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

Friday, 30 June 2017

Colleagues List, July 2nd, 2017


Vol. XIII No. 1

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE


Wayne A. Holst, Editor

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


*****

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

*****
 
CANADA DAY EDITION

Canada 150
Canada's contribution to the World

BBC News
June 29th, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/ycnbvxxz


*****
 
Dear Friends:
 
This issue of Colleagues List marks the beginning of my 13th year using a Blogger.com format. 576 issues of Colleagues List (averaging 47.9 issues per year) have been created so far. I hope you enjoy this one.
 
I have some free-flowing thoughts to share on this Canada Day Weekend and other colleagues contribute a variety of current perspectives in religion and culture as well. See the diverse collection, below. You will find Net Notes, Wisdom of the Week and other views as usual.
 
Whether you are Canadian or not - Happy Canada Day!
 
Wayne
 
*****
 
SPECIAL ITEM
 
SOME THOUGHTS ON CANADA 150
 
This year, Canada turns 150. Interestingly, I have just celebrated my 75th birthday. That means I am half as old as my native land.
 
Usually, I introduce a book in this space, but today I would like to share some thoughts on what it means to me to be a Canadian.

Over the last fifty years I have travelled, lived, studied and worked in twenty-seven foreign countries; visited 45 American states, and seen all parts of Canada except the Yukon and Nunavut Territories, and Labrador in the province of Newfoundland/Labrador. Hopefully, that gives me some credibility when writing about being a Canadian.

(I still have a bucket list, of course. My time overseas and some anticipated visits within Canada remain a work in progress).

I am grateful to live in what might be called a global "middle power." Canadians know what it means to be dependent on empire, and we would like to learn from experience. As a Canadian of Scots-Irish and German decent, I have always had a kind of love-hate relationship with the British. Canadians have no desire to create an empire of their own in the world, but we cherish the idea of demonstrating a strong, global, peacemaking influence. We have gained much from our longstanding good relationships with Britain and the United States, but we seek to pursue an independent course.

Especially now. Our current prime minister seems committed to building a strong Canada economically (the reason we are part of the exclusive G-7 Group). As our gift to the world, we seek to be a strong voice for global justice.

I am glad we are at this point on our 150th birthday. 

To be committed to global justice means we strive to keep our own house in order, justice-wise. We have many internal justice issues to work on but Canada's relationship with its first peoples is a major one. The strong influence of Canada's Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Inuit and Metis) in our current anniversary celebrations demonstrates a marked improvement from 1967 when we turned 100. It is obvious that there is a lot of work ahead of us still - as the recently tabled Truth and Reconciliation Report made quite clear - https://tinyurl.com/jgsx79m

The report's 94 recommendations seem to have come at a time when many Canadians are ready to heed and act on them. May it be so.

Our history of accepting immigrants and refugees from many parts of the world, and integrating them peacefully, is something to celebrate. We have a history of prejudice about which we are not proud, but we seem to be learning from our mistakes. I live in a city that, some years ago, elected its first Muslim mayor. He has proven to be one of our most popular, and rarely is the matter ever mentioned. I am grateful that a nation which began as a French Catholic settlement - which then required the co-existence of English Protestants - can now be a nation that has learned from its early experience to grow in its ability to be multi-national and multi-faith in composition. God grant that we will continue to be an example for the world.

Rarely do religion and politics interfere with each other in Canada. This does not mean that Canadians are a-political or a-theistic. Quite the contrary. But many of us came from countries that were a caustic mix of these two powerful forces. We need to keep re-educating our new fellow-Canadians to leave behind their negative issues in the countries they departed as we have tried to do.

I have been involved in Canadian ecumenical and interfaith relations for half a century, and I am impressed by the progress we have made over the past 50 years. I view secularisation as a positive force for building good bonds within the nation, and this means including persons who claim no faith as well.

I could go on, but perhaps by now you are thinking of me as pollyanna in my Canadian assessment. Maybe I have been a bit idealistic in my comments, above. But I grew up at a time and place where bragging rights were not encouraged. I think we Canadians have just cause for some honest pride at this time in our history.

That said, I must also add some Canadian caution, and "sober second thought" as we were always encouraged to practice.

The freedoms, beauty and harmony I have celebrated (above) are not our's by right. Only by constant vigilance and hard self-assessment do we have any real hope of promoting these blessings for the next century and a half. Even then, there are no guarantees. That should give us pause. I will leave the self-criticism for another time, however.

I think the world needs Canada, and we need to set a good example for the world. We may not be the "city set upon a hill" as the New England preachers and writers would say, but we are proud to be Canadian, in a typically Canadian way of putting it. And we too have a manifest destiny, after a manner of speaking.
 
*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Angus Reid,
Vancouver, BC

Canada at 150
RELIGION HAS PLAYED A POSITIVE ROLE
IN RURAL AREAS OF THE COUNTRY
Less So in the Nation as a Whole

Angus Reid Institute Website,
June 29th, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/y9tnjbhj

--

John Stackhouse Jr.
Moncton, NB

Personal Blog/Context Website
June 26th, 2017/
June 29th, 2017
 
"Confederation: A Miracle Worth Celebrating"

"Anti-Americanism: Insecurity? Paranoia? Racism?"
   https://tinyurl.com/y6unlk6l

--

Isabel Gibson,
Ottawa, ON.

Marjorie Remembers Blog,
June 28th, 2017

"Now, We Remember Marjorie"
  https://tinyurl.com/yat9ew8p

--

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log
June 26th, 2017

"Hate Crimes - Retaliation Ignores the Golden Rule"
  https://tinyurl.com/ya2q7yvz

--
 
Michael Higgins
Fairfield, CT.
 
Globe and Mail,
June 29th, 2017
 
"Cardinal Pell's Assault Charges
  Will Ripple Through the Vatican"

“The no no nonsense and often blustery style of the cardinal, coupled with his arch-conservative views on matters ecclesial and political, have earned him a formidable cohort of critics only too keen to see him humbled. His cavalier dismissal of theological perspectives at odds with his own, his intolerance for dissenters and his undiminished clerical hauteur, have all contributed to the wide feeling of schadenfreude among his opponents.” – Michael W. Higgins"
 
Cardinal Pell: The Church Will Also be on Trial"
  The Tablet (UK) June 30th, 2017


--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site
June 26th, 2017

"To Whom Shall We Go?"
  https://tinyurl.com/y9x4gfh2

*****

NET NOTES

ON DEPORTING CHRISTIANS TO IRAQ
A Moment of Truth for American Christians

Religion News Service,
June 27th, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/y9sjund5

--

AUSTRALIANS DITCH RELIGION AT RAPID RATE
Nation is Becoming Much More Diverse

CNN
June 27th, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/y79uyhgf

--

STEMMING THE TIDE OF HATRED WITH KINDNESS
Finding "Life Itself"

Religion News Service,
June 23rd, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/ycnr9d83

Globe and Mail,
June 26th, 2017

"Kindness is the enemy of extremism"

“The arc of xenophobic terror – whether ‘inspired’ by the Islamic State or white supremacists – has recently increased in frequency and
breadth. Within the past month alone, Flint, Portland, suburban Virginia, London, Manchester, Brussels and Paris have all witnessed acts of violence intended to maim, kill and sow division. While governments have the responsibility to protect their citizens, there is much that each of us can and must do to ensure that our social fabric is not ruptured by the nihilistic ideology of a few.” – Sheema Khan

--

INFLUENTIAL CHRISTIAN SOCIOLOGIST DEAD AT 88
Peter Berger Specialized in Sociology of Religion

The Christian Post,
June 29th, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/ybbwppda

--

A CHURCH THAT BELIEVES YOUR STORIES ARE SACRED
Rites of Unburdening are Part of the Religious Ritual

Sightings,
June 29th, 2017

http://tinyurl.com/y9xlzw4b

--

MORMONS CHANGING TUNE ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
Younger Mormons Tend to Follow Societal Trends

Religion News Service,
June 28th, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/yas7muyt

--

THREE THINGS CHRISTIANS DO
THAT NON-CHRISTIANS DISPISE
Here is a DON'T DO List

Christian Week,
June 26th, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/yatc758o

--

DESPITE DISCRIMINATION,
GIRLS IN INDIA ARE EXCELLING
Many No Longer Accept Glass Ceiling

UCA News
June 27th, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/yc6377gc

--

TRUDEAU URGED TO INTERVENE ON BEHALF
OF CANADIAN PASTOR IN NORTH KOREA
Family Fears Same Fate as American Prisoner

National Post
June 27th, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/y7jxv3ob

--

Globe and Mail,
June 29th, 2017

IN AMERICA, THE LESS YOU KNOW THE COOLER YOU ARE

“Newspapers keep publishing lists of the President’s latest lies. In a speech Mr. Trump gave at an ego-stoking mass rally in Iowa last week, The New York Times found a dozen. Nobody cared. It was consistent with his batting average. Lies aren’t news any more. Fiction is to be expected. Fiction wins.” - Lawrence Martin

*****

MOMENT IN TIME

Globe and Mail,
June 27th, 2017

Sudanese Ebola outbreak begins June 27, 1976: The symptoms were mysterious and terrifying. In a cotton factory in southern Sudan, near the Zaire border, dozens of factory workers were falling sick. The first was a storeroom worker, known in the medical literature as YG, who complained of a severe fever and headache. On the fifth day of his
illness, he suddenly began to bleed profusely from his nose and mouth. Five days later, he was dead. It took months to learn the truth, but YG is now considered the world’s first identifiable Ebola case.

He may have caught the virus from bats in the ceiling of the cotton factory’s storeroom, although the theory has never been proven. A few weeks later, hundreds of people began dying from a similar virus in northern Zaire (now known as Democratic Republic of the Congo). Scientists named the virus after the nearby Ebola river. – Geoffrey York

*****

ON THIS DAY

From the Archives of the New York Times

"Treaty of Versailles Signed in France -
   An Unsettled End to World War Two"
   https://tinyurl.com/qa7p57x

*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK
From Sojourners and the Bruderhof Online:

Patience and Gentleness is Power.
 
- Leigh Hunt

--

And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

- Raymond Carver

--

More than ever before in human history,
we share a common destiny.

We can master it only if we face it together.
And that, my friends, is why we have the United Nations.

- Kofi Annan

--

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

--

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

--

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

*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - Bayard Rustin

We are all one — and if we don't know it, we will learn it the hard way.
 
(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

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 classat 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

Our optimal group size for maximum trip meaning
and value is 28-29 persons.
To date, twenty-five persons have put down deposits
to claim a special saving.

 
WE ARE CLOSE TO REACHING OUR DEPARTURE GOAL.

YOU CAN STILL REGISTER. After we have 29 deposits
you will be added to a waiting list and still join us
in the event someone has to drop out.

We have installed 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.

Six months from now we leave for South Africa!

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

Follow these notices for weekly updates.

*****
 

Saturday, 24 June 2017

Colleagues List, June 25th, 2017

Vol. XII No. 38

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE


Wayne A. Holst, Editor

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


*****


Dear Colleagues

My Special Item this week is a personal reflection
on the teaching of Progressive Christianity at
St. David's United Church, Calgary, my home church.

It comes at a time when our Adult Spiritual Development
Ministry (ACTS) has decided to focus on Marcus Borg's
book "Convictions - How I Learned What Matters Most"
- a summary of Borg's theology which I introduced here
on Colleagues List, Feb. 8th, 2017 about two years ago
https://tinyurl.com/okn5nk3

I hope you find my assessment of adult learning in a
mainline Canadian church helpful.

My other selections for the week follow the pattern
of Net Notes, Wisdom of the Week and other items
as usual.

Thanks for joining me once more.

Wayne

*****

SPECIAL ITEM
 
TEACHING PROGESSIVE CHRISTIANITY
IN A LOCAL MAINLINE CONGREGATION
 
Reflections on Our Past Twenty Years,
Anticipating the Next Twenty at
St. David's United Church Calgary

I have been involved in teaching adult education and spiritual development at St. David's United Church, Calgary for more than two decades. For most of that time, I have teamed with colleague Jock McTavish, working with good committees and many adult learners who have stimulated, encouraged and prodded us to ever-more extensive efforts.

While we continue to invest heavily in this ministry I think we have arrived at a time of assessment. From where have we come? What are we currently attempting to do? Where do we go from here?

Core Studies

Two important adult learning activities each fall and winter are our Monday Night Studies and Thursday Morning Bible Studies. Since the year 2000 we have created course designs for both book and bible studies and filled them with considerable content. Please check the following web page for one result, featuring a total of 49 books http://tinyurl.com/q3bw6dh 

Our bible studies reflect in-depth engagement with many of the 66 books in the canon. At no time since my seminary studies in theology have I invested so much in serious biblical investigation. I find it stimulating at this stage I can now bring much life experience to these efforts. It would seem that for a solid core of students, my enthusiasm is shared.

We thank hundreds of St. David's members, friends and others for accompanying us - over the years - on this journey of biblical, theological and spiritual questing together.

Early Recognition

Thirteen years ago, when our program was still young in its development but increasingly clear about its focus, the United Church Observer, our denominational magazine, referred to our efforts in an article describing the attempts of various congregations across the country to find ways to support adult learners in progressive theology - https://tinyurl.com/y9wyvlq7

Old and New Challenges

Back in 2004 when this Observer article appeared, we were still dealing with a major challenge - how to work with intelligent lay people who were nevertheless confined by a theology fed - as St. Paul would say - "by the milk, rather than the meat, of the Word." (I Cor. 3:2) I would suggest that for many in our classes today, that challenge has changed. Many who study with us have moved from what might have been called "Sunday School faith" and as people who "parked their brains at the church door" - to become authentic faith questers in a secular age. They do not hesitate to question the Bible or long-standing church teaching, and yet they are intent to grow in faith and their desire to live a "contemporary Christian way". They struggle to build a faith that cohabits with their formal education and life experience.

Dedicated Christian Faith
 
These Christian learners belie the criticism - too-often levelled at members of mainstream churches by more conservative believers - that their theology is thin and their spirituality trendy. I have often reminded our classes the material we are studying and their engagement with it could match much of what happens in a modern graduate seminary classroom (minus research papers, exams, etc.) Our students work on reflection papers shared publicly with their peers and these are often extra-ordinary in their depth and quality.
 
We continue to welcome newcomers to our group so that they too might benefit from a quality relational learning experience. We welcome persons of all ages and stages of faith development but realize that some may be able to join us only after the challenges of raising a family and maintaining a full-time job are no longer pressuring them.
 
Those who cannot commit to a ten session/twenty hour series with reading assignments once or twice a year, are still welcome to purchase our books for personal enrichment, or to follow our study progress online. We enjoy the participation and contribution of some who live in other parts of Canada.
 
St. David's United Calgary is only one of many congregations trying to nurture contemporary Christians across our land. At the same time, we treasure the mature faith found in many of our church members

Our Future
 
What of the future? Our program is not set in stone. It has always been open to change and evolutionary development. We inherited good educational pastoral leadership from the past, and we hope to share equivalent quality with many in the future.
 
We are devoted to "spin off" ministries, with emerging leaders and their unique contributions. We have strengthened our congregation's social justice efforts (like work with refugees, and other organizations in the city both religion and non-religion-based). We have developed a retreat, library and special book sale ministry as new people have emerged to provide leadership. Our spiritual travelers ministry heads off to South Africa this October after previous visits to the Celtic Lands, Turkey, the Holy Land and Jordan.
 
We are committed to planting seeds, and have been doing this for long enough to know that the formulae we use can bring forth much fruit, and that that fruit will last (John 15:16).

My Stance Toward the Future
 
I am not worried, in fact I  remain hopeful, about the mainline church. and how it will evolve into the future. I anticipate that even better forms of adult ministry will emerge from our denominations.
 
We may be in structural decline at this point in time, but we continue to contribute much to the people of Canada, within and beyond our congregations.

What I seek to do now is to perform at the peak of my passion and to give my very best. I know these values are shared by other members of our adult ministry team.

*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Elfrieda Schroeder,
Winnipeg, MB.

In Transit - Personal Blog
June 19th, 2017

"A Stitch in Time"
  https://tinyurl.com/ycxrp57j


--

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log
June 19th, 2017

"Vandalism - the Most Meaningless of Crimes"
  
https://tinyurl.com/ya3md8mh

--

Martin Marty,
Chicago, IL

Sightings,
June 19th, 2017

"For Southern Baptists - A Sudden Awakening..."
 
https://tinyurl.com/y7eyd78d

--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site
June 19th, 2017

"Being Good-Hearted is Not Enough"
  https://tinyurl.com/ybr94gn5


*****

NET NOTES

HOW TO BUILD AN IGLOO
Teaching Traditional Inuit Culture

New York Times Short Video
June 21st, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/yazoaux3


"Indigenous Communities in Canada
   Finally on Google Maps"

CBC.ca News
June 21st, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/y7f3psc5


--

ISIS DESTROYS
GRAND MOSQUE OF MOSUL
Historic Iraqi Centre of Worship
Hit by Retreating Terrorists

New York Times,
June 21st, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/y82adcg2


"Anger in Mosul as Site Destroyed"

Globe and Mail,
June 22nd, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/ydyp2tpx


--

OBSERVATIONS
The Basilica de la Sagrada Familia
in Barcelona, Spain
 
David Wilson, editor,
United Church Observer,
June 2017
 

QUEBEC CARDINAL A FRANCIS FAN
Sees the Pope as a Prophetic Voice
for a Secular Quebec

America Magazine,
June 21st, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/y9mrda59


--

GERMANY OPENS FIRST
LIBERAL MOSQUE IN BERLIN
Radically Inclusive Worship Place

ABC News
June 16th, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/ycrk7tww


--

RAMADAN BUILDS A DEEPER
INTERFAITH HARMONY IN INDIA
Perhaps a Model for Other Nations

UCA News
June 21st, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/y9wcb6st


"Controversy Over New Presidential Nominee"

 
UCA News.
June 23rd, 2017
 
https://tinyurl.com/ybkh7owg

--

CAN TRAVELING HELP TO SHAPE
A HEALTHY SPIRITUAL LIFE?
Expanding One's Vision

Christian Week Online
June 20th, 2017

https://tinyurl.com/ybfkcvgm


--

REVITALIZED ELCA CONGREGATION A PLACE
FOR BELIEVERS AND NON-BELIEVERS ALIKE
Seeking to Recover Its Founding Roots

Faith and Leadership/Alban Weekly
May 30th, 2017

http://tinyurl.com/yd2sefxn


--

"The Canada-U.S. bond is too tight for Trump to break"
 
Globe and Mail,
June 21st, 2017
 
“With Donald Trump’s storm clouds all over the place, a show of harmony can’t hurt. So in this landmark season of our 150th anniversary, former U.S. presidents and Canadian prime ministers are getting together in forums to reminisce and sing the praises of the bilateral concord... Hopefully, word from the past leaders will get back to Mr. Trump, whose proclivities threaten economic as well as other ties. His nativist passions, his actions on trade, on global warming and on immigration all clash with Canadian interests.”
 
– Lawrence Martin

--

"Renaming Langevin Block isn’t rewriting history – it’s unearthing it"

Globe and Mail,
June 23rd, 2017

“This week, it was announced that Langevin Block, the building that houses the Prime Minister’s Office, will no longer be Langevin Block     but will instead be called the Office of the Prime Minister and the Privy Council … History is not erased by the renaming of things.

It is often through renaming that the story of our past is articulated, later to be traced, told and learned. Nor is renaming a peculiar, modern phenomenon that must be resisted lest we all end up in self-driving cars eating avocado toast, delivered by drones, which people keep telling me would be a bad thing.”
 
– Tabatha Southey

*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

From Sojourners and the Bruderhof Online:


We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give.
 
- Winston Churchill

--

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.

- Mahatma Gandhi
 
--

Above all, try always to be able to feel deeply any injustice committed against any person in any part of the world. It is the most beautiful quality of a revolutionary.
 
- Che Guevara

--

My soul has grown over the years, and some of my views have changed. As long as I am alive, I will continue to try to understand more, because  the work of the heart is never done.

- Muhammad Ali

--

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me ... When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me.

- Ralph Ellison

--

The importance of detachment from things, the importance of poverty, is that we are supposed to be free from things that we might prefer to   people. Wherever things have become more important than people, we are in trouble. That is the crux of the whole matter.

- Thomas Merton

--

It is better to be silent and be, than to talk and not be.… Those who possess the word of Jesus are truly able to hear even his very silence,  that they may be perfect and may both act as they speak, and be recognized by their silence. There is nothing which is hid from God, but our very secrets are near to him. Let us therefore do all things as those who have him dwelling in us, that we may be his temples, and he may be in us as our God.

- St. Ignatius

--

Most people are worth knowing, if you will take time to understand them. Unfamiliarity with other people, ignorance of other people, is what makes war possible and violence possible, and it drives all the social divisions in a school or in a town, nation, or world. When you understand people well enough, you can’t help but love them, even if you hate them too. If you think those are incompatible emotions, I remind you to think about your relationship with almost any close family member. Understanding people is indeed loving them…. Hatred is what we feel when we do not understand. Are there some people so over the top with their evil deeds that they do not qualify for this sweeping statement? Some people may take more understanding than we are capable of possessing.

- Doris “Granny D” Haddock

*****

MOMENT IN TIME

Globe and Mail,
June 22nd, 2017

Galileo convicted of heresy June 22 1633: Rumour has it that Galileo Galilei muttered the rebellious phrase, “and yet it moves,” on this day as the 69-year-old was sentenced to indefinite detention by the Catholic Church.

The punishment came after Galileo was convicted of heresy for his subversive publications arguing the earth revolved around the sun.

 
A genius with a flair for self-promotion, he began publishing his solutions to complex mathematical problems after dropping out of university. Through his self-built telescope, Galileo was the first to observe the lunar mountains, the phases of Venus, the moons of Jupiter, as well as sunspots. Despite his trouble with the church, Galileo remained an avid Christian believing observation of nature leads to an understanding about God. Galileo lived his last years under comfortable house arrest continuing his scientific work even when he eventually became blind.

– Miriam Katawazi

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CLOSING THOUGHT -Julian of Norwich

"We are all one in God's seeing. "

(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                                             J
ewish 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!

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ST. DAVID'S ACTS THURSDAY MORNING STUDY

Ten Sessions September 21st- November 30th, 2017

Biblical Book(s) topic 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, twenty-five persons have put down deposits
to claim a special saving.

 
WE ARE CLOSE TO REACHING OUR DEPARTURE GOAL.

YOU CAN STILL REGISTER. After we have 29 deposits
you will be added to a waiting list and still join us 
in the event someone has to drop out.

We have installed 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.

Six 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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