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4/18/13, Spong: What the Gun Debate Reveals about the Republican Party and Political Leadership
by Ellie Stock 19 Apr '13

19 Apr '13

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR +A message to my readers: After the deadline for the publication of this column the terrorist bombing at the end of the Boston marathon occurred, leaving many of us enraged, saddened and despairing about the levels of violence that apparently engulf the world. It also put the content of this column into a new perspective. Our prayers go out to the victims and our thanks go to the first responders, but our hopes to build a better world remain in tact. When all the facts become clear we will look again at what this new terror episode means to our churning understanding of what it means to be human. ~John Shelby Spong What the Gun Debate Reveals about the Republican Party and Political Leadership Something seems to be missing from the equation or perhaps I am just not smart enough to understand the dynamics. The fact is I don’t get it! Perhaps there is something subliminal going on that will in time be revealed. For the life of me, however, I find it difficult to understand why the intelligent people, elected to the Congress, are having such a hard time deciding whether or not to vote for universal background checks as a prerequisite for buying a gun. I do not understand why there is a debate on whether to limit a magazine clip to ten bullets on a gun sold to a civilian. Are ten bullets without reloading not sufficient for anyone’s personal use? I do not understand why any private citizen needs to own an assault weapon? While I was trying to make sense out of these questions and the behavior of our elected officials, I watched as a group of Republican senators sought to block the Senate from even being able to debate, much less pass any gun reform legislation. Led first by four of the regular right-wing grandstanders in the Senate, who were enhancing their image with the Tea Party types, they were soon joined by 11 others including the Senate Republican minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. It then became the position of the majority of the Republican senators, when 31 of the 45 of them voted in an attempt to prevent this bill from even being considered by the legislative wing of our government. Are there that many senators who are that out of touch with the people of this country? Is this now the official position of the Republican Party? With every poll of our citizens showing majorities ranging from 91% to 56% in support of the various provisions of this gun reform law, I am driven to the conclusion that something irrational has become the point of view of one of the major political parties in this nation, which means that something dreadful is going on in my country! I try to listen to these people’s arguments, seeking to discover some semblance of rationality, but it eludes me. In this legislation I see no attempt to revoke the second amendment’s guarantee of a citizen’s right to bear arms. I see only an effort to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of mentally sick and clearly distorted members of our society by requiring universal background checks before a gun can be purchased. People getting drivers’ licenses at least have their criminal records checked. I see no effort to take guns away from hunters or gun club members. I have never been convinced, however, that hunters or gun club members need assault weapons or unlimited magazine capacities to carry out their activities. These might be essential to an army confronting an enemy seeking to destroy this nation, but does any private citizen need a howitzer, a bazooka, a machine gun or a missile launcher. I understand why people who live in non-urban areas, separated by distances from police protection or even from their nearest neighbors, might need to arm themselves against possible intruders, but action-activated spot lights, alarm systems and well placed cameras can provide far more effective security and at a much cheaper price and if that security system were supported by a shotgun, a rifle or even a six shooter, sufficient protection to alleviate all fear would be accomplished. More than that seems to me to reflect rampant paranoia. I listen to gun lobbyists suggest that only a society armed to the teeth will ever be a safe society and I find no facts that bear out this claim. America has more guns per person in our population than any other developed nation in the world. If guns make us safer then why does this nation also have the highest murder rate of any developed nation? Among regular gun victims are our children. What kind of nation is it that does nothing when school children are regularly lost to gun-carrying killers? No place appears to be safe from violence. University students at Virginia Tech, a campus with its own security forces, who are in fact well-armed, were murdered in their classrooms by a mentally-disturbed former student, who had access to a high magazine attack weapon. A member of congress, Representative Gabby Gifford, addressing her constituents in her home state of Arizona, was shot as were others meeting with her, including children, who came to “meet the congresswoman,” were killed. Members of a Sikh Temple in Chicago were murdered by an armed psychopath while gathering for worship. Children at school in Columbine, Colorado, were slaughtered by armed disgruntled students, and children, six and seven years old, in Newtown, Connecticut, were senselessly murdered by a young man with an attack weapon, who had just killed his mother. Innocent, unnamed, urban teenagers are regularly caught in the crossfire and killed in some of our crime-ridden, drug infested cities. How many must die before our elected leaders develop an effective response? Political and transformative figures have also been victims of our violent society. One thinks of such leaders as John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, George Wallace, Robert F. Kennedy, Malcolm X and Ronald Reagan who have been hunted down and shot by a wide variety of potential killers. How is it possible that some of our political officials think that limiting access to killing weapons compromises civil liberties more than protecting the potential victims of gun violence? Are not murdered people rendered devoid of every civil liberty? Are our elected leaders so afraid that if they had to cast a vote on this bill they would either lose their seat in the Senate or close off from themselves forever the lucrative support of the gun lobby? Is that fear more compelling than protecting the innocent from gun violence? Is there no issue worth risking one’s Senate seat? Then why did these people seek election in the first place: Since all but two of those who threatened to block any vote on these issues were Republicans, we must ask whether there is anyone in the Republican Party willing to speak out against this vote-dodging behavior of their leaders in congress? Has Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, by embracing that attempt to prohibit even a vote on these issues, not sacrificed any leadership potential that he ever possessed? This is the same national leader who stated some four years ago that his top priority was not to help lead the country through the worst economic crisis since the depression or to help bring an end to two wars that were instrumental in bringing the economy to the edge of bankruptcy, but it was rather to limit his political opponent to being a “one-term president.” Does that statement not border on irresponsibility, if not treason? What does leadership mean? That is not the only bizarre act that now plagues this party. During the last presidential election in states where the Republicans controlled the governor’s office and both houses of the state legislatures, which included states from Pennsylvania to Florida and from Ohio to South Carolina, efforts were made by a variety of barely legal means, to suppress minority voting. Is that the way democracy works? Are they willing to subvert this democracy in order to gain political power? Why were they not worried about the civil liberties of minority voters? Is this the party of Abraham Lincoln who, for his efforts to end slavery lost his life, and as a result once had the fierce loyalty of the great majority of America’s black voters? Is this the party of Theodore Roosevelt? Is it even the party of Ronald Reagan? This is, however, the same Republican Party that wants to limit the health care options available to women in the workplace, to mandate invasive ultra-sound procedures for women seeking a legal abortion, whose representatives denied that a woman could get pregnant from “legitimate” rape, all in order to force women to conform to the narrow religious agenda of these spokespersons. Was it not the presidential candidate of this party who wanted to “self deport” illegal immigrants by seeing to it that they received no support, no jobs, no education and no health care? Do they really believe that in the last presidential election they lost by huge majorities, the votes of women, young people, African-Americans and Latinos only because they did not communicate their policies well? Or do they think no one was listening? I suggest they communicated quite well and that these voters did not like their message! I wonder whether or not this party has, out of its fear of losing power, become suicidal, or does it simply suffer from a death wish? Is this party destined to go the way of the “Whigs?” Does it not recognize that a two-party system vying for the support of the majority is what makes this country work? The gun vote in congress is a matter of life and death to many people. It is a vote both about public safety and about what kind of a nation we are becoming and what kind of nation we want to be. When leaders get so far out of touch with the people they were elected to serve and when the people begin to feel that they cannot make these leaders hear their voices the seeds of revolution are at that moment being sown. If Senator McConnell, along with Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, just to name the most vocal of those who tried stop even a vote on the gun bill, are in fact the face of the modern-day Republican Party in the United States, then this party has no future. I urge other Republicans in the Senate, in the House and Republican governors around the country to separate themselves from their current congressional leadership and to call their party back to their constitutional role of responsible opposition. That is the only way Republicans will have a chance to share in tomorrow’s leadership in America. ~John Shelby Spong Read the essay online here. Question & Answer Nicole Armitstead from Australia writes: Question: I read your title Liberating the Gospels some time ago which I found "liberating." I wonder, when all the layers are peeled from the gospels, I'm not sure I fully understand what is left in the Christian story to grasp. When we strip everything away is there an eternal truth left to motivate us? When you deconstruct a story so totally, what remains? Look forward to your words which will, no doubt, be wise. Answer: Dear Nicki, Yours is a good question, but I believe the wrong question. If what we have in the gospels is an interpretation of Jesus, written from a time two to three generations after his death and in a language Jesus never spoke, as I am certain was the case, then the question we need to ask is what gave that writing its power? If the story was not literal history to begin with is anything lost when we discover that it was not literal history? That is the situation we are in today. Since the early fourth century, out of both ignorance and prejudice, we have pretended that the gospels were biographies of the things Jesus said and did. Now we know they are highly interpretive works of some Jewish artists who mined the Hebrew Scriptures for stories about Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Solomon, Isaiah and many other parts of what we call the Old Testament in order to wrap these stories around Jesus of Nazareth. It would take far more space than this question and answer format would allow to document this conclusion with adequate data. That is what I did in some 300 pages in the book to which you have referred: Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes. That is still my favorite book of all that I have written and it was the book in which my study of the gospels was broken open to new levels of understanding. It is not what is left that should be our concern, but why were these gospels written in this way at the beginning? That is the question that drives us to look behind the gospels and try to discover the experience that they had with Jesus, which required the interpretation these early writers put upon that experience. What was the source of that life-changing power that they believed they found in him? In that experience, life was expanded to new dimensions. When they tried to explain that experience, all they could finally say was somehow, through some means in that special life, they had met, encountered and known the meaning of God. The job of the church is to keep that experience alive by watching it lower barriers and expand life today. I do not throw away or abandon a great piece of art because it does not literally portray the meaning of its subject. I move deeply into that piece of art to discover the power to which the artist is seeking to bear witness. That is also how the Bible is to be read. Its value grows rather than diminishes when it is approached this way. It is institutional Christianity that has for so long defended a literal Bible that feels bereft. It is not the lives of those who can now respond to a non-literal view of the Bible. My best, John Shelby Spong Announcements Join us as we celebrate religious diversity on Pluralism Sunday! This year, May 5, 2012 (or other times during the year) – churches dedicate their worship to a celebration of our interfaith world. Progressive Christians thank God for religious diversity! We don’t claim that our religion is superior to all others. We recognize that other religions can be as good for others as ours is for us. We can grow closer to God and deeper in compassion—and we can understand our own traditions better—through a more intimate awareness of the world’s religions. On PLURALISM SUNDAY, churches celebrate elements of other world faiths in their sermons, litanies, and music; many feature speakers and singers from other faith traditions. Some congregations have exchanges with other faith communities, going to each other’s houses of worship. SIGN UP your congregation to be listed as a participating church for 2012 – by emailing Rev. Jim Burklo, Pluralism Sunday Coordinator for ProgressiveChristianity.org. (Churches can celebrate the event on other dates and still be listed as participants – indicate your plans for the event to Jim so these details can be listed on our site.) Any questions or concerns, please contact us at support(a)johnshelbyspong.com or 503-236-3545. Copyright © 2013 ProgressiveChristianity.org, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you have a membership at our website. Our mailing address is: ProgressiveChristianity.org 3530 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Unit 1 Portland, OR 97214 Add us to your address book

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Re: [Oe List ...] Tucking In Children and Grandchildren Post-RS-1
by Don Cramer 18 Apr '13

18 Apr '13

On Feb 28, 2012, at 4:05 PM, Dharmalingam Vinasithamby wrote: > Lovely book, Michael. > > regards, > Dharma > > From: Michael May <michael(a)storywarrior.net> > To: OE Listserve <oe(a)wedgeblade.net> > Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 12:40 AM > Subject: [Oe List ...] Tucking In Children and Grandchildren Post-RS-1 > > Grandparents and Great Grandparent of the Children of the 21st Century, > > If you are wondering how to tuck in your children or grandchildren in the new millennium, check out this link: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3019463 > > On the journey…... > > Michael > > Michael D. May > Interior Mythos Journeys > Nurturing the Infinite Addiction > www.storywarrior.net > 210 East Gilbert Drive > Bloomington, IN 47408 > (812)606-7152 cell > michael(a)storywarrior.net > > > _______________________________________________ > OE mailing list > OE(a)wedgeblade.net > http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/oe_wedgeblade.net > > Don Cramer doncramer86(a)gmail.com

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Fwd: OpEd Thursday
by Jaime R Vergara 16 Apr '13

16 Apr '13

If curious, welcome; not, see you at the bend! j'aime la vie Yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate. In all, Celebrate! -----Original Message----- From: Jaime R Vergara <jrvergarajr2031(a)aol.com> To: jayvee_vallejera <jayvee_vallejera(a)saipantribune.com>; mark_rabago <mark_rabago(a)saipantribune.com>; editor <editor(a)saipantribune.com> Sent: Tue, Apr 16, 2013 9:06 pm Subject: OpEd Thursday The blasts heard around the world It was acommemorative Monday in one of the world’s famous city marathons. Held on Patriots’ Day, a Massachusetts’holiday, it remembers events of 1775 in Concord and Lexington when the AmericanRevolution broke out. The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest marathon event,first ran in 1897 with 18 entries. Itregistered 27,000 runners this year. It alsoremembered the 26 victims in the Newtown, Connecticut Sandy Hook Schoolshooting massacre as the run measures 26.2 miles and a set marker on the 26thmile was made to remind the participants of the tragedy not too long ago in aneighboring State. Mostparticipants are recreational runners, in the race for the challenge of makingit to the end of the line while friends and love ones cheer on, and basking onpersonal accomplishments. Whileathleticism is on display, and the Boston marathon requires qualifying timesalong with experience in another run within a year-and-a-half, the sheer fun ofparticipation is also wildly evident. Recallingprevious Aloha runs in Oahu, the levity of such run fests is contagious! Two hours intothe first crossing at the finish line, when many of the participants werefinally making it, was when two blasts occurred 10 seconds apart. Three were pronounced dead including aneight-year old child who was cheering on Daddy to the finish line. Barricades andyellow tapes sprouted quickly as security officials reacted in the manner theywere trained. The knowledgeable grabbedtourniquets as amputations suddenly became the medical order of the day! The soul of anation is laid bare, and already, the accusation of the hideous act ofterrorism, domestic or foreign, is echoed in legislative chambers even withoutsolid evidence of any kind. AP reachedthe Taliban in Pakistan and the group immediately disowned any association withthe incident. Another incidentthat may or may not be related was a blast at the JFK library. Two other bombs at the marathon were foundand diffused. No group so fare has laidclaim to the perpetuation of the deadly assault on an erstwhile peaceful andfun-filled celebration. We write fromoutside the sovereign territories of the United States, and though we haveaccess to the wire services of western media, we also scour the response oflocal news sources. China Dailyreports a female student at Boston U in a coma at a hospital as one of the 140casualties. Seventeen females out ofeighty-seven Chinese runners between 20 to 65-yr old were registered accordingto organizers. There are no promarathoners. The paper’s reportingfocused on the objective facts, in the same vein as it informed its readingaudience the recent devastating tremors in Iran and Iraq at more than 7 points inthe Richter scale; another of lesser intensity was around New Delhi in India. Other colleagues,while lamenting the seeming senselessness of the Boston blasts, point out also withoutheavy-handed weight of judgment and condemnation, the numerous effects oninnocent lives of our unending use of drones in our military engagements inSouth Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. The recentincessant demonization of the DPRK and a possible nuclear strike on US forces,including those in the Marianas, based on regular Pyongyang bellicosity, nowmakes sense as SoKor recently announced a financial stimulus package to helpboost the Won against the weakening ¥en and the indeterminate ¥uan. I bet on increased defense spending. To the Obamaadministration’s credit, when the news media carried the allegation from adefense intelligence agency’s accusation that DPRK “possibly” has nuclearcapabilities, the Pentagon quickly disowned the report and claimed that anysuch judgment, on the basis of evidence, is “inaccurate”. Which brings usback to Boston. Obama has not been afavorite of patriotic elements in the country, often accused of being aforeigner and Moslem out to sell the nation’s security down the drain. The nation’s debate on gun controllegislation after the gut-wrenching effect of Sandy Hook and other tragedieswas very revealing of the level of vitriol leveled against the White House. Knowing of thecritical impact of symbolic gestures, the patriotic focus of Patriots’ Day isnot lost on those of us who have distance enough to see how something likeSeptember 11, and the 911 as an emergency call signal, was laid on a nationtaking advantage of the exploitation of other people’s resources. Dick Cheney’s drool on Iraqi oil is nowconfirmed by one of his own former aides. We might saythat the Boston blasts is a cruel demonstration of certain elements in oursociety out to show that Boston and Massachusetts cannot prevail as thedominant ethos of a country attempting to leave its signature as a liberal and progressive “beacon on ahill” to the rest of the world. Over photos senton the Net of two men assisting each other to save a sheep in a raging riveronly to be followed by lamb chops being barbecued on the grill, we said, “it isa character of our times to mistake skepticism and cynicism as witty.” There is nothingwitty about the Boston blasts, and if attempts are made to symbolize it aspatriotic, we have turned into cruel folks, indeed. j'aime la vie Yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate. In all, Celebrate!

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promised photos
by Jaime R Vergara 15 Apr '13

15 Apr '13

Map givers were promised some pictures. Here's three: one is what the room floor looks like in one of my classes after 2 students and I get tables and chairs together. Other two after we put up maps (had them laminated, after a fashion), and the present photos have the students locating countries as they are internationally called with their Chinese equivalents. You may notice that the class architecture is hardly lecture-centered. Anyone about to clear old maps from NatGeo stash, consider putting them in an envelop (Ben and Jacki had a box), and send them to my Hawaii address. (Ones with images of ethnic groups are very engaging.) Thanks to those who shared their maps. Jaime Vergara 91-2059 Pahuhu Pl Ewa Beach HI 96706 j'aime la vie Yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate. In all, Celebrate!

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Hacked
by Wilson Priscilla 13 Apr '13

13 Apr '13

Randy, I received an email from "you" this morning suggesting I open a link that looked strange. It was not your address. Not sure where I'm sending this...but wanted you to know. Priscilla H Wilson Pris(a)TeamTechPress.com 913-432-2107 www.teamtechpress.com

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4/11/13, Spong: The Birth of Jesus, Part XI. Matthew Weaves Together Proof Texts from Isaiah, Micah, Hosea and from an Unknown Source
by Ellie Stock 11 Apr '13

11 Apr '13

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR The Birth of Jesus, Part XI Matthew Weaves Together Proof Texts from Isaiah, Micah, Hosea and from an Unknown Source Christianity was born in the synagogue and the original followers of Jesus were primarily observant Jews. They gathered in the synagogue regularly on the Sabbath for worship. A major part of that worship consisted of reading, learning about and becoming conversant with the sacred scriptures as the Jews understood them. Each Sabbath there were three major scripture readings observed by the synagogue pattern of Jewish worship. The first, the longest and the most important, came from what the Jews called the Torah. This part of the Hebrew Bible was also called “The books of Moses.” In Jesus’ day, it was generally believed that Moses was the author of the Torah books, named Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These writings were the Jewish “Holy of Holies” and in the stricter, more orthodox synagogues, the requirement was that the entire Torah must be read in the synagogue on the Sabbaths of a single year. To accomplish this, the Torah lesson would of necessity consist of the reading of five to six chapters of our present text as the first lesson. It would take a minimum of 10 to 15 minutes to read a passage of that length. In more moderate or “liberal” synagogues this requirement was loosened and the Torah was allowed to be read over a three-year cycle. The second lesson would come from that portion of the Hebrew Bible that the Jews called “The Former Prophets.” These are the books that purport to describe Jewish history after the death of Moses, and include those works known as Joshua, Judges, I and II Samuel and I and II Kings. At an earlier point in history, these latter four books were all called the books of Samuel or I, II, III and IV Samuel. It was a later interpolation to call the last two I and II Kings. These books covered Jewish history from the conquest of Canaan under Joshua, around the year 1200 BCE, to the defeat of the nation of Judah at the hands of the Babylonians and the subsequent exile of the Jewish people in the land of Babylon beginning in 586 BCE. They were not as important as the Torah so there was no specific deadline by which to complete them. The third synagogue scripture reading was from what the Jews called “The Latter Prophets.” That title referred to the books we now call Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the books from Hosea to Malachi, which were all on a single scroll and were referred to by the Jews as “The book of the Twelve.” Christians tend to call them “The Minor Prophets.” Please note that Daniel did not come into the canon of Jewish Scripture until about 165 BCE and, as a late arrival, was not generally included in synagogue readings. When one notes the length of these four books: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve, we discover that they are about the same length and each tended to be read one chapter a week, one book a year, so the four books would be rotated over a four year cycle.. The singing or reciting of selected psalms would break up and separate the various scripture readings. Following these three readings, the members of the congregation would be invited to comment on the readings. This was the context in which the followers of Jesus began to wrap their memories of Jesus around and into the stories from the sacred text of the Jews. In time, stories originally written about Moses or Elijah would be retrofitted and then retold about Jesus, thus linking him to the spiritual power of his Jewish ancestors. On other occasions, words from one of the prophets or from one of the psalms would illumine an experience they had once had with Jesus and a tradition would be started in which Jesus and the Hebrew Scriptures began to meld into each other. We will see this reality occurring over and over as we work through the gospels. For now all I want to demonstrate is that these themes are a major part of the birth narratives and we cannot read them intelligently unless we recognize the process that created them. We have noted already that the story of a wicked king named Pharaoh, who tried to put to death the infant Moses as God’s promised deliverer, was repackaged and told by Matthew as a Jesus story in which a wicked king named Herod tries to put to death God’s promised deliverer named Jesus. Matthew then goes on to wrap his narrative of Jesus around a series of carefully chosen texts that suggest that the history of the Jewish people is somehow being relived through Jesus and that the words of the Hebrew Scriptures find their fulfillment in him. Matthew is much like a country preacher trying to bend the biblical text to the needs of his sermon. In his birth story, Mathew utilizes texts from Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Hosea and, finally, from an unknown or yet to be identified text. I will examine each in brief detail. All of them are, at the very least, enormous stretches in literal accuracy. The first one is Isaiah 7:14 that we have heard numerous times in our Christmas pageants. Out of the darkness or even off stage, the voice of the prophet is heard saying, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel, which means God with us.” The first and major problem with Matthew’s use of this text is that he did not quote it accurately. Was this an honest mistake or a deliberate attempt to make the text say what he needed it to say to suit his literary purposes? No one can finally say, but I suspect the latter when I put these words from Isaiah into their original context. Isaiah actually writes in Hebrew: “Behold a young woman is with child!” It is rather difficult to claim one is a virgin when one is expecting a baby. Indeed, the word virgin appears nowhere in this verse from Isaiah. The context is this. Two kings, Pekah from the Northern Kingdom called Israel and Rezin, the king of Syria, are in siege positions outside the walls of Jerusalem. They have made war on Judah and its king named Ahaz, because he has refused to join their alliance against Assyria. Their goal in this war was to topple Ahaz, put a puppet king on to the throne of Judah and then to have Judah’s military strength added to their alliance designed to hold off the Assyrians. King Ahaz is atop the walls of Jerusalem inspecting its defenses when he is met by Isaiah the prophet. First, Isaiah assures the king that Jerusalem will not fall to “these smoldering stumps,” which is what he calls Pekah and Rezin. Ahaz is not convinced. Isaiah then says to him: “Ask a sign of God.” and God will convince you that you will be delivered. Ahaz refuses to ask. Irritated, Isaiah says well you will be given a sign whether you like it or not. “Behold a woman is with child.” This baby soon to be born into the royal household will be the heir to the throne, a sign that this kingdom will endure. Isaiah goes on to say that before this baby is able to eat curds and honey and before he is old enough to choose between good and evil, these kings before whom Ahaz was quaking at this moment will be long gone. The facts of history are that the land of Judah was destined to work out a treaty with Assyria that left Judah a vassal state, but still alive, while both Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel were destroyed by Assyria. This text in Isaiah had nothing to do with predicting the birth of the messiah almost 800 years later! Matthew was stretching his interpretive powers wildly by using the text the way he did. The second text from the prophets, which Matthew weaves into his story, comes from Micah. When the wise men (I will discuss them in the next column in this series) stop to ask directions at the palace of King Herod, the king consults his chief priests and scribes to determine where it is that the messiah is to be born. One of the images so important to the Jews was that messiah must be a descendant of King David and thus heir to the Jewish throne. Part of messiah’s task was to restore the throne of King David. Micah the prophet refers to Bethlehem as the town out of which David emerged to rule the land of the Jews. The messiah must follow the same pattern. So in the opening narratives of Matthew, the birth of Jesus was shifted from Nazareth, where he was surely born, to Bethlehem, so that the messianic claim can be made and the words of the prophet Micah affirmed. Next, when Matthew proceeds to tell the story of King Herod slaughtering the boy babies in Bethlehem in his move to destroy the promised deliverer, he relates this to another tragic moment in Jewish history when the Assyrians conquered and destroyed the Northern Kingdom, made up, according to tradition, primarily of the descendants of Joseph, the son of Rachel, who was said to have been Jacob’s favorite wife. Thus Jeremiah portrays Rachel, the tribal mother of the Northern Kingdom, as weeping for her children who are now lost forever. Matthew sees in that story a prediction of the deaths of the children at Herod’s hand. It was not even a close fit. Then Matthew says that when Joseph was forced to flee from Herod’s wrath, he took Mary and the Christ Child to Egypt. Once, God had to call God’s son (the Jewish people) out of Egypt. Now Matthew quotes Hosea, who was referring to Moses and the Exodus, to refer to Jesus, who is also called out of Egypt, since messiah must relive the history of the Jews. In Matthew’s final birth narrative biblical quotation Joseph took Mary and the Christ Child to live in Nazareth. This, Matthew said, was to fulfill the words of the prophet that “he will be called a Nazarene.” Such a prophetic expectation cannot be found anywhere in scripture. The closest we can come to it is in Isaiah 11:1 where the prophet writes “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse (David’s father) and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” It is another text used to prove that messiah must be related to David. The word “branch” in Hebrew is “nazir” or “nezer.” It sounds a bit like Nazareth, but “close” is all Matthew needed. Matthew stretched all of his texts, but this last one was stretched to absolute fantasy. My point is to show how the debate waged in the synagogue as the followers of Jesus sought to understand him, his relationship to the concept of messiah and his relationship to the Jewish Scriptures. We are reading here a first century Jewish interpretation of Jesus. We are not reading history. There is a difference. ~John Shelby Spong Read the essay online here. Question & Answer Robert Dummet via the Internet, writes: Question: Let me begin by saying I have a great respect and admiration for you. I have watched some of your debates, listened to your lectures and read some of your books. I can hear the voice of Christ in you. As a result, I know that I have come to a better understanding of the love of God, growing in truth, wisdom and joy. However, I have a question with a few strands that I hope you can shine some light on as it is very perplexing to me. I was re-reading the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis and observed that it appears that it was not the serpent that lied but God. I think if one is truthful and not blinded by tradition, that what the story says is the opposite of what tradition holds. In the mythical story, God creates Adam and Eve and tells them not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil because, “in that day thou shall surely die for God doth know in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil: (Genesis 3:4-5). My question is who is lying? God or the serpent? I have fasted and prayed abut this and I keep getting the same answer. The liar here is God. He even admits that the serpent is right when he confirms, “Behold, the humans have become as one of us, to know good and evil.” The promise of the serpent is therefore true. My question is how can this be and why? We are told God cannot lie, but scripture has shown this to be false. What is the story trying to tell us? Has it anything to do with the sins of Yahweh? It sure seems as if there is some sort of savage and evil God in the Old Testament and a gentle loving God in the New Testament. I know this is controversial big time, but you are not new to controversy and won’t I hope sidestep my questions. Therefore I look forward to your early reply soon. Answer: Dear Robert, Thank you for your letter and for your affirming comments. My mother may actually believe what you say is literally true! The issue you raise is not, as you suggest, “controversial big time” and I have never heard of any biblical scholars spending time on this subject. What you are reading in the second chapter of Genesis is not the revealed word of God in which every phrase must be searched for meaning. You are reading a 10th century BCE folk tale designed to help human beings make sense out of the fact of evil. No conversation between Eve and the serpent ever took place because neither Eve as the presumed first woman, nor the serpent, which apparently walked on two feet and spoke perfect Hebrew, ever existed. The dialogue in that story is the dialogue that the original story teller employed. The serpent, as the tempter, was employing its understanding of God to buttress its argument. These are not God’s words, but a story teller’s words, so it matters little who is lying. The serpent is making God say what the serpent wants God to say in order to achieve its purpose. People do that all the time. That is how slavery, segregation, the diminution of women, the oppression of homosexuals, religious wars and religious persecution are developed. People quote God or God’s “Word” (the Bible) to place God on the side of a variety of issues. So break the literal hold the Bible has on you and begin to study the scriptures for what they are--tribal tales through which people seek the meaning of God. John Shelby Spong Announcements Bishop Spong has a full speaking schedule- here are the next few: April 12-14, 2013 UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 8787 Pacific Street Omaha, NE 68114 Event: Eternal Life: A New Vision – Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism. Beyond Heaven and Hell Apr 20- 21, 2013 THE ELIOT CHURCH OF NEWTON (UCC) 474 Centre Street Newton, MA 02458-2089 Event: Lecture, Worship and Forum May 3- 4, 2013 AMICALOLA FALLS STATE PARK LODGE 18 Amicalola Falls Lodge Drive, Dawsonville, GA 30534 Event: Lectures For Bishop Spong's full calendar and more information on the above, click here Any questions or concerns, please contact us at support(a)johnshelbyspong.com or 503-236-3545. Copyright © 2013 ProgressiveChristianity.org, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you have a membership at our website. Our mailing address is: ProgressiveChristianity.org 3530 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Unit 1 Portland, OR 97214 Add us to your address book

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Fwd: ST OpEd Thursday
by Jaime R Vergara 10 Apr '13

10 Apr '13

Chicago'sEbert We are not preoccupied with death, our paean to yesterday'sIron Lady notwithstanding. This year, we move into that last phase of ourexistence we previously labeled as the "celebration of ourfinitude". We turn 68 on ourgracious journey unto death, and on a chosen timeline until 2031 when we make86, we shall allow the eulogy in our Requiemand the singing of a final Te Deum whenour cremated remains is cast to the wind and water currents of the terrestrialrealm. In the 70-80s, we lived off and onin Chicago' Uptown where American film making started before it headed tosmoggy Los Angeles, so we became familiar with the lively film critiquing ofSiskel and Ebert. In 1999, Gene Siskelat 53 succumbed to a fatal surgery in his fight against cancer. This week, at 70, Roger Ebert followed after struggling with thyroidcancer, and a few days before his death, he had his thumbs up on existence (asquoted in John Cock's Journey Reflection dialogue):… “While not without its flaws, life, from birth to death, is a masterwork, andan uplifting journey that both touches the heart and challenges the mind… Attimes brutally sad, yet surprisingly funny, and always completely honest, Iwholeheartedly recommend existence. If you haven’t experienced it yet, thenwhat are you waiting for? It is not to be missed.” Ross Mason, M.S., wrote of cancer awareness and prevention in yesterday'sST, and we certainly would not discourage any gains in knowledge and wisdomover one of human's thoroughly debilitating conditions. But it is in the doing that passes the testof the pudding, and Mason weighs in heavily on the area of prevention,particularly in paying attention to fructose intake. Not unlike our comments over our twoASD-diagnosed kids in another awareness focus this month, we can also stayfocused on the forest and miss paying attention to the individual trees. (To remind myself not to be captive solelywithin the conceptual periphery, I light four candles on my ledge to lift intoconsciousness the journey of four specific individuals of my acquaintanceliving graciously with their condition.) This is where Ebert's quote came to fore. And it has to do with paying attention to thelimits and possibilities of life, metaphors I picked up while hanging out withthe folks associated with the Institute of Cultural Affairs in Chicago. (Not toworry, this is not a theological discourse!) But first, words on the "PA¥ing" attention metaphor, soheavily laden with commercial overtones. I teach business oral English to Chinese University students and since"listening" is an encouraged skill, thoroughly forgotten by ageneration who grew up with the cell phone and are merrily yakking away, I use"paying attention" as another code term to heeding "humanconsciousness" with the four levels of awareness of sense experience,expressed feelings, articulated thoughts, and formulated plans. Skewing the monetary allusion of 'pay', I say, "we shall pLay attention with ourconsciousness," advising that the L should not be read as the BritishPound! Playing attention is then focused on real limits and possibilities. But first, we leave our mianzi, face, outside the classroom door. The subject of oral English discourse is on real life, not the facade we build tomanipulate social relationships. This iseasier said than done with the Chinese culturally inured to disdain talkingabout one's self, more so, at being brutally honest about it. So I make fun of it. My face in the University is to be a lao shi, teacher, with all the statusand expected demeanor appertaining to the role. "But I leave that face outside the door," I add, "andinside, I become Hemingwei (the name students started calling when the schoolwrote 'Hemi' for 'Jaime') shen jing ping (literally,'crazy', both in its laughable and vile sense)." That's when I get both the giggles and thebewildered looks. It also opens up alevel of honesty in the room. National Geographic posters grace my walls, from Chinese images to the far-flungedge of the Universe. I then draw the taiji of the old pugua (yin-yang within the 8 trigrams) on the board and focus firston the two dots on the swirling teardrops. On the empty one, I point to a Hubble image of a huge expanse and saythat before the universe, "I am not even a pixel in the HDTV of life." On the solid dot, I point to images of 56ethnic groups and artifacts like those in the Forbidden City, and add: "butat conception, you were the 200-millionth sperm that made it, your parents gaveyou a name that grounds you in geography, and in 2013, you are Chinese, one ofevery five creatures in today's planet earth. You are somebody, with power and immense possibilities, if you so choose." I then end with three Cs (you can tell, I play with words) that I use torelate life's story. CAUSE is the commonone, a determined existence, either by genetics, history, and/orgeography. Then there is CHANCE ateither the mahjong tables, the stockmarket, and/or with the incense at the altar. The last is CHOICE, which is what they have holding in their hands whenthey come to class as they encounter the several decades they have chosen tolive Ebert's recommended existence. Cancer is not a foe. It is in our time a human condition, the occasion when we can play attention to living the reality of our lives. j'aime la vie Yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate. In all, Celebrate!

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Re: [Oe List ...] ICA Colleagues Moving to Ashville NC April 1st
by coevolutionacademy＠juno.com 08 Apr '13

08 Apr '13

Great Sarah! I'll call you. ---------- Original Message ---------- From: Sarah Buss <shbuss(a)mac.com> To: Order Ecumenical Community <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] ICA Colleagues Moving to Ashville NC April 1st Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:09:29 -0500 Roseanne You are so amazing! Not traveling so cannot make Houston. Hope to see you and Blaze Sunday June 2 when your are in Austin. If you need a replacement for THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT, it is now only available at BOOK PEOPLE, 4001 N. LAMAR, AUSTIN,TX 78756; 512/452-9541. Can no longer sale or give away myself. It will be there until at least June.I am currently scheduled to do a book signing/reading there Friday, May 3 at 7:00 P.M. Bring me a copy of MANIFEST YOUR BLISS when you come (or mail with invoice when available). Can hardly wait. Good luck on house sale and move.My telephone, 512/899-2500.love and kindness,sarah On Apr 8, 2013, at 9:59 AM, coevolutionacademy(a)juno.com wrote:Hi Sarah! And All. Okay - I'm telling more. You know Seattle is my home - I was born in a Christian Science nursing home very close to Greenlake. I grew up my first 7 years in Roseburg, Oregon and then we moved back to Seattle where I took RSI in an old convent and had my life transformed! It's interesting to me that every extra-ordinary spiritual experience I've ever had is in Seattle so it must be my place. It makes me think of Kazanzakis saying that the place we are born has a special power for us. Blase and I lived there from 1985 to 1988 after moving to the Vipasanna Meditation center in the San Juan Islands for 6 months.We moved into the house Mark and Jean Poole were moving out of - a huge 6 bedroom place on Stoneway N. Blase feels more at home in the Pacific NW too although he was born in Laramie, WY. His dad was a rodeo rider! I guess we can't help being unusual - with our beginnings as they were. Anyway - we are really happy. we are buying a place on 1 &1/3 acres on the Chehalis River. It's not in a flood plain and has high banks but it has a nice little sandbar too. Chehalis means Sands! The house is a fixer/upper - voluntary simplicity - but we have the acreage for organic gardens and fruit trees and blueberries, etc. And we'll just be a little over an hour to the ocean. I guess we'll have to get used to more rain - but the flowers in Washington are exquisite. It will be wonderful to be so close to so many good friends and some family. Chehalis is right in between Seattle and Portland. We have to sell our house here in NC before we can move.And of course visit all our NC friends! By the way - Sarah - or anyone interested - I will be doing a Women's Retreat in Houston - Sugarland - April 27th. It's almost full but if you want to come we have space for a couple more. It's at a lovely house and my friend Anuradha who will be hosting us will be making delicious Indian food. Awesome women are coming! Including my daughter and granddaughter! Love and Joy to all! Rose Anne PS Sarah I used a few of your poems from The Other Side of Midnight in the retreat in Seattle and people loved them. I gave my copy to my sister-in-law because she liked it so much! We will probably be in Austin June 2 and 3rd staying with George and Wanda! I'm hoping our book Manifest Your Bliss will be out by then. Maybe we will see you too! ---------- Original Message ---------- From: "Sarah H. Buss" <shbuss(a)icloud.com> To: Order Ecumenical Community <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] ICA Colleagues Moving to Ashville NC April 1st Date: Sun, 07 Apr 2013 07:37:26 -0500 Tell me more.Sarah Sent from my iPad On Apr 6, 2013, at 12:43 PM, "coevolutionacademy(a)juno.com" <coevolutionacademy(a)juno.com> wrote: Blase and I live an hour away. And actually we are excited that we are moving soon to Chehalis, Washington. Rose Anne Please note: message attached From: Wanda Holcombe <wandah70(a)gmail.com> To: OE Listserv <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net>, ICA Listserve <dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Subject: [Oe List ...] ICA Colleagues Moving to Ashville NC April 1st Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2013 13:35:48 -0500 ____________________________________________________________ How to Sleep Like a Rock Obey this one natural trick to fall asleep and stay asleep all night. peaklife.comOur Austin ICA colleagues Nick & Deborah Denner are traveling this holiday weekend to Ashville, North Carolina to set up their new home of living and working. Some of you may remember Nick as Zapher Denner who worked with us in the 1980's with LENS out of the Hong Kong Centrum. If any of you live in the Ashville area, I hope you will welcome and be in contact with them as to the great gift of having ICA colleagues nearby. They were an active member of our Austin ICA/Order group who met monthly to share food, study & lively dialogue.... Deborah is an Alpha Biotic caregiver and will be setting up her practice in Ashville as they settle in to their new life. Nick is a "master green builder, gardener, etc", Asian health and wellness expert and ICA Methods practitioner. They said it was okay to share their contact information in case anyone wanted to be in touch with them: Mailing: PO Box 2326, Ashville NC 28802Nick: Cell Phone: (512) 567-6911Email: nick.denner(a)yahoo.com Deborah: Cell Phone (512) 557-6555Email: debdenner14(a)yahoo.com Best wishes Nick & Deborah in your new life pathway. We will miss their wisdom and presence in Austin. Grace & PeaceWanda <Nick & Deborah Denner.jpeg> Wanda Holcombe 14900 Yellowleaf Trail Austin TX 78728 Email: wandah70(a)gmail.com Cell Phone: 512-619-3469 _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net ____________________________________________________________ How to Sleep Like a Rock Obey this one natural trick to fall asleep and stay asleep all night. peaklife.com_______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net ____________________________________________________________ Woman is 53 But Looks 25 Mom reveals 1 simple wrinkle trick that has angered doctors... http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/516311519138511514afast01vuc

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Re: [Oe List ...] ICA Colleagues Moving to Chhalis, Washington!
by coevolutionacademy＠juno.com 08 Apr '13

08 Apr '13

Thank you so much Priscilla! ---------- Original Message ---------- From: Wilson Priscilla <Pris(a)TeamTechPress.com> To: Order Ecumenical Community <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] ICA Colleagues Moving to Ashville NC April 1st Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2013 12:29:49 -0500 Roseanne, What a wonderful plan. Your life sounds quite exciting. I wish you all the luck...and joy that the northwest can bring you. Also wishing for a quick sell on your current house.Priscilla Wilson On Apr 8, 2013, at 9:59 AM, coevolutionacademy(a)juno.com wrote:Hi Sarah! And All. Okay - I'm telling more. You know Seattle is my home - I was born in a Christian Science nursing home very close to Greenlake. I grew up my first 7 years in Roseburg, Oregon and then we moved back to Seattle where I took RSI in an old convent and had my life transformed! It's interesting to me that every extra-ordinary spiritual experience I've ever had is in Seattle so it must be my place. It makes me think of Kazanzakis saying that the place we are born has a special power for us. Blase and I lived there from 1985 to 1988 after moving to the Vipasanna Meditation center in the San Juan Islands for 6 months.We moved into the house Mark and Jean Poole were moving out of - a huge 6 bedroom place on Stoneway N. Blase feels more at home in the Pacific NW too although he was born in Laramie, WY. His dad was a rodeo rider! I guess we can't help being unusual - with our beginnings as they were. Anyway - we are really happy. we are buying a place on 1 &1/3 acres on the Chehalis River. It's not in a flood plain and has high banks but it has a nice little sandbar too. Chehalis means Sands! The house is a fixer/upper - voluntary simplicity - but we have the acreage for organic gardens and fruit trees and blueberries, etc. And we'll just be a little over an hour to the ocean. I guess we'll have to get used to more rain - but the flowers in Washington are exquisite. It will be wonderful to be so close to so many good friends and some family. Chehalis is right in between Seattle and Portland. We have to sell our house here in NC before we can move.And of course visit all our NC friends! By the way - Sarah - or anyone interested - I will be doing a Women's Retreat in Houston - Sugarland - April 27th. It's almost full but if you want to come we have space for a couple more. It's at a lovely house and my friend Anuradha who will be hosting us will be making delicious Indian food. Awesome women are coming! Including my daughter and granddaughter! Love and Joy to all! Rose Anne PS Sarah I used a few of your poems from The Other Side of Midnight in the retreat in Seattle and people loved them. I gave my copy to my sister-in-law because she liked it so much! We will probably be in Austin June 2 and 3rd staying with George and Wanda! I'm hoping our book Manifest Your Bliss will be out by then. Maybe we will see you too! ---------- Original Message ---------- From: "Sarah H. Buss" <shbuss(a)icloud.com> To: Order Ecumenical Community <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] ICA Colleagues Moving to Ashville NC April 1st Date: Sun, 07 Apr 2013 07:37:26 -0500 Tell me more.Sarah Sent from my iPad On Apr 6, 2013, at 12:43 PM, "coevolutionacademy(a)juno.com" <coevolutionacademy(a)juno.com> wrote: Blase and I live an hour away. And actually we are excited that we are moving soon to Chehalis, Washington. Rose Anne Please note: message attached From: Wanda Holcombe <wandah70(a)gmail.com> To: OE Listserv <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net>, ICA Listserve <dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Subject: [Oe List ...] ICA Colleagues Moving to Ashville NC April 1st Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2013 13:35:48 -0500 ____________________________________________________________ How to Sleep Like a Rock Obey this one natural trick to fall asleep and stay asleep all night. peaklife.comOur Austin ICA colleagues Nick & Deborah Denner are traveling this holiday weekend to Ashville, North Carolina to set up their new home of living and working. Some of you may remember Nick as Zapher Denner who worked with us in the 1980's with LENS out of the Hong Kong Centrum. If any of you live in the Ashville area, I hope you will welcome and be in contact with them as to the great gift of having ICA colleagues nearby. They were an active member of our Austin ICA/Order group who met monthly to share food, study & lively dialogue.... Deborah is an Alpha Biotic caregiver and will be setting up her practice in Ashville as they settle in to their new life. Nick is a "master green builder, gardener, etc", Asian health and wellness expert and ICA Methods practitioner. They said it was okay to share their contact information in case anyone wanted to be in touch with them: Mailing: PO Box 2326, Ashville NC 28802Nick: Cell Phone: (512) 567-6911Email: nick.denner(a)yahoo.com Deborah: Cell Phone (512) 557-6555Email: debdenner14(a)yahoo.com Best wishes Nick & Deborah in your new life pathway. We will miss their wisdom and presence in Austin. Grace & PeaceWanda <Nick & Deborah Denner.jpeg> Wanda Holcombe 14900 Yellowleaf Trail Austin TX 78728 Email: wandah70(a)gmail.com Cell Phone: 512-619-3469 _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net ____________________________________________________________ How to Sleep Like a Rock Obey this one natural trick to fall asleep and stay asleep all night. peaklife.com_______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net Priscilla H WilsonPris(a)TeamTechPress.com913-432-2107www.teamtechpress.com ____________________________________________________________ How to Sleep Like a Rock Obey this one natural trick to fall asleep and stay asleep all night. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/51631115260fd111416fdst03vuc

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Re: [Oe List ...] ICA Colleagues Moving to Ashville NC April 1st
by coevolutionacademy＠juno.com 08 Apr '13

08 Apr '13

Hi Sarah! And All. Okay - I'm telling more. You know Seattle is my home - I was born in a Christian Science nursing home very close to Greenlake. I grew up my first 7 years in Roseburg, Oregon and then we moved back to Seattle where I took RSI in an old convent and had my life transformed! It's interesting to me that every extra-ordinary spiritual experience I've ever had is in Seattle so it must be my place. It makes me think of Kazanzakis saying that the place we are born has a special power for us. Blase and I lived there from 1985 to 1988 after moving to the Vipasanna Meditation center in the San Juan Islands for 6 months.We moved into the house Mark and Jean Poole were moving out of - a huge 6 bedroom place on Stoneway N. Blase feels more at home in the Pacific NW too although he was born in Laramie, WY. His dad was a rodeo rider! I guess we can't help being unusual - with our beginnings as they were. Anyway - we are really happy. we are buying a place on 1 &1/3 acres on the Chehalis River. It's not in a flood plain and has high banks but it has a nice little sandbar too. Chehalis means Sands! The house is a fixer/upper - voluntary simplicity - but we have the acreage for organic gardens and fruit trees and blueberries, etc. And we'll just be a little over an hour to the ocean. I guess we'll have to get used to more rain - but the flowers in Washington are exquisite. It will be wonderful to be so close to so many good friends and some family. Chehalis is right in between Seattle and Portland. We have to sell our house here in NC before we can move.And of course visit all our NC friends! By the way - Sarah - or anyone interested - I will be doing a Women's Retreat in Houston - Sugarland - April 27th. It's almost full but if you want to come we have space for a couple more. It's at a lovely house and my friend Anuradha who will be hosting us will be making delicious Indian food. Awesome women are coming! Including my daughter and granddaughter! Love and Joy to all! Rose Anne PS Sarah I used a few of your poems from The Other Side of Midnight in the retreat in Seattle and people loved them. I gave my copy to my sister-in-law because she liked it so much! We will probably be in Austin June 2 and 3rd staying with George and Wanda! I'm hoping our book Manifest Your Bliss will be out by then. Maybe we will see you too! ---------- Original Message ---------- From: "Sarah H. Buss" <shbuss(a)icloud.com> To: Order Ecumenical Community <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] ICA Colleagues Moving to Ashville NC April 1st Date: Sun, 07 Apr 2013 07:37:26 -0500 Tell me more.Sarah Sent from my iPad On Apr 6, 2013, at 12:43 PM, "coevolutionacademy(a)juno.com" <coevolutionacademy(a)juno.com> wrote: Blase and I live an hour away. And actually we are excited that we are moving soon to Chehalis, Washington. Rose Anne Please note: message attached From: Wanda Holcombe <wandah70(a)gmail.com> To: OE Listserv <oe(a)lists.wedgeblade.net>, ICA Listserve <dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net> Subject: [Oe List ...] ICA Colleagues Moving to Ashville NC April 1st Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2013 13:35:48 -0500 ____________________________________________________________ How to Sleep Like a Rock Obey this one natural trick to fall asleep and stay asleep all night. peaklife.comOur Austin ICA colleagues Nick & Deborah Denner are traveling this holiday weekend to Ashville, North Carolina to set up their new home of living and working. Some of you may remember Nick as Zapher Denner who worked with us in the 1980's with LENS out of the Hong Kong Centrum. If any of you live in the Ashville area, I hope you will welcome and be in contact with them as to the great gift of having ICA colleagues nearby. They were an active member of our Austin ICA/Order group who met monthly to share food, study & lively dialogue.... Deborah is an Alpha Biotic caregiver and will be setting up her practice in Ashville as they settle in to their new life. Nick is a "master green builder, gardener, etc", Asian health and wellness expert and ICA Methods practitioner. They said it was okay to share their contact information in case anyone wanted to be in touch with them: Mailing: PO Box 2326, Ashville NC 28802Nick: Cell Phone: (512) 567-6911Email: nick.denner(a)yahoo.com Deborah: Cell Phone (512) 557-6555Email: debdenner14(a)yahoo.com Best wishes Nick & Deborah in your new life pathway. We will miss their wisdom and presence in Austin. Grace & PeaceWanda <Nick & Deborah Denner.jpeg> Wanda Holcombe 14900 Yellowleaf Trail Austin TX 78728 Email: wandah70(a)gmail.com Cell Phone: 512-619-3469 _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE(a)lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net ____________________________________________________________ How to Sleep Like a Rock Obey this one natural trick to fall asleep and stay asleep all night. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5162db8ea6d665b8e7cffst04vuc

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