May 2015 - OE - lists.wedgeblade.net

Death of Vivan Paul
by Dharmalingam Vinasithamby via OE 24 May '15

24 May '15

Dear colleagues, Vivian Paul, who worked with us in Maliwada, the Delhi House and at Kemper, which were among his various assignments, died at 9.17 pm on Wednesday, the 20th of May. I just received the news from Marie Paul in San Antonio, Texas, where he has been living since moving out of Chicago years ago. He was being looked after by Marie and his children after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer four months ago. He died during surgery. Dharma

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Vance Engleman's Advent Posters
by Jack Gilles via OE 24 May '15

24 May '15

Dear Colleagues, As many of you know, Vance Engleman produced a set of magnificent posters that he sent out as gifts each December. I have been in touch with Beth Engleman and we have identified that between she and I, we have almost a complete set. We want to give these to the Archives as they are classics pieces. Starting in 1977, he, then Beth and he, produced posters until 2002. We are missing just the last two, 2001, titled “O! Rajasthan” and 2002, “Take a Bite out of Poverty”. If anyone has either or both of these two would you please contact me, or Beth so that we can get the complete set to the Archives. Thank you! Grace and Peace, Jack and Beth

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May 29, Friday editorial
by via OE 23 May '15

23 May '15

To the JFK corwd. Jack He was the 35 th President of the United States, a former Massachusetts’ Senator who served the executive office from January ’61 until his assassination in Dallas, Texas in November ’63. On his watch, the United States went through the Bay of the Pigs debacle butchered by CIA operatives during Eisenhower’s term arming Cuban exiles to invade Fidel Castro’s domain. A Cuban Missile Crisis followed when Khrushchev posted warheads in Cuba in the same way as the US pointed armaments on the USSR from Turkey. The Navy blocked ships from the USSR. The Russian reformist PM, known for banging shoes, showed the same habit in a session of the United Nations! Warmly referred to as “Jack” in the “Camelot” era, JFK took Eisenhower’s legacy to the Berlin Wall erected by the Soviets to deter the exodus of East Berliners into the western sector, supported the African-American Civil Rights movement that finally saw legislation under President Johnson but cost MLK’s life, and escalated US armed involvement in Vietnam that wracked the nation’s soul. It is as if JFK crammed his short term to the hilt, credited for initiating Project Apollo at NASA, projecting an eventual landing of a man in the moon accomplished a good three years ahead of schedule. JFK’s legacy, however, is not programmatic (in spite of the US Peace Corps program, and furthering the women’s movement headed by Eleanor Roosevelt) but imaginal. He turned a nation’s energy into exploring new horizons. He began with the image of the New Frontier, dared America’s post WWII self-content public to a “set of challenges that sums up not what I intend to offer the people, but what I intend to ask of them.” A famous quote reverberates even today; it sums up JFK’s hold on the imagination: Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” He then asked the nations of the world to wage together a fight against “common enemies of tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.” When he was assassinated, the world joined a nation in mourning. Politically astute, the current WH occupant avoids identity with the Kennedys (elder Joe was UK ambassador, Robert was assassinated while in L. A. campaigning for the Presidency, and Senator Edward Kennedy endorsed Obama’s candidacy). Instead, he invokes the legacy of Lincoln and Reagan, both Republicans. John Jr., caught saluting his Dad’s casket at three years of age, died in a plane crash. However, Caroline, JFK and Jackie’s girl, serves as the current US Ambassador to Japan. JFK became President at 43, gunned down at 46. He would have been 98 years old today. His centennial birth anniversary in two years highlights a legacy of snooped after sexual proclivity and health struggles (he received the last RC rites more than once going into surgery), but a PR beaut of a job on “hope” that enabled the election of the first African-American occupant of the Oval Office, and will get the country its first female President. In the famous words of Marilyn Monroe, “Happy Birthday, Mister President.” j'aime la vie pinoypanda2031(a)aol.com yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. in all, celebrate!

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Death of Vivan Paul
by Marilyn Crocker via OE 23 May '15

23 May '15

Dear Colleagues and family members of Vivian, Joe and I remember Vivian with fondness and respect. If our collective memories are on target, he and his beautiful wife, Marie, were participants in the Jabalpur ITI - or maybe even the Singapore ITI. And later in Nava Gram Prayas days. We feel as if we knew them as Movement and Order Colleagues forever. They were such a handsome couple, handsome and beautiful, as were all their children. Later on we were neighbors of Vivian and the children on the 7th floor at Kemper, and our sons became good friends with Sherlyn and Shiran and I believe are still in touch occasionally. I like your image of "soldier," Jack, although images of warfare are now unpopular and probably need to be repositioned. But Vivian "soldiered on," no matter what difficulties befell his family. He fulfilled missional assignments at Kemper that were far different from his positions of significant leadership in India ( I believe in education administration), and yet he did so obediently and faithfully, but not without palpable pain and some sense of loss (at least to our eyes.) We are happy Vivian was able to be back with Marie and their children (now adults) over the past months, especially since his diagnosis. We mourn his loss to the universe, but celebrate the strength, courage and faithfulness his life represented on many continents. Grace and peace, Marilyn and Joe From: OE [mailto:oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Jack Gilles via OE Sent: Friday, May 22, 2015 12:57 AM To: Patricia Tuecke Cc: Tracy Longacre via OE; Marie Paul Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Death of Vivan Paul I will miss Vivian very much. He was a soldier, through and through. He told stories of fighting the Chinese in the Himalayas. One of his disciplines was to take a cold bath every day at the Delhi House, no matter how cold it was. This came from that battle experience. He represented the best of our colleagues who came from the early days of the Movement in India. I presume he was a product of the work Raymond Spencer did in those early years. Journey on dear friend, journey on. Jack On May 21, 2015, at 11:47 PM, Patricia Tuecke via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: Dharma, I didn't know Vivian as well as Marie. She was one of the 4 or 5 women assigned to each accompany me for one week of a six week Global Women's Forum in the villages in Maharashtra. Actually she worked with me in one of the city forums, not sure which one. For all of the women I think it was the first time they had travelled outside their village or home without their husband or a male relative. It was unusual to do so at the time. I remember Vivian was somewhat naturally concerned for Marie but we had a great week together and no unpleasantness happened. Please let Marie know we hold her in our thoughts and prayers as she celebrates Vivian's completed life and begins her life without him at her side. Pat Tuecke On Thursday, May 21, 2015, Dharmalingam via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: Dear colleagues, Vivian Paul, who worked with us in Maliwada, the Delhi House and at Kemper, which were among his various assignments, died at 9.17 pm on Wednesday, the 20th of May. I just received the news from Marie Paul in San Antonio, Texas, where he has been living since moving out of Chicago years ago. He was being looked after by Marie and his children after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer four months ago. He died during surgery. Dharma _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net

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Re: [Oe List ...] [Dialogue] Completed Life of Frank Powell
by jonzondo＠juno.com via OE 23 May '15

23 May '15

Special prayers and thoughts go to the family, and especially to Ali (Frank's daughter) during this time. I intend to help her, if I can, as she travels from Seattle to Africa. May we all have the support we need during these transitional events. In Beauty,Jon ---------- Original Message ---------- From: "McCabe, Diann A via OE" <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> To: Terry Bergdall <bergdall2(a)gmail.com>, Order Ecumenical Community <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Cc: Colleague Dialogue <dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] [Dialogue] Completed Life of Frank Powell Date: Fri, 22 May 2015 18:56:34 +0000 Thanks for the word, Terry. Frank was a creative and powerful presence. Our work with him and Sandy (and many others) in Mississippi in the mid-late 70s was a whirlwind of doing (1000 miles/week in the car), shaping Terry McCabe and me in ways we still are examining. Here's to his completed life, with gratitude for his being. Grace and Peace, Diann McCabeSan Marcos, TX From: Terry Bergdall via Dialogue <dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Reply-To: Terry Bergdall <bergdall2(a)gmail.com> Date: Friday, May 22, 2015 8:03 AM To: Order Ecumenical Community <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Cc: Colleague Dialogue <dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Subject: [Dialogue] Completed Life of Frank Powell I have heard from Sandy Conant, Frank's former wife, that Frank died earlier this week in Nairobi. He endured major medical issues for several years and apparently they all caught up with him. After the Order entered into its diaspora, I worked closely with Frank for many years during the 1990s on various consulting assignments across Africa. Frank was a very creative, and often stubborn, man. I celebrate with you his completed life. Grace and Peace, Terry Bergdall

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On Frank and Sandy
by via OE 22 May '15

22 May '15

Sandy and Frank; Frank and Sandy. They were a team once that held our breaths in wonder, like the solitary and corporate souls that bumped into our existence. We are all heading out with whatever life covenant we have in our lifetime frame. (If you did not do yours at academy, and every year thereafter, grab a colleague and do it again!) We may be "nobodies" in the large scheme of things, but between the birthing and dying of our consciousness, we are creatures of our creation and innovation, and that somebody, privately held in its authenticity, is where most of us belong. To Sandy and Frank, for the memory, and to Frank, for the completion of a well-orchestrated journey, l'achaim! j'aime la vie yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate! in all, celebrate! -----Original Message----- From: via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> To: oe <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Sent: Sat, May 23, 2015 3:36 am Subject: OE Digest, Vol 38, Issue 17 Send OE mailing list submissions to oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net

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Completed Life of Frank Powell
by Terry Bergdall via OE 22 May '15

22 May '15

I have heard from Sandy Conant, Frank's former wife, that Frank died earlier this week in Nairobi. He endured major medical issues for several years and apparently they all caught up with him. After the Order entered into its diaspora, I worked closely with Frank for many years during the 1990s on various consulting assignments across Africa. Frank was a very creative, and often stubborn, man. I celebrate with you his completed life. Grace and Peace, Terry Bergdall

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Parliament of World Religions
by David Zahrt via OE 22 May '15

22 May '15

How many people from our 'crowd' are planning to attend the *Parliament of World Religions *meeting at Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Oct 15-19? Looks like we could save $$ if we had a group going and registered by Jun 30-- - Spouse/partner--$449 - Group of 5-9--$399 - Group of 10+ $389 Here's the URL-- < https://www.instantreg.com/registration/register.jspx?id=a54b854e4352167d> -- Peace, David

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Memorial Day at ST
by via OE 22 May '15

22 May '15

Memorial Day The last Monday in May is Memorial Day, coming after the Pentecost of Christians and Shavuot of the Jews. The legal day commemorates the lives lost in the military while in the line of duty, starting with Confederate and Union soldiers during the Civil War. Memorial Day, considered the first day of summer ending on Labor Day, is not to be confused with Veterans’ Day that honors those who served the military. In the Christian calendar, Pentecost celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit to the 12 Apostles and Jesus’ followers, metaphorically translated as the affirmation of earthly life no longer alien to the “will of God”, or, to the Way Life Is, aka, the “birthday of the Church”. Shavuot of the Jewish holiday celebrates the giving of the Laws to Moses in Sinai, so there is no excuse for not living the wholeness (holiness) of life, for one can now “go by the book”. It caps the Passover that begins with the Seder Feast and the eating of the unleavened bread matzah. The word “Pentecost” derives from the 50 days between Easter to the descent of the Holy Spirit, 10 days after Jesus ascension into heaven, which is also the end of the Jewish Passover pegged at the symbolic number of 40. Not too distant is the Muslim Ramadan or Ramazan when the faithful of Ibrahim (Abraham) takes on the summer heat of the desert by physically slowing down on daylight activities and purifying the soul in fasting, perform acts of charity and self-sacrifice exemplified by the Eid-al-Adha’s memory of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son like a lamb on an open fire. Earlier after the full moon also in the spring, Hindus observe Holi that disregards social norms and indulge in merrymaking, attending bonfires and spraying kin with colored powders and water affirming the bonds of friendship and community. Native Americans perform at mid-summer the Sun Dance and the circle of life and death , which the Buddhists’ Vesak of the lunisolar calendar observes as the birth and death of “Buddha” (that bookends enlightenment), a role that rededicates to the dharma and the eightfold path. The faithful scoop water to “wash” a figurine of the baby Buddha as a symbol. The metaphor on the concrete milieu of these religious observances is dismissible. But the Book of Acts of the Apostles' note on its significance is quite explicit: “I will pour out my spirit upon every sort of flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy and your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams." The young forecasts and plans the future with vision assured by the guidance of dreams. We are more than a century beyond just revering the fallen in the old American conflict in the Civil War. Celebrating African-American slaves who died fighting for emancipation marked the death of soldiers as well. It is now 2015 and recalling of events is to recognize life’s reality: that one remembers where one came from in order to courageously determine where one is going! There are those among us who have grown comfortable with what had transpired before. Like the “written word” in the desert, reliance on the past is at a premium. Distances between oases in the desert after all do not lend itself to easy charting of the shifting sand dunes as life by its very nature changes, thus, the value of memory. Some dub the direction of change as evolution. We are not unsympathetic to those who insist that we stick with the “tried and true” against the untested and new, and Memorial Day gets the accent on the first. It is signals the onset of summer. Life, nonetheless, surprises us, sometimes pleasantly and other times, pushing the difficult side, both full of wonders. The Scots transformed the solstices and equinoxes as quarter days used to mark the times when real estate rentals and indebtedness were settled in the Middle Ages. The seventh Sunday after Pentecost is when newly baptized faithful in white garbs (Whit Sunday) are sent out to start life anew. The accent on today is not only on memory but also on the implication that one can build on the shoulders of the old. What newness presides over the CNMI is the question that begs our attention. E.g., marijuana legalization simple decriminalizes a widespread practice, so is same-sex unions, the subject of the recent AG Cup speeches. The influx of Chinese visitors, Korean money, Japanese technology and Filipino CWs dominates the CNMI landscape. Ownership of land remains in Chamolinian hands but intermarriages with the new arrivals have diffused the “indigene” formula on blood to determine ownership as prescribed by the Constitution. Meanwhile, the military flexes its muscles, pleasantly PR'd though still on the ethos of "yours is not to ask why, only to do or die" now applied to the use of the isles' strategic military value vs. China. Local self-interest is hardly homogenous; varied intents and interests prove divisive. The challenge is participation not only in the economic benefits of development but in the political decision-making. May that be the conversation in the family BBQ by the lagoon this Memorial Day! j'aime la vie yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. in all, celebrate!

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On Nepal
by via OE 22 May '15

22 May '15

This was on the Saipan Tribune May 4 edition. Written from a distance, it was short on tears, but affirming Nepal's capacity, like many human disasters, to overcome. It did not mean to negate the assistance extended from outside towards the suffering. I did my share, though hardly enough, with the local gatherers of aid. Anyway, sharing this again (if I did not send it the first time), with the listserv. ICA-USA's efforts are much appreciated. Jaime Vergara, Saipan and Shenyang Gurkha Nepali I was in the Deccan plateau in Maharashtra late 70s aiming to segue northeast into the Ganges down to Calcutta and the Brahmaputra-Ganges delta that is famous for its monsoons, the former East Pakistan of the British Muslims in India at the partition before they decided that the dominant Bihari of West Pakistan keeps the “one nation” dream, and the East be Bengali in Bangladesh. Dhaka was where I planned to head, wearing my sando, cutoff undershirt, in the wet heat of Bengal Bay. Gaia intervened with the fierce winds of the monsoon so I went back to Mumbai, touched down on Theravada Sri Lanka on a flight to Singapura where I watched Hakka Lee Kwan Yew discipline folks to plant trees and refrain from spitting to keep the city cool and clean! I had another chance in the 80s to head for Dhaka and mosey over to the mists of Kathmandu some 600 miles away. By then, India’s Sikkim by Bhutan’s monarchy took mystical airs, and the old Pagan Empire across the Irrawaddy that became Myanmar in our time (and where our own Pagan might have derived its name) took on the magic of a forbidden land. I did not make it up the hills where folks traverse the Mahayana path and follow the practice of yoga. It was more than twenty years later that I got to the other side of the Himalayas, and a trip to Lhasa in Xizang loomed more as a possibility while residing in China. I made it to Sichuan on the foothills of the Himalayas up towards the Garze Autonomous Region, learning to liuliude in Kangding before the rains started washing down roads chiseled on the side of cliffs, carved by rivers that carried the waters from upland downpours. I took time to watch pandas nibble on bamboo shoots on forests at lower altitude while hightailing it down the plains. A blue passport trekking up to Lhasa turned up to have limits on mobility as I was to told to join foreigners, occupy foreigners’ hotels at foreigners’ rates, a price not exactly conducive to a backpacking budget. I said, “thank you”, but “buyong xie”. That it would take this far to get to reflect on Gurkha land testifies to the sensitivity of the subject matter. Nepal was visited by a 7.8 tremor on the Richter scale (7.9 some claim, 40 percent more devastating) as India’s plate burrows under the Himalaya. The devastating earthquake was not unexpected; geologists talked about its imminence a week before the actual event. Mount Everest is majestically up there and still heading way up. The inches of gains through the years since the last major shake-up in 1935 added up and really rattled the place big time this time! This is like San Andreas Fault’s on the Pacific side. That the land mass will slide into the sea someday is not a matter of whether or not but a question of when. SF is the alternative option to mainstream rational American life and it operates with a laidback but realistic comme ci comme ca attitude not unlike that of Mexico City further south, which sits on an island in a crater lake of an extinct volcano, que sera sera. The Aztec culture that built Tenochtitlan knew life to be interrupted by volcanic explosions, and the fiesta was invented to schedule the event to vent pent-up emotions. The devastation that recently visited Nepal caused extreme hardships and tears. Initially, it was estimated to be a loss of 3,000 lives but is now at 6,000 expected to reach 10,000. A loss of one life is enough for tears! The region has roots in a life understanding of profound acceptance, mastered meditation, and deep tranquility, but the physical devastation, and the loss of life remains a shock and assaults victims’ consciousness outside the bounds of ease. In today’s world, lard inhabits girth, flesh and bones resigns to aches and pains, but the anxiety level throttles the blood rush to extremely high pressure and consciousness pacified into quiet despair strips ancient certitudes and securities from equilibrium. We are not used to finitude and temporality; we escape to false comforts of momentary pleasures, dreams of paradise, delusions of heaven and illusions of forever. The only comfort we can offer Nepal is objective truth. Earthquakes are stronger these days, and preliminary musings has the loosening of tectonic plates as more water is added to oceans from melting polar caps, no thanks to carbon emissions. Stronger earthquakes are expected, and human settlement will deign to live on the lid of the cauldron before it brews over. We empathize with the brokenness not because we can crawl under people’s skins but because we share in the brokenness of life itself. That brokenness is its wholeness, the spiritually astute claims. As Schultz’ Lucy asked Charlie Brown: “Do you see any other life?” Charlie answers: “No.” Lucy bellows: “Well, live in it then.” For which she charges Charlie a fee of five cents! One who is not afraid to die is either lying or a Gurkha, is an old saying. Inflation has since hit Lucy’s five cents’ stand, now easily five dollars! Send yours to Nepal! Make no mistake, though. Nepal shall overcome! -----Original Message----- From: ICA-USA <csarro(a)ica-usa.org> To: earth2031bound <earth2031bound(a)aol.com> Sent: Fri, May 22, 2015 3:58 am Subject: Extended Deadline: Accepting ICA-Nepal Donations Until May 31st May 2015 | Special Announcement ICA-USA Accepting ICA-Nepal Donations Until May 31st ICA-USA would like to thank those who have donated to ICA-Nepal in the past few weeks. To date, we've raised $10,000 together. In response to the secondary earthquake and the damage it's created, ICA-USA will be extending the deadline for donations until May 31st. The funds raised will be used by ICA-Nepal for relief, recovery and rehabilitation activities for earthquake affected people in Nepal. You can read more about their work here or at www.ica-nepal.org/. The values and methods around participatory planning and engagement in cultivating change that all ICAs share will be at the center of how ICA-Nepal assists in renewal. Many of us got to experience the greatness of Kathmandu in the 2012 Conference on Human Development. Let us help get this amazing place back on its feet. If you would like to help with the restoration and donate to ICA-Nepal, the ICA-USA is willing to accept these funds and send them to our sister organization in their time of intense need. Your gifts will be tax deductible and the entire amount donated will be sent to Nepal. You can donate by sending a check to ICA-USA (4750 N. Sheridan, Chicago IL 60640) with 'for ICA-Nepal' written in the memo/note, or you can donate online by clicking here. (http://www.ica-usa.org/donations/) Read the latest report from ICA-Nepal by clicking the image below: Forward this email to a friend This email was sent to earth2031bound(a)aol.com by csarro(a)ica-usa.org | Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. The Institute of Cultural Affairs in the U.S.A | 4750 N. Sheridan Rd. | Chicago | IL | 60640

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