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February 28, 2007
Shema: The Open Secret
Starting this month we will be doing a new series in Shema. Entitled 'The Open Secret,' we will be exploring the teachings of Jesus framed by what is typically refered to as "The Sermon on the Mount'.
We are looking for resources at large to help form our dealing with the various themes we will be exploring. Let me know if you have any ideas. You can email me here. I hope to have the comment section back up today or tomorrow.
Also, you can watch bloggers from the community wrestle with our gathering content and challenges. A couple of people who I am sure will be blogging:
Lammert Vrieling
Darryl Delamont
Aaron Mauer: the graphic genius
You can also follow the Shema blog.
Keep watch here for more exploration of doing life in the global era in the way of Jesus.
Posted by joshuacase at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2007
Tuesday is for Thomas
Merton pondered:
Finally I am coming to the conclusion that my highest ambition is to be what I already am. That i will never fulfill my obligation to surpass myself unless I first accept myself- and, if i accept myself fully in the right way, I will already have surpassed myself. For it is the unaccepted self that stands in my way- and will continue to do so as long as it is not accepted. When it has been accepted, it is my own stepping-stone to what is above me. Because this is the way man was made by God-and original sin was the effort to surpass oneself by being "like God," i.e., unlike oneself. But our God-likeness begins at home. We must become ourselves, and stop living "beside ourselves."
October 2, 1958
Posted by joshuacase at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2007
Loving a friend who engages...
My friend Darryl is great. A great musician. A great father. A great thinker.
He also is great at engaging his mind and heart together. Darryl's blog entitled 'The Yellow Couch' is increasingly becoming a place to visit for me. Especially since he is becoming another of the voices from within the Shema community who blogs. You can see his most recent thoughts on our most recent Shema gathering here.
Slowly but surely i am discovering various people who come to Shema that blog. I am hoping to have a whole blogroll of Shema bloggers soon!
Posted by joshuacase at 12:20 AM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2007
Ideas for Lent
We are officially entering into the Lenten season tomorrow. If you are looking for some ideas, maybe this site is for you. It looks cheesy, but if you live in Europe and sign up for the text messages, who knows. Maybe, just maybe you will get some good ideas. Here is an article from the Telegraph about the site and Lent.
Also, Molleth is writing a bit on her journey into Lent with 30 Days of Nothing. Maybe another idea? Or Skinny Kiwi?
More on Lent tomorrow and what my wife and I will be doing...or not.
peace...jc
ps.
and why not check out Nicholas Fiedler's blog on 'being wrong'? Maybe we could give up being right for Lent? There's a new idea...thanks nicholas!
Posted by joshuacase at 05:08 PM
Tuesday is for Thomas
This morning Laura and I went to Lammert and Conny's so that Lammert could drive her to the airport in advance of her trip to the southern Sudan. She had her 22kg backpack stuffed with her food, their meds, and a few clothes. Indeed, this expression of faith shows me once again that real faith (indeed real christ-following in practice) is never without risk. Conny's decision to move beyond a sanitized expression of loving God and neighbor should be a model for us all.
We pray for her safe travel, for her health, and for the hope of Christ to be present as she serves the people in this region.
Merton writes...
I see more and more that solitude is not something to play with. It is deadly serious. And as much as I have wanted it, I have not been serious enough. Even if you "like" it, it can wreck you, I believe, if you desire it only for your own sake. So I go forward, but i go in fear and trembling, and often with a sense of lostness, and trying to be careful what i do because I am beginning to see that every false step is paid for dearly. Hence, I fall back on prayer, or try to. But to fool around bring awful desolation. When one is trifling, even the beauty of the solitary life becomes implacable. Solitude is a stern mother who brooks no nonsense.
The question arises: am I so full of nonsense that she will cast me out? I pray not....
Posted by joshuacase at 07:37 AM
February 17, 2007
Shema Community- Prayer, Rioting, and Mission
Over the course of the last several months Shema has been growing. Growing in our understanding of community, in our formation of team and vision, and in our understanding of blessing others as we've been blessed. Indeed as we have found that we can not help as we grow in our understanding of life in community and in following Jesus, that we must (imperative) grow out. The message and mission of Christ to love God can not and must not be separated from loving others. And, as Rob Bell has said before, if the good news of Christianity is not good news for everyone, its not good news at all.
This weekend we have the opportinity to finish our series on 'How to Start A Good Riot'. We'll be looking at "Upsetting the Privileged'. One of the things which has come about this week which has upset some of us within the community (as privileged people) is that Conny Vrieling has answered a call for the need for doctors in Sudan. You can see more of the story on Lammert's blog.
As a core community (photo above: few people are absent) we spent much of our team gathering on Thursday night praying for and processing with Conny and Lammert. The decision is not to be taken lightly. There have been 11 deaths in the village where she will be going to help over the last couple of days. Please pray for her. And if you can help, email she and Lammert after checking out his site. The irony, the organization that she will be going with, (Make Way Partners) is based in Birmingham Alabama. We asked for prayer in our recent prayer newletter, and had responses from people who worked with/for the organization! Small world! Small world!
Posted by joshuacase at 10:30 AM
February 16, 2007
A couple of more reasons why i don't do things with parachutes!
There have been two accidents recently that verify to me again why i will never jump out of planes, off of cliffs (high enough to paraglide) or do anything of the sort....Even if Darryl asked me to go with him!
One is the story of Micheal Holmes in which case, niether the real parachute or the back-up opened. He fell 12-15'000 ft at about 120 mph and luckily, lived. The whole thing was caught on his helmet cam. It was also caught on the helmet cam of his friend who, upon landing next to him asked, "dude...are you ok?" My God, how understated can you get?
The other is a story of a German paraglider who, when practicing for an upcoming competition in Australia, was sucked up into a storm. She was taken up to about 32'000 ft. That, for those of you trying to guess, is the height that many jumbo jets fly at....yeah...read the story.
You have to know though, the article ends with this quote, "Despite frostbite to her legs and ears Ms Wisnierska said she still hopes to compete in the world championships. “Flying is too fantastic to stop because of an accident,” she said."
jeez!
Posted by joshuacase at 10:37 PM | Comments (32)
Another article pro-Bono and pro-leadership
A Humanitarian Leader on the World Stage
by Jim Citrin
People all over the world recognize Bono. The Irish musician turned diplomat and philanthropist has transcended his rock-music roots to become a driving force in global economic policymaking, and a world leader in the war against AIDS in Africa.
How did he transform himself from musician to humanitarian leader? And what relevance does his experience have for you?
A Musician's Calling
Bono is a powerful role model due, in large part, of course, to the impact he makes through his dedicated efforts around the world. But Bono's influence extends beyond the causes he embraces and the work he does.
While many people would like to help solve the world's most important and intractable problems, such as curing a raging epidemic or eliminating poverty, it's not immediately obvious how exactly to do that. So what's the relevant lesson from Bono's example? Simply put, he sets an example for making the utmost of the hand he's been dealt.
We all wonder how, given the context of our work and lives, we can most creatively, energetically, and effectively apply our natural talents to make a positive impact on others. I don't think I've ever met anyone who so thoroughly addresses this question and utilizes his skills and station in life as Bono (or, to use his given name, Paul Hewson) does. "All of us want our lives to count," he told me in a private conversation recently. "Music for me was always about changing the world."
Taking a Different Path
From the start, Bono's band, U2, has been committed to addressing important issues facing the world. Starting in the early 1980s, the group's tours had cause-related sponsors -- Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and Nelson Mandela to name a few.
In 1985, U2 played in the Live Aid concert to raise money for famine-stricken Ethiopia. While that wasn't unique -- just about every other major band played the concert -- Bono actually wanted to understand the real problem around which they were rallying. So later that year, he and his wife, Ali, traveled to the African country and spent several months living and working in a refugee camp.
This is where Bono's path diverged from that of other well-intentioned celebrities across the entertainment landscape. While they made cameo appearances and public-service announcements, Bono immersed himself in the economics and policymaking apparatus of debt relief.
Bono's never been shy about leveraging his fame for access to the world's most influential people, including James Wolfensohn, a former head of the World Bank; Paul Volcker, onetime leader of the Federal Reserve; and Jeffrey D. Sachs, an economics professor and director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. What impresses these leaders most is how deeply Bono understands capital markets, debt instruments, and who the key decision-makers are.
A Red-Hot Initiative
The latest product of Bono's creative energies is Product (RED), an innovative approach to fighting AIDS in Africa developed with activist Bobby Shriver in 2006.
Designed to find a new approach outside of traditional philanthropic channels to engage the private sector and consumers and raise cause-related funds, the project has resulted in a proliferation of products sharing a deep crimson hue. These include the Red Apple iPod, Red Motorola Razr, Red Gap Jeans, and American Express Red Card.
Just as he did with debt relief, Bono schooled himself on the science and pharmacology of HIV and the AIDS epidemic for Product (RED). Medical and health-care experts comment that he knows as much on the subject as any scientific journal editor, and when Bono talks about Product (RED) his insights about marketing budgets, consumer demand, and the business model are as sound as any chief executive or venture capitalist.
Bridging a Divide
When asked how such a project could possibly work, Bono explains that it's a function of where the science has progressed regarding AIDS treatment and the power of the marketplace to channel resources. "AIDS is no longer a death sentence," he says. "Just two pills a day will bring someone who is at death's door back to a full life. These pills, which are available at the corner drugstore, cost less than a dollar a day."
But since the poorest people in Africa earn less than a dollar a day, they can't afford to buy the medicine and they die, at the alarming rate of 6,500 people a day. "It's unnecessary," Bono says. "It's insane."
A key part of the motivation for picking the issue of AIDS in Africa is that it's an entirely winnable "war" -- the medicine is inexpensive and readily available. But while people want to help, they aren't necessarily prepared to go out of their way or spend extra money to do so.
On the flip side, companies would like to wrap their brands into the conscientious consumerism that's driving billions of dollars of purchasing power, but competition and shareholder activism are so acute that they can't afford meaningful corporate contributions to even the most important causes.
Bono's leadership genius is in devising a way for consumers to go about their normal lives and make purchasing choices that meet their needs while appealing to their desire to help, and for companies to win more business thereby funding the dollars they direct to pay for inexpensive medicine to solve Africa's AIDS crisis.
Indisputably Inspiring
Both times I met with Bono, I mused that if he weren't a rock star and diplomatic world-changer, he could easily be a great corporate chief executive officer.
He leads by example. No one works harder or delves as deeply into issues and data as he does. He surrounds himself with the best people, is an extraordinary listener, and takes advice extremely well. He understands economics, markets, consumers, media, and regulation. And he has a dynamism that attracts and inspires just about everyone he meets.
Some may question the efficacy of Product (RED). Can a for-profit enterprise really do good? How much money will ultimately be generated to pay for medicine for the people in need?
Others may question Bono's motives. After all, he's already been a Time magazine Person of the Year -- maybe he's simply interested in winning a Nobel Peace Prize. While that may be, it's indisputable that his passion for curing AIDS in Africa is genuine. One only has to spend time with him to appreciate how devoted he is to this cause.
The key lesson to take away from Bono's example is this: If an individual with a sharp mind, a dynamic personality, amazing musical skills, and a desire to make the world a better place can have such a far-reaching positive impact, it makes you wonder what else you can do.
Posted by joshuacase at 09:12 AM
February 15, 2007
Paul Mayers, Molleths, and Murphys' Oh my!
Lately I have been following more closely the following people, conversations, and blogs. This is a beautiful example of how the blogosphere can add quite a variety of spice to our lives.
Paul Mayers- God is green...but am I?
Molleth- Loving God's Earth (Is God Green?)
Brian Murphy- The Thing About Prayer Is
Jason Clark- A Tale of two Kingdoms
Darryl Delamont- To Seven U2 Songs
Emerging Grace- Shattered Illusions
Nicholas Fiedler directed me to the Brian Murphy blog. And I have enjoyed following this very real/raw blog about life, faith, and artistic expressionism!
for comments please email me here.
Posted by joshuacase at 11:22 AM
Remembering my wife...today
I had hoped to use yesterday as an ideal opportunity to express my devout love for my wife on this blog...but i missed that chance. And despite the fact that many believe as Nicholas Fiedler points out that 'much of the story of St. Valentine may be more legend than fact", I still choose to celebrate it with my wife. To use it as an opportunity (outside of anniversaries, birthdays, and other special occasions) to remember my love for her.
Rememberance is a key i find to all things special in life. Far too often we go through life just living, just working, just doing and make very little time to step aside and remember the deeper things of life. Things like love, grace, peace, laughter, sorrow, or joy. Yes yes..you might say, these emotions and experiences are all good and normal to the human (and possible animal) experience, but why is remembering them so important to you?
For me, rememberance was one of those things that Jesus sought to model for us. Not necessarily just as a thing to do, but as something much more sacremental...much more deliberate and intentional. By stopping to remember things like my love for my wife, i am actually being intentioanl about bringing them to new life in this present moment. The same is true of joy...the moment we pause and seek to remember joy as it was or has present in our lives...isn't that when we are gifted with an opportunity to bring it into this present moment in a fresh and living way? Like giving a plant a fresh drink of water? Like openning the blinds of our soul that the living rays of light may warm the cold dark places?
Indeed, on this day, i remember what yesterday gifted to me in rememberance....that i am married to a wonderful, loving, compassionate, gifted person. And she, my life-partner, makes me experience life differently or more fully and/or some times a little more maddeningly as we journey together.
And maddness as we all know...is not a bad thing at all! Just ask Plato.
jc
for comments..as i am still getting my spam issue solved...email here
Posted by joshuacase at 10:24 AM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2007
McLaren to Obama
Brian McLaren has posted a little advice for Barak Obama on the Sojourners blog. Since i greatly appreciate both, here is the article:
Thanks for entering the 2008 presidential race. I know a lot of people feel as I do: After several elections where we felt we were left to choose between tired and uninspiring candidates with little fresh to offer except new twists on old electioneering techniques, it seems that in the upcoming primary elections, at least, we will have several exciting options. In both parties, in fact, we may get to choose between a number of fresh, creative, and substantial candidates instead of settling for the lesser of famliar disappointments. I hope that we will feel the same way when it comes down to two candidates in the 2008 presidential elections as well.
No doubt you'll be getting a lot of advice and requests from a lot of people in the coming weeks, and the only reason I think mine deserves to be heard is that I know I'm expressing what a lot of people feel. So I would like to make this request at the beginning of your campaign.
Please don't lie to us. Please forego both the repulsive, deceptive, and twisted lies and also the flattering lies we like to hear. For example, I heard a fellow candidate recently trot out the tired old line, "America is the greatest country in the history of the world." This makes Americans feel good and gets applause. Maybe it wins votes. But it is a lie.
Yes, we are the richest country. Yes, we have the most weapons. Yes, we dominate in many fields, from sports to pop music to movies to pornographic websites to resource consumption and waste production. But the seductive lie of superiority is bad for any nation, including ours. Any nation that keeps telling itself that it is the greatest will become a proud nation (if it isn't already), and pride, I have it on good authority, comes before a fall. Pride makes nations, as
individuals, unpleasant and ugly neighbors, and so candidates make a bad long-term decision when they seek to coddle pride in exchange for votes. If they win, they will preside over a country that their rhetoric has made more ugly and more likely to fall.
Instead of telling us this lie of American superiority, please tell us the truths that we need to hear. Tell us, as you just did in your campaign-launch speech, inconvenient truths – that we and our leaders have a habit of making mistakes and blaming others – whether it's in New Orleans or Baghdad. Tell us the truth about our past – from our own original genocide and ongoing apartheid regarding the Native peoples of this land, to our profoundly unacknowledged and unhealed legacy of slavery and racism, to our failure to care properly for this beautiful part of God's green earth, to our desperate and shameful violations of our own principles and ideals around the world, from Congo to Chile, and from Central America to the Middle East.
Those who say, "Those things are in the past, we should just move on," would never say that about, say, September 11, 2001. Tell us the truth that we have unfinished business, recalling the old proverb that says the one who hides his transgressions will not prosper, but the one who confesses and forsakes them will find mercy. South Africa discovered how a different future is possible when a nation tells the truth about its past, and you could help us have our own time of truth and reconciliation.
And of course, please tell us the truth about the hope that comes through truth-telling. You and John Edwards and several other candidates have already begun inspiring many of us with your hope – audacious hope regarding poverty, environmental healing, and peace. Because, as you say, another world is possible. Many of us dare to hope that, and if you don't tell us the old political lies and instead tell us the inconvenient truth, then our shared emerging hopes
can become a dynamic new reality.
All of us are cynical at times, but in the launch of your campaign, I feel more hopeful and inspired than I have in a long time. Thank you.
Brian McLaren is an author, speaker, Red Letter Christian, and serves as board chair for Sojourners/Call to Renewal. His most recent book is The Secret Message of Jesus, and his next book, Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope, will be released later this year.
Posted by joshuacase at 04:36 PM
Tuesday is for Thomas
Thomas writes-
Most important of all-Man's creative vocation to prepare, consciously, the ultimate triumph of Divine Wisdom. Man, the microcosm, the heart of the universe, is one who is called to bring about the fusion of cosmic and historic processes in the final invocation of God's wisdom and love. In the name of Christ and by his power, Man has a work to accomplish-to offer the cosmos to the Father, by the power of the Spirit, in the Glory of the Word. Our life is a powerful Pentecost in which the Holy Spirit, ever active in us, seeks to reach through our inspired hands and tongues into the very heart of the material world created to be spiritualized through the work of the Church, the Mystical Body of the Incarnation Word of God.
If I can unite in myself, in my own spiritual life, the thought of East and West, of the Greek and Latin Fathers, I will create in myself a reunion of the divided Church, and from that unity in myself can come the exterior and visible unity of the Church. For if we want to bring together East and West, we cannot do it by imposing one upon the other. We must contain both in ourselves and transcend both in Christ.
Posted by joshuacase at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2007
Good Magazine and Gay Sheep
The other day a little birdy told me about this magazine called Good. While i haven't followed it very much, i have it from a good source that it is a great source of information. Give it a look.
Here are a couple of articles I'll choose to highlight:
A Small Part of the Brain, and Its Profound Effects
I think these articles will be worth another blog entry after the weekend..so read up, give it a think...let's chat on Sunday.
Have a good weekend...I am away for the next two days...
Posted by joshuacase at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2007
A tribute to bono...
While many people out there acknowlege that Bono is out to save the world as a rock star, or at least to try to make it a better place. A few people are really trying immortalize him..for better and worse.
Here is a tribute video that someone did. I put this on here because a few of the images really moved me. There is one in particular....it will move you. No question. It's powerful. I am not sure exactly what all this knowledge does for us. What it does for me. But i do know with knowledge comes responsibility and somehow, each of us who gain knowledge of various things in the world are ultimately responsible with what we do with this knowledge. We must do something. We must work towards reversing the wrongs we know of, towards working for justice..we must..
Thanks Bono. And by the way...i know you don't read this blog...but i am still going to drown you out!
Posted by joshuacase at 08:51 AM | Comments (0)
February 07, 2007
Rainy Days and Purple Haze
The last few days have been interesting for me. Not sure why, but i have felt a deep call to greater reflection (yeah right you say) and stillness and actually, to seeking. It's been a while since i really felt like this. nevertheless, i press on.
I did manage to watch the Superbowl on Sunday with my friend rohan. No commercials, but we did get to see the Prince half-time show! Man...wow...yeah...though some did complain.
I also watched this video today which was blogged about by Waving or Drowning. Very moving for me today which might just tell you about the mood of reflection i have been in. It is a great video! Thanks Mike (who thanks wes)
If at this point you wish to comment, please sent me an email here and i will get your comment posed. I'm still trying to find just the right plug-in to filter all this spam i keep getting. It was like 7-10 per hour. Who creates this stuff? And can it be redeemed? I hope yes...but that doesn't me 'do you know jesus spam'!! Please don't anyone try to do that...and if you do get it, please do not pass it to me!
peace....jc
Posted by joshuacase at 05:48 PM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2007
Help please!!
I am having a horrible time at getting junk posts to my blog! Can someone please help me put a block on my blog?? Where can i get the plug-in? Please help!!
thanks...
joshua!!!
ps.
i am using movebale type version 3.2
Posted by joshuacase at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)
Tuesday is for Thomas
Merton writes in December 1961:
One of the central convictions of Julian of Norwich's eschatological orientation to the central, dynamic secret act "by which all shall be made well" at the last day, the "great deed" ordained by our Lord from without beginning.
Especially the first paradox- she must "believe" and accept the doctrine that there are some damned, yet also the "word" of Christ shall be "saved in all things" and "all manner of thing shall be well." The heart of her theology is this apparent contradiction in which she must remain steadfast. I believe that this "wise heart" that I have prayed for is precisely this-to stay in this hope and this contradiction, fixed on the certainty of the "great deed," which alone gives the Christian and spiritual life its true, full dimension.
Posted by joshuacase at 07:36 AM
February 03, 2007
Just Jinjer and Shema
So i don't like to generally confess to watching CNN; however, i must if I am to show some generosity in getting this word out.
I was watching CNN this morning and they interviewed a band from South Africa called Just Jinjer. The group is currently touring around the US. While I have only heard a couple of their songs, the one above was previewed on the forementioned news channel and i found it very worth posting about. Also, just so we know (as i didn't), 'just jinjer' is also a common response to the question 'how are you doing?' in South Africa.
Tomorrow night we are doing a Shema entitled "How to start a good riot?: Upset the Religious". There was something of this song that resonated with it. Maybe we'll use it....maybe.
Posted by joshuacase at 09:29 AM | Comments (0)
February 01, 2007
Report on Global Climate Change
So tomorrow it happens. A new report on global climate change will be released. In Paris, the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower will go out for 5 minutes to highlight the effects of energy consumption.
While there is much speculation on what will or will not be said during the day, the good news is, more and more people are concerned with the state of the environment than ever before. Thanks to real changes in weather patterns and the dramatic experience of the more than poor, people are choosing to listen to mother nature at last! Of course, Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth didn't hurt matters. Thanks Al!
Throughout the ages, Christians have played an important role when it comes to effecting social change. While often they have been late in waking up to the issues at hand, they have still none the less chosen to engage. And while over the last century evangelical Christian theology has had little good to say about how to promote sustainability or clean energy, at last, more and more Christians are caring, acting, and calling others to be play a role in caring for the environment.
As we enter into tomorrow, i leave you with this reflection by Thomas Merton entitled, The Climate of My Prayer:
Our mentioning of the weather-our perfunctory observations on what kind of day it is-are perhaps not idle. Perhaps we have a deep and legitimate need to know in our entire being what the day is like, to see it, and feel it, to know how the sky is grey, paler in south....I have a real need to know these things because I myself am part of the weather and part of the climate and part of the place, and a day in which I have not shared truly in all of this is no day at all. It is certainly part of my life of prayer
Have you thought today about your part in the climate? Why not ake a couple of minutes now...
Posted by joshuacase at 02:34 PM
Why I Like UNICEF...
UNICEF really appeals to me. I have board member here at YFC Geneva that works for them. They work hard at empowering young people, and overall...they seem to just be about good things.
I found this article about how UNICEF is working to use Second Life in innovative ways to bring education and empowerment to adolescents (something they do well) about issues that really matter.
If you have some time, look around their site. If you have extra money, consider them as a place to give!
peace...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 07:01 AM