Colleagues List, June 30th, 2019

Vol. XIV No. 48

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE

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

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Dear Friends:

We have reached mid-year and, in a certain way, the
beginning of summer for people in my part of the world.

I am happy to share with you a column I recently wrote
for the Anglican Journal after viewing Rembrandt's famous
painting "The Return of the Prodigal Son" at the Hermitage
Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia in May. It was a favourite
of a mentor of mine - Henri Nouwen. I finally got to see it!!

Hopefully, you will find other items in this letter of interest
to you as well.

Wayne

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SPECIAL ITEM

My Current Anglican Journal Column:

"Quality time with the Prodigal Son"

https://tinyurl.com/y5dnphzk

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COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site
June 24th, 2019

"The Loss of Heaven and the Fear of Hell"
  https://tinyurl.com/yy4pk2t8
 
--

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log
June 26th, 2019

"There's More to Life Than Weeds"
  https://tinyurl.com/y4cz2khg

--

John Stackhouse Jr.
Moncton, NB

Johnstackhouse.com
June 27th, 2019

"It's Such a Big, Needy World, What Can I Do?"
  https://tinyurl.com/y5ygfh9q

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NET NOTES

LOW TRUST IN GOVERNMENT
Canadians are Wary of Politicians

Angus Reid Institute,
June 24th, 2019

http://tinyurl.com/yybqa53y

--
 

WHAT 'HOLY LAND' TOURS MISS
Palestinian Christian Voice is Blunted

Sojourners,
June 27th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y42zz99t

 

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'ESSENTIAL AGREEMENT' FOR
UCC ORDINANDS EXPLAINED
What Belief Claims Expected?

United Church of Canada
June 25th, 2019

 

http://tinyurl.com/y36ou7mt

--

A  BISHOP AND JORDAN PETERSON
FIND COMMON CAUSE
Both Opposed to Modern Feminism
  
Religion News Service
June 21st, 2019

 

http://tinyurl.com/y5axfc3c  

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BIBLE TRANSLATIONS PRESERVE
ENDANGERED LANGUAGES
Helps Stem Tide of Lost Tongues

Christianity Today,
May 17th, 2019

http://tinyurl.com/y4tvcqh2

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TRUST IN RELIGIOUS LEADERS
DWINDLING IN ARAB WORLD
BBC Study Finds Growing Distrust

La Croix International
June 26th, 2019

http://tinyurl.com/y5bjx2b9
(you may need to register to read article)

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ACTION NEEDED ON ORGAN
HARVESTING IN CHINA
Call for Global Attention

UCA News,
June 24th, 2019

http://tinyurl.com/y2m99gm9

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ON MADISON AVENUE NYC
PRIEST BLESSES PASSERSBY
Episcopal Pastor Acknowledges the People

Religion News Service
June 27th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y2x5v3oo

 

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JEAN VANIER IS GONE, BUT HIS MODEL
FOR LIVING WITH THE POOR TAKES ROOT
Many Now Live in Communities He Envisioned

National Catholic Reporter
June 25th, 2019

http://tinyurl.com/y3oz6xbr  

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WISDOM OF THE WEEK - June 30th, 2019

Love turns work into rest.

- Saint Teresa of Avila

--
 

God, make me so uncomfortable that
I will do the very thing I fear.

- Ruby Dee

--

So goodbye yellow brick road, where the dogs of society
howl. You can't plant me in your penthouse, I'm going
back to my plough ... Oh I've finally decided my future
lies beyond the yellow brick road.

- Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

--

I feel that we too often focus only on the negative aspect
of life – on what is bad. If we were more willing to see the
good and the beautiful things that surround us, we would
be able to transform our families. From there, we would
change our next-door neighbors and then others who live
in our neighborhood or city. We would be able to bring
peace and love to our world, which hungers so much
for these things.

- Mother Teresa

--

Like craftsmen working on a great cathedral, we have each
been given instructions about the particular stone we are to
spend our lives carving, without knowing or being able to
guess where it will take its place within the grand design.

We are assured, by the words of Paul and by Jesus’
resurrection as the launch of that new creation, that the
work we do is not in vain. That says it all. That is the
mandate we need for every act of justice and mercy,
every program of ecology, every effort to reflect God’s
wise stewardly image into his creation.

 - N. T. Wright

-

If everyone abandons you and even drives you away by force,
then when you are left alone fall on the earth and kiss it, water

it with your tears, and it will bring forth fruit even though no

one has seen or heard you in your solitude. Believe to the end,

even if all people went astray and you were left the only one

faithful; bring your offering even then and praise God in your

loneliness.

And if two of you are gathered together – then there is a

whole world, a world of living love. Embrace each other

tenderly and praise God, for, if only in you two, his truth

has been fulfilled.

- Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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MOMENTS IN TIME

Globe and Mail
June 27th, 2019

CANADA GRANTS LEGAL RIGHTS TO GAYS
June 27, 1969

It was never illegal to be gay in Canada before 1969,
but it was illegal to have gay sex. That changed, sort of,
when then-federal justice minister (and later prime minister)
Pierre Trudeau declared, “There is no place for the state in
the bedrooms of the nation.” Trudeau’s reference was to
the omnibus bill, officially called Bill C-150, which made
major changes to the Canadian Criminal Code. That bill
became law when it was given royal assent on this day
50 years ago. As well as changing the laws on abortion
and contraception, Bill C-150 decriminalized homosexual
acts between consenting adults in private.

The reforms did not eliminate two criminal aspects of
same-sex sexual activity – anal intercourse and gross
indecency – but added the exception for “any two persons,
each of whom is 21 years or more of age, both of whom
consent to the commission of the act.” Clinical, legal
language, with a strict definition of privacy, but it was
a huge step forward for Canada’s LGBTQ community.

Still, the fight for gay rights is not over. In at least 70
countries, it is still illegal to be gay, sometimes punishable
by death.

-  Philip King

***

Globe and Mail
June 25th, 2019

GAY PRIDE FLAG FIRST APPEARS
June 25th, 1978

In 1978, San Francisco activist Harvey Milk challenged
friend and artist Gilbert Baker to come up with a unifying
symbol of pride for the gay community. One that didn’t
necessarily include a pink triangle, the defining mark of
gays in the Holocaust. Baker conceived the rainbow flag
and hand-stitched it. Was he channelling Judy Garland’s
Somewhere Over the Rainbow ? In truth, he was inspired
by the U.S. bicentennial flag and also the inclusiveness
represented by every colour of the spectrum.

The flag was unveiled for San Francisco’s Gay Freedom
Day Parade in 1978. Originally, Baker’s handiwork had
eight horizontal stripes. He assigned meaning to each
colour: hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing,
yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic/
art, indigo for serenity and violet for spirit. (Eventually,
the colours were reduced to red, orange, yellow, green,
blue and violet.)

Demand for the flag increased after Milk was assassinated,
as members of LGBTQ communities began to see the rainbow
banner as a sign of identity, activism and solidarity. Baker
intentionally never trademarked his design and was proud
to see it popularized. Today, the Pride flag is universally
recognized as a symbol of acceptance and equality

. Philip King

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CLOSING THOUGHT - Reza Aslan

 

The only question that matters with regard to a religion
and its mythology is, 'What do these stories mean?'

 

(end)

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