Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2016 http://colleagueslist.blogspot.ca/

Friday 24 February 2017

Colleagues List, February 26th, 2017

Vol. XII. No. 21

*****

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE


Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address:

waholst@telus.net


Colleagues List Web Site:
http://colleagueslistII.blogspot.com



*****

Dear Friends:

My Special Item this week is a book
notice for "Talk Sex Today" the first
edition of which appeared several
decades ago and now comes to us in 
contemporary form.

If you are a person, like me, frequently
bewildered by the changes in human
relations of our times, I certainly
encourage you to look at the first
part of my blog, below.

I include some excellent Colleague Comment
and Colleague Contributions this time. My
thanks to all of you who shared.

Net Notes and Wisdom of the Week sections
contain a summary of extensive searches
on the internet during the past seven days.

As always, I am grateful for your readership
and support. I continue to do my best to
make your visit to this blog worthwhile.

Wayne

*****

SPECIAL ITEM

Book Notice -

TALK SEX TODAY
What Kids Need to Know and
How Adults Can Teach Them,
by Saleema Noon and Meg Hickling,
Wood Lake Books, Kelowna BC
2016. 320 Pages. Paper.
$24.00 CAD. Kindle $10.00 CAD.
ISBN #978-1-77064--8135

Publishers Promo:

Not sure what – or how much – information to
share with children and teens regarding sex and
sexual health? Do you fear what they might ask?
Or how to respond to their questions? Or whether
you even know the “answers” yourself?

Saleema Noon knows all about these fears and
concerns. An expert in sexual health education
and stepparent to two teenage daughters herself,
she understands the challenges adults face when
addressing sensitive topics with their kids.

In Talk Sex Today, Noon delivers an intelligent
and sensible blend of current, inclusive, and
practical information for children and teens –
and the adults who love them. Noon builds on
the foundational work of iconic sexual health
educator Meg Hickling and her bestselling
Speaking of Sex books to offer adults a break-
through guide on teaching “body science.”

Together, with a combined 40 years of experience,
Noon and Hickling broach a host of topics including:
  • gender identity and stereotypes
  • sexual diversity 
  • sexual consent
  • bullying and harassment
  • fostering healthy body image 
  • internet safety
  • managing media influence
  • pornography
  • sexual decision-making
  • sexual health for children and special needs teens
Not afraid of controversy and firm in her belief that
knowledge is power, Noon’s broadly inclusive approach
shines with the affirmation that every person –
regardless of race, religion, age, ability, gender
identity, gender expression and sexual attraction –
deserves respect and the information that will keep
them safe.

This is the ultimate guide to teaching children about
sexual health and is ideal for educators and parents alike.

-

Author Bios:

Saleema Noon  - earned her Bachelor of Arts degree
in Family Sciences at UBC. She then researched the
quality of sexual health education in B.C. high schools,
earning her a Master of Arts degree in sexual health
education in 1997, also from UBC.

Since then, Saleema has been teaching not only in
the field of sexual health, but also in the areas of
assertiveness training, internet safety, healthy
relationships, body image and self-esteem.

Respected by the media as a sexual health expert,
Saleema has appeared frequently.


Meg Hickling - is a retired registered nurse and
an award-winning educator and author who has
been instilling knowledge of sexual health in
children and adults for over 30 years. She is
British Columbia's leading advocate in educating
children about human reproduction. Meg believes
that knowledge brings about empowerment.
Sensitive to her young audiences and their parents,
she delivers her message on sexuality and abuse
prevention with empathy, warmth and a gentle
humour.
 
Her ability to convey difficult and controversial
material with sensitivity and warmth distinguishes
her as a remarkable teacher and role model.

--

Author's Words:

I think my passion for educating children and their
parents arose from my nursing experience. I was
appalled by my patient's lack of knowledge about
their bodies and sexual health. Sometimes that
lack of knowledge resulted in every serious
consequences, even death. I was determined to
teach my own children about their bodies in their
pre-school years. Of course, they took that
knowledge into the community and soon other
parents were asking how they could make their
own children as comfortable and knowledgeable
as mine.

I began teaching sexual health in 1974 when the
(flower children generation) were beginning
parents. They were more open to the questions
of their children, but had no role models to follow.
Parents of the previous generations had either
not heard the questions, had ignored them, or
had given erroneous answers. You might say that
I was at the right place and the right time!

Today, parents and children have some of the
same gaps in their knowledge, but there are
also some totally new areas of concern, and
many, many more questions.

In the early 1970s there was no internet, virtually
no access to pornography, no cell phones, no AIDS,
and no real awareness of child sexual abuse.

Times have changed!

I am so pleased that Saleema Noon has agreed
to revise "Speaking of Sex" and its sequels.
Saleema was first my student and then my
colleague. She is a first-rate educator (and 
has helped me extend the field well beyond
the vision I had in 1974.)

(Reading this new edition) you will learn a lot,
I believe, and be much more sexually mature
by the time you reach the end...

- from the Preface by Meg Hickling

--

My Thoughts:

I have followed the evolution of Meg Hickling's
several editions of "Speaking of Sex" books 
over the years and would say that, in terms of
layout, content and reader-awareness, this is
surely the best of the lot. Saleema Noon's help
in this project is apparent.  

Of course, the audience tests represented by
the questions the authors are hearing and
responding to - are much more sophisticated
and nuanced as well.

One of he blessings of the internet, for example,
is that in spite of the problems it introduces to
our homes, the resourcefulness to deal with
such problems is also much more extensive.

The experience and complementing gifts of
the authors as educators really shows. They
are not simply writing from  the confines of
their studies. They are dealing with real-life
questions presented to them in groups and
class-rooms. This has always been Meg's
approach, but it achieves new heights here.

The social sciences continue to provide
the authors with much improved tools. 

I admit to be a child of my era (the 40s
thru 60s) but I am also a person that
keeps wanting to change and to grow -
into my eighth decade. A book like this
helps me to do just that.

I was taught to avoid or deal euphemistically
with awkward and difficult matters pertaining
to sex. The problem with that approach is that -
in our times - such handling of the matter
can rightly be judged as dishonest.

A book like this uses candor, and calls a spade
a spade. And so it should. But that is done with
experience, finesse and delightful humour.

We are not only talking about anatomy and
physical beauty, here. We are dealing with
healthy human relations and what we can all
learn from each other regardless of age,
gender, religion or other background.

I was also taught to avoid certain topics when
"ladies" were present. Through this book I am
discovering two competent and mature women
who can teach me a good deal about things I
simply do not yet understand very well.

If you are a relative, parent, or grandparent
of young people entering a world with many
more sexual challenges than you ever faced,
I encourage you to buy this book for yourself,
and those whose sexual health and well-being 
you care about.

___

Buy the book from -

Wood Lake Books:
http://tinyurl.com/h3gzys4
 
Amazon.ca:
http://tinyurl.com/j3mneeo

***

COLLEAGUE COMMENT

Elfrieda Schroeder,
Winnipeg, MB

February 17th, 2017

Re: Your column Mending Wall

Colleagues List, Feb. 19th, 2017
http://tinyurl.com/zjhtlhu

The two wall builders in Frost's poem
were farmers, no doubt of the same ethnic
origin. Even when we are ethnically alike
we keep putting up walls, afraid of
encroaching on one another's privacy.

How much more our tendency to set up
barriers with those of different ethnicity.
We forget that we are all humans, with the
same need to love and to be loved.

Thanks for stimulating my thinking
along these lines.

Elfrieda

***
 
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Marjorie Gibson,
Vancouver, BC


Marjorie Remembers Blog
February 23rd, 2017


"Glimpses of Life's Secrets"
  http://tinyurl.com/zkkthmp

--

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log
February 19th and 22nd, 2017


"Bullying Goes Beyond Schoolyards"
  http://tinyurl.com/gukvk4u

"Storytellers Help Us Define Ourselves"

  http://tinyurl.com/ja83zxt

--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site,
February 20th, 2017

"On Winners and Losers"
  http://tinyurl.com/zfxesnl

--

Martin Marty,
Chicago, IL

Sightings,
February 20th, 2017

"Benedict, Not Benedictine"
  http://tinyurl.com/hge3etq
 
***

NET NOTES

LUTHERAN LEADER TO RECEIVE
JAPANESE BUDDHIST PEACE PRIZE
For Contributions to Mid-East Peace

UCA News,
February 22nd, 2017


http://tinyurl.com/zuo474w

--

TEN THINGS THAT DEMONSTRATE
THE WORLD YOU GREW UP IN
NO LONGER EXISTS
A Canadian Evangelical Perspective

Christian Week Online
February 21st, 2017


http://tinyurl.com/jnpp2oy

--

CHRISTIAN DALIT WOMEN IN INDIA
SAND UP FOR THEIR RIGHTS
60% of Indian Christians are Low Caste

UCA News Asia
February 24th, 2017

http://tinyurl.com/jnu8crx

--
 
"CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA
 IS TOO WEDDED TO PATRIOTISM" -
 Respected Philadelphia Pastor Declares


The Christian Post
February 23rd, 2017


http://tinyurl.com/jz7u472

--

AMERICAN EVANGELICALS CAN
NO LONGER SPEAK AS ONE VOICE
The Trump Vote Has Created Division


Religion News Service
February 21st, 2017


http://tinyurl.com/z67gnd4

"White Evangelicals Voting for Trump
  Represent a Crisis in the Church" -
  says Jim Wallis


The Christian Post
February 17th, 2017


http://tinyurl.com/hu36byj

--

VANCOUVER MAYOR REQUESTS
CONFERENCE DROP GRAHAM
Contentious Speaker Not
Considered Good for City

Globe and Mail
February 22nd, 2017

http://tinyurl.com/zv92n9r

--

THE ROOTS AND BRANCHES
OF THE SACTUARY MOVEMENT
How Sanctuary is Grounded in
The Judeo-Christian Tradition

The Christian Century Online
February 15th, 2017


http://tinyurl.com/z9fbxr7

--

SAD REALITY FOR CHILDREN
IN RURAL CHINA
Parents Must Migrate
to Urban Centres (Video)

UCA News Asia
February 20th, 2017

http://tinyurl.com/z9fbxr7

--

AMERICAN JEWS PARTICIPATE IN
WORLD-WIDE BIBLE CONTEST
Event Held in Jerusalem

New York Times
February 19th, 2017


http://tinyurl.com/hfgkg3w

--

STATUE OF NUDE CHRIST BY MICHELANGELO  -
LONG FORGOTTEN - TO BE EXHIBITED IN LONDON
Work Obscured in a Rural Italian Church


New York Times
February 21st, 2017


http://tinyurl.com/htsezqj

--

For Those Wanting a Good Summary of
the Writings of the late Marcus Borg --


PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENT
February 22nd, 2017


"Days of Awe and Wonder:
  How to Be a Christian in the Twenty-first Century"

 
by Marcus J. Borg. Release date March 14th, 2017
hardcover, $25.99, ISBN 978-0-06-245733-2.


This book gives a concise introduction to the writings
of Marcus J. Borg, the late theologian of progressive
Christianity; the selections explore the Christian faith
and what it means to be a Christian in the 21st century.

.
***

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

Every day people are straying away from the church
and going back to God.

- Lenny Bruce

--

So here's something I know to be true, although it's
a little corny, and I don't quite know what to do with it:

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.
Those moments when another human being was there,
in front of me, suffering and I responded ... sensibly.
Reservedly. Mildly.

- George Saunders

--

The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as

a human being. [The] heart withers if it does not answer
another heart. [The] mind shrinks away if [it] hears only

the echoes of [its] own thoughts and finds no other
inspiration.

- Pearl S. Buck

--

If we want to support each other’s inner lives, we must
remember a simple truth: the human soul does not want
to be fixed, it wants simply to be seen and heard. If we
want to see and hear a person’s soul, there is another
truth we must remember: the soul is like a wild animal –
tough, resilient, and yet shy. When we go crashing
through the woods shouting for it to come out so we
can help it, the soul will stay in hiding. But if we are
willing to sit quietly and wait for a while, the soul may
show itself.

- Parker J. Palmer

--

January and February are those months when winter
seems interminable and vitality is low. In the face of
world events, in the face of the mystery of suffering,
of evil in the world, it is a good time to read the Book
of Job, and then to go on reading the Psalms, looking
for comfort – that is, strength to endure.

Also to remember the importunate widow, the importunate
friend [Luke 18:1-8; Luke 11:5-8]. Both are stories which
Jesus told. Then to pray without ceasing as Paul urged.
And just as there was that interpolation in Job – that
triumphant cry – “I know that my Redeemer liveth,”
so we too, can know that help will come, that the good
will triumph. Bitter though it is today with ice and sleet,
the sap will soon be rising in those bare trees down the
street from us.

- Dorothy Day


****

ON THIS DAY

First Mass Inoculation of Children Against Polio
http://tinyurl.com/ass76pj


Malcolm X Shot and Killed in Harlem
http://tinyurl.com/22uvelg


****

CLOSING THOUGHT - Dom Helder Camara

Accept surprises that upset your plans, shatter your dreams,
give a completely different turn to your day and – who knows? –
to your life.

Leave (the Father)  free to help weave the pattern of your days.

(end)


*****

For Those Interested -

ST. DAVID'S ACTS MONDAY NIGHT WINTER STUDY

A Ten Week Series January 23rd - April 3rd, 2017
Monday Evenings, TM Room 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

"How Jesus Became God -
  The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee"


http://tinyurl.com/gqzkcbx

Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Registration/Hospitality and Book: $60.00.
Book only: $20.00

35 copies were secured for sale.
All copies have been sold.

Our Evolving Course Design:

http://tinyurl.com/j3nv7nd

--

Here is the total course content from our
completed Monday Night Autumn 2016 Study:

"Reclaiming the Bible for a Non-Religious
  World" by Bishop John S. Spong


http://rtb.stdavidscalgary.net/

Check our entire archives for all 48 books
studied since 2000:

http://tinyurl.com/q3bw6dh

***

ST. DAVID'S ACTS THURSDAY MORNING STUDY

Ten Sessions February 2nd - April 6th, 2017

"Joshua and Judges" - Formative Hebrew History

Ten sessions 10-11 AM
Gathering at 9:30 AM
In the St. David's TM Room.

No charge

Study resource -

"The DK Complete Bible Handbook"
  Edited by John Bowker


http://tinyurl.com/odxlv7q

***

ST.DAVID'S SPIRITUAL TRAVELERS PROJECT, 2017

South Africa has been chosen as our location!

We plan a nineteen-day tour that combines a
focus on faith, social justice culture, and nature,
and it will begin mid-month of October 2017.

A beautiful brochure with trip cost, itinerary, and
many helpful travel hints has been published.


http://tinyurl.com/hucsaf7

Twenty-two persons have already put down deposits
to claim a $300. saving. Sale price until February 28th.

This represents 3/4ths of our optimal goal of 28-30.

Follow our notices for weekly updates.

*****

ANNUAL ST. DAVID'S LENTEN RETREAT
Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre
Cochrane, AB


http://www.mountstfrancis.ca/

Theme: "Encountering Mercy"
Led by Spiritual Director Susan Campbell

Sunday, February 26th, 2017
11:30 AM to 4:00 PM

Cost: $30.
(includes lunch and refreshments)

Nature walks, weather permitting..

*****


 

1 comment:

  1. ESSENTIAL SEX EDUCATION: Simply, boys and men of all ages need to learn to speak only positive and consrtucttive words and wants to females.
    Adam, in the Garden of Eden, failed his 'pop quiz'.

    ReplyDelete