February 2018 - OE - lists.wedgeblade.net

Re: [Oe List ...] [Dialogue] A confluence of Twins! Did I remember them all??
by Holcombe Wanda 19 Feb '18

19 Feb '18

What a treat to be reminded of the “double treats” all the twins were to our community. I was always in deep admiration to the moms who birthed their twins (or any child) while on assignments in developing nations and to all the couples who birthed twins and managed parenthood as part of the Order Comminity🌍🌎🌏 ......And to follow some of them as they grew and were loved by a larger community beyond their parents💗🦋 Wanda Sent from my iPhone > On Feb 18, 2018, at 8:53 AM, James Wiegel via Dialogue <dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: > > This subject line from a recent email . . . Stu & Elena's 50th Birthday Weekend! > > It was 1976. Maliwada village. The Castle at the end of the road. > The Harper twins, now turning 50 > The Balm twins > The Crocker twins > > And subsequently . . . > The Spencer twins > The Wiegel twins (just turned 40) > > > Jim Wiegel > 401 North Beverly Way, Tolleson, Arizona 85353 > Tel. 011-623-936-8671 or 011-623-363-3277 > jfwiegel(a)yahoo.com > www.partnersinparticipation.com > > Loneliness does not come from having no people around you. But from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you. Carl Jung > _______________________________________________ > Dialogue mailing list > Dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net > http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net Sent from my iPhone > On Feb 18, 2018, at 8:53 AM, James Wiegel via Dialogue <dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: > > This subject line from a recent email . . . Stu & Elena's 50th Birthday Weekend! > > It was 1976. Maliwada village. The Castle at the end of the road. > The Harper twins, now turning 50 > The Balm twins > The Crocker twins > > And subsequently . . . > The Spencer twins > The Wiegel twins (just turned 40) > > > Jim Wiegel > 401 North Beverly Way, Tolleson, Arizona 85353 > Tel. 011-623-936-8671 or 011-623-363-3277 > jfwiegel(a)yahoo.com > www.partnersinparticipation.com > > Loneliness does not come from having no people around you. But from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you. Carl Jung > _______________________________________________ > Dialogue mailing list > Dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net > http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net

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2/15/18, Plumer/Spong: Meeting the Challenge; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 15 Feb '18

15 Feb '18

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR Meeting the Challenge Fred C. Plumer As President of the PC.org Board, and until recently, acting Executive Director, I somehow found myself with the job that requires I read all of the comments and complaints from our readers. After I read them, I either respond to them or try and find someone else to do it from our organization. Most of the time I find this part of my job informative and rewarding. The number of readers who write to thank us, or make a positive comment runs about four to one. I enjoy reading how someone felt an article we published changed their life or their perspective. I also like reading how someone who had been struggling with an evangelist friend, found strength to begin to unpack his/her view of religion or their faith journey. I even enjoy reading an email from someone who disagrees with one of our writers or frankly something I wrote in a particular column, but is supportive of our efforts to provide wide a spectrum of positions. However, recently I have heard from a couple of people who wondered why we cannot find anyone like Bishop Spong to write the column. A couple of them let me know they were going to cancel their subscription and one said they would continue taking the articles but put me on notice that we needed to make some changes. For example, one writer took us to task because our author had used a common swear word, even though it was a word the President of the United States had used. That was the point of the article by the way. Another writer complained about the way our writer “trashed the great history” of the Methodist tradition, when in fact the author was a proud, Methodist pastor and had been for over 20 years. His remarks were really about how the Methodists leadership had forgotten their own long term traditions and values. Now please do not think for one moment that we did not expect some blow back when we had to announce that Bishop Spong could no longer write his column. We were not naïve. First of all, Bishop Spong is a brilliant scholar. Not only does he have the depth of someone who studied and wrote his whole professional life, but he was and continues to be a voracious reader. Many other authors wanted Bishop Spong to write reviews of their new books which he often did, but he had to read them. He kept up with what was going on in the world. Secondarily, unlike most scholars, he did not get into a rut. He did his research and if something new came along, or if he had second thoughts on something, he was willing to change. He also has a wonderful way of taking the most complex issues and explaining them in a way that most of us could understand. That is a talent that few people have. Thirdly, Bishop Spong is a man in his eighties who has been writing this column for over twenty years. He had developed personal relationships with most of his regular readers, the vast majority of whom had been receiving his column for at least ten years, many of them longer than that. I wish I could show you some of the emails and notes we were asked to forward to him during his time of recovery. Many of the folks who wrote him during this time period were personal, warm and familiar. They were like someone writing their dear “Uncle John.” Others were not quite so familiar but shared fond memories of a time they heard him speak and how much it had meant to them. And we have no idea how many of them wrote directly to his home. He had six thousand subscribers at one point and it was a loyal group of people, not to mention the over 25,000 Facebook fans. And finally, Bishop Spong could write about someone he knew, or knew about in politics. He would gently, or not so gently, critique his/her actions based on his/her supposed religious claims. Some would call that political. However, Bishop Spong would wrap him/her in a long story and with interesting details and few, if any, accused him of getting political. It was another gift that he brought to the table. Please know that I sincerely appreciate all of these traits in the Bishop, and frankly several more I have not mentioned. He is a dear friend and I appreciate his gifts. However, when we began to think about whom we might want as authors to take up the reigns, we knew it was not going to be easy. I talked with Bishop Spong on several occasions and our organization created a list of potential candidates. You may be surprised to learn that over half of the people on our lists were suggestions or even recommendations by Bishop Spong. Now here is the important point. Our goal was not to replace him. We knew that was impossible. Our goal, rather, was to find younger people when possible, who were already immersed in some type of a religious profession and were “doing” some of the things that Bishop Spong has been suggesting over the years. Our goal was to find people who were no longer struggling with the old time religion and were moving in a new direction. In other words we were looking for practitioners of the way that Spong has been outlining, particularly in his last book, Unbelievable. (I am aware that most of you are still waiting to get your copy…soon I hope.) For most of his career, Bishop Spong was first and foremost a “deconstructionist.” He unpacked the Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse to show us just what the writers or story tellers were thinking and the history behind the writings. Some of the time he surprised us and other times he said things that many of us were thinking but never knew just how to explain it. But he used his incredible knowledge of the Bible to show us how far off we had taken the Jesus story. For example in 1990 he wrote a book, Living in Sin. In this book he took on the silliness of our approach to human sexuality based on a false understanding of our Bible. He covered everything from marriage to learning to love the LGBT community, especially in our churches. Then in 1992 he wrote a book called Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism. In this book he demonstrated a lack of knowledge of the Bible was our real problem. Spong challenges the science of many of the fundamentalists’ understanding of the Bible. Then in 1994 he published a book, Born of a Woman. In this book he dealt with the folly of a virgin birth and the church’s poor treatment of women, as a result. In 1996 he wrote Liberating the Gospels. This was a powerful book that helps us see the Bible through the eyes of a Jewish scholar. It frees us to read the Bible with a different perspective, the perspective for which it was intended. In 1999 he wrote, Why Christianity Must Change or Die. I believe this is where he first used the term, “Believers in Exile.” And in this book he demonstrates the limits of the traditional Christian faith and the impact this has had on our failing churches. In 2011 he wrote, Re-claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World and 2013 he wrote book called The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic. In this book he explains that there were at least two people who wrote the gospel during a tumultuous time for these early Jewish/Christians and they were forced to adjust their thinking. This is certainly not a complete list of books Bishop Spong has written over his amazing career, but clearly demystifying the Bible was one of his major focuses. No one can do it better than him. Quite honestly, we have not yet found an author who can match Bishop Spong’s gifts, work ethic, his devotion who was willing to write an article every week, and whom also has a personal relationship with our readers. But we invite you to be open to the journey with us as his endorsed authors begin to create this relationship with you and share their visions and incredible unique gifts. Now before you pick up your pen to write me an angry letter citing different places in one or even several of his books where Bishop Spong was making some suggestions on how we might rebuild Christianity, I know he did that. Someone might even point out his book, A New Christianity for a New World published in 2001. And yes he did begin to make some important recommendations in that book that could be considered reconstruction or rebuilding. However, in his newest book, Unbelievable Spong calls for a whole new way of approaching the Christian faith. It is not totally a new thought for him, but in this book he is being very specific about how he sees a future of Christianity. In this book he spells out twelve theses, starting with the need to recreate our understanding of the word God. He then walks us through the balance of the eleven other theses and an epilogue. At the end of the book he simply asks, “Can Christian theology once again be enabled to interact with contemporary knowledge? Can Christian liturgies be made to reflect reality rather than nostalgia? Can Christianity affirm human oneness while still embracing its radical diversity? Can this faith create a new institutional form that fosters a truth-seeking, universal community?” Bishop Spong calls for change. He challenges us to begin to rebuild a new Christianity and frankly, that is what we are trying to do here. These are the issues we have asked our authors to deal with. We do not need to do any more deconstruction. It has been done, and done well. There are still organizations that are devoted to this endeavor but we no longer see the need for that. We are trying to build something that we can proudly call a New Christianity. This is what we are trying to birth even though we do not yet know what form it will eventually take, what it will look like, or how it will feel. We do know that most of us will not be around to see the end results. That is the challenge we have been given, however, and we accepted it. Over the next several months, we will be asking our esteemed authors to share their perspective on the above questions. I look forward to hearing what they share. I hope you do as well. I am honored and excited to be on this transformative journey with you all. It will take all of us. It will take the wisdom from our elders and the innovation of our younger generations. It will take bravery, creativity and radical trust. I recently came across a quote and I apologize for not knowing the source. I have Googled it and flipped through several books to no avail. But it went something like: We are in a historical transition globally for a new form for the sacred. This is something I shared with our Board two weeks ago, and this is something I am sharing with our authors. And this is something today, I am sharing with you. Thank you for your continued support. And please feel free to let me know how we are doing. ~ Fred C. Plumer Read the essay online here. About the Author In 1986 Rev. Plumer was called to the Irvine United Congregational Church in Irvine, CA to lead a UCC new start church, where he remained until he retired in 2004. The church became known throughout the denomination as one of the more exciting and progressive mid-size congregations in the nation. He served on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC) for five years, and chaired the Commission for Church Development and Evangelism for three of those years. In 2006 Fred was elected President of ProgressiveChristianity.org (originally called The Center for Progressive Christianity - TCPC) when it’s founder Jim Adams retired. As a member of the Executive Council for TCPC he wrote The Study Guide for The 8 Points by which we define: Progressive Christianity. He has had several articles published on church development, building faith communities and redefining the purpose of the enlightened Christian Church. His book Drink from the Well is an anthology from speeches, articles in eBulletins, and numerous publications that define the progressive Christianity movement as it evolves to meet new challenges in a rapidly changing world. Question & Answer Dr. Wallace from the Internet, asks: Question: Our diocese has a linked relationship with one of the dioceses in southern Sudan. Terrible conditions. Our bishop and his wife visited the area (Kajo Keji) for three weeks several months ago. Our diocese has responded generously to pleas for food and other assistance. As it often happens, once caring people become personally exposed to conditions of millions upon millions in the developing world and have an opportunity to compare and contrast, the result - certainly by most Christians I have known - is a strong motivation to respond. In Swaziland in January, I guided our rector through a nine-day tour of conditions and the AIDS situation in Swaziland - same response. My bias as a Christian has been for many years that many faith groups place a significant emphasis and focus on the importance of belief as compared with the importance of behavior.   I recall a number of passages in the New Testament that cite Christ's focus on loving God and our neighbors. From my personal perspective, love of a neighbor and all of its critical interpretations receives much less focus and emphasis in the Church than love of God. What usually occurs after a meaningful experience with poverty, loss of hope and inequity, there is a brief flash of sympathy, often action of some sort - some of which is indeed useful. But sooner or later there seems to be a return for our church leaders to fall back on what appears to me to be some fuzzy interpretations that occurred many centuries ago and would never stand active interpretation.   So, as I challenge church leaders, clergy and congregations, my question relates to how I can encourage them to review one of the essential mandates from Christ - his clear and emphatic emphasis on our responsibilities toward our fellow human beings. Answer: Rev. Mark Sandlin Dear Dr. Wallace, Great question. If I had the answer to it, I'd currently have a bestselling book. But, I don't. It seems to me that we are talking about the difference between two kinds of belief. The first is a belief that is not backed by action. It is basically an opinion. The believer hasn't integrated the belief into who they are. They are merely holding onto it as an intellectual plaything (and I'm not saying that's an entirely bad thing). Given the opportunity to put that opinion into action is typically a positive experience. For most, however, it is only that – a positive experience that reinforces their belief/opinion. It doesn't cause the belief to become more integrated into who they understand themselves to be as a person. That brings me to the second kind of belief. This is belief backed by action. As a matter of fact, it's a belief that's held so deeply, you almost literally have no choice but to act upon it. We'll call it, conviction. For some people, putting a belief/opinion into action can connect with them on a deeper level and move to a point of belief/conviction. This seldom, if ever, happens if people only donate money or specific items. While those are very necessary things, they are charity. Charity is needed and it helps those giving feel like they are doing something good, but it doesn't tend to deeply impact the emotional and theological outlook of a person. If, however, they are hand delivering those items to those in need, we begin to take baby steps toward making charity a thing of justice. Unlike being involved with charity, justice does have a tendency to connect more deeply with people. As you are making contact with those in need, hearing their stories, understanding their struggles, and then possibly taking a stand with them against the systems that oppress them, it becomes personal – you become convicted. I guess what I'm saying is, not surprisingly, if you want to be convicted in your love of neighbor (maybe particularly your marginalized neighbor), a good place to start is in actually getting getting to know them. Just like Jesus did. ~ Rev. Mark Sandlin Read and Share Online Here About the Author Rev. Mark Sandlin is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) from the South. He currently serves at Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. He is a co-founder of The Christian Left. His blog, has been named as one of the “Top Ten Christian Blogs.” Mark received The Associated Church Press' Award of Excellence in 2012. His work has been published on "The Huffington Post," "Sojourners," "Time," "Church World Services," and even the "Richard Dawkins Foundation." He's been featured on PBS's "Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly" and NPR's "The Story with Dick Gordon.” Follow Mark on Facebook and Twitter @marksandlin __________________________________________________ Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited The Connection between the Crucifixion and the Passover, Part IV In this series of essays, I have tried to push our analysis of the Passover story that anchors the gospel accounts of Jesus, beyond that primitive literalism that so often captures religious systems, so that its real truth can be perceived. This attempt is focused on the goal of discerning what it was that constituted the original and powerful Jesus experience. Something caused those first disciples to come to the conclusion that somehow, in some way, through some means, God had been met in this Christ, and that in Jesus a doorway into God had been opened. In that process, I suggested that the coupling of the story of the crucifixion of Jesus with the Passover story of the killing of the paschal lamb resulted not from history or memory, but from an interpretive, liturgical process. That is, the passion narratives of the gospels were written not in a reporter's language but in the language of worship. The first step was to demonstrate the fact that so many parts of the crucifixion story include symbols that suggest that it occurred in the fall of the year rather than in the early spring. Among those symbols were the leafy branches of the first Palm Sunday, the fig tree that Jesus was said to have cursed because it bore no figs months before its fruit might have been expected, and the Jewish fall festival of Sukkoth that seems to have provided significant content to the Christian narrative. Next I examined the substance and the form of that first passion narrative recorded in Mark, demonstrating that its content came not from eyewitnesses but from the ancient sources of Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. Its form suggested that it was written to observe a twenty-four hour vigil. It was neatly divided into eight three-hour segments that would carry the worshippers from 6:00 p.m. on what we now call Maundy Thursday to 6:00 p.m. on what we now call Good Friday. Since according to the earliest Christian sources there were no eyewitnesses to the crucifixion, its original purpose was surely not to relate what actually happened on that hill called Calvary. Jesus died alone. We must not forget that authentic note in Mark's gospel that tells us that when Jesus was arrested, all of his disciples, ALL OF THEM, forsook him and fled. When the death of Jesus began to be seen as similar to the death of the paschal lamb of Passover, it was natural that the crucifixion story and the Passover would be blended and the one superimposed on the other. Paul made that connection quite overtly when he wrote in his epistle to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 5:7), that Christ 'our new paschal lamb,' or 'our Passover' as the King James translators have it, 'has been sacrificed for us.' He then urged the Corinthians to 'celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.' The Book of Exodus suggests only unleavened bread was to be eaten at the time of the Passover (Exodus 12:1-14). Paul makes this reference with no explanation because it clearly had become an accepted part of the Christian understanding of the death of Jesus by the mid-fifties when this epistle was written. Our question thus becomes: What did it mean to the early Jewish Christians to see the death of Jesus as linked to the slaughter of the Paschal Lamb? First, let me relate the biblical story of Passover from the book of Exodus, for I discover that Christians are typically ignorant of the sacred traditions of the Jews. The biblical setting for the first Passover is ancient Egypt. Moses armed, we are told, with the power of God has gone in answer to a call heard in the burning bush to negotiate the release of the slave people from Egypt. The Pharaoh was unmoved by Moses' plea and so God begins a divine reign of terror against the Egyptians that we have come to call 'The Plagues.' First, the Nile was turned to blood and the fish in it died. Next came the plague of frogs, then gnats, then flies, then the cattle became sick and the Egyptians broke out with boils. This was followed by the plagues of hailstones, locusts and darkness. Periodically during the plagues, the biblical story tells us that Pharaoh relented and promised to let the people go whereupon God removed that particular plague. But the narrative says both that 'Pharaoh's heart was hardened' (Exodus 9:34), and that 'God hardened' his heart (Exodus 10:20), thus allowing the plagues to continue their devastation. Finally, in some desperation, the story reaches its climax in the 11th and 12th chapters of Exodus. There God informs Moses of the divine plan for the final and most devastating plague of all. God will send the angel of death throughout the land of Egypt to slay the first-born male in every household. However, a problem arose as to how the angel of death would know the difference between a Jewish home and an Egyptian home lest this angel kill Jews by mistake. Clearly God hated only Egyptians! To solve this problem, God tells Moses to instruct the people of Israel to protect themselves in this manner. Each family is to choose a lamb from its flocks on the 10th day of the month called Nisan. If a family is too small to consume a whole lamb, it is to join its neighbors or to gather single people into extended family groups so that no one is excluded from the feast or put at risk from the avenging God. The lamb to be sacrificed shall be male, one year old and without blemish, says the text. On the 14th day of that month, this lamb is to be slaughtered and the blood from the lamb shall be sprinkled on the Jewish doorposts of those homes in which the paschal feast is to be eaten. This blood would be a sign to the angel of death that this was a Jewish home so that no one within it would be killed. Presumably the angel of death did not have supernatural power, or the ability to discern a Jewish home from an Egyptian home so the angel had to be guided by the sign of blood on the doorpost. Wherever a bloody doorpost appeared, the angel of death would "pass over" that house and thus slay only Egyptians. This is where the term 'Passover' emerges. It was a strange tribal story, in many ways an evil story that portrayed God as hating all those whom the chosen people hate. When this angel struck, death was experienced from the palace of the Pharaoh to the humblest Egyptian household, including even the first-born male animals in the Egyptian flocks. While all of Egypt was in mourning the Jews would ceremonially eat the roasted body of the lamb of God before beginning their escape to the freedom of the wilderness. That is the Passover story in all of its gory details. Now try to imagine a synagogue celebrating Passover in those years following the crucifixion of Jesus at which some of the disciples of Jesus, "The Followers of the Way" they were called, were present as worshipers. As the drama of Passover was reenacted, these early disciples used the liturgical setting to help them understand the meaning of Jesus' death. His death, they had come to believe, had also hurled back the power of death. With his own blood Jesus had pushed the specter of death away from his people. I suspect this connection was first made in a primitive Christian sermon and it went something like this: "Our ancestors once lived in bondage in the land of Egypt. When they made good their escape it was because God had used the blood of the paschal lamb to break the power of death. Now in a similar fashion, we who lived in the bondage of sin have experienced a new deliverance. The blood of Jesus, our new paschal lamb, has been placed upon the cross that was symbolically the doorpost of the world. That blood has broken the power of death that is always the result of sin and is its ultimate punishment, according to the story about the Garden of Eden. So the blood of the new paschal lamb has freed those of us who through this Christ now come out of our bondage into the glorious liberty of the children of God. We will thus be spared the permanence and pain of mortality, for in this Jesus death itself has been swallowed up in victory." The cross thus came to be viewed the moment of deliverance for the followers of Jesus, just as the slaying of the paschal lamb had become the moment of Jewish deliverance. The Christian observance of its founding was celebrated in the liturgy of the Eucharist in every age, just like the Passover was celebrated every year as an observance of the founding of Judaism. Liturgy serves to remind us of who we are, where we have come from and what it is that we have come to believe is our ultimate destiny. In this manner, crucifixion was tied into Passover and by the time the gospels were written decades later, the liturgical interpretation of the cross had been historicized and the crucifixion of Jesus was said to have literally occurred at the time of the Passover. Then quite naturally the liturgy recalling the final hours in Jesus' life became for Christians an expanded version of what the liturgy of the Passover had been for Jews. After the Christian Church became substantially Gentile by the turn of the century, this Jewish background was first ignored and then forgotten. That meant that the description of the founding moment in the Jesus story began to be understood as the account of eyewitnesses. So it was that the story of the cross became literalized as if it were an objective historical account of the founding moment of the Christian faith. To deliteralize this experience is not to destroy it, as traditionalists believe, it is rather to open the experience so that it becomes timeless, and people in every age might enter it. Once the deliteralization process begins, however, it goes on and on. If the story of the cross is not remembered history, if the connection of the Passover with the crucifixion is not literal then is any part of the time frame of the passion story to be literalized? Was the symbol of the three days that was said to separate crucifixion from Resurrection a literal measure of 72 hours? Or is there some new and deeper meaning even there? To that question I will turn next wee ~ John Shelby Spong Originally published February 23, 2005 Announcements Why Christianity Is No Longer Believable – And How We Can Change That Now on Sale! Unbelievable - Why Neither Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce living Faith Today John Shelby Spong’s final book Unbelievable Five hundred years after Martin Luther and his Ninety-Five Theses ushered in the Reformation, bestselling author and controversial bishop and teacher John Shelby Spong delivers twelve forward-thinking theses to spark a new reformation to reinvigorate Christianity and ensure its future. Click here for more information/purchase options. Progressing Spirit is getting a new look! We are excited about our new look and format, please check out our new website here.

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Spring Sojourn Invitation
by Timothy Wegner 13 Feb '18

13 Feb '18

Jean Long asked me to send this along: ICA Global Archives SPRING SOJOURN April 22 (arrive) – April 28 (depart) *WHAT NEXT?* *TASK:* Create enticing forms to make our wisdom appealing on the new Archives Website. Working in small teams we will work in several arenas: 1. Website structure continuation 2. Indexing 40 video stories taped during Fall Sojourn 3. Creation of storyboards (templates) and videotaped “elevator talks” for specific collections (program arenas) to make the material interactive and enticing 4. Begin work on indexing the content of 60 JWM talks. Thanks to Michael May these have been transferred to CDs and need table of contents for each One of the gifts of this gathering is that we can also share what colleagues are doing in their locations to carry on “the mission”. Cheap flight sales are on now. No previous archive experience needed. Early registrations get a choice of rooms near bathrooms. *PARTICIPANT PRACTICS:* Location: ICA Greenrise Building Learning Laboratory (aka Kemper Building) 4750 North Sheridan Road Chicago, IL 60640 Sleeping rooms on the 8th floor – Couples - $45.00; Singles – ($30.00 per bed) Food - $25 per day for 3 meals (Monday through Friday) Parking fee - $7.50/day: $45.00/Sunday - Saturday Registration fee - $30.00 to cover conference materials and expenses To register: e-mail reception(a)ica-usa.org For additional information, contact Jean Long (720-633-5008) Jean.long512(a)gmail.com

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2/08/18, Sandlin/Spong: “God” Isn't in the Bible; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 08 Feb '18

08 Feb '18

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR “God” Isn't in the Bible Rev. Mark Sandlin Language is more important than many of us realize. More precisely, the specific words we choose to use impact our way of thinking, our social behavior, and many other perspectives of our lives. It’s actually a fairly recent development in the human brain in terms of our long history as a species. The frontal lobes of our brains have actually expanded to handle its expanded work requirements. Now, there are certainly folks who do understand and acknowledge the importance and impact of language. For example, at the progressive church where I minister, we have an exceptionally hard time picking out hymns for our Sunday service. I particularly struggle when it comes to the naming of God. Far too many hymns use masculine or aggressive terms for God like Father, King, Lord, Shield, Defender, etc. It’s not just the controlling or combative image of God that concerns me, but also the way it prevents many people from seeing God in themselves. As my kids were growing up, the last thing I would have ever wanted would be for my daughter to get the message that God was more like her brother than her. All of this is to say I think a lot about language and scientific evidence only reinforces with me that it is an exceptionally important task. Recently, I’ve started having issues with a word that, well, I never expected to have problems with: God. The roots of my problem probably started awhile back when I came across a disheveled looking street preacher who was holding a Bible high above his head and shouting out, “God will save you from the fiery pits of Hell.” At some point, he looked right at me and said, “Son, have you given your life over to God?” I answered him saying, “I think the God that you know and the God that I know aren’t the same God.” I pretty much regretted responding that way from the moment I said it, but the fact is, I said it. As I’ve mentioned, I minister at a progressive church. During each of our services there is a time for the congregation to respond to the talk I give. Over time, it’s been very interesting to listen to how various individuals name/describe God. The truth is, if they use the name at all, very few only say, “God.” It’s much more likely that they say, “God,” then with a sort of apologetic look on their face for saying, “God,” they’ll add, “the Universe, the spirit/thing that’s larger than us,” or something like that. Many of us have a theological issue with what the word “God” has come to represent. Conservative Christianity has always been the dominant social expression of Christianity in the U.S. Particularly, since our last presidential election, it’s become harder and harder to recognize the God that group worships as being anything close to biblical, particularly when it comes to the teachings of Jesus. So, it really isn’t all that surprising that progressive Christians have start having issues with the word “God.” It turns out, that while it is perfectly understandable that we are having issues with the term “God” because of how conservative Christians are using it, we should actually have a bigger problem with the word for an entirely different reason: it isn’t in the Bible. Yep. “God” is not mentioned in the Bible. “The hell it’s not,” you say? While it is true that even the earliest English translations of the Bible refer to the Hebrew/Christian deity as “God,” it’s not only a poor, but rather incorrect translation of the original Hebrew and Greek words used to refer to the deity. Worse yet, at least in my opinion, we’ve opted to use it as a proper name for God which is something the Bible never does. In general, the Bible simply uses descriptors for God, particularly in the Old Testiment. Elohay Kedem – the god of the beginning (Deuteronomy 33:27). Elohay Mishpat – the god of justice (Isaiah 30:18). Elohay Marom – the god of heights (Micah 6:6). Elohay Mikarov – the god who is near (Jeremiah 23:23). Elohay Mauzi – the god of my strength (Psalm 43:2). Elohay Tehilati – the god of my praise (Psalm 109:1). Elohim Chaiyim – the living god (Jeremiah 10:10). Elohay Elohim – the god of gods: (Deuteronomy 10:17). You might notice the recurrence of Elohay/Elohim. They are the singular and plural forms of the Hebrew word for “deity.” Sometimes they are shortened to simply “El.” As in: El Yisrael – the god of Israel (Psalm 68:35). El HaShamayim – the god of the heavens (Psalm 136:26). El De’ot – the god of knowledge (1 Samuel 2:3). El Elyon – the most high god (Genesis 14:18). Immanu El – god is with us (Isaiah 7:14). By capitalizing “God,” modern English translations give the impression that the uses of El/Elohim are proper names rather than descriptors pointing to a deity. Not only that, it’s a translation whose roots stray from the intended understanding of Elohim. The Hebrew here indicates “might, strength, most excellent, greatest, unequaled.” However, Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary tells us that the word “god” comes from a Germanic word that means “the invoked one.” So, not only do most modern English interpretations suggest that “God” is the proper name for the Hebrew/Christian deity, the use of the word “god” betrays the original implications of the Hebrew description of the deity. As I said, we should have bigger issues with the word “God” than just how conservatives are using it. In terms of the New Testament, most of the times we see the word “God,” it is replacing the Greek word, “theós,” which is simply the Greek word for deity. Interestingly enough, it is typically preceded by a form of the Greek definite article ho. Yet again seeming to indicate that it is not meant to be the name of the deity. Admittedly, this is a relatively recent exploration from me. In most ways, I find it very freeing to recognize that “God” is not in the Bible. It feels much less confining and seems to give “God” a breadth of understanding that is much needed. I’m not saying others shouldn’t use the term “God” in referring to the Christian deity, I’m simply saying that it is not so easy to define and box “God” in when we don’t. If anything, it should give us permission to play with descriptions of the god of the Universe, to vary how we describe the god of compassion in conversations, to not be so hemmed-in in naming the god who is and ever will be. For me, it’s not just freeing, it pushes me to consider my understanding of the god who ties us together, in deeper more meaningful terms and that is an incredibly exciting journey to be on. ~ Rev. Mark Sandlin Read the essay online here. About the Author Mark Sandlin is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) from the South. He currently serves at Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. He is a co-founder of The Christian Left. His blog, has been named as one of the “Top Ten Christian Blogs.” Mark received The Associated Church Press’ Award of Excellence in 2012. His work has been published on “The Huffington Post,” “Sojourners,” “Time,” “Church World Services,” and even the “Richard Dawkins Foundation.” He’s been featured on PBS’s “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly” and NPR’s “The Story with Dick Gordon.” Follow Mark on Facebook and Twitter @marksandlind Question & Answer Scottie from Seattle, asks: Question: Is God a person? Answer: Lauren Van Ham Dear Scottie, In my theology, “Yes, and…” The universe began its intricate, gigantic, and truly awesome expansion 13.7 billion years ago. Humans arrived on the scene a mere 5 million years ago. Therefore, God is and has been many things, including humanity. Everything that exists now, or has existed in this span of time, originated within that first spark of Divinity. Each being I encounter is a manifestation of God – my neighbor across the street, the rows of earth teeming with vegetables, the flight attendant, the feral cats living near the bike path, the sea lions sunning themselves outside the aquarium, and on and on. All life forms hold particular intelligences and dimensions. Humans carry will and the ability to reason. Spiritual disciplines help us to both appreciate our abilities, as well as to take responsibility for the power and privilege they grant. To reduce God to only being a person seems woefully short-sighted. God is life, and life perpetually pulsates around us, whether or not we sit in witness to each inhale and exhale. And then, God is in the negative spaces, too: the night sky following sunset, the patches of canvas that haven’t received paint, and the nano-second of “no-thingness” before one cell descends, becoming a root, and the other ascends, becoming a shoot. Perhaps, before anything else, God is possibility. Within possibility there can be creativity and there can be destruction. As carriers of God, we have been given the humbling task of discernment; of moving through the world not simply as entitled takers, but as deep listeners, responding wisely and with love to the needs and shifts of life’s unfolding. So, yes, God is a person, manifesting as possibility in every human everywhere, and God is so, so much more. ~ Lauren Van Ham Read and Share Online Here About the Author Lauren Van Ham was born and raised beneath the big sky of the Midwest; Lauren holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, Naropa University and The Chaplaincy Institute. Following her ordination in 1999, Lauren served as an interfaith chaplain in both healthcare (adolescent psychiatry and palliative care), and corporate settings (organizational development and employee wellness). Her passion and training in the fine arts, spirituality and Earth’s teachings has supported her specialization in eco-ministry, grief and loss, and sacred activism. Lauren’s work with Green Sangha (a Bay Area-based non-profit) is featured in Renewal, a documentary celebrating the efforts of environmental activism taking place in religious America. Her essay, “Way of the Eco-Chaplain” appears in the collection, Ways of the Spirit: Voices of Women. Lauren tends a private spiritual direction practice and serves as Dean for The Chaplaincy Institute in Berkeley, CA. __________________________________________________ Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited The Connection between the Crucifixion and the Passover, Part III The Influence of The Jewish Festival of Sukkoth on the Passion Narrative Western Christians find it hard to understand that the gospel writers were not writing objective history. Yet nothing we know about the formation of the New Testament supports that conclusion. Jesus lived between 4 BCE and 30 CE. He spoke and taught in Aramaic. The gospels came 40 to 70 years after his death and they were written in Greek. This means that almost everything that we know about Jesus lived in oral transmission and underwent one translation before we get to the earliest documents that we possess. During that time his followers had continued to worship in the synagogues of their ancestral Jewish faith before the movement that he had begun separated itself from Judaism in 88 CE and came to be called Christianity. They were originally called "The Followers of the Way." Realizing these facts, our claim to possess objective history in the gospels begins to wobble. Next, we have become aware that after the writing of Mark's gospel in the early 70's, the written record of Jesus expanded about every decade with Matthew writing in the early 80s, Luke in the late 80s or early 90s and John in the late 90s. By reading these accounts in the order in which they are written, we can actually watch the story grow and the miraculous heightened. The obvious question that these data raise is one that has been generally ignored by Christian interpreters. So let me pose it in several forms. Where did the sayings of Jesus, the parables of Jesus and the stories about Jesus reside in that oral period between the end of his life and the first writing of the gospels? In what context was the oral tradition maintained? In what ways did that context shape, change and transform the message? The reason these questions are seldom raised is directly related to the residual effect of the idolatrous worship of the Bible that we call bibliolatry. Bibliolatry gripped the early church and still resides in traditional parts of Christianity today. The gospels have for far too long been treated as if they are history and therefore are presumed to be accounts of what Jesus actually said and did. They have been invested with the literal claim that they are the dictated words of God. When people begin with that definition of the Bible, they are not disposed to study the origins of their sacred story. It is easier to make excessive claims for its inerrancy and to seek to maintain the now thoroughly discredited fiction that the Bible was received by divine revelation. Incredible though it may seem, after some 200 years of critical biblical scholarship, its impact, for the most part, still has not escaped the hallowed halls of academia. The insights gleaned from that study, and their impact on how the Bible can be competently and accurately read, are still largely ignored in both Catholic and Protestant circles. It is actually worse than that. Scholarly study of the scriptures is still being attacked in these circles as "godless heresy." A preliminary study of the gospels will, however, reveal the obvious fact that the story of Jesus was repeated primarily in the synagogues during the years after the death of Jesus and before the gospels were written. The clue here is discovered in the wide use of Old Testament references that are both overt and covert in the gospel narrative. Paul wrote that Jesus died and was raised "in accordance with the scriptures." When Paul wrote the only scriptures he knew were the Hebrew Scriptures. In the gospels the prophets are quoted to show how Jesus fulfilled them. Micah is quoted to undergird the Bethlehem birth story. Isaiah is quoted to develop the story of the Wise Men. Isaiah had written that kings would come to the brightness of God's rising. They would come on camels, they would come from Sheba and they would bring gold and frankincense. In a book called the Wisdom of Solomon, Israel's most opulent king is quoted as having said, "When I was born I was carefully swaddled for that is the only way a king can come to his people." This line clearly shaped Luke's birth story of how the infant Jesus was wrapped in 'swaddling clothes.' We could illustrate this connection between the Hebrew Scriptures and the Jesus story quite literally thousands of times. What we need to realize is that the only place the people heard the Jewish Scriptures read was in the synagogues. In those days, books were on scrolls, handwritten and very expensive. People did not own copies of the Hebrew Bible to read at their leisure. The Gideon Society did not place them in local hotels. If the Jesus story was interpreted by and understood through references to the Hebrew Bible, the only place that could have happened was in the synagogue where the reading of the Law and the Prophets and expounding on their meaning constituted the major part of their liturgy. In this series of columns on the relationship between the Passover and the telling of the story of the crucifixion, I have suggested that even the sacred accounts, which propose to describe the final events in Jesus' life, are not the recordings of historical memory. Rather they are the later developed, synagogue-inspired liturgical interpretation of what his disciples had come to believe, that in and through the life of Jesus, they had experienced the eternal God. In the first of this series, I pointed out hints in the text itself that suggest that the original dating of the crucifixion narrative appears to have been changed. Passover came in mid to late March. There were no leafy branches that could have been waved in a Palm Sunday procession at that time in Palestine, even though the literal text suggests that Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem came just before the crucifixion. There was no fig tree whose failure to produce figs in late March could have elicited the killing curse from Jesus that both Mark and Matthew describe. The connection between Passover and crucifixion seems to be rather forced in the gospels. Then we looked at the earliest version of the Passion of Christ narrative found in Mark (14:17-15:47) that appears to be a liturgical form based on the Passover but stretched into a twenty-four-hour vigil with the content of the story drawn not from eye witness memory but from Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. The next step in this consciousness raising enterprise is to look at whether the holy days of the Jewish liturgical year were also used to shape the story of Jesus. I now want to bring one of those holy days, about which Christians tend to know nothing, into our awareness. In the fall of the year, the Jews celebrated an eight day Harvest Festival called Sukkoth (pronounced sue-coat), sometimes called the Feast of the Tabernacles or Booths which drew Jewish pilgrims from all over the known world to Jerusalem. Despite its enormous popularity Sukkoth is mentioned only once in the Bible in John 7 so most Christians have no idea of how this festival was observed. If they did they would recognize that the symbols of Sukkoth have been subsumed in the details of the Christian story of Palm Sunday. Listen to the similarities. The worshipers at Sukkoth marched in procession round the Temple waving in their right hands something called a "lulab," which was a bundle of leafy branches bound together, made up of myrtle, willow and palm. As they marched they recited Psalm 118, the psalm of Sukkoth. Among the words of this psalm are these: "Save us," which is an English translation of the Jewish word, "Hosanna," and "Blessed is he who enters (comes) in the Name of the Lord." This psalm goes on to say, "Bind the festal procession with branches," and it contains other words later interpreted as referring to Jesus, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner." There is little question that the Palm Sunday story was dependent on the details of this harvest festival holiday of the Jews. Since Sukkoth shares common content with Palm Sunday, we have another piece of evidence suggesting that crucifixion and Passover were linked together for interpretive not historical reasons. There are other symbols of Sukkoth that seem to have entered the crucifixion/resurrection narrative of the early church. While worshipers carried a lulab to wave in their right hand in the Sukkoth procession, in their left hand they carried an "ethrog" (pronounced e-trog), a box of sweet-smelling spices, usually the blossom, leaves or fruit of the citron tree, once again possibilities only in the fall of the year. I wonder if the sweet smelling spices, that the women were said to have carried to the tomb of Jesus on Easter morning, are a reflection of this. Also as part of this celebration, Jewish families were instructed to build a temporary booth outside their homes to remind them of the time their ancestors spent wandering in the wilderness after their escape from Egypt when they had no permanent home. This booth was to be a place in which they ate a ceremonial meal during the eight-day celebration. I cannot help but wonder whether this temporary and ceremonial dwelling place got transformed into a temporary tomb in Joseph's garden. I also wonder whether the shelter to which Cleopas and his friend turned aside to enter in Luke's Emmaus Road resurrection story, and in which they ate a ceremonial meal with the Risen Christ, was yet another echo in which the Sukkoth liturgy shaped the basic Christian story. Once we begin to dig beneath the surface of the gospels we discover interpretive clues to which the literalism of the past has blinded us. This exercise may destabilize yesterday's literalism but it also open for us the real question that we ought to ask today: What was there about this Jesus that caused them to see him as the fulfillment of the law and the prophets; as the human life through which the holy God was experienced? How was it that they came to see his death as similar to the death of the paschal lamb of Passover and thus allowed the Passover to frame their telling of the Passion of Jesus? To the issues raised by these questions I will turn next week as our journey towards Easter continues. ~ John Shelby Spong Originally posted February 16, 2005 Announcements 2018 Progressive Theology Weekend “Why the Way We Live is More Important than What We Believe-Conversations with Gretta Vosper” “Why the Way We Live is More Important than What We Believe-Conversations with Gretta Vosper” is the theme for the 2018 Progressive Theology Weekend at The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, 17750 S. La Canada, in Sahuarita, AZ. Gretta Vosper is coming to the Good Shepherd UCC February 16-17, 2018. She will share from her books: “With or Without God and Amen.” Click here for more information/registration

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Global Buzz- ICA Nepal added
by ICA International 07 Feb '18

07 Feb '18

Enjoy catching up with what is happening in ICAs across the globe.....If you wish to SEND a report...send to your ICA contact person OR...go to the members section on the ICA International website Please click the link below for the latest issue of the Global Buzz Global Buzz Report: February 2018 or copy and paste this URL into your browser's address bar http://globalbuzz.icai-archives.org/7dayreport-18/2018-02-01.php ICAI Communications

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Global Buzz February
by ICA International 06 Feb '18

06 Feb '18

Enjoy catching up with what is happening in ICAs across the globe.....If you wish to SEND a report...send to your ICA contact person OR...go to the members section on the ICA International website Please click the link below for the latest issue of the Global Buzz Global Buzz Report: February 2018 or copy and paste this URL into your browser's address bar http://globalbuzz.icai-archives.org/7dayreport-18/2018-02-01.php ICAI Communications

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(Pittsburgh) Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN) - Feb 8, Thursday 7-8pm
by englewoman＠verizon.net 04 Feb '18

04 Feb '18

Friends near SW PA may be interested in this event by Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN) Thursday, February 8, 2018. Join PIIN for Charles Allen Lingo Jr: Lessons Learned from Dr. King On Thursday, February 8, PIIN will suspend the standard protocol for our monthly Board of Directors meeting to hear from Al Lingo, a white Protestant minister who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King in St. Augustine, Florida and Selma, Alabama in the 1960s. In 1964, Al Lingo was one of several civil rights advocates who jumped into a segregated pool filled with acid at the Monson Motor Lodge in downtown St. Augustine to protest the restaurant’s refusal to seat Dr. King. When the pool protest began, the lodge manager poured acid into the water to force demonstrators out. The images of the protest went viral, embarrassing the nation and culminating in President Lyndon B. Johnson demanding passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. PIIN is honored to have Al Lingo in our company on February 8, and we hope you’ll join us to hear him share his treasure trove of experiences fighting for justice alongside Dr. King. Al Lingo: Lessons Learned from Dr. King Thursday, February 8, 2018 7:00pm-8:00pm Pittsburgh Theological Seminary: 616 N. Highland Ave. Knox Room (Main Floor of Seminary) https://www.npr.org/2014/06/13/321380585/remembering-a-civil-rights-swim-in… Posted by: Elizabeth Engleman englewoman(a)verizon.net Baltimore, MD 21218

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2/01/18: Van Ham/Spong: God is Always Needing to Be Born; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 01 Feb '18

01 Feb '18

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR God is Always Needing to Be Born Lauren Van Ham January is over and 2018 is finding its voice. Each year extends possibility. Within the possibility, events take place – births, deaths, celebrations, mishaps – and history is made. Meister Eckhart, the 12th century mystic proclaimed, .........We are all meant to be mothers of God… ..........for God is always needing to be born. In December, just after the shortest day of the year, the church calendar welcomes the return of holy innocence. Jesus is born and 12 days later, on Epiphany, Christians celebrate his physical arrival, a much-awaited incarnation called forth by ages of invocation and prophecy. Christmas carols lift the refrain, “Christ was born to save!” And then, Eckhart comes along with, “God is always needing to be born.” As 2018 unfolds, this teaching is a prompt for us. What role will we play as mothers of God? For the last decade, my holy work in this world has been called, Eco-chaplaincy. On this path, I have tried to create some guiding principles to help me and others who wish to embody a lifestyle which supports and celebrates life in all its forms, humans included! In this time on Earth, the task of being an informed human is unrelenting; societal panic and personal despair are abundant. Fortunately, the eco-teachings we receive in winter are hugely instructive about how we might ready ourselves for whatever lies ahead, and I want to highlight 3 of them now. Here’s the first one: Slow down. The insistent urgency of our economy pulls us along, yanking us from the end of one year into the next with stories of scarcity and endless tactics to stimulate spending. If we follow the Christmas story as it is shared in the New Testament, we know that the baby was taken away to Egypt, away from the noise and violence of the Imperial system. Or if, like me, you feel less moved by the story, but truly curious by what around you feels real, then in this season (at least for much of the Northern hemisphere) we observe Earth’s soil as frozen and fallow; it’s resting to be ready for when longer days return. Walter Brueggemann, the brilliant Old Testament scholar, says this, “Sabbath, in the first instance, is not about worship. It is about work stoppage. It is about withdrawal from the anxiety system of Pharaoh, the refusal to let one’s life be defined by production and consumption and the endless pursuit of private well-being.” Despite Advertising’s efforts to move us through this slower, liminal time and fast forward to Spring, we can honor what might feel a bit messier, but also more true. Stillness or sabbath, is the first practice to help us envision the life we are called to live, a place where God needs and wants to be born. Sometimes, the stillness is blissful but we cannot forget Brueggemann’s mention of an anxiety system that suggests our worth is determined by what we do and what we acquire. I don’t know about you, but when I pull away from such patterns, I feel disoriented and quite frankly, duped. In stillness, there can be a nervous backlash in response to “not doing.” I’m reminded of some lines from the David Wagoner poem, “Lost.” Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you are not lost… You must let them find you. Alright, so we slow down, and in that strange place of leaving the day-to-day pace of 120mph, finding ourselves on foot, in the forest, we might actually discover feelings. That’s right, I said this can get messy! When we allow ourselves to slow down so much that our emotional voices can be heard, what do they say? And more importantly, will we honor them? Feeling is the second practice that helps move us toward the world we are empowered to co-create. We begin with our own feelings, but to really appreciate the collective emotional intelligence available, there’s more to this one. Soong-Chan Rah, is a theologian and seminary professor who is committed to freeing spiritual communities from what he calls, “Western Cultural Captivity.” Rah writes, “Lament is honesty before God and each other… should we not be concerned over a church that lives in denial over the reality of death in our midst?” Friends, as readers of “Progressing Spirit,” and earlier posts by Bishop Spong, we are not blind to the death around us – the extinction of species, our government’s termination of life-affirming policies, and the archetypal display of patriarchy in its last gasps. While so much of laboring to birth God begins inwardly, as individuals, it is what we do together that makes our beliefs visibly alive in the world. This is tough when the dominant system rewards us for our ability to do things without needing any help – some thrive on this, and some give up entirely, hoping that others will find a magical way forward. But these, “Independence Teachings,” are written nowhere in the sacred texts I know. Moreover, Earth’s teachings repeatedly show us the brilliant interdependency that sustains us all – trees needing CO2, and mammals needing oxygen – as the most obvious example. After winter’s snow and ice, rivers of water and muddy, sloppy mush precede the return of firm earth, gardens and leaves. Our communities are only as strong as the transparency and vulnerability we entrust to them. How will your spiritual community resolve, this year, to acknowledge the mess? To create a very intentional time and space for lament…and then to mindfully respond? When our anguish is fully met, we see our passions and convictions more clearly; more love becomes possible. Love = God being born. In the poem, “The Man Watching,” Rainer Maria Rilke urges us to lean-in, allowing Earth’s expressions of intensity to metaphorically mentor us, What we choose to fight is so tiny! What fights with us is so great! If only we would let ourselves be dominated as things do by some immense storm, we would become strong too, and not need names. In the lines just after these, Rilke refers to Jacob wrestling the angel. Dominated in the struggle, Jacob “loses,” and comes away forever changed, blessed. In the face of more frequent natural disasters and civil wars over resources, we are most certainly being asked to wrestle! We don’t have to, of course, but I suspect that if we apply stillness and allow our true feelings to surface, that engagement will be a natural response. It is one thing to love Earth, to strive to defend and protect Her, but as with any sacred activism, there is also the moment when we lose our attachment to the outcome, when we move a particular way in the world because of a sacred communion we feel. And here it is! The third and final practice for this article. Do you feel Earth’s love for you? In the noise around us, imagining the magnitude of Earth’s love for us is a radical act. Last July, there was an eerie string of days when a Delaware-sized piece of the Larsen C ice shelf was breaking away from Antarctica. Did some of you watch that? I was astonished, watching science blogs with awe and terror. I wanted to call out, “Is anyone else listening to this? Who among us is thinking about what this really, really means?” A few weeks later, I heard myself say to a close friend, “I wish the whole world would’ve paused for a moment of silence.” Yes! What if we had? Would anything feel different right now if, when the Larsen C left the South Pole to melt steadily on its float to the North, humans around the world had taken 60 seconds to be still…and to feel? We do this for other epic events, tragic, cosmic or otherwise. Where were you, for example, on the day of the total eclipse? Perhaps the Larsen C’s split from Antarctica is the Divine plan unfolding just as it should. None of us knows how our story with Earth is to evolve or find its end for that matter; but it is in this paradoxical space of wrestling and finding blessing that our spiritual paths are formed. I think we do this because we DO know the Love that comes from it — the Divine Love that is in us, and for us, wants us to be in Love. As 2018 evolves, how do you perceive God needing to be born? When we’re clear about what isn’t working, Eco-ministry asks us to imagine what we do want and I hope we all will consider these three practices: Stopping for Stillness, Daring to Feel and sharing our Laments in Community, and then Wrestling – not for the perceived reward of winning – but rather to receive the unimaginable flow of Earth’s Love that is in us, for us and beyond us, calling us to God who is always needing to be born! ~ Lauren Van Ham Read the essay online here. About the Author Lauren Van Ham was born and raised beneath the big sky of the Midwest; Lauren holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, Naropa University and The Chaplaincy Institute. Following her ordination in 1999, Lauren served as an interfaith chaplain in both healthcare (adolescent psychiatry and palliative care), and corporate settings (organizational development and employee wellness). Her passion and training in the fine arts, spirituality and Earth’s teachings has supported her specialization in eco-ministry, grief and loss, and sacred activism. Lauren’s work with Green Sangha (a Bay Area-based non-profit) is featured in Renewal, a documentary celebrating the efforts of environmental activism taking place in religious America. Her essay, “Way of the Eco-Chaplain” appears in the collection, Ways of the Spirit: Voices of Women. Lauren tends a private spiritual direction practice and serves as Dean for The Chaplaincy Institute in Berkeley, CA. Question & Answer Cynthia from Engleswood, New Jersey asks: Question: I belong to a church that has a fairly sophisticated membership. We are inclusive and pride ourselves on our openness to diversity of race, socio-economic background, ethnic background and sexual orientation. It's a warm, comfortable atmosphere in which to worship, and people remark on the welcoming nature of our congregation. I cringe, however, every time we enter the Lenten season, especially as we get closer to Palm Sunday and Good Friday. Some of the references to the Jews clearly foster an anti-Semitic atmosphere. There are Jews in the choir and some in the congregation as well. While sophisticated people realize there is a 2000-year span of time between the Crucifixion and today, still there are people who succumb to literalist interpretations and justify their own prejudices. I am especially concerned about the impression this makes on children and for the feelings of the Jews who sit in the pews and listen to these readings. How can we address this and still read the accounts in a faithful manner? Answer: Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. Dear Cynthia, your concerns resonate deeply with me. Although context is not everything, it affects everything. Texts that emerged originally within a Jewish milieu and embody intra-Jewish differences, today land upon the heart and ear as anti-Jewish rhetoric within the very core of the holiest days of the Christian liturgical year. To be unresponsive is to be irresponsible. Our multicultural and interfaith context requires that we make significant changes in worship if we are to be faithful to the Christic wisdom path of Jesus. Over the past decade I have worked with communities within the Episcopal church, at least one of which has various faith traditions counted among its worshiping membership, to reconceive the vision of Holy Week, to draw upon radically inclusive translations of scriptural texts, and to preach in such a way as to deliberately and forthrightly acknowledge the anti-Jewish history and rhetoric of prayer, song, and story, and to rewrite the liturgies we pray that shape our searching souls. Let me offer a few concrete examples. Our flyer for Holy Week speaks of The Wisdom Way of Christ: A Holy Path for 21st Century Seekers. The spiritual path of the realization of our Christic nature, not sacrificial atonement, is the genesis of our worship. Within this embracing vision, the distinct liturgical days receive their renewed focus, drawing principally from the Wisdom literature of the scriptures. The Reign of Wisdom is the meaning of Palm Sunday. Being Sent to Serve is the thrust of Maundy Thursday. Companionship and Cross, not abandonment and isolation, is the heart of Good Friday, and the reality that Light Renews our Life is the message of Easter. But it is not enough to reform the liturgies of Holy Week. The liturgies and readings and songs and prayers which shape us throughout the entire year must be reworked to reflect more clearly the Jewish spirituality of Jesus of Nazareth. We also need to radically expand our vision of what a faith community is today. For not only are there Jews who sit beside Christians in our faith communities, there are also Muslims and Unitarians and Buddhists and those who consciously eschew labels of identification and are searching for a safe place to search and question and be supported. What this diverse presence brings is an invitation: the faith community exists not to convert to a belief system, but to welcome into faith journey. There is a universal relevance in the Christic wisdom path of Jesus: each and every being is a unique and precious embodiment of the Holy Source; a chosen One of immeasurable worth. Too often the light of Christ is dulled and distorted by text and ritual when it need not be. Our responsibility is to polish the lenses from centuries of deadening dust. ~ Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. Read and share online here About the Author Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. is an Episcopal priest, a student of the Diamond Approach for over a decade, as well as a certified teacher of the Enneagram in the Narrative Tradition. He is the founder of the Healing Arts Center of St. Paul’s Church in Marquette, Michigan, and the author of five books, including “I Have Called You Friends“, “Holding Beauty in My Soul’s Arms“, and “My Heart is a Raging Volcano of Love for You” and “Beyond my Wants, Beyond my Fears: The Soul’s Journey into the Heartland“. _______________________________________________ Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited The Connection between the Crucifixion and the Passover, Part II Last week I began the analysis of the crucifixion of Jesus as it appears in all four gospels, examining in particular the claim that this founding moment in the Christian story occurred in the context of the Passover, which celebrates the founding moment in the sacred story of the Jewish people. I raised the question as to whether that connection is literal, remembered history or is rather an interpretative liturgical adaptation. My first clue was found in an examination of the narrative of the crucifixion found in Mark, the earliest gospel, which scholars generally date in the early 70's C.E. In that story of the Passion, (14:17-15:47), I pointed out that we have a format of a 24-hour vigil divided into eight clearly marked three-hour segments. The material that provides the content of this account has been lifted not from remembered history, but from Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. That was my first clue. Christians need to embrace that even the treasured description of Jesus' crucifixion is not literal history, it is later interpretative material. Jesus died alone with no one standing by to record what happened. Mark has made that clear by his assertion that when Jesus was arrested all of his disciples forsook him and fled (Mark 14:50). It is the setting of the crucifixion story against the observance of the Passover that first started my questioning process. Passover is observed in the Jewish world on the 14th and 15th days of the month of Nisan, which would place it in late March or early April on our calendars. The biblical narrative in Mark, Matthew and Luke (to put them in the order in which they were written) suggests that the Palm Sunday triumphal entry into Jerusalem took place just five days before the Passover. It indeed was the Passover celebration that drew Jesus and his disciples to Jerusalem in the first place. If this entry came a week before Passover it would move the date to somewhere between mid-March and the first of April. Yet the Palm Sunday procession, according to the earliest narration in Mark (11:1-10) was accompanied by the spreading of leafy branches that they cut from the fields (Mark 11:8). The only trouble with that little detail is that at that time of year, there are no leafy branches in the Holy Land. The leaves have not yet come out! Is that a hint that the Palm Sunday procession was either not history at all or was not originally in the spring of the year? It is at the very least a provocative clue that we might want to probe further. The next step in our analysis comes when we examine the passion narrative in Matthew, which was the second gospel to be written, coming some 10-12 years after Mark. However, we know that Matthew had Mark in front of him when he wrote, so any time we see that Matthew has overtly and clearly changed the text of Mark, we need to ask why. What was his reason? Can we discover his agenda? Looking at Matthew's version of Mark's Palm Sunday procession story (Matt. 21:1-9) we discover a fascinating note. Whereas Mark refers to the cutting of "leafy" branches, Matthew, perhaps aware that there were no leaves on the branches of the trees in late March or early April, simply omits the reference to the leaves. This means that in Matthew's gospel the crowd only cut branches (v. 8). A branch without leaves might better be called a stick and sticks without leaves are not thought of as instruments that can be spread or waved. It is the leaves that provide the cover on the ground on which the procession can move. It is the leaves that flutter when the branches are waved. So I become slightly more suspicious when Matthew omits the leaves from these branches. Turning next to Luke who wrote some 5 to 10 years after Matthew, and who also had Mark before him when he composed his gospel, we discover another interesting clue. Luke's Palm Sunday story (19:28-44) has omitted any reference to the waving of the branches at all. There are no leafy branches in Luke because there are no branches at all. Luke has replaced that gesture with another. In Luke's Palm Story the people only lay down their clothes before him (v. 36). Was Luke also suggesting that Mark's story did not add up and he wanted to make it consistent? There were no leafy branches to be waved in the Holy Land in March. When we come to John's gospel, that is generally dated somewhere between 95-100, we believe that we are dealing with a different and independent source. He is not dependent on the rest of the synoptic tradition.The data we find here is thus even more fascinating. John does not appear to identify Jesus' entry into Jerusalem with the Passover. He has been there in the region for some time. Jesus however stages a procession into Jerusalem just a few days before the Passover. When we recall that John is the only gospel that claims to be based on the work of an eyewitness, his placement needs to be looked at carefully. I know of no scholar who thinks this gospel was actually written by the disciple of Jesus named John Zebedee. However, there is a strong scholarly tradition that suggests that the Fourth Gospel John might be the work of a disciple of the apostle John and thus might reflect more remembered history than the others. The Johanine note that I wish to add to the growing data, however, is that John is the first gospel to suggest that the branches they waved were made out of palm and thus were evergreen. Palms however would not be characterized as "leafy branches." By naming the Sunday before Easter, Palm Sunday, we have stamped the day with its particular identification with palm branches so it is of interest to note that only in a book written 65-70 years after the crucifixion does the narrative suggest that palms were used in the triumphal entry. One wonders why that note would have escaped the memory of the authors of Mark, Matthew and Luke. None of this is yet a persuasive argument. It is only a series of hints that are becoming cumulative — so on we move. We come next to the story of a fig tree that Mark relates as coming on the day after the Palm Sunday procession (Mark 11:12-14, 20, 21). Mark's account says that when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, he went to the Temple and looked around. Presumably he saw the commerce and the moneychangers at work but he did nothing more than to take in this scene before withdrawing for the night to Bethany where the group was headquartered, probably at the home of Mary and Martha. The next day on their way up to Jerusalem from Bethany for the activity that came to be called the cleansing of the Temple, Mark tells us that Jesus was hungry. Seeing a fig tree in the distance, he went to it seeking figs. However, no fig tree bears fruit in late March in the northern hemisphere. Jesus, apparently unaware of that bit of reality, is irate and curses the fig tree to eternal barrenness. It is a strange portrait of Jesus, generally ignored by sermon writers. To curse a fig tree for not bearing fruit in March is not unlike blaming a man for not getting pregnant. It is to be judged for the inability to do the impossible. After this episode, Mark relates the dramatic story of Jesus driving those buying and selling as well as those changing money from the Temple. Then on the way home, Mark concludes the fig tree story by observing that Jesus' curse took. The fig tree had withered to its roots. Is this again hidden evidence of a different dating process? Had this story been in the fall it would not be so jarring, so difficult to understand the actions of Jesus. Is this a hint that it was originally a fall narrative and that when it was moved into the orbit of the Passover in early spring all of its now inappropriate time references were not smoothed away? Once more we turn to see what Matthew and Luke do with this strange story as they work from Mark's text to create their own. Matthew relates the fig tree story almost identically. He simply makes it wither at once and does not have to revisit this uncomfortable narrative as Mark does. Luke however omits it altogether in this context, but earlier in his gospel (Lk 13:6-9) he uses much of this material in a parable about a fig tree that it does not produce fruit, creating in the owner of that land the desire to cut the unproductive tree down. His foreman saves the tree for at least a year with the promise of digging around it and fertilizing it. The leafy branches reference in the first Palm Sunday triumphal entry story and the fig tree story were both told as part of the preamble to the crucifixion at the time of the Passover. They both seem out of place in that early spring setting. Is there a hint in these narratives that the original context of both was the fall of the year? They look like they have been moved and rather clumsily at that. When these things are examined one cannot help but wonder if these accounts were not originally connected with the fall of the year and, sometime between the death of Jesus and the writing of the gospels, were moved because the crucifixion had been attached liturgically to the Passover, and the death of the Paschal Lamb at Passover had become the way the death of Jesus was interpreted. I invite you to hold that possibility open until we can examine another clue that seems to suggest that the details of the Palm Sunday story have been borrowed from another Jewish tradition that occurs in the fall of the year. To that story I will turn next week as this series on the relationship of the Passion Story of Jesus and the Passover of the Jews continues. ~ John Shelby Spong Originally published May 9, 2005 Announcements The Co smic Mass with Matthew Fox Seeing Deeper: Healing Deeper "An Interfaith Ritual for Interracial Healing" Join Matthew Fox's Cosmic Mass on February 8th, 2018 from 6:30pm to 9:30pm at the Washington Cathedral, 3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington DC. Click here for more information.

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