*****
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:
Working through my Holiday communications
I discovered restored connections with old
associates. It made me realize that tending
to this weekly Colleagues List mailing is very
important to my well-being.
Scroll down to read "Looking at My Life" -
my Special Item for the week.
--
COLLEAGUE COMMENT - we hear from three
people who have not appeared here before -
Pat Cashion (Calgary) Scroll down, please.
William P. Shantz (Thunder Bay)
http://tinyurl.com/n38vqqn
John Badertscher (Winnipeg)
http://tinyurl.com/kn798jm
--
COLLEAGUE COMMUNICATION - the following
appear here with a certain regularity -
James Wall (Chicago)
http://tinyurl.com/m3qsq9q
Jim Taylor (Okanagan)
http://tinyurl.com/lzp35xs
Ron Rolheiser (San Antonio)
http://tinyurl.com/mr3e37x
All write weekly columns that I often share.
--
NET NOTES - come from a variety of sources:
"Obama to Visit Pope" - it was inevitable
that Obama would pay his respects and
the announcement came this week
(CNN Politics) http://tinyurl.com/ljw56l4
"The Church as Wikipedia" - a perceptive
article on how the ministry of the local
congregation is evolving as a result of
the social media (Alban Weekly)
http://tinyurl.com/kjydwbc
"Ian Barbour Dies at Ninety" - a
pioneer in the engagement between
modern science and religion has died
(New York Times)
http://tinyurl.com/lsajd89
"Rome Faces Serious Grilling" - here
is a story of accountability to humanity
now faced by the Catholic Church, and
a welcome endorsement by the pope
(UCA News, Huffington Post Religion)
http://tinyurl.com/qesrwol
http://tinyurl.com/khfvpkc
"UN Declares India Polio Free" - here
is some good news this week from a
country with many serious challenges
(UCA News) http://tinyurl.com/knvl8mf
"The Global War on Christians" - an
English review of a new book on an
important subject by John L Allen
(The Tablet, UK)
http://tinyurl.com/nyq9ft5
"How Pastors Counsel SS Couples" -
a new field of pastoral care is opening
for the churches, and here is an
introduction (The Christian Century)
http://tinyurl.com/l5y3ue2
"5.3B People Face Religious Restrictions" -
many of the human population live under
significant faith challenges in our time
(National Catholic Reporter, RNS)
http://tinyurl.com/jvmrjg6
"FEMIN Activists Provoke Mass Worshipers" -
strange antics, but will these demonstrations
result in positive changes? (Sightings)
http://tinyurl.com/myywnzb
"Canadian Christian Advocacy Faces Hard Times"
- from the evangelical Protestant community
an important call for a change in approach
(Christian Week Online)
http://tinyurl.com/kqc3eu3
--
WISDOM OF THE WEEK comes mainly from
Sojourners Online. We hear insights from
Chinua Achebe, Paul Farmer, Oscar Romero,
Cynthia Bourgeault, Mollie Rogers and
Brian McLaren.
Scroll down to read this.
--
ON THIS DAY is provided this week from
The New York Times and Englewood
Review of Books -
Albert Schweitzer Birthday Jan 14th
http://tinyurl.com/7zdgx
Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Jan.15th
http://tinyurl.com/mcaw8db
*****
MY CLOSING THOUGHT this week is from -
Alexander Solzhenitsyn retrieved from
the Bruderhof Community website.
--
Thanks for joining me for this issue of
Colleagues List, second of the new year!
Wayne
(end)
Appearing Only as the New Course Season Opens -
MY TEACHING AT THE CHURCH AND UNIVERSITY
WINTER SESSION, 2014
Contact Wayne Holst 403-286-2416
waholst@telus.net
At the Church:
ACTS MONDAY NIGHT STUDY - WINTER 2014
NEAR DEATH - ETERNAL LIFE
A Spiritual Reflection on Life After Life
Team Taught with Jock McTavish
Books Titles - "The Light Beyond" and "Eternal Life"
Book Authors - Raymond Moody and John Spong
Ten Monday Evenings - January 27th - March 31st
TM Room 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Registration, books and hospitality - $50.00
45 sets of the study books have been sold to date.
---
ACTS THURSDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY -
WINTER 2014
"From Jesus to Christ - Early Christian Faith
Development" - A Study of the Gospel of Luke
and the Acts of the Apostles
Series One -
Thirteen Thursday Mornings - January 16th -
April 10th, 10:00 - 11:00 PM. TM Room. No cost
This study will continue during the Autumn of 2014
---
ACTS AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD ROHR
Live discussion with the author of "Immortal Diamond"
Monday, January 20th 7:00-9:00 PM
All are Welcome! Hospitality donation only.
*****
At the University:
TUESDAY NIGHT CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSE
"Religious Peace Between the Faiths and Science"
Tuesdays, January 28th - April 4th, 2014. 7-9PM
Text: "The Evolution of God" by Robert Wright
Bay Back Books, paperback. 2010.
For more information and registration, click -
http://tinyurl.com/oeywse7
---
LENTEN FRIDAY NOON FACULTY,
STAFF AND STUDENT STUDY
"In Search of Deep Faith" -
A Pilgrimage Among People and Places of Europe
by Jim Belcher, Inter-Varsity Press, paperback. 2013.
Six Fridays, 12-1PM. Native Centre Board Room, Mac Hall.
Co-sponsored by St. David's United and the U. of C.
Faith and Spirituality Centre.
________________
SPECIAL ITEM
LOOKING AT A LIFE - CONNECTING THE DOTS
How Colleagues List Helps Me Integrate Things
During the Holiday Season just past, we received
many wonderful greetings from friends and
associates - in both electronic and hardcopy form.
We are grateful.
As much as I prefer the traditional cards, I must
admit that I am of the generation that must try
hard to recognize the fact that if we want to hear
from some people at all, we are going to have to
settle for communication via the internet.
I have worked, over the years, to create
and maintain a traditional "Christmas Card
Mailing List." Marlene and I have integrated
what she had with mine and it seems to work
out quite well - with some effort.
But a growing number of greetings and new
seasonal contacts are coming to me as emails.
With Canada Post significantly hiking its rates,
my hardcopy list will probably shrink and my
electronic list will inevitably expand.
I have attempted to link my friendships from
over the years with a creative update on
what I am thinking and writing just now.
Colleagues List has helped to to connect with
a wide community around the world as well
as closer to home. Over the years, I have kept
building my email address list with people who
seem to have some interest in what Colleagues
List has to offer.
I think that regular contact is invaluable. Even
if many read only a small part and others, only
periodically, of what I send them weekly,
When you get your CL mailing I hope you will
actually believe that "Wayne is thinking of me
again today." That's why I never want this
blog to get too big and too impersonal. I say
this in spite of the fact that I keep enhancing
my mailing list and watching my blog stats.
That's also why I keep inviting people to share
their stories and personal discoveries, like I do!
Creating and maintaining my networks helps
me "listen to my life" to quote the insightful
words of Frederick Buechner.
To "listen to my life" and to "connect the dots"
from seven decades of experience has become
an important part of the "integrating" process
that Carl Jung speaks of when he describes
the important personal growth process of the
latter stages of life.
Wisdom - if there is anything like that coming
periodically from me - results largely from
what I have been learning through integrating
my thoughts and discoveries with yours.
---
I want to draw attention to the three people
who this week have contributed to the
"colleague comment" section of this issue.
Bill, Pat and John have become part of my
"network" - for some time, or only recently -
because of the internet.
One saw my name in a book and, wondering if
I was the "Wayne Holst" he had known from
high school days, he tried to reach me.
One sent a lovely, unexpected letter thanking
me for what appears on Colleagues List and
saying that she invites others to thoughts she
has collected there (a great idea!)
One was a friend early in my pastoral career
and we didn't have much contact for decades
until his daughter, now here in Calgary, thought
we should get back in touch.
The miracle of looking at my life and connecting
the dots happens most every day for me. I think it
makes me a better person - more open and aware -
at a time of life when many might be inclined to turn
inward and focus primarily on the challenges of
aging (like health problems and the loss of friends.)
It's important for me to learn how a person's
career and philosophy of life have evolved since
we first knew each other. It's worthwhile to learn
that friends of friends can also become my friends.
It's great to see that people of my age or older
are contributing to their world in new ways after
leaving earlier careers.
I am coming to terms with the possibility that
I may have much more life ahead of me than
I had ever thought possible. I want to make
the most of the time I have at my disposal.
Gradually, I am freeing myself from the belief
that only hard copy and phone communication
works. I'll endeavour to reach at least some of you
in the traditional way. But I will also be maximizing
the new forms of electronic contact available to me.
*****
COLLEAGUE COMMENT
PAT CASHION
Calgary, AB
January 12th, 2014
"A particularly worthwhile group of links this week.
Thank you for continuing to do this important and
valuable work"
--
WILLIAM P. SHANTZ
Thunday Bay, ON
December 20th, 2013
Wayne,
Are you the Wayne Holst who attended Rockway
Mennonite High School in Kitchener?
Your name came to mind when I saw it recorded
in a copy of Akenson's Surpassing Wonder: The
Invention of the Bible and the Talmuds that
I purchased used from Amazon.ca
Bill
You may wish to check out my writings -
"Philosophy of Heterosexuality" Blog
http://tinyurl.com/n38vqqn
--
JOHN BADERTSCHER
Winnipeg, MB
January 12th, 2014
I would be glad for your comments on my -
"Blogs from the Pews"
United Church in Meadowood, Winnipeg,
http://tinyurl.com/kn798jm
--
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
JAMES WALL
Chicago, IL
Wall Writings Blog
January 14th, 2014
"Ariel Sharon Dies after 8 Years in a Coma"
http://tinyurl.com/m3qsq9q
--
JIM TAYLOR
Okanagan, BC
Web Log
January 12th, 2014
"The Long Route Taken by a Word"
http://tinyurl.com/lzp35xs
--
RON ROLHEISER
San Antonio, TX
Personal Website
January 12th, 2014
"The Non-Violence of God"
http://tinyurl.com/mr3e37x
*****
NET NOTES
OBAMA TO VISIT POPE
"He's Looking Forward To It"
CNN Politics
January 14th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/ljw56l4
--
CHURCH AS WIKIPEDIA
Acknowledging Unique Spiritualities
Alban Weekly
January 12th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/kjydwbc
--
IAN BARBOUR DIES AT NINETY
Worked to Engage Faith, Science
New York Times
January 12th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/lsajd89
--
ROME FACES SERIOUS GRILLING
UN Challenge Over Child Abuse
UCA News
January 16th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/qesrwol
Francis Fires Attack on
Those Who Have Shamed the Church
Huffington Post Religion
January 17th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/khfvpkc
--
UN DECLARES INDIA POLIO FREE
Major Milestone in Reached
UCA News
January 14th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/knvl8mf
--
THE GLOBAL WAR ON CHRISTIANS
Review of Book by John L. Allen
The Tablet, UK
January 16th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/nyq9ft5
--
HOW PASTORS COUNSEL SAME-SEX COUPLES
New Issues and Concerns are Encountered
The Christian Century
January 5th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/l5y3ue2
--
5.3B PEOPLE FACE RELIGIOUS RESTRICTIONS
Many in the World Live Under Threat for Beliefs
National Catholic Reporter/Religion News Service
January 14th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/jvmrjg6
--
"FEMEN" ACTIVISTS
PROVOKE MASS WORSHIPPERS
Germany the Scene of Latest Developments
Sightings
January 16th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/myywnzb
--
CANADIAN CHRISTIAN ADVOCACY
FACING HARD TIMES
Anger and Tribal Thinking
is No Longer Working
Christian Week
January 10th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/kqc3eu3
*****
WISDOM OF THE WEEK
Provided by Sojourners Online
"[Jesus] proposed a transformative vision of God.
God isn't the one who condemns to poor and weak.
God isn't the one who favors the rich and righteous.
God isn't the one who ordains the rich to be in the
castle and the poor to be in the gutter. God is the
one who loves everyone, including the people the
rest of us think don't count."
- Brian McLaren
--
"As long as one people sit on another and are
deaf to their cry, so long will understanding
and peace elude all of us."
- Chinua Achebe
--
"The secular world needs to understand that what
would "free us from anxiety" is opening up to the
poor and otherwise marginalized the chance to
flourish. This cannot happen if there is hunger,
unfair political arrangements, ongoing assaults
on the environment, and no safety net to protect
the sick, the unemployed, and the frail."
- Paul Farmer
--
"It is wrong to be sad. Christians cannot be pessimists.
Christians must always nourish in their hearts the
fullness of joy. Try it, brothers and sisters; I have tried
it many times and in the darkest moments, when slander
and persecution were at their worst: to unite myself
intimately with Christ, my friend, and to feel a comfort
that all the joys of the earth do not give – the joy of
feeling yourself close to God, even when humans do
not understand you. It is the deepest joy the heart
can have."
- Oscar Romero
--
"What is missing in Christianity is the real understanding
that practice doesn't just mean people going inward to do
their own little spiritual trip. It is a way of repatterning the
whole physical, neurological, emotional, devotional animal
so that it understands what it is doing."
- Cynthia Bourgeault
--
"Love, work, prayer, and suffering will sustain us in the
future as they have in the past. All who are here now, all
who will come after us, will have no other tools than these
with which to build."
- Mollie Rogers
--
"[Jesus] proposed a transformative vision of God.
God isn't the one who condemns to poor and weak.
God isn't the one who favors the rich and righteous.
God isn't the one who ordains the rich to be in the
castle and the poor to be in the gutter. God is the
one who loves everyone, including the people the
rest of us think don't count."
- Brian McLaren
*****
ON THIS DAY
Provided from the Archives of
the New York Times and from
the Englewood Review of Books
ALBERT SCHWEITZER BORN Jan. 14th
Dies at 90. His Obituary Follows
http://tinyurl.com/7zdgx
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. BORN Jan.15th
15 Memorable Quotes
http://tinyurl.com/mcaw8db
*****
CLOSING THOUGHT - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
If the world has not approached its end, it has
reached a major watershed in history, equal in
importance to the turn from the Middle Ages to
the Renaissance. It will demand from us a
spiritual blaze, we shall have to rise to a new
height of vision, to a new level of life where
our physical nature will not be cursed as in the
Middle Ages, but even more importantly, our
spiritual being will not be trampled upon as in
the Modern Era... No one on earth has any
other way left but upwards.
Everything will depend on whether or not the
last hour finds us a generation worthy of greatness.
From commencement address at Harvard University,
June 1978
(end)
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