tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321532392024-03-18T00:57:09.245-07:00Peter Menkin blogPoems and reflections (spiritual & religious).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.comBlogger408125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-36359832526915102262016-09-23T14:15:00.002-07:002016-09-24T09:38:18.431-07:00My Journey along path of Major Life Event has Begun: Aortic Valve Replacement or AVR Heart Surgery... Dr. Cain Surgeon...<h4>
<u><span style="font-size: small;">Letter to friends by Peter Menkin</span></u></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-size: small;"> My major life event has begun: Aortic Valve
Replacement or AVR</span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-size: small;">Read on friend... </span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-size: small;">Today is September 23, 2016, Friday</span></h4>
<br />
LET US BEGIN TO TALK OF THIS INTRODUCTION TO ANOTHER NEW JOURNEY.<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I will be on the Cardio unit at Kaiser Geary San Francisco having been admitted October 17, 2016 for preparation for heart surgery October 20, 2016. My heart valve is failing ongoing,. This is causing me trouble, and that means shortness of breath and chest pains. You may know me as that guy who carries Nitro with him, and uses it nearly daily. You've seen the scene in movies. That is old movies. I'm that handsome older character. How do I look so good and healthy as that actor who is a Star in any of those movies, I don't know. Life is full of mysteries.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DlPid60Ymxs" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="font-size: small;"> This Youtube is a great one. It is titled, </span><br />
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<u><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="watch-title" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="Cardiovascular Surgeon in Jackson, Miss. Performs Aortic Valve Replacment">Cardiovascular Surgeon in Jackson, Miss. Performs Aortic Valve Replacment,</span></span></b></u></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="watch-title" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="Cardiovascular Surgeon in Jackson, Miss. Performs Aortic Valve Replacment"><a class="yt-uix-sessionlink yt-user-photo g-hovercard spf-link " data-sessionlink="itct=CDUQ4TkiEwio3LbR7aXPAhXRAK4KHSXODg4o-B0" data-ytid="UCBY6cohIl8R4jwQohIqX3jg" href="https://www.youtube.com/user/BaptistMedNews"><span class="video-thumb yt-thumb yt-thumb-48 g-hovercard" data-ytid="UCBY6cohIl8R4jwQohIqX3jg"><span class="yt-thumb-square"><span class="yt-thumb-clip">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a class="g-hovercard yt-uix-sessionlink spf-link " data-sessionlink="itct=CDUQ4TkiEwio3LbR7aXPAhXRAK4KHSXODg4o-B0" data-ytid="UCBY6cohIl8R4jwQohIqX3jg" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBY6cohIl8R4jwQohIqX3jg">BaptistMedNews </a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b class="watch-time-text">Uploaded on Apr 27, 2011</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Baptist
Cardiovascular Surgeon Stewart Horsley, MD in Jackson, Miss., performed
a valve replacement procedure at Baptist Medical Center. <br /><br />Aortic
valve replacement is a cardiac surgery procedure in which a patient's
failing aortic valve is replaced with an alternate healthy valve. The
aortic valve can be affected by a range of diseases; the valve can
either become leaky (aortic insufficiency / regurgitation) or partially
blocked (aortic stenosis). Aortic valve replacement is open heart
surgery. <br /><br />For more information on valve surgery at Baptist Medical Center in Jackson, Miss., visit <br /><a class=" yt-uix-servicelink " data-servicelink="CDQQ6TgiEwio3LbR7aXPAhXRAK4KHSXODg4o-B0" data-url="http://www.mbhs.org/med_serv/heart/heart_murmurs.htm" href="http://www.mbhs.org/med_serv/heart/heart_murmurs.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.mbhs.org/med_serv/heart/he...</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Let me share an excerpt of an email-letter I sent to a friend. It contains more than you ever wanted to know. All typo strokes and other errors, including spelling errors, are mine. I probably wrote and sent this as email-letter to other friends at about 3 a.m. in the morning. Here is that excerpt from my copy </span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">sent to Delia Robinson who works at Church of England Newspaper, London. I said she may show others this excerpt, or tell my other friends at the paper of my upcoming surgery. This included the editor of the paper, and its website, Colin Blakely. She has always been kind to me in my relations to her:</span><br />
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<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dXWIrfx3Dz0/V-VbWb98FkI/AAAAAAAARLE/fw9eLKZUkJ0mjnWGjH6RFFlWWM2G9vm1QCLcB/s1600/10648090541161CDP.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dXWIrfx3Dz0/V-VbWb98FkI/AAAAAAAARLE/fw9eLKZUkJ0mjnWGjH6RFFlWWM2G9vm1QCLcB/s200/10648090541161CDP.JPG" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Menkin, circa 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">My reason to write you is to
let you know I will undergo what some call Open Heart surgery to replace a
valve October 20, 2016. What follows is a quote from an email-letter to another
friend. Please share this email-letter to you with my news with others at the
paper that I know. Thank you for your prayers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">I need to tell you I go into
the hospital at Kaiser Geary San Francisco October 17, 2016 in preparation for
Open Heart Surgery at the same San Francisco Hospital October 20, 2016.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">A valve needs to be replaced.
This is vital to my health. I’ll probably leave the hospital, assuming all goes
well in hospital recovery post operation, eight days later. My primary home
recovery will be over in about 20 days. My wife, Linda will stay with me during
this time, and won’t go to work. They will pay her since she has this benefit
to take care of her husband after an <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dPZyuctL1rk/V-VcQLMKc5I/AAAAAAAARLI/560G2hw4Y6MKcrODxyNysDkv1TwpSP6iQCLcB/s1600/10648090541121CDP.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dPZyuctL1rk/V-VcQLMKc5I/AAAAAAAARLI/560G2hw4Y6MKcrODxyNysDkv1TwpSP6iQCLcB/s200/10648090541121CDP.JPG" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter & Linda -- Lovers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
operation of this kind. I’ll also have an
home health nurse.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">By the American Holiday
Thanksgiving, I’ll be ready to celebrate with my wife, and probably family. All
will be well. I thank God that the Cardiac specialists identified my heart
condition, and are acting promptly to resolve this condition, its many
problems, just about immediately. I returned just this Sunday past from the
Geary San Francisco Hospital where I first met my Cardiac Surgeon Dr. Cain, and
where John McNulty, M.D. performed his wizardry to go in through an artery in
my right groin to take pictures along the way through arteries to see what might
be wrong. No third Stent was needed in Dr. McNulty’s opinion. An ultrasound
proved without a doubt with its images, what Dr. John McNulty thought true, as did
Dr. Cain, a new valve needed to be provided: It is to be a cow valve. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">My surgeon for Aortic Valve
Replacement or AVR is Dr. Cain,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> and I will be on the Cardio floor. One gets a
room of ones own.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">SFO-HOSPITAL </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">2425 GEARY BLVD</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">SAN FRANCISCO CA 94115-3358</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
MENKIN,PETER A</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-udFaa552V8g/V-VclzdK11I/AAAAAAAARLQ/pS2utFCKVgINHCpHN1_Y-OfVDdOlVPLOACLcB/s1600/peter%2Bkaiser%2Bterra%2Blinda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-udFaa552V8g/V-VclzdK11I/AAAAAAAARLQ/pS2utFCKVgINHCpHN1_Y-OfVDdOlVPLOACLcB/s200/peter%2Bkaiser%2Bterra%2Blinda.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hopeful: I wait for 2nd Stent...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I probably will not come to
the phone so easily. You’ll probably reach a nurse on the floor for Cardiac
Patients. You can ask after me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Be sure to pray for me, and
pray for the Surgeon and his team…for God to help him in his work, and guide
him in the skill of his hands, and that work of his wonderful Nurses and
medical people.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Thank God for his Call as a
Doctor and Heart Surgeon. We all pray for Dr. Cain, and of course for me, Peter
Menkin as patient..</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Yours sincerely,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Peter Menkin</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Mill Valley, California 94941</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
THIS IS THE WORK AGAIN.</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
I will work with this new Journey as a Benedictine, and Brother of the Camaldoli in the world. You know my relationship is in its 18th year with The Hermitage in Big Sur, California. Soon I will sign a contract with Xlibris for a book of 44 pages that will be about 8 1/2 inches square. This oversized paperback will have this normative number of color illustrations. I am choosing photographs as illustrations, as many as 25 of them. They will accompany this text of the poem as it appeared in Church of England Newspaper, London. Here is that poem:</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="" id="eow-description">
THE JOURNEY AS IT TRANSFORMS US IN OUR LORD THROUGH PRAYER.</div>
<div class="" id="eow-description">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; letter-spacing: -0.75pt;">Apophatic Prayer: A
Transcription (2000)</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">By </span></i><a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/author/admin"><i><span style="color: #cd1713; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">CEN</span></i></a><i><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> on 02/03/2016Comments
Off on Apophatic Prayer: A Transcription (2000)</span></i></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Invited
by God into</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">a
wordless kind</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">of
prayer–Cataphatic is opening</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WZm5P3Nqm28/V-VnJionT_I/AAAAAAAARLg/kj-pL_LPjNIMEw0BH7v36mqCKEYGw2LZACLcB/s1600/pasted%2Bimage%2B381x386.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WZm5P3Nqm28/V-VnJionT_I/AAAAAAAARLg/kj-pL_LPjNIMEw0BH7v36mqCKEYGw2LZACLcB/s200/pasted%2Bimage%2B381x386.jpg" width="197" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Father Michael--Camaldolese Monk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">the
Bible</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">and
believing</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">the
images of entering</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">into
the wonder of the scene.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
same one invites us</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">into
the apophatic spirituality.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Desert,
stripping, pain, addiction.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">loneliness.
(Aloneness.)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Desert
spirituality will be deeper,</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">and
this is one.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Invitation
to an all</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">new
spirituality. This is the</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">monk’s.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Birth
at forty.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Forty
to eighty.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Eighty
to one-hundred twenty.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Moses
was offering deliverance.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Settles
into what is</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">the
symbolic period</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">of 40 years~into
the future.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">After
40 years he was learned to,</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">as a
child,</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">look at
this strange sight,</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">“Why
the bush is not burning.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eJVZDHyuhVo/V-VnewMWG4I/AAAAAAAARLk/5F31z4nd5gMj6TJEQPLW3P9mYjgtNMnZQCLcB/s1600/Apophatic%2BCover%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eJVZDHyuhVo/V-VnewMWG4I/AAAAAAAARLk/5F31z4nd5gMj6TJEQPLW3P9mYjgtNMnZQCLcB/s200/Apophatic%2BCover%2B3.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Audio Book cover--Bob McCoy reads</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Look
hard in the desert</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">at 80
years of age of age.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">This is
a life as a child.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">In the
Hebrew: ~ I must go across and look.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">This is
a leaving of where</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">he was
on a life</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">with
the sheep</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">and
have a look</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">at
something</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">new.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">He must
leave this security</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">of the
plain to be</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">confronted
with the mystery.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">How far
the Lord wanted Abraham</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">to go
as did Peter</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">in his
early morning</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">as he
waited for Christ. As did</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Martha
when she organized Christ,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">or the
Spirit.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Martha
learns</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">something
when Lazaraz</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">dies.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">God
knows when we are</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">in the
desert when he calls</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">in the
desert when he calls,</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">“Where
is Moses.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">It is
in the Holy Fire</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">of God</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">when we
take off our shoes,</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">as did
Moses.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">We do
it</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">alone,</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">in
solitude.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
very thing is the presence</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">of God</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">waiting
for us.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">I have
heard the suffering</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">of my
people. (Father Michael.)</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">God
liberates Moses,</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">who in
his</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">brokenness
discovers his identity,</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">and in his~finds
his mission.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Contemplation
(from male spirituality):trust</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">in the
insecurity of the painful</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">victory
by putting on the</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">of
Christ. “Mercy.”<br />
reads an Oblate, “instead of sacrifice.<br />
“went to the desert.”<br />
Moses meets God<br />
in the inner Desert<br />
and leads those in slavery<br />
outside.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">There
are two deserts:<br />
The invitation, the inside us<br />
that is the other/Merton calls this<br />
the great self within that is<br />
the God within us. (The ineffable<br />
now of truth.) Entailing<br />
the creator,</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">we are
in failure invited<br />
into another truth,<br />
the abandonment into the word.<br />
For the Oblate (for me),<br />
getting up early,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">God
very seldom comes as a<br />
gentle invitation.<br />
It comes as an assault on our invitation.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
Gospel only<br />
makes sense<br />
to the poor,<br />
(the weakness of the poverty<br />
of our humanity.)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; line-height: 18pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">We are<br />
all struggling with the ideal<br />
of our body, of a woman</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">and of
a man.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
Little Book notates<br />
poverty of spirit– a Little Book:<br />
New look at spirituality,<br />
new look at being human,<br />
new look at who God is.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The
Little Book notates entering into<br />
the dying and stripping<br />
–stripped with everything and just being<br />
left with the now.<br />
A cup of wine becomes sacred.<br />
A desert allows us</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">to find
a meaning (a place)<br />
in the sacred.<br />
Cup of wine</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">a
desert allows<br />
burning bush<br />
yes.<br />
This flow is within us<br />
and other people. There<br />
is surrender here.<br />
There is surrender there.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Without
doing.<br />
and not going against<br />
the nature of things<br />
we have to go<br />
where we are fed by Christ.<br />
God takes Moses<br />
into the heart of God.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">(Words
& thoughts by Father Michael, OSB Cam;<br />
poem & transcription by Peter Menkin Obl Cam OSB.)</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><b>This version of Apophatic Prayer appeared in Church of England Newspaper, London and wa<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">s written by Peter Menkin...<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Colin Blakely, Editor.</span></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">THE END OF THIS BLOG IS NEAR.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I am cramming a lot of videos into this posting. At the horrible precipice of creating a visual hodgepodge of stuff, here are two videos that are short and to the point. You, reader, will get the idea right off the bat...as my Mother expressed the matter so simply and well. These two videos comprise the last word of this posting.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">I was moved to share this man's journey, if only a small slice of his life's experience with his expression of newness. I pray to do as well as he</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xinNz9WhG0A" width="560"></iframe>
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THIS BLOG ENTRY BY PETER MENKIN IS AT ITS END..<br />
September 23, 2016<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-70256403387168412662016-08-16T21:50:00.001-07:002016-08-16T21:50:25.422-07:00Memoir of Travels to The Hermitage in Big Sur, California by Peter Menkin--August 15, 2016<br />
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My introduction to the Hermitage began through an Episcopal Priest named Father Jack. He was very dear to me, and through the years became a man and Priest I came not only to admire, but also love in Christ. He often had offered me Communion since he was Vicar of the Parish I attended in Marin </div>
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County, California (north of San Francisco). The Parish, Church of Our Redeemer, was small, but for me lovely.<br />
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Another Priest taught Bible Study, and I found her Homilies quite fascinating and so inspiring. I can't always say that of Homilies, especially many that fail to be anchored as well as hers in the New Testament. Zoila Schoenbrun moved to St. Stephens Church in Belvedere, a very beautiful Church </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wp9kCjI7CgY/V7PrmFat4JI/AAAAAAAAQa4/e1vmHgJslPAKME1tLe4Q8Q8rMKKxCG7PgCEw/s1600/P1030852.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wp9kCjI7CgY/V7PrmFat4JI/AAAAAAAAQa4/e1vmHgJslPAKME1tLe4Q8Q8rMKKxCG7PgCEw/s200/P1030852.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter in Bookstore</td></tr>
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with an exclusive group of Parishioners who were very generous in helping others. They have a wonderful Choir inviting all. In fact, I believe they offer a music program that has professional musicians. You probably know Episcopal Music is wonderful: Its Hymns and Hymnal well known: Celebrated!<br />
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Reverand Zoila, too, helped me find The Hermitage and cultivate my love and talent for Contemplation that she recognized in me. I was fortunate for their willingness to notice my gift and help me reach towards God's Call in my life I did become an Oblate of The Hermitage in Big Sur, California. I did attend Seminary to become a Deacon in the Episcopal Church. I loved the Contemplative direction and richness this kind of life in the spirit gave me. It brought a wonderful gift to me: Christ.</div>
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The Hermitage cultivated this gift, and allowed me to find time and place to be quiet, know the Lord in more ways. I am surprised by my need for Christ, the discovery of the Call I have felt and been nurturing all my life. I thank God for The Hermitage, and the visits I've made to it, and to Incarnation Monastery in Berkeley.</div>
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The two are inseparable in my mind in so many ways.</div>
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The Hermitage is part of my life, and has brought direction to my heart, so that it has a place in my heart. It helps me with my desire to be with God, even when I am not literally at The Hermitage, or </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fog viewed from Mountain</td></tr>
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have the Monks closer to me to be with them in Joy.<br />
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I have been able to sit with many elderly people as a minister in the Episcopal Church. Many I have sat with in silence as they rested alone. These may have been waiting for last times, expecting an angel to visit and accompany them. Often I have prayed with a man who has after prayer wanted me to talk about Heaven--of Christ.</div>
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One man seriously needed a Monk to visit him. He needed one of the Camaldolese to come bless him. He'd visited The Hermitage, and worshiped often when he visited with the Monks. This man demanded I phone the Hermitage to ask if they would accept his van. He wanted a Monk to come see him desperately as the end approached.</div>
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Of course, Mill Valley is too far from Big Sur. The time was short for my friend. The Senior Monk on the phone gave me a gift, knowing I was a "Brother" out in the world, an Oblate. The gift allowed me to bless my friend in the name of the Camaldolese. I was now able to bless this man in the name of The Hermitage. What a wonderful gift I was about to give this man. I knew how to give him a form of the last rites. I am not a Priest, but I do have a small book that tells me what I may do. I gave him the blessing he desired. He was happy.</div>
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He started to pass away, and I phoned 911. The operator told me to start giving him mouth to mouth before the Paramedics arrived. I'd never done this before. I put my mouth on his, and began the </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lqlgpgThIOs/V7PsArnHCtI/AAAAAAAAQa0/EOVh7jl6QNMgsqsya94v-pj3nxqJdcCIgCEw/s1600/P1030888.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lqlgpgThIOs/V7PsArnHCtI/AAAAAAAAQa0/EOVh7jl6QNMgsqsya94v-pj3nxqJdcCIgCEw/s200/P1030888.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linda and tree</td></tr>
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mouth to mouth to keep him alive. The 911 operator stayed on the phone. I felt so strange doing this, I'll tell you. This man really needed to rest in the Lord. I wanted to leave him to his peace. The world would not allow me to do this.<br />
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The first Paramedic arrived and came through the bedroom door, looking into the room. He saw me over this small man, my mouth on his, holding him up. I looked so strange doing this, I am sure. I knew he was dead, and was glad he had peace. I was breathing my air into lungs of a man meeting angels, my mouth on his. The Paramedic looked like he was going to arrest me as an odd man killing this man. Then he could hear the 911 on the speaker. When he stepped into the room, I stopped the mouth to mouth. I was happy to do so.</div>
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These big men, bigger than I, arrived so very fast. They knew it was a life or death call. My new friend had passed away before I'd called 911. He was blessed in the name of The Hermitage as was his wish before God. He was at peace.</div>
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I tell you this story so you know The Hermitage has a very powerful effect on many people. A visitor can be deeply moved by their visits. I am brought to quiet and rest. Sometimes I have actually slept most of the day. Thank God the Monks say it is all right to sleep,.if that is what you must do. I can give testimony to how kind the Monks are with guests, and how much just plain simple is a visit: The Hermitage gives of its beauty, and its peace. -- Peter Menkin</div>
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This work appeared originally, Yelp.com and can be seen on its pages now.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-91117834327675476972016-03-06T09:36:00.002-08:002016-03-06T09:39:29.159-08:00Edward Carl Byers Jr. (born August 4, 1979) -- a United States Navy SEAL received Medal of Honor, February 29, 2016 for the rescue of a civilian in Afghanistan in 2012<h3>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.4px;"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Medal of Honor recipient stories in brief, as excerpted from three publications: Navy Chief Edward Carl Byers, Jr. bold and decisive actions of undaunted courage...</span></b></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.4px;"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Edited and compiled by Peter Menkin</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gRZFbNeG8lY/VtxmD5KGQjI/AAAAAAAAOQk/Xngd96m9mEc/s1600/DavidMCollins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gRZFbNeG8lY/VtxmD5KGQjI/AAAAAAAAOQk/Xngd96m9mEc/s320/DavidMCollins.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">In 2011, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px;">Navy Senior Chief</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.2px;"> Edward Byers</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> joined the </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Special_Warfare_Development_Group" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Naval Special Warfare Development Group">Naval Special Warfare Development Group</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">, commonly known as SEAL Team Six, he served 11 overseas deployments including nine combat tours, fighting multiple times in </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;" title="Iraq">Iraq</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"> and Afghanistan.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Medal of Honor Citation for </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.2px;">Navy Senior Chief</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.2px;"> Edward Byers, Jr.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a </span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8wbD5Bzs3U0/VtxmERY5nWI/AAAAAAAAOQs/KFfPubk0wX4/s1600/Senior_Chief_Special_Warfare_Operator_%2528SEAL%2529_Edward_C._Byers_Jr._will_be_awarded_the_Medal_of_Honor._%252824646290034%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8wbD5Bzs3U0/VtxmERY5nWI/AAAAAAAAOQs/KFfPubk0wX4/s200/Senior_Chief_Special_Warfare_Operator_%2528SEAL%2529_Edward_C._Byers_Jr._will_be_awarded_the_Medal_of_Honor._%252824646290034%2529.jpg" width="162" /></a></div>
Hostage Rescue Force Team Member in Afghanistan in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM from 8 to 9 December 2012. As the rescue force approached the target building, an enemy sentry detected them and darted inside to alert his fellow captors. The sentry quickly reemerged, and the lead assaulter attempted to neutralize him. Chief Byers with his team sprinted to the door of the target building. As the primary breacher, Chief Byers stood in the doorway fully exposed to enemy fire while ripping down six layers of heavy blankets fastened to the inside ceiling and walls to clear a path for the rescue force. The first assaulter pushed his way through the blankets, and was mortally wounded by enemy small arms fire from within. Chief Byers, completely aware of the imminent threat, fearlessly rushed into the room and engaged an enemy guard aiming an AK-47 at him. He then tackled another adult male who had darted towards the corner of the room. During the ensuing hand-to-hand struggle, Chief Byers confirmed the man was not the hostage and engaged him. As other rescue team members called out to the hostage, Chief Byers heard a voice respond in English and raced toward it. He jumped atop the American hostage and shielded him from the high volume of fire within the small room. While covering the hostage with his body, Chief Byers immobilized another guard with his bare hands, and restrained the guard until a teammate could eliminate him. His bold and decisive actions under fire saved the lives of the hostage and several of his teammates. By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of near certain death, Chief Petty Officer Byers reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Byers#cite_note-7" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; white-space: nowrap;">[7]</a></sup><br />
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From USA Today:</div>
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Dilip Joseph was the medical director for a faith-based Colorado non-profit group establishing medical clinics in remote parts of Afghanistan when he was captured for ransom with his driver and translator. Four days later, having information that Joseph might be moved to Pakistan, U.S. commanders organized a rescue team, according to an unclassified summary of the mission obtained by USA TODAY.</div>
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Byers and the team walked four hours through the Afghan mountains to reach the Taliban compound, arriving shortly after midnight Dec. 9, 2012. Their mission relied on surprise</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uDooPzpyeOI/VtxmEE-_PVI/AAAAAAAAOQs/etv6xQ2CEDY/s1600/Dilip%2BJoseph.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uDooPzpyeOI/VtxmEE-_PVI/AAAAAAAAOQs/etv6xQ2CEDY/s200/Dilip%2BJoseph.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #646464; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px;">Dilip Joseph was rescued by a group<br /> of Navy SEAL Team 6 operators<br /> in Afghanistan after being<br /> held hostage</span><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #646464; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px;"> by Taliban militants.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #646464; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="credit" style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #646464; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 16px;">(Photo: Leslye Davis, ZUMA Press/Corbis)</span></td></tr>
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and speed, and everyone on the team volunteered for the mission. "Trading personal security for speed of action was inherent to the success of this rescue mission," a Navy report said.<br />
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Inside, the hostage — going into his fifth day of captivity — heard dogs barking and sheep bleating outside the small stone-and-mud shack....</div>
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...The mission has been controversial. In a report on SEAL Team Six last year, <em><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/world/asia/the-secret-history-of-seal-team-6.html" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;">The New York Times</a> </em><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/world/asia/the-secret-history-of-seal-team-6.html" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;">highlighted discrepancies between Joseph's recollection and the official account.</a> Joseph said that after the shooting stopped, he saw one of the Taliban fighters — a 19-year-old he called Wallakah, whom he had tried to bond with during his captivity — alive, unhurt and apparently subdued. When he returned inside to wait for the helicopter, Wallakah was dead. The Pentagon has disputed that account....</div>
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From The Washington Post</div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 18px; line-height: 32.4px;">...Byers burst in anyway, shooting a Taliban fighter who had an automatic rifle aimed at him. Another man scrambled to the corner of the room <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vffQVrGIKbQ/Vtxo1ItFOvI/AAAAAAAAOQ0/rxMQpnP04kI/s1600/byers%2Bhi%2Bschool.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vffQVrGIKbQ/Vtxo1ItFOvI/AAAAAAAAOQ0/rxMQpnP04kI/s200/byers%2Bhi%2Bschool.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px;">High school yearbook<br /> photo of Edward Byers,<br /> a 1997 graduate of Otsego<br /> High School in Tontogany, Ohio.</span><br />
<span style="color: #646464; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="credit" style="color: #646464; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 16px;">(Photo: Otsego High School)</span></td></tr>
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where another rifle was stored, so Byers tackled him and then tried to adjust his night-vision goggles to see whether he was the American hostage. The hostage, lying five feet away, called out in English, so Byers killed the insurgent he was straddling and then hurled himself on top of the hostage to protect him from gunfire. At the same time, Byers pinned another enemy fighter to the wall with a hand to the throat until another SEAL shot the militant...</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="290" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/ac46ade8-df00-11e5-8c00-8aa03741dced" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="480"></iframe>
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<span style="color: #6e6e6e; font-family: "franklinitcprolight" , "helveticaneue" , "helvetica neue light" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">President Obama presents the Medal of Honor to Navy Senior Chief Edward C. Byers Jr., for his actions while serving as part of a team that rescued an American civilian being held hostage in Afghanistan. (The White House)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-53204633879727197942016-02-20T18:20:00.001-08:002016-02-20T19:59:41.319-08:00The Noted Jan Robitscher's guest homily Speaks to Dwelling in Unity, so timely in light of what NYT calls Anglican Church Disciplines U.S. Episcopals Over Gay Marriages..."Hineh mah tov, Umah nayim, Shevet achim Gam yachad."<br />
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<h2>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“As it is, there are many
members,</span></h2>
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<h2>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">yet one body.”</span></h2>
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">(1 Cor.
12:20)</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Year C: Third Sunday after Epiphany <span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br />
</span></span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Jan Robitscher</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Nehemiah 8:1-6 <span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="mso-tab-count: 10;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">St. Mark’s Church, Berkeley, CA</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Psalm 19<span class="apple-tab-span"> </span> <span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="mso-tab-count: 12;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">1 Corinthians 12:12-31a <span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="mso-tab-count: 9;"> </span></span> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">January
24, 2016</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Psalm 133, verse 1<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZhFtP12pACo/VsktXsu2CSI/AAAAAAAAJz4/LjjxSKrq8cs/s1600/flowers%2Btemple%2Bsinai%2Bberkeley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZhFtP12pACo/VsktXsu2CSI/AAAAAAAAJz4/LjjxSKrq8cs/s1600/flowers%2Btemple%2Bsinai%2Bberkeley.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bar Mitzvah Flowers</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hineh mah tov, Umah nayim,</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Shevet achim
Gam yachad.</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Behold how good and
pleasant it is</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">when brethren (kindred,
all people)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">dwell together in unity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">With
these words from Psalm 131, Leonard Bernstein concludes his choral work,
Chichester Psalms. The end of this movement is a quiet--almost
inaudible--prayer for peace. Is it a wish or a pipedrean? On a global scale,
maybe, but on Friday night, the choirs of St Mark’s and Temple Sinai came
together at the Temple to sing this work for their Shabbat service, a work that
is both startling <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PWrQSYZ51bw/VsktVThBgwI/AAAAAAAAJzw/y7-aoS-6E6Q/s1600/temple%2Bsinai%2Bberkeley%2Bjweekly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PWrQSYZ51bw/VsktVThBgwI/AAAAAAAAJzw/y7-aoS-6E6Q/s200/temple%2Bsinai%2Bberkeley%2Bjweekly.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Temple <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sin<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ai Sanctuary</span></span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
and moving. Like Ezra reading the Law to the gathered people,
we gathered, participated, listened, sang, praised God and pondered the
sense of what we were hearing and praying through music. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This
afternoon we will sing it again, this time here and in the context of a special
Evensong. Again the choirs will come together to sing as one, ending with the
quiet but urgent plea for peace. It is an expression of people “dwelling
together in unity.” I hope you will come.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All
of today’s readings have to do with community. Fast forward from Ezra to St.
Paul. Here is the most familiar analogy of community: The body of Christ. For
Paul, the community gathered for worship is one of many members, but guided by
the same Spirit. But what is most remarkable is that, for Paul, its very
unity is found in diversity: one body, many members. No one has all
the gifts. Each gift is necessary to the others. One part cannot say to
another, “I have no need of you”. Nor can one part say, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HsmyIVO7OOU/VskkghQwiLI/AAAAAAAAJzI/pUimzG6wrCU/s1600/Jan%2Bhead%2Band%2Bshoulders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HsmyIVO7OOU/VskkghQwiLI/AAAAAAAAJzI/pUimzG6wrCU/s200/Jan%2Bhead%2Band%2Bshoulders.jpg" width="185" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jan Robitscher of <br />
Berkeley, California</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Because
I am not like you, because I do not have your gifts, I do not belong to this
body”. Here Paul is speaking not of the church as institution (as it
would become only a few centuries later) but as something quite literally
organic, like a heart.1 The Christian community moves in procession
to a heartbeat rhythm. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Or
does it? It is so easy for the Christian community, whether parish or province
or denomination to become fractured and filled with what Paul calls in another
place, “party spirit”, as opposed to unity in the Holy Spirit. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Parts
of the Anglican Communion have tried to say to the Episcopal Church, “I have no
need of you and your liberal Church”. And we in the Episcopal Church might say
to them, “I have no need of you and your conservative theology.” But <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fGXkoYhX5h8/Vsklhc1BjzI/AAAAAAAAJzQ/qZpMZAUOoAg/s1600/Justin%2BWelby%2Bw%2Bmitre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="129" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fGXkoYhX5h8/Vsklhc1BjzI/AAAAAAAAJzQ/qZpMZAUOoAg/s200/Justin%2BWelby%2Bw%2Bmitre.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Justin Welby w/Mit<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">re</span> </span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
such
divisions do not only happen in the Church on a global level. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At
the risk of going “from preachin’ to meddlin’”, in our own parish, the Altar
Guild might be tempted to say to those serving at the Altar, ‘I have no need of
you’ or the choir say to the congregation, ‘I have no need of you’, or anyone
say, “Because I am not on this or that committee or in any other ministry, or I
do not have all the gifts, I do not belong to this community”. This
is not Communion at all, but division.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But
what does Paul mean by “unity”? In other letters, he describes it as being “of
one mind” or “having the mind of Christ”. By this, he does not mean that
everyone thinks alike, or agrees about everything, or that the community must
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8v1osOmv9to/VskmfSY0Q8I/AAAAAAAAJzY/Q3DMGyHXlKE/s1600/St%2BPaul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8v1osOmv9to/VskmfSY0Q8I/AAAAAAAAJzY/Q3DMGyHXlKE/s1600/St%2BPaul.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">St. Paul of New Testament fame</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
be perfect. Of course not! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rather,
all come together for the common good--a phrase and concept that is almost lost
in our argumentative and self-centered society and, sadly, even in the
church. But in this passage we are encouraged to look beyond the norms of
society (and even of the church) in encouraging membership and discerning
ministry. We identify ourselves easily as the Body of Christ, yet it is often
very difficult for us to discern the gifts of the Spirit.2 St. Paul
turns this prayerful act of discerning gifts in the community on its head:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">God has so arranged the
body, giving the </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">greater honor to the
inferior member, that</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">there may be no dissension
within the body,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">but the members may have
the same care for</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">one
another.” (1 Cor. 12:24)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another
place we can look to find guidance about living in community is from St.
Benedict and his Rule. Here, the monastery becomes the “school for the Lord’s
service3 where he admonishes juniors, seniors and children--all
living in the community--to treat each other with respect,4 to honor the
opinions of old and young members alike and, most famously, to welcome all
guests as Christ, himself.5 </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Perhaps
today’s Gospel lesson is less obvious in what it speaks about community. Jesus
is teaching in the synagogue. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once
again the community is gathered to hear God’s Word, ponder its meaning and
respond in worship. Jesus opens the scroll and reads from the prophet Isaiah
and then, to the utter astonishment of his hearers says: “Today this scripture
has been fulfilled in your hearing”. Jesus is the fulfillment of the
prophetic words. He came, anointed by the Spirit, to bring good news to the
poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind.... all these and more he did
during his earthly ministry. But all of these works didn’t end with his death
and resurrection! In the farewell discourses of the Gospel of John, Jesus says:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Very truly I tell you,
the one who believes </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">in me will also do the
works that I do and,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">in fact, will do greater
works than these...”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(John 14:12)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So
Jesus is telling us that it is not enough to only live as a community unto
ourselves. We must look outside these walls. Jesus came to seek and serve the
marginalized, the captive, the lost and we must do the same. Perhaps
this is what Paul meant by his list of gifts and ministries: Apostles,
prophets, teachers--those who lead and teach both inside and outside the
community-- and the gifts of deeds of power, healing, forms of assistance,
tongues and their interpretation--ministries of inreach and outreach. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">St
Teresa of Avila said it another way with her poem which begins:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Christ has no body but
yours,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No hands, no feet on earth
but yours....</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No
one has all the gifts! All are necessary for the life of the
community! All rejoice and suffer together. St. Paul is right when
he concludes:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now
you--[that is, we--] are the body of Christ</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and
individually members of it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We
are the ones who must continue in the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, the
breaking of bread and in the prayers, as we promise in the baptismal
vows. But how do we do this?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uCLvJ3hyH5k/Vskwd8sHumI/AAAAAAAAJ0A/wX-AC9K383w/s1600/paul%2Bcorinth.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uCLvJ3hyH5k/Vskwd8sHumI/AAAAAAAAJ0A/wX-AC9K383w/s320/paul%2Bcorinth.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Paul identifies himself as the sender,
along with a member of the church in Corinth Sosthenes, and that he writing to
the church in Corinth. But in both instances he crafts those identities in
relationship to Christ.... From Howard Carter's blog, a Presbyterian Minister, http://howard-carter.blogspot.com/2013_05_01_archive.html ... </span></span>Minister at St Peter's Presbyterian Church Ellerslie Mt Wellington. A
congregation that is wanting to face the challenge of being Christ's body
in a twenty first century, multi-cultural, multi-generational, suburban
environment. <br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The book of Acts tells us much of Paul's story. His conversion to being a follower of Christ, his call to take the
gospel to the gentiles, which is amazing as before his conversion Paul in his
own words is a Jew amongst the Jews a Pharisee among the Pharisees, but Christ
changes all that. We read of his mission trips, where he established churches
throughout Asia Minor and into Europe. In Acts 18 it tells us the story of Paul
coming to the city of Corinth and starting the church there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul will have to defend his apostleship to
the church later in this letter, he is writing as one who is called to proclaim
the gospel and establish communities of believers, a role that he has been
called to by Christ. Apostle means ‘One who is sent’.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The
passage from the 1st letter to the Corinthians ends just before chapter 13
begins--the great chapter on love often read at weddings (the formation of yet
another kind of community). St. Paul is clear that we are not alone ever as we
strive to live in Community. We are the Body of CHRIST. Jesus is with us, now
and always, and gives himself to us especially in the sacrament of Communion we
are about to receive so that we become more and more His Body. Community and
Communion. It is Love--not only as an emotion but as willed
act--that will bind us together, especially in this time of transition. It is
love--God’s love of us and our responding love of God-- that makes us the Body
of Christ. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The community of which St. Paul speaks may be a wish or a
pipedream, but still we strive to live it out in St. Paul’s vision of the Body
of Christ. But we remember that it’s roots are deep in the Psalmist’s poetic
voice. Hear again the ancient words from Psalm 131 with which I began: </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Psalm 133, verse 1</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Behold how good and
pleasant it is</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">when brethren (kindred,
all people)</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">dwell together in unity.
Amen</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hineh mah tov, Umah nayim,</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Shevet achim
Gam yachad.</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Amen.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gbM63ozNK8o/Vskqnl2DgsI/AAAAAAAAJzk/5TU4Vx4I3js/s1600/st%2Bmarks%2Bberkeley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gbM63ozNK8o/Vskqnl2DgsI/AAAAAAAAJzk/5TU4Vx4I3js/s400/st%2Bmarks%2Bberkeley.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Mark's Church, Berkeley, California (Episcopal)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-60384211658562930952016-02-04T06:28:00.000-08:002016-02-04T06:28:00.021-08:00Peter Menkin comments on Polls about Homosexual Marriage as the subject appeared in an Article, "Attitudes move on Gay Marriage Question..."<div class="row" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 20px; margin-left: -15px; margin-right: -15px;">
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<h1 class="entry-title single-post-title" itemprop="headline" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-family: 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-stretch: normal; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 44px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Reprinted from Church of England Newspaper, London: </span></h1>
<h1 class="entry-title single-post-title" itemprop="headline" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-family: 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-stretch: normal; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 44px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Anglican attitudes move on gay marriage question </span></h1>
<h1 class="entry-title single-post-title" itemprop="headline" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-family: 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-stretch: normal; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 44px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">
<span style="font-size: large;">(Please see Peter Menkin's comment below.)</span></h1>
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ANGLICAN attitudes to same-sex marriage are changing as a new survey reveals that for the first time more Anglicans support it than oppose it.</div>
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The YouGov survey shows that 45 per cent are in favour of same-sex marriage compared to 37 per cent against.</div>
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That compares with the previous survey in 2013 that found 38 per cent in favour and 47 per cent opposed.</div>
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A breakdown of the figures reveals that all age groups, except those over the age of 55, are in favour, but even there the gap is narrowing. In 2013 58 per cent of that age group was opposed, but this has fallen to 44 per cent.</div>
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All of the other age groups support same-sex marriage by a large majority, and in the under-25 age group 79 per cent are in favour with just 11 opposed.</div>
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And there is a gender gap in the figures, with Anglican men over 55 being far more opposed than any other group. The study shows 62 per cent of them opposed while only 43 per cent of women in the same age group are against it.</div>
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Conversely, women under the age of 35 are far more in favour than men, by a margin of 12 per cent: 76 per cent compared to 64 per cent of men.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin-bottom: 15px;">
The poll was conducted earlier this month by YouGov, and sampled 6,276 British adults, including 1,523 of Anglicans living in England.</div>
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Church opinion is more opposed than in the general population where 56 per cent of respondents were in support, compared to 43 per cent of Anglicans.</div>
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Both groups showed increasing support for same-sex marriage compared to the previous poll in 2013.</div>
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General Synod member Jayne Ozanne, who commissioned the poll, said that the results posed a major challenge to the Church: “These figures confirm that the Church of England leadership is seriously out of step with its members, and even more so with society at large. Far more Anglicans now believe that same-sex marriage is right than those who think it is wrong.</div>
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“It is therefore vital that we recognise the challenge that this represents to us as a Church, particularly given that as the established Church we are called to minister and serve the whole nation.”</div>
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She added: “The Church now faces a major challenge to explain clearly to the nation just why it discriminates against people like me and others in the way that it does. What sort of “Good News” are we offering for those of us who want to get married, who believe it is right but find that the Church forbids it?</div>
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Commenting on the finding that Anglican males over the age of 55 were most likely to be opposed she said: “Unfortunately, this is exactly the profile of those in the senior positions of power and influence power within the Church.”</div>
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One Response to "<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222;">Anglican attitudes move on gay marriage question</span>"</h3>
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<li class="comment byuser comment-author-pmenkin even thread-even depth-1" id="li-comment-147168" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: decimal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px !important;"><div class="comment_container" id="comment-147168" style="background: rgb(252, 252, 252); border-radius: 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(239, 239, 239); box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 85px; padding: 10px 20px 3px; position: relative;">
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<img alt="" class="avatar avatar-50 photo" src="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f10b1ad3c14a7d9e2d85b8e23de6956f?s=50&d=mm&r=g" height="50" srcset="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f10b1ad3c14a7d9e2d85b8e23de6956f?s=100&d=mm&r=g 2x" style="border-radius: 50%; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 0px 0px 0px 3px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto !important; left: -80px; max-width: 100%; position: absolute; top: 3px; vertical-align: middle;" width="50" /></div>
<span class="comment-author" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #777777; display: block; font-family: "open sans" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5px;"><span class="fa fa-user" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; display: inline-block; font-family: "fontawesome"; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1; transform: translate(0px , 0px);"></span> <cite class="fn" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: normal;"><a class="url" href="http://www.petermenkin.blogspot.com/" rel="external nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Peter Menkin</a></cite></span><span class="comment-date-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #aaaaaa; font-family: "open sans" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 15px; position: absolute; right: 10px; text-align: right; top: 12px;"><span class="fa fa-calendar" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: "fontawesome"; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1; transform: translate(0px , 0px);"></span> 04/02/2016 at 14:07</span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin-bottom: 15px;">
The Church is not a voluntary body, it is a mystical body–as it has been said by others wiser and more spiritually mature than I. We do not truly “vote” on matters like is marriage for homosexual relationships this decade, but not next decade. Are we better Christians for its act in our Churches?</div>
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<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin-bottom: 15px;">
The matter of homosexuality as good is not decided or helped in decision by considering it as a popularity contest. No one is running for President in any part of a Bible, let alone bringing understanding of what Marriage of man and woman is about, to say it in an American way. Are you reading my drift?</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin-bottom: 15px;">
CBS News isn’t taking a poll as means of theological truth for Christians on what it is that we as Anglicans come to as faith, or how God is in one as man or one of faith or let alone among us. Mystery of this nature is not suitable for polling.</div>
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Enough said on polls in particular as aid to faith in the Anglican Church, let alone truth.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin-bottom: 15px;">
The question becomes then, why this “news” story. What is the news, other than nonsense for people of faith in the Anglican Church; to my way of reading.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin-bottom: 15px;">
This story and its appearance on these pages succeeds to confuse and mislead, disturb and mislead us even more in difficult times of spiritual and religious distress. It is more than unworthy, it contributes to the problem and adds to our despair during these terrible times of recognizable schism in the Anglican Communion and its individual Churches of Homosexual Marriage, an evil that in my opinion that is causing us to meditate on Homosexuality and taking us from Christ and Church.</div>
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This is not a true contemplative activity as I understand it or have understood it. Contemplating on Homosexuality does not lead to unity with God. Taking a Poll on the matter is not of value and is silly in that area, too. Let us each turn to individual prayer as we are able, and to corporate prayer as we may be led and can believe in faith.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;">This homily added from Peter Menkin's YouTube page, upload July, 2009 to YouTube. It did not appear on the original comment, Church of England Newspaper, London.</span></div>
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</article></section>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-59154722761311762192016-01-22T04:23:00.000-08:002016-01-22T04:23:32.957-08:00<h2>
"Episcopal Church sanctioned by Primates’ Meeting" <br />Reprinted from Church of England Newspaper, London</h2>
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LIBERALS have been sanctioned by the Primates’ meeting in Canterbury in the ongoing row over homosexuality.<br />
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After part of the final communiqué was leaked the Primates’ Meeting organizers revealed that the Episcopal Church will face sanctions for its support for gay marriage.<br />
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This will mean that for a period of three years The Episcopal Church “no longer represent us on ecumenical and interfaith bodies, should not be appointed or elected to an internal standing committee and that while participating in the internal bodies of the Anglican Communion, they will not take part in decision making on any issues pertaining to doctrine or polity”.<br />
<br />
The statement said that they were acting because a change in the Episcopal Church’s canon on marriage (removing the requirement that it be between a man and a woman) was a “fundamental departure from the faith and teaching” held by the ‘majority’ of Provinces.<br />
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“The traditional doctrine of the church in view of the teaching of Scripture upholds marriage as between a man and a woman in faithful, lifelong union. The majority of those gathered reaffirm this teaching,” the statement said.<br />
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However, a task group will be formed by the Archbishop of Canterbury with the aim of restoring “relationships, the rebuilding of mutual trust, healing the legacy of hurt, recognising the extent of our commonality and exploring our deep differences, ensuring they are held between us in the love and grace of Christ.”<br />
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Although the statement appears to avert a split, there were questions because the Archbishop of Uganda said he had withdrawn from the meeting at the end of the second day.<br />
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Archbishop Stanley Ntagali said: “It seemed that I was being manipulated into participating in a long meeting with the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada without the necessary discipline being upheld.”<br />
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However, he added: “I have left the meeting in Canterbury, but I want to make it clear that we are not leaving the Anglican Communion.”<br />
<br />
The development sparked controversial reactions. Jayne Ozanne, who last weekend had organised an open letter calling on the Primates to apologise to gay Christians for the treatment they had received, said she was “deeply shocked” at the sanction.<br />
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She said the statement claims that ‘there is neither victor nor vanquished’. “This is false. Those whose lives will be most impacted are our LGBTI brothers and sisters around the world, of which the statement makes no mention. It is as if we do not even exist.”<br />
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She said that her letter, which was delivered to the Primates with over 100 signatures, now has over 4,500 signatures.<br />
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“There is no acknowledgement of the deep pain these decisions will cause, nor any concern for the pastoral care of LGBTI Christians,” she said.<br />
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As a result she predicted that gay Christians “will now perceive the Church as an oppressor rather than as a place of healing and grace. Lord have mercy on us.”<br />
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Chris Bryant, the Labour MP who is a gay Christian, was exasperated by the Primates’ decision and Tweeted: “I’ve finally given up on Anglican church today after its love-empty decision on sexuality. One day it will seem wrong as supporting slavery.”<br />
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But the sanctions were not satisfactory to Gafcon either. Peter Jensen, the former Archbishop of Sydney who is the general secretary of the movement said it was “inadequate.”<br />
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“It’s a good statement because it represents very, very clearly… that there is a widespread global disquiet with what has happened in the United States and in Canada and is happening elsewhere in the West.<br />
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“This represents something of a warning to Liberal-thinking Christians everywhere.”<br />
Although The Episcopal Church was sanctioned, there was no mention in the Primates’ statement about the Anglican Church of Canada.<br />
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<strong class="entry-title">Episcopal Church sanctioned by Primates’ Meeting</strong> added by <a class="author vcard" href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/author/admin" rel="author"><span class="fn">CEN</span></a> on <time class="published updated" datetime="15/01/2016T11:55">15/01/2016</time> <br /> </div>
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One Response to "<span>Episcopal Church sanctioned by Primates’ Meeting</span>" written by Peter Menkin </h2>
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<span class="comment-author"><i class="fa fa-user"></i> <cite class="fn"><a class="url" href="http://www.petermenkin.blogspot.com/" rel="external nofollow">Peter Menkin</a></cite> </span><span class="comment-date-link"><i class="fa fa-calendar"></i> 22/01/2016 at 07:54</span><span class="comment-date-link"> </span> </div>
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It seems to me that people quoted and commenting on the Sanctions in this story think the Sanctions are about being Homosexual. A story I am following tells me the Sanctions are about marriage in the American Episcopal Church, and its Prayer Book says marriage is between a man and woman. Significantly, that is what the 82 million Anglican Communion believes. American Episcopalians do not believe marriage is really between a man and a woman.<br />
I am finding they will not say so to me when as a journalist writing for Church of England Newspaper, London, for this is a quote from a Senior Law Partner who attends an Episcopal Parish in San Francisco’s Bay Area, and in a kind of rant told me off one day saying how marriage was okay in the Homosexual Way in the Parish he attended– and was a Vestryman.<br /> Regarding the recent actions by the Communion, he said nothing to me. It is like he and others take the wine and wafer but it doesn’t occur to any who do that they are in Communion with people other than their fellow friends who are Parishioners or go to their Country Club.<br />
I just received this note via email from him January 20, 2015, Thursday at my desk, which is in my apartment 6 miles north of San Francisco. His office is in deluxe quarters I would guess, in San Francisco. His carefully crafted note, that shows he lacks the Courage of His Convictions, if one asks me. It is clear he doesn’t like me, and especially questions about the Sanctions, and especially the subject of Homosexual Marriages in the Parish he attends and outside it where his own Rector Officiates.</div>
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Peter-<br />
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To be clear: (1) I do not recall discussing my private views regarding what you term “homosexual marriage” with you and to the best of my recollection the subject never was discussed in Vestry meetings when I was on the Vestry;<br />
<br />
(2) I do not wish to discuss my private views regarding this subject – with which you evidently have a fixation – with you in this or any other “forum”; <br />
<br />
(3) You do NOT have my permission to attribute views to me on this or any other subject, as I am not (nor do I wish to become) a public figure (i.e., I value my privacy); and <br />
<br />
(4) I will not respond to any further correspondence from you on this or any other subject; to ensure this, I am adding you to my “blocked senders” list, so please do not take my silence from this point forward as acquiescence in whatever else you may send my way, as I will be both unwilling and (if the technology works) unable to read it. <br />
<br />
I bear you no ill will, but simply do not wish to be “involved” in any way in your correspondence/campaign, whatever it is. <br />
<br />
Peace be with you.<br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
<br />
<br />
The matter at hand is not about Homosexuality, but more about Homosexual Marriage in the<br /> American Episcopal Church where it is endorsed and given an enthusiastic send off in Northern California. But especially it is a near beloved part of God’s gift to the Church and man in San Francisco’s Bay Area! Put directly, Homosexual Marriage in the Episcopal Church is God talking to man, not man battling or asking God of something special that getting is an impossibility<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
</article></section>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-53457405275340664552015-09-25T20:00:00.000-07:002015-09-25T20:14:44.478-07:00Is everyone Homosexual at Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, San Francisco? by Peter Menkin (No, they're Jewish!) says the writer...<div class="row">
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Is everyone Homosexual at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, San Francisco? </h1>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, San Francisco. The Synagogue is located at 290 Dolores St, San Francisco, CA 94103. Photographer unknown." class="size-full wp-image-41905" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Gay-Synagogue.jpg" height="305" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, San Francisco.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_41905" style="width: 1024px;"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"></figcaption></figure>
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<div style="text-align: right;">
<b> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Article by Peter Menkin</span></b></div>
<b><i> </i></b><b><i>Come celebrate Shabbat with
the queer liturgy from Siddur Sha’ar Zahav. Daven some Shabbat prayers
to your favorite Broadway showtunes and queer anthems. This festive
musical service will feature songs from our CSZ Chorus led by Cantor
Sharon Bernstein!</i></b><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<b>Led by </b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rabbi-Camille-Shira-Angel/297760376988088"><b>Rabbi Camille Shira Angel</b></a><b>, Cantor Sharon Bernstein</b></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<b> with special Drash by Rabbi Camille Shira Angel </b></div>
<br />
More than likely this reporter was wrong when he thought Attorney
Laura Lowe would talk much about the Reform Jewish Congregation Za’ar
Zahav where she was member and President of the Congregation. I spoke
with her in July by phone at her office long enough to learn some bare
bone matters of interest about what is a respectable collection of
congregants who had the intelligence, theological knowledge, and even
literary discipline to create their own Prayer Book for use in their
happy Jewish Congregation. This is really something of an unusual, if
not to say even formidable accomplishment. Well, I may be overpraising
them, but you get the idea they did a big and special job.<br />
To my way of counting, the Congregation was comprised primarily of
Homosexuals and Homosexual couples. President Laura Lowe said not so.<br />
<br />
<b>Their Rabbi at that time</b>, a woman who said she was
the first Lesbian Rabbi to lead this Jewish Congregation, encouraged the
group to write and publish the Prayer Book. She must have been more
than Coach, with a capital “C.” She must have been mentor, Tutor, and
certainly inspirational leader as the Rabbi to elicit this kind of work
from a “bunch” of Jews who probably were essentially<br />
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<br />
<figure class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_41913" style="width: 125px;"><img alt="In JWeekly, a newspaper in San Francisco’s Bay Area writes about the Jewish Community; this caption is about Rabbi Camile Angel. This writer found the JWeekly article about her arrival. She’d just arrived to be Rabbi of of Sha'ar Zahav Synagogue in San Francisco: "I try to excite people's curiosity and help them make Judaism exciting and relevant to their lives. This community seems eager and hungry to do so," she said. "I speak from the heart. And I think this community will be receptive to my heartfelt teaching." The article appeared 2009 in Jweekly, written by Aleza Goldsmith. ( http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/13650/minus-halo-angel-comes-to-s-f-to-become-rabbi-at-sha-ar-zahav/ ) Rabbi Camilla Shira Angel left Sha'ar Zahav Synagogue in 2015, having a tenure of 15 years. The Congregants of the Synagogue have been having a kind of celebration and thanks festivity about her service as Rabbi. The JWeekly newspaper website reported this in an article about the Rabbi’s leaving: There are a lot of warm, nostalgic feelings going around the San Francisco congregation as Angel says goodbye. She said the need to spend more time parenting her 13-year-old daughter and a desire to try something new spurred her decision to step down. Interim Rabbi Ted Riter will take over on July 1. Friends and colleagues look back on her tenure with admiration and gratitude. “When I first met her I thought she was a mensch, and I still think so,” said Al Baum, a longtime member of the predominantly LGBT Reform congregation. “There’s no pretense about her at all. She’s very straightforward, which to me is an asset.” JWeekly.com June 25, 2015 Thursday (Covers San Francisco) " class="size-full wp-image-41913" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BAangel_lgbtsiddur_small_size.jpg" height="180" width="125" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">JWeekly,
a newspaper in San Francisco’s Bay Area writes about the Jewish
Community; this caption is about Rabbi Camile Angel. This writer found
the JWeekly article about her arrival.<br />She’d just arrived to be Rabbi
of of Sha’ar Zahav Synagogue in San Francisco: “I try to excite
people’s curiosity and help them make Judaism exciting and relevant to
their lives. This community seems eager and hungry to do so,” she said.
“I speak from the heart. And I think this community will be receptive to
my heartfelt teaching.” The article appeared 2009 in Jweekly, written
by Aleza Goldsmith.<br />( http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/13650/minus-halo-angel-comes-to-s-f-to-become-rabbi-at-sha-ar-zahav/ )<br />Rabbi Camilla Shira Angel left Sha’ar Zahav Synagogue in 2015, having a tenure of 15 years.<br />The
Congregants of the Synagogue have been having a kind of celebration and
thanks festivity about her service as Rabbi. The JWeekly newspaper
website reported this in an article about the Rabbi’s leaving:<br />There
are a lot of warm, nostalgic feelings going around the San Francisco
congregation as Angel says goodbye. She said the need to spend more time
parenting her 13-year-old daughter and a desire to try something new
spurred her decision to step down. Interim Rabbi Ted Riter will take
over on July 1.<br />Friends and colleagues look back on her tenure with admiration and gratitude.<br />“When
I first met her I thought she was a mensch, and I still think so,” said
Al Baum, a longtime member of the predominantly LGBT Reform
congregation. “There’s no pretense about her at all. She’s very
straightforward, which to me is an asset.”<br />JWeekly.com June 25, 2015 Thursday (Covers San Francisco)</figcaption></figure>
possessing many real educations, skills, and professional careers. Of
course, and stay with me on all of this, their “official” Reform
Congregation was comprised mostly of Homosexuals.<br />
<br />
If one goes to the internet and finds YouTube, there a search on the
Synagogues name brings up many videos of the Congregation at prayer and
at meeting. Use this keyword: Za’ar Zahav . That is the name of the
Synagogue.<br />
<br />
I am sure it is because that is the name on the building,
that is the name on the website, and it is used many other places.
Anyway, it works on YouTube, and I am not being disrespectful.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, I am a little thin on some matters of news and fact
about this Synagogue that describes their location this way on their web
page:<br />
<br />
<i><b>Congregation Sha’ar Zahav</b>, the Congregation of
the Golden Gate, is a historically LGBTQ synagogue. We are a
progressive, diverse and participatory community that welcomes everyone
who wants to create a Judaism that reflects our lives. Please join us
for worship, learning and celebration at our home at the corner of
Dolores Street and 16th Street in San Francisco.</i><br />
<br />
I wrote an email to Laura Lowe requesting a second telephone
conversation. Mine of July 15, 2015 was answered in one line by Laura
Lowe: Please do not contact me again. <i>Your email and our phone conversation make me uncomfortable and I do not want you to contact me or Sha’ar Zahav staff again. </i><br />
<br />
She’d told me in our first and previous conversation at her office at
Old Republic Title Company, 275 Battery St Ste 1500, San Francisco, CA
94111 that the Congregation was diverse, and not all homosexuals. Laura
Susan Lowe, Real Estate attorney of 33 years also said that the
Congregation had 200 members. I am not sure how she phrased the make-up
of the Congregation, but it may have been more like this: “…Not just
Gay, but others, too.”<br />
<br />
Apparently, they are involved in an outreach to the Gay Community.
Though the Synagogue is not in the famous Homosexual neighborhood where
the Castro Movie Theatre is located, the Synagogue is in walking
distance of that theatre. So I was told by a staff member of the
Synagogue, since I was considering going to the Castro to review a film
at the 2015 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.<br />
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<b>The Festival website says</b>, “Following the Castro screening of <i>German Concentration Camps Factual Survey</i>, attendees are invited to attend a post-film discussion at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav led by <b>Morgan Blum-Schneider</b>,
Director of Education at the JFCS Holocaust Center…” I did not review
the film, nor go to the Castro to see it, unfortunately. The Film
Festival had many wonderful films, by the way, this year. I missed them
all!<br />
<br />
The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Public Relations people were unable to supply me with a short trailer of <i>German Concentration Camps Factual Survey</i>.
Here is a different film about German Concentration Camp activity and
their Jewish Holocaust. This one did not show at the Film Festival as
far as I know. I took it off YouTube, discovering the documentary there.
The JFCS Holocaust Center in San Francisco was not available to help
choose either film or trailer for this Church of England Newspaper
story. <b> </b><br />
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<b>Morgan Blum-Schneider</b>, Director of Education at the JFCS
Holocaust Center wrote in an email dated July 17, 2015 to this writer,
Peter Menkin, “My marketing department has requested that I decline an
interview with you.” I was unable to request a trailer or video on the
Holocaust. Hence, this YouTube video on the matter directed by Alfred
Hitchcock. It is titled, <i>An Alfred Hitchcock documentary on the Nazi Holocaust</i>.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qm3DORB835Y" width="560"></iframe>
The Prayer Book is an important part of their worship, if their website
is an indication, for it looks like it is used frequently by the
Congregation. Stay with me to read two selections from the Book. These
appeared on the website, and were not my choice, but that of Sha’ar
Zahav to show off the content and work on the book. The Synagogue’s
website is found here: <a href="http://shaarzahav.org/">http://shaarzahav.org/</a><br />
<br />
(The quotation from the Congregation’s website are from the Prayer
Book as selected by the Congregation. They are set off in Italics
below.)<br />
<br />
<i>This prayer – as well as many others which speak to broader
inclusion, LGBT awareness and the richness of our Jewish tradition – can
be found in Siddur Sha’ar Zahav, © 2009 Congregation Sha’ar Zahav.</i><br />
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<i>To secure your own copy, please go to <a href="http://www.shaarzahav.org/s">http://www.shaarzahav.org/s</a></i><br />
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<b><i>Siddur Sha’ar Zahav</i></b><b><i> is the first LGBT Prayer Book for every occasion.</i></b><br />
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<figure class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_41911" style="width: 150px;"><img alt="Congregation Sha’ar Zahav Prayer Book. The San Francisco Congregation wrote the book under direction and supervision of their Rabbi, Camille Shira Angel. Rabbi Angel spent 15 years at the Synagogue, and has just this July, 2015 month been replaced by Rabbi Ted." class="size-full wp-image-41911" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/siddur_photo_cover-150x150.png" height="150" width="150" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Congregation
Sha’ar Zahav Prayer Book. The San Francisco Congregation wrote the book
under direction and supervision of their Rabbi, Camille Shira Angel.
Rabbi Angel spent 15 years at the Synagogue, and has just this July,
2015 month been replaced by Rabbi Ted.</figcaption></figure>
<b><i>Siddur Sha’ar Zahav</i></b><b><i> includes services for Shabbat evening and morning, weeknights, and all the Jewish holidays.</i></b><br />
<i>Siddur Sha’ar Zahav</i><i> is the first truly 21st Century with:</i><br />
<ul>
<li><i> Reading on discovering your sexual orientation • Marriage
equality blessing • Blessings for non-traditional families •
Entirely new translations of ancient texts • Jewish poetry from all
over the world • New Prayers with LGBTQ themes • Prayers for
non-believers and agnostics • Transgender Day of Remembrance prayers
• Essays that re-imagine our most cherished texts • Commentaries
relating liturgy to our lives today</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
<i> </i><br />
<b><i>Congregation Sha’ar Zahav is a progressive Reform
synagogue, established in 1977, that honors and maintains our LGBTQ
culture and history.</i></b><br />
<i>—We create a Judaism that speaks to our lives. —We are
collaborative and participatory, cultivating a sense of ownership and
inclusiveness. —We are deeply rooted in lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and queer sensibilities. —We’re queer in all the most
interesting ways, bringing pride, passion, play and laughter to
everything we do. —We value l’dor vador – generation to generation. —We
are egalitarian. —We welcome the “other,” seeing the face of God,
b’tselem Elohim, in everyone. —We do not conform. —We are haimish
kehilla kedosha, a welcoming holy community. —We transform ourselves and
the world around us. —We are engaged in repairing the world. —We are
leaders. —We value civil discussion of disparate views. —We are
responsible for each other.</i><br />
<i>Congregation Sha’ar Zahav is a member of the Union for Reform Judaism </i><br />
<br />
<b>Regarding the Supreme Court Decision</b> to allow <u>Gay Marriage Across the Land</u>,
Sha’ar Zahav wanted its children to create and their special
celebration of this event that was so important and wonderful to this
Synagogue. The cry of Congregation leaders, or slogan if you will, was <b>Let’s </b><br />
<br />
<b>Celebrate Marriage Equality Across the Land! </b><br />
They had their children dance, or they let their children dance,
could also be said. This reporter assumed that almost all the children
were those of Homosexual couples. I could not confirm this because of
the forbidding nature of being denied access to the Synagogue or its
members.<br />
Of course, I did email their brand new Rabbi Ted, yet had no reply to
this day of Wednesday, July 29, 2015. Nor a phone call from him, or
anyone at the Synagogue. They did and do know a story was being written
about them for Church of England Newspaper, London. Their President,
Laura Lowe also knew of the story for Church of England Newspaper,
London. This is that story.<br />
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Sha'ar Zahav's reaction to the Supreme Court 5-4 decision in favor of love!
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ds1KPv3tt-o" width="560"></iframe>
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It appeared to me that the prayer below was important to the
Congregation. It comes from the Prayer Book created by the lay men and
women of the Synagogue and that Prayer Book was published 2009 by the
Synagogue. It is a beautiful book, judging by the picture on the
website. This quote of the prayer is also taken from the Synagogue
website. This reporter believes it is a good prayer for the simple
reason that it fits a Jewish sense of remembrance and concern for those
who came before them in their families, among their friends, as ones who
shared their faith. Note that in the United States of America Jews are
not considered a race.</div>
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<i>O God, remember today those members of our family who were
martyred in years past because of their sexual or gender identity: those
murdered by fanatics in the Middle Ages, those who perished in the
Holocaust, and those struck down in our own cities, in our own time.
Remember also those who took their own lives, driven to despair by a
world that hated them. And in mercy remember those who lived lives of
loneliness, repressing their true nature and refraining from sharing
their love with one another. O God, watch over the souls of these
beloved ones: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and help us bring an
end to hate and oppression of every kind.</i><br />
<br />
<i> </i>“This prayer was composed from an amalgamation of sources
in the earliest years of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, by members who
recognized the importance of remembering those for whom Kaddish may not
have been said.”<br />
<br />
“The phrase ‘in our own cities, in our own time’ was added in loving
memory of San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly
gay elected public official, immediately following his assassination on
November 27, 1978.”<br />
<br />
<b>When thinking about this prayer</b> as a prayer in a
prayer book, it seems to me that it is mostly a contemporary statement
and request that lacks a sense of the eternal. These are current
concerns, and they are to my way of thinking without a perspective of
the man-God relationship in time. In another words, to say what I think
in more popular terms, the matters about which people speak to God are
very current affairs—limited in their scope and sensibility.<br />
<br />
No matter. Everyone in tandem saying this prayer is speaking to God
and make their same request and similar dialogue of life, interest, and I
would guess entry into relationship with the almighty. Or so anyone
would hope of someone with an interest in attending legitimate worship
hopes. I’m even of a mind that starting a dialogue of any kind with
one’s idea of what is God is a good thing. But that is not what is what I
have to say about what I’ve seen of the Prayer Book. I’ve not seen one
in real-life. I did not get to visit the Synagogue. They would not allow
me to visit, if the reader recalls what was written earlier. They had
no hospitality for any possible visit by this reporter of any possible
kind. No one would talk to me by phone about the Prayer Book at
Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, San Francisco.<br />
As I looked through the Synagogue website, I saw this notation and it
fits here so well. It speaks to who wants to go to worship at, and be a
member of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav.<br />
<br />
<i>”</i><b> From the Membership Application…Who may be a member:</b><br />
<i>“Any person who accepts the purposes of this congregation who is
not an adherent of another faith, is eligible to join as a MEMBER OF THE
CONGREGATION.</i><br />
<br />
In Nazi Germany, Jews were considered a race. Hitler said Jews were a
race. He said there were Aryans and they were a race. Scientists argued
that there was no race known as Aryan. There is a Negro race. One can
trace their DNA through time into antiquity. The same for the Chinese.
There is no Homosexual Race, or Gay Race by this measure. There is a
Caucasian race. I am Caucasian. I am also white skinned. Having white
skin is not an indication of race in the scientific sense discussed
here. It certainly is an indication of race of one is talking about the
Aryan race as Hitler spoke of it, and as did his various cronies in hate
and interests in Satan. That is my understanding. If I am wrong, set me
straight.<br />
<br />
<b>There is no Jewish Race by this</b> scientific measure
of testing the blood, or understanding DNA. This argument about race
raged for decades into a kind of frenzy of hate and even murder, to say
nothing of war. In fact, the Americans with their allies built a peace
with the Germans on the subject of race and hate, winning World War II
unconditionally in a manner that began the final beginning of the end of
this insane belief of the Aryan nation and the Thousand year Reich of
Adolph Hitler.<br />
Apparently in the United States today this argument over race
continues, and the War of the States, or Civil War, continues to be
fought. There is a saying in the United States regarding the Civil War
that was won by Union Forces against a superior Army of fighting men,
and fine Generals and their soldiers of the Confederate Forces: One man
in our time in America might ask another in certain situations of
conflict over the kinds North-South issues like take down that
Confederate Flag, “Are you still fighting the Civil War?”; Or, “Are you
fighting the Civil War over again?”<br />
<br />
That war is long ended for this young American nation, and it is gone
to history. For some it was a war about race, and not really anything
to do with the freeing of the slaves. Not really; it is not about race
itself, not in a fuller sense of what the Civil War was fought about.<br />
<br />
<b>The flag of the Confederate Army</b> is being torn down
and even desecrated and hated. It is being destroyed, perhaps with the
hope it will be wiped from the historical memory of contemporary
Americans. So the war is fought over again, one could say. And it is not
a flag of the South. Nor was it really a war of race, but about
slavery, to a greater and greatest extent. Are we to forget the lessons
of why we fought this Civil War.Our hope is to end this war, and not
continue to fight it. We want to continue these united states. Here we
want the lessons of history, for the lessons of history always serve us
well, and we need them.<br />
<br />
Abraham Lincoln declared and spoke about the valor and ability of the
fine forces of the Confederacy from the White House lawn when Victory
was had by the Union Army in that war. So the radio says today, and that
is how I remember it from my earlier school days. It is sad that
Lincoln is not held in the kind of American historic esteem by Americans
as he was held, nor understood as a great unifier of the nation
anymore. The reasons for unification seem to be forgotten, or no longer
articulated.<br />
<br />
<b>To reiterate. A great many people</b> in the United
States want to fight the Civil War again and make people in the South
destroy their Confederate Army flags. “Take them down!” is a cry of the
Democrat, and the Liberal in another extreme act of politic division now
taking place. It is said this is a Black American movement for justice
and peace. And it is not just what are called African-Americans, who
were brought here as slaves and are Negroes who want this movement.<br />
<br />
<b>Jews are not a race, not in the United States</b>. We
fought a terrible Second World War where that was an important part of
the historic argument for that war against Hitler and his allies of hate
and Satan.<br />
<h5>
Nazi Concentration Camps Uncensored - Part 2
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OaRVKnpbsMo" width="560"></iframe> </h5>
<h5>
</h5>
<h5>
Dachau Concentration Camp</h5>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FMEkEGaDK6g" width="420"></iframe><br />
Dachau concentration camp (German: Konzentrationslager (KZ) Dachau)
was the first of the Nazi concentration camps opened in Germany,
intended to hold political prisoners. It is located on the grounds of an
abandoned munitions factory near the medieval town of Dachau, about 16
km northwest of Munich in the state of Bavaria, in southern Germany.
Opened in 1933 by Heinrich Himmler, its purpose was enlarged to include
forced labor, and eventually, the imprisonment of Jews, ordinary German
and Austrian criminals, and eventually foreign nationals from countries
which Germany occupied or invaded. It was finally liberated in 1945.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="posttags">
<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/tag/holocaust" rel="tag">Holocaust</a>, <a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/tag/homosexual" rel="tag">Homosexual</a>, <a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/tag/jewish" rel="tag">Jewish</a>, <a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/tag/laura-lowe" rel="tag">Laura Lowe</a>, <a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/tag/san-francisco" rel="tag">San Francisco</a>, <a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/tag/synagogue" rel="tag">Synagogue</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-81829073685834332782015-09-25T14:08:00.001-07:002015-09-25T14:09:54.807-07:00Reprint from Church of England Newspaper, London: "Abortion provider ‘is doing God’s work’" <div class="entry-content" itemprop="text">
LEADERS of the liberal wing of the Episcopal Church have defended America’s largest abortion provider, saying Planned Parenthood employees were engaged in “doing God’s work”.<br />
Planned Parenthood has come under sharp attack after videos were released last month showing leaders of the abortion provider offering for sale the body parts of aborted babies.<br />
To date, 12 states and two committees in the US House of Representatives have launched investigations into the practises of Planned Parenthood, seeking to determine if the organisation broke US law and potentially placing continued government funding of the organisation in jeopardy.<br />
Last week the Planned Parenthood Clergy Advocacy Board denounced what it called the “politically motivated, heavily edited, and secretly recorded” videos released by the California-based organisation Center for Medical Progress (CMP).<br />
The videos show Planned Parenthood officials discussing compensation for the potential sale of tissues from aborted pregnancies.<br />
“As faith leaders committed to justice, honesty, and liberty, we are troubled by the decades-long campaign of harassment against Planned Parenthood and those they serve,” the clergy statement reads.<br />
“Our faiths demand care for those marginalised by poverty and other oppressions. Faith leaders have supported Planned Parenthood for nearly 100 years because of our shared goals: every person — regardless of income, race, or religion — deserves access to safe, affordable, high-quality health care.”<br />
The letter from the Advocacy Board, whose vice-chair is the Rev Susan Russell of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, a prominent lesbian activist within the Church, said: “Our religious traditions call us to offer compassion, not judgment.”<br />
It noted: “People who work for Planned Parenthood give care and respect to those in need, doing God’s work. For this we are grateful.”</div>
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One Response to "Abortion provider ‘is doing God’s work’" by Peter Menkin </h3>
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<li class="comment byuser comment-author-pmenkin even thread-even depth-1" id="li-comment-146121"><div class="comment_container" id="comment-146121">
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<span class="comment-author"><i class="fa fa-user"></i> <cite class="fn"><a class="url" href="http://www.petermenkin.blogspot.com/" rel="external nofollow">Peter Menkin</a></cite> </span><span class="comment-date-link"><i class="fa fa-calendar"></i> 20/08/2015 at 13:23 <a class="comment-edit-link" href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-admin/comment.php?action=editcomment&c=146121">Edit</a> </span> </div>
This is a link to another of the investigative journalism project videos that are saying that Planned Parenthood is selling fetus body parts to make money. This is only one part of the ugly practices of Planned Parenthood documented on video in this series that has perhaps ten more videos to offer. Bear with me. We’ll get to that video after some more words of comment and introduction.<br />
A Court in the United States is requiring the investigative journalistic group The Center for Medical Progress to stop their activities of investigating and showing any of their videos, or so I understand it.<br />
This link takes one to a recent video being offered. I found it on my Facebook page, posted by a Pastor who has a small Church on the East Coast, I believe. <br />
Steve Sorenson is the Pastor’s name. The video title is, “Human Capital – Episode 3: Planned Parenthood’s Custom Abortions for Superior Product.” Though for me, this is a compelling video that I find more than shocking, and really too graphic for my tastes. <br />
I do get what they are doing through the medical and scientific talk. It appears they have women abort their babies when they are too far along so to get their more favorable body parts that are worth more money. <br />
This is against the law in the United States of America, as I understand it. It is also so terribly ugly, and for me, a kind of murder. For others, it is murder of an unborn child. That is how late some of these abortions are going, it appears. In any event, the fetus is frequently too far along, whether I am right or wrong about it being an unborn child by some standards that are the accepted legal ones. But their being too far along as an abortion may be too far along legally, too. <br />
Without doubt, this is bad business and immoral activity by Planned Parenthood.<br />
This link goes to the video on YouTube.<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/FzMAycMMXp8" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/FzMAycMMXp8</a> <br />
Pastor Sorensen asks that Mature Viewers only view this video. It is certainly not for children. He asks that those who view it be Mature Viewers in the Facebook post on my Facebook page. That is my comment on The Reverend Susan Russell’s statement that she and the Episcopal Church are, “…As faith leaders committed to justice, honesty, and liberty..” This does not seem so, and their moral compass is out of whack. <br />
Those committed in the manner they state will at the least hold serious reservations on the acts of Planned Parenthood in regard to these immoral abortions they are performing, and the highly questionable fact that they sell fetus body parts for a lot of money to make a profit on their medical work that purports to help pregnant women. This is a nice sideline for Planned Parenthood, selling fetus body parts. That’s what the Center for Medical Progress is reporting.<br />
In short, Planned Parenthood is an immoral body. They involve themselves in the creation of and activities that perform results and their tasks that are grisly and so much against human dignity These are not Christian acts.<br />
These awful acts on woman and the fetus taken from the women, even in the manner of their medical work removing fetus cross the line way far into the illegal, are perhaps even criminal, and to some people’s moral sensibility evil. Dare I say the work of the Devil. We hope to be wrong.<br />
Decadent is another word that can be used, in this case, about select leaders participating in these activities who are with Planned Parenthood and buying fetal body parts. The same for those with the companies buying those parts.<br />
These horrible facts of the grisly developing in so many way to facilitate in the buying and selling of fetal body parts is what the undercover, investigative videos are telling viewers. The videos show Planned Parenthood executives talking about these activities, and making deals on the sale of fetal body parts. Some are Medical Doctors. Many Physicians have knowledge of these horrible activities of harvesting human beings for sale in this disgusting manner. I wonder if these man say they are Christian. God help them.<br />
Up to now these videos have been secret in their making and subject. Now they have been released to the public. I have viewed a good number of them through press stories on the internet. I guess millions of others have done the same.<br />
My remarks here have been influenced by what I have seen as reported in them. And on hearing news reports about both the investigative journalists and Planned Parenthood people speaking to the matters at hand. I’ve watched these people talk on these manners on news programs.<br />
The Reverend Russell and her Committee she leads of the Episcopal Church in this question at hand has been listening to and responding to some other spirit than that of goodness. How disappointing and even tragic. I pray not; do we not all.<br />
Please note this video titled, ” is, Undercover Video Shows Planned Parenthood Executive…” It appears in this recent Washington Post story at its top.<br />
This website finds the story in question in The Washington Post of July 14, 2015: <a href="http://wapo.st/1O4z9tJ" rel="nofollow">http://wapo.st/1O4z9tJ</a> <br />
The video “…that allegedly shows a Planned Parenthood executive talking about selling fetal organs…requires a cautionary note that this is a Graphic Video.<br />
It like the others is another video produced and released by The Center for Medical Progress, a relatively new non-profit in Irvine, California USA. This is their website: <a href="http://www.centerformedicalprogress.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.centerformedicalprogress.org/</a> <br />
The Center for Medical Practice who says they are Citizen Journalist has many detractors regarding the merits of their journalism, who say their videos are a fake, and distorted in many ways. <br />
These detractors in opposition to their reports and viewpoint are respectable, even powerful and authoritative people in some cases. One might even say, The Center puts out deliberately distorted videos that are more propaganda than reporting of an undercover or investigative journalistic kind. So the people who are detractors say. Though I haven’t heard this said of The Center, it is understandable that they find their work as journalists simply bad journalism. <br />
The videos may be more than bad journalism, Planned Parenthood recently charged. The Washington Post of August 27, 2015 reports in a headline reading in part, “Videos deceptively edited…” The article reports that Planned Parenthood told Congress, the videos were heavily edited and unreliable. Planned Parenthood claims the activists from the Center for Medical Progress of acting “fraudulently and unethically — and perhaps illegally.” The article by Sandhya Somashekhar reports that Planned Parenthood’s letter by its President Cecile Richards “…was accompanied by a 10-page report commissioned by Planned Parenthood…” The report is <a href="http://ppfa.pr-optout.com/ViewAttachment.aspx?EID=mr9WXYw4u2IxYnni1dBRVk3HDyuhhkPMnFMCvK5fVC8%3d" rel="nofollow">here</a>: The Washington Post article is found <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/videos-deceptively-edited-planned-parenthood-tells-congress/2015/08/27/5633612c-4cdd-11e5-902f-39e9219e574b_story.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>.<br />
Here is what I found was said by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. In this video. it is pointed out the Center for Medical Practice makes the entire video available to anyone who asks for it. This is an unedited video. They also have a full transcript of their investigation for each video available. The report in The Washington Post that says a group finds the edited version of the videos deceptively edited neglects to tell us these facts. The video by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is an interview with National Right to Life President Carol Tobias.<br />
<strong>NRLC President discusses undercover Planned Parenthood Videos</strong><br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/eFGsnss1Lq8" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/eFGsnss1Lq8</a> <br />
But then, most of their critics do not consider what they do journalism. They probably believe they don’t want abortion clinics, or Planned Parenthood to be in business. It would not be fair to fail in noting this fact or some of the other facts and viewpoints on the Center and their videos by their detractors and critics. <br />
This is what this man believes who is writing this comment on the article. I believe the videos show an awful truth. View the few matters of observation and opinion I note here, and I think you’ll be shocked, and more than appalled by this business by me critical of the conclusion taken by the Episcopal Church in the USA Committee and in specific by the Reverend Susan Russell on the matter of the Planned Parenthood failures.<i></i><i></i><i></i><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-71469257466054233092014-09-13T19:19:00.001-07:002014-09-13T19:19:13.622-07:00Interview: Scholar Gerard Magill on Surrogacy of Duquesne University--is it okay to have a baby the artificial way...<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_38681" style="width: 310px;">
<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Gerard-Magill-1-2014.jpg"><img alt="Professor Gerard Magill, noted scholar and knowledgeable on surrogacy: "I was Department Chair at St. Louis University and after ten years stood down and Duquesne University invited me to hold the very prestigious Vernon S. Gallagher Chair. It is for the integration of science, theology, philosophy and law." That is why it is so prestigious and Doctor Magill has expertise in his academic achievement in all four areas. He is advanced academically and quite accomplished." class="size-medium wp-image-38681" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Gerard-Magill-1-2014-300x198.jpg" height="198" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><noscript><img class="size-medium wp-image-38681" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Gerard-Magill-1-2014-300x198.jpg" alt="Professor Gerard Magill, noted scholar and knowledgeable on surrogacy: "I was Department Chair at St. Louis University and after ten years stood down and Duquesne University invited me to hold the very prestigious Vernon S. Gallagher Chair. It is for the integration of science, theology, philosophy and law." That is why it is so prestigious and Doctor Magill has expertise in his academic achievement in all four areas. He is advanced academically and quite accomplished." width="300" height="198" /></noscript></a><br />
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Professor Gerard Magill, noted scholar and knowledgeable on surrogacy: “I was Department Chair at St. Louis University and after ten years stood down and Duquesne University invited me to hold the very prestigious Vernon S. Gallagher Chair. It is for the integration of science, theology, philosophy and law.” That is why it is so prestigious and Doctor Magill has expertise in his academic achievement in all four areas. He is advanced academically and quite accomplished.</div>
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<div style="text-align: right;">
<b></b><br />
<b> by Peter Menkin</b></div>
This is an article-interview with Professor Gerard Magill by Peter Menkin. Dr. Magill is a man of intellect and academic achievement. The Doctor is not a priest as is sometimes noted on the internet, but he is a professor at the Duquesne University, Pennsylvania. The University is a Roman Catholic University. Dr. Magill is a practicing Roman Catholic, and he attends weekly worship. He is married and has been for ten years. He speaks with a Scottish accent<br />
In this article-interview, Peter Menkin spoke with Professor Gerard Magill from his office in his home in Mill Valley, California north of San Francisco with the Professor in his home office in Pennsylvania. They talked for an aggregate of about an hour by phone. Their subject was surrogacy. Dr. Magill provides answers to written questions sent in advance and gives his opinions. In an earlier conversation in background given to Religion Writer Peter Menkin by phone, Dr. Magill said, and I paraphrase here:<br />
<br />
<i>I started in the field of Catholic moral theology and then moved to bio ethics when I began to grow in the academy. The field is 30 years old, and I started in 1987 in the United States. I did my undergraduate degree and Masters degree at Gregorian University, Rome, and Doctorate at Edinburough University Scotland.</i><br />
<br />
The field developed because of end of life issues and research ethics in medicine. (The Quinlen Case caught my interest as it appeared in the Supreme Court of New Jersey in 1976; it was then that it became a major issue and a pivotal matter that I had been working on for years prior to that event.) Surrogacy and its various ramifications, including the legal cases were an intellectual matter with Dr. Magill, not personal or private matters with him.<br />
<br />
<i>I was Department Chair at St. Louis University and after ten years stood down and Duquesne University invited me to hold the very prestigious Vernon S. Gallagher Chair. It is for the integration of science, theology, philosophy and law.</i> That is why it is so prestigious and Doctor Magill has expertise in his academic achievement in all four areas. He is advanced academically and quite accomplished.<br />
<br />
Dr. Magill opened the first department in bio-ethics in the United States at St. Louis University in 1996. He was born in Scotland and became a United States Citizen about 15 years ago.<br />
Readers will note that question four is highlighted by Gene Koprowski’s statement on the Biblical figure Abraham. The Reverend Gene’s view of that Genesis figure is an opinion on Abraham’s relationship with Hagar who carried and gave birth to Abraham’s child as a surrogate is the point of the highlight. Professor Magill takes the Ukranian Orthodox Priest and Medical Doctor Gene Koprowski’s analysis of Abraham’s surrogacy from the Bible into account and comments on it in his answer to question four. Gene Koprowski is also a noted journalist and was invited to add this question to broaden the perspective of questions for Professor Magill, adding one posed for him from the Bible. Gene Koprowski confirms this statement regarding his background: . “I am an Eastern Orthodox priest — on the synod of bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in fact, soborna.org . Of course I am here in the USA!!!”<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>INTERVIEW ON SURROGACY WITH DR. GERARD MAGILL BY PETER MENKIN</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><b>A popular notion is that people today want perfect children. To do this they will go to extreme lengths, usually scientific and expensive. For reasons beyond this writer’s imagination, this practice is linked to artificial surrogacy, where a baby is bought and the pregnancy created by artificial insemination. Part of the contract for birth, is that the child be “perfect.” My question: Is this part of the pursuit for the perfect baby, and why is it that these adults don’t look for love of child but the “Maserati” of the perfect thing that a baby can be? </b></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
Typically, surrogacy is used to deal with problems of infertility, the problem between a husband and wife, a couple living together whether heterosexual or homosexual. Surrogacy is typically not used to have a perfect baby. It is incapable of genomic manipulation, which is involved with designer babies. Surrogacy like any other form of Invitro fertilization (IVF), which permits the potential parents to pick a healthy baby. That is a baby without specific disease traits. The debate on designer babies is a different debate. The lay person confuses the argument on designer babies with the debate on surrogacy.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><b>Is it that the world, which means Northern Europe and the developed nations mostly, find baby buying and womb renting both immoral and illegal linked to their religious sensibilities or is it that they just are different from Americans? It is America that European homosexuals with money flock to so they can have a surrogate who will get them a baby for a price. Here the high price for carrying a baby to term for pay is $47,000, so sources like Google report. But mostly, is it that the major developments of technological and scientific boom in the ability to artificially impregnate women and have them successfully carry a child to term has created this “big” business of baby selling in America? By the way it is forbidden in most of the world outside America, says The New York Times.</b></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
The practice of surrogacy is a global phenomenon that is not restricted merely to the United States. Jurisdictions and nations typically adopt one of three positions. First outright prohibition. Second, legalized surrogacy without payment, but with expense reimbursement. Number three, legalized surrogacy with expense reimbursement and legalized payment for services. To use the metaphors of baby buying and womb rental, do not convey the complex decisions that responsible parents make when they are infertile. Indeed, the debate on payment and reimbursement is important, but it should not be used to defame responsible decision makers. The fundamental criterion is an infertile couple wants a baby and medical science enables them to have a baby. The debate defending surrogacy is primarily about honorable couples having a baby not about corruption and money.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><b>Tell us how a woman can artificially have a child by a man, whether he is married, single, homosexual partnered or by himself. Does the woman need a living man?</b></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
This question<span style="text-decoration: line-through;">s</span> gets to the question of surrogacy. Those who oppose surrogacy make several arguments. Surrogacy tends towards commodification of the child. The child tends towards becoming a product. Secondly, surrogacy also becomes a problem of exploitation of the surrogacy of the mother. That is the exploitation of poor women in poor countries being exploited for surrogacy. The next reason deals with the contracting of a human body such as occurs in prostitution or slavery. Another problem is called fertility tourism, where first world countries go to third world countries in large numbers for surrogacy. Finally, there is the question of the surrogate mother <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">of</span> keeping the child or having an abortion. So it raises the question of retaining the child or having an abortion. Despite all these problems there are occasions when surrogacy appears to be justified. For example, unwanted embryos in cryopreservation tanks in fertility clinics can be rescued and be given life by a surrogate mother opting for early adoption. That is a situation of rescue ethics that can justify surrogacy. This shows that surrogacy can be justified in some cases. In other words this is not a simple problem. This is secular ethics and religious ethics.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><b>In Genesis, Abraham has a child with Hagar who carries his son as a surrogate mother successfully. Why is this acceptable in society, perhaps in some ways even in our contemporary world, yet buying a baby from a surrogate mother is not? That would be a mother who is impregnated naturally, not through scientific methods artificially, and carried to natural birth through natural pregnancy. Yes, one must qualify the form of successful pregnancy in our scientific world, and I emphasize that in my question the mother who is this surrogate carries the child through birth by means of impregnation by the real father who with his wife will keep the child. I say again they pay the surrogate for the baby and the rental of her womb. She is not just stuck with sperm artificially, though this is done, too. This is America, and babies are bought many ways scientific, mostly. </b></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
Here is Gene Koprowski’s answer to the question: A number of Jewish interpretive, or midrash, stories present Hagar as someone who was worthy to live in Abraham and Sarah’s home because her father (the Pharaoh of Egypt) acknowledged the existence of the Lord. Hagar would bear children to Abraham and was herself a princess. She was a good match for the father of the Israelite nation. She, what is more, was suited to be the mother of Ishmael, from whom twelve chieftains would issue in accord with the divine promise in Gen. 17:20.<br />
Sarah set Hagar’s fate: to whom she would be married; and when she would be sent away from the house. Gen. 16:2: “Consort with my maid; perhaps I shall have a son [or: I shall be built up] through her.”<br />
The Rabbis deduced from this that anyone who is childless is like a ruined house that must be rebuilt. Abraham heeded Sarah’s advice and accepted her spirit of divine inspiration (<i>Gen. Rabbah</i>45:2).<br />
This was acceptable, as it was not seen as the “buying of a baby,” per your question. Sarah sanctioned the union at that time. Hagar was already part of the family, so to speak, as she, per interpretive tradition, was part of Sarah’s dowry upon her marriage to Abraham.<br />
The Torah’s description of Hagar’s impregnation (Gen. 16:4) notes, “He cohabited with Hagar and she conceived.”<br />
This was no commercial surrogacy transaction. They lived together. She was part of the household, a very religious household that spoke with angels all the time. When Hagar encountered the angel of the Lord, he informed her (Gen. 16:11): “Behold, you are with child and shall bear a son.”<br />
Sarah and Abraham were seeking to fulfill the covenant of Genesis 16: 7-16 with the birth of this child. This was years before Sarah herself conceived and had Isaac.<br />
<br />
Several points need to be made regarding the story of Hagar. First, in so far as Hagar gave birth outside of marriage in a manner that the Old Testament approved, it becomes clear that Scripture should not be simply applied to modern day. In other words, typically Scripture has to be interpreted within Church tradition today. And most churches do not interpret Scripture in a literal manner. Number two. This means that we cannot simply apply the story of Hagar to the issue of surrogacy today. Number three. However lessons can be learned from the story of Hagar. Most especially, it appears that the Hagar story suggests a broader view of procreation than merely restricting to husband and wife and natural intimacy. Last point. The story of Hagar can inspire a more positive view of families using surrogacy, to have children. In other words, the Hagar story cautions us against too quickly condemning surrogacy. So the final point is, just as with the Hagar story, there may be forms of surrogacy today that are permittable.<br />
Just as the Hagar story cannot be literally interpreted to guide morality, similarly, contemporary concepts or practices like commercial surrogacy cannot be superimposed upon Old Testament stories.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><b>I am glad you took the time to talk with us about surrogacy, Professor. I am sure readers would like to know what we may have missed. So if you have something additional to add, please add it here. And thank you again for allowing us to make your acquaintance.</b></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
In summary, there are many complex problems with surrogacy that make it unacceptable to many. Nonetheless, there are specific situations where surrogacy appears justified. For example, to rescue frozen embryos as a form of early adoption in a loving family.<br />
<br />
<b>Duquesne University video</b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/A6nQcdiCweI" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-67943788947342893962014-07-14T01:59:00.001-07:002014-07-14T01:59:59.711-07:00Interview: Atheist talks about religion and God with Peter Menkin--Todd Stiefel answers questions for an hour....<span style="font-size: large;"><strong><em>An Atheist is someone who is often misunderstood. It is a person who does not believe in God or Gods. It does not mean we believe in Satan. We do not believe in him either. We are not claiming that we know that God does not exist. Atheism is not a knowledge claim. Atheism is simply a belief claim. Where other religions do not believe in millions of Gods, we do not believe in millions of Gods plus one.</em></strong></span><br />
<br />
Interview: Prominent American Atheist Todd Stiefel talks with Peter Menkin about religion and God <br />
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<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_38433" style="width: 245px;">
<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ToddStiefelPic.jpg"><img alt="Todd Stiefel, American Atheist" class="size-medium wp-image-38433" data-lazy-loaded="true" height="300" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ToddStiefelPic-235x300.jpg" style="display: inline;" width="235" /><noscript>&lt;img class="size-medium wp-image-38433" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ToddStiefelPic-235x300.jpg" alt="Todd Stiefel, American Atheist" width="235" height="300" /&gt;</noscript></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
Todd Stiefel, American Atheist</div>
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<div style="text-align: right;">
<strong>by Peter Menkin</strong></div>
It appears atheists and other flavors of non-believers are becoming more organized and louder in their voices of criticism of God and religion in America. This is a taste of one group so representative of that phenomenon, one well publicized and known to this writer. The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science and other secular groups have joined together to form a new coalition called <em>Openly Secular. </em>In this interview with coalition Chair, Todd Stiefel, we learn about Mr. Stiefel’s personal stance on religion, atheism and his own sense of the secular as it relates to his atheism. Prior to the interview with Todd Stiefel I had the privilege of speaking to him by phone in private for an hour on the matter of his beliefs and about his organization. He was forthcoming and detailed in that phone conversation. In the interview for publication he says this about the mission of his coalition.<br />
“Our mission is to eliminate discrimination and increase acceptance by getting atheists, freethinkers, agnostics, humanists and all nonreligious people to be open about their beliefs,” says Todd Stiefel, Chair for the Openly Secular coalition and founder of the Stiefel Freethought Foundation. “By being open about our beliefs and values, we can show that we, like all people, are worthy of love and kindness undeterred by religious differences.” He has given in excess of a half million dollars to the organization of his movement according to CNN news.<br />
The interview by phone was held in two segments from Religion Writer Peter Menkin’s office North of San Francisco in Mill Valley, California to Todd Stiefel’s home in the South of the United States. It lasted more than a total of an hour in length.<br />
<br />
<strong>INTERVIEW WITH ATHEIST TODD STIEFEL BY RELIGION WRITER PETER MENKIN</strong><br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>What is an Atheist? Not everyone knows that an atheist is a believer of a kind and that he or she has views about religion—in this case for our interview, Christianity. Will you speak to this?</strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
An Atheist is someone who is often misunderstood. It is a person who does not believe in God or Gods. It does not mean we believe in Satan. We do not believe in him either. We are not claiming that we know that God does not exist. Atheism is not a knowledge claim. Atheism is simply a belief claim. Where other religions do not believe in millions of Gods, we do not believe in millions of Gods plus one.<br />
Our beliefs are based on reason, logic, and evidence. Our values include love, compassion and honesty. In terms of views about Christianity, different Atheists have different views about Christianity. Almost all of us share, there is not a God and Jesus was not a God. We believe that Jesus did not rise from the dead. We would agree, most of us would agree, in his methods of having the Golden Rule and loving your neighbor.<br />
I think for the most part, just like a Christian we would see a strong urge of compassion if we saw a puppy hurt. Or just like a Christian we would feel a sense of awe and wonder of seeing a sunset over the ocean. I would say that when Christians and Atheists get to know each other, we find we have more in common than we have differences. It’s so very true.<br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>I know your organization of which you are leader encompasses a number of groups. Tell us of their interests, in a thumbnail. Does the name of your organization tell us its purpose: Stiefel Free thought Foundation? Or is that just one of the groups in coalition with a larger parent group?</strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
The project I’m working on now, that is called Openly Secular…People Free thought Foundation is just one of many partners. The coalition wouldn’t be considered an umbrella or a parent group. Openly secular is an alliance of organizations that are standing behind a common mission. The mission to illuminate discrimination and increase acceptance by getting secular people to be open about their beliefs. Our alliance currently has 30 groups ranging from Atheist groups to Humanist groups and from Secular Jewish organization to Civil Liberties organizations. Easily 100s of thousands of members are represented by these groups.<br />
<br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>What I know of the state of Christianity in America is that we live in a post-Christian era. How would you describe the current state of Christianity in America and how do you come to that conclusion?</strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
First, I wouldn’t consider ourselves to be in a Post Christian era. This has never been a Christian nation. But it always has been a Christian majority nation. That hasn’t changed. Based on Pew and Gallup data, Christianity is alive and well in America—even though the non-religious segment is becoming a large minority. I personally think this is because…for many reasons..the internet is providing access to questions and answers as never before in history. In the past, if you had doubts, typically you’d get your answer from your pastor and the Bible, which tended to confirm each other. Now, we have available, other opinions that don’t always agree with traditional dogma.<br />
From what I’m seeing, Christianity in America is segmenting into different camps. On one side the vast majority of Christians are loving, tolerant people. There is a very vocal Christian, fundamentalist minority in America. These fundamentalists want to strip gay people of their rights, deny children proper scientific education, and deny women comprehensive health care. I believe that the moderate Christians have far more in common with the non-religious in these matters.<br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>I assume the Bible is not a book your group recommends for holy reading, but do you recommend it as literature and as part of the Western canon of culture? That is, do you believe it should be on an educated man’s reading list in any manner to know the Old Testament stories of Abraham, or even the story of the death of Christ depicted in the New Testament?</strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<strong> </strong><br />
No we don’t take any book as scripture. We don’t take any book as completely true just because someone tells us it is supposed to be. But many of us do see it as a fascinating piece of literature. As a matter of fact, when my kids were little I would read them children’s Bibles. I thought it was valuable for them to know the stories, either famous stories worth knowing. Biblical references have become part of our language. While I don’t agree with all of the lessons on the Bible, such as passages advocating genocide and those against gay people, I do find that most of Jesus’ lessons are valuable. My kids commented on it and I remember with one story on Noah with the flood, after the flood God promises day will follow night will follow day. My son stopped me and said and that’s not possible, I have evidence and flips back to Genesis and where God had already created the sun and the moon. I found that to be quite fascinating.<br />
<br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>Were you yourself once a man of faith and how did you leave your Church? What Church did you attend?</strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<strong> </strong><br />
I never went to Church too often. My parents made me go to Church. I was a staunch Catholic. I didn’t believe in the infallibility of the Pope, but I definitely believed in God. I even wore a crucifix in a chain around my neck. I did that with sincerity. That said, I always had doubts and while I believed, something didn’t always make total sense. For example, even as a cross wearing Catholic, I thought the story of Adam and Eve was silly. When I really moved beyond being a Catholic was in college. I took a course in Old Testament History at Duke University. There’s nothing like learning the history of the Bible to help you realize it is not true. In particular learning of the influences of Pagan myths on the Bible itself, made realize that the Bible was no different from any other religion or any other scripture. I came to realize that my God was younger than the pyramids. After that class I considered myself an Agnostic and it took another decade for me to realize I was a fullfledged Atheist as well.<br />
You ask me why is Adam and Eve silly: Eve as a kid I didn’t believe women were created from the rib of a man, or further that there was ever a talking snake whose mission was to take us from acquiring knowledge from a tree. I definitely did not take it literally, and neither should the rest of it. I thought it was a terrible lesson. Even as an allegory it was a bad moral lesson. The lesson that God doesn’t want you to want knowledge, that God wants you to be ignorant is a poor lesson.<br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>Thank you for your time and allowing us to make your acquaintance. If there is anything we’ve left out that you want to add at this time, please do so now. </strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<strong> </strong><br />
The last thing I want to cover is why the Openly Secular Campaign is important. Our mission is to illuminate discrimination and increase acceptance by getting secular people to be open about their beliefs. We want to humanize the non-religious. We want people to realize that we are everywhere. We’re your friends, your neighbors, and many even in your family. We’re everyday people and some of us are celebrities. We’re even in the U.S. Congress. Though they are afraid to admit it for fear of discrimination from voters. For example, Barney Frank came out as gay while in Congress and waited till 26 years later and became open as an atheist shortly after his retirement from politics. The reality is that the discrimination is strong. Recent Pew data found that 53% of Americans were less likely to vote for a candidate if they were atheists.<br />
In addition, 49% said, they would be unhappy if an atheist married into their family. The number was only 11%, thankfully, for someone of a different race. With data like this, it is clear that we have a lot of work to do to change the perception of non-religious Americans.<br />
We at Openly Secular are going to try our best to illuminate discrimination and prejudice. We don’t have to agree.<br />
END INTERVIEW<br />
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One Response to <em>Interview: Prominent American Atheist Todd Stiefel talks with Peter Menkin about religion and God</em> </h3>
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<img alt="avatar" class="avatar avatar-40 avatar-default" data-lazy-loaded="true" height="40" src="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/ff26698111ec13842d763afa9d9ddde6?s=40&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D40&r=G" style="display: block; height: 40px; width: 40px;" width="40" /><noscript>&lt;img src="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/ff26698111ec13842d763afa9d9ddde6?s=40&amp;amp;d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D40&amp;amp;r=G" class='avatar avatar-40 avatar-default' height='40' width='40' style='width: 40px; height: 40px;' alt='avatar' /&gt;</noscript> </div>
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<cite class="fn">Terry Peck</cite> <span class="reply"></span> </div>
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06/07/2014 at 00:21 </div>
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Interesting, informative explanation of the atheist. Thanks for the interview</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-29335426319815370132014-06-05T18:35:00.000-07:002014-06-06T07:45:43.730-07:00Transgender artist Justin Tanis speaks about the artist's experience and the religious experience...he of Graduate Theological Union<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2m0-4L1SWPM/U5EV3vhSRuI/AAAAAAAAJiw/qL1ubg3WuTE/s1600/PacSchRlgn-JustinTanis-May2014_TLPeck004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2m0-4L1SWPM/U5EV3vhSRuI/AAAAAAAAJiw/qL1ubg3WuTE/s1600/PacSchRlgn-JustinTanis-May2014_TLPeck004.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Justin Tanis (left) greets Religion Writer Peter Menkin<br />
at Pacific School of Religion 30 May, 2014</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> <strong>by Peter Menkin</strong></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Both teacher and artist, Justin Tanis is a man who
was once a woman. That is he is a transgender man. Or rather, a public
transgender man who here will speak of the religious and artistic experience.
He is doing this by writing his response to three questions posed to him in
Word, in writing. He responds in a manner emphasizing the social action side of
the religious experience as it enters the political realm. This seems in line
with the tastes and general viewpoint of Pacific School of Religion and even San
Francisco Bay Area’s sense of religious experience as expressed in their world.
Homosexuality is a widely popular theme in the San Francisco Bay Area and
Justin mirror’s its popularity in his statement.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">It seems to him unnecessary to mention he is transgender
for this piece since it deals with the artistic experience, but this Religion
Writer believes that his is a public stance as transgender and so as it is a
necessary component of his public persona and purpose it is mentioned here with
verve, by quoting from this statement from his official biography published by Berkeley,
California’s Graduate Theological Union. Dr. Justin Tanis teaches at the
Pacific School of Religion, part of The Graduate Theological Union located in
San Francisco’s Bay Area in Northern California. The Statement:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Justin earned his M.Div. degree at Harvard Divinity School
and his Doctor of Ministry degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary. His
dissertation was published in 2003 by Pilgrim Press as Transgendered: Ministry,
Theology, and Communities of Faith and was a finalist for a Lambda Literary
Award that year. That book was also the first in the CLGS book series. He has
also contributed chapters to the Queer Bible Commentary and Take Back the Word:
A Queer Reading of the Bible. An artist and photographer, Justin has had a
lifelong passion for the arts. His scholarly interests include the theology
expressed by LGBT visual artists, which is the focus of his PhD studies here at
the GTU. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Justin has served congregations in
Boston, Honolulu, and San Francisco and spent nine years as a denominational
executive, coordinating leadership and educational programs in twenty-two
countries. He has brings with him a long history with grassroots activism,
including ACT-UP and Queer Nation in the 1980s and serving as spokesperson and
media coordinator for the Hawai’i Equal Rights Marriage Project in the 1990s.
Justin’s work also includes advocacy for LGBT rights in national non-profit
organizations. He was the Community Education and Outreach Manager at the
National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) in Washington, D.C. and later
served as the Director of Communication for Out & Equal Workplace
Advocates, based in San Francisco, which advocates for equal employment rights
for LGBT people. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Dr. Tanis is an Ordained Minister in Metropolitan
Community Church, Los Angeles, that serves Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Persons. He tells this reporter by email (subsequently) that this is no longer the case, he is not ordained any longer, but gives no reason for his loss. For
the past years he has been attending the Unitarian-Universalist Church as a Lay
Person. So he tells this Religion Writer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Justin can be reached at this email address: </span><a href="mailto:jtanis@psr.edu"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">jtanis@psr.edu</span></span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><u><span style="color: #0563c1;"> <o:p></o:p></span></u></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"><u><span style="color: #0563c1;"> </span></u></span></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">INTERVIEW
WITH JUSTIN TANIS; ANSWERS SENT IN WRITING BY HIM TO PETER MENKIN, RELIGION
WRITER<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"></span></o:p></span></u></b> </div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Will
you go into detail on your sense of the artistic experience and whether it is a
religious experience solely when you are at work on a work of art? What medium
as artist do you work in? Is the artistic experience the same as the religious
experience?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Art contains possibilities that can awaken us to new
insights, perspectives and emotions, just as religion contains that
possibility. We can have these experiences when we are looking at art—whether
we gazing at something which is sublimely beautiful or being challenged—or when
we create it. The art work doesn’t have to be explicitly religious to do arouse
spiritual emotions or thoughts in us. I think about Picasso’s famous painting, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guernica,</i> which shows the horrors of
war. One reason I’m drawn to it is that it connects with my religious
convictions about the importance of working for peace as a person of faith. It
troubles me, as it was created to do, and that can motivate me to take further
actions to end violence in our world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Art can also show us the sublime, the intensely
beautiful or intimate and re-connect us with the Divine, with the earth, or
with other people. It gives us a glimpse through artist’s eyes of what is so
sacred or valuable to them that they have invested their energy and time to
create these works. Art can expand our understanding of humanity and the world
we share. Religions at their best, I believe, help us to increase our
compassion and commitment to the common good. They show us how to treat one
another as we long to be treated—art can give us greater understanding of how
others see the world and how they live, love, and move and are. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">As an artist, I work in photography and drawing.
Both of these media allow me to take details of our world, often things that
other people may pass by without seeing, and bring them into view. I love things
like architectural details, like crazy carvings on a building, or the pattern
of a series of windows. I’m fascinated with how humans interact with animals,
both real animals and the images we make of them. And I love landscapes, going
for a hike and just taking pictures. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">When I’m working on a drawing or finding the right
angle for a shot, I find myself in a very present place, not really thinking
about the world around me but very focused on one thing. It is a spiritual
practice that reminds me to be fully present and to be looking out for the
wondrous and miraculous around me. I think the artistic experience is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">type</i> of religious experience, with
possibilities for increasing our sense of wonder, of faith, of compassion,
deepening our spiritual lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">We can also think about applying the ideas of art to
our faith. The great Jewish thinker Abraham Joshua Heschel replied to an
interviewer’s question about what advice he would give to young people and he
replied, “… remember that the meaning of life is to live your life as if it
were a work of art.” I first heard that quote years ago and it has always
stayed with me. It adds such depth to our lives if we think of them as
something to be formed and crafted. Our spiritual lives benefit from our
creativity, skill, and attention, from our work to make them as beautiful and
reverential and powerful as a masterpiece of art. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Will
you discuss some of your art and tell us a little of your background. You were
speaking of the non-academically trained artistic sensibility? That is telling
me about the untrained theologian who is artist who has something to say as
artist? Talk more on this subject.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">My current academic work focuses on the
intersections of art, religion, and identity, specifically gender and sexual
identity. I am looking at the works of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wi2MhyrEv9A/U5HSsJn6fmI/AAAAAAAAJjc/a4QP25j9ET8/s1600/PacSchRlgn-JustinTanis-May2014_TLPeck008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wi2MhyrEv9A/U5HSsJn6fmI/AAAAAAAAJjc/a4QP25j9ET8/s1600/PacSchRlgn-JustinTanis-May2014_TLPeck008.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Menkin, Religion Writer (left) with transgender<br />
artist and teacher Justin Tanis. <br />
Peter Menkin, Obl Cam OSB, is shown carrying<br />
his iPod and notebook. He wrote and conducted<br />
the interview with Dr. Tanis by email. Answers<br />
were given in writing. Note at the end of this<br />
piece there is a video about art featuring<br />
Dr. Tanis at Graduate Theological Union.<br />
Picture by Terry Peck, photographer and<br />
architect. A team of three came to the<br />
campus of Pacific School of Religion for the<br />
photo shoot on an overcast day, 30 May, 2014.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
(LGBT) artists and considering what we can learn about theology and identity
from their art. In art history, there is a term for “outsider artists,” those
who have learned their techniques outside of the academy or have not received
artistic training in a conventional sense. In the same way, I see these LGBT
artists as “outsider theologians,” meaning they have not studied religion in
universities or theology at a seminary and yet they have embedded original
theological ideas in their work. I’m interested in discovering what those ideas
are and how they can impact our understanding of theology. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">For example, David Wojnarowicz was a self-trained
artist who worked from the late 1970s until his death from AIDS in 1992. One of
his collages, called </span><a href="http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_luor4gMu2T1r3oxrqo1_r1_1280.jpg"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">Untitled (Genet)</span></span></i></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">,
depicts the French author Jean Genet as a saint in the center foreground of the
image. In the background, we see an altar with an image of the suffering
Christ. He wears a crown of thorns but also has a hypodermic needle in his arm
and a tourniquet, as if he were shooting drugs. As you can imagine, this was
very shocking to some traditional Christians and they used it to condemn
Wojnarowicz’s work. But they misunderstood or never bothered to find out what
the image actually meant and was intended to convey, and that was very
different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Wojnarowicz sued the American Family Association
(and won) for their use of his images out of context. During the trial he
answered questions about his motivation for creating this image of Christ. He
testified,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I thought about what I
had been taught about Jesus Christ when I was young and how he took on the
suffering of all people in the world, and I wanted to create a modern image
that, if he were alive before me at that time in 1979 when I made this, if he
were physically alive before me in the streets of the Lower East Side, I wanted
to make a model that would show that he would take on the suffering of the vast
amounts of addiction that I saw on the streets<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/96a129cab4a1a61d/Religious%20Experience/Justin%20Tanis%20story%20draft%202.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[1]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">In this way, Wojnarowicz was very much in keeping
with classical images of the suffering Christ. He drew upon long established
and respected Christian aesthetic traditions to explore the pain and alienation
experienced by people in his own day and age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To me, that is a profoundly theological statement. This isn’t a
blasphemous image; it is one that takes Christ’s connection with humanity very
seriously. The religious life isn’t always pretty. Images like this can be
important to our growth as people of faith because they challenge us to look
around us and see where there is suffering and to consider the question of how
Jesus would interact with that suffering. The church could benefit, too, by
considering how people who are outside of religious institutions are engaging
the image and life of Jesus to convey ideas like compassion, as Wojnarowicz
does. Art lets us literally see their understandings of Christ, and sometimes
that vision is more expansive than that of the churches. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">As far as my art goes, I studied graphic design at
the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and multimedia design at the
University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Drawing I’ve learned through private
instruction from a wonderful teacher here in Berkeley, Susan McAllister. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Talk
to us some about your work at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley,
California that you do as teacher with Faculty at the Center for Art Religion
and Education.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GxGPYqKiaAg/U5EXaNu51qI/AAAAAAAAJjA/QSdOq8AemK8/s1600/PacSchRlgn-JustinTanis-May2014_TLPeck022+-+Version+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GxGPYqKiaAg/U5EXaNu51qI/AAAAAAAAJjA/QSdOq8AemK8/s1600/PacSchRlgn-JustinTanis-May2014_TLPeck022+-+Version+2.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pacific School of Religion, photographed by Terry Peck</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(as are all pictures on this page). This visit by Peter Menkin</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">and Terry Peck was on an overcast day in May, 2014 at the end</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">of the month. PSR is part of the Graduate</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Theological Union, located on "holy hill" adjacent </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">to University of California at Berkeley, California.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Peter Menkin's assistant Linda accompanied the two.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I am on the faculty of the Center for Art, Religion,
and Education; last semester I taught a course on the Art of Holy Places, in
which we considered how people around the world have designated and decorated
sacred sites. Through the use of technology, we were able to visit places
around the world. Next Spring, I am teaching a course on the spirituality and
art of the Arts & Crafts movement, which was a late 19<sup>th</sup> – early
20<sup>th</sup> century artistic movement that focused on conveying values of
simplicity, beauty, and nature through art. The movement arose in response to
the intense mechanization of the Industrial Revolution and I do think that part
of the revival of interest in the Arts & Crafts movement stems from our
desire to reconnect with those same values in the midst of the speed created by
the digital revolution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I also teach at Pacific School of Religion and am
offering a course this fall on Sexuality in Sacred Art, which looks at the ways
sexuality as a life force occurs in various faith traditions. The earliest art
we know of is related to fertility and abundance, the sustenance of life, and
that theme continues through many religions and many eras. Including Christian
art. For example, St. Sebastian was a pretty standard Roman soldier saint in
his early depictions. When he became known as a protector against the Black
Plague, his image transformed over time into a handsome young man with a fair amount
of sex appeal. This was in keeping with the idea that gazing on a healthy
person, or an image of one, conveyed that vitality to the viewer and his
sexuality was part of his vigor. In fact, for someone just shot with a bunch of
arrows as the emperor attempted to execute him, he looks quite well by the time
we get to the Renaissance, hardly bothered by the arrows at all. His lips are
full and red, and he rarely wears more than the minimum of clothing. He
inspires us with his vitality, both of his faith and the intensity of his
humanness. Sexuality and spirituality are both aspects of looking holistically
at human lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Teaching art history and art practice at a seminary
is incredibly rewarding. Part of what we do is encouraging students to read the
images theologically. How is the artist depicting the holy in this painting?
Where is God in this image? Sometimes art lets us see the invisible, the
unseen. Art can show us Divine attributes in visible form, can express the
ineffable. We can consider why an artist shows some things and not others. I
also have classes where students can create works of art, which provides them
with a different avenue of theological and spiritual expression than they may</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">
be used to. It challenges us to use our </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> creativity in theology and can free up </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">other ways of thinking and understanding </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/96a129cab4a1a61d/Religious%20Experience/Justin%20Tanis%20story%20draft%202.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[1]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> From
the transcript of Wojnarowicz<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>vs.
American Family Association as recorded in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">David
Wojnarowicz: A Definitive History of Five or Six Years on the Lower East Side</i>
(Semiotext(e), 2006), p. 217.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="369" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/37267973" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/37267973">See the Holy: Spirituality in the Art of David Wojnarowicz</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/clgs">CLGS</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-64804812217873698252014-05-25T19:44:00.003-07:002014-05-25T19:44:24.397-07:00Review: The Great Courses offers an intriguing and informative series of lectures on various topics. Lecture by Amy-Jill Levine...<div class="post-37899 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-blogs category-columnists category-peter-menkin tag-amy-jill-levine tag-lecture tag-new-testament tag-peter-menkin tag-religion tag-review tag-the-great-courses entry" id="post-37899">
<br />
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37902" style="width: 310px;">
<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/levine.jpg"><img alt="Professor Amy-Jill Levine, lecturing" class="size-medium wp-image-37902" data-lazy-loaded="true" height="225" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/levine-300x225.jpg" style="display: inline;" width="300" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
Professor Amy-Jill Levine, lecturing</div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<strong>by Peter Menkin</strong></div>
For the interested learner who wants to know, The Great Courses
offers an intriguing and informative series of lectures on various
topics. The lectures are given by excellent university level teachers
and as the following selection of subjects from their website shows,
they are diverse in subject and often intriguing:<br />
<br />
<em>The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal; Medical School for
Everyone; Heroes and Legends: The Most Influential Characters of
Literature; Fundamentals of Photography; Thermodynamics: Four Laws That
Move the Universe</em>…<br />
<br />
These are but a few of the dozens of titles available in history,
literature, science and religion. Their cost can be two hundred dollars
and less for a DVD or streaming media oral version. The system works, so
no fear in getting something in the mail that will not be technically
competent. The professors are skilled and handpicked lecturers from
Universities across America.<br />
<br />
In this review of the lectures of Professor Amy-Jill Levine’s talk on
Great Figures of the New Testament we take a look at her style and
presentation. You as reader will get some highlights from her work and a
taste of her delivery. The Great Courses is available online at this
address: <a href="http://www.thegreatcourses.com/greatcourses.aspx">http://www.thegreatcourses.com/greatcourses.aspx</a><br />
<h1>
</h1>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_37907" style="width: 275px;">
<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Ed-Leon-Picture.jpg"><img alt="Ed Leon, Executive, The Great Courses" class="size-medium wp-image-37907" data-lazy-loaded="true" height="300" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Ed-Leon-Picture-265x300.jpg" style="display: inline;" width="265" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
Ed Leon, Executive, The Great Courses</div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
INTERVIEW I<br />
<br />
Ed Leon calls by phone: 10 a.m. me in Mill Valley at home. Ed is in
his offices of the company in The Great Courses Chantilly, Virginia. The
interview encompasses one hour.<br />
<br />
<strong>AN INTERVIEW WITH ED LEON, CHIEF BRAND OFFICER, THE GREAT COURSES BY PETER MENKIN</strong><br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>In general, people like to know, “What is the response to
a usual lesson group?” In other words, tell us a little about letters
and questions an instructor may receive. May we see some sample emails
or letters received by your organization about lessons or to
instructors?</strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
Our customers have questions and some customers pos<strong>e </strong>questions
in thecustomer review section of our website, The Great Courses.com.
Every course has its own review section, including Amy’s courses.…
Sometimes, questions come to us via emails and letters from customers
and we’ll forward them along to the professors. It’s a touch point for
the professor. Mostprofessors do answer them<span style="text-decoration: line-through;">, most do,</span> but they are not required to do so.<br />
This laudatory review by a customer talks about how happy they are with the series:<br />
<em>“Having completed courses on the New Testament already I was
attracted to this course as a way to better understand some of the major
figures in more depth. The course permitted me to do this and the
Professor delivered a superb series of lectures on each of the figures
covered. She gave a good overview and context for each and was very
balanced and fair in summarising the various academic/scholarly
interpretations regarding each figure as well as sharing her own view
and supporting this with argument and evidence. The Professor delivers
each lecture at a fast clip and is clearly on top of her game and one
needs to be focused to keep pace at times! Overall a superb course that
wonderfully compliments others on the New Testament. Would love to have
further courses from this Professor perhaps a re-issue of her Great
Figures of the Old Testament.”</em><br />
<br />
Still, not everyone is without criticism. I found the comments by this customer valid, too, if dramatic:<br />
<em>“I am so frustrated that I feel like pulling my hair out. I have
had this course for 3 years, and each time I take it out, about twice a
year, I have to remind myself why I have never finished it. Even though I
want the information and love my Bible… Her delivery is like a reading
of a grocery list, no stopping, no breath, no time to take in
anything…like she is telling us to listen and take notes as she is
running a race , each sentence spoke last is lost by the rapidity of the
next. I sense there is a great deal I could learn from this course, and
that is what causes my frustration. I can’t believe she gets called
back to speak if this is how she does it all the time…either have to
torture myself by listening to this, no way of slowing it down…or
sending it back.”</em><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>When you look for an instructor, what characteristics do
you seek? Is there a screening process a lecturer must go through prior
to his going live? And also, how do you record his lecture? Is he really
in a classroom situation?</strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
We are looking for the top experts in the field. We are looking for
thetop communicators. We want them to be the most gifted lecturers and
communicators in the world. As part of our course development process,
we come up with course ideas and then we poll our customers to see if
they have interest in the idea. Then,we scour universities <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">and</span>
to find the best communicators and they need to be superior in their
field. We’ll invite that professor tocreate a sample lecture and we send
that to a sample audience who gives us feedback… Only when we get good
feedback do we move forward to develop a course with that professor. In
fact, there is an informational graphic on our website that details this
entire process. It’s under <em>Our Approach</em>. In many ways just one in 5000 is invited to teach a course… We record our lectures at our studios <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">here </span>in
Chantilly, Virginia. They are not classrooms. Years ago the company
brought in a small audience to hear the lectures. We no longer do that.
We understand the true audience is on the other side of the screen,<strong>or the headphones</strong>.<br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>Probably the first question that comes to some peoples
mind is, “Will I make some money if Great Courses takes me on as a
lecturer?” Talk a little bit about the fee structure for a lecturer. Is
payment on a royalty basis? How many years will a lecture be made
available? And who owns the lecture? Probably something that only a
writer or teacher wonders, does the teacher have to submit an outline
prior to being accepted or is the lecture really something taught in a
classroom prior to being given as a DVD or CD by Great Courses? Is the
lecture a live reading or is read from a teleprompter?</strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
We provide our professors an attractive incentive. It is much like
writing a book, very akin to a publishing contract. Many of our
professors are pleasantly surprised at the longevity of the royalty
stream. A typical book publishing deal will give you an advance and most
authors are hard pressed to see any money after the advance. Much of
our content is evergreen, and because we will actively market a course
for several years, many of our professors are getting a royalty stream
that can amount to morethan writing a book.But they earn it, It’s a
substantial job to prepare a course. They put in the kind of effort that
it takes to write a book. We give eachprofessora highly experiencedteam
to work with.The team includes an instructional designer, editors,
producers, graphic artists, an entire content and media support team.Our
courses take 12 to 18 months from concept to release. It’s a highly
collaborative process.(Their 2 and a half million life-long learners may
find these facts of author royalties fascinating.)<br />
[Ed, please tell us who are three of the most popular lecturers over the years and the titles of their lectures!]<br />
<strong> </strong><br />
We have a diverse and stellar group of over 200 Professors. They
include astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson whose course “Inexplicable
Universe” rivals some of the work he is currently doing on television
with “Cosmos;” Robert Greenberg, our most prolific professor who has
created 27 Great Courses on classical music; and engineering Professor
Stephen Ressler whose course “Understanding the World’s Greatest
Structures” holds the distinction of amassing well over one hundred
consecutive 5-star reviews.<br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>Some people wonder how you get your wonderful lecturers.
Who’s your talent scout? If you have one, tell us something about him or
her. Tell us something about how they go about their scouting business.
Do they scour colleges, or do you get referrals from college deans?</strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
We have an in house team of Professor Recruiters led by William
Schmidt, Director of Professor Recruiting. He and histeam scours the
internetfor ideas, and go to colleges and universities to meet
professors and sit in on classes; we like tosee the teachers in action.
They’ve been to Georgetown, crisscrossing the country to UCLA, Harvard,
NYU…you name the university, <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">it</span> they’ve been there. Also, people often suggest great professors to us, as well as course ideas via the email address: <a href="mailto:CustServ@thegreatcourses.com">CustServ@thegreatcourses.com</a><br />
<br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>I’ve always wondered what kind of people chose to be in
this kind of Great Courses business. Are the people involved in it
former University teachers? What about the founders and the leaders of
the company? Tell us something about your Chief Officers and the role
they play. Are they actually active in choosing or participating in the
way the lecturers are picked, and the way the distribution is organized?</strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
Of all the places I’ve ever worked this is the most intellectual and
diverse group I’ve ever been around. Employees at The Great Courses
value education and the personal growth that comes from learning,
Curiosityisan important DNA you needto work at this company. We have
people with PhDs and teaching backgrounds. People with communication
backgrounds and media backgrounds. But the thing they all share in
common is an insatiable curiosity about the world, a desireto go deeper
and to go <strong>on that </strong>journey of intellectual discoverythat
everyone here loves undertaking. Our customers are the same way. There
is nothing more profound than that.<br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to ask questions of you, Ed.
Thank you for taking your time from your duties as Chief Brand Officer.
Please take a moment now, though, to talk about anything I’ve missed.
And again, it’s been a pleasure.</strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ol>
<li><strong> </strong></li>
</ol>
Like our customers, The Great Courses is committed to Lifelong
Learning, and we recommit to that mission with every Great Course that
we create. We release 3-5 new courses every month.<strong> Our newest releases are:</strong><br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<strong>The Decisive Battles of World History</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=8140"><strong>http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=8140</strong></a><br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<strong>How The Stock Market Works</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=5852"><strong>http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=5852</strong></a><br />
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<strong>Understanding Multivariable Calculus</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=1023"><strong>http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=1023</strong></a><br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<br />
<br />
INTERVIEW II<br />
<br />
Conducted by email.<br />
<strong>INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR AMY-JILL LEVINE BY PETER MENKIN</strong><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_37908" style="width: 258px;">
<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Levine_AJ-2.jpg"><img alt="Amy-Jill Levine, Professor at Vanderbilt University and accomplished lecturer" class="size-medium wp-image-37908" data-lazy-loaded="true" height="300" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Levine_AJ-2-248x300.jpg" style="display: inline;" width="248" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
Amy-Jill Levine, Professor at Vanderbilt University and accomplished lecturer</div>
</div>
</li>
<li><b><strong>There is a contemporary story of Mary Magdalene being
lover or wife of Jesus. Do you find these popular stories of any kind of
merit worth study? Are the current stories of Jesus frivolous and
detract from his stature and teachings, let alone status as God? I am
thinking of the news reports of Jesus being married to Mary Magdelene. </strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ol>
<li><strong>Interest in new stories of Jesus’ personal life show our own
culture’s fascination with him. The verdict on the recent fragment
purporting that Jesus is married is still out; scholars have yet to
reach consensus on whether the text is authentic or a forgery. If it is
authentic, it tells us nothing about the Jesus of history, but it does
tell us something about how one later writer retold his story. </strong></li>
</ol>
<strong> </strong><br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>Do you think your special study of gender gives you an
additional understanding of women in the Bible? I thought you gave a
fuller view of the actions of women, as in Mary’s letting down her hair
to wipe Jesus’ feet. My question is more about the role of women and if
you find your education and study of gender makes for a fuller
explanation of women’s roles in the Bible. This includes a woman’s
reading of the Bible. Will you give us an examples?</strong><strong> </strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ol>
<li><strong>A number of Christian readers presume that first-century
Judaism epitomized misogyny, and that Jesus invented feminism. This view
incorrectly and negatively stereotypes Judaism. The Gospels, as well as
other Jewish sources of antiquity, show Jewish women owning their own
homes, running businesses, appearing in synagogues and the Jerusalem
Temple, having freedom of travel, and having access to their own funds.
Women followed Jesus for the same reasons that men did. However, we find
that most of the women, and men, who followed him did so without
spousal accompaniment. Thus, it is likely that the initial movement had a
strong element of celibacy. </strong></li>
<li><strong>Women appear throughout the biblical text, from the first
chapter of Genesis to the Book of Revelation. To ignore biblical women
is to ignore many of the Bible’s most profound stories. Women appear as
prophets and leaders, wives and mothers, sages and sirens, deacons and
apostles. </strong></li>
</ol>
<strong> </strong><br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>Are you lecturing outside your work at Vanderbilt
University where you teach? Talk to us some about your lecture work at
other schools, how those lectures are greeted, and especially their
subject matter. This includes your lectures at Cambridge, which I
believe are relatively new for you?</strong><strong> </strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ol>
<li><strong>Subjects of the talks range from biblical material to the
intersection of religion, gender and sexuality, to Jewish-Christian
relations, including discussions of the Middle East. </strong></li>
<li><strong>I lecture out of town on average of once a week. The
sponsors are colleges and universities, churches and synagogues. This
year, along with numerous programs in the US and Canada, I shall be in
London in June, Australia in July-August, Birmingham in
November-December, and Manchester this coming April. I also hold an
affiliated faculty position at the Woolf Institute, Centre for the Study
of Jewish-Christian Relations, at Cambridge. </strong></li>
</ol>
<strong> </strong><br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>What brought you to participate in The Great Courses
Lecture series? Was the preparation for them in any way arduous? Tell us
what other series you have done for The Great Courses, and which you
recommend most and why.</strong><strong> </strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ol>
<li><strong>Along with “Introduction to the Old Testament” (which I
wanted to call “Introduction to the Old Testament/Tanakh”), I have done
“Great Figures of the Old Testament” and “Great Figures of the New
Testament.” The invitation is open to do another series; the problem for
me is finding the time to prepare the lectures. The preparation is a
joy – I find the material both fascinating and challenging — but a
time-consuming one. </strong></li>
<li><strong>The Teaching Company invited me to participate in their
programs. The only caveats they gave me, before issuing the contract,
was that they did not want me to be quite so feminist, and they did not
want me to be quite so funny. Whether I adhered to these strictures
would be up to Teaching Company clients to determine. </strong></li>
</ol>
<strong> </strong><br />
<ul>
<li><b><strong>It has been a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now as
we come to the end of this series of questions, talk about what we may
have missed. That is, have you anything you would like to add?</strong></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<strong>Thank you. </strong><br />
<strong>The Bible is an extraordinary collection of works that are
open to multiple interpretations. It has been used far too often as a
rock thrown to do damage: to condemn people of differing religious
beliefs; to promote sexism, homophobia, and racism; to endorse
complacency. It is better read as a rock on which one can stand in order
to celebrate diverse beliefs; to honor all people as created in the
image and likeness of the divine; to promote both love of neighbor and
love of stranger and to teach us to do justice, love kindness, and walk
humbly. </strong><br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<strong> </strong><br />
THE REVIEW ITSELF OF PROFESSOR AMY-JILL LEVINE’S COURSE ON GREAT FIGURES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT BY PETER MENKIN<br />
<br />
SECTION I<br />
<br />
The Scope of the lecture on John the Baptist is described by
Professor Levine in the Study Guide this way. It gives a flavor of the
completeness of each of the 24 half hour lectures in this series about
The Great Figures in the New Testament. I listened to the entire series
and these notes, brief as they are, comment on the Professor’s style and
her delivery of the lectures themselves. In this way you might find
some ways to decide if you, too, want to view the DVD or hear the
streaming media to get the full picture in this remarkable and excellent
set of lectures. I enjoyed them very much. Now the notes on John the
Baptist:<br />
<br />
John, called “Baptist” because he dipped (Gk: <em>baptizw</em>) people in<br />
the Jordan River as a sign that they had repented from their sins,<br />
appears in the Gospels and the writings of the Jewish historian<br />
Josephus. The gaps and varying emphases in these historical<br />
records, coupled with an appreciation for how John’s story is<br />
presented from different perspectives, offer the ideal opportunity<br />
to explore the means by which scholars of the New Testament<br />
address questions of history. This lecture looks at the story of<br />
John’s miraculous and, indeed, humorous birth; his connection to<br />
the Prophet Elijah; his possible associations not only with the<br />
Qumran community and, thus, the Dead Sea Scrolls but also with<br />
other charismatic religious leaders of the early first century C.E.;<br />
the various descriptions of his own message in light of both<br />
political and religious import; his remarkably unclear relationship<br />
to Jesus; and the different versions of his beheading at the<br />
command of Herod Antipas. We conclude with a brief review of<br />
how the Baptist has fared at the hands of theologians and artists,<br />
playwrights and filmmakers.<br />
<br />
<br />
Professor Levine has the good sense to start at the beginning. So shall I.<br />
(Note that the people who are part of the Help desk are very good at
getting a needy person settled. I had the good fortune to use them at
the start of setting up my pages and they got me started in the right
direction. This included even finding where my files were on The Great
Courses site. So they aren’t adverse to even getting one going with the
basic procedures…The whole process didn’t take too long, either…that is
getting them on the phone or getting going with the lecture itself.)<br />
Though the Professor does not follow the Sunday school line as I
remember it, I can follow her rendition without too much trouble. But I
suggest that as she speaks you keep the outline close at hand anyway.
Not because of what I say about her not following my own Sunday school
version, but that her rendition is all the richer for it. At least it
was for me. My Assistant Linda, who from time to time, listened to these
lectures along with me and is something of a Bible buff, that is has
been going to Bible study on a regular basis for many years in various
groups on a regular basis, had no trouble following the Professor. She
referred to the Course Outline along the way not at all. So much for who
knows more about the Bible, the assistant or the writer. But really,
this is not a true gauge of Bible knowledge. This is really a matter of
paying attention and getting used to the way Professor Levine has of
making her excellent Biblical presentation. Remember, she is a Bible
scholar and teaches in the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University. No
small matter.<br />
<br />
I think a great strength of her presentation is her taste for and
appreciation of story. I want to add that remark in these notes before I
forget making the remark.<br />
<br />
To be a Prophet in the first Century was to risk one’s life, so was
the fate of John the Baptist. He risked his life and lost it. Professor
Levine makes an instructional statement that is itself a kind of
prophecy after the fact. Or to make it more a statement in the present,
she states a truism of the Bible. More, though, she tells the story of
the why his prophecy, what his prophecy consisted of, and the debauchery
of the era that was his to observe as witness. That alone was enough to
cause lose John the Baptist to lose his head. So she says. The
Professor gets the story, as was mentioned earlier. At least she
emphasizes the story line in this section. That is the more
sophisticated way than teaching at an abstract level. She is a brilliant
lecturer in this section and in all of them.<br />
<br />
SECTION II<br />
<br />
For the traditional believer, this section on Mary seems provocative.
But it covers a lot of ground in myth, discussion, and controversy and
if you ask me borders on a kind of look at gossip when it comes to the
story of Mary (The Virgin Mary). These Study Guide notes on the Scope
will introduce you to the general thrust of the lecture:<br />
<br />
Unwed mother or Mother goddess, Mary the mother of Jesus<br />
inspires loyalty even as she provokes controversy. This lecture<br />
addresses those elements of her life and legend that continue to<br />
stimulate historical and theological debate. From the canonical<br />
materials we explore the prediction of a Virgin Birth, her<br />
relationship to her cousin Elizabeth (the mother of John the<br />
Baptist), questions of her “perpetual virginity,” her understanding<br />
of Jesus’ mission, and her life following the Crucifixion. We then<br />
turn to the development of “Mariology”: accounts of her<br />
childhood; the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and<br />
Assumption of the Virgin; her roles as new Eve, Mediatrix, Bride<br />
of Christ, and Queen of Heaven; as well as her reception in pagan,<br />
Jewish, and Islamic writings; and her current role in Orthodox,<br />
Protestant, and Catholic thought. We end with observations on the<br />
increasingly common phenomenon of Marian apparitions,<br />
including those at Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje, and Conyers,<br />
<br />
<br />
Sound quality is very good. This lecture was heard through iTunes on
Bose Speakers on a PC. We understood what Professor Levine said without
any problem. Her diction was distinct enough for our ears. This was
helpful. This lecture was on The Virgin Mary.<br />
<br />
The Professor speaks to so many dimensions and stories of Mary
including the Virgin birth. She is the mother of God, how the spirit of
God overshadows the birth of God. She speaks too of how the spirit of
God overshadows the births of others in the Bible. In taking the many
aspects of the Mary story, she touches on the secular aspect of Mary
even being considered by some as the single mother. Was it not a fear of
Joseph’s that he would be shamed that Mary was pregnant and he was not
the father. Yet he married her anyway. He has been credited as a good
man and a dream told him so for he was urged through a dream to remain
with Mary. This was a great comfort to him, the dream. But I am getting
ahead of the lecture for that is to come in the next one.<br />
<br />
Professor Amy-Jill Levine offers outside reading in her Course
Guidebook. I listened to the streaming media version of the lectures to
begin with and it is accompanied with a Course Guidebook in PDF version.
There is a biographic section on Doctor Levine in the Guidebook. As an
example of notes, this from the notes on the section on The Virgin Mary
in the Guidebook:<br />
(Regarding The Magnificat, the notes read…)<br />
<br />
Immediately after Gabriel tells her of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Mary<br />
responds: “Behold, I am the slave (Gk: <em>doule</em>) of the Lord; let it be<br />
to me according to your word” (Luke 1:36–38).<br />
©2002 The Teaching Company. 17<br />
<strong>1. </strong>Translations of “handmaid” are more genteel than Luke’s<br />
Greek (see also 1:48).<br />
<strong>2. </strong>Mary “went with haste into the hill country” to visit Elizabeth<br />
(1:39). Some interpreters suggest that she needed Elizabeth’s<br />
support given her state of unwed pregnancy.<br />
<strong>B. </strong>Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, greets her: “Blessed are you<br />
among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (1:42), and<br />
Mary replies with the “Magnificat,” Luke 1:46–55, a hymn named<br />
for the Latin first word.<br />
<ol>
<li>The hymn echoes Hannah’s song in 1 Sam. 2:1–10…</li>
</ol>
It is fair to say that Professor Levine makes statements about how
the Biblical stories about Mary are theological for she says the stories
themselves are theological in the series. She says this in another of
the lectures. So of course in parts of the lecture in its explanation of
teaching, which is done so well, it is done seamlessly. It is done that
way throughout all the Bible in all its stories.<br />
<br />
<br />
SECTION III<br />
<br />
Here I want to provide the Study Guide notes to Peter for your
edification. But know too that the Magi are covered in this set of
lectures. I cannot cover all the lectures in my commentary on Professor
Amy-Jill Levine’s work as Lecturer. It is neither my intent nor purpose.
But one does through this review get a real sense of her work as
Lecturer. Now the notes on Peter after the notes on the Scope for the
Magi from the Study Guide outlining the Scope of her lecture as the
Professor sets it forth:<br />
<br />
<br />
Magi<br />
No Christmas scene is complete today without Mary’s husband,<br />
Joseph; the Magi who followed the miraculous star; and the<br />
shepherds told by angels that the messiah is born in Bethlehem.<br />
But all these figures give rise to both historical debate and later<br />
legend. This lecture begins with Joseph, from his brief and<br />
enigmatic function in the Gospels to later legends of his own<br />
perpetual virginity. We turn next to the Magi to see how these<br />
characters, whose profession many in the ancient world would<br />
have regarded as foolishness, came to be known as both kings and<br />
“wise men” (and, in some medieval depictions, women as well),<br />
and eventually to receive a set of numbers, names, and physical<br />
descriptions. Finally, we discuss the idea that in antiquity, the<br />
shepherds would have been expected attendants at the birth of a<br />
god. Throughout, we address how the Gospels of Matthew and<br />
Luke, and their later interpreters, depicted these figures to promote<br />
their own views of history, theology, and even politics.<br />
<br />
Peter<br />
The transformation of a headstrong Galilean fisherman into the<br />
first leader of the Jerusalem church and, ultimately, according to<br />
medieval Roman Catholic teaching, the first pope, is an<br />
astounding, inspirational, and frequently confusing story. This<br />
lecture follows the Gospels’ presentations of Simon the son of<br />
Jonah from his fishing business in Capernaum and possible<br />
association with John the Baptist to his role as leader of the<br />
Twelve (disciples) and leader of the church. Scenes addressed<br />
include his call, his being given the nickname “Peter” (i.e.,<br />
“Rocky”), his denial of Jesus, and his restoration as witness to the<br />
Resurrection. We next investigate his role in the early church,<br />
including his struggles with the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem, as<br />
well as with Paul; his conversion of Cornelius; and his role in the<br />
Jerusalem Council. Finally, we address his post-canonical fate,<br />
including legends of his crucifixion during Nero’s persecution.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
At this point I began viewing DVD disks and in so doing watched
Professor Levine in the flesh as it were standing in a tailored violet
suit speaking at a lectern. It is a dignified and sophisticated look.
Her appearance and dress is appropriate, as it is in the Peter lecture
where she wears a lovely peach pant suit. My intent is not to say her
fashion statement as a woman is paramount, though let us not overlook
her good taste which plays out in her demeanor, if I may say so. Her way
of speaking has emphasis both through facial expression and body
language, so she is not stiff as a lecturer. She has panache. The
lectern does not hide her body nor her dress. You can see what the
Professor looks like in the DVD unlike the audio version only in the
streaming media version. The DVD set costs more money.<br />
<br />
She tells us about what children over look in the travels of the
Magi, and it is a sophisticated lecture she gives. I cannot write notes
on all these lectures, nor go into great detail even on so favorite a
subject as The Magi or even Peter, as I wish I could. This article would
be just too long. But I am going to go ahead and view the DVD,
listening to the Professor. Suffice it to say she has much to say of
value and interest, and she says it all well. Her body language speaks
of sincerity and honesty in value system and she as scholar holds depth
of knowledge of subject. How can one know this? I think if you choose
the DVD you will agree, she appears to know of what she speaks. Her
credentials also tell of her excellent background in her study of the
Bible and New Testament. Previously, I’d said she was not offering her
lecture in the manner of the Sunday school lesson as I knew it. I
thought this good, for she was going beyond it and providing more
perspective and a different approach. In her lesson on Peter she was
closer to the Sunday school lesson as I knew it, even from my time in
the seminary, The School for Deacons now in Berkeley, California. And
when I say the Sunday school lesson I also mean in Bible study at my
Church and places like Churches elsewhere where I have attended lesson
giving. Listeners won’t be disappointed with Professor Levine this time
in this Lesson or in other Lessons that are so content rich.<br />
<br />
I think it important to indicate how Christian is this lesson of
Peter, how miraculous is the “tale,” and how true to the Bible in my
opinion is her lesson. I am just delighted as listener to have the
opportunity to hear this lesson taught again so well that I am delighted
with the kind of joy she transmits with her lecture—a kind of
enthusiasm for the references given in the very translations and
specifics of the different references and narrative itself as given by
the Books of the New Testament. This takes real skill, to my way of
thinking as a student. (I want to add that Professor Amy-Jill Levine is
an Orthodox Jew. She instructs Christian students at Vanderbilt
University in preparation for Christian ministry.) In this lesson about
Peter I also listened to her remarks on Acts.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
SECTION IV<br />
<br />
In this my last review of two of the 24 lectures, again I quote from
the Study Guide. I do not go further in my review of other lectures.
These reviews are enough to give readers a flavor of Professor Amy-Jill
Levine at work.<br />
<br />
Pharisees and Sadducees<br />
<br />
Members of these two Jewish movements, prominent in the first<br />
century, as well as in the Gospel texts, typically serve as foils to, if<br />
not enemies of, Jesus and his followers. This lecture introduces the<br />
two movements by reconstructing their beliefs and practices on the<br />
basis of the New Testament (both the Gospels and Paul, who<br />
identifies himself as a Pharisee), the writings of the historian<br />
Josephus, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and rabbinic literature. We next<br />
turn to the rivalry between these groups and those who followed<br />
Jesus of Nazareth to seek both the sources of disagreement<br />
between them and the possible explanations for the Gospels’<br />
sometimes strident polemic. We conclude with observations on<br />
individual Sadducees and Pharisees, with a particular focus on<br />
Paul’s Pharisaic teacher, Gamaliel, who appears in the Acts of the<br />
Apostles, and Hillel, often viewed as a Pharisee and seen as<br />
proclaiming a message similar to that of Jesus.<br />
<br />
Herodians<br />
Like the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Herodian family also<br />
receives generally negative treatment in the New Testament.<br />
Herod the Great, made king by Rome over Palestine and, thus,<br />
replacing the Hasmonean (Maccabean) dynasty, appears in the<br />
Gospel of Matthew as a new pharaoh who orders the “slaughter of<br />
the innocents”; Jesus is, in turn, the new Moses who escapes death.<br />
Herod Antipas, one of Herod’s few sons to survive his father’s<br />
murderous designs, became tetrarch of the Galilee; in the Gospels,<br />
John the Baptist condemns Antipas for marrying his brother’s<br />
wife, and Antipas beheads the Baptist to fulfill a promise made to<br />
his dancing daughter (named Salome in later tradition). Herod<br />
Agrippa I, appointed king over Judea by Caligula, executed the<br />
Apostle James. His own death is dramatically described by both<br />
Luke and Josephus. Agrippa I’s children, Herod Agrippa II and his<br />
sister, Berenice, appear in Acts as conversing with Paul. This<br />
lecture provides background information about the family and<br />
explains how and why they appear in both the New Testament<br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<br />
There is little doubt in my mind after listening to the streaming
audio and now the DVD video lessons that the DVD video lessons are the
superior of the two. They are the superior of the two in my opinion
because they are more engaging. I enjoy seeing Professor Levine in
“action.” By action I mean seeing her facial expression, her gestures,
and her body language speak as does her speaking inflection and manner.<br />
<br />
In the lecture on the Pharisees, an excellent statement of history
and comparison of texts of history and the Bible, and in the Lecture on
Herodias especially, the sense of perspective occasionally driven by
irony is brought home well. As said before, there is not enough room for
me on the pages of this report to say all there is to say. And I know I
have not said enough about her statements on the Bible itself. But I do
want to remark on her end statement on the Lecture on Herodias without
spoiling the language of how she says it for that would be unfair to the
DVD watcher. Suffice it to say it is a statement on power and greed, a
theme throughout the section that is so true of the dictator and of the
governing nature of the governing world in which the Jews and Christians
lived at the time. I think the way she tells of this historic feature
of governance in general is done in a surprising way that is near
painless and woven so well into the Bible and the texts of history that
we find ourselves understanding that the Bible is a book of history. She
gives us the taste of the times. The lecture does have much to offer
about how life was lived and how people lived their lives in the higher
sense of the governing class and their values of living lives at the
time. It spills into the nature of lives lived throughout history by
humans even to today.<br />
<br />
For those of us surprised by this fact, as I remain today surprised,
this truism is part of the truth of the Bible itself and of history and
the human condition. It is history that illumines the Bible text as much
as anything, and that is a kind of irony in her lecture as they work
hand in glove. Professor Levine’s lecture is relevant to the way our
lives are lived today.<br />
<br />
One proof is the chill one gets at the danger and evil of the horror
of the events of history as she casts that history. Was there not a
story of 72 people killed in Nigeria by a bomb blast in a town reported
in today’s newspaper? Monstrosity of event is not yesterday’s event of
history alone.<br />
Again, these two lectures are a brilliant set by Professor Amy-Jill
Levine. Top marks to her for her scholarly knowledge and skill of
presentation and delivery. Be prepared, by the way, for know this is not
run-of-the-mill content. If you want that, choose another set of
lectures. Choose another 24 lectures, in fact. Regarding these two,
choose others if you want the norm and I don’t mean because of the
horror, but because of the history and the irony, and the thought. But I
mean mostly choose these lectures for the uniqueness of approach and
point of view. Without going the full 24 lectures, it is apparent
Professor Levine sheds profound and fascinating light on her subject of <em>Great Figures of the New Testament</em>
that will fascinate the viewer or listener; I say viewer or listener
for such is a matter of depending on the media you choose: DVD for sight
and sound, or streaming media for sound alone.<br />
<br />
A final note just thought of is that figures in this story of
Herodias get their come-uppance and if you ask me the Professor implies
they deserved it for they were evil men and evil women. I was glad she
was willing to make such judgments in her talk, and did so without any
kind of hysteria of loud statement. But that was pretty much the kind of
tone expected that continued the character of her delivery in the
lecture throughout this particular section, one that was quite chilling
in its detail and on occasion, and not so frequent occasion, even
graphic for my taste. Let’s face it, worms were one of the results of
sin—body parts being eaten by them. It came alive. The Professor is even
handed in her lecture style and content, though engaging.<br />
<br />
Destruction of the Temple in 70 was a terrible act, and it was
reported without terrible detail, but as if from a history book. This
was sufficient for my taste. It came alive.<br />
I think in the section on Pharisees where Piety was actually spoken
of with a kind of respect rather than simple distaste, giving it a
different dimension of character and understanding. I cannot provide the
measure of this particular area of appreciation in the lecture section
on the Pharisees in this short piece regarding the section and their
role in relation to Christians and within their own Jewish faith here.
But that was the area of instruction spoken about in the lecture for
reasons of giving perspective. An eye opening viewpoint by Professor
Levine, certainly.<br />
<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-7162515114235205942014-05-07T00:06:00.000-07:002014-05-07T00:08:55.523-07:00Film Review: The Polish work of art, 'Ida', directed by Pawel Pawlikowski as reviewed by Peter Menkin<div class="post-37835 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-blogs category-columnists category-peter-menkin tag-film-review tag-ida tag-pawel-pawlikowski tag-peter-menkin entry" id="post-37835">
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37836" style="width: 310px;">
<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ida-3.jpg"><img alt="3.Ida/Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska) in IDA. Courtesy of Music box Films" class="size-medium wp-image-37836" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ida-3-300x225.jpg" height="225" style="display: inline;" width="300" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Ida/Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska) in IDA. Courtesy of Music box Films</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<strong>by Peter Menkin</strong></div>
In this work of art, the film <em>Ida </em>is about a nun who begins
to fail in her vows and faith on learning of her background as a Jewish
child whose family was murdered during the Second World War in Poland.
We find many bleak scenes and dark moments. These are moments both of
the past and in her discoveries of life in the world. A cinematic
success of exceedingly visual bleak and many times beautiful pictures,
this scenario like a piece of pictorial movement in sculpture shows
tawdry buildings in contrast to the youthful and lovely innocence of the
novice nun Ida who seeks her past in currency of her current identity
crisis.<br />
<br />
Her Mother Superior sends her on this hunt, a mission, a quest to
find herself in her Jewish past; the nun Ida who was foundling all her
life meets her Aunt, a cold Communist Judge in another town who leads
her to the hidden grave of her family. In a grisly scene the two unearth
the bones in the middle of the night.<br />
<br />
Yes, Ida does go see her Aunt Wanda, played so convincingly and even
chillingly with a dark despair by Agata Kulesz—actress of brilliant
skill. Ida is played by first time actress Agata Trzebuchowska and
brings a lovely innocent simplicity to the part.The successful chemistry
between the two helps to bring out the theme of good and evil this
writer found in the movie.<br />
<br />
I failed to find anything but a chilling, but genuine bond between
the two relatives; there was a kind of lost sense of despair for Ida:
that of the knowledge of her many years as orphan, perhaps; and for Red
Wanda a drunken loneliness and a real loneliness to the soul. She was a
woman alone with nothing but her work as Judge and Communist and it
seemed to this viewer not enough, but something creating more loss for
her. I know, this is odd to say, but so I sensed for when she loses Ida
later in the movie the viewer will see her despair come to the fore in
spades.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_37838" style="width: 310px;">
<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ida-5.jpg"><img alt="5.Ida/Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska) and Wanda (Agata Kulesza) in IDA. Courtesy of Music Box Films" class="size-medium wp-image-37838" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ida-5-300x224.jpg" height="224" style="display: inline;" width="300" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Ida/Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska) and Wanda (Agata Kulesza) in IDA. Courtesy of Music Box Films</div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
Mostly, this is a film about characters and their finding each other
in family and the horror of their history; it is a film about a dark
family secret and attempting to bury it again. This viewer grieves the
conflict of evil in the good novice’s life. Evil greets good as Ida,
Evil represented by Wanda. The devil seduces the niece, a novice Nun,
seduced with the bleak world of Wanda’s dark past and present life and
so Ida begins to lose her faith in God and Church. It is also Ida’s
past, but not her way of living that past. And there is the difference.<br />
<br />
The two in their misguided quest to find the bones of the family
grave and dig them up begin the dark process of disturbing their own
past and raising the darkness. This is a seduction of the force of evil
itself, an awakening of it to the fore, the stark power of evil as being
in the world. Evil is awakened. Wanda the Communist personifies the
dark side. Even when the Communist Wanda uses the name God as to call on
the Almighty as believer, this is a deep lie on her lips.<br />
<br />
What good does it do for Ida to be seduced into pursuing the past in
this way, but to live the bleak past again so darkly again as though to
open a wound rather than as a nun heal it and bury the dead who are
buried and pray for them and those who have died? Wanda appears to want
nothing of the orphan side of loneliness, of Ida and her nun’s way. She
who is the hangman judge of the past as Communist put so many to death
in the cause of Communism appears to want nothing of the Nun’s ways and
so is a prisoner of her own cold philosophy and life. This is a dark
film with so many beautiful pictures.<br />
<br />
Let me turn to the grave digging scene, again, for it haunts this
viewer. There are many haunting scenes including the meeting of the nun
with the alto saxophone player, the night scenes of her encounters with
the world and other tests of her life as she continues her quest. But
for me, the most important model is affection, and even how love is
played in this movie. Finding love in the movie is a difficult task. It
was for me. Shall we say Red Wanda was towards the end of her life in
her own way responsible for the lost Ida, an orphan, and finding her
showed her familial love by leading her to her family? Ida through a
bonding of kind with her Communist Aunt offered a kind of forgiveness
for being left, orphaned. In this strange way of fate Ida, the Jewish
child, became a Catholic nun. Ida was survivor of death through a
kindness of the killer of her family who were Jewish and victims of the
Holocaust. This occurred during the German occupation of Poland. It was a
horrible, personal murder she survived. She survived because she was
the right kind of Jewish little girl. Her family were killed as they
were the wrong kind of Jews. This was a matter of evil and hate.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_37839" style="width: 310px;">
<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ida-6.jpg"><img alt="Pawel Pawlikowski, Director of IDA. Courtesy of Music Box Films" class="size-medium wp-image-37839" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ida-6-300x224.jpg" height="224" style="display: inline;" width="300" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Pawel Pawlikowski, Director of IDA. Courtesy of Music Box Films</div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
What way can Ida choose as she must decide to return to cloister
after discovering her life and past so to take her vows as a nun? This
is the question the film asks at the beginning. What love does she seek?
Is it the love of the secular world? Is it the love of the Communist
philosophy as exemplified in the life of her Aunt, Red Wanda? Is it the
love of family alone? Or is it some kind of Agape love, some love of God
in faith by her Church and life of living in the Way? What will she
decide is the question posed throughout the film. Should she return to
the cloister and hide from the world? Or does God’s love draw her?<br />
<br />
<strong>In the scenes where the two women have a grave digger dig up
the bones of relatives—their Jewish relatives who were murdered—was this
an act of love by them or one of despair. For us it was despair and as
viewers it was a terribly sad time. Who could say this was an act of
love by the characters. </strong><br />
How sad. It was a series of scenes, showing historic ill and evil
entering into the present and the good. How the history of cruelty and
murder of Jewish people infected the present world.<br />
The rest of this haunting and powerful film in this evocative tale of
good and evil, complicated characters mixed in their histories of their
own lives finding one another in relationship: the Communist Judge and
drunken Aunt and the lovely and unworldly orphan who is now novice who
is finding her past life, makes an excellent tale well worth telling. I
say, see Ida released by Music Box Films. As one reviewer said, this is a
film of lasting visual impact.<br />
<h1>
Cast and Credits</h1>
<strong>Director:</strong> Pawel Pawlikowski<br />
<strong>Screenwriters:</strong> Pawel Pawlikowski, Rebecca Lenkiewicz<br />
<strong>Producers:</strong> Eric Abraham, Piotr Dzięcioł, Ewa Puszczyńska, Christian Falkenberg Husum<br />
<strong>Cinematographers:</strong> Łukasz Żal, Ryszard Lenczewski<br />
<strong>Production Designers:</strong> Katarzyna Sobańska, Marcel Sławiński<br />
<strong>Editor:</strong> Jarosław Kamiński<br />
<strong>Costume Design:</strong> Aleksandra Staszko<br />
<strong>Music:</strong> Kristian Selin Eidnes Andersen<br />
<strong>Principal Cast:</strong> Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska, Dawid Ogrodnik<br />
<br />
<br />
Official Trailer<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/i_vrlpWB4Vo" width="560"></iframe><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/D1JZtwH_nmM" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<div id="comments">
<h3 id="comments-title">
One Response to <em>Film Review: …Ida directed by Pawel Pawlikowski</em> </h3>
<ol class="commentlist">
<li class="comment even thread-even depth-1" id="li-comment-64187">
<div class="comment-wrapper" id="comment-64187">
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<div class="comment-avatar">
<img alt="avatar" class="avatar avatar-40 avatar-default" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/c9b020f0b9bd23090c5b672ec7f5fb0a?s=40&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D40&r=G" height="40" style="display: block; height: 40px; width: 40px;" width="40" /> </div>
<div class="commentmeta">
<div class="comment-meta-1">
<cite class="fn">jill weissich</cite> <span class="reply"></span>
</div>
<div class="comment-meta-2">
26/04/2014 at 04:17 </div>
</div>
<div class="text">
<div class="c">
Made me want to rush out and see it right this minute. Good, informative review with<br />
Vivid imagery and intellectual challenge of ultimate philosophies.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-91931571523937387962014-04-27T11:02:00.000-07:002014-04-27T11:05:17.286-07:00Interview: Conservative web host David Virtue talks with Peter Menkin<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37738" style="width: 154px;">
<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/david-virtue-1.jpg"><img alt="David Virtue, online Editor of the controversial and popular website Virtueonline" class="size-full wp-image-37738" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/david-virtue-1.jpg" height="144" style="display: inline;" width="144" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
David Virtue, online Editor of the controversial and popular website Virtueonline</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<b>by Peter Menkin</b></div>
David Virtue of Virtue online says, “For the past 20 years I have
been the founder, editor and lead writer for VIRTUEONLINE the world’s
largest orthodox Anglican Online News Service.” His site is found here: <a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/index.php">http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/index.php</a>
. I asked a few basic questions of the editor/writer David Virtue. It
is a controversial site among progressives in the Episcopal Church, even
an anathema.<br />
<br />
<i>What is your favorite story?</i><br />
I would say my favorite story is the ongoing litigation of the
Episcopal Church, $40 million dollars. About 80 lawsuits. Lawsuit with
South Carolina (Diocese). They pulled out of the Episcopal Church and
there is a remnant of dozen Parish’s property. They are fighting for the
property and the name. This has been going on about a year. The
theological and moral problems of the litigation. The Episcopal Church
has fallen off the wagon on Homosexual Theology and the authority of the
Bible. The Episcopal Church are sticking primarily to property issues.
So far the Episcopal Church is winning. In South Carolina the Episcopal
Church will lose, but every other place they have won.<br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_37739" style="width: 310px;">
<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/85655622_640.jpg"><img alt="85655622_640" class="size-medium wp-image-37739" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/85655622_640-300x168.jpg" height="168" style="display: inline;" width="300" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Gene
Robinson, homosexual Bishop, more mainstream today than ever and more
outspokenly blatant in his practices and willingness to be proponent for
homosexual living and sexuality than ever. Mainstream press cites him
with respect and normality in their portrayal of the man. He seems
unquestionably normal by some standards in the press. So it begins to
appear.</div>
<div class="wp-caption-text">
<br /></div>
</div>
(At one point Gene Robinson was a favorite for he the first Gay
Bishop in the Episcopal Church was big news. Now he appears to be less
in the news than before as a hot spot and more an established player of
acceptable dimension in many quarters of the mainstream press. But his
picture is here in this story for he remains an important part of the
statement of prime statement for the homosexual “agenda” for the
Episcopal Church and it is beginning to appear for the mainstream press
itself, to a certain acceptable extent as legitimate voice. Is not the
homosexual issue in the Episcopal Church a primary matter in the
writings of Virtueonline? So this Religion Writer notices.)<br />
<br />
<i>Are you married; children?</i><br />
I have been married over 27 years with two grown children with
grandchildren. VirtueOnline is a 501c3. Nonprofit. I can draw a salary
from that. I depend on donations. $`140,000 a year annual budget. I
spend my day writing and working and attend Church every week. I to
Christ Church Anglican on the mainline. Wayne, PA. There are 50 in the
Church. It is a startup. The Reverend Adam Rick<br />
.<br />
<i>Where is your site located and where do you live?</i><br />
The site is in Philadelphia out of my home. My webmaster is in Virginia.<br />
<br />
<i>When did you start and why?</i><br />
Started as Virtuosity and changed to VirtueOnline and due to a
conflict of name interest: 1995. I started it because I was interested
in the growing hypocrisies of the Episcopal Church and began writing
stories. One day someone said to make a website. 4,000 visits a day now
(current as of 2014).<br />
These are viewpoints in accord with Virtueonline. Note the non-profit
garners $140,000 a year in donations for information offered like this
and other reports:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=18802">Gay Sex in West Kills African Christians says ABC*Another Legal Win for DofSC*</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=18780">Kenyan Archbishop Blasts Gay Marriage*UK legalizes Gay Marriage Could Break CofE</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=18752">Ft.Worth Wins Property Battle* HOB tables TREC and Marriage*CofE GayMarriage Row</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=18723">Nashotah House Storm Continues re PB’s Visit*DofSC Finds New Ecclesiastical Home</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=18695">Complaint filed against PB*The Falls Church Loses to TEC*D of SC Seeks New Home</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=18674">LENT:Smudge or Ashes*Bethlehem Diocese no Audit Oops*Okoh to Ntagali”Stand Firm”</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=18643">Nashotah House to Host Jefferts Schori*Episcopal Priest in Sex Change Operation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=18617">CofE Says No to Same Sex Marriage*Global South Primates say Yes to 5th Encounter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=18595">PB to get Honorary Oxford Doctorate*TEC spends $40 million on lawsuits by 2015</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=18570">Archbishops in Global Row over Same-Sex Unions*TEC Sex Trafficking Blunder*More</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
In this interview David Virtue was sent his questions in advance in Word and wrote his answers.<br />
<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">INTERVIEW WITH DAVID VIRTUE BY RELIGION WRITER PETER MENKIN</span><br />
<ol>
<li><b>1. </b><b>Your site Virtueonline, found here: </b><a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/userinfo.php?uid=2"><b>http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/userinfo.php?uid=2</b></a><b>
, draws 4,000 hits a day. if I am not mistaken. Further, as a 501©3 the
non-profit takes in donations in the amount of about $150,000 annually.
Tell us something of the why and the how of your success. What brings
people to your website, and what brings them to give? Will you provide
us with examples of why they come and your method of soliciting gifts?</b></li>
</ol>
<br />
<b>ANSWER: Thank you for asking Peter. VOL’s success has been because
we have stuck to the essentials of the gospel within the framework of
historic, reformational, evangelical Anglicanism. We have never tried to
hide our identity. We have also engaged the Culture Wars within the
Anglican Communion and have not vied away from presenting sound biblical
apologetics as we face critical theological, moral and social issues.</b><br />
<br />
<b>People give because they see VOL as a safe harbor for their views.
They want to know that someone out there reflects their point of view. I
was in Charleston, SC recently and met a priest for the first time. He
said he lived in Western Washington surrounded by liberals far from
other orthodox Anglicans. He said VOL was a daily lifeboat for him. He
was able to read something that touched him and made him continue on the
pathway he had chosen. I was very moved by this. About four times a
year I go to a database I have and make a one-page appeal. I simply
state my needs, no histrionics, no loud proclamations that I am the only
voice out there. I do have more than 20 years of history now so VOL is a
trusted source for the four million or so who go annually to the
website.</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><b>2. </b><b>They say you are a conservative or a traditionalist
in the Episcopal Church and in the Anglican Communion. Give us some
examples of what this means, and tell us what brought you as a man of
faith to this kind of viewpoint. Can you give us a taste of your
educational perspective, a teacher’s influence, or a class you took?
Maybe even an experience in your life? Or you tell us in your own words.</b></li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />
<b>ANSWER: Because of the political nature and overtones of the word
“conservative” I have vied away from using that word. The word
“traditional” has largely applied to our Anglo-Catholic brothers and
sisters and I would not want to take it away from them. I prefer the
word “orthodox” (small o) to explain my position. I have loved the word
“evangelical” but it has been coopted by American Fundamentalists of
late and, regrettably, it has lost much of its theological currency.</b><br />
<b>My own history began among a group called the Plymouth Brethren, a
group better known in the UK than the USA. I got my solid biblical
foundation there, but came under the influence of the Rev. John R.W.
Stott at All Souls Langham Place in London in the 60s. While there have
been some twists and turns over the years, my wife and I have been
Episcopalians from the early 80s and have been associated with an
evangelical charismatic Episcopal congregation in Paoli, PA till very
recently.</b><br />
<br />
<b>My pilgrimage can best be described as a growing disillusionment
with free-wheeling, unstructured “happy clappy” Free Church
evangelicalism (I am not totally opposed to praise choruses in small
doses) and my growing need for a structure which the Book of Common
Prayer provided. I once had a brief conversation with Archbishop Carey’s
wife about her growing up in the Plymouth Brethren. Her pilgrimage
seemed to parallel my own. The Rev. Dr. Ian Markham president of
Virginia Theological Seminary echoed much the same sentiment and
journey. My studies took me first to London Bible College, London
University in the 60s, then on the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
in Deerfield, Illinois, then Regent College, UBC in Vancouver BC. I
received a Doctor of Divinity from Laud Seminary. I have been deeply
influenced over the years by men such as Bishop J.C. Ryle. John R.W.
Stott, Dr. J.I. Packer and Dr. Michael Green.</b><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><b>3. </b><b>Speak to us of our current American Presiding
Bishop. She has been a controversial figure in many quarters and in some
thought of as a special choice of liberalism and even popular among
some. Why was she chosen Presiding Bishop in the Episcopal Church? Put
on your Swami’s Hat and give us your thoughts on who we have coming next
as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA, if you will.</b></li>
</ol>
<br />
<b>ANSWER: Yes I believe she was chosen because the Episcopal Church
was ready for a woman leader. The church had voted for an openly gay
bishop – Gene Robinson of New Hampshire – so the church was ripe for
change from an all-male leadership. She had a Ph.D. she was smart, but
theologically thin. She was politically correct on all the hot button
issues and she appealed to a wide swathe of Episcopalians who wanted to
see a progressive figure at the helm of the church. She was a perfect
for them. For orthodox Episcopalians it has been disastrous. The
constant lawsuits over properties for over a decade now running an
estimated $40 million, the inhibitions, her rejection of the need for a
personal faith in Christ has galvanized orthodox Episcopalians into
thinking that she cannot possibly hold the church together with its
diversity. They see her as demanding capitulation to the church’s
pansexual agenda and that has been a no-no to them. Women’s Ordination,
once considered a matter of conscience is now the law of the church, no
diocese may not ordain women to the priesthood. These lines in the sand
have now made it impossible for Anglo-Catholic dioceses like Ft. Worth.
Quincy, San Joaquin, South Carolina and Pittsburgh to stay in The
Episcopal Church and so the Anglican Church in North America was born.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Who will be the next PB? My take is that at least two African
American bishops have a shot at it. The first is the Bishop of Atlanta,
the Rt. Rev. Robert Christopher Wright. The other is the Bishop of
Maryland, the Right Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton. Among white candidates,
Bishop Ian Douglas of Connecticut would be a contender as would Bishop
Andy Doyle of Texas. They are all liberal in theology and ethos but far
less strident and ideological than the present Presiding Bishop. My
sense is that a new generation of bishops coming into TEC are far less
ideological than previous bishops like Frank Griswold, Tom Shaw, John
Chane, Jon Bruno, Jack Spong, Gene Robinson, et al. I believe the newer
cast of bishops want to lower the tone of the debate in the culture wars
and get on with the church’s mission to grow their dioceses. If they
don’t most of them will be juncturing with other dioceses in the next 5
to 10 years. In recent months’ two dioceses – Central Florida and
Pittsburgh – both elected evangelicals. This might be the beginning of a
trend but I would not bet on it.</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><b>4. </b><b>I just think that I’m not fair to our readers or
even to myself if I fail to ask you about homosexual marriage. Where did
it come from and how come it has become so prevalent? Why the
tremendous success of this movement among Episcopalians and in the
United States. Pick an area of this of your choice and speak to this for
I know it is a favorite subject of your website. You are welcome to
quote from your website here, if you wish.</b></li>
</ol>
<b>ANSWER: Yes, homosexual marriage has become the <i>sine qua non</i> of the pansexual movement within The Episcopal Church. I wrote definitively about it this past week. You can read it here: </b><a href="http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=18767#.U0RWU_lgqig"><b>http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=18767#.U0RWU_lgqig</b></a><br />
<b>My main points are that you cannot change the ontology or
cosmology of human sexual behavior to satisfy a very small handful of
persons whose inclinations are towards those of the same sex. I believe
this is an aberration, albeit a cultural aberration that will not last
forever. Meantime it has turned the Episcopal Church inside out, caused
the fabric of the Anglican Communion to be torn and alienated the vast
majority of Global South Anglicans resulting in abstentions from the
Lambeth Conference and Primatial gatherings called by the Archbishop of
Canterbury.</b><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><b>5. </b><b>Thank you so much for your willingness to answer
questions. I do hope you will answer anything you think I have missed,
that is any matter on your mind you wish to comment on here. It has been
a pleasure making your acquaintance.</b></li>
</ol>
<b>Thank you again Peter. I would like to comment on the possibility of schism in the Anglican Communion.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Many have asked and many believe that schism is a real possibility
in the Anglican Communion because the West’s proclamation and
acceptance of pansexuality. I think the answer is that we now have a <i>de facto </i>schism but not a <i>de jure </i>schism.
One of the phrases often repeated by Global South Primates is that “we
don’t need to go through Canterbury to get to Jesus”. That is true.
There is still nonetheless emotional and historical ties to Canterbury
that will not soon be broken. The reason is that the Global South are in
a holding pattern. They don’t need to do anything. They can simply wait
it out. They are growing by the millions in Africa, (less so) in Asia
and Latin America, while Western Pan Anglicanism is withering and dying.
The Anglican Province of Nigeria has more than 20 million practicing
Anglicans. By contrast the Episcopal Church has less than 700,000 ASA,
the Anglican Church of Canada has about 300,000 ASA and the Church of
England about 1.2 million. </b><br />
<br />
<b>The crouching lion is Africa. If they wanted to pounce and end it
all they could, but they don’t want to do that. They will continue to
comment on the state of things in the Anglican Communion as Kenyan
Archbishop Eliud Wabukala does from time to time. Meantime they wait and
pray. I believe the evangelical Archbishop Justin Welby has the best
shot at healing the wounds of the Anglican Communion but he will have to
be more definitive in his stand on moral issues. The road ahead is
still strewn with theological and moral boulders.</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<a class="post-edit-link" href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=37736&action=edit">Edit This Post</a><br />
<h3 id="comments-title">
One Response to <i>Interview: David Virtue of the American traditionalist website out of Pennsylvannia</i> </h3>
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<img alt="avatar" class="avatar avatar-40 avatar-default" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/15d6232406e5f6030002eb2f104f0301?s=40&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D40&r=G" height="40" style="display: block; height: 40px; width: 40px;" width="40" /> </div>
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<cite class="fn">mmbrown</cite> <span class="reply"></span>
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15/04/2014 at 13:04 (<a class="comment-edit-link" href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-admin/comment.php?action=editcomment&c=57910">Edit</a>) </div>
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Excellent interview, VOL an excellent website.<br />
<br />
<br />
This work originally appeared Church of Englad Newspaper, London. </div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-27541770315747941552014-04-15T18:20:00.000-07:002014-04-27T11:06:00.091-07:00Faith and Religion as taught in a small class at Stanford University in accord with the Founders' desires, but of course...<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_37663" style="width: 310px;">
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<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/soloman_weitzman_news.jpg"><img alt="Professor Steven Weitzman in his Stanford University Office" class="size-medium wp-image-37663 " data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/soloman_weitzman_news-300x198.jpg" height="198" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><noscript><img class="size-medium wp-image-37663 " alt="Professor Steven Weitzman in his Stanford University Office" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/soloman_weitzman_news-300x198.jpg" width="300" height="198" /></noscript></a><br />
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Professor Steven Weitzman in his Stanford University Office…This biography from Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco: Professor Weitzman received his PhD from Harvard University after completing<br />
his B.A. at UC Berkeley, and spent several years teaching in the Department<br />
of Religious Studies at Indiana University where for six years he served as<br />
director of its Jewish Studies program. At Stanford since 2009, many of his<br />
courses focus on the role the Hebrew Bible has played in the development<br />
of faith and culture, or on the foundational texts, people and ideas of Jewish<br />
culture. He is married to Rabbi Mira Wasserman, who is<br />
now pursuing a doctorate in Talmudic Studies at Berkeley, and with whom he is<br />
raising four sons.The Professor’s email is sweitzma@stanford.edu</div>
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<b>By Peter Menkin</b></div>
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In California and maybe even the United States religion is a hot button subject. Mention it and all sorts of bells ring. It is the case at Stanford where a class examining religion at Stanford University is held and students look at religion as it is understood on their campus. This unique class is offered by Steven Weitzman and Kathryn Gin Lum. Professor Weitzman says of his class, “Since the class was an experiment, we kept the numbers very small–to just five. It should be offered on a regular basis, but the teacher who plans to continue it will cap it at fifteen. She (Kathryn Gin Lum) and I conceived the class as a novel way to introduce the study of religion without requiring students to learn about an established religious tradition–something that turns many students off or that proves difficult for them because of preconceived ideas about religion or the study of religion.”<br />
<br />
I think that Stanford has a thoughtful and maybe for some unusual definition of the purposes of and reasons for thinking about religion for both students and faculty at the University. This world class institution located in the Western part of the United States in California about an hour’s drive by car South of San Francisco has an open air campus, meaning students can walk in the open between department sections on the University campus.<br />
<br />
Stanford News calls the requirement of religion as a viewpoint by the University: “These typical assignments for a religious studies course were accompanied by an analysis of the <a href="http://wasc.stanford.edu/system/files/FoundingGrant_2.pdf">Stanford University Founding Grant</a> from 1885. The document established Stanford as a non-sectarian university, yet one that also sought to teach students about the “immortality of the soul, the existence of an all-wise and benevolent Creator, and that obedience to His laws is the highest duty of man.”<br />
The author of the Stanford News article quotes Professor Weitzman: <i>Weitzman, a scholar of Jewish antiquity, and Gin Lum, who specializes in American religious history, weren’t quite sure how students would react to the course. However, as Gin Lum put it, “Stanford has so many strange myths and</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/KGL3.jpg"><img alt="Professor Gin Lum specializes in American religious history. Her research and teaching interests focus on religion and race, religion and violence, and the afterlife, evil, and death in America. She is author of the forthcoming Damned Nation: Hell in America from the Revolution to Reconstruction (Oxford University Press). She is an Annenberg Faculty Fellow (2012-14), is affiliated with the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE), and organizes the American Religions Workshop at Stanford." class="size-full wp-image-37667" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/KGL3.jpg" height="200" style="display: inline;" width="200" /><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-37667" alt="Professor Gin Lum specializes in American religious history. Her research and teaching interests focus on religion and race, religion and violence, and the afterlife, evil, and death in America. She is author of the forthcoming Damned Nation: Hell in America from the Revolution to Reconstruction (Oxford University Press). She is an Annenberg Faculty Fellow (2012-14), is affiliated with the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE), and organizes the American Religions Workshop at Stanford." src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/KGL3.jpg" width="200" height="200" /></noscript></a><br />
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Professor Gin Lum specializes in American religious history. Her research and teaching interests focus on religion and race, religion and violence, and the afterlife, evil, and death in America. She is author of the forthcoming Damned Nation: Hell in America from the Revolution to Reconstruction (Oxford University Press). She is an Annenberg Faculty Fellow (2012-14), is affiliated with the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE), and organizes the American Religions Workshop at Stanford.</div>
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<i>rituals” that it did not seem like too far a stretch to apply to it theories and methods used in religious studies.</i><br />
<br />
This seemingly unusual statement by Professor Gin Lum who wonders how the Stanford student will react to religious studies couldn’t be verified by this reporter since she wasn’t available for interview. But speculating on the subject makes me wonder what the young generation wonders about the subject, and what they think of their own faith and the very matters of religious identity in their world. But let us turn to Professor Weitzman who has some thoughts on this matter, though I, myself, suspect there is a kind of emptiness about the generation for by media reports they appear bereft of real faith practices and at least interest in practicing the Christian faith in America. Perhaps a purpose of the class is to give students a better handle in their own lives some sense of their own sense of religious identity as well as their identity itself in campus life and the life of religious life in the world. This is a class of big ideas and bold concepts.<br />
<br />
<i>“We live in a world where 80 percent of the population identifies with one religious community or another, and where a number of our major conflicts around the world are driven by religious motivation,” said Weitzman, who recently led the first Stanford </i><a href="http://humanexperience.stanford.edu/israeloverseas"><i>study abroad program to Israel</i></a><i> in 25 years.</i><br />
<br />
<i>“To understand the world, you need to understand religion,” he said. However, he added, the study of religion is not high on the priority list for most students. Weitzman said that non-religious students might think it a waste of time, while religious students may fear that formal religious studies might attack their faith.</i><br />
<br />
<i>“Alarm bells go off for both groups,” Weitzman said, so he and Gin Lum found a way to introduce the core questions of religious studies (What is religion? What is ritual? What is myth?) through a lens Stanford students could identify with – Stanford University itself.</i><br />
<i>To contextualize the importance of sacred spaces in the study of religion, the class read excerpts from Mircea Eliade’s </i><i>The Sacred and the Profane</i><i> alongside discussions about the role of Memorial Church at a university that from inception was decreed to remain “nonsectarian … and entirely free from all denominational alliances.”</i><br />
<br />
<i>The class also examined the ways Stanford culture embodies the social dimensions</i> of religion, which Weitzman says includes “bringing people together, creating a sense of cohesive identity” and “generating meaning.”<br />
<br />
In an effort to get a sense of how students and the campus members feel about and have reacted to their religious sensibilities and tastes over a longer period of time in the real way of their practices, I contacted the Dean of the Stanford Chapel who responded in this full and remarkable manner by email. This is his email response:<br />
<br />
<i>Dear Peter,</i><br />
<br />
<i> </i><i>1) The Stanford Founding grant of November 11, 1885, stated that the Trustees shall “Lay off on the Palo Alto Farm a site for, and erect thereon, a church.” It also stated that it should be the Trustees’ duty “To prohibit sectarian instruction, but to have taught in the University the immortality of the soul, the existence of an all-wise and benevolent Creator, and that obedience to His laws is the highest duty of man.” It also stated that the purposes of the university were “to promote the public welfare by exercising an influence on behalf of humanity and civilization, teaching the blessings of liberty regulated by law, and inculcating love and reverence for the great principles of government as derived from the inalienable rights of man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” </i><br />
<i> </i><i>From this, I take it that the founders, who identified personally as Christians, wanted the university to have a spiritual and moral core, but did not want the university captured by any particular Christian denomination; in effect, to be open to the religions of the world. They used general statements of the era about immortality, a benevolent Creator, obedience to divine law, and inalienable rights of man rather than sectarian statements about Jesus and his role in salvation. A rabbi who was invited to speak at the dedication of the church in 1903, and was a regular guest preacher in the early days of the church, explained that Mrs. Stanford sat in the pews of the church on Sunday mornings “at the feet of preachers of every possible denomination and of no denomination. There has not been a single instance where the university would even permit criticism of its guests. Unitarians, trinitarians, infidels, Brahmins, Buddhists, Mohammedans, materialists, atheists, all have been heard, all were welcomed, the main condition of their welcome being that they must have something to say.” </i><br />
<i> </i><i>In my tenure of experience on the Stanford campus (2000-2014), virtually all forms of spiritual, religious and ethical life are respected and nurtured here. The Office for Religious Life in particular affirms community in the broadest sense, both encouraging particular kinds of faith observance, supporting free exercise of religion, and also striving to connect people through interfaith dialogue and through positive relations between people who would call themselves religious or spiritual and those who would claim to be humanist, agnostic or atheist. </i><br />
<br />
<i> </i><i>2) Through a variety of surveys conducted on the Stanford campus, it seems that about 50% of our students identify as Christian (around 30% Protestant, 20% Catholic, and 1% Eastern Orthodox); around 10% Jewish; 3-5% each as Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim; and 25% “none” (or humanist, agnostic or atheist). There are also smaller religious traditions represented under 1% each, like Baha’is, Sikhs, Native Americans, and Unitarian Universalists. From a national research on spirituality in higher education that I’ve been involved with, we’ve found that more than 80% of college and university students express an interest in “spirituality” while 90% affirm that non-religious people can live lives that are just as moral as those of religious believers. Although non-attendance at any religious services doubles during college from around 20% to 40% from freshman to junior year, spirituality shows substantial growth in college. Likewise, faculty describe themselves as “spiritual” at the 80% level, but</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/13075-scotty_news.jpg"><img alt="http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/september/rev-mclennan-retire-092613.html By Lisa Lapin As dean for religious life, Rev. Scotty McLennan ministers to the nondenominational congregation at Memorial Church. The Rev. Scotty McLennan, dean for religious life at Stanford, has announced that he plans to retire in summer 2014 from his post. Since his arrival in 2000, he has provided spiritual, religious and ethical leadership for the university community and served as minister of Memorial Church. After a sabbatical, he intends to return to campus to teach. "As dean for religious life at Stanford, Scotty has provided counsel and guidance for the entire community – students, staff, faculty and members of the greater community. He has served as an advocate for everyone, not only those actively engaged in their faiths," said Stanford President John Hennessy. "Scotty has challenged us to think differently, to question how the work we do might serve a greater purpose. We are deeply grateful to him for his service and his leadership – and delighted our students will have the continued benefit of his teaching." "As one of Stanford's spiritual leaders for more than a decade, Scotty has dramatically expanded opportunities for multifaith and cultural experiences on the Stanford campus," said Provost John Etchemendy. "Through his initiatives, the Office for Religious Life has been pivotal in preparing our students to become global citizens, deepening their understanding of the role of religion and faith in shaping world societies. We are pleased he will maintain a teaching presence at Stanford, and that future students will continue to benefit from his scholarship in the areas of morality and ethics." McLennan ministers to the nondenominational congregation at Memorial Church, which has become a vibrant center for religious, spiritual and musical events. The Rathbun program, in honor of the late Stanford Law School Professor Harry Rathbun and his late wife, Emilia, has encouraged students to engage in self-reflection and moral inquiry and to explore "what leads to a meaningful life" through a variety of student activities and a series of lectures. Under McLennan's stewardship, "Harry's Last Lecture on a Meaningful Life" has featured such visiting fellows as the Dalai Lama, former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Marian Wright Edelman, president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund. McLennan has also led the creation of new spaces to foster spiritual observance throughout the campus. The CIRCLE (Center for Inter-Religious Community, Learning and Experiences) was established in 2007 on the third floor of the renovated Old Union, creating a vibrant new spiritual center and sanctuary for students of many faiths. The open and inclusive CIRCLE houses many Stanford Associated Religions member groups and is used for worship, ritual, reflection and spiritual and intellectual growth. " class="size-medium wp-image-37665" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/13075-scotty_news-300x200.jpg" height="200" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><noscript><img class="size-medium wp-image-37665" alt="http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/september/rev-mclennan-retire-092613.html By Lisa Lapin As dean for religious life, Rev. Scotty McLennan ministers to the nondenominational congregation at Memorial Church. The Rev. Scotty McLennan, dean for religious life at Stanford, has announced that he plans to retire in summer 2014 from his post. Since his arrival in 2000, he has provided spiritual, religious and ethical leadership for the university community and served as minister of Memorial Church. After a sabbatical, he intends to return to campus to teach. "As dean for religious life at Stanford, Scotty has provided counsel and guidance for the entire community – students, staff, faculty and members of the greater community. He has served as an advocate for everyone, not only those actively engaged in their faiths," said Stanford President John Hennessy. "Scotty has challenged us to think differently, to question how the work we do might serve a greater purpose. We are deeply grateful to him for his service and his leadership – and delighted our students will have the continued benefit of his teaching." "As one of Stanford's spiritual leaders for more than a decade, Scotty has dramatically expanded opportunities for multifaith and cultural experiences on the Stanford campus," said Provost John Etchemendy. "Through his initiatives, the Office for Religious Life has been pivotal in preparing our students to become global citizens, deepening their understanding of the role of religion and faith in shaping world societies. We are pleased he will maintain a teaching presence at Stanford, and that future students will continue to benefit from his scholarship in the areas of morality and ethics." McLennan ministers to the nondenominational congregation at Memorial Church, which has become a vibrant center for religious, spiritual and musical events. The Rathbun program, in honor of the late Stanford Law School Professor Harry Rathbun and his late wife, Emilia, has encouraged students to engage in self-reflection and moral inquiry and to explore "what leads to a meaningful life" through a variety of student activities and a series of lectures. Under McLennan's stewardship, "Harry's Last Lecture on a Meaningful Life" has featured such visiting fellows as the Dalai Lama, former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Marian Wright Edelman, president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund. McLennan has also led the creation of new spaces to foster spiritual observance throughout the campus. The CIRCLE (Center for Inter-Religious Community, Learning and Experiences) was established in 2007 on the third floor of the renovated Old Union, creating a vibrant new spiritual center and sanctuary for students of many faiths. The open and inclusive CIRCLE houses many Stanford Associated Religions member groups and is used for worship, ritual, reflection and spiritual and intellectual growth. " src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/13075-scotty_news-300x200.jpg" width="300" height="200" /></noscript></a><br />
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http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/september/rev-mclennan-retire-092613.html</div>
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<br />
By Lisa Lapin<br />
As dean for religious life, Rev. Scotty McLennan ministers to the nondenominational congregation at Memorial Church.<br />
The Rev. Scotty McLennan, dean for religious life at Stanford, has announced that he plans to retire in summer 2014 from his post. Since his arrival in 2000, he has provided spiritual, religious and ethical leadership for the university community and served as minister of Memorial Church. After a sabbatical, he intends to return to campus to teach.<br />
“As dean for religious life at Stanford, Scotty has provided counsel and guidance for the entire community – students, staff, faculty and members of the greater community. He has served as an advocate for everyone, not only those actively engaged in their faiths,” said Stanford President John Hennessy. “Scotty has challenged us to think differently, to question how the work we do might serve a greater purpose. We are deeply grateful to him for his service and his leadership – and delighted our students will have the continued benefit of his teaching.”<br />
“As one of Stanford’s spiritual leaders for more than a decade, Scotty has dramatically expanded opportunities for multifaith and cultural experiences on the Stanford campus,” said Provost John Etchemendy. “Through his initiatives, the Office for Religious Life has been pivotal in preparing our students to become global citizens, deepening their understanding of the role of religion and faith in shaping world societies. We are pleased he will maintain a teaching presence at Stanford, and that future students will continue to benefit from his scholarship in the areas of morality and ethics.”<br />
McLennan ministers to the nondenominational congregation at Memorial Church, which has become a vibrant center for religious, spiritual and musical events. The Rathbun program, in honor of the late Stanford Law School Professor Harry Rathbun and his late wife, Emilia, has encouraged students to engage in self-reflection and moral inquiry and to explore “what leads to a meaningful life” through a variety of student activities and a series of lectures. Under McLennan’s stewardship, “Harry’s Last Lecture on a Meaningful Life” has featured such visiting fellows as the Dalai Lama, former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Marian Wright Edelman, president and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund.<br />
McLennan has also led the creation of new spaces to foster spiritual observance throughout the campus. The CIRCLE (Center for Inter-Religious Community, Learning and Experiences) was established in 2007 on the third floor of the renovated Old Union, creating a vibrant new spiritual center and sanctuary for students of many faiths. The open and inclusive CIRCLE houses many Stanford Associated Religions member groups and is used for worship, ritual, reflection and spiritual and intellectual growth.</div>
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<i>as “religious” at a lower level closer to 60%.</i><br />
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<i> </i><i>3) The Stanford Memorial Church was designed as the centerpiece of the Stanford campus. As Jane Stanford said, “While my whole heart is in the university, my soul is in that church.” She also said, “Take away the moral and spiritual from higher education and I want nothing to do with his or any other university.” One of the sayings she had carved into an interior wall of the church was, “Religion is intended as a comfort, a solace, a necessity to the soul’s welfare; and whichever form of religion offers the greatest comfort, the greatest solace, it is the form which should be adopted, be its name what it will.” The church is absolutely stunning, both inside and out — from its sandstone and tile walls and roofs to its mosaic front… from its stained glass windows depicting the life of Jesus and Christian saints and Jewish prophets (carefully alternating male and female in this university founded as co-educational) to its interior mosaics depicting stories from the Hebrew Bible. It has spectacular organs (one with 57 stops and 3.702 pipes and another with 73 ranks and 4,332 pipes) and a six-second acoustical reverberation time within the sanctuary. Its designers did well in making it the kind of place of worship that its first chaplain described on its dedication day in 1903: ”We begin anew today…no less an experiment than this: to test whether a non-sectarian church can minister to the spiritual needs of a great university… It has been built on love; not to teach a theological system, not to develop a sectarian principle, but to minister to the higher life.”</i><br />
<br />
<i> </i><i>Best wishes, Scotty</i><br />
<br />
<i>Scotty McLennan<br /> Dean for Religious Life<br /> Memorial Church, Stanford University<br /> Stanford, CA 94305-2090</i><br />
<br />
<br />
Returning to the class on religion specifically, I note Professor Steven Weitzman was interviewed in <i>The Stanford Daily</i> and this biographical mention was in that story by Josee Smith:<br />
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<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/stanford001.jpg"><img alt="Stanford Memorial Church stands at the center of the campus, and is the University’s architectural crown jewel. It was one of the earliest, and is still among the most prominent, interdenominational churches in the West. Jane Stanford built the church as a memorial to her husband, Leland. Together, Senator and Mrs. Stanford had constructed the University as a memorial to their son, Leland, Jr. The Stanfords, who were religious, but not committed to any denomination, decreed that the church was to be open to all. Adopting such a philosophy, they felt, would permit the church to serve the broadest spiritual needs of the university community. The Stanfords also saw spiritual and moral values as essential to a young person’s education and future citizenship. The first chaplain of Memorial Church, the Rev. Charles Gardner, said on its dedication day in 1903: “We begin anew today no less an experiment than this: to test whether a non-sectarian church can minister to the spiritual needs of a great university. it has been built in love; not to teach a theological system, not to develop a sectarian principle, but to minister to the higher life.” The church construction was completed in 1903. Today, regular multi-faith services are held in the church, in addition to denominational and nondenominational Christian services. Please explore the church’s features and history with the links above. You can find a 360° view of Memorial Church’s interior here. You can download the Memorial Church Self-Guided Tour Brochure." class="size-medium wp-image-37669" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/stanford001-300x200.jpg" height="200" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><noscript><img class="size-medium wp-image-37669" alt="Stanford Memorial Church stands at the center of the campus, and is the University’s architectural crown jewel. It was one of the earliest, and is still among the most prominent, interdenominational churches in the West. Jane Stanford built the church as a memorial to her husband, Leland. Together, Senator and Mrs. Stanford had constructed the University as a memorial to their son, Leland, Jr. The Stanfords, who were religious, but not committed to any denomination, decreed that the church was to be open to all. Adopting such a philosophy, they felt, would permit the church to serve the broadest spiritual needs of the university community. The Stanfords also saw spiritual and moral values as essential to a young person’s education and future citizenship. The first chaplain of Memorial Church, the Rev. Charles Gardner, said on its dedication day in 1903: “We begin anew today no less an experiment than this: to test whether a non-sectarian church can minister to the spiritual needs of a great university. it has been built in love; not to teach a theological system, not to develop a sectarian principle, but to minister to the higher life.” The church construction was completed in 1903. Today, regular multi-faith services are held in the church, in addition to denominational and nondenominational Christian services. Please explore the church’s features and history with the links above. You can find a 360° view of Memorial Church’s interior here. You can download the Memorial Church Self-Guided Tour Brochure." src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/stanford001-300x200.jpg" width="300" height="200" /></noscript></a><br />
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Stanford Memorial Church stands at the center of the campus, and is the University’s architectural crown jewel. It was one of the earliest, and is still among the most prominent, interdenominational churches in the West. Jane Stanford built the church as a memorial to her husband, Leland. Together, Senator and Mrs. Stanford had constructed the University as a memorial to their son, Leland, Jr.<br />
The Stanfords, who were religious, but not committed to any denomination, decreed that the church was to be open to all. Adopting such a philosophy, they felt, would permit the church to serve the broadest spiritual needs of the university community. The Stanfords also saw spiritual and moral values as essential to a young person’s education and future citizenship. The first chaplain of Memorial Church, the Rev. Charles Gardner, said on its dedication day in 1903: “We begin anew today no less an experiment than this: to test whether a non-sectarian church can minister to the spiritual needs of a great university. it has been built in love; not to teach a theological system, not to develop a sectarian principle, but to minister to the higher life.” The church construction was completed in 1903. Today, regular multi-faith services are held in the church, in addition to denominational and nondenominational Christian services. Please explore the church’s features and history with the links above.<br />
You can find a 360° view of Memorial Church’s interior here. You can download the Memorial Church Self-Guided Tour Brochure.</div>
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<i> Steven Weitzman is a professor of Jewish Culture and Religion in the Department of Religious Studies and the director of the Taube Center for Jewish Studies. Weitzman came to Stanford from Indiana University five years ago and currently serves as the resident fellow in Roble Hall, accompanied by his wife — an ordained rabbi — and his four children. The Daily spoke with Professor Weitzman about his work on campus and his own thoughts about religion.</i><br />
<br />
<b><i>TSD: In what other ways have you tried to incorporate religion into your time at Stanford, outside of this initiative? </i></b><br />
<b><i>SW: </i></b><i>I’m a scholar of religion, so my courses are about religion. I’m not a promoter of religion, and I don’t see myself as a religious person. I take religion seriously and I identify as Jewish, but I don’t have any religious motivations that I am aware of. I do find value in helping people understand religion, especially religions that are different from their own.</i><br />
<i>I function as an advisor for a student-initiated course called Interfaith at Noon, which will be offered again in the spring for the third year. It meets once a week over lunch, with a theme that functions as the focus of a quarter-long discussion that brings in guest speakers and involves the students in a discussion amongst themselves. The first year, the theme was religion and the stranger, so what religion teaches about one’s responsibility to strangers, to others, to the marginalized. Much of the focus was on religion and immigration policy. The second year was on religion and the ethics of wealth, and the third is likely to be on religion and politics.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
The class itself, as the reader can see, was formed to match a vision set down by the founders of the University. I thought it interesting to get a viewpoint of the founder’s vision of religion. In one quote, Professor Weitzman, put it this way: “… the founders of Stanford were religious, but non sectarian. They wanted to Stanford to be non-sectarian as well, not affiliated with any particular denomination. And yet they were also influenced by Christianity; and Jane Stanford was especially interested in the afterlife. But if one looks carefully at the architecture and symbolism of Stanford, one can see interest in other traditions–ancient Egyptian religion (as in the Mausoleum built for their son), spiritualism and other religious tradition.” Fascinating.<br />
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<br />
This work appeared originally Church of England Newspaper, London.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-67296517999392257602014-03-26T19:59:00.003-07:002014-04-27T11:06:53.257-07:00Conversation with Stanford Professor Chris Bobonich on Philosophical thinking and making good and bad decisions<div>
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<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/bobonich_chris-1.jpg"><img alt="Chris Bobonich, Professor at Stanford University" class="size-medium wp-image-37443 " data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/bobonich_chris-1-248x300.jpg" height="300" style="display: inline;" width="248" /></a><br />
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Chris Bobonich, Professor at Stanford University (Courtesy Stanford University)</div>
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<b>by Peter Menkin</b></div>
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<b>My visits of American stories as reported</b> from my beat, United States, emphasizes the regional appeal of various topics related to <a href="http://www.examiner.com/religion">religion</a>.
My hope is to catch a flavor of the United States and make a statement
on religion in its news sense. I focus on regions, so the reader gets an
idea of regional flavors to gain an understanding of the national
religious identity. In this story from the Western Region of the United
States, the subject is <a href="http://www.examiner.com/topic/stanford-university">Stanford University</a>,
one of the major universities in this area and even America.A sometimes
arrogant attitude held by the University demonstrated in contact with
various communication people and sometimes, though not so often,
professors themselves. The school is an elite institution with an
honored collection of faculty preparing young people for a role in
society that serves in leadership positions of authority. This is not
news, but is nonetheless a remaining fact of the school’s life and
purpose since it was founded in California. It is a school that can be
compared in status and academic achievement, so it is said, wiale,
Princeton and a list of other fine institutions.In this piece we take a
look at one teacher’s work whose goal is to prepare students in an
undergraduate level class in <a href="http://www.examiner.com/topic/philosophy">Philosophy</a> to think and to make decisions in their coming school years, and their life after graduation.<br />
<br />
Though Chris Bobonich, Professor, is described as teaching a course that is touted in this manner by “Stanford New,” <i>Stanford philosophy professor calls for a generation of more responsible thinkers</i>,
it is more fully explained by the Professor this way: “Both Plato and
Aristotle are – for quite different reasons and in quite different ways –
more favorable to the idea that ethical knowledge is a rare
intellectual accomplishment…” Leah Stark, author of the Stanford News
report goes on to say of the class purpose: “Finding inspiration from
the ancients, Stanford philosopher Christopher Bobonich underscores the
moral consequences of reflecting upon bad means to good ends.”<br />
The reason this Religion Writer chose to report on Professor
Bobonich’s class is a result of the concrete need for religion to touch
on the practical and to engage in the kind of decision making in the
real world with its critical skills that the Professor offers in his
class. This class in philosophy serves to illustrate some methods of
thinking and approach to contemporary difficult decision making. Hence,
it fits in a tangential but still contributory way to better or good
thinking in the real world, where religion and its purposes of
contributing good to the concrete world play such an important part.<br />
<br />
A key element for future decision makers like these students is the
same as for contemporary decision makers in elite situations, including
those where life and death are involved even to the extent of sending
drone aircraft to take lives and destroy property in our American
strategic international work of settling various conflict situations.
This is what the Professor makes as one of his key points for the class,
and probably the major emphasis he holds for decision making at many
levels: “Maybe we shouldn’t get very much credit for doing the right
thing, even if we are doing the right thing, if we do it
unreflectively,” Bobonich argued.<br />
<br />
This is one of the questions asked of Professor Bobonich during the
course of this Religion Writers conversations with him (by email).<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.examiner.com/topic/peter-menkin">Peter Menkin</a></span></b>: <b>Talk a little about teaching students, especially the Stanford student, and of course students in general. </b><br />
<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Professor Chris Bobonich</span>:
What I think is absolutely vital is to get the student to reflect on
what they think and what they do with it. To think on questions like:
one doesn’t go to a philosopher to (find out) why there is an
earthquake. We don’t have a special science as to why knowledge is
possible. These are paradigmatic questions.<br />
<br />
We are going to find answers to these questions. We are going to find
out what we think about them. It may seem trivial. What I am going to
try to show them that’s false, they are going to wind up puzzled by what
they believe. In good Socratic style they are going to find hey [they]
are going to contradict themselves. If they contradict themselves. They
should believe, <i>Hey, I have to give up something.</i><br />
<br />
I’m trying to get them to read the text with great care and to think
about why they believe one thing instead of another and believe things
sympathetically… They should not assume that the only reason why someone
disagrees with them is that he or she is a bad person. One thing I
would like to do is give you an example of this:<br />
<br />
<b>First example: After graduating from Stanford</b>, you
get a job as counterterrorism professional. To get attention to their
cause, they (those you are dealing with) are going to torture ten small
children for publicity purposes. The only way to find out about this is
find out which school will be attacked. She (the terrorist) declines.<br />
<br />
Do you threaten to torture her? That doesn’t work. Clock is still
ticking. Are you wiling to torture her to extract the information? She
has with her her innocent six year old child. Are you willing to
threaten the child in the presence of the mother (the terrorist you have
in custody).<br />
Threatening the child doesn’t work. Are you willing to torture the
child to extract the information? Three out of 200 are willing to do
this. But if we could save 10 children or 1 from some impending
disaster, we<br />
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<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/safe_image.php_.jpg"><img alt="Professor Chris Bobonich in his campus office at Stanford University located in Palo Alto, California about an hour's drive by car South of San Francisco." class="size-medium wp-image-37446" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/safe_image.php_-300x156.jpg" height="156" style="display: inline;" width="300" /></a><br />
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Professor
Chris Bobonich in his campus office at Stanford University located in
Palo Alto, California about an hour’s drive by car South of San
Francisco.</div>
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would all choose to save the one rather than the ten. In this care,
we prefer that one bad thing happen rather than ten. In the torture
case, it seems we prefer 10 bad things happening rather than one.<br />
How is that possibly consistent? Perhaps they would say that they
don’t know if the torture would be effective. But if they thought it
effective would they do it? Do they say, <i>Even if to prevent the ten, I’m not going to do it?</i><br />
<br />
Sooner or later one will say] I am allowing a bad thing to happen
when I save the one child from some disaster, I’m not actually doing
anything bad. I’m not actually doing something bad. There is a moral
issue of doing something bad and allowing something bad to happen.<br />
<br />
In law, very few states have strong good-Samaritan laws if you pass
by the Samaritan you’re not liable. So if you just pass by someone on
the side of the road and they die you aren’t guilty. Thus, both common
sense and law say doing something bad and allowing something bad are
different: Appealing to something bad and allowing something bad.<br />
<br />
The Ancients didn’t confront this issue; it is more a medieval and
modern issue. It is the Catholic Church’s double effect issue…<br />
<br />
<b>You’re on a train and in the engineer’s compartment</b>
going down the track. The Engineer keels over, dies of heart attack. You
can’t open the door. There are ten small children playing on the track.
The brakes don’t work. There is a button on the steering wheel. If you
push it and change the track… If you switch the train you do something
and don’t allow something to happen. On the left hand track there is one
small child playing. Most of us would switch the track. But in this
case, we’re willing to do something bad and not just allow it to happen.
So there is doing something or allowing something to happen.<br />
<br />
Please note that these are examples that are highly artificial.<br />
In the web site description, this quote noted by Stanford of
Professor Bobonich: “Morality is tremendously demanding,” says Stanford
philosophy professor Chris Bobonich, who encourages students to consider
whether ends justify the means. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Philosophy.at.Stanford" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Philosophy at Stanford</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/january/bobonich-morality-philosophy-010814.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/january/bobonich-morality-philosophy-010814.html</a><br />
Chris Bobonich (Ph.D. Berkeley, Philosophy; M. Phil., Cambridge,
Philosophy; B.A., Harvard, Government) is C.I. Lewis Professor of
Philosophy and Professor, by courtesy, of Classics at Stanford
University. He is the author of <i>Plato’s Utopia Recast: His Later Ethics and Politics</i>
(Oxford, 2002). He has also published a number of papers on Greek
political and ethical theory and ethical psychology. At present, his
work focuses on the relations between knowledge and action in Plato and
Aristotle. He previously taught at the University of Chicago, was a
Fellow at the Princeton University Center for Human Values, and Junior
Fellow of the National Center for Hellenic Studies. At Stanford, he was a
Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center, a recipient of the Dean’s
Award for Distinguished Teaching, a Marta Sutton Weeks Faculty Scholar,
and is currently Barbara Finberg University Fellow in Undergraduate
Education.<br />
<br />
There is more about the Professor and his teaching on the Stanford website. It is here: <a href="http://philosophy.stanford.edu/profile/Christopher+Bobonich/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://philosophy.stanford.edu/profile/Christopher+Bobonich/</a><br />
<a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://plato.stanford.edu/</a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Peter Menkin</span></b>: <b>You tell me about morality as taught in your class and how it is presented in the Stanford class–if you like.</b><br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Professor Chris Bobonich</span>:
There are two purposes to teaching courses on ethics: To know what
significant thinkers thought about these questions…and… There are
intellectual purposes about morality.<br />
<br />
Morality is more practical for we all must make moral decisions in
our lives. It is particularly important for Stanford students to know
about morality in their lives, because many of them will be going on to
affect individuals. They will be going on to be leaders and affect other
human beings. It is very important they think about other human beings
and reflect about them in the best way they can.<br />
Here are some thoughts about the purpose of the class…<br />
<br />
The most relevant course I teach every year at Stanford is a course called <i>Thinking Matters; </i>and
this is designed primarily for freshman. It is to give them an
introduction to college thinking. It’s designed to be an introduction
for making the transfer… to making the correct answer and how to find
right answers and deal with right answers. Including the how to find
right answers—to call their beliefs into question.<br />
<br />
Schools vary a lot in what they do and even good schools don’t have a
course in such matters. Otherwise students can just go on and
specialize in their major and not think about their major.<br />
<br />
<b>As the Professor points out: I also teach undergraduate</b>
and graduate student courses in ancient philosophy. For this is a
course I also teach undergraduates and graduate students and students in
ancient philosophy.<br />
<br />
I was brought up Catholic and stopped going to Church in my 20s, and
would describe myself as an agnostic. I certainly think that there is a
real possibility that there is a God, but I am not convinced that there
is. Certainly, I think using philosophical reflection of deciding what
to do.<br />
Regarding the Stanford student or college students in general: How
many hours have they spent giving reasons for ethical beliefs they hold?
Almost none. This disparity is really quite shocking to me.<br />
<br />
From the time I was very young, 6th grade, I was fascinated by law
and wanted to be a lawyer. One course had to take was history of
political philosophy, and I fell in love with the question and text and
topic of the questions of ethics. Ethics is practical. I have friends
who are mathematicians and I ask why they decided on that life. They
said they found the ideas beautiful. I do too. I find the ideas of
ethics beautiful.<br />
<br />
In Leah Stark’s Stanford News story the writer says this of Professor Chris Bobonich’s work: <i>Bobonich
said that in World War II, “The United States Air Force was feeling
morally conflicted about area bombing.” The dilemma persists with
unmanned drones today. Although the United States has the technology to
more precisely hit targets, civilian casualties continue to be an
ongoing risk…</i><br />
<i>…Bobonich said that reflection, whether performed by a national
figure or by an individual, is the key to arriving at an answer to this
complex debate.</i><br />
<br />
<i>“Morality is tremendously demanding. It requires enormous sacrifice,” Bobonich said….</i><br />
<i>….He struggles with the question of whether ethical knowledge can
be intelligently gained and applied in the same way that, for example, a
chess player might laboriously study the proper moves and become a
grand master of chess.</i><br />
<br />
Professor Bobonich claims this kind of work is a rare intellectual
accomplishment. It is one reason this Religion Writer claims students at
Stanford University, and especially of this class, are studying to be
part of the elite in society. In fact, they are an elite to work with
this kind of thinking and even as future leaders to be exposed to the
kind of education Professor Bobonich offers in his classroom. (The
complete article published by Stanford News is here: <a href="http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/january/bobonich-morality-philosophy-010814.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/january/bobonich-morality-philosophy-010814.html</a> )<br />
Readers of this piece may want to catch another glimpse of Professor Bobonich’s work in the classroom.<br />
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<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_37447" style="width: 201px;">
<a href="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Mortal-Questions.jpg"><img alt="The book 'Mortal Questions' written by Thomas Nagel: Quote from the Preface: It may be that some philosophical problems have no solutions. I suspect this is true of the deepest and oldest of them. They show us the limits of our understanding. In that case such insights as we can achieve depends on maintaining a strong grasp of the problem instead of abandoning it, and coming to understand the failure of each new attempt to a solution...." class="size-medium wp-image-37447 " data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Mortal-Questions-191x300.jpg" height="300" style="display: inline;" width="191" /></a><br />
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The
book ‘Mortal Questions’ written by Thomas Nagel… Quote from the
Preface: It may be that some philosophical problems have no solutions. I
suspect this is true of the deepest and oldest of them. They show us
the limits of our understanding. In that case such insights as we can
achieve depends on maintaining a strong grasp of the problem instead of
abandoning it, and coming to understand the failure of each new attempt
to a solution….</div>
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The book, “Mortal Questions,” by Thomas Nagel, as published by
Cambridge publishing (Canto Classics) is a title he recommends. The
Amazon page for the book is here: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mortal-Questions-Canto-Classics-Thomas-ebook/dp/B0014DL3L2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Mortal-Questions-Canto-Classics-Thomas-ebook/dp/B0014DL3L2</a> The publisher’s page is here: <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/philosophy/philosophy-general-interest/mortal-questions-2?format=PB" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/philosophy/philosophy-general-interest/mortal-questions-2?format=PB</a><br />
There is a point where the subject of thinking and decision making
includes involving one’s life and how to live it. Professor Bobonich
makes this statement, and with this statement of his the article ends:<br />
<i>Here is an example of the Reflective moment: One of the great
lessons of ancient philosophy is the need for How shall I live. All the
ancient philosophers answer that question by asking themselves why and
reflect on it. For many of us, if we ask why we ask why we do what we
do; it is. </i><br />
<i>This is an unreflective example: I live in Palo Alto. It is very
nice here. What if they just adopted these views out of habit? What if
they adopted their beliefs in Nazi Germany or slave owner society? When
our thinking is unreflective, we end up doing all sorts of horrible
things. </i><br />
<i>(Reflection is a jumping off place and it is also an ongoing practice of life.)</i><br />
<i>In a classroom and the discussions I have I do think that often
our behavior is formed by desires and beliefs we are not aware of. At a
conscious level, on an ethical level, in the religious sense, even the
practice of confession…we need some sort of reflection on what we are
doing and why we are doing it.</i><br />
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<h3 id="comments-title">
3 Responses to <i>Talking with Stanford University’s Chris Bobonich: Making difficult moral decisions</i> </h3>
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<cite class="fn">Martha Saul</cite> <span class="reply"></span>
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19/03/2014 at 22:57 </div>
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Peter certainly finds interesting people to interview!<br />
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<li class="comment byuser comment-author-pmenkin bypostauthor odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1" id="li-comment-57481">
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<cite class="fn"><a class="url" href="http://www.petermenkin.blogspot.com/" rel="external nofollow">Peter Menkin</a></cite> <span class="reply"></span>
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20/03/2014 at 16:33 </div>
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THIS EMAIL TO CHRIS BOBONICH, SUBJECT OF THE INTERVIEW, SENT TO
HIS PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS.THIS IS AN EDITED VERSION OF THAT EMAIL WITH
ADDED MATERIAL.<br />
Dear Professor:<br />
I did finally get the videos to work, so they are in the story, too.<br />
Yes, many thanks. Maybe someone will comment. Your Good Samaritan story
should ring some bells. In the Christian tradition walking by the
injured man on the street is bad. As you know. In your commentary you
say this is okay. But then you couldn’t make your highly artificial case
to make the matter something to think about to do otherwise.<br />
As for me, I must read some of the examples a few times. The overall
sense that the modern decision by the leadership is so difficult and
unsatisfactory (unsatisfying—even morally(?)) is really a theme of the
report. It is understandable that the moral and ethical dilemma of using
drone attack aircraft is at best problematic. So you touch on the areas
of good and bad well, or so I hope my report allows. (I note you do not
use the word, “Evil.” This is telling in what you say of the matters at
hand, for some consider such results of your problems Evil results.)<br />
I did use the videos to give a taste of Stanford as touted by the
University. I was disappointed that most of the time in the Tour video
by Stanford it spent time on sports and didn’t spend more time on the
academic and even the world renowned reputations of some professors. I
can only run so many videos, and as a “recruitment” video it tells
people what kind of student Stanford seeks. I thought it still of great
interest to readers in England and even Europe who are subscribers to
the paper. There are many African readers, too. <br />
My hope is the piece will go to Religious Intelligence, London where
from that website syndication is more possible—worldwide. But I cannot
get into the website these days to find out, and I hate to bother staff
with that kind of question of access right now.<br />
This piece is web only, though it may also go in the print version. They do not tell me these things.<br />
You can see I am involved with the report of your teaching and its
themes in this class. It is not the usual fare for me, as it is not
directly religious. But as you see from the writing it does relate so
well.<br />
All the best,<br />
Peter Menkin<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="comment even thread-even depth-1" id="li-comment-57503">
<div class="comment-wrapper" id="comment-57503">
<div class="comment-inner">
<div class="comment-avatar">
</div>
<div class="commentmeta">
<div class="comment-meta-1">
<cite class="fn">Chris Bobonich</cite> <span class="reply"></span>
</div>
<div class="comment-meta-2">
23/03/2014 at 04:00 </div>
</div>
<div class="text">
<div class="c">
My point about the connection with the Good Samaritan was that
if we come to think that there isn’t a huge difference between doing
evil and allowing it to happen, one reasonable response is to think that
we are responsible for all the bad things that we could prevent. This
is true even if the cost to us in terms of money and our own time and
energy is very high. Although the motivation may be very different,
this seems to me to have affinity with the Christian idea that I am my
brother’s keeper and have a positive duty to alleviate suffering when I
can. Thanks so much for the chance to talk with your audience.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
This work originally appeared Church of England Newspaper, London. </div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</li>
</ol>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-77045222991370884162014-03-05T13:36:00.001-08:002014-03-05T13:36:38.257-08:00Guest Sermon by Jan Robitscher of Berkeley, CA on fasting in Lent<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<address style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Calligraphy"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">“Will you call this a fast,</span></b></address>
<address style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Calligraphy"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>a day
acceptable to the Lord?”</span></b></address>
<address style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Calligraphy"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">(Isaiah 58:5)</span></b><span style="font-family: "Lucida Calligraphy"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"></span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Lent I Friday<span style="mso-tab-count: 9;"> </span>Jan
Robitscher</span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Isaiah 58:1-9a <span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span>All
Saints Chapel</span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Psalm 51:1-10 <span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span>CDSP</span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Matthew 9:10-17<span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span>March
7, 2014</span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">In the Name of God: Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. Amen.</span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Do you know what today is? It is Friday, March
7 and it is the first Friday in Lent. But do you know what else it is? It is
the National Day of Unplugging, also known as the Sabbath Manifesto.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, a “fast” from all things wired for a
day. I took the pledge! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hFvMeV1HVeI/UxeYlsZhNzI/AAAAAAAAJgY/xWXbu9lzSFc/s1600/unplug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hFvMeV1HVeI/UxeYlsZhNzI/AAAAAAAAJgY/xWXbu9lzSFc/s1600/unplug.jpg" /></a></div>
Sounds easy, but for some, not so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fasting, in any form,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is not part of our culture, but this was not
true in earlier times.</span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Fasting (at least from food) has two sides: one
practical and the other spiritual. It goes without saying that the poor always
fast out of necessity, and that for some who have health<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>reasons, fasting from food is impossible.
Until recently (and still the case in some cultures) food, and especially meat
and all things dairy) was scarce in the early Spring. So people, whether poor
or not, fasted as much by necessity as by choice. And they did it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">together</i>, as a community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">But our reading from Isaiah takes us far beyond
the practical. Clearing the cupboard was one thing; clearing the heart was
quite another. The people Israel fasted all right, but it didn’t seem to do any
good. They complained to God: </span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b>“</b></span><b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;">Why do we fast, but you do not see? </span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><b><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Why humble ourselves, but do
not notice?”</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"></span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">And the prophet, with full permission from God,
gives them the straight answer:</span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <b> </b></span></span><b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;">Look, you fast only to quarrel and fight</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>and strike with a wicked
fist. </span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Such fasting as you do today will not
make</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>your voice heard on high.</span></b></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">It is not enough to fast--from food or cell
phones or other pleasures. It matters WHY we fast, what is the disposition of
our heart, and what are its FRUITS.</span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">On Ash Wednesday we heard the components to our
Lenten practice: </span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <b> </b></span></span><b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;">Self-examination and repentance</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Prayer</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Fasting</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Reading and meditating on God’s Holy
Word (BCP, p. 264)</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></b></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ld7aeCWwVjk/UxeYTFQ-EhI/AAAAAAAAJgQ/_x49el8ga1E/s1600/peter+chrysologus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ld7aeCWwVjk/UxeYTFQ-EhI/AAAAAAAAJgQ/_x49el8ga1E/s1600/peter+chrysologus.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Although alms-giving is not specifically
mentioned, it is certainly implied. Moreover, these practices are interrelated,
as the Early Church Fathers knew. St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of
the Church, preached about fasting. Although he named the practices differently,
his point is well-made:</span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <b> </b></span><b>T</b></span><b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;">here are three things...by which faith stands
firm,</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;">devotion
remains constant and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>virtue endures.</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>They are fasting, prayer and mercy
[alms-giving].</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Prayer knocks at the door, fasting
obtains, mercy </span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>receives. These three are one and give
life to each</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>other.... Let no one try to separate
them...</span></b></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">The fast that God chooses, then is borne out in
acts of mercy:</span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <b> </b></span></span><b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;">To loose the bonds of injustice...</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To let the oppressed go free...</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When you see the naked, to cover
them...</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Not to hide from your own kin...</span></b></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">In our Gospel reading, Jesus turns fasting on
its head by eating with tax-collectors and sinners saying: “Those who are well
have no need of a physician, but those who are sick”. The disciples ask why
John’s disciples do not fast. Jesus assures them that they will fast “when the
bride-groom is taken away from them.” Jesus, by his life, death and
resurrection, came to overcome sickness, evil and death, and he comes still. If
our fasting is a front for a heart fraught with quarreling and the “wicked
fist” of anger or ruptured relationships, we need the healing Jesus offers. If
we have separated fasting from prayer and alms-giving, we need Jesus’ healing
to help us reconnect them for the fruit of good works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></address>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-09FzQikeaDc/UxeX1Z4nzTI/AAAAAAAAJgI/buTaogvvrnQ/s1600/peter+c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-09FzQikeaDc/UxeX1Z4nzTI/AAAAAAAAJgI/buTaogvvrnQ/s1600/peter+c.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>St. Peter Chrysologus</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">So, while we are not constrained to fast or
abstain from food by dietary laws or by the scarcity of food, or even by the
Church -- and while we don’t have to take the “Un-Plugging Pledge”, maybe we
have, in Lent, an opportunity, to use<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>our fast from these things to turn our energies a different way, toward
God. St. Peter Chrysologus put it this way:</span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <b> </b></span></span><b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;">When you fast, see the fasting of others. If
you want God</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;">to
know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry.</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If you want mercy, show mercy. If you
look for kindness,</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>show kindness. If you want to receive,
give....</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></b></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Then, says Isaiah the prophet:</span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;">Then your light shall break forth like the dawn</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>and your healing shall
spring up quickly...</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then you shall call and the Lord will
answer;</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>you shall cry for help and
he will say,</span></b></address>
<b>
</b><address style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-fareast-language: JA;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>Here I am.</span></b></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Maybe we could fast with hearts made clean by
healing and forgiveness. And maybe we could fast not alone, but in community.
Such fasting might bear fruits--of the fast that God chooses-- that could make
Easter for us a whole, new, amazing experience!</span></address>
<address style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></address>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-59102240208909865912014-03-04T13:25:00.000-08:002014-04-27T11:07:43.786-07:00Interview: Quaker poet Jeanne Lohmann of the Great Northwest..."let there be music in me past words"<h1 class="entry-title">
<span style="font-size: small;">American Quaker Poet Jeanne Lohmann, on her life and work (she near 90) </span></h1>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;"> <i>What is the spiritual practice of poetry? I think we fool
ourselves with such divisions, separations. Practice is practice is
practice, and requires us whole, body and breath that animates…vocal
chords and song, imagination and word, story and story-teller.</i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_36874" style="width: 210px;">
<img alt="Jeanne Lohmann, poet of America's Great Northwest--photo by Grace Duda" class="size-medium wp-image-36874" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LohmannByGraceDuda-200x300.jpg" height="300" style="display: inline;" width="200" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Jeanne Lohmann, poet of America’s Great Northwest–photo by Grace Duda</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<b>by Peter Menkin</b></div>
There is no doubt that Jeanne Lohmann, Quaker poet, is a remarkable
woman who in her elder years (almost 90) has a warmth and charm that
makes talking to her by phone a pleasure. I spoke with her in interview
on a number of occasions spending more than an hour developing this
conversation about her work and even her life. We started talking, she
in her Washington State home in the Great Northwest of the United
States, and I just north of San Francisco by about 11 miles in my home
located in the small town of Mill Valley. She lives in Olympia,
Washington. We began about December 31, 2013 and ended February 8, 2014.
It was a friendly conversation and at one time I interrupted her
watching the beginning of the Olympics and so had to call back the next
day. Another time, before that, the phones didn’t work—hers, we thought.<br />
<br />
There is more to this interview than one conversation with the poet.
There is also a conversation, brief, with the editor of Daniel &
Daniel, located in California. More on that in a minute. Let me offer
this statement on poetry from a packet sent to me by Jeanne Lohmann of
her notes and diary material. This Religion Writer wants to set a tone
about poetry more than about the article to come, important as that is
in this introduction.<br />
<br />
The statement on poetry from one of Jeanne Lohmann’s diaries (circa 1978 and beyond):<br />
<i>What is the spiritual practice of poetry? I think we fool
ourselves with such divisions, separations. Practice is practice is
practice, and requires us whole, body and breath that animates…vocal
chords and song, imagination and word, story and story-teller.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Making use of poetry, adopting the habit of poetry, I write and
revise, perform poems…learn how. Practicing poetry: I’m open to
invitations from anywhere. I create my own rhythms, plod when I must,
fly when I can. Maintaining the habit, I work to forego the habitual,
the trite and easy.</i><br />
<i>Learning poems for my life, they save me over and over. Poetry
swings my arms when I walk, spills around me in specific details,
insights. Word-music shaping answers to questions I didn’t know how to
ask, teaching me to re-think answers I thought I had: how to honor the
awkward, the homely, and the broken.</i><br />
<br />
<b>On about December 5, 2013</b> John Daniel of Daniel & Daniel
is noted in my pages as responding by email to questions about the
publishing house he started and where he is editor. You will find more
of that interview at the end of this conversation below with Jeanne
Lohmann. To the first question John Daniel answers:<br />
<br />
<b>Yes, we (Daniel & Daniel, Publishers, which includes Fithian
Press), do publish poetry. We also publish memoir and fiction, and our
most successful line of books consists of mystery novels, which we
publish under our Perseverance Press imprint. As for the state of poetry
publishing, I observe that it’s becoming more and more a cottage
industry. Judging from the number of submissions we receive, compared
with the number of books we sell, I get the feeling more people write
poetry than read poetry. But we soldier on, publishing books we like, by
poets we like. We’re proud of what we do and want to stay that way,
which is why we’re so choosy. We reject most of the manuscripts we
receive.</b><br />
<br />
But let me tell you more about Jeanne Lohmann. Her most recent poetry
book is, “Home Ground” and it has much of her previous work in it.
Published by Daniel & Daniel, it is found on Amazon.com <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Home-Ground-Poems-Jeanne-Lohmann/dp/156474552X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391994652&sr=1-1">here</a>. <b> </b>Much
of her work sells, and this over the years. She strikes a chord with
people, especially with moving themes of death…death of her husband and
love between a man and a woman. Here is an early remark by one reviewer
of one poetry book, “Gathering a Life.”<br />
“Lohmann does not wish her husband’s life to be forever fixed in time
and place, but to remember him with some charity of truth so that he
might return and be the person she loved. This is a diamond, cutting
hard.” Written by Sally Bryan, University Meeting/ San Juan Worship
Group Society of Friends. (Date unknown).<br />
<br />
This Religion Writer’s earnest hope is that the interview will catch
something of Jeanne Lohmann’s sensibility and personhood. Without
further words, the interview.<br />
<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">INTERVIEW WITH POET JEANNE LOHMANN BY RELIGION WRITER PETER MENKIN</span><br />
<br />
<div align="right">
Not sure if I’m a Christian or Quaker poet, what
category I fit into — religious, perhaps, my work as poet definitely a
vocation, a calling.</div>
<b>–Jeanne Lohmann in an email to Peter Menkin, February 8, 2014</b><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><b>1. </b><b>Now that you’re older and the years have passed, as
you approach your 90s, and say you don’t know if you have enough
stamina to write another book of poetry: talk to us about stamina. How
did this last book of poetry titled </b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Home-Ground-Poems-Jeanne-Lohmann/dp/156474552X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388520103&sr=1-1&keywords=home+ground+jeanne+lohmann"><b><i>Home Ground</i></b></a><b> published by </b><a href="http://www.danielpublishing.com/daniel.html"><b>Daniel & Daniel</b></a><b> that took a year to do—rank it compared to other works in terms of effort and strength to put together?</b></li>
</ol>
“Home Ground” [the book of poetry] took a year to put together
because it was so many parts of my life. With Home Ground I was trying
to do a broader scope: family and growing up, and in the religious sense
what anchors me in the past. It was a combination…so far as doing
another book of poetry…I do keep on writing and I have been thinking of
putting unpublished poetry in a separate folder and putting that
together. But my main concentration is putting together a book of prose.<br />
Its tentative title is, “In Parallel Light” which embodies the two
strands of imagination and autobiographical. Its short fiction sketches,
creative non-fiction they call it these days. I’m not writing new
pieces for this; it’s how sections fit together. It’s not new stuff.
There’s a take-off on the fairytale Cinderfeller. A children’s story,
“Don’t Worry about It,”… and there are accounts of being hassled on a
walk by an old man and I wasn’t interested. There is a piece about a
child dying in the hospital of leukemia. The book is a real mix.<br />
<b>Part of my energizing as a writer </b>comes with my working with
other writers who are in groups that come to my house. We have a
four-time a-year writer workshop where we have new writing and have
exercises and set up our projects. I seem to work better in late
afternoon. Sometimes I seem to stay up late and take notes. Lately I
revise pieces and…enjoy the revision process very much.<br />
I work when the muse comes, but usually give myself an assignment.
Sometimes something from memory and that is not always the muse. Without
the gift of the muse you wind up, in my experience, with something dead
in the water. You need to have something that pushes what you do. It is
a matter of exploration for me. What I do is very different from where I
started.<br />
In writing a poem, often, I begin with an idea, a line, a phrase and
sometimes in writing that poem I will circle round to that beginning and
make that poem a complete entity. Sometimes I will leave the poem where
the reader wants to go with it—open at the beginning. We do what we
can.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_36880" style="width: 310px;">
<img alt="image(1)" class="size-medium wp-image-36880" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/image1-300x202.jpg" height="202" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Poet
and her late husband Hank. The poet writes via email, “Stow Lake in San
Francisco’s Golden Gate Park ( a few blocks from our house), Hank is
63, and I am 62 years old…”</div>
<div class="wp-caption-text">
<br /></div>
<div class="wp-caption-text">
<br /></div>
</div>
<b>2. In 1985 you became a widow and wrote a book (that seemed to
me from the reviews I read) to come out of the long bout with sickness
suffered by your husband prior to his passing, you wrote of your own
grief and entry to widowhood, and even a kind of renewal that your
Quaker faith offered, to you. I remember your written statement sent to
me in your private collection of notes about the dance you had with your
husband in the kitchen (</b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Kitchen-Collection-Jeanne-Lohmann/dp/1564744507/ref=la_B001JRVN72_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388522699&sr=1-4"><b><i>Dancing in the Kitchen</i></b></a><b>).
Talk to us some more about grief, about offering strength and love to
your husband at the end of his life, if that is a separate matter. Tell
us how they connect, and if you have a poem that speaks to the subject?</b><br />
<br />
There are two books I wrote related to this subject. All of my life
we were a very fine companionable marriage doing things together—and
four children. Looking at life in the same direction, as Rilke puts it.
The two books relate directly. Hank’s illness was, “Gathering a Life”
and “Granite under Water” (metaphor for the hardness of loss, and water
being the faith that came from our family and the Quaker Meeting).<br />
<br />
There is a newer book that has more distance on his passing, “As if
Words,” published 2011. The title comes from the whole idea as if words
could say what the unsayable says. Which is often what poetry is. They
are love and grief poems, including a section called living alone. This
was published by Daniel and Daniel. This was a well-received book by
readers. It had an original press run of 500 or more. The editor has
said my books sell well over time. Books get bought and then given to
people in similar situations.<br />
<br />
<b>The Editor has a good designer</b> who catches the spirit of the
book, with covers and inside body design. When people look at books,
they often look at especially the cover for poetry books. Daniel and
Daniel have been enthusiastic and supportive. I like their work and they
are appreciative of the kind of writing I do. It is not a big money
making venture for any of us. People come back to me and tell me what it
has meant to them (though). John Daniel is the company and he is the
editor.<br />
One of the favorites on my husband’s illness and passing was, “Granite Under Water” and, “Shaking the Tree.”<br />
<br />
It is the worshiping community that you share; there is silence and
spoken ministry. Quakers don’t worship silence, they worship God.<br />
<br />
What comes to mind is remembering what I had to do, (so I say of him)
I miss you in unlikely things. It is a litany of tasks we shared, that
Hank did, and learning to forgive his absence. There is a line in the
poem inspired by a phone call from my son who had need of his father,
and I had to take that task on myself. I was asked at one time, Where’s
the rage… and I also wrote a piece called Rage. It’s not so much anger
at a person for his leaving when you love and need him so much. It is
anger at the situation.<br />
<br />
Giving love and support for my husband was a separate matter. It was
not. We did that all our lives through a 37 year marriage, giving love
and support to each other.<br />
<br />
<b>The Capitol city of Washington State</b>, Olympia Washington, a
lovely rather new house my daughter and son and law built for me that is
white in this dark weather. Upper part is rented as a studio to a
friend of ours– an artist, who doesn’t live there. I have lived (in the
house) ten years now, if I am right.<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><b>2. </b><b>We do not hear so much of the life of being a
mother, of a wife. You lived that in part of your life. I see in your
poem, “What You Almost Remember,” that you speak to love in the dance of
relationship between man and woman with your husband. Again a theme of
yours. Talk to us again of this man-woman relationship that was
cherishment in your life. </b></li>
</ol>
<br />
<b>It’s the</b> relationship we were blessed with and we were married
37–years married in a Quaker meeting in Chicago. I have written not
only about the wonderful parts, but the troublesome parts. The way to
make it through is by holding on. In one we were very concerned with
service projects. In other ways we were concerned with a picket line and
it was Valentine’s Day; we went out walking with (undistinguishable)
that would not admit black ladies to have babies in Lying-in (University
Hospital). And this was about our … “my need was charity…” It was
indicative of how there is tension in any marriage.<br />
<br />
These are poems about our relationships in the book, “As if Words,”
that includes love poems. [Let us turn to the poem, “What You Almost
Remember”]<br />
<br />
The last stanza of this poem is a dance with death. I don’t look at
this poem the way you do. This is a poem of rejoicing and praise. This
is a poem of later life is why you almost remember, for I almost don’t
remember to be grateful. It is a Quaker poem in a way. It is a poem of
return to a mystery you remember: A prayer of last resort.<br />
<br />
<b>I think this poem fits in the anchoring</b> aspects of this book
which is an expansive kind of book that fits in family and growing up
and the Home Ground anchoring of faith. When faith is real, even the
arguing we do, the arguing we do is the power of God. The wonderful side
of faith is the gold in the throat metaphor, is the gold in the throat
metaphor being able to hear that music. The music in the throat is being
able to give words to praise. I feel that is about God that there is a
voice that is a gift of the muse. Poetry is in this instance the poetry
of praise.<br />
<br />
As I grow older there is more of this kind, poetry of thanksgiving–a praise.<br />
<br />
The muse comes as a gift, as a surprise, when a poem begins and we
don’t know where it is going to go…we are accompanied by the muse to go
some unaccompanied, beautiful place. …The muse can take the reader to an
unexpected place. The muse was one of the Greek Gods and in the
Christian tradition and the Song of Solomon and the Biblical literature
has acted as a muse to much of my writing. These two lines from the
poem are moved to be written by the muse: “… <b>and around you such elegant music/you never in this world could have chosen…”</b><br />
<br />
Those two lines speak to me; because those two lines speak to me, but we aren’t always ready to hear.<br />
<br />
<b>You wrote in part in <i>Home Ground</i>:</b><br />
<br />
<b>So in love we are</b><br />
<b>With the robust joy of our lives</b><br />
<b>even our cries and curses</b><br />
<b>a raging torrent of praise</b><br />
<br />
<b>but try not to think of the words</b><br />
<b>you are weeping and shouting</b><br />
<br />
<b>attend if you will, if you can,</b><br />
<b>to silence where voice begins</b><br />
<b>and returns, a mystery</b><br />
<b>you hardly remember,</b><br />
<b>prayer first and last resort</b><br />
<br />
<b>try not to think of the trumpet</b><br />
<b>but of gold in the throat</b><br />
<br />
<b>then the bones of your feet</b><br />
<b>will move toward dance,</b><br />
<b>your partner the Lady Death</b><br />
<b>you’ve spent your whole life looking for,</b><br />
<b>and around you such elegant music</b><br />
<b>you never in this world could have chosen</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>4. Let’s go on with the Quaker in you, what some people call the simple life. This poem in your new book <i>Home Ground</i>
caught me with its wise statement on preaching and especially a comment
on a sermon. Will you tell us where you were and how this sermon of the
bird spoke to you? How it was a sweet song? Here is the poem titled,
“Theology Seminar.”</b><br />
<br />
<b>While educated voices drone on</b><br />
<b>talking of many gods, the various</b><br />
<br />
<b>parts of belief, rational ideas</b><br />
<b>of self and the soul,</b><br />
<br />
<b>outside my window</b><br />
<b>lark song pierces the sky,</b><br />
<br />
<b>and during last night’s sermon,</b><br />
<b>laughter in the dark.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Not to disparage preachers and their</b><br />
<b>libraries of most important books,</b><br />
<br />
<b>but to wrap the grand themes</b><br />
<b>in some human garment,</b><br />
<br />
<b>a sweater from the hall closet,</b><br />
<b>a raincoat, perhaps,</b><br />
<br />
<b>the comforting </b><br />
<b>simple story.</b><br />
<br />
I don’t know that I was in any particular place. I was at a Friends
Meeting. A disturbed woman was talking about how cold she was. A young
woman stood up and put her coat around her. And it was such a simple,
wordless gesture that spoke to me that I remembered how sermons I’d
heard contrasted with this gesture that spoke to me…the image of a lark
song spoke to me as a Wordsworth as a song that a sermon speaks to us in
so many different guises. It’s not in so many books, that’s for sure.<br />
<br />
This was at the Friends Meeting in Olympia Washington. I’ve been
going there about ten years. The longest I’ve gone to a Meeting is San
Francisco.<br />
Wherever we’ve lived, we’ve gone to a Quaker Meeting.<br />
I grew up in the Methodist Church, which I loved. Preachers there
were a great influence in my life. They were men I admired a great deal
in my life. I loved the hymns and the Christmas candlelight services and
carols—coming into the candlelit services, a healing time for me that I
loved. My mother was a seeker who was interested in trying to find a
time for her spirit and a community of faith for her spirit. I admired
her questing spirit. My father was brought up Irish Catholic and they
went to Church together, and they went to the Unitarian Church.<br />
<br />
<b>5. It seems this Religion Writer has come quickly to the
end of the questions. Thank you for allowing us to make your
acquaintance this way. Now is the time for you to talk to us about
something we may have missed, or something you’d like to say. Please do
so.</b><br />
<br />
One of the things I’ve been thinking about is the Quaker in me. I’ve
been thinking about several poems that relate to this: “Meeting for
Worship.” One is the lives of Quakers which inspire me.<br />
<br />
<b>“Meeting for Worship”</b><br />
<br />
<b>
</b><b>Beyond compassions reach,</b><br />
<b>
</b><b>Our guilt or pride,</b><br />
<b>
</b><b>Is hurt so huge our human mercies numb.</b><br />
<b>
</b><b>Such grief must go where only God is guide.</b><br />
<br />
<br />
END NOTE<br />
<ul>
<li>When I go into the space of worship and need to put aside all this
things I cannot put aside. It is a common thing of the worshipping
community. We bring our griefs and joys to the worshipping place. “Now,
for this space, I put them all aside all the awesome things for which no
words will come.”</li>
<li>The poem is on page 17 in the book, “Silence and Answer”.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>The Addendum poem, “Soaring,” grew from a Friend’s experience of
hang gliding. “Rites of Departure” came from my travel to the Soviet
Union in 1987 on a Quaker Peace Tour. “Discernment” is a poem prompted
by Young Friends asking me to serve on a panel with the theme of
“Discerning God’s Will in Our Lives.” I was sitting on our second story
back porch in San Francisco looking out the window into a tall
evergreen, and “The smallest branch began to move before I saw a bird
climb up that bough,” which became a metaphor announcing holy Presence.
(See p. 28, SHAKING THE TREE.)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>“Discernment” was a poem that came out of discerning God’s will out
of our lives when on a panel in a Quaker group. I was sitting on the
porch looking at a tree when it came to me: “The smallest branch began
to move before I saw a bird climb up that bow…” That became a metaphor
for me telling (of) news of Gods announcing Presence. This is on P28 in
“Shaking the Tree”.</li>
<li>I am sure that the conclusion of Quaker worship has shaped the world–I write, my family, and the way I see.
<ul>
<li>We were married in a Quaker marriage in Chicago: We say ourselves in
the vow, In the presence of God and with these friends, I Jeanne take
thee Henry to be my Husband, promising with Divine assistance to be unto
thee a loving and faithful wife so long as we both shall live. Our
loving community signed the marriage certificate which included this
promise.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">INTERVIEW WITH EDITOR JOHN DANIEL BY RELIGION WRITER PETER MENKIN</span><br />
<ol>
<li><b>1. </b><b>Let’s talk poetry publishing a little bit. I note
your Fithian Press publishes poetry, and is this your main group that
does your poetry publishing in your small house? But more, let’s turn to
a broader question of the world of poetry: What would you say is the
state of poetry publishing in general and what is the place of your
house in it? Yes, a hard question and somewhat both general and
specific.</b></li>
</ol>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_36877" style="width: 310px;">
<img alt="Editor John Daniel and wife Susan, publishing house manager, on the deck of their house" class="size-medium wp-image-36877" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/J-S-on-the-deck-300x225.jpeg" height="225" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Editor John Daniel and wife Susan, publishing house manager, on the deck of their house</div>
</div>
<b>Yes, we (Daniel & Daniel, Publishers, which includes Fithian
Press), do publish poetry. We also publish memoir and fiction, and our
most successful line of books consists of mystery novels, which we
publish under our Perseverance Press imprint. As for the state of poetry
publishing, I observe that it’s becoming more and more a cottage
industry. Judging from the number of submissions we receive, compared
with the number of books we sell, I get the feeling more people write
poetry than read poetry. But we soldier on, publishing books we like, by
poets we like. We’re proud of what we do and want to stay that way,
which is why we’re so choosy. We reject most of the manuscripts we
receive. </b><br />
<ol>
<li><b>2. </b><b>In a few words speak to us of the characteristics
of the kind of book of poetry your house likes to publish? I understand
you prefer not to publish religious poetry. Talk to us about what you
mean by religious poetry, and the why you don’t publish it. Of course,
this interests me as a religion writer.</b></li>
</ol>
<b>My taste in poetry is finicky. I’m the editor who decides what
poetry manuscripts we will publish, and I’m hard to please. I need to
respect the poet’s intelligence, and be convinced of his or her sense of
wonder. I need to admire the poet’s keen eye for details and keen ear
for language. It isn’t strictly true that we don’t publish religious
poetry, but if I feel the work is evangelistic or ecstatic or doctrinal
I’m not interested. I suppose I am a humanist, and that’s that.</b><br />
<ol>
<li><b>3. </b><b>Will you tell us where your house is located physically, and something of where it is located on the literary map, too?</b></li>
</ol>
<b>Our “house,” which for the past ten years has been a literal as
well as a literary term, since my wife Susan and I run the business from
our home, is located in McKinleyville, California. That’s in Humboldt
County, on the rocky North Coast, where the redwood trees grow.
(Humboldt County is also known for another crop, but we steer clear of
that.) I don’t know what a literary map is, but when we started
publishing in 1985, a lot of our authors and customers were in the San
Francisco Bay Area, where I had lived for 20 years and had</b><br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_36878" style="width: 310px;">
<img alt="Editor of Daniel & Daniel at his desk" class="size-medium wp-image-36878" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/warren-editing-300x225.jpeg" height="225" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Editor of Daniel & Daniel at his desk</div>
<div class="wp-caption-text">
<br /></div>
<div class="wp-caption-text">
<br /></div>
</div>
<b>been associated with the Stanford University writing community.
Gradually, as we published in Santa Barbara, California, we were part of
the vibrant writing and publishing scene there. Since 2003, we’ve lived
in Humboldt County, but our authors and their audiences are spread out
around the U.S.</b><br />
<ol>
<li><b>4. </b><b>What of your personal interest in poetry? What is
your own taste, that is what have you liked most, especially as a
student or young person?</b></li>
</ol>
<b>It may surprise you to hear that I don’t write poetry and I don’t
even read much poetry. I have a fondness for strict formal verse
(following rules of meter and rhyme), and I like doggerel provided it’s
intelligent, witty, and not sloppy with form. My favorite poets are the
lyricists who wrote the Great American Songbook, writers like Lorenz
Hart, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Oscar Hammerstein II, E. Y. Harburg,
Alan Jay Lerner, Johnny Mercer, Frank Loesser, Dorothy Fields, and many
more. (I have no use for rap, I hasten to add.)</b><br />
<br />
<b>There are a couple of other points I’d like to make. First, my
position in Daniel & Daniel is editor, which means I acquire
manuscripts and edit them as needed. But heavy lifting in our company is
done by my wife and partner, Susan Daniel, who is the business manager,
the production manager, and the manager of sales and marketing. It’s
thanks to her that we’ve survived the perilous path of small-press
publishing for more than 25 years.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Second, I feel it’s important to say we already have a stable of
poets whom we publish successfully, and given our financial situation,
we’re not eager to expand. Although I will review and respond (by email)
to any submission I receive, I must stress that the chances of being
published by Daniel & Daniel are slim.</b><br />
<br />
<br />
ADDENDUM I<br />
<br />
<b>December Morning</b><br />
<br />
The weather changes, and the world<br />
becomes more than it is, as if<br />
that were not enough. Luminous<br />
and ringing, the cold day<br />
begins, and I go to the windows<br />
to see if this is really the light<br />
of day, and it is<br />
<br />
winter light I had forgotten<br />
could come over the houses<br />
before the sun comes. To be able<br />
to get out of bed and see<br />
this particular color<br />
and then to watch it fade<br />
is for a moment<br />
to be given a glimpse<br />
of the unimaginable world.<br />
<br />
Being here in these changes<br />
is to wear the sky like a wedding ring,<br />
a promise of common daylight after all,<br />
one more chance to praise<br />
by breathing everything in.<br />
<br />
<i>Shaking the Tree: New and Selected Poems</i> by Jeanne Lohmann<br />
<a href="http://www.danielpublishing.com/fithian.htm">Fithian Press</a>, 2010<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i>In the Dark, Repreating Names</i></b><br />
<b><i> </i></b><i>Remember me, but let me go…</i><br />
<i> –Jim Harrison, Returning to Earth</i><br />
<br />
No matter how often I tell these stories,<br />
the faces blur, the lovely details<br />
of bodies and voices disappear.<br />
<br />
Past age and change, having watched<br />
my <i>yurzheit</i> candle burn off into smoke,<br />
having done what they came here to do,<br />
the dead slide into a litany of names—<br />
Shirley, Elizabeth, Henry, Eleanor, John.<br />
So many and so fast I almost forget<br />
who they were, and can no longer<br />
count on them to comfort me<br />
to the restless dark before deep.<br />
<br />
One after another they leave,<br />
and there’s not time enough<br />
to learn what it means when I say<br />
I am letting them go.<br />
<br />
As if they were mine to keep or give.<br />
they are not mine, and if I say<br />
that they were—my mother, my friend,<br />
my lover, my child—my claims can only<br />
affirm how clearly we belong to each other,<br />
how difficult to shape the heart into syllables,<br />
translate the meaning of <i>adieu</i> and <i>adios</i>,<br />
the dark and hopeful language of goodbye.<br />
<br />
<i>Shaking the Tree: New and Selected Poems</i> by Jeanne Lohmann<br />
<a href="http://www.danielpublishing.com/fithian.htm">Fithian Press</a>, 2010<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i>Soaring</i></b><br />
<i>For the sake of a single verse . . .</i><br />
<i> One must feel how the birds fly</i><br />
Rainer Maria Rilke<br />
<br />
No invitation’s strong enough. I will not<br />
Take to air or glide down currents of wind.<br />
I will not climb and fall in those dangerous<br />
directions. Yet I knew a man once who flew<br />
soaring eye to eye with a red-tailed hawk<br />
high riding streams of air up and over<br />
valleys between bare hills and the trees.<br />
the eye of the flying bird, he said,<br />
met his eye flying beside.<br />
<br />
O as he told what it meant to him<br />
then to be man, solitary, out of element, steadily<br />
looked at level with the creature in space, I was<br />
lifted and carried there where the red-tailed bird<br />
flashed by. Wind was a rush in my hair and captive,<br />
I was hooded by light. The hawk’s eye held me<br />
holy and dark, mild and strange in the morning air.<br />
<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Four: how I love this world, how it opens</span><br />
<i>Between Silence and Answer</i>, Jeanne Lohmann, 1994, Pendle Hill Publications (out of print)<br />
<br />
<b>Sidewalk Café<br />
</b><br />
Late August in the evening light<br />
Zurich found a mildness now<br />
it was closing time. Theaters<br />
were out, the traffic gone.<br />
The waiters knew their work<br />
was nearly done, and greeted us<br />
with less than grace,<br />
though expert charm stayed easy,<br />
almost warm. This final night<br />
we had no need of wine,<br />
but weary and at ease<br />
were quite content, and watched<br />
how light reflected from the stone.<br />
Tomorrow’s flight would take us home.<br />
We’d walked these foreign cobbled streets<br />
the length of summer long, and here<br />
our talk was full of all the day<br />
had been, presents we had found,<br />
and suitcase room for packing them,<br />
our children we would see. Your hand<br />
was on my own. Familiar quiet settled down.<br />
Two women near us rose to leave,<br />
and stopping by our table, asked<br />
if they might interrupt to tell<br />
how seeing us, they paused.<br />
They came, they said, to praise<br />
the ways we looked our love, some joy<br />
we might not know shone through.<br />
For this our language had no words.<br />
We thanked these strangers for their gift,<br />
and smiled. All that we knew<br />
we could not ever say.<br />
Jeanne Lohmann, <i>As If Words, </i>Fithian Press, 2012<br />
<br />
<b>Rites of Departure</b><br />
<br />
In Takshken I learn an old belief: after death<br />
carrion eat the sins of our flesh, and we proceed<br />
<br />
without this burden. Already the buzzards and vultures<br />
circle. Coyotes howl at the edges of my life, the rats<br />
<br />
come closer. I notice small white grubs at work in a tree<br />
on the forest gloor, its trunk huge as my carnal sings.<br />
<br />
There may be food enough if I live long enough, even<br />
my pride in saying this an obvious failure. But my most<br />
<br />
grievous faults have nothing to do with flesh. My uneasy<br />
spirit anticipates good appetite from scavengers, wants them<br />
<br />
hungry also for my heart, that they make it light enough<br />
to leave without envy or malice, without meanness.<br />
<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">One: The language of our tribe</span><br />
<i>Between Silence and Answer</i>, Jeanne Lohmann, 1994, Pendle Hill Publications (out of print)<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Man on the Corner</b><br />
<i>The Bal Shem teaches us that no encounter with a being or a thing, in the course of our life lacks a hidden significance.</i><br />
<i> –Martin Buber,</i> The Way of Man<br />
If the homeless man on my corner<br />
with his sign and downcast gaze<br />
is significant for my life as I<br />
for his, may we together live<br />
in such rightness<br />
as the world requires.<br />
<br />
If we are meant to help each being<br />
to perfection, and I have need of him,<br />
as he of me, O may I not<br />
avert my eyes or hurry past<br />
the stranger on the sidewalk<br />
for whom my coins<br />
can never be enough.<br />
<br />
<i>Home Ground: new and selected poems</i>, Jeanne Lohmann; 2013. <a href="http://www.danielpublishing.com/fithian.htm">Fithian Press</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Chant to the Night Sky</b><br />
<br />
Teach me to sing, teach me ancient songs.<br />
let there be music in me past words,<br />
past words let there be music. Roughen<br />
my language, clear me of falsehood.<br />
teach me the quiet of stars<br />
and of duff under redwoods.<br />
let me hear the many voices of the sea,<br />
let the sea be loud in my ears.<br />
teach me songs I don’t know.<br />
bring memory back in music of the drums,<br />
the pounding feet in circles of dance.<br />
call he druids home.<br />
call the wise women home from the sea.<br />
<br />
<i>Home Ground: new and selected poems</i>, Jeanne Lohmann; 2013. <a href="http://www.danielpublishing.com/fithian.htm">Fithian Press</a><br />
<br />
<br />
This work appeared originally Church of England Newspaper, London. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-9757584781445876702014-02-21T01:26:00.000-08:002014-04-27T11:08:35.636-07:00Stanford Professor Lurhmann wins Religion Prize at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary<br />
<div class="post-36795 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-blogs category-columnists category-peter-menkin tag-grawemeyer-awards tag-louisville-seminary tag-peter-menkin tag-stanford-university tag-tanya-luhrmann tag-university-of-louisville entry" id="post-36795">
<h4>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Experiencing this kind of God requires a lot of work, and that work changes people. Evangelical prayer practice can enable those who pray to experience God as a person who interacts with them—and sometimes even speaks audibly. That’s not because they are crazy, but because the way they are learning to do to experience the invisible as real is so effective.</span></h4>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_36799" style="width: 310px;">
<img alt="Tanya Luhrmann, Prize Winner" class="size-medium wp-image-36799" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/luhrmann-300x200.jpg" height="200" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Tanya Luhrmann, Prize Winner</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
by Peter Menkin</div>
<b>“It’s really important to understand that God is not an impersonal
force. Even though He is invisible, God is personal and He has all the
characteristics of a person. He <i>knows</i>, he <i>hears</i>, he f<i>eels</i> and he s<i>peaks</i>.”</b><br />
<div align="right">
<i>–Tanya Luhrmann from her presentation from </i></div>
<div align="right">
<i>Bruce and Stan’s Pocketguide to Talking with God.</i></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Stans-Pocket-Guide-Talking/dp/0736902457">http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Stans-Pocket-Guide-Talking/dp/0736902457</a><br />
<i></i><br />
<br />
Dr. Shannon Craigo-Snell is the coordinator of the Louisville
Grawemeyer Award in Religion, a $100,000 annual prize given jointly by
Louisville Seminary and the University of Louisville for creative ideas
that best illuminate the relationship between human beings and the
divine. (<a href="http://www.grawemeyer.org/">www.grawemeyer.org</a>)<br />
<br />
Louisville Seminary and and Stanford University point out Tanya
Luhrmann, a Stanford University psychological anthropologist, will
receive the prize for the ideas set forth in her 2012 book, “When God
Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with
God.” As of this writing Professor Luhrmann says in an email to this
Religion Writer regarding her remarks for April, 2014 on receipt of the
award that those remarks are not yet ready. “I am delighted to receive
the award and I will use it to fuel my further research.”<br />
<br />
The Seminary and University of Louisville presents four Grawemeyer
Awards each year for outstanding works in music composition, world
order, psychology and education. The university and Louisville
Presbyterian Theological Seminary jointly give a fifth award in
religion. This year’s awards are $100,000 each.<br />
<br />
Luhrmann wrote her 2012 book after four years of fieldwork in Chicago
and Northern California with Vineyard Christian Fellowship, a church
whose members speak in tongues and pray for healing. She observed and
interviewed church members and took part in prayer groups, Bible study
and weekly worship.<br />
After extensive research, she concluded that the evangelical
experience of God involves a sophisticated use of mind cultivated
through both individual practice and communal support.<br />
<br />
Besides tracing the development of modern evangelical Christianity
and showing how questions of belief have changed in contemporary times,
Luhrmann applies important theories from psychology and anthropology to
explain what happens when evangelicals pray, said award director Shannon
Craigo-Snell, a theology professor at the seminary.<br />
“Instead of asking ‘Is God real?’ she asks ‘How does God become real
for people?” Craigo-Snell said. “She offers a compelling exploration of
religious experience in evangelical communities and a captivating
account of prayer as a way of training the mind to experience God.”<br />
<br />
Another point made by Professor Luhrmann in her presentation on her
book is this statement from the work where a subject describes the
getting to know God process:<br />
<br />
} “I will set aside times where I’ll have date night with God …
Especially when the weather is really nice, and I can go to the park and
I can take a subway sandwich with me and just sit there. It’s almost
like a conversation then, where we’re talking about His children and
we’re talking about what’s going on in my life and what He’s doing in
the world, that sort of thing.”<br />
<br />
The Professor writes in her notes of her book: <i>Many evangelical
Christians have such a personal experience of God that they chat to God
about what to do that afternoon. They go for walks with him and cuddle
with him. Skeptics find this preposterous. How do we make sense of their
behavior?</i><br />
<br />
Professor Shannon Crago-Snell says of Luhrmann’s work: “The book
offers a portrayal of how religious practices in some American
evangelical communities foster a way of experiencing God. Kind of trains
the<br />
human mind to experience God. The book is great fun to read. People
who wouldnn’t pour a cup of coffee with God and have a chat with them,
who would find this a way different from their own, would find it
understandable. Luhrmann presents these practices as very sophisticated
theology.<br />
“It’s a really nuanced exploration of contemporary religious practices.”<br />
<br />
Written by an anthropologist, this book begins by pointing out that
faith is not automatic or hardwired by evolution—that doubt is natural
and inevitable, especially in a pluralistic, science-minded society.
This vivid God is actually a way of dealing with that doubt.
Experiencing this kind of God requires a lot of work, and that work
changes people. Evangelical prayer practice can enable those who pray to
experience God as a person who interacts with them—and sometimes even
speaks audibly. That’s not because they are crazy, but because the way
they are learning to do to experience the invisible as real is so
effective.<br />
<br />
The anthropologist Luhrmann says of the evangelicals<i>: At the same
time, they are learning to experience God as real in a different way
than tables and chairs. They emphasize paradox and mystery. God becomes
“magically” real. That’s also a way of dealing with doubt and it is
very, very modern, even though they draw on medieval prayer practices. </i><br />
<br />
The coordinator for the prize is described this way: Craigo-Snell
earned degrees (PhD, MPhil, MA, and MDiv) at Yale University and Yale
Divinity School. From 2001 to 2011 she taught in the Religious Studies
department at Yale University, where she also earned several Yale
fellowships and professional research grants. Her students have included
undergraduates with diverse religious backgrounds in the secular
context of the University; denominationally diverse Divinity School
students; and doctoral students in religious studies. These varied
contexts have been part of her formation as a constructive theologian.<br />
<br />
<i>“My own calling is to be a theologian of, in, and for the
church,” she states. “I am called to teach and write in service to the
church, thus I am excited about teaching in the seminary setting.
Louisville Seminary is a place where I can bring the interdisciplinary
scholarship and attention to religious diversity that I have honed in
the university into the work of preparing Christians for ministry.”</i><br />
She adds, “Books are eligible for up to 8 years. It’s the idea for it (that counts).”<br />
<br />
How we pick the winner: The prize is jointly administered by the
Louisville Seminary, Kentucky and Univerisity of Louisville. This is the
religion prize only. The founder believed that ideas can change the
world. He had a lot of faith in non-scholars and ordinary people to have
good judgment. Books are nominated, then the Univerisiy and Seminary
hold a joint committee. Every book is read and books that are considered
are read by faculty at each school.<br />
<br />
“We will narrow contestants to ten semi-finalists and then invite a
committee of three from across the country and they read the works and
come to Louisville. We have them hash it out to three finalists. Once to
three, the final committee is largely lay readers (librarian, real
estate agent, and car salesman—for example). They get the final say.<br />
<br />
“The work of the Grawermeyer award is to foster and promote ideas that might change the world.<br />
“He was a member of the board of trustees and knew it well. He gave
money for a number of things. Then he said, you know what changes the
world: ideas. Why not just a library, or programs that exist. He was a
chemical engineer went to U of L and was very frugal his whole life.
Very involved in the Church. He and his wife went to Church, volunteered
on committees, had a gift for investing, volunteered to do the
financing. He decided he would give away all his money at 85. He lived
simply. He did not live an extravagant lifestyle.”<br />
The prize was $200,000 but due to the turndown in the economy it went to $100,000.<br />
<br />
The announcement of the prize is made in December prior to the Spring
when the prize is given in April at the Seminary. The winner will give
an address and there is a banquet downtown.<br />
Louisville is where the Banquet will be held.<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
The prize itself has this history: H. Charles Grawemeyer,
industrialist, entrepreneur, astute investor and philanthropist, created
the lucrative Grawemeyer Awards at the University of Louisville in
1984. An initial endowment of $9 million funded the awards, which have
drawn nominations from around the world.<br />
Grawemeyer distinguished the awards by honoring ideas rather than life-long or publicized personal achievement.<br />
<br />
Although the University of Louisville graduate was a chemical
engineer by schooling, Grawemeyer cherished the liberal arts and chose
to honor powerful ideas in five fields in performing arts, the
humanities, and the social sciences.<br />
<br />
The first award, Music Composition, was presented in 1985. The award
for Ideas Improving World Order was added in 1988 and Education in 1989.
In 1990, a fourth award, Religion, was added as a joint prize with the
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Psychology was added in
2000, with the first award to be given in 2001.<br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_36803" style="width: 177px;">
<img alt="Charles Grawemeyer: Throughout his life, Grawemeyer was known for asking penetrating questions and for never raising his voice. He was a devoted husband and father, a Presbyterian active in church affairs, and a lover of music, books, art and travel. A quiet man, unassuming by nature, he has been described as being remarkable by trying to be unremarkable. " class="size-full wp-image-36803" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/image_preview.jpg" height="216" style="display: inline;" width="167" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Charles
Grawemeyer: Throughout his life, Grawemeyer was known for asking
penetrating questions and for never raising his voice. He was a devoted
husband and father, a Presbyterian active in church affairs, and a lover
of music, books, art and travel.<br />
A quiet man, unassuming by nature, he has been described as being remarkable by trying to be unremarkable…Louisville Seminary</div>
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Grawemeyer distinguished the awards by honoring ideas rather than
life-long or publicized personal achievement. He also insisted that the
selection process for each of the five awards–though dominated by
professionals-include one step involving a lay committee knowledgeable
in each field. As Grawemeyer saw it, great ideas should be
understandable to someone with general knowledge and not be the private
treasure of academics.<br />
<br />
“To a remarkable extent, he put his personal stamp on the awards,
which surely are his shining legacy. They are devoted to the beauty of
creativity and the power of great ideas to change the world. The awards
incorporate his simple conviction that the judgment of lay persons-not
academic experts-ought to be decisive in the selection of award winners.
From this day forward, we will honor his memory by doing what he wanted
us to do most of all: exalt the life of the mind, consider great ideas,
reward creativeness,” said U of L President Donald Swain at
Grawemeyer’s funeral in 1993.<br />
<br />
<br />
This work appeared originally Church of England Newspaper, London. <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-79659009616296522082014-01-30T20:08:00.001-08:002014-02-15T08:03:29.092-08:00Spirituality and all that Jazz, a statement by Peter Menkin<div style="text-align: right;">
<strong>by Peter Menkin</strong><br />
<strong>Originally published circa 1998</strong></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>For Religious Reading, Prayer, And Living A Spiritual Life
Before I enter into a long remark and analysis on the worth of living
the spiritual life, and of keeping a copy of this pocket size book The
Rule of St. Benedict, I want to write a short introduction on what is
the basis of my theme for the use of the book: <br /> prayer. Then to discuss the work as I see it as a contribution to ones own life of living in the world and <br /> in the light of God’s presence.</strong></span><br />
<br />
<br />
An Invitation To Contemplative Prayer <br />
And The Many Mansions Of Faith<br />
I am going to tell you, and tell those I do know, some of my thoughts
about contemplative prayer, and prayer in general. I want to make a
statement to encourage people to think about God, and to consider
entering the ministry by being <br />
a friend to others. I used The New Standard Revised <br />
Version of the Bible (Oxford), and The New Jerusalem Bible <br />
(Doubleday) when composing some of these thoughts. <br />
I listened to the Dean of Grace Cathedral, Alan Jones, <br />
reading the entire script of the book “The Cloud of <br />
Unknowing”. He has a very remarkable and instructive <br />
reading style. And a voice that is easy to hear. The audio tape is available from The Grace Cathedral Gift Shop, <br />
1055 Taylor Street, San Francisco, California. There are <br />
two tapes in the set. The Dean’s voice is a comfort to his listeners, so you may find listening to the tape good <br />
background sound for tuning into.<br />
<br />
Another thing to know about me: I am an Oblate of New <br />
Camaldole, and they have a hermitage in Big Sur, California, that is worth visiting. It is South of Lucia on Highway 1. <br />
They are Benedictine Monks, and oriented towards <br />
Vatican II. Here is a book for recommended reading: “Love <br />
on the Mountain” by Robert Hale. This is The Chronicle <br />
Journal of a Camaldolese Monk and it is available through <br />
The Hermitage Bookstore, Immaculate Heart Hermitage, <br />
Big Sur, California 93920. Also Amazon.com <br />
<br />
There are some other interesting books from the publisher, including
one that tells where monasteries and retreat houses are located in the
United States. You may want to get that book to visit some of these
lovely, peaceful, and sacred places. Travelers will find it especially
interesting. <br />
<br />
The publisher: Source Books, P.O. Box 794, Trabuco Canyon, CA 92678.
Write for a flyer of their book list, and enclose an SASE for the one
page paper.<br />
<br />
Here Is The Text About God And Me And Others And Prayer:<br />
The mystery of the presence of God, as the life of Christ is <br />
available to us by prayer. St. Benedict wrote a rule about prayer. The
rule says, “At these times, therefore, we should sing the praises of our
Creator for his just judgments…<br />
” We do this during the Daily Office of the Morning, and in the Evening. <br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Menkin, Oblate</td></tr>
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“The Rule of St. Benedict” is a little book illustrating some of the things we know about God. Mostly it is about staying <br />
in the Spirit of the Almighty, and learning about the justice that
comes from a relationship with the Triune God. Most of the thoughts
about God and Christ and the Holy Spirit come from St. Benedict, and in
The Rule he illuminates what he is himself. You are encouraged to
purchase the book sometime, and to read it. Young people and those <br />
in their 30s and up, who are interested in living a life of prayer, or living with God in their lives, and especially <br />
those who have wondered what it is like to be called by Christ, will find The Rule an introduction to better living. <br />
<br />
You will be joining many other people through the decades who have
also shared an interest in finding out <br />
what God calls them to do in
their lives. Young people who have sensed that a life in the service of
their Church will discover that through prayer they will be able to
discern what the Spirit is saying to them. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jRWmAMCdSDo/UuskafZOddI/AAAAAAAAJeg/0ykL7SpBLMI/s1600/egovobisvosmihi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jRWmAMCdSDo/UuskafZOddI/AAAAAAAAJeg/0ykL7SpBLMI/s1600/egovobisvosmihi.jpg" /></a>Surprisingly, many people who have experienced and know God agree
that a regular prayer life is helpful in stabilizing their living with
others. We share in God through Christ, and in this book of quotations
from the Bible you will find an introduction to Christ’s message of the
indwelling Trinity. <br />
By regular prayer, an introduction to the contemplation of the just judgment of creation itself in the making of <br />
the world, man, and our lives is appreciated. Within that <br />
indwelling Christ is the with you. Discovering in <br />
contemplation the Triune God, through Christ, is that <br />
being with others in worship, along with the very gift of <br />
recollection. In the daily practice of prayer one may enjoy the recalling of the community in Christ.<br />
<br />
“’No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.’ <br />
(Meister Eckhart, quoted from his writings.)” John 1:18<br />
<br />
This is the living food that is available in prayer, and through the attendance of Church where the sacraments are <br />
offered. This coming to know Christ with the adoration that is a joy is
a developed discipline. It is through the food of the will that we are
able to do what it is that Christ asks <br />
of his, for it is “the will of him who sent me” that we are <br />
seeking through the attention we give to Christ. The <br />
Kingdom of God does come to us in the daily ministration of a few minutes of prayer each day; and the completion <br />
of this work may take many months to start to attend to <br />
the harvest. You will be able to tell when you look around you and see that the days are ripe for the harvest for <br />
this is what paying attention to Christ in the spirit will bring on a daily basis. This common experience of an ecstasy <br />
in the Triune God through this reception is a ripening <br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benedict</td></tr>
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of the spirit. We are told in John 4 that “The reaper is <br />
already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal <br />
life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.”<br />
How may we enter into the gates of the mansions, and <br />
the worlds that are available to us in the Spirit, and in <br />
service to others? How may we as lay people support <br />
and live in our Church lives as Christians, entering into <br />
the manifold daily welcoming that is the offering of the spirit? We can
and do practice this with the Grace of God. This Grace is something
that is an entry point to the <br />
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a narrow way to Heaven <br />
that is a beginning for the willing participant in prayer. <br />
By considering Christ as the spiritual community of our lives, we join with others in a labor, and as John tells <br />
us directly“…you have entered into their labor.”<br />
<br />
During Christ’s rest, for he is an enlightened man, <br />
inspired, and instilled with God’s blessing as God in man; even then he is at work bringing us into his fold. When <br />
he visited with the Samaritan woman and told her of <br />
the living water he brought, the result was that other <br />
Samaritans began to come to him to ask him to stay <br />
with them. This willingness to faith, which is a hope in things unseen,
and a belief in going forward in the Spirit, is a gateway for us to
begin to recognize that the in-<br />
dwelling reality of God’s gift is available to us through <br />
the poetic recognition of our own silence. We may find <br />
the still point of our experience in the world, and in our inner selves
through a reading of the scriptures, and the practice of prayer in the
morning and in the evening.<br />
<br />
Prayer offers us comfort in knowing that the Savior of the world is available to us for a questioning time, when we <br />
may speak freely to God with a directness that allows for even the most genuine freely given parts of ourselves. <br />
This giving over to the Savior our innermost sanctuaries, <br />
and those private thoughts and desires is part of what <br />
prayer life is about. This is recollection, the remembering <br />
of things, people, and events that have passed. We can <br />
enter into many rooms, many places, many doorways <br />
of our day in prayer. We can remember our friends, their voices, their activities of the day or of last week or last <br />
year in our prayers. Through this recollection as a lived <br />
and remembered intention there is a gift of Grace that <br />
allows us to enter into the stillpoint. Through Christ we <br />
enter into the knowing of God the Father, and by the <br />
Holy Spirit we are illumined with a continuing expression <br />
of the newness of the words that are on the page of <br />
the prayer we may be reading, or the words of the <br />
prayer we may be saying.<br />
<br />
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The unknowing of this practice is the very essence of the
experience. Call this a spiritual exercise, a relinquishing to Christ in
adoration the kind of desire of Love that is <br />
the sweetness of the Lord. From the giving of ourselves <br />
in this manner we are partakers of a living water that is <br />
a thirst of the Love that beats dearly and closely to reveal that we are children of God. Christ is willing to be with us <br />
in this time of privacy, and intimacy, to allow us to be a <br />
gatherer of the fruit for eternal life. To enjoy this repast of <br />
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a feast with others in the sharing of their lives, and the <br />
laughing or sorrow that is with others in community is <br />
a part of the life of prayer. We practice this kind of prayer <br />
with others, and recollect it. Do this with others and <br />
when with ourselves alone, remembering that we are <br />
always in the presence of Christ.<br />
<br />
The largeness of prayer life comes to us as we expand <br />
towards
an ascension with the Lord so that we may know that he is the Savior of
the world. This is the act of hastening to our heavenly home, a time to
run the race of life and not tarry. Though others have gone before us,
and we join them, and that they have labored, and we enter into their
labor <br />
as Christ tells us in John, being with them is part of the gift <br />
God offers us in the redemption of Christ, his son.<br />
<br />
Matthew 11:27<br />
“All things have been handed over to me by my
Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the
Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal
him.”<br />
<br />
The disciples found the Lord in Capernaum, where they went looking
for him (after the loaves and fishes were distributed to the multitude
who had gathered to see him). In prayer we eat of the bread of life from
week to week, celebrating and preparing each day for the gathering that
is the memorial and sacrifice of Sunday. In our celebration of prayer,
practiced in whatever mood we may be in, or condition of our lives, we
continue to look forward to the way of coming to the Father in the Son.
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and <br />
whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35).<br />
Many times during prayer other thoughts come into our minds. These can
be intuitions, and considerations, worries, and memories of the day or
of people in our daily lives. This is the stuff of life that is the
renewal of prayer. Look for this revelation and ascend with it. Join
with this everything that is given to the Son through the Father. In a
manner of contemplation, of being mindful of the joy that is available
and will come to you through him, recall that Christ gives of himself in
an offering with which we enter. “…anyone who comes to me, I will never
drive away…” (John 6:38).<br />
<br />
The heartfelt need of taking in the bread of life that is a
sustenance for daily living, and a renewal of healing in the bringing of
oneself back to the Lord in one’s self is the <br />
everything that we
look to be receiving. In our unknowing state of faith, in our
willingness, through travail, or joy, or times of quiet and rest, we may
continue to seek and find <br />
a resting place in Christ every day.<br />
<br />
The will of Him who sent Christ is that he should lose none of us. Rest assured that by keeping one’s mind on the <br />
availability, and the psyche’s loving desire to be with the beloved, the bridegroom, we may enter into another room <br />
or another place of the many mansions that comprise a mountain to ascend. In this charism of quietude, and in this <br />
well-being of the Spirit, be centered on and open to the <br />
receiving of the Lord. How mighty is the experience of prayer is the private knowledge that is unspoken in the <br />
word that comes from the wind of the Holy Spirit like a <br />
presence, yet is at the same time a witness to the <br />
resounding pleasure of the living word found in scripture.<br />
<br />
The Father is revealed in the flesh and the presence in the spirit of Christ, through the believers and those whom <br />
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Christ may wish to reveal himself. Whom this may be is a mystery.
Entering into this mystery enables us to enjoy the daily reading of
scripture, or the sheer pleasure of hearing the sound of another reading
aloud a passage or selection from the books of the Bible. In Church, or
among friends in fellowship, the use of the scriptures or the sharing
of <br />
a friendship in Christ is a spiritual experience in knowing the
loving God who comes to us through and in our faith in Christ. By this
act of community, whether alone or <br />
with others, we share in the mystery of an ascension into the unknowing of a world that is heaven sent, and gifted <br />
as a grace for the known acknowledgment of the <br />
indwelling Trinity.<br />
<br />
Within this adoration, or by the recognition of the light <br />
that
is the way of joining into the climb towards heaven, we are able to
recognize that this bread has come down from heaven. In this age, and in
the age to come, we <br />
may be a leaven for the Spirit of Christ in
our actions and good deeds for others. We may be allowing ourselves to
bring the goodness of the spirit of the Father, and <br />
the presence of the Trinity into the world through this <br />
daily exercise of the promise that the Lord offers us.<br />
<br />
You are drawn by the Father who sent Christ, and on the last day you
will be raised up. At that time and in the present, as one seeks to
enter more deeply into spiritual matters, you may find that you have
heard and learned to come to Christ. In our thankfulness for this
historic act of human dimension given by God in the redemption of the
world, through a mystery of creation from the time the world began, we
become in Christ. This is the way of eternal life. <br />
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that <br />
I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:51).<br />
<br />
Speak the good words to others, and when the time comes for silence, be wise and know that there is esteem for <br />
silence. Be awake so as to recall that there are things and words to be left unsaid. Enter into this reverence with <br />
others, and practice a listening heart, a listening ear, and <br />
a receptive presence. In this receiving of others, and in <br />
receiving of the spirit, we are receiving Christ.<br />
<br />
In The Rule of St. Benedict the writer exhorts regarding <br />
the wisdom of the Saints and their gifts in Christ to <br />
“attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is advice from a father who loves you; welcome it, and faithfully <br />
put it into practice.” (Prologue, The Rule of St. Benedict).<br />
<br />
Be sure to ask another, especially one who is a superior, <br />
for a blessing. This acknowledgment and request <br />
by ones actions or words for a blessing is a way of <br />
keeping the Ten Commandments. “Thou shalt not <br />
bear false witness against thy neighbor.” (The Book of <br />
Common Prayer). The practicing of virtues is a good <br />
reward, and entering into the Lord’s service as a <br />
lay person, lay minister, pastor, as a priest, or into the <br />
monastic life is a beginning. <br />
<br />
Seek holiness. Seek goodness. Seek Christ. Be present <br />
to the living God who is present at all times, and <br />
remember that we live in the sight of the Lord, with the <br />
gift of the Trinity. Each day is a day that the Lord has <br />
made, we are glad in it.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Rv. 2:17<br />
“Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is
saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give some of
the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone
is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.”</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
What is this word that we have received through prayer, or the
practice of living, walking, engaging in sports, doing our work, talking
to friends and family in the knowledge that we do so in the light <br />
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and
sight of God? It is a spirit. How do we discern this Spirit of the Lord
that he gives <br />
us as the indwelling Christ? It is a sense of ourselves in <br />
the beauty and gift of the Lord. This comfort that tells us that we are
a child of God and wanted, that we are going towards the Kingdom of
God, is a sense of our selves and well-being. It is there. Discern the
gift of the Spirit. Live in the knowledge that Christ is good and he
loves us as <br />
he gives the gifts to us so that we may receive our name and the white stone on which we are made His, as we <br />
are initiated into the life of being a Christian. <br />
<br />
This is an important dimension for the living soul that speaks and is tried in the fire of a furnace that is <br />
the Holy Spirit. The spirit speaks to the Churches, and we hear the
Spirit when we gather for prayer. Those who feel a calling to he
Priesthood, or a life in service, or volunteer work as a Christian in
community who will do for another, gains the ktnowledge of the hidden
manna that comes through the Eucharist, and in the living word of
scriptures. These are written on the wind, and how the wind blows we
know not for God’s ways are not our ways.<br />
<br />
In this unknowing we come to the closeness in finding a place to
stand or a crag to lay hold of or sit in as we enjoy and in awe watch
the living majesty of God enfold. These eyes of ours that are in the
Spirit, the teller of a truth that is a comfort even until the end, is a
realization that we are in a universe that is good, and a world that
God created for <br />
us to come and be with him. We await his coming in glory.<br />
<br />
The Spirit is at work in the world and in the Church evennow. “The
Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity…” who spoke through the
prophets and in the creation of the world was revealed to us so we can
be led to the truth that enables us to gain this hidden manna that is a
good food. As we grow into the likeness of Christ we may recognize that
in our confession of Jesus Christ as Lord, we are brought into the
harmony of the indwelling Trinity. <br />
<br />
This is a harmony of love, a calling and a giving, that is love so
genuine and close as to be a passion of religious experience shared
throughout many generations and ages by people known and not known,
people remembered, and people who are not remembered. <br />
<br />
Prayer helps us to be brought into the righteous condition that the
justice of God gifts to us. During our daily or weekly reading of
scriptures it is important to recognize the resonance of the truth that
the word brings to us, as it is brought to us in the thoughts, whispers,
desires, <br />
and all things that make for good in us or among our
thoughts. Something good will come out of our accord with the
scriptures, and in our attempt to be willing to be with others in
community so that the word can be studied and made alive within us. This
Trinity is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This wonderful God of
ours is a moving and living eternal force from the time of the
beginning of the world, made by God in Christ at the creation of the
world. Everyday we are living the revelation through the liturgy of our
prayer time and mostly of our time in Church. (The Paschal Liturgy and
the Apocalypse by Massey H. Shepherd, Jr., Ecumenical Studies in
Worship, 1960.)<br />
<br />
Whether we are sought for and are seeking to become a Priest, or
have talked to a friend or a minister, or in our study group about some
of the mysteries that bring us in a call to be part of the Christian
lives and sensibilities of the Spirit, is a good indication that the
Holy Spirit and this living manna is with and among us. our own name on
it so that each of us may know that we <br />
are a treasure with a gift from God. <br />
<br />
Here we may find the gift of the cross, and the way of the cross
that is part of the life and passion of the obedient and chaste
Christ–who in his gentle and knowing way as a man born of Mary, in the
flesh of a human, shares with us in the tears, toils, and the sufferings
that we live in our own lives. This gift of God, as a redemption of the
world is a mystery <br />
of everyday living and is the revelation of the Bible lived <br />
out in the liturgy of the days of the week between Sunday and preparation again for Church on Saturday. Here is <br />
the entry point to the living of a Christian and religious life. This kind of living can be begun again anew everyday <br />
and begun anew every week. In so doing we are obtaining <br />
a hidden manna that allows us to proclaim nature of <br />
Incarnation and of God as Trinity. <br />
“If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.” <br />
(John 14:14).<br />
<br />
Thomas asks the lord how we are to know the way. Jesus replies that
he is the way, and the truth, and the life. Through him we can find the
satisfaction of the Father, in knowing the Father: for by being with and
seeing Christ, as one may speak with and dwell in Christ, one is able
to recognize that Christ is in the Father and the Father is in Christ. <br />
<br />
This indwelling of Christ is the epiphany of the light that comes to
us after Christmas, a proof that the promise and glory of God in
redemption has come to our world. Faith <br />
as small as a mustard seed is what is asked, and that we <br />
of little faith continue on the way so that we may love him and keep Christ’s commandments. Christ promised that <br />
he will ask the Father on our behalf to give us another <br />
Advocate, who will be with us forever. “This is the Spirit <br />
of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it <br />
neither sees him nor knows him.”<br />
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As children of God, we have been promised that Christ <br />
will come to us and live with us because we also live in <br />
him. The Summary of the Law is one of the gifts that Christ leaves with
us, and we renew our establishment with this Summary: You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all
your mind. This is <br />
the first and the great commandment. And the second <br />
is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. <br />
The New Commandment is that we love one another <br />
as Christ loved us.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Jn 14:10<br />
“Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the
father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own;
but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
There is an ancient dispute that John 6:52 addresses, and it is
about the literal living off of, the eating of the flesh of Jesus
Christ. We do in our lives share in the suffering and the trial, the
festival, and the light of the Son of Man because we do eat the flesh,
drink the blood, and thereby have his life in us. Through this partaking
of the mystery <br />
of faith in the wine and the bread the true drink
of life is continued. Those who wish to abide in Christ, so that he may
and will abide in them, do this for the living Father has sent him to
us. Prayer prepares us for this embrace of the Spiritual longing and the
flesh of the community, which in this life and the next enables us to
live a Christian life. In this Spirit of embracing and joining with
others in the worship experience we are as individuals made into the
embodiment of the body so that we may through him come to the Father.
Esating of this sustenance, and sharing in the activities and living
<br />
presence of Christ is granted to us. In this way one can come to Him.
“It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I
have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63).<br />
<br />
<u>AN INTERLUDE As Conclusion</u><br />
We come in the all in all on the
wounds of Christ in the Song of Songs by the silent prayer and the
noblest prayer, so that “I Must Be Sun” for that is why God has joy and
rest and where beauty derives from love. <br />
The greater the love, the greater the blessedness. This is the Rose, the hidden source of God’s splendor everywhere.<br />
<br />
[Robert Hale, a monk, quotes Angelus Silesius in brief poems.
(Angelus Silesius is new to me; nonetheless I had to pass along to you
my copy work of these words by the seventeenth-century mystic. They are
from the book Love on the Mountain.)]<br />
<br />
<strong>THE ROSE</strong><br />
The rose which here on earth is now perceived by me. / Has blossomed thus in God from all eternity. (1:108)<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n9BjpK9QJEg/UustdWqa0bI/AAAAAAAAJfU/C0uq2vsBd-A/s1600/Fr%252BRobert%252BHale%252BOSB%252BCam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n9BjpK9QJEg/UustdWqa0bI/AAAAAAAAJfU/C0uq2vsBd-A/s1600/Fr%252BRobert%252BHale%252BOSB%252BCam.jpg" height="320" width="185" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fr Robert Hale</td></tr>
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<br />
<strong>THE HIDDEN SOURCE</strong><br />
Who would have thought of this! The darkness
brings forth light, / The something comes from naught, death does
engender life (4:163) God’s Splendor is Everywhere. No speck so tiny is,
no spark can be so dim, / The wise don’t see God’s splendor deep
within. (4:160)<br />
<strong>ALL IN ALL</strong><br />
How saw Benedict all in a sun-ray revealed? / See, all is hidden in all, and therein is concealed. (4:159)<br />
<br />
<strong>ON THE WOUNDS OF CHRIST</strong><br />
I look upon Christ’s wounds as wide
celestial gates. / And know that I can enter through these five safest
ways. How may I come straightway to stand close to my God? / I shall
through feet and hands enter the heart of love. (4:46)<br />
`<br />
<strong>THE SONG OF SONGS</strong><br />
The king leads his bride into the cellar for wine. / That she may
choose what most delights her taste. / If you would be God’s bride, He
will deal with you thus; / Nothing He has Himself that He’ll not to you
entrust. (4:88)<br />
<br />
<strong>THE SILENT PRAYER</strong><br />
God far exceeds all words that we can here
express. / In silence he is heard, in silence worshipped best. (1:240) <strong>
THE NOBLEST PRAYER</strong><br />
The noblest prayer will one so much transform. / That he becomes himself that which he does adore. (4:140)<br />
<br />
<strong>I MUST BE SUN</strong><br />
Myself, I must be Sun, whose rays must paint the sea. / <br />
The vast and unhued ocean of all divinity. (1:115)<br />
<br />
<strong>WHY GOD HAS JOY AND REST</strong><br />
Because God is Triune, He does have joy and rest: / <br />
Rest is in the Oneness, joy among the Three. (5:283)<br />
<br />
<strong>BEAUTY DERIVES FROM LOVE</strong><br />
Beauty derives from love, even God’s face. / From love <br />
originates, or it would radiance lack. (5:292)<br />
<br />
<strong>THE GREATER THE LOVE, <br /> THE GREATER THE BLESSEDNESS</strong><br />
The measure of all bliss one does by love assess. / The <br />
more one has of love, the more one will possess (5:295) <br />
<br />
“In our prayers for you we always thank God,<br />
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Col 1:3)<br />
<br />
Entering into the contemplation of God and by the practice of friendly acts, and good deeds, one is able to continue <br />
to enter in through the sheepfold gate. In our present age, we are
beset with so many trials that it is difficult to know what is meant by
entering the sheepfold by the gate. <br />
In the manner of contemplation, this is simply to recognize that the Christian may in different ways enter when the <br />
gatekeeper opens the gate for him. When we hear others <br />
tell us that we are on the right path, or when we ourselves have the sense that we are in the right way, this kind of <br />
concord is a helpful indication that we are with the Lord.<br />
Questioning the authority, and testing the spirits, looking <br />
to the side and checking out how awake one is in this <br />
practice of seeing who is ahead of one is a good way to determine when we are doing the right thing.<br />
The Church itself is a source for the kinds of teachings that will
allow us to keep from following a stranger, or having the gatekeeper run
away when we ask a more difficult question is a good indication that we
are in a place that needs <br />
another look. In the spiritual sense, this means discerning the spirits by recognizing that it is Jesus who is listening <br />
to us. He is the gate through whom we enter into the <br />
Triune experience of God, that is the freedom we seek. <br />
<br />
In this pasture, we can be tranquil in our entering by him <br />
so that we may be saved. As a good shepherd, Christ <br />
lays down his life for the sheep. He does not leave when<br />
the wolf comes running, or when the wolf snatches and <br />
scatters the sheep.<br />
<br />
There is one flock, one shepherd, and He was and is <br />
willing to lay down his life in order to take it up again for <br />
us. “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own <br />
accord.” (John 10:17). This ongoing willingness to give attention, and
be in friendship with others is an indication that we are receptive to
the spirit. We may enter into the power to lay our time, and our
treasures down to have <br />
the power to take our time and treasures up again. By <br />
this is meant that we can as individuals engage ourselves <br />
in our daily tasks to keep Christ before us, and we can <br />
in our daily struggles begin again and renew ourselves <br />
in our efforts to be willing in the spirit and in our actions <br />
to continue on in our lives as Christians.<br />
<br />
For those who seek to be gatekeepers, to lead others, to care for them, to help them enter into the Christ, we must <br />
be willing to be present to each other. In this community <br />
of Christian practice we will be able to persevere. We <br />
will continue to follow in the Christ to worship, adore, <br />
obey, cherish, and be present to the Triune God. <br />
“Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come <br />
in and go out and find pasture.” (John 10:9)<br />
<br />
In the partaking of the sacraments, we enter into the <br />
mystery of the sacrifice that the body of Jesus Christ is <br />
as an offering by God’s will. Living this life is with its trials, <br />
and its tired times, its limits and its times in the flesh. This <br />
is a real life in this world. There is no one who can avoid <br />
the necessity of aging, or of pain, or disappointments. <br />
<br />
By continuing in the way of Christ we are entering into <br />
our heavenly reward, and hastening towards our heavenly <br />
home. Through the practice of humility we may as private people in our
monastic selves engage in the love of God, performed by ascending
through steps of good habit <br />
and delight in virtue. The Rule of St. Benedict outlines <br />
seven steps of humility that lead us through love to God which casts out fear.<br />
<br />
This ladder of humility is the same that Jacob saw in a dream. By
practicing the steps of ascension in this manner we put before us the
recognition that we can be with God. <br />
• The first step of humility is to keep the fear of <br />
God before our eyes. Live in the presence and sight <br />
of God.<br />
• The second step of humility is to do the will of God, by imitating the actions and living the life of Christ as it is <br />
revealed and outlined in scripture. <br />
• The third step of humility is to obey others by cooper-ating with
them, or questioning them, or submitting to a superior in the Christian
spirit and faith. This means to <br />
be awake when doing so, and in this manner we will not <br />
be locked in step and blindly going forward without <br />
others in a misguided manner. <br />
• The fourth step of humility is to persevere and be <br />
brave of heart and rely on the Lord. There is a reward <br />
from God to come. • The fifth step of humility is to confess to others
our sins and our faults, or errors, wrongs and ways. Make these things
known to the Lord in prayer, and in examination of yourself on a daily
basis. Using the Decalogue is a good way to examine one’s life, for the
Ten Commandments are <br />
a gift from God. Remember that in doing so, by confessing to the Lord, that the Lord is good and his mercy is forever.<br />
• The sixth step of humility is to be content with oneself <br />
and ones lot in life, to be where one is in life, and to live ones life where one is in the present. God is present with <br />
us where we are whether we reconize this fact or not; <br />
Christ is with us at all times. Be with the Lord always by reminding yourself that He is present, and He is in you <br />
and you are in Him.<br />
• The seventh step of humility is that it is a blessing to be humbled so that one may learn the commandments of <br />
God, and live in the manner of keeping a perspective that we are but human and passing like the grass that withers, <br />
yet the Lord is from age to age. <br />
• The eighth step of humility is that one follows the <br />
common rules of ones community, or of ones monastic <br />
or religious community. This can sometimes be difficult, <br />
and it is in so doing that we are brought to living with others and
finding our way. This takes a special kind of humility and often
requires the example of those who are superior to us to be able to
practice. <br />
• The ninth step of humility is to speak in a manner <br />
that avoids sinning, so that there is not a flood of words. Controlling ones tongue so as to be providing others <br />
with encouragement or better things, rather than the <br />
diversions of misguiding others is a constructive <br />
way to practice this kind of humility. <br />
• The tenth step of humility is to keep a sense of humor with oneself and others, so that we are able to like one <br />
another and ourselves. <br />
• The eleventh step of humility is to speak gently, <br />
with a modesty and reasonableness that is sincere to <br />
other people. Practice being genuine in kindness, and speak these kind of words by saying less of them. <br />
This is called being “few in words.” <br />
• The twelfth step of humility is to continue on in a <br />
journey so that ones bearing allows for others to know <br />
that one is willing to be a ready listener, and so that <br />
others may recognize that you are willing to be<br />
someone living with humility. The modesty of this <br />
kind of practice is important, for it is in love that we <br />
perform this kind of humility. It is in good habit <br />
and delight in the virtue of this ascension of being <br />
in the presence of God, by a joy and a willingness <br />
to reflect on the 95th Psalm.<br />
<br />
As a morning guide the 95th Psalm is a good guide <br />
to living a life in the presence of God, and one that is <br />
beginning in humility in the presence of the Lord. <br />
This is a Psalm that allows our heart to be fixed, <br />
and to dance and walk in the pleasure of the life that <br />
God has given us. This is why it is so important to <br />
stay with a life of prayer. Persevere.<br />
<br />
Come, let us sing to the Lord;<br />
Let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.<br />
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving<br />
And raise a loud shout to him with psalms<br />
<br />
For the Lord is a great God, And a great King above all gods.<br />
In his hand are the caverns of the earth, And the heights of the hills are his also.<br />
The sea is his, for he made it, And his hands have molded the dry land.<br />
<br />
Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, And kneel before the Lord our Maker<br />
For he is our God,<br />
And we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.<br />
<br />
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts,<br />
As your forebears did in the wilderness, At Meribah, and on that day at Massah,<br />
When they tempted me. They put me to the test, Though they had seen my works.<br />
<br />
Forty years long I detested that generation and said,<br />
“These people are wayward in their hearts; they do not know my ways.”<br />
So I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter into my rest.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<em><strong>–Peter Menkin, Obl Cam OSB</strong></em><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em></em></strong><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-66422403634228889732014-01-18T20:45:00.001-08:002014-01-20T07:43:25.007-08:00Guest Sermon: Camaldolese Fr. Cyprian 'the waters of baptism'<br />
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the waters of baptism</h1>
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<span class="date"><a href="http://contemplation.com/wp/?p=185" rel="bookmark" title="Permalink to the waters of baptism"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2014-01-13T02:57:47+00:00">January 13, 2014</time></a></span><span class="categories-links"> <a href="http://contemplation.com/wp/?cat=1" rel="category" title="View all posts in Homilies & Conferences">Homilies & Conferences</a></span><span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="http://contemplation.com/wp/?author=3" rel="author" title="View all posts by Cyprian">Cyprian</a></span> </div>
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(Fr. Cyprian)</div>
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There are two texts about the Baptism of the Lord that I love to quote. The first one is this:</div>
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The voice of God the Father made itself
heard over Christ at the moment of his Baptism so as to reach humanity
on earth by means of him and in him: “This is my Beloved!” [This is the
line I really like:] Jesus did not receive this title for himself, but
to give its glory to us.</div>
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</div>
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Now if I had read that out of context I might have made some kind of
joke about it being a bunch of New Age hooey––“Oh sure, it’s all about
me! It’s all about us. Perfect for the ‘Me Generation’ and our navel
gazing culture!”––except for the fact that it’s from St. Cyril of
Jerusalem, and it wasn’t a </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4aHC0WESrhY/UttV9jDp_gI/AAAAAAAAJd4/R3yGhXtB8jU/s1600/fr+cyprian.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4aHC0WESrhY/UttV9jDp_gI/AAAAAAAAJd4/R3yGhXtB8jU/s1600/fr+cyprian.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pryor Fr. Cyprion, OSB Cam</td></tr>
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slip of the tongue or the pen. It’s in the
Catechism, which follows it up by saying that</div>
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<br /></div>
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Everything that happened to [Jesus] lets
us know that, after the bath of water, the Holy Spirit swoops down upon
us from high heaven and that, adopted by the Father’s voice, we become
children of God.<a href="file:///E:/Documents%20and%20Settings/joie/Desktop/cyprian/HOMILIES/baptism%2011-14.doc#_ftn1" title="">[1]</a></div>
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</div>
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So it <i>is</i> all about us! Everything that happened to Jesus
happened so that we would know that we become children of God. Jesus
didn’t receive the title “Beloved” for himself; he received it to give
its glory to us, so that we could be come children of God.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now, I often wonder why Christians, Catholics, preachers don’t talk
about all those things more. There’s a certain mystery and hidden secret
in Jesus’ message: that we are called to be participants in the divine
nature, that this is all about us, that the kingdom of heaven is among
us and within us. The prayer of the priest, for instance–– when pouring
water into the wine at the preparation of the gifts, <i>By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share the divinity of Christ who came to share in our humanity</i>––is
one of those prayers that used to be called the “secret” prayers. One
of my friends said to me, “Why don’t you guys shout that?!” In one sense
I think he was right: in some way that needs to be the <i>starting </i>point,
as it was for Jesus. If we are to trust the chronology of the Gospels,
in the synoptics this Baptism is followed by Jesus’ temptation in the
desert, and then his ministry, and then of course his passion and death.
It’s almost as if Jesus doesn’t go to the desert, Jesus doesn’t face
his life of self-giving in ministry, and certainly doesn’t face his
horrific death on the cross until hears this, the voice of his Father
telling him of his own dignity and beauty––<i>You are my beloved!</i> And so he stands on the solid ground of that.</div>
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<br /></div>
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When I do infant Baptisms I love to quote one of two things: one is
Marianne Williamsons’ famous little writing that Nelson Mandela used in
his inaugural address:</div>
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<br /></div>
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We ask ourselves: ‘Who am I to be
brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to
be? You are a child of God! [This is the line I really like:] <i>Your playing small does not serve the world!</i></div>
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</div>
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And the other is this lyric of Joan Baez that says simply,</div>
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<br /></div>
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You are amazing grace. / You are a
precious jewel. / You––special miraculous / unrepeatable, fragile
/ fearful, tender, lost / sparkling ruby emerald / jewel rainbow
splendor person.</div>
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I know, it’s Big Sur hippie stuff, but still… I have copies of that
made and keep it in my Baptism ritual book to give out to parents, and I
tell them this is the kind of thing that every child should hear every
day of her or his life, taped up over the crib, stuck into their lunch
box and tucked in with the high school diploma. And that that is what
church and community should be first and foremost, not a scolding school
marm standing at the door going <i>tch, tch, tch</i>, but a place where
we hold a mirror up to people and tell them who they are as they walk
in; and as the walk out tell them what my Dad used to tell me as I was
on my way out the door as a kid for a raucous Saturday night with my
friends, “Remember who you are!” “I love you, you are beautiful,
remember who you are…”</div>
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<br /></div>
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Even our moral theology, I don’t think we can start out with focusing
on the material act of sins; we can’t start out telling someone that
they are intrinsically morally disordered. We have to start out by
telling people that they are intrinsically beloved, intrinsically
beautiful, intrinsically precious, and give them something to stand on.
That’s Pope Francis’ approach, but before him it certainly seems to have
been Jesus’ approach.</div>
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<br /></div>
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That’s the Good News. Now here’s the bad news. The bad news is that
on the other hand, there’s also some validity to this being secret
knowledge too, because the wrong part of us can hear those things, the
unregenerate part of us, the part of us that doesn’t want to reform or
repent; and we might wind up divinizing our ego instead of our real self
<i>hidden with Christ in God</i>. And that’s where the real meaning of
Baptism comes in for those who are mature in the faith. Baptism is a
symbol of death before it is a symbol of new life. It’s a symbol of
drowning. In mythology water is always a symbol of both life <i>and</i>
death, like River Styx in Greek mythology that formed the boundary
between Earth and the underworld with its ferryman Charon, which became
part of the description of hell in the Christian West, in Dante’s <i>The Divine Comedy </i>and Blake’s <i>Paradise Lost</i>.
Or the Red Sea: the Hebrews cross safely, but the Pharaoh’s charioteers
were drowned. That’s, of course, the event that gets remembered at
Easter and at our Baptism. I’m also thinking of Jesus walking across the
waters so many times in the Gospels, as if he were the new Charon and
the new Moses, walking across the waters of death and guiding others
safely across, too. But it’s almost as if he couldn’t do that or at
least doesn’t do that––walk across the waters––until he had immersed
himself in them first, allowed himself to drown. Maybe <i>Jesus </i>didn’t have to die to anything since his will was perfectly only to do his Father’s will; but for <i>us </i>to
live out our baptismal life, for us to access this precious divinity
within us, we have to die constantly. Somehow it’s only by drowning
gracefully that we can walk the roads of earth with ease and grace as
disciples of Jesus. It is only by something in us dying that we can
access all that is promised to us by the best of our tradition: being
divinized, participating in the divine nature, owning our real
inheritance, becoming who we are. As we heard this past week from our
friend Scott Sinclair in his excellent conferences on the “hard sayings”
of the gospel, this theme that comes up over and over again in the
Gospel of Mark: “You’re not going to understand this until you suffer…”</div>
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<br /></div>
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You’ve heard me talk so much about the <i>sannyasa diksha </i>of
India, the initiation into the monastic life of renunciation. The new
renunciate goes into the water in a baptismal ceremony and symbolically
dies and then comes out naked to be re-born. But there’s an almost
ghoulish little detail that I learned: when you give alms to a monk you
are supposed to offer it with your left hand, the impure hand, because
the monk is dead, and you don’t want to contaminate your right hand by
touching a dead body. What a powerful image! But it is not that
different from our Christian monastic tradition; when a monk makes
solemn vows he lies on the ground, with the capuche over his head (in
the old days even covered by a funeral pall) and dies. Saint Benedict
quotes Saint Paul: <i>Even your body is not your own from now on.</i>
And this is, by the way, the argument that our Saint Peter Damian uses
to explain why monks of all people should be involved in the apostolate
and church reform: because they are dead to the world, because they have
no agenda, no longing for riches or power or prestige.</div>
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There’s a beautiful saying of St. Clare of Assisi: <i>Ne sono sicurissima il Regno dei cieli il Signore lo promette e lo dona solo ai poveri––“</i>Of
this I am sure, that the Lord promises and grants the Reign of heaven
only to the poor.” A variation on that might be, the Lord promises and
grants divinization only to those who have died in some way. Died to
what? There is a piece of universal wisdom here, and I think that the
Christian tradition articulates this as beautifully if not more
beautifully than any other. Aldous Huxley in <i>The Perennial Philosophy</i>
points out that in all authentic traditions Ultimate Reality is only
clearly understood by those who are loving, pure in heart and poor in
spirit.<a href="file:///E:/Documents%20and%20Settings/joie/Desktop/cyprian/HOMILIES/baptism%2011-14.doc#_ftn2" title="">[2]</a>
“[It] is a fact which cannot be fully realized or directly
experienced,” he says, “except by souls… who have fulfilled certain
conditions.” But he points mostly to the life of Jesus and to many
Christian saints, and he quotes the famous phrase of St. Augustine, <i>Ama et fac quod vis</i>––“Love
and do what you will.” But, he says, you can only do this “when you
have learnt the infinitely difficult art of loving <a href="file:///E:/Documents%20and%20Settings/joie/Desktop/cyprian/HOMILIES/baptism%2011-14.doc#_ftn3" title="">[3]</a> That is the baptismal death we have to undergo and the baptismal pledge by which we live.</div>
<div class="entry-content">
God with all your
mind and heart”; we can only love and do what we will when we have
learned that infinitely difficult art of loving our neighbor as
ourselves.</div>
<div class="entry-content">
<br /></div>
<div class="entry-content">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9HbItogMsHQ/UttXtzSWzYI/AAAAAAAAJeE/oQ9jOJErCIU/s1600/light.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9HbItogMsHQ/UttXtzSWzYI/AAAAAAAAJeE/oQ9jOJErCIU/s1600/light.jpg" /></a>We can’t just coast on the salvation that is granted us; nor can we
rest back on our laurels and enjoy our exalted status. It doesn’t work
that way, at least not for us mere mortals. “Love and do what you will”;
but we can only do as we will when we have emptied ourselves completely
and made ourselves totally available to the Spirit of God.</div>
<div class="entry-content">
<br /></div>
<div class="entry-content">
Those others words don’t go away, the words that Jesus passed on to all humanity: <i>You are my beloved</i>.
They are the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. We should hear
them echo in the depths of our being. It is those words and that
knowledge that we are the beloved, it is the knowledge that we are
destined to inherit the reign of God, that should make us want to find
our real self, and be our real self, make us long to discover that self
that is in some way already in union with God, created in God’s image,
make us want to strip off everything that is not godly so that we can
know what it means to be a participant in the divine nature, and die to
everything else but that in the waters of Baptism.</div>
<div class="entry-content">
<br /></div>
<div class="entry-content">
So, in a sense, Jesus says, “Come on in! The water is fine––you may
drown, but you won’t die. Your real self, hidden in God, will arise, as a
participant in divine nature.”</div>
<div class="entry-content">
<br /></div>
<div class="entry-content">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">This sermon reprinted from Hermitage Blog by permission.</span></div>
<div class="entry-content">
Camaldolese monks: <a href="http://www.contemplation.com/">www.contemplation.com</a> </div>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div>
<a href="file:///E:/Documents%20and%20Settings/joie/Desktop/cyprian/HOMILIES/baptism%2011-14.doc#_ftnref1" title="">[1]</a> Catechism of the Catholic Church, 537.</div>
<div>
<a href="file:///E:/Documents%20and%20Settings/joie/Desktop/cyprian/HOMILIES/baptism%2011-14.doc#_ftnref2" title="">[2]</a> <i>Perennial Philosophy, </i>x.</div>
<div>
<a href="file:///E:/Documents%20and%20Settings/joie/Desktop/cyprian/HOMILIES/baptism%2011-14.doc#_ftnref3" title="">[3]</a> ibid, 71.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-2920740668191723072014-01-07T07:51:00.000-08:002014-01-07T13:55:54.999-08:00Guest Sermon: The Reverend Richard Edward Helmer goes to town talking about The Magi and their Wisdom<h3>
<i><span style="color: #990000;">Who are these mystical figures really? And why does their story speak to us?<br /><br /> Part of our fascination with them is their deft handling of Herod, the crafty Judean politician, son of an appointee of Julius Caesar. Herod clawed his way to kingship by aligning himself with the Roman occupation, re-conquering his own homeland with Roman aid, and then lending legitimacy to his rule by marrying into the legendary Hasmonean dynasty, whose fame was rooted in the celebrated Jewish Maccabean revolts of centuries past.</span></i></h3>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://caughtbythelight.blogspot.com/2014/01/wisdom-of-magi.html">Wisdom of the Magi</a> <br />
<div class="post-header-line-1">
<span class="post-author"> Posted by Richard Edward Helmer on his blog</span><span class="post-timestamp"> at <a class="timestamp-link" href="http://caughtbythelight.blogspot.com/2014/01/wisdom-of-magi.html" title="permanent link"><span style="color: #336699;">10:18 PM</span></a> </span> </div>
<div class="post-body">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I2gVdObJGQo/UswfuscAv5I/AAAAAAAAJdY/HWlbIatyFOs/s1600/helmer+smiling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I2gVdObJGQo/UswfuscAv5I/AAAAAAAAJdY/HWlbIatyFOs/s1600/helmer+smiling.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rev. Helmer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><i>A reflection for the Second Sunday after Christmas</i></b><br />
<b><i><a href="http://lectionarypage.net/YearABC/Christmas/Christmas2.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #336699;">Readings include Matthew 2:1-12</span></a></i></b><br />
<br />
The visitation of the Magi has always been one of the more fascinating –
and memorable – stories of the Christmas season. From my wondering as a
child at the seemingly exotic nature of these travelers from the East,
to the fabulous annual productions of Amahl and the Night Visitors I had
the privilege of seeing while studying music as an undergraduate, there
is something about them that captures our imagination. Part of their
mystery is their origins: were they Persian priests of Zoroaster,
Babylonians, Arabians, or Jewish leaders of the diaspora from
contemporary Yemen, or some combination of all of these? Were there
three or more? A plethora of traditions arose around and about them. In
the Eastern Church, they number at least a dozen in some depictions.
Tales of their later martyrdom for Christ spawned relics into the Middle
Ages. But Matthew, the only canonical gospel who records their
visitation, gives us precious little to go on. The author himself may
have had his Jewish audience in mind as the story in some ways parallels
the tale of the King Balak and the prophet Balaam in the Torah,
complete with a messianic star (cf. Numbers 22-24). That Matthew also
intends to show the revelation of Jesus to the Gentiles may also, of
course, be on the agenda.<br />
<br />
But our fascination amounts to much more than that:<br />
<br />
Who are these mystical figures really? And why does their story speak to us?<br />
<br />
Part of our fascination with them is their deft handling of Herod, the
crafty Judean politician, son of an appointee of Julius Caesar. Herod
clawed his way to kingship by aligning himself with the Roman
occupation, re-conquering his own homeland with Roman aid, and then
lending legitimacy to his rule by marrying into the legendary Hasmonean
dynasty, whose fame was rooted in the celebrated Jewish Maccabean
revolts of centuries past. Herod the Great’s success (his building
projects in Judea were more than impressive) was matched only by his
ruthlessness (it is during Christmastide that we also remember accounts
of his slaughter of innocent children in Bethlehem in an effort to
protect his throne from the prophesied Messiah.)<br />
<br />
But Herod’s carefully crafted and paid-for rule is trembling with fear
when word of a new king’s birth is whispered in his ear and these
strangers from the East come looking for him. Yet the wise men catch the
scent of Herod’s fearful scheming through their wise observation and
dreams – they are whole, it seems, in their engagement with the universe
and the sacred; holy mystics – rulers perhaps – of a different order
than the unholy, violent, divisive and soul-rending political
machinations that make up Herod and his ilk. The Magi are sacred
watchers of signs in nature and the solitude of sleep; faithful stewards
of ancient wisdom buried in the very foundations of history and the
human experience – wisdom that speaks of our need for a savior, of God
to come among us to restore our wholeness.<br />
<br />
Recently, I had the privilege of one of those all-too-rare pastoral
conversations with a stranger: a seeker from the wider community. For
years she has struggled mightily with memories of a profoundly traumatic
childhood: trauma that led almost inevitably to struggles with
addiction and the law. She had done so many things right more recently:
residential programs, therapy, psychiatric care, engaging recovery
groups to address her compensating addiction, grappling with various
diagnoses...some wrong, some right...struggling with how medication made
things better...and made things worse...She had taken every step you
can imagine to find and fight for her healing. But still not a day would
go by that she didn’t re-engage with the awful memories of her youth,
sometimes triggered unexpectedly by things that would seem to most of us
innocuous.<br />
<br />
She visited me and wondered aloud through tears simply why she couldn’t
get over the traumas of the past. Her prayer life is vibrant, she
continually offers thanks to God for every daily blessing, she knows
scripture well, she places high expectations on herself to let go of
anger and forgive those who harmed her, she struggles faithfully to keep
her family together. Why doesn’t God just fix things inside her and
punish the guilty as a reward for her fidelity? Why can’t she just be
healed so she can be a better help to her family and friends?<br />
<br />
It was these questions that were worthy, I realized, of the
Christ-child, and the long, uncertain journey of the Magi. That the Magi
and Jesus would experience a world that was as brutal in some ways as
hers is a given. The Magi had to face Herod. So did the Holy Family.
Neither of them fixed the situation politically or saw Herod brought to
justice. The Magi simply evade Herod on the way home. The innocents of
Bethlehem will be killed. John the Baptist will be beheaded and Jesus
will die on the cross in part because of the machinations of one of
Herod the Great’s sons and heir. Imagine the very different and somehow
more familiar story we would have had the Magi remained with Jesus and
conspired with him against Herod. The political messiah everyone, even
Herod himself, expected, would be just another dynasty battling for
power – perhaps with an Eastern alliance opposed to Herod’s Roman one –
the Nazorean political family possibly rising and falling in history,
like the Hasmoneans, the Herodians, or the Caesars.<br />
<br />
One of our alternate gospels today talk of Joseph and Mary fleeing to
Egypt to protect the infant Jesus from Herod’s murderous designs for a
time. Exile is an inevitable and un-fixable part of the human condition:
one that Jeremiah speaks to again on the Second Sunday after Christmas.
And that exile has many forms: political, social, relational, familial,
and even that awful internal divorce between our heads and hearts,
between our inner private and outer public lives. And then there’s the
cross that holds it all up for redemption, which is hinted at to Mary
even while her first-born destined to be baptized the Son of God still
grows in her womb.<br />
<br />
“What if,” I asked this stranger who became no-longer-a-stranger in my
office, “your struggle is a struggle we all share? One that Christ
shares with you?” Sure, her memories and journey seemed harsher than
most, but our our most holy journey in common is the struggle with our
woundedness.<br />
<br />
“What if Jesus isn’t on the outside waiting to fix things, but in the
very midst of your struggle with those traumatic memories, standing with
you in those awful moments, sharing those wounds with you?”<br />
<br />
I found myself offering advice I was once given by a wise counselor in a
broken moment: to remember and suffer is as human as it gets. To
struggle with woundedness is not so much a “fixable” reality or one to
be gotten over, but one to be lived into faithfully as a journey every
bit as important as following the star in the East – our wounds are a
reality into which we invite Jesus for redemption, not one we try to fix
before we meet him. To struggle with forgiveness itself is a process:
not simply a switch we throw in our heads. To weep over difficult
memories is simply to weep, a most human and Christian vocation. And
then to give thanks is to offer this precious gift of Christ in our
midst the very best we have to offer.<br />
<br />
And then when we remembered her children, some of whom are now
successfully engaging adulthood, she brightened considerably. Despite
her own struggles, she had already been a help to them and a loving
support in ways she might not even be able to imagine. And then there
were those to whom she witnessed every day walking alongside her in
recovery. Her ministry in grace had already begun, and had been
unfolding for a long time. She didn’t need to wait until she was
completely healed or perfect, or even just until tomorrow. The life of
Christ had already been unfolding in her. Like the exiles’ return in
Jeremiah, her journey home was palpable, ongoing, and will be ultimately
joyous even if, like the returning lame and blind, she – like all of
us, and even like our beloved Christ – still bears the wounds of this
life.<br />
<br />
It is this wisdom, perhaps, that the Magi knew as they journeyed great
distances, asking questions, following uncertain paths, knowing their
own brokenness and limitations and learning and re-learning the
brokenness of the world, and yet at long last kneeling and worshiping
the Christ-child and offering their greatest gifts in homage. . .<br />
<br />
This divinity born vulnerable and human as a child among us, who is
birthed into all our wounded places, shares our scars and sorrows and
even our death, and yet knits a broken cosmos back together; who is
driven into exile himself, and yet invites us on the long journey home
from all of our wounding exiles from self, community, and God; who is
worshiped by strangers sometimes more faithfully, it seems, than the
recognized faithful among us; and who is revealed as the Savior of All
as the darkness turns to light and the star ascends in our hearts.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Reprinted from Caught by the Light, The Reverend Richard Helmer's blog and as given Church of Our Saviour, Mill Valley, California, on Sunday, January 5, 2013.</b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-73728359387360719472014-01-06T14:03:00.000-08:002014-04-27T11:09:49.582-07:00Novato, CA and the Christmas house with all those lights--a visit!!<h2>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>In a telephone conversation, the creator and owner of the Christmas
House, Mr. Rombeiro told me, “I got the Christmas spirit in my heart. In
the Azores I watched my mother and my father make the nativity scene
and really enjoyed it…All the lights….When I came to the United States
…and started decorating in 1980 and (just) a couple of years later
started decorating. I decorated $4000 or $5000 (worth of work) …. Every
year (we have been) adding new stuff.</b></i></span></span></h2>
<br />
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_36443" style="width: 310px;">
<img alt="Edmundo Rombeiro (Santa) with helpers" class="size-medium wp-image-36443" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Rombeiro-37-300x199.jpg" height="199" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Edmundo Rombeiro (Santa) with helpers</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<b>by Peter Menkin</b><br />
<br /></div>
The Portuguese immigrant who lives with fame in his home town Novato,
California (population 50,000), a city 25 miles north of San Francisco
has the name Edmundo Rombeiro. His claim to fame is the way he says,
Merry Christmas to all and peace to men of Good will each year. For 22
years this remarkable man, an American, decks his home and lights it
like a Christmas tree for the joy of neighbors, visitors adult and
children alike. Of course, not everyone is enamored of his style, his
taste, his lighting his home to the tune of an electric bill costing
$1,500 a month on Devonshire Drive in the more affluent community where
homes are valued at $650,000.<br />
<br />
In a telephone conversation, the creator and owner of the Christmas
House, Mr. Rombeiro told me, “I got the Christmas spirit in my heart. In
the Azores I watched my mother and my father make the nativity scene
and really enjoyed it…All the lights….When I came to the United States
…and started decorating in 1980 and (just) a couple of years later
started decorating. I decorated $4000 or $5000 (worth of work) …. Every
year (we have been) adding new stuff.<br />
<br />
“Christmas is one of the best holidays for me. My daughter and I are
the two main decorators. We give Christmas to the community. We give it
to thousands of people in the whole community.<br />
“Last year we had 18 or 19 tour buses for the entire year (come from
San Francisco’s Bay Area). This year we had about 10 tour buses for the
year. We feel very happy to see people smiling.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/CMU96qhVhuk" width="480"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<br />
In 2005 <i>The San Francisco Chronicle</i> touted a story on the man and his family’s work at the Christmas Season and this quote from the story titled, <i>Merry
glitzmas / With 80,000 lights and rooms of displays, the Rombeiros deck
their Novato house into a ho, ho, home for the holidays.</i> Written by Alex Horvath; the article is found <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Merry-glitzmas-With-80-000-lights-and-rooms-of-2556820.php">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>As The Chronicle writer Horvath explains, “</b>Rombeiro’s passion
for Christmas began as a boy growing up on Sao Miguel, the largest
island in the Azores. Raised as a Catholic, his family celebrated
“Little Christmas” on Jan. 6, the feast of the Epiphany and the
traditional day of gift exchange in the Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking
world. The Rombeiros still celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6, which is why
they keep their house open on Dec. 25.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_36450" style="width: 210px;">
<img alt="Religion Writer Peter Menkin (left) with Mr. Rombeiro about an hour before sunset when the house becomes lit with extravagent lights like a Christmas tree!" class="size-medium wp-image-36450" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Rombeiro-13-200x300.jpg" height="300" style="display: inline;" width="200" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Religion
Writer Peter Menkin (left) with Mr. Rombeiro about an hour before
sunset when the house becomes lit with extravagant lights like a
Christmas tree!<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
In this article the reader will find a paraphrase statement in fewer
than 500 words by the Mayor of Novato who explains something of that
city’s Seasonal practices, and it has its attractions of the Season. He
says (and this is a paraphrase of his remarks) when speaking of the
spirit of the City: <i>The Romberios have been putting together their
[plentiful and magnificent Christmas lighted] house over 20 years.
People come… from Novato and all over the place. People from outside the
area come…. It’s a local family putting together this [fabulous
extravagantly lighted house]. </i><br />
<i>[In Novato,] we’re always engaged by giving in the spirit [at this
time of year]…it’s part of our culture as a city to go big and
celebrate. One of our unique characteristics…It makes people happy to
know they are being happy and gives them joy. It’s a joy of the season
when people tend to be more giving, even though people tend to do the
retail madness. Even though there’s the push for consumerism.</i><br />
<br />
<b>When it comes to local press and even word-of-mouth-</b>area-attention
from even more than 100 miles away, for while we visited the Christmas
House, as it is called, to talk with Mr. Rombeiro and see him light the
place at 6 p.m. after the sun set at 5:30 p.m. to get the effect of
after dark lighting, he told us tour buses numbering five had come just
that week to visit bringing visitors. But again, just this year again
the local newspaper ran a story about the Christmas House and headlined
this 2013 in December<b>, </b><i>Marin homes light up the holidays with over-the-top Decorations</i>. The story can be found <a href="http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_24730729/marin-homes-light-up-holidays-over-top-decorations?IADID=Search-www.marinij.com-www.marinij.com">here</a>.
As the reader can understand, there is something excessive about the
extravaganza of lights on Mr. Rombeiro’s house. The house looks
magical—a magical Christmas land with music playing. And all this is
what draws children to it like a magnet as they approach, walking up the
street’s sidewalk with their mother and father towards it to get to
visit the yard and the magically magnificent overdone and stuffed
interior. That “Marin Independent Journal” article written By Janis Mara
quoted Mr. Rombeiro: “’This is a beautiful time for me,’ said Edmundo
Rombeiro. <i>‘I am proud that so many people come to see our home. We want to share the joy of Christmas with everyone.’” (</i>Contact Janis Mara via email at <a href="mailto:jmara@marinij.com">jmara@marinij.com</a> )<br />
<br />
When talking with Mr. Rombeiro in his house this Religion Writer
found that quote Janis Mara gave a true and seminal one for the man of
the Christmas House who dresses as Santa in a Red Suit each night and
talks to the children and parents in his practiced and skilled, even,
way giving joy and love. He truly offers his home with its overdone and
glitzy lighting so magically compelling and unusually special each
evening to share the joy of Christmas!!<br />
<br />
Terry Peck, photographer and architect, along with this Religion
Writer’s assistant Linda Shirado were the three who approached the house
initially while the sun still stood towards the end of day. We arrived
in Linda’s 2002 Mercury Sable finding a parking place easily at this
hour. Later it would not be so easy on the suburban street, but still
possible.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_36452" style="width: 310px;">
<img alt="The magnificent house in its glory lit for visitors as it is seven days a week through January 6 and even Christmas day itself." class="size-medium wp-image-36452" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Rombeiro-24-300x200.jpg" height="200" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
The magnificent house in its glory lit for visitors as it is seven days a week until January 6 and even Christmas day itself.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
We took a look at the house, and it seemed bigger than it was to this
Religion Writer. It had a lot of stuff on it—figures of different kinds
and colors. Later the lights would make it all the more special. Even
in the daylight, frankly, all of us were a little intimidated by so many
big toys and items on the lawn: Disney characters, deers, Santas,
Mickey and Minnie, matters of fun critters on the roof.<br />
Later at night we realized that Edmundo Rombeiro ran a snow machine
to keep a snowman happy! This to the delight of visitors. Terry got to
work taking pictures. This Religion Writer knocked on the front door, to
no avail. But a phone call announcing press credentials did get us a
greeting and inside the house, Mr. Rombeiro even offered the three of us
a Christmas libation, which we declined. Terry was taken happily with a
train set running in one fabulously overdone and cheerful room. Mr.
Rombeiro ran the train especially for us. There is something fascinating
about a toy train set up at Christmas time! This was a particularly
good one, town and all. The room was a good size, nothing chintzy about
this set-up.<br />
<br />
There is a dedication to the work of setting up the special Christmas
House, greeting visitors every evening, and especially playing Santa
Claus for the children while wearing the red suit as Mr. Rombeiro goes
his working way for the Season giving joy and surprise. It is in its way
an uncommon work by a man,<br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_36455" style="width: 310px;">
<img alt="Electric train running the rails." class="size-medium wp-image-36455" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Rombeiro-34-300x199.jpg" height="199" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Electric train running the rails.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
so deserves some applause and even a sense of awe in its common man’s celebration of the holiday.<br />
Linda Shirado talked with Mr. Rombeiro’s wife who along with her
husband told her about his mother’s room, a devout woman, now gone to
heaven. There the room was dedicated to a crèche and a religious
procession. I think there is something genuine about the whole set-up,
which one wouldn’t guess on just seeing the house and getting the first
look, calling it “glitz.”<br />
In general, regarding the house the amazing and pop nature of the
figurines in their fun glory were not without a room of more religious
significance. After all, visitors could not help being reminded this fun
house was there to say Merry Christmas! That Merry Christmas everywhere
they turned…<br />
<br />
ADDENDUM<br />
<br />
WHEREIN THE RELIGION WRITER TALKS BY PHONE TO MAYOR ERIC LUCAN WHO
GIVES THE WORD ON THE CITY OF NOVATO AND ADVERTISES SAME SOME…HE IS A
YOUNG MAN WHO WAS BORN IN THE CITY AND IS IN HIS FIRST TERM YEAR AS
MAYOR…<br />
<br />
<b>This paraphrase comes from the Religion Writer’s notes…</b><br />
<br />
The Rombeiros’ have been putting together their [plentiful and
magnificent Christmas lighted] house for 22 years. People come… from
Novato and all over the place. People from outside the area come…. It’s a
local family putting together this [fabulous extravagantly lighted
house].<br />
[In Novato,] we’re always engaged by giving in the spirit [at this
time of year]…it’s part of our culture as a city to go big and
celebrate. One of our unique characteristics…It makes people happy to
know they are being happy and gives them joy. It’s a joy of the season
when people tend to be more giving, even though people tend to do the
retail madness. Even though there’s the push for consumerism.<br />
<br />
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<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_36459" style="width: 310px;">
<img alt="Photo Mayor's House taken by Mayor" class="size-medium wp-image-36459" data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/20131217_204027-300x168.jpg" height="168" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><br />
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Photo Mayor’s House taken by Mayor<br />
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We do a downtown tree lighting every year, and a toy collection [is
done] by the fire fighters. Local businesses put together the tree
lighting right on Sherman Avenue across from the City Hall on December
7, a Saturday. It’s a real live tree that is on the corner that we
decorate with lights. It is the same tree every year. The biggest
attraction is Santa Claus and he rides in the main street in a carriage
to a Santa Village for the children to sit on his lap.<br />
<br />
The Fire District gathers toys and our Novato Police Department partners with Target and offers <i>Shop with a Cop</i>
for low income children who get a gift card to buy presents for their
family. And also gets to target low income students. With [Low income
students in the city, many of them] get a gift card.<br />
[Some city facts:] Novato has approximately 50,000 people and it is
about 25 miles north of San Francisco. It is considered an affluent
middle class community.<br />
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<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_36461" style="width: 145px;">
<img alt="Mayor Eric Lucan" class=" wp-image-36461 " data-lazy-loaded="true" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/EricLucan5x7-225x300.jpg" height="180" style="display: inline;" width="135" /><br />
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Mayor Eric Lucan<br />
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We have some of the better climate in the area and a doable commute
distance to San Francisco. We are a bedroom community, but a handful of
miles from wine country, near open sp7ace and hiking trails in Marin
County. The city of Novato is thirty minutes from a major city, thirty
minutes from wine country, and thirty minutes from the coast: we’ve got
it all.<br />
<br />
One of the things I look forward to [in the Christmas season] is
putting lights on my own house. Every street needs decorated houses. I
do it for my own enjoyment. Christmas is a special time for me. It helps
everybody get into the spirit. I put up ice cycle lights along the roof
of my house. There’s a little bit of risk in putting up Christmas
lights. I get up on the roof.<br />
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We also go out and then [on getting our tree] put up our Christmas
tree. We got it up last night (December 16, 2013). We also made homemade
peppermint bark.<br />
<br />
This year I’m fortunate to serve as Mayor, having grown up in Novato.
I look at what people do and give back. I look at the Rombeiros’ who
make Novato so special with their specially lit up home with all the
lighted ornaments and decorations. It’s the people and the community for
us in Novato. I couldn’t be more honored or proud to serve as Mayor. To
contact Mayor Eric Lucan: <a href="mailto:elucan@novato.org">elucan@novato.org</a><br />
<a href="mailto:elucan@novato.org"><br /></a>
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<br />
Credit: City of Novato, Pam Haessly and Gary Howell<br />
<br />
Still Photographs by Terry Peck<br />
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This work appeared originally Church of England Newspaper, London. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-24100516990717660872013-12-16T09:47:00.002-08:002013-12-16T09:47:14.300-08:00Film Review: 'Walking the Santiago' is an entertaining movie; quite picturesque ...<h3>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>Important thing number one to say: The scenery is just excellent, and we enjoyed the movie, if for nothing more than scenery alone. After all, this pilgrimage has lasted for 1,200 years and walkers have been walking it for that long in this Roman Catholic trek of penance that Director Lydia Smith filmed and also caught its beauty.</em></span></h3>
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<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_36178" style="width: 260px;">
<img alt="Facing The Camino de Santiago in the film" class="size-full wp-image-36178" data-lazy-loaded="true" height="180" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/1945.jpg" style="display: inline;" width="250" /><noscript>&lt;img class="size-full wp-image-36178" alt="Facing The Camino de Santiago in the film" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/1945.jpg" width="250" height="180" /&gt;</noscript><div class="wp-caption-text">
Facing The Camino de Santiago in the film</div>
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<strong>review by Peter Menkin</strong></div>
There are a number of important things to say about this picturesque film about a religious pilgrimage with the apt title, “Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago” which this film goer viewed at the small art theatre outside San Francisco in the Smith Rafael Film Center, Paying $8.00 for the four o’clock show, December 8, 2013, as did his assistant Linda Shirado.<br />
<br />
<b>Important thing number one to say:</b> The scenery is just excellent, and we enjoyed the movie, if for nothing more than scenery alone. After all, this pilgrimage has lasted for 1,200 years and walkers have been walking it for that long in this Roman Catholic trek of penance that Director Lydia Smith filmed and also caught its beauty. The Los Angeles Catholic paper Tidings writer Brenda Rees broadens the scenery remark of Lydia Smith this way: “Photographed with gorgeous images of idyllic landscapes and historical structures, the film depicts the physical and spiritual journeys for<br />
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<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_36187" style="width: 277px;">
<img alt="Annie seeks spiritual strength to continue the walk for pain and physical failure plague her trek but she makes the journey through grit and need...call this faith..the film doesn't say..." class="size-full wp-image-36187" data-lazy-loaded="true" height="150" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/annie.jpg" style="display: inline;" width="267" /><noscript>&lt;img class="size-full wp-image-36187" alt="Annie seeks spiritual strength to continue the walk for pain and physical failure plague her trek but she makes the journey through grit and need...call this faith..the film doesn't say..." src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/annie.jpg" width="267" height="150" /&gt;</noscript><div class="wp-caption-text">
Annie seeks spiritual strength to continue the walk for pain and physical failure plague her trek but she makes the journey through grit and need…call this faith..the film doesn’t say…</div>
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<br />
six pilgrims, ages 21-62, from Chile, Germany, Italy, the U.S. and other international countries. Some are walking for religious reasons, some for the physical test of endurance. Over the course of the film, these six will bond and form friendships, face extreme despair and doubt, accept kindness from strangers, find romance, brave the elements, and discover spiritual strength that will help them cross an entire country on foot.” How true is her statement, Brenda Ross’ It is in these relationships that some of the transformation is found. But for the religious, the transformation is with God, in that walk, in that way, in that step by step walk with God along the path. As two of the walkers found, it is on the path itself in the way that something unusual happens. It is a mystery of life itself, to be mystical about it and each has a way of coming to this mystery. Maybe it is in the joy they discover, and maybe it is in the hardships and the pain, and simply in the difficulty and success of traveling on foot along the 500 miles. Who is to say what the ways of the Saints or the ways of God may be that attract people to this practice. They go and do. Faith comes.<br />
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<b>But for important thing number two</b>, this writer has a point of difference, and it is this Religion Writer’s observation that it is a strength of the film in our modern day of secularism for this particular film. That is the very<br />
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<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_36189" style="width: 277px;">
<img alt="An unhappy woman who suffers from depression this attractive person seeks relief and in her journey seems joyful in seeking what she needs. One of those like the many described in the radio interview with the director found in this report she has come on a search and what this writer calls religious pilgrimage. The filmmakers describe Sam this way: Sam is a Brazilian woman in her thirties who was desperate for some force to turn her unhappy life around. When our crew met her, Sam had just left behind everything she knew in Rio de Janeiro, purged her life of nearly all possessions, and fled with a one-way ticket to Spain. Sam suffered from clinical depression, and she decides to throw away all of her prescribed medication, trusting that the Camino – the meditative act of walking, the nature, and the people met along the way – will restore balance to her body’s chemistry." class="size-full wp-image-36189" data-lazy-loaded="true" height="150" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/sam.jpg" style="display: inline;" width="267" /><noscript>&lt;img class="size-full wp-image-36189" alt="An unhappy woman who suffers from depression this attractive person seeks relief and in her journey seems joyful in seeking what she needs. One of those like the many described in the radio interview with the director found in this report she has come on a search and what this writer calls religious pilgrimage. The filmmakers describe Sam this way: Sam is a Brazilian woman in her thirties who was desperate for some force to turn her unhappy life around. When our crew met her, Sam had just left behind everything she knew in Rio de Janeiro, purged her life of nearly all possessions, and fled with a one-way ticket to Spain. Sam suffered from clinical depression, and she decides to throw away all of her prescribed medication, trusting that the Camino – the meditative act of walking, the nature, and the people met along the way – will restore balance to her body’s chemistry." src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/sam.jpg" width="267" height="150" /&gt;</noscript><div class="wp-caption-text">
An unhappy woman who suffers from depression this attractive person seeks relief and in her journey seems joyful in seeking what she needs. One of those like the many described in the radio interview with the director found in this report she has come on a search and what this writer calls religious pilgrimage. The filmmakers describe Sam this way: Sam is a Brazilian woman in her thirties who was desperate for some force to turn her unhappy life around. When our crew met her, Sam had just left behind everything she knew in Rio de Janeiro, purged her life of nearly all possessions, and fled with a one-way ticket to Spain. Sam suffered from clinical depression, and she decides to throw away all of her prescribed medication, trusting that the Camino – the meditative act of walking, the nature, and the people met along the way – will restore balance to her body’s chemistry.</div>
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secular interpretation the director and producer give the walk they portray on this religious path. All the participants seem to have less than deep conversions on the way. They hold meaningful conversations, of a kind. I am not just warm on the movie, it was hot in parts. What can be called shallow so much, adds up to more than that in the aggregate. They appear to go through what the new age people call, “changes,” or as one newspaper headlined their story– this is a movie about “A Road to Reflection.” I think that is really what the producers were saying their walkers found on the way. Now one can’t know the workings of God. What is a reflection at one time may be a life moving event later, or a conversion later on in life. So judgments of the mystery of a walk like that found on this ancient way can’t be made. And the movie is enjoyable, if not deeply moving, so the price of $8.00 was well spent on a cold Northern California later afternoon towards the close of the sun which set around 5:30 p.m.<br />
<br />
<b>The third and final thing that seemed important</b> about the film were the pithy remarks by pilgrims. They seem to have meaningful things to say along the way. The pilgrims were needy. The pilgrims were sometimes mournful. The pilgrims were sometimes unhappy. All were in need of some kind of change for their lives, or a hope, or a renewal. Many times I was moved by what the pilgrims said, let me not fail to say that. So be prepared for real reflection and the better part of meaning and joy. Mercy.<br />
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Let me also not leave out this excellent report on Director Smith’s intent by another writer: “’My intention in making the film was that it would be completely appealing and acceptable<br />
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<img alt="The Rafael Theatre inside. The film center says of itself: This beautifully restored, state-of-the-art, three-screen theater is one of few nonprofit theaters in the United States. The venue exhibits independent documentaries, classics, retrospectives, features, international works and hosts special events with filmmakers from around the world year-round. The Film Center annually serves approximately 150,000 attendees." class="size-full wp-image-36194" data-lazy-loaded="true" height="180" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Rafael_Inside.jpg" style="display: inline;" width="235" /><noscript>&lt;img class="size-full wp-image-36194" alt="The Rafael Theatre inside. The film center says of itself: This beautifully restored, state-of-the-art, three-screen theater is one of few nonprofit theaters in the United States. The venue exhibits independent documentaries, classics, retrospectives, features, international works and hosts special events with filmmakers from around the world year-round. The Film Center annually serves approximately 150,000 attendees." src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Rafael_Inside.jpg" width="235" height="180" /&gt;</noscript><div class="wp-caption-text">
The Rafael Theatre inside. The film center says of itself: This beautifully restored, state-of-the-art, three-screen theater is one of few nonprofit theaters in the United States. The venue exhibits independent documentaries, classics, retrospectives, features, international works and hosts special events with filmmakers from around the world year-round. The Film Center annually serves approximately 150,000 attendees.</div>
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equally to someone that is very devout and to one that is agnostic,’ Smith said. “That was kind of my biggest challenge, and I feel like my great accomplishment. It doesn’t isolate any particular population of belief. To have it be acceptable to everyone was really important to me.”–quotation by Sean Gallagher, October 11, 2013, Archdiocese of Indianapolis paper.<br />
So the reader will see, this Religion Writer is in much company in finding the film hasn’t much religious temper to it.<br />
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<b>Trailer: Walking the Camino</b><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4hkc3k2cH7Q" width="640"></iframe><br /> ADDENDUM I<br />
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This forty minute interview with the director in Oregon is a thoughtful one and comprehensive.<br />
<a href="http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/172/510073/180875017/JPR_180875017.mp3?_kip_ipx=1927194577-1369417657" target="_blank"><b>“Jefferson Public Radio – Geoffrey Riley Show”</b></a><br />
<a href="http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/172/510073/180875017/JPR_180875017.mp3?_kip_ipx=1927194577-1369417657">http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/172/510073/180875017/JPR_180875017.mp3?_kip_ipx=1927194577-1369417657</a><br />
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ADDENDUM II<br />
From the film’s website:<br />
The Camino de Santiago is named for Santo Iago, or Saint James – one of the 12 Apostles and rumored brother of Jesus Christ. According to legend, his body was found in a boat that washed ashore in Northern Spain thousands of years ago. His remains were transported inland and were buried under what is now the grand Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, which marks the end of the Camino. His bones were rediscovered in the 9th century, when a hermit saw a field of stars that led him to the ancient, forgotten tomb.<br />
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In the millennium following its re-discovery, millions from all over Europe have walked thousands of miles to visit the remains of the disciple. At the height of its popularity in the 11th and 12th centuries, anywhere from 250,000 – 1,000,000 people a year are said to have made the pilgrimage.<br />
According to Catholic tradition, if you faithfully completed the arduous trek, one’s sins were forgiven. If one completed the pilgrimage during a Holy Year – the infrequent occasion when St. James Day, July 25th, falls on a Sunday – a plenary indulgence was granted, allowing one to bypass purgatory and enter straight into heaven. In the Middle Ages, wealthy aristocrats would often hire people to walk in their name in order to, by proxy, absolve them of their sins without actually setting foot on the Camino.<br />
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Historically, many countries have provided criminals with the choice to either serve prison time, or do the Camino. Even today, Belgium will sometimes allow minor crimes to be pardoned by completing the pilgrimage. While, in these cases, the Camino was used as a form of punishment, its impact upon a pilgrim’s connection with themselves and their world community could instead be regarded as an unconventional form of rehabilitation.<br />
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UNESCO has declared it a Universal Patrimony of Humanity and a World Heritage Site. In 1987, the European Union declared the Camino de Santiago to be the first European Cultural Itinerary. Although originally known as a Christian pilgrimage, the Camino now attracts people of all faiths and backgrounds – from atheists to Buddhists, adventurers to mourners, and college students to retired friends.<br />
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One Response to <em>Film Review: ‘Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago’ pilgrimage viewed at a small art theatre USA; enjoyable, picturesque and contemporary</em> <span class="reply"></span></h3>
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09/12/2013 at 19:44 </div>
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The film sounds really interesting, but I am disappointed that it does not take the religious viewpoint about the pilgrimage. I recommend the book “To the Field of Stars: A Pilgrim’s Journey to Santiago de Compostela,” by Kevin A. Codd (Priest, Roman Catholic).<br />–Jan Robitscher, Berkeley, California</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03168487625591864383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32153239.post-75842972004418438412013-11-27T18:33:00.000-08:002013-11-27T18:33:16.412-08:00Mark Larrimore writes in his book: 'Keeping company with Job, as friend or interpreter, is a worthy activity....' An interview...<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Interview: Mark Larrimore wrote ‘The Book of Job: A Biography’</span> <br />
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<em><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Keeping company with Job, as friend or interpreter, is a worthy activity. Only the one who sees no challenge in Job or the questions his book is thought to raise should be dismissed. Recognizing that Job’s questions are not only “unfinished” in the book of job but “unfinishable”, we may conclude only that our obligation is to keep the retelling going in all its difficulty. This means learning to listen to every part of the text, and perhaps also to every serious past attempt to enter the argument—joining the long line of interventions that began with Elihu. Showing how or why this might be done has been the intention of this book.</strong></span></em><br />
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<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_35926" style="width: 310px;">
<img alt="Professor Mark Larrimore, author at New School New York City" class="size-medium wp-image-35926 " data-lazy-loaded="true" height="155" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/larrimore-300x155.jpg" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><noscript>&lt;img class="size-medium wp-image-35926 " alt="Professor Mark Larrimore, author at New School New York City" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/larrimore-300x155.jpg" width="300" height="155" /&gt;</noscript><div class="wp-caption-text">
Author Mark Larrimore, at New School New York City<br />photo by NiQyira Rajhi for the New School Free Press</div>
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<strong> by Peter Menkin</strong></div>
How I do like the way Mark Larrimore has begun his work, “The Book of Job: A Biography.” There is a chill to the start. Here are the first sentences of his book, part of a series by Princeton University Press:<br />
<br />
<i>The book of Job tells of a wealthy and virtuous man in an unfamiliar land in the East. His virtue is so great that God points him out to hassatan—literally the satan. “the adversary.” a sort of prosecuting attorney in the divine court, who, whether by temperament or profession, is skeptical regarding the possibility of genuine human piety.</i><br />
<em></em><br />
There in the introduction to this interesting work that is part of the very complete and large series of titles, “Lives of Great Religious Books,” we find quickly a sense of foreboding. The series is described by Princeton University Press this way, in case you didn’know:”<i>Lives of Great Religious Books</i> is a series of short volumes that recount the complex and fascinating histories of important religious texts from around the world. Written for general readers by leading authors and experts, these books examine the historical origins of texts from the great religious traditions, and trace how their reception, interpretation, and influence have changed–often radically–over time. As these stories of translation, adaptation, appropriation, and inspiration dramatically remind us, all great religious books are living things whose careers in the world can take the most unexpected turns.”<br />
<br />
Let us give ear to author Mark Larimore’s own recitation on the radio to a longish interview with Tom Ashbrook who says of Job in his introduction to the talk:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>The Book of Job is a brutal corner of the Bible. A good man, Job, thrown arbitrarily, suddenly, into a life of absolute agony. Stripped of his wealth. His children killed. Plagued and hounded and showered with misery. His only consolation is sounds like none: “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.” Deal with it. The Book of Job is so harsh. It’s about unrelieved injustice and the suffering of innocent humans. About grief and rage and the human condition. And maybe about wisdom that goes right beyond the Bible. Up next On Point: The Book of Job, and life right now.</i><br />
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<strong>– Tom Ashbrook</strong></div>
</blockquote>
The broadcast is here and this is its title:<br />
The ‘Book of Job’ In the Modern Age<br />
The Book of Job and the trials of Job. Hard and endless. We’ll ask what the hard old Bible story has to say now.<br />
<a href="http://onpoint.wbur.org/2013/10/10/book-of-job">http://onpoint.wbur.org/2013/10/10/book-of-job</a><br />
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A man with a PhD from Princeton who teaches at the innovative or some would say liberal and even small, special New York City University with the excellent reputation The New School, Mark Larrimore is consistently rated by students a superior teacher and a very interesting one. Called by editor of Princeton University Press a very talented up and coming writer, the promising and talented Mark Larrimore is a good talker who is a pleasure to engage in a conversation and a man who has what used to be called “good vibes” with lots of energy and good sense, too. That is judging by his intelligent and educated conversation that holds ones interest: he is to put it more briefly, engaging.<br />
This short statement from his University profile says much of the character of his course material, and this is a quote: “The study of religion and liberal education are indispensable to each other because religion is so often illiberal and liberals so often anti-religious.” To reach the Professor by email, write him <a href="mailto:larrimom@newschool.edu">larrimom@newschool.edu</a> .<br />
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Since 2002, Mark Larrimore has been teaching Religious <a href="http://wnsr.parsons.edu/2011/05/09/2525-wnsr-interviews-mark-larrimore/" title="Click to Continue > by saveshare">Studies</a> at Eugene Lang College. In this interview conducted by WNSR’s James Lowenthal for 25@25, Larrimore discusses his discipline and its relation to the Lang community, and the various changes he has seen during his time at Lang.<br />
Here is that radio interview:<br />
<br />
<b>Feature</b> Broadcast on May 9, 2011<br />
Feature: <a href="http://wnsr.parsons.edu/2011/05/09/2525-wnsr-interviews-mark-larrimore/">25@25: WNSR Interviews Mark Larrimore</a><br />
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Mark Larrimore is a man who as writer of the work on Job thinks. This excerpt gives evidence of his efforts to find meaning and even some ongoing effort at working out the difficulties of the Book of Job…it’s kind of ongoing effect on readers through centuries of different readers and times:<br />
<blockquote>
<i>Keeping company with Job, as friend or interpreter, is a worthy activity. Only the one who sees no challenge in Job or the questions his book is thought to raise should be dismissed. Recognizing that Job’s questions are not only “unfinished” in the book of job but “unfinishable”, we may conclude only that our obligation is to keep the retelling going in all its difficulty. This means learning to listen to every part of the text, and perhaps also to every serious past attempt to enter the argument—joining the long line of interventions that began with Elihu. Showing how or why this might be done has been the intention of this book.</i></blockquote>
An interview with the author Mark Larrimore was held with questions sent in writing and answers given in writing to Religion Writer Peter Menkin.<br />
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR MARK LARRIMORE WITH PETER MENKIN</span><br />
<a href="http://www.newschool.edu/lang/faculty.aspx?id=1734" target="_blank" title="Mark Larrimore"><strong>Mark Larrimore</strong></a>, author of “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Job-Biography-Religious/dp/0691147590/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381349088&sr=8-1&keywords=the+book+of+job+a+biography" target="_blank" title="Book of Job">The Book of Job: A Biography</a>” (The words of the whirlwind} and a professor of religious <a href="http://onpoint.wbur.org/2013/10/10/book-of-job" title="Click to Continue > by saveshare">studies</a> at The New School. The book is also found here: <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10075.html">http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10075.html</a> .<br />
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<ol>
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<b>1. </b><b>During the three years you worked on “The Book of <i>Job</i>: A Biography,” did you find the creation and research a kind of meditation? If so, tell us something of your meditation. Yes, this is a broad question, and to narrow it down: In what way did you find Job a Christian statement in your meditation, if at all? </b></blockquote>
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<b> </b><br />
Let me take that as two questions. Was it a kind of meditation? Yes, absolutely. I understand Job to be very significantly about our inability to understand the suffering of others, and even to acknowledge what profound questions it poses for our own religious views. The book is <i>about</i> interpretation and its failures. For me it’s a meditation on the experience of others, on our duty not to forget others in our own meditations. As I make clear in the introduction to my book, I do not come to the Book of Job out of world-wrenching suffering of my own. The Book of Job demands of me that I admit this. To the extent that it argues that extreme pain and anguish give a privileged understanding of things, an insight not attainable in any other way, I shouldn’t be interpreting it. But then my book isn’t <i>my</i> take on Job but an effort to provide resources for anyone’s effort to make sense of this book and the momentous questions it names, introducing interpretations and uses which are far deeper than any I could come up with.<br />
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<img alt="Larrimore_BkJob" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-35927" data-lazy-loaded="true" height="300" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Larrimore_BkJob-179x300.jpg" style="display: block;" width="179" /><noscript>&lt;img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-35927" alt="Larrimore_BkJob" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Larrimore_BkJob-179x300.jpg" width="179" height="300" /&gt;</noscript><br />
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Was mine a Christian meditation? Not so much. In part that’s because I attempted the perhaps impossible task of discussing the Book of Job as not clearly Jewish, or Christian, or humanistic – but also not free-standing, self-contained and self-interpreting. If we don’t ignore parts of it (as many readings do), the BoJ is troubling and difficult enough that it pretty much forces us to seek help wherever we think that can be found. It’s not a coincidence that Gregory the Great’s <i>Morals in Job</i> wound up drawing on pretty much the whole rest of the Christian scriptures. But this will be different for people of different faith backgrounds. I obviously drew on materials from Jewish as well as Christian traditions, as well as the essentially humanistic textual, historical and literary scholarship on which not only secular but many contemporary religious interpretations build.<br />
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<b>2. </b><b>As both writer and scholar, let us turn to the exercise of writer as participant in this larger series, Lives of Great Religious Books. Was your work part of a discussion with others or mainly a matter as a writer of solitary activity? Here the question is narrowed to the activity of the writing of “The Book of <i>Job</i>: A Biography,” or of its research and the reading of the Bible itself.</b></blockquote>
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My book stems from a seminar I teach on interpretations of the Book of Job. I was pleased to be asked to contribute to the LGRB series, and also pleased at the discretion the editor gave us to define the project in our own way. In my college every course, no matter how specific its subject matter, also has to be an introduction to its discipline, so my “Reading Job” course was also an introduction to religious studies, to religious studies ways of reading. I think that’s reflected in the book – I hope so. I might add also that the course is a seminar, where mine is only one voice among others. I may have been wrestling with this text longer than the others in the discussion, and certainly have read more books about it, but that didn’t prevent my students from surprising and enlightening me on many, many occasions.<br />
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When it came to writing the book I didn’t seek out many new conversation partners but that didn’t make it a solitary activity. I wrote it alone – indeed, many of my colleagues had no idea I was working on it! – but the colloquium of the seminar continued in my head as I was writing. I regret profoundly not having got my acknowledgments to the press in time for inclusion in my book. I would have included the names of all my students.<br />
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<b>3. </b><b>Does Job engage you in a personal way, and how so did the book you wrote and the Book of Job itself especially finds you as a human being?</b></blockquote>
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I want to say one would have to be inhuman not to be engaged by this story—except that, as I show in the book, many people turned away, condemning Job for his pride; some, more recently, condemn him for his “capitulation” at the end. Perhaps that’s human, too. And of course it’s precisely what the Book of Job predicts. I tried not to judge Job but to listen to him. That’s not always easy, as the fate of his friends shows. Indeed I recognized myself in the friends as much as in him, and am almost as critical of those who write off the friends without listening to them as to those who omit the parts of Job’s speeches they don’t want to deal with. I want to coopt Santayana here and say that those who do not learn from the mistakes of the friends are doomed to repeat them.<br />
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I also think it’s a great hubristic temptation to take God’s side and speak for him – the one thing <i>everyone</i> agrees the Book of Job warns against! I don’t do it in the book but I can say here that I find something very powerful in the divine speeches. Some forms of theological thinking and feeling are rendered obsolete by the vastness of outer and inner space discovered to us by science, but not this.<br />
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<b>4. </b><b>Does God act out of character in smiting Job, or is it solely the work of Satan? </b></blockquote>
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It’s certainly not just the work of the <i>satan</i>: Satan hadn’t happened yet. But even in the later tradition which reads <i>hassatan </i>as Satan, the larger question is the same. If God’s in control, then the sources of human affliction are operating with divine permission. What’s particularly troubling about Job is that the usual arguments for divine permission aren’t made. It may be, as later interpreters say, that the affliction was for Job’s own good, but he’s never told that (except by Elihu, and God never says so). Instead, it seems like God is passing the time in heaven by inviting the prosecuting attorney of the heavenly court (<i>hassatan</i>) to test his favorite pet. <i>Hassatan</i> is just doing his job. It is God who acts out of character here. Or we might have to say that the Book of Job shows that our understandings of God’s character are inadequate. I don’t mention <i>King Lear</i> in the book but that’s a very Joban play. “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods, they kill us for their sport” is a very Joban thought.<br />
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<b>5. </b><b>In the conception and execution of this book was this work you did one of the scholar or of the teacher? </b></blockquote>
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Perhaps because I teach at a seminar college, it’s a little difficult for me to distinguish these. I don’t lecture but try to structure spaces of reading and discussion where students learn how to keep learning, how to become a teacher, how to become a scholar. I want my students, and the readers of my book, to learn how to do what I’m doing – how to read, how to have the confidence to form interpretations and the humility to challenge them, how to trace the sources of a work, the drama of a debate, the history of an idea, the uses of a story.<br /> I might add that, when it comes to the Book of Job, I feel myself as much student as scholar. I am not a Hebraist or Biblical scholar – I came at this material from the other end, working my way backward from modern philosophy and religious life to its sources. I would not have been able to write my book without leaning very heavily on the work of scholars like Carol Newsom, David Clines, James Kugel, Bruce Zuckerman, Robert Eisen, Lawrence Besserman, Susan Schreiner… In this connection I suppose I’m teaching that you don’t need to be a scholar of the Hebrew Bible to be able to engage and explore it. Most of the interpreters I discuss in my book weren’t Hebraists either.<br />
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<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_35929" style="width: 310px;">
<img alt="Job with friends" class="size-medium wp-image-35929 " data-lazy-loaded="true" height="213" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BookOfJob1-300x213.jpg" style="display: inline;" width="300" /><noscript>&lt;img class="size-medium wp-image-35929 " alt="Job with friends" src="http://www.churchnewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BookOfJob1-300x213.jpg" width="300" height="213" /&gt;</noscript><div class="wp-caption-text">
Job with friends etc.</div>
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<b>6. </b><b>Talk to us about the reader in your mind when you wrote the book? </b></blockquote>
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I didn’t really know who my readers might be. This was my first time writing something which might reach beyond the halls of academe. It was a little hard fixing an image of the educated lay reader I was trying to be of service to. So sometimes I was thinking of my friends and students, sometimes of readers of other books in the <i>Lives of Great Religious Books</i> series, sometimes of my parents! I had had the pleasure of leading a four-session discussion group on the Book of Job at my church (the Church of the Holy Apostles), so I imagined study groups as another possible readership – though these discussions made me feel very much the bookish academic! Only very late in the process, as a friend who’s studying at Union Theological Seminary was working through the text with me, did it occur to me that it might also be of use in seminaries.<br />
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<b>7. </b><b>In your book you stress that the Book of Job is read differently by people from different faith traditions, or from none, and appropriately so. What are some distinctly Christian ways of reading it, and do you think they can be of value for other readers?</b></blockquote>
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It makes sense for people to read a sacred text in the context of the whole canon of scripture – especially for a text as full of puzzles and paradoxes as Job. It’s distinctive of this modern chapter in the history of the Book of Job that people think they should read it on its own, out of any context.<br />
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The traditional Christian reading is allegorical: Job is a “type” for Christ. Like all Old Testament texts, it’s a riddle which can’t be solved without the key of the New Testament. But although typology is intellectually and historically very interesting, I’m not sure anyone really knows how to think that way anymore. The folks at Oberammergau tried to bring it back in their most recent Passion Play, juxtaposing a scene of Job’s quarrel with his friends with the mocking of Christ, but I suspect most viewers just saw it as a parallel.<br />
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The much-celebrated “patience of Job” is Christian, too – the phrase comes not from the Old Testament but from the New Testament Epistle of James. I dare say it’s the dominant understanding of the story among Christians: God pushes nobody farther than s/he can go, God has God’s own reasons for striking human beings with afflictions but if we abide patiently we will be amply rewarded. Job’s suffering here isn’t a parallel to Christ’s but to our own. In my book I try to suggest that if Job defines what patience is – all of the Book of Job, not just the first two chapters! – then we may need a more robust understanding of what patience means. That more robust understanding, largely forgotten among Christians today, is deeper and richer than mere servile, masochistic silence. Job’s world has fallen apart. He feels abandoned, indeed persecuted by God – and he says so.<br />
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Job’s recantation, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes,” has been an important part of Christian understandings of Job, too, but there are good textual reasons to question this translation. It is not that Job – the most virtuous human being – is a despicable sinner, but that, compared to the infinite power and majesty of God, the merely created is as nothing. But one shouldn’t stop there, for in the Book of Job the infinitely powerful and majestic One knows and is proud of this nothing, and even speaks to him.<br />
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Many of these ways of understanding Job could be shared by non-Christians. I’ve had wonderful discussions about these topics with a Hindu friend, for instance. It was also in conversation with her that I realized just how astonishing is the Christian belief that God subjected Godself to Job’s human experiences of anguish and abandonment out of love for the world.<br />
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<b>8. </b><b>It’s been a pleasure to make your acquaintance through these questions. Have we missed anything important? If so, please talk to us about what we’ve missed now.</b></blockquote>
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Thank you for the wonderfully thoughtful questions. One of the great satisfactions of this project is the quality of conversations it has generated, from each of which I learn a little bit more about the Book of Job and its continuing power to help us wrestle with the most important questions.<br />
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APPENDIX I<br />
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<div style="-x-system-font: none; display: block; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 14px/normal Helvetica, Arial, Sans-serif; margin: 12px auto 6px;">
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<iframe data-aspect-ratio="0.593298291721419" data-auto-height="false" frameborder="0" height="600" id="doc_1642" scrolling="no" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/174867840/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-vqr9znbrg184hzcpvn8&show_recommendations=true" width="100%"></iframe><br /> APPENDIX II<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/htdvYpcsqJc" width="640"></iframe><br /><b>Published on Apr 28, 2012 </b><br />
(Audio Narration by: Max Mclean).<br />
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This work originally appeared Church of England Newspaper, London.<br />
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