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!important;line-height:125% !important;} }@media screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv0179146225 h4{ font-size:16px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv0179146225 .yiv0179146225mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .yiv0179146225mcnTextContent, #yiv0179146225 .yiv0179146225mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .yiv0179146225mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv0179146225 #yiv0179146225templatePreheader{ display:block !important;} }@media screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv0179146225 #yiv0179146225templatePreheader .yiv0179146225mcnTextContent, #yiv0179146225 #yiv0179146225templatePreheader .yiv0179146225mcnTextContent p{ font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv0179146225 #yiv0179146225templateHeader .yiv0179146225mcnTextContent, #yiv0179146225 #yiv0179146225templateHeader .yiv0179146225mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv0179146225 #yiv0179146225templateBody .yiv0179146225mcnTextContent, #yiv0179146225 #yiv0179146225templateBody .yiv0179146225mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv0179146225 #yiv0179146225templateFooter .yiv0179146225mcnTextContent, #yiv0179146225 #yiv0179146225templateFooter .yiv0179146225mcnTextContent p{ font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;} } Let me begin by restating my belief that a corporate liturgical text (be it a eucharistic prayer, a collect, or a hymn) needs to be a Wisdom text.  | | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Part III: Eucharistic Prayers Celebrating the Embodiment of Presence | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. Let me begin by restating my belief that a corporate liturgical text (be it a eucharistic prayer, a collect, or a hymn) needs to be a Wisdom text. This means it is a prayer with the capacity to foster the soul’s growth, helping her to realize that she is an utterly unique expression of Being that is present as Boundless Love. In my previous two columns we have explored liturgy as the personal spiritual practice of individuals as well as a communal practice (focusing on a reformed vision of the church liturgical year).  In this concluding column on liturgy, I invite us to look at excerpts from eucharistic prayers of presence that I have written. The goal is to create poetic prayers that embody and express with clarity and simplicity and beauty this fundamental truth: we are to realize ourselves as embodiments of Being. In the process, we are infusing new meanings into old and sometimes stale words, as well as discovering new words with deep resonance. Birthing New Life Presider:….Gratitude, praise, hearts lifted high, voices full and joyful – …………… these are yours. When we think ourselves worth nothing, …………… in truth we are your beautiful body. When we become lost …………… in the maze of our beliefs, in truth we are your heart. When …………… we lose our way or turn away, in truth your presence is constant. …………… And look, Christ, your Beloved, prepares a table for all, …………… offering not just bread, not just wine, but Your very Being so that …………… we may be filled, forgiven, healed blessed and made new again. …………… In truth, You are worth all our pain and all our praise. Presider:….In the days of Simeon and Anna, You lean toward the earth. …………… Your eternal Spirit becomes known to us through your Beloved. …………… Born into the family of Mary and Joseph, …………… Jesus is cradled beside the beasts and warmed by their breath – …………… Here is your child, like all your children, woven into life by the Spirit …………… and in need of compassion. …………… Worldly rulers are troubled by your dawning reign embodied …………… in this child, …………… in whom the fullness of your Spirit is pleased to dwell. These two selections are taken from different eucharistic prayers that are part of the seasons traditionally celebrated as Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. The first prayer identifies how we get lost in our shame and beliefs, inviting the participants to rediscover their inherent beauty and the truth that the presence of Being is constant and is the true gift of the table. In the second prayer I have cast the opening line in the present tense, because every day is the “days of Simeon and Anna.” Every day is the day of Being leaning toward earth. The “leaning” is the human experience of being loved; it is like a lover inclining herself to meet our lips. I am also reweaving biblical imagery within a new symbolic universe; here Jesus is like every other amazing and beautiful child, “woven into life by the Spirit and in need of compassion.” Awake, O Sleeper Presider:…..For Love transforms our Souls ………….… into students of Divinity, ………….… where we sit in the valley of Humility ………….… and on the plain of Truth, ………….… and rest on the mountain of Love. Assembly: .And because all things are consonant with God,  ……………. we find God in all things.  ……………. We have become Joy itself,  …………… .swimming in the sea of Joy. Presider:… .As joyous fire and flame of God, ……………..our hearts sing forth Love’s praise. This prayer, which is part of the conventional Ash Wednesday liturgy, is inspired by the Beguine mystic, Marguerite Porete, who was burned alive by the Inquisition. Her poetry is somewhat unique and captivating. Her vision is timeless: “because all things are consonant with God, we find God in all things.” The implication is that “we have become Joy itself”, that delicate and indispensable quality of a heart at rest in the truth of Being. And so, we don’t find ourselves lost in storm of shame on this day of recollection, but “swimming in the sea of Joy.” We are becoming “joyous fire and flame of God.” Light Renews our Life Presider:…..Your Spirit permeates all creation ……………...and if the rocks could find voice even they would ……………...cry out in endless gratitude; hearts, minds, and bodies, ……………...all reflect your glory. ……………...Yet, as we grow, your Presence, nearer than our own breath, ……………...fades and fades; ……………...we grow blind and long for your face ……………...to press against ours once more; ……………...the song of our hearts searches for the Beloved. ……………...You are Life, sustaining and beckoning us home. Assembly:...We sing your praise to the highest heavens. Presider:…...We fall. We rise. We betray. We reconcile. ……………...All we do is done in You. ……………...You are Life, sustaining and beckoning us home. Assembly:.. We sing your praise to the highest heavens. Here I speak of Being as Spirit permeating all that is, for all that is exists only insofar as Spirit is the animating force. Yet it is also true that our awareness of our true nature fades in our maturation as individuals. We become identified with our ego and its various idealizations, which commences our search as adults for the truth of our being, our inner journey home. Spirit’s Presence is our Life never ceasing to sustain us and beckon us home here and now. Whatever we do is done in the Spirit and so we are moved to praise the beauty of Being’s constancy. Love Through and Through Presider:…..Holy and Gracious One, ……………..we are yours, body and soul – ……………..even we in our blind complacency with evil and our fear of death. ……………..You are Mercy itself, ……………..embodied in the tenacious and tender life of Jesus become ……………..Christ – ……………..sacrament of your eternal and undying Love. ……………..Jesus is who we are each called to be: Love, through ……………..and through. In this prayer for what is usually the Season after Pentecost, I draw upon the intimate language of marriage: “we are yours, body and soul.” This abiding truth perdures even when find ourselves complacent and complicit with evil, as well as in our fear of death that so often leads us to seek refuge in defense. I speak of Being as “Mercy itself.” This is no longer mercy experienced as noble deference to a quisling. No, this is the mercy lovers’ hearts offer one another embodying the sweetness of loving-kindness in the midst of betrayals small and large. Mercy here is a dimension of our true nature: “Love, through and through.” Just as Jesus actualizes his realization of being a creature of love, we, too, are invited to realize the same truth of who we actually are in this life: indeed, to become “Love, through and through” is why we exist as human beings. I have also chosen to draw upon that traditional word, “sacrament,” utilizing it as a synonym for embodied Presence, which it is. (In this sense, all creation is sacrament, for all that is exists as an expression of Being.) I offer these few excerpts from eucharistic prayers of Presence as examples to encourage others to be courageously creative. (To see the full prayers, visit kevingthewforrester.blog.) We are at the dawn of a new age of the continually unfolding Christ movement. We need new prayers reflective of mature personal and communal spiritual practice. We need prayers offered by those whose own being is marinated fully in the Mystery of Being; prayers that embody eternal Wisdom for today; prayers animated by the existential flame of truth. These are joyful waters to play in. ~ Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. Read online here Read Part 1 here Read Part 2 here About the Author Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. is an Episcopal priest, a student of the Diamond Approach for over a decade, as well as a certified teacher of the Enneagram in the Narrative Tradition. He is the founder of the Healing Arts Center of St. Paul’s Church in Marquette, Michigan, and the author of five books, including “I Have Called You Friends“, “Holding Beauty in My Soul’s Arms“, and “My Heart is a Raging Volcano of Love for You” and “Beyond my Wants, Beyond my Fears: The Soul’s Journey into the Heartland“. Visit Kevin’s Blog: Essential Living: For The Soul’s Journey | | | | | | | | Question & Answer   Q: By Peter s it possible that the work of God in our time might be to get rid of the Church? A: By Bishop John Shelby Spong Dear Peter, If that is the work of God then it seems to be working since the Church is in a statistical free fall all over the Christian world. People say that this is not true in the Third World but I have never been impressed with that data. The Christianity I meet in the Third World, with notable exceptions in people like Desmond Tutu, Khotsu Mkullu and Njongonkulu Ndungane, is an anti-intellectual fundamentalism that is propped up primarily by fear and superstition. It will not survive since the thought forms of the advanced world will someday inevitably engage those irrational claims. I do think the Church, as I have known it, is dying. But I also see a new Church being born. I prefer to call that new entity, not the Church but the "Ekklesia," which is a transliterated Greek word that means "Those who are called out." I see the membership of the Church of tomorrow to be those who have been called out of tribal identity, out of prejudice, out of gender definitions of superiority and inferiority and even out of religion. That Ekklesia will also be constituted by people who have been called into a new humanity, beyond the primitive boundaries that now bind the Church inside its prevailing cultural prejudices. I expect this new Church to grow as the old Church dies. I have no further desire to seek to stop the death of yesterday's Church. It fulfilled its purpose quite well, but now its day has passed. A new day is dawning, ushering in a new Christian future. I welcome it.   ~ Bishop John Shelby Spong Published October 15, 2003 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 our FB community today! Spread the word, share with friends. Thanks! | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited The Rise of Fundamentalism: Fundamentalism's Roots - Part I Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong on March 7, 2007   Is the escalating conflict, which is public in mainline Protestant Christianity and private in Roman Catholic Christianity, really about homosexuality? I do not think so. Homosexuality is only the content of the present dispute, even being called by some right wing ideologues “the final straw” that drove them into a stance of militancy. If, how-ever, one looks at religious history, even superficially, one will discover that the roots of this present conflict are hundreds of years old; perhaps they have always have been present in Christian circles. In order to help us understand that history I inaugurate today a series of articles designed to probe the roots of our present day ecclesiastical disputes. I begin at the tap root of fundamentalism.. Behind the rhetoric and even the hyperbole that engages so many, there is an almost pathetic quest for security among religious people. This quest always seems to be attached to the conviction that human beings actually possess an ultimate and unfailing source of truth. Even here, however, there is conflict. For Roman Catholic fundamentalists that source is the infallible papacy, while for Protestant fundamentalists it is the inerrant Bible. Above all else these claims give a sense of absoluteness to which their adherents might cling while they seek to resist what they experience as an enveloping darkness gathering around them. There is a martyr’s mentality about this attitude. Literal minds pretend that the clock can be stopped and that change is not a fact of life. They portray themselves as standing firmly on God’s side while everyone else compromises with modernity, betraying clearly revealed truth and thus leading the whole religious institution down the road to perdition. The so-called “decisive issue” changes in each generation, but the emotions in the “true believers” remain the same. In my lifetime, this claim to be able to quote an inerrant Bible has been employed against the church’s move to be racially inclusive, to treat women with full equality and to open the church’s doors to its gay and lesbian members. In each intense debate the “historic faith of the Church” or the “clear teaching of the Bible” has been cited to justify continuing the practices of racism, sexism and homophobia on the part of church people. We are witnessing today what is simply another phase of this age old mentality. Most ecclesiastical disputes are thus really about security and fear. Each reveals how easily a challenge to perceived truth can be turned into hysterical anger. Before analyzing the content of the divisive issues of our day, I must first examine the claim upon which the battle is fought, namely that ultimate truth can ever be captured in a propositional form, either in the infallible utterances of an ecclesiastical leader or in the inerrant words of a sacred text. Neither claim can finally hold water. I note first that no reputable church historian in the world today buys the traditional argument undergirding ecclesiastical claims that church leaders can speak with the authority of God. This argument states that Jesus chose the apostles to be the leaders of the Church and that they in turn chose their successors and that in this divine hierarchy truth was preserved in some pure and catholic form. That idea was imposed on history to serve the propaganda needs of ecclesiastical authorities who claim to represent “Christian Orthodoxy.” Orthodoxy, however, does not mean that this point of view is true; it only means that this point of view won! The facts are that what we now call “orthodox Christianity” evolved out of many early competing factions and they were settled not by appeals to truth, but by those who had the political power to enable them to be the winners and thus to write the history of the movement. People seem to forget that once the Catholic Church had two “infallible” popes, one in Avignon and one in Rome, each claiming to speak with the unerring voice of God and each condemning the other. There is also documentable evidence that when new, indisputable truth emerged in history, challenging the old ecclesiastical formularies, even “infallible” church leaders found a remarkable ability to adapt the old certainties to the new realities. For example, originally the claim was made that Jesus alone of all human beings had escaped the infection of original sin, since the Holy Spirit was his father and his virgin mother had no part in his conception other than to be the receptacle to make human his divine life.. Then in the early years of the 18th century, science discovered that women had egg cell from which every life ever born received half of its genetic code. Women were thus equal, co-creators of every life. Since Mary was clearly a child of Adam like everyone else, she too would have been tainted by and would inevitably pass on Adam’s “original sin” to her son regardless of the virgin birth claim. So the idea of Jesus being without taint of sin, so essential to the view of salvation in that era, was threatened with being made inoperative. “Not a problem,” said the Vatican leaders and, before too many years had passed, a new dogma was proclaimed for the faithful to believe. Mary had been “immaculately conceived.” Therefore, she was cleansed from Adam’s sin even before she was born. It was a wonderful, but deeply revealing, accommodation forcing upon us the compelling realization that truth is never ultimate and that infallibility for any claim on the part of anyone to possess such truth in propositional form, is at best delusional and at worst, ridiculous. Yet Catholic fundamentalism still makes this claim. Few people, however, actually believe it. The countering Protestant claim for the inerrancy of the Bible developed because the Reformation could hardly accept the papal infallibility against which they were so busy rebelling, so they elevated the scriptures to the status of the “revealed word of God.” One wonders first which version of the Bible was the inerrant one since they differ widely. Second, people are generally unaware that the original texts of the gospels had no punctuation, no paragraphs, no capital letters and no space between words. All of those things were imposed on the gospels by interpreters hundreds of years after they were written. Were these grammarians also inerrant? It next needs to be stated that we have no complete manuscript of any single gospel that dates any earlier than the 6th century of the Christian era. We have only handwritten copies of handwritten copies of handwritten copies. Were all of the copiers inerrant? Finally we recall that Jesus spoke in Aramaic but the gospels were written in Greek. Thus before the first word attributed to Jesus was recorded, it had to be translated. Were the translators also inerrant? How many layers of inerrancy claims can rationality absorb before collapsing? We can even go far beyond this point. For example, we now know that both Matthew and Luke had Mark in front of them when they composed the gospels that bear their names. Yet neither Matthew nor Luke copied Mark verbatim. Both omitted things from Mark with which they disagreed, added things that were not in the Marcan original and actually corrected Mark from time to time. Does one edit, correct, omit from or add to the “inerrant word of God?” Of course not, but you might well do those things to the words of Mark. Finally, what happens to the inerrancy claims when you confront places where the Bible contradicts itself? In Mark and Matthew there are two versions of Jesus feeding the multitude with a limited number of loaves and fishes, while Luke says there is only one. Mark says the appearance of the risen Lord will occur in Galilee, but he never describes any such appearance. Matthew says the resurrected Jesus did appear in Galilee on top of a mountain. Luke says no Galilean appearance ever took place and that all appearances occurred in the environs of Jerusalem. Mark says the women in the garden on that first Easter did not see the Risen Lord. Matthew says they did. Luke says they did not. How can the inerrant “Word of God” be contradictory? Still infallibility claims for church leaders and inerrancy claims for the sacred texts are the accepted presuppositions of fundamentalism in Christian history, yet neither claim is capable of being sustained rationally, but in every dispute in church history one or the other of these two hysterically absurd claims becomes the weapon of choice of the fundamentalists. They shout these claims with authority, defend them with anger and invest them with the virtue of antiquity. All of this, however, is little more than the pitiful claim of frightened people whose security has been disturbed by emerging truth. That is what lies behind today’s fundamentalism, but to my surprise people still pay attention to these strange claims. They even give credibility to the propaganda of the fundamentalists that suggests that homosexuality is really the issue by listening as their condemnation of homosexuality is said to be based on the “clear teaching of the word of God.” It is not! It is rooted in the fear and prejudice of the frightened and ill informed few who feel like the world is changing and they cannot adjust. Yet because they clothe their fear in religious language people continue to give it a credibility it does not deserve, since these claims come very close to being little more than the delusions of the mentally ill. That is the real nature of the problem that Christian churches now seek to solve by debate, compromise or anger. That will continue until either the new consciousness is accepted or those who cannot adapt to the new world depart this life. Then their children will adapt until a new issue draws a new line in the sand and we repeat this strange religious dance once more. In the following weeks in this column, I will examine specifically the content of Christian fundamentalism and its many manifestations, so that the battles of our day might be placed into the context of history and fantasy separated from reality. I doubt if fundamentalists like Jerry Falwell and Albert Mohler, or evangelicals like Pat Robertson will be “convicted of their sins” by this series but in the last analysis that does not matter. Truth is never deterred by the human inability to face it. So stay tuned. ~  John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements    | The MultiFaith Storytelling Institute: 4 Day Intensive in Sacred Storytelling March 3 - 7, 2019 in Tampa, FL Our work covers how to identify, craft, remember, and vibrantly tell different kinds of stories. Together we create a welcoming and sacred space where participants learn and share, and leave with both concrete skills and the deep experience of a spiritual retreat.   READ ON ... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |