Who would ever want to run to be president, anyway??? At home we have rabbit ears so that we get a total of, probably, six channels - enough to give us news, but, after the news, we turn off the TV - So, being in this hotel where there’s a CNN station, we’re seeing additional news reports about the primaries, the caucuses, and debates. And not only seeing them one time, but any time you turn on the news, there’s something more about it. The money, energy, time, endurance of personal slander, and truth twisting that goes into all of this - truly, who would EVER want to run for the presidency? How much truth – how much "justice" is there involved in the whole process?
Needless to say, we have talked a lot about the Conference, the speakers, their messages and how fortunate we feel to have been a part of this incredible event. The theme of JUSTICE ran through the words that were spoken by all of the presenters. And what can be more important in our global community today? We were so impressed by the first speaker, Monica Melanchthon, a woman from India with whom we were unfamiliar. She is a professor at a Lutheran Theological College. (She also delivered the sermon at the second service on Sunday morning), and she spoke eloquently about the cast system that still exists in her country. She herself started life as a "dalit" - a person of the lowest cast, one of those who cleaned the streets, did all of the most difficult work. The dalits were considered to be unclean, therefore, all of society looked down on them - they are still treated with total lack of respect, lack of dignity, lacking the personal identity that tells them they have anything to hope for. This is not for any other reason than the fact of their birth into this place in the world and this part of the cast system. How can we find "justice" in this? In conversation with Ms. Melanchthon, we expressed that we see similarities with conditions in our own community, and in nearly every part of the world.
The three internationally recognized theologians who spoke several times each, Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, and Miriam Therese Winter, centered their messages, in the order as listed: Jesus; Paul; and women in the Bible. (Winter gave the sermon at the first service on Sunday.) We can’t possibly summarize all of the inspiration they gave us and the rest of the attendees. But just briefly, Borg explored the message of the life of Jesus - the reaching out to the poor, the forgotten - sounds like the cast system of India to us. Jesus, the personage of God whom we call our leader and teacher, reached out to these people: JUSTICE - love one another, no matter who they are, no matter what their place in the system, and be aware that there are so many who need a hand up, even today - they need the same sort of encouragement our teacher would give them.
Crossan spoke about Paul - explaining that there are 13 books attributed to Paul in the New Testament, however, only seven can absolutely be said to have been penned by him. There are two other categories of Pauline letters: those that have less of the authentic Paul; and finally, those that are very unlike the authentic Paul. And Paul, the Pharisee turned follower of Jesus, the true Paul, was intensely concerned with justice. One example is that he had great words of appreciation for the women in the role of leadership in the church - this is very unlike the Paul of the last collection of books attributed to him. Crossan encouraged us to ponder, "...how could God establish global justice for the future and ignore global injustice in the past?" (Quoted from his lecture and his book, GOD & EMPIRE.)
And Winter also, in a mix of humor and intensity, spoke of all the women in the Bible who are overlooked - this book speaks of the men of the era, but the women are looked at and treated very much in the same way as the dalits of India. She quoted many examples of women who made great contributions to life, in the Hebrew Testament and in the Christian, or New Testament as well. Her "JUSTICE" issue was focused on gender, and was clear for those of us listening: this is a real issue that was present in Biblical times and has carried over into our views still in place today.
In our series, "Living the Questions," we have had the opportunity to hear both Borg and Crossan speak their truths. So, for us, to have the chance to hear them expand on their philosophies, has been very exciting. A couple of years ago, we attended two weeks of summer school at the Vancouver School of Theology. In that class we read about a philosopher/sociologist, Kohlberg, who wrote about moral values. The highest moral value: JUSTICE.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Catching our Breath in Victoria
We intended to write more often during the Epiphany Explorations conference, but lacked the time it takes to gather thoughts. The conference schedule runs from 8:45 am to after 9:00 pm each day. Add to that visits to the conference bookstore, conversations with old acquaintances, and time walking back to our hotel for lunch. Also we were both managing colds. Victoria has been enjoying blue skies for the past few days since the conference concluded. We did get out yesterday for a walk in this wonderful "old town" district which leads down to the inner harbor.
Victoria is the provincial capitol of British Columbia, occupying the southernmost tip of Vancouver Island. It's a great tourist area in the summer, but it's more affordable -- and still beautiful -- in the off-season. On clear days, the view across the Straights of Juan de Fuca is crowned by the snow-capped Olympic mountains; an incredible view. The city has the flavor of the British Isles, though it is an international city in many ways, with many inhabitants from around the Pacific Rim.
US citizens can feel quite at home here, but that should not mean that people here share in the same world outlook as seems dominant in the US. One observer a few years ago thought that while our founders promised "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," Canadian founders promised "life, liberty, and the common good." Perhaps we see in Canada a stronger popular support for policies and practices that make for the "common good," rather than "individual happiness." Many people here are troubled by what they see and hear coming across the border.
We'll have more to say about the conference, but the sun is shining and we're on our way out the door for another expedition.
Blessings,
Bobbie and Chuck
Victoria is the provincial capitol of British Columbia, occupying the southernmost tip of Vancouver Island. It's a great tourist area in the summer, but it's more affordable -- and still beautiful -- in the off-season. On clear days, the view across the Straights of Juan de Fuca is crowned by the snow-capped Olympic mountains; an incredible view. The city has the flavor of the British Isles, though it is an international city in many ways, with many inhabitants from around the Pacific Rim.
US citizens can feel quite at home here, but that should not mean that people here share in the same world outlook as seems dominant in the US. One observer a few years ago thought that while our founders promised "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," Canadian founders promised "life, liberty, and the common good." Perhaps we see in Canada a stronger popular support for policies and practices that make for the "common good," rather than "individual happiness." Many people here are troubled by what they see and hear coming across the border.
We'll have more to say about the conference, but the sun is shining and we're on our way out the door for another expedition.
Blessings,
Bobbie and Chuck
Friday, January 18, 2008
Report from Victoria: Borg and Crossan
We are in Victoria, British Columbia, attending the "Epiphany Explorations" conference at First Metropolitan United Church of Canada. We are among over 800 people who have come from all across Canada to hear Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, Miriam Therese Winter, Lois Wilson, John Bell, Ron Klusmeier and many more.
The first two of these are best known for their scholarship researching what can be known about the historical figure of Jesus. Both have been featured on our series, "Living the Questions 2.0" that our church has hosted at 11:30 a.m. and 7:00 Wednesdays. Both represent a progressive theological stance quite different from more common expressions of Christianity heard today.
For Borg, the pre-Easter Jesus was human. He was not God. He was an extraordinary human -- and a mystic. Borg describes Jesus as the defining expression of God for those of us in the Christian tradition. Instead of BELIEVING in certain things about Jesus, Borg thinks that the way to be Christian is to FOLLOW the way of Jesus.
For Crossan, anyone trying to grasp the New Testament language about Jesus -- "Lord," "Savior," etc. -- would do well to first understand the "matrix" of the Roman Empire in which the Jesus story unfolded. Crossan views Jesus as a revolutionary who would overthrow the domination systems of empire, where-ever they are established, even when they are established in the church.
These little paragraphs don't begin to express the power of this event. This event gathers members of a thriving, international movement of a faithful and progressive Christianity that has been emerging in the past couple of decades. We've been moved by great new music for today's worship, by the sense of being in a standing-room-only event, and by the realization that God is still speaking...
We'll update our experience over the next couple of days.
Bobbie and Chuck
The first two of these are best known for their scholarship researching what can be known about the historical figure of Jesus. Both have been featured on our series, "Living the Questions 2.0" that our church has hosted at 11:30 a.m. and 7:00 Wednesdays. Both represent a progressive theological stance quite different from more common expressions of Christianity heard today.
For Borg, the pre-Easter Jesus was human. He was not God. He was an extraordinary human -- and a mystic. Borg describes Jesus as the defining expression of God for those of us in the Christian tradition. Instead of BELIEVING in certain things about Jesus, Borg thinks that the way to be Christian is to FOLLOW the way of Jesus.
For Crossan, anyone trying to grasp the New Testament language about Jesus -- "Lord," "Savior," etc. -- would do well to first understand the "matrix" of the Roman Empire in which the Jesus story unfolded. Crossan views Jesus as a revolutionary who would overthrow the domination systems of empire, where-ever they are established, even when they are established in the church.
These little paragraphs don't begin to express the power of this event. This event gathers members of a thriving, international movement of a faithful and progressive Christianity that has been emerging in the past couple of decades. We've been moved by great new music for today's worship, by the sense of being in a standing-room-only event, and by the realization that God is still speaking...
We'll update our experience over the next couple of days.
Bobbie and Chuck
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Celtic Christian Spirituality
Recent years have witnessed a reclamation of an alternative way of understanding Christianity. Called "Celtic Christian Spirituality," it refers to a tradition that flourished in regions that never came under the umbrella of Mediterranean-style Christianity. The Celts (most pronounce it "Kelts", rather than "Selts") once thrived throughout many parts of Europe. But they retreated in front of the advancing Roman legions.
When Celtic people were led into Christianity, they shaped it according to their own customs, which included several practices and beliefs that were a challenge to Mediterranean-style Christianity: They believed that God was very present in nature. In fact, they knew of some "thin" places -- forest groves and shorelines, for instance -- where the Spirit of God was very close at hand.
The Celtic Christians believed in the equality of men and women, so that when there was a monastic community, both men and women might live there, and either gender might become the leader. Their warriors included both men and women.
The Celtic people also valued times of silence in their spiritual journey. Individuals might find an isolated place and spend time in contemplative prayer or reflection.
Named a heretic by Mediterranean Christendom in the early fifth century, a Celt named Pelagius taught that when one observed a newborn child, one beheld the face of God. At the same time, Augustine, one of the prime shapers of Mediterranean Christianity, taught that even the newborn child was tainted by sin.
Pelagius taught that humanity was basically a reflection of the goodness of God, and that sin was primarily a result of humans forgetting that connection with God. Augustine taught that humans were born into a sinful nature.
Augustine eventually won the battle in Rome, and Pelagius was condemned as a heretic.
Today, interest in the Celtic Christian tradition has renewed as research has provided a greater understanding. For those engaged in a spiritual path that typically bypasses the organized church, the way of the Celts offers a fruitful journey.
Many churches offer what is called a "Celtic" worship opportunity, including a more relaxed gathering marked by music, prayers, candlelight, symbols from nature, and a more conversational time instead of a formal sermon.
We are wondering if people in Western Massachusetts would be receptive to trying this kind of worship. We're just in the thinking stage right now, but we hope to mix this with other styles of worship into a new Service. MAYBE on Thursdays. MAYBE at 6. What do you think?
When Celtic people were led into Christianity, they shaped it according to their own customs, which included several practices and beliefs that were a challenge to Mediterranean-style Christianity: They believed that God was very present in nature. In fact, they knew of some "thin" places -- forest groves and shorelines, for instance -- where the Spirit of God was very close at hand.
The Celtic Christians believed in the equality of men and women, so that when there was a monastic community, both men and women might live there, and either gender might become the leader. Their warriors included both men and women.
The Celtic people also valued times of silence in their spiritual journey. Individuals might find an isolated place and spend time in contemplative prayer or reflection.
Named a heretic by Mediterranean Christendom in the early fifth century, a Celt named Pelagius taught that when one observed a newborn child, one beheld the face of God. At the same time, Augustine, one of the prime shapers of Mediterranean Christianity, taught that even the newborn child was tainted by sin.
Pelagius taught that humanity was basically a reflection of the goodness of God, and that sin was primarily a result of humans forgetting that connection with God. Augustine taught that humans were born into a sinful nature.
Augustine eventually won the battle in Rome, and Pelagius was condemned as a heretic.
Today, interest in the Celtic Christian tradition has renewed as research has provided a greater understanding. For those engaged in a spiritual path that typically bypasses the organized church, the way of the Celts offers a fruitful journey.
Many churches offer what is called a "Celtic" worship opportunity, including a more relaxed gathering marked by music, prayers, candlelight, symbols from nature, and a more conversational time instead of a formal sermon.
We are wondering if people in Western Massachusetts would be receptive to trying this kind of worship. We're just in the thinking stage right now, but we hope to mix this with other styles of worship into a new Service. MAYBE on Thursdays. MAYBE at 6. What do you think?
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