*****
CANADA DAY WEEKEND EDITION
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.
Note that not all items here have links.
*****
Dear Friends:
This is the last issue of Colleagues List
in Volume IX. In one year, I will have
completed ten years of electronic
mailings, although the present blog
concept began in 2009.
During the past decade of production
I have created 467 issues, averaging
46.7 issues per year, and almost one
issue per week. During the last seven
years I have created 279 issues at
the rate of 39.8 issues per year.
At the beginning, I sent out issues
frequently, and not according to a
schedule. I now try to concentrate
on an orderly, thought-out routine
but with fewer, comprehensive issues.
Some of you have received every one
that I have ever sent out!
Thanks to all of you for your loyalty.
I hope you continue to find CL helpful.
--
My Special Item this week is a
self-published book by a relatively
new colleague but old friend,
John Badertscher of Winnipeg.
He writes a reflection on his life
and development as a social activist
and academic
It is entitled "Fragments of Freedom"
and I hope you will find it interesting.
http://tinyurl.com/oxa487t
http://tinyurl.com/qh5mm7f
--
Colleague Contributions -
this week are from:
Harry Winter
http://tinyurl.com/pd43s36
http://tinyurl.com/m58jhzp
Erich Weingartner
http://tinyurl.com/leqwfx6
Jim Taylor
http://tinyurl.com/pfe4g62
Ron Rolheiser
http://tinyurl.com/nwfekhp
--
Net Notes:
"The Decency of a Nation" - here is
a unique rating of national values,
globally compared (The Economist)
http://tinyurl.com/lenolnk
"A Theology of the World Cup" - with
so much focus on this major international
event it is fitting to have a theological
interpretation (The Tablet, UK)
http://tinyurl.com/k34pfb4
"Nanaimo Blocks US Broadcast Group" -
this Vancouver Island community has
decided to block communication that
has a strongly anti-gay philosophy
(The Christian Post)
http://tinyurl.com/kaz4aos
"Meriam Ibrahim Family in US Embassy" -
a Sudanese woman and her family have
suffered much from an intolerant religiously
biased society (CBC, The Tablet)
http://tinyurl.com/kmkuuss
http://tinyurl.com/pdzp88h
"Humility is Now Best US Option for Iraq" -
a helpful perspective on how America
might deal with the current crisis in Iraq
(Sojourners Online)
http://tinyurl.com/onc9uxg
"Large Christian Group Forced Into Exile" -
the problems in Iraq are again causing
severe dislocation for Christians there
(The Tablet) http://tinyurl.com/oceuwbn
"Time to Drop the Term ’Visible Minorities’" -
this Canada Day weekend offers a time
to reconsider how we address our growing
non-European population (Montreal Gazette)
http://tinyurl.com/nddqs56
"Christians in China Have Message for West" -
an insightful article on what the Christians
of China can teach the rest of us (Sightings)
http://tinyurl.com/l2vunta
"Conservative Christians Walling Selves Off" -
the message that many of our churches convey
to the world is not one that invites respect
from persons in the world we seek to reach
(The Atlantic Online)
http://tinyurl.com/nbzphkx
a well-established evangelical institution is
struggling with an issue that many evangelical
institutions are facing with greater urgency today
(The Christian Post)
http://tinyurl.com/oq3jrsj
--
Wisdom of the Week - is provided courtesy
of Sojourners and Bruderhof online and includes
insights from the following persons -
N.T. Wright, Clare Boothe Luce, Christopher Hill,
William Hazlitt and Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Please scroll down to read these quotes.
--
On This Day - June 22nd - 29th
From the archives of the New York Times:
"Treaty of Versailles Ends WWI"
http://tinyurl.com/qa7p57x
"Custer Defeated in Battle With Native Americans"
http://tinyurl.com/ncupzq
"French Sign Truce with Hitler on Site of WWI Armistice"
http://tinyurl.com/5uy55h2
--
Closing Thought - is from Yelena Bonner
Please scroll down.
Starting July 13th, you will receive my first
bi-weekly summer issue of Colleagues List.
This schedule will continue through August.
Wayne
*****
SPECIAL ITEM
Book Notice -
FRAGMENTS OF FREEDOM
by John Badertscher. 2014.
McNally Robinson, Winnipeg MB
Self-published, 122 pages.
$18.95 CAD online price
ISBN #9781927533710
Publisher's Promo:
John Badertscher was born into a family of
educators in a small industrial town in Ohio
during the Depression. After serving briefly
as a Methodist minister, he completed his
formal education with a PhD from the
University of Chicago.
He took a position in Religious Studies at
the University of Winnipeg in 1971 and
taught there until his retirement.
"Fragments of Freedom" - is a memoir
charting his growing awareness of the evil
of racism, beginning with his childhood.
The “fragments” trace his engagement
with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s,
and the refocusing made necessary by
becoming a Canadian in the middle of his life.
Because his pursuit of racial justice is entangled
with his personal life and his faith, the book can
be taken as a testimonial as well as one person’s
experience of some of the most significant
events of our time.
--
Author's Words:
I was born in Alliance, Ohio in December of 1936.
I spoke two languages: middle class English at home
and in church, but hillbilly in the schoolyard. At home...
we read the Bible and Shakespeare... we sang hymns
and listened to Handel and Mendelssohn... Otherwise,
I lived in a world of Gospel and Country music.
I loved them all equally.
In school, I read what was required for the year in
the first few weeks, and became a lazy student.
Racial injustice was rarely a topic I considered.
(John writes about the two worlds he inhabited.
The one of relative privilege for his environment
at the time, and the tough world of many of his
school friends.)
(Driving through the nearby towns where others
lived) you have to be careful here, because if they
catch you looking at them, they look away as if
embarrassed, or give you a mean stare. We do not
drive through that part of town at night very often,
but when we do, it is a little scary... Once I asked
my dad why all the Negro people lived in this part
of town. He said they also lived in other parts...
but I almost never saw them...
My friend's parents are always complaining about
"the niggers." They always complain about "the
niggers"being dirty and lazy... I know my Dad and
Mom think that "nigger" is a word that should never
be used, and I never use it around them or otherwise,
but most of my friends do.
--
My Thoughts:
I suspect that many of you my readers could put
yourselves, in some way, into the place of John
Badertscher.
Every June 10th I try to call my childhood friend
Bill Strauss in St. Jacobs, Ontario. It is his birthday,
and mine falls two days later.
Without fail during the course of the conversation,
we bring up the fact that, growing up, Billy was a
member of one of the very few Catholic families in
a town made up almost entirely of Protestants. I
then proceed to remind him about how the boys
would tease him about "worshiping Mary instead
of God."
Invariably, I would talk to my dad in a troubled
way about this.
Dad would say "Billy and his family have their own
way of praying, and we should respect that."
Little did I realize how powerful that advice was
and how it has guided so much of my way of
understanding life. There is so much social,
cultural and spiritual wisdom in that advice.
--
I am enjoying this book because, in many ways,
it is a variation on the theme of my own life.
John tells how he got his education and developed
his values in the US and then migrated to Canada
in the early 1970's. I started in Canada, studied
and worked in Europe, the Two-Thirds World and
the USA and then returned to spend most of my
life in my home country.
I value the way John describes how his theology
evolved; often because of his life challenges.
He is open about his mistakes and failures, and
that is salutary for me as well as for him.
The author and I collaborated in Winnipeg more
than forty years ago, and I appreciate how his life
during the intervening years has evolved, because
it shines light on my own.
This is not a lengthy book. Nor does it attempt to
be a 'magnum opus.' Still, it is a window into
another's experience - thoughtfully presented.
It is a worthy testimony to how one man started
in a very different time and place than he is
ending it. He has grown so much in the process,
and I hope I am doing the same.
Since he has retired from formal teaching, John
continues to lead an active life. From time to time
he visits Calgary.
I am grateful that his daughter, Dr. Betsy Woolner,
a fellow-member at my church here in Calgary,
put me on to this book and made the connections
to have it introduced here.
It is a meaningful testimony, worth considering.
Thanks, John!
*****
Buy the book from McNally Robinson
http://tinyurl.com/oxa487t
More on John's teaching career:
http://tinyurl.com/qh5mm7f
Contact him:
Dr. John Badertscher
62-25 Shorehill Dr
Winnipeg, MB, R3X 0A9
204-219-2839
*****
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
HARRY WINTER
St. Paul, MN
June 25th, 2014
Wayne
If you want to call attention to my item
"Vatican II Continues" in your fellow
Canadian (and colleague) Tom Ryan's
Paulist summer issue of Koinonia, the
link is below, after a comment by another
Canadian, from the Scarborough Mission
Society.
(plus an article on Bruderhof members visit
with Pope Francis)
Harry
The Paulist
Summer, 2014
"Vatican II Continues - Catholic and Orthodox"
http://tinyurl.com/pd43s36
"Proclaiming the Gospel With One Voice"
http://tinyurl.com/m58jhzp
--
ERICH WEINGARTNER
Calendar, ON.
June 25th, 2014
Wayne
You might add this to your next list.
I attended the meeting and gave the
keynote address.
Cheers,
Erich
World Council of Churches News
Geneva, Switzerland
"Global Gathering to Discuss Peace
in the Korean Peninsula"
http://tinyurl.com/leqwfx6
--
JIM TAYLOR,
Okanagan, BC
Personal Web Log
June 25th, 2014
"Controlling Our Thoughts"
http://tinyurl.com/pfe4g62
--
RON ROLHEISER
San Antonio, TX
Personal Web Site
June 22nd, 2014
"On Being Perpetually Distracted"
http://tinyurl.com/nwfekhp
*****
NET NOTES
THE DECENCY OF A NATION
National Benevolence Rated
The Economist
June 24th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/lenolnk
--
A THEOLOGY OF THE WORLD CUP
Church and Soccer Not Incompatible
The Tablet
June 27th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/k34pfb4
--
NANAIMO BLOCKS US BROADCAST GROUP
Its Pro-Traditional Marriage Stance Rejected
The Christian Post
June 28th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/kaz4aos
--
MERIAM IBRAHIM FAMILY IN US EMBASSY
Fear of Reprisal from Sudanese Community
CBC News
June 27th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/kmkuuss
"World Needs to Act on Meriam Ibrahim"
The Tablet, UK
June 24th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/pdzp88h
--
HUMILITY IS NOW BEST OPTION FOR IRAQ
America Can Still Learn from Experience
Sojourners Online
June 27th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/onc9uxg
--
LARGE CHRISTIAN GROUP FORCED INTO EXILE
Iraqi Community Suffers from Recent Fighting
The Tablet
June 27th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/oceuwbn
--
TIME TO DROP THE TERM "VISIBLE MINORITIES"
Canada a Different Country than 50 Years Ago
Montreal Gazette
June 27th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/nddqs56
--
CHRISTIANS IN CHINA HAVE MESSAGE FOR WEST
Focus on Our Values, Not Our Oppression
Sightings
June 25th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/l2vunta
CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS WALLING SELVES OFF
When Religion Does This Everyone Loses
The Atlantic
June 25th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/nbzphkx
--
EASTERN MENNONITE U. DELAYS DECISION ON SSM
Seeks to Respect Church Stance on Sexuality
Christian Post
June 25th, 2014
http://tinyurl.com/oq3jrsj
*****
WISDOM OF THE WEEK
From Sojourners and Bruderhof Online:
"Here is the mystery, the secret, one might
almost say the cunning, of the deep love of
God: that it is bound to draw on to itself the
hatred and pain and shame and anger and
bitterness and rejection of the world, but to
draw all those things on to itself is precisely
the means, chosen from all eternity by the
generous, loving God, by which to rid his
world of the evils which have resulted from
the human abuse of God-given freedom."
- N. T. Wright
--
"I am for lifting everyone off the social bottom.
In fact, I am for doing away with the social bottom
altogether."
- Clare Boothe Luce
--
"Only very slowly and late have [people] come
to realize that unless freedom is universal it is
only extended privilege."
- Christopher Hill
--
"The love of liberty is the love of others;
the love of power is the love of ourselves."
- William Hazlitt
--
"Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing
compared with love in dreams. Love in dreams
is greedy for immediate action, rapidly performed
and in sight of all. People will give their lives if only
the ordeal does not last long but is soon over, with
all looking on and applauding as if on the stage.
But active love is labor and fortitude.
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
*****
ON THIS DAY
June 22-29th
From the Archives of the New York Times:
"Treaty of Versailles Ends WWI"
http://tinyurl.com/qa7p57x
"Custer Defeated in Battle With Native Americans"
http://tinyurl.com/ncupzq
"French Sign Truce with Hitler on Site of WWI Armistice"
http://tinyurl.com/5uy55h2
*****
CLOSING THOUGHT - YELENA BONNER
"Just as there are no little people
or unimportant lives, there is no
insignificant work."
(end)
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