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Global Buzz for March
by ICA International 08 Mar '22

08 Mar '22

Enjoy catching up with what is happening in ICAs across the globe.... And please click the link below for the latest issue of the Global Buzz Global Buzz Report: March 2022 or copy and paste this URL into your browser's address bar http://globalbuzz.icai-archives.org/7dayreport-22/2022-03-01.php Read the latest ICAI Winds & Waves Magazine brought to you now on Medium.com See here: https://medium.com/winds-and-waves ICAI Communications

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Re: [Oe List ...] Selected Talks by Mathews
by jonzondo＠juno.com 07 Mar '22

07 Mar '22

Charles,You are 3rd in line by requests made to me.thank you.Jon ---------- Original Message ---------- From: Charles Allen Lingo Jr via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> To: "oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net" <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Cc: clingojr(a)aol.com Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Selected Talks by Mathews Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2022 11:16:53 +0000 (UTC) Yes, Jon, please forward to me your offering of Selected Talks by Mathews. I'm at clingojr(a)aol.com. Thank you!Charles Lingo -----Original Message----- From: jonzondo--- via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> To: oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net Cc: jonzondo(a)juno.com <jonzondo(a)juno.com> Sent: Sun, Mar 6, 2022 4:31 pm Subject: [Oe List ...] Selected Talks by Mathews Would anyone like a copy of Selected Talks by Mathews?I am doing some spring cleaning.Jon Elizondo_______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net

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Enjoy the present moment 🤪❤️💕🌹 love and Prayers, Ellen
by RICHARD HOWIE 04 Mar '22

04 Mar '22

Sent from my iPad > On Mar 3, 2022, at 4:12 PM, Judi White via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: > > > Ellen, I try and try to move forward, but with each step I arrive in the present moment. LOL! > >> On Tue, Mar 1, 2022 at 10:37 AM RICHARD HOWIE via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: >> Dear Judi >> ,As my brother Jim was want to say….Trust, and move forward. >> Love, >> Ellen >> >> Sent from my iPad >> >>>> On Feb 28, 2022, at 6:51 PM, Judi White via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: >>>> >>> >>> While I was recovering from my latest heart repair, my old cat Bo, got into a fight with a night creature. His right paw and left leg left him limping badly. I was not well enough to get him to a vet and No one offered. It turned out fine. He found a quiet pace and totally relaxed a few days, eating very ittle. He was healed in a week. I'm sending the healing angels to Dick and Diane and to all y'alĺ dearly ĺoved coeagues w compassion ❤ to calm your souls during this scary time. Just breathe in the love God is surrounding you with and breath out trust in his heaing power. >>> >>>> On Sat, Feb 26, 2022, 7:19 AM Lynda C via OE <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: >>>> Dear Colleagues, >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Many of you will remember my younger sister Diane and her husband, Richard (Dick) Galbreath. They were active in the Richmond region and Area New York, but also worked on the Economic Team with the HDP’s and also with the LENS team. As an educator and elementary school principal, Diane also worked with Youth Town Meetings and lots of work in the Petersburg region. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Dick is currently in the hospital struggling with complicated heart issues. I thought some memories, song lines, poetry, candles and your updated family news would be good encouragement for them. Dick is 86 and Diane will soon be 80. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> You can send things to me which I can forward on to them or post on the ICA Dialogue list which they receive. They are listed in the Directory at 3108 Cox Rd, Wilsons, VA. 23894 if you wish to send a photo or card. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Courage, community and care, >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Lynda and John >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> OE mailing list >>>> OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net >>>> http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net >>> >>> <20220227_153605.jpg> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> 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 > > > -- > > > Judi White > "Take pleasure in the excellence of others, Shanti Deva > http://anandasmantra.wordpress.com > http://porchtimechats.blogspot.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > OE mailing list > OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net > http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net

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Richard and Diane Galbreath Guardian family
by Lynda C 03 Mar '22

03 Mar '22

Dear Colleagues, Many of you will remember my younger sister Diane and her husband, Richard (Dick) Galbreath. They were active in the Richmond region and Area New York, but also worked on the Economic Team with the HDP’s and also with the LENS team. As an educator and elementary school principal, Diane also worked with Youth Town Meetings and lots of work in the Petersburg region. Dick is currently in the hospital struggling with complicated heart issues. I thought some memories, song lines, poetry, candles and your updated family news would be good encouragement for them. Dick is 86 and Diane will soon be 80. You can send things to me which I can forward on to them or post on the ICA Dialogue list which they receive. They are listed in the Directory at 3108 Cox Rd, Wilsons, VA. 23894 if you wish to send a photo or card. Courage, community and care, Lynda and John

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3/03/2022, Progressing Spirit: Dr. Karl Krieg: Ukraine; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 03 Mar '22

03 Mar '22

| | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ukraine | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Dr. Karl Krieg March 3, 2022Although the intelligence indicated a Russian invasion was imminent, most of the people of the world, including Ukraine, continued on with life as usual. Then, in an instant, Russian tanks started rolling into a peaceful, non-threatening neighboring country, triggering the first such move of its kind in Europe since WW2. For decades, such major war seemed a thing of the past, a replica of a bygone mentality, replaced by economic interdependence and cooperation. But all was not well in the mind of the man who struck, the paranoid megalomaniac Vladimir Putin, de facto dictator of Russia. Once he and he alone gave the order, the first of almost 200,000 troops started the invasion of Ukraine, preceded by missile bombardment and accompanied by an armada of tanks and armored personnel carriers. The people of Russia and Ukraine share the same blood. Many invading soldiers were completely unaware that they were on a mission of invasion with all the consequent killing and destruction. Ordinary citizens at home in the great cities of Moscow and St Petersburg took to the streets in protest, in spite of total intimidation by the government, risking their future to speak out against the atrocity. One by one the countries of the world stepped up to condemn Putin. Arms were sent to Ukraine. Humanitarian facilities were set up to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of expected refugees. Air space was closed to Russian airplanes. Financial transactions involving Russian banks were cancelled. In short, nations of the world responded with a united refusal to accept the madness of Putin, and the response continues to grow. What is Putin’s story? Born in 1952, he grew up in abject poverty and hunger, his mother so weakened by starvation that it was thought she was dead. Hordes of rats infested the housing, and he learned to chase them away with sticks. Small in stature, he was constantly bullied, and so he learned a form of Judo, wherein he learned that if a fight was inevitable, it was best to strike first. Having lost two other children, his parents doted on him, giving him a car that they had won, and treated him like a king. He was very smart, eventually going on to law school and then a doctoral degree in economics, from thence offered a position in the KGB. The rest is history. [Mirror, Feb 23, 2022] As of Feb 28, 2022, we do not know if the situation will escalate or de-escalate, but already much has become obvious, once again. On the one hand, a single person and his enablers are able to destroy the world. On the other hand, the vast majority of people want only to be able to live their life in peace, and are willing to condemn violence and aggression. This simple narrative seems to be the story of human history. The first thought that comes to mind is the oneness of all humanity, indeed, of all creation, and how we treat one another has far-reaching implications. The continual message of the Hebrew prophets and of Jesus is that we must care for the least of these our brethren, the widows and orphans, both literally and symbolically as representative of all poor. The golden rule summarizes the essence of all that is good and holy in human life, and yet we neglect and violate this basic understanding, and poverty too easily becomes a breeding ground for our own destruction. Death and destruction in the Middle East creates desperate young men and women who become suicide bombers. Years ago crowded and inhuman conditions in New York City jails allowed tuberculosis to take hold there and make a comeback. Perhaps the same can be said of Putin: that extreme poverty in youth gave birth to a distorted mind. We are all one, and if we do not realize that fact, ultimately we pay the price. So this war is a call to care for one another. Most specifically, that means that the bounty of our planet cannot be hoarded by the few at the expense of the many, be it by the billionaire capitalists of the West or the billionaire oligarchs of Russia. That inequality is not only a violation of universal morality, it is also a recipe for disaster. Would-be despots require others who enable them, either because of fear or because of their hope to share in the power and riches, and these enablers are equally as guilty as the despot. An authoritarian dictator is nothing without a cadre of immediate supporters. This is why it is so distressing to witness here in the United States not only the would-be dictator Trump, but also those who enable his attempt to destroy American democracy. Government of the people, by the people and for the people, is not easy to create nor is it easy to maintain. And to have these principles trampled by leaders who have sworn to uphold them, is a travesty beyond words. The people of Ukraine are dying that they might live a life in a democracy, a style of life that we enjoy but take so lightly. Their war is our war, a war against the authoritarians of the world who would rule where the people have no recourse and the dictator has no responsibility. Sad it is, but true, that at times violence must be met with violence. Religions and philosophies have argued about if and when violence is justified and/or necessary. Christianity through the ages has unfolded a theory about when war is just, and perhaps the most profound element is that it must be defensive. No one can argue that the situation in Ukraine is anything other than defensive, an attempt on the part of the many to stop the madness of one man. It was Hitler’s rise to power that led theologians like Reinhold Niebuhr away from pacifism into what has been called Christian realism, an awareness that sometimes evil must be met with physical resistance. This oneness of all humanity mentioned above is also manifest in the response to Putin’s madness. Every nation but a handful have come together to repudiate the war. The vast majority of people want nothing more than to live in peace with friends and family, and when that innermost yearning is threatened and taken away, the response is universal. The realization that most of us do in fact believe in peace and goodness is to be treasured and celebrated. When we are reminded to love one another, this is not an alien request but rather the essence of who we really are. As I write these words on Monday, Feb 28, delegations from Russia and Ukraine are meeting in Belarus at a secret location. No one knows what will happen, except perhaps Putin, who is probably shocked by the reaction of the world to his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Resistance has slowed the movement of his army. The ruble has lost 30% against the dollar, and the Russian stock market has been forced to close today. Almost 6000 Russian citizens have been arrested for protesting the war. President Zelensky has urgently requested admission to the EU, and plans are being set in motion to bring war crime trials to the Hague. Threats by Putin to Finland and Sweden have been rebuffed by those countries, and Europe has come together as one, joined by other nations around the world, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea. At least at the beginning of today, one has the hopeful feeling that the tidal wave of a united humanity is overpowering the perverted myopia of one man and his enablers.~ Dr. Carl Krieg Read online here About the Author Dr. Carl Krieg received his BA from Dartmouth College, MDiv from Union Theological Seminary in NYC and PhD from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is the author of What to Believe? the Questions of Christian Faith and The Void and the Vision. As professor and pastor, Dr. Krieg has taught innumerable classes and led many discussion groups. He lives with his wife Margaret in Norwich, VT. | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By Larry How do you explain the beginning of creation? What, if anything, existed before the universe? Jesus lived and died, and did many great things, but the Son of God… who or what is God? A: By Rev. Lauren Van HamDear Larry,Thank you for this enticing series of questions! Throughout the ages, early humans from various tribes and living in different regions of the world have offered many versions of origin stories – how we were created, and from where we came. The creation stories that move me most are the ones that begin in love. I believe that, whether an ancient story or quantum physics, the beginning of creation might best be explained as an incomprehensible pouring forth of love, resulting in this ever-expanding universe filled with everything we know and all that we cannot. No-thing and Everything existed before the universe because it was solely, singularly, purely Love. That is all. In his dazzling poem, Love Letter to the Milky Way, Drew Dellinger writes, “I want to tell you about love… Even the word ‘love’ is not adequate to define the force that wove the fabric of space and time.” During his walk on Earth, Jesus did a provocative job of embodying this love. It’s a fierce love. It only thrives with diversity and becomes stronger when shared generously. This has been and always will be our invitation: to walk in the world as bringers of this love. Jesus did it so well that we are still telling stories about it, studying it, and looking for more and better ways to be this love now… and now… and right now. Rather than conceptualizing God as a who or a what, I try to remember myself to this love. It is the source that birthed me, it is my teacher while I’m alive on earth and, someday when my breathing stops, this love will be my eternal home. Your questions take us to vast horizons, Larry. Jesus helped us to recognize that this vast love is knowable and tangible in our daily, ordinary acts. The GREAT in the small (Mark 4:30-32). May we all be awakened and at peace as we take on countless small acts while bringing great and vast love. ~ Rev. Lauren Van Ham Read and share online here About the Author Rev. Lauren Van Ham, MA 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). Lauren’s passion for spirituality, art and Earth's teachings have supported her specialization in eco-ministry, grief & loss, and sacred activism. Her essay, "Way of the Eco-Chaplain," appears in the collection, Ways of the Spirit: Voices of Women; and her work with Green Sangha is featured in Renewal, a documentary celebrating the efforts of religious environmental activists from diverse faith traditions across America. Her ideas can be heard on Vennly, an app that shares perspectives from spiritual and community leaders across different backgrounds and traditions. Currently, Lauren tends her private spiritual direction and eco-chaplaincy consulting practice; and serves as Climate Action Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative (URI), and as guest faculty for several schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. | | | | | | | | 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 us on Facebook! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | As a non-profit ProgressiveChristianity.org/Progressing Spirit rely heavily on the good will of our donors to help us continue to bring individuals and churches the messages of progressive Christians, Weekly Newsletters, along with the many other resources we provide. For years, the majority of our fundraising came at the end of the year. Looking at various ways to create a more reasonable amount of cash flow we decided rather than having a BIG ask at the end of each year, our more frequent asks give folks a chance to contribute when their funds are more flexible. We think that's a win for everyone. We also want to highlight the opportunity to become a sustaining supporter. If you are looking for the best way to help us continue to provide progressive Christian resources, become a sustaining supporter by choosing Recurring Donation. Help keep ProgressiveChristianity.org online and going strong - click here to donate today! * Another way to support us is to leave a bequest in your Will and/or Trust designating us a beneficiary. | | | | | | | | | | | Don't miss the next Episode of PC.org's Executive Directors Mark and Caleb on: The Moonshine Jesus Show - every Monday at 4:30pm Eastern Time – watch live on Facebook,, YouTube, Twitter, Podme | | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited "Think Different - Accept Uncertainty” Part III: A Call to Re-Image God and All Religious Symbols Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong February 9, 2012Defining the human experience that we call God is not just a modern activity, human beings have engaged in this task since the dawn of civilization. The factor driving the change in the human definition of God was never a new revelation from on high; it was always a dramatic shift in human life usually brought about by a necessary adaptation in the eternal quest for survival. The God experience has always been given a human definition.The first recognizable human religion, anthropologists tell us, was what we today call “Animism.” Animism was a religion that perceived of God not as a being fixed in one particular place, but as a diffused and ever present invisible force found everywhere. Animism pointed to the presence of spirits connected with various parts of nature. In this animated world, there was a spirit of the ocean that kept the tides within its bounds. If that spirit became violently angry a tsunami might result. There was the spirit of the olive tree that when pleased caused the tree to maximize its fruit. The presence of “spirits” explained the life and behavior of everything: animals, plants, the sun and the moon. At this time in history, human beings were in the hunter-gatherer phase of our development, unsettled nomads engaged in the endless human quest for food. Food, generally speaking, could not be stored or at least not for long periods of time, so starvation was an ever present threat to survival. It was the religious task in this animistic world to keep the spirits happy so that those spirits would aid us in the struggle to survive. That was the primary human understanding of God for literally thousands of years.When the shift from nomadic wandering to a settled life of cultivating the soil began to occur the human understanding of God had to begin to shift and shift it did. The first two places where settled human communities developed were in the Nile River valley of Egypt and in the area known as Mesopotamia, located between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. In both places, the rich and fertile soil invited people to cease their wandering life and to settle where that soil promised them a steady supply of food. No, the shift did not happen all at once, but when it did happen, the understanding of God developed in a nomadic culture no longer made sense in their settled state. Animism now began to fade and a religion organized around fertility cults came into being. This religion, dedicated to a God conceived of as the “Earth Goddess,” began to dominate the human experience. Ancestor worship was part of that shift. The reason for this addition to human thinking was that a nomadic people were always on the move and so their dead, even if buried, were always left behind and thus soon forgotten. Graves did not become shrines. When settled communities were formed, the dead were buried nearby and the idea of being surrounded by one’s ancestors seemed natural. Indeed, the act of burial itself was a gift of Earth Mother worship, since burial in the ground was thought of as an act of opening the womb of Mother Earth and placing her own children back into that womb.Child sacrifice also grew out of these fertility cults. The idea here was that if one offered one’s first born child to the fertility goddess, one would be blessed by that deity with many more children. Religion was then, as it has always been, in the service of human survival and survival had now moved from the daily searching for food in a spirit-filled world into the attempt to grow food in an agricultural community, where bountiful yields depended on the good will and favor of the fertile Earth Mother.In time, however, those agricultural communities became bigger and more complex and thus they had to be both governed and defended. This new reality demanded a new tribal organization. The survival of these agricultural communities began to depend on both the military wisdom and brute strength of the male warriors, the strongest of whom would become the chief. With survival now dependent on both the fertility of the Earth goddess and the power of the male chief, slowly the deity began to be portrayed as a feminine goddess with a male consort. Over time the male warrior deity grew stronger until God came to be thought of primarily after the analogy of the chief. God came to be thought of as the heavenly chief, a single ruler who guarded the community from above. This was the first expression of a primitive monotheism. There was an intermediate step between animism and monotheism that was reflected in the gods and goddesses of the Olympus. Here there was a male chief, a Zeus or Jupiter, together with a female partner, a Hera or Juno, but with various other natural phenomena covered in animistic style by special deities: There was Mercury the messenger god, Neptune the god of the sea, and Cupid the god of love. It was the male-warrior deity, thought of after the analogy of the trial chief, however, who was destined to be the wave of the future, the context in which the theistic nature of God would emerge.Today, there is a general agreement around the world that monotheism is the proper definition of God. The monotheistic God, however, has taken very different forms in the various region of the world: 1. The Judeo-Christian world of the West and those parts of the world that were colonized by the West; 2. the Islamic world of the Middle East, a world that stretches now from Indonesia to Libya, and 3. the Hindu-Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Confucius, Shinto world of the Far East. Generally, though more in the West than in the East, the theistically understood deity is dominant. God is thus generally thought of as a being, external and supernatural, the dispenser of blessings and punishments and the worker of miracles. It is this theistic understanding of God, which has been in place for the last 12,000 to 15,000 years that appears to be dying the world over. The death of theism is not the death of God; it is the death of a human definition of God. If, however, one has no other concept of God, the death of theism feels like the death of God.This death has been brought about by the study of space from Copernicus to Hubble’s telescope, together with the work of such luminaries as Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. Insights from that field of knowledge have in effect, destroyed the theistic God’s dwelling place above the sky. The study of physics, with its insights into the laws of nature and its new understanding of the relation of cause to effect, now explain many things that we once attributed to the theistic deity. These discoveries, coming first from Isaac Newton and then from his many descendents, have also reduced the credibility of supernatural language, which is the language of theism, including as it does, appeals to both miracle and magic. Our world no longer knows how to make sense out of most of the things that religious people claim to be theistic activities.In our own Judeo-Christian tradition, there were always minority voices that suggested new ways in which the divine could be experienced and understood. In a previous column we looked at breath and wind as God symbols. Are there others that might move our thinking outside of and beyond the dying box of theism? In the scriptures non-personal words and images for God, while not the major thrust, are still present, and that presence forced even the biblical writers to recognize the limited and problematic nature of all human concepts of God. An impersonal definition did not imply a non-personal deity. It only meant that personal images were not big enough to embrace the mystery and wonder of the holy. Every word that human beings create and use is but a symbol. The best a symbol can do is to point beyond itself to a reality that words cannot possibly enfold. Perhaps that is why the Jews were traditionally forbidden even to speak the name of God, for to pronounce the holy name was tantamount to claiming that one could actually know God. That is also why the second of the Ten Commandments in the Jewish Scriptures prohibited any human attempt to make an image of God. God cannot be replicated in any human form. Perhaps those who engage in the enterprise called “theology” ought to realize that building images of God with words, whether in scripture, creeds or doctrine, is little more that another form of idolatry.Listening to the minority voices in Holy Scripture, we hear different ways of perceiving the “holy.” In the First Epistle of John someone appears to have asked the venerable elder, “Who or what is God?” He responded, “God is love!“ He went on to say that if you want to abide in God you have to abide in love. Love enhances life, expands our vision, calls us to new understandings and opens us to the possibilities of growth. Yet love is still a mystery. None of us can create love, all we can do is to pass it on once we have received it. If we do not pass it on, it dies. Love cannot be saved or stored. If God is love, we need to ask the obvious question: Can we then say that “Love is God?” Does defining God as love not carry us beyond theism?A second biblical image for God is that of a rock. Well over a hundred times in the Bible, the word “rock” is used in reference to God. That idea has entered Christian hymnody in such titles as “Rock of Ages.” To what reality was this biblical image referring? Experience tells us that when we stand upon a rock, we are supported and kept from sinking. Is that the connection? My great theological teacher, Paul Tillich, made that connection when he referred to God as “The Ground of Being.” Can this “rock” image also lead us beyond theism? Is our “being” an aspect of something we might call “being itself”? Are we connected in some mysterious mystical way with all that is? Can we look at God through this lens and break the theistic pattern by exploring these possibilities? I believe we can. I think we must. The future of Christianity requires the discovery of new analogies for speaking of the holy. That is the first step in moving beyond theism. It is a slow process, but a necessary one. Once we enter it, however, new doors begin to open. We will continue to walk through those doors as this series continues.~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements Healing the Divide: METOO To WETOGETHER This carefully facilitated 7-week course creates a safe forum where we can awaken a deeper empathy and understanding and begin to discover practical pathways towards healing and transforming our relationships. Online: March 2nd - April 23rd. Read On... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | #yiv5016192313 p{margin:10px 0;padding:0;}#yiv5016192313 table{border-collapse:collapse;}#yiv5016192313 h1, #yiv5016192313 h2, #yiv5016192313 h3, #yiv5016192313 h4, #yiv5016192313 h5, #yiv5016192313 h6{display:block;margin:0;padding:0;}#yiv5016192313 img, #yiv5016192313 a img{border:0;height:auto;outline:none;text-decoration:none;}#yiv5016192313 body, #yiv5016192313 #yiv5016192313bodyTable, #yiv5016192313 #yiv5016192313bodyCell{min-height:100%;margin:0;padding:0;width:100%;}#yiv5016192313 .yiv5016192313mcnPreviewText{display:none !important;}#yiv5016192313 #yiv5016192313outlook a{padding:0;}#yiv5016192313 img{}#yiv5016192313 table{}#yiv5016192313 .yiv5016192313ReadMsgBody{width:100%;}#yiv5016192313 .yiv5016192313ExternalClass{width:100%;}#yiv5016192313 p, #yiv5016192313 a, #yiv5016192313 li, #yiv5016192313 td, #yiv5016192313 blockquote{}#yiv5016192313 a .filtered99999 , #yiv5016192313 a 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1 0

Fwd: A World Held Sacred...
by Karen Snyder 01 Mar '22

01 Mar '22

1 0

2/26/2022, Progressing Spirit re Ukraine: Speak Love & Hope into Despair + links to article and resources
by Ellie Stock 26 Feb '22

26 Feb '22

FYI: Also check out links (also included in article text): Religion Dispatches article (Excellent article on role schism between Orthadox churches are playing in the current situation and also in Africa. and ProgressiveChristianity.org : -Resources highlighted (Check it out if you haven't read it): Book by R. James Addington: TRAGIC INVESTMENT, How Race Sabotages Communities and Jeopardizes America's Future and What We Can Do About It. 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!important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv3021401078 td .filtered99999 td .filtered99999 , #yiv3021401078 td[class=yiv3021401078footerContainer] td[class=yiv3021401078mcnTextContent] p{font-size:14px !important;line-height:115% !important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv3021401078 td[class=yiv3021401078footerContainer] a[class=yiv3021401078utilityLink]{display:block !important;}} | | | | | “Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” ~Martin Luther King Jr. | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | This has been quite a week in global affairs, as we have watched in horror as Russia began the invasion of Ukraine. We know that while this is a territory dispute there is so much at play, including religion. Take a look at this Religion Dispatches article for more background on the religious dimensions of this conflict. We also heard this week about Texas Governor Greg Abbott calling on people to report parents of transgender minors to state authorities if it appears that those youth are receiving gender-affirming care. Transphobia is one of the greatest sins being committed by Christian fundamentalists today. During times like these, when it’s tempting to wallow in despair, I find deep hope in being a part of ProgressiveChristianity.org, which strives to be a voice for inclusion, compassion, peace, and justice. After all, those are the values that Jesus taught us to pursue. The Progressive Christian voice needs to be amplified, especially now. If you are in a church this week, it will be so important to speak words of love into the difficult situations of our world and we hope that you will draw upon our resources to do so. If you find our resources helpful or you simply care about giving a louder voice to a more authentic form of Christianity, please consider making a recurring or one-time donation to support our work. If you use our resources frequently, now is a wonderful opportunity to give for the first time! Thank you for your generosity, Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines Co-Executive Director ProgressiveChristianity.orgProgressing Spirit.com | | | | | | | | The Moonshine Jesus Show - Every Monday at 4:30pm Eastern Time! Check out this week's Promo. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Share | | | | | | | Tweet | | | | | | | Forward | | | | | | | +1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | ProgressiveChristianity.org is a 501c3 Non-Profit Organization. Thank you for supporting our mission to bring you the latest and best progressive Christian resources. Our mailing address is: ProgressiveChristianity.org4810 Pt. Fosdick Dr. #80Gig Harbor, WA 98335 | | | | |

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Global Buzz reminder
by ICA International 25 Feb '22

25 Feb '22

Reminder for entries This reminder is for the Global Buzz that will be published March 5th. 2022 (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 mars 2022 (S'il vous plaît envoyez vos entrées au moins un jour 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 marzo 2022 (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.

1 0

(no subject)
by ICA International 25 Feb '22

25 Feb '22

Reminder for entries This reminder is for the Global Buzz that will be published March 5th. 2022 (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 mars 2022 (S'il vous plaît envoyez vos entrées au moins un jour 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 marzo 2022 (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.

1 0

Intimacy with all of Life*
by Ellie Stock 24 Feb '22

24 Feb '22

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and (max-width:480px){#yiv6720293822 h4{font-size:16px !important;line-height:150% !important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv6720293822 .yiv6720293822mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .yiv6720293822mcnTextContent, #yiv6720293822 .yiv6720293822mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .yiv6720293822mcnTextContent p{font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv6720293822 #yiv6720293822templatePreheader{display:block !important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv6720293822 #yiv6720293822templatePreheader .yiv6720293822mcnTextContent, #yiv6720293822 #yiv6720293822templatePreheader .yiv6720293822mcnTextContent p{font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv6720293822 #yiv6720293822templateHeader .yiv6720293822mcnTextContent, #yiv6720293822 #yiv6720293822templateHeader .yiv6720293822mcnTextContent p{font-size:16px !important;line-height:150% !important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv6720293822 #yiv6720293822templateBody .yiv6720293822mcnTextContent, #yiv6720293822 #yiv6720293822templateBody .yiv6720293822mcnTextContent p{font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){#yiv6720293822 #yiv6720293822templateFooter .yiv6720293822mcnTextContent, #yiv6720293822 #yiv6720293822templateFooter .yiv6720293822mcnTextContent p{font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;}} | | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Intimacy with all of Life* | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Rev. Lauren Van Ham February 24, 2022 How monotonous our speaking becomes when we speak only to ourselves! And how insulting to the other beings – to foraging black bears and twisted old cypresses – that no longer sense us talking to them, but only about them, as though they were not present in our world… Small wonder that rivers and forests no longer compel our focus or our fierce devotion. For we walk about such entities only behind their backs, as though they were not participant in our lives. Yet if we no longer call out to the moon slipping between the clouds, or whisper to the spider setting the silken struts of her web, well, then the numerous powers of this world will no longer address us – and if they still try, we will not likely hear them. ― David Abram, Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology On the list of things that year two-going-on-three of COVID-19 has shown us, monotony ranks high. Winding our way through this week’s Zoom meetings, ensuring everyone has their mask, and continuing to discern which activities can happen safely has been highly consuming and has often limited our creative impulses to think beyond the expectations of rinse, dry, repeat. Much in the same way that too many hours in front of a screen feels draining and flat, the monotony that we’re feeling as a species is a fantastic indicator that we have forgotten to look beyond ourselves, to really look, listen and share intimacy with all of Life.The late Thomas Berry, catholic priest and geologist, spoke of, “the new story.” This story (perhaps new but very ancient), is the point in time when ALL humans practice intimate reciprocity with the wisdom and instruction seeping from every morsel of the Living System (G-d).There is a creation story shared by the first people of North America’s Great Lakes regions[1] that describes the “Original Instructions” given from the Creator to the first humans. The Creator asked them to follow the paths made by all those whose home this already was. The Creator told the humans to learn the names of all the beings, to watch how they lived and to learn what gifts they carried, to learn from all the creatures how to find food, how to clean the food, how to build and make tools, how to sit quietly and ask permission to take, how to live in right relationship with the land and creatures and that he must protect life on earth.[2]There is so much humility, discipline, curiosity and vitality in what the Creator asks of us – anything but monotonous! In the Abrahamic origin story, there are some similarities as it centers Creation first and begins in a garden. In most translations of Psalm 8:6, the word “dominion” describes the relationship God has given humans in our stewardship of Earth. We have been short-sighted and ego-driven when texts like this one are interpreted to mean other creatures are “less than” humans. We know quite well that whether a Bengal tiger, mosquito or poison oak, every glimmering tidbit of life possesses value and potency. Moreover, it is in our intimacy with a beloved animal or the medicine derived from herbs and plants that we find forgiveness, relief, and healing.A Joyful Path, Year 3 is the final piece in Progressive Christianity’s 3-part curriculum series for young people. It will be available very soon and I’ve had the incredible privilege of working to co-design nearly forty Earth-centered lessons exploring our spiritual formation as integral with Creation.Unfathomable harm has come from misinterpretations of scripture, like Psalm 8:6, which never meant that our species had God’s blessing to use our power over other forms of life, but rather to take full responsibility for the power we have been given, to use the privilege we hold as humans, to care for all Creation and to develop intimacy with all beings.With our imbalanced priorities and amidst the monotony, really SEE-ing the world and listening to the Life around us requires practice. Recently, I took myself on a silent retreat. I couldn’t help but touch the moss on the rocks, to smell the crushed Bay Laurel leaves on my fingertips, to climb up in the low branches of a Great-Grandmother Oak Tree. These were my retreat teachers and companions and they challenged me in uncomfortable ways. What were they saying? Did they need water? Were they glad I had come? What of those coyotes on the ridge? And the deer who watched me sit in the meadow that was probably theirs? You might wonder, why does any of this matter? My answer feels connected to the David Abrams quote above: “If we no longer call out to [them], then the numerous powers of this world will no longer address us – and if they still try, we will not likely hear them.”Meister Eckhart, the 12th century mystic proclaimed, “Every single creature is full of God and is a book about God… If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature – even a caterpillar – I would never have to prepare a sermon. So full of God is every creature.”Around us, we see the limitations of mono-species problem-solving. Why – when God has created volumes of wisdom – would we only listen to human thoughts for the, “answers?” Intimacy, we know, takes work. And while relationships are rewarding, they also need our time, humility, and vulnerability. This is true with our partners and our children; it is also true in our prayer life and our attempts at conversation with those who appear to be so different from us that we don’t know where to begin. Learning a new language makes us feel self-conscious, but when we endure the awkwardness, we find connection, new understanding. Our need for intimacy and relationship cannot be overstated. If intimacy with all of life is a new practice for you, perhaps one of the following exercises will encourage you to open the Books of God that are every creature:Option 1: Recall a book or a movie where trees, animals, or mountains have become animate and communicative in ways we readily recognize (i.e. they have eyes, speak English, share their opinions, etc.) What have you appreciated in these stories? What have these more-than-humans shown you about yourself or your role in creation? Journal about this as you wish.Option 2: Spend time with your pets or the other members of Life nearby. Quiet your large, human energy to receive the teachings of this other relative from our Earth family. Consider: how do you relate to the water flowing from your showerhead, the pebble caught in your shoe tread, your cat splayed in the sunbeam or the wrinkled grape that is now a raisin in your cereal? Send out your praise, prayers, or gratitude!When life feels monotonous, when the horrifying headlines fall into an abyss of powerlessness, when the billboards and advertisements fill you with dissatisfaction, pause to look and listen for Life. Just like us, every member of the Living Family is ready to feel the blessing of connection. In the Christian Letter to Ephesians 4:6 we read, “There is one God and Father (Mother) of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” May this invite us to learn from every creature, the many books of God.~ Rev. Lauren Van Ham Read online here About the Author Rev. Lauren Van Ham, MA 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). Lauren’s passion for spirituality, art and Earth's teachings have supported her specialization in eco-ministry, grief & loss, and sacred activism. Her essay, "Way of the Eco-Chaplain," appears in the collection, Ways of the Spirit: Voices of Women; and her work with Green Sangha is featured in Renewal, a documentary celebrating the efforts of religious environmental activists from diverse faith traditions across America. Her ideas can be heard on Vennly, an app that shares perspectives from spiritual and community leaders across different backgrounds and traditions. Currently, Lauren tends her private spiritual direction and eco-chaplaincy consulting practice; and serves as Climate Action Coordinator for the United Religions Initiative (URI), and as guest faculty for several schools in the San Francisco Bay Area.__________________________*NOTE: Much of the content in this article comes from one of the 38 lessons in A Joyful Path (Year 3), a new curriculum for young people that will be released soon. Please visit Progressive Christianity.org for updates.[1] The Great Lakes region of North America is a bi-national Canadian–American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as the Canadian province of Ontario.[2] Adapted from stories in Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By A Reader What if I can’t be fully me in my church? A: By Rev. Deshna Shine Dear Reader,Find another church. If you aren’t able to be who you truly are in your church (or relationships) find or create a different community. It is not easy, I know, but they are out there. Be you, be proud. If that isn’t ok, then they are not following the teachings of Jesus. Period. Jesus taught radical inclusion and that we are all one as divine creations of God. Jesus taught that God is within all. If you have to change yourself to be welcomed, then I am sorry, but this isn’t the right fit for you.Ask questions like — how does this church live out its beliefs? How does this church welcome the marginalized? How is this church making a positive impact on its local community? Does this church love me as I am? Does this church love their neighbors?Keep seeking, practice radical trust and you will find what you seek. If not, then think about creating a radically inclusive community. It can start small and simple. Many blessings on your journey.~ Rev. Deshna Shine Read and share online here About the Author Rev. Deshna Shine is Project Director of ProgressiveChristianity.org’s Children’s Curriculum. She is an ordained Interfaith Minister, author, international speaker, and visionary. She grew up in a thriving progressive Christian church and has worked in the field for over 13 years. She graduated from UCSB with a major in Religious Studies and a minor in Global Peace and Security. She was Executive Director of ProgressiveChristianity.org, Executive Producer of Embrace Festival and has co-authored the novel, Missing Mothers. Deshna is passionate about sacred community, nourishing children spiritually and transforming Christianity through a radically inclusive lens. | | | | | | | | 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 us on Facebook! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | As a non-profit ProgressiveChristianity.org/Progressing Spirit rely heavily on the good will of our donors to help us continue to bring individuals and churches the messages of progressive Christians, Weekly Newsletters, along with the many other resources we provide. For years, the majority of our fundraising came at the end of the year. Looking at various ways to create a more reasonable amount of cash flow we decided rather than having a BIG ask at the end of each year, our more frequent asks give folks a chance to contribute when their funds are more flexible. We think that's a win for everyone. We also want to highlight the opportunity to become a sustaining supporter. If you are looking for the best way to help us continue to provide progressive Christian resources, become a sustaining supporter by choosing Recurring Donation. Help keep ProgressiveChristianity.org online and going strong - click here to donate today! * Another way to support us is to leave a bequest in your Will and/or Trust designating us a beneficiary. | | | | | | | | | | | Don't miss the next Episode of PC.org's Executive Directors Mark and Caleb on: The Moonshine Jesus Show - every Monday at 4:30pm Eastern Time – watch live on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Podme | | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited “Think Different - Accept Uncertainty” Part II Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong January 26, 2012A recent letter from an Anglican priest in Canada revealed what this priest believes to be the dire straits into which Christianity has fallen in that gentle land to our north. “So many of the churches are empty,” he wrote, “and the people who are left are old and tired. Clergy do their best, but no one is really positive about the future.” He went on to say, “We are seeing the death of the church in our own lifetime.” This Canadian clergyman had gone so far as to urge the bishops of his church to address this issue, but, he wrote, “They are reluctant to do so.” One bishop told this priest that the bishops “didn’t want to hear any more bad news.” If one looks at the life of Christian churches in other parts of the world through anything other than “stained glass lenses,” one sees a similar pattern everywhere.Of course, there will be those who will offer anecdotal evidence to the contrary. They will point to individual gifted clergy whose success appears to counter this analysis. People also like to cite third world statistical growth in church membership, but Christianity in the third world has yet to confront the intellectual revolution that has shattered traditional religious images in the developed world. They will not be able to ignore these things forever. It may still be comforting and even emotionally satisfying to think that there is a heavenly father beyond the sky who watches over us and who is able to come to our aid, but wishing for it does not make it real. We are, rather a space age people. We travel through the skies on spacecraft and we study distant galaxies with telescopes. The image of God as an external being, equipped with supernatural power and ready to come to our aid is simply no longer a compelling one.Elie Wiesel looked at this image of God through the dreadful reality of the Holocaust. A deity who could rescue the Jews from slavery in Egypt in the ancient world as the scriptures tell us, did not seem to be available to rescue the Jews from Hitler’s concentration camps in the 20th century. We are post-Galileo people, post-Isaac Newton people and post-Einstein people. We cannot think about God in the same way that previous generations have done. People in America did little more than laugh when evangelist Pat Robertson explained why God had not stopped the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. It was to punish us, he said, for making abortion legal, for tolerating feminism and for recognizing homosexuality as part of a person’s being, not an explanation of his or her doing. When he later explained that the hurricane that hit New Orleans did so because it was the birthplace of lesbian comedian Ellen DeGeneres and that the earthquake that rocked Haiti was God’s response to the Haitians for making “a pact with the devil” when they threw the French out in the early years of the 19th century, his words served only to raise the approval ratings of the late night comedians.All of these things are symptoms of the demise of traditional religious thinking. The God we have defined theistically is simply no longer believable. Pretending that this is a temporary phase through which we human beings must pass will not help. Trying to do better or louder the same things that have not worked for years is to be so out of touch with reality as to qualify under the definition of insanity. If the theistic definition of God is no longer viable, we need to ask: “Is atheism then our only alternative?” That is the clear conclusion to which the rising tide of secularity seems to be announcing as its own. If we can begin to “think different” or “accept uncertainty” in the world of religion, as Steve Jobs did in his technological world, I believe the first step is to seek an alternative beyond theism. That is what I hope to do in this series.Was theism ever a proper understanding of God? That is the first question we have to raise. Is theism not rather an expression of the essence of our own self definition? Is the theistic deity not a God created in our own image to serve our needs?A study of the origins of human religion reveals that the birth of self-consciousness was simultaneous with the birth of religion. It was in the trauma of awaking to an awareness of self-hood in the midst of a vast and frequently inhospitable world that caused human beings for the first time to postulate the existence of a power greater than ourselves to whom we could appeal for help. This power had to be like us, but with all our limitations removed. That definition is still apparent in the words we use to describe the theistic God we continue to worship. When analyzed that deity is little more than a human being freed from the limits of human life. Human beings are “mortal” and “finite.” God transcends that limit and is therefore called “immortal” and “infinite.” Human beings are limited in power. God is not limited and is therefore called “omnipotent.” Human beings are bound inside time and space. God is not so bound and so we call God “timeless” and “omnipresent.” Human beings are limited in knowledge, but we presume that God knows all things and so we call God “omniscient.” We could go on and on but the pattern is clear. We human beings created the theistic definition of God as a way to define our yearning for God to be what we needed God to be. It was not the other way around. We never stopped, however, to recognize that the idea of God as a being, outside the limits of time and space and equipped with the supernatural power to come to us in times of need was not a revealed truth about the nature of God, but a human creation, a human construct! No human creation is eternal. Theism, as a human idea, can, therefore, die without God dying. Our definition and the reality we are trying to define are never the same. The death of theism seems to me to be what we are experiencing today. If that is the only definition of God that we know, we will inevitably experience theism’s death as the death of God!We have also created intermediate creatures who are somewhere between human and divine that we call angels. They are generally depicted as human figures except for the addition of wings. Angels are normally thought of as males and in the Bible are given male names. In the biblical story, one of the names for God is “El” and that name is incorporated into the angel’s names: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael. We think of angels as somehow sharing in the being of God. The addition of wings to the bodies of angels is also fascinating. Wings, of course, were borrowed from the world of birds that could soar above the natural limits placed on human life. So wings presumably lifted these angelic creatures above the boundaries inside which human life is condemned to live, signifying once more that angels participate in God’s power.We need to ask if there were any non-theistic words and concepts used in the biblical story to define God. A biblical search reveals that there were, but the theistic definition was so dominant that those other ideas never rose to become anything more than a very limited minority presence. Perhaps, however, in these minority understandings something might be found to help us to separate “God” from our “definitions of God.” It is worth taking a look.The earliest biblical “minority report” on the understanding of God’s nature is found at the very beginning of the biblical story. God in that narrative is identified first with breath and later with wind. God breathed into Adam at the moment of creation and that enabled Adam to come alive. The idea in this metaphor was that God was to be understood not as a being, but as a permeating presence that lived in us and through us. The effect of the presence of God within us was to enable us to come alive. In a secondary way, breath in living things was then identified with the wind, but its function was identical with breath. The wind was the life force which animated and vitalized the whole natural order. The wind was mysterious. It could be experienced, but not captured. We could see the wind’s effects, but not the wind itself. We did not know from whence the wind came or where the wind went. We could never contain it. All we knew was that wind made vital the trees and the forests. So the wind came to be thought of as the breath of God flowing through the whole world and whatever it touched it brought to life. It was still only an analogy, but it was a non-theistic analogy, and as such it brought us into a new realm of possibility. In time the wind became a synonym for the Holy Spirit, the most mysterious part of God. In the dream of Ezekiel recorded in the 37th chapter of the book that bears his name, the wind of God was said to have blown over a valley filled with the dead, dry bones of the Jewish nation, now defeated and with no hope for life, and that wind brought those bones back to living. “The toe bone got connected to the foot bone.” In the Pentecost story found in the 2nd chapter of Acts, the Spirit fell upon the gathered community of believers and called them to a new level of life, life beyond the boundaries of their defensive, tribal fears. In the power of the Spirit they were one people and could communicate in the language they each understood. In our creeds we still define the Holy Spirit as “the Lord and giver of life.” So God, even in the Bible, was not always an external invader of life. God was life itself. The theistic definition is not, therefore, the only way that human beings can conceive of God. God was thought of as that which flows through and unites all living things from the original single cells of life to the self-conscious creatures who can and do commune with this life force in an activity called worship. Worship is not just a ritual act, it is also self-conscious living. It is living fully!The primitive theistic being who answers our prayers and comes to our aid has been destroyed by the advance of human knowledge. As theism dies, however, does this not call us into the development of a new way of understanding that which is unlimited, transcendent and yet still might be real? As the God definitions of antiquity die, can we still be God-intoxicated, fully alive believers and yet not be theists? I think we can and this is the first step, I believe, into thinking differently and accepting uncertainty inside our religious life.File these thoughts for now. We shall return to this exploration.~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements Book Discussion Group – How To Heal Our Divides Announcing new How to Heal Our Divides Monthly Book Discussion Group! This free online discussion group takes place via Zoom on the first Thursday of each month at 12 noon Eastern time, starting March 2nd. READ ON ... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

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