Colleagues List, January 20th, 2019

Vol. XIV No. 27

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:

Welcome to my latest edition of Colleagues List.
I hope you will enjoy my special item on how we
celebrated Christmas Eve in Northern Canada and
experienced the life of an intentional mainline
Protestant ecumenical congregation. I see it as
a model for many other locations across Canada.

Of course, you will find other global, ecumenical and
inter-faith articles and reflections here, so please keep
reading.

At the end of this mailing, you will find a new outline
of our Adult Spiritual Development (ACTS  Ministry)
program at the church I serve, St. David's United,
in Calgary.

Wayne

*****

SPECIAL ITEM

My Anglican Journal column for January, 2019

"Celebrating Community in Canada's North"

https://tinyurl.com/ycakcjxo


*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Martin Marty,
Chicago, IL

Sightings,
January 14th, 2019

"Religion in the Years Ahead"
  https://tinyurl.com/yb5krdwl

-

Elfrieda Schroeder,
Winnipeg, MB

In Transit
January 17th, 2019

"Christmas in Retrospect"
  https://tinyurl.com/yczgrzv7

-

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Blog
January 16th, 2019

"Singing is Breathing Together"
  https://tinyurl.com/yasw4hy5

--

Mark Whittall
Ottawa, ON

Sermons and Blog
January 11th, 2019

"Making Change Possible"
  https://tinyurl.com/y7f3t7hj

--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site
January 14th, 20è19

"Wendy Beckett - R.I.P."
  https://tinyurl.com/ya7h28un

*****

NET NOTES

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR AND ANNE FRANK
Contemporaries With a Common Legacy

Religion News Service,
January 17th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/yanpjczm

--

FAITH MAKES FOR A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP
Scientific Study Supports Religious Practice

Religion News Service,
January 16th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/ya9hyokg

--

KENYAN RELIGIOUS LEADERS CONDEMN ATTACK
Islamic Terrorist Group Claims Responsibility

Religion News Service,
January 16th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/ycyn6swr

--

WHAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY SAY BEFORE THEY DIE
Assessment of the End-of-Life Study
"Words on the Threshold"

The Atlantic,
January 16th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/ybkd5cjh

--

HOW TO SAVE WESTERN CIVILIZATION - AGAIN
A Column by Joan Chittister

National Catholic Reporter,
January 16th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y7n2lkbd

--

HINDUS GATHER FOR LARGEST EVER
HUMAN RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL
120 Million People Expected

The Guardian,
January 15th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y9pl34cn

--

AFTER 24 YEARS,  A NEW TRANSLATION
OF THE HEBREW BIBLE
Interview With Robert Alter

National Public Radio
January 14th, 2019

Interview:
https://tinyurl.com/y72h8ec5

Englewood Review of Books
January 18th, 2019

Article:
https://tinyurl.com/ybmhmqcj

--

CHINA RAMPS UP ITS
BRAINWASHING CAMPAIGN IN TIBET
Outdated Methods Still Being Used

UCA News,
January 16th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y8r2uvvx

--

WHY WE NEED BOTH GOD AND MEDICINE
TO OVERCOME TRAUMA
Prayer, an Important Form of Self-Care

America Magazine,
January 16th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y7oxr4pa

--

WOMEN STRIVE FOR LARGER ROLES
IN MALE-DOMINATED RELIGIONS
#MeToo Movement has had
Significant Influence

Religion News Service,
January 15th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y73ellq5

*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

Provided by Sojourners and the Bruderhof

We must accept finite disappointment,
but never lose infinite hope.

- Martin Luther King Jr

--.

 

You can have the other word - chance, luck,

coincidence, serendipity. I'll take grace.

 

I don't know what it is exactly, but I'll take it. 

 

- Mary Oliver

--

I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their
hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once
hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.

- James Baldwin

--

If humans are to fully attain their destinies, so far
as earthly development permits this – if they are
to become truly whole, unbroken units – they must
feel and know themselves to be one, not only with
God and humanity, but also with nature.

- Friedrich Fröbel

--

At first sight, the situation of this world suggests despair.
For Christians, however, the last word is always hope.
Despite everything, we have no use for a misleading or
alienating hope that looks only to eternal life – as though
eternity didn’t start here and now, because it is here and
now that we build an eternal life.

- Dom Helder Camara

-

The human hand – this bundle of bones, flesh, and
nerves – think of all it can do. It can bless or curse.
It can draw blood or bind a wound. It is gentle, agitated,
vicious; supplicating, ardent, tender. It can weld an iron
bridge or caress a child’s head. It possesses the power
to both harm and heal.

- Karl Joseph Friedrich

--

I believe that standing up for the truth of God is the
greatest thing in the world. This is the end of life.
The end of life is not to be happy. The end of life
is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain.

The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may.

- Martin Luther King Jr.

--

Preserving a gentle spirit in a heartless world takes
extraordinary courage, determination, and resilience.
Do not underestimate the power of gentleness
because gentleness is strength wrapped in peace,
and therein lies the power to change the world.

- L.R. Knost

--

To be grateful for the good things that happen in our
lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives –
the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as
well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well
as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections –
that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly
grateful people when we can say thank you to all that
has brought us to the present moment.…Let us not
be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to
where we are now and trust that we will soon see in
it the guiding hand of a loving God.

- Henri J. M. Nouwen

*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - Austin Channing Brown

Anger is not inherently destructive.
My anger can be a force for good.

My anger can be creative and imaginative,
seeing a better world that doesn’t yet exist.
It can fuel a righteous movement toward
justice and freedom.

 

(end)

*****

For those interested:

 

ST. DAVID'S ACTS  WINTER MONDAY NIGHT BOOK STUDY

A Ten Week Series January 14th - March 18, 2019
Monday Evenings, TM Room 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

"THE GREAT SPIRITUAL MIGRATION"

  How the World's Largest Religion is
  Seeking a Better Way to be Christian

Author: Brian D. McLaren

Registration/Hospitality and Book: $60.00.
Book only: $20.00

 

45 copies of the book were made available for sale.

All but 2 are now sold. Total on-site registrations: 37
(plus 3 on-line participants). Grand Total: 40

Here are power point notes from each session:
https://tinyurl.com/ycz5wf72

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

--

Some stats:

Autumn, 2018 Program -

 

Total class registrations: 42

Total books sold: 57

This class experienced our highest registrations, ever!

***

ST. DAVID'S SPIRITUAL TRAVELERS TOUR, 2019
East Europe and Russia were 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 reached an important milestone
as 38 persons registered, helping us to surpass
our optimal goal of 30 passengers.

30 travelers had paid their trip fare as of the deadline:
January 15th, 2019. This will be our travel group.

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 BIBLE STUDY

 

Our theme this winter: Hebrew Biblical History -

 

"I and II Kings"  

Ten Sessions - January 24th-March 28th, 2019

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, January 13th, 2019

Vol. XIV No. 26

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE

NEW YEAR 2019 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:

Here is my first mailing to you for 2019.

This issue is somewhat shorter than usual but
by next week we should be back to normal.

Thanks for joining me again.

Wayne

****

SPECIAL ITEM

... AT THE BEGINNING OF A NEW YEAR

Colleagues List continues to evolve, but some things remain the same.  I try to provide a Canadian, progressive Christian perspective through the material I send and am always looking for thoughtful reflections and news items emerging from a wide spectrum of religious and spiritual sources.

Book notices, my columns written for other periodicals, seasonal meditations, news items - all give background to my personal view-point from a wide range of denominational and faith perspectives. I hope to encourage dialogue and clarification of issues, not uniform understandings.

I am always grateful when readers share their own links to books, articles and other communications.

This blog is entering its fifteenth year using various formats - which I hope continue to improve in readability. I begin each issue with an enthusiasm that is hopefully contagious.

Welcome to 2019!!

*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON.

Sermons and Blog
January 5th, 2019

"Lessons for the Journey"
  https://tinyurl.com/ybysdslr

--

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log
January 6th, 2019

"No Joking About Bombs"
  https://tinyurl.com/ycpkbhjp

--

Ron Rollheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site
January 7th, 2019

"Struggling for Sustenance"
  https://tinyurl.com/y8toxfd8

*****

NET NOTES

WHERE IS CHRISTIANITY HEADED?
Some Perspective as We Enter 2019

Religion News Service,
January 10th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/ya8jhy82

--

COLLEAGUE LAMIN SENNAH DIES AT 76
African Christian Convert from Islam
Honoured Professor at Yale University

Religion News Service
January 10th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/yaloblbv

--

GRATEFUL, EVEN AT THE GRAVE
Seeing the Sacred in the Ordinary

The Christian Century,
January 4th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/ycfxg7c3
 
--

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY -
TOP TEN DISCOVERIES 2018
Social Science in Support
of the Biblical Witness

Christianity Today,
December 27th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/y8fht44k

--

KING ABDULLAH II OF JORDAN
LISTENS TO CHRISTIANS
He is Twenty Years in Power, and
Committed to Inter-Faith Relations

La. Croix International,
January 7th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/yao4k5zg

--

TURKEY TO GET FIRST
CHRISTIAN CHURCH SINCE 1923
In Support of the Growing
Syriac Community in the Country

La Croix International
January 10th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/ybmp65cg

--

TRUMP'S BORDER WALL IGNORES
THE REALITIES OF MIGRATION
Patterns are Deeply Entrenched

America Magazine Online
May 14th, 2018

https://tinyurl.com/y9dpeld2

--

THOUSANDS OF LAND MINES ARE
BEING REMOVED FROM THE JORDAN
RIVER LOCATION OF JESUS' BAPTISM
Several Churches Reclaiming War Losses

National Catholic Reporter,
January 8th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y7bhrh4e

--

SOME CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICALS ATTEMPT
TO DISENTANGLE THEIR FAITH FROM TRUMPISM
Rejection of Their Compromise to His Political Ideology

The New Yorker,
January 6th, 2019

https://tinyurl.com/y8onqrj2

*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

Provided by Sojourners or the Bruderhof online:

Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.

- Zora Neale Hurston

--

Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among
people who love poorly.

- Henri J.M. Nouwen

--

Newness happens in the world when long silenced
people get their voice enough to sing dangerous
alternatives.

- Walter Brueggemann

--

Seeds move through their life stages in an endless
cycle of seasons — and the cycle of seasons
reminds us that the journey never ends.

- Parker Palmer

--

Love is what carries you, for it is always there,
even in the dark, or most in the dark, but
shining out at times like gold stitches in a
piece of embroidery.

- Wendell Berry

--

There is no separation, no conflict, no obstruction
between the world and the Divine. All that exists is
penetrated with divinity. Creation, matter, our bodies -
everything is a vast incarnation or manifestation of
Real Presence.

- Sue Monk Kidd

--

Often people think they are lost. They think that
nothing in the world can help them. And then God
looks and says, “It is time.” And all at once everything
looks different.

Everything comes into a different light, and all at once
you see that all is not lost, but won. Remember this,
all is not lost in his eyes. “The lowly shall be lifted up,
the first shall be last.”

- Ger Koopman

--

We are all going to die, and I suppose whether it is
sooner or later makes little difference in eternity, for
eternity is total is-ness, immediacy, now-ness. Living
in eternity is, in fact, the way we are supposed to live
all the time, right now, in the immediate moment, not
hanging on to the past, not projecting into the future.
The past is the rock that is under our feet, that enables
us to push off from it and move into the future. But we
don’t go bury ourselves in the past, nor should we
worry too much about the future.

- Madeleine L’Engle

--

What does a person need – really need? A few
pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six
feet to lie down in – and some form of working
activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment.
That’s all – in the material sense. And we know it.
But we are brainwashed by our economic system
until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of
time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry,
playthings that divert our attention from the sheer
idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by. The
dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked
in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we
know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the
answer? In choice. Which shall it be bankruptcy
of purse or bankruptcy of life?

- Sterling Hayden

--

Although the scribes could explain where the
Messiah should be born, they remained quite
unperturbed in Jerusalem. They did not
accompany the Wise Men to seek him.

Similarly we may be able to explain every
article of our faith, yet remain spiritually
motionless. The power that moved heaven
and earth leaves us completely unmoved.

What a contrast! The three kings had only
a rumor to go by. But it spurred them to set
out on a long, hard journey. The scribes,
meanwhile, were much better informed, much
better versed. They had sat and studied the
scriptures for years, like so many dons. But
it didn’t make any difference. Who had the
more truth? Those who followed a rumor,
or those who remained sitting, satisfied with
all their knowledge?

- Søren Kierkegaard

*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - T. S. Eliot

You will never attract the young by making
Christianity easy; but a good many can be
attracted by finding it difficult: difficult both to
the disorderly mind and to the unruly passions.

*****

For those interested, our ACTS program
for 2019 will appear here next week.

(end)