January 2014 - OE - lists.wedgeblade.net

How Do We Celebrate as a Community?
by Gordon Harper 28 Jan '14

28 Jan '14

It seems to me not at all easy--in fact, damnably hard--in our dispersed state, to know how best to celebrate a completed life like that of our colleague, Wayne Nelson. For most of us, it's sharing a story or two and a word of appreciation here on the listservs, which is a practice that I certainly appreciate. Jo, the family and our colleagues in Canada, when the time is right, may suggest other ways in which we can all somehow participate in the celebration of this unique and remarkable life. In the meantime, some of us just might have creative thoughts about how we could now do this for one another in the 21st century. One experiment, launched a few years back on the death of another colleague in Canada (Brian Stanfield), is the *Completions* page on the Repository website. Here's the link, if you haven't been there for a while: http://wiki.wedgeblade.net/bin/view/Main/CompletedLives Like everything on the Repository, these pages appear when people put them up, and the initial posting of the basic bios, pictures and stories has generally been by the families involved. (Len, Tim and I are always available to help.) There's no set format for these pages, and you'll notice that they manifest a variety of forms and stages of completion. That's one option (but only one), as we think about how we might now celebrate--together in some fashion--these great journeys and marking points. I don't know--perhaps we should ask, "What would we like the rest of us to do when it's our turn?" Gordon

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Wayne
by Margaret Aiseayew 27 Jan '14

27 Jan '14

Dear Jo and all, This news comes as a great, painful, overwhelming shock. I am so saddened. I'm sure that we have all had those dreams that seem to last all night long, even though we awake, get up, go to the bathroom (most of us are old enough to understand that part) and go back to sleep only to be in the same dream again, with greater intensity and detail. Last night, it was about a death in our community. The event happened indoors and the body was moved outside, lovingly wrapped and gently held by different ones of us. There was a huge stage made of blocks of foam all wrapped (actually beautifully sewn) in blue velvet. A block would be pushed out, a face would appear and a story would be told. Someone in the circle in front of the stage would put the block back in place. Someone in the circle would tell a story. Sometimes as someone in the front circle would be telling a story many blocks would come out and the response represented in the story would be acted out. This only happened when the story needed a massive response of care or demand for justice. There were tears. There was laughter. It was obviously "us" because of recognizable persons in the circle (some of whom I haven't seen for years, some of whom are no longer with us on this plane) and because of the breadth of the geography represented in the stories. It was a gentle night (in the dream) and as morning approached, I woke up. I made some notes. There was a huge metal framework around the velvet squares which were actually rectangular in shape, that gave the outdoor stage great stability. As is the case in dreams, there is no explanation for the fact that the entire structure did not collapse when one or many squares came popping out. I did not want to rise. I got up a couple of times, got a cup of coffee, fed the cat, and then I went back to lie down because my Monday morning "schedule" is to go through my last week's email. It seems rather obvious that a part of me wanted to avoid the news. Wayne always took me back to my roots, as did the combination of Wayne and Jo. Wayne and I participated in a weekend retreat with Slicker in 66. I showed up from Morningside and Wayne had arrived from Dakota Wesleyan. We joked about this connection in places as far removed as Nigeria. Wayne's ability to recover the story value in events always amazed me. It hasn't reached zero here yet today and last night the winds were in the 30 to 55 mile per hour range. The house shook most of the night, so there was comfort in the peacefulness of the dream world I entered. Now, I am reminded of the Buddhist traditional understanding that great winds appear with the passing of great teachers. It seems a bit self-centered to have bored you all with this weary tale, but it seemed important to me to remind us of how intimately we are connected. If you should have any doubts, Jo, about the sincerity of those who have mentioned that they are holding you and the boys in their thoughts and prayers, let them go. Care for yourselves and know that you are being held in a powerful circle of light and love and deep respect. We recognize a great life, greatly lived, with phenomenal impact on the whole of a huge personal particular circle and on behalf of thousands of persons who will never even know Wayne's name that are spread across the planet. They are richer for his expenditure on their behalf and poorer for not having had the blessing of those of us who have known you both. With love and care, Margaret

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Remembering and giving thanks for Wayne
by Marilyn Crocker 27 Jan '14

27 Jan '14

Dear colleagues, the Nelson/Zhart family, Margaret, Gordon and so many others, For Jo and her immediate and extended family, Joe and I give deep and heartfelt thanks that Wayne invested his life with us in so many places on planet earth. For me it was Bayad and Jamaica - in both spots I witnessed and partnered with the Nelson family as a missional force I recognized was "for good". In Jamaica, when Joe and I were permeating in FL to provide income for the CEDA "match" to Jamaica - we never really understood what that was all about, but it related to Canada, so Joe was pleased -I was invited as a consultant for a SP training. That was a sideline pro forma event - the important time for me was when Wayne drove me and others from Kingston up to the Blue Mountains in a jeep, around serpentine roads, introduced me to people who were related to the project, and narrated the "life experiences" of these amazing folk who decided to become the HDP in Jamaica. On the way back I knew I had a return flight I needed to catch. Wayne was driving the white jeep down the winding, one-way roads, and there was an accident (not his cause). Dealing with such a "confrontation" in translation took a lot of time. Wayne was wonderful. He resolved it all with respect to the "offender" and got us to the airport right on time. (My Hero!) The last time Joe Crocker and I spent time with Wayne and Jo was at Stan and Miriam's home in Toronto, on the occasion of celebrating Brian Stanfield's completed life. I loved "hanging out" in Stan & Miriam's kitchen with the Nelsons, who were so energized about what they were doing in so many different sectors. Joe and I will forever remember Wayne and Jo in that moment. We returned to the States after that wonderful weekend energized. May you, Wayne, continue to "mount up on eagles wings," and we will watch for you! Marilyn and Joe Crocker From: oe-bounces(a)lists.wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Margaret Aiseayew Sent: Monday, January 27, 2014 3:34 PM To: OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net Subject: [Oe List ...] Wayne Dear Jo and all, This news comes as a great, painful, overwhelming shock. I am so saddened. I'm sure that we have all had those dreams that seem to last all night long, even though we awake, get up, go to the bathroom (most of us are old enough to understand that part) and go back to sleep only to be in the same dream again, with greater intensity and detail. Last night, it was about a death in our community. The event happened indoors and the body was moved outside, lovingly wrapped and gently held by different ones of us. There was a huge stage made of blocks of foam all wrapped (actually beautifully sewn) in blue velvet. A block would be pushed out, a face would appear and a story would be told. Someone in the circle in front of the stage would put the block back in place. Someone in the circle would tell a story. Sometimes as someone in the front circle would be telling a story many blocks would come out and the response represented in the story would be acted out. This only happened when the story needed a massive response of care or demand for justice. There were tears. There was laughter. It was obviously "us" because of recognizable persons in the circle (some of whom I haven't seen for years, some of whom are no longer with us on this plane) and because of the breadth of the geography represented in the stories. It was a gentle night (in the dream) and as morning approached, I woke up. I made some notes. There was a huge metal framework around the velvet squares which were actually rectangular in shape, that gave the outdoor stage great stability. As is the case in dreams, there is no explanation for the fact that the entire structure did not collapse when one or many squares came popping out. I did not want to rise. I got up a couple of times, got a cup of coffee, fed the cat, and then I went back to lie down because my Monday morning "schedule" is to go through my last week's email. It seems rather obvious that a part of me wanted to avoid the news. Wayne always took me back to my roots, as did the combination of Wayne and Jo. Wayne and I participated in a weekend retreat with Slicker in 66. I showed up from Morningside and Wayne had arrived from Dakota Wesleyan. We joked about this connection in places as far removed as Nigeria. Wayne's ability to recover the story value in events always amazed me. It hasn't reached zero here yet today and last night the winds were in the 30 to 55 mile per hour range. The house shook most of the night, so there was comfort in the peacefulness of the dream world I entered. Now, I am reminded of the Buddhist traditional understanding that great winds appear with the passing of great teachers. It seems a bit self-centered to have bored you all with this weary tale, but it seemed important to me to remind us of how intimately we are connected. If you should have any doubts, Jo, about the sincerity of those who have mentioned that they are holding you and the boys in their thoughts and prayers, let them go. Care for yourselves and know that you are being held in a powerful circle of light and love and deep respect. We recognize a great life, greatly lived, with phenomenal impact on the whole of a huge personal particular circle and on behalf of thousands of persons who will never even know Wayne's name that are spread across the planet. They are richer for his expenditure on their behalf and poorer for not having had the blessing of those of us who have known you both. With love and care, Margaret

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Re: [Oe List ...] [Dialogue] Wayne Nelson
by James Wiegel 27 Jan '14

27 Jan '14

For Wayne, a few sentences from an old friend. Sentences that have been going round and round in my consciousness since I heard of his death. We come from a dark abyss, we end in a dark abyss, and we call the luminous interval life. As soon as we are born the return begins, at once the setting forth and the coming back; we die in every moment. Because of this many have cried out: The goal of life is death! But as soon as we are born we begin the struggle to create, to compose, to turn matter into life; we are born in every moment. Because of this many have cried out: The goal of ephemeral life is immortality! In the temporary living organism these two streams collide: (a) the ascent toward composition, toward life, toward immortality; (b) the descent toward decomposition, toward matter, toward death. . . . And, later Which of the two eternal roads shall I choose? . . . Of the two, I choose the ascending path. Why? . . . I choose the ascending path because my heart drives me toward it. Seems, every time I encountered Wayne, in person, over the phone, via email, I met a man who chose the ascending path. Blessings From Nikos Kazantzakis, The Saviors of God Spiritual Exercises Jim Wiegel ________________________________ From: Martin Gilbraith <martin(a)martingilbraith.com> To: Duncan Holmes <dholmes99(a)sympatico.ca>; Colleague Dialogue <dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2014 11:08 PM Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Wayne Nelson Thank you Duncan, that is a great shock and very sad to hear. I am glad to know that Jo and the family are together. My thoughts are with them, and with you and all of Wayne's colleagues at ICA in Canada as well. Best wishes, Martin Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange -----Original Message----- From: Duncan Holmes <dholmes99(a)sympatico.ca> Sender: dialogue-bounces(a)lists.wedgeblade.netDate: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 20:50:32 To: Colleague Dialogue<dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Subject: [Dialogue] Wayne Nelson _______________________________________________ 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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Re: [Oe List ...] OE Digest, Vol 22, Issue 16
by Cheryl 26 Jan '14

26 Jan '14

I join others in expressing my shock at Wayne Nelson's sudden death. I remember his humor and very, very many contributions to understanding nuances of the ToP methods. I appreciated his contributions in the world of virtual facilitation and found him to be a helpful partner of ours there. Sending my love and prayers for Wayne, Jo and their family, for the loving journey this event will take them on. Cheryl Kartes, one of the Virtual Facilitation Collaborative aka "The Sistas of Virtual Facilitation, as named by Wayne.

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Global Buzz reminder
by ICA International 26 Jan '14

26 Jan '14

Auto email to all ICA Global Buzz responders. (English - Français Español) Hello everyone. Here is the monthly Global Buzz reminder. We hope that you will share the events and happenings of the past few weeks at your ICA, with all ICA members. This reminder is for the Global Buzz that will be published February 1st. 2014 Send details of news items, training programmes, your peer to peer connections with other ICAs, any concerns you may have and of any events that are coming up at your location. Your report can be long or short, but remember that all other ICAs would really like to know about the things that matter where you are, and what you are doing as an ICA. To Send your information: please use the link below, Go directly to: www.ica-international.org/globalbuzz or if you wish, send by regular e-mail to: inform(a)ica-international.org The Global Buzz is now published monthly. All submissions received prior to each publication date will be included in that issue. Submissions arriving later will be included in the next issue. To read Global Buzz anytime including all back issues......... Go directly to www.ica-international.org/buzz/buzzpast OR use the Members Section of the ICAI website. http://www.ica-international.org Peter, for ICAI Communications Bonjour tout le monde. Voici le rappel de Bourdonnement Global mensuel. Nous espérons que vous partageriez les événements des quelques semaines dernières passées chez votre ICA, avec tous les membres d'ICA. Veuillez envoyer des détails d'articles de nouvelles, de programmes d'entraînement , des connexions entre camarades avec d'autres ICA , n'importe quelles inquiétudes vous pourriez avoir et de n'importe quels événements qui auront lieu chez vous . Votre rapport peut être long ou court, mais il faut se souvenir que tout autre ICA aimerait savoir vraiment des choses d'importance où vous êtes , et ce que vous faites comme un ICA. Pour Envoyer vos informations : s'il vous plaît utilisez le lien ci-dessous, Allez directement à : www.ica-international.org/globalbuzz Ou si vous souhaitez, envoyez par l'e-mail régulier à : inform(a)ica-international.org Le Bourdonnement Global est maintenant bimensuel - a la mi-mois et a la fin de mois. Toutes les soumissions reçues avant chaque date d'édition apparaitront. Les soumissions qui arrivent plus tard seront incluses dans la prochaine apparition. Pour lire le Bourdonnement Global n'importe quand y compris tous les apparitions postérieures . ........ Allez directement à www.ica-international.org/buzz/buzzpast OU utilisez la Section de Membres du site Web d'ICAI. www.ica-international.org Peter, pour les Communications d'ICAI Hola a todos. Aquí le mando el recordatorio para el Global Buzz. Esperamos que ustedes envíen los sucesos de las pasadas semanas en su ICA, para compartir con los miembros de ICAI. Por favor envíen detalles sobre nuevos temas, programas de entrenamiento, las conexiones con sus pares, cualquier preocupación que puedan tener, y sobre los muchos eventos que están por suceder en sus localidades. Sus reportes pueden ser largos o cortos, pero recuerden que a todos los otros ICAs les gustaría conocer las cosas importantes que suceden donde ustedes están, y lo que ustedes están haciendo como un ICA. Para enviar su información utilicen el siguiente link, Vayan directamente a: www.ica-international.org/globalbuzz o si prefieren enviarlo por e-mail, hacerlo a: inform(a)ica-international.org El Global Buzz ahora está siendo publicado dos veces al mes a la mitad y al fin de cada mes. Todos los envíos hechos antes de la fecha de publicación serán incluidos en esa edición. Los envíos que lleguen después serán incluidos en la siguiente edición. Para leer Global Buzz en cualquier momento, incluso ediciones pasadas vayan directamente a www.icai-members.org/buzz/buzzpast O utilicen la Sección para Miembros de ICAI en el sitio web www.ica-international.org La siguiente edición de Global Buzz será publicada en ICAI website www.ica-international.org en el mismo tiempo en que reciban la edición completa por correo electrónico. Peter, por ICAI Comunicaciones

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Wayne Nelson
by Milan Hamilton 26 Jan '14

26 Jan '14

Linda and I send our sorrowful and yet best thoughts for Jo and family's grieving and healing time. Wayne was a great symbol of triumphal living for all of us. Sincerely, Linda and Milan Linda and Milan Hamilton 80 North Center Street Redlands, CA 92373-8116 Phone/Fax: (909) 793-4482 E-mail: participationworks(a)verizon.net

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Video: "The Known Universe" fr NY Amer. Mus. of Natural History
by Ellie Stock 25 Jan '14

25 Jan '14

Thought some of you might enjoy this... Ellie elliestock(a)aol.com "The Known Universe", a marvelous video from the American Museum of Natural History in New York. http://earthsky.org/space/video-the-known-universe It’ll help you experience the awesome scale of the known universe, as mapped through astronomical observations. You start at the Himalayas, move through Earth’s atmosphere and the black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Need perspective? This video is for you!

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1/23/14, Spong: The Wedding of Charles and Robert
by Ellie Stock 23 Jan '14

23 Jan '14

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR The Wedding of Charles and Robert It was January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, sometimes called “Old Christmas” in some parts of the Eastern Orthodox tradition. The church was still decorated with its hanging greens and beautiful poinsettias. After all this was the twelfth day of Christmas. About thirty people gathered with me on that day to attend a wedding and to witness a marriage. The two people who formed the wedding couple were 77 and 65 years of age respectively. Both of them live under challenging, if not necessarily fatal, medical diagnoses. One of them is a priest, who has had a spectacular career, serving both as the leader of congregations and on the faculty of a theological seminary that trains others to be priests. He is a man of rare pastoral sensitivity and he possesses a gentle spirit. In both of his career settings, people have been drawn to him not only in admiration, but also in affection. The other member of the wedding couple was a highly successful graphic designer and is both an active lay Christian and a significant member of the church, serving competently in key leadership positions. The people who gathered to share in and to witness this ceremony were all good friends of this couple. They were lawyers, politicians, movers and shakers, widows, spouses and even other priests. Three of those couples attending had themselves cooked the wedding luncheon to which we were all invited. Another couple had baked a three-tiered wedding cake, complete with two male figures on the top, both of which reminded me of Thomas E. Dewey in 1948! Before the cake was cut, it looked somewhat like a miniature version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Two other facts entered into the wonder of this day, adding to the drama. The first one is that this couple had lived together in a faithful, monogamous relationship for decades. The other quite obvious fact was that they were both males and, on this occasion, that reality appeared to bother no one. Indeed it served to fill those gathered with a sense of a long-awaited completion. Finally, at a time late in their lives when the actuarial charts suggest that life expectancy is not unlimited, the State of New Jersey, through the action of its Supreme Court, had decided that the two of them were no longer to be denied the legal recognition and full benefits of marriage. At the same time, my church was finally free to convey not only its blessing on this couple, but also to know that now that blessing carried with it full legal marriage equality. I was privileged to be the officiant at this wedding. It would be my third “gay marriage,” but this would be the first one that both the state and the church would recognize and celebrate. The lessons for this wedding had been carefully chosen; indeed they had an almost autobiographical flavor in their messages. The first lesson defined God as love (I John 4:7-16) and raised the question: If God is love, cannot we also say that love is God? Is not love the experience that calls human life into wholeness? Is that not the work of God? Is not love the emotion that gives us the courage to be all that we were created to be? Is that not the work of God? Does not love transcend our individuality and our biologically driven survival instincts? Does not love bind us into life-giving relationships and community? Is that not the work of God? Do not Christians even call that experience “the communion of saints?” For centuries theologians have been comfortable saying: “God is love.” Today, in the still evolving life of the Christian faith, the need has become obvious to stop thinking of God in theistic terms as “a being” and to begin to conceptualize God as “Being itself” or as the “Ground of Being.” That was the phrase that the 20th century’s most provocative theologian, Paul Tillich, had both used and popularized, though he had borrowed it from a third century CE philosopher named Plotinus, who founded a school of thought now called “Neo-Platonism.” I thought that day about the difference it would make to our understanding of God if we could only make that intellectual leap. For if we can say that God is love, then surely we can begin to understand that love must also be seen as God! When we make that breakthrough, God will cease to be a noun that we are forever seeking to define and God will instead become a verb, out of which we will forever be seeking to live. In that leap of faith we will discover that we have begun our journey out of our religious past and into our religious future. The two men who stood before me on that day were symbolic of that part of the Christian Church that is finally willing to take that step. The second lesson (I Cor. 13) continued this theme as it sought to define love. Love is other-directed not inner directed. Love is called out of us by love itself. Love is the essence of life. Love is beyond faith, beyond ritual, beyond religion, beyond creeds, doctrines, dogmas or liturgies. Love is even beyond our ultimate and noble sacrifices, for this lesson says: “Even if I give my body to be burned and have not love, I gain nothing. “Love,” it says, is “patient and kind, not jealous, not boastful.” Love does not insist on its own way, is not irritable or resentful. “Love never ends!” Why? Because love is God and God is eternal. In the gospel lesson (Matthew 5:1-16), which was read by a priest, who was a member of one of the other two gay couples over whose weddings I have been privileged to preside, we heard that the life of love is not easy. From the world’s perspective those who practice sacrificial love are frequently judged to be “poor in spirit,” perhaps even naïve. They are sometimes assumed to be “mourners.” The world tends to tread on those it defines as the “meek” of the earth, those who appear to hunger for something more than that which we define as power or even righteousness, those who see themselves as peace makers, not power brokers. Frequently the world rewards this kind of behavior with persecution. “You will be reviled,” the gospel lesson proclaims to those who dare to live this way. “Evil will be uttered against you.” That is the familiar fate of those who are able to see beyond survival, power and acclaim. Those, however, are also the ones who see further into life and thus they tend to see further into God. Is that not then because God is also experienced as the “Source of Life”? Is it not both the vocation and the fate of those who discern this higher law, those who appear to walk to the beat of a drummer that others seem not to hear, those who dare to challenge either the status quo or even what is traditionally called the “wisdom” of the past, to lead us? Yet they are also the ones, who in this gospel reading, Matthew has Jesus call “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” The two men who stood before me on that day were surely aware of all of these things. They have lived their lives together for years with a radical integrity, while both the state and the church by refusing to recognize them, not only diminished their humanity, but also had the audacity to feel righteous and appropriate in these calculated acts of public diminishment. Yes, the lessons for this service of holy matrimony were carefully chosen not only because they were appropriate, but also because they autobiographically illuminated the journey of the two people who were being joined together on that day. In this wedding service all of us had to understand exactly what we were doing. These two men, who stood before us seeking the blessing of the church, were not now “getting married.” They did that years ago when they committed their lives to each other in a covenant, which they intended to last until “death do us part.” The reality of their marriage had been denied for years by the church they both served and the nation in which they were both citizens. In that kind of world they lived and made their witness by daring to be themselves. Sometimes they lived closeted, as a requirement for their survival. Sometimes they were open, at least among those who loved them. What we were doing on that day was to confer the church’s blessing and the state’s recognition and we were deliberately doing it in a very public way. Indeed we were determined to shout it from the rooftops In the prayers at that marriage ceremony we recognized that something new and profound was happening. Their life together had become, we said, “a sign of Christ’s love in this sinful and broken world.” Their publicly acknowledged marriage would, we prayed, “enable unity to overcome estrangement, forgiveness to heal guilt and joy to conquer despair.” We rejoiced on that day because of this couple’s witness. They had been forced to walk a difficult path, but by walking it they had in fact served to awaken the consciousness of the church and to enlighten the mind of the world. They had made it possible for both church and state to see new dimensions of life and love than neither had previously seen. On that day I, as a priest and a bishop, was finally able to add to their commitment to each other, the blessing of the church and the legal status of the state. That was what this service was about. That is why we gathered and that is why we celebrated. I feel a deep sense of gratitude to Charles and Robert and indeed to all gay and lesbian people, who, like them, had been forced to walk this walk. I am grateful to them all for their example, their patience and love, for that is what enabled the rest of us to reach this day. Through the life of this couple we could also see the emergence of a church that is more whole and a state that is more compassionate. When the service ended I could say to this newly married couple both personally and publicly: “Charles and Robert we, as Christians, bless you today; we, as citizens of New Jersey, recognize you today as living in the state of holy matrimony” — even though we all know that you both entered that state long, long ago! ~John Shelby Spong Read the essay online here. Question & Answer Richard Sherratt from the United Kingdom writes: Question: I was wondering how you would respond to the work done by N. T. Wright on the resurrection; from what I have read, you have argued that there is no notion of a bodily resurrection in the earliest traditions of the church (the Gospel of Mark and Pauline work), but this belief gradually emerged and is reflected in later traditions (e.g. the Johannine corpus). From what Wright says, the belief in a physical resurrection was not alien to the belief system of the second Temple period and so could plausibly stem from the earliest traditions. So I am just wondering what your counter argument is to Wright. Answer: Dear Richard, N. T. (Tom) Wright is a prolific writer and I have read much that he has written. He has obviously read much that I have written because he attacks it so regularly. I am honored to be the one who threatens him so deeply that he does his attacking by trying to use ridicule. Tom was the Dean of the Cathedral in Litchfield in the U.K. He is a student of the Bible rather than a biblical scholar. The distinction I mean here is that Tom assumes an understanding of the Bible that is basically evangelical and fundamentalist and he studies the Bible in order to sustain his already-reached conclusions. That makes him in my mind a propagandist rather than a scholar. A biblical scholar studies the Bible and allows his discoveries of new truth to challenge and to change his or her present convictions about the Bible. Tom was appointed Bishop of Durham in the U. K., which turned out to be something of a travesty since previous bishops of Durham like Ian Ramsey and David Jenkins had been genuine scholars. That tradition of scholarship, however, was broken with the appointment to Canterbury by Margaret Thatcher of George Carey, an old line evangelical, who had no great appreciation for the role of scholarship. Tom Wright was the second person appointed to Durham, who violated that classical scholarly tradition, though his appointment was by Rowan Williams who was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Tony Blair. Tom Wright co-authored a book on the gospels with Marcus Borg, a genuine scholar and one of the leaders of the Jesus Seminar, in which they set out their points of view on various gospel issues like the Virgin Birth and the bodily resurrection of Jesus. I thought it was a fantastic book because it showed how deep the chasm was between Tom Wright’s fundamentalist mentality and Marcus Borg’s grasp of the critical biblical scholarship of the last 200 years. Tom either ignores or dismisses that scholarship, but he speaks in ways that perfume his knowledge of the Bible with intellectual respectability, which I do not believe he accomplishes. So I do not think his conclusions on the empty tomb are anything more than the attempted apologetic of a threatened fundamentalist. I do not see the genuine biblical scholars saluting his perspective. I hope this helps, John Shelby Spong Announcements Gathering Resources We have created a new search tool for your community! Visit our Gathering Planning Page and search through all our resources to use in your worship or gathering services! We have liturgies, music, videos, readings, prayers, meditations, quotes, sermons and more. Visit the page and find thousands of resources for your spiritual journey. Copyright © 2014 ProgressiveChristianity.org, All rights reserved.

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Celebrate National Hugging Day today
by James Wiegel 22 Jan '14

22 Jan '14

"The average length of a hug between two people is 3 seconds, but researchers have discovered something fantastic. When a hug lasts 20 seconds, there is a therapeutic effect on the body and mind. The reason is that a sincere hug produces a hormone called "oxytocin", also known as the love hormone. This substance has many benefits in our physical and mental health, helps us, among other things, to relax, to feel safe and calm our fears and anxiety.

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