Weekly Recap for Tuesday, February 7, 2017 from ProgressiveChristianity.org in Gig Harbor, Washington, United States "Does blaming others ever work? This and more in our Free Weekly Recap of our most viewed and new resources from last week."
Last Week At ProgressiveChristianity.org ...
We delved into the topics of: The first and greatest commandment, Why fences do not make good neighbors, Acceptance, understanding and love, and Experiencing the sacred through music.
Visit our website to join in on the discussion and to view our thousands of spiritual resources!
We are entirely reader supported, please support us today.
ProgressiveChristianity.org is a global portal for authors, scholars, theologians and liturgists to share their resources for the progressive spiritual journey.
The Law Hangs in the Balance of LovePart 4 of the series, What Makes a Christian?
The Traveling Ecumenist by Frank Lesko
Jesus Himself is giving us an enormous clue as to how the whole kit-n-caboodle of Church and society ought to be put together – He’s saying the whole thing hangs on the Commandment to love.
This is Part 4 of a 5-Part Series: What Makes a Christian?
Read Part 1 Here
Read Part 2 Here
Read Part 3 Here
Sometimes our greatest breach with Scripture is not when we outright contradict it–it’s what we choose to prioritize, diminish or outright ignore. There is a time for everything under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). We need to put first things first and second things second.
Much of Christianity focuses on salvation plans and doctrinal ideas.
However, Jesus in full voice in Scripture is very clear what we should prioritize: It is the Greatest Commandment, i.e. love God and love one another.
Maybe I’m just a simple country boy at heart, but it just seems straightforward.
Remember that Jesus presented the Greatest Commandment as the full package: It’s the key to the Kingdom and eternity; it’s the key to our public witness of our faith; and it’s the key to interpreting all of Law–See John 13:34-35, Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:25-37 and Matthew 22:34-40, respectively.
That last clause above is crucial. In the debate about what to prioritize, Jesus gives us a clue in the Gospel of Matthew’s treatment of the Greatest Commandment:
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:34-40.
The last line there hits me like a bullet: All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
This is a huge statement.
It is a statement that has not gotten anywhere near the attention it deserves. Most Christians are busy arguing about what the Law should be. Jesus is saying there is something bigger, more pivotal and more fundamental than that.
The vast traditions of Christian denominations have this absolutely backwards–we try to figure out how to pepper in love and compassion into a rigid structure of rules, doctrines and practices. Jesus is calling our imagination to do the very opposite–to be immersed in the practice of love in which we pepper in rules, doctrines and practices to give it form and ornamentation when appropriate.
It makes you wonder if we have been reading Scripture at all.
Jesus is speaking against a cold, impersonal use for the Law. If there is anything that Jesus railed against during his years walking this earth, it was making a black-and-white interpretation of the Law as the interface between humankind and the Divine. He was constantly railing against the Pharisees with their tedious “gotcha” games with the Law. Jesus clearly put Love and Mercy before any literal interpretation of the Law.
What does it mean that this commandment is the structure on which the Law hangs? I don’t even know. I’m not sure that anyone knows. I think it is extremely difficult for our human minds to wrap around. But we also haven’t been working very hard to unpack this meaning diligently over the past 2,000 years.
Jesus Himself is giving us an enormous clue as to how the whole kit-n-caboodle of Church and society ought to be put together – He’s saying the whole thing hangs on the Commandment to love. I’ve been all around the Christian denominational world, and I’ve never heard a single sermon trying to unpack the meaning of this statement from Matthew.
When your church community makes rules, rubrics and procedures, does it ask: How does this hang off the commandment to love God and one another?
The question may be implied, but why isn’t it more explicit?
The Good News is that Jesus gave some examples to show how to be in relationship with the Law:
Jesus fed the hungry and healed on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-13). It may be hard for us to understand this today, but at the time, these were serious offenses. He was violating some of the most sacred practices of his faith tradition. He was not keeping the Sabbath day Holy by resting. Sure, people may have suffered being hungry and ill, but that was considered unfortunate but acceptable collateral damage for being true to God’s Commandment.
In terms of the letter of the Law, there was no question that Jesus was at fault. He did not observe the Sabbath, and the Law allowed for no exceptions–case closed. Jesus had a different view, however. He saw that he was fulfilling the Law rather than contradicting it (Matthew 5:12). Perhaps feeding the hungry and healing the sick is what made the day Holy, after all.
I would suggest that what Jesus is requiring of us is to take the Law–which is an evolving piece as it is–and keep it in constant relationship with the demands of mercy and the lived experiences of people in their conscience and context.
I hear the Scribes and Pharisees yelling at Jesus, saying, “You broke the law!”
I hear Jesus saying in reply, “You had to be there, and then you would understand.”
And that’s just it–we have to be there. After all, the word “compassion” literally means, “to suffer with.” Outside of a true compassion that can only come–by definition–out of solidarity with others, we cannot possibly interpret–nor implement–the Law appropriately.
While most Christians today do not have any aversion to working on the Sabbath, what are some other religious and lifestyle practices today that are completely prohibited? What might Jesus say to those in light of this passage from Matthew 12?
***
Some argue that Jesus came to abolish the rigid, black-and-white legal system of Jewish Law only to replace it with a rigid, black-and-white legal system of Christian Law.
This is to profoundly miss the point. I can imagine Jesus doing a major face palm here. Jesus wasn’t just changing the content of the Laws themselves but rather our whole approach to Law altogether!
We try to build Love into the Law, but maybe that’s not possible. Perhaps Love simply needs to accompany the Law. Or as Jesus puts it, Love needs to support the Law.
The reason is simple: Jesus said that Love is more than just a part of the Law. He said that Love is the structure on which all the Law hangs. In other words, all of Law is in relationship with the commandment to Love. Jesus had every opportunity to tell us to scrap the old Law in favor of a new one. He didn’t–He told us that the Law will find its fulfillment in relationship with Love–and in that relationship, Law is secondary to Love. Love and Law are both related and distinct.
Jesus Himself is giving us an enormous clue as to how the whole kit-n-caboodle of Church and society ought to be put together – He’s saying the whole thing hangs on the Commandment to love.
This is Part 4 of a 5-Part Series: What Makes a Christian?
Read Part 1 Here
Read Part 2 Here
Read Part 3 Here
Sometimes our greatest breach with Scripture is not when we outright contradict it–it’s what we choose to prioritize, diminish or outright ignore. There is a time for everything under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). We need to put first things first and second things second.
Much of Christianity focuses on salvation plans and doctrinal ideas.
However, Jesus in full voice in Scripture is very clear what we should prioritize: It is the Greatest Commandment, i.e. love God and love one another.
Maybe I’m just a simple country boy at heart, but it just seems straightforward.
Remember that Jesus presented the Greatest Commandment as the full package: It’s the key to the Kingdom and eternity; it’s the key to our public witness of our faith; and it’s the key to interpreting all of Law–See John 13:34-35, Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:25-37 and Matthew 22:34-40, respectively.
That last clause above is crucial. In the debate about what to prioritize, Jesus gives us a clue in the Gospel of Matthew’s treatment of the Greatest Commandment:
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:34-40.
The last line there hits me like a bullet: All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
This is a huge statement.
It is a statement that has not gotten anywhere near the attention it deserves. Most Christians are busy arguing about what the Law should be. Jesus is saying there is something bigger, more pivotal and more fundamental than that.
The vast traditions of Christian denominations have this absolutely backwards–we try to figure out how to pepper in love and compassion into a rigid structure of rules, doctrines and practices. Jesus is calling our imagination to do the very opposite–to be immersed in the practice of love in which we pepper in rules, doctrines and practices to give it form and ornamentation when appropriate.
It makes you wonder if we have been reading Scripture at all.
Jesus is speaking against a cold, impersonal use for the Law. If there is anything that Jesus railed against during his years walking this earth, it was making a black-and-white interpretation of the Law as the interface between humankind and the Divine. He was constantly railing against the Pharisees with their tedious “gotcha” games with the Law. Jesus clearly put Love and Mercy before any literal interpretation of the Law.
What does it mean that this commandment is the structure on which the Law hangs? I don’t even know. I’m not sure that anyone knows. I think it is extremely difficult for our human minds to wrap around. But we also haven’t been working very hard to unpack this meaning diligently over the past 2,000 years.
Jesus Himself is giving us an enormous clue as to how the whole kit-n-caboodle of Church and society ought to be put together – He’s saying the whole thing hangs on the Commandment to love. I’ve been all around the Christian denominational world, and I’ve never heard a single sermon trying to unpack the meaning of this statement from Matthew.
When your church community makes rules, rubrics and procedures, does it ask: How does this hang off the commandment to love God and one another?
The question may be implied, but why isn’t it more explicit?
The Good News is that Jesus gave some examples to show how to be in relationship with the Law:
Jesus fed the hungry and healed on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-13). It may be hard for us to understand this today, but at the time, these were serious offenses. He was violating some of the most sacred practices of his faith tradition. He was not keeping the Sabbath day Holy by resting. Sure, people may have suffered being hungry and ill, but that was considered unfortunate but acceptable collateral damage for being true to God’s Commandment.
In terms of the letter of the Law, there was no question that Jesus was at fault. He did not observe the Sabbath, and the Law allowed for no exceptions–case closed. Jesus had a different view, however. He saw that he was fulfilling the Law rather than contradicting it (Matthew 5:12). Perhaps feeding the hungry and healing the sick is what made the day Holy, after all.
I would suggest that what Jesus is requiring of us is to take the Law–which is an evolving piece as it is–and keep it in constant relationship with the demands of mercy and the lived experiences of people in their conscience and context.
I hear the Scribes and Pharisees yelling at Jesus, saying, “You broke the law!”
I hear Jesus saying in reply, “You had to be there, and then you would understand.”
And that’s just it–we have to be there. After all, the word “compassion” literally means, “to suffer with.” Outside of a true compassion that can only come–by definition–out of solidarity with others, we cannot possibly interpret–nor implement–the Law appropriately.
While most Christians today do not have any aversion to working on the Sabbath, what are some other religious and lifestyle practices today that are completely prohibited? What might Jesus say to those in light of this passage from Matthew 12?
***
Some argue that Jesus came to abolish the rigid, black-and-white legal system of Jewish Law only to replace it with a rigid, black-and-white legal system of Christian Law.
This is to profoundly miss the point. I can imagine Jesus doing a major face palm here. Jesus wasn’t just changing the content of the Laws themselves but rather our whole approach to Law altogether!
We try to build Love into the Law, but maybe that’s not possible. Perhaps Love simply needs to accompany the Law. Or as Jesus puts it, Love needs to support the Law.
The reason is simple: Jesus said that Love is more than just a part of the Law. He said that Love is the structure on which all the Law hangs. In other words, all of Law is in relationship with the commandment to Love. Jesus had every opportunity to tell us to scrap the old Law in favor of a new one. He didn’t–He told us that the Law will find its fulfillment in relationship with Love–and in that relationship, Law is secondary to Love. Love and Law are both related and distinct.
A good way to look at this might be like the double helix of a DNA structure: The letter of the Law is one strand. It must be in constant dialogue with the lived experiences of people and the demands of mercy. The two strands constantly intermingle with many points of direct contact in between.The DNA model may be inadequate, however. It gives the impression that Love and the Law are equivalents. That is not what Jesus is saying in Matthew–Love is more foundational. The DNA model is a great way to show the interrelationship between the two, but perhaps another model is needed to properly showcase what Jesus is describing.
Maybe the best visual is to use the old standby symbol for Law: The justice scales–with a tweak. As Francis E. Madojemu says, the key word in Matthew’s passage is “hang.” The Law hangs on the Commandment to Love: “Remove it and everything falls down,” says Madojemu. In this model, Love is the structure which entirely supports the rest of the Laws.
I hesitate to push any metaphor too far, but I think Jesus gives us a wide berth here. If the Law hangs on Love, then we can infer some things–that Law can only be something that will not disrupt what Love has put in place. If the Law is too heavy and drags down the structure of Love, then it is out of balance. I would refer people to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 for examples of what qualities this love would have in order to support the weight of the Law. “Love” is, after all, not merely some abstract concept but some rigorous behaviors.Jesus gave us a metaphor that we should work with, mediate on and pray about.
Take any Church Law and visualize it this way–imagine it hanging delicately in the balance. It’s sole lifeline of support is it’s connection to the Commandment to love God and one another. How does that change our view of each and every Church Law?
Jesus was ushering in the Law of Love–something that he proclaimed was at the heart of Jewish Law in the first place but had been scabbed over by centuries of human insecurities and institutions. In short, the Law had become to many a false idol. Fundamentalism is always that–a breaking of the 1st Commandment by making the religious structure an absolute rather than our best attempt to point to God. Jesus was calling us out of making pronouncements without being personally involved and walking side-by-side with people in compassion. He was ushering in the primacy of conscience.
Matthew 22:36-40 is a glaring instance where we can get all the words of Scripture right and still get the message wrong. If we build a system of Laws and make room for Love only as an optional ornament, we have a fundamentally different system compared to a system of Love which is only afterwards adorned with Laws–a system where the Laws simply cannot support themselves at all in the absence of Love.
Visit Frank Lesko’s Blog The Traveling Ecumenist READ ON ...
-------
Stranger As Neighbor in a Promised Land
John Bennison
It occurs to me, before someone spends billions to build a “huge” wall on our own southern border, perhaps someone like the TV-talk show shrink Dr. Phil, should ask the Israeli’s, so how’s that working out for you?
To print and read a pdf version click here.
Don’t Fence Me In
It occurs to me, before someone spends billions to build a “huge” wall on our own southern border, perhaps someone like the TV-talk show shrink Dr. Phil, should ask the Israeli’s, so how’s that working out for you?
To print and read a pdf version click here.
Don’t Fence Me In
Contrary to the old adage, fences do not necessarily make good neighbors. In our election campaign season this last year, the winning candidate promised to build a wall and have our neighbor pay for it. We’ll see. Now by presidential executive order, an indefinite ban on all refugees from certain predominantly Muslim countries entering our country has also been put in place.……………………………………..The Good Samaritan, artist: HeQi
Meanwhile, not long ago the daily headlines recently focused on the latest dust-up over the U.S. position with regards to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict; when our country declined to once again veto a UN Security Council resolution, condemning the continued construction of Israeli settlements in walled-off Palestinian occupied territories that some critics are now labeling a virtual apartheid state. Even with a wall, it’s abundantly clear the physical barrier does not seem to have resolved the ongoing feud.
More than just politics, or a turf war between two different groups trying to occupy the same patch of earth in that part of the world, there are also religiously-infused traditions that are as powerfully determinant as are the political ideologies and national identities. But in the face of such an ancient fight, infused with violence, those who claim to follow in the Judeo-Christian tradition might consider again the scriptural injunction that lies at the core of this shared tradition.
The stories of liberation from oppression and deliverance as aliens to a place of promised blessing, or from exile and return, from outcast to inclusion by sheer grace, or from one as good as dead being raised to new life, are all central to the biblical vision of a shared common humanity.
From Jewish scripture is a repeated reminder: “You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” [Exodus 23:9.] Among numerous other similar citations from Torah: Exodus 23:9, Leviticus 19:33-34, Numbers 15:16, Deuteronomy 1: 16, Deuteronomy 10: 18-19, Deuteronomy 24: 20-21, Deuteronomy 27:19.
And from the Jewish prophetic tradition: Micah 6:8, Jeremiah 7:5-6, Zechariah 7:10, and from Ezikiel:
“So shall you divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you and to the strangers that sojourn among you, who shall beget children among you; and they shall be unto you as the home-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.” [Ezekiel 21-22]
And within more than millennia of recorded history there have been the rise and fall, conquest and defeat of a succession of nation states; including the modern State of Israel in 1948, when nearly two-thirds of the population in Palestine was Muslim. To put it mildly, neighborliness has been an ongoing challenge.
Who Is My Neighbor?
In the first century CE, the Christian gospel tradition emerged in the midst of controversy and conflict that, in many ways, don’t seem all that different nowadays. There were domination systems and gross economic disparities between nations and groups; with entrenched religious and political structures crumbling and competing for power and influence amidst rival ethnicities and violent strife.
And then along comes a charismatic wisdom sage from a backwater town in Galilee who cites Torah and tells stories:
Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal [or, “abundant”] life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ Jesus replied,
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’ [Luke 10:25-37]
The parable dissolves the conventional distinction between “us” and “them;” where proximity is such that they are unavoidably inseparable as neighbors. And with nothing more than an abundance of mercy – the divine imperative to an abundant life — the walls come tumbling down.
The Key to the Door
Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham,
Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham,
Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham,
Oh, Rock-a my soul.
So high you can’t get over it.
So low you can’t get under it
So wide you can’t get around it
You gotta come in through the door.
Traditional African-American spiritual
Michael Cooper is a neighbor of mine. He’s an American, a Jew, a pediatric cardiologist by profession, and a novelist by avocation. Many years ago, when he was a young medical student in Tel Aviv, he fully supported the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the “historic” Land of Israel: “And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien,” he’d recite. “All the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.” (Gen. 17:8)
But once, when he cited such a promise as a divine right to some of his Arab classmates, they simply replied – and to Michael’s astonishment — “But, we too are Abraham’s seed!”
For years afterwards now, Michael has made mission trips to Israel twice each year, contributing his medical assistance as best he can to Palestinian children in need through the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund. In a word, he does not “pass by on the other side.”
As a Jew, the State of Israel does not allow him to pass though the gate in the wall, and into the squalor of the Palestinian camps. Yet the key that could ever open that door in the wall remains such an act of mercy.
In a word, he does not pass by on the other side. … And the key that could ever open that door in the wall remains such an act of mercy.
“Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham,” goes an old African-American spiritual. It refers to the “bosom of Abraham,” as a place of comfort and security. Resting in the arms of the metaphorical “father of all” conveyed the notion of resting in a place where harm could not reach, and where the just rested securely. It makes one ask if a “security wall” isn’t ultimately a contradiction in terms?
Construction of the Great Wall of China began in the 7th century BCE, and continued for 1,400 years; up until the end of the Ming Dynasty in 1644 CE.
By contrast, the Berlin Wall only lasted 28 years, from 1961–1989 CE. The remnants of both walls are now major tourist attractions, but their original purposes have both been relegated to the dustbin of history.
Then there’s that 25’ high concrete wall sometimes referred to by different parties enmeshed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as either a “separation barrier” or “anti-terror fence.“ It wends its way in a jagged line across the West Bank territories.
It occurs to me, before someone spends billions to build a “huge” wall on our own southern border, perhaps someone like the TV-talk show shrink, Dr. Phil, should ask the Israeli’s, so how’s that working out for you?
So now a proposal has actually been initiated to build a “great wall” along the 2,000-mile frontier between Mexico and the United States. As one elderly American woman who lives along our own southern border recently told a news reporter, “If you build a 20’ wall, they’ll just get a 22’ ladder.” So instead, this good Samaritan puts plastic jugs of water out at night for any stranger passing by that might otherwise die of thirst.
It has been argued by some that if you don’t have a wall on your borders, then you don’t have a country. On the other hand, if we don’t treat the alien in our midst as one of “us,” then what kind of a country do we have?
And who is our neighbor?
What do you think? Join the dialogue with a comment below, or here.
© 2017 by John William Bennison, Rel.D. All rights reserved.
This article should only be used or reproduced with proper credit. READ ON ...
-------
Accept (them) without exception
Rabbi Brian
Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reasons and argument... It’s just understanding. If you understand and you show you understand, you can love and the situation will change.
The spiritual-religious notion of acting where one can and accepting where one cannot is transcultural.
In the 1st century, Epictetus wrote:
Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.
8th-century Indian Buddhist scholar Shantideva said:
If there’s a remedy when trouble strikes, what reason is there for dejection? And if there is no help for it, what use is there in being glum?
11th-century Jewish philosopher Solomon ibn Gabriel wrote:
At the head of all understanding – is realizing what is and what cannot be, and the consoling of what is not in our power to change.
In modern times, Reinhold Niebuhr wrote:
God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change,
the courage to change the things we can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Bring it to people
I want to talk about acting where one can and accepting where one cannot with regard to a specific situation – dealing with other people.
If there are things you don’t like about your children, your coworkers, your parents, your spouse – you need to change.
Do not change them. Change yourself.
Of course, it is somewhat yummy to scold them. And it is also somewhat yummy to act as a victim to what they do. Nonetheless, the only thing you really CAN change is you.
Ponder this:
Countless times, I have heard someone bothered by the actions of another exclaim, “Oh, I knew he was going to do that.” The annoyed person says this as though it justifies their anger. How silly is that? If you are so wise that you know someone is going to something annoying, why are you annoyed? If you know someone is going to be annoying, whose fault is it when you are annoyed? You in all your wisdom had all the forewarning!
Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reasons and argument... It’s just understanding. If you understand and you show you understand, you can love and the situation will change.
The spiritual-religious notion of acting where one can and accepting where one cannot is transcultural.
In the 1st century, Epictetus wrote:
Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.
8th-century Indian Buddhist scholar Shantideva said:
If there’s a remedy when trouble strikes, what reason is there for dejection? And if there is no help for it, what use is there in being glum?
11th-century Jewish philosopher Solomon ibn Gabriel wrote:
At the head of all understanding – is realizing what is and what cannot be, and the consoling of what is not in our power to change.
In modern times, Reinhold Niebuhr wrote:
God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change,
the courage to change the things we can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Bring it to people
I want to talk about acting where one can and accepting where one cannot with regard to a specific situation – dealing with other people.
If there are things you don’t like about your children, your coworkers, your parents, your spouse – you need to change.
Do not change them. Change yourself.
Of course, it is somewhat yummy to scold them. And it is also somewhat yummy to act as a victim to what they do. Nonetheless, the only thing you really CAN change is you.
Ponder this:
Countless times, I have heard someone bothered by the actions of another exclaim, “Oh, I knew he was going to do that.” The annoyed person says this as though it justifies their anger. How silly is that? If you are so wise that you know someone is going to something annoying, why are you annoyed? If you know someone is going to be annoying, whose fault is it when you are annoyed? You in all your wisdom had all the forewarning!
Thich Nhat Hanh said:When you plant a lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look for reasons that it is not doing well. It may need a fertilizer or more water or less sun. You never blame the lettuce.
Yet often, if we have problems with our family or friends, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well like lettuce.
Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reasons and argument. That is my experience. No blame, no reason, no argument. It’s just understanding. If you understand and you show you understand, you can love and the situation will change.
If you love, the situation will change.
Trying to persuade – combatting another person with arguments, reason, debate skills – does not work. Shaming does not work. Mocking your boss, your coworker, your children, or your spouse does nothing positive.
What is required is acceptance. We need to accept reality – including people – as is. My current favorite phrase about accepting reality comes from Byron Katie:When you argue with reality, you lose – but only 100% of the time.
If people are going to change, it will only be because they are feeling love – they are feeling recognized for who they are, accepted for who they are, understood for who they are, and responded to as they like. If we love others – fully take them as they are – then, they might change.
Of course, once we fully love them, we might not feel so insistent that they need to change.
#wisdom_biscuit: Accept people as they are. Change yourself.
Visit Rabbi Brian’s website Religion Outside the Box READ ON ...
-------
Liturgy Selection
Music for Worship and Gathering
Week of February 5, 2017For many people, music is a source of experiences of the sacred. That makes the choice of music both important and challenging. Fortunately, new music for worship and gathering is constantly showing up, from all over the world!
For many people, music is a source of experiences of the sacred. That makes the choice of music for worship services both important and challenging. Fortunately, new music for worship is constantly showing up, from all over the world![This week, we are featuring Progressive Hymns by William Flanders, The Sing Young, Sing Joyfully collection of songs for children by William L. Wallace, and Earth Transformed with Music! by Jann Aldredge-Clanton.]
Life in Abundance
Life in abundance, Jesus says
I bring to set the world ablaze,
Exalt the weak and poor.
For many people, music is a source of experiences of the sacred. That makes the choice of music for worship services both important and challenging. Fortunately, new music for worship is constantly showing up, from all over the world![This week, we are featuring Progressive Hymns by William Flanders, The Sing Young, Sing Joyfully collection of songs for children by William L. Wallace, and Earth Transformed with Music! by Jann Aldredge-Clanton.]
Life in Abundance
Life in abundance, Jesus says
I bring to set the world ablaze,
Exalt the weak and poor.
Life in Abundance by David StevensonLife in abundance, Jesus says
I bring to set the world ablaze,
Exalt the weak and poor.
To save my life I give it up
I drain afresh the bitter cup
And live for evermore!
I heal your sickness, Jesus says
The living dead I touch and raise
In me their fears are shed.
I set you free to rest awhile
And then to walk the second mile
Till hungry folk are fed.
I break convention, Jesus says
No deep divisions bar my ways
My love transcends them all.
To enemies my heart extends
While social outcasts are my friends
I lift up those who fall.
I bid you follow, Jesus says
To share my journey all your days
Until Earth’s time shall cease.
With me discover love divine
See water turning into wine
And find a life at peace.© David Stevenson 2010
Suggested tune: Manna by J G Schicht (1753-1823)
Click here to see the score: Stevenson.Life in Abundance score
read more
-------
The Presence of God
The presence of God unfolds in minds
Exploring mystery’s haze.
Yes, God is found within the minds
That search for wisdom’s ways.
-------
The Presence of God
The presence of God unfolds in minds
Exploring mystery’s haze.
Yes, God is found within the minds
That search for wisdom’s ways.
The Presence of GodFrom the 'Sing Young, Sing Joyfully' collection by William L. Wallace
1. The presence of God unfolds in minds
Exploring mystery’s haze.
Yes, God is found within the minds
That search for wisdom’s ways.
2. The presence of God is seen by eyes
Which look behind each face.
Yes, God is found within the eyes
That find life’s joy and grace.
3. The presence of God is heard through words
That praise us and sustain.
Yes, God is found within the words
That sing love’s sweet refrain.
4. The presence of God is felt through hands
That gently share their power.
Yes, God is found within the hands
That help our spirits flower.
5. The presence of God is in the now
Of every day and night
For those with open hearts and minds
Who use their inner sight.
Text and Music © William Livingstone Wallace
Harmony by Graham Hollobon
Click here to hear this song: Wallace.The Presence of God
Click here to see the score: Wallace.The Presence of God
read more
-------
Creating God
Creating God, your fingers trace
The bold designs of farthest space:
Let sun and moon and stars and light
And what lies hidden praise your might.
-------
Creating God
Creating God, your fingers trace
The bold designs of farthest space:
Let sun and moon and stars and light
And what lies hidden praise your might.
Creating God by Fran McKendreeCreating God, your fingers traceThe bold designs of farthest space:
Let sun and moon and stars and light
And what lies hidden praise your might.
Sustaining God, your hands enfold
Earth’s mysteries no one yet has told;
But waters fragile blend with air
Enabling life, proclaim your care.
Redeeming God, your arms embrace
All now despised for creed or race;
Let peace descending like a dove
Make known on earth your healing love.
Indwelling God, your gospel praise
One family with a billion names;
Let every life be touched by grace
Until we praise you face to face
Creating God, your fingers trace
The bold designs of farthest space:
Let sun and moon and stars and light
And what lies hidden praise your might.
Click here to hear this song: McKendree.Creating God
From Fran McKendree’s latest CD, “Awake”
See his site www.franmckendree.com for more information.
Words: Jeffery Rowthorn © 1979 The Hymn Society (Admin. Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188) www.hopepublishing.com. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Music: Rob Sabino © 2009 Backstreet Music
Arrangement: Fran McKendree © Terrivane Cottage Music, LLC
and Charles Milling © Soul Mother Music, LLC
READ ON ...
-------
Click here to go to website/sign up for email list
Join us as we co-create A New Reformation and an international society dedicated to the work and theology of Bishop Spong.
For those seeking to experience Christianity in a new and vibrant way, Bishop John Shelby Spong offers fresh spiritual ideas. Over the past four decades, he has become one of the definitive voices for progressive Christianity.
As a member of this online community, you’ll receive insightful weekly essays, access to all of the essay archives, access to message boards which will connect you with other believers in exile, and answers to your questions in our free weekly Q and A.
Transformation Now! A Bishop Spong Society
Welcome to the JohnShelbySpong.com, Transformation Now website!
Join us as we transition toward and co-create Transformation Now, an international society dedicated to perpetuating and expanding on the work and theology of Bishop Spong.
For those seeking to experience Christianity in a new and vibrant way, Bishop John Shelby Spong and his endorsed successors offer fresh spiritual ideas. Over the past four decades, Bishop Spong has become one of the definitive voices for progressive Christianity. As a member of Bishop Spong’s online community, you’ll receive insightful weekly essays, access to all of the essay archives, access to message boards which will connect you with other believers in exile, and answers to your questions in our weekly Q and A.
IMPORTANT UPDATE!!
We will continue to maintain this site indefinitely and although there will be some transitions as we move toward a rotating team of Bishop Spong successors, our vision is that this site will be the foundation of an international society formed to perpetuate and advance his thoughts. All subscribers will continue will have exclusive access to Bishop Spong’s Essay Archives. These hundreds of essays, written by John Spong exclusively for this site over a 16 year period, are excellent for use in research, in churches, study groups, and education.
LETTER FROM BISHOP SPONG:
Dear Friends,
As you may have heard, while visiting in Marquette, Michigan I suffered a stroke. The date was September 10th. Since that time I have worked hard to regain my strength. I have been quite successful in that and now have no trouble walking or using my arms. It has been a learning experience. Health is a major demand of my life. I still use my running track each day for about three miles, so I feel most fortunate. The book I was writing on “Charting a New Reformation” will meet its deadline and be at Harper by the due date, the first of March, 2017. I entertained returning to my column, but as the time goes by I no longer have the strength to keep up that schedule, so I have informed Fred Plumer of Progressive Christianity.Org that I will not be able to return to that task. I write to notify you, my readers, and to enable Fred to begin the process to choose a successor.
That is not an easy thing to do for I have loved that column and the relationship I have had with so many of you. I realize that I can no lo longer write, edit and send a column a week out to my readers. I have written this column for sixteen years and it demands an intensity that I no longer profess. Even aided by my wife, who edited every column I ever wrote, cannot make up the difference. So we have decided to give it up.
I want to thank you all for the many letters I have received. More than thirty thousand letters have come to me since the stroke. There was no way I could acknowledge them or even respond to them, but I read every one of them and was warmed by the experience. I am now in my 86th year of life. It has been a good life and I am proud of it all. I wish I could have finished on my schedule, but that was not to be.
I ask you to give your attention to the following letter written with my blessing by my colleagues at Progressive Christianity about the future. I hope it will be the start of a major new contribution to religious journalism,
Sincerely
JOHN SHELBY SPONG
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SUBSCRIBERS?
Dear Friends,
Over the last few months we have had time to think about what we could do if Jack Spong could not return to writing his regular column for us. We have worked with our team to consider what we might do if this became the eventuality, and I am very excited about what we’ve been able to put together. As a subscriber to the newsletter you have been on the inside circle as we have charted this new reformation. It has been fun, challenging, and sometimes even a little scary going into these uncharted waters. I hope you have gained great value out of it.
The next big step in the new reformation is to put what we have been talking about into widespread practice, and that’s where the next phase of this subscription newsletter comes into play. We have been able to assemble a team of some of the best and brightest authors / theologians / and movement leaders out there today who are taking these bold concepts and enlightenments and putting them into practice in the streets, pews, and on social media.
We have a few well known national lecturers and authors such as Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox, Rev. Gretta Vosper, Rev. David Felten, and a close personal friend to Bishop Spong, Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester, who was the first person elected bishop in the Episcopal to have his election turned down by the house of Bishops since 1875 on strictly theological grounds. In addition to those veteran voices, we have some of the most compelling leaders of the social media movement out there today, such as “Science” Mike McHargue, Rev. Mark Sandlin, Eric Alexander, and Rev. Roger Wolsey. If you haven’t heard of any of these folks I assure you they are out there in a big way helping to lead the next generations along the new reformation. These authors will be on a regular rotating schedule to write a series of columns that will not be published anywhere else, for our new Bishop Spong inspired and endorsed series, called A New Reformation. We envision this series forming a virtual society around the world that serves to perpetuate and expand upon his thoughts.
Over the coming weeks you will hear more from my team about this exciting new transition, and our cast of contributors. We will continue to repost some of the Spong essays of the past and maybe even an occasional new one if that becomes possible. From here I welcome you to grow with us through our next phase as I believe it will be greatly valuable and entertaining to you; but also because I know your support will be essential in growing our message exponentially around the world from here on out. By continuing to be a subscriber, you will be supporting the infinitely important work that Bishop Spong has shared with our world.
Sincerely,
Fred Plumer, ProgressiveChristianity.org
The Latest Essays and Q & A:
2 February 2017: Five Beliefs I Continue to Hold About Jesus
By Eric Alexander As we continue our exciting journey in charting the new reformation, there are many questions we all must grapple with. So I want to begin 2017 with a step back to the basics, as a place on which to build throughout the year. Before diving into the reconstruction however, I want to …
Five Beliefs I Continue to Hold About Jesus by Eric Alexander
-------
Click here to go to website/sign up for email list
Join us as we co-create A New Reformation and an international society dedicated to the work and theology of Bishop Spong.
For those seeking to experience Christianity in a new and vibrant way, Bishop John Shelby Spong offers fresh spiritual ideas. Over the past four decades, he has become one of the definitive voices for progressive Christianity.
As a member of this online community, you’ll receive insightful weekly essays, access to all of the essay archives, access to message boards which will connect you with other believers in exile, and answers to your questions in our free weekly Q and A.
Transformation Now! A Bishop Spong Society
Welcome to the JohnShelbySpong.com, Transformation Now website!
Join us as we transition toward and co-create Transformation Now, an international society dedicated to perpetuating and expanding on the work and theology of Bishop Spong.
For those seeking to experience Christianity in a new and vibrant way, Bishop John Shelby Spong and his endorsed successors offer fresh spiritual ideas. Over the past four decades, Bishop Spong has become one of the definitive voices for progressive Christianity. As a member of Bishop Spong’s online community, you’ll receive insightful weekly essays, access to all of the essay archives, access to message boards which will connect you with other believers in exile, and answers to your questions in our weekly Q and A.
IMPORTANT UPDATE!!
We will continue to maintain this site indefinitely and although there will be some transitions as we move toward a rotating team of Bishop Spong successors, our vision is that this site will be the foundation of an international society formed to perpetuate and advance his thoughts. All subscribers will continue will have exclusive access to Bishop Spong’s Essay Archives. These hundreds of essays, written by John Spong exclusively for this site over a 16 year period, are excellent for use in research, in churches, study groups, and education.
LETTER FROM BISHOP SPONG:
Dear Friends,
As you may have heard, while visiting in Marquette, Michigan I suffered a stroke. The date was September 10th. Since that time I have worked hard to regain my strength. I have been quite successful in that and now have no trouble walking or using my arms. It has been a learning experience. Health is a major demand of my life. I still use my running track each day for about three miles, so I feel most fortunate. The book I was writing on “Charting a New Reformation” will meet its deadline and be at Harper by the due date, the first of March, 2017. I entertained returning to my column, but as the time goes by I no longer have the strength to keep up that schedule, so I have informed Fred Plumer of Progressive Christianity.Org that I will not be able to return to that task. I write to notify you, my readers, and to enable Fred to begin the process to choose a successor.
That is not an easy thing to do for I have loved that column and the relationship I have had with so many of you. I realize that I can no lo longer write, edit and send a column a week out to my readers. I have written this column for sixteen years and it demands an intensity that I no longer profess. Even aided by my wife, who edited every column I ever wrote, cannot make up the difference. So we have decided to give it up.
I want to thank you all for the many letters I have received. More than thirty thousand letters have come to me since the stroke. There was no way I could acknowledge them or even respond to them, but I read every one of them and was warmed by the experience. I am now in my 86th year of life. It has been a good life and I am proud of it all. I wish I could have finished on my schedule, but that was not to be.
I ask you to give your attention to the following letter written with my blessing by my colleagues at Progressive Christianity about the future. I hope it will be the start of a major new contribution to religious journalism,
Sincerely
JOHN SHELBY SPONG
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SUBSCRIBERS?
Dear Friends,
Over the last few months we have had time to think about what we could do if Jack Spong could not return to writing his regular column for us. We have worked with our team to consider what we might do if this became the eventuality, and I am very excited about what we’ve been able to put together. As a subscriber to the newsletter you have been on the inside circle as we have charted this new reformation. It has been fun, challenging, and sometimes even a little scary going into these uncharted waters. I hope you have gained great value out of it.
The next big step in the new reformation is to put what we have been talking about into widespread practice, and that’s where the next phase of this subscription newsletter comes into play. We have been able to assemble a team of some of the best and brightest authors / theologians / and movement leaders out there today who are taking these bold concepts and enlightenments and putting them into practice in the streets, pews, and on social media.
We have a few well known national lecturers and authors such as Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox, Rev. Gretta Vosper, Rev. David Felten, and a close personal friend to Bishop Spong, Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester, who was the first person elected bishop in the Episcopal to have his election turned down by the house of Bishops since 1875 on strictly theological grounds. In addition to those veteran voices, we have some of the most compelling leaders of the social media movement out there today, such as “Science” Mike McHargue, Rev. Mark Sandlin, Eric Alexander, and Rev. Roger Wolsey. If you haven’t heard of any of these folks I assure you they are out there in a big way helping to lead the next generations along the new reformation. These authors will be on a regular rotating schedule to write a series of columns that will not be published anywhere else, for our new Bishop Spong inspired and endorsed series, called A New Reformation. We envision this series forming a virtual society around the world that serves to perpetuate and expand upon his thoughts.
Over the coming weeks you will hear more from my team about this exciting new transition, and our cast of contributors. We will continue to repost some of the Spong essays of the past and maybe even an occasional new one if that becomes possible. From here I welcome you to grow with us through our next phase as I believe it will be greatly valuable and entertaining to you; but also because I know your support will be essential in growing our message exponentially around the world from here on out. By continuing to be a subscriber, you will be supporting the infinitely important work that Bishop Spong has shared with our world.
Sincerely,
Fred Plumer, ProgressiveChristianity.org
The Latest Essays and Q & A:
2 February 2017: Five Beliefs I Continue to Hold About Jesus
By Eric Alexander As we continue our exciting journey in charting the new reformation, there are many questions we all must grapple with. So I want to begin 2017 with a step back to the basics, as a place on which to build throughout the year. Before diving into the reconstruction however, I want to …
Five Beliefs I Continue to Hold About Jesus by Eric Alexander
As we continue our exciting journey in charting the new reformation, there are many questions we all must grapple with. So I want to begin 2017 with a step back to the basics, as a place on which to build throughout the year. Before diving into the reconstruction however, I want to …
Please login or signup to read the full essay.
Question & Answer
Chuck from Northfield, Minnesota, writes:
Question:
Why is Christianity growing in its fundamentalist forms and dying where it tries to engage the thought of the present world?
Answer:
Please login or signup to read the full essay.
Question & Answer
Chuck from Northfield, Minnesota, writes:
Question:
Why is Christianity growing in its fundamentalist forms and dying where it tries to engage the thought of the present world?
Answer:
by Mark SandlinDear Chuck,
The lazy answer here would be to say that fundamentalism is concrete and easy in comparison to the constant questioning and the embracing of mystery that comes along with progressive Christianity. Keep in mind, saying the answer is lazy isn't saying that it is incorrect, just incomplete.
For me, a big part of this question, possibly the core of this question, boils down to the concepts of “religion” and “spirituality.” Most of the worship that we do in churches, even in “contemporary” churches, is rooted in what I see as “religion.” It's somewhat dogmatic, tied to tradition, and hurls praises outwardly toward a divine being (typically a masculine divine being). Its value to its practitioners is in its stability, familiarity, and ultimately in the assurance of God and God's mandates which offer those gathering the comfort and security that they are fortunate to be amongst the subjects of, and under the protection of, God. Not infrequently a religion like that encourages its adherents to distance themselves from the world lest they become, well, less special. Not surprisingly, those types of churches are growing, even if at a slower rate than they once did. Who wouldn't find some appreciation for being singled out by a god as a specially chosen people? After all, that's at the heart of all religions across history.
As I see it, the places where Christian churches are on the decline are in the very places where emphases have started moving from dogmatic religion to a more open and questioning spirituality. Typically, this spirituality has as one of its core elements the connectedness of all of Creation. It suggests a certain equality where no one is more chosen than another. That theological perspective encourages us to engage with the world in an active and intimate way, frequently to the extent of personal sacrifice. Not surprisingly, that has less appeal to many people than a religion that elevates them to a place of specialness.
I don't see this as pointing to less of a need for spiritual community. Rather, I see it clearly telling us that our spiritual communities and their century old, and even millennially old, perspectives are in need of massive, thoughtfully-done overhauls if they wish to both have relevance with the spiritual paths so many are now on, and to provide them with a nurturing environment that doesn't expect them to hold their beliefs and actions in tension with each other.[Mark Sandlin]
About the Author
Mark Sandlin is an ordained PC (USA) minister serving at Vandalia Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, NC. Mark is a co-founder of The Christian Left and blogs at The God Article. He has been featured on NPR's The Story with Dick Gordon, PBS's Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, and the upcoming documentary film Amendment One. Currently, he is seeking a new call. Follow Mark on Facebook Read More…
-------
26 January 2017: More Than Words: A Thank You and Introduction
It’s interesting, I love reading Spong now for the exact opposite reason I first loved reading Spong. Let me explain. I’ve been a devout Christian my entire life. From the somewhat conservative thinking Greystone Baptist Church of my childhood to the progressive thinking Presbyterian Church of the Covenant where I currently serve as Interim minister …
More Than Words: A Thank You and IntroductionIt’s interesting, I love reading Spong now for the exact opposite reason I first loved reading Spong. Let me explain. I’ve been a devout Christian my entire life. From the somewhat conservative thinking Greystone Baptist Church of my childhood to the progressive thinking Presbyterian Church of the Covenant where I currently serve as Interim minister …
Please login or signup to read the full essay.
Question & Answer
Margie from the Internet, writes:
Question:
Thanks, Kevin, for the article. How wonderful to know Bishop Spong and write about him with deep appreciation. The article brought to mind how difficult it was to have students who came to campus ministry to buttress up doctrines and beliefs when those aspects of the Faith were not the most meaningful to me. I found discussions about conforming to a particular theological ‘rule’ painful because the academic setting was already challenging so many students’ world views and students were in so much distress. Many of those students left for more conservative campus ministry groups. The ones who stayed agreed to disagree and/or found common ground with our group. Often students who stayed with the ministry would continue to try to change the direction of the group towards conformity to their point of view. It was challenging because there was continual tension. Being retired is great because there isn’t that tension. The down side is not being invited into a young generation and understanding the Faith from their perspective. It was exciting and fun to learn from the young adults that the church had nurtured and sent on to college.
How do you communicate compassion for those who find meaning and comfort in doctrine and belief while at the same time being uncomfortable with faith based on doctrine and belief?
Answer:
Dear Margie,
The deepest longing of the human soul is to know the truth of who she is; to know immediately and directly that Being is her being. Within the spiritual tradition this longing is spoken of as the desire to know our true self, or in the Christian tradition, our Christ-self. The Delphic oracle spoke this most ancient wisdom by reminding us to “know thyself”. To not know who we are, often spoke of as being lost in a veil of tears, is the deepest suffering we each can experience. I begin here because all too often popular culture misconstrues the meaning of compassion.
According to the wisdom tradition, compassion does not mean that we try to take away someone’s soulful suffering (indeed, there may be good reason for it); although that is how it is so often understood in pastoral care. Rather, we can appreciate compassion as having to do with being faithful to our journey into the heartland of truth, whatever the cost. This heartland journey of the soul is one in which the Spirit continually invites us to see through the veils, obscurations, misunderstandings, that cloud our vision and confuse our heart; it is often painful work to see through our identifications and attachments, because it often feels as if our survival is at stake. And in a sense it is. Most of us would much rather grow without changing a bit, which is simply how the ego is. In truth, for us to authentically grow we cannot cling to who we have taken ourselves to be. The purpose of spiritual maturation is neither to accept or reject a particular doctrine or belief, but to grow in our understanding of ourselves as a person who thirsts to know the truth of who we are.
Within this vision, a spiritual guide is someone who encourages us to risk the journey of becoming an adult. After all, the question Jesus asks his friends, “who do you say that I am,” is a variation of the Delphic oracle – who do each of us say, or understand, ourselves to be? The dominant form of religion has done a great disservice in abandoning this spiritual journey for the thin and barren land of propositional doctrine and creedal belief. As a result, as Jacob Needleman wrote so clearly late last century, it has become lost. Our youth suffer the consequences, because all too often, in the matters of spirituality and inquiry, we have left them to fend for themselves as adults with the spiritual tools of childhood. We would not settle for the study of geometry, or biology, or music, to remain stunted with Euclid, Emilie du Chatelet or Mendel, or Pythagoras; all great thinkers, but their fields continue to evolve and flourish. Yet, in essence, that is what tends to happen with our youth. They have been reared on biblical literalism through bible study, worship, hymnody, prayer and preaching. The existential crisis they experience at university, in many respects, is healthy and utterly necessary, if they are to become adults.
The inadequately expressed doctrines and beliefs concerning such matters as creation, virgin birth, incarnation, original sin, are unnecessarily rigid and confining containers strangling the deepest longings of the maturing human heart. Again, the point of spiritual education is not to accept or reject but to understand with our heart, our mind, and our body. Our souls yearn with every fiber of their being to experience the confluence of science and spirituality, language and art, history and ritual. The human soul simply cannot thrive on a segmented life. Authentic compassion flows from the realization that Being itself is the Holy Source inviting the soul to question and inquire without end, because the Mystery itself is inexhaustible.[Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester, Ph.D.]
About the Author
Kevin G. Thew Forrester is an Episcopal priest, a student of the Diamond Approach for over a decade, as well as a certified teacher of the Enneagram in the Narrative Tradition. He is the founder of the Healing Arts Center of St. Paul’s Church in Marquette, Michigan, and the author of five books, including “I Have Called You Friends“, “Holding Beauty in My Soul’s Arms“, and “My Heart is a Raging Volcano of Love for You” and “Beyond my Wants, Beyond my Fears: The Soul’s Journey into the Heartland“. Read More…
-------
19 January 2017: Jack Spong – A Teacher Whose Words Offer Life
Even before our children were born, my wife, Rïse, and I, like many a parent, sang and read to our children. Later, nestled between us in bed and then resting upon our laps, they listened intently as we read about rabbits, moons, gardens, fingers, toes and smiles. Bit by bit, these little beings began to …
Jack Spong – A Teacher Whose Words Offer LifeEven before our children were born, my wife, Rïse, and I, like many a parent, sang and read to our children. Later, nestled between us in bed and then resting upon our laps, they listened intently as we read about rabbits, moons, gardens, fingers, toes and smiles. Bit by bit, these little beings began to …
Please login or signup to read the full essay.
Question & Answer
Todd from Atlanta, GA writes:
Question:
Do you believe in Christ’s Resurrection? If not, what distinguishes you as a Christian vs. something else?
Answer:
Dear Todd,
I don’t believe in the literal resurrection of Christ. I do believe—and I’m showing some influence from Buddhism here, which forewarns you already that I can’t in any way be a purist in my definition of “Christian”—that a person’s physical touch and presence extends beyond the body. Since even the air is not merely “nothing” but rather is composed of atoms that mingle with the atoms of my skin in touch, it is easy to imagine how one could really be said to “touch” a distant person or place. Close your eyes and appreciate that we exist as an ocean of molecules all nestled together. No wonder both violence and healing reach so far. How much the more so when we have instruments like the human memory, voices, art, and texts to aid in extending our reach?
Jesus is one of those rare human beings whose reach extends very far in this sense. For all that the Christian tradition may be indicted for diluting or distracting from the teachings of its founder, even so I believe his teachings and on some deep level his presence are still with us, such as in his parables and sayings and in the itinerant spirit of many aspects of the Christian movement. To the extent that a person welcomes that reach and presence, and is guided by it, that person can be called a Christian. This, as I understand it, never has to extend beyond a secular understanding of Jesus.
This definition, however, can never be “pure” in the sense of creating walls and borders. It is not a sturdy foundation for an ethics of us versus them. If by “Christian” we are trying to mean “good,” that’s a losing battle. I’m only willing to see it as a descriptive term, not a moral one.[Cassandra Farrin]
About the Author
Cassandra Farrin is the Marketing & Outreach Director for Westar Institute, home of the Jesus Seminar. A US-UK Fulbright Scholar, she has an M.A. in Religious Studies from Lancaster University (England) and a B.A. in Religious Studies from Willamette University. She is passionate about books and projects that in some way address the intersection of ethics and early Christian history.Read More…
-------
Visit Essay Archive
News Items:
8 April 2015: Jesus the Cold Case – Documentary with Bishop Spong
AFTA Award for Best Documentary 2012, Winner Silver and Bronze Medals at The New York Festivals International Film and Television Awards. In his native New Zealand Bryan Bruce writes, directs and hosts the internationally successful crime show THE INVESTIGATOR in which he re- examines unsolved crimes In 2010 he decided to apply his criminal investigative …
Jesus the Cold Case – Documentary with Bishop SpongAFTA Award for Best Documentary 2012, Winner Silver and Bronze Medals at The New York Festivals International Film and Television Awards.
In his native New Zealand Bryan Bruce writes, directs and hosts the internationally successful crime show THE INVESTIGATOR in which he re- examines unsolved crimes In 2010 he decided to apply his criminal investigative methods to the ultimate cold case : Who Killed Jesus and Why?
Jesus The Cold Case – Trailer from Red Sky Film & Television on Vimeo.
In an investigation that ranges across three continents, Bruce sets out to discover who Jesus was and what he did that resulted in his death on a Roman cross. The impressive list of scholars he consults includes:
Emeritus Prof. Geza Vermes (Oxford)
Emeritus Prof John Dominic Crossan ( St Pauls)
Prof. Elaine Paigels (Princeton)
Bishop John Shelby- Spong (USA)
Prof. Lloyd Geering (New Zealand)
Dr Helen Bond ( Edinburgh)
Prof . Israel Herschkovitz (Tel Aviv)
Dr Shimon Gibson (London )
The 90 minute HD documentary was filmed in Israel, Palestine Italy , France, Germany, Great Britain, USA , Poland and New Zealand
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 1 hour 29 minutes
Availability: Worldwide
You can rent this documentary for $3.99, 24-hour streaming period or Buy for $9.99, Just click HERE
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uBBhwfsx5xs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Read More…
-------
14 January 2015: Newly Released Book of Essays on The Birth of Jesus by Bishop Spong
Click here to purchase! We are excited to announce this just released book of essays by Bishop John Shelby Spong on Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus. While Luke’s narrative, the most detailed account of the birth of Jesus, is lyrical and inspiring, in The Birth of Jesus, Spong persuasively demonstrates it is allegory. Layer …
Newly Released Book of Essays on The Birth of Jesus by Bishop SpongClick here to purchase!
We are excited to announce this just released book of essays by Bishop John Shelby Spong on Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus. While Luke’s narrative, the most detailed account of the birth of Jesus, is lyrical and inspiring, in The Birth of Jesus, Spong persuasively demonstrates it is allegory. Layer by layer, Spong weighs every element of the New Testament stories against Old Testament legends building a convincing case. Spong’s 16 original essays step backward and forward through the scriptures demonstrating why each element was chosen by the early CE writers to establish Jesus’ lineage and divinity. It is a fascinating and persuasive journey and a remarkable illustration of Biblical scholarship.Bishop Spong’s “Birth of Jesus” essay series* from his weekly newsletter- “A New Christianity for a New World,” has generated more comments from our readers than any other series he has written. As one subscriber wrote, “It all starts with the birth story—get that wrong and we probably get it all wrong.” No one does a better job of getting it right than Spong. And there is always the added bonus with Bishop Spong. He is the consummate teacher. He writes with the primary intention for readers, regardless of their training or background, to get it.
Bishop Spong is a writer for every reader- from the scholar to the lay person. He is clear, concise, inspiring, and vibrant. He is a master at interpretation and elucidation. The Birth of Jesus is an exciting adventure that challenges dominant assumptions and interpretations and is sure to stimulate and liberate readers.
Published by ProgressiveChristianity.org 2014
96 pages
Price $18.00, our price: $15.00
Click here to purchase!
*These essays were originally published in Bishop Spong’s subscription newsletter, “A New Christianity for a New World.” You can sign up for Bishop Spong’s newsletter here.
About the Author
John Shelby Spong, whose books have sold more than a million copies, was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his retirement in 2001. His admirers acclaim him as a teaching bishop who makes contemporary theology accessible to the ordinary layperson — he’s considered the champion of an inclusive faith by many, both inside and outside the Christian church.
A committed Christian who has spent a lifetime studying the Bible and whose life has been deeply shaped by it, Bishop Spong says he was not interested in Bible bashing. “I come to this interpretive task not as an enemy of Christianity,” he says. “I am not even a disillusioned former Christian, as some of my scholar-friends identify themselves. I am a believer who knows and loves the Bible deeply. But I also recognize that parts of it have been used to undergird prejudices and to mask violence.”
A visiting lecturer at Harvard and at universities and churches worldwide, Bishop Spong delivers more than 200 public lectures each year to standing-room-only crowds. His bestselling books include The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, A New Christianity for a New World, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, and Here I Stand.
Bishop Spong’s extensive media appearances include a profile segment on 60 Minutes as well as appearances on Good Morning America, Fox News Live, Politically Incorrect, Larry King Live, The O’Reilly Factor, William F. Buckley’s Firing Line, and Extra. Bishop Spong and his wife, Christine Mary Spong, have five children and six grandchildren. They live in New Jersey.
Click here to purchase! 22 August 2014: The Fourth Gospel in Paper Now Available for Pre-Order
Rescuing John’s Gospel from Its Creedal Captivity John Shelby Spong, bestselling author and popular proponent of a modern, scholarly and authentic Christianity, argues that this last gospel to be written was misinterpreted by the framers of the fourth-century creeds to be a literal account of the life of Jesus when in fact it is a …
The Fourth Gospel in Paper Now Available for Pre-OrderRescuing John’s Gospel from Its Creedal Captivity
John Shelby Spong, bestselling author and popular proponent of a modern, scholarly and authentic Christianity, argues that this last gospel to be written was misinterpreted by the framers of the fourth-century creeds to be a literal account of the life of Jesus when in fact it is a literary, interpretive retelling of the events in Jesus’ life through the medium of fictional characters, from Nicodemus and Lazarus to the “Beloved Disciple.” The result of this intriguing study not only recaptures the original message of this gospel, but also provides us today with a radical new dimension to the claim that in the humanity of Jesus the reality of God has been met and engaged.
“We now approach our scriptures with a literalism that is unparalleled in the history of religion. This new and imaginative book by John Shelby Spong will liberate many people from this unnecessary complication of the religious life.”[Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God]
“No one has done more to articulate a vibrant, post-mythic vision of Christianity than John Shelby Spong . . . destined to become a classic.”[Michael Dowd, author of Thank God for Evolution]
-------
Visit News Archive
In Need of a Good Word?
We encourage you to show your support for positive and progressive Christian views by becoming a part of Bishop Spong's growing online community. You'll receive a new column each week on topics in social justice and spirituality that matter most.
Join the Movement
Free Q&A Email
Sign up for Bishop Spong's FREE weekly Q&A email.
Search
Looking for something special? Search here:
Browse by Date
Browse our monthly archives:
READ ON...
-------
Events and UpdatesProgressive Theology Seminar with John Dominic Crossan
February 17th - 18th, 2017
Sahuarita AZ
Through four comprehensive lectures, Dr. Crossan will unpack the themes of his 2015 book entitled, How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian: Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis through Revelation.
Progressive Theology Seminar with John Dominic Crossan
Dr. John Dominic Crossan will be presenting THE CHALLENGE OF THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE/How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian: Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis through Revelation.
John Dominic Crossan is generally regarded as the leading historical Jesus scholar in the world and the author of several bestselling books. He is a gifted speaker that combines humor with scholarly insights and skillfully engages Bible scholars and lay people alike.
He is a native of Ireland, was educated both there and in the United States. He was a member of a 13th century Roman Catholic religious order 1950-1969, and an ordained priest 1957-1969. He taught at DePaul University, Chicago, 1969-1955, and is now a Professor Emeritus in its Department of Religious Studies.
Crossan is widely known for his work with the Jesus Seminar, for which he was Co-Chair 1985-1996 as it met to debate the historicity of the life of Jesus in the gospels. He was Chair of the Parables Seminar 1972-76, and 1993-1998 was Chair of the Historical Jesus Section within the Society of Biblical Literature. He has lectured widely around the world to lay and scholarly audiences and has written twenty-seven books on the historical Jesus, the apostle Paul, and earliest Christianity.
Through four comprehensive lectures, Dr. Crossan will unpack the themes of his 2015 book entitled, How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian: Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis through Revelation. Some of the questions he will engage are:
*Is the God of the Christian Bible violent?
*Is the historical Jesus, Rider on the Peace-Donkey of Gospel, or the apocalyptic Jesus, Rider on the War-Horse of Revelation, the norm, criterion, and discriminant of the Christian Bible?
*Is the violence and disorder of our current world connected to that of the Bible?
Seminar Schedule
Friday evening:
7 PM Registration & Refreshments
7:30 PM “Original Sin”: Sexual Temptation or Escalatory Violence?
Saturday morning
8:30 AM Registration & Refreshments
9 AM Covenantal Law: Human Destiny or Divine Sanction?
10:45 AM God’s Kingdom: Violent Revolt or Non-Violent Resistance?
1:30 PM Christianity’s Criterion: Historical Jesus or Biblical Christ?
Click here for more information
Images
Start:
February 17, 2017
End:
February 18, 2017
Location:
The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ
17750 S. La Cañada Dr.
Sahuarita AZ United States
Google Map
Register:
$60
Contact:
Ed Hunt
Organization:
The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ
Website:
http://thegoodshepherducc.org/events/
Telephone:
520-648-3424
-------
View all upcoming events here!
News
Job Listings
*** Remember to send us your Events and Job Postings - we will advertise them on our website free!
Click on Amazon Smile and choose ProgressiveChristianity.org as your charity - when you shop Amazon donates .05%.
-------
Facebook
Twitter
Website
Email
YouTube
Copyright © 2017 ProgressiveChristianity.org, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
ProgressiveChristianity.org
4810 Point Fosdick Drive NorthWest#80
View all upcoming events here!
News
Job Listings
*** Remember to send us your Events and Job Postings - we will advertise them on our website free!
Click on Amazon Smile and choose ProgressiveChristianity.org as your charity - when you shop Amazon donates .05%.
-------
FacebookTwitterWebsiteEmailYouTubeCopyright © 2017 ProgressiveChristianity.org, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
ProgressiveChristianity.org
4810 Point Fosdick Drive NorthWest#80
Gig Harbor, Washington 98335, United States
-------
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment