Colleagues List, September 2nd, 2018

Vol. XIV No. 9

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE

LABOUR DAY WEEKEND EDITION
 
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: wholst@telus.net

This email 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,

My Special Item this week is my August column
for the Anglican Journal - "The Web of Life" - which
is another reflection on the growing relationship
between humans and nature.

Our programs at the church are about to start,
and I am very happy with the early response to
our studies and spiritual travel plans.

Soon we will be celebrating our support for the
resettlement of 400 Tibetans in Canada - a
wonderful effort on the part of St. David's people.

Have a good Labour Day weekend wherever
you are - even if it is not a holiday in your country.

Wayne

*****

SPECIAL ITEM

My August Anglican Journal Column:

"The Web of Life"
  https://tinyurl.com/yb7wsoqbwa

*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log,
August 29th, 2018

"Voice Messaging"
  https://tinyurl.com/y7qrmshc

--

Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON.

Sermons and Blog,
August 28th, 2018

"Something More"
  https://tinyurl.com/y9px6v22

--

Philip Yancey,
Colorado

Philipyancey.com
August 27th, 2018

"Are You Happy?"
  https://tinyurl.com/y92tfrdc

--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site,
August 27th, 2018

"How to Respond"
  https://tinyurl.com/ya4ye7pe

--

Michael Higgins,
Fairfield, CT

The Tablet, UK
August 27th, 2018

"Digging Deep in Sacred Caverns"
  https://tinyurl.com/y7wwso5b

*****

 
NET NOTES

SILENCE IN THE FACE OF MYSTERY
By Rowan Williams

The Christian Century,
August 21st, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/yacdc93g

--

WHAT LEONARD COHEN SAW
IN ADOLPH EICHMANN
An Average Kind of Guy

Religion News Service,
August 31st, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ybat8agn

--

RELIEF EFFORTS CONTINUE IN KERALA
After Massive Flooding in the Country

World Reformed Communion Website
August 20th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ycppjohh

--

A SPIRITUAL AFRICA
CONTENDS WITH ATHEISTS TOO
Challenges to Islam and Christianity Alike

Religion News Service,
August 28th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ycrls45a

--

MILLENNIAL EVANGELICALS
DIVERGE FROM PARENTS' BELIEFS
Young are More Social Justice Attuned

The New Yorker,
August 28th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ycwqucyq

--

"ITS TIME TO CHOOSE
 THE PAINFUL PATH OF PURIFICATION"
  Editorial Calls on Catholic Church to Face
  Truth in Light of Chronic Abuse Exposure

National Catholic Reporter,
August 30th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/yaegeurs

--

COPTIC MONK ARRESTED OVER
MURDER OF BISHOP IN EGYPT
Motive Still Considered Shadowy

The Guardian,
August 12th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/yaey7272

--

CHILD MARRIAGE CONTINUES
TO PLAGUE INDIAN SOCIETY
Poverty, Inequality, Ancient Tradition
Big Factors in this Tragedy

UCA News,
August 30th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ya5lkabu

--

WHITE HOUSE HONORS EVANGELICALS
"FOR ALL THE GOOD WORK THEY DO"
An American Blending of Church and State

Religion News Service,
August 28th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/y76vkegd

--

TRINITY WESTERN'S COMMUNITY COVENANT MOVE
MUST BE FOLLOWED BY MEANINGFUL CHANGE
A Queer Christian Suggests What Should Happen There

The United Church Observer,
August, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ydekxyut

*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

From Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:

The measure of a country's greatness is its
ability to retain compassion in times of crisis.

- Thurgood Marshall

--

Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of
God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to
overlook the urgency of the moment.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

--

It is really so simple! The main thing is to love your
neighbor as yourself. Once you do that, you will
discover at once how everything shall fall into place.

-  Fyodor Dostoyevsky

--

Don't listen to those who say, you are taking too big a
chance. Michelangelo would have painted the Sistine
floor, and it would surely be rubbed out by today.

Most important, don't listen when the little voice of
fear inside you rears its ugly head ...

- Neil Simon

--

Bring every bit of yourself into the room.
What you've got from the family you're from, what
you've got from the families you've chosen.

Your willingness to listen, your longing to be heard,
your courage, your vulnerability, the best of you,
all of you. Let's go...

- Lin-Manuel Miranda

--

It’s funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults
had some kind of inner toolbox, full of shiny tools: the saw
of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of
patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed
you these rusty, bent old tools – friendships, prayer,
conscience, honesty – and said, Do the best you can with
these, they will have to do. And mostly, against all odds
they’re enough.

- Anne Lamott

--

Yes, in Christ is revealed the mystery of love, how God has
loved us, as the apostle writes: “God so loved the world that
he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). What father hands over
his son so that a prisoner or slave might be saved? That is
what the eternal Father has done; he gave us his Son, his
Word, his life, and in Christ we can recover God’s life. Sins
are forgiven because Christ became the price for our debt,
and now we can all die with the hope of heaven because
Christ has offered to open for us the gates of heaven even
though we are sinners. We need only repent and be
converted and return to him who says, “I am the way
and the truth and the life” (John 14:6)

- Oscar Romero

*****

CLOSING THOUGHT  -  Maya Angelou

It is this belief in a power larger than myself and other than
myself which allows me to venture into the unknown and                   even the unknowable.

*****

(end)

For those interested:

 
ST. DAVIDS ADULT SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT/ACTS MINISTRY
FALL PROGRAM BEGINS TO TAKE SHAPE

ST. DAVID'S MONDAY NIGHT STUDY 'BOOKENDS' EVENT

Monday, September 10th, 2018
TM Room 7:00 - 9:00 PM

Come for a free evening to view our official South African
Spiritual Travelers pictures  (October-November 2017)
created by many tour-members and assembled by
Jock McTavish.

Learn about our up-coming tour, April-May 2018
"From Vienna to Moscow" (see more details, below)

*****

ST. DAVID'S ACTS MONDAY NIGHT FALL BOOK STUDY

A Ten Week Series September 17th - November 26th, 2018
Monday Evenings, TM Room 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
(No class on Thanksgiving Monday)

"THE BOOK OF JOY"

  Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

Authors: Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu

Registration/Hospitality and Book: $60.00.
Book only: $25.00

 

Registration and Book Sale began Sunday, August 26th

43 copies of the book are available for sale.

6 copies remain. Current registration: 36
Hardcover edition - https://tinyurl.com/yd849r6g

 

Background information on the study book will be

provided here during the last weeks of summer:

--

Other background:

During the 2017-2018 fall/winter two term series -

Total class registrations: 70

Total books sold: 84

Our best year ever, since we started in 1998!

***

ST. DAVID'S SPIRITUAL TRAVELERS TOUR, 2019

East Europe and Russia have been chosen as our destinations!

This will be our fifth Spiritual Travelers Tour, with a

group emerging from St. David's but very open to others.

 

The Tour is entitled: "From Vienna to Moscow"

We plan a twenty-day tour that combines a focus
on spirituality, culture and the relationship between

religion and politics. The tour will run from April 26th

through May 16th, 2019.

https://tinyurl.com/y834742f

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

https://tinyurl.com/y7j55gym

Our trip sale begins now (with early bird registration 

benefits) and special savings continue to November 15th.
 

Our Canadian tour company is Rostad Tours, Calgary.
Contact Rostad Tours: http://www.rostad.com/
Phone 1-800-361-8687 or 403-238-4090.

Follow these notices for weekly updates.

***

ST. DAVID'S ACTS THURSDAY MORNING STUDY

Ten Sessions September 13th-November 22nd, 2018

Biblical book(s) to be studied this autumn will be 
determined by the class at their first meeting on
Thursday, Sept. 13th with ten sessions following.
Gathering at 9:30 AM in the St. David's TM Room
and meeting 10:00 - 11:00 AM.

No charge

Study resource -

"The DK Complete Bible Handbook"
  Edited by John Bowker

http://tinyurl.com/odxlv7q

*****

 

 

Colleagues List, August 26th, 2018

Vol. XIV No. 8

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
 
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: wholst@telus.net

This email 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:

Here is my Colleagues List issue for August 26th. From this
point, we begin moving more fully into the autumn program season.

I am pleased to introduce a new book by Earle Waugh, professor emeritus at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. He tells the intriguing story of the first Canadian mosque and of how the Al Rashid Muslim community has evolved through 80 years in that city.

I hope you enjoy the other parts of this mailing as well.

Wayne

*****

SPECIAL ITEM

Book Notice -

AL RASHID MOSQUE
Building Canadian Muslim Communities,
by Earle H. Waugh

University of Alberta Press,
June, 2018. 256 pages. $35.00 CAD (paper)
ISBN # 978-1-77212-333-2

Publisher's Promo:

Al Rashid Mosque, Canada’s first and one of the earliest in North America, was erected in Edmonton in the depth of the Depression of the 1930s. Over time, the story of this first mosque, which served as a magnet for more Lebanese Muslim immigrants to Edmonton, was woven into the folklore of the local community. —Baha Abu-Laban, Foreword

Edmonton’s Al Rashid Mosque has played a key role in Islam’s Canadian development. Founded by Muslims from Lebanon, it has grown into a vibrant community fully integrated into Canada’s cultural mosaic. The mosque continues to be a concrete expression of social good, a symbol of a proud Muslim Canadian identity. Al Rashid Mosque provides a welcome introduction to the ethics and values of homegrown Muslims. The book traces the mosque’s role in education and community leadership and celebrates the numerous contributions of Muslim Canadians in Edmonton and across Canada. Al Rashid Mosque is a timely and important volume of Islamic and Canadian history.

--
 
Author's Bio:

Earle H. Waugh has studied Islam in Canada and the Middle East for most of his adult life. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta and a senior scholar in the areas of religious studies, health and culture, and Indigenous language maintenance.

--

Author's Words:

"Forty years ago, as a young scholar in Islamic Studies at the University of Alberta, Al Rashid’s Muslims welcomed my queries, tolerated my ignorance, and joyfully opened their homes and their hearts."

- Earle H. Waugh

--

My Thoughts:

When the first sizeable migration of Muslims arrived in Edmonton in the early twentieth century, they first set about to establish themselves as businesspersons. Subsequently, they determined to build the Al Rashid mosque which is celebrating its eightieth birthday in 2018. At the time they may not have realized that these actions had historic consequence and serves to this day as a model for Islamic cultural identification with both the Muslim faith and integration to Canadian society - a story of how it is possible to be both good followers of Islam and good citizens too. 

Earle Waugh, a friend and religious studies scholar, who taught for many years at the University of Alberta, does Canadians and many others a great service in describing the valuable example of how a settlement of Lebanese Muslims in Canada has evolved over the years. Waugh has much to teach us as a result of his long-term connection with the Al Rashid community.

The media often leave us with a skewed perception of Muslims. We are thus more inclined, for example, to think of terrorism - caused by or against Islamic communities existing in the global West. Here is a book borne of a deep relationship with members of an historic Canadian Muslim community and mosque; and of the good that was achieved and continues to be accomplished.

We learn a great deal about a special building and the people who built it. Al Rashid can still be visited at the Fort Edmonton Park in the provincial capital. If you can, go and learn about this site and many others that I've seen there. Otherwise, the following may have to do:

A short history of the Al Rashid Mosque in Edmonton
https://alrashidmosque.ca/history/

--

The book describes the mosque's role in education and community leadership and tells the story of many Muslim Canadians who have contributed to Edmonton and our nation as a whole.

The city of Edmonton has a Muslim population of 50,000 today, while there are more than one million Muslims living in Canada.

--

Waugh does us all a special service by describing the spiritual, social and economic struggles of the Edmonton Islamic community centered in Al Rashid over the years. This should give non-Muslims a better understanding. It should also help Muslims themselves develop a greater compassion for the struggles of new Canadians today.  In a true sense we are all part of a quest to discover what Canadian culture and inter-faith diversity means.

I encourage you to buy or get access to this book. In truth, it helps to complete the story of all Canadians.

Other reading:

Globe and Mail, February 3rd, 2017
 - 
"Canada's oldest Muslim community
  finds solidarity in Edmonton"
  https://tinyurl.com/y9a5jp9u
 
____
 
Buy the book from U of A Press:
https://tinyurl.com/y7dfutkp 

Buy the book from Amazon.ca:
https://tinyurl.com/yajrx7rh

*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log,
August 22nd, 2018

"Community - Both Beautiful and Fragile"
  https://tinyurl.com/ycz6gdse

--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site,
August 20th, 2018

"Beautiful Stoics"
  https://tinyurl.com/ycocrabb

--

Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON.

Sermons Blog
August 17th, 2018

"It's Not About Bread"
  https://tinyurl.com/y8leken7

*****
 

NET NOTES

WHAT IS THE HAJJ?
First Devotion of Islamic Faith

Religion News Service,
August 20th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/yca8twfywa

--

WE REALLY NEED TO RETIRE THE TERM "PK"
It Puts the Family Under Too Much Pressure

United Church Observer,
August, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ybfc86vowa

--

ARETHA FRANKLIN SINGS SEVEN
OF OUR FAVOURITDE SONGS
Pops, Gospel and Civil Rights Hits

Englewood Review of Books
August 16th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/y8qe2so5

--

TRINITY WESTERN DROPS SEX
STANDARDS IN LAW SCHOOL BID
Change in Use of "Community Covenant"

Christianity Today,
August 16th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ybr7p72s

--

CHURCH HEAD CALLS
FOR BAN ON USE OF "MORMON"
He Claims God Wants the Term
"Church of Jesus Christ, Latter Day Saints"

La Croix Internatjonal
August 22nd, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/yc7oka5t

"I'm a Mormon, but I'm not supposed
       to call myself that anymore"

Religion News Service,
August 21st, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ych339t2

--

VATICAN CONSIDERS SAINTHOOD
FOR LAKOTA HOLY MAN BLACK ELK
He Would Be the Next American 
Indigenous Saint Since the Mohawk
Woman Kateri Tekakwitha

Religion News Service,
August 21st, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/y7rpt928

--

CELTIC SPIRITUALITY APPEALS
TO PAGANS AND CHRISTIANS ALIKE
Ancient Tradition Still Alive and Well
Amid Modern Spiritual Seekers

Religion News Service,
August 17th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ycln9jz5

--

WILLOW CREEK PAID OUT 3.25M IN
LAWSUITS FOR ABUSE OF DISABLED BOYS
Famous Megachurch Again Hit by Scandal

Christian Post,
August 16th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/yc7np46u

--

CATHOLIC LAY LEADER URGES PRIESTS
AND HIERARCHY TO 'COME CLEAN'
"We have Traditionally Confessed to You" He Said

Catholic News Service,
August 22nd. 2018

https://tinyurl.com/ya6yaw5b

--

THE UNEXPECTED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
U.S. EVANGELICALS AND RUSSIAN ORTHODOX
Under Trump and Putin, a Strange Alliance Gets Stranger

The Christian Century,
August 2nd, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/y9rlcz7d

*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

From Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:

Religion without humanity is very poor human stuff.

- Sojourner Truth

--

The challenge is to restore the home of the tadpoles
and give back to our children a world of beauty
and wonder.

- Wangari Maathai

--

I want to live in a world where people of all races,
religions, socioeconomic classes, sexual orientations,
gender identities and abilities are seen as what they
have always been: human beings.

- Kelly Marie Tran

--
 

Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed.
You cannot un-educate the person who has learned
to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels
pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not
afraid anymore.

- Cesar Chavez

 

--

 

It is when things go wrong, when the good things do
not happen, when our prayers seem to have been lost,
that God is most present. We do not need the sheltering
wings when things go smoothly. We are closest to God
in the darkness, stumbling along blindly. There is no such
thing as belief without doubt or struggle.

- Madeleine L’Engle

--
 

Obedience through fear is reluctant and resentful.

Obedience through gratitude is joyful, instant, and spontaneous. Gratitude is like an overflowing stream, positive, outgoing. It is a powerful antiseptic that kills the germs of bitterness. Gratitude is the glue that binds and unites you to your neighbor. It is the salt that flavors all inspired relationships.

 

- Daw Nyein Tha

--

The tree is known by its fruit. Those who profess to
belong to Christ will be recognized by their actions.
However, what matters now is not a mere professing
of faith. Now the crucial thing is whether one is found
in the power of faith to the end. He who truly possesses
the word of Jesus can even hear his silence speak. In
this way shall he be perfect: he will act in accordance
with his words and will be known even by his silence.

- Ignatius

--

Christ says: “Which of these three, do you think, proved
neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” The
Pharisee answers correctly, “The one who showed mercy
to him” (Luke 10:36). This means that by doing your duty
you easily discover who your neighbor is.… He towards
whom I have a duty is my neighbor, and when I fulfill my
duty, I prove that I am a neighbor. Christ does not speak
about recognizing our neighbor but about being a
neighbor yourself, about proving yourself to be a neighbor,
something the Samaritan showed by his compassion.

Choosing a lover, finding a friend, yes that is a long, hard
job, but your neighbor is easy to recognize, easy to find –
if you yourself will only recognize your duty and be a neighbor.

- Søren Kierkegaard

*****

MOMENT IN TIME

"Earthrise" August 23rd, 1966

https://tinyurl.com/y7gbe65g

There was a time when the only photos of Earth were tight
closeups. These were taken by rockets (in the 1940s) and
satellites (in the early 1960s) from within Earth’s orbit,
meaning a single image could only capture a part of the
planet. NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 1 probe changed that.

Launched in early August, 1966, the unmanned spacecraft
(which scientists referred to as a “flying photography lab”)
was primarily deployed to orbit the moon and photograph
the smooth portions of its surface for a potential future landing spot. . But while doing so, on this day, it snapped the first-ever wide shot of the Earth from the moon, capturing what is known as "Earthrise." The spacecraft’s advanced photography suite captured developed, scanned and transmitted the image back to NASA scientists. While the grainy black-and-white image was taken only as an impulsive afterthought, it held great significance as the first photo of the entire planet.

U.S. officials gave out prints of the image to diplomats and

foreign dignitaries, a symbol both of a small victory in the

country’s race against the Soviet Union and that Earth is

part of a much larger universe. - Audrey Carleton

 

*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - Howard Zinn

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic.
It is based on the fact that human history is a history not
only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage,
kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex
history will determine our lives.

(end)

*****

For those interested:

 
ST. DAVIDS ADULT SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT/ACTS MINISTRY
FALL PROGRAM BEGINS TO TAKE SHAPE

ST. DAVID'S MONDAY NIGHT STUDY 'BOOKENDS' EVENT

Monday, September 10th, 2018
TM Room 7:00 - 9:00 PM

Come for a free evening to view our official South African
Spiritual Travelers pictures  (October-November 2017)
created by many tour-members and assembled by
Jock McTavish.

Learn about our up-coming tour, April-May 2018
"From Vienna to Moscow" (see more details, below)

*****

ST. DAVID'S ACTS MONDAY NIGHT FALL BOOK STUDY

A Ten Week Series September 17th - November 26th, 2018
Monday Evenings, TM Room 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
(No class on Thanksgiving Monday)

"THE BOOK OF JOY"

  Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

Authors: Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu

Registration/Hospitality and Book: $60.00.
Book only: $25.00

 

Registration and Book Sale began Sunday, August 26th

33 copies of the book were available for sale.

4 copies remain. 10 more copies are coming soon.

Hardcover edition - https://tinyurl.com/yd849r6g

 

Background information on the study book will be

provided here during the last weeks of summer:

--

Other background:

During the 2017-2018 fall/winter two term series -

Total class registrations: 70

Total books sold: 84

Our best year ever, since we started in 1998!

***

ST. DAVID'S SPIRITUAL TRAVELERS TOUR, 2019

East Europe and Russia have been chosen as our destinations!

This will be our fifth Spiritual Travelers Tour, with a

group emerging from St. David's but very open to others.

 

The Tour is entitled: "From Vienna to Moscow"

We plan a twenty-day tour that combines a focus
on spirituality, culture and the relationship between

religion and politics. The tour will run from April 26th

through May 16th, 2019.

https://tinyurl.com/y834742f

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

https://tinyurl.com/y7j55gym

Our trip sale begins now (with early bird registration 

benefits) and special savings continue to November 15th.
 

Our Canadian tour company is Rostad Tours, Calgary.
Contact Rostad Tours: http://www.rostad.com/
Phone 1-800-361-8687 or 403-238-4090.

Follow these notices for weekly updates.

***

ST. DAVID'S ACTS THURSDAY MORNING STUDY

Ten Sessions September 13th-November 22nd, 2018

Biblical book(s) to be studied this autumn will be 
determined by the class at their first meeting on
Thursday, Sept. 13th with ten sessions following.
Gathering at 9:30 AM in the St. David's TM Room
and meeting 10:00 - 11:00 AM.

No charge

Study resource -

"The DK Complete Bible Handbook"
  Edited by John Bowker

http://tinyurl.com/odxlv7q

*****