GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
REFORMATION 500 EDITION
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 Colleagues-
This will be my last CL issue until November 12th -
three weeks from now. Tomorrow Marlene and I
depart as hosts to 25 St. David's Spiritual Travelers
to South Africa. I hope to share some of our discoveries
with you on our return.
We will be remembering the 500th anniversary of the
Reformation while in South Africa, October 31st. In
the meantime, I include a number of related articles
in this issue. My personal reflection appeared this week
in the Anglican Journal, national newspaper of the
Anglican Church in Canada (see below).
As usual, please enjoy articles you will find below.
Wayne
*****
SPECIAL ITEM
"Reformation - A Personal Reflection"
My Anglican Journal Column for October
https://tinyurl.com/y8garsg6
*****
COLLEAGUE COMMENT
Brian Arthur Brown
Niagara Falls ON.
October 18th, 2017
Re Gary Wills' New Book: "What the Qur'an Meant"
Colleagues List, October 15th, 2017
https://tinyurl.com/y9u3agte
... I do believe that Canada may have the luxury of the time
and space required to work out some models America may
also find useful, but we would be well advised to keep reading
what they write too. In my experience, the reservoir of creative goodwill in America is larger than the cesspools of negativity on display there these days.
Brian
*****
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
John Stackhouse JR.
Moncton, NB
Religion News Service,
October 17th, 2017
"I don't Like Niqabs or Burqas, But They Should be Legal"
https://tinyurl.com/yatqaslj
--
Martin Marty,
Chicago, IL.
Sightings,
October 16th, 2017
"Killing Religion?"
https://tinyurl.com/yads9mdg
--
Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC
Personal Web Log
October 15th, 2017
"Killing"
https://tinyurl.com/y7zogk5l
--
Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX
Personal Web Site
October 16th, 2017
"Close the Distance, Not the Gate"
https://tinyurl.com/ybqm5ked
--
Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON
Sermons and Blog
October 14th, 2017
"The Risk of Grace"
https://tinyurl.com/ybqm5ked
*****
NET NOTES
LIVE ON REFORMATION DAY -
OCTOBER 31st, 2017
Lutheran World Federation Website
Celebrative Events from Around the World
https://tinyurl.com/y7t5h5tj
--
WHO SAID THAT - LUTHER OR SHAKESPEARE?
Comparing the Fathers of German and English Lit
Religion News Service
October 17th, 2017
https://tinyurl.com/ycwh7gvs
--
CAN THE CHURCHES BE RE-UNITED?
A Contemporary Ecumenical Perspective
La Croix International
October 18th, 2017
http://tinyurl.com/yd5orbjc
--
SALTWATER BAPTISM - Video and Text
Gay and in Love at an Evangelical College Campus
New York Times
October 17th, 2017)
https://tinyurl.com/y7ayxjse
--
EXOTIC DANCERS' COSTUMES
UPSET CATHOLICS IN VIETNAM
Religiously Themed Subjects Called Offensive
UCA News
October 16th, 2017
https://tinyurl.com/yc78gpkn
--
WHY I AM DITCHING THE LABEL
'EVANGELICAL' IN THE TRUMP ERA
Major Soul-Search Going On
Washington Post
October 19th, 2017
https://tinyurl.com/yazkg9pd
--
THE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS RIGHT
WILL RISE AND FALL WITH DONALD TRUMP
Commentary by Jim Wallis
Sojourners,
October 19h, 2017
https://tinyurl.com/yaf6bz6d
--
VIKING BURIAL CLOTHES BEAR THE MARK OF ALLAH
A Sign of Early Euro-Middle-East Trading Contact
The Atlantic Online
October 17th, 2017
https://tinyurl.com/ya8y7xe7
--
GROWTH OF EVANGELICAL CHURCH IN BRAZIL
PROMPTS CATHOLICS TO TAKE ACTION
Major Protestant Expansion in Latin America
La Croix International,
October 16th, 2017
http://tinyurl.com/yah6kzog
--
National Catholic Reporter Book Review
October 19th, 2017
WHAT HAPPENDED
BY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
"[T]his is a real book, written by a real person, suffused with the raw wounds of her defeat," notes Robert M. Shrum of Hillary Rodham Clinton's memoir of her 2016 presidential campaign and unexpected loss to Donald J. Trump. Shrum, himself a veteran of many a Democratic political campaign (winners and losers both) in his long career in politics finds much to praise but more than a little to look askance at in Clinton's tale. True, he remarks, she "was subjected to a brutal personal campaign from an opponent who himself is indisputably misogynistic and whose rhetoric traffics in a relentless appeal to prejudice of all stripes, on a scale unprecedented in modern U.S. history," and there is little question that sexism played a role in her defeat. At the same time, Shrum notes, there were missteps big and small: relying too much on data analytics, focusing on Trump's personal negatives rather than on an economic message and more. Ultimately, Shrum says - "Hillary Clinton would have made a far better president than the "reckless, divisive, unstable, race-baiting and warmongering" one we elected instead."
*****
MOMENT IN TIME
Globe and Mail
October 19th, 2017
Pope John Paul II beatifies Mother Teresa
Oct. 19, 2003: Rarely has St. Peter’s Square played host to so many beaming nuns. They came from all over the world to celebrate Pope John Paul II’s beatification of Mother Teresa, a necessary step toward sainthood for the woman whose selfless acts made her known to millions as “the Mother.” Hailing from humble Macedonian roots, she joined the Sisters of Loreto at the age of 18 and promptly gave her life over to the needy. At 40, she set up Missionaries of Charity in the slums of Calcutta, where she would remain for nearly five more decades, right up until her death in 1997. On the day of her beatification, her followers sat through a three-hour mass and expressed approval when a portrait of the Mother was unveiled. Meanwhile, back in Calcutta – now Kolkata – millions watched on closed-circuit television. Mother Teresa attained full sainthood in 2016 – making her Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
– Andrew Ryan
*****
WISDOM OF THE WEEK
Almost certainly, however, the first essential component of social justice is adequate food for all mankind. Food is the moral right of all who are born into this world.
- Norman Borlaug
--
We don't accept the fact that we train men and women to kill each other we think this is immoral — and we want to disarm human hearts and human beings, one by one, country by country and that's a big task.
- Mairead Corrigan
--
When I lay these questions before God I get no answer. But a rather special sort of “No answer.” It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze. As though he shook his head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, “Peace, child; you don’t understand.” Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are answerable. How many hours are there in a mile? Is yellow square of round? Probably half the questions we ask – half our great theological and metaphysical problems – are like that.
- C.S. Lewis
--
If I did not believe, if I did not make what is called an act of faith (and each act of faith increases our faith, and our capacity for faith), if I did not have faith that the works of mercy do lighten the sum total of suffering in the world, so that those who are suffering… somehow mysteriously find their pain lifted and some balm of consolation poured on their wounds, if I did not believe these things, the problem of evil would indeed be overwhelming.
- Dorothy Day
--
We talk about how many women were raped last year, not about how many men raped women. We talk about how many girls in a school district were harassed last year, not about how many boys harassed girls ... So you can see how the use of the passive voice has a political effect. [It] shifts the focus off of men and boys and onto girls and women. Even the term "violence against women" is problematic. It's a passive construction; there's no active agent in the sentence. It's a bad thing that happens to women, but when you look at that term "violence against women," nobody is doing it to them. It just happens to them. Men aren't even a part of it!
- Jackson Katz
--
But in God's kingdom the presence of the greatest does not depress the small. Redeemed Man is still man. Story, fantasy, still go on, and should go on. The Evangelium has not abrogated legends; it has hallowed them, especially the “happy ending.” The Christian has still to work, with mind as well as body, to, hope, and die; but he may now perceive that all his bents and faculties have a purpose, which can be redeemed. So great is the bounty with which he has been treated that he may now, perhaps, fairly dare to guess that in Fantasy he may actually assist in the effoliation and multiple enrichment of creation. All tales may come true; and yet, at the last, redeemed, they may be as like and as unlike the forms that we give them as Man, finally redeemed, will be like and unlike the fallen that we know.
- J.R.R. Tolkien
*****
CLOSING THOUGHT - Kofi Annan
On this International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, let us recognize that extreme poverty anywhere is a threat to human security everywhere. Let us recall that poverty is a denial of human rights. For the first time in history, in this age of unprecedented wealth and technical prowess, we have the power to save humanity from this shameful scourge. Let us summon the will to do it.
(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 sold.
35 persons have registered for the course.
Classes well underway with strong attendances.
Read my background information on the study book:
http://cep.anglican.ca/convictions/
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 were determined by
the class at the first session of the term, Thursday, Sept. 21st.
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,
Follow these notices for weekly updates.
*****
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
REFORMATION 500 EDITION
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 Colleagues-
This will be my last CL issue until November 12th -
three weeks from now. Tomorrow Marlene and I
depart as hosts to 25 St. David's Spiritual Travelers
to South Africa. I hope to share some of our discoveries
with you on our return.
We will be remembering the 500th anniversary of the
Reformation while in South Africa, October 31st. In
the meantime, I include a number of related articles
in this issue. My personal reflection appeared this week
in the Anglican Journal, national newspaper of the
Anglican Church in Canada (see below).
As usual, please enjoy articles you will find below.
Wayne
*****
SPECIAL ITEM
"Reformation - A Personal Reflection"
My Anglican Journal Column for October
https://tinyurl.com/y8garsg6
*****
COLLEAGUE COMMENT
Brian Arthur Brown
Niagara Falls ON.
October 18th, 2017
Re Gary Wills' New Book: "What the Qur'an Meant"
Colleagues List, October 15th, 2017
https://tinyurl.com/y9u3agte
... I do believe that Canada may have the luxury of the time
and space required to work out some models America may
also find useful, but we would be well advised to keep reading
what they write too. In my experience, the reservoir of creative goodwill in America is larger than the cesspools of negativity on display there these days.
Brian
*****
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
John Stackhouse JR.
Moncton, NB
Religion News Service,
October 17th, 2017
"I don't Like Niqabs or Burqas, But They Should be Legal"
https://tinyurl.com/yatqaslj
--
Martin Marty,
Chicago, IL.
Sightings,
October 16th, 2017
"Killing Religion?"
https://tinyurl.com/yads9mdg
--
Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC
Personal Web Log
October 15th, 2017
"Killing"
https://tinyurl.com/y7zogk5l
--
Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX
Personal Web Site
October 16th, 2017
"Close the Distance, Not the Gate"
https://tinyurl.com/ybqm5ked
--
Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON
Sermons and Blog
October 14th, 2017
"The Risk of Grace"
https://tinyurl.com/ybqm5ked
*****
NET NOTES
LIVE ON REFORMATION DAY -
OCTOBER 31st, 2017
Lutheran World Federation Website
Celebrative Events from Around the World
https://tinyurl.com/y7t5h5tj
--
WHO SAID THAT - LUTHER OR SHAKESPEARE?
Comparing the Fathers of German and English Lit
Religion News Service
October 17th, 2017
https://tinyurl.com/ycwh7gvs
--
CAN THE CHURCHES BE RE-UNITED?
A Contemporary Ecumenical Perspective
La Croix International
October 18th, 2017
http://tinyurl.com/yd5orbjc
--
SALTWATER BAPTISM - Video and Text
Gay and in Love at an Evangelical College Campus
New York Times
October 17th, 2017)
https://tinyurl.com/y7ayxjse
--
EXOTIC DANCERS' COSTUMES
UPSET CATHOLICS IN VIETNAM
Religiously Themed Subjects Called Offensive
UCA News
October 16th, 2017
https://tinyurl.com/yc78gpkn
--
WHY I AM DITCHING THE LABEL
'EVANGELICAL' IN THE TRUMP ERA
Major Soul-Search Going On
Washington Post
October 19th, 2017
https://tinyurl.com/yazkg9pd
--
THE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS RIGHT
WILL RISE AND FALL WITH DONALD TRUMP
Commentary by Jim Wallis
Sojourners,
October 19h, 2017
https://tinyurl.com/yaf6bz6d
--
VIKING BURIAL CLOTHES BEAR THE MARK OF ALLAH
A Sign of Early Euro-Middle-East Trading Contact
The Atlantic Online
October 17th, 2017
https://tinyurl.com/ya8y7xe7
--
GROWTH OF EVANGELICAL CHURCH IN BRAZIL
PROMPTS CATHOLICS TO TAKE ACTION
Major Protestant Expansion in Latin America
La Croix International,
October 16th, 2017
http://tinyurl.com/yah6kzog
--
National Catholic Reporter Book Review
October 19th, 2017
WHAT HAPPENDED
BY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
"[T]his is a real book, written by a real person, suffused with the raw wounds of her defeat," notes Robert M. Shrum of Hillary Rodham Clinton's memoir of her 2016 presidential campaign and unexpected loss to Donald J. Trump. Shrum, himself a veteran of many a Democratic political campaign (winners and losers both) in his long career in politics finds much to praise but more than a little to look askance at in Clinton's tale. True, he remarks, she "was subjected to a brutal personal campaign from an opponent who himself is indisputably misogynistic and whose rhetoric traffics in a relentless appeal to prejudice of all stripes, on a scale unprecedented in modern U.S. history," and there is little question that sexism played a role in her defeat. At the same time, Shrum notes, there were missteps big and small: relying too much on data analytics, focusing on Trump's personal negatives rather than on an economic message and more. Ultimately, Shrum says - "Hillary Clinton would have made a far better president than the "reckless, divisive, unstable, race-baiting and warmongering" one we elected instead."
*****
MOMENT IN TIME
Globe and Mail
October 19th, 2017
Pope John Paul II beatifies Mother Teresa
Oct. 19, 2003: Rarely has St. Peter’s Square played host to so many beaming nuns. They came from all over the world to celebrate Pope John Paul II’s beatification of Mother Teresa, a necessary step toward sainthood for the woman whose selfless acts made her known to millions as “the Mother.” Hailing from humble Macedonian roots, she joined the Sisters of Loreto at the age of 18 and promptly gave her life over to the needy. At 40, she set up Missionaries of Charity in the slums of Calcutta, where she would remain for nearly five more decades, right up until her death in 1997. On the day of her beatification, her followers sat through a three-hour mass and expressed approval when a portrait of the Mother was unveiled. Meanwhile, back in Calcutta – now Kolkata – millions watched on closed-circuit television. Mother Teresa attained full sainthood in 2016 – making her Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
– Andrew Ryan
*****
WISDOM OF THE WEEK
Almost certainly, however, the first essential component of social justice is adequate food for all mankind. Food is the moral right of all who are born into this world.
- Norman Borlaug
--
We don't accept the fact that we train men and women to kill each other we think this is immoral — and we want to disarm human hearts and human beings, one by one, country by country and that's a big task.
- Mairead Corrigan
--
When I lay these questions before God I get no answer. But a rather special sort of “No answer.” It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze. As though he shook his head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, “Peace, child; you don’t understand.” Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are answerable. How many hours are there in a mile? Is yellow square of round? Probably half the questions we ask – half our great theological and metaphysical problems – are like that.
- C.S. Lewis
--
If I did not believe, if I did not make what is called an act of faith (and each act of faith increases our faith, and our capacity for faith), if I did not have faith that the works of mercy do lighten the sum total of suffering in the world, so that those who are suffering… somehow mysteriously find their pain lifted and some balm of consolation poured on their wounds, if I did not believe these things, the problem of evil would indeed be overwhelming.
- Dorothy Day
--
We talk about how many women were raped last year, not about how many men raped women. We talk about how many girls in a school district were harassed last year, not about how many boys harassed girls ... So you can see how the use of the passive voice has a political effect. [It] shifts the focus off of men and boys and onto girls and women. Even the term "violence against women" is problematic. It's a passive construction; there's no active agent in the sentence. It's a bad thing that happens to women, but when you look at that term "violence against women," nobody is doing it to them. It just happens to them. Men aren't even a part of it!
- Jackson Katz
--
But in God's kingdom the presence of the greatest does not depress the small. Redeemed Man is still man. Story, fantasy, still go on, and should go on. The Evangelium has not abrogated legends; it has hallowed them, especially the “happy ending.” The Christian has still to work, with mind as well as body, to, hope, and die; but he may now perceive that all his bents and faculties have a purpose, which can be redeemed. So great is the bounty with which he has been treated that he may now, perhaps, fairly dare to guess that in Fantasy he may actually assist in the effoliation and multiple enrichment of creation. All tales may come true; and yet, at the last, redeemed, they may be as like and as unlike the forms that we give them as Man, finally redeemed, will be like and unlike the fallen that we know.
- J.R.R. Tolkien
*****
CLOSING THOUGHT - Kofi Annan
On this International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, let us recognize that extreme poverty anywhere is a threat to human security everywhere. Let us recall that poverty is a denial of human rights. For the first time in history, in this age of unprecedented wealth and technical prowess, we have the power to save humanity from this shameful scourge. Let us summon the will to do it.
(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 sold.
35 persons have registered for the course.
Classes well underway with strong attendances.
Read my background information on the study book:
http://cep.anglican.ca/convictions/
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 were determined by
the class at the first session of the term, Thursday, Sept. 21st.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN - THE LETTERS OF JOHN
A Study of Similarities and Differences
Ten sessions 10-11 AM
Gathering at 9:30 AM in the St. David's TM Room.
No charge
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.
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.
This weekend, we leave for South Africa!
Contact Rostad Tours: http://tinyurl.com/hucsaf7
This weekend, we leave for South Africa!
Contact Rostad Tours: http://tinyurl.com/hucsaf7
Follow these notices for weekly updates.
*****
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