Please visit our new website at http://societyforhumanisticpotential.wordpress.com.
This site will remain up for the time being for archival and redirection purposes. The new site contains all posts from this site together with new material.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
White Eagle - "The Quiet Mind"
John Kersey writes:
"The Quiet Mind" by White Eagle, spiritual guide of the late Grace Cooke, is a key work of spiritual wisdom and one whose value has more than stood the test of time.
The text is divided into sections, each dealing with a particular thought or meditation. The cumulative effect of the teaching is an uniquely deep meditation on the nature of being and the mission of man on earth and beyond. There is much connexion with Theosophy but the White Eagle teachings have their own particular flavour and the widest of relevances.
The London White Eagle Lodge have put "The Quiet Mind" online at this page http://www.whiteagle.org/quiet_mind.htm where it is warmly commended to all.
"The Quiet Mind" by White Eagle, spiritual guide of the late Grace Cooke, is a key work of spiritual wisdom and one whose value has more than stood the test of time.
The text is divided into sections, each dealing with a particular thought or meditation. The cumulative effect of the teaching is an uniquely deep meditation on the nature of being and the mission of man on earth and beyond. There is much connexion with Theosophy but the White Eagle teachings have their own particular flavour and the widest of relevances.
The London White Eagle Lodge have put "The Quiet Mind" online at this page http://www.whiteagle.org/quiet_mind.htm where it is warmly commended to all.
Monday, July 7, 2008
The Old Man and the Dog, by Catherine Moore
'Watch out! You nearly broad sided that car!' My father yelled at me.
'Can't you do anything right?' Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me, daring me to challenge him. A lump rose in my throat as I averted my eyes. I wasn't prepared for another battle.
'I saw the car, Dad. Please don't yell at me when I'm driving.' My voice was measured and steady, sounding far calmer than I really felt. Dad glared at me, then turned away and settled back. At home I left Dad in front of the television and went outside to collect my thoughts. Dark, heavy clouds hung in the air with a promise of rain. The rumble of distant thunder seemed to echo my inner turmoil. What could I do about him?
Dad had been a lumberjack in Washington and Oregon . He had enjoyed
being outdoors and had reveled in pitting his strength against the
forces of nature. He had entered grueling lumberjack competitions, and
had placed often. The shelves in his house were filled with trop hies
that attested to his prowess.
The years marched on relentlessly. The first time he couldn't lift a heavy log, he joked about it; but later that same day I saw him outside alone, straining to lift it. He became irritable whenever anyone teased him about his advancing age, or when he couldn't do something he had done as a younger man. Four days after his sixty-seventh birthday, he had a heart attack. An ambulance sped him to the hospital while a paramedic administered CPR to keep blood and oxygen flowing. At the hospital, Dad was rushed into an operating room. He was lucky; he survived.
But something inside Dad died. His zest for life was gone. He obstinately refused to follow doctor's orders. Suggestions and offers of help were turned aside with sarcasm and insults. The number of visitors thinned, then finally stopped altogether. Dad was left alone.
My husband, Dick, and I asked Dad to come live with us on our small farm. We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust. Within a week after he moved in, I regretted the invitation. It seemed nothing was satisfactory. He criticized everything I did. I became frustrated and moody. Soon I was taking my pent-up anger out on Dick. We began to bicker and argue. Alarmed, Dick sought out our pastor and explained the situation. The clergyman set up weekly counseling appointments for us. At the close of each session he prayed, asking God to soothe Dad's troubled mind. But the months wore on and God was silent.
Something had to be done and it was up to me to do it.The next day I sat down with the phone book and methodically called each of the mental health clinics listed in the Yellow Pages. I explained my problem to each of the sympathetic voices that answered. In vain.
Just when I was giving up hope, one of the voices suddenly exclaimed, 'I just read something that might help you! Let me go get the article.' I listened as she read. The article described a remarkable study done at a nursing home. All of the patients were under treatment for chronic depression. Yet their attitudes had improved dramatically when they were given responsibility for a dog.
I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon. After I filled out a questionnaire, a uniformed officer led me to the kennels. The odor of disinfectant stung my nostrils as I moved down the row of pens. Each contained five to seven dogs. Long-haired dogs, curly-haired dogs, black dogs, spotted dogs all jumped up, trying to reach me. I studied each one but rejected one after the other for various reasons -too big, too small, too much hair. As I neared the last pen a dog in the shadows of the far corner struggled to his feet, walked to the front of the run and sat down. It was a pointer, one of the dog world's aristocrats. But this was a caricature of the breed. Years had etched his face and muzzle with shades of gray. His hipbones jutted out in lopsided triangles. But it was his eyes that caught and held my attention.
Calm and clear, they beheld me unwaveringly. I pointed to the dog. 'Can you tell me about him?' The officer looked, then shook his head in puzzlement.
'He's a funny one. Appeared out of nowhere and sat in front of the gate. We brought him in, figuring someone would be right down to claim him. That was two weeks ago and we've heard nothing. His time is up tomorrow.' He gestured helplessly.
As the words sank in I turned to the man in horror. 'You mean you're going to kill him?'
'Ma'am,' he said gently, 'that's our policy. We don't have room for every unclaimed dog.'
I looked at the pointer again. The calm brown eyes awaited my decision.
'I'll take him,' I said.
I drove home with the dog on the front seat beside me. When I reached the house I honked the horn twice. I was helping my prize out of the car when Dad shuffled onto the front porch. Ta-da! Look what I got for you, Dad!' I said excitedly.
Dad looked, then wrinkled his face in disgust. 'If I had wanted a dog I would have gotten one. And I would have picked out a better specimen than that bag of bones. Keep it! I don't want it' Dad waved his arm scornfully and turned back toward the house.
Anger rose inside me. It squeezed together my throat muscles and pounded into my temples.
'You'd better get used to him, Dad. He's staying!' Dad ignored me.
'Did you hear me, Dad?' I screamed. At those words Dad whirled angrily, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes narrowed and blazing with hate.
We stood glaring at each other like duelists, when suddenly the pointer pulled free from my grasp. He wobbled toward my dad and sat down in front of him. Then slowly, carefully, he raised his paw.
Dad's lower jaw trembled as he stared at the uplifted paw. Confusion replaced the anger in his eyes. The pointer waited patiently. Then Dad was on his knees hugging the animal.
It was the beginning of a warm and intimate friendship. Dad named the pointer Cheyenne . Together he and Cheyenne explored the community. They spent long hours walking down dusty lanes. They spent reflective moments on the banks of streams, angling for tasty trout. They even started to attend Sunday services together, Dad sitting in a pew and Cheyenne lying quietly at his feet.
Dad and Cheyenne were inseparable throughout the next three years. Dad's bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne made many friends. Then late one night I was startled to feel Cheyenne 's cold nose burrowing through our bed covers. He had never before come into our bedroom at night. I woke Dick, put on my robe and ran into my father's room. Dad lay in his bed, his face serene. But his spirit had left quietly sometime during the night.
Two days later my shock and grief deepened when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad's bed. I wrapped his still form in the rag rug he had slept on.
As Dick and I buried him near a favorite fishing hole, I silently thanked the dog for the help he had given me in restoring Dad's peace of mind.
The morning of Dad's funeral dawned overcast and dreary. This day looks like the way I feel, I thought, as I walked down the aisle to the pews reserved for family. I was surprised to see the many friends Dad and Cheyenne had made filling the church. The pastor began his eulogy. It was a tribute to both Dad and the dog who had changed his life. And then the pastor turned to Hebrews 13:2. 'Be not forgetful to entertain
strangers.'
'I've often thanked God for sending that angel,' he said. For me, the past dropped into place, completing a puzzle that I had not seen before: the sympathetic voice that had just read the right article...
Cheyenne's unexpected appearance at the animal shelter...his calm acceptance and complete devotion to my father...and the proximity of their deaths. And suddenly I understood. I knew that God had answered my prayers after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Life is too short for drama and petty things, so laugh hard, love truly and forgive quickly.
Live While You Are Alive.
Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
Forgive now those who made you cry. You might not get a second time.
'Can't you do anything right?' Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me, daring me to challenge him. A lump rose in my throat as I averted my eyes. I wasn't prepared for another battle.
'I saw the car, Dad. Please don't yell at me when I'm driving.' My voice was measured and steady, sounding far calmer than I really felt. Dad glared at me, then turned away and settled back. At home I left Dad in front of the television and went outside to collect my thoughts. Dark, heavy clouds hung in the air with a promise of rain. The rumble of distant thunder seemed to echo my inner turmoil. What could I do about him?
Dad had been a lumberjack in Washington and Oregon . He had enjoyed
being outdoors and had reveled in pitting his strength against the
forces of nature. He had entered grueling lumberjack competitions, and
had placed often. The shelves in his house were filled with trop hies
that attested to his prowess.
The years marched on relentlessly. The first time he couldn't lift a heavy log, he joked about it; but later that same day I saw him outside alone, straining to lift it. He became irritable whenever anyone teased him about his advancing age, or when he couldn't do something he had done as a younger man. Four days after his sixty-seventh birthday, he had a heart attack. An ambulance sped him to the hospital while a paramedic administered CPR to keep blood and oxygen flowing. At the hospital, Dad was rushed into an operating room. He was lucky; he survived.
But something inside Dad died. His zest for life was gone. He obstinately refused to follow doctor's orders. Suggestions and offers of help were turned aside with sarcasm and insults. The number of visitors thinned, then finally stopped altogether. Dad was left alone.
My husband, Dick, and I asked Dad to come live with us on our small farm. We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust. Within a week after he moved in, I regretted the invitation. It seemed nothing was satisfactory. He criticized everything I did. I became frustrated and moody. Soon I was taking my pent-up anger out on Dick. We began to bicker and argue. Alarmed, Dick sought out our pastor and explained the situation. The clergyman set up weekly counseling appointments for us. At the close of each session he prayed, asking God to soothe Dad's troubled mind. But the months wore on and God was silent.
Something had to be done and it was up to me to do it.The next day I sat down with the phone book and methodically called each of the mental health clinics listed in the Yellow Pages. I explained my problem to each of the sympathetic voices that answered. In vain.
Just when I was giving up hope, one of the voices suddenly exclaimed, 'I just read something that might help you! Let me go get the article.' I listened as she read. The article described a remarkable study done at a nursing home. All of the patients were under treatment for chronic depression. Yet their attitudes had improved dramatically when they were given responsibility for a dog.
I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon. After I filled out a questionnaire, a uniformed officer led me to the kennels. The odor of disinfectant stung my nostrils as I moved down the row of pens. Each contained five to seven dogs. Long-haired dogs, curly-haired dogs, black dogs, spotted dogs all jumped up, trying to reach me. I studied each one but rejected one after the other for various reasons -too big, too small, too much hair. As I neared the last pen a dog in the shadows of the far corner struggled to his feet, walked to the front of the run and sat down. It was a pointer, one of the dog world's aristocrats. But this was a caricature of the breed. Years had etched his face and muzzle with shades of gray. His hipbones jutted out in lopsided triangles. But it was his eyes that caught and held my attention.
Calm and clear, they beheld me unwaveringly. I pointed to the dog. 'Can you tell me about him?' The officer looked, then shook his head in puzzlement.
'He's a funny one. Appeared out of nowhere and sat in front of the gate. We brought him in, figuring someone would be right down to claim him. That was two weeks ago and we've heard nothing. His time is up tomorrow.' He gestured helplessly.
As the words sank in I turned to the man in horror. 'You mean you're going to kill him?'
'Ma'am,' he said gently, 'that's our policy. We don't have room for every unclaimed dog.'
I looked at the pointer again. The calm brown eyes awaited my decision.
'I'll take him,' I said.
I drove home with the dog on the front seat beside me. When I reached the house I honked the horn twice. I was helping my prize out of the car when Dad shuffled onto the front porch. Ta-da! Look what I got for you, Dad!' I said excitedly.
Dad looked, then wrinkled his face in disgust. 'If I had wanted a dog I would have gotten one. And I would have picked out a better specimen than that bag of bones. Keep it! I don't want it' Dad waved his arm scornfully and turned back toward the house.
Anger rose inside me. It squeezed together my throat muscles and pounded into my temples.
'You'd better get used to him, Dad. He's staying!' Dad ignored me.
'Did you hear me, Dad?' I screamed. At those words Dad whirled angrily, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes narrowed and blazing with hate.
We stood glaring at each other like duelists, when suddenly the pointer pulled free from my grasp. He wobbled toward my dad and sat down in front of him. Then slowly, carefully, he raised his paw.
Dad's lower jaw trembled as he stared at the uplifted paw. Confusion replaced the anger in his eyes. The pointer waited patiently. Then Dad was on his knees hugging the animal.
It was the beginning of a warm and intimate friendship. Dad named the pointer Cheyenne . Together he and Cheyenne explored the community. They spent long hours walking down dusty lanes. They spent reflective moments on the banks of streams, angling for tasty trout. They even started to attend Sunday services together, Dad sitting in a pew and Cheyenne lying quietly at his feet.
Dad and Cheyenne were inseparable throughout the next three years. Dad's bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne made many friends. Then late one night I was startled to feel Cheyenne 's cold nose burrowing through our bed covers. He had never before come into our bedroom at night. I woke Dick, put on my robe and ran into my father's room. Dad lay in his bed, his face serene. But his spirit had left quietly sometime during the night.
Two days later my shock and grief deepened when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad's bed. I wrapped his still form in the rag rug he had slept on.
As Dick and I buried him near a favorite fishing hole, I silently thanked the dog for the help he had given me in restoring Dad's peace of mind.
The morning of Dad's funeral dawned overcast and dreary. This day looks like the way I feel, I thought, as I walked down the aisle to the pews reserved for family. I was surprised to see the many friends Dad and Cheyenne had made filling the church. The pastor began his eulogy. It was a tribute to both Dad and the dog who had changed his life. And then the pastor turned to Hebrews 13:2. 'Be not forgetful to entertain
strangers.'
'I've often thanked God for sending that angel,' he said. For me, the past dropped into place, completing a puzzle that I had not seen before: the sympathetic voice that had just read the right article...
Cheyenne's unexpected appearance at the animal shelter...his calm acceptance and complete devotion to my father...and the proximity of their deaths. And suddenly I understood. I knew that God had answered my prayers after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Life is too short for drama and petty things, so laugh hard, love truly and forgive quickly.
Live While You Are Alive.
Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
Forgive now those who made you cry. You might not get a second time.
Caller ID
On a Saturday night several weeks ago, this pastor was working late, and decided to call his wife before he left for home. It was about 10:00 PM, but his wife didn't answer the phone. The pastor let the phone ring many times. He thought it was odd that she didn't answer, but decided to wrap up a few things and try again in a few minutes. When he tried again she answered right away. He asked her why she hadn't answered before, and she said that it hadn't rung at their! house. They brushed it off as a fluke and went on their merry ways.
The following Monday, the pastor received a call at the church office, which was the phone that he'd used that Saturday night. The man that he spoke with wanted to know why he'd called on Saturday night. The pastor couldn't figure out what the man was talking about. Then the man said,'It rang and rang, but I didn't answer.' The pastor remembered the mishap and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that he'd intended to call his wife.
The man said, 'That's, OK. Let me tell you my story. You see, I was planning to commit suicide on Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed, 'God if you're there, and you don't want me to do this, give me a sign now.' At that point my phone started to ring I looked at the caller ID, and it said, 'Almighty God'. I was afraid to answer!'
The reason why it showed on the man's caller ID that the call came from 'Almighty God' is because the church that the pastor ministers is called Almighty God Tabernacle!!
[Courtesy of the Liberal Catholic Church Theosophia Synod Newsletter]
The following Monday, the pastor received a call at the church office, which was the phone that he'd used that Saturday night. The man that he spoke with wanted to know why he'd called on Saturday night. The pastor couldn't figure out what the man was talking about. Then the man said,'It rang and rang, but I didn't answer.' The pastor remembered the mishap and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that he'd intended to call his wife.
The man said, 'That's, OK. Let me tell you my story. You see, I was planning to commit suicide on Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed, 'God if you're there, and you don't want me to do this, give me a sign now.' At that point my phone started to ring I looked at the caller ID, and it said, 'Almighty God'. I was afraid to answer!'
The reason why it showed on the man's caller ID that the call came from 'Almighty God' is because the church that the pastor ministers is called Almighty God Tabernacle!!
[Courtesy of the Liberal Catholic Church Theosophia Synod Newsletter]
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Different religions
Many religions have been brought to this land. And the way my religion is, they teach me, and they taught me, and told me to respect all religions. And I still do that."
--Horace Axtell, NEZ PERCE
The Creator put on this Earth many different religions which represent different roads to walk to God. All religions are right and good if the path is the path to God.
Should we be judging which road is better or worse than the other? When we accept each other's way we can stand in a circle, hold hands and listen to each other as we pray to God. Let us be more accepting of the religions of others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Spirit - God, Grandfather, Grandmother, Lord - let me know peace
~ White Bison Elder's Meditation ~
--Horace Axtell, NEZ PERCE
The Creator put on this Earth many different religions which represent different roads to walk to God. All religions are right and good if the path is the path to God.
Should we be judging which road is better or worse than the other? When we accept each other's way we can stand in a circle, hold hands and listen to each other as we pray to God. Let us be more accepting of the religions of others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Spirit - God, Grandfather, Grandmother, Lord - let me know peace
~ White Bison Elder's Meditation ~
Growing good corn
GROWING GOOD CORN
James Bender, in his book, HOW TO TALK WELL (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1994) relates the story of a farmer who grew
award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair
where it won a blue ribbon.
One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something
interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the
farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbours.
"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbours
when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the
reporter asked.
"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen
from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my
neighbours grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade
the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my
neighbours grow good corn."
He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot
improve unless his neighbour's corn also improves.
So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help
their neighbours to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must
help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the
lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to
find happiness, for the welfare of each
is bound up with the welfare of all.
The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must
help our neighbours grow good corn.
[Source: Interfaith Messenger]
James Bender, in his book, HOW TO TALK WELL (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1994) relates the story of a farmer who grew
award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair
where it won a blue ribbon.
One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something
interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the
farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbours.
"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbours
when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the
reporter asked.
"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen
from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my
neighbours grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade
the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my
neighbours grow good corn."
He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot
improve unless his neighbour's corn also improves.
So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help
their neighbours to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must
help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the
lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to
find happiness, for the welfare of each
is bound up with the welfare of all.
The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must
help our neighbours grow good corn.
[Source: Interfaith Messenger]
Conference announcement
October 31st to November 2nd 2008
National Conference : Holiday Inn
Holyoke Mass.
THE MYSTICAL HEART OF CHRISTIANITY:
MOVING BEYOND LITERALISM
Religious thought, especially Christianity, faces a dilemma regarding
the interpretation of sacred scripture. On the one hand there is
fundamentalism: taking the Bible literally, with every statement being
absolute fact. The other approach views Biblical material as merely
stories, teachings and myths that grew out of humanity's search for
Deity and the meaning of life.
Althought these writings were presented as historical experience and
meant to be taken as truth, the became corrupted with attempts to foster
certain religious agendas.
Both of these perspetives are flawed and fail to recognize the depth of
understanding that can be found in Christianity. Is there an alternative
viewpoint that recognizes the fallibility of these historical texts, yet
still honors the profound truths imbedded within?
Details and Registration information
http://www.theosophical.org/events/conferences/national08/index.html
Sponsored By:
THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN AMERICA
www.theosophical.org
National Conference : Holiday Inn
Holyoke Mass.
THE MYSTICAL HEART OF CHRISTIANITY:
MOVING BEYOND LITERALISM
Religious thought, especially Christianity, faces a dilemma regarding
the interpretation of sacred scripture. On the one hand there is
fundamentalism: taking the Bible literally, with every statement being
absolute fact. The other approach views Biblical material as merely
stories, teachings and myths that grew out of humanity's search for
Deity and the meaning of life.
Althought these writings were presented as historical experience and
meant to be taken as truth, the became corrupted with attempts to foster
certain religious agendas.
Both of these perspetives are flawed and fail to recognize the depth of
understanding that can be found in Christianity. Is there an alternative
viewpoint that recognizes the fallibility of these historical texts, yet
still honors the profound truths imbedded within?
Details and Registration information
http://www.theosophical.org/events/conferences/national08/index.html
Sponsored By:
THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN AMERICA
www.theosophical.org
Sunday, April 13, 2008
SOMETHING GOOD IS COOKING....DON"T GO HUNGRY
SOMETHING GOOD IS COOKING....DON"T GO HUNGRY
The cookbook/storybook produced by our students, under the leadership of Lucy Roberts, was presented on December 2, 2007. Below is the prize-winning recipe from Kinza Shuja, a student at Leaders Prep School.
She calls it "Our Celebration Meal." Try the recipe and don't miss her heartwarming story.
Excerpts from Our Celebration Meal: Skewer Kababs
"Skewer Kababs are made with beef, chicken or mutton. It is healthy because it has vegetables too, such as green chilies, onions and carrots. . . We normally eat this special dish during Eid al Adha because the family members visit and enjoy sharing food.
. . . The dish is special because the beef and chicken are sacrificed in a special way as a remembrance of Prophet Abraham. We distribute the meat to 3 groups - the poor, the community, and our family. This meal is known all around the world -- in Pakistan, England and even China. It's a great family dish."
Ingredients:
1 pkg. Shan Tikka Kabab Spice mix (use less for mild)* ½ c. water
1 T. garlic paste
1 T. ginger paste
1 c. fine sliced raw papaya
2-3 lb. beef/chicken/mutton (cubed)
½ c. ghee/butter (melted)
*Shan Tikka Seekh Kabab Spice Mix can be found at local Indian grocery stores. It is an "Easy to Cook" mix from Pakistan.
Directions:
Mix Shan Tikka Kabab Spice mix in ½ c. water. Mix well. Add garlic, ginger and raw papaya and mix well. Add meat. Leave it to marinate for 3-4 hours. Then remove the meat. Slide meat onto six to eight 10-inch skewers. Place on very low heat coal/gas fire. Grill until very lightly browned. Brush meat with butter/ghee and rotate the skewer to grill evenly on all sides until tender. Serves 6-8 people.
"Breaking Bread: A Celebration of Three Faiths," is on sale and can be purchased by mailing your check or by using PayPal on our website. or purchase it at any of our three schools.
BREAKING BREAD: A CELEBRATION OF THREE FAITHS
By The Students of The Multifaith Education Project
Over 70 mouthwatering exotic dishes representing Muslim, Jewish & Christian culinary traditions.
100 percent of all funds recieved go directly to support the work of the Multifaith Education Project.
This is an ideal gift to give or send to someone you care about. Something good is cooking....don"t go hungry......
$20.00 plus $4.00 shipping & handling.
Send your order to:
Multifaith Education Project
P.O. Box. 301003
Fern Park, Florida 32730-1003
OR ORDER ONLINE:
Website:
www.multifaitheducationproject.org
The cookbook/storybook produced by our students, under the leadership of Lucy Roberts, was presented on December 2, 2007. Below is the prize-winning recipe from Kinza Shuja, a student at Leaders Prep School.
She calls it "Our Celebration Meal." Try the recipe and don't miss her heartwarming story.
Excerpts from Our Celebration Meal: Skewer Kababs
"Skewer Kababs are made with beef, chicken or mutton. It is healthy because it has vegetables too, such as green chilies, onions and carrots. . . We normally eat this special dish during Eid al Adha because the family members visit and enjoy sharing food.
. . . The dish is special because the beef and chicken are sacrificed in a special way as a remembrance of Prophet Abraham. We distribute the meat to 3 groups - the poor, the community, and our family. This meal is known all around the world -- in Pakistan, England and even China. It's a great family dish."
Ingredients:
1 pkg. Shan Tikka Kabab Spice mix (use less for mild)* ½ c. water
1 T. garlic paste
1 T. ginger paste
1 c. fine sliced raw papaya
2-3 lb. beef/chicken/mutton (cubed)
½ c. ghee/butter (melted)
*Shan Tikka Seekh Kabab Spice Mix can be found at local Indian grocery stores. It is an "Easy to Cook" mix from Pakistan.
Directions:
Mix Shan Tikka Kabab Spice mix in ½ c. water. Mix well. Add garlic, ginger and raw papaya and mix well. Add meat. Leave it to marinate for 3-4 hours. Then remove the meat. Slide meat onto six to eight 10-inch skewers. Place on very low heat coal/gas fire. Grill until very lightly browned. Brush meat with butter/ghee and rotate the skewer to grill evenly on all sides until tender. Serves 6-8 people.
"Breaking Bread: A Celebration of Three Faiths," is on sale and can be purchased by mailing your check or by using PayPal on our website. or purchase it at any of our three schools.
BREAKING BREAD: A CELEBRATION OF THREE FAITHS
By The Students of The Multifaith Education Project
Over 70 mouthwatering exotic dishes representing Muslim, Jewish & Christian culinary traditions.
100 percent of all funds recieved go directly to support the work of the Multifaith Education Project.
This is an ideal gift to give or send to someone you care about. Something good is cooking....don"t go hungry......
$20.00 plus $4.00 shipping & handling.
Send your order to:
Multifaith Education Project
P.O. Box. 301003
Fern Park, Florida 32730-1003
OR ORDER ONLINE:
Website:
www.multifaitheducationproject.org
The Butterfly
THE BUTTERFLY
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it
could go no further.
So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body
and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.
What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!
[Source: Interfaith Messenger]
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it
could go no further.
So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body
and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.
What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!
[Source: Interfaith Messenger]
Epiphany West Conference at CDSP
EPIPHANY WEST CONFERENCE AT CDSP FURTHERS INTERFAITH DIALOGUE
From the religious traditions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, interfaith dialogue flourished at the Epiphany West Interfaith Conference 2008: "Sacred Text as Window -- Seeing one's self through the eyes of another."
Conference classes and presentations were held January 28–February 1 on the campus of Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP), in Berkeley, California.
"Our presenters this year took inter-religious dialogue to a new level of engagement, enabling us to meet one another through our sacred texts, and allowing our own identities to be challenged and stretched," said David Gortner, director of CDSP's Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership.
"Seeing one's self is the most transformative element in reading texts of other traditions. This requires intellectual humility and the acknowledgement of the possibility of divine inspiration outside our own religion," said Peter Phan, Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought in the Theology Department of Georgetown University, Washington D.C.
"We must also guard against looking through the window and seeing only similarities. The glass of our windows so far has been essentially Christian-tinted." One of four featured presenters, Phan challenged the audience with the topic, "Can We Read Religious Texts Inter-religiously?"
Speaking on "Toward a Judaeo-Muslim Sexual Ethic," Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert emphasized, "All dialogue should result in a conversion of some kind...recognition of a partially-shared history, of mutual engagement, and a history of each shaping the other."
Fonrobert is associate professor of Religious Studies and co-director of the Taube Center for Jewish Studies, Stanford University.
"Embracing the 'Other' as an Extension of the Self," was addressed by A. Rashied Omar, research scholar of Islamic Ethics and Peacebuilding at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. His presentation focused on engaging Hebrews 13:2, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares," from a Muslim perspective.
"Muslims and Christians operate with radically different theologies of revelation," said Omar. "Sensitivity to and appreciation of different theologies builds bridges of understanding." In the final presentation, "Moses Received the Torah at Sinai and Handed It On,"
Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, assistant professor of Church History at CDSP, emphasized the need for a positive Christian theology of the Torah. Significantly, he noted, "Jesus, confessed as Messiah by Christians, kept Torah." Further, he cited the Torah as "a grand inspiration of Jesus' teaching." And, "just as the early rabbis saw the Torah as a living tradition, so did the disciples of Jesus." He concluded,
"Christians can honor Torah by not turning from it, but by turning to it, and studying it."
Among the 20 classes and workshops offered were a Midrash (House of Study) led by Rabbi Alan Lew, Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Beth Sholom, San Francisco, with daily sessions of intensive reading and discussion of sacred texts.
Special prayer and worship services were offered throughout the conference, including Muslim Noonday Prayer, and a Shabbat Service and Meal. The featured preacher at a Eucharist on January 30 was Bishop Michael Ingham of the Diocese of New Westminister in Vancouver, British Columbia, of the Anglican Church of Canada. Ingham also conducted a workshop on The Buddha Parable of Jesus.
On sensitive use of appropriate language he cautioned, "Words that are powerful to one religious paradigm will mean something entirely different to another. We must be completely open and respectful in dialogue with one another."
The event was organized by the Center for Anglican Learning & Leadership (CALL) at CDSP, in partnership with the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies, and the Center for Islamic Studies, both at the Graduate Theological Union; and the Episcopal Church's Office of Interfaith and Ecumenical Relations.
[Source: Interfaith Messenger
From the religious traditions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, interfaith dialogue flourished at the Epiphany West Interfaith Conference 2008: "Sacred Text as Window -- Seeing one's self through the eyes of another."
Conference classes and presentations were held January 28–February 1 on the campus of Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP), in Berkeley, California.
"Our presenters this year took inter-religious dialogue to a new level of engagement, enabling us to meet one another through our sacred texts, and allowing our own identities to be challenged and stretched," said David Gortner, director of CDSP's Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership.
"Seeing one's self is the most transformative element in reading texts of other traditions. This requires intellectual humility and the acknowledgement of the possibility of divine inspiration outside our own religion," said Peter Phan, Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought in the Theology Department of Georgetown University, Washington D.C.
"We must also guard against looking through the window and seeing only similarities. The glass of our windows so far has been essentially Christian-tinted." One of four featured presenters, Phan challenged the audience with the topic, "Can We Read Religious Texts Inter-religiously?"
Speaking on "Toward a Judaeo-Muslim Sexual Ethic," Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert emphasized, "All dialogue should result in a conversion of some kind...recognition of a partially-shared history, of mutual engagement, and a history of each shaping the other."
Fonrobert is associate professor of Religious Studies and co-director of the Taube Center for Jewish Studies, Stanford University.
"Embracing the 'Other' as an Extension of the Self," was addressed by A. Rashied Omar, research scholar of Islamic Ethics and Peacebuilding at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. His presentation focused on engaging Hebrews 13:2, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares," from a Muslim perspective.
"Muslims and Christians operate with radically different theologies of revelation," said Omar. "Sensitivity to and appreciation of different theologies builds bridges of understanding." In the final presentation, "Moses Received the Torah at Sinai and Handed It On,"
Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, assistant professor of Church History at CDSP, emphasized the need for a positive Christian theology of the Torah. Significantly, he noted, "Jesus, confessed as Messiah by Christians, kept Torah." Further, he cited the Torah as "a grand inspiration of Jesus' teaching." And, "just as the early rabbis saw the Torah as a living tradition, so did the disciples of Jesus." He concluded,
"Christians can honor Torah by not turning from it, but by turning to it, and studying it."
Among the 20 classes and workshops offered were a Midrash (House of Study) led by Rabbi Alan Lew, Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Beth Sholom, San Francisco, with daily sessions of intensive reading and discussion of sacred texts.
Special prayer and worship services were offered throughout the conference, including Muslim Noonday Prayer, and a Shabbat Service and Meal. The featured preacher at a Eucharist on January 30 was Bishop Michael Ingham of the Diocese of New Westminister in Vancouver, British Columbia, of the Anglican Church of Canada. Ingham also conducted a workshop on The Buddha Parable of Jesus.
On sensitive use of appropriate language he cautioned, "Words that are powerful to one religious paradigm will mean something entirely different to another. We must be completely open and respectful in dialogue with one another."
The event was organized by the Center for Anglican Learning & Leadership (CALL) at CDSP, in partnership with the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies, and the Center for Islamic Studies, both at the Graduate Theological Union; and the Episcopal Church's Office of Interfaith and Ecumenical Relations.
[Source: Interfaith Messenger
The Interfaith Community
THE INTERFAITH COMMUNITY
Lighting The Candle of Interfaith Understanding, Education and Cooperation.
You Can Be A Part of this Joint Venture in Building Inclusive Community.
We Invite You to Visit, Join, and Promote Our Online Presence.
The Interfaith Community
On Yahoo:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/THEINTERFAITHCOMMUNITY/
On Google:
http://groups.google.com/group/AllFaiths
Lighting The Candle of Interfaith Understanding, Education and Cooperation.
You Can Be A Part of this Joint Venture in Building Inclusive Community.
We Invite You to Visit, Join, and Promote Our Online Presence.
The Interfaith Community
On Yahoo:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/THEINTERFAITHCOMMUNITY/
On Google:
http://groups.google.com/group/AllFaiths
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
SHP becomes a religious society of the Liberal Catholic Apostolic Church
Following the recent changes that saw The Liberal Rite unite with the spiritual heritage of Archbishop Harold Nicholson, founder of the Ancient Catholic Church, the new Liberal Catholic Apostolic Church has been formed as the continuation of these legacies.
SHP has been chartered as a dependent society of the LCAC and will continue its mission as before.
The official website of the LCAC is at http://www.independentoldcatholic.org
SHP has been chartered as a dependent society of the LCAC and will continue its mission as before.
The official website of the LCAC is at http://www.independentoldcatholic.org
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
More thoughts from Adrian Worsfold (Pluralist)
Adrian has continued his thoughts on liberal theology, including the SHP and its related groups, in a post which talks about the books now available through European-American University Press.
See http://pluralistspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/01/syncretistic-liberal-catholicism.html
Bishop John, incidentally, is delighted to have at last been the subject of a Worsfold caricature!
See http://pluralistspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/01/syncretistic-liberal-catholicism.html
Bishop John, incidentally, is delighted to have at last been the subject of a Worsfold caricature!
Non-Resident Indians and the Governments of India, by Stephen Gill
Stephen Gill, poet, writer and advisor to SHP Council, sends us the following recent opinion piece:
NON-RESIDENT INDIANS (NRIS) AND THE GOVERNMENTS OF INDIA
Stephen Gill
The government of India has dedicated the 9th of January to celebrate the overseas compatriots. The story goes back to the BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party) Government that was defeated in 2004 general elections. When in power, the BJP Government approached the Indians abroad, using the word NRIS (non-resident Indians) to seek their help to save India from bankruptcy. They played on their nationalistic sentiments to motivate them to play a major role in the economic landscape of India. The BJP Government and other Hindu nationalist parties were already collecting funds from the nationalists abroad for political activities, including their elections.
Encouraged by the initial results, the Government of BJP set up a Committee in September 2000 under Dr. L.M. Singhvi, an M.P., to woo all twenty-two million of its overseas Indians. The Committee asked NRIS to suggest ways to develop their meaningful relations with India. The real motive was to find out ways to attract their money. The 9th of January was set aside to observe Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (India Day for the overseas Indians) every year. That is the day when Gandhi returned to India from Africa to lead India’s freedom movement. The word NRIS was gradually replaced with Diaspora.
Every year, mostly business and other rich people of Indian origin, attend this day to shake hands with the ministers and other high profile Government officials. On this day, some overseas Indians, who have the means to buy tickets, are invited to lecture and dine with ministers. Several minor groups with affiliations with the same committee that makes arrangements to celebrate this day, connected directly or indirectly with the Government of India, have sprung up and also hold gatherings to recognize overseas Indians with pieces of paper, called awards, for which invitees pay handsome amounts. What connection these organizations have with the government and where those monies go is a mystery. As far as writers and artists are concerned, they are usually ignored, because from the point of investment and purchase of those awards they are unusable cars and old cows.
The word Diaspora has been hijacked by politician for their own ends. They also have hijacked the name of Mahatma Gandhi. Every knowledgeable citizen of India knows that the BJP, the political wing of the Rashtrirya Sewek Sung (RSS), does not think much of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. Nathuram Godse, the assassin of the father of the nation, was associated with the RSS. The RSS and its affiliates distributed sweets the day Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead by its own person. The policies of the RSS and its affiliates are just opposite to the policies of Gandhi. NRIS and words like Diaspora were cleverly used to attract the money of overseas Indians.
There are several highly qualified Indians who preferred to stay within the country even when they had the chance to go abroad. What these unsung heroes receive from the Government of India for their sacrifices, is obvious. University professors, who give their lives to serve the goddess of education and art, do not live in as stimulating atmosphere as their counterparts in Canada or the United States. These professors, writers, artists and others are doing their work silently. Under the present situation, there will never be a celebrated day for them like Pervasis Bhartiya Divas because they are not in a position to invest in the industries, though they shape the future of India.
The overseas Indians are being used like cars that have the ability to transport sick people to hospitals or the cows that give milk. When cars are of no use, they are discarded as junk, and when cows get old, everybody knows what happens to them. That is what the overseas Indians are to the government that has set aside areas for them to build gracious bungalows and every protection is given them in every form as long as their money keeps flowing into the country. They can obtain loans and get special visas to make their journey easy, flexible and hassle-free.
There are Indians, almost twice the population of Canada, who still live on about forty rupees, a dollar, a day. The call centres of computer related services in metropolis of India have drug related and other problems. Their employees are not permanent. Corruption is rampant in most departments. The condition of women and children has not improved much.
In spite of all these ploys, “the NRIS have provided less then 10% of a far smaller total for India.” (The Economist, 2003, Jan. 25, vol. 366, p.44-45). This strategy helped the BJP Government to some extent. In 2007 elections, this strategy has helped widely the Modi Government in Gujrat, where any investor will think several times before investing. Modi, called the Hitler of India, approached the Indian nationalists abroad and has been able to bring some prosperity to his riot-ridden state.
Based on this prosperity, the nationalist party of the Hindus has come back to power with an absolute majority. That is what Hitler did who received funds from the Germans abroad to remain in power. However, on the national level, the BJP government was not able to do as much as it possibly could. Even the present national government has not been able to do considerably better than the BJP Government. Whereas the story of China is largely a success, the story of India is largely disappointing in milking its cows.
The story of disappointment is due to corruption and the insecure climate of India. Millions of overseas Indians will prove important national assets if the government of India will woo them in a secular way. The BJP Government who initiated this project was not secular in its philosophy and practice. During the BJP Government, two high commissioners in Ottawa, their spokespersons, represented the narrow ideology of the nationalist government in India. This may be the case also in other important democracies of the world during the BJP rule.
A transparent government does not have to employ means to attract foreign capital by hijacking when transparent means are available. India is the land of Gautama and Gandhi, the apostles of peace. Peace is the legitimate child of non-violence and tolerance that are the outcome of democracy. Investors expect peace and security in a country that can be assured by democratic institutions. India will attract more capital if it is made a more peaceful nation where its artists, writers, poets and intellectuals can also live comfortably in a state that is secular constitutionally and in practice.
Where there is peace there is prosperity. India needs the teachings of Gautama and Gandhi also. The followers of Gautama had been the first who went abroad with the olive branch of peace, not to seek the El Dorado of green pastures. For his teachings and practice, Mahatma Gandhi is one of them who are respected much more abroad than he is in India. His name should not be associated with a mythical interpretation of Indian Diaspora to attract the god of gold.
Moreover, the Government of India should clearly announce if it has ties with the groups that sell awards. Also, it should let everyone know about the money that is collected on this day through these awards and other means.
©Stephen Gill, 2008
NON-RESIDENT INDIANS (NRIS) AND THE GOVERNMENTS OF INDIA
Stephen Gill
The government of India has dedicated the 9th of January to celebrate the overseas compatriots. The story goes back to the BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party) Government that was defeated in 2004 general elections. When in power, the BJP Government approached the Indians abroad, using the word NRIS (non-resident Indians) to seek their help to save India from bankruptcy. They played on their nationalistic sentiments to motivate them to play a major role in the economic landscape of India. The BJP Government and other Hindu nationalist parties were already collecting funds from the nationalists abroad for political activities, including their elections.
Encouraged by the initial results, the Government of BJP set up a Committee in September 2000 under Dr. L.M. Singhvi, an M.P., to woo all twenty-two million of its overseas Indians. The Committee asked NRIS to suggest ways to develop their meaningful relations with India. The real motive was to find out ways to attract their money. The 9th of January was set aside to observe Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (India Day for the overseas Indians) every year. That is the day when Gandhi returned to India from Africa to lead India’s freedom movement. The word NRIS was gradually replaced with Diaspora.
Every year, mostly business and other rich people of Indian origin, attend this day to shake hands with the ministers and other high profile Government officials. On this day, some overseas Indians, who have the means to buy tickets, are invited to lecture and dine with ministers. Several minor groups with affiliations with the same committee that makes arrangements to celebrate this day, connected directly or indirectly with the Government of India, have sprung up and also hold gatherings to recognize overseas Indians with pieces of paper, called awards, for which invitees pay handsome amounts. What connection these organizations have with the government and where those monies go is a mystery. As far as writers and artists are concerned, they are usually ignored, because from the point of investment and purchase of those awards they are unusable cars and old cows.
The word Diaspora has been hijacked by politician for their own ends. They also have hijacked the name of Mahatma Gandhi. Every knowledgeable citizen of India knows that the BJP, the political wing of the Rashtrirya Sewek Sung (RSS), does not think much of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. Nathuram Godse, the assassin of the father of the nation, was associated with the RSS. The RSS and its affiliates distributed sweets the day Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead by its own person. The policies of the RSS and its affiliates are just opposite to the policies of Gandhi. NRIS and words like Diaspora were cleverly used to attract the money of overseas Indians.
There are several highly qualified Indians who preferred to stay within the country even when they had the chance to go abroad. What these unsung heroes receive from the Government of India for their sacrifices, is obvious. University professors, who give their lives to serve the goddess of education and art, do not live in as stimulating atmosphere as their counterparts in Canada or the United States. These professors, writers, artists and others are doing their work silently. Under the present situation, there will never be a celebrated day for them like Pervasis Bhartiya Divas because they are not in a position to invest in the industries, though they shape the future of India.
The overseas Indians are being used like cars that have the ability to transport sick people to hospitals or the cows that give milk. When cars are of no use, they are discarded as junk, and when cows get old, everybody knows what happens to them. That is what the overseas Indians are to the government that has set aside areas for them to build gracious bungalows and every protection is given them in every form as long as their money keeps flowing into the country. They can obtain loans and get special visas to make their journey easy, flexible and hassle-free.
There are Indians, almost twice the population of Canada, who still live on about forty rupees, a dollar, a day. The call centres of computer related services in metropolis of India have drug related and other problems. Their employees are not permanent. Corruption is rampant in most departments. The condition of women and children has not improved much.
In spite of all these ploys, “the NRIS have provided less then 10% of a far smaller total for India.” (The Economist, 2003, Jan. 25, vol. 366, p.44-45). This strategy helped the BJP Government to some extent. In 2007 elections, this strategy has helped widely the Modi Government in Gujrat, where any investor will think several times before investing. Modi, called the Hitler of India, approached the Indian nationalists abroad and has been able to bring some prosperity to his riot-ridden state.
Based on this prosperity, the nationalist party of the Hindus has come back to power with an absolute majority. That is what Hitler did who received funds from the Germans abroad to remain in power. However, on the national level, the BJP government was not able to do as much as it possibly could. Even the present national government has not been able to do considerably better than the BJP Government. Whereas the story of China is largely a success, the story of India is largely disappointing in milking its cows.
The story of disappointment is due to corruption and the insecure climate of India. Millions of overseas Indians will prove important national assets if the government of India will woo them in a secular way. The BJP Government who initiated this project was not secular in its philosophy and practice. During the BJP Government, two high commissioners in Ottawa, their spokespersons, represented the narrow ideology of the nationalist government in India. This may be the case also in other important democracies of the world during the BJP rule.
A transparent government does not have to employ means to attract foreign capital by hijacking when transparent means are available. India is the land of Gautama and Gandhi, the apostles of peace. Peace is the legitimate child of non-violence and tolerance that are the outcome of democracy. Investors expect peace and security in a country that can be assured by democratic institutions. India will attract more capital if it is made a more peaceful nation where its artists, writers, poets and intellectuals can also live comfortably in a state that is secular constitutionally and in practice.
Where there is peace there is prosperity. India needs the teachings of Gautama and Gandhi also. The followers of Gautama had been the first who went abroad with the olive branch of peace, not to seek the El Dorado of green pastures. For his teachings and practice, Mahatma Gandhi is one of them who are respected much more abroad than he is in India. His name should not be associated with a mythical interpretation of Indian Diaspora to attract the god of gold.
Moreover, the Government of India should clearly announce if it has ties with the groups that sell awards. Also, it should let everyone know about the money that is collected on this day through these awards and other means.
©Stephen Gill, 2008
The Beloved Community of Martin Luther King
"The Beloved Community" is a term that was first coined in the early days of the 20th century by the philosopher-theologian Josiah Royce, who founded the Fellowship of Reconciliation. However, it was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., also a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, who popularized the term and invested it with a deeper meaning which has captured the imagination of people of good will all over the world.
For Dr. King, The Beloved Community was not a lofty utopian goal to be confused with the rapturous image of the Peaceable Kingdom, in which lions and lambs coexist in idyllic harmony. Rather, The Beloved Community was for him a realistic, achievable goal that could be attained by a critical mass of people committed to and trained in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence.
Dr. King's Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.
In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.
[Source: Interfaith Messenger]
For Dr. King, The Beloved Community was not a lofty utopian goal to be confused with the rapturous image of the Peaceable Kingdom, in which lions and lambs coexist in idyllic harmony. Rather, The Beloved Community was for him a realistic, achievable goal that could be attained by a critical mass of people committed to and trained in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence.
Dr. King's Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.
In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.
[Source: Interfaith Messenger]
Religious tolerance
Religious tolerance means:
*To extend religious freedom to people of all religious traditions, even though you may well disagree with their beliefs and/or practices.
*Religious tolerance does not require you to accept all religions as equally true.
Religious freedom means that you can:
*Without oppression, believe, worship and witness (or practice freedom from belief, worship and witness), as you wish;
*Change your beliefs or religion; and
*Associate with others to express your beliefs.
Our site mandate is to:
*"Promote religious tolerance and freedom;
*Objectively describe religious faiths in all their diversity; and
*Objectively describe controversial topics from all viewpoints."
Our motto:
"Study of the world's religions will lead to an understanding of religious diversity. This understanding can lead to inter-religious dialogue. Dialogue will lead to peace among religions. Peace among religions will lead to peace among nations."
http://www.religioustolerance.org/
*To extend religious freedom to people of all religious traditions, even though you may well disagree with their beliefs and/or practices.
*Religious tolerance does not require you to accept all religions as equally true.
Religious freedom means that you can:
*Without oppression, believe, worship and witness (or practice freedom from belief, worship and witness), as you wish;
*Change your beliefs or religion; and
*Associate with others to express your beliefs.
Our site mandate is to:
*"Promote religious tolerance and freedom;
*Objectively describe religious faiths in all their diversity; and
*Objectively describe controversial topics from all viewpoints."
Our motto:
"Study of the world's religions will lead to an understanding of religious diversity. This understanding can lead to inter-religious dialogue. Dialogue will lead to peace among religions. Peace among religions will lead to peace among nations."
http://www.religioustolerance.org/
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Extended piece by Adrian Worsfold on liberal groups, including SHP
Adrian's work on the synergy (or lack of same) between liberal and free Christian groups has been mentioned in an earlier post.
Here is his longer piece on the subject, which addresses among other groups, the Society for Humanistic Potential and its sister groups The Liberal Rite and the Independent Liberal Catholic Fellowship.
This work raises interesting questions about separation, unity and identity in a religious context which could well benefit from further exploration.
Here is his longer piece on the subject, which addresses among other groups, the Society for Humanistic Potential and its sister groups The Liberal Rite and the Independent Liberal Catholic Fellowship.
This work raises interesting questions about separation, unity and identity in a religious context which could well benefit from further exploration.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Seasonal greetings from the SHP
The SHP sends its warm greetings for the festive season to all.
Some will be celebrating Christmas or another religious festival. Many will rest; some will continue to work. Many will be with family and friends; some will be alone, and some will be with family and friends and still be alone. Some will be homeless and struggling to survive.
For many it will be a happy time; for some it will be a time of despair and bitter memories. The surface story of the holiday season is presented by our cultures as a common experience; behind that surface are a million different stories and emotions.
We at SHP pray that you will know peace and contentment in your life at this time.
Some good causes:
http://www.crisis.org.uk/
http://www.samaritans.org/
Some will be celebrating Christmas or another religious festival. Many will rest; some will continue to work. Many will be with family and friends; some will be alone, and some will be with family and friends and still be alone. Some will be homeless and struggling to survive.
For many it will be a happy time; for some it will be a time of despair and bitter memories. The surface story of the holiday season is presented by our cultures as a common experience; behind that surface are a million different stories and emotions.
We at SHP pray that you will know peace and contentment in your life at this time.
Some good causes:
http://www.crisis.org.uk/
http://www.samaritans.org/
Christmas quotations from Bishop John Plummer
There came, at a predetermined moment, a moment in time and of time,
A moment not out of time, but in time, in what we call history: transecting, bisecting the world of time, a moment in time, but not like a moment of time,
A moment in time, but time was made through that moment: for without the meaning there is no time, and that moment in time gave the meaning.
- T.S. Eliot, from “The Rock”
Never we know but in sleet and in snow,
The place where the great fires are,
That the midst of the earth is a raging mirth,
And the heart of the earth a star.
- G.K. Chesterton, from “A Child of the Snows”
And in the beginning was love.
Love made a sphere.
All things grew within it.
The sphere then encompassed
beginnings and endings,
beginning and end.
Love had a compass
whose whirling dance traced out
a sphere of love in the void;
in the center thereof
rose a fountain
- Robert Lax, from “Circus of the Sun”
A moment not out of time, but in time, in what we call history: transecting, bisecting the world of time, a moment in time, but not like a moment of time,
A moment in time, but time was made through that moment: for without the meaning there is no time, and that moment in time gave the meaning.
- T.S. Eliot, from “The Rock”
Never we know but in sleet and in snow,
The place where the great fires are,
That the midst of the earth is a raging mirth,
And the heart of the earth a star.
- G.K. Chesterton, from “A Child of the Snows”
And in the beginning was love.
Love made a sphere.
All things grew within it.
The sphere then encompassed
beginnings and endings,
beginning and end.
Love had a compass
whose whirling dance traced out
a sphere of love in the void;
in the center thereof
rose a fountain
- Robert Lax, from “Circus of the Sun”
Christmas thoughts from Bishop John Plummer
Bishop John Plummer has kindly sent his notes on his Christmas Mass, which we reproduce below:
"Whenever we come to Christmas, I remember the words from the close of Rudolf Steiner’s Foundation Stone meditation:
At the turning point of time
The Spirit Light of the World
Entered the Stream of Earthly Being.
Darkness of Night had held its sway.
Day-radiant Light streamed into human souls:
Light that gives warmth
To simple Shepherds’ Hearts.
Light that enlightens
The wise Heads of Kings.
O Light Divine,
O Sun of Christ,
Warm Thou our hearts,
Enlighten Thou our heads,
That Good may become –
What from our hearts we found
And from our heads direct
With single purpose of will.
That turning point of time, the hinge where time and eternity meet, is found in each of us. It is the hidden place, the original point, where the flame of our being bursts forth from the dark of the void, from the womb of mystery. As Angelus Silesius once wrote, if Christ is born in Bethlehem a thousand times, but not in us, then we remain unchanged.
Christmas is a cosmic event – the Light which lightens every person, which was in the beginning with God and through which all the worlds were made, now coming into the world in a new and renewing way. Christmas is also a historical/mythic event – the birth of Jesus from Mary, at a particular time and place. And Christmas is an ever living mystery in each of us, as the inner pattern of the cosmic, historical, and mythic events unfolds, hopefully, again and again.
In the words of poet June Jordan (later borrowed as a book title by Alice Walker), “We are the ones we have been waiting for.” The redemption of the world, the healing of the earth and her creatures, the future of humanity, is – at least potentially - being birthed in us. We may feel like a young, unknown, and somewhat frightened woman, giving birth to a baby in a cave used to house livestock. And yet what we are called to bring to birth, even in the midst of our messy and not-so-promising, all-too-human circumstances, is the very force that creates and remakes the cosmos.
As Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, all creation groans and travails in labor pains, waiting for the children of God to be revealed, for the Christ to be truly born in us. We know, as we read in 1 John, that we are even now the sons and daughters of God, and yet what we shall be as we grow in the likeness of Christ, as we become more and more partakers of the divine nature, is a great mystery. Holding firmly to the light of our deepest and truest being, and nourished by him who was laid as a baby in the feed trough of a stable, may we take further, trusting steps into that mystery this Christmas.
Holy and vulnerable God, be with us as we take you into our hands in this sacrament.
"Whenever we come to Christmas, I remember the words from the close of Rudolf Steiner’s Foundation Stone meditation:
At the turning point of time
The Spirit Light of the World
Entered the Stream of Earthly Being.
Darkness of Night had held its sway.
Day-radiant Light streamed into human souls:
Light that gives warmth
To simple Shepherds’ Hearts.
Light that enlightens
The wise Heads of Kings.
O Light Divine,
O Sun of Christ,
Warm Thou our hearts,
Enlighten Thou our heads,
That Good may become –
What from our hearts we found
And from our heads direct
With single purpose of will.
That turning point of time, the hinge where time and eternity meet, is found in each of us. It is the hidden place, the original point, where the flame of our being bursts forth from the dark of the void, from the womb of mystery. As Angelus Silesius once wrote, if Christ is born in Bethlehem a thousand times, but not in us, then we remain unchanged.
Christmas is a cosmic event – the Light which lightens every person, which was in the beginning with God and through which all the worlds were made, now coming into the world in a new and renewing way. Christmas is also a historical/mythic event – the birth of Jesus from Mary, at a particular time and place. And Christmas is an ever living mystery in each of us, as the inner pattern of the cosmic, historical, and mythic events unfolds, hopefully, again and again.
In the words of poet June Jordan (later borrowed as a book title by Alice Walker), “We are the ones we have been waiting for.” The redemption of the world, the healing of the earth and her creatures, the future of humanity, is – at least potentially - being birthed in us. We may feel like a young, unknown, and somewhat frightened woman, giving birth to a baby in a cave used to house livestock. And yet what we are called to bring to birth, even in the midst of our messy and not-so-promising, all-too-human circumstances, is the very force that creates and remakes the cosmos.
As Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, all creation groans and travails in labor pains, waiting for the children of God to be revealed, for the Christ to be truly born in us. We know, as we read in 1 John, that we are even now the sons and daughters of God, and yet what we shall be as we grow in the likeness of Christ, as we become more and more partakers of the divine nature, is a great mystery. Holding firmly to the light of our deepest and truest being, and nourished by him who was laid as a baby in the feed trough of a stable, may we take further, trusting steps into that mystery this Christmas.
Holy and vulnerable God, be with us as we take you into our hands in this sacrament.
Seasonal thoughts from Meister Eckhart and others
The Call to Order
"Dear children you must know that true spiritual life leads to perfect freedom from self and from all things. One cares nothing, seeks nothing, has nothing, wants nothing for oneself but frankly resigns oneself to the eternal law, always so clearly shown to the discerning...but which none may know except he be inwardly atoned and outwardly obedient to the discipline perfectly exemplified in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who live this life, they verily attain to unity, and to know the truth one has to dwell in unity and be the unity. He who is at all aware of his own mind knows and conceives naught of God's.
By the fact of his knowing and seeing he is not void.
The highest knowing and seeing is unknowing and unseeing.
To know aught of self is to know nought of God, and he who wants God to be his is putting an obstacle in his way.
'He who wants God to be his is in danger of spiritual pride' so says one of the saints.
With the righteous soul, the more God is to her the less he is hers, for God is all his own.
The right humble spirit is little in itself, because the way of truth is made known to it.
True spiritual poverty leads into it.
The soul will find no more humility than that of our Lord Jesus Christ, who himself declared 'I am not of myself."
from Sermons No 6, by Meister Eckhart
"We are nothing, the Light is All."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Our thanks and Christmas wishes to Bishop Charles Mugleston for these quotations.
"Dear children you must know that true spiritual life leads to perfect freedom from self and from all things. One cares nothing, seeks nothing, has nothing, wants nothing for oneself but frankly resigns oneself to the eternal law, always so clearly shown to the discerning...but which none may know except he be inwardly atoned and outwardly obedient to the discipline perfectly exemplified in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who live this life, they verily attain to unity, and to know the truth one has to dwell in unity and be the unity. He who is at all aware of his own mind knows and conceives naught of God's.
By the fact of his knowing and seeing he is not void.
The highest knowing and seeing is unknowing and unseeing.
To know aught of self is to know nought of God, and he who wants God to be his is putting an obstacle in his way.
'He who wants God to be his is in danger of spiritual pride' so says one of the saints.
With the righteous soul, the more God is to her the less he is hers, for God is all his own.
The right humble spirit is little in itself, because the way of truth is made known to it.
True spiritual poverty leads into it.
The soul will find no more humility than that of our Lord Jesus Christ, who himself declared 'I am not of myself."
from Sermons No 6, by Meister Eckhart
"We are nothing, the Light is All."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Our thanks and Christmas wishes to Bishop Charles Mugleston for these quotations.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
"Health and safety" addressed
"If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh."
Colossians 2:20-23 (ESV)
Note that such regulations are according to human precepts and teachings - ie. inherently secular, not of the divine essence. Note secondly that they have the appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion - that religion being the atheism and dogma of the far Left.
No wonder those who promote these things fear and seek to suppress Christianity.
Colossians 2:20-23 (ESV)
Note that such regulations are according to human precepts and teachings - ie. inherently secular, not of the divine essence. Note secondly that they have the appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion - that religion being the atheism and dogma of the far Left.
No wonder those who promote these things fear and seek to suppress Christianity.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Picture from the ASI TNG talk
This picture was taken at the ASI TNG talk and shows John Kersey with members of the audience.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
EAU President to addess Adam Smith Institute TNG
EAU President and SHP minister John Kersey is the invited speaker at tonight's meeting of the Adam Smith Institute The Next Generation. He will speak on issues of Christianity and liberty in the context of Liberal Catholicism.
Past speakers at the TNG meetings have included the Rt Hon. Michael Howard QC MP, the Rt. Hon. David Blunkett, Rt Hon. Michael Portillo MP, Andrew Neil, Boris Johnson MP, Matthew Parris (The Times), Stephen Twigg MP, Ivor Caplin MP, the Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, and Bill Emmott (former Editor of the Economist).
The event runs from 6 until 8pm and is by invitation only. A summary of the talk will be posted on the EAU website.
Past speakers at the TNG meetings have included the Rt Hon. Michael Howard QC MP, the Rt. Hon. David Blunkett, Rt Hon. Michael Portillo MP, Andrew Neil, Boris Johnson MP, Matthew Parris (The Times), Stephen Twigg MP, Ivor Caplin MP, the Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, and Bill Emmott (former Editor of the Economist).
The event runs from 6 until 8pm and is by invitation only. A summary of the talk will be posted on the EAU website.
The Inner Nativity
THE INNER NATIVITY
By Jim Belderis
And it came to pass in those days that a woman conceived a new life within her soul. As her reason would not have it, she put it from her mind. But her heart sent a messenger, saying, "Do not fear the inner life, for it is conceived of your own Holy Spirit. And you shall bring forth a living expression of your higher self. And your mind shall call this spirit-child its Savior."
And when the woman was great with child, great was her belief: she would be one with her true nature, that her inner Christ should be delivered. No longer would she seek the comforts of a separate self --there was no room for them in her innermost desire. For she would know her kinship with all, even at the lowest station and the humblest abode.
And lo, a star went before her, guiding her with the one Light to the sages of all time. This Light has always stood over knowledge of things divine, and it opened her to the treasures in the human soul: the truth of the stars reflected in every mind.
Within her also were the silent servants of her virtue, watching over her deepest reflections. Wisdom and compassion, patience and understanding -- these were the shepherds of her nobler nature.
They called forth a message of love that cast out every fear. They gave her the vision to behold the Divine in all her fellow beings, to care for them as they were, and to trust in the greatness they would become.
These were the good tidings she brought to all the people she met, for unto her was born that day the Savior of her humanity -- her inner Christ became the Lord of her life.
And this shall be a sign unto us: We ourselves shall find the divine child within us, clothed with the Sun that shines equally on all. Our own compassion will praise God in the highest, and shed light on the god-wisdom in everyone we care for.
And the quintessence of this praise shall be: "Glory to the godspark within us. Peace on Earth be our nature, and goodwill to all that lives."
With thanks to our friends at the LCC Orlando.
By Jim Belderis
And it came to pass in those days that a woman conceived a new life within her soul. As her reason would not have it, she put it from her mind. But her heart sent a messenger, saying, "Do not fear the inner life, for it is conceived of your own Holy Spirit. And you shall bring forth a living expression of your higher self. And your mind shall call this spirit-child its Savior."
And when the woman was great with child, great was her belief: she would be one with her true nature, that her inner Christ should be delivered. No longer would she seek the comforts of a separate self --there was no room for them in her innermost desire. For she would know her kinship with all, even at the lowest station and the humblest abode.
And lo, a star went before her, guiding her with the one Light to the sages of all time. This Light has always stood over knowledge of things divine, and it opened her to the treasures in the human soul: the truth of the stars reflected in every mind.
Within her also were the silent servants of her virtue, watching over her deepest reflections. Wisdom and compassion, patience and understanding -- these were the shepherds of her nobler nature.
They called forth a message of love that cast out every fear. They gave her the vision to behold the Divine in all her fellow beings, to care for them as they were, and to trust in the greatness they would become.
These were the good tidings she brought to all the people she met, for unto her was born that day the Savior of her humanity -- her inner Christ became the Lord of her life.
And this shall be a sign unto us: We ourselves shall find the divine child within us, clothed with the Sun that shines equally on all. Our own compassion will praise God in the highest, and shed light on the god-wisdom in everyone we care for.
And the quintessence of this praise shall be: "Glory to the godspark within us. Peace on Earth be our nature, and goodwill to all that lives."
With thanks to our friends at the LCC Orlando.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Wonderful site; wonderful music
http://thetreescommunity.com/
Optimism, passion and enlightenment unite for one brief moment that still resonates today.
Optimism, passion and enlightenment unite for one brief moment that still resonates today.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Random acts of kindness
WHAT WE REALLY NEED
"So many castes, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
When just the art of being kind,
Is all this sad world needs"
We Invite You To Visit & Participate In Random Acts of Kindness.......
http://www.actsofkindness.org
"So many castes, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
When just the art of being kind,
Is all this sad world needs"
We Invite You To Visit & Participate In Random Acts of Kindness.......
http://www.actsofkindness.org
Interfaith matters
THE RABBI AND THE IMAM:
Check out this inspiring story of Friendship, Co-operation and Hope.
http://www.islamfortoday.com/skapinker01.htm
===============================
INTERFAITH THEN AND NOW
By Rabbi R.J. Adler
A quick assessment of interfaith work in Orlando of the last fifty years would indicate that it has not been successful. The rule of thumb was to dwell on social action, to keep away from theological differences and to try and establish a friendly atmosphere among the various monothestic religions. This philosophy was based on the old notion that if you want to be friends with your neighbors, do not discuss religion or politics.
Not so, I hold today; on the contrary, if you cannot discuss these items intellectually, you don't have real friends or interfaith understanding. It is my opinion that in order to be successful in interfaith work we must know the fundamentals of each other's faiths, agreements as well as disagreements, trying to understand the whys and wherefores without trying to make any value judgements.
We could explore together that our religious heritage is based on ethnic culture, traditions handed down, historic experiences, inspired leadership and devoted masses. A brief overview to acquaint us with the major belief systems of the monotheistic faiths of our neighbors and our own, would be quite useful and even if not complete would provide underpinnings for our interfaith success.
Regarding Judaism, we could discuss the idea of One God, the Torah, Moses and Mt. Sinai, the Peoplehood of Israel, the covenant with God, making them the "Holy"and/or "Chosen" People. These items should make for a lively discussion. The modern divisions in Judaism, Orthodox, Conservative and Reform and where they differ would also be of interest to all.
When and where Jews pray and the content of their liturgy could also be fertile ground for investigation, followed by the Sabbath and holiday observances, at home and at synagogue, and comparing all this with the observances of our neighbors. Finally there are the many life-cycle events, from birth to death rituals, where we can discover our common practices as well as our differences.
In the past many Jews have been reluctant to learn about Christianity for two major reasons; one, not enough time; two, lack of instructors and fear of conversion. Today we have overcome these hurdles. It is important for Jews to understand the Christian God concept, including the Trinity, Original Sin, and Atonement.
We must learn the full impact of Jesus and Paul, the content of the New Testament and the concept of the New Covenant and New Israel. These are real differences, and we must take time at least to discuss them in a neighborly fashion. The new Christian doctrine of Love and Faith in place of the Law; the idea of No Salvation outside the Church or faith in Jesus; the requirement of the Sacraments, which require a Church official to invoke the presence of Jesus in the ritual--all these are unique to Christianity and not found in Judaism.
Again the emphasis of the Hereafter in place of this world is an exclusive Christian notion not found in authentic Jewish teaching, which stresses the performance of mitzvot in this world. Because of the nature of these theological discussions and delicate differences, a knowledgeable leader should be present to guide the group in the right direction.
Since the Moslem religion is growing in this country, we should include Islam in our interfaith meetings. They usually know as little about Judaism and Christianity as we know about Islam. We should know the basics, which are that Allah is One, Mohammed the last word of prophecy and that the word "Islam" or "Moslem" means "submission." Their Koran is their Bible and the Hadith is the Oral Law of Islam. The angel Gabriel handed the Holy Koran to Mohammed in perfect Arabic and it is used in prayer and study. They do not have a "new" or "old" Testament, except for what is quoted in the Koran.
Moslems have five pillars of faith: to declare that Allah is God and to pray five times daily; to give 2 percent to charity; to fast during Ramadan; and to make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime. Moslems also believe that at the end of life there is a Day of Judgement as well as reward and punishment. Friday is their main day of worship and jihad is both an internal struggle for piety and aggression externally against those who would denigrate the faith.
Will my new approach to interfaith work be more succesful than in the past?
[Source: Interfaith Messenger]
Check out this inspiring story of Friendship, Co-operation and Hope.
http://www.islamfortoday.com/skapinker01.htm
===============================
INTERFAITH THEN AND NOW
By Rabbi R.J. Adler
A quick assessment of interfaith work in Orlando of the last fifty years would indicate that it has not been successful. The rule of thumb was to dwell on social action, to keep away from theological differences and to try and establish a friendly atmosphere among the various monothestic religions. This philosophy was based on the old notion that if you want to be friends with your neighbors, do not discuss religion or politics.
Not so, I hold today; on the contrary, if you cannot discuss these items intellectually, you don't have real friends or interfaith understanding. It is my opinion that in order to be successful in interfaith work we must know the fundamentals of each other's faiths, agreements as well as disagreements, trying to understand the whys and wherefores without trying to make any value judgements.
We could explore together that our religious heritage is based on ethnic culture, traditions handed down, historic experiences, inspired leadership and devoted masses. A brief overview to acquaint us with the major belief systems of the monotheistic faiths of our neighbors and our own, would be quite useful and even if not complete would provide underpinnings for our interfaith success.
Regarding Judaism, we could discuss the idea of One God, the Torah, Moses and Mt. Sinai, the Peoplehood of Israel, the covenant with God, making them the "Holy"and/or "Chosen" People. These items should make for a lively discussion. The modern divisions in Judaism, Orthodox, Conservative and Reform and where they differ would also be of interest to all.
When and where Jews pray and the content of their liturgy could also be fertile ground for investigation, followed by the Sabbath and holiday observances, at home and at synagogue, and comparing all this with the observances of our neighbors. Finally there are the many life-cycle events, from birth to death rituals, where we can discover our common practices as well as our differences.
In the past many Jews have been reluctant to learn about Christianity for two major reasons; one, not enough time; two, lack of instructors and fear of conversion. Today we have overcome these hurdles. It is important for Jews to understand the Christian God concept, including the Trinity, Original Sin, and Atonement.
We must learn the full impact of Jesus and Paul, the content of the New Testament and the concept of the New Covenant and New Israel. These are real differences, and we must take time at least to discuss them in a neighborly fashion. The new Christian doctrine of Love and Faith in place of the Law; the idea of No Salvation outside the Church or faith in Jesus; the requirement of the Sacraments, which require a Church official to invoke the presence of Jesus in the ritual--all these are unique to Christianity and not found in Judaism.
Again the emphasis of the Hereafter in place of this world is an exclusive Christian notion not found in authentic Jewish teaching, which stresses the performance of mitzvot in this world. Because of the nature of these theological discussions and delicate differences, a knowledgeable leader should be present to guide the group in the right direction.
Since the Moslem religion is growing in this country, we should include Islam in our interfaith meetings. They usually know as little about Judaism and Christianity as we know about Islam. We should know the basics, which are that Allah is One, Mohammed the last word of prophecy and that the word "Islam" or "Moslem" means "submission." Their Koran is their Bible and the Hadith is the Oral Law of Islam. The angel Gabriel handed the Holy Koran to Mohammed in perfect Arabic and it is used in prayer and study. They do not have a "new" or "old" Testament, except for what is quoted in the Koran.
Moslems have five pillars of faith: to declare that Allah is God and to pray five times daily; to give 2 percent to charity; to fast during Ramadan; and to make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime. Moslems also believe that at the end of life there is a Day of Judgement as well as reward and punishment. Friday is their main day of worship and jihad is both an internal struggle for piety and aggression externally against those who would denigrate the faith.
Will my new approach to interfaith work be more succesful than in the past?
[Source: Interfaith Messenger]
Faith traditions and the Winter Solstice
FAITH TRADITIONS AND THE WINTER SOLSTICE
The Winter Solstice, also known as Midwinter, occurs around December 21 or 22 each year in the Northern hemisphere, and June 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere. It occurs on the shortest day or longest night of the year, often said to mark the beginning of a hemisphere's astronomical winter.
The word solstice derives from Latin, Winter Solstice meaning Sun set still in winter. Worldwide, interpretation of the event varies from culture to culture, but most hold a recognition of rebirth, involving festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations. Many cultures celebrate or celebrated a holiday near the winter solstice; examples ofthese include Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year's, Pongal and many other festivals of light.
BUDDHIST CELEBRATON:
BODHI DAY
http://www.budtempchi.org/bodhiwriteup.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_Day
http://nichirenscoffeehouse.net/Ryuei/BodhiDay.html
HINDU CELEBRATION
MAKARA SANKRANTII
http://www.sivanandadlshq.org/religions/makara_siva.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makara_Sankranti
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/festive/jan14.htm
ISLAMIC CELEBRATION
EID-UL-ADHA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Adha
http://www.festivalsofindia.in/Id%2Dul%2DZuha/
SIKH CELEBRATION
LOHRI
http://www.lohrifestival.org/lohri-festival.html
http://www.festivalsofindia.in/Lohri/
AFRICAN AMERICAN CELEBRATION
KWANZAA FESTIVITIES TO BEGIN ON DECEMBER 26
As an African American and Pan-African holiday celebrated by millions throughout the world African community, Kwanzaa brings a cultural message which speaks to the best of what it means to be African and human in the fullest sense.
http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/
http://www.tike.com/celeb-kw.htm
http://www.holidays.net/kwanzaa/
KOREAN FESTIVAL
TAEBORUM
http://www.clickasia.co.kr/about/h0115.htm
JEWISH CELEBRATION
CHANUKAH
http://www.holidays.net/chanukah/
http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday7.htm
THE ONLINE MENORAH
http://www.torah.org/chanukah.html
http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/holidays/hanukkah/nonfoodlinks.htm http://www.ou.org/chagim/chanukah/default.htm
http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/Lighting_listing.asp http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article.asp?AID=104014
TRADITIONAL LORE
Ancient Origins of Yule
http://www.candlegrove.com/yule.html
Ancient Origins of Winter Solstice
http://www.candlegrove.com/solstice.html
Holiday Links
http://www.candlegrove.com/sollink.html
Yuletide http://web.archive.org/web/20010810113039/http://ladyhedgehog.hedgie.com/yule.html
The Evolution of Christmas
http://www.oldandsold.com/articles03/santaclaus4.shtml
Winter Solstice Websites
http://www.religioustolerance.org/w_solsti.htm
CHRISTIAN
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY PREPARES TO CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF JESUS
"In him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." John1:4-5
The good news of Christmas shines forth upon the world like the summer sun in the southern hemisphere, like a sparkling star in the wintry northern sky. It shines brightly as "good news of great joy" in a world that surrounds us with disturbing news. It renews our faith in the promise of peace on earth, and calls us once again to praise God whose glory extends to the highest heavens. For centuries, the hope of peace inherent in Christmas has been a central affirmation of the church's faith. Each time that we celebrate the birth of Christ, we commit ourselves to live out this hope.
We celebrate the hope of Christmas as the promise of peace. We recall the birth of Jesus who came to us as a child threatened by violence, as a refugee whose family fled due to the ambitions of the powerful. In this season, in this world, we offer our thanks and praise to God for the hope we have in Jesus Christ, for the gift of God's love revealed in human vulnerability.
The good news of Christ's coming and dwelling among us is a source of illumination in this world, for through his life and teachings he has shown us the way that leads to peace. Jesus said, "My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives". This world gives us walls dividing peoples, security strategies, repressive laws and pre-emptive wars. Jesus calls us to discover responsible ways of living in unity as human beings.
Jesus Christ has given us the great commandment to love and calls us to overcome the spirit of vengeance, hatred and rivalry; he teaches us to pray for our enemies. Jesus has instructed us not to pursue our own interests at the expense of others, not to be envious when the disempowered are re-empowered, not to obstruct justice when those who have been deprived are restored. He has called us to discern the face of God in the neglected and abandoned.
He calls us daily to lives of obedience, through our faith and in our actions.
We in the World Council of Churches have chosen to live together in the light of Christ, the light that shines in spite of darkness, the light that defies the encircling gloom. We celebrate the hope of peace despite continuing conflicts, despite fear and suspicion, hatred and warfare, abuse and greed. Our world is pervaded by cultures of violence that exclude, subjugate, terrify and violate those who are identified by their persecutors as "different". It is alarming that many who engage in this behaviour attempt to justify themselves in the name of "God".
Amid this world's divisions and destruction, the good news of Christmas reminds us that God reaches out in love and calls us to a ministry of reconciliation. "in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."
Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia
World Council of Churches general secretary
---------------------------------------------
A HOLIDAY GREETING
Whatever Your Faith or Reason The Members of The Interfaith Community Hope That You Will Be Blessed With Unity, Peace & Joy This Holiday Season.
[Source: The Interfaith Messenger]
The Winter Solstice, also known as Midwinter, occurs around December 21 or 22 each year in the Northern hemisphere, and June 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere. It occurs on the shortest day or longest night of the year, often said to mark the beginning of a hemisphere's astronomical winter.
The word solstice derives from Latin, Winter Solstice meaning Sun set still in winter. Worldwide, interpretation of the event varies from culture to culture, but most hold a recognition of rebirth, involving festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations. Many cultures celebrate or celebrated a holiday near the winter solstice; examples ofthese include Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year's, Pongal and many other festivals of light.
BUDDHIST CELEBRATON:
BODHI DAY
http://www.budtempchi.org/bodhiwriteup.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_Day
http://nichirenscoffeehouse.net/Ryuei/BodhiDay.html
HINDU CELEBRATION
MAKARA SANKRANTII
http://www.sivanandadlshq.org/religions/makara_siva.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makara_Sankranti
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/festive/jan14.htm
ISLAMIC CELEBRATION
EID-UL-ADHA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Adha
http://www.festivalsofindia.in/Id%2Dul%2DZuha/
SIKH CELEBRATION
LOHRI
http://www.lohrifestival.org/lohri-festival.html
http://www.festivalsofindia.in/Lohri/
AFRICAN AMERICAN CELEBRATION
KWANZAA FESTIVITIES TO BEGIN ON DECEMBER 26
As an African American and Pan-African holiday celebrated by millions throughout the world African community, Kwanzaa brings a cultural message which speaks to the best of what it means to be African and human in the fullest sense.
http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/
http://www.tike.com/celeb-kw.htm
http://www.holidays.net/kwanzaa/
KOREAN FESTIVAL
TAEBORUM
http://www.clickasia.co.kr/about/h0115.htm
JEWISH CELEBRATION
CHANUKAH
http://www.holidays.net/chanukah/
http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday7.htm
THE ONLINE MENORAH
http://www.torah.org/chanukah.html
http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/holidays/hanukkah/nonfoodlinks.htm http://www.ou.org/chagim/chanukah/default.htm
http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/Lighting_listing.asp http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article.asp?AID=104014
TRADITIONAL LORE
Ancient Origins of Yule
http://www.candlegrove.com/yule.html
Ancient Origins of Winter Solstice
http://www.candlegrove.com/solstice.html
Holiday Links
http://www.candlegrove.com/sollink.html
Yuletide http://web.archive.org/web/20010810113039/http://ladyhedgehog.hedgie.com/yule.html
The Evolution of Christmas
http://www.oldandsold.com/articles03/santaclaus4.shtml
Winter Solstice Websites
http://www.religioustolerance.org/w_solsti.htm
CHRISTIAN
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY PREPARES TO CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF JESUS
"In him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." John1:4-5
The good news of Christmas shines forth upon the world like the summer sun in the southern hemisphere, like a sparkling star in the wintry northern sky. It shines brightly as "good news of great joy" in a world that surrounds us with disturbing news. It renews our faith in the promise of peace on earth, and calls us once again to praise God whose glory extends to the highest heavens. For centuries, the hope of peace inherent in Christmas has been a central affirmation of the church's faith. Each time that we celebrate the birth of Christ, we commit ourselves to live out this hope.
We celebrate the hope of Christmas as the promise of peace. We recall the birth of Jesus who came to us as a child threatened by violence, as a refugee whose family fled due to the ambitions of the powerful. In this season, in this world, we offer our thanks and praise to God for the hope we have in Jesus Christ, for the gift of God's love revealed in human vulnerability.
The good news of Christ's coming and dwelling among us is a source of illumination in this world, for through his life and teachings he has shown us the way that leads to peace. Jesus said, "My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives". This world gives us walls dividing peoples, security strategies, repressive laws and pre-emptive wars. Jesus calls us to discover responsible ways of living in unity as human beings.
Jesus Christ has given us the great commandment to love and calls us to overcome the spirit of vengeance, hatred and rivalry; he teaches us to pray for our enemies. Jesus has instructed us not to pursue our own interests at the expense of others, not to be envious when the disempowered are re-empowered, not to obstruct justice when those who have been deprived are restored. He has called us to discern the face of God in the neglected and abandoned.
He calls us daily to lives of obedience, through our faith and in our actions.
We in the World Council of Churches have chosen to live together in the light of Christ, the light that shines in spite of darkness, the light that defies the encircling gloom. We celebrate the hope of peace despite continuing conflicts, despite fear and suspicion, hatred and warfare, abuse and greed. Our world is pervaded by cultures of violence that exclude, subjugate, terrify and violate those who are identified by their persecutors as "different". It is alarming that many who engage in this behaviour attempt to justify themselves in the name of "God".
Amid this world's divisions and destruction, the good news of Christmas reminds us that God reaches out in love and calls us to a ministry of reconciliation. "in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."
Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia
World Council of Churches general secretary
---------------------------------------------
A HOLIDAY GREETING
Whatever Your Faith or Reason The Members of The Interfaith Community Hope That You Will Be Blessed With Unity, Peace & Joy This Holiday Season.
[Source: The Interfaith Messenger]
A Story of Hope
A True Holiday Story Of Simple Human Kindness...
SISTER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME
One day a woman was walking down the street when she spied a beggar sitting in the corner. The man was elderly, unshaven, and ragged. As he sat there, pedestrians walked by him giving him dirty looks. They clearly wanted nothing to do with him because of who he was -- a dirty, homeless man. But when she saw him, the woman was moved to compassion.
It was very cold that day and the man had his tattered coat -- more like an old suit coat rather than a warm coat -- wrapped around him. She stopped and looked down. "Sir?" she asked. "Are you all right?"
The man slowly looked up. This was a woman clearly accustomed to the finer things of life. Her coat was new. She looked like she had never missed a meal in her life. His first thought was that she wanted to make fun of him, like so many others had done before. "Leave me alone," he growled.
To his amazement, the woman continued standing. She was smiling -- her even white teeth displayed in dazzling rows. "Are you hungry?" she asked.
"No," he answered sarcastically. "I've just come from dining with the president. Now go away." The woman's smile became even broader.
Suddenly the man felt a gentle hand under his arm. "What are you doing, lady?" the man asked angrily. "I said to leave me alone."
Just then a policeman came up. "Is there any problem, ma'am?" he asked. "No problem here, officer," the woman answered. "I'm just trying to get this man to his feet. Will you help me?"
The officer scratched his head. "That's old Jack. He's been a fixture around here for a couple of years. What do you want with him?"
"See that cafeteria over there?" she asked. "I'm going to get him something to eat and get him out of the cold for a while."
"Are you crazy, lady?" the homeless man resisted. "I don't want to go in there!" Then he felt strong hands grab his other arm and lift him up."Let me go, officer. I didn't do anything." "This is a good deal for you, Jack," the officer answered. "Don't blow it."
Finally, and with some difficulty, the woman and the police officer got Jack into the cafeteria and sat him at a table in a remote corner. It was the middle of the morning, so most of the breakfast crowd had already left and the lunch bunch had not yet arrived. The manager strode across the cafeteria and stood by the table. "What's going on here, officer?" he asked. "What is all this? Is this man in trouble?"
"This lady brought this man in here to be fed," the policeman answered.
"Not in here!" the manager replied angrily. "Having a person like that here is bad for business."
Old Jack smiled a toothless grin. "See, lady. I told you so. Now if you'll let me go. I didn't want to come here in the first place."
The woman turned to the cafeteria manager and smiled. "Sir, are you familiar with Eddy and Associates, the banking firm down the street?"
"Of course I am," the manager answered impatiently. "They hold their weekly meetings in one of my banquet rooms."
"And do you make a goodly amount of money providing food at these weekly meetings?"
"What business is that of yours?"
"I, sir, am Penelope Eddy, president and CEO of the company."
"Oh."
The woman smiled again. "I thought that might make a difference." She glanced at the cop who was busy stifling a giggle. "Would you like to join us in a cup of coffee and a meal, officer?"
"No thanks, ma'am,"the officer replied. "I'm on duty."
"Then, perhaps, a cup of coffee to go?"
"Yes, ma'am. That would be very nice."
The cafeteria manager turned on his heel. "I'll get your coffee for you right away, officer."
The officer watched him walk away. "You certainly put him in his place," he said.
"That was not my intent. Believe it or not, I have a reason for all this."
She sat down at the table across from her amazed dinner guest. She stared at him intently. "Jack, do you remember me?"
Old Jack searched her face with his old, rheumy eyes "I think so -- I mean you do look familiar."
"I'm a little older perhaps," she said. "Maybe I've even filled out more than in my younger days when you worked here, and I came through that very door, cold and hungry."
"Ma'am?" the officer said questioningly. He couldn't believe that such a magnificently turned out woman could ever have been hungry.
"I was just out of college," the woman began. "I had come to the city looking for a job, but I couldn't find anything. Finally I was down to my last few cents and had been kicked out of my apartment. I walked the streets for days. It was February and I was cold and nearly starving. I saw this place and walked in on the off chance that I could get something to eat."
Jack lit up with a smile. "Now I remember," he said "I was behind the serving counter. You came up and asked me if you could work for something to eat. I said that it was against company policy."
"I know," the woman continued. "Then you made me the biggest roast beef sandwich that I had ever seen, gave me a cup of coffee, and told me to go over to a corner table and enjoy it. I was afraid that you would get into trouble. Then, when I looked over, I saw you put the price of my food in the cash register. I knew then that everything would be all right."
"So you started your own business?" Old Jack said.
"I got a job that very afternoon. I worked my way up. Eventually I started my own business that, with the help of God, prospered." She opened her purse and pulled out a business card. "When you are finished here, I want you to pay a visit to a Mr. Lyons. He's the personnel director of my company. I'll go talk to him now and I'm certain he'll find something for you to do around the office." She smiled. "I think he might even find the funds to give you a little advance so that you can buy some clothes and get a place to live until you get on your feet. And if you ever need anything, my door is always opened to you."
There were tears in the old man's eyes. "How can I ever thank you," he said.
"Don't thank me," the woman answered. "To God goes the glory. Thank God. He led me to you."
Outside the cafeteria, the officer and the woman paused at the entrance before going their separate ways. "Thank you for all your help, officer," she said.
"On the contrary, Ms. Eddy," he answered. "Thank you. I saw a miracle today, something that I will never forget. And... And thank you for the coffee."
She frowned. "I forgot to ask you whether you used cream or sugar. That's black."
The officer looked at the steaming cup of coffee in his hand. "Yes, I do take cream and sugar -- perhaps more sugar than is good for me." He patted his ample stomach.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"I don't need it now," he replied smiling. "I've got the feeling that this coffee you bought me is going to taste as sweet as sugar."
[Source: The Interfaith Messenger]
SISTER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME
One day a woman was walking down the street when she spied a beggar sitting in the corner. The man was elderly, unshaven, and ragged. As he sat there, pedestrians walked by him giving him dirty looks. They clearly wanted nothing to do with him because of who he was -- a dirty, homeless man. But when she saw him, the woman was moved to compassion.
It was very cold that day and the man had his tattered coat -- more like an old suit coat rather than a warm coat -- wrapped around him. She stopped and looked down. "Sir?" she asked. "Are you all right?"
The man slowly looked up. This was a woman clearly accustomed to the finer things of life. Her coat was new. She looked like she had never missed a meal in her life. His first thought was that she wanted to make fun of him, like so many others had done before. "Leave me alone," he growled.
To his amazement, the woman continued standing. She was smiling -- her even white teeth displayed in dazzling rows. "Are you hungry?" she asked.
"No," he answered sarcastically. "I've just come from dining with the president. Now go away." The woman's smile became even broader.
Suddenly the man felt a gentle hand under his arm. "What are you doing, lady?" the man asked angrily. "I said to leave me alone."
Just then a policeman came up. "Is there any problem, ma'am?" he asked. "No problem here, officer," the woman answered. "I'm just trying to get this man to his feet. Will you help me?"
The officer scratched his head. "That's old Jack. He's been a fixture around here for a couple of years. What do you want with him?"
"See that cafeteria over there?" she asked. "I'm going to get him something to eat and get him out of the cold for a while."
"Are you crazy, lady?" the homeless man resisted. "I don't want to go in there!" Then he felt strong hands grab his other arm and lift him up."Let me go, officer. I didn't do anything." "This is a good deal for you, Jack," the officer answered. "Don't blow it."
Finally, and with some difficulty, the woman and the police officer got Jack into the cafeteria and sat him at a table in a remote corner. It was the middle of the morning, so most of the breakfast crowd had already left and the lunch bunch had not yet arrived. The manager strode across the cafeteria and stood by the table. "What's going on here, officer?" he asked. "What is all this? Is this man in trouble?"
"This lady brought this man in here to be fed," the policeman answered.
"Not in here!" the manager replied angrily. "Having a person like that here is bad for business."
Old Jack smiled a toothless grin. "See, lady. I told you so. Now if you'll let me go. I didn't want to come here in the first place."
The woman turned to the cafeteria manager and smiled. "Sir, are you familiar with Eddy and Associates, the banking firm down the street?"
"Of course I am," the manager answered impatiently. "They hold their weekly meetings in one of my banquet rooms."
"And do you make a goodly amount of money providing food at these weekly meetings?"
"What business is that of yours?"
"I, sir, am Penelope Eddy, president and CEO of the company."
"Oh."
The woman smiled again. "I thought that might make a difference." She glanced at the cop who was busy stifling a giggle. "Would you like to join us in a cup of coffee and a meal, officer?"
"No thanks, ma'am,"the officer replied. "I'm on duty."
"Then, perhaps, a cup of coffee to go?"
"Yes, ma'am. That would be very nice."
The cafeteria manager turned on his heel. "I'll get your coffee for you right away, officer."
The officer watched him walk away. "You certainly put him in his place," he said.
"That was not my intent. Believe it or not, I have a reason for all this."
She sat down at the table across from her amazed dinner guest. She stared at him intently. "Jack, do you remember me?"
Old Jack searched her face with his old, rheumy eyes "I think so -- I mean you do look familiar."
"I'm a little older perhaps," she said. "Maybe I've even filled out more than in my younger days when you worked here, and I came through that very door, cold and hungry."
"Ma'am?" the officer said questioningly. He couldn't believe that such a magnificently turned out woman could ever have been hungry.
"I was just out of college," the woman began. "I had come to the city looking for a job, but I couldn't find anything. Finally I was down to my last few cents and had been kicked out of my apartment. I walked the streets for days. It was February and I was cold and nearly starving. I saw this place and walked in on the off chance that I could get something to eat."
Jack lit up with a smile. "Now I remember," he said "I was behind the serving counter. You came up and asked me if you could work for something to eat. I said that it was against company policy."
"I know," the woman continued. "Then you made me the biggest roast beef sandwich that I had ever seen, gave me a cup of coffee, and told me to go over to a corner table and enjoy it. I was afraid that you would get into trouble. Then, when I looked over, I saw you put the price of my food in the cash register. I knew then that everything would be all right."
"So you started your own business?" Old Jack said.
"I got a job that very afternoon. I worked my way up. Eventually I started my own business that, with the help of God, prospered." She opened her purse and pulled out a business card. "When you are finished here, I want you to pay a visit to a Mr. Lyons. He's the personnel director of my company. I'll go talk to him now and I'm certain he'll find something for you to do around the office." She smiled. "I think he might even find the funds to give you a little advance so that you can buy some clothes and get a place to live until you get on your feet. And if you ever need anything, my door is always opened to you."
There were tears in the old man's eyes. "How can I ever thank you," he said.
"Don't thank me," the woman answered. "To God goes the glory. Thank God. He led me to you."
Outside the cafeteria, the officer and the woman paused at the entrance before going their separate ways. "Thank you for all your help, officer," she said.
"On the contrary, Ms. Eddy," he answered. "Thank you. I saw a miracle today, something that I will never forget. And... And thank you for the coffee."
She frowned. "I forgot to ask you whether you used cream or sugar. That's black."
The officer looked at the steaming cup of coffee in his hand. "Yes, I do take cream and sugar -- perhaps more sugar than is good for me." He patted his ample stomach.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"I don't need it now," he replied smiling. "I've got the feeling that this coffee you bought me is going to taste as sweet as sugar."
[Source: The Interfaith Messenger]
Saturday, November 24, 2007
An introduction to Process Theology
"What is Process Theology?" by Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki is available as a free download at http://www.processandfaith.org/publications/RedBook/What%20Is%20Process%20Theology.pdf
This download is made available by Process and Faith, a program of the Center for Process Studies.
We do not agree with everything said here, nor do we offer such a link as anything other than a source of ideas and discussion on a spiritual basis. We also note that in the mainstream, Process Theology is too often mixed up with overtly political ideas such as socialism which do not, in our view, properly belong to the domain of faith.
Nevertheless, as a progressive, science-friendly theology with distinct interfaith implications, Process Theology is one of the most important philosophies of today, and one which has had widespread influence.
This download is made available by Process and Faith, a program of the Center for Process Studies.
We do not agree with everything said here, nor do we offer such a link as anything other than a source of ideas and discussion on a spiritual basis. We also note that in the mainstream, Process Theology is too often mixed up with overtly political ideas such as socialism which do not, in our view, properly belong to the domain of faith.
Nevertheless, as a progressive, science-friendly theology with distinct interfaith implications, Process Theology is one of the most important philosophies of today, and one which has had widespread influence.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Talk by Adrian Worsfold mentions the SHP and other independent groups
In his recent talk entitled "A Sociology of Progressive Religious Groups: Why Liberal Religious Groups Cannot Get Together", delivered to Sea of Faith Yorkshire in Bradford on 22 September, Dr. Adrian Worsfold featured The Liberal Rite, the I.L.C.F. and the Society for Humanistic Potential among the organisations he discussed. His talk can be read here in pdf format, and here in html. Further posts on his blog have discussed issues relating to the ISM.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Epicurus and process theology
Recently, Dr Sean Gabb of the Libertarian Alliance in the UK gave a most illuminating lecture on Epicurus. The talk is here in video and here in printed form. Dr Gabb consideres the printed version superior. There are some interesting connections between Epicurus and progressive Christianity that are worth exploring, and some pointers to where these might be encountered will be found below.
We should know more of Epicurus today. To encounter his ideas, through the study of Lucretius' schoolboy-friendly De Rerum Natura at the age of fourteen or so, is to find a kindred spirit against the trials of human existence. For Epicurus, the heart of the good life is in that pleasure which produces no pain. This counters the common misconception that Epicureanism is merely hedonism or sensuality without conscience. By contrast, it is about the search for contentment within one's own means and potential, and also about friendship as a route to that contentment. It is further through an understanding of our relationship to the world around us, and a freedom from the fear of death and the negative influences of religion.
The Epicurean world was not a theocracy, but it was a world in which fear of the gods and of priests was a dominant force. Epicurus was not an atheist, but he did not believe in the state-sponsored, hierarchical approach to religion that was of his time. In his view, the gods did not micro-manage human affairs; they did not justify war and sacrifice, and they did not punish the seeker after happiness through posthumous eternal torment. Epicurus urged people not to be afraid of dreams and other phenomena, and instead to look for a natural cause for these events. As a physicist, he sought to promote a view of the world informed and influenced by scientific rationalism.
In many respects, Epicurus promoted a system that was the forerunner of classical liberalism. At its heart is the principle of voluntary contract. Its result, in the pursuit of individual fulfilment without harm to others, is a just and equitably organized society. No wonder seekers after elite power, notably early Christians seeking to establish a hierarchical church, saw him as a threat. One of the great paradoxes of Christian belief is that Christianity is dedicated to the formation and development of the individual conscience, an objective that is immediately stymied by any attempt at centralization and the imposition of dogma. In those early years, also, the prevailing teachings of Gnosticism tended towards denial of the world in favour of paradise hereafter - a teaching, of course, that also has Islamic parallels which have particular resonance today. Such beliefs were not easily compatible with the insistence of Epicureanism that our present world was the means of the realization of the full pattern of human existence.
Dr Gabb goes on to discuss the ways in which Epicureanism fell from grace under this onslaught only to rise again with the Enlightenment. Along the way, there is a fascinating section on witchcraft in the seventeenth-century, in the course of which a clear explanation is given as to why belief in the supernatural was and is not incompatible with a rational view of the universe. From there, it is but a short step to the place of Epicurus in modern classical liberal thought, and specifically that of Jefferson and von Mises.
The Epicurean philosophy has interesting parallels with a liberal Christian viewpoint. We might start with Dr Gabb's conclusion, "...if you are content to live in a world in which you can make the best for yourself and your loved ones, in which there are no supernatural terrors, but instead a body of natural science that assists us in the pursuit of happiness, you too are an Epicurean." So in looking for a compatible religious approach, we are seeking one that admits of individual fulfilment, that places high value on co-operative human relations, that does not needlessly fear eternal punishment and that admits of scientific rationality.
The beginnings of a liberal approach to Christianity are in the realization that God is not a fierce tyrant, but a loving Creator. From this realization flows many things, notably the understanding of creation as the manifestation of divine grace and the fact that, if we seek God, he is present all around us in His work. This is the Process Theology of Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne, and as such is a major influence on several progressive Christian groups within the independent sacramental movement.
For the process theologian, God is not a coercive force, but instead acts through persuasion - the development of conscience, the provision of examples in human form, spiritual and historical heritage etc. Within the persuasive concept, reality has both a material and an experiential (spiritual) aspect contributing to an overall pattern of development through time. Everything within the universe - crucially not just human beings, but everything that makes it up - is an agent of free will and of self-determination, in which the role of God is to influence and to create possibilities - which may be acceded to or ignored as the case may be. Our earlier comment on the development of individual conscience offers an insight into the way in which this can be seen to work.
Not only is our universe in constant change because of this, but God Himself is also changing. In Hartshorne's dipolar theory, the abstract qualities of God - goodness, love, wisdom - remain eternal and unchanging, but in other respects God develops just as His creation does.
Returning to the theme of death and the afterlife, Hartshorne proposes that immortality is not subjective - it is not a personal continuation of life after death - but rather that immortality is objective - that on death all experience is absorbed into God, who contains all that was. This belief is similar to Buddhist and some Unitarian Universalist approaches to the afterlife.
These issues naturally raise important and crucial questions within Christology. As well as permitting a traditional personal belief in Jesus as Son of God and Saviour, Process Theologians such as John Cobb have developed approaches to Christology that, because of their rejection of dogmatism and exclusivity, allow other faiths to approach the essence of Christ without themselves professing Christian belief. This is not far away from the approach of +C.W. Leadbeater and other Theosophists within the Liberal Catholic Church, who sought to unify and establish commonality with other faith traditions.
Both Process Theology and Liberal Catholicism, then, are naturally compatible with an Epicurean philosophy. Once the emphasis has shifted from the need to appease God's wrath and avoid hellfire, to the recognition that science, rationalism and a loving God are compatible, profound spiritual insight becomes not only possible but inevitable. Above all comes the realization that, in the Epicurean principles of friendship and pleasure without harm to others, we have a way to create and perpetuate a more just form of society. That society is based on freedom and on non-coercion, and on co-operation through voluntary contract.
Most Process Theologians, and those influenced by them, such as Matthew Fox+ and +John Mabry, posit that the logical end of the social justice that comes from this unified world-view is largely utopian-socialist. This conclusion begins in the recognition of specific social problems and the need for action to address these problems. However, although the problems are correctly identified, the solutions to them (in the form most particularly of environmentalism - a leading strain of thought within Process Theology - and faith in governmental and pan-governmental action) are not explored in a way that suggests that their economic implications are understood to the full.
The most particular objection to these conclusions are that in backing socialism, their originators propose the imposition of a system which is fundamentally coercive, and which thus violates the principles of voluntary contract (the command of Jesus: love thy neighbour as you would love yourself) and free will.
The impetus to protect our natural environment and to treat ourselves and others in the spirit of namaste (honouring the divine within us) cannot be realized through coercion such as the passing of laws and the restriction of patterns of behaviour, but only through the development of the conscience. With that development comes also the recognition that the free will which is divinely ordained allows people to act in ways that are stupid, evil and wrong, and with which we disagree profoundly. We are certainly not called upon to condone these things, and indeed are often called upon to speak out against them, but we are likewise called to understand that the restriction of free will is an ultimately futile attempt by us to play God. Many things are surely a part of the creative plan, but conformity of intellect and character are not among them.
Thus individual spiritual development within an atmosphere of freedom and mutual respect should be at the heart of all educational processes, but it cannot be compatible with mass education systems that fail to address the needs of the individual. Ultimately, its true fulfilment is within the family, within the neighbourhood and within the personal growth that is the outcome of self-responsibility and the encouragement towards the fulfilment of potential. It is a process that leads to a libertarian society.
It can be seen, then, that the combination of Epicurean ideas with those of Process Theology can produce a unification of purpose that may well be useful. In particular, because both of these ways of understanding the world concentrate on earthly experience, they move us towards an immediacy of purpose; a realization that we cannot wait for others to improve our lot, but instead need to take the steps towards creative and spiritual fulfilment that will ultimately produce a lasting happiness.
The call to friendship in Epicurean philosophy and to love our neighbour within Christianity remind us that this process is ultimately turned outwards to those with whom we come into contact, both so that they may benefit from what we have to offer and so that we in turn may grow through their experiences and support. It is also present in the Liberal Catholic Act of Faith "we know that we do serve Him best when best we serve our brother man."
The concentration on the world as the immediate vehicle for our development also impels us towards a life of action and achievement, conceiving those words in their wide sense. If we have within us ideas, dreams, concepts that are capable of practical realization and that will improve the lot of our fellow human beings, we have a responsibility to bring them forward and not hide them under bushels for fear of being labelled unconventional or radical. We are part of a process of constant change and development, and that mutability is the direct result of the free will - the freedom - that is at the heart of the human spirit.
We should know more of Epicurus today. To encounter his ideas, through the study of Lucretius' schoolboy-friendly De Rerum Natura at the age of fourteen or so, is to find a kindred spirit against the trials of human existence. For Epicurus, the heart of the good life is in that pleasure which produces no pain. This counters the common misconception that Epicureanism is merely hedonism or sensuality without conscience. By contrast, it is about the search for contentment within one's own means and potential, and also about friendship as a route to that contentment. It is further through an understanding of our relationship to the world around us, and a freedom from the fear of death and the negative influences of religion.
The Epicurean world was not a theocracy, but it was a world in which fear of the gods and of priests was a dominant force. Epicurus was not an atheist, but he did not believe in the state-sponsored, hierarchical approach to religion that was of his time. In his view, the gods did not micro-manage human affairs; they did not justify war and sacrifice, and they did not punish the seeker after happiness through posthumous eternal torment. Epicurus urged people not to be afraid of dreams and other phenomena, and instead to look for a natural cause for these events. As a physicist, he sought to promote a view of the world informed and influenced by scientific rationalism.
In many respects, Epicurus promoted a system that was the forerunner of classical liberalism. At its heart is the principle of voluntary contract. Its result, in the pursuit of individual fulfilment without harm to others, is a just and equitably organized society. No wonder seekers after elite power, notably early Christians seeking to establish a hierarchical church, saw him as a threat. One of the great paradoxes of Christian belief is that Christianity is dedicated to the formation and development of the individual conscience, an objective that is immediately stymied by any attempt at centralization and the imposition of dogma. In those early years, also, the prevailing teachings of Gnosticism tended towards denial of the world in favour of paradise hereafter - a teaching, of course, that also has Islamic parallels which have particular resonance today. Such beliefs were not easily compatible with the insistence of Epicureanism that our present world was the means of the realization of the full pattern of human existence.
Dr Gabb goes on to discuss the ways in which Epicureanism fell from grace under this onslaught only to rise again with the Enlightenment. Along the way, there is a fascinating section on witchcraft in the seventeenth-century, in the course of which a clear explanation is given as to why belief in the supernatural was and is not incompatible with a rational view of the universe. From there, it is but a short step to the place of Epicurus in modern classical liberal thought, and specifically that of Jefferson and von Mises.
The Epicurean philosophy has interesting parallels with a liberal Christian viewpoint. We might start with Dr Gabb's conclusion, "...if you are content to live in a world in which you can make the best for yourself and your loved ones, in which there are no supernatural terrors, but instead a body of natural science that assists us in the pursuit of happiness, you too are an Epicurean." So in looking for a compatible religious approach, we are seeking one that admits of individual fulfilment, that places high value on co-operative human relations, that does not needlessly fear eternal punishment and that admits of scientific rationality.
The beginnings of a liberal approach to Christianity are in the realization that God is not a fierce tyrant, but a loving Creator. From this realization flows many things, notably the understanding of creation as the manifestation of divine grace and the fact that, if we seek God, he is present all around us in His work. This is the Process Theology of Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne, and as such is a major influence on several progressive Christian groups within the independent sacramental movement.
For the process theologian, God is not a coercive force, but instead acts through persuasion - the development of conscience, the provision of examples in human form, spiritual and historical heritage etc. Within the persuasive concept, reality has both a material and an experiential (spiritual) aspect contributing to an overall pattern of development through time. Everything within the universe - crucially not just human beings, but everything that makes it up - is an agent of free will and of self-determination, in which the role of God is to influence and to create possibilities - which may be acceded to or ignored as the case may be. Our earlier comment on the development of individual conscience offers an insight into the way in which this can be seen to work.
Not only is our universe in constant change because of this, but God Himself is also changing. In Hartshorne's dipolar theory, the abstract qualities of God - goodness, love, wisdom - remain eternal and unchanging, but in other respects God develops just as His creation does.
Returning to the theme of death and the afterlife, Hartshorne proposes that immortality is not subjective - it is not a personal continuation of life after death - but rather that immortality is objective - that on death all experience is absorbed into God, who contains all that was. This belief is similar to Buddhist and some Unitarian Universalist approaches to the afterlife.
These issues naturally raise important and crucial questions within Christology. As well as permitting a traditional personal belief in Jesus as Son of God and Saviour, Process Theologians such as John Cobb have developed approaches to Christology that, because of their rejection of dogmatism and exclusivity, allow other faiths to approach the essence of Christ without themselves professing Christian belief. This is not far away from the approach of +C.W. Leadbeater and other Theosophists within the Liberal Catholic Church, who sought to unify and establish commonality with other faith traditions.
Both Process Theology and Liberal Catholicism, then, are naturally compatible with an Epicurean philosophy. Once the emphasis has shifted from the need to appease God's wrath and avoid hellfire, to the recognition that science, rationalism and a loving God are compatible, profound spiritual insight becomes not only possible but inevitable. Above all comes the realization that, in the Epicurean principles of friendship and pleasure without harm to others, we have a way to create and perpetuate a more just form of society. That society is based on freedom and on non-coercion, and on co-operation through voluntary contract.
Most Process Theologians, and those influenced by them, such as Matthew Fox+ and +John Mabry, posit that the logical end of the social justice that comes from this unified world-view is largely utopian-socialist. This conclusion begins in the recognition of specific social problems and the need for action to address these problems. However, although the problems are correctly identified, the solutions to them (in the form most particularly of environmentalism - a leading strain of thought within Process Theology - and faith in governmental and pan-governmental action) are not explored in a way that suggests that their economic implications are understood to the full.
The most particular objection to these conclusions are that in backing socialism, their originators propose the imposition of a system which is fundamentally coercive, and which thus violates the principles of voluntary contract (the command of Jesus: love thy neighbour as you would love yourself) and free will.
The impetus to protect our natural environment and to treat ourselves and others in the spirit of namaste (honouring the divine within us) cannot be realized through coercion such as the passing of laws and the restriction of patterns of behaviour, but only through the development of the conscience. With that development comes also the recognition that the free will which is divinely ordained allows people to act in ways that are stupid, evil and wrong, and with which we disagree profoundly. We are certainly not called upon to condone these things, and indeed are often called upon to speak out against them, but we are likewise called to understand that the restriction of free will is an ultimately futile attempt by us to play God. Many things are surely a part of the creative plan, but conformity of intellect and character are not among them.
Thus individual spiritual development within an atmosphere of freedom and mutual respect should be at the heart of all educational processes, but it cannot be compatible with mass education systems that fail to address the needs of the individual. Ultimately, its true fulfilment is within the family, within the neighbourhood and within the personal growth that is the outcome of self-responsibility and the encouragement towards the fulfilment of potential. It is a process that leads to a libertarian society.
It can be seen, then, that the combination of Epicurean ideas with those of Process Theology can produce a unification of purpose that may well be useful. In particular, because both of these ways of understanding the world concentrate on earthly experience, they move us towards an immediacy of purpose; a realization that we cannot wait for others to improve our lot, but instead need to take the steps towards creative and spiritual fulfilment that will ultimately produce a lasting happiness.
The call to friendship in Epicurean philosophy and to love our neighbour within Christianity remind us that this process is ultimately turned outwards to those with whom we come into contact, both so that they may benefit from what we have to offer and so that we in turn may grow through their experiences and support. It is also present in the Liberal Catholic Act of Faith "we know that we do serve Him best when best we serve our brother man."
The concentration on the world as the immediate vehicle for our development also impels us towards a life of action and achievement, conceiving those words in their wide sense. If we have within us ideas, dreams, concepts that are capable of practical realization and that will improve the lot of our fellow human beings, we have a responsibility to bring them forward and not hide them under bushels for fear of being labelled unconventional or radical. We are part of a process of constant change and development, and that mutability is the direct result of the free will - the freedom - that is at the heart of the human spirit.
Roger Scruton - Stealing from Churches
The chapter "Stealing from Churches" - which appears in Roger Scruton's memoir "Gentle Regrets", has been made available online by the Catholic Education Resource Centre.
This work, which has much to say on faith to both the Catholic, the non-Catholic and simply the seeker after mysteries, has many delightful moments, but none quite so much as the story that Professor Scruton recounts that was in turn told by the late Monsignor Alfred Gilbey, sometime chaplain at Cambridge and in latter years resident of the Travellers' Club. Here it is:
"He also told with great feeling an apocryphal story concerning the composition of Leonardo’s Last Supper, which, in this version of events, the artist composed over many decades, constantly searching the streets and alley-ways of Milan for the ideal types upon whom to model the twelve apostles, and having begun with the beautiful and innocent face of a young man whose expression seemed to capture all the grace, dignity and tender compassion of Jesus. After years of labour the apostles had all been assembled, representing in their carefully differentiated expressions the fine gradations of hope, resolution, weakness and despair. Only one remained and that was Judas, whose baseness no citizen of Milan seemed to wear on his face, and to whom Leonardo began to despair of giving the absolute lifelikeness that was vital to his conception. At last, in a mean alleyway, a dark figure, engaged in some whispered transaction, caught the painter’s eye. Recognizing in those fear-filled, treacherous glances the lineaments of Judas, Leonardo enticed him to the cenaculo with a gift of silver.
The figure, shifty, suspicious and huddled into himself, is pushed into a corner and told to sit. Looking up at last, and recognizing the painter and the tools of his trade, he says, ‘You have painted me before.’
‘Have I?’ asks the startled painter. ‘When?’
‘Oh, a long time ago.’
‘And for what purpose?’
Judas turns to the nearly completed fresco that is taking shape above them.
‘There I am,’ he says, and points to Christ.
The story is characteristic. Although Alfred’s anecdotes range far and wide, and contain a large streak of satire and even flippancy, there is a single point of reference in all of them, and that is not Catholicism or the Church or Christian civilization or any socially constructed thing, but Christ himself, in all his mystical completeness and simplicity."
This work, which has much to say on faith to both the Catholic, the non-Catholic and simply the seeker after mysteries, has many delightful moments, but none quite so much as the story that Professor Scruton recounts that was in turn told by the late Monsignor Alfred Gilbey, sometime chaplain at Cambridge and in latter years resident of the Travellers' Club. Here it is:
"He also told with great feeling an apocryphal story concerning the composition of Leonardo’s Last Supper, which, in this version of events, the artist composed over many decades, constantly searching the streets and alley-ways of Milan for the ideal types upon whom to model the twelve apostles, and having begun with the beautiful and innocent face of a young man whose expression seemed to capture all the grace, dignity and tender compassion of Jesus. After years of labour the apostles had all been assembled, representing in their carefully differentiated expressions the fine gradations of hope, resolution, weakness and despair. Only one remained and that was Judas, whose baseness no citizen of Milan seemed to wear on his face, and to whom Leonardo began to despair of giving the absolute lifelikeness that was vital to his conception. At last, in a mean alleyway, a dark figure, engaged in some whispered transaction, caught the painter’s eye. Recognizing in those fear-filled, treacherous glances the lineaments of Judas, Leonardo enticed him to the cenaculo with a gift of silver.
The figure, shifty, suspicious and huddled into himself, is pushed into a corner and told to sit. Looking up at last, and recognizing the painter and the tools of his trade, he says, ‘You have painted me before.’
‘Have I?’ asks the startled painter. ‘When?’
‘Oh, a long time ago.’
‘And for what purpose?’
Judas turns to the nearly completed fresco that is taking shape above them.
‘There I am,’ he says, and points to Christ.
The story is characteristic. Although Alfred’s anecdotes range far and wide, and contain a large streak of satire and even flippancy, there is a single point of reference in all of them, and that is not Catholicism or the Church or Christian civilization or any socially constructed thing, but Christ himself, in all his mystical completeness and simplicity."
Saturday, October 13, 2007
SHP Philosophy: Herbert Spencer
"The great aim of education is not knowledge but action."
Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer
Thursday, October 11, 2007
SHP Philosophy: Matthew Fox+
"...the historical Jesus is very clear that it is best to "bear good fruit" and to increase one's talents and not bury them out of fear and pusillanimity. And the Christ talks also of "bearing fruit that will remain". Thomas Aquinas echoes this teaching when he makes clear that pusillanimity, the fear of our creativity, is a far greater sin than presumption, the willingness to go ahead and create like God. The Christ story reinstates our relationship with the whole, with our original nature, which is indeed to be images and likenesses of the Creator...
Borg distinguishes two kinds of wisdom teachers - those who reinforce the "ways to live" that a culture has to offer and those who subvert the prevailing wisdom and offer an alternative wisdom. The historical Jesus was of the latter type - he was subversive in his wisdom and offered alternative ways to live out values in his culture. How did he do this? He did it as any artist would do it: by drawing on materials and creating forms that were subversive. That Jesus was an artist of originality and political subversion cannot be denied...
Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann comments on the relationship between the prophet and the artist when he says,
"Every totalitarian regime is frightened of the artist. It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination, to keep on conjuring and proposing alternative futures to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one."
And Thomas Aquinas felt that the proper language of the prophet was always metaphor and symbol. Thus, there are no prophets who are not artists. Maybe this explains why a domineering culture does not see the "value" in educating artists and bringing alive the creativity in all students...
Another link between creativity and death is that when we create we are disturbing the peace (including the pseudo-peace that so often reigns). To disturb the pseudo-peace - which always benefits a few - is to make enemies, often enemies in powerful places, enemies with the power to kill and destroy...The artist is, one might say, asking for it. The artist draws the fire of creativity and thereby tempts death itself. Failure. Poverty. Isolation. But the artist has realized that the alternative to creativity is worse than death. It is boredom. A death of the Spirit. A soul-death. A concealment of one's truth. Hell."
Matthew Fox, "Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet"
Borg distinguishes two kinds of wisdom teachers - those who reinforce the "ways to live" that a culture has to offer and those who subvert the prevailing wisdom and offer an alternative wisdom. The historical Jesus was of the latter type - he was subversive in his wisdom and offered alternative ways to live out values in his culture. How did he do this? He did it as any artist would do it: by drawing on materials and creating forms that were subversive. That Jesus was an artist of originality and political subversion cannot be denied...
Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann comments on the relationship between the prophet and the artist when he says,
"Every totalitarian regime is frightened of the artist. It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination, to keep on conjuring and proposing alternative futures to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one."
And Thomas Aquinas felt that the proper language of the prophet was always metaphor and symbol. Thus, there are no prophets who are not artists. Maybe this explains why a domineering culture does not see the "value" in educating artists and bringing alive the creativity in all students...
Another link between creativity and death is that when we create we are disturbing the peace (including the pseudo-peace that so often reigns). To disturb the pseudo-peace - which always benefits a few - is to make enemies, often enemies in powerful places, enemies with the power to kill and destroy...The artist is, one might say, asking for it. The artist draws the fire of creativity and thereby tempts death itself. Failure. Poverty. Isolation. But the artist has realized that the alternative to creativity is worse than death. It is boredom. A death of the Spirit. A soul-death. A concealment of one's truth. Hell."
Matthew Fox, "Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet"
SHP Reflections: Jalaluddin Rumi
These spiritual window-shoppers,
who idly ask, 'How much is that?' Oh, I'm just looking.
They handle a hundred items and put them down,
shadows with no capital.
What is spent is love and two eyes wet with weeping.
But these walk into a shop,
and their whole lives pass suddenly in that moment,
in that shop.
Where did you go? "Nowhere."
What did you have to eat? "Nothing much."
Even if you don't know what you want,
buy something, to be part of the exchanging flow.
Start a huge, foolish project,
like Noah.
It makes absolutely no difference
what people think of you.
Rumi, 'We Are Three', Mathnawi VI, 831-845
SHP Philosophy: Leonardo da Vinci
"Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works."
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
SHP Reflections: Khalil Gibran
Your thought and mine
Your thought is a tree rooted deep in the soil of tradition and whose branches grow in the power of continuity. My thought is a cloud moving in the space. It turns into drops which, as they fall, form a brook that sings its way into the sea. Then it rises as vapour into the sky. Your thought is a fortress that neither gale nor the lightning can shake. My thought is a tender leaf that sways in every direction and finds pleasure in its swaying. Your thought is an ancient dogma that cannot change you nor can you change it. My thought is new, and it tests me and I test it morn and eve.
You have your thought and I have mine.
Your thought allows you to believe in the unequal contest of the strong against the weak, and in the tricking of the simple by the subtle ones. My thought creates in me the desire to till the earth with my hoe, and harvest the crops with my sickle, and build my home with stones and mortar, and weave my raiment with woollen and linen threads. Your thought urges you to marry wealth and notability. Mine commends self-reliance. Your thought advocates fame and show. Mine counsels me and implores me to cast aside notoriety and treat it like a grain of sand cast upon the shore of eternity. Your thought instils in your heart arrogance and superiority. Mine plants within me love for peace and the desire for independence. Your thought begets dreams of palaces with furniture of sandalwood studded with jewels, and beds made of twisted silk threads. My thought speaks softly in my ears, “Be clean in body and spirit even if you have nowhere to lay your head.” Your thought makes you aspire to titles and offices. Mine exhorts me to humble service.
You have your thought and I have mine.
Your thought is social science, a religious and political dictionary. Mine is simple axiom. Your thought speaks of the beautiful woman, the ugly, the virtuous, the prostitute, the intelligent, and the stupid. Mine sees in every woman a mother, a sister, or a daughter of every man. The subjects of your thought are thieves, criminals, and assassins. Mine declares that thieves are the creatures of monopoly, criminals are the offspring of tyrants, and assassins are akin to the slain. Your thought describes laws, courts, judges, punishments. Mine explains that when man makes a law, he either violates it or obeys it. If there is a basic law, we are all one before it. He who disdains the mean is himself mean. He who vaunts his scorn of the sinful vaunts his disdain of all humanity. Your thought concerns the skilled, the artist, the intellectual, the philosopher, the priest. Mine speaks of the loving and the affectionate, the sincere, the honest, the forthright, the kindly, and the martyr. Your thought advocates Judaism, Brahmanism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. In my thought there is only one universal religion, whose varied paths are but the fingers of the loving hand of the Supreme Being. In your thought there are the rich, the poor, and the beggared. My thought holds that there are no riches but life; that we are all beggars, and no benefactor exists save life herself.
You have your thought and I have mine.
According to your thought, the greatness of nations lies in their politics, their parties, their conferences, their alliances and treaties. But mine proclaims that the importance of nations lies in work – work in the field, work in the vineyards, work with the loom, work in the tannery, work in the quarry, work in the timberyard, work in the office and in the press. Your thought holds that the glory of the nations is in their heroes. It sings the praises of Rameses, Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal, and Napoleon. But mine claims that the real heroes are Confucius, Lao-Tse, Socrates, Plato, Abi Taleb, El Gazali, Jalal Ed-din-el Roumy, Copernicus, and Pasteur. Your thought sees power in armies, cannons, battleships, submarines, aeroplanes, and poison gas. But mine asserts that power lies in reason, resolution, and truth. No matter how long the tyrant endures, he will be the loser at the end. Your thought differentiates between pragmatist and idealist, between the part and the whole, between the mystic and materialist. Mine realizes that life is one and its weights, measures and tables do not coincide with your weights, measures and tables. He whom you suppose an idealist may be a practical man.
You have your thought and I have mine.
Your thought is interested in ruins and museums, mummies and petrified objects. But mine hovers in the ever-renewed haze and clouds. Your thought is enthroned on skulls. Since you take pride in it, you glorify it too. My thought wanders in the obscure and distant valleys. Your thought trumpets while you dance. Mine prefers the anguish of death to your music and dancing. Your thought is the thought of gossip and false pleasure. Mine is the thought of him who is lost in his own country, of the alien in his own nation, of the solitary among his kinfolk and friends.
You have your thought and I have mine.
Khalil Gibran: Complete works, available online here.
Your thought is a tree rooted deep in the soil of tradition and whose branches grow in the power of continuity. My thought is a cloud moving in the space. It turns into drops which, as they fall, form a brook that sings its way into the sea. Then it rises as vapour into the sky. Your thought is a fortress that neither gale nor the lightning can shake. My thought is a tender leaf that sways in every direction and finds pleasure in its swaying. Your thought is an ancient dogma that cannot change you nor can you change it. My thought is new, and it tests me and I test it morn and eve.
You have your thought and I have mine.
Your thought allows you to believe in the unequal contest of the strong against the weak, and in the tricking of the simple by the subtle ones. My thought creates in me the desire to till the earth with my hoe, and harvest the crops with my sickle, and build my home with stones and mortar, and weave my raiment with woollen and linen threads. Your thought urges you to marry wealth and notability. Mine commends self-reliance. Your thought advocates fame and show. Mine counsels me and implores me to cast aside notoriety and treat it like a grain of sand cast upon the shore of eternity. Your thought instils in your heart arrogance and superiority. Mine plants within me love for peace and the desire for independence. Your thought begets dreams of palaces with furniture of sandalwood studded with jewels, and beds made of twisted silk threads. My thought speaks softly in my ears, “Be clean in body and spirit even if you have nowhere to lay your head.” Your thought makes you aspire to titles and offices. Mine exhorts me to humble service.
You have your thought and I have mine.
Your thought is social science, a religious and political dictionary. Mine is simple axiom. Your thought speaks of the beautiful woman, the ugly, the virtuous, the prostitute, the intelligent, and the stupid. Mine sees in every woman a mother, a sister, or a daughter of every man. The subjects of your thought are thieves, criminals, and assassins. Mine declares that thieves are the creatures of monopoly, criminals are the offspring of tyrants, and assassins are akin to the slain. Your thought describes laws, courts, judges, punishments. Mine explains that when man makes a law, he either violates it or obeys it. If there is a basic law, we are all one before it. He who disdains the mean is himself mean. He who vaunts his scorn of the sinful vaunts his disdain of all humanity. Your thought concerns the skilled, the artist, the intellectual, the philosopher, the priest. Mine speaks of the loving and the affectionate, the sincere, the honest, the forthright, the kindly, and the martyr. Your thought advocates Judaism, Brahmanism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. In my thought there is only one universal religion, whose varied paths are but the fingers of the loving hand of the Supreme Being. In your thought there are the rich, the poor, and the beggared. My thought holds that there are no riches but life; that we are all beggars, and no benefactor exists save life herself.
You have your thought and I have mine.
According to your thought, the greatness of nations lies in their politics, their parties, their conferences, their alliances and treaties. But mine proclaims that the importance of nations lies in work – work in the field, work in the vineyards, work with the loom, work in the tannery, work in the quarry, work in the timberyard, work in the office and in the press. Your thought holds that the glory of the nations is in their heroes. It sings the praises of Rameses, Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal, and Napoleon. But mine claims that the real heroes are Confucius, Lao-Tse, Socrates, Plato, Abi Taleb, El Gazali, Jalal Ed-din-el Roumy, Copernicus, and Pasteur. Your thought sees power in armies, cannons, battleships, submarines, aeroplanes, and poison gas. But mine asserts that power lies in reason, resolution, and truth. No matter how long the tyrant endures, he will be the loser at the end. Your thought differentiates between pragmatist and idealist, between the part and the whole, between the mystic and materialist. Mine realizes that life is one and its weights, measures and tables do not coincide with your weights, measures and tables. He whom you suppose an idealist may be a practical man.
You have your thought and I have mine.
Your thought is interested in ruins and museums, mummies and petrified objects. But mine hovers in the ever-renewed haze and clouds. Your thought is enthroned on skulls. Since you take pride in it, you glorify it too. My thought wanders in the obscure and distant valleys. Your thought trumpets while you dance. Mine prefers the anguish of death to your music and dancing. Your thought is the thought of gossip and false pleasure. Mine is the thought of him who is lost in his own country, of the alien in his own nation, of the solitary among his kinfolk and friends.
You have your thought and I have mine.
Khalil Gibran: Complete works, available online here.
SHP Reflections: Toki Miyashina
Psalm 23 for busy people
The Lord is my pace-setter, I shall not rush;
he makes me to stop and rest for quiet intervals,
he provides me with images of stillness
which restore my serenity.
He leads me in the way of efficiency,
through calmness of mind;
and his guidance is peace.
Even though I have a great many things
to accomplish each day
I will not fret, for his presence is here.
His timelessness,
his all importance will keep me in balance.
He prepares refreshment
and renewal in the midst of activity,
by anointing my mind with his oils of tranquility;
my cup of joyous energy overflows.
Surely harmony and effectiveness shall be
the fruits of my hours
and I shall walk in the pace of the Lord,
and dwell in his house for ever.
- Toki Miyashina
SHP Reflections: Thomas Merton
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact
that I think that I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you. And I hope I have
that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart
from that desire. And I know that if I do
this you will lead me by the right road
though I may seem to be lost and in the
shadow of death. I will not fear, for you
will never leave me to face my perils alone.
From Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton
SHP Reflections: Meditation Tips from Worth Abbey
1. Find a quiet place free from distraction
2. Sit with your limbs uncrossed and with a straight back, hands in your lap
3. Simply breathe at regular speed but breathe deeply and relax
4. Close your eyes and think of a beautiful scene from the natural world
5. Take a simple phrase and repeat it continuously in time with your breathing
You may it helpful to use one of the following, traditional prayers
- Come and illumine my darkness
- Be still and know that I am God
- God be in my head and in my understanding
- Come Holy Spirit and inflame my heart
- Come Lord Jesus
From the Worth Abbey site by Fr. Patrick Fludder, O.S.B.
2. Sit with your limbs uncrossed and with a straight back, hands in your lap
3. Simply breathe at regular speed but breathe deeply and relax
4. Close your eyes and think of a beautiful scene from the natural world
5. Take a simple phrase and repeat it continuously in time with your breathing
You may it helpful to use one of the following, traditional prayers
- Come and illumine my darkness
- Be still and know that I am God
- God be in my head and in my understanding
- Come Holy Spirit and inflame my heart
- Come Lord Jesus
From the Worth Abbey site by Fr. Patrick Fludder, O.S.B.
On Bishop Warren Prall Watters, from Bishop Lewis Keizer's "The Wandering Bishops: Apostles of a New Spirituality"
No one who knew Bishop Watters will ever forget him. He offered his gifts of love freely with no strings attached. When he recognized spiritual talent and leadership in a person, he offered to empower his or her ministry with ordination. He believed that Spirit was the true Teacher, and that specific training for ordination in his own metaphysical modality was secondary to the ontological status of an enlightened soul. He was a wonderful student and teacher of the Mysteries of the Soul, and he conveyed whatever seekers sought without demanding obedience or the rights of a guru. He was a musician and healer of the soul.
Most of all, Bishop Warren Prall Watters always saw what was good in people. His naturally radiated unity and good will, inspiring all who knew him to strive for beauty, harmony, and Divine synthesis. His favorite motto was the Sanskrit word, Namaskar, “I honor the Divine in you.” He not only lived up to his motto—he inspired and generated it in others.
The Wandering Bishops: Apostles of a New Spirituality, Bishop Lewis Keizer, full text available here.
Most of all, Bishop Warren Prall Watters always saw what was good in people. His naturally radiated unity and good will, inspiring all who knew him to strive for beauty, harmony, and Divine synthesis. His favorite motto was the Sanskrit word, Namaskar, “I honor the Divine in you.” He not only lived up to his motto—he inspired and generated it in others.
The Wandering Bishops: Apostles of a New Spirituality, Bishop Lewis Keizer, full text available here.
SHP Reflections: Thoughts of Archbishop Herman Adrian Spruit, from Bishop Lewis Keizer's "The Wandering Bishops: Apostles of a New Spirituality"
“Mistakes are the occupational hazard of an innovator. But throughout his career shines the light of his integrity, a lone figure proclaiming an inspired and heart-felt truth.”
"People are to be loved, and things to be used. Immorality occurs when things are loved and people are used."
"Words are like clouds afire with the sun, but they are not the sun. At best they are rumors, not wholly true. but with truth in them somewhere; but even then very different from the truth. They are like a clever hand that clutches a butterfly and shows the beautiful thing. But the jeweled wonder is dimmed in the catching. A word is a hint, a suggestion, a flavor of something beyond itself, and then it is a living thing. When it becomes a description, a definition, a finality, it is a dead thing."
The Wandering Bishops: Apostles of a New Spirituality, Bishop Lewis Keizer, full text available here.
"People are to be loved, and things to be used. Immorality occurs when things are loved and people are used."
"Words are like clouds afire with the sun, but they are not the sun. At best they are rumors, not wholly true. but with truth in them somewhere; but even then very different from the truth. They are like a clever hand that clutches a butterfly and shows the beautiful thing. But the jeweled wonder is dimmed in the catching. A word is a hint, a suggestion, a flavor of something beyond itself, and then it is a living thing. When it becomes a description, a definition, a finality, it is a dead thing."
The Wandering Bishops: Apostles of a New Spirituality, Bishop Lewis Keizer, full text available here.
SHP Reflections: Etty Hillesum
I believe I should better do it: 'fall inward' in the morning before I go to work, for half an hour. To listen to what's inside of me. 'Sich versenken'. You can also call it meditation. But that word still gives me the creeps. (...) Let this be the goal of meditation: to become like a wide open space, without that sneaky brushwood taking away your vista. That something like 'God' can enter, just like there is something of 'God' in the Ninth of Beethoven. (June 8 1941)
(....) I only feel myself resting in God's arms, to state it a bit pathetically. Whether it is here at my most dear and safe desk or in a month or so in a bare room in the Jewish ghetto or perhaps in a working camp under SS surveillance, I will always feel myself resting in God's arms, I guess.
Yes, my Lord, I remain very faithful to you, through thick and thin. (...) The only human thing that still remains in these times is: to kneel before you, o God.
There are moments when I feel like a little bird, covered by a big protecting hand. (July 28 1942)
Read about Etty Hillesum, Jewish mystic, killed at Auschwitz aged 29, here.
(....) I only feel myself resting in God's arms, to state it a bit pathetically. Whether it is here at my most dear and safe desk or in a month or so in a bare room in the Jewish ghetto or perhaps in a working camp under SS surveillance, I will always feel myself resting in God's arms, I guess.
Yes, my Lord, I remain very faithful to you, through thick and thin. (...) The only human thing that still remains in these times is: to kneel before you, o God.
There are moments when I feel like a little bird, covered by a big protecting hand. (July 28 1942)
Read about Etty Hillesum, Jewish mystic, killed at Auschwitz aged 29, here.
SHP Reflections: Elaine Pagels
"Like circles of artists today, gnostics considered original creative invention to be the mark of anyone who becomes spiritually alive. Each one, like students of a painter or writer, was expected to express his own perceptions by revising and transforming what he was taught."
The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels, Vintage Books, 1979. See Eric Mader's discussion of Pagels' Beyond Belief here.
The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels, Vintage Books, 1979. See Eric Mader's discussion of Pagels' Beyond Belief here.
SHP Reflections: C.W. Leadbeater
On the True Man
What, then is the true man? He is in truth an emanation from the Logos, a spark of the Divine fire. The spirit within him is of the very essence of the Deity, and that spirit wears his soul as a vesture – a vesture which encloses and individualises it, and seems to our limited vision to separate it for a time from the rest of the Divine Life...Suffice it here to say that all three aspects of the Divine Life have their part in its inception, and that its formation is the culmination of that mighty sacrifice of the Logos in descending into matter, which has been called the Incarnation. Thus the baby soul is born; and just as it is “made in the image of God” – threefold in aspect, as He is, and threefold in manifestation, as He is also – so is its method of evolution also a reflection of His descent into matter. The Divine Spark contains within it all potentiality, but it is only through long ages of evolution that all its possibilities can be realised.
The appointed method for the evolution of the man’s latent qualities seems to be by learning to vibrate in response to the impacts from without. But at the level where he finds himself (that of the higher mental plane) the vibrations are far too fine to awaken this response at present; he must begin with those that are coarser and stronger, and having awakened his dormant sensibilities by their means he will gradually grow more and more sensitive until he is capable of perfect response at all levels to all possible rates of vibration.
That is the material aspect of his progress; but regarded subjectively, to be able to respond to all vibrations means to be perfect in sympathy and compassion. And that is exactly the condition of the developed man –the adept, the spiritual teacher, the Christ. It needs the development within him of all the qualities which go to make up the perfect man; and this is the real work of his long life in matter.
On Heaven
For heaven is not a dream, but a living and glorious reality. Not a city far away beyond the stars, with gates of pearl and streets of gold, reserved for the habitation of a favoured few, but a state of consciousness into which every man will pass during the interval between lives on earth. Not an eternal abiding-place truly, but a condition of bliss indescribable lasting through many centuries. Not even that alone. For although it contains the reality which underlies all the best and most spiritual ideas of heaven which have been propounded in various religions, yet it must by no means be considered from that view only.
It is a realm of nature which is of exceeding importance to us – a vast and splendid world of vivid life in which we are living now, as well as in the periods intervening between physical incarnations. It is only our lack of development, only the limitation imposed upon us by this robe of flesh, that prevents us from fully realising that all glory of the brightest heaven is about us here and now, and that influences flowing from that world are ever playing upon us, if we will only understand and receive them.
Impossible as this may seem to the man of the world, it is the plainest of realities to the occultist; and to those who have not yet grasped this fundamental truth we can but repeat the advice given by the Buddhist teacher: - “Do not complain and cry and pray, but open your eyes and see.” The light is all about you, if you would only cast the bandage from your eyes and look. It is so wonderful, so beautiful, so far beyond what any man has dreamt of or prayed for, and it is for ever and ever.” (“The Soul of the People “, p. 163).
An Outline of Theosophy by C.W. Leadbeater; new edition published by European-American University Press available online and in hardback print here.
What, then is the true man? He is in truth an emanation from the Logos, a spark of the Divine fire. The spirit within him is of the very essence of the Deity, and that spirit wears his soul as a vesture – a vesture which encloses and individualises it, and seems to our limited vision to separate it for a time from the rest of the Divine Life...Suffice it here to say that all three aspects of the Divine Life have their part in its inception, and that its formation is the culmination of that mighty sacrifice of the Logos in descending into matter, which has been called the Incarnation. Thus the baby soul is born; and just as it is “made in the image of God” – threefold in aspect, as He is, and threefold in manifestation, as He is also – so is its method of evolution also a reflection of His descent into matter. The Divine Spark contains within it all potentiality, but it is only through long ages of evolution that all its possibilities can be realised.
The appointed method for the evolution of the man’s latent qualities seems to be by learning to vibrate in response to the impacts from without. But at the level where he finds himself (that of the higher mental plane) the vibrations are far too fine to awaken this response at present; he must begin with those that are coarser and stronger, and having awakened his dormant sensibilities by their means he will gradually grow more and more sensitive until he is capable of perfect response at all levels to all possible rates of vibration.
That is the material aspect of his progress; but regarded subjectively, to be able to respond to all vibrations means to be perfect in sympathy and compassion. And that is exactly the condition of the developed man –the adept, the spiritual teacher, the Christ. It needs the development within him of all the qualities which go to make up the perfect man; and this is the real work of his long life in matter.
On Heaven
For heaven is not a dream, but a living and glorious reality. Not a city far away beyond the stars, with gates of pearl and streets of gold, reserved for the habitation of a favoured few, but a state of consciousness into which every man will pass during the interval between lives on earth. Not an eternal abiding-place truly, but a condition of bliss indescribable lasting through many centuries. Not even that alone. For although it contains the reality which underlies all the best and most spiritual ideas of heaven which have been propounded in various religions, yet it must by no means be considered from that view only.
It is a realm of nature which is of exceeding importance to us – a vast and splendid world of vivid life in which we are living now, as well as in the periods intervening between physical incarnations. It is only our lack of development, only the limitation imposed upon us by this robe of flesh, that prevents us from fully realising that all glory of the brightest heaven is about us here and now, and that influences flowing from that world are ever playing upon us, if we will only understand and receive them.
Impossible as this may seem to the man of the world, it is the plainest of realities to the occultist; and to those who have not yet grasped this fundamental truth we can but repeat the advice given by the Buddhist teacher: - “Do not complain and cry and pray, but open your eyes and see.” The light is all about you, if you would only cast the bandage from your eyes and look. It is so wonderful, so beautiful, so far beyond what any man has dreamt of or prayed for, and it is for ever and ever.” (“The Soul of the People “, p. 163).
An Outline of Theosophy by C.W. Leadbeater; new edition published by European-American University Press available online and in hardback print here.
SHP Reflections: C.W. Leadbeater in Retrospect by Hugh Shearman
C.W. Leadbeater had a personality early formed in a certain way, and he carried the eccentricities of that personality with him all through his later life. He wore about him the cloak of a conventionally high-minded Church of England clergyman, a sturdy conservative, a staunch upholder of Queen and Empire. It was a personality - or, as psychologists might now call it, a persona - which he found adequate and did not trouble to change. But repeatedly he outpassed its apparent limitations, carrying it lightly and showing himself capable of acting as if it were not there.
To understand him at all it seems necessary to recognize in him a powerful individually living largely in that wholly different order of experience of which he was from time to time the interpreter. He was one for whom the standards of his colleagues and critics often did not exist. He was able to take simply and naturally decisions which would have cost others great anxiety and much screwing up of courage. To drop the Church of England and every security which life seemed to hold for him and throw all his energies into the work of the Theosophical Society was probably a relatively easy course for him to take. Having reached a certain stage in the development of his new understanding of things, any other course would have been unthinkable to him, and there was probably little sense of conflict. His tranquil and good humored self-assurance in the most difficult and delicate situations arose from a "self" more deeply based than that of other people. He did not reply to critics; he did not defend himself or engage in controversy or argument; he did not criticize others. All these activities he regarded as ineffectual and irrelevant to the work that absorbed him. He was in no two minds about it. To him it was pointless to do these things and so he did not do them.
Such a person is deeply disturbing to others. His certainty is a standing reproach to their own instability. He was satisfied that he knew who he was, where he was going, what he had to do and why; and he was courteously content that others should similarly do whatever they had to do. It is an attitude which can render almost frantic those who do not know who they are and who are psychologically insecure.
C.W. Leadbeater in Retrospect, Hugh Shearman; full text available online here. Other writings by and about +Leadbeater are here.
To understand him at all it seems necessary to recognize in him a powerful individually living largely in that wholly different order of experience of which he was from time to time the interpreter. He was one for whom the standards of his colleagues and critics often did not exist. He was able to take simply and naturally decisions which would have cost others great anxiety and much screwing up of courage. To drop the Church of England and every security which life seemed to hold for him and throw all his energies into the work of the Theosophical Society was probably a relatively easy course for him to take. Having reached a certain stage in the development of his new understanding of things, any other course would have been unthinkable to him, and there was probably little sense of conflict. His tranquil and good humored self-assurance in the most difficult and delicate situations arose from a "self" more deeply based than that of other people. He did not reply to critics; he did not defend himself or engage in controversy or argument; he did not criticize others. All these activities he regarded as ineffectual and irrelevant to the work that absorbed him. He was in no two minds about it. To him it was pointless to do these things and so he did not do them.
Such a person is deeply disturbing to others. His certainty is a standing reproach to their own instability. He was satisfied that he knew who he was, where he was going, what he had to do and why; and he was courteously content that others should similarly do whatever they had to do. It is an attitude which can render almost frantic those who do not know who they are and who are psychologically insecure.
C.W. Leadbeater in Retrospect, Hugh Shearman; full text available online here. Other writings by and about +Leadbeater are here.
SHP Reflections: Epictetus
When you close your doors, and make darkness within, remember never to say that you are alone, for you are not alone; nay, God is within, and your genius is within. And what need have they of light to see what you are doing?
Read the Discourses of Epictetus in full here.
Read the Discourses of Epictetus in full here.
SHP Reflections: Bishop Jonathan Blake
Devout Christians shouldn't be surprised if atheists know God better than they do, or drug addicts better than the archbishop, or a Muslim better than their priest. Do not be shocked when God speaks to you more powerfully through the Sun than the Bible or through Eastenders rather than Songs of Praise or through walking over mountains rather than a church service.
That is why those Christians who think that the main way they will grow in their knowledge of God is by sitting in church are very much mistaken. It is one of the last places that you are likely to discover God.
Go out into the world. Read widely, including the Bible and other spiritual works, but also anything and everything. Live fully, have open arms towards those you meet, listen to their opinions, ideas and insights, don't be afraid of life and what it offers and within the energetic nature of all this rich and varied experience, if you are looking and if you desire to see, will grow a spiritual awareness and a sense of God.
God's word is a living conversation spoken in the inter-weaving of all our lives.
--
In contrast, there are some who would not be seen dead , in a church but they know their faults, try hard, love life, protect their wisdom and have time for and would share their last penny with anyone. These are the true Christians, the genuine believers.
If it is ever a choice between religion and reality, between church and conscience, between liturgy and love, choose reality, conscience and love every time. If asked to burn the Bible, renounce your faith and put the sacrament of bread and wine down the toilet, do it, if it means protecting someone. There is nothing in religion or about God which is ever worth causing damage to your soul or to your family or to others.
--
If you are one of those people who has a belief tucked deep down within you who is quite comfortable in saying a prayer now and then as the need arises, who quite likes popping into church at Christmas and harvest and who intends to try and live in a Christian way, to you I would want to raise a toast. You are the safest and the best form of Christian I have met. Do not let anyone knock your faith or make you question your status as a believer. You are as much a part of the church as any churchgoer is, and God loves you just the way you are.
You keep the true faith alive and well and preserve it from the zany, the fanatics and the over the top brigade, as well as from the dour, the stalwarts and the stick in the muds. You're the salt of the earth, the gentle light that pervades our world.
For God's Sake, Don't Go to Church, Bishop Jonathan Blake; full text available online here.
That is why those Christians who think that the main way they will grow in their knowledge of God is by sitting in church are very much mistaken. It is one of the last places that you are likely to discover God.
Go out into the world. Read widely, including the Bible and other spiritual works, but also anything and everything. Live fully, have open arms towards those you meet, listen to their opinions, ideas and insights, don't be afraid of life and what it offers and within the energetic nature of all this rich and varied experience, if you are looking and if you desire to see, will grow a spiritual awareness and a sense of God.
God's word is a living conversation spoken in the inter-weaving of all our lives.
--
In contrast, there are some who would not be seen dead , in a church but they know their faults, try hard, love life, protect their wisdom and have time for and would share their last penny with anyone. These are the true Christians, the genuine believers.
If it is ever a choice between religion and reality, between church and conscience, between liturgy and love, choose reality, conscience and love every time. If asked to burn the Bible, renounce your faith and put the sacrament of bread and wine down the toilet, do it, if it means protecting someone. There is nothing in religion or about God which is ever worth causing damage to your soul or to your family or to others.
--
If you are one of those people who has a belief tucked deep down within you who is quite comfortable in saying a prayer now and then as the need arises, who quite likes popping into church at Christmas and harvest and who intends to try and live in a Christian way, to you I would want to raise a toast. You are the safest and the best form of Christian I have met. Do not let anyone knock your faith or make you question your status as a believer. You are as much a part of the church as any churchgoer is, and God loves you just the way you are.
You keep the true faith alive and well and preserve it from the zany, the fanatics and the over the top brigade, as well as from the dour, the stalwarts and the stick in the muds. You're the salt of the earth, the gentle light that pervades our world.
For God's Sake, Don't Go to Church, Bishop Jonathan Blake; full text available online here.
SHP Reflections: Tau Rosamunde Miller
The Gnostic is neither an ascetic nor a theologian and need not even be particularly religious in the conventional way. The Gnostic is an artist. The Gnostic's brushes, colours, and canvasses are her own body, his own psyche. The Gnostic's technique is one of living and observing life and recognizing it for what it is, without illusions of security, glamour, or despair. The Gnostic continually explores, always seeking the core of the nature of things. But gnosis, like art, cannot be taught. The flame of living gnosis awakens and rises of its own accord. All we can provide is a nest within our heart, a sanctuary of repose where the breath of the Infinite may whisper its secrets.
The Allure of Gnosticism, extract by Tau Rosamonde Miller, ed. Segal et al, Illinois, USA, Open Court Publishing Company, 1995. Buy this book here.
The Allure of Gnosticism, extract by Tau Rosamonde Miller, ed. Segal et al, Illinois, USA, Open Court Publishing Company, 1995. Buy this book here.
SHP Reflections: Bishop Pat Buckley
I believe that in this world it is impossible to understand God.
I believe that God made this wonderful universe and all that exists.
I can find God in nature, in animals, in birds and the environment.
I believe that God made all men and women,
That He made them all equal,
And that He loves and cherishes them all equally.
I believe that the whole human race is the family of God.
I believe that there may be intelligent life on other planets
And if so, they too are part of God's family.
I hold that religion and faith are two different things,
That religion can be both good and bad
And that it is spirituality that counts.
For me your religion is an accident of your birth
Or a gift of God's great providential diversity.
There is no one true church.
All churches and all religions contain aspects of the truth.
But only God is truth.
No man is infallible.
A Buddhist or a good atheist is as acceptable to God as a good Catholic.
I believe that sex is good and so is the body.
The only sexual act that is sinful is the one that uses or abuses.
I believe in people, especially suffering people.
I believe in the power of weakness.
I believe that all men and women will be saved.
I believe in a packed Heaven and an empty Hell.
And even Satan might get another chance.
I believe in the freedom of God's sons and daughters.
I believe that dogma is often evil.
I believe that life is a journey towards God
And that no one has the right to insist that you go a certain road.
I believe that God and reality are too big for my poor words.
I believe therefore that I am only at a beginning.
Only knocking at a door.
And I believe that the best is yet to come.
Visit independent bishop Pat Buckley's website here.
I believe that God made this wonderful universe and all that exists.
I can find God in nature, in animals, in birds and the environment.
I believe that God made all men and women,
That He made them all equal,
And that He loves and cherishes them all equally.
I believe that the whole human race is the family of God.
I believe that there may be intelligent life on other planets
And if so, they too are part of God's family.
I hold that religion and faith are two different things,
That religion can be both good and bad
And that it is spirituality that counts.
For me your religion is an accident of your birth
Or a gift of God's great providential diversity.
There is no one true church.
All churches and all religions contain aspects of the truth.
But only God is truth.
No man is infallible.
A Buddhist or a good atheist is as acceptable to God as a good Catholic.
I believe that sex is good and so is the body.
The only sexual act that is sinful is the one that uses or abuses.
I believe in people, especially suffering people.
I believe in the power of weakness.
I believe that all men and women will be saved.
I believe in a packed Heaven and an empty Hell.
And even Satan might get another chance.
I believe in the freedom of God's sons and daughters.
I believe that dogma is often evil.
I believe that life is a journey towards God
And that no one has the right to insist that you go a certain road.
I believe that God and reality are too big for my poor words.
I believe therefore that I am only at a beginning.
Only knocking at a door.
And I believe that the best is yet to come.
Visit independent bishop Pat Buckley's website here.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
SHP Reflections: Communion with God
Extract from an Address called "Communion with God" (through the deep trance mediumship of Miss Winifred Moyes)
..."So, in regard to those who differ from you, I would ask you to try and adopt this attitude: to listen with patience while they expound the Scriptures, or give their views on the religious life of the people narrated therein - to listen with attention and respect because many of these are sincere, many wish with all their heart to do God's Will and self has been laid aside.
Yet, at the same time to remember this: that because you have obeyed the Voice of the Spirit, so God has been able to teach you direct, and so the Truth - what you can bear of it - has been presented to you free from everything of the world, free from the least of the chains of the physical mind.
Centred in the comfort of the thought that what you have learned - little though it may be - what you have learned is God's Truth coming to you only and solely by His Grace through the power of the Holy Spirit, you can stand in peace, in security - not condemning, not judging others, but sending towards them thoughts of help, and prayers that the greater Light may come."
From http://christianspiritualism.org (currently offline)
..."So, in regard to those who differ from you, I would ask you to try and adopt this attitude: to listen with patience while they expound the Scriptures, or give their views on the religious life of the people narrated therein - to listen with attention and respect because many of these are sincere, many wish with all their heart to do God's Will and self has been laid aside.
Yet, at the same time to remember this: that because you have obeyed the Voice of the Spirit, so God has been able to teach you direct, and so the Truth - what you can bear of it - has been presented to you free from everything of the world, free from the least of the chains of the physical mind.
Centred in the comfort of the thought that what you have learned - little though it may be - what you have learned is God's Truth coming to you only and solely by His Grace through the power of the Holy Spirit, you can stand in peace, in security - not condemning, not judging others, but sending towards them thoughts of help, and prayers that the greater Light may come."
From http://christianspiritualism.org (currently offline)
SHP Reflections: Bishop Jonathan Blake
Beautiful, Glorious, Wonderful You
Yes, with your strengths and weaknesses, your successes and failures, your darkness and your light, you have the right to be. You have the right to believe in yourself, to love yourself and be proud of yourself. Do not let the soul-killers, the life-haters, the rabid religio-nuts, the cramping ideologues, the destroying dogmatists, the don't-ers and can't-ers and shouldn't-ers, the God says this and the Bible says that' ers, the what would people think'ers, the control freaks found under every stone and round every corner in every profession and in all walks of life--do not let them get at you, do not let them trap you, do not let them squeeze you into the pit of conformity.
You are you. There is no one on earth like you. There never has been and never will be. Your views, approach, belief, prayers, thoughts, actions and life will be as no other. You're a gift to this world. A precious life.
Love yourself. Allow others to love you. Love others. Love life in all its incredible beauty.
For God's Sake, Don't Go to Church, Bishop Jonathan Blake; full text available online here.
Yes, with your strengths and weaknesses, your successes and failures, your darkness and your light, you have the right to be. You have the right to believe in yourself, to love yourself and be proud of yourself. Do not let the soul-killers, the life-haters, the rabid religio-nuts, the cramping ideologues, the destroying dogmatists, the don't-ers and can't-ers and shouldn't-ers, the God says this and the Bible says that' ers, the what would people think'ers, the control freaks found under every stone and round every corner in every profession and in all walks of life--do not let them get at you, do not let them trap you, do not let them squeeze you into the pit of conformity.
You are you. There is no one on earth like you. There never has been and never will be. Your views, approach, belief, prayers, thoughts, actions and life will be as no other. You're a gift to this world. A precious life.
Love yourself. Allow others to love you. Love others. Love life in all its incredible beauty.
For God's Sake, Don't Go to Church, Bishop Jonathan Blake; full text available online here.
SHP Reflections: Meister Eckhart
Sayings of Meister Eckhart
God is infinite in his simplicity and simple in his infinity. Therefore he is everywhere and is everywhere complete. He is everywhere on account of his infinity, and is everywhere complete on account of his simplicity. Only God flows into all things, their very essences. Nothing else flows into something else. God is in the innermost part of each and every thing, only in its innermost part. [Sermon LW XXIX]
The One descends into everything and into each single things, yet remaining the One that unites what is distinct. [Sermon LW XXIX]
God . . . is the being of all beings. [Sermon LW XXIX]
All things are contained in the One, by virtue of the fact that it is one. for all multiplicity is one, and is one thing, and is in and through the One. . . The One is not distinct from all things. Therefore all things in the fullness of being are in the One by virtue of its indistinction and unity. [Sermon LW XXIX]
When we know creatures in God, then that is called a `morning knowledge,' and in this way we see creatures without any distinctions, stripped of images and likeness in the Oneness which God himself is. [On the Noble Man] All creatures are the utterance of God. If my mouth speaks and declares God, so too does the being of a stone. [Sermon DW 53]
Meister Eckhart says, we ought not to have to ask God for his grace, his divine goodness, we ought to contrive to take it ourselves without asking. God has gotten himself in his divine outflow just as the flowing ...
Mind you, all our perfection, our whole happiness, depends on our traversing and transcending creature, time, and state; and entering the cause that is causeless.
God being still sets everything going. So desirable a thing starts them all running back into that from whence they came: to that which stays unchanged in its own self; and the nobler the thing the more jubilantly it runs.
What could be sweeter than to have a friend with whom, as with yourself, you can discuss all that is in your heart?
Steve Shanks' Meister Eckhart page is here.
God is infinite in his simplicity and simple in his infinity. Therefore he is everywhere and is everywhere complete. He is everywhere on account of his infinity, and is everywhere complete on account of his simplicity. Only God flows into all things, their very essences. Nothing else flows into something else. God is in the innermost part of each and every thing, only in its innermost part. [Sermon LW XXIX]
The One descends into everything and into each single things, yet remaining the One that unites what is distinct. [Sermon LW XXIX]
God . . . is the being of all beings. [Sermon LW XXIX]
All things are contained in the One, by virtue of the fact that it is one. for all multiplicity is one, and is one thing, and is in and through the One. . . The One is not distinct from all things. Therefore all things in the fullness of being are in the One by virtue of its indistinction and unity. [Sermon LW XXIX]
When we know creatures in God, then that is called a `morning knowledge,' and in this way we see creatures without any distinctions, stripped of images and likeness in the Oneness which God himself is. [On the Noble Man] All creatures are the utterance of God. If my mouth speaks and declares God, so too does the being of a stone. [Sermon DW 53]
Meister Eckhart says, we ought not to have to ask God for his grace, his divine goodness, we ought to contrive to take it ourselves without asking. God has gotten himself in his divine outflow just as the flowing ...
Mind you, all our perfection, our whole happiness, depends on our traversing and transcending creature, time, and state; and entering the cause that is causeless.
God being still sets everything going. So desirable a thing starts them all running back into that from whence they came: to that which stays unchanged in its own self; and the nobler the thing the more jubilantly it runs.
What could be sweeter than to have a friend with whom, as with yourself, you can discuss all that is in your heart?
Steve Shanks' Meister Eckhart page is here.
SHP Reflections: Matthew Fox
1 God is both Mother and Father.
4. God the Punitive Father is not a God worth honoring but a false god and an idol that serves empire-builders. The notion of a punitive, all-male God, iscontrary to the full nature of the Godhead who is as much female and motherly as it is masculine and fatherly.
5 “All the names we give to God come from an understanding of ourselves.” (Eckhart) Thus people who worship a punitive father are themselves punitive.
6 Theism (the idea that God is ‘out there’ or above and beyond the universe) is false. All things are in God and God is in all things (panentheism).
7 Everyone is born a mystic and a lover who experiences the unity of things and all are called to keep this mystic or lover of life alive.
8 All are called to be prophets which is to interfere with injustice.
10 God loves all of creation and science can help us more deeply penetrate and appreciate the mysteries and wisdom of God in creation. Science is no enemy oftrue religion.
11 Religion is not necessary but spirituality is.
12 “Jesus does not call us to a new religion but to life.” (Bonhoeffer) Spirituality is living life at a depth of newness and gratitude, courage and creativity, trustand letting go, compassion and justice.
23 Sexuality is a sacred act and a spiritual experience, a theophany (revelation of the Divine), a mystical experience. It is holy and deserves to be honored as such.
24 Creativity is both humanity’s greatest gift and its most powerful weapon for evil and so it ought to be both encouraged and steered to humanity’s most God-like activity which all religions agree is: Compassion.
27 Ideology is not theology and ideology endangers the faith because it replaces thinking with obedience, and distracts from the responsibility of theology to adapt the wisdom of the past to today’s needs. Instead of theology it demands loyalty oaths to the past.
30 Creating a church of Sycophants is not a holy thing. Sycophants (Webster’s dictionary defines them as “servile self-seeking flatterers”) are not spiritual people for their only virtue is obedience. A Society of Sycophants — sycophant clergy, sycophant seminarians, sycophant bishops, sycophant cardinals, sycophant religious orders of Opus Dei, Legioneers of Christ and Communion and Liberation, and the sycophant press--do not represent in any way the teachings or theperson of the historical Jesus who chose to stand up to power rather than amassing it.
32 Original sin is an ultimate expression of a punitive father God and is not a Biblical teaching. But original blessing (goodness and grace) is biblical.
45 “Joy is the human’s noblest act.” (Aquinas) Is our culture and its professions, education and religion, promoting joy?
50 God is experienced in acts of creativity and co-creation (via creativa).
51 All people are born creative. It is spirituality’s task to encourage holy imagination for all are born in the “image and likeness” of the Creative One and “the fierce power of imagination is a gift from God.” (Kaballah)
70 Jesus said nothing about condoms, birth control or homosexuality.
71 A church that is more preoccupied with sexual wrongs than with wrongs of injustice is itself sick.
72 Since homosexuality is found among 464 species and in 8 percent of any given human population, it is altogether natural for those who are born that way and is a gift from God and nature to the greater community.
73 Homophobia in any form is a serious sin against love of neighbor, a sin of ignorance of the richness and diversity of God’s creation as well as a sin of exclusion.
81 Another test of right action is this: Is what I am doing, is what we are doing, beautiful or not?
90 “God” is only one name for the Divine One and there are an infinite number of names for God and Godhead and still God “has no name and will never be given a name.” (Eckhart)
91 Three highways into the heart are silence and love and grief.
93 Two highways out of the heart are creativity and acts of justice and compassion.
94 Since angels learn exclusively by intuition, when we develop our powers of intuition we can expect to meet angels along the way.
95 True intelligence includes feeling, sensitivity, beauty, the gift of nourishment and humor which is a gift of the Spirit, paradox, being its sister.
Matthew Fox: A New Reformation, available here.
Also see the Theses in full: page 1; page 2.
4. God the Punitive Father is not a God worth honoring but a false god and an idol that serves empire-builders. The notion of a punitive, all-male God, iscontrary to the full nature of the Godhead who is as much female and motherly as it is masculine and fatherly.
5 “All the names we give to God come from an understanding of ourselves.” (Eckhart) Thus people who worship a punitive father are themselves punitive.
6 Theism (the idea that God is ‘out there’ or above and beyond the universe) is false. All things are in God and God is in all things (panentheism).
7 Everyone is born a mystic and a lover who experiences the unity of things and all are called to keep this mystic or lover of life alive.
8 All are called to be prophets which is to interfere with injustice.
10 God loves all of creation and science can help us more deeply penetrate and appreciate the mysteries and wisdom of God in creation. Science is no enemy oftrue religion.
11 Religion is not necessary but spirituality is.
12 “Jesus does not call us to a new religion but to life.” (Bonhoeffer) Spirituality is living life at a depth of newness and gratitude, courage and creativity, trustand letting go, compassion and justice.
23 Sexuality is a sacred act and a spiritual experience, a theophany (revelation of the Divine), a mystical experience. It is holy and deserves to be honored as such.
24 Creativity is both humanity’s greatest gift and its most powerful weapon for evil and so it ought to be both encouraged and steered to humanity’s most God-like activity which all religions agree is: Compassion.
27 Ideology is not theology and ideology endangers the faith because it replaces thinking with obedience, and distracts from the responsibility of theology to adapt the wisdom of the past to today’s needs. Instead of theology it demands loyalty oaths to the past.
30 Creating a church of Sycophants is not a holy thing. Sycophants (Webster’s dictionary defines them as “servile self-seeking flatterers”) are not spiritual people for their only virtue is obedience. A Society of Sycophants — sycophant clergy, sycophant seminarians, sycophant bishops, sycophant cardinals, sycophant religious orders of Opus Dei, Legioneers of Christ and Communion and Liberation, and the sycophant press--do not represent in any way the teachings or theperson of the historical Jesus who chose to stand up to power rather than amassing it.
32 Original sin is an ultimate expression of a punitive father God and is not a Biblical teaching. But original blessing (goodness and grace) is biblical.
45 “Joy is the human’s noblest act.” (Aquinas) Is our culture and its professions, education and religion, promoting joy?
50 God is experienced in acts of creativity and co-creation (via creativa).
51 All people are born creative. It is spirituality’s task to encourage holy imagination for all are born in the “image and likeness” of the Creative One and “the fierce power of imagination is a gift from God.” (Kaballah)
70 Jesus said nothing about condoms, birth control or homosexuality.
71 A church that is more preoccupied with sexual wrongs than with wrongs of injustice is itself sick.
72 Since homosexuality is found among 464 species and in 8 percent of any given human population, it is altogether natural for those who are born that way and is a gift from God and nature to the greater community.
73 Homophobia in any form is a serious sin against love of neighbor, a sin of ignorance of the richness and diversity of God’s creation as well as a sin of exclusion.
81 Another test of right action is this: Is what I am doing, is what we are doing, beautiful or not?
90 “God” is only one name for the Divine One and there are an infinite number of names for God and Godhead and still God “has no name and will never be given a name.” (Eckhart)
91 Three highways into the heart are silence and love and grief.
93 Two highways out of the heart are creativity and acts of justice and compassion.
94 Since angels learn exclusively by intuition, when we develop our powers of intuition we can expect to meet angels along the way.
95 True intelligence includes feeling, sensitivity, beauty, the gift of nourishment and humor which is a gift of the Spirit, paradox, being its sister.
Matthew Fox: A New Reformation, available here.
Also see the Theses in full: page 1; page 2.
SHP Reflections: Leo Tolstoy
"Christianity in its true sense puts an end to government. So it was understood at its very commencement; it was for that cause that Christ was crucified. So it has always been understood by people who were not under the necessity of justifying a Christian government. Only from the time that the heads of government assumed an external and nominal Christianity, men began to invent all the impossible, cunningly devised theories by means of which Christianity can be reconciled with government. But no honest and serious-minded man of our day can help seeing the incompatibility of true Christianity - the doctrine of meekness, forgiveness of injuries, and love - with government, with its pomp, acts of violence, executions, and wars. The profession of true Christianity not only excludes the possibility of recognizing government, but even destroys its very foundations.
Leo Tolstoy: "The Kingdom of God is Within You" chapter X. Full text available online here.
Leo Tolstoy: "The Kingdom of God is Within You" chapter X. Full text available online here.
SHP Philosophy: General Resources
The Encyclopedia of Informal Education
Traditional vs. Non-Traditional (Cook's Institute of Electronics Engineering)
Student-Centered Learning (University of Bath, UK)
See also EAU's Alcott Center for Educational Research (CER) for many more resources.
Traditional vs. Non-Traditional (Cook's Institute of Electronics Engineering)
Student-Centered Learning (University of Bath, UK)
See also EAU's Alcott Center for Educational Research (CER) for many more resources.
SHP Philosophy: Author-specific resources
Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi on Education (National Council for Teacher Education, India)
Carl G. Jung
The Jung Page
Ivan Illich
Web index of online writings (davidtinapple.com)
Ivan Illich: Writing on the web (Preservation Institute)
Parker J. Palmer
Four articles from Change magazine (Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction) Interviewed by Joy Jones (Teacherview.com)
Carl R. Rogers and Natalie Rogers
Carl Rogers (Oak Park Tourist)
Natalie Rogers (daughter of Carl Rogers)
Melvin M. Suhd
The Association for the Integration of the Whole Person
The University for Integrative Learning
Alfred North Whitehead
The Aims of Education and other essays (Emory University)
Gandhi on Education (National Council for Teacher Education, India)
Carl G. Jung
The Jung Page
Ivan Illich
Web index of online writings (davidtinapple.com)
Ivan Illich: Writing on the web (Preservation Institute)
Parker J. Palmer
Four articles from Change magazine (Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction) Interviewed by Joy Jones (Teacherview.com)
Carl R. Rogers and Natalie Rogers
Carl Rogers (Oak Park Tourist)
Natalie Rogers (daughter of Carl Rogers)
Melvin M. Suhd
The Association for the Integration of the Whole Person
The University for Integrative Learning
Alfred North Whitehead
The Aims of Education and other essays (Emory University)
SHP Philosophy: Juergen Habermas
"Christianity, and nothing else, is the ultimate foundation of liberty, conscience, human rights, and democracy, the benchmarks of Western civilization. To this day, we have no other options [than Christianity]. We continue to nourish ourselves from this source. Everything else is postmodern chatter."
Juergen Habermas
Juergen Habermas
SHP Philosophy: Parker J. Palmer
"A spirituality of ends wants to dictate the desirable outcomes of education in the life of the student. It uses the spiritual tradition as a template against which the ideas, beliefs, and behaviours of the student are to be measured. The goal is to shape the student to the template by the time his of her formal education concludes.
But that sort of education never gets started; it is no education at all. Authentic spirituality wants to open us to truth - whatever truth may be, wherever truth may take us. Such a spirituality does not dictate where we must go, but trusts that any path walked with integrity will take us to a place of knowledge. Such a spirituality encourages us to welcome diversity and conflict, to tolerate ambiguity, and to embrace paradox. By this understanding, the spirituality of education is not about dictating ends. It is about examining and clarifying the inner sources of teaching and learning, ridding us of the toxins that poison our hearts and minds."
Parker J. Palmer, "To know as we are known: Education, a spiritual journey"
But that sort of education never gets started; it is no education at all. Authentic spirituality wants to open us to truth - whatever truth may be, wherever truth may take us. Such a spirituality does not dictate where we must go, but trusts that any path walked with integrity will take us to a place of knowledge. Such a spirituality encourages us to welcome diversity and conflict, to tolerate ambiguity, and to embrace paradox. By this understanding, the spirituality of education is not about dictating ends. It is about examining and clarifying the inner sources of teaching and learning, ridding us of the toxins that poison our hearts and minds."
Parker J. Palmer, "To know as we are known: Education, a spiritual journey"
SHP Philosophy: Dag Hammarskjold
"What I ask for is absurd: that life shall have a meaning. What I strive for is impossible: that my life shall acquire a meaning. I dare not believe, I do not see how I shall ever be able to believe: that I am not alone."
Dag Hammarskjold, "Markings"
Dag Hammarskjold, "Markings"
SHP Philosophy: Jiddu Krishnamurti
"The function of education, then, is to help you from childhood not to imitate anybody, but to be yourself all the time. So freedom lies...in understanding what you are from moment to moment. You see, you are not [normally] educated for this; your education encourages you to become something or other...
To understand life is to understand ourselves, and that is both the beginning and the end of education."
Jiddu Krishnamurti, various works
To understand life is to understand ourselves, and that is both the beginning and the end of education."
Jiddu Krishnamurti, various works
SHP Philosophy: Finger and Asun
"Experts and an expert culture always call for more experts. Experts also have a tendency to cartelize themselves by creating 'institutional barricades' - for example proclaiming themselves gatekeepers, as well as self-selecting themselves. Finally, experts control knowledge production, as they decide what valid and legitimate knowledge is, and how its acquisition is sanctioned."
M. Finger and J.M. Asún, "Adult education at the crossroads: learning our way out."
M. Finger and J.M. Asún, "Adult education at the crossroads: learning our way out."
SHP Philosophy: Mahatma Gandhi
"Real education consists in drawing the best out of yourself. What better book can there be than the book of humanity?"
Mahatma Gandhi, "Harijan"
Mahatma Gandhi, "Harijan"
SHP Philosophy: John Naisbitt
"In education we are moving from the short-term considerations of completing our training at the end of high school or college to lifelong education and retraining.
The whole idea of what education is will be reconceptualized during the next decade.
The notion of lifelong learning is already replacing the short-term approach to education, whereby you went to school, graduated, and that was that."
John Naisbitt, "Megatrends"
The whole idea of what education is will be reconceptualized during the next decade.
The notion of lifelong learning is already replacing the short-term approach to education, whereby you went to school, graduated, and that was that."
John Naisbitt, "Megatrends"
SHP Philosophy: Allan Bloom
"There is no real education that does not respond to felt need; anything else acquired is trifling display.
The teacher, particularly the teacher dedicated to liberal education, must constantly try to look toward the goal of human completeness. . . .
No real teacher can doubt that his or her task is to assist the pupil to fulfill human nature against all the deforming forces of convention and prejudice.
The liberally educated person is one who is able to resist the easy and preferred answers, not because the person is obstinate but because he or she knows others worthy of consideration."
Allan Bloom, "The Closing of the American Mind"
The teacher, particularly the teacher dedicated to liberal education, must constantly try to look toward the goal of human completeness. . . .
No real teacher can doubt that his or her task is to assist the pupil to fulfill human nature against all the deforming forces of convention and prejudice.
The liberally educated person is one who is able to resist the easy and preferred answers, not because the person is obstinate but because he or she knows others worthy of consideration."
Allan Bloom, "The Closing of the American Mind"
SHP Philosophy: John Dewey
"I believe that there is, therefore, no succession of studies in the ideal school curriculum. If education is life, all life has, from the outset, a scientific aspect, an aspect of art and culture, and an aspect of communication. It cannot, therefore, be true that the proper studies for one grade are mere reading and writing, and that at a later grade, reading, or literature, or science, may be introduced. The progress is not in the succession of studies but in the development of new attitudes towards, and new interests in, experience. "I believe finally, that education must be conceived as a continuing reconstruction of experience; that the process and the goal of education are one and the same thing."
John Dewey, "My pedagogic creed"
John Dewey, "My pedagogic creed"
SHP Philosophy: Carl R. Rogers
"There is another attitude that stands out in those who are successful in facilitating learning… I think of it as prizing the learner, prizing her feelings, her opinions, her person. It is a caring for the learner, but a non-possessive caring. It is an acceptance of this other individual as a separate person, having worth in her own right. It is a basic trust - a belief that this other person is somehow fundamentally trustworthy… What we are describing is a prizing of the learner as an imperfect human being with many feelings, many potentialities. The facilitator’s prizing or acceptance of the learner is an operational expression of her essential confidence and trust in the capacity of the human organism."
Carl R. Rogers, "The interpersonal relationship in the facilitation of learning"
Carl R. Rogers, "The interpersonal relationship in the facilitation of learning"
SHP Philosophy: Carl R. Rogers
"How does a person learn? How can important learnings be facilitated? What basic theoretical assumptions are involved? Here are a number of the principles which can, I believe, be abstracted from current experience and research related to this newer approach:
1) Human beings have a natural potentiality for learning.
2) Significant learning takes place when the subject matter is perceived by the student as having relevance for his own purposes.
3) Learning which involves a change in self organization - in the perception of oneself - is threatening and tends to be resisted.
4) Those learning which are threatening to the self are more easily perceived and assimilated when external threats are at a minimum.
5) When threats to the self is low, experience can be perceived in differentiated fashion and learning can proceed.
6) Much significant learning is acquired through doing.
7) Learning is facilitated when the student participates responsibly in the learning process.
8) Self-initiated learning which involves the whole person of the learner - feelings as well as intellect - is the most lasting and pervasive.
9) Independence, creativity, and self-reliance are all facilitated when self-criticism and self-evaluation are basic and evaluation by others is of secondary importance.
10) The most socially useful learning in the modern world is the learning of the process of learning, a continuing openness to experience and incorporation into oneself of the process of change."
Carl R. Rogers, "Regarding Learning and Its Facilitation"
1) Human beings have a natural potentiality for learning.
2) Significant learning takes place when the subject matter is perceived by the student as having relevance for his own purposes.
3) Learning which involves a change in self organization - in the perception of oneself - is threatening and tends to be resisted.
4) Those learning which are threatening to the self are more easily perceived and assimilated when external threats are at a minimum.
5) When threats to the self is low, experience can be perceived in differentiated fashion and learning can proceed.
6) Much significant learning is acquired through doing.
7) Learning is facilitated when the student participates responsibly in the learning process.
8) Self-initiated learning which involves the whole person of the learner - feelings as well as intellect - is the most lasting and pervasive.
9) Independence, creativity, and self-reliance are all facilitated when self-criticism and self-evaluation are basic and evaluation by others is of secondary importance.
10) The most socially useful learning in the modern world is the learning of the process of learning, a continuing openness to experience and incorporation into oneself of the process of change."
Carl R. Rogers, "Regarding Learning and Its Facilitation"
SHP Philosophy: Carl Jung
"The world and its experiences are in the nature of a symbol, and . . . it really reflects something that lies hidden in the subject himself...Such scholars have approached with an air of their own superiority, thus defeating the very purpose of their endeavours...Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside wakes."
Carl G. Jung, various works
Carl G. Jung, various works
SHP Philosophy: Carl R. Rogers
"I find that one of the best, but most difficult, ways for me to learn is to drop my own defensiveness, at least temporarily, and to try to understand the way in which his experience seems and feels to the other person.
I find that another way of learning for me is to state my own uncertainties, to try to clarify my puzzlements, and thus get closer to the meaning that my experience actually seems to have.
This whole train of experiencing, and the meanings that I have thus far discovered in it, seem to have launched me on a process which is both fascinating and at times a little frightening. It seems to mean letting my experiences carry me on, in a direction which appears to be forward, toward goals that I can but dimly define, as I try to understand at least the current meaning of that experience. The sensation is that of floating with a complex stream of experience, with the fascinating possibility of trying to comprehend its ever-changing complexity."
Carl R. Rogers, "Freedom to Learn"
I find that another way of learning for me is to state my own uncertainties, to try to clarify my puzzlements, and thus get closer to the meaning that my experience actually seems to have.
This whole train of experiencing, and the meanings that I have thus far discovered in it, seem to have launched me on a process which is both fascinating and at times a little frightening. It seems to mean letting my experiences carry me on, in a direction which appears to be forward, toward goals that I can but dimly define, as I try to understand at least the current meaning of that experience. The sensation is that of floating with a complex stream of experience, with the fascinating possibility of trying to comprehend its ever-changing complexity."
Carl R. Rogers, "Freedom to Learn"
SHP Philosophy: Leonard E. Read
"The myth of government education, in our country today, is an article of general faith. To question the myth is to tamper with the faith, a business that few will read about or listen to or calmly tolerate. In short, for those who would make the case for educational freedom as they would for freedom in religion, let them be warned that this is a first-rate obstacle course. But heart can be taken in the fact that the art of becoming is composed of acts of overcoming. And becoming is life's prime purpose; becoming is, in fact, enlightenment -- self-education, its own reward."
Leonard J. Read, "Education for One's Own Sake"
Leonard J. Read, "Education for One's Own Sake"
SHP Philosophy: Felix E. Schelling
"True education makes for inequality; the inequality of individuality, the individuality of success; the glorious inequality of talent, of genius; for inequality, not mediocrity, individual superiority, not standardization, is the measure of the progress of the world."
Felix E. Schelling
Felix E. Schelling
SHP Philosophy: Anna Jameson
"The true purpose of education is to cherish and unfold the seed of immortality already sown within us; to develop, to their fullest extent, the capacities of every kind with which God who made us has endowed us."
Anna Jameson
Anna Jameson
SHP Philosophy: Malcolm Knowles
"We now know that in the world of the future we must define the mission of education as to provide competent people - people who are able to apply their knowledge under changing conditions; and we know that the foundational competence all people must have is the competence to engage in life-long self-directed learning. We now know, also, that the way to produce competent people is to have them acquire their knowledge (and skills, understandings, attitudes, values, and interests) in the context of its application... Education is no longer seen as the monopoly of educational institutions and their teachers. We now perceive that resources for learning are everywhere in our environment and that people can get help in their learning from a variety of other people. The modern task of education, therefore, becomes one of finding new ways to link learners with learning resources."
Malcolm Knowles
Malcolm Knowles
SHP Philosophy: Mark Twain
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."
Mark Twain
Mark Twain
SHP Philosophy: Ludwig von Mises
"Continued adherence to a policy of compulsory education is utterly incompatible with efforts to establish lasting peace...European totalitarianism is an upshot of bureaucracy's preeminence in the field of education. The universities paved the way for the dictators."
Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig von Mises
SHP Philosophy: Nancy Astor
"Real education should educate us out of self into something far finer, into a selflessness which links us with all humanity."
Nancy Astor
Nancy Astor
SHP Philosophy: Alfred North Whitehead
"Education must pass beyond the passive reception of the ideas of others. Powers of initiative must be strengthened.
Education is the acquisition of the art of the utilization of knowledge...The valuable intellectual development is self development.
You may not divide the seamless coat of learning. What education has to impart is an intimate sense for the power of ideas, for the beauty of ideas, and for the structure of ideas, together with a particular body of knowledge which has peculiar reference to the life of the being possessing it.
The best procedure (comes from) the genius of the teacher, the intellectual type of the students, their prospects in life, the opportunities offered by the immediate surroundings."
Alfred North Whitehead, "The Aims of Education"
Education is the acquisition of the art of the utilization of knowledge...The valuable intellectual development is self development.
You may not divide the seamless coat of learning. What education has to impart is an intimate sense for the power of ideas, for the beauty of ideas, and for the structure of ideas, together with a particular body of knowledge which has peculiar reference to the life of the being possessing it.
The best procedure (comes from) the genius of the teacher, the intellectual type of the students, their prospects in life, the opportunities offered by the immediate surroundings."
Alfred North Whitehead, "The Aims of Education"
SHP Philosophy: Melvin Maier Suhd
"Lifelong learning is both a right and a responsibility that cannot be ignored without denying life at its root."
Melvin M. Suhd
Melvin M. Suhd
SHP Philosophy: Cynthia Lee Andruske
"Brookfield (1993) maintains that adult educators need to consider that self-directed learning is often political, for power and control are frequently catalysts for self-directed learning influenced by “political” structures and conditions...[Brookfield] notes that Brockett and Hiemstra (1991) recommend: “The political dimension of self-direction continues to be largely overlooked by adult educators, and this needs to be remedied” (p. 220). Brookfield (1993) argues that self-directed learning is inherently political in nature, and maintains that, “Instead of being equated with atomistic self-gratification, self-direction can be interpreted as part of a cultural tradition that emphasizes the individual’s standing against repressive interests” (p. 225). Moreover, when individuals take control of their learning, it will likely bring them “into direct conflict with powerful entrenched interests” (p. 237) and structures."
Cynthia Lee Andruske, "Self-Directed Learning as a Political Act: Learning Projects of Women on Welfare" (University of British Columbia)
Cynthia Lee Andruske, "Self-Directed Learning as a Political Act: Learning Projects of Women on Welfare" (University of British Columbia)
SHP Philosophy: Malcolm Knowles
"[Malcolm Knowles] saw that the [adult education] movement was, in a sense, peripheral to the dominant institutions in society and yet important to it. He recognized that the very disparate nature of the movement prevented its being adequately coordinated from a central position. [This] ... free-market needs model of adult education provision ... is a position he ... maintained even after adult education became much more established and scholars were calling for a more centrally coordinated approach... [I]mplicit within this position ... is perhaps one of the central planks of his philosophy; that adult education must be free to respond to need, wherever it is discovered."
P. Jarvis, "Malcolm S. Knowles" in "Twentieth-Century Thinkers in Adult Education"
P. Jarvis, "Malcolm S. Knowles" in "Twentieth-Century Thinkers in Adult Education"
Ministry in and beyond the Society for Humanistic Potential
At times, a student at EAU will feel called to pursue ministry according to the ethics and values established by SHP during the time of their studies. There is no barrier to students pursuing lay ministry during their time as members of the SHP and this is encouraged in keeping with the SHP creed as stated above.
However, some students will feel called to pursue formal ordination on the conclusion of their studies. Such students may then elect to present themselves as candidates for the ordained ministry in the Liberal Catholic Church, which has a series of programs intended for ordinands available via the University.
Information about the Liberal Catholic Church, including guidance for ordinands, may be found at its website.
However, some students will feel called to pursue formal ordination on the conclusion of their studies. Such students may then elect to present themselves as candidates for the ordained ministry in the Liberal Catholic Church, which has a series of programs intended for ordinands available via the University.
Information about the Liberal Catholic Church, including guidance for ordinands, may be found at its website.
Student Membership in the Society for Humanistic Potential
When a learner applies successfully for a place on a program at European-American University, they are indicating a broad acceptance of the religious context in which EAU operates. This does not mean that a credal commitment is required of them, nor that they must profess specific beliefs.
However, by entering EAU, just as if they had walked into a synagogue or gurdwara, they have entered a spiritual place that is the realization of specifically religious values and ideas. As a result, all who become students at EAU also become Student Members of SHP for the duration of their studies. This membership costs nothing and imposes no conventional dues or demands. What it offers, by contrast, is an opportunity to contextualize studies within the specifically religious ethos in which they are offered. This opportunity offers the chance for spiritual growth; it also offers the chance to be part of a humane and wide-ranging organization that seeks to be of service to the world citizen.
At the conclusion of studies, Student Membership of SHP lapses automatically. The student then has the choice of whether or not to continue their association with SHP by applying for ministerial ordination.
However, by entering EAU, just as if they had walked into a synagogue or gurdwara, they have entered a spiritual place that is the realization of specifically religious values and ideas. As a result, all who become students at EAU also become Student Members of SHP for the duration of their studies. This membership costs nothing and imposes no conventional dues or demands. What it offers, by contrast, is an opportunity to contextualize studies within the specifically religious ethos in which they are offered. This opportunity offers the chance for spiritual growth; it also offers the chance to be part of a humane and wide-ranging organization that seeks to be of service to the world citizen.
At the conclusion of studies, Student Membership of SHP lapses automatically. The student then has the choice of whether or not to continue their association with SHP by applying for ministerial ordination.
Creed of the Society for Humanistic Potential
SHP is strongly influenced by the ideas and example of Carl G. Jung, Alfred North Whitehead, Carl R. Rogers, Maria Montessori, Melvin Maier Suhd, Raymond Chasse, the Association for the Integration of the Whole Person, Mustard Seed Ministries, the University Without Walls project and others who have established a framework for humanistic potential that rests on a firm philosophical and practical basis. Our creed is based on that used by both AIWP and MSM; however, SHP is worldwide in its scope and not restricted to the United States. Ideas from these sources establish the potential of human development as central to any appreciation of human life and place lifelong learning at the heart of the human experience when lived to the full.
The Creed of the Society for Humanistic Potential
Love of life and of all humanity is achieved by integrating physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional activities and thoughts. All of life is a spiritual experience, as realized in the temple of one's inner self. I am performing a religious and spiritual service when my thoughts and deeds demonstrate an affirmation of life.
My congregation involves myself, and others who seek my assistance, support, and counsel in striving towards self education, learning, and integration of mind, body, and spirit. To serve humanity for fee or gratuity as they seek spiritual guidance in the pursuit of this religious, spiritual experience is my commitment to humanity, and my right as a person, free from persecution, as guaranteed by all countries that recognize basic human rights.
Membership in the Society for Humanistic Potential may be denied or revoked if I personally interfere with or deny the rights of any other person in regards to freedom of speech, religious or spiritual thought, or any act of discrimination, such as those relating to sex, age, or nation of origin; or to participate in any criminal act or practice, such as practice medicine or other prohibited activity, without a properly issued license. My service, either for fee or gratuity, as a minister, counselor, or spiritual advisor is limited to areas for which I have been qualified.
The Creed of the Society for Humanistic Potential
Love of life and of all humanity is achieved by integrating physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional activities and thoughts. All of life is a spiritual experience, as realized in the temple of one's inner self. I am performing a religious and spiritual service when my thoughts and deeds demonstrate an affirmation of life.
My congregation involves myself, and others who seek my assistance, support, and counsel in striving towards self education, learning, and integration of mind, body, and spirit. To serve humanity for fee or gratuity as they seek spiritual guidance in the pursuit of this religious, spiritual experience is my commitment to humanity, and my right as a person, free from persecution, as guaranteed by all countries that recognize basic human rights.
Membership in the Society for Humanistic Potential may be denied or revoked if I personally interfere with or deny the rights of any other person in regards to freedom of speech, religious or spiritual thought, or any act of discrimination, such as those relating to sex, age, or nation of origin; or to participate in any criminal act or practice, such as practice medicine or other prohibited activity, without a properly issued license. My service, either for fee or gratuity, as a minister, counselor, or spiritual advisor is limited to areas for which I have been qualified.
Some history of the Society for Humanistic Potential
In the late 1990s, a small group of free church Christians in the United Kingdom formed a religious society as the focus of their worship in the tradition of J.M. Lloyd Thomas and the Society of Free Catholics. Over the years, as the group grew and its activities became more diverse, educational outreach became an increasingly important part of its spiritual witness. All of its ministers had been closely involved with educational work in their secular lives, and shared a commitment to democratic and non-traditional principles within a specifically spiritual model of education. This resulted in the incorporation and formation of several small colleges that offered correspondence-based education towards certificate and diploma awards, with some of these being in specialist areas of liturgy and ministry.
Some years forward, it was clear that these small institutions had proved a viable way forward, but that an expansion of mission was necessary in order for them to reach a wider constituency and in order to provide a more effective witness to the model of education that had been developed. This would mean expansion beyond the UK to a position where we could accommodate international interest. It would also mean that an increasing amount of the secular work of the ministers would be given over to this educational development, a move that was welcomed since all were strongly supportive of the capacity of such action to address major issues in education today.
Initially, the concept of a spiritual university operating in the online environment - in line with several significant models that had previously existed in the United States - was mooted and actively investigated. The "University for Self-Empowerment" (UfSE) project was carried forward to feasibility level and actively pursued to the point where a cogent philosophy of education and of course delivery was articulated and found to be viable. However, in order to proceed beyond the drawing-board, significant financial resources would be needed in terms of raising capital and sponsorship. These were not forthcoming to the extent that was needed, and for that reason UfSE itself never launched and enrolled students. Instead, a more modest institution was planned from necessity, that would be based in the UK itself and that would use some of the principles developed at UfSE.
It was in this way that the smaller institutions associated with the then English Liberal Free Church were absorbed into the former Marquess College, London, (MCL) in late 2005, which then launched to the public in early 2006. The resulting institution was in essence a generalist distance learning college offering courses in a wide range of areas leading to certificate and diploma awards. MCL was registered with the Department for Education and Skills and gained the independent International Charter IC9200 quality certification as well as membership of the then British Learning Association.
The decision to base MCL in the United Kingdom brought about severe limitations on its ability to meet market need. In the main, this meant that although it was offering courses at degree level that led to diploma and certificate awards, it could not award degrees by law. This left it unable to compete with other institutions based in friendlier jurisdictions, and meant that it was difficult for students from other countries to grasp exactly what was on offer. These problems were compounded by a lack of clear mission in the integration of spiritual and secular elements that meant that while some excellent courses struggled to enrol any students at all, others (notably theology) were disproportionately active. In addition to these factors, financial constraints meant that, while the college could operate viably and was never in danger of closure, it was nevertheless not in a comfortable financial position whereby further expansion or action to seriously address its challenges was an option.
In the wake of this situation came significant changes within ELFC itself. Two of its ministers, with the full support of the church, received Apostolic ordination and consecration in the Liberal Catholic succession. This brought them within the historic Apostolic Succession and meant that the Catholic elements that had been within their group from the outset were now firmly established on a sacramentally valid basis. This development was followed shortly afterwards by the decision of the group's senior minister (who himself had been Apostolically ordained some years earlier) to resign from the denomination to pursue a purely Unitarian ministry.
These changes set about a re-organization and re-development of the group and its activities. It was perhaps inevitable that the diversity of perspectives that it now represented could not be contained easily within a single organization. As a result, a division was promoted on generally Catholic/non-Catholic lines, with the Catholic elements continuing as The Liberal Rite (and subsequently via the Independent Liberal Catholic Fellowship), the ecumenical element (formerly the Society of Free Christians) as the Religious Society of St Simon and the interfaith, educational element as the Society for Humanistic Potential. These groups are held together by overlapping membership and administration, as well as a conscious striving within each for synergy and common ground both within their differing perspectives and in their relationship to a wider spiritual context.
Happily, these changes bedded in well during their initial six months, and left the group revitalized and ready for the next stage in its evolution. This was to be in the development of MCL so that it could realize fully the intentions of its establishment. Financial resources were at last forthcoming to make this vision a reality, and this would enable the original UfSE concept not only to be realized but to be expanded to the model of a fully global, independent virtual university under spiritual control and driven by an uncompromisingly innovative non-traditional educational philosophy.
MCL itself closed in September 2006 for what was to be a year of intensive development and activity, with the SHP board energetically committed to the final consummation of many years of planning, research and discussion, and to the creation of what they believe will be a trail-blazing challenge to the way postsecondary education happens. This was the basis for European-American University (EAU), scheduled to launch in late 2007. Alongside this, St Simon's College continues at the present time purely as a seminary for ordinands to The Liberal Rite.
Since establishment within the UK itself was impossible under present legislation, a highly innovative legal model for EAU was created, whereby it would be both flexible and free from state intervention as a fully self-regulating non-governmental institution. To facilitate this, an experienced overseas corporate director was appointed and a registered office established in the Commonwealth of Dominica. These aspects not only made it possible for EAU to operate but also took important steps to protect and future-proof it in the light of previous state sector attempts to destroy the private non-traditional model of higher education which it advocates.
Beyond the focus of its activities in EAU, SHP draws upon the model of several similar ministerial associations working towards common aims within the United States, notably Mustard Seed Ministries and the Association for the Integration of the Whole Person, but unlike these is transnational in approach. Elsewhere we will address in greater detail the philosophical and spiritual basis for SHP.
In January 2008, SHP was formally incorporated as a dependent religious society of the Ancient Catholic Church, an independent Catholic (not Roman Catholic) denomination established in 1950 in the United Kingdom. This in turn became part of the new Liberal Catholic Apostolic Church in March 2008.
Some years forward, it was clear that these small institutions had proved a viable way forward, but that an expansion of mission was necessary in order for them to reach a wider constituency and in order to provide a more effective witness to the model of education that had been developed. This would mean expansion beyond the UK to a position where we could accommodate international interest. It would also mean that an increasing amount of the secular work of the ministers would be given over to this educational development, a move that was welcomed since all were strongly supportive of the capacity of such action to address major issues in education today.
Initially, the concept of a spiritual university operating in the online environment - in line with several significant models that had previously existed in the United States - was mooted and actively investigated. The "University for Self-Empowerment" (UfSE) project was carried forward to feasibility level and actively pursued to the point where a cogent philosophy of education and of course delivery was articulated and found to be viable. However, in order to proceed beyond the drawing-board, significant financial resources would be needed in terms of raising capital and sponsorship. These were not forthcoming to the extent that was needed, and for that reason UfSE itself never launched and enrolled students. Instead, a more modest institution was planned from necessity, that would be based in the UK itself and that would use some of the principles developed at UfSE.
It was in this way that the smaller institutions associated with the then English Liberal Free Church were absorbed into the former Marquess College, London, (MCL) in late 2005, which then launched to the public in early 2006. The resulting institution was in essence a generalist distance learning college offering courses in a wide range of areas leading to certificate and diploma awards. MCL was registered with the Department for Education and Skills and gained the independent International Charter IC9200 quality certification as well as membership of the then British Learning Association.
The decision to base MCL in the United Kingdom brought about severe limitations on its ability to meet market need. In the main, this meant that although it was offering courses at degree level that led to diploma and certificate awards, it could not award degrees by law. This left it unable to compete with other institutions based in friendlier jurisdictions, and meant that it was difficult for students from other countries to grasp exactly what was on offer. These problems were compounded by a lack of clear mission in the integration of spiritual and secular elements that meant that while some excellent courses struggled to enrol any students at all, others (notably theology) were disproportionately active. In addition to these factors, financial constraints meant that, while the college could operate viably and was never in danger of closure, it was nevertheless not in a comfortable financial position whereby further expansion or action to seriously address its challenges was an option.
In the wake of this situation came significant changes within ELFC itself. Two of its ministers, with the full support of the church, received Apostolic ordination and consecration in the Liberal Catholic succession. This brought them within the historic Apostolic Succession and meant that the Catholic elements that had been within their group from the outset were now firmly established on a sacramentally valid basis. This development was followed shortly afterwards by the decision of the group's senior minister (who himself had been Apostolically ordained some years earlier) to resign from the denomination to pursue a purely Unitarian ministry.
These changes set about a re-organization and re-development of the group and its activities. It was perhaps inevitable that the diversity of perspectives that it now represented could not be contained easily within a single organization. As a result, a division was promoted on generally Catholic/non-Catholic lines, with the Catholic elements continuing as The Liberal Rite (and subsequently via the Independent Liberal Catholic Fellowship), the ecumenical element (formerly the Society of Free Christians) as the Religious Society of St Simon and the interfaith, educational element as the Society for Humanistic Potential. These groups are held together by overlapping membership and administration, as well as a conscious striving within each for synergy and common ground both within their differing perspectives and in their relationship to a wider spiritual context.
Happily, these changes bedded in well during their initial six months, and left the group revitalized and ready for the next stage in its evolution. This was to be in the development of MCL so that it could realize fully the intentions of its establishment. Financial resources were at last forthcoming to make this vision a reality, and this would enable the original UfSE concept not only to be realized but to be expanded to the model of a fully global, independent virtual university under spiritual control and driven by an uncompromisingly innovative non-traditional educational philosophy.
MCL itself closed in September 2006 for what was to be a year of intensive development and activity, with the SHP board energetically committed to the final consummation of many years of planning, research and discussion, and to the creation of what they believe will be a trail-blazing challenge to the way postsecondary education happens. This was the basis for European-American University (EAU), scheduled to launch in late 2007. Alongside this, St Simon's College continues at the present time purely as a seminary for ordinands to The Liberal Rite.
Since establishment within the UK itself was impossible under present legislation, a highly innovative legal model for EAU was created, whereby it would be both flexible and free from state intervention as a fully self-regulating non-governmental institution. To facilitate this, an experienced overseas corporate director was appointed and a registered office established in the Commonwealth of Dominica. These aspects not only made it possible for EAU to operate but also took important steps to protect and future-proof it in the light of previous state sector attempts to destroy the private non-traditional model of higher education which it advocates.
Beyond the focus of its activities in EAU, SHP draws upon the model of several similar ministerial associations working towards common aims within the United States, notably Mustard Seed Ministries and the Association for the Integration of the Whole Person, but unlike these is transnational in approach. Elsewhere we will address in greater detail the philosophical and spiritual basis for SHP.
In January 2008, SHP was formally incorporated as a dependent religious society of the Ancient Catholic Church, an independent Catholic (not Roman Catholic) denomination established in 1950 in the United Kingdom. This in turn became part of the new Liberal Catholic Apostolic Church in March 2008.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
