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

Friday 28 July 2017

Colleagues List, July 30th, 2017

Vol. XIII No. 5

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE


Wayne A. Holst, Editor

My E-Mail Address:
 
Colleagues List Web Site
http//colleagueslistii.blogspot.com


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If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns,
write to me personally, waholst@telus.net

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Dear Friends:

Several weeks ago I was saddened to announce the death of one of our special colleagues, Marjorie Gibson. She was responsible for the publication of her blog "Marjorie Remembers" and many of you have read her efforts here in the past.

Link to "Marjorie Remembers" blog: http://www.marjorieremembers.com/

This week, I offer some of the thoughts I shared (edited extensively) at her committal service. She had died in June but her remains were interred in July at Queens Park Cemetery, Calgary beside her previously deceased husband, Sheldon.

Reflecting on Marjorie has been a valuable part of my summer.
I hope you find these thoughts helpful.

Please enjoy the other CL features I offer, as usual, this week.

Wayne

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SPECIAL ITEM

"Marjorie's Maxims"


How my friend and mentor Marjorie Gibson reflected progressive Christian principles in the way she thought, related, and lived her life.

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This past weekend we buried Marjorie in a Calgary cemetery. Many family members and friends were present for the interment. Although her memorial service had been held earlier in a Vancouver church to which she transferred after her husband Sheldon's death, she wanted to be buried beside him in this city. I conducted a short committal service and tried to capture in her own words some of the things she would have said about herself had she been able to do so.

What Should a Christian Eulogy Do?

I do not appreciate how many Christian memorial services - centered almost entirely on the deceased - are conducted today. Eulogies or departing words should not focus only on the person being remembered. What is said should help people understand how the departed one reflected Gospel values and now offers hope to those who mourn. That understanding may not apply for all memorial services and interments but it certainly applied in Marjorie's case.

Because many of these services today are attended by people from a wide variety of Christian, other faith, or no faith traditions, the temptation is strong to "water down" the Gospel message for fear of offence. I think that is a mistake. We need to be more creative than that in what we offer at a time when death is very much on people's minds.

We should attempt to avoid spiritual mishmash on the one hand and doctrinal rigidity on the other.

In that spirit then, I want to share the following from the graveside service (including some background information.)

Marjorie's Obituary from the Calgary Herald:
https://tinyurl.com/yd9ok82j

Brief Recap:

Marjorie Gibson was born and raised during the first half of the 20th century in rural Alberta. She completed undergraduate work at the University of Alberta in Edmonton during World War Two. She married and worked professionally outside the home (rather unusual for her time) and raised a family of three daughters and a son.

Again, not uncommon for her time, she emerged from an ethnic community - in this case she had Danish Lutheran background. Marjorie and her supportive husband Sheldon (of Scottish heritage) spent their lives learning, growing and serving others. They found a common Christian home in the United Church of Canada and contributed to a number of local congregations in Edmonton and Calgary for more than half a century. Theirs was truly a legacy of service and I too benefitted

--

Marjorie's Favourite Scripture Passages:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 "To Everything, there is a Season"
Matthew 5:1-8 "True Happiness or Blessedness"
John 13:33-34 "Love One Another"

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“Marjorie’s Maxims”


Here are seven principles that guided Marjorie's life and which I believe she would have shared with her mourners if that were possible. I tried to serve as her mouthpiece:

1.     Follow the truth wherever it leads

This principle helped Marjorie to deal with many new discoveries she made in life. She was no biblical literalist, but she was firmly grounded in biblical essence. You don't reject scripture when it seems to be at odds with what you discover (the theory of evolution, for example). You go deeper so that faith and science inform and enhance each other.

2.     Adjust to the new normal

Many of us mourn a time past before we had lost partners and friends, physical and mental capacities, etc. The sooner we adjust to what life brings our way, the better it will be for us personally and those we love. No one said it would be easy, however. The loss of her husband, for example, was something Marjorie found very difficult to bear.

3.     Stay true to the good path you are on

Over time, we begin to develop a true sense of our own way to live. That path is nurtured by a good spiritual tradition. It grows as a result of experience. We don't ignore what we have inherited spiritually, but we keep moving forward on our path. Marjorie and I came from a solid spiritual background, but experience helped us mature in new ways.

4.     Share that path with others you care about

We do not grow spiritually by ourselves. Others join us on the journey. They feed, nurture and encourage us. My faith understanding is indeed a personal thing, but it is also something I need to live with others. It sometimes seems easier to "go it alone" but usually that approach impoverishes us. I am part of all I have met.

5.     Be ready for whatever lies ahead

We can invest too much of our lives planning and anticipating what we would like to happen. Looking back, most people realize that they could not have anticipated what life visited upon them. To the end, Marjorie could reflect on what eternity might bring, but still say with conviction - right up to death's door - "I am ready for whatever happens next."

6.     It is OK not to have all the answers

Marjorie had a sharp mind. With it, she probed and pushed the envelope - even to the last phone call we exchanged a few weeks before she died. For Marjorie, faith was not certainty, however. She was too humble and too experienced. Faith gave her life meaning. She asked you probing questions but always stopped short of trying to convince she was right.

7.    Care deeply

"Compassion" may be another way of describing Marjorie's way of showing that she cared for others like Jesus did. Many at her gravesite, including me, have known Marjorie's deep caring. Tough love often accompanied her "feeling with/truly empathising with" others. We did not need to have this described to us. We had experienced it.

(end)

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COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log,
July 24th, 2017

"The Possibility of Losing Everything"


https://tinyurl.com/ycbhbx66

--

Tom Ryan,
Boston, MA

Koinonia,
Newsletter of the Paulist Fathers
Spring, 2017

''The 500th Anniversary of the Reformation -
  A Time of Unprecedented Opportunity"


http://tinyurl.com/lfhej72

--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site
July 24th, 2017

"Angels and the City"


http://tinyurl.com/y8zfu6sm

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Mark Whitall,
Ottawa, ON.

Personal Blog
July 22n, 2017

The Alchemist"


https://tinyurl.com/y79cdndz

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NET NOTES

 
WHAT IS THE BIBLE?
Review of New Book by Rob Bell
 
Englewood Review of Books
July 28th, 2017
 
 
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FIVE HONEST STRUGGLES
Church Leaders Can't Admit To

Christian Week Online
July 24th, 2017


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WHY CANADA IS ABLE TO DO THINGS BETTER
With Government, You Get What You Pay For

The Atlantic Online
July 17th, 2017


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IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH A CAPSIZING SHIP?
Some Emeritus Pope Benedict's Reflections

Religion News Service
July 25th, 2017


https://tinyurl.com/y7xea7ru
 
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BIBLE READING WAS SOMETHING PROTESTANTS DID
Fr. Wm. Grimm Writes from Japan to Tell of
His Early Catholic Formation

UCA News,
July 27th, 2017


https://tinyurl.com/y77uyf3w

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WHY IS JERUSALEM'S TEMPLE MOUNT SO DISPUTED?
Backgrounder to Current Unrest There

Religion News Service,
July 25th, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/ya9o6aqa

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I RISKED MY LIFE TO CONVERT TO ZOROASTRIANISM
Feminist Kurdish Women Seek a More Liberating Faith

Stylist Magazine Online
July 1st, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/y93s6e6t

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AMERICAN EVANAGELICALS WHO VOTED FOR TRUMP
DREAMED OF "GOOD OLD DAYS" THAT NEVER WERE
Hopes Must Be Understood by Thoughtful Politicians
In Spite of the Realities of a Changing World

Religion News Service,
July 24th, 2017


https://tinyurl.com/y8j4hcx3

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From the Globe and Mail This Week:

July 24th, 2017

TO UNDERSTAND U.S. HEALTH CARE, THINK LIKE AN AMERICAN

“Don’t try making sense of the U.S. health-care debate, because there is no sense to it.
Canadians often make the mistake of viewing U.S. health care through the prism of our own (semi-) universal system, where everyone gets treated more or less in the same fashion. The concept of one-size-fits-all health care is antithetical to the ethos of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Americans see health care as a status symbol, like big houses and expensive cars.”

– Konrad Yakabuski

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WHERE CANADA STANDS ON
TRANSGENDER RIGHTS AND THE MILITARY

July 27th, 2017

As Donald Trump announced his plan to reinstate a ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military, the Canadian Forces struck a different
tone on Twitter: “We welcome (Canadians) of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Join Us!” The Canadian military is in the midst of updating its transgender policy, which is expected to offer units more guidance on things like bathrooms and showering. Canada lifted its military ban on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in 1992.

Trump referred to the “tremendous medical costs” associated with transgender people as
one reason for the ban. In the Canadian Forces, sex-reassignment operation costs totalled just $309,000 between 2008 and late 2015.

Canada is one of 18 countries that allow transgender people to serve. Britain, Germany,
France, Israel and Australia are some of the others.

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THE MONARCHS ARE BACK!!
Some Good News to Report

July 25th, 2017

“A lot of people have stopped reading the news because they can’t stand it any more. So here’s a happy story for a change. The monarchs are back! Three weeks ago, I saw one
alighting on a milkweed plant in our field in rural Ontario. Since then we’ve had almost daily sightings. What a relief. We hadn’t seen a monarch butterfly in years. These gorgeous creatures were widely reported to be headed for extinction – one more victim of humankind’s relentless assault on the planet. We’d begun to wonder if they’d ever come back. And now, here they are, alive and well, and the future is looking surprisingly bright.”

 – Margaret Wente
 

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WISDOM OF THE WEEK

From Sojourners and the Bruderhof Online:

Who am I helping, what am I breaking
What am I giving, what am I taking

- Bob Dylan

--

God has identified himself with the hungry, the sick, the naked, the homeless; hunger, not only for bread, but for love, for care, to be
somebody to someone; nakedness, not of clothing only, but nakedness of the compassion that very few people give to the unknown; homelessness, not only just from a shelter made of stone, but that homelessness that comes from having no one to call your own.

- Mother Teresa

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Truth is still truth, no matter how many people doubt it. I may deny the law of gravity, but that does not change gravity. And just because we break God’s laws, that does not invalidate them. A lie doesn’t become a truth and wrong doesn’t become right and evil doesn’t become good just because it’s popular.

- Rick Warren

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Worship grounds me again in the real world of God’s creation, dislodging me from whatever world I have imagined for myself. I have come to believe that when we despair of praise, when the wonder of creation and our place in it are lost to us, it’s often because we’ve lost sight of our true role as creatures – we have tried to do too much, pretending to be in such control of things that we are indispensable. It’s a hedge against mortality and, if you’re like me, you take a kind of comfort in being busy. The danger is that we will come to feel too useful, so full of purpose and the necessity of fulfilling obligations that we lose sight of God’s play with creation, and with ourselves.

- Kathleen Norris

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Perhaps it is true that certain violent remedies employed against t
yrants have put an end to certain forms of evil, but they have not eliminated evil. Evil itself will take root elsewhere, as we have seen through history. The fertilizer that stimulates its growth is yesterday’s violence. Even “just wars” and “legitimate defense” bring vengeance in their train. Fresh crimes invariably ensue.…

But the future of the person who turns to God is not determined by the past, and therefore neither is the future of humanity. God’s forgiveness creates the possibility of an entirely new future.

The cross breaks the cycle of violence.

- André Trocmé


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MOMENT IN TIME

Louisbourg falls to the British

July 26, 1758: The bruising British siege of the French fortress of Louisbourg in Cape Breton had been under way for almost seven weeks when the British took advantage of a thick fog to capture one of the last remaining French ships in the harbour and set fire to the other. With much of the mighty fortress already damaged by heavy shelling, and naval support eliminated, the French governor had little choice but to surrender. It was a pivotal moment in the Seven Years’ War – with Louisbourg gone, sea approaches to the St. Lawrence were now undefended, leaving the heartland of New France at the mercy of the Royal Navy. Within 14 months, the British would be victorious at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, resulting in the end of French rule in North America with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763.

– Christopher Harris

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CLOSING THOUGHT - J.K. Rowling

We're all human, aren't we?
Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.


(end)

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For Those Interested -

ST. DAVID'S ACTS MONDAY NIGHT FALL STUDY

A Ten Week Series September 18th -November 27th, 2017
Monday Evenings, TM Room 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

"CONVICTIONS - How I Learned What Matters Most"


http://tinyurl.com/ybyu3msx

Author: Marcus Borg
Registration/Hospitality and Book: $60.00.
Book only: $20.00

35 copies of the book have been secured for sale.
Registration and Book Sale Begins - August 27th


Read my background information on the study book:
http://cep.anglican.ca/convictions/

--

Here is some course content from our
completed Monday Night Winter 2017 Study:

"How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a

Jewish Preacher from Galilee" by Bart D. Ehrman
https://tinyurl.com/j3nv7nd
 
Check our entire archives for all 49 books
studied since 2000:
 
http://tinyurl.com/q3bw6dh 

During the 2016-2017 two session-term -
Total class registrations: 70
Total books sold: 75

Our best year ever, since 1998!

***


ST. DAVID'S ACTS THURSDAY MORNING STUDY

Ten Sessions September 21st- November 30th, 2017

Biblical book(s) to be studied this autumn to be determined

by the class at the first session of the term, Thursday, Sept. 21st.

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

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ST.DAVID'S SPIRITUAL TRAVELERS EVENT, 2017

South Africa has been chosen as our destination!
We plan a nineteen-day tour that combines a focus
on spirituality, social justice, culture, and nature,
and it will run October 21st thru November 8th.

A beautiful brochure with trip cost, itinerary, and
many helpful travel hints has been published.
http://tinyurl.com/hucsaf7

Our optimal group size for maximum trip meaning
and value is 28-29 persons.
To date, thirty persons

have put down deposits to claim a special saving,
but some have had to withdraw.
 
WE ARE CLOSE TO REACHING OUR DEPARTURE GOAL.

YOU CAN STILL REGISTER. If we reach 29 deposits
you will be added to a waiting list and can still join

us in the event someone has to drop out.

We have activated a South Africa Spiritual Travelers
discussion list group to begin building community
amongst the participants, and to share news and
resources.

We hope to name a tour reporter who will report
back home each day's activities so everyone can
enjoy the experience, if not directly, then indirectly.

Three months from now we leave for South Africa!

Contact Rostad Tours: http://tinyurl.com/hucsaf7

Follow these notices for weekly updates.

*****

 
 
 
 

 

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