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

Friday 8 September 2017

Colleagues List II, September 10th, 2017

Vol. XIII No. 13
 
GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE

Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address:
waholst@telus.net

This e-mail is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list.
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns,
write to me personally, waholst@telus.net

*****


Dear Friends:

Our autumn programming at church begins to gather momentum and I hope that some of the "spin-off" will be of value to at least some of you, my Colleagues List readers.

My Special Item this week continues an effort to build spiritual development into our upcoming trip to South Africa. I hope you find this interesting.

All other Colleagues List categories are included as usual.

--

As I write this, I think of my fellow alumni from the class of 1967 - fifty  years ago - who gather to celebrate at the World Council of Churches' Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies, Chateau de Bossey, near Geneva, in Switzerland. I am sorry not to be with them, but I have sent them reminders, via English friends who invited me. I will try to make it to the 100th anniversary in 2067! 

Thanks for joining me again this week.

Wayne

*****

SPECIAL ITEM

Within six weeks, St. David's Spiritual Travellers (including members and friends of the congregation) will be departing for South Africa for nineteen days. Over the past six years a total of 115 persons will have journeyed in four groups to the Celtic Lands (England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales), Turkey, the Holy Land, and now, South Africa.

This program of St. David's Adult Spiritual Development Ministry (ACTS)attempts to engage mature adults who have the time and the means to take these pilgrimages to an intriguing variety of global destinations.

We are not only tourists. We are "spiritual travellers" - which means we want to grow our spiritual lives as we visit and enjoy intriguing places that many of us may never have dreamed of visiting. But now the opportunity has been given to us and we want to make the most of it.

Our South African Adventure runs from Oct. 21st to Nov. 8th, 2017. Twenty-five persons form our group for this our fourth tour.

Here is our 19-day itinerary.
Click to enlarge the map to follow our journey.
We hope to provide audio-video up-dates as we go.

http://tinyurl.com/hucsaf7

--

As we gather at St. David's, Calgary next week for a pre-trip "get-to-know-each-other-event" - about twenty Albertans will be meeting (while group members from Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland will join us in Europe - and we will start to include everyone in our travelling family.)

Here are thoughts I want to share with the tour and hopefully many will continue to elaborate on these themes as our journey unfolds.

*****

ENCOUNTERING SOUTH AFRICA
AND THE AFRICAN CONTINENT

The Primary Spiritual Dimension
According to most scholars, Africa is the cradle of humanity and source of the first humans who emigrated to populate the globe.

Africa is also quite probably humanity’s most spiritually rooted and grounded continent. We have an important opportunity to experience the meaning of spirituality at a primary source. South Africa is an excellent place to begin. We come here to discover our spiritual foundations. We are tourists, but much more than that!

Three Other Dimensions
Nature, culture and social/ecological justice are three other important dimensions of this tour. Spirituality undergirds and integrates all three. Each of these dimensions provides windows through which to discover the uniqueness that is African spirituality.

Nature. Enjoying the rich abundance of geographic beauty will be a major aspect of our tour. Flora and fauna – gloriously different from what we are used to in Canada – make this journey memorable.

Culture. We are here to learn more about the history and human geography of this nation. That covers many thousands of years and, as in Canada, the arrival of white, European culture is a very recent development. Various indigenous groups like the Zulus have lived in South Africa for a long time. Unlike Canada, the indigenous population here is numerically dominant.

Social and Ecological Justice. Modern South Africa has experienced the best and the worst in terms of social justice. Whose heart is not profoundly moved by the life and witness of Nelson Mandela or Desmond Tutu? Who is not repulsed by the memory of Apartheid? We need to engage South Africa with both critical honesty and compassion while taking a second look at social justice issues confronting our own nation.

Nature. Culture. Social/Ecological Justice. We have much to learn about all three – individually and collectively. We can make surprizing connections as well as reflect on images and myths that transcend our cultures. A memorable spiritual growth experience awaits in the company of our fellow-travelers and generous hosts!

Stay tuned for more as we go.

Marlene and Wayne Holst,
Your adventure hosts

*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Jim Tylor,
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log
September 6th,2017

"The Problem With Great Expectations"

  https://tinyurl.com/y89hau5w

--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site
September 4th, 2017

"Achievement Vs. Fruitfulness"

  https://tinyurl.com/y9zs44d3

*****

NET NOTES
 
THE 'OTHER' RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS
Blind and Deaf Students Also Suffered
 
United Church Observer,
September, 2017
 
 
--

BRITAIN CONTINUES RELIGIOUS DECLINE
More Than Half Claim Unbelief

Natcen Social Research, London, UK
September, 2017
 
--

WHAT IS GOD'S DREAM FOR HUMANITY?
A Reflection by L'Arche Founder Jean Vanier
Winner of the Templeton Prize (video clips)

Englewood Review of Books,
September 7th, 2017


--

WHITE CHRISTIANS NOW MINORITY IN US
Evangelical Christians at 17% of Population

Christian Post
September 6th, 2017


--

SAINT DIANA - TWENTY YEARS OF GRIEF
Diana and Teresa Compared

Religion News Service
August 31st, 2017


--

INDIA'S CRITICAL TIME IN MODERN HISTORY
It Needs It's Minority Muslim and Christian Voices

La Croix International
September 5th, 2017

--

EGYPT TRYING TO PROTECT IT'S JEWISH HERITAGE
Dominant Muslim Faith Seeks to Protect Ancient Tradition

The Economist,
September 9th, 2017


--

TRUMP VOTERS ANTI-/ISLAMIST/FEMINIST/GLOBALIST
Baylor Survey Confirms the Obvious Trump Supporters

Religion News Service,
September 7th, 2017


http://tinyurl.com/ycvoqnxr

--

WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE ATTRACTED TO NEW RELIGIONS?
Why are People Drawn to Novelty When It Comes to Faith?

The Atlantic,
August 30th, 2017


--

WILLIAMS MOURNS LOSS OF A

'GENUINE FRIEND AND BROTHER'
English Church Leaders Had 

a Four Decade Relationship

The Tablet,
September 7th, 2017

--

Explaining US Politics -

TRUMP ENDS "DREAMERS" PROGRAM
With a Shrinking Base of Support
He Wrecks Havoc on the Vulnerable

Globe and Mail,
September 6th, 2017
 
Donald Trump is eliminating protections for 800,000 unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. The program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was put in place by Barack Obama in 2012 and allows young people to obtain work permits and avoid deportation. With protections starting to expire in six months, the fate of those individuals lies in the hands of Congress.

But Republicans will only vote for a fix for the “Dreamers” – a reference to a long-stalled piece of legislation, the Dream Act – if Democrats agree to other immigration reforms, according to Leon Fresco, who helped draft a failed 2013 immigration bill.
And Democrats are unlikely to make concessions, he said.
 
Here’s the view from The Globe and Mail’s editorial board:
 
“Given that the Republican-controlled Congress is so dysfunctional that it couldn’t pass a kidney stone if its life depended on it, Trump has put a gun to the heads of some of the most vulnerable people in his country, all for the sake of appeasing his shrinking base.”

--

American Catholic Leaders Condemn Trump DACA Move:

National Catholic Reporter,
September 5th, 2017


*****
 
WISDOM OF THE WEEK

From Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:

If you are neutral in situations of injustice,
you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

- Desmond Tutu

--

If we have no peace, it is because we have
forgotten that we belong to each other.

- Mother Teresa

--

I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change.
I am changing the things I cannot accept.

- Angela Y. Davis

--
 
God surrounds us from all sides. He is our Lord who is before, above, and after, and thence also with us in history: the locus of our existence. Despite humanity’s insignificance, God is with us as our Creator who intended and made humankind to be very good. Despite ours in sin, God is with us, the One who was in Jesus Christ reconciling the world, drawing us unto himself in merciful judgment. Humanity’s evil past is not merely crossed out because of its irrelevancy. Rather, it is in the good care of God.
 
- Karl Barth
 
--

Our universe is not made up only of beautiful trees, but also of stunted ones. Yet each tree is important. Television shows us movie stars, men and women with beautiful bodies and extravagant clothes. But that is not the reality of the majority of people! The beauty of human beings lies in their capacity to accept who they are, just as they are; not to live in a world of dreams or illusions, in anger or despair, wanting to be other than they are, or trying to run away from reality.

- Jean Vanier

--

God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on  on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else – something it never entered your head to conceive – comes crashing in; something so beautiful to have some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side.

- C.S. Lewis

*****


MOMENT IN TIME

Globe and Mail
September 6th, 2017

Famous Fathers of Confederation photo snapped in Charlottetown

See Press Reader Photo
: https://tinyurl.com/ya2nv3rf

Sept. 6, 1864 - Thirty-four months before Canada became a country, leaders of the then-colonies of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada East and Canada West gathered in Charlottetown. In between the Champagne and lobster, the group discussed how to best wean themselves off their dependency on England While drafting plans that would lead to the creation of the Dominion of Canada, the men       paused and posed for a moment on the front steps of the home of PEI's lieutenant-governor. In the centre sits Sir John A. Macdonald next to Sir George-Étienne Cartier. To the far left, Macdonald's assistant, Charles Drinkwater. On the far right stands the original Globe publisher George Brown, his face blurred just as the photo was snapped. To Brown's left, is the cropped half-body of William Henry Lee, the first clerk of the Privy Council of Canada. New Brunswicker George P. P. Roberts took the photo.

- Kenny Sharpe

*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - Kofi Annan

"Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope"

(end)


*****
 
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

40 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/

Registrations sold to date: 27
Books sold to date: 31

--

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

***

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

Twenty-five persons have registered and paid

in full to take the trip. This will be our tour group.
All together,  thirty-two persons made deposits
but some had to withdraw for health or other
reasons.
 
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 notify
back home each day's activities so everyone can
enjoy the experience, at least indirectly.

In about six weeks from now we leave for South Africa!

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

Follow these notices for weekly updates.

*****



 

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