December 2013 - OE - lists.wedgeblade.net

ICA International Winds and Waves magazine December 2013
by ICA International 22 Dec '13

22 Dec '13

Any problem reading this message please click or paste this URL in your browser's address bar http://ica-international.org/windswaves-mag/2013-december/vol-3-december-20… Greetings, ICA International is delighted to present the December 2013 edition of the ICA global magazine, 'Winds and Waves'. published 3 times a year and now finishing its third year. This is a growing and organic global project, and is making many connections. You will find that this month's magazine is equally as informative again being filled with reports and stories from the many ICAs around the world. We now have a readership of well over 1400 folk. Winds and Waves is available through the ICA International website in several formats to download or to read on line, (compatible with tablets and smart phones), also a high resolution PDF to download for printing. We encourage you to send Wind and Waves on to your networks. and to contact the authors of the stories you read, to learn more, and to become more involved. If and author's email address is not included with the story, send an email to: rjhutchinson(a)optusnet.com.au. Please follow this link: Winds and Waves Volumes 3 No.3 December 2013 saludos, ICA Internacional se complace en presentar la edición de la Revista de ICA Global denominada "Vientos y Olas" del mes de Diciembre 2013. Esta es publicada 3 veces al año y hasta la fecha se encuentra en su tercer año. A través de esta revista nos encontramos forjando un proyecto global que ha ido creando muchas y nuevas conexiones. Usted encontrará que la revista de este mes es nuevamente muy informativa mostrando los reportes e historias de los diversos ICA alrededor del mundo. Ahora tenemos más de 1.400 lectores de nuestra revista. La Revista "Vientos y Olas" está disponible en el sitio WEB de ICA Internacional en varios formatos para descargar o leer en línea, también hay disponible un versión de alta resolución en PDF para descargar e imprimir. Anímense y envíen la Revista "Vientos y Olas" a sus redes. Por favor, siga este enlace: vientos y olas Volúmenes 3 N º 3 Diciembre 2013 Bonjour, ICA International est heureux de pouvoir vous présenter l'édition du magazine global de l'ICA pour le mois de décembre 2013, 'Winds and Waves,' qui est publié trois fois par an, et qui est maintenant dans sa troisième année.Il s'agit là d'un projet organique à croissance rapide, qui accomplit de nombreuses voies de communication. Vous constaterez que l'édition de ce mois est tout aussi informative et stimulante. Elle est remplie de nombreux rapports et d' histoires qui proviennent de grand nombre d' ICAs autour du monde. A l'époque nous avons un lectorat de plus de 1400 personnes... 'Winds and Waves' est accessible par l'intermédiaire du site web de l'ICA International et est disponible en différents formats: Vous pouvez le télécharger ou lire en ligne; vous pouvez aussi télécharger un PDF à haute résolution en vue d'une éventuelle impression. Nous vous encourageons d'envoyer 'Wind and Waves' en utilisant vos propres réseaux. Veuillez suivre ce lien: WINDS AND WAVES, volume 3 No. 3 Décembre 2013 http://ica-international.org/windswaves-mag/2013-december/vol-3-december-20… Published by The Institute of Cultural Affairs International, 655 Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario M4M 1G4, Canada. All rights reserved. For more information or to unsubscribe, email: subscriptions(a)ica-international.org

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How's life Order Ecumenical Community?
by mhampton 22 Dec '13

22 Dec '13

Sun, 22 Dec 2013 19:27:50 http://radyoekspres.com/eski/pinterest.php?htecfern1122mep mhampton mhampton(a)att.net \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- The days just prior to marriage are like a snappy introduction to a tedious book.

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Hong Kong
by wangzhimu2031＠aol.com 21 Dec '13

21 Dec '13

I will be in Hong Kong Dec. 30 and would appreciate any lead to Qing On Paul Lau Lam Lai Bing if anyone knows. Jaime

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12/19/13: Spong: Matthew introduces Joseph - The Earthly Father of Jesus
by Ellie Stock 19 Dec '13

19 Dec '13

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR Part IV Matthew Matthew Introduces Joseph - The Earthly Father of Jesus Matthew’s opening genealogy of Jesus is now complete with the intriguing idea that the line which produced Jesus of Nazareth, traveled not only through the royal family of the house of David, but also through four “tainted’ women: Tamar, who engaged in incest; Rahab, who was called a prostitute; Ruth, who achieved her goals through seduction, and Bathsheba, who was an adulterer. After this provocative introduction Matthew then moves on to introduce the rest of the cast of characters who will star in the drama he is about to write! The first of these characters is named Joseph. In the genealogy he was said to be both the son of Jacob and the man who was betrothed to Mary, the mother of Jesus. His role, as defined by Matthew, will be to act as the male protector of the Christ Child and thus to name him, which in Jewish society served to legitimize him. With this Matthean introduction, the character of Joseph enters the Christian tradition and he has remained deep in our affections from that day to this. He is immediately recognized as a strong silent presence standing behind Mary and the baby in a manger in the crèche scenes. We turn our focus now to Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. I begin this look at Joseph with some biblical facts. First, Joseph as the name of Jesus’ presumptive father had never been mentioned before in any Christian source of which we are aware. Joseph received no mention in Paul, who died before any gospel had been composed. He received no mention in Mark, the earliest gospel. He was not mentioned in Q or the gospel of Thomas, both of which some people argue were written prior to Mark (I am not one of them!). So Matthew is the first person ever to refer to one called Joseph as the father of Jesus. Second, as soon as the birth narratives are complete, Joseph disappears from the Christian scriptures forever. Luke stretches his birth narrative out long enough to relate the account of the boy Jesus, at age twelve, going up to Jerusalem with Mary and Joseph. That is the closest Joseph comes to appearing in the adult life of Jesus and that Lucan story, which seems to be based on a story drawn from the life of Samuel, is widely questioned. The fact is, however, that Joseph never again appears in any gospel account. When I was a child attending Sunday school in my evangelical Episcopal Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, this absence of Joseph from any mention in the life of the adult Jesus was explained by suggesting that Joseph probably died while Jesus was still a lad. The tradition of this early death was reinforced by the nativity scenes painted by the master artists through the centuries. All portray Joseph as a much older man, thus enforcing the possibility of his death in Jesus’ childhood. Joseph’s elderly depiction, however, came into Christianity primarily through a late second century apocryphal gospel known as the Proto-Gospel of James. This narrative purported to tell of the early life of the mother of Jesus, prior to her introduction in the gospel tradition as the bearer of the messiah. This obviously mythological Proto-Gospel of James reflected much later and highly developed ideas about Mary’s virginity, but it became popular as it filled in the gaps of what was at that time thought of as a literal story. In this late second century work, Mary at her birth was handed over to some holy women to raise so that she would be prepared to serve as the vessel in whose womb the Christ Child would be formed. So Mary was not just protected in these early years, she was also formed in holiness. When she reached the age of puberty, however, Jewish society required that she have a male protector. There was no father of Mary in the story, who might have served in this role so these holy women set up a process by which they would choose a proper husband for Mary and thus bring a male protector into the picture. There was one problem, however. Mary’s virginity would have to be honored and protected by whoever was to become her husband. Thus these holy women decided to look only at older men, perhaps widowed men with grown children, and thus presumably too old to be interested in sex. I don’t know how old that is, but it is old! So the pursuit of the perfect husband for Mary was conducted and through a series of miraculous signs, such as his staff sprouting flowers, Joseph became the one chosen. With this story in the tradition, Joseph was forever afterwards portrayed as elderly. So, it was said, his absence in the adult life of Jesus might well be explained by his death early in Jesus’ life. There is, however, another possibility to which I have already hinted, which I would like to examine in more detail. Perhaps Joseph was a literary character created by Matthew to fill a role in the miraculous drama that he was creating about the birth of Jesus to a virgin mother. In his scenario, there was no father to name the baby Jesus and to serve as his protector. Without this protective male presence, this child would have had to deal with the enormous prejudice and social hostility that accompanied one whose paternity was in question. Let me urge you not to resist this idea on first hearing, but to hold your judgment until the evidence is presented. If Matthew was going to create a literary character to serve as the earthly father of Jesus, is there some compelling reason why Matthew would choose to name him Joseph? Well, yes, there is, but one would not know this unless one was aware of Jewish history, as both Matthew, an obvious Jewish writer, and the community for which Matthew wrote, certainly were. The Hebrew people had always been divided into two camps. After the reign of King Solomon, these people split into two competitive nations, Judah in the south and Israel, which came to be known as the Northern Kingdom, in the North. This division of the Hebrew people, however, was far older than even that. Biblical folklore accounted for it by saying that while Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, was the common father of all the Hebrew people, the two segments of this nation had had separate mothers. Recall the Genesis story in which Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah, the sister of the woman, Rachel, for whose hand in marriage he had worked for seven long years. Leah then became the mother of Judah, whose progeny formed the nation of Judah, while Rachel became the mother of Joseph, whose progeny formed the Northern Kingdom. Recall that the heirs of Levi, who was also a son of Leah, did not form a tribe, but became the Levites, the holy people who crossed all tribal boundaries. So to keep the number of the tribes of the Hebrew people at twelve, Joseph was given two tribes named for his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. The other Hebrew tribes were gradually melded into these Joseph tribes. So dominant was the tribe of Ephraim in the North that the Old Testament actually uses the name Ephraim as a synonym for the nation called Israel. So the two major patriarchs in Jewish history were Judah and Joseph. Hebrew folklore portrayed them always as rivals. This is revealed in the Genesis story of Joseph’s favoritism reflected in his coat of many colors, while his brother Judah was portrayed as the one suggesting that he be sold into slavery. Part of the messiah’s task, according to Matthew, was to bring the covenant people together which meant that messiah must unite the tribe of Judah with those of Joseph making a single whole. In the genealogy Matthew had just traced, Jesus’ lineage through David and Solomon to the kings of Judah, which secured Jesus’ connection with the Judah part of the Hebrew nation. To make Joseph the name of the earthly father of Jesus would bring the other half of that nation into the picture. So the heir of the Judean King David was protected and legitimized by a father named Joseph. It was a perfect solution. Judah and Joseph were brought together in this first story of the birth of the messiah. So in Jesus at his birth, Matthew was claiming, that the divided “chosen” nation had become once more in this messiah, one people. Now, if you have journeyed with me this far, let me explore a second question. If Matthew is the creator of the character Joseph, who serves as Jesus’ earthly father, from where did Matthew get the biographical data that he used to build this literary figure? To answer this we look at the details provided for us in Matthew 1 and 2, which are the only places in scripture where we are told anything about this Joseph. There we discover three things. First, Joseph has a father whose name is Jacob. Second, according to Matthew, God only speaks to Joseph in dreams. In a dream God tells Joseph to take his wife for the child within her is holy. In a dream Joseph is warned to escape the wrath of King Herod. In a dream he is told when it is safe to return to their home in Bethlehem. In a dream, he is directed to move the messianic child from Bethlehem to the safety of Nazareth in Galilee. Everywhere in Mathew’s narrative his Joseph is associated with dreams. Last, the role that Matthew assigns to Joseph in this drama is to save the life of the messianic child by taking him down to Egypt. Now go back to the story of the patriarch Joseph in the book of Genesis (37-50) and see what biographical details we can learn about this earlier Joseph. We discover there three things. First, this Joseph has a father named Jacob. Second, this Joseph is overwhelmingly identified with dreams. He is called “the dreamer” and he rises to political power in Egypt by interpreting the dreams of the Pharaoh. Third, his role in the drama of salvation is to save the people of the covenant from death in a famine and he does this by taking them down to Egypt. Do you think these things are coincidental? Or are you beginning to understand the interpretive clue that unlocks the gospels. The gospels are Jewish books that weave the stories of the Hebrew Scriptures around Jesus of Nazareth as the primary means of claiming that he is the expected messiah. To read the gospels literally is to misunderstand them totally. Literalism is a Gentile heresy! The gospels are Jewish books that must be read with Jewish eyes. Nothing reveals this more clearly than the story of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. So Joseph is established in the birth narrative. The holy child is born to Mary and when this series resumes, we will turn to the star in the east and the journey of the Magi. ~John Shelby Spong Read the essay online here. Question & Answer Pedro van Marissing, via the Internet, writes: Question: I should like to know how you understand the biblical text about whether is said that Jesus died either for all or for many. In a paper to the German bishops of the Catholic Church a year or so ago the then pope Benedictus XVI authoritatively stated that this text was to be understood to read “for many” and not “for all." Answer: Dear Pedro, I read the four page statement of Benedict XVI to the German bishops in which he sought to settle a dispute among the bishops as to the meaning of this text when it came out. He instructed them in his typical authoritarian style that from henceforth the words of the Eucharist shall not be that Christ died “for all” but “for many.” I must say that I found his argument convoluted and his biblical exegesis in which he states that “Jesus revealed himself as the Servant of God from Isaiah 53….and that Jesus identified himself as the form that the word of the prophet was expecting,” not to be scholarship, but little more than ecclesiastical propaganda. My reading of his words that the "many” stand for the “all,” is something only a Roman Catholic, who is convinced that there is only one true religion and that is Christianity and that there is only one true form of Christianity and that is the Roman Catholic Church, could utter. He has interpreted the text to justify his power. Since I dismiss that kind of language as ecclesiastically nonsensical, it is simply not an important issue to me. I find the paper to be so insignificant that I would not bother to engage his argument. If, however, I believed that I, or the church I represented, possessed the complete truth and must, therefore hold it in its perfect and pristine form, then I suppose that the need for me to control every liturgy, every creed and every part of scripture would be imperative. I regard that stance, however, as delusional first, and as idolatrous, second. It is the language of an out-of-touch religious hierarchy. It is not the language or the tactic of one who lives in and wishes to engage the real world from a Christian perspective. Christianity is a journey through Christ into the mystery of God. If we get to that goal, we will have left Christianity behind, not because it was wrong, but because God transcends the limits of every religious system. Thank you for your question. ~John Shelby Spong Announcements We wish you a Christmas season full of love, laughter and light! This months free eBulletin from ProgressiveChristianity.org is on Winter Liturgy and Mysticism. Sign up here. You may also enjoy this beautiful rendition of Sugar Plum Fairy by GlassDuo, Poland:

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Doug Wilson's wife wrote
by Richard 19 Dec '13

19 Dec '13

Doug Wilson"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us......" In the deepest sorrow I write to inform you that the love of my life, Doug Wilson is dead. Doug fought cancer with courage and gr... Richard H.T. Alton 166 N. Humphrey Ave, Apt, 1N Oak Park, IL 60302 T:1.773.344.7172 richard.alton(a)gmail.com Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back Babe Ruth

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for the 24th in the Saipan Tribune
by wangzhimu2031＠aol.com 17 Dec '13

17 Dec '13

The Philippines starts early morning mass (missa de gallo, in celebration of the season ten days before the 25th), so, for the season and in your hearts, Merry Christmas! Sheng Dan Jie/Felis Pasgua In Hong Kong, 圣诞快乐 (shèng dàn kuài lè) is the popular greetingfor the season, spoken as salutation, or plastered on walls. Shengdan jie literally means "happy birth of a saint holiday"; ye dan jie gets "Jesus"phonetically in as "ye", (ye-su, like Iesu in Greek). Since wefocus on the day rather than the idolatry of Jesus, we will stick with ourtitle, something akin to the FelisNabidat/Felis Pasgua/Feliz Navidad/Feliz Pasqua in Chamorro/Spanish. A verbal rehearsal that gets particularly loud in my corner betweenThanksgivanukkah and the calendared story of the journey of the infant child ofBethlehem to Golgotha and on to the empty tomb - is the litany that follows, sentimentand structure, images and metaphor adopted and inspired from the literaryeptitude of spirit warrior John P. Cock in his book, Motivation for theGreat Work, an embodiment of hiscommitment to planet Earth. Authentic living does not delivery what ourearnest desires strive for: long life good health financial stability a marriage that works loving children a nice house a solid job sweet dreams no pain a good education kind in-laws responsiblegovernment safe cities comfortable taxes good neighbors cessation of wars and the end of poverty. Life's reality, for those who have eyes to see, is expressedin the movie of the Von Trapp family in the Soundof Music: when a door closes, somehow new windows opens. In the awareness of John Epps, Theology of Surprise, Exploring Life's Mysteries,life is just too full of surprises. For those who dare to be free, and care to freelybe, life at every moment is a rebirth of wonders. Life offers: unconditional love in being regardless healing of deepwounds arms to embrace thefallen faithfulness amidfaithlessness grace nevertheless peace that passesunderstanding a calling desired ornot courage amidst fear purpose when lost mercy without beingasked future beyondimpossible balm for griefunending undeserved forgiveness more freedom than onecan handle welcome home mat withopen arms resurrection in thislife comfort in pain refuge when storms rage rest when weary hope against hope light in the dark of night joy unspeakable.... The various phrases capture images of a journey of thatlittle babe in the manger in a season we call Christmas, narrated by gospelwriters Matthew and Luke, and appropriated as a liberating and freeing story bymany. I list myself among these folks,albeit, more like the stable boy ready to rake the animal droppings rather than silk draped royals bringing myrrh, gold, andfrankincense. For those who take their faith seriously, particularly thoseof the Christian tradition, checkout The Love of History andthe Future of Christianity:Toward a Manifesto for a Next Christianity by Gene W.Marshall in www.realisticliving.org. In our hear-repeat opening ritual in school, I use the Chicago Westside Fifth City preschool ritual, a shorter version of the litany above. This season, I intone a version of the ritual thus: "this is the reality I have. I can gratefully, compassionately andgraciously live this life, or, waste it away, in resignation, fear, and despair.This is the life I have." I live!Still, again, and, ever more. Whatever your situation is, you can, too. Shèng dàn kuài lè! j'aime la vie

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please unsubscribe
by Marti's MAC 16 Dec '13

16 Dec '13

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72 and still learning
by Richard 15 Dec '13

15 Dec '13

Sally and I have been a couple/together for the last seven year. This is my third partner. Sally has a similar record. Why do we keep coming back to this partner business is the question? First, I love the story about President Obama unknowingly said into an open microphone at the U.N. General Assembly that he quit smoking six years ago "because I'm scared of my wife." "I hope you quit smoking," he told a fellow attendee, according to audio played by CNN. After the man said he smokes "sometimes," Obama said he chews Nicorette nicotine gum and that "I haven't had a cigarette in probably six years. That' because I'm scared of my wife." Is it fear/accountability that keeps us together? After seven years I am still amazed by the mystery that is Sally. I don’t know about you but I like my toilet paper to come from the bottom of the roll. I would put the toilet paper from the bottom and the next week it was from the top…finally it dawn on me that Sally likes it from the top…just last week we had guests coming and Sally cleaned my bathroom (yes, we have separate bathrooms- would not you if they took the toilet paper from the top) and after she put the toilet paper back the way it was supposed to be from the top, she puts the trash can on the right of the toilet..everybody knows it belongs on the left. These might come as trivial, but there is more. Like she never opens the mail when it comes..I mean we are talking about weeks..Dick opens it as soon as it arrives as though there might be a surprise in it. I do the dishes almost the second people are finished eating while Sally likes to allow them to marinate in the sink. Sally can take 15 minutes to write an email and reads it over and over-she does not make mistakes..Dick writes an email and sends without even reading it and makes many mistakes. Sally likes to show up a few minutes late and Dick likes to be early…. So I am continually amazed at the otherness of Sally, but most important she does audit my existence. She is not only different, but also is the mirror that reflects my own existence. It is like waking up in the morning to a crowd watching your every step. Now, this being afraid, being ‘audited’ is what keeps us alive and even more important keeps us conscious and prevents us from living in illusions. It is the human social dynamic that creates consciousness..not TV/computer screens. If I am going to be the way, the truth and the life I need an other in my life But on the other side of being my fear and having her toilet paper backwards, Sally is an awesome mission machine. I am pretty proud of getting things accomplished, but Sally is way more intent and focused. I am amazed at her ability to make things work. She is the coordinator of a loose band of about 70 volunteers called the Green Community Connections. We do a green living tour, run a web site and, most impressive, a One Earth Film Fest which last year showed 40 films at 17 sites with 2,000 people in attendance. Sally makes it work and won the Green Citizen award of Oak Park last year. I have been around some awesome people in my life time, but Sally is right up there with Slicker. When she is in high gear little else gets done like sleep, eating, cleaning the house or doing the dishes. Not much else can be accomplished if you have focus and are willing to stand behind what needs to be done… Just one more example: she has flirted with going to DC and being part of the 350.org Grandmother’s March which would end at the White House where she might be arrested. Since the President is showing signs of refusing to sign the accord, she has signed up to go through training with Al Gore’s team to develop talks about climate change. And to top it all off she just quit her job to work full time on caring for Planet Earth. Sally and I are a mission team. We are both committed to save Planet Earth from the carbon disease slowly killing it. Zero waste, zero energy and zero water is the only solution. We keep each other sane in the midst of this war…but I am working on her backward use of toilet paper…something must of happened to her in her childhood. Dick Alton, Associate with ICA USA, Green Community Connections and the Interfaith Green Network. Written from Zimbabwe, 2013, helping build a global community. Richard H.T. Alton 166 N. Humphrey Ave, Apt, 1N Oak Park, IL 60302 T:1.773.344.7172 richard.alton(a)gmail.com Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back Babe Ruth

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Fwd: TOC LoveLetters Xmas
by Sarah H Buss 14 Dec '13

14 Dec '13

Colleagues, If you would like to receive Love Letters to a Mirage in the Desert for a Xmas gift or to sustain your quiet time after, ORDER NOW. Phone Book People 512/472-5050 800/853-9757 Table of Contents is attached. Sarah Sent from my iPad Begin forwarded message: > From: "Sherrell, Terry" <Terry.Sherrell(a)1touchpoint.com> > Date: December 5, 2013 at 6:52:08 PM CST > To: Sarah Buss <sbuss(a)austin.rr.com> > Subject: TOC >

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Re: [Oe List ...] [Dialogue] words to 'Those who wait on the Lord'.
by Evelyn Philbrook 13 Dec '13

13 Dec '13

P. 412 of the songbook: THOSE WHO WAIT ON THE LORD Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint, Help us, Lord, help us, Lord, in Thy way. Those who love the Mystery . . . Those who live the risen life . . . Those who serve the suffering world . . . Those who die on the march . . . ** Grace and Peace, Evelyn Kurihara Philbrook On 12/12/13, 7:12 AM, jsanders(a)bconnex.net wrote: > Trish, ask me if I could remember the words to the song, Those Who Wait on > the Lord. See her request below. > > Can someone please fill in some of the verses? > > Jan Sanders > > From Trish: There is a song that Tom liked that we are trying to get the > words to. We seem to have other versions but not the one I'm looking for. > > It goes like this: > > Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up > on wings as angels, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and > not faint. Help us, Lord, help us Lord in thy way. > > Then other verses start with phrases like "those who die on the march. . . > " etc. > > I'm sure you recall how we used to sing that in old EI days. > > Thanks and love, Trish > _______________________________________________ > Dialogue mailing list > Dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net > http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net

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