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4/30/20, Progressing Spirit: Deshna Smith:May Our Sins be Washed Away; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 30 Apr '20

30 Apr '20

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.yiv5833894595mcnTextContent, #yiv5833894595 #yiv5833894595templateHeader .yiv5833894595mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv5833894595 #yiv5833894595templateBody .yiv5833894595mcnTextContent, #yiv5833894595 #yiv5833894595templateBody .yiv5833894595mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important;line-height:150% !important;} }@media only screen and (max-width:480px){ #yiv5833894595 #yiv5833894595templateFooter .yiv5833894595mcnTextContent, #yiv5833894595 #yiv5833894595templateFooter .yiv5833894595mcnTextContent p{ font-size:12px !important;line-height:150% !important;} } Why we must continue to remove judgment and dogma from progressive Christian theology. | | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | May Our Sins be Washed Away: Why we must continue to remove judgment and dogma from progressive Christian theology. | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Rev. Deshna C. Shine April 30, 2020 It was 1980, I was three years old, living in a rural town in Colorado, in a tiny house with no hot water, and my parents owned a restaurant and a nightclub. They were a strange hybrid between hippies and wannabe cowboys. New agers who had left the non-stop hustle of Newport Beach, California, their boat and their fancy car, to grow hydroponic food and live off the land in a town that wasn’t fully ready to embrace them. They worked their behinds off though and somehow became a part of the small town community after 8 years. But something was broken. You could say it was their marriage… but that wasn’t quite it. It was more like their dreams, their hearts, and nearly their will. I was unaware at three. I ran around the forest naked with my dog, rolled in leaves in the Fall, put my red cowboy hat on with my boots and snuggled close to my mama every night to keep warm. I bathed in the big metal tin in the kitchen with hot water from the kettle and ate watermelon on blankets in a sunny field of grass and wildflowers. I was a blissful, chubby faced child with large green eyes that held one’s attention. You see, a nightclub and a restaurant in a cowboy town meant another kind of hustle. One that had both my parents working 15 hour days and making some highly questionable decisions on the side. Drugs, random people, all-nighters, and making deals with the big boys in town had gotten my dad in trouble on more than one occasion. My mom was at her wits end, wondering if she would ever be truly loved, and ready to leave it all behind with me. My Dad could leave with us, but that was it, she was done. She knew they had to let go of this one dream in order to survive. Though my dad was a loving, fun, creative, and passionate person, he just couldn’t see how he had gotten to that point in his life. He was full of frustration and disappointment. He was about to lose the love of his life, his family, and everything he had left in the world. He had problems in his marriage, problems at work, and a ton of pressure. He had worked so hard! He was a good person. Why was this happening to him? At a loss of what to do and brimming with regret, he packed an overnight bag and hiked to the top of a nearby mountain. On the way up he kept ticking off the unfairness and the wrong done to him. “Why go home?” he asked himself. “Why should I keep trying so hard? Why am I even alive?” By the time he reached the top of the mountain, he was so fed up with his life and all the things people had done and all the ways he had failed, that he decided he was just going to stay there. He would not return to his wrecked life. He sat near a bottomless lake for hours, just thinking, crying, and feeling utterly alone. Night came… and then morning. He fell into a deep trance state. Suddenly, a huge fish leapt out of the water and then swam toward him. He could almost hear the voice of this strange animal. Was he dreaming? Hallucinating? Dying? It hardly mattered anymore. And then a strange, seeming out of nowhere thought came to him: What would Jesus do? My dad had been in communication for years with the local UCC church pastor and their conversations just kept coming back to him as he sat there. He had studied Philosophy and Political Theory at UC Riverside and the history of Christianity had always fascinated him. He knew quite a bit about the story of Jesus but had never fully related to it until that moment. What would Jesus do? Well, for one, he wouldn’t be sitting there blaming the whole world for all of his problems. He would forgive. One by one, my dad saw the people in his life that he held so much anger toward and felt that just fall away. “I myself have caused just as much pain. I myself am to blame for where I am.” He began to forgive people for all the blame that he had placed on them. “How can I judge others when I myself have made so many mistakes? They are just struggling along in this life just as I am.” All of a sudden, the money owed to him, the arguments, the games, the pride…all of it just began to fall away. It didn’t matter anymore. It was certainly not the load he wanted to carry down the mountain. He started to relate his experience to the story of Jesus. He thought to himself, “this guy had it figured out and we aren’t even listening.” He realized that he had something to share. Suddenly, there was another way to see the world. He walked off that mountain and everything had changed. This mountain-top experience had relieved him of his anguish. He felt a huge swelling of gratitude and compassion rising up in him. He felt deep sadness for the pain he had caused. When he arrived home, he asked for forgiveness from my mom and then later others. His “sins” were washed away by Jesus. His sins of ego, blame, selfishness, and pride were washed away. That is the beauty in the story of Jesus! That is why he is called a savior. Following the teachings of Jesus can save us from ourselves. “The invitation of Christ is the invitation to move out of the house of fear and into the house of love: to move out of that place of imprisonment and into that place of freedom: ‘Come to me, come into my house, the house of love.’” Henri Nouwen Shortly after that strange day, my parents sat on a hillside, the wind was blowing through the trees, and I was playing with the dog. My dad shared his story and my mom looked into his light blue eyes and said, “You need to go to Seminary.” They didn’t even know what Seminary really was, but something deep within him knew she was right. We left everything we owned behind, including our home in Colorado, my parents sold their businesses for $1, and we moved into a trailer in Montana on the property of a cowboy friend. Winter came, the car broke down and we were broke. My parents cut firewood to sell to get by and wondered how they were going to survive. The cat had wandered off into the depths of snow, not yet to return. My Californian parents were shocked by the bone chilling cold and the height of the snow and then they were told it wasn’t even real winter yet. Just because you know what you need to do does not mean the road will be easy. Four years later, after Seminary at the Pacific School of Religion, we moved back to Southern California to grow a small church. I was 7. For years I watched my dad get up every Sunday and find something meaningful to share with our growing progressive Christian church community. We were radicals back then — fighting for equality, health care and immigration rights. We got death threats from fundamental Christians and my dad left at night more than once to bring a suit jacket and $40 to someone who needed help. I was in awe of the life my parents led and the teachings my dad would share. 35 years later I am still deeply involved in the progressive Christian movement as the Executive Director of ProgressiveChristianity.org, primarily because of what I learned from my dad. I share this story today for a couple of reasons. One, to remind us all that people come into the progressive Christian movement for a huge variety of reasons, from a vast diversity of backgrounds and with complex stories and needs. Some come from a deeply fundamental family history and have major spiritual trauma they are healing. Others are leaving behind a life of blame and anger. Some are seekers and feel moved by the story of Jesus. Two, to remind us all that Progressive Christianity does not actually have a linear theology. Due to its very nature the one solid aspect of Progressive Christian theology is an openness and willingness to question others’ and one’s own beliefs. The theology of progressive Christianity is more like a spiral. Always turning, always growing in both directions. And people find themselves entering the journey at many different points in that spiral. I use the spiral metaphor imagery in the hopes of dissolving the patriarchal colonizing linear form of thought theology usually takes. Progressive Christianity did not actually start at one point and progress in an exact way to an endpoint. There is no end or beginning here. There is no finish line. There is no, “I am way ahead of you,” or “I am past that outdated belief.” You are just perfectly where you are meant to be on your authentic journey. If someone calls themselves a progressive Christian and you balk because they talk about God in a more personal way or they talk about Jesus as their savior, what does it matter to you? Are they asking themselves, “What would Jesus do?” Are they doing it? That is what matters, not if their story is right or true, but how they are living their lives. And even more important than that is how are you living your life, today and everyday forward? To be a progressive, one must have the ability to think for oneself, to examine what they have been told and what they read. To be a progressive Christian means we find the courage to both question and to find our own authentic answer. And that takes bravery. Let’s celebrate our bravery together! Beyond the core approach that progressive Christians have to living in the world, their theology is actually quite varied. Due to its authentic nature and the ability to question and doubt, progressive Christianity is always being shaped by the people who call themselves progressive Christians. And it will always be shifting and growing and expanding. Frankly, I am tired of progressives arguing about beliefs and getting all high and mighty. “You aren’t a progressive if you still believe in the literal resurrection.” “You aren’t a progressive if you think of having a personal relationship with God.” “We moved past that years ago.” No, my friends, we didn’t. You shifted in your language and your perception. You shifted in the story you are telling and how you are interpreting the story. It’s just a story. It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not. Every person’s story is just as valid as yours. Just like the story I told today, I am sure that I didn’t get it perfectly right and I took some liberties because I wanted to find the meaning in the story and I wanted that meaning to affect how I view the world. You know who isn’t a progressive Christian? One who judges others without looking first at him or herself. One who can’t forgive those who have hurt him. One who holds her pride so high, she can’t see that each person’s relationship to the story is just as valid, if it leads them to actually follow the teachings. One who thinks they have all the answers. Can we please come back to the teachings? Can we please search within our hearts for the mountain top experience of Jesus? To forgive, to be like a child and find awe in our hearts, to stop judging because someone is at a different point in their journey. To love our enemies. To do good to our enemies and expect nothing back. To give and then give some more. To continue to be students and seek for our eyes to be opened to what they are blind to. Can we focus on entering the house of love? Come with us friends, leave that house of fear! Progressives just entering the journey are a blessing. Welcome them to this house of love! Welcome the doubters! Welcome the believers! Welcome their stories that are true and meaningful to them. Ask them: “How are you living this life? How has Jesus informed your decisions and your actions?” And then listen and learn. Remember, we are all just as blind and we do not know what we do not know. As progressives, we are here to ask questions, to learn, and to follow the teachings. Maybe it is time for us all to go sit on top of a mountain and stay there until we too can release our judgements, our hatred, our fears, our anger, our lack of ownership, and our pride. Let the fish tell you their stories. Let the trees listen to your cries. Let the ground hold you. Let the sky sing God’s praises. Let the sun bathe you in love. Let the rain wash away your pride. Forgive yourself. And then forgive some more. And when you are ready…come down that mountain and tell your story of how your sins were washed away when you found Jesus. (Or found again.) Walk with Jesus. Let Jesus guide your feet, sisters and brothers. And always ask: “What would Jesus do?” “Oh happy day, oh happy day, oh happy day when Jesus washed my sins away!” ~ Rev. Deshna C. Shine Read online here About the Author Rev. Deshna Charron Shine is Executive Director of ProgressiveChristianity.org and Progressing Spirit and is an ordained Interfaith Minister. She is an author, international speaker, and a 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 is a lead author and editor on the children’s curriculum: A Joyful Path, Spiritual Curriculum. She co-authored the novel, Missing Mothers. She is the Executive Producer of Embrace Festival. She is passionate about sacred community, nourishing children spiritually, and transforming Christianity through a radically inclusive lens. | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By a Reader I understand you come from an Evangelical background. Can you help me understand why Evangelicals are so resistant to science? First it was teaching evolution. Then it was homosexuality. Then it was climate change. More recently, a lot of them seemed to think they couldn’t catch COVID-19 so they kept their churches open and resisted social distancing. I just don’t get it. A: By Brian D. Mclaren Dear Reader, I do indeed come from a conservative Evangelical background. It would take many books to even begin to explain the shared ethos that leads to this anti-science bias. But let me sketch out three dimensions of it. First, you can look at the larger history of western Christianity. Back in the 17th Century, European Christians had to deal with first Copernicus and then Galileo challenging the prevailing model of the universe. Then came the Enlightenment in the 18th Century, launching a battle between faith and reason. European Christians responded in two ways, one liberal and one conservative. Liberal Christians were willing to negotiate the scientific and historical claims of the Bible and focus on its deeper meaning. Conservative Christians doubled down on the incorrigible (uncorrectable) trustworthiness of their authority structures (papal infallibility for Catholics, biblical inerrancy for Protestants). After the Enlightenment, new rounds of challenge just kept coming: Darwin and evolution, Marx and socialism, Einstein and relativity, Hubble and the expanding universe, the Big Bang, etc. Faced with these challenges, conservative Christians enmeshed their identity with the idea of biblical inerrancy, epitomized in maxims I heard as a child: “The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it,” and “If the Bible says the whale swallowed Jonah, I believe it. If it said that Jonah swallowed the whale, I’d believe that too.” For centuries now, standing for literalistic readings of the Bible and standing against science have been baked into the recipe of what it means to be a conservative Protestant, and since the 1980’s, it’s gotten worse, as hard-core Fundamentalists have staged a near-complete takeover of the Evangelical movement. (The few remaining non-fundamentalist Evangelicals by and large have to lay low and speak in whispers.) Second, it helps to understand the psychology and sociology of authoritarian and patriarchal communities. In a hostile, scary, or uncertain world, many people find safety in the shadow of a powerful authoritarian leader. The leader protects them (or at least gives them the feeling of being protected), and in exchange for protection, the group submits to the leader. The flip side of this arrangement is also important: if anyone dares to challenge the rightness of the leader, the group unites to exclude the dissenter. So, as long as the leaders of Evangelicalism fall in line behind their acknowledged leaders (these days, Trump and his allies, Fox News and its pundits, and all those who are silently compliant with this arrangement), the followers will comply Third, I would just say, “Follow the money.” Some Evangelical leaders know that if they contradict Fox News or President Trump (who through most of March were minimizing the threat of COVID-19, calling it a liberal hoax, etc., etc.), they will alienate their top givers. Others run such tight margins that staying open a few extra Sundays, even risking the spread of COVID-19, is seen as a business decision. The money follows the conservative message, not the scientific facts (or the actual message of Jesus!), and many Evangelical leaders got where they are by following the money. These, of course, are generalizations about the system as a whole. Many rank-and-file Evangelicals wouldn’t have any awareness of any of these dynamics. They are captives or victims of the system, “sheep without a shepherd” in the words of Jesus. ~ Brian D. McLaren Read and share online here About the Author Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. He is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. A leader in the Convergence Network he also works closely with the Center for Progressive Renewal/Convergence, the Wild Goose Festival and the Fair Food Program‘s Faith Working Group. His most recent joint project is 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). | | | | | | | | Bishop John Shelby Spong Revisited Wales: Where Visions of a Christian Future Are Being Born Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong June 24, 2009 The land of Wales is a beautiful, intriguing and mysterious part of the world. Most Americans would be hard put to answer the question as to which four nations form the United Kingdom. Yet Wales, a land of some four million people, is one of them. The Welsh people are proud and fiercely independent, most of them dedicated to preserving their ancient Celtic language and heritage. Parts of Wales were never subdued by the Romans or any other invader and remain today quite isolated and very traditional. Wales’ best known poet, R. S. Thomas, has described his homeland this way, “You cannot live in the present, at least not in Wales…there is no present in Wales and no future, there is only the past, brittle with relics, wind bitten towers and castles with ghosts.” In a recent surge of Welsh nationalism, this nation now requires that all children be educated in two languages, Welsh and English. This means that a number of people are employed to teach Welsh to immigrant children. When I asked on my recent visit to this country which nation provided most of the immigrants for these classes, I was told, “England.” Most people would have never guessed that answer. I have been privileged to visit Wales on many occasions in the past. I have done lectures in Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth, Hawarden and Barrie. One of my four grandparents was a Welshman, so I have always been drawn to this land and its people. This past spring I had two assignments to fulfill in that wondrous land. One of them took me deep into northwest Wales to the town of Porthmadog, and the other to the eastern edge of Wales about ten miles from the ancient English fortress city of Chester. What I experienced in both places, however, was not the shadows of the past, but the profound energy of Welsh people pressing the edges of knowledge and engaging the future. Both of my stops caused me to wonder if Wales has changed since their poet R. S. Thomas wrote his words about Wales having only a past. Porthmadog, my first assignment, is a small town in a sparsely populated rural part of Wales. Set in the midst of exquisite mountains and on a tidal river, this community reflected the beauty for which Wales is famous. The power and the energy that I met there, however, was quite unlike what one would expect from the stereotype of contemporary Welsh people. They were totally engaged with the future. The energy that produced this invitation came from a group of people who were expressing discontent with the current state of Christianity in Wales. So instead of simply complaining, they decided to put on a weeklong conference to be held in the center of that town to which people from the entire region were to be invited. Although the sessions were held in a Welsh church, the agenda was clearly to point institutional Christianity in another direction. They called the conference “Prifio,” which is a Welsh word meaning “growth.” The vicar of St. John’s Church, where the conference was held, was the original source of the vision. His name was Aled Jones Williams. In addition to being an Anglican priest, he is also a poet and a playwright. Indeed, he had a play entitled “Christa,” about Jesus as a woman, which is even now playing to packed houses in Cardiff. It is not his recognized genius, however, that was so remarkable to me; it was rather his ability to bring other people who shared his interest in his vision. Two of these were incredible lay people. Nick Golding, the co-owner with his partner, Michael Bewick, of a highly regarded bed and breakfast known as Plas Tan-yr-allt, was one, and Carys Lake, who teaches “Immersion Welsh” for newcomers to Wales, was the other. Two of them were clergy: The Rev. Nia Morris from Bala, and the Rev. John Butler, who once served as Chaplain at the University of Wales at Bangor. Demonstrating that this conference was not one person’s dream, these four people took over the details of the conference and drove it successfully to a conclusion without Aled even being present, since an illness removed him from any participation at all in the scheduled week. Among the invited guests who served as the faculty for this weeklong gathering were Richard Holloway, a Scottish writer and broadcaster, who retired as the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church in 2000 and who calls himself today a “Post Christian” or even “Post Religious.” There is no doubt from his most recent writings that this gifted man walks the religious frontier. Others were Mark Vernon, formerly an Anglican priest, who left the priesthood to become an atheist and who now describes himself as an agnostic, and Menna Elfyn, a poet and playwright, who has been appointed “Poet Laureate” for the children of Wales and who describes herself as a “Christian anarchist.” No one would mistake the speakers at this conference to be those who would turn this event into one more humdrum act of religious propaganda. This faculty was specifically called together to define quite openly the reasons why Christianity was in the death throes and what it might take to enable it to return in a new form. It is hard for me to imagine many church groups that would assemble such a faculty, especially for a conference to be assembled in a parish church in a small town in rural Wales. Yet that is what happened at Porthmadog and I found it not just dynamic and exciting but beyond any of my expectations. I served as the closing lecturer at the “Prifio” conference in the final session held on Saturday night. More than 200 persons crowded into that small church to participate. My topic was “Why Christianity Must Change or Die.” In the discussion that followed the lecture, there were no questions that revealed threat, fear or the kind of anger that so often marks religious behavior. I know of few religious groups able or willing to talk with their critics or to listen to those who have moved beyond religion or out of religion in order to learn why traditional religion no longer satisfies them. Yet this is exactly what these people in Wales did. Other tangential but interesting things were noted. A number of women, both lay and ordained, were in significant leadership roles. Openly gay and lesbian couples were visible and involved and the number of clergy who had ventured far out of their security systems were present sharing in leadership. This conference empowered people to dream. Seldom have I personally received so sustained and long lasting applause following a presentation. It was as if the presence of a Scottish bishop to open this conference and an American bishop to close it conveyed permission for the people to venture beyond traditional boundaries. A community of people that bold and that visionary is clearly living in the present and preparing for the future. When this conference ended we traveled through Wales about two hours north and east from Porthmadog to Hawarden, where St. Deiniol’s Library and Conference Center is located. This library is named for a Welsh saint and was originally part of the estate of William Gladstone, Prime Minister of England in the 19th century. It was built to house the prime minister’s extensive library, but it grew into a center to which scholars come to do research, and an Anglican Church center housing small but intense conferences of about 50 people. St. Deiniol’s is, I believe, unique among the church-related conference centers of the world. I have led conferences there on six occasions over the past 12 years. Its trustees have elected me to the honorary position of being a “Fellow of St. Deiniol’s Library.” If one were to look at the prefaces of my last few books, a number of references to St. Deiniol’s would be apparent. Here I developed the material that would later form my books. The title of this conference was the finally adopted title of my yet to be published book, Eternal Life: A New Vision…Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell. This was to be the last testing place. Under the brilliant guardianship of its current warden, Peter Francis, this center has become a place of challenging and progressive thought. In a church that so often has been visibly afraid of contending with new thought, in a faith that condemned Galileo, resisted Darwin, and encourages a ghetto religious mentality, St. Deiniol’s has become a place that celebrates and welcomes the future with all of its challenging new knowledge. In the Anglican Communion that seems to place ecclesiastical unity ahead of either truth or justice, St. Deiniol’s has become a place where the search for truth and justice is held to be the highest virtue. In a religious tradition that hides and resists with passion and anger the world’s emerging new consciousness that relegates the prejudices of yesterday, like racism, sexism and homophobia, to the dustbin of history, St. Deiniol’s Library welcomes in both word and deed those who help to open up to the light of day yesterday’s darkness. In a world in which the traditional forms of the Christian Church are in steep decline, St. Deiniol’s Library is dedicated to being a place where the world can glimpse what the church of tomorrow might be like. The New Testament warns Christians time after time against the distortions that come when churches forget that their purpose is not to conquer, to dominate or even to shape the world. The New Testament assumes that Christians will never be more than a determining minority. Christians are to be the saving remnant, light in the darkness, salt in the soup and leaven in the loaf. The age of Christian domination of the western world has long passed, yet institutional Christianity still pretends to have vast power and it still assumes that people listen to its medieval pronouncements, holding steadfastly to these illusions even when death surrounds it. No Christian future is to be found there. That future will rather be discovered in tiny cells of people like those I found in Wales. R. S. Thomas might think that Wales is a strange place to look for the future, but the gift of Wales to me this spring was to remind me once again of what seems to be a fact of history, namely that renewal always comes from the edges of institutional life and that it is in those that the institutions tend to marginalize that future hope is always born. ~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements Compassionate Integrity Training May 4th - July 9th Have you ever wondered how you could cultivate the compassion called for in the Charter or help others cultivate that compassion? Compassionate Integrity Training (CIT) is a great place to start! CIT is a resiliency-informed online program that cultivates human values as skills, so we can thrive as individuals, and a society, within a healthy environment.t READ ON ... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

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The Last Chapter- Charles Hahn
by Richard Alton 29 Apr '20

29 Apr '20

CHARLES F. HAHN: ON ASSIGNMENT AT THE ECUMENICAL INSTITUTE/ INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS: 1964-1986 Charles and Doris Hahn, along with their daughters, Marsha and Shelley moved to Fifth City in Chicago, August 1964. The first year in Chicago, Charles spent much of his E.I. life working on pedagogy. He was routinely assigned to RS-I and PLC teams both in Chicago and across the U.S. Then, at the end of the summer of 1965, Charles and Doris along with Joe and Carol Pierce, were assigned to a three-month research trip across the Arab world. This was the last of a series of such trips undertaken to study the depths of life in continents around the world. In September of 1968 the Institute set out to expand its work through establishing Religious Houses rather than working solely in and through Chicago. The Hahn family along with two other families from our Chicago base moved to Los Angeles, CA to join four other families who wanted to be a part of our life and work. After searching for suitable property, we chose to establish the Los Angeles House in Santa Monica where Charles served as Prior until the following summer. In June, the Hahn's moved back to Chicago to participate in the Summer 69 Academy. The following Spring (1970) Charles travelled to the U.K. where he and Doris visited families from across England who had attended Religious Studies I courses held during the earlier part of the year. E.I. courses followed, along with an invitation from the local Church of England Vicor to establish a Religious House in Thornaby-on-Tees where Charles became House Prior. He continued to visit clergy around the U.K. and to set up courses. In the Summer of 1972, the Thornaby House sponsored "Summer 72” with participants from across the U.K. In the Fall of 1972 Charles returned to Chicago where he become Prior of Development Centrum. In the summer of 1974, the Institute established several coordinating centers or Nexus around the world in order to spread the work done in Chicago. Charles was assigned as Prior of the Brussels Nexus, which coordinated Institute work in Europe and Africa. Charles also served as Prior of Development Centrum for Africa as well as Europe. He set up appointments across Europe, especially with Roman Catholic Orders in Rome, where occasionally an Institute presenter was asked to tell our story at a national meeting of a Catholic Order. In 1975 Charles went to the opening of the Kawangware Human Development Project in Nairobi, and often he hosted members from Africa Houses who came to Europe on Development trips. In 1976-77 Charles was assigned to Chicago but spent most of his time back in Europe working in Development. In 1977 Charles was reassigned to Brussels where he stayed one more year. In 1978--82 Charles was Prior of Management Centrum at the Chicago Nexus. And in 82-84 he went to the Bombay Nexus as prior of Research Centrum. That team did the local planning and set-up for the IERD (International Exposition of Rural Development) in 1984. The Research team split their time between planning the event to be held in Delhi and visiting established rural development projects sponsored by many different groups. Research Centum evaluated these projects in order to set up visitation plans for those who came from around the world to Delhi for the actual meeting in 1982. In 1982 Charles was again assigned as Prior of Management Centrum at the Chicago Nexus. And 1984-86 he was assigned to the Houston House, where he worked in Research. The life and work of the Institute(s) and the Order: Ecumenical were dear to Charles, not only until 1986, but for the rest of his life. In the face of great loss, no words convey the sadness we feel for those who loved Charles Hahn. Yet we dare to say Death is neither a curse nor a blessing, an end or a beginning, but only that it is a wondrous, frightening and redemptive reality. It is a step into the Unknown Unknown. It is sacred, and it is good. Even though Death is universal, it is also unique---because every life is unrepeatable. It arrives in its own time and is always shocking, even when it is anticipated. It can be painful or peaceful, timely or not, tragic or strangely welcome, or all of the above at once. We don’t choose the manner or the moment and can only respond by acknowledging its finality and trusting what was, is and will be. We go on. Whether you celebrate death as a Home Going or as a finality that prevents you from being with your loved one physically, acknowledging death is important. We accompany you in your grief. We pray for you in your journey. We hope for your experience of being accompanied by the Divine Spirit. May it sustain you in your sorrow. Our hearts are with you. We are grateful for what we learned and how our lives were enriched because of the unique life of Charles Hahn. We offer here our appreciation for the contributions he made to the life and work of the Ecumenical Institute/ICA. -- Richard H. T. Alton One Earth Film Fest ( OEFF) Green Community Connections Interfaith Green Network T: 773.344.7172 richard.alton(a)gmail.com **Save the Date! One Earth Film Festival 2021, March * http:www.oneearthfilmfestival.org Make Plain the Vision, Habakkuh 2:2 Won't you be my neighbor?

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The Last Chapter- John Singleton
by Richard Alton 29 Apr '20

29 Apr '20

*An ICA Tribute to John Singleton* In the face of great loss, no words convey the sadness we feel for those who loved John Singleton. Yet we dare to say Death is neither a curse nor a blessing, an end or a beginning, but only that it is a wondrous, frightening and redemptive reality. It is a step into the Unknown Unknown. It is sacred, and it is good. Even though Death is universal, it is also unique---because every life is unrepeatable. It arrives in its own time and is always shocking, even when it is anticipated. It can be painful or peaceful, timely or not, tragic or strangely welcome, or all of the above at once. We don’t choose the manner or the moment and can only respond by acknowledging its finality and trusting what was, is and will be. We go on. Whether you celebrate death as a Home Going or as a finality that prevents you from being with your loved one physically, acknowledging death is important. We accompany you in your grief. We pray for you in your journey. We hope for your experience of being accompanied by the Divine Spirit. May it sustain you in your sorrow. Our hearts are with you. We are grateful for what we learned and how our lives were enriched because of the unique life of John Singleton. We offer here our appreciation for the contributions he made to the life and work of the Ecumenical Institute/ICA. As a representative of the Institute of Cultural Affairs I would like to hold up and celebrate the unique contribution of John Singleton’s to the work of the Institute: John participated in the Institute work in the Local Church Experiment with a cluster of Denver churches and particularly at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church. The focus was on lay leadership to bring intentionality to the church’s role as mission to the world. John also worked with the Institute in Africa designing a community-based program to combat HIV/AIDS first in Ghana in 2002. This was during a time that Africa was the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. John was part of a team to visit hospitals and clinics and document the Ghanaian health system response to HIV/AIDS. Later John would go to Uganda to help launch the Institute's Community based HIV/AIDS program to empower and enable communities to challenge HIV/AIDS. The Institute would like to celebrate John’s life and his unique contribution to caring for this planet and being part of the People of Care. Death is an experience that each and every living creature will finally experience. However, we also understand that every single life is unique and unrepeatable, and, therefore, today we come to acknowledge a very unique death. There has been no death like the death of John Singleton and no life such as the unique and unrepeatable life of John Singleton. What he did and what he was will never be repeated again. John Singleton died February 3, 2020 -- Richard H. T. Alton One Earth Film Fest ( OEFF) Green Community Connections Interfaith Green Network T: 773.344.7172 richard.alton(a)gmail.com **Save the Date! One Earth Film Festival 2021, March * http:www.oneearthfilmfestival.org Make Plain the Vision, Habakkuh 2:2 Won't you be my neighbor?

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Global Buzz reminder
by ICA International 28 Apr '20

28 Apr '20

Reminder for entries This reminder is for the Global Buzz that will be published May 5th. 2020 (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 Mai 2020 (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 Mayo 2020 (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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Two weeks from Sunday -
by Karen Snyder 25 Apr '20

25 Apr '20

ICA Social Research Center Virtual Gathering - Update May 10-13,2020 May 10: Sun Chicago Time* May 11: Monday May 12: Tuesday May 13: Wednesday · Context the ICA Social Research Assembly Lynda Cock Jim Wiegel 3-5:00 PM Chicago Time STRUCTURAL REFORMULATION What assistance do social structures need to realize their full potential? CONTEXTUAL RE-EDUCATION What methods and interchange enable people to respond creatively and transform the lives of others? SPIRIT REMOTIVATION What opens people to possibilities for significant engagement and shifts hopelessness to the hope that does not disappoint? 10:00 – 12:00 1 Human Development Catalyzing global/local community development Doug Druckenmiller ddrucken(a)gmail.com 4 Imaginal Education Creating structures and events for transformative education Karen Snyder karen.snyder10(a)gmail.com 8 Inner Life Experimenting with methods to strengthen one’s interior life Jeanette Stanfield jstanfieldica(a)gmail.com 12:30 – 2:30 2 Social Change Researching how to influence social trends Jim Wiegel jfwiegel(a)gmail.com 5 Facilitation Methods Facilitating group creativity with tools for depth reflection, effective dialogue and action Beret Griffith beretgriffith(a)gmail.com 9 Spirit Movement Giving form to Those Who Care Lynda Cock lyndacock(a)gmail.com 3:00 – 5:00 3 Awakenment Forums Awakening community/ organizations to their potential thru planning/action OliveAnn Slotta oslotta(a)gmail.com 6 Collaborative Networking Learning from and strengthening multiple networks Nelson Stover fnelsonstover(a)gmail.com Summary and Next Steps OliveAnn Slotta Nelson Stover * Convert your local time here: www.thetimezoneconverter.com/ <http://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/>. The collection guides are preparing unique procedures that will reflect this generic outline: Context: Meet those gathered and discover the concerns and hopes each person brings related to this collection. Part I: Review collection intention and what is going on in the world today with current challenges, climate change and the virus. Part II: Recall what we learned in the past and discern how website can share relevant learnings. Part III: So what? Dialogue about new perspectives, resolves, potential actions. Reflection: Session summary and reminder of next collection dialogue. ***** Bear with us as we learn how to virtually gather and dialogue together. Our team is testing the Google Meet platform which allows up to 200 to participate. We intend to record each dialogue and have a notetaker. In conversation with Larry Philbrook, he enthusiastically agreed to host follow-up session(s) this summer to build on the May meeting and engage people on the other side of the world – truly making this a global research assembling. If you are interested in participating in the collection dialogues, (1) Review the archives website (https://icaglobalarchives.org <https://icaglobalarchives.org/>), to identify your passion and interests; (2) Go to Google and sign up for a gmail address (Open Google, click on circle with letter of your name in upper right corner, next to nine dots – add new email under manage accounts); (3) register by emailing Lynda Cock (lyndacock(a)gmail.com <mailto:lyndacock@gmail.com>), telling her which collection(s) you are interested in participating in. Instruction on how to connect to Google Meet will come with your registration confirmation. Peace, The Social Research Center Team Lynda Cock, Doug Druckenmiller, Steve Ediger, Jack Gilles, Beret Griffith, Mary Laura Jones, Frank Knutson, Paul Noah, Wendell Refior, Oliveann Slotta, Karen Snyder, Jeanette Stanfield, Nelson Stover, Tim Wegner, Jim Wiegel

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4/23/20, Progressing Spirit: Lauren VanHam: Befriending an Intruder; Spong revisited
by Ellie Stock 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

| | | | View this email in your browser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Befriending an Intruder | | | | | | | | | | Essay by Rev. Lauren VanHam April 23, 2020 When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into [our] lives, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become [humans] of mature character with the right sort of independence. New Testament, Book of James 1:2-4 Rumi, the beloved 12th century Sufi poet wrote, “Be grateful for whatever comes because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.” And in a letter to the early Christians, James the Apostle wrote, “When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into [your] lives, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends!” Since early March, a poem[i] by Kristin Flyntz has been circulating widely wherein she imagines what the Covid-19 virus might be saying. More than once it says, “Just stop. Be still. Listen. Ask us what we might teach you about illness and healing, about what might be required so that all may be well. We will help you, if you listen.” In any number of ways, we are being encouraged to treat Covid-19 as a holy prophet. In exponential fashion, this microbe has arrived to remind us of everything that is broken: our capitalist economic system, our healthcare system, our social-caste system. In exponential fashion, this microbe is pointing to all of the places we try to create separation between ourselves and Creation, between the powerful and the disempowered, and between ourselves and the Divinity that lives in each one of us. Very uncomfortably, this holy prophet is showing us that we are intimately connected. This intruder traveled from one of our animal relatives into our airways, and transmits its life-threatening-self through direct contact and – in record time – it has spread itself around the globe. We can no longer deny that we are one breath! Furthermore, we are so inextricably connected that we are under orders to isolate! This startling moment of awe and recognition has also brought fear and panic. On the frontlines, this intruder holds hundreds of thousands in its grip, some fighting for their lives, and others tragically surrendering. In the marketplace, this intruder has halted everything that is not essential; it calls into question everything we have perceived to be normal activity or business as usual. And for a great many of us, sheltering in this sea of uncertainty, this intruder presents itself as a continued onslaught of information, a density of numbers, maps and metrics coming at us, 24/7. In our hope for control and greater understanding, we attempt to take it all in, to assimilate it in some way that will offer instruction and clarity. But this is not the whole picture of this moment. We are being invited to something much bigger still. This moment is not only about reacting to the intruder, it is about how we respond to the intruder, as prophet and friend. In his provocative and helpful article, “Covid-19: A War Broke Out in Heaven,” professor, philosopher and theologian, Zachary Stein says it this way: “This is it: we have arrived at the end of the world. Finally. Now we can start to build a new one. This is our chance to reshape ourselves as spiritual, scientific, and ethical beings.[ii]” Instead of the blind hope that one leader can fix this, or the delusion that our country or economy will recover by throwing money at it, we are being asked to re-imagine ourselves and our civilization! And so, here we are in a giant moment of reset and it’s happening in our lifetime! What does the new world look like – you know, the one in which God created us, to love and to tend and to care for? And how now, in our physical distancing, might we move through the fear to a place of ingenuity and action? I want to offer three ideas: First, honor the Sabbath. This in an unprecedented time on Earth – a planet-wide “time out.” The Sabbath is about connecting with God through family, walks, prayer, rest and other life-affirming activities so that when we return to life’s other demands, we feel renewed and ready to engage. So, let’s agree to protect ourselves and one another from the seduction of alarmist media. In the ways we can, let’s retreat from the world that was. Yes, we are working from home, or finishing a semester. We are on-hold with un-employment offices and home-schooling children. Let us also be thoughtful and dedicated about the ways we want to return to life’s demands in a more integrated way – spiritually, scientifically and ethically. Second, love one another. Every Faith Tradition teaches this. Let’s focus our lives and lifestyles on the nurturing of relationships: We help small farmers when we eat organic and buy locally. We fund community resiliency when we move our finances away from mega banks and into community banks and micro-lending efforts. We direct the future economy when we divest from fossil fuels. And if you don’t need the stimulus check that is coming your way, give it to the person or cause who does. These acts of care and compassion are transformative, both for the recipients and for us. Third, hold space for what is changing: our feelings, our thoughts, the people around us, all that is crumbling, and all that is trying out new ways of being. In no way can we befriend this intruder without feeling our fear, our anger, our grief. We must feel it. All of all it. And after that, there is the outpouring of anger and grief that comes from everyone else. Breathe…. Let’s ask ourselves again and again, who will I become because of this loss, grief and upheaval? Another breath… Let’s encourage and invite the changing, so we don’t get blinded by the deception of putting things back the way they were. There is no safety there for us! It was already broken and running on borrowed time. In his letter, James instructs his fellow followers to undertake the quality of “endurance,” to become, “mature.” In the Eastern traditions, this maturity is called, “enlightenment.” Enlightenment is not an end point but rather an alive and dynamic state where wisdom and compassion conspire, each informing the other, and acting together. Exercising enlightenment is not always obvious or straightforward. For example, when the voice of Covid-19 (Flyntz poem above) says, “Ask us about what might be required so that all may be well.” It does not say so that “some” may be well. It says “all.” The voice of the virus reminds us that it has been trying to get us to stop for some time –with floods, with fires, and we can add with hurricanes, and oil spills, and refugee camps and detention centers. “All” doesn’t mean the country where we live, or the hemisphere we’re in. “All” doesn’t mean humans living everywhere. “All” means All – the insects, the rainforests, the cheetahs, the Chihuahuas, the oceans, the people we love, along with the ones we don’t and the ones we will never even know. Bringing both wisdom and compassion to the multiplicity of demands is very challenging. It requires practice, and the support of community. Our individual actions matter enormously, and when performed along with others, their potency multiplies! Together, we become an even more powerful – bear with me – a more powerful virus; a force that takes in the reality of all that is unraveling, and responds with enlightened action – together, we can bring wisdom and compassion as we apologize to all the ones we have “other-ed,” and offer reparations widely. Together, we can bring wisdom and compassion to Earth as we re-tool ourselves for a life that is tenable for humans to continue for generations to come. An intruder is in our midst. If we only react, we will be inviting further retaliation. If we respond, we will taste enlightenment. We will demonstrate our willingness to learn from our mistakes; we will honor the indigenous and ancient wisdom within us and around us; we will act compassionately and firmly, so that each of us becomes that which is required so that ALL may be well. This is what befriending an intruder looks like. It is not without fear, grief and confusion. But in our response, we will grow and learn, we will listen and create, and ultimately, we may celebrate with relief that we found the courage to bring the medicine so that ALL are well.~ 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.[i] The full poem may be found here: “Imagined Letter from Covid-19 to Humans,” by Kristin Flyntz[ii] The full Zachary Stein article, “Covid-19: A War Broke Out in Heaven,” may be found at whatisemerging.com | | | | | | | | Question & Answer Q: By Dr. Wally Why have Christians abandoned the sabbath established by God? A: By Toni Ann Reynolds Dear Dr. Wally,I fear I have more questions in response to your question. Mostly because when I think about the biblical rules “established by God” it seems that very few people currently abide by them in the way they were initially prescribed. I do not think this is a bad thing. Good faith, practical faith, adapts and metabolizes as it needs to. I wonder what your idea of keeping the Sabbath looks like? I also wonder what kind of growth you had to endure in order to learn that keeping the Sabbath means what it means to you. What gentle, and graceful help can you be to others as they volunteer their struggle of keeping the Sabbath? I’m tempted to go into a short diatribe about a potential reason being the dysfunctional culture of congregational life. The same culture that means pastors have no time for a spiritual practice of their own because of the excessive, and often absurd, expressions from congregations. I’m wondering if some of the reasons the Sabbath keeping practices look different now has to do with our culture. We can click buttons and have just about anything done for us, delivered to our door, cleaned up, etc. Are we expecting faith leaders to do our spiritual work for us, the way that hired people in our Monday-Saturday lives do other difficult work for us? I do not agree with you completely- that Christians have abandoned the Sabbath. I don’t know all Christians, and I don’t know how all Christians actually do/don’t observe the Sabbath, nor how they have adapted their readings of scripture to make sense in a world where boxes talk to us and we can see our living rooms from the other side of the world. The prescription given to the people who wrote the bible, again and again before it reached the NIV or NRSV, was not this world you and I now occupy. This is a moment where my former Christian self would envy Judaism and Islam for the way they value successive interpretations of scripture for each generation of followers. Despite their controversies, these collective attempts to make sense of scripture in an ever-changing world are models of metabolizing faith practices as the world around us evolves. Since Christians don’t have this aspect, I like to think that it’s an invitation to healthy freedom. Freedom to decide what element(s) of your weekly life hinder, or simply strain your relationship with God. Whatever the answer is, that’s the thing that should be put on rest. If not for a full day, then after 5pm; or before noon each day. Ultimately, rules aside, it is up to each of us to govern ourselves in a way that keeps us moving in the Light of Love. Regardless of what all other Christians are doing, perhaps it is most advantageous to become lovingly disciplined about your personal respect for a day that is of utmost importance to you. That way your presence can speak and people can learn from you as they witness the power of your practice.~ Toni Anne Reynolds Read and share online here About the Author Minister Toni Anne Reynolds is committed to singing flesh onto the bones of the Christian tradition by incorporating recently found texts of the ancient world into liturgy, sermons, and poetry. Toni’s Christianity forms a holy trinity with the psychological medicine of Tibetan Buddhism and the eternal Life found in Yoruba traditions. Balanced in an eclectic faith and focused in theology, Toni’s ministry offers a unique perspective on life, theology, and spirituality. | | | | | | | | 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 Masada, the Jewish-Roman War of 66-73, and the Writing of the Gospels Essay by Bishop John Shelby Spong June 4, 2009The most impressive memory I have from my last trip to Israel is not of a religious site at all but of a military site, one that played an enormous role in Israel’s history. I refer to our visit to the desert fortress of Masada where, according to Josephus Flavius, a first-century Jewish historian, the war against Rome that began in the hills of Galilee in 66 came to an end in 73. Masada, an almost impenetrable fortress located near the Dead Sea, had once been a winter palace for Herod. Rising sphinxlike out of the desert, it was destined to be etched into Israel’s proud military history, not as the place of a great victory, but as the site of one of its most tragic, if noble, defeats. It is also not far from Nag Hammadi, where so many of the scrolls were discovered that were destined to revolutionize biblical studies in the 20th century. Most people are not familiar with the Roman-Jewish War, though I suspect it shaped the writing of the gospels as dramatically as anything that happened in the life of Jesus. In Jesus’ day, “freedom fighters,” which was what the Jews called them, or “terrorists,” as the Romans referred to them, were active in the hills of Galilee. One aggressive and uncompromising group was called the “Sicarii,” which means “political assassins.” From this word many scholars believed the name of “Iscariot” was derived. Generally, these guerillas were designated “the Zealots,” a name that was attached to Simon, one of the Twelve, in Luke’s Gospel. Whether these titles reflected a reading back into the Jesus story of memories from the Jewish-Roman War or whether this long-simmering Jewish hostility toward the Romans simply boiled just beneath the surface at the time of Jesus before finally erupting into open warfare about two generations later, is still subject to debate, but clearly there is some connection. The fact remains that in the year 66 CE, some thirty-six years after the crucifixion, and probably as much as five years before the first of the gospels was to be written, an open and full-scale war on Rome was begun by the Jewish Zealots in Galilee. Deciding that they had absorbed all of the Roman oppression that they could endure, these patriots took to arms. It was a hopeless quest for glory, because the might of Rome was unmatched and it was surely not going to be toppled by these roving bands of armed Jewish guerillas hiding out in the mountains of Galilee. Despite the odds, however, the Jews enjoyed great success with their hit-and-run attacks. They would swoop down on an outnumbered band of Roman soldiers, destroy them, take their weapons and armor and disappear, as if by magic, back into those hills. These successful attacks happened so frequently that they finally got the attention of Rome, arousing considerable anger. The Jews had always been a difficult conquered province for Rome to govern, so that no love was lost between them, but now they were becoming so costly in terms of both military lives lost and equipment stolen that Rome could tolerate them no longer. So Rome decided to act. First, they strengthened their presence in Galilee, requiring that their military personnel travel in larger units and in battle-ready stances. When that failed to diminish their losses, Rome decided that this war would no longer be fought on the turf chosen by the Jews. Reasoning that no enemy is destroyed by attacking its extremities, Rome decided to strike at the Jewish jugular. First under a general named Vespasian, and later under his son Titus, a Roman army was moved into siege positions around Jerusalem, the heart of the Jewish nation. In the year 70 CE, the city of Jerusalem fell and the Romans legions, filled with a loathing for these troublesome people, decided to show the Jews how costly defiance of Rome could be. That city was laid waste and the Temple was leveled. The Jews were treated with great hostility, justified, Rome felt, by their willingness to enter this war with Rome. The Temple authorities, primarily the strict constructionist Sadducees, were publicly persecuted. The Jewish nation was stricken from the maps of human history. Except for a brief revival in the Bar Kokhba Revolt of 132-135, it would not reappear on those maps until 1948. Jerusalem was repopulated with non-Jews. A temple to Jupiter was built where the Temple of Solomon had once been. For all practical purposes, Rome believed that they had ended the existence of the Jewish people in history. A few of the defeated defenders, however, managed to escape, and with some new recruits picked up on their retreat into the desert, they marched to join the Jewish defenders in the fortress at Masada. There in that remote place this war would continue. Rome pursued, but not vigorously, until their opponents were isolated in Masada, where cisterns caught and held enough rainwater to sustain life and where great amounts of grain and food were stored to help the defenders maintain themselves during a siege. There could be no retreat from Masada. This place was designed as the ultimate last stop. Rome seemed content at first simply to bottle up their enemies and wait, so the Masada siege held out for three years. Finally, with supplies of both food and water all but exhausted, with weapons in short supply — a spear or a rock once thrown could never be recovered — the moment of defeat was at hand. Ultimately, the Roman legions constructed a ramp with a tower that would lie against the side of that fortress mountain enabling them to attack the defenders from the same height and finally to leap over the walls. The Jewish commander, Eleazar ben Ya’ir, urged a suicide pact on the remaining defenders, still numbering in the hundreds, as a better alternative to crucifixion or slavery at the hands of the Romans. The pact was agreed to and so, by lot, ten of the men among the defenders were chosen to be the executioners. With their swords they struck the bared throats of the defenders until all were dead. Then again by lot, one of the defenders was chosen to execute the remaining nine then to fall on his sword in an act of suicide. It was in this manner that the Jewish-Roman War ended, and only a strange quiet greeted the Romans when they finally entered the mountain fortress. We rose in Be’er Sheva at 4:00 a.m. on the Wednesday after Easter to make the trip to Masada, in order to climb by foot into this mountain stronghold to view the rising of the sun over the Dead Sea and to examine the various rooms within this fortress where that ancient drama had been lived out. Above all, we sought to relive that dramatic moment in world history. Christians need to know that the first gospel, Mark, was probably written between the fall of Jerusalem and the fall of Masada. Its apocalyptic end of the world chapter 13 describes the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple and the persecution that enveloped the Jews, including those Jews who were followers of Jesus. It was written as if this devastating destruction was a prelude to Jesus’ second coming and the expected dawning of the Kingdom of God. That is why Mark portrays Jesus as the messiah at whose second coming the world would come to an end. That is also why Mark wraps miracles around the memory of Jesus because the Jews believed that when the Kingdom of God arrived in human history, it would be accompanied by acts of healing. The prophet Isaiah had written that the messiah would be recognized by the fact that at his coming the blind would see, the deaf hear, the lame walk and the mute sing. That is also why in the ninth chapter of Mark a story is told in which Jesus is made translucent by the light of God that previously was said to fall only on the Temple. It further suggests that Israel’s two greatest heroes, Moses and Elijah, not only share that light, but also find their fulfillment in him. It is clear in this “transfiguration” narrative that Jesus was being presented as the “New Temple,” the new meeting place between God and human life, an idea that would have been unthinkable if the Temple had not already been destroyed by the Romans. That is also why the activities of both Moses and Elijah are wrapped around Jesus throughout the gospels. Mark, Matthew and Luke all included accounts of Jesus taken directly from the Elijah-Elisha cycle of stories. Matthew in particular would develop these Markan themes to portray Jesus as the new Moses. That is why Matthew has Herod, like the Pharaoh of old, try to destroy the male messiah at birth. Then he parallels Jesus’ baptism with the Red Sea, Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness with Moses’ 40 years in the wilderness, and the trials of Moses are retold as the temptations of Jesus. Then Matthew puts Jesus on a new mountain to deliver a new interpretation of the Torah, which we today call “The Sermon on the Mount.” Luke, on the other hand, portrays Jesus as the “New Elijah,” retelling Elijah stories about Jesus as if he had actually replicated Elijah’s life. This culminates in Luke’s account of both the ascension of Jesus and the Pentecost story, both of which are little more than Elijah stories adapted to Jesus. This context may also explain why Mark, the first gospel to be written, introduces the traitor as a man named Judas. My study has convinced me that Judas Iscariot is a Christian creation, not a figure of history. The idea that Jesus had been betrayed by one of his own was unknown before Mark. After the fall of Jerusalem, Jewish Christians, seeking to separate themselves from the Temple Jews, who were being blamed for starting that war, decided to show that they had a common Jewish enemy, just like the Romans, so they made the anti-hero of the Jesus story a man who bore the name of the Jewish nation. Judas is nothing but the Greek spelling of Judah. Increasingly, while both Mark and Matthew were making the Jews the villains of the Jesus story, they were also portraying Pontius Pilate, the Roman official, as sympathetic to Jesus. The fall of Jerusalem in 70 and Masada in 73 became the context in which the gospel tradition was formed. If you ever get to Israel, spend some time at Masada and then read the gospels through the context of those days in which the gospels were written instead of pretending that they describe the time of Jesus. It will be a new lens, a powerful and accurate lens, and the gospel stories will never be the same. I recommend a visit to Masada if one wants to be a serious New Testament scholar.~ John Shelby Spong | | | | | | | | Announcements Practicing Spirituality in Nature April 20th – May 29th - registrationremains open until the last day of the course Come along with Spirituality & Practice on a retreat conducted via email and explore all the ways you can discover and celebrate the Divine in nature. READ ON ... | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

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Black Academy
by Jack Gilles 22 Apr '20

22 Apr '20

Dawn, I thought you would like to hear a response to your experience of the BA. We held one in Cleveland as well. The Metro Cadre recruited it as we had some great black women and a few men in it. They invited other church people, but the group that signed up included others, a total of around 50. As Larry Ward got up and started, a man stood up, and slowly walked out. Then as he began again another. This happened four times. I and another white person were sitting in the back as observers. I caught a “raised eyebrow” signal from the second teacher and we two got up quietly and left. We listened and watched for either an explosion of noise from within or others coming out. No more left and it proceeded. You might like to know I told George West of your mentioning him. He is very weak and feeble now and has people spend the night with him and a person who comes and cooks/cleans for him during the day. He can no longer get himself up from bed and has fallen at least four times. Each time he fell he was able to “buzz” me via phone from a dialer hanging around his neck. We now have a person who is there on Sunday’s when he had nobody present during the day. But he smiled and recalled you very well. I told him I would write you and let you know that you touched someone and brought a tender memory to his mind. Peace, Jack

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Book study
by Marianna Bailey 21 Apr '20

21 Apr '20

Hi All! > > > Want to join? > > --Here is WHAT: We are studying Sacred America, Sacred World: Fulfilling Our Mission in Service to All by Stephen Dinan (2016). Here’s how the book is described on Amazon: “Infused with visionary power, Sacred America, Sacred World is a manifesto for our country's evolution that is both political and deeply spiritual. It offers profound hope that America can grow beyond our current challenges and manifest our noblest destiny, which the book shows is rooted in sacred principles that transcend left or right political views.” Click here to see more and or purchase it. WATCH a video trailer for the book > > Here is a chart of the table of contents of the book. > > This week we are starting with a look at the first 2 chapters with a focus on Chapter 2: What is a Sacred America? Click here to see the 18 paragraphs of Chapter 2. > > > > What Is a Sacred America.docx > > > Here is WHEN: Each Tuesday (starting April 21st, 2020) for 1 hour -- at 9:00 pm Eastern (New York) time; 8:00 pm Central (Chicago) time; 7:00 pm Mountain (Denver) time; 6:00 Pacific (Los Angeles) time. 9:00 am in Taipei. > > --Here is HOW: Send an email to Marianna Bailey Her email is wmbailey(a)charter.net She will send you an invitation to the Zoom meeting we will be using > > If you are new to Zoom, watch this video to learn the steps to get from the invitation to the Zoom Meeting. > > If you are joining via computer: click the link and follow instructions. If you are joining by phone, use one of the numbers in the meeting invitation. > > Marianna and Jim Wiegel plan to be on the Zoom meeting 10-15 minutes ahead of time to help you participate. David Rebstock is going over the chapter to highlight parts and prepare some questions. > > Marianna Bailey > > Jim Wiegel > “That which consumes me is not man, nor the earth, nor the heavens, but the flame which consumes man, earth, and sky." Nikos Kazantzakis > > 401 North Beverly Way,Tolleson, Arizona 85353 > 623-363-3277 > jfwiegel(a)yahoo.com > www.partnersinparticipation.com > > > On Monday, April 20, 2020, 12:37:23 PM MST, Marianna Bailey <wmbailey(a)charter.net> wrote: > > > Join Zoom Meeting > https://us02web.zoom.us/j/74985854970ji > > Meeting ID: 749 8585 4970 > One tap mobile > +13126266799,,74985854970# US (Chicago) > +16465588656,,74985854970# US (New York) > > Dial by your location > +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) > +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) > +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) > +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) > +1 253 215 8782 US > +1 301 715 8592 US > Meeting ID: 749 8585 4970 > Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcvaRQJvuY > > > > > > Sent from my iPad

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History Shapers
by Dawn Collins 21 Apr '20

21 Apr '20

G&P Anybody interested in a side study into the history of the Knights Templar??? Kindfully yours, d P.S. Multi-tasking with a.m. news on MSNBC; don't you think Falci would make a good Surgeon General?? We love the Final Reality because the Penultimate Concern loved us first. - 1 John 4:19

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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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