, photos orprecise locations for privacy and safety reasons. August An Afghan family has educated all of its children, including7 girls, and 5 of the children, now adults, are in the Western world. Theiroldest son is a lawyer and supports his parents, his wife and children. TheTaliban offensive targets their regional city, killing a lawyer. They threaten his friend, the oldest son ofthis family, and his family, with death. The lawyer flees the regional city for Kabul, leaving his pregnantwife and 2 small children with her family in a nearby village, and his elderly parentsin the house he built for them. The Taliban try to burn down the house of the parents, whohide for several days, fearing they will come back. Finally they gather their daughter-in-law andthe children, and decide to brave the dangerous road to Kabul to join their sonrather than wait for certain death in their city. They escape Kabul just after the airport bombing at the endof August on a flight chartered by a non-profit group, with only theirbackpacks of documents and a few clothes. For the next 4 months they are shuttled from refugee camp torefugee camp, from Doha, to Frankfurt, to Pennsylvania, to New Mexico, toMichigan, homeless but relatively safe. DecemberOn the last day of November, the whole family are admittedto Canada as refugee claimants. Animmigration official stages their papers compassionately so that each becomesan anchor person for the next, allowing them all to enter immediately. They reunite with their youngest son, who is already inCanada, but have to stay in a motel for 3 weeks because there is no availableplace to rent. The cost is astronomicalfor a family of 6 with no income. Friends (including a young real estate agent) and the familywork frantically to find rental housing for a family of 4 adults and 2children. Several landlords refuse to rent to a family with only inadequategovernment support. One landlord has a vacant house for rent, but then decidesthat he is not going to rent. He plans to sell the house in January. A family friend who has tutored one of the daughters and hasknown the family for more than 10 years appeals for donations for householdgoods, clothes, and children’s toys, and many generous people, neighbours,family, and friends of friends respond. One family shares the request withtheir young children, who go through their toys and clothes and donate severalboxes, while a pregnant woman donates baby things that she has herself beengiven. Finally a wise man, a colleague and deep friend of the familyfriend, decides to break the logjam. Heworks with the real estate agent, and within 36 hours, he has signed anagreement with the landlord/seller to buy the vacant house with the conditionof immediate occupancy. The next day thefamily gets the key and moves in. Thecollected household goods, clothing, and children’s books and toys aredelivered by the family friend, and 2 days later the rental agreement issigned. The baby, due in a few weeks, will not have to be born in astable, or in a refugee camp. The family does not have to fear bombs orTaliban, and is safe and secure in Canada. They can go on to establishthemselves here. The family is overcome with gratitude. Everyone who contributed as well as the family itself isfeeling the joy of the season. Prayersof gratitude have been offered up in several religious traditions. ++++++++++++++++++++++ The name of the group, "earthrise," refers to the photo taken on December 24, 1968, showing the Earth rising over the horizon of the moon. The image has become a powerful symbol of mystery, awe, and responsibility.

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1/06/22, Progressing Spirit: Dr Robin Meyer: A New Reading With Apologies To Luke; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 06 Jan '22

06 Jan '22

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screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv0446005487 #yiv0446005487templateBody .yiv0446005487mcnTextContent, #yiv0446005487 #yiv0446005487templateBody .yiv0446005487mcnTextContent p{font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv0446005487 #yiv0446005487templateFooter .yiv0446005487mcnTextContent, #yiv0446005487 #yiv0446005487templateFooter .yiv0446005487mcnTextContent p{font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;}} | | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A New Reading With Apologies To Luke | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyer February 21, 2019Last year, at the height of the pandemic (or is this the height of the pandemic?), a clergy colleague asked me to write a new version of the birth of Jesus that might preserve the radical message of Luke but translate it into more contemporary metaphors. I gave it a shot, and then read it to two of my three granddaughters on Christmas Eve. It is fiction of course (but so was the original), and as we all know, when a story grows stale and sentimental by constant retelling, we can go deaf—which is the first symptom of spiritual atrophy. This isn’t how it happened, of course. But this is how it is always happening. Luke 2:1-20 In those days, a plague had come to the land of milk and honey. Many had died, alone and gasping for breath—wondering anew if God had died. People wore masks and could not hug each other. Our fearless leader told us it would all be over soon. In fact, he guaranteed it. Then we could start shopping until we dropped again. In the middle of it all, a decree went out from the Census Bureau that all legal residents should be counted so they could be taxed. It was a regular census, and most people stayed in their own towns to be registered. But some, who were called “illegal aliens” (even though they were all from planet earth) took the dangerous journey across the border from the town of Juarez, Mexico to the town of Bethlehem, Texas. Among them was a roofer named Jose, and his pregnant wife Maria. After a shotgun wedding, they decided to make the dangerous journey even though their friends tried to talk them out of it. “You are hitting the road with a pregnant woman, are you kidding? To which Jose replied. “We don’t just want to be counted. We want to count.” After crossing the Rio Grande, Maria went into labor, and gave birth to Jesus, squatting behind a trash bin that reeked of Taco Bell wrappers in the Lone Star State Park. No one was taking notes, of course, and so the whole story would have to be invented later, like a prequel. Maria was not completely alone, however. The women traveling with her acted as midwives. They held up a blanket for privacy, while Jose tried to stay out of the way. Then they swaddled the baby in an old hoodie and the women laid down beside Maria to keep her and her baby boy warm. There was not a Motel Six in sight. In that region there were cowboys, “essential workers” living in their cars and drinking tequila. Why? It’s not easy to work cattle without fences. Try it sometime. Besides, since the plague made their work dangerous, they considered quitting altogether. And then, right in middle of doing shots they heard something. Then they saw something—standing right in front of them—an elderly woman with short, snow-white hair and red glasses. “Boys,” she said, with that stern confidence that elementary school teachers possess who can’t fool around. “Don’t sleep through this. Something big just happened down by the river. Born to us this day in the Texas city of David, a savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” One of the men belched and said, “Who the hell are you darling?” His friend grabbed him by the arm and said, “Would you just shut up and listen! For once in your life, can you just listen?” “Don’t take my word for it,” she said, “Go have a look for yourself, down by the river. You will find a little brown boy there, wrapped in a hoodie and howling against the night.” And that’s when it happened. That’s when the men heard music coming from somewhere, even though there wasn’t a radio station for a hundred miles and their car antenna was broken anyway. But they heard it. They all heard it—like a symphony in the middle of nowhere, and a chorus of voices singing, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” The angel with the red glasses suddenly vanished, and one of the guys said, “I think that was my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Gabriel. “Whatever,” his friend replied. “Let’s go have a look for ourselves. That is, if this piece of junk car will start.” It cranked once, then twice, then roared to life in the silent Texas night. When they got down to the river, the women were not at all happy to see them. They were strangers, hobos, and had absolutely nothing to contribute to the situation. So, the men stood awkwardly at a distance, feeling as useless as they looked. Then they all took off their hats, which in Texas is a gesture of respect. They had no idea what to say, because they had no idea why they were there to begin with. Finally, one of them, staring at the ground, broke the silence. “That’s a beautiful baby ma’am. You must be proud. Word has it that your little boy is really going places.” Maria said nothing. Then the one who thought the angel was his third-grade teacher said, “We sure did hate to bother you, ma’am, but a stranger told us we had to come, maybe to ask if there is anything you need? We think it might have been an angel, but we’re not sure what an angel looks like exactly. So, we all agreed that, just in case it was an angel, it would be better not to start an argument.” Maria said nothing. She was exhausted, but she listened. Then she did what women have done since the beginning of time when they are overwhelmed by the world—she pondered. Then the essential workers—those day laborers with mud on their boots and no option to quarantine—turned and got back into their car. In a cloud of nasty exhaust, which Maria did not appreciate, they rumbled away, their red tail lights growing smaller and smaller until they disappeared into the night. After a long journey, they returned to the place from which they had come—to sleep it off. But in the morning, over their cowboy coffee, nobody said a word. Then one of them took off his hat again, followed by the others. Finally, he said what all of them were thinking. “This is not the same place we left. We are not the same people we were. Nothing is the same, or ever will be again.” Then without another word, they agreed to work the rest of the day without their hats on. That night, around the campfire, they raised their glasses full of tequila and made a toast, unaware that they were about to invent communion. “To Jesus!”~ Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers Read online here About the Author Rev. Dr. Robin R. Meyers is retired senior minister of Mayflower Congregational UCC Church, Oklahoma City, Distinguished Professor of Social Justice Emeritus in the Philosophy Department at Oklahoma City University, where he still teaches. He is the author of eight books on religion and American culture, the most recent of which is, “Saving God from Religion: A Minister’s Search for Faith in a Skeptical Age.” More information is at RobinMeyers.com | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By Tom One of the last books that I bought of Bishop Spong was “Eternal Life: A New Vision”. He is quoted as saying: “Death is ultimately a dimension of life through which we journey into timelessness” So, how does this journey into timelessness relate to our Christian concept of Heaven? Is this beyond Heaven which is one of the phrases on the book cover? A: By Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox Dear Tom, Thank you for your question. When I went to visit my mother when she was dying, and after several days had to return to work so I went to her, sitting in a chair, to say my goodbye. She said to me, “Tim, you know I am not afraid to die.” And I said, “yes I do. And I know why.” “Why?” She asked. “Because you are curious; and because you are looking forward to an adventure.” She said, “Exactly!” We kissed goodbye and ten days later she died. So I think journey and adventure are synonyms in that regard. No one I know has better named this adventure we call death and afterlife than M.C. Richards, the poet, philosopher, potter and painter, who was a good friend of mine and an esteemed faculty member for years. I share her poem here, composed on the day she learned she was dying. She lived in a Steiner community for handicapped adults and she contrasts patriarchal views of death to her own. I am Dying Four children are singing ‘ring around the rosy’ here where I am drinking my morning coffee with hot milk. I was an English major in school— so many famous lines about death: “Death be not proud”! Such a masculine presence— part of our paternalistic culture—and religion. I relax into someone’s arms. I feel a softness as of sleep, a gentleness that is friendly. The children are riding their bicycles through my room, they do not see me or the walls. I think of Eliot’s Hollow Men ‘Is it like this,” they ask ‘In death’s other kingdom— walking alone when we are trembling with tenderness, lips that would kiss, form prayers to broken stone.’ Those lines brim with self-pity and accusation – Like Thomas Hardy’s ‘The terrible antilogy of making figments feel.’ Oh no, now is not then. I do not feel betrayed or bereft, It’s more like the Chattanooga Choo choo: the great traffic of evolution and I am carrying my bit of being free of agenda – open to a future Ready to experiment, be creative, serve be beautiful, be real, be nowhere be no one I already know be birthing myself waves and particles backpacking in the hereafter.* No patriarchal self-pity here! About “timelessness.” All mysticism is a suspension of time. I have often told my students, “when you can ask ‘where did the time go?’ you have just had a mystical experience.” Timelessness and mysticism go together. Meister Eckhart talks about the “eternal now.” Mysticism is a taste of what is to come and emphasizes how the “eternal now” is an experience in this life, not just a promise for the future. Francis of Assisi spoke about the “first death” and the “second death.” We undergo a dying both in the Via Positiva of awe and in the Via Negativa of the dark night of the soul. And Thomas Aquinas talks about the first and second Resurrection as well. Our bodily death is our “second dying” and we are told both in Christianity and other traditions, that angels accompany us on that journey which is a light-filled one. The actual word “heaven” carries lots of baggage with it for many people. It is important to re-evaluate it, deconstruct it, call on the poets and artists to reimagine it so that it becomes more real again. I am glad Bishop Spong did so and you are doing so by the question you are asking and I hope my efforts here have been some help. ~ Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox Read and share online here About the Author Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox holds a doctorate in spirituality from the Institut Catholique de Paris and has authored 35 books on spirituality and contemporary culture that have been translated into 74 languages. Fox has devoted 45 years to developing and teaching the tradition of Creation Spirituality and in doing so has reinvented forms of education and worship (called The Cosmic Mass). His work is inclusive of today’s science and world spiritual traditions and has awakened millions to the much neglected earth-based mystical tradition of the West. He has helped to rediscover Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Thomas Aquinas. Among his books are A Way To God: Thomas Merton's Creation Spirituality Journey; Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Times; Hildegard of Bingen: A Saint for Our Times; Stations of the Cosmic Christ; Order of the Sacred Earth; The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times; and Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic – And Beyond. To encourage a passionate response to the news of climate change advancing so rapidly, Fox started DailyMeditationswithMatthewFox*Matthew Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Postdenominational Priest, pp. 361f and Julia Connor, ed., Backpacking in the Hereafter: Poems by M. C. Richards (Ashville, NC: Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center, 2014), p. 19. | | | | | | | | 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 a non-profit ProgressiveChristianity.org/Progressing Spirit rely heavily on the good will of our donors to help us continue to bring individuals and churches the messages of progressive Christians, Weekly Newsletters, along with the many other resources we provide. For years, the majority of our fundraising came at the end of the year. Looking at various ways to create a more reasonable amount of cash flow we decided rather than having a BIG ask at the end of each year, our more frequent asks give folks a chance to contribute when their funds are more flexible. We think that's a win for everyone. We also want to highlight the opportunity to become a sustaining supporter. If you are looking for the best way to help us continue to provide progressive Christian resources, become a sustaining supporter by choosing Recurring Donation. Help keep ProgressiveChristianity.org online and going strong - click here to donate today! * Another way to support us is to leave a bequest in your Will and/or Trust designating us a beneficiary. | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited Why I Wrote "Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World" Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong October 27th, 2011Several years ago, while in England, I was invited to participate on a two-hour television program hosted by Melvin Bragg, now Sir Melvin Bragg, on the UK’s ITV channel. The topic was the future of religion in general and of Christianity in particular. There were three other panelists one of whom was Christopher Hitchens, well known then as a literary and political critic, but he had not yet published his best selling attack on religion entitled God is Not Great. In the course of that panel discussion, Hitchens, attacking Christianity, tossed out many of his verbal grenades that would someday show up in his book. He sought to demonstrate both the inconsistencies and the contradictions found in supernatural religion as well as in the pages of the Bible. He spoke of the damage done to human beings as a result of religious claims and biblical teaching. To his surprise, I, as a representative of institutional Christianity, agreed quite publicly with him, citing the fact that biblical scholarship over the last 200 years has come to these same conclusions long before Hitchens discovered them. My problem with Christopher Hitchens was not his analysis, but that he obviously knew very little about contemporary Christian scholarship. In the televised debate I sought to articulate an understanding of Christianity radically different from the simplistic version he was attacking so scathingly. Following this debate, Christopher Hitchens was heard speaking with Melvin Bragg and criticizing my membership on the panel since I was not what he called an “adequate representative of Christianity.” I was certainly not the “representative Christian” that he had so easily demolished in the past. Over the years the charge of not being an adequate Christian has been leveled against me many times by conservative Catholics and Protestant evangelicals. This was, however, the first time I had been found unacceptable to an atheist! I was delighted. That experience served as the background for writing my newest book for it seemed to me to capture the problem facing institutional Christianity in our day. There is an enormous gap at present between the Christianity understood in the great academic centers of learning in the world and the Christianity understood by those who occupy the pews and, in some cases, the pulpits of our local congregations. Knowledge that is commonplace in the academies is frequently heard in the pews as profoundly controversial, probably heretical, and even as an attack on all that they hold sacred. This in turn causes critics like Christopher Hitchens to attack Christianity because they are unaware of any form of Christianity other than the literalized supernatural view that so frequently emerges in and from our churches. This enormous gap between the academy and the pew is openly fed by ecclesiastical leaders from the Pope to the various denominational heads, who do not make it easy for the people in the pew to gain access to biblical scholarship. They instead create and participate in a conspiracy of silence. They fear that the people they serve will be scandalized if they knew the truth. The fact remains, however, that both the common theistic definition of God as an “external, supernatural being, who does miracles and answers prayers” and the understanding of the Bible as a book of authoritative divine revelation of the “Word of God” are not now taken seriously in Christian academic circles and this has been the case for almost two hundred years! Church leaders seem to prefer for their Sunday worshipers to remain in the dark. Let me illustrate this by stating some little known, and among scholars, not controversial biblical facts. The gospels were not written by eyewitnesses. They are the products of a time between two and three generations after the crucifixion of Jesus. The gospels were written in Greek, a language neither Jesus nor his disciples could either speak or write. We can find no evidence that miracles were associated with the memory of Jesus prior to the 8th decade. The stories of Jesus’ miraculous birth to a virgin did not enter the developing Christian tradition until the 9th decade. The account of Pentecost and the ascension of Jesus are 10th decade additions to the story. Resurrection was not understood to be the resuscitation of a deceased body until the 9th decade. Paul does not seem to be aware of the story of Judas as a traitor nor does he ever refer to the narrative of his Damascus Road conversion, which was not written until Paul had been dead for thirty or so years. Furthermore, there are no camels in the biblical story of the wise men and there is no stable in the Bible in which Jesus was presumably born. The New Testament does not agree on who the twelve disciples were or on the details of the Easter story. That is just the beginning of facing the gap between the academy and the pew. Let me turn to theological topics for a moment. No biblical scholar today, post-Darwinians as they are, will defend as literally accurate either of the creation stories in the book of Genesis. More importantly, no educated person in the 21st century believes either the astrophysical formula in which the Bible portrays the earth’s relationship to the universe or the dominant anthropological ideas that underlie the classical way in which Christians still tell the Christ story. That familiar narrative posits an original perfection for both the world and for human life, which was presumably ruined by the disobedience of the heretofore sinless human beings, which brought about a fall into “original sin.” That “fall,” in turn, necessitated a rescue operation, which this storyline suggests was accomplished by Jesus’ death on the cross. How can one fall from a perfection human beings have never possessed if all of us have evolved? How can we then be rescued from a fall that never happened? How can we be restored to a status we have never possessed? The story breaks down in a thousand ways. Yet Protestant preachers and lay people still say things like “Jesus died for my sins” and Catholics still refer to the “sacrifice of the Mass,” as the moment when they reenact liturgically the drama of salvation and the price God required Jesus to pay to overcome the fall. So, because we know no alternatives to this traditional formula we modern Christians either close our minds to reality in order to remain believers or we abandon Christianity because it no longer makes sense. This almost unchallenged vision of the past in turn provides fodder for the secular critics like Christopher Hitchens to attack the traditional Christian articulation as if they are the first to discover its inadequacies, revealing in the process their own biblical and theological ignorance. It was to speak to the gap between the academy and the pew that I wrote Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World. In this book, I seek to open the windows into Christian scholarship and to make it available to ordinary lay people. I want to challenge the cover up engaged in by clergy who know better, but who seem to believe that truth, honesty and scholarship will “alienate the faithful.” I want to force the religious debate into a new arena of honesty. I want to call people to look at a new way to read the scriptures, a new way to be the church in the 21sr century. So in this book I have walked through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, facing and revealing its contradictions and even pointing out places where the biblical text seems to endorse and support attitudes that most of us today regard as immoral. Should slaves be taught in the name of God to be obedient? Of course not! Yet for centuries we Christians quoted Colossians and Ephesians, among other biblical sources, to perfume the indignity of first slavery and then segregation. Should wives be taught to be subservient because that was God’s plan? Of course not! Yet the fact is that the apostle Paul seems to think that his definition of the inferiority of women is “God given!” and on the basis of that definition we Christians have not just denied educational opportunities to women, but also refused to allow them the right to vote until the twentieth century. Should homosexuals be discriminated against or even put to death? Of course not, but we Christians have done that to countless numbers of gay and lesbian people and justified it by quoting the book of Leviticus. These attitudes reflect nothing other than uninformed prejudice and are based not only on a profound ignorance of the Bible, but also of the origins of homosexuality. Should wars be blessed and birth control condemned because of quotations from “Holy Scripture?” I shake with rage at such conclusions! To look at the Bible from the perspective of contemporary scholarship is to call the traditional understanding of the Bible and of Christianity itself into question, yet despite the fear that religious people feel at this prospect, to fail to do so is nothing other than a prescription only for a slower death. Why would any church or church leader choose to walk that path? I have two audiences in mind in the writing of this book. One is a church audience made up of people who appear to know that the old words no longer make sense, yet in the absence of an alternative still cling to the meaningless past. The second audience is made up of those who have abandoned traditional Christianity because for them it has become unbelievable. I want them to know that there is a view of Christianity beyond the one they have abandoned or the one that Christopher Hitchens attacks. It has just never been introduced in the pews. My goal in this book is to take people beneath both the literal and contradictory words of the Bible and the convoluted concepts of theology to explore realms of spiritual truth present but unseen. I believe Christianity has to do not with guilt and sin, but with increased humanity and heightened awareness; with breaking barriers that separate us from one another in our quest for survival and with calling us to move beyond self-consciousness into universal consciousness where, I believe, we touch the edges of eternity. Will this book succeed in this mission? Time will tell, but, regardless, the need to address these issues is real and I have now made that effort. I want to live to see a new Christianity for a new world. Indeed I want to assist in its birth. This book is designed to be a shot across the bow to inaugurate that campaign.~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements Howard Thurman, MLK, Jr., & The Return of The Sacred Masculine Join Matthew Fox in the Rowe Retreat Center’s virtual event on January 11, 2022 4:00 PM Pacific Time. READ ON ... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

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Your witness
by Jack Gilles 06 Jan '22

06 Jan '22

Sajdra, I am so moved by your witness on The Emergence of Hope. Thanks so much. By the way, I am putting ,my Grandpa Jack stories in a book. Peace Within, Jack

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Re: [Dialogue] [Earthrise] A Contemporary Christmas Story
by RICHARD HOWIE 06 Jan '22

06 Jan '22

Hope beyond hope manifested in so many ways. Love to all, Ellen Sent from my iPad > On Jan 6, 2022, at 6:47 AM, Jo Nelson via Earthrise <earthrise(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: > > A witness of sorts — some of you may have read this through a link to my blog in the Nelson annual family letter. This is a true story, happening in real time. The baby is due in a week. These events have brought me to a state of profound joy and gratitude. > > > > In these uncertain and dark times, I think we need a story of joy and hope. Interestingly, it has resonance with the story of the Christmas season. I tell this story with deep gratitude. It is shared without names, photos or precise locations for privacy and safety reasons. > > > > August > > An Afghan family has educated all of its children, including 7 girls, and 5 of the children, now adults, are in the Western world. Their oldest son is a lawyer and supports his parents, his wife and children. The Taliban offensive targets their regional city, killing a lawyer. They threaten his friend, the oldest son of this family, and his family, with death. > > > > The lawyer flees the regional city for Kabul, leaving his pregnant wife and 2 small children with her family in a nearby village, and his elderly parents in the house he built for them. > > > > The Taliban try to burn down the house of the parents, who hide for several days, fearing they will come back. Finally they gather their daughter-in-law and the children, and decide to brave the dangerous road to Kabul to join their son rather than wait for certain death in their city. > > > > They escape Kabul just after the airport bombing at the end of August on a flight chartered by a non-profit group, with only their backpacks of documents and a few clothes. > > > > For the next 4 months they are shuttled from refugee camp to refugee camp, from Doha, to Frankfurt, to Pennsylvania, to New Mexico, to Michigan, homeless but relatively safe. > > > > December > > On the last day of November, the whole family are admitted to Canada as refugee claimants. An immigration official stages their papers compassionately so that each becomes an anchor person for the next, allowing them all to enter immediately. > > > > They reunite with their youngest son, who is already in Canada, but have to stay in a motel for 3 weeks because there is no available place to rent. The cost is astronomical for a family of 6 with no income. > > > > Friends (including a young real estate agent) and the family work frantically to find rental housing for a family of 4 adults and 2 children. Several landlords refuse to rent to a family with only inadequate government support. One landlord has a vacant house for rent, but then decides that he is not going to rent. He plans to sell the house in January. > > > > A family friend who has tutored one of the daughters and has known the family for more than 10 years appeals for donations for household goods, clothes, and children’s toys, and many generous people, neighbours, family, and friends of friends respond. One family shares the request with their young children, who go through their toys and clothes and donate several boxes, while a pregnant woman donates baby things that she has herself been given. > > > > Finally a wise man, a colleague and deep friend of the family friend, decides to break the logjam. He works with the real estate agent, and within 36 hours, he has signed an agreement with the landlord/seller to buy the vacant house with the condition of immediate occupancy. The next day the family gets the key and moves in. The collected household goods, clothing, and children’s books and toys are delivered by the family friend, and 2 days later the rental agreement is signed. > > > > The baby, due in a few weeks, will not have to be born in a stable, or in a refugee camp. The family does not have to fear bombs or Taliban, and is safe and secure in Canada. They can go on to establish themselves here. > > > > The family is overcome with gratitude. > > Everyone who contributed as well as the family itself is feeling the joy of the season. Prayers of gratitude have been offered up in several religious traditions. > > ++++++++++++++++++++++ > The name of the group, "earthrise," refers to the photo taken on December 24, 1968, showing the Earth rising over the horizon of the moon. The image has become a powerful symbol of mystery, awe, and responsibility. >

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Global Buzz for January
by ICA International 06 Jan '22

06 Jan '22

Enjoy catching up with what is happening in ICAs across the globe.... And please click the link below for the latest issue of the Global Buzz Global Buzz Report: January 2022 or copy and paste this URL into your browser's address bar http://globalbuzz.icai-archives.org/7dayreport-22/2022-01-01.php Read the latest ICAI Winds & Waves Magazine brought to you now on Medium.com See here: https://medium.com/winds-and-waves ICAI Communications

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FYI: Join Matthew Fox Jan 6 Day of Epiphany - Day of Infamy; And Jan 11 Howard Thurman, MLK, Jr and the Return of the Sacred Masculine.
by Ellie Stock 04 Jan '22

04 Jan '22

Sent: Tuesday, January 4, 2022, 04:27:32 PM CSTSubject: Join Matthew Fox Jan 6 Day of Epiphany - Day of Infamy; And Jan 11 Howard Thurman, MLK, Jr and the Return of the Sacred Masculine. Join Matthew Fox for Creation in Crisis: January 6: Day of Epiphany, Day of Infamy January 6: Day of Epiphany, Day of Infamy, with Matthew Fox Janua | | | | | | | | Join Matthew Fox for Creation in Crisis: January 6: Day of Epiphany, Day of Infamy | | | | | | January 6: Day of Epiphany, Day of Infamy, with Matthew Fox January 6, 2022 1:00pm-2:30pm PT Is it mere coincidence that the violent insurrection to take down democracy in America, an effort still playing out in legislatures around the country and among politicians whose lives were actually in danger during the political violence took place on Epiphany Day? The 12th day of Christmas is when the Christ child is visited by "pagan" seekers or astrologers following a star. What deeper meaning is being offered us on this, the first anniversary of this particular "day of infamy" from within America? Is it about waking up to our capacity for evil? For denial? For power-over dynamics that make Patriarchy flourish and Lies dominate Truth? Where do we go from here? Where is Christmas in all this? Where is light in the midst of such darkness? This event is free. Register HERE | | | | Join Matthew Fox January 11 - Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Return of the Sacred Masculine | | | | | | January 11 - Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King, Jr. and The Return of the Sacred Masculine | | January 11, 2022 4:00-6:00pm PT In this time of rising authoritarianism and rising despoiling of Mother Earth and ever present patriarchy and misogyny and abuse of women, it is long overdue that we offer ever healthier versions of what manhood is than what our culture feeds us on a daily basis. In this season of honoring the life and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. it seems fitting to ask: Among other gifts that King has given us, is a fuller meaning of the Sacred Masculine among them? And his spiritual mentor, Dr. Howard Thurman, does he also offer medicine for an unbalanced and out of sync patriarchy? Incorporating Dr. Fox’s study on The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine, we will explore how both King and Thurman offer a new and deeper paradigm for the masculine. This is a topic as important for women as it is for men not only because women too carry the masculine in their souls but also because women raise sons and grandsons, interact with brothers, fathers, uncles, male co-workers and partners. While the divine feminine has made strides these past decades, the sacred masculine is often lagging behind. We will call on these two prophets to show us the way. This event is only $20. Support us and join us. Register HERE | | | | Matthew's website, calendar and bookstore: https://www.matthewfox.org/ January 6, 2022 (Thu) Virtual Event Creation in Crisis - Creation Spirituality Communities 1:00pm-2:30pm PT - Lecture, Q&A -January 6: Day of Epiphany, Day of Infamy Register HERE January 11, 2022 (Tue) Virtual Event Rowe Retreat Center 4:00pm-6:00pm PT – Lecture, Q&A – Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King, Jr. And The Return of The Sacred Masculine https://rowe.center/howard-thurman-martin-luther-king-jr-and-the-return-of-… February 9, 2022 (Wed) Virtual Event Convergence - hosted by Cameron Trimble 4:00pm PT - Dialogue, Q&A - A conversation with Barbara Holmes and Matthew Fox February 23, 2022 (Wed) Virtual Event Convergence - Hosted by Cameron Trimble 4:00pm PT - Sheer Joy - A Conversation with Cameron Trimble and Matthew Fox | | | | | | ©2022 Creation Spirituality | PO BOX 424533 San Francisco, CA 94142 | | | | | Web Version Preferences Forward Unsubscribe | | | | Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company | | |

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A MUST-SEE EVENT!!
by Cynthia Vance 02 Jan '22

02 Jan '22

Dear Colleagues: See or RECORD AND SEE on TV: PBS tonight, January 1st, 5-6 PM, 'Earth Emergency' (Eastern Standard Time, U.S.) Insightful, Powerful and Terribly Devastating Question: Is there any HOPE for our dear Planet Earth?-- Should we all paint our house roofs white, as Bill Clinton suggested, and then plant as many trees as we can?-- What else can we do? My best,Cynthia (to be 78 tomorrow & luckily still healthy and energetic) Cynthia Vancefacilitationfla(a)aol.com

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FOR OUR BIBLICAL SCHOLARS
by Cynthia Vance 01 Jan '22

01 Jan '22

Is That a Burning Bush? Is This Mt. Sinai? Solstice Bolsters a Claim - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Cynthia Vancefacilitationfla(a)aol.com

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Wishing that the spirit of Amanda's prophetic voice may be yours in 2022
by Karen Snyder 31 Dec '21

31 Dec '21

'New Day's Lyric' --by Amanda Gorman <https://www.dailygood.org/search.php?op=auth&name=Amanda%20Gorman>, Dec 31, 2021 May this be the day We come together. Mourning, we come to mend, Withered, we come to weather, Torn, we come to tend, Battered, we come to better. Tethered by this year of yearning, We are learning That though we weren't ready for this, We have been readied by it. We steadily vow that no matter How we are weighed down, We must always pave a way forward. * This hope is our door, our portal. Even if we never get back to normal, Someday we can venture beyond it, To leave the known and take the first steps. So let us not return to what was normal, But reach toward what is next. * What was cursed, we will cure. What was plagued, we will prove pure. Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree, Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee, Where we weren't aware, we're now awake; Those moments we missed Are now these moments we make, The moments we meet, And our hearts, once all together beaten, Now all together beat. * Come, look up with kindness yet, For even solace can be sourced from sorrow. We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday, But to take on tomorrow. * We heed this old spirit, In a new day's lyric, In our hearts, we hear it: For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne. Be bold, sang Time this year, Be bold, sang Time, For when you honor yesterday, Tomorrow ye will find. Know what we've fought Need not be forgot nor for none. It defines us, binds us as one, Come over, join this day just begun. For wherever we come together, We will forever overcome.

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