July 2012 - OE - lists.wedgeblade.net

Re: [Oe List ...] OE Digest, Vol 4, Issue 29
by David Flowers 03 Oct '12

03 Oct '12

Randy refers to Walter Brueggemann, an Old Testament scholar, with regard to scarcity and abundance - here's a link to a video of him speaking on exactly that topic as the bottom line narrative of the Bible. http://www.marquette.edu/cps/BuildingaBetterMilwaukeeBrueggemann.shtml On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 12:27 PM, <oe-request(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: > Send OE mailing list submissions to > oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > oe-request(a)lists.wedgeblade.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > oe-owner(a)lists.wedgeblade.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of OE digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: My report on Rio+20 (Charles Hahn) > 2. The Three Moods in Christian Worship (R Williams) > 3. [Dialogue] The Three Moods in Christian Worship (George Holcombe) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2012 20:08:44 -0500 > From: Charles Hahn <cfhahn30(a)gmail.com> > To: Order Ecumenical Community <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> > Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] My report on Rio+20 > Message-ID: > <CACA= > 4B7gLM6Oybr+omB3TJWdG_8OKUgPjFfraFMHmct7J8HnXg(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" > > Herman, I have been out of town, and just now reading your Rio+20 piece. > It is such a hopeful piece. Much work to do, but hope filled. Thanks so > much. > Charles Hahn > > On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 7:19 PM, Herman Greene <hfgreene(a)mindspring.com > >wrote: > > > ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** > > > > Here?s the report I wrote on **Rio**+20:**** > > > > ** ** > > > > ** ** > > > > *NOTES FROM RIO+20: WHY IT DIDN?T FAIL* > > > > *By Herman F. Greene* > > > > I was in Rio from June 13-22 for the UN Conference on Sustainable > > Development (**Rio**+20) and events preceding it. The prevailing > > sentiment is that **Rio**+20 was a failure. Scott Simon of NPR described > > it as the biggest UN conference ever and perhaps one of its biggest duds. > > *The New York Times *quoted a representative of CARE as saying it was > > ?nothing more than a political charade,? and a representative of > Greenpeace > > as declaring it ?a failure of epic proportions.? When the official > outcome > > document from **Rio**+20, titled ?The Future We Want,? is not rejected > > outright, tepid assessments are generally given such as ?it partially > > salvaged prior commitments, but offered little new.?**** > > > > ** ** > > > > Evaluating **Rio**+20 as a failure has consequences. For some, the > > ?failure? of **Rio**+20 underscores the weakness or the UN processes as a > > whole. Because blame for the alleged failure has largely been placed on > > ?governments,? the faith of some in the ability of governmental and > > intergovernmental organizations to address major problems has fallen. In > > the ****United States****, where the event was seldom reported, summary > > reports of failure may lead some to say, ?I didn?t know about it and it > > wasn?t important anyway.?**** > > > > ** ** > > > > My view of the conference is, however, different. I had to educate myself > > to understand the UN sustainable development process, of which **Rio**+20 > > is only the latest chapter in a 40-year long and continuing history. I > > began to engage directly in this process in October 2011 in order to > > promote formation of an International Ethics Panel on Ecological > > Civilization (IEPEC), a panel first proposed by Professor **Ryoichi > > Yamamoto** at a September 2011 conference in ****Tokyo****. Returning > > from that conference, I learned Rio+20 was the place to take this idea as > > many NGOs and some governments were emphasizing the need for new ethical > > structures in UN governance in connection with one of Rio+20?s two major > > themes, ?Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development.?**** > > > > ** ** > > > > In the course of attending three preparatory events in **New York** and > > the final **Rio**+20 conference, I have learned the UN?s sustainable > > development process is not primarily about the environment. It is about > how > > the peoples of the world, as a whole, can improve their lives and the > forms > > of development that are most appropriate for achieving this. Environment > > comes in because it must: after all Earth is the living planet and > resource > > base on which humans depend both physically and culturally. Economics > > enters because our current understanding of social development is > dominated > > by it and by certain established conventions, such as GDP, > neo-liberalism, > > globalization, and industrialization, all of which were questioned in the > > Rio+20 debates, especially in relation to the conference?s other major > > theme, ?The Green Economy in the Context of Poverty Eradication and > > Sustainable Development.**** > > > > ** ** > > > > I have learned that equity and security, in unfamiliar ways, are at the > > heart of every sustainable development debate. Small island states ask if > > it is equitable that they should be flooded due to global warming and > > rising seas attributable to the actions of others. The President of > Ecuador > > raises the question how much should his country be paid to leave > > rainforests intact in order to produce oxygen for the world. The ?Green > > Economy,? is viewed by many in the Global South (the term commonly used > in > > place of the ?**Third World**?) as a further expansion of global > > capitalism, the commodification of nature and a threat to indigenous > > people. Security becomes a question for many of whether they will have > > enough food to eat in a world, soon to be populated by 9 billion people, > > facing erosion of land, desertification and land grabs by both foreign > > governments and corporations. Subsistence farmers wonder why they must > > enter the monetary economy to become ?sustainable? or ?be lifted out of > > poverty,? and why their occupation of land for centuries does not > > constitute ?title.?**** > > > > ** ** > > > > I have learned that civil society, largely composed of nonprofit > > organizations (also called nongovernmental organizations or NGOs) and > given > > quite limited official status, by holding to ideals of the future, > > commenting on intergovernmental negotiations and making their voices > heard, > > are collectively a major force in the UN sustainable development process. > > Yet I have also learned that, now more than ever, government is the > > indispensable actor in bringing about the future we want.**** > > > > ** ** > > > > With this growing knowledge, I have come to understand **Rio**+20 as not > > being a failure. The language of outcome documents in UN conferences such > > as **Rio**+20 are arrived at by consensus. Thus, the outcome document of > * > > *Rio**+20 reflected where there was and was not a global consensus on > > future commitments. The current financial crisis (and related national > and > > regional politics) hung like a shadow over the proceedings. While > progress > > on new commitments would have been preferable, the central issue in the > > proceedings became whether governments would preserve the basic > principles > > of sustainable development adopted at the First Earth Summit in Rio in > > 1992, principles such as social equity, gender equality, common but > > differentiated responsibilities (requiring greater responsibility for > > developed countries), human rights (including, heretofore unrecognized > > rights to clean, drinkable water, basic sanitation, food security, a > > minimum standard of living, and a social protection floor), the polluter > > pays, the precautionary principle and the right to development (the right > > of all peoples to develop their own resources for their own needs, > > interests, and cultures). The reaffirmation of these principles became > the > > limited success of the governmental portion of **Rio**+20.**** > > > > ** ** > > > > The greater achievements came in the civil society portion. More than > > 30,000 civil society representatives participated in the official Rio+20 > > conference and 100,000 more in the concurrent People?s ****Summit**** and > > protest marches. There were also large concurrent business and > professional > > gatherings in **Rio**, such as Business Action for Sustainable > > Development Business Day and the World Congress on Justice, Governance > and > > Law for Environmental Sustainability. Knowing of the limitations of the > > official outcome document, activists released 14 People?s Sustainability > > Treaties and a People?s Sustainability Manifesto. President Rousseff of > ** > > Brazil** was justified in calling **Rio**+20 the most participatory > > conference in history and ?a global expression of democracy.?**** > > > > ** ** > > > > People who gathered in **Rio** knew the official results of the > > conference would be limited. They came nevertheless to network and to set > > the stage for the next phase of the UN sustainable development process, > the > > shaping of the post 2015-development agenda in which the present > Millennium > > Development Goals will be integrated into broader and more ambitious > > sustainable development goals. Those from civil society left to form a > > global citizens? movement to take action now for sustainable development > > and to develop the political will for global policy change. **Rio**+20 > > was not an end, rather it was a new beginning. **** > > > > ** ** > > > > Herman**** > > > > *_____________________________________________***** > > > > **Herman Greene****** > > > > ********************2516 Winningham Drive************************ > > > > ********************************Chapel Hill************, > ********NC******* > > * ********27516************** > > > > 919-929-4116 (h)**** > > > > 919-624-0579 (c)**** > > > > 919-942-4358 (f)**** > > > > Skype: hgreene-nc**** > > > > hfgreene(a)mindspring.com **** > > > > ** ** > > ** > > > > _______________________________________________ > > OE mailing list > > OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net > > http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net > > > > >

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Re: [Oe List ...] [Dialogue] What is the right question these days?
by Ken Gillgren 09 Aug '12

09 Aug '12

Wow, this has been an incredible conversation, with echoes that reach back to my First Great Awakening, when three questions were posed: Who am I? What do I? How be I? followed by intensive, continuous bottom-dropping-out experiences that made what I thought was my concrete life question at the time (conscientious objection or ministerial vocation) seem, if not trivial, then a little beside the point of a deeper issue. And somehow I ended up in the Order during that odd, in-between moment when the Quest for the Historical Jesus, Luke and Psalm conversations, scrubbing grave plots, The Way of the Pilgrim, The Journey to the East (dang, I knew I shouldn't have given up on playing the violin!), fasting and canonical hours (I was Methodist, for god's sake!), somehow made perfect sense alongside Global Research Assemblies (social process triangles to the ninth level) and Councils with people rising up to be accountable for Yellow Knife, among other far corners I never expected to see (but ultimately came pretty close). And of course, the fine wind, a wedgeblade inserted into time, with preschool children living in the Universe and Dancing to Life (or Bending History, which seemed somehow logically and satisfyingly interchangeable with Dancing to Life). And "we are the music makers, we are the builders of dreams; we are the earthbuilders and movers it seems" With our own somewhat stilted mythologies around the Bureaucratic Cog (FIRE the one who fails), the Underground Revolutionary (SHOOT the one who fails), and the Trans-establishment Self (RECONSTRUCT THE CONTEXT around the one who fails). And strangely, the answer that now comes to my mind in response to why I'm here, what I'm doing, and how I'm being is all "for the greater glory of G-O-D," and this from someone who long ago left behind Sunday services and any formal religious practice, and with full consciousness of all the political, economic, and cultural baggage this phrase entails. At the same time, I've witnessed how this language still animates and inspires profound community service in the most impossible situations (think: African American churches in, for example, Rainier Beach). The Journey is the context, with its quest for an ever-widening consciousness and participation in Wholeness. The Kingdom has always arrived and is always coming in power (honest, this unnerves me to throw around this language willy nilly, but I somehow blame RS-I for the fact that it makes any sense to me at any level). So whatever the question or calling that quickens the current action of my soul, lies a deeper affiliation with a Wholeness (beyond my imagining) that is being birthed and against an illusory fragmentation (around ego, tribe, or ideology) which may come clothed in a reasonable justification or accommodation for "what's possible." More about the flow than prematurely measured outcomes, more about the dance than bending history. Oops, now this is feeling more like the Earthrise witness that I've been meaning to offer, although still far short of what I feel I want to say. I am so profoundly grateful to have stood at the side of a people whose very presence, for a moment in time (that continues to this day), interrupts historical forces at the most personal level and invites "no one special" to an unexpected calling (preschool teacher, healthcare worker, fund raiser, Town Meeting orchestrator, business facilitator, yes, even mayor of the city of Indiahoma) as a pivot point for an emerging Wholeness, already present and coming in power. Ok, I kind of got wound up there; what was the question again? Thanks to all of you for all you have been and done, for all you continue to be and do, until "the end of Time." Ken Gillgren Milwaukee Metro, Amarillo, Indiahoma, Minto, Selawik Spud, Anchorage, Medan, Seoul, Cheong Ju, Tokyo, Seattle. On 7/2/2012 11:32 AM, John Cock wrote: > I appreciate what you've said, Wayne. > > My take: > If it does not have something like "on behalf of a transformed Earth > community" in the statement, > it is the WRONG right question, moral issue, or vocation. > > John > > -----Original Message----- > From: dialogue-bounces(a)lists.wedgeblade.net > [mailto:dialogue-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Wayne Nelson > Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 12:19 PM > To: Colleague Dialogue > Subject: [Dialogue] What is the right question these days? > > > I am wondering what are the pivotal moral issues of our moment? > > I think there are likely to be several. Of course there are many, many but > there are probably some major ones. > > To reduce it to a single one makes it too abstract and denies the obvious > complexity. > > We all have to name 'the moral issue of our time.' There's not likely to be > one for everyone. It's a job we all have to do. > > > \\/ > - - - - - - - - - - Wayne Nelson > wnelson(a)ica-associates.ca > O - 416-691-2316 > M - 647-229-6910 > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Dialogue mailing list > Dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net > http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net > > _______________________________________________ > Dialogue mailing list > Dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net > http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net >

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Four ? parts of worship
by Herman Greene 08 Aug '12

08 Aug '12

I can't believe I can't remember this, but what are the four parts of worship? Confession, praise, commitment . . . ??? _____________________________________________ Herman Greene 2516 Winningham Drive Chapel Hill, NC 27516 919-929-4116 (h) 919-624-0579 (c) 919-942-4358 (f) Skype: hgreene-nc hfgreene(a)mindspring.com

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Re: [Oe List ...] OE Digest, Vol 4, Issue 23
by Richard and Maria 08 Aug '12

08 Aug '12

Hi Could someone put Common Worship in the Life of the Church on the Wedgeblade website? It's a great document. As I have gone on through the years, I have reflected more on the confession aspect. In the light of the way the Gospel and letters of Paul describe the people of faith, our present "unworthiness" is not emphasised, but the greatness of what we have received, which was not earned. We are a "new Creation", made "friends with God" (See 2 Corinthians 5:16ff for example). To me the confession is more about the shock of discovering my/our having forgotten this wonderful gift over and over. The thanksgiving is in rediscovering it, having it reaffirmed and sensing the power within and among us to live it out. I recognise that for some in our community what I have just written might be controversial, and for others illuminating, and I welcome all responses. Best wishes Richard You are right: there are four parts of worship: Thanksgiving, Confession,Praise and Dedication or commitment. We never began worship without direct acknowledgement of who we pray, then confession of our unworthiness for all we have received, which leads us to remember not only the goodness of our own lives but the amazing creative love of God, which in turn calls for our dedication or commitment. -- Transforming organisations and individuals towards a future worth living now Tel: 02 9896 3839, Fax: 02 9896 3904 Mail: 18 Sturdee St, Wentworthville NSW 2145, Australia

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[Dialogue] The Three Moods in Christian Worship
by George Holcombe 30 Jul '12

30 Jul '12

Good one, Randy. I appreciated reading that, and then I turned to Rohr's daily and couldn't keep from recommended this one. I associate it with the Tillich paper. George Holcombe 14900 Yellowleaf Tr. Austin, TX 78728 Mobile 512/252-2756 geowanda(a)earthlink.net Hope appeareth, but it is not your Hope—you do not have anything to do with it. It just appeareth. It comes as a stranger, as an alien—it just appeareth! You do not even know why you hope. How in the world could you hope when there is absolutely nothing to justify any hope? ~Joseph W. Mathews Begin forwarded message: > From: Center for Action and Contemplation <cac(a)cacradicalgrace.org> > Subject: Daily Meditation: The Art of Letting Go -- July 30, 2012 > Date: July 30, 2012 1:10:45 AM CDT > To: geowanda1(a)me.com > Reply-To: cac(a)cacradicalgrace.org > > > Having trouble viewing this message? Click here to view as a webpage. > > Snow Goose Day Flight, by © Shirin McArthur. > > > THE ART OF LETTING GO > > > It is good to remember that a part of you has always loved God. There is a part of you that has always said yes. There is a part of you that is Love itself, and that is what we must fall into. It is already there. Once you move your identity to that level of deep inner contentment, you will realize you are drawing upon a Life that is much larger than your own and from a deeper abundance. Once you learn this, why would you ever again settle for scarcity in your life? “I’m not enough! This is not enough! I do not have enough!” I am afraid this is the way culture trains you to think. It is a kind of learned helplessness. The Gospel message is just the opposite—inherent power. > > Thomas Merton said the way we have structured our lives, we spend our whole life climbing up the ladder of supposed success, and when we get to the top of the ladder we realize it is leaning against the wrong wall—and there is nothing at the top. To get back to the place of inherent abundance, you have to let go of all of the false agendas, unreal goals, and passing self-images. It is all about letting go. The spiritual life is more about unlearning than learning, because the deepest you already knows (1 John 2:21). > > Adapted from The Art of Letting Go (CD) > > Prayer: > May I learn to let go. > > > > Share on • Share on > More sharing options ... > Permalink (for linking to this): http://conta.cc/OdoAWt > Click here to forward this to a friend. > > > > > > > Join Fr. Richard as > he presents the upcoming conference > Franciscan Mysticism: > I AM That Which I Am Seeking > > October 28-29, 2012 > With special pre-conference events > October 26-27. > Santa Fe, New Mexico > More information and registration ... > > > > > > > Did you get this message forwarded from someone else? Wish to sign up for CAC's email lists yourself? Subscribe to CAC email lists here. > > You are receiving this message because you subscribed to the CAC's "Daily Meditations" email list. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences or email address at any time. > > Please direct inquiries to cac(a)cacradicalgrace.org. > > Copyright © 2012 Center for Action and Contemplation > 1705 Five Points Rd SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105 (physical) > PO Box 12464, Albuquerque, NM 87195-2464 (mailing) > (505)242-9588 > www.cac.org > > > > > > > > This email was sent to geowanda1(a)me.com by cac(a)cacradicalgrace.org | > Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. > > Center for Action and Contemplation | 1705 Five Points Rd. SW (phys) | PO Box 12464 (mailing) | Albuquerque | NM | 87195 >

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The Three Moods in Christian Worship
by R Williams 30 Jul '12

30 Jul '12

Colleagues, A couple of weeks ago we had a conversation on this listserv about the acts of Worship. I remember distinctly that in the RS-1 short course on worship we said there are 3 overarching acts; Confession, Praise (or Thanksgiving) and Dedication. You may confirm this by reviewing the Daily Office that we did every morning. My focus has been more on what we said are the 3 "moods" associated with those acts of worship: for the act of confession the mood is humility; for thanksgiving, gratitude; and for dedication, compassion. I've been keeping journal notes on these for several years. I think they are key to our being profoundly human. I want to share some brief reflections and invite you to share your thoughts. The opposite of humility is arrogance. Tillich told us that "sin" is less about immoral acts and more about the state of "separation" in which we all live. I have concluded that confession in humility is not self-depreciation in light of our imperfection but is rather acknowledgement that we, in our separated state, are incomplete. We deny our interdependence on the "other" in our quest for self-sufficiency and self-determination, which are delusions. When we own up to our incompleteness (i.e. confess) in humility, this opens us, at the very least, to learning (i.e. having our hearts and minds changed, metanoia), and to entering into new relationships and friendships and partnering with all creation. The opposite of gratitude is greed. Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann has suggested that in our culture we need to move from a paradigm of scarcity to one of abundance. We may thus come to acknowledge that life is not a zero sum game, and that there is plenty for all as long as no one has more than her, his or its share. Gratitude is acknowledgment that we have all we need to live with dignity and to respond to our calling, as long as we are willing to share rather than hoard it, like the magician's urn of water, the more it's poured out, the fuller it becomes. The opposite of compassion is insensitivity to the suffering of the other, and gracelessness, the inability to be responsive to those who suffer. This, of course, plays off H. Richard Niebuhr's understanding of "church" as the "sensitive and responsive" part of society. So to be compassionate is to be "sensitive and responsive," which leads to living an active life service. I think of compassion more as something we "do" rather than something we "be." There is a sense in which all of these are inter-related to the extent that you can't talk about or embody any one of them without the other two. Humility leads one to be both grateful and compassionate. Gratitude has a prerequisite for humility, and is ultimately expressed in compassion. Compassion is humility and gratitude in action, i.e. the life of empathic service. We can see clearly how these three "moods" or "attitudes," as we called them, are appropriate to the 3 acts of Christian worship as we practiced it. But because we understand that worship is a rehearsal of, and is therefore transparent to, all of life as encountered in the world, we understand that there is nothing religious about humility, gratitude or compassion, but that these qualities are exhibited by all who decide to be "profoundly human." Randy "Listen to what is emerging from yourself to the course of being in the world; not to be supported by it, but to bring it to reality as it desires." -Martin Buber (adapted)

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My report on Rio+20
by Herman Greene 29 Jul '12

29 Jul '12

Here's the report I wrote on Rio+20: NOTES FROM RIO+20: WHY IT DIDN'T FAIL By Herman F. Greene I was in Rio from June 13-22 for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and events preceding it. The prevailing sentiment is that Rio+20 was a failure. Scott Simon of NPR described it as the biggest UN conference ever and perhaps one of its biggest duds. The New York Times quoted a representative of CARE as saying it was "nothing more than a political charade," and a representative of Greenpeace as declaring it "a failure of epic proportions." When the official outcome document from Rio+20, titled "The Future We Want," is not rejected outright, tepid assessments are generally given such as "it partially salvaged prior commitments, but offered little new." Evaluating Rio+20 as a failure has consequences. For some, the "failure" of Rio+20 underscores the weakness or the UN processes as a whole. Because blame for the alleged failure has largely been placed on "governments," the faith of some in the ability of governmental and intergovernmental organizations to address major problems has fallen. In the United States, where the event was seldom reported, summary reports of failure may lead some to say, "I didn't know about it and it wasn't important anyway." My view of the conference is, however, different. I had to educate myself to understand the UN sustainable development process, of which Rio+20 is only the latest chapter in a 40-year long and continuing history. I began to engage directly in this process in October 2011 in order to promote formation of an International Ethics Panel on Ecological Civilization (IEPEC), a panel first proposed by Professor Ryoichi Yamamoto at a September 2011 conference in Tokyo. Returning from that conference, I learned Rio+20 was the place to take this idea as many NGOs and some governments were emphasizing the need for new ethical structures in UN governance in connection with one of Rio+20's two major themes, "Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development." In the course of attending three preparatory events in New York and the final Rio+20 conference, I have learned the UN's sustainable development process is not primarily about the environment. It is about how the peoples of the world, as a whole, can improve their lives and the forms of development that are most appropriate for achieving this. Environment comes in because it must: after all Earth is the living planet and resource base on which humans depend both physically and culturally. Economics enters because our current understanding of social development is dominated by it and by certain established conventions, such as GDP, neo-liberalism, globalization, and industrialization, all of which were questioned in the Rio+20 debates, especially in relation to the conference's other major theme, "The Green Economy in the Context of Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development. I have learned that equity and security, in unfamiliar ways, are at the heart of every sustainable development debate. Small island states ask if it is equitable that they should be flooded due to global warming and rising seas attributable to the actions of others. The President of Ecuador raises the question how much should his country be paid to leave rainforests intact in order to produce oxygen for the world. The "Green Economy," is viewed by many in the Global South (the term commonly used in place of the "Third World") as a further expansion of global capitalism, the commodification of nature and a threat to indigenous people. Security becomes a question for many of whether they will have enough food to eat in a world, soon to be populated by 9 billion people, facing erosion of land, desertification and land grabs by both foreign governments and corporations. Subsistence farmers wonder why they must enter the monetary economy to become "sustainable" or "be lifted out of poverty," and why their occupation of land for centuries does not constitute "title." I have learned that civil society, largely composed of nonprofit organizations (also called nongovernmental organizations or NGOs) and given quite limited official status, by holding to ideals of the future, commenting on intergovernmental negotiations and making their voices heard, are collectively a major force in the UN sustainable development process. Yet I have also learned that, now more than ever, government is the indispensable actor in bringing about the future we want. With this growing knowledge, I have come to understand Rio+20 as not being a failure. The language of outcome documents in UN conferences such as Rio+20 are arrived at by consensus. Thus, the outcome document of Rio+20 reflected where there was and was not a global consensus on future commitments. The current financial crisis (and related national and regional politics) hung like a shadow over the proceedings. While progress on new commitments would have been preferable, the central issue in the proceedings became whether governments would preserve the basic principles of sustainable development adopted at the First Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, principles such as social equity, gender equality, common but differentiated responsibilities (requiring greater responsibility for developed countries), human rights (including, heretofore unrecognized rights to clean, drinkable water, basic sanitation, food security, a minimum standard of living, and a social protection floor), the polluter pays, the precautionary principle and the right to development (the right of all peoples to develop their own resources for their own needs, interests, and cultures). The reaffirmation of these principles became the limited success of the governmental portion of Rio+20. The greater achievements came in the civil society portion. More than 30,000 civil society representatives participated in the official Rio+20 conference and 100,000 more in the concurrent People's Summit and protest marches. There were also large concurrent business and professional gatherings in Rio, such as Business Action for Sustainable Development Business Day and the World Congress on Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability. Knowing of the limitations of the official outcome document, activists released 14 People's Sustainability Treaties and a People's Sustainability Manifesto. President Rousseff of Brazil was justified in calling Rio+20 the most participatory conference in history and "a global expression of democracy." People who gathered in Rio knew the official results of the conference would be limited. They came nevertheless to network and to set the stage for the next phase of the UN sustainable development process, the shaping of the post 2015-development agenda in which the present Millennium Development Goals will be integrated into broader and more ambitious sustainable development goals. Those from civil society left to form a global citizens' movement to take action now for sustainable development and to develop the political will for global policy change. Rio+20 was not an end, rather it was a new beginning. Herman _____________________________________________ Herman Greene 2516 Winningham Drive Chapel Hill, NC 27516 919-929-4116 (h) 919-624-0579 (c) 919-942-4358 (f) Skype: hgreene-nc hfgreene(a)mindspring.com

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Fwd: Del's recovery
by George Holcombe 28 Jul '12

28 Jul '12

Just received this from Genevieve. We might want to send Del our best. George Holcombe 14900 Yellowleaf Tr. Austin, TX 78728 Mobile 512/252-2756 geowanda(a)earthlink.net Hope appeareth, but it is not your Hope—you do not have anything to do with it. It just appeareth. It comes as a stranger, as an alien—it just appeareth! You do not even know why you hope. How in the world could you hope when there is absolutely nothing to justify any hope? ~Joseph W. Mathews Begin forwarded message: > From: "Del Morrill" <del(a)hypnocenter.com> > Subject: Del's recovery > Date: July 28, 2012 2:51:51 PM CDT > To: "'Del Morril'" <delhmor(a)wamail.net> > > Hello Friends, > This is Genevieve, Del’s youngest daughter, writing to you to give an update on her surgery last night and recovery. > > The surgery took approximately five and a half hours. The surgeon said that it could not have gone better and was very pleased. They took only three lymph nodes and will have pathology report on Wednesday, but it was everything as expected. Del is resting comfortably at Tacoma General. Was moved to the Oncology floor today and has a great team of professionals caring for her. > > Del asked me to let you know that she is doing well and appreciates your love and support. > > On behalf of her family we thank you as well! > Gen > > Del > > Del Hunter Morrill, M.S., N.B.C.C.H. > Personal Guide & Hypnotherapist, Teacher, Lecturer > And Author of the GREAT ESCAPES Script Volumes > > TRANSITIONS, a Center for Personal Guidance & Hypnosis > And home of NEW BEGINNINGS PUBLISHING > 3217 North Mason Avenue, Tacoma Washington 98407 USA > Phone (253) 383-5757; www.hypnocenter.com > > There can be nothing to frighten you if you refuse to be afraid. (Mahatma Gandhi) >

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McKiiben follow-up to letter that was sent on listserve earlier: Somewhat blown away
by Ellie Stock 27 Jul '12

27 Jul '12

From: Bill McKibben - 350.org organizers(a)350.org Subject: Somewhat blown away Dear Friends, I confess to being somewhat blown away by the reaction to the piece I wrote for Rolling Stone last week. Despite the fact that it was 6,000 words long and pretty technical, it has been shared almost 100,000 times —which is more than 10x as many as the interview they did with President Obama the month before. Clearly the piece struck a nerve—probably because its timing coincided with the heat and drought and fire that have so unnerved the nation this summer. I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to read all 6,000 or so of those words, and for sharing it with your friends and family. I was told by the folks at Rolling Stone that it's been viewed 450,000 times, which is just remarkable. (If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, here's the place to go: act.350.org/signup/reckoning) Monday night we had a big video chat with folks who wanted more details and I’ve been poring over the helpful comments that arrived by the kilobyte to thoughts(a)350.org. With the crazy weather putting climate change at the top of more people’s agenda, it is clear that we’re at one of those breakthrough moments that movements occasionally get, and we don’t want to waste it. If you’ve read the piece, you know that it makes clear that the fossil fuel industry already has 5 times more coal and gas and oil on hand than even our most timid governments think would be safe to burn—left to their own devices, they’ll usher us right past the brink. So—even as we continue to fight pipelines and coalmines and oil wells, we need to take on that industry as a whole. We need to change the rules. Until the election we're going to do that by pushing folks running for office to take a stand against fossil fuel subsidies. But we also have to start preparing for what happens after Nov. 6th. I've been working on something I wanted to let you know a bit about, and hopefully have your help in seeing through. Starting the day after the election, I’d like to go after the fossil fuel industry even more directly, trying—as the Rolling Stone piece suggests—to spark a movement like the ones that overturned the great immoral institutions of the past century, such as Apartheid in South Africa. On November 7th, 350.org board member Naomi Klein and I are planning to launch a road show that will cover 20 cities in just over 20 nights (we’re going to break for Thanksgiving) to bring the message I laid out in Rolling Stone to thousands of people across America. We'll have a revolving cast of musicians and great speakers, to make it an inspirational and exciting event. We're in the process of confirming venues now - but we're going to need your help to promote these events in your community, and help turn these ideas into a powerful campaign. If you can help us book a large venue, know of great musicians that might want to participate, or can lend a hand with the creative work that this will surely require, click here to let us know how you'd like to help out: act.350.org/survey/tour-help/. Look, the Rolling Stone piece was pretty grim. But the response to it shows that people understood that our backs are to the wall and that means it’s time to fight. I don’t know if we can win; but I’m certain that without each of you we’ve got no chance. So thanks in advance for jumping in. Bill McKibben for 350.org You've received this email because you've signed up to get updates from 350.org. You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time.

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11/26/12, Spong: A Salute to the United Church of Christ
by Ellie Stock 26 Jul '12

26 Jul '12

Homepage My Profile Essay Archive Message Boards Calendar A Salute to the United Church of Christ Sometimes, as one goes about the normal duties of one’s professional life, a pattern of activity slowly becomes visible until one wonders why this had not been seen before. When that happens, it is good to stop, to notice, to put the pieces together, to seek to understand and then to formulate the new insight so that it can become common knowledge. This was my experience in the first part of this year when I was invited to a number of churches in what might be called the heartland of America. In every incidence, the church to which I was asked to deliver lectures stood out in its community like a beacon of light. It was always the church in that community that engaged the issues of the day. It was the congregation in that community that encouraged people to think and to study. It was a church more interested in genuine education than it was in ecclesiastical propaganda. It was a congregation willing to be controversial, willing to stand up for truth in the public marketplace. It was a church that did not require that the brains of its people be checked at the door prior to worship. It was a congregation whose members cared about their world, their community, themselves and their pastor. These churches also projected vitality and they were all growing. The revelation that ultimately emerged, however, was that each one of these congregations was a part the United Church of Christ-Congregational denomination. This fact was so consistent that I concluded it could not be just a coincidence and that something about the United Church of Christ must be at least in part responsible and so my appreciation for this denomination soared. Perhaps, I thought, this church can be the one Christian denomination that will inspire, bring about and participate in the necessary reformation required to break the Christian faith out of its dying patterns, its no longer believable theological understandings and its medieval worship practices. Maybe this can be the church that will break the traditional Christian paradigm based on human depravity and transform it to a paradigm based on human wholeness. Until these aspects of Christianity are faced, engaged and changed, there is, I believe, little realistic hope for a Christian future. Let me briefly tell you, my readers, the story of these four individual UCC congregations: The first one was the Plymouth United Church of Christ in Wichita, Kansas. Under the enlightened and competent leadership of its senior pastor, Donald Olsen, and his able staff, Plymouth Church has gathered to itself a group of members who are individually and corporately stepping beyond traditional religious formulas to build a church for tomorrow. Gifted young adults, well-educated and in positions of local and national authority, are finding the integrity of a new religious dimension for themselves by their participation in this church’s life. No one is fighting yesterday’s wars against Darwin, the equality of women or the oppression of gay and lesbian people. The Bible is not seen as a cudgel to be used in debate to shore up the conclusions of a long dead past. They appear to enjoy their life together and, during the time I was there to deliver these lectures, they also brought in a spectacular a Capella male singing group named Cantu for the joy and entertainment of those attending the lecture series. Cantu was magnificent and the combination of lectures and entertainment was a memorable experience for me and for that congregation. The second one was the First Congregational-United Church of Christ in Greeley, Colorado. This small Colorado city, founded by Horace Greeley in the 19th century, is the home of a community college that has grown into being the University of Northern Colorado and is now the third or fourth largest university in the state of Colorado. In a state where Colorado Springs has become the national headquarters for many right wing fundamentalist groups such as James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family,” this church in Greeley has accepted the vocation of speaking to this university with an understanding of the Christian faith that is well informed and not dedicated to the perpetuation of biblical ignorance. Its senior pastor, Nathan Miller, is respected as a leader in the entire community and one of this church’s most active members is the recently retired president of the University of Northern Colorado. The third church was in Norman, Oklahoma, the location of the University of Oklahoma, where former Democratic Governor and Senator, David Boren, is now the highly-regarded president. A small group of people led by an urologist formed a new Congregational Church to fill a vacuum in Norman, where fundamentalists and evangelical Protestants are the overwhelming majority. They were assisted in this birth by the UCC pastor at the Mayflower Church in Oklahoma City, Robin Meyers, who is one of America’s brilliant new religious leaders. They contracted with a retired UCC minister on a part time basis to lead this new congregation, which has no more than twenty-five members. Undaunted by their newness and their smallness, they organized a public lecture on progressive Christianity to be held in the University of Oklahoma’s Museum of Natural History. This was their way of announcing their presence in the city. I was invited to deliver that lecture and also to speak to the members of this congregation at their regular meeting place on Saturday morning. The public lecture attracted over 400 people. It was also the first time I have ever spoken with a mastodon on display immediately behind me! In their own worship space on Saturday, which seated less than seventy people, the two lecture seminar was sold out and every available chair was filled. This new congregation is dedicated to finding ways to serve the larger community and even the world. One program, organized by the urologist and including his two sons, both of whom are planning careers in medicine, has them volunteering for medical missionary duty in some of the deprived parts of the world. Vitality and the hope of good things to come mark this congregation. Finally, there was the First Congregational-UCC Church of Hendersonville, North Carolina, served so ably by its senior pastor, Richard Weidler. Hendersonville is a small town in the mountains of Western North Carolina, about 30 minutes south of Ashville. Calls to repent, invitations to be saved and warnings to prepare to meet your God are painted on signs on almost every nearby highway. Three crosses adorn the countryside in more than one field. A visit on the radio dial will reveal a steady diet of evangelical preaching, punctuated only by the ranting of Rush Limbaugh. Yet because of Hendersonville’s wonderful summer climate, it has attracted many retirees to that area who are left looking mostly in vain for a church if they do not want fundamentalism. Into that vacuum, this church has moved led by its former, now retired, pastor, David Kelly. About a decade ago a layman, named Walter Ashley, taught an adult Bible class in that church and it had been an erudite and transformative experience for many. A “Classics Scholar” with a degree from Oxford University in the UK, he had opened that congregation to a whole new way of being a Christian. They became the one church in town that was a haven for thinking Christians. When Walter died, his widow Jo Ann, an attorney well into her eighties, endowed a lectureship in memory of her husband. Twice each year, a well-known Christian scholar is invited to do the Ashley Lectures in this church in Western North Carolina. John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, Amy-Jill Levine and I have all been among those visiting lecturers. The event attracts people from miles away and has helped to identify this church as something quite different. Recently in North Carolina, there was a statewide referendum to ban gay marriage by a constitutional amendment. It seemed like every preacher in the state from Billy Graham on down came out in support of this amendment, identifying it with the Bible and the will of God. This was not true, however, of the First Congregational-United Church of Christ in Hendersonville. Instead they bought and ran a large advertisement in the local newspaper every other day for a period of time prior to that vote stating their opposition to North Carolina’s “Marriage Amendment.” In this ad they stated first the historical tradition of the United Church of Christ as a supporter of social justice and civil rights. They reminded readers that their forebears were Pilgrims who came to this country in 1620 seeking freedom from restrictions imposed in Europe. They recalled the history of their denomination, telling the newspaper’s readers that in 1785 the UCC ordained Lemuel Haynes, America’s first African-American pastor; in 1853 the UCC ordained Antoinette Brown, America’s first female pastor; in 1972 the UCC ordained Bill Johnson, America’s first openly-gay pastor. Now this church, representing this denomination, called on all to reject this prejudiced marriage amendment. This ad dramatically lifted this church into public awareness causing them to be attacked and ridiculed by almost every other church in the area, but it also caused the religiously disenfranchised to discover a new possibility for their religious lives. So, new people began to show up at their doors on Sunday Mornings. These four churches I have described so briefly had several things in common. They each had a well-trained and well-educated senior pastor. Each was linked to a national denomination that encouraged them to press the edges. Each had drunk deeply of that denomination’s courage in the public arena on the right side of the cultural issues of our day. If the United Church of Christ is represented locally by the churches I have encountered in Wichita, Greeley, Norman and Hendersonville, they must be doing something right. So to these churches and to the leadership of the National United Church of Christ, I first raise my hand in salute for your courage and your dedication. Second, I stand before you in awe for what you have meant in my life and in the life of Christianity itself. Third, I bow my head and my heart in thanksgiving for your witness to the Truth. ~John Shelby Spong Read the essay online here. Question & Answer Sister Rose, OP, writes: Question: I just finished Bishop Spong’s latest book. He really does a great job. I am a Catholic Dominican Sister but I admire Bishop Spong and everything for which he stands: honesty, integrity, etc., which I don’t always find in my own church. I have a question. In the Gospel of St. John, the text says, “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you shall not enter the kingdom of God.” Most of St. John’s gospel is symbolic or signs. How would Bishop Spong interpret this passage? This is so important to me. Answer: Dear Sister Rose, Thank you for your letter and your comments. I have been working on the Gospel of John almost exclusively for the past five years. The text you quote is from the 6th chapter where John, who does not present a story of the Last Supper, attaches all of his Eucharistic teaching to the account of Jesus feeding the multitude with five loaves and two fish. I find John to be the least literal and the most symbolic of all the gospels. Indeed, he seems to poke fun at those who respond to Jesus literally. That would include Nicodemus, who thought that being born again meant that he had to climb back into his mother’s womb, and the Samaritan woman by the well, who responded to Jesus’ offer of “living water” by telling him he did not have a bucket. The secret to John’s gospel is, I believe, that sense of mystical oneness to which this gospel points. I see this oneness in the image of the branches that have to abide in the vine and in the text you quote, where being at one with Jesus is portrayed as eating his flesh and drinking his blood. No, I do not see this as a cannibalistic orgy, but as the experience of oneness so deep that it is portrayed as taking the life of Jesus into yourself in what seems a literal manner. I am now convinced that most of the Johannine characters are the dramatic mythological creations of the author. I include in that list, Nathanael, Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the man crippled for 38 years, the man born blind, Lazarus and even the beloved disciples. I will try to justify that statement when my book on John comes out in late 2013. ~John Shelby Spong Announcements Read what Bishop Spong has to say about A Joyful Path Progressive Christian Spiritual Curriculum for Young Hearts and Minds: "The great need in the Christian church is for a Sunday school curriculum for children that does not equate faith with having a pre-modern mind. The Center for Progressive Christianity has produced just that. Teachers can now teach children in Sunday school without crossing their fingers. I endorse it wholeheartedly. Subscribers, please remember that your subscription is automatically renewed. You can unsubscribe at any time. Simply login to access your profile page and cancel your account. Login to be able to comment directly on the website. Join in the discussion! Look for Bishop Spong on Facebook and LIKE the Facebook page for ProgressiveChristianity.org You can also follow Bishop Spong on Twitter. Thank you for taking this journey with us! Any questions or concerns, please contact us at support(a)johnshelbyspong.com or 503-236-3545. Copyright © 2012 ProgressiveChristianity.org, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you have a membership at our website. Our mailing address is: ProgressiveChristianity.org 4916 Pt Fosdick Dr, NW #148 Gig Harbor, WA 98335 Add us to your address book

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