Colleagues List, August 25th, 2019

Vol XV. No. 7

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

*****

Dear Friends:

One of the most nourishing things to happen to me
this past week was to attend a talk given to a large
(mainly Catholic) group in nearby Cochrane, Alberta.
(see below for more details). The talk was given by
friend and colleague Ron Rolheiser, whose columns
appear here weekly, and have for many years.

It was good to meet Ron, and to welcome him back
to Canada. He currently calls San Antonio his home.

I wrote what notes I could and share them with you.

My regular Colleagues List selections are also included.

Wayne

*****

SPECIAL ITEM

SOME INTERESTING INSIGHTS FROM
A TALK BY COLLEAGUE RON ROLHEISER

A Public Event at St. Mary's Catholic Church
During a Conference of Franciscans in 
Cochrane, Alberta the Week of August 18th, 2019

1. Unlike so many of our contemporaries, we have a
metanarrative to live by, based on the promises
Christ offers us. Many people today do not have
a story to live by (one that is larger than this life).

Many people live lives that are limited and incomplete.
Our metanarrative expands and gives us hope. It contains
more than optimism about how things may turn out.

We Christians know how things will turn out because
we believe the story Christ has left for us.

Julian of Norwich said it best ... And all will be well...
and all will be well... and all manner of things will
be well...

Our hope is founded on our faith in Christ.

2. As we age, we can reassume a child-likeness,
and return to a place from which we first began.

Paul Ricoeur called it a second naivete;  and a post-
sophistication to help us believe in the easter bunny
once again!

We have focused too much on a rational approach
to faith and to our lives. This can lead us to cynicism
and despair. Unlike her elders, the child accepts the
easter bunny, connecting it to living with anticipation.

3. We can surrender to what we need to carry with
us, in the same way that Christ faced his own death
when he said "not my will, but thine be done."

Live your wounds through, don't try to avoid or ignore them

4. Henri Nouwen taught us, that - as we age - we
can seek to be "not achievers but fruitful persons."
This can be our true legacy to those who follow
after us. This can provide meaning to our offspring
and others who can then look back and remember us.

How do I know that my life will be seen as fruitful?
Live with integrity. Let what happens to you happen.
People will see the authenticity of your life as you live
it. The fruitful results are shared automatically.

There are no guarantees about life. But live rightly in
faith, hope and trust and good results will follow.

5. Our generativity can be our legacy for others when
we die in ways we could not offer them while alive.
Ask yourself "What spirit am I leaving for those who
will come after?”

Think about the funeral you attended of a truly good
person. That person leaves you with memories that
become an irreplaceable gift.

6. Gratitude is the base of all true humility. Don't try
to program your life, but let the natural truth of your
life flow through you.

If you are a truly grateful person, you are a humble one.

7. What can you do for an enemy? At very least, you can
pray for him or her. Pray that something good happens
for that person so that the heart will be melted.

Praying for an enemy is the least, and perhaps best,
you can do.

(end)

*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan. BC

Personal Web Log
August 11th, 2019

"Turn Him Off! Turn Him Off!"
  https://tinyurl.com/y4dpwqkd

--

Philip Yancey,
Colorado

Philipyancey.com
August 19th, 2019

"Body  Mindfulness"
  https://tinyurl.com/yxbtupeo

--

Mark Whittall
Ottawa, ON.

Sermons and Blog
August 16th, 2019

"Out of Character"
  https://tinyurl.com/y5b4tamk

--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX.

Personal Web Site
August19th, 2019

"Imagining Grace"
  https://tinyurl.com/y4zfdyg2

--

Phil Callaway
Three Hills, AB.

"Joke of the Day"

An elderly couple was concerned about their
failing memory. “Write things down,” said their
doctor. So when the lady asked her husband
to get her a bowl of ice cream topped with
chocolate sauce, she said, “You might want
to write it down.” “No,” said the husband,
“I can remember.” Moments later he returned
with a plate of bacon and eggs.

The wife said,
“See. You should have written it down.
  You forgot the toast."

*****

NET NOTES

PILGRIMS FIND HEALING AND RENEWAL
In the Waters of Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta

BC Catholic,
August 3rd, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/yxf3r39c

--

PROUD, QUEER AND CELIBATE
Some Choose Sexual Abstinance

Broadview,
August 15th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y5oma43y

--

WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE
Why Is It So Hard to Discuss?

The Christian Century
August 19th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y3u96god

--

RELIGIONS FOR PEACE WORLD ASSEMBLY
Lindau, Germany Gathering Strongly Declares
"We Must Work Together or We All Fail"

Religion News Service,
August 20th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/yy8keaqm

--

ELCA CELEBRATES 50 YEARS
OF WOMEN'S ORDINATION
"A Celebration for the Whole Church"

Religion News Service
August 19th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y6m7xj3c

--

WHY SOME CHRISTIANS LOVE
"THE MEANEST PARTS" OF TRUMP
A Quest for Power Beneath the Piety

The Atlantic,
August 18th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y2jhj3o5

--

MANY YOUNG RUSSIANS DO NOT
IDENTIFY WITH ORTHODOX CHUCH
Consider Themselves Atheist/Agnostic

La  Croix International
August 19th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y5x5mafc
(you may have to register to read this)

--

I'M AN EVANGELIST AND A TRUMP VOTER BUT
"SECOND COMING OF GOD" IS BLASPHEMOUS
  Followers Try to Make Sense of Non-Sense

The Washington Post
August 22nd, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/yxmeoymz

--

ARCHEOLOGISTS FIND EVIDENCE OF
BABYLONIAN CONQUEST OF JERUSALEM
Invasion is Recorded in the Bible

Christian Post
August 21st, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/yyxotkhawa

--

HOW EGYPT'S MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AND
TURKEY'S GULANISTS FELL FROM POWER
Both are Now Called "Enemies of the State"

Religion News Service,
August 19th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/yx97z887

*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

Provided by Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:

You can best serve civilization by being against
what usually passes for it.

- Wendell Berry

--

The test of our progress is not whether we add more
to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether
we provide enough for those who have too little.
 
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

--

When we identify where our privilege intersects
with somebody else's oppression, we'll find our
opportunities to make real change.

- Ijeomo Oluo

--

What we must do is commit ourselves to some
future that can include each other and to work
toward that future with the particular strengths
of our individual identities. And in order to do
this, we must allow each other our differences
at the same time as we recognize our sameness.

- Audre Lorde

--

The church, with its message, and with its word,
will meet a thousand obstacles, just as the river
encounters boulders, rocks, and chasms.

No matter; the river carries a promise: “I will be
with you to the end of the ages” and “The gates
of hell shall not prevail” against the will of the
Lord (Matt. 28:20, Matt. 16:18).

- Oscar Romero

--

The question, “Why do children suffer?” has no answer,
unless it’s simply, “To break our hearts.” Once our hearts
get broken, they never fully heal. They always ache. But
perhaps a broken heart is a more loving instrument.
Perhaps only after our hearts have cracked wide open,
have finally and totally unclenched, can we truly know
love without boundaries.

 - Fred Epstein

--

Who is able to withstand evil? Only those whose final
standard is not their own reason, principles, conscience,
freedom, or virtue, but who are ready to sacrifice all this
when called to obedient and responsible actions in faith
and in exclusive allegiance to God – people who try to
make their whole life an answer to the question and
call of God.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

--

No one walks so safely as one who walks humbly and
harmlessly with great love and great faith. For such a
person gets through to the good in others (and there
is good in everyone), and therefore cannot be harmed.
This works between individuals, it works between
groups, and it would work between nations if nations
had the courage to try it.

- Peace Pilgrim

--

A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of
wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for
most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for
what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even
lost before we reach adulthood. If I had influence with the
good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening
of all children, I should ask that same gift to each child in
the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it
would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against
the boredom and disenchantment of later years, the sterile
preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation
from the sources of our strength.

 - Rachel Carson

*****

For Those Interested -

ACTS Ministry - related programs at St. David's

ST. DAVID'S ACTS  AUTUMN MONDAY NIGHT BOOK STUDY

A Ten Week Series September 16th - November 25th, 2019
Monday Evenings, TM Room 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

"HOLY ENVY" Finding God in the Faith of Others

Author: Barbara Brown Taylor
Registration/Hospitality and Book: $60.00.
Book only: $25.00

35 copies of the book are available for sale
Sundays at St. David's until the program begins.

Book Description - https://tinyurl.com/y37g93rg

--

Some stats:
Autumn and Winter Series (2018-19) -
Total class registrations: 87
Total books sold: 102
Average weekly winter class attendance: 34

***

ST. DAVID'S ACTS THURSDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY

Our theme this autumn: TBA
We meet to select the biblical book(s)
to be studied on Thursday, September 19th, 2019

Autumn theme will be announced at that time
Ten Study Sessions - Thursday mornings,
 September 26th-November 28th, 2019

Gathering at 9:30 AM in the St. David's TM Room
and meeting 10:00 - 11:00 AM.

Study resource:

"The DK Complete Bible Handbook"
  Edited by John Bowker http://tinyurl.com/odxlv7q

*****

MCDOUGAL STONEY MISSION SOCIETY
AUTUMN SERVICE

On the site of the Morley mission church,
Soon to be re-built after a destructive fire.
Planned and co-led by representatives of the
McDougall family, friends, and the Stoney First Nation.

Sunday, September 22nd, 2:00PM

"Celebrating Treaty Seven in Southern Alberta"

Followed by hospitality at the Morley United Church.

(end)

*****