Weekly Recap for Tuesday, 7 June 2016 from ProgressiveChristianity.org in Gig Harbor, Washington, United States for Tuesday, 7 June 2016
Last Week At ProgressiveChristianity.org ...
We delved into the topics of: Religion as an Organization, Sainthood, Divine Violence and Compassion.
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American Bishop Explains How Religion is Made-Up & Used to Control People
Arjun Walia, Collective Evolution
My problem is not with faith but with religion as an organization, which has been used as a means of control, to pit people against each other, and to incite terror and war.Religion is a controversial topic, and I’d like to preface this article by saying that it is not my aim to belittle or diminish anyone’s beliefs. My problem is not with faith but with religion as an organization, which has been used as a means of control, to pit people against each other, and to incite terror and war. Religion in this context serves the purposes of many various global elitist agendas.
Religion is also confusing, to say the least; within several different religions exist different ‘sects,’ each with their own teachings and version of the ‘truth’ and how to live one’s life. Within Christianity alone, there are multiple versions of the Bible, and teachings that contradict one another. What one religion says in one part of the world may directly oppose what another says in a different part of the world. This alone is a recipe for feelings of confusion and isolation for anybody who is seeking ‘the truth.’ If various religions preach different ways of life and truths, they all can’t be correct, can they? I guess that’s why they call it faith.
Below is a video of Jon Shelby Sponge, a retired American bishop of the Episcopal Church, discussing these problems. He argues that religion is a business and it is used as a control mechanism (and he’s not the first insider to do so). We can see this happening most clearly in the rise of Islamophobia. Islam has been turned into a scapegoat, a target at which we can direct all our fears and anger, and an excuse to invade other countries and create a more intense global national security state. But the truth is, Islam has nothing to do with violence or terrorism. These manufactured fears are all part and parcel of ‘false flag’ terrorism, which you can read more about here if you are unfamiliar with the concept.
In the video, Sponge affirms that “religion is always in the control business, and that’s something people don’t really understand. It’s in the guilt producing control business.”
He then goes on to describe the problem with religion as an organization:
Every church I know claims that we are the true church, and they have some ultimate authority. . . . The idea that the truth of God can be bound in any human system by any human creed by any human book, is almost beyond imagination for me. God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew or a Muslim or a Hindu a Buddhist; all of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God.
He is describing the difference between faith and religion. I myself have explored multiple religions, and have discovered teachings within all of them that deeply resonate with me. I’ve also found teachings that don’t resonate at all. I don’t believe one religion has all the answers.
Using fear to coax people into a certain way of life or belief system, just like the Bishop mentions above, seems to be common practice in nearly every religion, and that certainly doesn’t resonate with me.
The history of the church itself is problematic. Whether it be the church’s role in the First Nations Genocide here in Canada, or the European crusades, the church has a history of forcing their views upon others and of condemning science and new discoveries.
Furthermore, as the Bishop says above, people need to accept responsibility for the world. If we simply leave global change in the hands of God, we remove our own responsibility and agency in this world. If we want to change the world, WE have to do it. After the Paris terrorist attacks, the Dalai Lamai expressed this as well, arguing that it’s not enough to just pray. We must take responsibility for our planet.
We are also dealing with texts that are very old, and considering there are multiple versions of various texts, all of which have likely been manipulated, changed, and distorted over the years, I find it difficult to accept any one without question.
Another point that turns me away from religion is hypocrisy. Many people claim ties to their faith yet know very little about its tenets, and fail to follow what they claim to believe in. This is commonly seen within the ‘spiritual’ movement as well, which can be seen as another form of religion in itself.
When it comes to religion, I believe you have to do your own research; you have to read the books and examine the teachings for yourself. Use your own head and find what resonates with you instead of allowing yourself to be indoctrinated and letting someone else do your thinking for you. These texts are open to interpretation; it’s up to you to find meaning in them and apply it to your life. You can still believe in God and not be religious. Religion is a manmade construct, and I think if God were to suddenly appear somewhere, he or she would have no idea what religion even was.
Religions as organizations are going to have to change. New discoveries are constantly being made that are challenging long-held belief systems. We cannot grow if we refuse to have an open mind and accept new possibilities about the nature of reality, and it’s childish to hold on to old belief systems just because they are familiar.
I personally believe in the soul and other non-material phenomena, as well the idea that life does not end here on Earth, and I believe there is enough evidence in various forms, aside from my own intuition and gut feeling, to support this stance.
What about you? What do you believe? What it all boils down to, for me, is respect. We must learn to respect each other’s viewpoints about ‘what is.’ We need to work with each other and accept our differences so we can focus on helping the planet, our shared home.
“It’s a mark of an educated person to be able to entertain an idea without accepting it.”
What do you think about religion and what Sponge is saying in this video? Do you agree or disagree? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
My problem is not with faith but with religion as an organization, which has been used as a means of control, to pit people against each other, and to incite terror and war.Religion is a controversial topic, and I’d like to preface this article by saying that it is not my aim to belittle or diminish anyone’s beliefs. My problem is not with faith but with religion as an organization, which has been used as a means of control, to pit people against each other, and to incite terror and war. Religion in this context serves the purposes of many various global elitist agendas.
Religion is also confusing, to say the least; within several different religions exist different ‘sects,’ each with their own teachings and version of the ‘truth’ and how to live one’s life. Within Christianity alone, there are multiple versions of the Bible, and teachings that contradict one another. What one religion says in one part of the world may directly oppose what another says in a different part of the world. This alone is a recipe for feelings of confusion and isolation for anybody who is seeking ‘the truth.’ If various religions preach different ways of life and truths, they all can’t be correct, can they? I guess that’s why they call it faith.
Below is a video of Jon Shelby Sponge, a retired American bishop of the Episcopal Church, discussing these problems. He argues that religion is a business and it is used as a control mechanism (and he’s not the first insider to do so). We can see this happening most clearly in the rise of Islamophobia. Islam has been turned into a scapegoat, a target at which we can direct all our fears and anger, and an excuse to invade other countries and create a more intense global national security state. But the truth is, Islam has nothing to do with violence or terrorism. These manufactured fears are all part and parcel of ‘false flag’ terrorism, which you can read more about here if you are unfamiliar with the concept.
In the video, Sponge affirms that “religion is always in the control business, and that’s something people don’t really understand. It’s in the guilt producing control business.”
He then goes on to describe the problem with religion as an organization:
Every church I know claims that we are the true church, and they have some ultimate authority. . . . The idea that the truth of God can be bound in any human system by any human creed by any human book, is almost beyond imagination for me. God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew or a Muslim or a Hindu a Buddhist; all of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God.
He is describing the difference between faith and religion. I myself have explored multiple religions, and have discovered teachings within all of them that deeply resonate with me. I’ve also found teachings that don’t resonate at all. I don’t believe one religion has all the answers.
Using fear to coax people into a certain way of life or belief system, just like the Bishop mentions above, seems to be common practice in nearly every religion, and that certainly doesn’t resonate with me.
The history of the church itself is problematic. Whether it be the church’s role in the First Nations Genocide here in Canada, or the European crusades, the church has a history of forcing their views upon others and of condemning science and new discoveries.
Furthermore, as the Bishop says above, people need to accept responsibility for the world. If we simply leave global change in the hands of God, we remove our own responsibility and agency in this world. If we want to change the world, WE have to do it. After the Paris terrorist attacks, the Dalai Lamai expressed this as well, arguing that it’s not enough to just pray. We must take responsibility for our planet.
We are also dealing with texts that are very old, and considering there are multiple versions of various texts, all of which have likely been manipulated, changed, and distorted over the years, I find it difficult to accept any one without question.
Another point that turns me away from religion is hypocrisy. Many people claim ties to their faith yet know very little about its tenets, and fail to follow what they claim to believe in. This is commonly seen within the ‘spiritual’ movement as well, which can be seen as another form of religion in itself.
When it comes to religion, I believe you have to do your own research; you have to read the books and examine the teachings for yourself. Use your own head and find what resonates with you instead of allowing yourself to be indoctrinated and letting someone else do your thinking for you. These texts are open to interpretation; it’s up to you to find meaning in them and apply it to your life. You can still believe in God and not be religious. Religion is a manmade construct, and I think if God were to suddenly appear somewhere, he or she would have no idea what religion even was.
Religions as organizations are going to have to change. New discoveries are constantly being made that are challenging long-held belief systems. We cannot grow if we refuse to have an open mind and accept new possibilities about the nature of reality, and it’s childish to hold on to old belief systems just because they are familiar.
I personally believe in the soul and other non-material phenomena, as well the idea that life does not end here on Earth, and I believe there is enough evidence in various forms, aside from my own intuition and gut feeling, to support this stance.
What about you? What do you believe? What it all boils down to, for me, is respect. We must learn to respect each other’s viewpoints about ‘what is.’ We need to work with each other and accept our differences so we can focus on helping the planet, our shared home.
“It’s a mark of an educated person to be able to entertain an idea without accepting it.”
What do you think about religion and what Sponge is saying in this video? Do you agree or disagree? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Chris Glaser
I think of these eight steps as a spiral of repeating cycles. I believe that, in the spiritual life, there is no “finish line.”These days of “do-it-yourself” improvement techniques have spawned an industry of providing sometimes simplistic solutions to life’s problems. So my title is a little tongue-in-cheek. I don’t present what follows as “dramatic truth,” or “divine revelation,” let alone “the secret”!
At the same time, I remember a friend reared as a United Methodist telling me he had never been given a spiritual path until he was introduced to The Twelve Steps. Another United Methodist—a college professor or mine—shocked everyone by candidly answering “no!” to an ordination question, “Are you on the road to perfection?”
Path or no path, I believe that integrity, not perfection, is the goal.
Henri Nouwen wrote in Reaching Out, “The really great saints of history don’t ask for imitation. Their way was unique and cannot be repeated. But they invite us into their lives and offer a hospitable space for our own search.”
So this is simply what I’ve gleaned from those we may consider saints, past or present. And you might note that every other step toward sainthood is humility!
Step 1. Awareness
Religious traditions call this by different names: awakening, conversion, enlightenment, mindfulness, transcendence, born again. It’s not so much “knowledge” as an eye-opening, perhaps heart-rending, experience. We have a taste of this when we fall in love, have a baby, or encounter injustice.
Something or someone draws us out of ourselves and our self-concerns. It might be an experience of awe—say, viewing the Milky Way in a very black sky. It might be an experience of terror, or of hitting rock-bottom, and realize our need to reach out to a Higher Power or other people.
However it comes our way, it’s an awareness that we are not alone, but not just that, that there is something greater than us, deeper than us, more vital than us. Some call this God, others call it Spirit, others simply the human community.
Many people think they have arrived, that they’ve done all that’s needful when they experience this conversion, this awakening, this awareness.
Maybe they’re right. Taking this step is a good thing in and of itself.
Step 2. Humility
Don’t think of ourselves as superior because we may be aware. This is perhaps the greatest liability of religion. Converts think they have arrived, that they have the answers, and that somehow they’re better than those who haven’t converted, sometimes even better than those who converted long ago, proving the cliché, “No one more zealous than a recent convert.” Cockiness, false-confidence, I know all there is to know, I’ve done all there is to do, and I’m saved, or enlightened, or complete—and you’re not.
True awareness makes me see my self, my experience, as only a part of the whole.True awareness makes me see “my” answer as only one among many. True awareness makes me see my lifespan here on earth as a second of eternity. This is the meaning of eternal life, that we have been given a glimpse of eternity, an eternal perspective through which to view our brief lifespans.
True awareness contextualizes my life, puts my life in its proper context, not greater than, not lesser than…
Step 3. Practice and expand awareness
Many stop at awareness, but an old awareness can become as stultifying, limiting, or paralyzing as no awareness at all, as a person who is clueless. I have been given a clue by my awareness, but it is only one clue, and does not solve the mystery of life, if solving such mystery is even desirable, let alone possible.
To practice my faith, I need to expand my awareness to avoid being entrapped.Buddhism calls it letting go of the lower rungs of the ladder. Zen Buddhism calls it “killing the Buddha.” In Christianity Jesus said he must leave for the Spirit to guide his followers into further truth.
As we deepen our faith, we may expand our awareness enough to embrace other faiths, other spiritual paths. We do this in prayer, meditation, using sacred and inspirational texts, participating in spiritual community, consulting diverse spiritual guides: those whose spiritual authority we recognize who may serve as soul friends or spiritual directors.
Step 4. Humility
I must not think I have “earned” awareness or its benefits.
The film Amadeus was about two musicians, Salieri and Mozart. Salieri thought by devoting his music to God that he would be rewarded with timeless compositions. Mozart lived a wild life, yet we are much more familiar with his name and music.
Though we practice awareness, we can’t expect, as Salieri did, that our devotion will earn us timeless illuminations. The Spirit blows where she will. We may only make ourselves available to feel it.
Step 5. Move
Much regard is given taking a spiritual stand, as in “I shall not be moved!” Yet to me, spiritual metaphors imply movement. Abraham and Sarah left Ur. The Hebrews were liberated from Egypt to search for a promised land. Christians took their gospel to the ends of the earth. The Buddha left his princely home. Think of the quest for the Holy Grail or Pilgrim’s Progress.
The spiritual quest means we are headed somewhere, if “only” spiritually.
Step 6. Humility
Don’t make a show of it.
In our recognition-hungry and drama-driven culture, I might want to make this spiritual movement a public production involving a cast of thousands. It might be valued if it makes a big splash, appears on TV, receives awards, and has a million Twitter followers.
But most spiritual quests are very personal affairs, often unseen. Jesus advised against praying on street corners, favoring going into one’s closet to pray.
Step 7. Arrive
A spiritual quest has a destination, a vision, a hope. A promised land. Peace and justice. A spiritual commonwealth, how I refer to “the kingdom of God.” Buddhahood. Nirvana. A future in which lion and lamb may lie down together.
Let’s celebrate whenever the commonwealth of God comes near or is in our midst!
Step 8. Humility
Don’t stay there. When I feel that I have arrived, that’s spiritually the most dangerous place. If I think I have no need to grow, nothing to learn, nothing to receive—well, “it’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am!”
The Bodhisattva is one who returns from Nirvana to show others the way. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, we help others through acts of charity and justice.
“Faith without works is dead.”
A sociological axiom has it that, at an oasis in a wilderness, those who talk about where they have been rather than where they are going have been at the oasis the longest. They have contented themselves with the oasis and have an “oasis mentality.”
One Jewish tradition has it that the Israelites spent most of their forty years in the wilderness at an oasis within sight of the Promised Land!
So I think of these eight steps as a spiral of repeating cycles. I believe that, in the spiritual life, there is no “finish line.”
-------
Violence Divine: Overcoming the Bible’s Betrayal of Its Non-Violent God
I think of these eight steps as a spiral of repeating cycles. I believe that, in the spiritual life, there is no “finish line.”These days of “do-it-yourself” improvement techniques have spawned an industry of providing sometimes simplistic solutions to life’s problems. So my title is a little tongue-in-cheek. I don’t present what follows as “dramatic truth,” or “divine revelation,” let alone “the secret”!
At the same time, I remember a friend reared as a United Methodist telling me he had never been given a spiritual path until he was introduced to The Twelve Steps. Another United Methodist—a college professor or mine—shocked everyone by candidly answering “no!” to an ordination question, “Are you on the road to perfection?”
Path or no path, I believe that integrity, not perfection, is the goal.
Henri Nouwen wrote in Reaching Out, “The really great saints of history don’t ask for imitation. Their way was unique and cannot be repeated. But they invite us into their lives and offer a hospitable space for our own search.”
So this is simply what I’ve gleaned from those we may consider saints, past or present. And you might note that every other step toward sainthood is humility!
Step 1. Awareness
Religious traditions call this by different names: awakening, conversion, enlightenment, mindfulness, transcendence, born again. It’s not so much “knowledge” as an eye-opening, perhaps heart-rending, experience. We have a taste of this when we fall in love, have a baby, or encounter injustice.
Something or someone draws us out of ourselves and our self-concerns. It might be an experience of awe—say, viewing the Milky Way in a very black sky. It might be an experience of terror, or of hitting rock-bottom, and realize our need to reach out to a Higher Power or other people.
However it comes our way, it’s an awareness that we are not alone, but not just that, that there is something greater than us, deeper than us, more vital than us. Some call this God, others call it Spirit, others simply the human community.
Many people think they have arrived, that they’ve done all that’s needful when they experience this conversion, this awakening, this awareness.
Maybe they’re right. Taking this step is a good thing in and of itself.
Step 2. Humility
Don’t think of ourselves as superior because we may be aware. This is perhaps the greatest liability of religion. Converts think they have arrived, that they have the answers, and that somehow they’re better than those who haven’t converted, sometimes even better than those who converted long ago, proving the cliché, “No one more zealous than a recent convert.” Cockiness, false-confidence, I know all there is to know, I’ve done all there is to do, and I’m saved, or enlightened, or complete—and you’re not.
True awareness makes me see my self, my experience, as only a part of the whole.True awareness makes me see “my” answer as only one among many. True awareness makes me see my lifespan here on earth as a second of eternity. This is the meaning of eternal life, that we have been given a glimpse of eternity, an eternal perspective through which to view our brief lifespans.
True awareness contextualizes my life, puts my life in its proper context, not greater than, not lesser than…
Step 3. Practice and expand awareness
Many stop at awareness, but an old awareness can become as stultifying, limiting, or paralyzing as no awareness at all, as a person who is clueless. I have been given a clue by my awareness, but it is only one clue, and does not solve the mystery of life, if solving such mystery is even desirable, let alone possible.
To practice my faith, I need to expand my awareness to avoid being entrapped.Buddhism calls it letting go of the lower rungs of the ladder. Zen Buddhism calls it “killing the Buddha.” In Christianity Jesus said he must leave for the Spirit to guide his followers into further truth.
As we deepen our faith, we may expand our awareness enough to embrace other faiths, other spiritual paths. We do this in prayer, meditation, using sacred and inspirational texts, participating in spiritual community, consulting diverse spiritual guides: those whose spiritual authority we recognize who may serve as soul friends or spiritual directors.
Step 4. Humility
I must not think I have “earned” awareness or its benefits.
The film Amadeus was about two musicians, Salieri and Mozart. Salieri thought by devoting his music to God that he would be rewarded with timeless compositions. Mozart lived a wild life, yet we are much more familiar with his name and music.
Though we practice awareness, we can’t expect, as Salieri did, that our devotion will earn us timeless illuminations. The Spirit blows where she will. We may only make ourselves available to feel it.
Step 5. Move
Much regard is given taking a spiritual stand, as in “I shall not be moved!” Yet to me, spiritual metaphors imply movement. Abraham and Sarah left Ur. The Hebrews were liberated from Egypt to search for a promised land. Christians took their gospel to the ends of the earth. The Buddha left his princely home. Think of the quest for the Holy Grail or Pilgrim’s Progress.
The spiritual quest means we are headed somewhere, if “only” spiritually.
Step 6. Humility
Don’t make a show of it.
In our recognition-hungry and drama-driven culture, I might want to make this spiritual movement a public production involving a cast of thousands. It might be valued if it makes a big splash, appears on TV, receives awards, and has a million Twitter followers.
But most spiritual quests are very personal affairs, often unseen. Jesus advised against praying on street corners, favoring going into one’s closet to pray.
Step 7. Arrive
A spiritual quest has a destination, a vision, a hope. A promised land. Peace and justice. A spiritual commonwealth, how I refer to “the kingdom of God.” Buddhahood. Nirvana. A future in which lion and lamb may lie down together.
Let’s celebrate whenever the commonwealth of God comes near or is in our midst!
Step 8. Humility
Don’t stay there. When I feel that I have arrived, that’s spiritually the most dangerous place. If I think I have no need to grow, nothing to learn, nothing to receive—well, “it’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am!”
The Bodhisattva is one who returns from Nirvana to show others the way. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, we help others through acts of charity and justice.
“Faith without works is dead.”
A sociological axiom has it that, at an oasis in a wilderness, those who talk about where they have been rather than where they are going have been at the oasis the longest. They have contented themselves with the oasis and have an “oasis mentality.”
One Jewish tradition has it that the Israelites spent most of their forty years in the wilderness at an oasis within sight of the Promised Land!
So I think of these eight steps as a spiral of repeating cycles. I believe that, in the spiritual life, there is no “finish line.”
- Click Here to Link to Chris Glaser’s Blog: Progressive Christian Reflections
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Violence Divine: Overcoming the Bible’s Betrayal of Its Non-Violent God
John Dominic Crossan
An eight session DVD-based program. Pre-Release $30 Off - use coupon code DISCOUNTbefore June 30th (ships mid-July). One of the world’s foremost historical Jesus scholars helps the church and its alumni/ae rise above the greatest of Christian treasons: that everlasting peace can only be achieved through the onslaught of divine violence.
Filmed before a live audience in a workshop setting, professor and author John Dominic Crossan summarizes the essence of his bestselling HOW TO READ THE BIBLE & STILL BE A CHRISTIAN: Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis Through Revelation and shows the way forward for those seeking an authentic Christianity for the 21st century.
Violence Divine is an eight-session DVD-based program. The basic format for each 1 – 1.5 hour session includes chapter breaks and discussion questions related to each 40-minute video segment.
Session Titles:
1. An Epic Matrix
2. Sin and Escalatory Violence
3. The Heart of the Torah
4. Deuteronomy Rules
5. Undecided Justice
6. Not, not, not, not, not, NOT the End of the World
7. The “Violentization” of Jesus
8. Overcoming the Bible’s Betrayal of Its Non-Violent God
Featuring John Dominic Crossan
Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at De Paul University, John Dominic Crossan is generally acknowledged to be the premier historical Jesus scholar in the world. He has written twenty books including Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, Who Killed Jesus? andThe Birth of Christianity. A Roman Catholic monk for nineteen years and a priest for twelve years, Crossan is a former co-chair of the Jesus Seminar and chair of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Attention International Customers (RE: DVD format) This product is only available in NTSC format. Please verify that your DVD player can read/play NTSC formatted DVDs prior to ordering. Thank you!
READ ON ...
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Liturgy Selection
An eight session DVD-based program. Pre-Release $30 Off - use coupon code DISCOUNTbefore June 30th (ships mid-July). One of the world’s foremost historical Jesus scholars helps the church and its alumni/ae rise above the greatest of Christian treasons: that everlasting peace can only be achieved through the onslaught of divine violence.
Filmed before a live audience in a workshop setting, professor and author John Dominic Crossan summarizes the essence of his bestselling HOW TO READ THE BIBLE & STILL BE A CHRISTIAN: Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis Through Revelation and shows the way forward for those seeking an authentic Christianity for the 21st century.
Violence Divine is an eight-session DVD-based program. The basic format for each 1 – 1.5 hour session includes chapter breaks and discussion questions related to each 40-minute video segment.
Session Titles:
1. An Epic Matrix
2. Sin and Escalatory Violence
3. The Heart of the Torah
4. Deuteronomy Rules
5. Undecided Justice
6. Not, not, not, not, not, NOT the End of the World
7. The “Violentization” of Jesus
8. Overcoming the Bible’s Betrayal of Its Non-Violent God
Featuring John Dominic Crossan
Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at De Paul University, John Dominic Crossan is generally acknowledged to be the premier historical Jesus scholar in the world. He has written twenty books including Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, Who Killed Jesus? andThe Birth of Christianity. A Roman Catholic monk for nineteen years and a priest for twelve years, Crossan is a former co-chair of the Jesus Seminar and chair of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Attention International Customers (RE: DVD format) This product is only available in NTSC format. Please verify that your DVD player can read/play NTSC formatted DVDs prior to ordering. Thank you!
READ ON ...
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Liturgy Selection
Compassion
Compassion is the cornerstone of every faith tradition. The movement out of yourself, to the point of being concerned with the sufferings of another, is the beginning of the movement toward God. As the Dalai Lama says, “If you want to be happy, practice compassion. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.”
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A Credo for Progressive Christians by Jim Burklo
We worship and adore God,
source, essence, and aim of all things,
spirit that enlivens all beings.
We follow the way of Jesus, who found God in himself
and shared a way for others to find God in themselves.
He was born through love,
He lived for love,
He suffered for love,
He died for love,
But love never dies.
We submit ourselves to the leadings of the love that is God,
that we may be compassionate to all beings,
that we may live and serve in community with others,
that we may ask for and offer forgiveness,
that we may praise and enjoy God forever. Amen!
From “Birdlike and Barnless: Meditations, Prayers and Songs for Progressive Christians” by Jim Burklo
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A Doxology, A Prayer (Sung to the traditional tune) by Rev. Roger Lynn
Praise God for love in all its forms
Love sees us through both calm and storms
God’s love is meant for us to share
May we, in love, reach out with care.
Amen.
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“We commit ourselves to lives of compassion” by Roger Courtney
ALL: We commit ourselves to lives of compassion:
– being passionate about our love and concern for others
– opening our hearts and lives to others with real enthusiasm
– being particularly concerned for the lives of the poor and powerless
– focusing our love on those who tend to be looked down on
– enabling others to achieve their potential
– being agents of positive change in people’s lives
– following Jesus’ example of self-giving love
Submitted by Roger Courtney, Ireland
READ ON ...
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Click on Amazon Smile and choose ProgressiveChristianity.org as your charity - when you shop Amazon donates .05%.
Events and Updates
Eco-Spirituality: Living as Spirit-Based Agents of Change by Matthew Fox
June 10th - 12, Santa Barbara, CA. In this weekend retreat, we will learn from the mystic-prophets of the past and present, as we undergo practices to awaken our earth-connected spirit.
Compassion is the cornerstone of every faith tradition. The movement out of yourself, to the point of being concerned with the sufferings of another, is the beginning of the movement toward God. As the Dalai Lama says, “If you want to be happy, practice compassion. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.”
-------
A Credo for Progressive Christians by Jim Burklo
We worship and adore God,
source, essence, and aim of all things,
spirit that enlivens all beings.
We follow the way of Jesus, who found God in himself
and shared a way for others to find God in themselves.
He was born through love,
He lived for love,
He suffered for love,
He died for love,
But love never dies.
We submit ourselves to the leadings of the love that is God,
that we may be compassionate to all beings,
that we may live and serve in community with others,
that we may ask for and offer forgiveness,
that we may praise and enjoy God forever. Amen!
From “Birdlike and Barnless: Meditations, Prayers and Songs for Progressive Christians” by Jim Burklo
-------
A Doxology, A Prayer (Sung to the traditional tune) by Rev. Roger Lynn
Praise God for love in all its forms
Love sees us through both calm and storms
God’s love is meant for us to share
May we, in love, reach out with care.
Amen.
-------
“We commit ourselves to lives of compassion” by Roger Courtney
ALL: We commit ourselves to lives of compassion:
– being passionate about our love and concern for others
– opening our hearts and lives to others with real enthusiasm
– being particularly concerned for the lives of the poor and powerless
– focusing our love on those who tend to be looked down on
– enabling others to achieve their potential
– being agents of positive change in people’s lives
– following Jesus’ example of self-giving love
Submitted by Roger Courtney, Ireland
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Events and Updates
Eco-Spirituality: Living as Spirit-Based Agents of Change by Matthew Fox
June 10th - 12, Santa Barbara, CA. In this weekend retreat, we will learn from the mystic-prophets of the past and present, as we undergo practices to awaken our earth-connected spirit.
Eco-Spirituality: Living as Spirit-Based Agents of Change by Matthew Fox
In this weekend retreat, we will learn from the mystic-prophets of the past and present, as we undergo practices to awaken our earth-connected spirit. Much of our ecological peril derives from a spirituality and education approaches that do not honor our connection to the sacredness of the earth. The resulting ecological disaster, destitution for the indigenous peoples, and loss of meaning and shared values in our lives is taking its toll on all of us, whether we know it or not. We need a spirituality which brings wisdom back to our relationship with nature, our bodies, our work, our educational systems, indeed to “all our relations.”
Start:
June 10, 2016 07:30 PM
End:
June 12, 2016 01:00 PM
Location:
La Casa de Maria
800 El Bosque Road
Santa Barbara United States California
Contact:
Anne Price
Organization:
La Casa de Maria
Website:
Email: Anne@lcdm.org
Telephone: (805) 456-4222
READ ON ...
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Website
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Our mailing address is:
ProgressiveChristianity.org
4810 Point Fosdick Drive NW#80
In this weekend retreat, we will learn from the mystic-prophets of the past and present, as we undergo practices to awaken our earth-connected spirit. Much of our ecological peril derives from a spirituality and education approaches that do not honor our connection to the sacredness of the earth. The resulting ecological disaster, destitution for the indigenous peoples, and loss of meaning and shared values in our lives is taking its toll on all of us, whether we know it or not. We need a spirituality which brings wisdom back to our relationship with nature, our bodies, our work, our educational systems, indeed to “all our relations.”
Start:
June 10, 2016 07:30 PM
End:
June 12, 2016 01:00 PM
Location:
La Casa de Maria
800 El Bosque Road
Santa Barbara United States California
Contact:
Anne Price
Organization:
La Casa de Maria
Website:
Email: Anne@lcdm.org
Telephone: (805) 456-4222
READ ON ...
-------
FacebookTwitterWebsiteEmailYouTubeOur mailing address is:
ProgressiveChristianity.org
4810 Point Fosdick Drive NW#80
Gig Harbor, Washington 98335, United States
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