Colleagues List, November 24th, 2013

Vol. IX. No. 15

*****

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:

My book notice this week is focused
on another mentor of mine from earlier
years. Our Special Item is:

 

"William Stringfellow - Essential Writings"
thanks to colleague Robert Ellsberg.
http://tinyurl.com/lgpvsjo

-- 

Colleague Contributions - this week are from:

 

Harry Winter http://www.harrywinter.org/

Molly Worthen  http://tinyurl.com/kajt3mt

Jim Taylor http://tinyurl.com/lsqwxwp

Ron Rolheiser  http://tinyurl.com/l2sggc5

Martin Marty http://tinyurl.com/ka6352m

 

--

Net Notes for this week are as follows -

"Religion at Risk" - A former Archbishop
of Canterbury has some bad news for
the Church of England, but this is
also a time for hope (The Telegraph UK,
The Guardian, UK)
http://tinyurl.com/luplmfu
http://tinyurl.com/m7ybvaz
 

"Julian's Revelations" - a new book on
the first woman to write in English
(America Magazine)
http://tinyurl.com/kjnvy24

"Spanish Court Orders Arrest" - The
Spanish are taking up the cause of
the Tibetan people and are challenging
the government of China at this time
(The Bangkok Post)
http://tinyurl.com/lccowyu

"C.S. Lewis Died Fifty Years Ago" -
Lewis died the same weekend as
JFK but he didn't get the publicity
(The Christian Post)
http://tinyurl.com/mnmrlhx

"India Boasts Great Development" -
while India is improving for the rich,
the children of the poor remain poor
(UCA News) http://tinyurl.com/lalpbeu

"Great Words That Remade America" -
150 years ago this weekend, Lincoln
gave his famous address at Gettysburg -
a place well worth visiting (Atlantic)
http://tinyurl.com/cbgf78q

"Comment on - Twelve Years a Slave" -
we announced this movie several weeks
ago - now some informed commentary
(America Magazine)
http://tinyurl.com/n8fmord

"Islamic Youth Conference Cancelled" -
another black mark for Quebec, as
young Muslims fear prejudice there
(Christian Week)
http://tinyurl.com/kp3j3ka

"Liberal Pope Fails to Confront Key Issues" -
a cry to a pope who might indeed hear
and respond (The Guardian, UK)
http://tinyurl.com/lye2v5q

"C of E Gives Final Approval to Women Bishops"
- during a week when the news from the UK
was not very encouraging, an historic event
(The Tablet, UK) http://tinyurl.com/p72p7q8

--

Wisdom of the Week:

Thérèse of Lisieux, Laurence Freeman,
Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King and Audre Lorde
share their insights with us (see quotes below)

--

On This Day:

History provided from the New York Times -

Lincoln Delivers Gettysburg Address
http://tinyurl.com/y9bvp8n

Nazi Leaders Tried at Nurenburg
http://tinyurl.com/3vlno

JFK Assassinated in Dallas
http://tinyurl.com/2ay2mux

--

Closing Thought:

Oscar Romero and William Blake
complete this issue courtesy of
the Bruderhof Communityhttp://www.bruderhof.com/

 

Thanks for joining me again this week,

Wayne

******

SPECIAL ITEM

Book Notice -

WILLIAM STRINGFELLOW
Essential Writings
Modern Spirituality Series
With Introduction by
Bill Wylie-Kellerman
Homiletic Afterword by
Daniel Berrigan, SJ
Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY
Oct. 2013. 234 pp. $16.00 CAD
ISBN #978-1-62698-049-5.

Publisher's Promo:

William Stringfellow (1928-1985) was a radical
lay theologian and social critic. Drawing on the
biblical warnings against “powers and principalities,”
he leveled a prophetic critique against a range of
institutions—the church, seminaries, economic
structures, and the idolatries of the modern war-
making state. Trained as a lawyer, he was a lifelong
gadfly in the Episcopal church, his chronic ill health
fostering his tendency to see the world in the light
of Eternity. His great theme was the Constantinian
compromise, the accommodation of Christianity to
the values of the empire and the preservation of the
status quo. “My concern,” he wrote, “is to understand
America biblically” - in contrast to the more common
tendency, to understand the Bible “Americanly.”

--

About the Author:

Bill Wylie-Kellermann is a United Methodist pastor
who served city parishes in Detroit, and has served
as director of graduate theological urban studies for
the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education
of Chicago, Illinois. A graduate of Union Theological
Seminary in New York City, he is the author of Seasons
of Faith and Conscience, and the editor of  "A Keeper
of the Word: Selected Writings of William Stringfellow."

--                                                                                        

Intro, Preface and Afterword:

Humanly speaking, this book  harbors a secret
yearning. Among its readers, it wants to break
into the heads and hearts of a new generation
of Christians - hip-hop theologians, newly
monastic types, Jesus radicals, erstwhile post-
evangelicals, race-traitors and anti-racist,
Christian anarchists, undocumented dreamers,
Gospel performance artists, urban farmers
(rural ones too), dreadlocked preachers to be,
revolutionary activists, nonviolent resisters,
wild geese, queer believers, godly bloggers,
biblico-primitivists, cradle Christians fallen
away, the baptized-in-exile, young catholic
workers,social justice students, a corps of
volunteers ruined-for-life -- these and more.

Found among them are serious theologians,
but also many who are hungry for something
substantial and deep. A generation raised on
digital, weary of sources a mile wide and an
inch deep. This book prays to be carried
around in hip pocket or backpack and be
passed along dog-eared hand to hand.

Let it even be kindled!

It prays to be in the mix of the new
theological discourse.

I first read Stringfellow as a high school
student in Detroit. It was the year of the
1967 rebellion (in that city and others.)

This volume, including the introductory
essay, is more focused. - essential in the
sense of getting to the heart. It also has
in mind the present moment and the
generation called to address it.

- From the Preface

For thousands of us, he became the honored
keeper and guardian of the Word of God, that
is to say, a Christian who could be trusted to
keep his word, which was God's Word made
his own. To keep that close, to speak it afresh,
to make it new.

- From the Afterword

--

My Thoughts:

I first began reading Stringfellow in the
early 1980's - more than thirty years ago.
I heard him give a series of lectures at
St. Stephen's College, University of Alberta
at that time. To that time, my theological
education had been quite denominational
(Ontario) and ecumenical (Switzerland and
Ontario) but it was not very radical.

My encounter with William Stringfellow
changed all that, as it was part of my
doctoral studies requirement (Alberta.)

Some of what he said sounded a bit
extreme and "American" - to my ears
at the time, Yet, he spoke slowly and
carefully, and not with the firey rage
of other radicals I had heard and largely
ignored. I could not ignore Stringfellow.

He had a way to cutting through the
dross and getting to the heart of the
matter. He, as much as anyone, started
me thinking about Canadian social
justice issues such as those concerning
our First Nations people, poverty in this
country and our role in international
relations.

As with other books in this Modern
Spiritual Masters Series - edited, or in
other ways supported by colleague
Robert Ellsberg of Orbis Books, New
York - this one has a very helpful
introductory chapter on the life of
its subject as well as helpful summaries
of Stringfellow's key theological themes.
Here is an ideal book for those who are
new to Stringfellow, or who want a good
refresher, like me, after many years.

During the past term, I have been
studying several major and minor
Hebrew prophets with other interested
bible study students at our church.
What an eye-opener to discover anew
how contemporary some of those ancient
biblical prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Micah and Amos really are. That's the
greatness of true prophecy. The message
is always unsettling as it is timely.

William Stringfellow joins a number of
other significant modern prophets like
Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Here
are his words, along with amplification
and interpretation by several who knew
him best.

Reading this book helps me realize the
work of significant mentors along my
vocational journey who helped me become
the person I turned out to be.

_____

Buy the book from
Amazon.ca:
http://tinyurl.com/lgpvsjo

*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

HARRY WINTER
St. Paul, MN

Personal Website
November, 2013

On the Assassination of JFK
Ecumenical and Missionary Aspects
http://www.harrywinter.org/

--

MOLLY WORTHEN
Chapel Hill, NC

Christian Century
November 13th, 2013

Billy Graham and the Fracture
of American Evangelicalism
http://tinyurl.com/kajt3mt

--

JIM TAYLOR
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log
November 20th, 2013

Why Bother Trying?
http://tinyurl.com/lsqwxwp

--

RON ROLHEISER
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site
November 17th, 2013

Searching for a Word Filled With Reality
http://tinyurl.com/l2sggc5

--

MARTIN MARTY
Chicago., IL

Sightings
November 18th, 2013

Church Snakes and State Law
http://tinyurl.com/knsxcyg

The Christian Post
November 18th, 2013

Snake Salvation Star in Court
http://tinyurl.com/ka6352m

*****

NET NOTES

RELIGION AT RISK
Is the C of E One Generation from Extinction?

The Telegraph, UK
November 19th, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/luplmfu

Is the C of E Sick of Itself?
Perhaps That's the First Step to Renewal

The Guardian, UK
November 19th, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/m7ybvaz

--

JULIAN'S REVELATIONS
A New Book and Podcast on
Julian of Norwich

America Magazine
November 25th, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/kjnvy24

--

SPANISH COURT ORDERS ARREST
Charges Chinese Ex-Pres. With Tibetan Genocide

The Bangkok Post
November 20th, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/lccowyu

--

C.S. LEWIS DIED FIFTY YEARS AGO
Great Christian Writer, Evangelical Hero

The Christian Post
November 22nd, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/mnmrlhx

--

INDIA BOASTS GREAT DEVELOPMENT
Yet Cannot Care for Its Own Children

UCA News Comment
November 20th, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/lalpbeu

--

GREAT WORDS THAT REMADE AMERICA
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

The Atlantic Online
November 23rd, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/cbgf78q

--

COMMENT ON 'TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE'
Franciscan Monk Writes on the Current Film

America Magazine
December 2nd, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/n8fmord

--

ISLAMIC YOUTH CONFERENCE CANCELLED
PQ Leaders Opposed Presenters at Montreal Event

Chritianweek.org
November 13th, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/kp3j3ka

--

LIBERAL POPE FAILS TO CONFRONT KEY ISSUES
Horrors Perpetuated by the Church Not Addressed

The Guardian, UK
November 18th, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/lye2v5q

--

C OF E GIVES FINAL APPROVAL TO WOMEN BISHOPS
Conservative Church Takes Historic Step This Week

The Tablet, UK
November 20th, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/p72p7q8

*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

Provided by Sojourners Online:

"Jesus does not need books or doctors to teach souls.
He, the Doctor of doctors, teaches without the noise
of words. I have never heard Him speak and yet I know
He is in me. At every moment, He guides me and
inspires me."

- Thérèse of Lisieux

--

"Most of us have half-a-dozen or so favorite anxieties,
like bitter sweets we suck on endlessly. We would be
frightened to be deprived of them. Jesus challenges us
to go beyond the fear of letting go of anxiety, the fear
we have of peace itself."

- Laurence Freeman

--

"Each person must live their life
 as a model for others."

- Rosa Parks

--

Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures
the hater more than it injures the hated.

- Coretta Scott King

--

Only by learning to live in harmony with your
contradictions can you keep it all afloat.

- Audre Lorde

*****

ON THIS DAY

From the Archives of
The New York Times

November 17th - 23rd

Lincoln Delivers Gettysburg Address
http://tinyurl.com/y9bvp8n

Nazi Leaders Tried at Nurenburg
http://tinyurl.com/3vlno

JFK Assassinated in Dallas
http://tinyurl.com/2ay2mux

*****

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Provided by the Bruderhof Community
http://www.bruderhof.com/

Oscar Romero:

“For those who love God, all things work
for their good” (Rom. 8:28). There is no
misfortune, there are no catastrophes, there
are no sorrows, however extraordinary, that
cannot become crowns of glory and hope
when suffered with love for God.

Source: The Violence of Love

William Blake:

Joy and woe are woven fine
A clothing for the soul divine,
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.

Source: as quoted in A Third Testament

(end)