November 2019 - OE - lists.wedgeblade.net

Joe Mathews Dissertation on John Wesley
by Wendell Refior 21 Apr '20

21 Apr '20

Colleagues - We now have a digital copy of JWM's Dissertation on Wesley. A Study of John Wesley, turned in and rejected by Niebuhr and never rewritten or approved. Wendell Refior for the ICA Global Archives Chapter 1: The Human Constitution https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/21219.pdf Chapter 2: The Life of Love https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/21220.pdf Chapter 3: The Knowledge of Faith https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/21221.pdf Conclusion: Concluding Remarks https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/21222.pdf -- Thanks until later. "To believe what is true for you in your private heart is true for <everyone> -- that is genius." - Emerson in "Self-Reliance" Wendell

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Global Buzz reminder for December
by ICA International 28 Nov '19

28 Nov '19

Reminder for entries This reminder is for the Global Buzz that will be published December 5th. 2019 (Please send your entries at least a day or more ahead) Please send all your entries by regular e-mail to: inform(a)ica-international.org with your entry as an attatchment. Send details of news items, training programmes, your peer to peer connections with other ICAs, any concerns you may have and of any events that are coming up at your location. Your report can be long or short, but remember that all other ICAs would really like to know about the things that matter where you are, and what you are doing as an ICA. Peter, for ICAI Communications Pour les entrées de rappel Ce rappel est à la Global Buzz qui sera publié le 5 decembre 2019 (Veuillez envoyer vos entrées au moins une journée à l'avance) Veuillez envoyer toutes vos entrées maintenant par courriel ordinaire à : inform(a)ica-international.org avec votre entrée comme un attatchment. Envoyer les détails des articles de nouvelles, des programmes de formation, vos connexions peer to peer avec d'autres CIAS, de toute préoccupation que vous pourriez avoir et de tous les événements qui sont à venir à votre emplacement. Votre rapport peut être longue ou courte, mais rappelez-vous que toutes les autres CIAS aimerait vraiment savoir à propos de choses qui importe où vous êtes et ce que vous faites comme une ICA. Recordatorio de las entradas Este aviso es para el Global Buzz que se publicarán 5 diciembre 2019 (Favor de enviar sus entradas al menos con un día de antelación) Por favor envíe todos sus entradas ahora por correo electrónico a: inform(a)ica-international.org con su entrada como un archivo adjunto. Enviar detalles de noticias, programas de capacitación, el peer to peer las conexiones con otros convenios o acuerdos internacionales, las preocupaciones que usted pueda tener y de los eventos que se aproximan en su ubicación. El informe puede ser a corto o largo, pero hay que recordar que todos los demás convenios quisiera saber realmente sobre lo que realmente importa, y lo que están haciendo una ICA.

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11/28/19, Progressing Spirit: Brian McLaren: Why do we use Christ as a synonym for Jesus?; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 28 Nov '19

28 Nov '19

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!important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv1903795420 #yiv1903795420templateBody .yiv1903795420mcnTextContent, #yiv1903795420 #yiv1903795420templateBody .yiv1903795420mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv1903795420 #yiv1903795420templateFooter .yiv1903795420mcnTextContent, #yiv1903795420 #yiv1903795420templateFooter .yiv1903795420mcnTextContent p{ font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;} } I’ve been pondering this question too … for decades! | | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Why do we use Christ as a synonym for Jesus? | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Brian McLaren November 28, 2019 This week's essay is in response to a question we received from Janet: I wonder who “Christ” is. I know when people use the term, they are referring to Jesus. But Christ didn’t walk on water, Jesus did. So why does Christianity so often use the word Christ for Jesus; I find it confusing and incorrect. Some say there is a “Christ event;” so what is/was that event? Is that when Jesus became the Christ? “Christ” is the equivalent of Messiah, “anointed one.” Saul was a messiah; so was David as well as others. So why do we use Christ as a synonym for Jesus–or are they not one and the same? Janet - thanks so much for this question. I’ve been pondering this question too … for decades! As you may know, Fr. Richard Rohr recently wrote a book on the subject, called the Universal Christ, and the former Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, recently wrote a book called Christ, The Heart of Creation. So if you’re wondering about the meaning of Christ, you are not alone! Let’s start by saying the obvious: Christ isn’t Jesus’s last name. It’s a title, like doctor, reverend, president, or governor. It’s the Greek translation for the Hebrew word for Messiah, and both words mean “smeared,” as in smeared or anointed with oil. In ancient times, scented oils were smeared on people being honored, named, or recognized for a special role, much like placing an Olympic medal on an athlete, or giving an important person the keys to a city, or putting a crown on a prom queen. In passages like Isaiah 61, this oil of anointing was associated with the Spirit of God. In the Jewish tradition, a powerful spiritual, theological, and political movement developed around the idea of the Messiah. For centuries, the Jewish people were oppressed and occupied by one foreign power after another, and they dreamed of a mighty liberator or freedom fighter who would unite them, rally them, and lead them into war to overthrow their oppressors so they would be free at last. Various would-be-messiahs arose and staged uprisings, but one after another were crushed. For some, the dream of a messiah died, but for many, with each defeat, the hope would become even more fervent. You can think of it this way: there were kings over Israel who were puppets or accomplices of Caesar in Rome. They were not liberating kings. They were oppressive, corrupt, complicit kings. Someday, the people dreamed, God will send us a new leader who will be both a spiritual leader and a powerful political and military leader; he will be anointed as our liberating king. Some years ago, I participated in a new translation/paraphrase of the New Testament called The Voice. I was assigned the books of Luke and Acts, and my assignment was to try to render the Greek and older English texts into contemporary terms that would make the meaning as clear as possible to people today. I struggled with how to translate the word Christ, and with this background in mind, I decided to use the term Liberating King. Today, I might simply render it Liberator instead. Many of Jesus' contemporaries dared to believe that he might be their liberator, their long-awaited Christ. Yet he refused to fulfill their expectations. They wanted him to unite and revive the people spiritually so they would go to war against their Roman oppressors. But Jesus wouldn’t comply, because he wanted to liberate people, not simply from violent oppression, but also from violence itself. “My kingdom is not of this world,” he once said. “If it were of this world, my disciples would fight.” So he dared to proclaim an alternative kingdom that would be planted nonviolently, like seeds in the middle of the existing one. He was flipping the script on what it meant to be “smeared” or anointed as the Messiah. Paul, when he was still called Saul, preferred the violent Messiah, and in fact he used violence to suppress the fledgling Jesus movement. Eventually, when he had a spiritual experience that convinced him that Jesus was in fact the Messiah or the Christ, it turned his life around. One of his favorite terms came to be “in Christ.” Just as “in the kingdom of God” is one of the key phrases in understanding Jesus, “in Christ” is one of the key phrases in understanding Paul. Think of it like this: in Jesus, Paul encountered the Christ, the Messianic or Liberating Spirit, moving in the world of his day. But the life of Jesus radically redefined his understanding of what Messiah or Christ meant. The way of the Christ was not a way of violence (as he once thought), but the way of nonviolent love. By repenting (having a paradigm shift, rethinking everything, having his whole world turned upside down), he came to see himself as part of this new liberation movement. Now, he was “in Christ,” in the Messiah, in the Spirit, a citizen, an ambassador, and an agent of God’s kingdom, a member of the body of people in whom the liberating work of Jesus continued, now in many human bodies instead of just one. Paul traveled around the Mediterranean world inviting people to join him “in Christ,” as part of the Spirit’s movement for justice, peace, and joy (see Romans 14:17). Paul’s vision, as I understand it, was that the world would be transformed as more and more of us offered our “bodies as living sacrifices,” meaning opening our lives so that the Christ, the Messianic Spirit, the Spirit of liberation and love, could fill us, transform us, and empower us to do what the Christ manifested in Jesus: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control. In-Christ people would be messianic people, people being healed and liberated so they could be sent out to heal and liberate the world through love. The in-Christ people would learn to live a new way of life with a new code and a new vision and a new identity (which is what a kingdom is). Jesus was filled with the Spirit, and anointed (smeared, marked as messianic) to preach good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberation to captives and freedom for prisoners. When we join that movement of love and liberation, when we enter “in Christ” (in the messianic movement), we become participants in the ongoing embodiment of Jesus, which is why we can be called “little Christs” (the literal meaning of Christians). Sadly, this meaning of Christ and Christian has been largely lost. Now, to be a Christian means little more than to belong to an institution or assent to a list of beliefs. (Some so-called Progressive Christians still understand Christian identity as a matter of beliefs. They just uphold different beliefs than their conservative counterparts. They’ve changed their beliefs, but not their fundamental understanding of Christian faith as a way of life rather than a system of beliefs.) This helps explain why the behavior of so many, if not most Christians, is so far from messianic. Nobody ever actually explained the real good news to them, the real good news that the Spirit of love and liberation is at work in the world, and if we will rethink everything — our values, priorities, purpose, even our politics — we can join the liberation movement! When we “get” the original understanding, I think we quickly discover that the messianic Spirit, the Spirit of love and liberation, doesn’t care about labels. As Jesus said (in John 3 and 4), the Spirit blows and flows where it will, and is happy to work with any willing people, whatever their label. If all this is true, then a number of other insights follow. For example, if “the Christ” means the presence of the Spirit of love and liberation, and if this is another name for God, then we would expect, as Richard Rohr says, to be able to see Christ “in every thing” through the universe, and as Rowan Williams says, we would expect to see Christ “at the heart of creation.” And if the Spirit of Christ, the Messianic Spirit, the Spirit of love and liberation is not the wholly owned subsidiary of one person or one culture or religion (as the story of Pentecost surely indicates), then we should expect to see the Christ showing up everywhere … even in us, and even in our neighbor! In that light, just as Moses didn’t want to hoard his spiritual power and role, but said, “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets” (Numbers 11:29), we can see why Jesus didn’t want to hoard the title “Christ.” Jesus was happy to share it and spread it far and wide. Just as he said "I am the light of the world," he also said, "You are the light of the world." As my friend Doug Pagitt explores in his excellent new book, Outdoing Jesus (Eerdman’s, 2019), Jesus wanted his disciples to be like their teacher, and to even do greater things than he did. He wanted us all to be filled with the messianic Spirit. He wanted us all to be embodiments or incarnations of the Spirit of love and liberation. As he was in the world messianically — for its nonviolent liberation, so he sends us. So your question, Janet, isn’t just a theoretical one. It’s one that invites us all into the movement of love and liberation in our world today. Imagine what that could mean for the planet, for the poor, for peace, and even for politics … if more and more of us join God’s ongoing movement to liberate the world from all that steals, kills, and destroys, and to fill it instead with justice, joy, and peace! ~ Brian McLaren Read online here About the Author Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He is an Auburn Senior Fellow and a member of the faculty of the Center for Action and Contemplation. He works closely with Vote Common Good, the Center for Progressive Renewal/Convergence, the Wild Goose Festival, and the Fair Food Program‘s Faith Working Group. His most recent projects include The Galapagos Islands: A Spiritual Journey and an illustrated children’s book (for all ages) called Cory and the Seventh Story. Other recent books include: The Great Spiritual Migration, We Make the Road by Walking, and Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road? (Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World). Brian has been active in networking and mentoring church planters and pastors since the mid 1980’s, and has assisted in the development of several new churches. He is a popular conference speaker and a frequent guest lecturer for denominational and ecumenical leadership gatherings around the world. He has written for or contributed interviews to many periodicals, including Leadership, Sojourners, Tikkun, Worship Leader, and Conversations. A frequent guest on television, radio, and news media programs, he has appeared on All Things Considered, Larry King Live, Nightline, On Being, and Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. His work has also been covered in Time, New York Times, Christianity Today, Christian Century, the Washington Post, Huffington Post, CNN.com, and many other print and online media. Brian is married to Grace, and they have four adult children and five grandchildren. His personal interests include wildlife and ecology, fly fishing and kayaking, music and songwriting, and literature. | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By Ed I fundamentally agree with your theology (Progressing Spirit) but need a clarification. I once considered myself an atheist (after FINALLY abandoning a strict Southern Baptist brainwashing). However I now consider myself an ‘a-theist’ vs an ‘atheist’. This to me means I have abandoned the Biblical personal God. However, I cannot pull away from ‘Universal Mystery’; especially when I see a real merger of that Mystery with modern Quantum Mechanical concepts. Just wondering if you too have ‘a hole in your soul’. A: By Rev. Brandan Robertson Dear Ed, Thank you so much for sharing a bit of your spiritual journey with us. I want you to know that your spiritual journey is very common. I bet that many, if not most readers of Progressing Spirit, feel the same way that you do. During the season when I was leaving the evangelical Christianity of my youth, I too jumped to an atheist position. This was primarily a result of my belief that the Church, or its leaders, had access to or represented God; and if their God was supposed to be the real one, there was no way I could believe in him. But as my journey continued, as I have studied science, anthropology, and learned about the evolution of human consciousness - I became utterly convinced that there was a Divine Life that animates and is at work in the Universe. I never feel this more acutely than when I stare into a star-filled night sky and contemplate the reality that we are here, on this ball of dirt, floating in an expansive cosmos. This seems to be the most ridiculous and unlikely reality - and yet, here we are. And as I stare into the sky, contemplating the mystery that is existence, I can’t help but think that such beauty was created for a purpose. That there is some sort of design behind this all. That some consciousness, somewhere has carefully crafted the Reality that we experience. I think science is overwhelmingly beginning to point in this direction, and the indigenous spiritual traditions of our ancestors have, in many ways, always pointed our gaze away from ourselves into the expansiveness of the Universe, and invited us to wonder at the majesty of it all. In those transcendent moments, I feel that “hole in my soul” fill up for just a moment. And then I return to my rational, modernistic thinking and have all sorts of questions about the validity of religious claims, and I become skeptical of theism altogether once again. This rhythm of profound awe and deep skepticism is, I think, part of the spiritual rhythm of progressive people of faith. Rather than fearing or judging it, I think we are better served to accept it as a gift, to be honest about our experiences, and to continue walking this journey with others who are traversing similar terrain. I hope you can find that where you live, and I hope that you know that this community here on Progressing Spirit is on this same journey of skepticism and awe with you! ~ Rev. Brandan Robertson Read and share online here About the Author Rev. Brandan Robertson is a noted spiritual thought-leader, contemplative activist, and commentator, working at the intersections of spirituality, sexuality, and social renewal and the author of Nomad: A Spirituality For Travelling Light and writes regularly for Patheos, Beliefnet, and The Huffington Post. He has published countless articles in respected outlets such as TIME, NBC, The Washington Post, Religion News Service, and Dallas Morning News. As sought out commentator of faith, culture, and public life, he is a regular contributor to national media outlets and has been interviewed by outlets such as MSNBC, NPR, SiriusXM, TIME Magazine, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Associated Press. | | | | | | | | Please continue to send us your feedback… we are listening. We aim to give voice to many different perspectives that are relevant and inspiring along this spiritually progressing path. We are not here to tell you what to believe or how to act. We are here to support your journey, to share and learn together.Thank you for being a part of this community! | | | | | | Join our FB community today! Spread the word, share with friends. Thanks! | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited The Origin of the Bible, Part VIII: The Priestly Revision of the Jewish Sacred Story (B) Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong June 18, 2008 While the first wave of Jews entered the Babylonian Exile around the year 596, a second wave came in 586 after a rebellion was put down by the Babylonians and all of the identifiable descendants of King David were executed. Both groups of captive people carried with them their sacred story, which at that time consisted of the merger of the Yahwist strand from the dominant land of Judah, the Elohist strand produced by the breakaway Northern Kingdom and the book of Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic revisions of the entire text carried out probably by Jeremiah and the Deuteronomic writers with the encouragement of King Josiah. When they left their Babylonian captivity, which they did in waves from 50 to 150 years later, that text had been completely rewritten and greatly expanded by a group of priestly writers, one of whom appears to have been the prophet Ezekiel. Now the Jewish sacred story reflected two things: the Jewish struggle for survival, which they had accomplished by making isolation from their captors a primary religious requirement, and a new understanding of their ultimate mission in this world, which was to return someday to their sacred soil, rebuild their capital city of Jerusalem and restore their ordered life of worship centered, as it had previously been, in the Temple. It was the stated mission of the priestly writers to create such a deep sense of what it meant to be Jews that their identity would never again be compromised individually or corporately. This could only be done by asserting that their sacred scriptures were in fact the absolute law of God, that these scriptures expressed the will of God for them and that their obedience to the Torah must be total and complete. So the priestly writers edited the sacred text of the Jews to illustrate that the story of their ancestors included the mandates of Sabbath observance, kosher dietary laws and the absolute requirement that all of the males of the tribe be circumcised. They also wrote into the Torah rules that were to govern every aspect of their common life. Representing a monumental revision, the priestly writers set about to accomplish this literary task, and accomplish it they did. The opening segment of the Torah was rewritten to reflect God’s command at the beginning of the world that all Jews must obey the Sabbath. This was a new creation story, actually modeled on a Babylonian story of God creating the world in a specific number of days. It suggested that creation was accomplished in six days so that God could obey the Sabbath by resting from the divine labors on that day, thus setting the pattern for all Jews to follow. This creation narrative moved from the idea of the spirit of God brooding over the chaos of darkness to bring forth life to the story of how light was separated from darkness on the first day. On the second day a firmament to be called “heaven” was made to separate the waters above the earth, from whence the rains came, from the waters below that presumably at that time covered the entire planet. On the third day the waters of the earth were gathered into one place and called the seas, and thus separated from the dry land which was to be called the earth. This enabled the dry land to bring forth grass, herbs, fruit trees and vegetables to be used for food as soon as living things arrived. On the fourth day God created the sun to light the day and the moon to light the night, dividing day from night and creating both seasons and years. God was also said to have made the stars on that day. On the fifth day the fish of the sea and the birds of the air were created and ordered to fill the sea and the air. On the sixth day God made the beasts of the fields and “everything that creeps in the earth.” Finally, on that same day as the last divine act, God made the man and the woman, together, instantaneously, both in the image of God. These human parents were also ordered to be fruitful, to multiply and to fill the earth. The work of creation was now finished and God pronounced it to be complete and good. So on the seventh day God inaugurated the Sabbath of rest, blessed it and hallowed it; enjoining its observance upon the subsequent generations of the Jewish people as their sacred duty. This whole creation story was the product of the priestly school in the Babylonian Exile and was designed, not to inform people about what happened at the dawn of creation, but in order to make observance of the Sabbath the original and defining mark of Judaism. It was the opening salvo of the priestly writers’ campaign to reshape the sacred story of the Jews in order to aid their goal of tribal survival as a distinct group of people living in and through a critical experience. Once that purpose in the creation story is understood, then the other priestly editorial changes can be noted and understood. In the story about God providing manna to the hungry Jews in the wilderness on their original trek from slavery in Egypt to what they believed was their Promised Land, the priestly writers inserted new details to reinforce the Sabbath. The manna from heaven was said now to have fallen only on six days of the week so that neither God in sending, nor the people in gathering up this heavenly gift had to work on the Sabbath. When the priestly writers came to the story of the Ten Commandments being given by God at Mt. Sinai, they added their creation story motif to the Sabbath Day Commandment as commentary. The earlier reason for the Sabbath (see Deuteronomy 5) was that the Jews were to remember from their days of slavery in Egypt that even slaves are entitled to a day of rest. It had nothing to do with a creation story since that story had not yet been written. Now, however, that was the reason the Commandments gave for a strict observance of the Sabbath. The priestly writers then sought in their revision to locate each of the distinctive marks of Judaism in the earlier narratives in order to attribute them all to Moses. So the kosher dietary laws were written into the Book of Leviticus as the commands of God through Moses. Circumcision was placed into the stories of both Abraham and Moses as something mandated by God. The elaborate rites of Jewish worship were spelled out in detail and adapted to their exile status, so that they could be observed even in captivity. Synagogues, as local teaching centers, were established to compensate for the loss of the Temple. Even the story of Noah was adapted so that Noah would have on board sufficient animals to carry out all of the required ritual sacrifices without jeopardizing the future of any species of which there was supposedly only a single pair that made it into the ark. The revision process of the sacred story went on for perhaps as long as 200 years. It was thus not the product of a single author or even of a single generation, but it accomplished its stated purpose. It stamped an identity on the Jewish people that became indelible. The Torah or Sacred Scriptures of the Jews was now the Jahwist-Elohist-Deuteronomic-Priestly version. The text had more than doubled in size. Great chunks of new material had been added, mostly to govern worship and behavior. Priestly additions included almost all of the Book of Exodus after the story of Sinai (Exodus 20), all of the Book of Leviticus and significant parts of Numbers, as well as editorial revisions of the entire text. It may not have come into its finished form until as late as the fourth century BCE. There is a narrative in the Book of Nehemiah (Chapter 8) in which a group of the Jewish people, having returned from the Exile and having rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem, were gathered “before the Water Gate.” There upon orders from the Governor, Nehemiah, Ezra the priest had brought to him “The book of the law of Moses” and he proceeded to read it to them in its entirety. This reading occurred, we are told, on the first day of the seventh month of the Jewish year. That was the day on which the New Year or Rosh Hashanah was to be celebrated and the people covenanted to be bound by this law. What Ezra read on that day was in all probability pretty much the substance of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. Two results of this new text of the law of God through Moses would soon affect the pattern of Jewish history. First, the passion to keep separate from Gentile infiltration in order to survive as a recognized people in exile got interpreted, when they returned to their homeland, to be a passion for ethnic purity. Genealogies were kept so that people could demonstrate their blood lines and prove their unpolluted Jewish heritage. This led to purges of those husbands, wives and children who were not demonstrably full blooded Jews, as well as to the judgment, found in New Testament times, that Gentiles were by definition unclean and thus to be avoided. It also led to the violent prejudice against those who came to be called Samaritans. These were the descendents of the people who had been brought in to resettle the land after the Jews had been exiled to Babylon, who had intermarried with those few Jews who had been left behind. Not only was their Jewishness compromised, but their religion was also corrupted by foreign and thus pagan elements. This meant that prejudices went deep and were justified by appeals to the “word of God” found in the Law of Moses. In time this prejudice against both the unclean Gentiles and the heretical Samaritans would reach such high levels of intensity that it produced protest books like Jonah and Ruth that somehow managed to remain in the Jewish Scriptures. Jonah expressed God’s concern for Gentiles and Ruth suggested that even King David would not have passed the racial purity test. The other result was the elevation of the Torah into the status of being the “Holy of Holies” in the Jewish Scriptures and this led to the synagogue practice of requiring the Torah to be read in its entirety on the Sabbaths of a single year in the stricter observing congregations and over three years in those less strict. The essence of Judaism was said to be the “law and the prophets.” The Torah was the law. We will turn to the prophets when this series continues. ~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements Climate Conversations: Dialogue in a Virtual Global Space Sometimes the most valuable conversations come about informally – a coffee break at a conference, a chance meeting on the street, an introduction at a community gathering, or a friendly greeting in a new setting. Global Conversations are an opportunity for informal dialogue in a virtual global space. READ ON ... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

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Celebrating the Completed Life of Shirley St. John.
by Lynda C 26 Nov '19

26 Nov '19

With fond memories of the journeys shared with the St. John family and celebrating a life of service and care. Another saint goes marching in! Lynda C. http://Outline.com/…/article_c4165f0e-0ca6-11ea-b80b-1b5929…<http://outline.com/www.hoosiertimes.com/herald_times_online/obituaries/shir…> <http://outline.com/www.hoosiertimes.com/herald_times_online/obituaries/shir…> HOOSIERTIMES.COM Shirley St. John, 88<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Foutline.com%2Fwww.hoosiertimes.…> Shirley St. John, 88 50John <https://www.facebook.com/ufi/reaction/profile/browser/?ft_ent_identifier=Zm…>

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Re: [Oe List ...] Celebrating the Completed Life of Shirley St. John.
by Joan 26 Nov '19

26 Nov '19

>From the minute Shirley and I met at the Program Center in Chicago in 1969, racing to the washing machines at 4:00 a.m. we knew we were destined to be life-long colleagues and friends. I really loved being a team with her in Japan because we were so different in our approach to solving issues and I felt so supported when we worked together. She was a really great woman and a saint. I will miss her. Joan Knutson -----Original Message----- From: Jack Gilles via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> To: OE Listserve <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Cc: Jack Gilles <jackcgilles(a)gmail.com> Sent: Tue, Nov 26, 2019 8:19 am Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Celebrating the Completed Life of Shirley St. John. Dear Colleagues, I too want to add my voice to the chorus of affirmation of such a great woman who always seemed to me a sign of the kind of grace and presence we share. One life, full and complete and pronounced Good. And the community replied: AMEN. Peace, Jack On Nov 26, 2019, at 07:39, Priscilla Wilson via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: Celebrating Shirley St John’s completed life. Priscilla Wilson. Sent from my iPad On Nov 26, 2019, at 6:37 AM, Richard Howie via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: We surely are surrounded by a GREAT cloud of witnesses!!Love, God's Grace and Peace for one and all,Ellen & Dick -----Original Message----- From: Lynda C via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> To: OE List <OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net>; ICA Dialogue List <dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Cc: Lynda C <lynda860(a)outlook.com> Sent: Mon, Nov 25, 2019 1:28 pm Subject: [Oe List ...] Celebrating the Completed Life of Shirley St. John. With fond memories of the journeys shared with the St. John family and celebrating a life of service and care. Another saint goes marching in! Lynda C. http://Outline.com/…/article_c4165f0e-0ca6-11ea-b80b-1b5929… HOOSIERTIMES.COMShirley St. John, 88Shirley St. John, 8850John _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net

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William Barr
by Jann McGuire 21 Nov '19

21 Nov '19

Thought some of you might be interested in this article about the Opus Dei organization. https://buzzflash.com/articles/william-barr-and-opus-dei-the-secretive-ultr… Jann McGuire

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11/21/19, Progressing Spirit: Brandan Roberts: How Progressive Christianity Can Save the World; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 21 Nov '19

21 Nov '19

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!important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv0148869655 #yiv0148869655templateBody .yiv0148869655mcnTextContent, #yiv0148869655 #yiv0148869655templateBody .yiv0148869655mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv0148869655 #yiv0148869655templateFooter .yiv0148869655mcnTextContent, #yiv0148869655 #yiv0148869655templateFooter .yiv0148869655mcnTextContent p{ font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;} } Christianity is inherently political. | | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | How Progressive Christianity Can Save the World | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Rev. Brandan Robertson November 21, 2019Christianity is inherently political. The faithful path taught and demonstrated by Jesus of Nazareth was arguably just as much a political vision for the future of the Jewish people as much as it was a path to spiritual salvation. After all, the long-expected Messiah of the Hebrew Bible was always seen as a political savior, one who would establish justice and righteousness between the affairs of humans once and for all. One who would cause wars and divisions to cease and would liberate those who had been caught in cycles of oppression. One who would replace every other king and emperor’s failed political systems with a divinely orchestrated government that would lead to the flourishing of the nations. This is the messianic tradition to which those of us who follow Jesus are laying claim. The declaration “Jesus is Lord” is a declaration of political as well as spiritual allegiance to the one whom we believe is the rightful ruler of humanity. While we know that this is true, progressive Christians have on a large scale been very resistant to engage in any way that seemed overtly political. We look to the Religious Right and see what is the very worst of Christian political engagement- powerful, privileged men finding ways to leverage their influence as faith leaders to cozy up to political powers and gain even more influence. We see a brand of Christianity that has sold its soul out to the agenda of a political party and its leaders, christening anything and everything that the party stands for as the Christian path. This corruption of Christianity for political ends has caused many progressive people of faith to pause and think twice before engaging as Christians in any political action. While this hesitance is clearly not unfounded, it has caused progressive Christians to forfeit a great deal of moral ground in our country over the past fifty years. We have refused to use our Christian values to cast a vision for the future of our country and the world that could inspire hope and ignite a deep political revolution that could change the hearts of millions of people. We have separated our spiritual beliefs from our political engagement, and what has emerged is a shallow, undesirable version of both. What is a political revolution for justice and equity if there is not a compelling, ancient spiritual grounding to argue for such a future? What is a faith that dreams for the reign of God to be manifest on earth as it is in heaven if there is no practical call to political action to make that vision a reality? What made Jesus such a compelling spiritual and social revolutionary was that he engaged both the political and the religious realms of his society without reservation. He spoke clearly about his political positions and his opinions about the political rulers of his day. He connected his spiritual and moral teachings to practical, political realities. When he told parables, such as “The Good Samaritan”, he was offering overt political commentary that was infused with spiritual wisdom. He understood that there was truly no difference between the political and the spiritual- both are dealing with the actions, desires, and possible futures of humans. The message that he taught in the Temple courts was relevant not just to the pious religious elites, but to the most irreligious passerby, because it cast a vision for a future that was for the common good of everyone, not just rewards for the faithful. One of the reasons I believe that progressive Christian denominations and organization have been facing such hurdles as we’ve moved into a new millennium is because we have allowed our faith to separate from our politics. We’ve overly bought into the extreme atheistic and humanistic positions that religion and politics have no business intermingling- which is not, by the way, what the idea of the separation of Church and State is about at all. And when our spiritual messages were removed from meaningful calls to engagement in the political affairs of our towns, cities, states, and nations, our version of Christian faith really did become irrelevant for a vast majority of people. Progressive Christianity became more about crafting theologies that could adapt to post-modern realities rather than about tangible transformation of lives, neighborhoods, and societies. And a Gospel without tangible transformation is not a Gospel worth believing… so people leave. As we stand in the midst of one of the most critical moments of human history, where the political future of the United States, and indeed the world, is in such great flux, and where the very survival of humankind over the next fifty years is a complete wild card, I believe that progressive people of faith have just the message that can bring hope and salvation to our world. We have a Gospel that takes into account the real challenges that humanity is facing, that offers real values and real solutions rooted in ancient narratives that have proven truthful for centuries. We have some of the greatest tools for organizing- namely communities of like-minded people who are waiting to take faith-rooted action for the common good, if only they were granted the permission to or had tangible examples of faithful political engagement. As we approach a new decade, it is going to be essential that progressive Christians begin to engage politically once again. It is essential that our pastors are not afraid to use our pulpits and our positions within our local communities to speak unambiguous truth to the public and to the powers that be. To name evil and injustice when we see it, while also naming potential solutions that are rooted in the wells of wisdom available to us from our faith traditions. It is essential that our local church gatherings transition from being museums of organized religion to community centers that utilize our religion for organizing as an expression of our devotion to Christ and to our neighbor. In this next era, progressive Christians must not be afraid to speak publicly, to engage elected officials, to create networks and organizations that unashamedly promote progressive values from a faith-based perspective. When we cast aside the weights of fear and complacency that have weighed us down and begin to once again have a sense of mission for why we exist as people and communities of faith, I believe we will regain our relevancy in culture and actually begin to shape the world in a meaningful way. The Gospel that we’ve been entrusted with will become compelling once again, because it will actually bring about the transformation and salvation that people are craving for so deeply. Progressive faith will become less about trying to convince people to join a sinking ship of institutionalized religion, and truly about joining a movement that is actually changing lives and the world. The actually has influence and power to make a difference. When I think about this kind of Christianity, I feel my heart leap. To be a part of a community that is actually at work to save the world through living out the Gospel of Jesus is why I first gave my heart to Christ so many years ago. And it turns out that this is the very kind of Christianity that, when reclaimed from the right, might just make me stick around the Church for years to come.~ Rev. Brandan Robertson Read online here About the Author Rev. Brandan Robertson is a noted spiritual thought-leader, contemplative activist, and commentator, working at the intersections of spirituality, sexuality, and social renewal and the author of Nomad: A Spirituality For Travelling Light and writes regularly for Patheos, Beliefnet, and The Huffington Post. He has published countless articles in respected outlets such as TIME, NBC, The Washington Post, Religion News Service, and Dallas Morning News. As sought out commentator of faith, culture, and public life, he is a regular contributor to national media outlets and has been interviewed by outlets such as MSNBC, NPR, SiriusXM, TIME Magazine, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Associated Press. | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By Roy I’ve read so many books I had to stop because my head hurts. My reading has included the Bible twice from start to finish, Borg, Spong, K. Armstrong, Fox, Miles, Vosper, Felton/Murphy, Rollins, Aslan etc. I am not a scholar but was and am fascinated (Borg’s word) and driven to understand religion and my own spiritual desire. Anyway, I’m not there but have this overarching question before I continue my search.. what is God? If the traditional theistic notion has been debunked is there one Progressive view? We all use the same word and reference to something sacred but are all of your contributors and authors sharing the same meaning? If so what is it? Are we talking about a Buddhist mental thing or some other force in the world? A: By Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. Dear Roy,Let me begin by saying that there is no “one Progressive view.” Indeed, one of the great gifts of a postmodern milieu is the freedom from a supposedly singular ahistorical perspective that dominates and devalues all others. That said, I believe there are common dimensions to a Progressive view: there is the inclusion of human experience both personally (phenomenology, psychodynamics) and communally (cultural studies), with all the incredible diversity that it necessarily embraces; there is also the integration of the complexity of various systems in and through which life unfolds. For myself, the existential longing within the Progressive view and what motivates my endless curiosity is the desire to know what is true about our experiences of Reality. Each author you cite has their own perspective and contribution to make to human spiritual inquiry. Freed from doctrinal blinders, what I find common to many, if not most of them, is the realization that Being is the Ground of what is Really Real. Being is not a mental category but the true nature of all that is. How that is so, well that is our amazing question. In many ways, Heidegger was correct – all roads of inquiry of what makes life possible lead to the exploration of Being. You speak of being “driven to understand religion and [your] own spiritual desire.” That is your starting place, that is your path. In your desire is your longing to realize your oneness with Being and that longing is your light, and it eschews ready-made answers. For me, no other question stirs the courageous human soul as the search for the true meaning of Being in our life. This is because “soul” is simply a word to describe Being manifesting as you, me, and every other phenomenon we encounter. The mystery is even deeper, because we can come to realize that we are Being. To come to know the true nature of ourself is to come to know Being. One of the gifts of Buddhism is that it always refers us back to the exploration of our own experience, our own sense of fascination, our own desire to understand. It wisely invites us to trust that to search for God is to explore Being, which means to be endlessly curious about your own soul’s journey.~ 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. Visit Kevin’s Blog: Essential Living: For The Soul’s Journey. | | | | | | | | Please continue to send us your feedback… we are listening. We aim to give voice to many different perspectives that are relevant and inspiring along this spiritually progressing path. We are not here to tell you what to believe or how to act. We are here to support your journey, to share and learn together.Thank you for being a part of this community! | | | | | | Join our FB community today! Spread the word, share with friends. Thanks! | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited The Origin of the Bible, Part VII: The Final Strand of the Torah, The Priestly Document (A) Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong June 12, 2008 Time after time we discover that it was the external events of human history that more than anything else shaped the content of those writings that would someday be called the Holy Scriptures. That should not surprise us since all books have human authors who live in a context of both time and place. Only those who ascribe a supernatural source to these ancient texts find this insight disturbing. There is, however, no rational argument in the world that would assert a divine origin for either the Bible or the Koran. We have already traced this interplay in the first three stages of the development of the Torah. This week we come to the fourth and final stage. The earliest document in the Bible was a 10th century BCE product of the dominant tribe of Judah, which focused on the power symbols of that part of the Jewish world: the city of Jerusalem, the royal house of David, the Temple and the high priest. It was written probably during the reign of King Solomon, but its ultimate hero was King David. We call it the “J” version for it referred to God by the name JHWH. The next strand of the Torah was a 9th century product of the Northern Kingdom, written after its successful revolution, which separated it from Judah, creating a second Hebrew state. The Northern Kingdom, which called itself Israel, was, not surprisingly, far more democratic in nature. Power was vested in the people, allowing them to choose and to dismiss their rulers. This version called god Elohim and was known as the “E” document. It also made Joseph, the favorite son of the patriarch Jacob, the hero of its story, not King David, as the “J” document had done. In 721 B.C. this Northern Kingdom was overrun and destroyed by the Assyrians, their people becoming in the process the “ten lost tribes of Israel.” The conquering Assyrians resettled the citizens of that defeated nation in foreign lands, where they disappeared into the DNA of the Middle East. A survivor of this crushing war, however, did escape to Jerusalem with a copy of the “E” document. In time this material was woven into the “J” document and the Jewish story was now the “JE” version, which remained for a century the scriptures of the Jews. In 621 BCE a “new book of Moses” was “discovered” hidden in the walls of the Temple during a period of Temple repairs. It was called Deuteronomy from “deutero,” second, and “nomas,” law. Under its influence a massive reform of Temple worship was carried out. We suspect that the prophet Jeremiah was a part of this reforming group that wrote, planted and discovered the book. When Deuteronomy was woven into the JE version, the Deuteronomic writers also edited the entire corpus, placing their stamp onto Israel’s history. This JED account was the Jewish sacred scriptures for only a brief time before Judah’s worst calamity unfolded. This tragedy began in 609 B.C.E. when Pharaoh Necho of Egypt sent troops to attack his enemy, the Assyrians, on the plains of Megiddo. King Josiah of Judah, the hero of the Deuteronomic reforms and an ally of the Assyrians, intercepted the invading Egyptians. In the ensuing battle, King Josiah, probably the most popular king of the Jews since David, was slain. Despair and fear now set in among the Jews. Assyria was declining and the Babylonians, led by their warrior king, Nebuchadnezzar, proceeded to defeat its army, destroy Nineveh its capital, and to replace it as the dominant power in that region of the world. In the early years of the sixth century BCE, Nebuchadnezzar consolidated his power sufficiently to begin a war of conquest. Sweeping out of the North, he conquered everything in sight before arriving at the walls of Jerusalem to begin a siege in 598. Jerusalem was eminently defendable, located as it was high on a fortress-like hill and possessing an internal water supply. It had not been conquered by a foreign army in the last 400 years. The Jewish strategy before marauding armies was to retreat into “Fortress Jerusalem,” where they always kept sufficient food supplies to wait out a siege. Normally, the enemy would grow weary and a negotiated settlement would be reached, leaving Judah free but poor. Jerusalem had thus developed an aura of invincibility, causing the Jews to assert that as the earthly dwelling place of God, God would not allow it to be either conquered or destroyed. The Babylonians, however, proved to be more persistent than any previous enemy and the siege lasted for two full years, by which time both the food and the weapons of war were exhausted. Even rocks and spears once hurled were not retrievable. Finally, the walls were breached and the Babylonian army poured in, destroying everything before them. Even God’s house, the Temple, was leveled. The Babylonians rounded up the captive people and prepared them for deportation to Babylon. Only the elderly and the physically impaired would remain. The period of Jewish history known as the Babylonian Captivity was about to begin. A puppet ruler named Zedekiah, of the house of David but loyal to Judah’s new master, was placed on the throne. All others were forced to march into resettlement in Babylon. This experience would remain the darkest moment in Jewish history until it was superseded by the Holocaust in the 20th century. These Jewish exiles left everything they knew. They would never again see the sacred soil of Judah. They were removed from their Temple with its sacred feasts and fasts, which had served to give a sense of order and purpose to their lives. They even assumed that to be removed from the Temple was to be removed from God. According to one of the psalms (137), the conquered Jews were taunted by their captors. The words of this psalm are plaintive: “By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee O Zion. As for our harps we hanged them upon the trees that are therein. For they that led us away captive required of us then a song and melody in our heaviness: Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” They were destined to live as slaves or as a perpetual underclass in a land where the name of their God was never to be spoken in public. They did not believe that God could even hear their prayers in this foreign place. Their spiritual crisis was even deeper than this. In this primitive time the defeat of a nation was understood to be a defeat for their God. This meant that their God had been demonstrated to be impotent in the face of the gods of Babylon. Their God had in effect been destroyed. If they were to continue to be believers, they would have to be, to use a phrase I would coin some 2600 years later, “believers in exile.” They were now separated from everything that under girded their understanding of God. It was a crisis of dire proportions in which their God would either perish or grow. There were no other alternatives. Most ancient peoples did not survive such an ordeal. This norm had in fact been the fate of the people of the Northern Kingdom. In only two or three generations they had completely lost their identity and were soon absorbed into the general population, becoming what we now call the “ten lost tribes of Israel.” The only hope a conquered people had for survival lay in their ability to remain separate and distinct from their neighbors, thus making it impossible for amalgamation to occur. The Jews now lived with the ultimate hope that someday, in some unknown future their descendants, if still cohesive and recognized as Jews, might just have the opportunity to return to their homeland and rebuild their nation and Jerusalem. This hope became their dream and the ultimate value for which they lived while in captivity. Included among those who were taken into exile was the man we know as Ezekiel, along with a number of other priests. Almost inevitably they became the new leaders of the exiled people, moving at once to build and to install into the consciousness of these conquered people the virtues of remaining separate from the Babylonians and to guarantee that their descendants would cling to the dream and the tribal duty of returning someday to their homeland. In the service of that dream these priestly leaders identified three essential marks of Judaism that they set out to stamp so deeply on the psyches of their people that they would serve to keep them separate from the others in Babylon. First, they reintroduced the Sabbath, making it the sign of their national identity. These Jews became known as those strange people who refused to work on the seventh day. This custom disrupted work crews to which they had been assigned as laborers, causing frustration and anger to grow among the Babylonians, but it also served to identify the Jews as “different,” perhaps weird, thus aiding the Jewish desire to remain separate. Second, these priestly leaders urged upon their people the adoption of kosher dietary laws, mandating that the food that the captive people ate had to be prepared in kosher kitchens. This meant, effectively, that all social discourse with those who were not Jews was cut off. Since Jews could not eat with non-Jews, this meant that there was little chance that close relationships could ever grow, since most human relationships develop in the act of eating together. Third, these priestly leaders revived the practice of circumcision as the distinguishing mark of Judaism, literally cutting that mark into the bodies of every Jewish male at the time of puberty. This made it impossible for a Jewish male to hide his Judaism from the world, which also served to make intermarriage difficult. The plan worked. The Jews became a people separate from all others. All of these practices were seen to be religious mandates. Ezekiel and his priestly leaders then decided that the sacred story of the Jewish people had to be revised to include these mandates as part of Jewish life and practice from the very beginning of their nation’s history. They now undertook a major editorial revision of what had been the Yahwist-Elohist-Deuteronomic story of the Jewish people. This fourth strand of material was to be called the priestly or the “P” document and to its content I will turn next week.~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements Aquinas @ Orvieto with Matthew Fox Deepen your own spiritual journey as mystic and prophet A 5-Day Retreat, July 5-10, 2020 in Orvieto, Italy with Matthew Fox, Claudia Picardi, Meschi Chavez, and Gianluigi Guglielmetti and Rupert Sheldrake. Study the spiritual teachings of one of the greatest minds of Western civilization–Thomas Aquinas– with a preeminent scholar of Christian spirituality, Matthew Fox, in the amazing Italian town of Orvieto, famous for its views and art, where Aquinas himself taught and preached. Orvieto is located two hours from where Aquinas was born in Roccasecca, and where he died at Fossanova Abbey. And 90 minutes from Rome or Assisi! READ ON... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

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Fwd: [DailyMeditations] 11/20/19: Prophetic Questions for the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference, Part I
by Marianna Bailey 20 Nov '19

20 Nov '19

If you are not already on this list serve, I highly recommend it. Marianna Bailey > Begin forwarded message: > > From: "Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox" <Team(a)DailyMeditationsWithMatthewFox.Org> > Subject: [DailyMeditations] 11/20/19: Prophetic Questions for the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference, Part I > Date: November 20, 2019 at 3:36:42 AM EST > To: "Marianna Bailey" <wmbailey(a)charter.net> > > View this post on our website <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…> > > The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers > > Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox > > Some Prophetic Questions for the > American Catholic Bishops Conference, Part I > By Matthew Fox > Meditation #193, November 20, 2019 > Living CS, Via Transformativa > <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…>We are considering the role of the prophet—and we are all called to be prophetic from time to time. It is integral to the spiritual life of adults. We have remarked how, as Audre Lorde showed us this week, we cannot be silent. Thomas Aquinas says the same thing, that the prophets spoke out even when it was inconvenient or disturbing. > Which brings me to some ecclesial news of this past week <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…>. Something we ought not be silent about—and by "we" I mean everyone with a conscience–Roman Catholics for sure but everyone else as well. > > Last week we were told that the National Conference of Bishops in the United States declared their number one issue is…abortion! > <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…> > Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, left, of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, and Jose Gomez, archbishop of Los Angeles, meet the press at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 2019 spring meetings, June 11, 2019. (Photo from National Catholic Reporter <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…> by RNS/AP/Jose Luis Magana) > Really? Are they aware how many entire species are being exterminated and extinguished by Climate Change alone? That’s a lot of abortions. And human extermination and vast migrations will follow in their wake. That is a lot of homicides as well. > > Opus Dei founder Josemaria Escriva. Photo: Oficina de Información de la Prelatura del Opus Dei en España <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…> > And the droughts and floods and loss of farm land suggests many will die and hunger will explode. Wouldn’t it seem that Climate Change ought to be the number one moral issue of our time? Isn’t this what Pope Francis taught in his encyclical hailed by scientists and activists alike, Laudato Si <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…>– not to mention his plans to include a definition of ecological sins <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…> in the church’s official teaching? > > In related news, the same group of religious leaders elected Los Angeles archbishop Jose H. Gomez as head of their organization. > I do not know Bishop Gomez personally but I DO know something of the institute to which he has belonged for years, namely the Opus Dei. I have studied it and written about it at some length in my book The Pope’s War: How Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved. It should give one pause that an Opus Dei member now watches over the entire episcopal conference. > Following are a few choice items about Opus Dei with some questions for Bishop Gomez. > The founder of Opus Dei, Jose Escriva was a card-carrying fascist priest and members of his institute happily ruled Spain with dictator Generalissimo Franco serving for many years on his cabinet. <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…> > > Question for Bishop Gomez: > > "Change of Franco government increased the power of Opus Dei July 15, 1965" Archival photo of General Franco’s cabinet on La Hemeroteca del Buitre <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…>. Photographer unknown. > Do you believe fascism is compatible with the teachings of Jesus? > > Escriva was a rabid sexist who treated women with contempt and tirades of abuse. His female secretary of seven years who wrote a book about him was forbidden to speak at his canonization process and tell the stories she experienced and observed. > > Question for Bishop Gomez: > > Have you distanced yourself from the sexism of your founder? If so, what proof do American Catholics have of that distancing? > Adapted from Matthew Fox, The Pope’s War: How Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved, p. 106-124. > > Banner image: "Bishops at a Papal Funeral" Photo by zeekslider on Wikimedia Commons <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…> <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…> > > <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…> > To view Matthew's video, please click the image. You will be taken to today's post on the Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox website, where you can see the meditation in a larger version and also view Comments from meditation participants and answers to questions that are posed. In this way a kind of community is developing around the DM. > If you can't reach Matthew's video on the website, try his YouTube channel here. <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…> > Queries for Contemplation > > It is not always easy to "pray the news" or to meditate on it. But it is a serious responsibility from time to time. Clearly Jesus took on religious leaders in his day with very strong language. We sometimes have to do the same even while toning down the language some. Be with the silence of not knowing. Let this silence feed your caring. > Recommended Reading > > The Pope's War: Why Ratzinger's Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved <https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=2e2280795897875…> > > The Pope’s War offers a provocative look at three decades of corruption in the Catholic Church, focusing on Josef Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI. The final section in the book focuses on birthing a truly catholic Christianity. Matthew Fox presents insights from his 12-year, up-close-and-personal battle with Ratzinger, tracing the historical roots of degradation in the Church and offering a new way to understand why Benedict XVI is now mired in crisis as Pope. Fox then outlines his vision for a new Catholicism-one that is not Vatican-based but truly universal, celebrating critical thinking, diversity, and justice. > > > > Responses are welcomed. 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Winds & Waves magazine reminder
by ICA International 19 Nov '19

19 Nov '19

Any problem reading this message please click or paste this URL in your browser's address bar http://windswaves.icai-archives.org/new-ww/ en français en español November 2019 This is a reminder for entries to our new Winds and Waves Magazine We are delighted to invite you to share your stories here via this link medium.com/winds-and-waves We also welcome videos that show the work you are doing. And we would be delighted if you would share stories from Winds and Waves on your own social media networks. For information about how to work with Winds and Waves on Medium: Please see attachment here Please be sure to send this invitation on to your ICA members and friends, colleagues, partners, family, so they too can participate. You can get further information by contacting us at icawindandwaves(a)gmail.com Best wishes, Robyn, Dharma, Roma, Rosemary, Isabel, Peter, for W&W team Published by The Institute of Cultural Affairs International, 401 Richmond Street, West, Toronto, ON. M5V 3A8, Canada All rights reserved. For more information or to unsubscribe, email: inform(a)ica-international.org

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11/14/19, Progressing Spirit, Forrester: The Courage to See; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 14 Nov '19

14 Nov '19

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!important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv7642291706 #yiv7642291706templateBody .yiv7642291706mcnTextContent, #yiv7642291706 #yiv7642291706templateBody .yiv7642291706mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv7642291706 #yiv7642291706templateFooter .yiv7642291706mcnTextContent, #yiv7642291706 #yiv7642291706templateFooter .yiv7642291706mcnTextContent p{ font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;} } What an existential conundrum it is for us human beings as we long for someone to see us for the truth of what we are. | | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The Courage to See | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. November 14, 2019What an existential conundrum it is for us human beings as we long for someone to see us for the truth of what we are, while at the same time fearing to be seen for the truth of what we think we are and that others might perceive. A very tiring dance. There is the all too resonant story told in 2 Kings of the Hebrews scriptures about an army commander, Naaman, who is suffering from a skin disease the author describes with the ancient catch-all leprosy. He is, we are told, a great man held in high favor. But he is plagued by this deplorable disease visible to all. Naaman travels to the entrance of the prophet Elisha’s house with the hope of being cured. The prophet sends him a messenger with instructions for cleansing. But Naaman becomes incensed and angry, turning away in a rage. The issue: Doesn’t Elisha know who he is? Can’t he recognize Naaman’s greatness, which is there for all to acknowledge if they simply look? But why feel enraged about being overlooked? Because the issue is the tissue of a deep and searing wound, which even if not visible, festers and enslaves the great man. There is more than a bit of Naaman in all of us. His condition is our own. We bear a mostly unconscious wound that twists our soul in knots of fear and confuses the longing of our heart, and often we erupt in anger or even rage when we are not taken as the image we project and hold so dear. Yet, we are also terrified of being seen for our truth. As I said, a very tiring dance, and it begins when we are so very young. Bliss and Wound To behold a mother cradling her newborn infant as her own heart regulates and settles the breathing of the child, as the two merge into one field of graceful relaxation that is warm and expansive and at complete ease, this union is a wonder of life. A newborn knows her mother’s voice amidst the cacophony of sounds rushing upon her infant ears. Very soon after, this little one’s eyes recognize the countenance of her mom. The mother’s and infant’s eyes behold each other in a river of love that eases into a graceful lake of which both are simply two peaceful waves. I believe in this experience lies much of the origin of what we call the beatific vision. The divine is self-expressing as two beautiful beings beholding one another: Deep unto Deep. The bliss is boundless. The child’s body completely relaxes, expanding as a sweet pink essence, as her soul is seen as its true nature: she is nothing but the Holy Mystery being embodied here and now. The soul’s deep longing is satisfied, and this complete satisfaction saturates this tiny being. The soul has been kissed from within by her deepest truth and intuitively knows it. Because the bliss is completely soulfully satisfying, its loss is a searing wound. Sometimes the loss comes at once as a traumatic rupture, but oftentimes it accrues slowly as the sensitive touch of Being upon the soul diminishes to a memory (a memory both alluring and haunting). The toddler between 9 and 14 months, with the newly discovered capacity to first crawl then walk, begins to separate and become an individual on an adventure. The infant’s life, once restricted to a relatively black and white spectrum of ankles and shins and table legs – explodes into the toddler’s technicolor panorama of life’s infinite expressions. Our Conundrum She steps out. She stops. She turns. Does mom see what an incredible thing is happening? Does mom see her? She does. The toddler is beside herself with joy. Mom is beholding her magnificence – not only what she is doing but who she is as the one that is doing it. Her being registers the mother’s beholding as a soulful seeing. But then, there inevitably are the times when she turns and mom does not see her. Mom is looking, but not appreciatively present. Mom is elsewhere (and there is no one to blame). Perhaps she is preoccupied with last night, or with tomorrow, or with tensions with her partner. Maybe simply exhausted. And so, the little toddler wonders, unconsciously, what must I do to get her to see me? This little child becomes someone who learns to perform so that mom will look her way. What surface activity will draw mom’s attention? We learn to act, regardless of how we feel, in such a way that mom, or dad, or whoever the important other is, will notice us, our greatness, our uniqueness, our beauty. But the trap for the soul has been laid – the action no longer reflects who we are, but who we believe we need to be for someone else to look our way and affirm our value. And, we come to believe that we are valued not for who we are, but for how we perform – how we appear. In fact, we become unconsciously terrified that who we are is not valuable enough, not beautiful enough, to be seen. We become afraid of being seen for what we believe is our true nature – something woefully deficient and unworthy of being beheld. We long and we fear what we long for. I find no better description of this human conundrum, this wounding of the soul, than that of A. H. Almaas in The Point of Existence. This loss of contact with our true nature, with Being, or with what I call the Holy Mystery, is the human narcissistic wound. We lose contact with the truth of who we are, and the result is a wounding hole in our soul which is unbearable. And so, we bandage over the wound, unhealed, with strips of the various identities we take on, identities that have garnered us the attention, the approval, the admiration, of others. The looks of others provide us with an endless supply of bandages. But the wound remains, and it festers without the air of truth to heal it. Every so often something pushes up hard against it and the pain can be both searing and crushing. We angrily demand to be looked upon and appreciated for all our accomplishments, for they reassure us of our wobbly worth. Like Naaman, we can explode with such hot rage, because we are so hurt. The wound runs deep within and way back to our childhood. What we are longing for, in part, is for someone to see us for the truth of who we are; to show us a way to recover and realize our soul’s vitality; to see through the false bravado of bandages; to behold our beauty undetermined by any accomplishment and untarnished by any failure; to behold us for the truth of who we are. And yet, we are terrified to be seen so naked and vulnerable. Faith: the Courage to See Such is the gift Luke’s Jesus offers the lepers in his story of chapter 17. Whereas Naaman’s bandaged persona has enabled him to be looked upon as a great man, these lepers are people stripped bare even of names. They are looked upon as a blatantly raw category. They are a disease that causes dis-ease. No beauty. No value. Eyes look upon the surface only, in order not to see. Their presentation appears both dismal and abhorrent for the onlooker. Surprisingly perhaps, unlike with Naaman, the story speaks of no anger or rage in these nameless ones. That is because the soulful collapse of these homeless beings is almost total. They have no land, no place, no people. Their infinite soulful depth has been crushed to a scarred dermal surface. They believe that the story about who they are is true. They feel they are nothing. Until Jesus, the story goes, saw them. Like wobbly toddlers, these human beings take tentative steps, look up and --- Jesus does not look at them. He sees into them. He beholds their beauty. Beauty of the same divine essence as his own, which is why he can see them. There is no gap, no distance. They are of the one Deep and his seeing is an invitation to their souls to awaken to this inherent truth. His gaze is a direct and tender and strong beholding. His seeing is the Christic heart of perception born of the realization of his own unsurpassing beauty as an expression of the Holy Mystery. To awaken is neither easy nor for the faint of heart. We have lived with our anger, our rage, our collapse, for decades. The bandages may be old and ineffective, but we are used to them and they’ve come to feel like part of us. And so it is, for only one of these human beings does the gaze of Jesus land upon the soul as the Christic kiss of peace. This person, too, begins to see, to behold, their own beauty. There is no performance here to capture a glance. No need to look a certain way in order to receive love. The seeing is the initial realization of self-worth and self-beauty, of authentic selfhood. This is a gracious beginning made possible because Jesus saw them. Luke’s story ends with Jesus saying, your faith has made you well, which means the courage for ourselves to see into our own soul and discover its inherent and integral and unsurpassing beauty is wholeness making. This is the path of realizing our Christic nature. Faith here is the willingness to trust what we experience, not caring what others think or judge us to be, not caring what we have thought ourselves to be in the past. We move beyond looking, a move made possible because another was present and capable of seeing us as our true nature, regardless of our performance. And, we begin to trust what our Christic soul sees, and she sees unsurpassable beauty as her essence. ~ Kevin G. Thew Forrester, Ph.D. Read 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. Visit Kevin’s Blog: Essential Living: For The Soul’s Journey. | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By Christina Why do some progressive Christians seem to ignore what the Bible says on gender, race and sexuality? A: By Rev. Jacqueline J. Lewis, Ph.D. Thank you for that question, Christina from New York. I will declare for myself as a progressive theologian: I believe God is still speaking. Why would God stop revealing herself to us? She wants to be seen, known and loved (the Gospel according to Alice Walker in The Color Purple.) When the canon was closed on scripture, a committee decided on what would be in the Bible and what would not. Yes, they were inspired, those committee folk. Yes, Holy Spirit was hovering close by helping them to hear each other, but, more importantly, to hear God. And they were also human; maybe they put in the Bible what already resided in them. A bible birthed by human hands will inevitably fall short of the Glory of God. So, I try to bring my full self to my love of God. I listen with heart, soul and mind. I study the historical context of the writing and listen for what was being said or seen in that time. I prayerfully ask, what do these sacred ancient texts say to me now? How are the words script for my life? I cross reference words—what do they mean elsewhere? I don’t ignore the Bible, I love it. But each of us needs to be a critical reader, and a great listener, diving into texts with emotional intelligence. What does this text say to me or about me and my friends? To me? How can I live better? Most importantly, I ask, what’s love got to do with this text? This theology? I interrogate the Bible through the lens of love. Jesus made that hermeneutic abundantly clear. What’s love got to do with it? Everything! ~ Rev. Jacqueline J. Lewis, Ph.D. Read and share online here About the Author Rev. Jacqueline J. Lewis, Ph.D. is the Senior Minister of Middle Collegiate Church in New York City. She is a nationally acclaimed activist, author, public theologian, and organizer of an anti-racist multicultural movement of love and justice. She has been featured in The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and on The Today Show, CBS, and MSNBC. She write The Power of Stories: A Guide for Leading Multiracial and Multicultural Communities, and also wrote a book with her husband John called The Pentecost Paradigm: Ten Strategies for Becoming a Multiracial Congregation. | | | | | | | | Please continue to send us your feedback… we are listening. We aim to give voice to many different perspectives that are relevant and inspiring along this spiritually progressing path. We are not here to tell you what to believe or how to act. We are here to support your journey, to share and learn together.Thank you for being a part of this community! | | | | | | Join our FB community today! Spread the word, share with friends. Thanks! | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited Evolution and Homosexuality: The Twin Terrors of the Christian Church Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong March 2, 2008Where is it that Christian people today focus their anger? One has only to look at the content of current ecclesiastical debates, listen to the rhetoric of church leaders or examine the issues upon which the church divides into two competing camps to have your answer. The two things that elicit the most fear, that bring the deepest threat to Christian people, are evolution and homosexuality. First, look at the data regarding evolution. The ink was not dry on Charles Darwin’s book The Origin of the Species before the Christian Church mounted a counterattack. It came in the person of Samuel Wilberforce, the Anglican Bishop of Oxford, who challenged a Darwin spokesperson, Thomas Huxley, to a debate, held at the Oxford Museum of Natural History. The record of that debate, however, reveals that Wilberforce engaged in the tactics of ridicule. Unable to deal with the message, he attacked the messenger. From that day to this the English speaking world has been increasingly aware of Darwin, while Wilberforce has long been forgotten. That is what happens to losers. Between 1910 and 1915 Darwin’s thought began to trickle down to Middle America, giving birth to a new attack. This time it was evangelicals associated with Princeton Theological Seminary, who felt compelled to counter evolution in the name of “true” religion. They began a world wide assault on Darwin by publishing weekly tracts that went to hundreds of thousands of religious leaders across the world making their case for biblical literalism and its anti-Darwinian bias. Two things were noteworthy about this early 20th century effort. First, these evangelicals called their tracts “The Fundamentals,” thus giving that word its birth as the name of literalistic Christianity. Second, this effort was funded by a massive grant from the Universal Oil Company of California, or Unocal. It would not be the last time in American history when oil money would unite with right wing religion to achieve a political agenda. Next came the Scopes Trial in 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee, that pitted Clarence Darrow against William Jennings Bryan, riveting the nation’s attention to a battle described as pitting Satan and evolution against God and the Bible. John Scopes was found guilty of teaching something “contrary to the revealed word of God in Scripture” in the public schools of Tennessee. He was fined $100, a fine that was never paid. The primary effect of this trial was to cause evolution to be discussed around American dinner tables across the land. Then came the evangelical effort to get “Creation Science,” later repackaged and perfumed as “Intelligent Design,” taught by command of State Legislatures as an alternative to what they called the “Theory” of Evolution. Massive money was poured into this effort, but it also failed when these state laws were struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on which seven of the nine sitting judges were the appointees of conservative Republican presidents. There can be no doubt that Christian leaders felt and feel threatened by Darwinism. The second threat felt in the church today is over homosexuality. In every church throughout the nation a debate rages that is so intense that churches are literally splitting apart. International Anglican leaders have sacrificed their moral competence and their credibility by suggesting that “church unity” is more important than confronting ignorance and prejudice. The Vatican consistently issues statements calling homosexuals “deviant” and refusing to support ordinances at every political level requiring homosexuals to be treated equally in areas of employment and benefits. Roman Catholic rhetoric has attempted to defend that church against child abuse by blaming it on “a few homosexual priests,” as if pedophilia were the same as homosexuality. Benedict XVI’s first act as pontiff was to announce a purge of homosexuals from the priesthood. After the priestly abuse scandal faded a bit from the news, this order was modified to keep “aggressive homosexuals” from “entering” the priesthood, a tacit admission that if homosexual clergy were to be removed from the church, the number of priests, bishops and cardinals, already in short supply, would be diminished to unsustainable levels. Evolution and homosexuality are clearly the twin terrors that grip Christian emotions negatively today. I believe these two fears are more deeply related than most imagine. Darwin’s threat to Christianity went far beyond the perceived assault on the accuracy of the seven day creation story, which was the focus of the first Christian attack. The real threat lay elsewhere. Darwin had challenged the fundamental Christian understanding of both human life and salvation in so profound a way that he could not be ignored. If Darwin was correct, Christianity was wrong. Christianity talked of a God who had created a perfect and finished world. Darwin spoke of an ongoing creative process, continuous evolution, and a universe still expanding. Christianity defined human life as “just a little lower than the angels.” Darwin saw human life as arising out of a four plus billion year process involving a tooth and claw struggle until we achieved the status of being defined as “just a little higher than the apes.” Christianity said human life began in perfection, but soon fell into sin by disobeying God’s command, which resulted in our alienation from God. This loss of perfection was called “Original Sin,” from which we were told that we could never extricate ourselves. Only an invasive act on the part of a supernatural deity could rescue us from our brokenness. Jesus was that divine rescuer. He was referred to as the savior of the sinful, the redeemer of the lost, and the rescuer of the helpless. Darwin’s thought countered this idea. Life for Darwin had never been perfect so it could not have fallen, which of course means that it also could not be restored to a status it had never possessed. Original sin was thus out, the depravity of human life was out and the necessity for divine rescue was out. Human evil did not emerge from the fall, said Darwin, it was a product of our evolutionary history, an expression of the fact that we are still struggling to achieve full humanity. God’s act in Jesus could not be for the purpose of rescuing the fallen. Thus Darwin challenged the basis on which the Christian religion was understood and proclaimed. Only by convincing human beings of their fallen, sinful states could the church’s message of divine rescue be possible. In the theology, liturgies and hymns of the church the sense of sin and depravity was drilled into the human consciousness. No Christian was allowed to escape the chronic sense of unworthiness. Throughout history the Church has trafficked in guilt, the gift, we note, “that keeps on giving.” Christian theology begins not with the love of God, but with human sin and its fall. When we sing of God’s amazing grace, we discover it is amazing only because it saves a “wretch” like you and me. Our liturgies pronounce us “miserable offenders,” people in whom there is “no health” or wholeness, those not worthy to gather up the crumbs from the divine table. Worshippers are made to say “Have mercy on me” constantly. The church has told babies that they were “born in sin” and thus must be baptized lest they perish, and that as adults that they can do nothing good without God. It is a debilitating message and it comes at us from every corner of church life. Protestants are told that “Jesus died for your sins;” Catholics are told that the mass reenacts the sacrifice that Jesus made for their sinfulness. Both are little more than guilt messages. One sometimes wonders how congregations absorb this negativity so passively or why it has any appeal. >From the insights of psychiatry we now know the powerful truth that people who are abused, hurt and violated tend to become those who abuse, hurt and violate. It should not surprise us, therefore, to find in Christian history a pattern of constant and consistent victimization. Victimized people must always have a victim onto whom their defined negativity can be transferred. That is why the Christian Church throughout its history has always had a “designated victim” who could be publicly persecuted, someone to absorb the self hatred that this understanding of God forced us to bear. First it was the Jews and we Christians made anti-Semitism a shameful fact of history. Then it was the heretics whom we burned at the stake with clear consciences. Then it was the scientists who keep whittling away at our certainty. Next, in rapid succession, it was people of color whom Christians enslaved, segregated, dehumanized and isolated; then it was women who were forced to accept second class status; and finally, it was the homosexual persons, who became the newest victims of our guilt-laden religion. Our definition of homosexuality as “a deviant, immoral and evil lifestyle” justified our hostility. Darwin’s ideas threatened this strange, hostile theology on which the Christian Church built its power. Homosexual prejudice is thus only the newest battleground on which the church seeks to preserve its view of life and to justify its continued negativity toward its human victims. It is no wonder that resisting Darwin and repressing homosexuality elicits both the energy and the anger that it does in Christian circles today. What is really going on underneath the church’s attempt to defeat evolution and to repress homosexual persons is a struggle between a dying theology, based on false premises and manifesting itself in centuries of abuse, and a new, human, celebratory theology that is struggling to be born. In this new theology the call of the Christ figure is not to rescue the sinner so that the sinner can become the abuser of others; it is rather to empower us to become so fully human that we do not need a victim to victimize, but can become a new humanity, people who are not struggling to survive, but who are capable of giving our life and love away. A fully human Jesus, a new way besides sacrifice to view the cross and a new meaning to be found in the earliest Christian creed that in Jesus God has been engaged will be the hallmarks of this new theology. It is time for the Christian Church to make this shift in a conscious way.~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements Read More... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

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