On Hiatus

For the past week and this week I'm on a blogging hiatus since I'm in diligent preparation for teaching a couple of classes at Lakeland Community College in Dwight, IL. I just received news last week that I got the gig and will be starting Aug. 24, which really isn't a lot of time to prepare for two classes. Thus, I plan to do a lot of improvisation (I should be used to this kind of "on your toes" activity as a jazz musician). So, once classes have started and I have a routine, I'll be back at the keyboard blogging the Progressive-Practical Christianity as usual.

Peace.

Daily Word (8.11.09)

Grace:

"Thank you, God, for your grace." (DW, 8.11.09)

"And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth." (Jn. 1.14)

Mei Meditatio:

Grace is God's free gift of being, love, and life as children of God in God's perfect care. When we connect ourselves to God in conscious awareness and experience we are able to share in the benefits and bounty of this truly amazing grace.

Through Christ I live in God's loving care.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Chaplains work to prevent Army suicides

As of the end of June there have been 88 reported active duty suicides this year in the Army. And there have been similar numbers in the recent past, though the numbers keep getting higher. In response to this situation, the U.S. Army has heightened suicide prevention efforts by establishing a task-force, improving policies, protocol, and resources, and recruiting more psychological and spiritual counselors.

Thus, military chaplains have been seeing an increasing amount of soldiers coming to them for some kind of assistance. In times such as these, what with the U.S. military engaged in warfare and spread out so thin, there is bound to be repercussions on the well-being of the soldiers. And this is precisely what military chaplains are for -- attending to the needs of the soldiers as human individuals.

Read the story by Vicki Brown of the United Methodist Reporter at Faith in Public Life.

Unity.FM (8.10-14.09)

See this week's programming on Unity.FM.

Visit Unity.FM to listen to spiritually uplifting and open-minded talk radio.

Daily Word (8.10.09)

Joy:

"I am joy in expression!" (DW, 8.10.09)

"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouts of joy." (Job 8.21)

Mei Meditatio:

Joy is the singing of the heart. As I further realize my place in the universe as a child of the living and loving God of Being, I sizzle with resounding joy. I am grateful for reconciliation and revivification in Christ and emit zeal with my being for God's Divine Order.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Daily Word (8.9.09)

Prayer:

"Prayer by prayer I enrich my life." (DW, 8.9.09)

Mei Meditatio:

Via prayerful living, that is, living my life as a prayer itself, I align myself with God and participate more fully in the new being that Christ affords.

Prayer is my utility for resurrecting myself each moment into new awareness of unity-in-diversity.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Daily Word (8.8.09)

Comfort:

"The love of God enfolds me and my loved ones." (DW, 8.8.09)

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life. . .will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8.38, 39)

Mei Meditatio:

The love of God in Christ is the one omnipotent supportive presence moving throughout the world, and it is that which connects all being and life together in a dynamic unity. Regardless of the situations that come about in this world, as Paul says, "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation" will be able to tear us from God's love or each other. In other words, there is nothing in heaven or on earth that could possibly be more steadfast, present, powerful, and unifying than the love of God in Christ.

I affirm Christ's loving presence existing in my life and working through my actions to engender a more full experience of well-being with me, in my relationships, and throughout the world.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Daily Word (8.7.09)

World Peace:

"With every loving thought, we contribute to world peace." (DW, 8.7.09)

"While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.'" (Lk. 24.36)

Mei Meditatio:

With our words and deeds it is obvious that they can concretely work towards peaceful situations in our societies. However, it is even so with our thoughts. Thinking thoughts and holding ideas of love, compassion, well-being, justice, and equality affects one's own actions as well as that of others and thus makes a true contribution to peaceful co-existence.

I consciously lift my thoughts towards peace and carry them forth into expression with my speaking and acting. Centered in God I realize my potential and act in Christ to bring about goodness and positivity.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Bishop John Shelby Spong on Interfaith Voices

This week the outspoken, intriguing, and often controversial Episcopalian Bishop (retired) John Shelby Spong will be the main guest on the Interfaith Voices online radio program.

Bishop Spong is a prolific writer, publishing books and giving talks on important topics sensitive to an audience interested in reinterpreting and revisioning traditional Christian doctrines and practices. The titles of some of his past books speak to his forward-thinking concerns: Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism, Living in Sin?: A Bishop Rethinks Human Sexuality, A New Christianity for a New World, and Why Christianity Must Change or Die. His relentless progressive perspective has given support and a significant voice to openminded and inclusive Christian communities throughout the world.

His most recent book is called Eternal Life: A New Vision, which is on rethinking images and notions of heaven, hell, and the afterlife from a Christian context and understanding.

Listen to Bishop Spong on Interfaith Voices.

(Image from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill website.)

Daily Word (8.6.09)

Prosperity:

"I am a child of God, blessed with unlimited good." (DW, 8.6.09)

"Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold." (Mk. 4.8)

Mei Meditatio:

I have been created and am being sustained by Spirit. Mother-Father God is the Source of all life and I am fully participatory in the being and dynamic movement of life.

As I affirm my place as child of God, I recognize Christ as the Logos empowering, organizing, and maintaining all existence of which I am integrally a part. As I witness the loving goodness of Christ transforming within I am better able to witness and enact Christ transforming reality outside myself.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Scholarship Opportunities for Retreat at Bethany Spring

The Magee Foundation has awarded a grant to Bethany Spring, The Merton Institute Retreat Center, to provide retreat scholarships for clergy, seminarians, and those who work in congregational ministry of all denominations. The scholarships are meant for those in need of some kind of rest and respite who also need financial assistance to make a retreat. Bethany Spring offers directed and private retreats in a peaceful, rural atmosphere located just one mile from the Abbey of Gethsemani in New Haven, Kentucky.

To learn more visit the Merton Institute website or read a write-up at the RNS.

(Above photo from RNS website.)

New Book: "The Buddha's Wish for the World"

"The Pure Land tradition is the most widely practiced form of Buddhism in the world. In Japan, the Pure Land path is epitomized by Jodo Shinshu (Shin Buddhism), Japan's largest Buddhist denomination. The head of Jodo Shinshu, Monshu Koshin Ohtani, has written a book that will be available in English for the first time. The Buddha's Wish for the World will be published in September, 2009, by the American Buddhist Study Center Press.

The Buddha's Wish for the World is dedicated to honor the 750^th memorial of Shinran Shonin (1173 - 1263), the founder of Jodo Shinshu, who established this spiritual path in 13^th century Japan. The book includes a foreword by world-renowned Buddhist scholar, Professor Robert Thurman, Professor of Buddhism at Columbia University and Founder of Tibet House in New York."

Should be a great read for those interested in the Pure Land tradition, and especially the Japanese Jodo Shinshu. I'm not very knowledgeable about Japanese Buddhism, besides a very general understanding of some main branches of Zen practice, but there is certainly a special place in my heart for Pure Land Buddhism. I would venture a guess that this is because of the often noted parallels between the Christian and Pure Land understandings of soteriology, which describes that liberation requires at least some "other" assistance in this process -- that liberation isn't possible without some measure of outside influence or help. While both Christian and Pure Land soteriologies can be much more nuanced than that, this is the fundamental conviction upon which the elaborate doctrines are based.

Though many people in Unity would decry this "other power" liberation type as something left over from the "traditional" (and thus the implication is often "outdated") understanding of salvation, it actually nonetheless fits well into the Unity system. Unity usually emphasizes the belief that one is master of one's own fate and therefore is solely responsible for one's own liberation from sin (which means going from an awareness that is not in line with the omnipresent reality of God to Christ-consciousness that is fully harmonious with God-Mind). Granted, there are some Unity students who would point out the notion of the collective consciousness where all the thought-actions of humankind are present and can affect individual people and events in the relative world. But I think that the traditional Christian and Pure Land notions of "other power" soteriologies are compatible in the Unity metaphysical system largely due to the teaching of "interdependence" or "interconnectedness" or, as most simply put it, "Oneness." Since all individuals depend on each other for their existence and are intimately connected at the most fundamental, essential level, this seems to me to imply that ultimately none of us is completely independent to the extent of being able to achieve a liberated state without help, or at least the existential influence, from/by others. Since we need/rely upon each other for being, existing, living we also need/rely upon each other in the continual process of becoming ever more liberated into greater awareness of Oneness and Love.

Besides this, one of the most basic values in the Unity movement (which I think cooperates with the metaphysical system) is that "we honor all paths to God, all ways to worship God" because it is the underlying Presence of God's Love that underpins all spiritual and religious expression. This ethic of openness and inclusivity is a steadfast hallmark of the Unity movement that couldn't explicitly single out any particular understanding of soteriology as "wrong," "false," or "untrue." This is one of the most precious aspects that I cherish about Unity.

This is just my two cents (or is it $10.00 with inflation) on the subject.

To read a review of the upcoming Pure Land book visit the RNS website.

Daily Word (8.5.09)

Simplicity:

"I am attuned to the goodness of God." (DW, 8.5.09)

"Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Ps. 37.4)

Mei Meditatio:

Being attuned to the goodness of God is being aware and present to the Presence of Being. By the grace of God I participate in the heartfulness of Christ, which leads me into new ways of living, learning, laboring, and loving.

As I express thanks for God's gracious Presence I know that all my needs are taken account of and my heart is filled with the resounding joy of gratefulness in the love of Christ Jesus.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Jurgen Moltmann to Speak at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Jurgen Moltmann, one of the world's foremost Protestant Christian theologians, will deliver the academic convocation address at my alma mater Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL at 11am on Sept. 9, 2009.

Dr. Moltmann will deliver the Opening Convocation address, "A Theology for Life -- A Life for Theology" in the seminary's Chapel of the Unnamed Faithful (a gorgeous and wonderfully contemplative chapel, by the way).

Dr. Moltmann came to the faith while a prisoner of war during WWII and went on to serve as a distinguished professor of systematic theology at the University of Tubingen in his native Germany. He has written some of the most widely studied and highly influential books of the past 50 years in the area of Christian systematics. Most notable is his luminous A Theology of Hope. In this insightful work Moltmann argues that life in Christ is a life of hope that has power over the future. Hope strengthens faith, assists believers in living a life of love, and engenders a passion for the possible. This hope is the driving force behind the liberation of peoples and the world.

Learn more about Dr. Jurgen Moltmann and his upcoming address here.

Daily Word (8.4.09)

Forgive:

"I am free to love - fully and generously." (DW, 8.4.09)

"When he saw their faith, he said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven you.'" (Lk. 5.20)

Mei Meditatio:

The divine love of Jesus Christ resides in me now. It well up inside me like a bountiful spring and I give it away to others freely and abundantly.

I let go of the emotional baggage of past circumstances, situations, and encounters, knowing that in God all is well. I recognize and feel all frustration, hardheartedness, anger, and sadness, but then release them from my soul into God's care. In and through the faith of Christ in me I let love rule through relentless forgiveness of myself and others.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

New Religious PBS Programs in 2010

PBS will show three documentaries that explore faith and the varieties of religious expression in the United States, which is widely recognized as one of the most religiously observant and diverse nations in the world. "GOD IN AMERICA," "THE BUDDHA," and "THE CALLING" will air in 2010 on certain PBS affiliates.

GOD IN AMERICA will address the more than 500 years of American religious history from the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the 2008 presidential election as well as the huge variety of religious manifestation.

THE BUDDHA will be a two-hour documentary from Emmy Award winner David Grubin relating the life of the Indian sage who famously gained enlightenment as he sat beneath a fig tree two-and-a-half millennia ago. This film tells the Buddha's story through painting and sculptures by some of the world's greatest artists and tracks his biography across the sweeping landscapes of northern India and addresses contemporary Buddhist leaders in today's pluralistic world.

THE CALLING will be a four-hour documentary series by Danny Alpert that follows eight individuals on their dramatic journey into the clergy from the perspective of different faiths - Islam, Catholicism, Evangelical Christianity and Judaism. This will be a fresh look at an ancient profession - religious leadership. It will document the unknown world of seminaries to tell the compelling stories of young, dynamic and thoughtful subjects, all of whom have to balance religious convictions, rigorous academics, personal relationships, dedication to lifelong service, as well as struggles with ambivalence and uncertainty.

Read a full story at RNS.

Faiths Unite for Healthcare

"A faith-based vigil Saturday night included several hundred Christians, Jews and Muslims uniting for a common cause -- making health care available to all Americans regardless of income. The interfaith gathering at the Indiana Convention Center featured prayer, testimonies and music, with most participants professing the belief that health-care reform has moral and spiritual dimensions."

Since healthcare reform is one the foremost issues in public life today, it is important that faith communities come together and unite in pushing for a healthcare system that is readily available to all Americans regardless of their socio-economic status.

Taking the lead of the Indianapolis area, let's act locally in a united multi-faith manner to forward support for a universal healthcare plan.

Bill McCleery of the Indianapolis Star has the story at Faith in Public Life.

Unity.FM (8.3 - 7.09)

Check out great progressive and practical spiritual programming this week on Unity.FM.

See the schedule of programs this week.

World Peace Pilgrimage: An Interfaith Walk

For those who are in the Los Angeles area and are interested, there will be an interfaith walk August 9, 2009 at Mt. Baldy in the San Gabriel mountains.

Hiking will start at 9:30am from the top of the ski lifts to the sacred site. At noon there will be a time of contemplation and ritual where prayers and sacred practices from different faiths will be recited and done. There will also be special music being played to help tune walkers in to the spiritual energy of the mountain.

This is an official Pre-Parliament of the World's Religions event bringing people together in concert to help bring about peacefulness on the planet through prayer and sacred ritual.

Bring your own food and water for potluck lunch.

For more info please visit the event's website.

Here's a map of Mt. Baldy.

Daily Word (8.3.09)

Self-expression:

"I am the one and only me." (DW, 8.3.09)

"Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed upon us by God." (1 Cor. 2.12)

Mei Meditatio:

Formed in God's image as an individuality, my existence is a unique expression of creation. I recognize that all other life is also of God's good creation and exist as special individual expressions of God's mind.

I do not dwell in the spirit of the world (of selfishness, greed, anger, ignorance) but strive to dwell in the Holy Spirit through Christ who lives in me and I in him. Through the Spirit of God in Christ I affirm my gifts and use them as talents to better the world in whatever ways I may find.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.