Friday, April 20, 2012

Colleagues List, April 21st, 2012

Vol. VII. No. 36

*****

Wayne A. Holst, Editor

*****

Colleagues List Blog:
http://colleagueslist.blogspot.com/

Canadian Anglican Google Groups:
http://tinyurl.com/74orgcx

My E-Mail Address:
waholst@telusplanet.net

New "Quicklinks" are now included 
with many items. Otherwise, scroll
down to find your selection in the 
body of the blog, as in the past.

*****

Dear Friends:

This is the 100th issue of Colleagues List
using the current blogger format. I have
always wanted to adapt this weekly contact
with friends around the world to reasonable
web developments.  

I will continue to provide Colleagues
List in the best format I can muster, 
so long as it meets a need.

Your helpful critique is always welcome! 

---

My Special Item this week is a new book that 
has been edited, in part, by Doug Shantz. Both 
of us grew up in Waterloo County Ontario, and 
both of us eventually found ourselves at the 
University of Calgary!

Doug offers:

"Christian Thought in the Twenty-First Century"

It provides contributions from many scholars 
in a wide variety of disciplines that relate 
religion and culture and, I believe, it is a 
"natural read" for many of the followers of
Colleagues List. http://tinyurl.com/6stzm4f
___

Colleague Comment:

Ian MacDonald (Calgary) - suggests that Greg
Mortensen and his mission to build schools
and other life-enhancing centres for people in 
rural parts of Afghanistan is far from ended.
http://www.ikat.org/ag/

Isabel Gibson (Ottawa) - thanks me for sharing
her material from her blog "Traditional Iconoclast" 
and expresses appreciation for Thomas Aquinas.

Arthur Bauer (Pompton Plains NJ) - shares
thoughts on reading my reflection last week
on the sinking of the Titanic.

Monica Kilburn Smith (Calgary) - writes to
say thanks for promoting the story of her
parish, St. Brigit of Kildare.
___

Colleague Contributions:

Jim Taylor (Okanagan, BC) - always interesting,
writes this week about "war wounds."
http://tinyurl.com/7skf32f

Ron Rolheiser (San Antonio, TX) offers ten 
struggles for people of faith in our world today.
http://tinyurl.com/7mj7t7v 
___

Net Notes:

"Shameful Acts of Empire" - colonial
stories are sometimes sad to discover, 
and here is an example (The Guardian, UK)
http://tinyurl.com/cf9d93t

"Why Religion is Good for You" - while
some moderns - "new atheists" for example -
like to say that religion is bad for you, 
here is a counter-argument (The Tablet, UK)
http://tinyurl.com/8yk2jau

"David Mainse is Seriously Ill" - the veteran
Canadian Christian broadcaster seems to be in
poor health according to family (Assist News)
http://tinyurl.com/7x4b6dh

"Web Freedom Faces Greatest Threat" - the
founder of Google spoke out this week against
threats to web freedom (The Guardian, UK)
http://tinyurl.com/6vb2bch

"Vatican Cracks Down on Feminist Nuns" - it was 
predictable that Rome would act - not if, but when 
(Anglican Journal) http://tinyurl.com/7v8lxf8

"Charitable Church Work Threatened in India" 
- the current mood in India is that proselytism
is bad. This puts a lot of Christian work at risk 
there (Uca News) http://tinyurl.com/6mm8yfg

"Man Experienced Twelve Faiths in Twelve Months"
- a personal/family crisis sent this person on a 
year long faith quest and he reports on it
(Religious News Service) http://tinyurl.com/6v6v3kp

"German Churches Seek Ethics in Fashion Industry"
- Christian concern for how the world of dress 
affects the vulnerable young has prompted joint
action in Germany (ENI, Anglican Journal)
http://tinyurl.com/7o4wwxn

"Bangladeshi Catholics/Protestants Have One Voice"
- Christians are a minority in Bangladesh, but
this seems to encourage common action (Uca News)
http://tinyurl.com/7hl6cm5

"Alumni Reject Tutu as Gonzaga University Speaker"
- the Jesuit university in Washington state is the 
scene of conflict this week over an invitation to 
Desmond Tutu. Alumni dislike his abortion stance. 
(Religious News Service) http://tinyurl.com/7mwbmdf
___

Global Faith Potpourri:

Eleven faith stories from around the 
world appear this week. They are again
provided by Ecumenical News International
___

Wisdom of the Week:

Rene Bazin, Meister Eckhart, Annie Dillard,
Catherine of Siena and Emmet Fox present 
wisdom for our reflection.
___

On This Day:

The luxury liner Titanic sank in the North 
Atlantic off Newfoundland, after striking 
an iceberg. About 1,500 people died (1912)

A major earthquake struck San Francisco 
and set off raging fires. More than 3,000 
people died (1906)
___

Closing Thought: 

Thomas Aquinas - continues his insights
into God which were begun last week.

I will send one more issue of Colleagues
List next week, and then break for a month.

Marlene and I will be vacationing in the
Northeastern USA (Boston, New York,
Philadelphia and Washington DC) during 
the month of May.

After next week, Colleagues List will 
return in early June.

Wayne

********************************

St. David's and ACTS Ministry Announce:

OUR SPIRITUAL TRAVELERS TOUR FOR 2013
TURKEY AND THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH

April 22nd - May 8th, 2013

Tour sale begins with deposit starting June, 2012
Full payment due, January, 2013

More details such as costs to be made available 
in the Sunday worship guide and the St. David's 
Spiritual Travelers Discussion List Group as they
become available.

To join the list discussion contact:
Deb. Charnusaki - debcharnuski@hotmail.com

Your tour hosts: 

Marlene and Wayne Holst
waholst@telusplanet.net (or) 
marleneaholst@gmail.com
403-286-7416

---

NOTE: David Rostad will visit St. David's
for a Special Turkey Tour Information Night
Monday, September 10th, 2012

All are welcome!

*****

MARY JO LEDDY WEEKEND AT ST.DAVID'S
September 21st-23rd, 2012

Watch for new information as it 
becomes available.

*****

SPECIAL ST. DAVID'S LINKS

Contact us at: asdm@sduc.ca (or)admin@sduc.ca
St. David's Web Address - http://sduc.ca/

Listen to audio recordings of Sunday services -
http://sduc.ca/St_Davids_United_Church/Audio.html

*****

STUDY ARCHIVES

An accumulation of thirty-five books studied
since 2000 can quickly be found at:
http://tinyurl.com/6oxmyj4

This collection of study resources represents 
more than a decade of Monday Night Studies at 
St. David's, plus extra courses too!

You are welcome to use our course outlines,
class notes and resource pages in your personal
and group reflections.

******************************************

SPECIAL ITEM

Book Notice:

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT IN 
THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Agenda for the Future,
Edited by Douglas H. Shantz
and Tinu Ruparell. March 2012.
Cascade Books, Wipf and Stock.
212 pages. $26.00 CAD.
ISBN #978-1-61097-575-9.

Publisher's Promo:

In this volume some of the outstanding Christian 
scholars of our day reflect on how their minds
have changed, how their academic fields have
changed over the course of their careers, and 
the pressing issues that Christian scholars will
need to address in the twenty-first century. This
volume offers an accessible portrait of key trends 
in the world of Christian scholarship today.

(This book) features scholars from Great Britain,
Canada, the United States and Switzerland. The
contributors represent a wide variety of academic
backgrounds - from biblical studies to theology to
religious studies to history, English literature,
philosophy, law and ethics.

(It) offers a personal glimpse of Christian
scholars in a self-reflective mode, capturing
their honest reflections on the changing state
of the academy and on changes in their own
minds and outlooks. The breadth and depth of
insight afforded by these contributions provide
rich soil for a reader's own reflections, and
an agenda that will occupy Christian thinkers
well into the twenty-first century.
___

Editors' Words:

(At the University of Calgary) the chair holder of 
Christian Thought in the faculty of Religious Studies
is responsible for organizing and hosting a program
of four endowed public lecture events each year. The
lectures are designed to expose people of faith in
Calgary to the fruits of the latest Christian
scholarship and to do so in an interesting and
accessible way...

(Some our guests have been) John Polkinghorne of
Cambridge University; Margaret A. Somerville,
McGill; Keith Ward, Oxford; Lamin Sanneh, Yale and 
Craig Evans, Acadia - who are regularly consulted by 
the news media for their insights into the pressing 
issues of our day...

Many of the Christian Thought lectures of the past
ten years are available at the Chair's website:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/christchair/

(For this book) the editors invited past Christian
Thought lecturers to reflect on how their mind has
changed over the course of their careers, especially
in the last twenty-five years. They were also 
invited to reflect on the pressing issues in their
field of study that will need to be addressed in
the twenty-first century.

The intention of this book is to offer readers
the mature reflections of these Christian thinkers
rather than original scholarly research. Our
invitation was met with an overwhelmingly positive
response, with some twenty-five individuals
agreeing to contribute to this book....

Other contributors include Dennis D. Martin, Denis 
Renevey, Margaret R. Miles, James R. Payton Jr., 
Terrence Penelhum, Clark H. Pinnock, John B. Cobb
Jr., Douglas John Hall, Paul F. Knitter, Margarite
Van Die, Charles Nienkirchen, Peter C. Erb, Alan
P.E. Sell, Wesley A. Kort, Susan Felch, Arlette
Zinck, Bonnie Thurston, Lynn R. Szabo, Anne Moore
and Douglas H. Shantz. 

(One area of new insight brought to us through
Pinnock and Polkinghorne, for example, is the
modern dialogue between religion and science): 

"A stunning new world has been opened up in the
big bang cosmology and in evolutionary biology."
A new model for God will be explored in terms
of "a trinitarian panentheism" which sees God
and the world exist in close inter-relationships
and interactions. In this picture, God is
"other" than creatures but also interior to
them. Transcendence and immanence are not polar
opposites but are somehow connected...

This book offers a uniquely personal glimpse
of Christian scholars in a self-reflective mode,
capturing their honest reflections on the
changing state of the academy and on changes
in their own mind and outlook. The breadth and
depth of insight afforded by these contributions
provide rich soil for a reader's own reflections
and an agenda that will occupy Christian
thinkers well into the twenty-first century.
___

My Thoughts:

As I saw the names of those contributing to
this intriguing, and in some ways unparalleled,
collection of essays, I was naturally drawn
to names of colleagues with whom I have more
than a passing association.

Margaret Somerville, a leading voice in 
bioethics research, highlights the way in
which developments in medicine and biological
science have raised previously unimaginable 
questions about the nature of human beings
and human flourishing. Such questions, says
Somerville, must inevitably overlap with
religious concerns and include wisdom found 
in theological and religious traditions.

Lamin Sanneh, a fellow missiologist, who 
teaches at Yale, writes about the premature 
pronouncements of the death of religion. 
Christianity and the other religions are far 
from moribund. He notes the rise of religious 
adherents worldwide. While secularism seemed 
to be on a triumphant march from Europe to 
the rest of the world, religion has proven 
to be an abiding presence, something that 
should be neither feared nor regretted.

Douglas John Hall, who like Somerville is
associated with McGill University in Canada,
suggests that in the last few decades many
scholars have been reacting to the tumultuous
history since World War II. Halls calls for
a strong dose of humility in facing today's
issues. Halls suggests we revisit our own
traditions' orthodoxies and orthodpraxies 
with the intent of reinvigorating them.
There is also a need, he says, for a humble,
authentic response to the issues of the
environment, religious pluralism, and the
place of Christian thought in civil society.

---

As I reflect on the contributions of even
these three colleagues, I realize how much
I have been challenged and influenced by
their thinking over the years. With this book
I am able to treasure personal memories and 
good intellectual exchanges that are on-going.

Whether your association with some or all
of these names is direct or indirect, you
too will find their insights stimulating.

Indeed, we have in this book a worthwhile 
resource to keep us thinking and acting 
wisely in the days ahead.

I encourage those who want to keep current
with contemporary theological thought to
secure and keep this book close at hand.

---

My book cover endorsement states:

"I heard many of the lecturers whose essays appear 
in this book when they were guests of the Chair of 
Christian Thought at the University of Calgary. 
Now they reappear to reflect personally on how 
their minds and academic fields have changed over 
the course of their careers. They tackle key issues 
in their disciplines and present the views of 
authentic humans, not only of respected academics."
___

Purchase the book from Amazon.ca:
http://tinyurl.com/6stzm4f

*****

COLLEAGUE COMMUNICATIONS

IAN MACDONALD
Calgary, AB

April 12th, 2012

Wayne:

I don't know if you've seen this but 
thought I'd pass it along.

Ian

Central Asia Institute Website
Reports Renewal of Mortensen Mission

http://www.ikat.org/ag/

___

ISABEL GIBSON
Ottawa, ON

April 14th, 2012

Wayne:

Thanks for linking to my "death at the ballpark" 
piece this week (April 14th)

I liked your closing thought this week - 
of supersubstantial beauty.

Best to Marlene.

Isabel
___

ARTHUR BAUER
Pompton Plains, NJ

April 14th, 2012

Thank you for the thoughtful reflection on 
the Titanic... an example of your guidance 
and support of those of us on your List.

April 15 is the date of my father's death...
78 years tomorrow. Interesting how dates and 
memories keep the past with us.

Regards,

Art
___

MONICA KILBURN SMITH
Calgary, AB.

April 19th, 2012

Dear Wayne,

I just wanted to say thank you for including 
the "Swerve" magazine article on the Calgary 
parish I serve) in your latest Colleagues List 
(April 14th issue.)

It is always an honour!

Monica

*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

JIM TAYLOR
Okanagan, BC

"War Wounds Take
 Generations to Heal"

Personal Blog
April 15th, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/7skf32f

---

RON ROLHEISER
San Antonio, TX

"The Ten Major Faith 
 Struggles of Our Age"

Personal Website
April 15th, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/7mj7t7v 

*****

NET NOTES

SHAMEFUL ACTS OF EMPIRE
Secrets Now Exposed

The Guardian, UK
April 18th, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/cf9d93t

*****

WHY RELIGION IS GOOD FOR YOU
Some Would Say the Opposite

The Tablet, UK
April 21st, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/8yk2jau

*****

DAVID MAINSE REPORTED SERIOUSLY ILL
Veteran Canadian TV Broadcaster

Assist News
April 14th, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/7x4b6dh
_____

WEB FREEDOM FACES GREATEST THREAT EVER
Google Founder Expresses Fears

The Guardian, UK
April 15th, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/6vb2bch
_____

VATICAN CRACKS DOWN ON
'RADICAL FEMINIST NUNS'

Aimed at Groups Seeking
Women's Ordination, Gay Rights

Anglican Journal News
April 19th, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/7v8lxf8
_____

CHURCH'S CHARITABLE WORK
UNDER THREAT IN INDIA
Cover for Proselytism?

Uca News
April 16th, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/6mm8yfg
_____

MAN EXPERIENCES TWELVE
FAITHS IN TWELVE MONTHS
Finds Peace for His Efforts

Religious News Service
April 13th, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/6v6v3kp
_____

GERMAN CHURCHES FOCUS ON
ETHICS IN FASHION INDUSTRY
Message to Young People

Ecumenical News 
International Geneva

16 April 2012

German Christians emphasize ethical 
issues in fashion industry

(ENI news) - German Catholic and Protestant 
organizations are working together to encourage 
young people to think beyond image and consider 
the backstory of the clothes they wear with an 
"Ethical Fashion Action Week" launching on 16 
April at Goethe University, Frankfurt. "Many 
students are very concerned about what they 
wear and which trends they follow. Many have 
their own fashion blogs where they regularly 
post new outfits. But no one asks where their 
clothes are produced," said Kathrin Schreivogl, 
of the Protestant Student Association, Frankfurt 
in an interview.

--

(Longer version) 

Anglican Journal News
April 17th, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/7o4wwxn

*****

IN BANGLADESH, CATHOLICS AND 
PROTESTANTS SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE
Strength Gained in Cooperation

Uca News
April 19th, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/7hl6cm5

*****

ALUMNI DON'T WANT TUTU
TO SPEAK AT GONZAGA U.
Stance on Abortion Opposed

Religious News Service
April 13th, 2012

http://tinyurl.com/7mwbmdf

*****

GLOBAL FAITH POTPOURRI

Ecumenical News International
News Highlights
16 April 2012

Pakistani churches mourn Cecil Chaudhry

(ENI news) - Churches in Pakistan are mourning 
a prominent leader and recognized voice following 
the death of retired Air Force Captain Cecil 
Chaudhry who died of lung cancer 13 April at 
the age of 71. Pakistani military officials 
led by Air Force chief Marshal Tahir Rafique 
Butt joined senior political leaders, secular 
activists and hundreds of Christians at the 
funeral at the Catholic Sacred Heart Cathedral 
in Lahore on 15 April. Following the church 
service, Chaudhry's coffin was draped in 
Pakistani national flag.

_____ 

Interim cathedral to be built 
in Christchurch, New Zealand

(ENI news) - An interim Anglican cathedral, 
made of timber, steel and cardboard, is 
scheduled to be built in Christchurch, New 
Zealand, as planning continues on a permanent 
replacement for the stone building destroyed 
in a February 2011 earthquake, according to 
Anglican Taonga, the news service for the 
Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and 
Polynesia. Called the "transitional cathedral," 
the building is projected to cost NZ$4.5 million 
(US$3.69 million) and has been designed by 
Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. It will be 
built in the city's Latimer Square, former 
site of St. John's Church and a few blocks 
from the cathedral's former site. St. John's 
was also demolished after the quake. 
_____

Guatemala churches supporting 
families opposed to mining

(ENI news) Member churches of the Christian 
Ecumenical Council of Guatemala are expressing 
support for rural indigenous families protesting 
mining activity in their territories. In a 
public statement, the Council decried the mining 
operations in the Polochic Valley, saying hundreds 
of people have been forcibly evicted from 14 
villages to make way for mining/oil exploration 
and the building of hydroelectric dams, the Latin 
America and Caribbean Communication Agency reported. 

*****

17 April 2012

Church groups express concern 
over escalating Sudan conflict

(ENI news) Reacting to some of the worst fighting 
between Sudan and South Sudan since the southern 
country achieved independence last July, two 
international church groups on 17 April expressed 
"grave concern" and called for an immediate 
ceasefire. Referring to the oil-well town of 
Heglig in Sudan, the World Council of Churches 
(WCC) and All African Conference of Churches 
(AACC) said they have followed the developments 
that led to the occupation of the town by South 
Sudan's armed forces. The area produces half 
Sudan's oil output but both countries claim the 
territory. It is not known how many have been 
killed during two weeks of fighting, but an 
Associated Press report on 17 April referred 
to "clusters of dead Sudanese soldiers" on the 
road to Heglig. 
_____

Bosnian cardinal laments 
Sarajevo's "disappearing Christians"

(ENI news) - The head of Bosnia's Roman Catholic 
church has warned of the "uncertain future" facing 
Christians in the capital, Sarajevo, after their 
numbers dwindled by a third in the past decade. 
"It isn't easy to say what has happened to Sarajevo, 
this ancient town of mutual coexistence, built up 
over history by Christians, Jews and Muslims," 
said Cardinal Vinko Puljic. Puljic, 66, assessed 
the current condition of Sarajevo's faith 
communities in a statement dated 6 April that 
commemorated the start of the city's four-year 
siege by Bosnian Serb force two decades ago. 

*****

18 April 2012

New Bible translation called 
'The Voice' focuses on dialogue

Nashville, Tennessee (ENI news) - The name 
Jesus Christ doesn't appear in "The Voice," 
a new translation of the Bible. Nor do words 
such as angel or apostle. Instead, angel is 
rendered as "messenger" and apostle as 
"emissary." Jesus Christ is "Jesus the 
Anointed One" or the "liberating king." 
That's a more accurate translation for 
modern readers, said David Capes, lead 
scholar for "The Voice," a complete edition 
released this month by publishing company 
Thomas Nelson, reports Religion News Service 
via USA Today. Capes says that many people, 
even those who've gone to church for years, 
don't realize that the word "Christ" is a 
title. 
_____

Christian Aid helps Kenyan 
farmers adapt to climate change

Nairobi, Kenya (ENI news) - On the southern 
slopes of Mount Kenya, a Christian charity is 
helping small farmers adapt to climate change 
through the use of both traditional and modern 
forms of weather forecasting. In the Anglican 
diocese of Mbeere, U.K.-based Christian Aid 
and the Humanitarian Futures Project of King's 
College (London) are funding the pilot project. 
_____

Speakers at ecumenical conference in Assisi 
call for increased dialogue between faiths

(ENI news) On the opening day of an ecumenical 
conference in Assisi, the Umbrian hill town 
known as the home of Saint Francis, speakers 
discussed the need to increase interaction 
between faiths and cultures in order to nurture 
worldwide harmony. Assisi 2012: Where We Dwell 
in Common/Pathways for Dialogue in the 21st 
Century, running from 17-20 April, has drawn 
some 230 theologians and clergy from 54 nations. 
"The overall aim is to discern new ways, means 
and methods of advancing the ecumenical cause 
in the wake of the 'ecumenical winter' and with 
renewed energy for a new century," according to 
the event website.
_____

19 April 2012

Religious belief highest in 
developing and Catholic countries

(ENI news) - Belief in God is slowly declining 
in most countries around the world, according 
to a new poll, but the truest of the true 
believers can still be found in developing 
countries and Catholic societies. The "Beliefs 
about God Across Time and Countries" report, 
released 18 April by researchers at the 
University of Chicago, found the Philippines 
to be the country with the highest proportion 
of believers, where 94 percent of Filipinos 
said they were strong believers who had always 
believed. At the opposite end, at just 13 
percent, was the former East Germany, Religion 
News Service reports. 
_____

Turkish president, Dutch politician 
exchange sharp words about religion

(ENI news) - Turkish president Abdullah Gul 
on 19 April wrapped up a three-day visit to 
the Netherlands that was mainly about trade 
relations but was also marked by a pointed 
exchange of insults with a Dutch politician 
concerning religion. Referring to relations 
between Turkey's Islamist-led government and 
the country's religious and ethnic minorities, 
opposition Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders 
called Gul a "Christian-bullier," "friend of 
Hamas" (the militant Islamist movement in the 
Palestinian territories) and "Kurd-basher." 
(Ethnic Kurds within Turkey have accused the 
government of human rights violations.) 

_____

Argentine conference 
focuses on indigenous rights

Resistencia, Argentina (ENI news) - Bishop 
Emeritus Aldo Etchegoyen of the Evangelical 
Methodist Church of Argentina was the opening 
speaker on 19 April at the first International 
Congress of Indigenous Constitutional Law. The 
event runs from 19-20 April in Resistencia, 
1,023 kilometers from Buenos Aires, with the 
theme "Argentina, a Multicultural and 
Multi-ethnic State."

*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

Provided by Sojourners Online

April 16th, 2012

"There is no need to go searching for 
a remedy for the evils of the time. 
The remedy already exists – it is the 
gift of one’s self to those who have 
fallen so low that even hope fails them. 
Open wide your heart."

- Rene Bazin

---

April 17th, 2012

"Whether you like it or not, whether you 
know it or not, secretly all nature seeks 
God and works toward [God]."

- Meister Eckhart

---

April 18th, 2012

"If the landscape reveals one certainty, it 
is that the extravagant gesture is the very 
stuff of creation. After the one extravagant 
gesture of creation in the first place, the 
universe has continued to deal exclusively 
in extravagances, flinging intricacies and 
colossi down aeons of emptiness... The whole 
show has been on fire from the word go."

- Annie Dillard

---

April 19th, 2012

"I opened my hand and the Infinite ran to 
the edges of space – and all possibilities 
are contained therein, all possibilities, 
even sorrow. In the end, nothing that ever 
caused one pain will exist. No one will 
begrudge Me. The Absolute Innocence of all 
within my Creation takes a while to understand.”

- St. Catherine of Siena, from 
  “No One Will Begrudge Me”

---

April 20th, 2012

"Welcome any change that comes into any phase 
in your life; insist that it is going to turn 
out for the better – and it will. See the Angel 
of God in it, and the Angel of God will make 
all things new."

- Emmet Fox

*****

ON THIS DAY

From the archives of
the New York Times

April 15, 1912 - the British luxury liner Titanic 
sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland, less 
than three hours after striking an iceberg. About 
1,500 people died.

http://tinyurl.com/7jtfuca

---

April 18, 1906 - a major earthquake struck San 
Francisco and set off raging fires. More than 
3,000 people died.

http://tinyurl.com/c4t649q

*****

CLOSING THOUGHT

"God is supremely good and therefore supremely
generous. Sheer joy is God's and this demands
companionship.

- Thomas Aquinas

God's goodness is not limited. It is supreme.
It is also generous, indeed, supremely generous.
Generosity is a divine attribute. For us to
develop our generosity is for us to develop our
God-likeness. 

Moreover, the sheer joy of God is the very
cause of the universe, since joy demands
companionship. Joy seeks to be shared. There
lie Aquinas's thoughts on why the universe
exists - for the sake of joy.  To share joy,
God created others, an enlarged community.

Community is nothing if it is not a place/
space of shared joy.

- Matthew Fox

(end)

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