Saturday, October 26, 2013

Colleagues List, October 27th, 2013

 
Vol. IX No.11

*****
 
GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
 
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address:
waholst@telus.net
 
Colleagues List Web Site:
http://colleagueslist.blogspot.com
 
"Quicklinks" are included with many items
at the beginning of this issue.
 
To get a more complete picture, however,
scroll down to find your special selection
in the body of the blog.
 
*****

Dear Friends:
 
This week, my writing takes the form
of a reflection on "Becoming a Better
Christian By Respecting Other Faiths
As Well As "The Nones." I share my
thoughts on living in "secular space."
 
--
 
Colleague Contributions this week
are from Ron Rolheiser, Jim Taylor
and Doug Shantz
 
--

Net Notes:
 
Arab Christians Stand Firm - while
their number declines, their commitment
to remain grows stronger (Christian

Sistine Chapel Pollution is High -
the tourist traffic through this place is
significant, and this leads to problems
 
Jim Wallis on "12 Years a Slave" -
here are reflections on the new movie
from a Christian social justice perspective
(Sojourners Online)
http://tinyurl.com/l9m57v5
 
Baptismal Rates Slide in the UK -
the royal christening this week points
up some important religious facts
(Christian Century/RNS)
 
Luxury German Bishop Suspended -
as expected, Francis was not pleased
 
30M Slaves are Exploited Worldwide -
those who think that human slavery is a thing
of the past should read this article
(America Magazine)
 
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 -
marvellous pictures from nature (The
 
Human Rights Don't Exist in North Korea -
escapes from the North have a sad story
to tell (UCA News)
 
Women Gain as the Gender Gap Narrows -
better news for women as a result of justice
and educational advances (BBC News)

"Christian" Ghana - Traditional Healing -
while this West African national continues
to grow more Christian, traditional healing
practices do not disappear too (Sightings)
 
Great Story of Confrontation and Forgiveness
an intriguing verbal account worth hearing
(The Christian Post)
 
--
 
Wisdom of the Week:
 
Maya Angelou, Thich Nhat Hanh and
Harriet Tubman share their insights
thanks to Sojourners Online.
 
---
 
On This Day:
 
From the archives of
The New York Times
 
October 20th - 26th
 
Edison invents the Electric Light
 
Kennedy Blockades Cuba 
 
UN Charter Takes Effect
 
UN Votes to Admit China, oust Taiwan
 
--
 
Closing Thought - this week is provided
by Wilma Rudolph
 
---
 
Have a good week!
 
Wayne

 

*****

 

MY AUTUMN PROGRAMS
AT THE CHURCH AND UNIVERSITY

ACTIVITY AT THE CHURCH

FALL MONDAY NIGHT STUDY
ST. DAVID'S UNITED CHURCH

"Immortal Diamond - The Search
 for the True Self"" by Richard Rohr
Description of the Book:
http://tinyurl.com/n9ymr59

Mondays, 7:00PM - 9:00PM
September 16th - November 25th, 2013

Team Taught With Jock McTavish
Books on sale at the church --
Registration, Hospitality and Book - $50.00
Book only - $20.

THIS COURSE HAS BEGUN. WELCOME!
  
---

THURSDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY

"Major and Minor Prophets of Israel
(Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Micah)

Two Six Week Series:
Weekly from September 26th - December 5th
10:00  - 11:00AM

THE SERIES HAS BEGUN. WELCOME!

*****

ACTIVITY AT THE UNVERSITY
 
UNIVERSITY CHAPLAIN'S GROUP
FAITH AND SPIRITUALITY CENTRE
FALL BOOK STUDY
 
Presented by the Christian Chaplains
For Faculty, Staff and Students -
A Six Week Series on the Book:
"Jesus, Moses, the Buddha and Mohammed:
 Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World"
 (title shortened)
 
Six sessions - Fridays October 18th
through November 22nd, 2013
12 Noon to 1:00PM
Native Centre Board Room
MacEwan Student Centre
 
 
THIS SERIES HAS BEGUN. WELCOME!
 
---

Coming in 2014 -

Continuing Education Course HUM 406
 
RELIGIOUS PEACE BETWEEN
THE FAITHS AND SCIENCE

Learn how the great faiths of Jerusalem
(Judaism, Christianity and Islam) can co-operate
and creatively engage science in our time, while
exhibiting an intelligent, relevant spirituality
 
Tuesday Evenings, January 25th - April 1, 2014
700 - 9:00PM - ten sessions.
 
Text: "The Evolution of God" by Robert Wright
Link to more course information:
 
Register Now!
 
******
 
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
 
Personal Reflection -
 
BECOMING A BETTER CHRISTIAN
BY RESPECTING OTHER FAITHS
AS WELL AS "THE NONES"
 
It is one thing to write about the challenges of
living and relating to persons who follow another
faith or no-faith tradition.

It is quite another to actually engage those persons
who follow other spiritual paths.

One of the blessings of this stage of my life is
that I can learn and in other ways relate to such
persons in a modern Canadian university setting.

That reality struck me in a special way this week
as I was reading Brian McLaren's recent book
"Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World" the
volume I introduced here on these pages three
issues ago,  September 29th.

I am using this book for a study sponsored
by the university's Faith and Spirituality Centre.

McLaren states: "Don't we need some "secular"
social space where diverse people of faith can
encounter one another with some level of privacy
and anonymity?" (p. 8 of the book with the full
title of "Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha and
Mohammed Cross the Road?")

I have found that kind of "secular space" in a
number of settings within which I work at the
University of Calgary. I came to that place
24 years ago after having served as a pastor
of the church for a quarter century. I admit to
being quite threatened by the new setting,
even though I had spent many years as a student
in schools of higher education. A good friend in
the job counselling business suggested I consider
"the transferable skills" I had learned in my first
career as a pastor. Teaching came naturally
to me, but working in a secular university
environment was something new.

What once seemed a difficult place for me to
function has become very accommodating
through the years and I consider it a true gift
to my life experience.

I considered myself a Christian but did not
know how to "speak the language" in this
setting. All my life I had lived and worked in
a church culture, but now I was experiencing
a kind of culture shock. It took me a while
to learn how to be my authentic self without
having to present a different identity. I am
happy now to be able to be a Christian in
a "secular space" without giving the
appearance of  a "fanatic" or "weirdo." I
have found people at the university who
seem to understand me better than I might
know myself and who accept me.

Interestingly, I have found the university
to be a place where I did not have to be
constantly looking over my shoulder to
see if I was thinking or behaving in a way
I shouldn't (as had been the case for me
in religious institutions.)

Of course the university has its flaws
and I would not want to whitewash that.
But I would suggest that the university
can be a great place to grow a faith
identity simply because of many of the
values promoted there.

One of my great discoveries has had
to do with learning with people of other
faith traditions. This is usually not possible
in many of our relatively homogeneous
religious institutions.

A second realization I have come to is
that in a secular setting, many people
feel free to declare their lack of a faith
basis for their lives. I have probably leaned
more from atheists and agnostics than
from many of my religious friends. Those
with a faith identity have often been very
critical of those without one, and this is
a human rights issue many of us have
failed to recognize in ourselves.

I thank Brian McLaren for prompting
me to write this to you. I continue to be
grateful for the fact that, mid-career, I
needed to make a vocational transition
that I both feared and have come to
cherish.
 
*****
 
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
 
RON ROLHEISER
San Antonio, TX
 
Personal Website
October 20th, 2013
 
"The Academy and the Pew"
 
 
--
 
JIM TAYLOR
Okanagan, BC
 
Personal Web Log
October 23rd, 2013
 
"The Wisdom of Saying No"
 
http://tinyurl.com/lzp35xs

--
 
DOUG  SHANTZ
Calgary, AB
 
Announces -
The Lebel Lectures in Christian Ethics
 
Dr. Molly Worthen
Assistant Professor, Department of History
University of North Carolina

Monday, November 4, 2013 at 7:30pm
"Rival Evangelicalisms in North American Political Life"

Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at 12:00pm
"Evangelicals & the Problem of Anti-Intellectualism"
http://tinyurl.com/4uwkccz
 
*****
 
NET NOTES
 
ARAB CHRISTIANS STAND FIRM
In Spite of Declining Numbers

Christian Week Online
October 126th, 2013

 
--
 
JIM WALIS ON "12 YEARS A SLAVE"
He Challenges American Founders' Myths
 
Sojourners Online
October 22nd, 2013
 
 
--
 
SISTINE CHAPEL POLLUTION IS HIGH
Restrictions on Visitors May be Required
 
ABC News
October 17th, 2013

 
--
 
BAPTISMAL RATES SLIDE IN THE UK
Despite High Profile Royalty Boosts
 
The Christian Century/RNS
October 23rd, 20123
 

--
 
LUXURY GERMAN BISHOP SUPENDED
Germans Not Impressed With His Lifestyle
 AFP News
October 24th, 201

 
--
 
30M SLAVES EXPLOITED WORLDWIDE
Statistics Portray an Ongoing Tragedy
 
America Magazine
November 4th, 2013
 
 
-- 
 
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Special Natural World Pictures Worth Considering
 
The Atlantic Online
October 26th, 2013
 
 
RIGHTS DO NOT EXIST IN NORTH KOREA
Escapees Claim Basic Freedoms Absent There
 
UCA News
October 24th, 2013
 
 
--
 
WOMEN GAIN AS GENDER GAP NARROWS
World Picture for Women's Rights Improves
 
BBC News
October 24th, 2013
 
--     
 

"CHRISTIAN" GHANA -
TRADITIONAL HEALING
Majority of the People Still Follow Ancient Practices
 
Sightings
October 24th, 2013
 
--
 
GREAT STORY OF CONFRONTATION
AND FORGIVENESS
Robbed Woman Does Amazing Thing After Robbery
 
Christian Post
October 26th, 2013
 
  
*****
 
WISDOM OF THE WEEK
 
Provided by Sojourners Online
 
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must
not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to
encounter the defeats, so you can know who
you are, what you can rise from, how you can
still come out of it.”
 
- Maya Angelou
 
--
 
"If you are not yet able to love yourself,
you will not be able to love your enemy.
But when you are able to love yourself,
you can love anyone. When you do this,
you will see that your so called enemy is
not more or less than a human being who
is suffering."
 
- Thich Nhat Hanh

--

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer.
Always remember, you have within you the
strength, the patience, and the passion to
reach for the stars to change the world."

- Harriet Tubman

*****
 
ON THIS DAY

Provided by the New York Times
October 20th - 26th

EDISON INVENTS THE ELECTRIC LIGHT
http://tinyurl.com/k9tjgcr
 
KENNEDY BLOCKADES CUBA
 
UN CHARTER TAKES EFFECT
 
UN VOTES TO ADMIT CHINA, OUST TAIWAN

*****
 
CLOSING THUGHT:

WILMA RUDOLPH

Winning is great, sure, but if you are really
going to do something in life, the secret is
learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated
all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing
defeat, and go on to win again, you are going
to be a champion someday."

(end)
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