June 2014 - OE - lists.wedgeblade.net

6/26/14. Spong: Part XXIII Matthew – Analyzing the Implications of Atonement Theology: Part I
by Ellie Stock via OE 27 Jun '14

27 Jun '14

Sent from Chautauqua Institution, NY where Spong is speaking this week on the Gospel of John--Tales of a Jewish Mystic. HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR Part XXIII Matthew Analyzing the Implications of Atonement Theology: Part I In recent columns, we have looked at the origins of what has come to be called “The Doctrine of the Atonement.” We noted that the day, in the calendar of the Jewish liturgical year called “Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement,” was observed in the fall of the year and was marked by emotions of deep penitence. We looked at what this day meant in first century Judaism. Its various elements included a 24-hour vigil, the use of an animal chosen from their flocks for sacrifice and the requirement that this animal must be physically perfect with no scratches, no bruises and no broken bones. We noted how over time, this idea of physical perfection grew to include the suggestion that this animal was also considered to be morally perfect. Animals, it was argued, lived beneath the level of decision-making freedom, so they literally could not choose to do evil. This sacrificial animal of Yom Kippur thus became symbolic of the human yearning for perfection both physically and morally. At Yom Kippur the people were encouraged to recognize their own sinfulness, which, they believed, kept them separated from the presence of God. In this Yom Kippur liturgy, however, they were taught that they could still be “at one” with God if they came to God through the blood of the sacrificed perfect “lamb of God.” In this way, at least for this one day of the year, they could not only share in God’s oneness, but more importantly they also could be reminded that they had been created to be more than what they knew themselves to be. That was the essence of Yom Kippur. Then we looked at how that first generation of Christians, who were almost totally Jewish, applied the symbols of Yom Kippur to Jesus. Paul, writing to the Corinthians about the year 54 CE, had said of Jesus: “He died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures.” Mark, writing about 72 CE, had used the word “ransom” to describe the death of Jesus. The Fourth Gospel, written in the last decade of the first century, portrayed John the Baptist, upon seeing Jesus for the first time, as saying: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” All of these biblical references indicated clearly that Jesus had been interpreted by his Jewish followers under the symbols of Yom Kippur. As long as the Christian movement was made up primarily of Jewish people, who were familiar with these images, no great misunderstanding of Jesus developed. Jesus, like the lamb of Yom Kippur, represented the human yearning for perfection and for oneness with God. By the year 150 CE, however, the Christian Church had become primarily a Gentile movement and Gentile people, who were by and large ignorant of the Jewish background of the entire New Testament, began to read and understand Jesus in a distorted non-Jewish way. This misunderstanding ultimately became the essence of what came to be called “Orthodoxy.” The doctrines that are still reflected in the Christian creeds were born in this misunderstanding. This became in my mind the beginning of what I now call a “Gentile Heresy!” The major “culprit” in this development, I believe, was a man named Augustine, who came to Christianity out of Manichaeism, which contained a dualistic understanding of human life. It divided the world into competing spheres of good and evil. Spirit was good, but flesh was evil. Souls were good, but bodies were evil. Heaven was good, but earth was evil. Augustine ultimately became not only a bishop, but also the gigantic thinker, who laid the foundation for what we call today “Traditional Christianity.” It has five basic elements: 1. The original goodness of God’s creation 2. The “fall” from that perfection into sin caused by human disobedience. 3. The inability of human beings on their own to extricate themselves from this fall. 4. The necessity of a divine rescue accomplished by God in the death of Jesus. 5. The restoration of human life through Jesus’ sacrifice to its original “saved’ status. Augustine saw the basis for these theological claims in the opening chapters of the book of Genesis, which he assumed were both the literal words of God and historically accurate. He did not know, for example, that the story of God’s perfect creation of the world in seven days, found in the first chapter of Genesis, was actually written some 400-500 years after the story in chapter two of Genesis, which describes how God’s perfect creation was ruined by human disobedience. Nor did he understand that this tale of how human life, now fallen, was banished from the presence of God in the Garden of Eden was mythological. Augustine simply assumed that since Genesis 1 was the first chapter in the “Word of God,” it must describe the original perfection of God’s creation and that Genesis 2 described the later corruption of that original goodness by human sin. In this misreading of the Bible the concept of “original sin” was born. With the story of the human fall into original sin now fully set, Augustine then proceeded to view Jesus as God’s divine rescue operation and thus to interpret his death on the cross as the price that Jesus was required to pay to redeem or to rescue human beings from this primeval fall into sinfulness. We call this religious idea “substitutionary atonement,” which means that God punished the innocent Jesus instead of punishing you and me who deserved this divine wrath. So the mantra “Jesus died for my sins” emerged. That understanding of salvation then became the foundation upon which the Christian faith would be built and Christian practices would be developed. This was when cleansing power began to be attributed to the blood of Jesus. This was when the cross came to be understood as the place where Jesus bore the pain that we had caused. This was why baptism, understood as the ritual washing away of the effects of the “fall,” became essential. The corruption of the sin of Adam was the reality into which every life was born and so baptism became a cleansing act. A baby unfortunate enough to die unbaptized was said to have no hope of heaven. This was also why the Eucharist involved “eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus.” The saved had to participate personally in Jesus’ death. The service of communion thus became one more cleansing ritual, opening the sinner to redemption and atonement. Finally, that is also why the Christian message became so totally and completely a guilt message and that is why the Christian liturgy has so often wallowed in sin and guilt. Christian liturgies were devised to force worshippers to recognize their fallen, hopeless status. These liturgies dominate Christian worship to this day. Christian worship regularly insults our humanity. We are forced in worship to call ourselves “miserable offenders,” to confess that there is “no health (or wholeness) in us” and to state that “we are not worthy to gather up the crumbs” underneath the divine table. We are encouraged to approach God as a beggar, that is, upon our knees, pleading for “God’s mercy.” We use a threefold Kyrie (Lord have mercy) and a nine fold Kyrie. “Lord have mercy” became the primary language of worship. Have you ever stopped to entertain the possibility that the proper approach to God might not be the stance of one begging for mercy? Have you ever wondered about just how such a prayer understands either the nature of God or what it means to be human? “Have mercy on me” might be a proper prayer for a trembling child standing before an abusive parent. It might be a proper prayer of a convicted felon standing before a hanging judge, but is it ever a proper prayer for a child of God standing before the source of life and love that we call God? What does it do to our humanity for our lives to be constantly defined in worship as fallen, broken, sinful, helpless or hopeless? Yet this is what happens in church Sunday after Sunday. We victimize our humanity in worship every week. Why do we tolerate that? Is it healthy? Is there a connection between the victimizing liturgies of Christianity and the lamentable fact that throughout Christian history, we Christians have been the chronic victimizers of others? Out of what does our anti-Semitism rise? Look at how hostility toward Muslims, called infidels by Christians, fueled the Vatican-organized Crusades in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. Was not much of today’s Muslim hostility toward the west born in those Crusades? Out of what mentality did the Inquisition arise in Christianity? Why have we Christians burned at the stake those we called “heretics” throughout so much of our history? Why did we Christians enslave people of color? Not only did the Pope once own slaves, but the institution of slavery thrived in America primarily in that region known as the “Bible Belt.” Why were slavery’s bastard step-children, segregation and apartheid, tolerated in those nations that defined themselves in Christian terms? Why were women treated both as sub-human and as second class citizens in the Christian West? Why were women in “Christian nations” not allowed to be educated until the early 20th century, or admitted into the professions in any significant way until the late 20th century? What was it that caused most Christian churches to refuse to ordain women until the last decades of the 20th century? Why are women still not allowed to be ordained in the two largest churches of the Christian world, the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox? Why are homosexual people condemned today primarily by Christian bodies? Is it possible that our victimizing liturgies predispose us Christians to be chronic victimizers of others? “Atonement theology” begins with a definition of human life as corrupted by the fall into original sin. It postulates a violent God who punishes the divine Son in order to satisfy some inner need in the divine nature, producing a concept of God as the ultimate child abuser. It gives us a Christ who is himself a chronic victim. It turns Christianity into a religion of guilt and control. Unless Christianity escapes this mentality it has no future. Atonement theology is bankrupt. Facing that reality is the first step into a living Christian future. Will the Christian Church ever take that step? We will look at that possibility when this series continues. ~John Shelby Spong Read the essay online here. Question & Answer Arthur Stillwell, via the Internet, writes: Question: First, thank you for your writings which, I believe, are indicative of your great mind. One question: if, as you say, the gospels were written from a Jewish perspective, why were they not written in Hebrew or Aramaic? Did the Jews read and talk in Greek in their synagogues? Answer: Dear Arthur, Thank you for your letter and for your assessment of my mind. My mother would probably agree with you, but I would not want to face the voters if that were a proposition on a ballot! Your question is a good one. While Aramaic and, in rare cases Hebrew, were the languages of the street in the land of the Jews, Greek was the language of the intellectual discourse and of business. Even the Hebrew Scriptures had been translated in Greek around the year 250 BCE by seventy scholars, which is why this translation is called the Septuagint. Paul wrote all of his epistles in Greek to synagogue communities living in Greek cities or regions like Galatia, Thessalonica, Corinth and Philippi. He obviously wrote in Greek for most of them would not have understood anything else. Though we are not sure exactly where each gospel was written, the best guess would locate Mark in Rome, Matthew in Antioch, and John in Ephesus. Luke is harder to locate. The reality is, however, that all were Greek speaking cities. By the time the gospels were written (72-100) almost every Christian community was made up of Jewish followers of Jesus and Gentile proselytes. Almost all of these proselytes would be Greek-speaking and so would almost all of the Jews once one journeyed a hundred miles out of Jerusalem. The problem for most people comes in that they really do not embrace the span of time between the crucifixion and the writing of the gospels. They also do not embrace the low level of literacy present in the world at that time. We can date the crucifixion with some conviction around the year 30 CE. We can now also date the writing of the gospels with little debate as occurring between 72 CE and 100 CE. That means that the gospels were written 42 to 70 years after the life of Jesus. In the Middle East in the first century only about one of every hundred people could read and only about one out of every thousand could write. The synagogue was the womb in which Christianity was born, but while Matthew is the most Jewish of the four gospels, he himself might not have read Hebrew. Every time he quoted the Old Testament, for example, he quoted from a Greek translation of that text. The best indication of this is when he quotes Isaiah 7:14 in his birth story. Matthew quotes the text to read: “Behold a virgin will conceive.” The word “virgin” is not in the original Hebrew text of Isaiah. If Matthew had gone to the original Hebrew, he would have known that. Isaiah’s text says rather: “Behold a woman is with child.” Those two translations are obviously not the same! So by the time the gospels are written, they are addressed to a Greek-speaking church. In Mark and Matthew it is probably still part of a synagogue. By the time Luke and John are written, the fracture between church and synagogue had probably taken place. I hope this helps. John Shelby Spong Announcements Emerging Spirituality and Awareness with Ian Lawton and expert Bishop John Spong June 30 - July 4, 2014 Join Ian Lawton, founder of Soulseeds.com, for transformative conversations with renowned spiritual leaders from many traditions as we explore awareness. Beyond all the things that divide us, both from ourselves and each other, awareness brings up back to our essential oneness. Through this conference, you will come to a deeper understanding of your own wholeness and your connection to all else. Together, we can increase the peace, both within and in the world. Sign Up Today!

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Fwd: GMCA June 19-20
by David Zahrt via OE 26 Jun '14

26 Jun '14

*Thu Jun 19* When we got up this morning the storm had passed. I discovered that Marie was making a shopping trip to Denver so I asked if she could stop at a Mac App store and pick up the piece I needed for my charger. She agreed to add it to her shopping list. When the Marchers set off, I got on my bike and rode 17 miles to the next campsite. The route directions were not completely accurate. I stopped and asked for help several times. I was in camp early enough to go to the Library where I used one of their computers to catch up on my journaling. When I got back to camp Marie had arrived with the part needed for my charger and they had supplied it at no cost. That makes it clear that the Apple Store and the Mac App store have a completely different style of doing business. After dinner there was a ‘city counciI’ meeting. The main topic of discussion was the practical details for taking The Great March for Climate Action to NYC at the end of September to participate in the Peoples Climate March. They finally moved to have a sub-committee work out the practical details and report back. When I brushed my teeth my molar implant came loose. I made arrangements with Kim, our health resource person, to find some dental care. I went to bed expecting that I would need emergency dental care the next morning. *Fri Jun 20* In the morning my implant had settled down firmly so I am keeping my fingers crossed. We left Hudson, CO by 8 AM. I rode my bike. The route was 17 miles NE on a frontage road to I-76, which was paved for the first 11 miles. Then it turned into gravel complete with washboard and piles of gravel so deep that I had to walk the bike. It was a difficult road. Our campsite was at the Lions Club Park at Roggen. It had a 150 x 75 ft building with a roof, concrete floor, and picnic tables. Before dinner Tom, a participant in the Peace March in the 80’s, told us about the differences between the Peace March, with 400+ people, and the Climate March that he has experienced since joining us in Denver. After dinner I got out my bass and the amp and did a trial run with Izzy on his guitar. I’m pleased that he thinks our music will work out. It was dark when I packed up my equipment. It has to go in the gear truck but I will wait till morning for that. -- Peace, David

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Jaime for June 30 - Ramadan
by via OE 26 Jun '14

26 Jun '14

Ramadan2014 The season begins on Sunday evening, June 29, and endson Sunday night, July 27, thirty days later. In the Hijri Islamic calendar, it is the 1435th observance of fasting from sun-upto sundown. Like many religious observances, this one haspractical origin. The fasting of theSyrian Christians Lenten season preceded it, but Ramadan was also a response tothe scorching heat and extreme dryness of the year, thus, fasting andinactivity during the day made lots of physiological sense. Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. Shahadahis the foundation, declaring the oneness of God (“la ilaha illa Allah”),and Muhammad is the messenger of a radical lucidity on the unity of life. Five times each day, the ritual of prayer, salat, is observed. Social responsibility is pegged at 2.5percent of one’s savings, the zakat,shared with the poor and needy in one’s community. Sawm isthe fasting and the discipline of self-control during the month ofRamadan. Once in a lifetime, a devoteeundertakes a pilgrimage to Mecca called the Hajj. “Salaammalaikum” and “Malaikumsalaam,” are greetings approximating the salutations of “Peace be with you”and “And also with you.” The Muslimgreeting is heard on the streets of Saipan as muezzins of two mosques on islandcall the faithful to prayers. As aminority group, they are perhaps more dismissive of the Shia/Sunni divide thatis wrecking havoc in areas where the Muslims are a majority, and be moreconciliatory to each other in the manner prescribed in the Quran. In predominantly Muslim Iraq, the Kurds,Shiites and Sunnis have difficulty getting their act together, not just for theethno-nationalism predominant in the region but also the economic powerstruggle on who has access and control of the black gold on the ground. Recent diplomatic effort of John Kerryof the U.S. State Department to promote a unity government in Iraq got a turn downfrom PM Maliki who do not see a greater representation of the Sunni Arabcommunity led previously by deposed Saddam Hussein. The sectarian and authoritarian policies of Malikiare exploited by jihadist militants fomenting for Islamic States in Iraq andthe rest of the Levant. We demonize Islam similarto what progressives and liberals in the U.S. do when we go after the pick-upriding white Kristian rednecks thatare alleged cousins to the Ku Klux Klan. In the devotion to Allah, the ethos of unity is an overriding concern,thus, the harmony of its faithful is a given expectation. The same expectation surrounds the overarchingpower of “love” in the Christian tradition. The assertive defense of Israel towards its ancient borders isunderstandable in light of its history since the Roman Empire took overJerusalem to Germany’s policy and practice of genocide in the Holocaust duringWWII. One cannot say the same of theimperial designs of both Christendom and Islam. Still, it is well to glean the gifts of three traditions from theLevant. I was introduced to the authority of scriptures inProtestant Christianity that led to the priesthood of all believers and the confidencein each one to decide on one’s own on matters of faith and practice. The reality of the-way-life-is I took to bethe all-powerful faith statement of YHWH folks of Jerusalem, leading them todecide ethnically to be the covenant people to lead in “praise” of thatreality. The covenant to be personally chosen became a matterof choice, to play the role of the Christ, unfortunately deformed in thecurrent idolatry of Jesus. Mohammadbrought that back to the complete freedom of the “prophet-hood” but instead ofsticking to the night of power when the Quran,Allah’s self-revelation, wasfirst revealed to the prophet, now celebrated in Ramadan, followers quickly convertedthe event into the idolatry of the book, the authority of those who perceivethemselves to be its keepers, and the exclusiveness of its male-centeredhierarchy. Authority has become an issue in our time. The Zionists understandably established theLand of Israel after the western millennial anti-Semitic history. Ecclesiastical authority was the Church’sconcern since Constantine that got anchored in the primacy of the Bishop ofRome, later supplanted by the paper pope and the integrity of allbelievers. Mohammed had the prospect ofpulling authority out of social structures into the authenticity of freedom butthe politics of the bubbly crude in the desert got his followers into powerstruggles. In our time, the whole issue of “authority” is inquestion. The reality of authenticity,not authority, is the ascendant human spirit. The divesting of “things,” faithfully adhering to Allahas the “no-thing” during Ramadan, is in tune to Christian existentialist and phenomenologists’move from creed to social action, but now, as a thorough-going secularist, Isay, a return to the wisdom of YHWH, the way-life-is, without authority of learned“experts”, but on the authentic witness of individual instinct, intuition,intellect, and intention, we might yet turn the arid air of the desert to theproductive human spirit of the world. "Salaamu`Alaykum." j'aime la vie pinoypanda2031(a)aol.com yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. In all, celebrate!

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Fwd: GMCA June 17-18
by David Zahrt via OE 25 Jun '14

25 Jun '14

*Tue Jun 17* Sleeping in a bed and inside for two nights: wonderful! The Galls had raised 4 children so Luke and I had our own bedrooms. Actually Luke must have been intoxicated. He slept on the couch in the living room even though Jean had asked him not to. I took an early morning tub bath. When I asked about the laundry, Jean took me to the basement and put the laundry in. She returned to the kitchen and I sat in the dining room just off the kitchen. Eventually she sat at the dining room table with me and continued to ask about the March community. She was upset that Luke had slept on the living room couch overnight. She had showed him his bedroom and told him that she didn’t want him sleeping on the couch. I indicated that was one of the issues I found in the March community: that the younger generation did what they preferred and didn’t listen to requests from the larger community. After breakfast we discussed plans for the day. Luke borrowed a bike and rode into downtown Denver (we were about 15 min, by auto, E of downtown on 26th St). Duane helped me schedule an appointment with the Apple Store at Cherry Mall. I went in the afternoon but the Apple Store couldn’t/wouldn’t help me fix my charger. My Laptop is 10 years old and they don’t service that kind of computer! They referred me to a Mac App shop in Englewood, but the Galls couldn’t work it into the schedule. Jean cooked a picnic dinner and we went to the Botanical Garden. We got back home by 9 PM, and there was my electric bass that Lin had Fedexed to Mark, who brought it to me. We packed lunch and belongings for tomorrow and went to bed. *Wed Jun 18* We got up at 6, had breakfast, packed the car, and got over to the Mercury Café a little after 7. Duane and Jean dropped us off, said goodbye, and left to fulfill family obligations. Those who had their home-stay in Boulder were a little late. Once the gear truck was loaded the Marchers reviewed the route that went past a refinery, received masks, and left. This was the day I planned to begin riding my bike, which was on John J’s trailer parked in a nearby Farmers Market lot. I got my bike and caught up with the Marchers at the refinery. They paused there and demonstrated against the refinery with signs they had created before we left Denver. I continued on the route because I didn’t have any sign. It was a 15-mile ride to a high school. We were told to camp on the soccer field. In the middle of the afternoon we had a thunder shower with hail. It stopped and we got our tents up. Then it started again. It showered, hailed, and there was a strong wind. I have been sleeping in the big 9-person tent. I was in it to get out of the weather when it blew down. Once we put it up again there began to be a puddle of water on the floor. Zach, a young Marcher who joined us in Denver, indicated he had a 2-person tent and invited me to stay with him. I immediately took him up on the offer. The cooks moved the meal prep inside the food truck. We ate dinner in the rain. After we ate it was still thundering and showering. Then the irrigation sprinklers for the soccer field came on. There were a lot of people that moved their tents. I, for one, slept in a very moist sleeping bag! -- Peace, David

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Jaime for Friday, June 27
by via OE 25 Jun '14

25 Jun '14

Lego. Let it go. I come to the end ofmy visits to the families of my eldest daughters, the first, lives in theoutskirt of Chicago, and the second, in Concord by the East Bay Area of SanFrancisco. I have four grandsons (twofrom each family) and Liam in Chicago at 4 is neurologically challenged. He has difficulty with time, doing thingsimmediately in the “now” and impatient to wait out the long-term, has acontrarian bent, and tends to show repetitive behavior. The last category classifies him under ASD, theAutism Spectrum Disorder. Liam’s older brotherSullivan who is 6 is a wonder in speech and comprehension, way ahead of his agegroup and grade level (he enters first grade this semester at third gradereading level). He is also a Legobuilder. The MacDonald’s allure may worka while but there is no way he can be distracted from a visit to any local Legoworld familiar or known to him. Hecruises the Internet for their locations. Happily, the public library of Palatine, Illinois where he lives has aLego world in its children’s section. His parents also remind him to tidy the plastic bits and pieces heinadvertently leaves behind on their living room floor. Sullivan has the“World of Lego movie 2014”, the first in a series of three, the second forrelease in 2017, and the third, in 2020. Lego Group, the Denmark Company that manufactures the construction toysholds the flagship product, Lego (from the Danish phrase leggodt, which means "play well"), of colorful interlocking plastic bricks as gears, minifigures, etc. The movie relates the world of an ordinaryworker who falls into the center abyss of his universe and chosen to play “special”one who wears the “piece de resistance” (a rehash of the old messianic role). Fast forward, themovie’s theme: creativity and innovation, does not come from just following theinstruction manual like many Lego players do, nor is the permanence of the krazy glue an option. Lego is about construction and deconstruction,like life itself, where beauty and passion is found in the process more than inthe product. A glued product, good forshow casing, is dead rather than alive. “Weare not in the business of making a living,” my father used to say. “We are in the business of living a life.” I added, the finitude of the same is shroudedwith the awe of mystery! Liam had a DVD of thenew cartoon movie “Frozen”. I did notget to see it while in Chicago but my two grandsons in the Bay Area of SanFrancisco, Dillon at 8 and Sean at 6, had a copy that they could not wait forme to watch. Frozen is about two sisters, orphaned princesses of a king and a queen whodie in an accident. The eldest sister haspowers to freeze anything but she almost kills her sister at play. The parents decide to keep her skill asecret, fearful that their subjects would find out about it, so they separatethe sisters from playing together again. When the eldest comeof age to assume the kingdom’s throne vacated by their parents, she has to weargloves so as not to reveal her powers. Fast forward to the end of the story over the numerous subplots. Life is not about hiding secrets to maintaina façade; it is about living the real, the authentic, and the true. The elder sister finally decides to let go ofher fears and build herself an ice castle up in the mountain. She also had to unfreeze her lowland kingdomfrom the icy cold she unleashes earlier. The movie at the end burst into a song about “letting go,” a practicalenough advice to everyone who allows fear to dictate the cadence of their livesrather than just be the authentic but wondrously compassionate and powerfulselves they already are. The tradition thatinfluenced my upbringing, particularly the European meta-brain of my schooling,conditioned me to think that the way to save someone is to liberate one fromthe grip of something imaginary and unreal, usually a dragon, an imaginaryanimal. In the Levant, the mirage is aconstant illusion, an internally experienced object attractive and enticing butnot real. In the old Persia, theydecided that reality consisted of two real opposing forces – the good and thebad - constantly battling for dominion to extend their influence. A group of nomads in the Levant decided thatreality is one, the only reality, a message now echoed from muezzins on theminaret of many a mosque five times a day. The might and power of the real to Isaiah even uses earthly sovereignsto discipline its people, the chosen ones, to make clear in their social life,the truth of that reality, lest they forgot. Some forgot and abarefoot carpenter from Nazareth not only reminded them of this chosenness, butalso showed everyone that the chosenness is a personal choice, with one’s nameindelibly marked and stamped on the messianic role to set other folks free,even unto death. The power and might wasfor the taking of anyone willing to take on the role, later self-consciouslyknown as the ekklesia (the householdof the real), to be innovative, creative and free. Lego. Leg godt. Let it go. Let the authentic practice of living ring true in life. j'aime la vie pinoypanda2031(a)aol.com yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. In all, celebrate!

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Fwd: GMCA June16
by David Zahrt via OE 25 Jun '14

25 Jun '14

*Mon Jun 16* Today is a big day because of the Denver Rally. We took the vehicles to a parking lot near the Mercury Café where we will have dinner after the Rally. The parking lot wanted over $100 so Sarah asked Bob, a Denver support person, to find an alternative. He shuttled some of the staff back to the March and returned at 12:30 with no alternative. We were shuttled back to the park where the Marchers plan to meet to begin the March to the Capitol steps for the Rally. We marched 3.5 miles and arrived at the Capitol at 4:30. While I was waiting for the Rally to begin a ‘stranger’ said “Hello” to me. It took me a moment to realize that it was Dianne Greenwald. I was thrilled to see her. We talked about the March and she indicated that she and Salvatore plan to join us through part of NE. When the presentations were over, Dianne made a contribution to the March and indicated that she had to leave. The crowd left the capitol steps and headed to the café where the EPA was scheduled to make a presentation. On my way out Jim and Oliveann Slotta showed up. It took me a minute again, to recognize them and call them by name. We walked and talked for at least a mile to the EPA presentation. When the presentation was over they went home. I went to the Mercury Café for dinner. There were approximately 110 people participating in the dinner. After dinner we had presentations and discussion groups. The discussion groups each met for 10 minutes and then reported the 3 issues their group chose as important. The presentation that inspired me was Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL). I think we should make sure there is a CCL in Carson City. When the reporting concluded, a DVD on Climate Action was shown, which concluded the evening at 10 PM. I located Duane and Jean Gall, my home-stay hosts, got my belongings, and went with them to their house. Luke was also staying with them, but he wanted to stay and listen to and play music for another hour. We arranged to have him brought home by someone else. When we got to their house we found the amplifier that Mark Welch is loaning me. I learned that Jean was originally from Iowa. They offered me a beer and asked many questions about my background and the March. We were still up at 11:15 when Luke arrived. Jean proposed breakfast at 9 AM, which sounded good to us. -- Peace, David

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Fwd: GMCA June 15
by David Zahrt via OE 25 Jun '14

25 Jun '14

*Sun Jun 15* We got up at 5:30, packed a lunch, had breakfast, packed the gear truck and food truck, and sent the Marchers off by 7:30. We drivers waited in a Castle Rock, CO shopping center so we wouldn’t arrive at Saint James UMC in Littleton too early. Sarah gave us directions and stayed behind. I followed John J. and he got lost. I followed my directions and got lost. We still arrived before church was out and put our vehicles in the back. The enablement team seems to be a bunch of solitary jobs. Once we leave Denver and head for NE, I expect someone else to drive the Gear truck. I don’t know if riding my bike will be more communal. I find myself all alone. Why? 1) I have difficulty hearing; 2) I am not familiar with all the resources on my new phone and don’t have a computer that consistently connects with the Internet; 3) I don’t multi-task on computer/phone; 4) There are some young people (19-25), some middle-aged singles/divorcees (25-40), and a few older (55-76). I rehearse a mantra every night before I go to sleep that includes—“May you belong to community…May you connect with colleagues”... But so far I find no results from the mantra. We had a return visitor that conducted a before-dinner workshop on the need to engage in conversation so that we can understand each other. He had us break into pairs. The conversations were designed to be confidential. He encouraged us to have assigned partners and to have a regular schedule that allowed us to share with each other. Izzy and I were sitting next to each other. We each had 5 minutes to share the issues important to us. I shared the issues I have just written about because the important thing was getting the issues objectified. We broke at that point because dinner was ready. After dinner the leader shifted the focus to the first time we saw a person of another color. I didn’t remember any encounters with people of another color until we moved to 5th City Chicago in 1966. It’s probable that I saw people of color before that, but I have no recollection of it. Later we lived with Aborigines in Oombulgurri, Australia, and blacks again in Mugumoini, Kenya, and Pace, MS. He asked us to break into groups, and just then I was asked to move the Gear truck to the south side of the church. -- Peace, David

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Salmon: Response to your Earthrise
by William Salmon via OE 25 Jun '14

25 Jun '14

Claire-- Your "Earthrise" was deeply moving. This is what a witness is for. I've been to church and found the deeps of life all in the same message. Beautiful.Thank you! Bill and Beverly Salmon ----- Original Message ----- From: 'Clare Whitney' cla9ken8(a)ecentral.com [earthrise] To: earthrise(a)yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 9:38 AM Subject: [earthrise] June 2014 Clare &Ken’s Birthdays: June 18 and 19 Ken and I have just come from a journey that started in Burlington VT and ended in Nashville, TN. It was a splendid time, mostly. The formal excuse for the trip was Joleil’s 8th grade graduation on June 7th. Peter’s memorial service was on June 6, 2013, and we arrived to see Carol and the girls on June 6. (We had met in Boston after Christmas last year so we had seen each other, just not in East Burke.) The first stop we made was at the cemetery to present some flowers and weep a little at the loss of a very great man, far too young. The stone is a granite pyramid, representing the mountains that Peter loved so much. It was painful and healing at one and the same time to see his name engraved on the stone and to be there at all. So we all have lived a year with a huge hole in our hearts that is mending very slowly and may never be closed, but we are caring for it and loving everyone we have in our lives. Nashville was our last stop and involved immersion in a culture about which we know very little – that of country music. We went to the “church” of country music – The Grand Ole Opry, where you even sit in pews. We experienced the witnessing aspect of country music, and the tremendous significance of this part of our American culture, impressing this classically trained musician from New England. The major image, of course, is “Let the Circle Be Unbroken” representing the long tradition of country music performance from the Ryman Auditorium to the Grand Ole Opry site outside Nashville. That’s a good image for our family’s year – the circle was broken, and we are trying to bring it back together again. Clare Whitney Denver CO __._,_.___ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Posted by: "Clare Whitney" <cla9ken8(a)ecentral.com> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Reply via web post • Reply to sender • Reply to group • Start a New Topic • Messages in this topic (1) For additional information, including guidelines and schedule, go to: http://www.geocities.com/earthrisegroup/webpage.html Visit Your Group • Privacy • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use . __,_._,___ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2014.0.4592 / Virus Database: 3972/7735 - Release Date: 06/24/14

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Jaime for Thursday ST
by via OE 24 Jun '14

24 Jun '14

By the Diablomountains Concord on the northeast side of the Bay Area of SanFrancisco lies on the western slopes of the Diablo mountain range whose peakand hills extends from Costa Contra County in the north to the Kern Countysouth where Bakersfield is county seat. Concord is the largest city of Costa Contra next to the county seat ofMartinez. My daughter’s house is about four houses from BuchananAirfield that straddles the border of Martinez and Concord. The airport is a controversial prime propertyand its function as an airport with jets has since been replaced by Byronairport and as an airfield diminished to hosting small propeller engineplanes. Buchanan’s history began as theConcord Air Force Base in the 1940s on to being an originating point tomilitary flights headed for the Korean theatre. On this week’s visit, my daughter’s Queensland heeler dogbarked as pilots training to fly prop planes from the airfield buzzed theneighborhood. The US Coast Guard usesthe facility for emergency purposes, particularly to drench bush fires in thebrown hills surrounding the verdant forest of the Diablo peaks seen from adistance. This is not a travelogue on the mountain range nor on theinteresting Bay Point of the San Francisco Bay Area extending towards PittsburgCA, the current end point of the BART’s Yellow Line. A descriptive tour might delight ourCalifornia readership, but that has not been the regular tone of this column. Nor an introduction of Concord, Martinez, and Walnut Creek(CM&WC) would be unwelcomed by the towns consumers for they have convertedtheir downtown areas as shopping centers of boutique quality, and in this mode,the towns are quaint with antiques, and contemporary in coffee shops where ahazelnut macchiato in espresso is not an uncommon fare! It is the “devil” in “Diablo” that intrigues us and why thatwould even be relevant in the downtown areas of CM&WC where retirees tendtheir social nets well and have come to live and are visibly in display allover the place enjoying the sunset of their years. There are younger families in the area, mydaughter’s included but of the short times she cruised with me in the threetowns looking for a place that might sell USB connectors to two external drivesthat have photos of my China home I wanted to share, the places teemed withwell-heeled retirees who did not hesitate to draw out their credit cards forany purchase in any of the stores. A disambiguation: “Diablo” is used as name for fictionalcharacters, music pieces, video games, places like the aforementioned mountainrange, sports personalities and teams, a gene that negatively interacts withthe death cell, and a type of hot, dry wind common in many deserts. There was once a USS DiabloAmerican submarine named after a deep-sea bottom-dwelling batfish of theWest Indies whose first assignment was to sail to Saipan after it wascommissioned just before the end of WWII hostilities. Exchange of firepower on Mt. Tapuchao ceasedbefore the Diablo reached its destination so its eventual first portage wasGuam. The submarine was delivered laterto the Pakistan navy in a military assistance package and became the Ghazi, Pakistan’s sole underwatermilitary submersible that mysteriously sank in 1971. My devilish sense looking up at the majestic mountain rangefrom Concord probably stems from my detachment from the rabid consumerism nowattendant to a country that still holds my fealty and political devotion. Everywhere I turn in my visits to my twodaughters’ families, the symbols of economic prosperity around them are held upas the overriding preoccupation of identity, vocation, and lifestyle. No activity or value is worth pursuing untilone had done the math on how much it will cost, or what amount will be gained,a cultural practice of estimation I am not privy to. As a retired member of the straddling class between the“silent” and “baby boomer” generations, I might still carry the traditionalvalue of personal character against personal wealth as criteria for measuringan individual’s worth. While financesare obviously very important, and my daughters are not by any measure countingtheir pennies, they have yet to make it the overriding consideration in gaugingpeople’s social standing. Happily, Imight claim that my daughters’ attitude, to a certain degree, reflects that oftheir father. I am evidently divorced from the contemporary preoccupationof personal worth by accumulation and expenditure, not from the inability toearn the dough (though the charge had been leveled against my earning skills)as it is an absence of passion to follow the acquisitive path; I am toohabitually at home in the monastic practice of earthly detachment. I do not condemn the practice but Iacknowledge that I no longer belong to this age. In fact, my room smells too much of my agethat I have to open my window to let the Diablo air and the hydrocarbonemissions of fast moving traffic on CA State Highway 4 not too far from mybreathing, to come in. The devil is in the details, we say. This one is mountain size. j'aime la vie pinoypanda2031(a)aol.com yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. In all, celebrate!

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Re: [Oe List ...] Fwd: rocking the Methodist boat in Texas
by Mark Harvey via OE 24 Jun '14

24 Jun '14

Anyone who has read The United Methodist Discipline understands that there is NOT going to be a schism, because every church has a trust clause on their real property giving the property to the denomination should they withdraw. That's a Constitutional clause, meaning it cannot be legislated away by a chagrined majority. Follow the money. Dissenting churches are NOT going to walk away from property (though I'll admit, we might be better off walking away from many of these old decrepit church buildings.) It's NOT going to happen! United Methodists will walk the fence on this issue until every state in the Union, or the Federal government, have effected the kind of sea change of opinion which wil make us change if we want to survive at all. Remember The Sacred Canopy, by sociologist Peter Berger. Churches make official changes to 'rubber stamp' the culture. The United Methodist Church is not the wedgeblade. That's why we all left the UMC way back when, but then went back to build a pension. On Saturday, June 14, 2014 5:03 PM, Ellie Stock <elliestock(a)aol.com> wrote: Hi Mark and Mary, Thought you might be interested in this latest string of emails from the OE list serve. Read from the bottom up. Ellie -----Original Message----- From: jlepps(a)pc.jaring.my via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> To: George Holcombe <grholcombe(a)gmail.com> Cc: ICA/OE List Serves <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Sent: Sat, Jun 14, 2014 4:54 pm Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] rocking the Methodist boat in Texas Thanks for your thoughtful and historical response, Marshall. Your comment, "I agree with John's implied point that at minimum it's a HUGE distraction from the REAL missional issues that the church should be struggling to address" is the only point I was attempting to make. Certainly I agree that same sex marriages should be honored in United Methodism. It would be a shame for the church to split over this. It has forced me to distinguish between the Church as institution and the Church as movement. The former exists to enable the latter, but often it lags behind. It even tends to function to perpetuate itself rather than its cause. When that happens, it's due for a reform. It may even be that the institutional church is wrestling with the major issue of accommodating diversity that affects societies around the world. If it's at that level, then maybe this is not a non-issue. Thanks for bringing up this level of the conversation. The coffee smells like Illy latte! John At 03:02 PM 6/14/2014, George Holcombe wrote: Dear Marshall, I don�t believe John is "talking out of school.� I�m sure he can speak for himself, but LBGT for our society is a non-issue, it�s over. Gay marriage will be the law of the land. Every day the LBGT community is gaining ground. For the younger generation it�s a non-issue. The UMC is just running into a stone wall. It would be much better if they let loose of the prejudice and got on with the business at hand. Climate Change, poverty, corptocracy, just to name a few need action. I am glad to see our Board of Pensions removing investments from companies that support Israel, but there�s lots more stuff we need to be about. > >We have a good bunch of local clergy who stand with us who�ve signed the pledge. The �Conservatives� (although I�m not sure that�s the correct appellation) are going to scream their heads off, but time is marching on. For the UMC a real LGBT issue is going to be how we support the gays in Africa and elsewhere and deal with a false interpretation of scripture, discipline and tradition that leads to hatred and violence. > >It�s happening. Reality is staring us in the face. > >George Holcombe >14900 Yellowleaf Tr. >Austin TX 78728 >Mobile 512/252-2756 >grholcombe(a)gmail.com > >"Whatever the problem, community is the answer. There is no power greater than a community discovering what it cares about." Margaret Wheatley > > >On Jun 14, 2014, at 3:01 PM, W. J. via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net > wrote: > > >George Holcombe is one of the Texas 'rebels' >>Marshall Jones >>10 Retired Clergy Say They Will Officiate at Weddings of Same-Sex Couples >> >> >>10 Retired Clergy Say They Will Officiate at Weddings ... >>Even though their denomination's policy officially prohibits clergy from officiating at the wedding of any same-sex couple at the risk of losing their ordination, t... >>View on unitedmethod... >>Preview by Yahoo >> >> >> >>On Saturday, June 14, 2014 12:38 PM, W. J. via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net > wrote: >> >> >>Methodism seems to be teetering on the brink of rebellion, confrontation, and schism.You can follow the rapid escalation of Methodist conflict in the following articles: >> >>Methodists fear split over same-sex marriage >> >> >>Methodists fear split over same-sex marriage >>Evan as more states legalize gay marriage, United Methodist leaders appear at an impasse. >>View on www.usatoda... >>Preview by Yahoo >> >>http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2014-03/time-split >>http://unitedmethodistreporter.com/2014/04/08/conservative-church-leaders-c… >>http://unitedmethodistreporter.com/2014/04/02/conversation-good-newss-tom-l… >>http://unitedmethodistreporter.com/2014/04/01/good-news-releases-statement-… >> >>In the light of the current 'conversation' in Methodist circles cited above, I find John Epps' characterization of the key conflict over the Discipline as a "non-issue" very puzzling. >> >>If I were a betting man, I'd bet about 50 million bucks that Bill McElvaney, Tom Ogletree, and Bishops McLee, Johnson, and Talbert (as well as many others) would NOT call 'ceremonies of homosexual union' a "non-issue" for United Methodists. >> >>I agree with John's implied point that at minimum it's a HUGE distraction from the REAL missional issues that the church should be struggling to address. >> >>But when I look through the keyhole of this so-called "non-issue" that threatens denominational schism (similar to the schism over slavery in 1844), what I see looming are the VERY SAME theological/cultural issues that define the cultural rift (I accidentally typed 'risk'--there's that too!) with the Tea Party radical right wing. >> >>The 'Good News' contingent is going whole hog to use Legalism, Literalism, and Authoritarianism to defrock noncompliant Methodist clergy, retired seminary presidents, and bishops. This is about instilling fear in bishops and clergy alike by using the Discipline to crack down on dissenters. >> >>So with all respect due to John, I cannot call this a "non-issue". >> >>Our profound cultural and theological biases around 'heteronormativity' are as much of a HUGE issue as our biases around the racial inferiority of people of color and female submission to male dominance (not to mention the economic imperialism of the "1%"). >> >>I grew up in what had been the Methodist Episcopal Church, South until the year before I was born. That geographic contingent in reunited Methodism retained its political and cultural clout as the lily-white Southeastern Jurisdiction until the Central Jurisdiction was dissolved in 1968 as a condition of union with the EUB's. >> >>I mention this ancient history to point out that the cultural legacy enshrined in the 'Good News' version of conservative southern Methodism is the legacy of slavery and 'White Supremacy' that their white male Methodist ancestors fought and died to preserve forever. >> >>Bishop Francis Asbury (whose name is legendary to this day in western North Carolina) wrote in his journal that on 11/30/1810 he spent the night (and very likely preached in the attic chapel) in the house Jacob Shook built in 1795 in what is now Clyde, NC near Lake Junaluska. >> >>Friday our troubles began at a foaming, roaring stream, which hid the rocks. At Catahouche I walked over a log, but then O the mountains- height after height and five miles over! After crossing many streams and after losing ourselves in the woods for a time, about 9 o'clock at night we gratefully came to Vater Shucks. >> >>If you visit Jacob Shook's house today, you can see a handwritten receipt for the purchase of several slaves. After he died in 1837 his house and farmland was purchased by members of the Welch family, who together had about 150 slaves. I mention this to illustrate that slavery was considered economically 'necessary' and normalized by this part of white Methodism as God's Will for Africans. Even Asbury failed to object, though he denounced slavery and pleaded for abolition with George Washington. >> >>In Clyde and throughout Haywood County the heritage of slavery is almost totally invisible today. The slave cabins are long gone, as are the descendants of slaves who worked the plantations. The county is about 96% white, 1% black, and only 1/2% Native American. >> >>The cultural reality of white male dominance is so pervasive, normalized, and unconsciously internalized that residents and visitors alike don't even think about it. When they visit nearby Cherokee, NC, they focus more on the lure of the casino than on the hidden-in-plain-sight reality of 'ethnic cleansing' that forced the vast majority of the Cherokee Nation to endure a death march to Oklahoma. Even this tragic history has been reduced to summer theatre for tourists. >> >>Since 1972 United Methodist clergy have been required to enforce the standards of 'heteronormativity' to eliminate what Aquinas called the 'vice against nature', which includes any and every sexual act except for heterosexual intercourse in the famous missionary position (reserved exclusively for those legally and heterosexually married, of course!). Aquinas seems unconcerned with the fact that 70% of women can't orgasm that way. Perhaps he was concerned only that women did their procreative duty, whether they enjoyed it or not. >> >>Reserving 'holy matrimony' for certain classes of people makes everybody else's sexuality second class, promoting 'sexual cleansing' in the church. >> >>The Legalism, Literalism, and Authoritarianism of the Methodist system leads to a Taliban concept of justice that inevitably exacts severe punishment of violators. Methodists exemplify the tyranny of majority rule with zero tolerance for minority views within the system. >> >>If your upcoming wedding would be welcomed in a Methodist Church, that's because you are enjoying hetero privilege (and probably taking it for granted). >> >>White male supremacy takes sexual privileging for granted. If you owned slaves, you could totally control and manipulate them sexually. You could have sexual intercourse and father 'illegitimate' children with people of color who were coerced or bullied, or who used your sexual interest to acquire personal benefits. Often family members could not protect them. You could invoke 'Racial Purity' to constrain and manipulate white women sexually. You could demand 'monogamy' from your wife to control her sexual interest in other people, while you ignored that standard in your own behavior. >> >>Now the likes of Maxie Dunham and Fred Phelps simply reflect the mindset of white male sexual privilege. Since Loving vs. Virginia they can't get away with railing against 'miscegenation.' Now their last refuge is their obsession with the evil of non-procreative sexual coupling symbolized in 'ceremonies of homosexual union.' >> >>And yet John Epps calls this a "non-issue." I say: wake up and smell the coffee, John! >> >>Marshall Jones >> >>From: JOHN L. EPPS <jlepps(a)pc.jaring.my> >>To: W. J. <synergi(a)yahoo.com> >>Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2014 8:14 PM >>Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] rocking the Methodist boat in Texas >> >>Thanks Marshall. >> >>When I was at Perkins, Bill McElvaney, Bill Holmes, and the late Will >>Bailey were the three Dallas "role models" for the forward-looking >>theologs. All three were students of Joe. It's good to see he's still >>pushing the envelope, though it's a shame that this non-issue takes so >>much energy. >> >>Quoting "W. J." <synergi(a)yahoo.com>: >> >>> more Methodist news from Texas: >>> >>http://um-insight.net/issues-section/supervisory-response-under-way-for-rev… >>> >>> Marshall >> >> >> >> >>---------------------------------------------------------------- >>This e-mail has been sent via JARING webmail at http://www.jaring.my >> >> >> >> >> >>_______________________________________________ >>OE mailing list >>OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net >>http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net >> >> >>_______________________________________________ >>OE mailing list >>OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net >>http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net

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