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January 30, 2008
Carter (and Mike Todd) Wouldn't Lie!!
WASHINGTON (CNN) — One former president has long assumed a very outspoken role in the presidential race. Now another is speaking up.
Jimmy Carter says he's not formally endorsing any candidate, but in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the former president lavished praise on Barack Obama, calling his campaign "extraordinary"
"Obama's campaign has been extraordinary and titillating for me and my family," Carter told the newspaper in an interview published in its Wednesday edition. According to the paper, Carter was particularly praiseworthy of the Illinois senator's rhetorical skills, comparing them to those of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Carter also said Obama "will be almost automatically a healing factor in the animosity now that exists, that relates to our country and its government."
Carter, a onetime governor of Georgia and one of only two Democrats to win the White House in the last forty years, also said he thinks Obama's candidacy could put several southern states in play in a general election match up.
Carter also commented on the recent criticism surrounding Bill Clinton, following that former president's comments on the campaign trail that some have viewed as racially divisive. Carter said Clinton personally called him to explain the remarks.
"He doesn't call me often, but the fact that he called me this morning and spent a long time explaining his position indicates that it's troublesome to them, the adverse reaction," he said.
"I told him I hoped it would die down. — the charged atmosphere concerning the race issue," Carter continued. "And I think it will."
And Mike Todd wouldn't either!!!
vote for change!!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:38 PM | Comments (6)
January 29, 2008
Tuesday is for Thomas
It's a little late, but maybe not. Here is Merton's thoughts on Advent from "Advent: Hope or Delusion?":
"Advent for us means acceptance of this totally new beginning. It means a readiness to have eternity and time meet not only in Christ, but in us, in Man, in our life, in our world, in our time. The beginning, therefore, is the end. We must accept the end, before we can begin. Or rather, to be more faithful to the complexity of life, we must accept the end in the beginning both together.
The secret of the Advent mystery is then the awareness that I begin where I end because Christ begins where I end. In more familiar terms: I live to Christ when I die to myself. I begin to live to Christ when I come to the "end" or to the "limit" of what divides me from my fellow man: what I am willing to step beyond this end, cross the frontier, become a stranger, enter into a wilderness which is not "myself," where I do not breathe the air or hear the familiar, comforting racket of my own city, where I am alone and defenseless in the desert of God.
The victory of Christ is by no means the victory of my city over "their" city. The exaltation of Christ is not the defeat and death of others in order that "my side" may be vindicated, that I may be proved "right." I must pass over, make the transition (pascha) from my end to my beginning, from my old life which has ended and which is now death to my new life which never was before and which now exists in Christ."
be who you are created to be....
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)
January 28, 2008
Seriously Good Conversations
Here are a few good ones from last week which I didn't publish while I was away:
Paul at jasonclark.ws on 'Church as the original 3rd place?'
Ariah on 'Faulty Logic Leads to Lapse in Judgement at Trying to follow'
LoFi on 'Consuming Jesus and Moving Beyond Race and Class 2'
Eileen the Episcopalifem on 'The "How Privileged Were You" Meme'
Also, starting this week, I'd like to start making book recommendations. The book for this week: The Evangelical Universalist. Jason Clark has blogged about it here. I blogged about it here.
And if you have over an hour to invest in listening to Thomas Friedman, Al Gore, and Bono, check out this video from the World Economic Forum:
happy reading, watching, meme-ing...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:02 AM | Comments (2)
January 25, 2008
Away this weekend.
This weekend a group of us from Shema are going to be traveling up the lake for a bit of a retreat. Thus, I will be away for a few days.
While away, we will be exploring issues like this, and like this, and like this and finally, like this.
I hope you have a great weekend, we expect to!
peace...
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)
The PGA Begins!
Yesterday, Tiger began his 2008 quest for a Grand Slam of golf. Looks like he will be paired in day two with last year's "mouthy" rival Rory Sabatini.
You can of course, watch the news about the Buick Invitational here.
Could this be the year of the Tiger?
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 08:12 AM
January 24, 2008
Weekly Familial Food consumption and costs
My friend Aaron sent this to me via email. Of course there are no confirmations of where it came from; however, it is still pretty interesting..don't you think?
Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07
United States: The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week: $341.98
Japan: The Ukita family of Kodaira City
Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25
Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.1
Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09
Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27
Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53
Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55
Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03
Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23
I love the way the photographer shot each of these photos such that it captures the dignity of each family and the amount of food. Sure, there is a message in these photos, but the dignity of the people remains in some way.
peace...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 04:04 PM
eurochurch.net conference 2008
Lammert has joined the eurochurch team and is participating in the planning of the 2008 conference in Lisbon Portugal.
It should be a pretty good conversation and conference based on the title: the bible and mission in the new europe.
if you are interested in attending the conference, with conversationalists alan roxburgh (of allelon), colin greene, and henry cappello, check out the brochure here.
check it out, and if you are planning to go, let others know about it too!
peace...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 02:22 PM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2008
Rainbows in a time of transition.
As many of you will have heard by now, Laura and I are in the middle of a transition. In October of last year, we announced that this would be our last year working with YFC Geneva in all of its expressions.
At this time I wanted to ask you to remember us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to process what this season of transition means for us. There have been good days and bad days. There have also been long days and long nights during this journey; however, we trust that we will not remain confounded. In fact, we have learned to now, more than ever, to look for the signs of the coming spring in the everyday ordinary bits of life.
We've had great friends and support around us during this time. We have not been alone. But the journey is not over yet; no, there is still more to come.
Yesterday, the old books reading took me through the narrative of Noah. It started the narrative of the flood and the preparations that Noah had completed. As the reading ended, the earth was beginning to flood. As the story goes, Noah and the animals were safe. Noah, it seems, had found favor with God.
As I left the house yesterday, I honestly was wishing I had read the portion about the rainbow. You know, when the storm was over, and the rainbow appeared as a sign that such would never happen again. That the worst was over. After my morning meeting with my friend Lammert, I was headed to our Coppet office when I looked up and there was in front of me, a big bright rainbow. I laughed. I laughed. I laughed. Maybe there were a couple of tears in there too.
No, the transition is not over, not yet. But, at least there are encouraging signs along the way that remind us that we are headed in the right direction.
Thanks for your prayers and thoughts and encouragement. I'll keep you updated here in weeks to come as we sort through things.
With every blessing-
joshua (and laura too)
Posted by joshuacase at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2008
Tuesday is for Thomas
Merton wrote in January 1965:
Out to Sea Without Restraints
"What more do I seek than this silence, this simplicity, this "living together with wisdom"? For me there is nothing else. Last night, before going to bed, I realized momentarily what solitude really means: when the ropes are cast off and teh skiff is no longer tied to the land, but heads out to sea without ties, without restraints! Not the sea of passion, on the contrary, the sea of purity and love that is without care, that loves God alone immediately and directly in Himself as the All (and seeing Nothing that is all). The unutterable confusion of those who think that God is a mental object and that to love "God alone" is to exclude all other objects to concentrate on this one! Fatal. Yet that is why so many misunderstand the meaning of contemplation and solitude, and condemn it. But I see too that I no longer have the slightest need to argue with them. I have nothing to justify and nothing to defend: I need only defend this vast simple emptiness from my own self, and the rest is clear."
have a great day...
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 07:48 AM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2008
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: An Icon Remembered
Here is a brief liturgy from a service on 'MLK Sunday' at an Episcopal Church in California. Also, posted below, the very famous 'I Have A Dream' speech. If you have not seen it in its entirety, I strongly recommend it and for this reason have again posted it below.
SALUTATION
Minister: We hold these truths to be self-evident.
People: that all people are created equal.
Minister: Let justice roll down like waters,
People: and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
COLLECT OF THE DAY
Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last: Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
READING
From “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”; a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered on April 4, 1967, at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City.
"This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept – so readily dismissed as a weak and cowardly force – has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of humankind. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door, which leads to ultimate reality.
This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John: Let us love one another; for love is God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. The one that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. If we love one another God dwelleth in us, and God’s love is perfected in us. Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation.
The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. As Arnold Toynbee says: “Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word.”
Minister: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.
People: Thanks be to God.
The Speech:
What is your dream? Who are you standing up for? How is your gospel really good news?
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 11:04 AM
Osama's Son on peace mission that could cost him his life..
As reported by CNN.com:
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Omar Osama bin Laden bears a striking resemblance to his notorious father -- except for the braids that dangle halfway down his back. Then there's the black leather biker jacket.
Omar Osama bin Laden Omar is convinced a truce between the West and al-Qaeda is possible.
The 26-year-old does not renounce his father, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, but in an interview with The Associated Press, he said there is better way to defend Islam than militancy: Omar wants to be an "ambassador for peace" between Muslims and the West.
Omar -- one of bin Laden's 19 children -- raised a tabloid storm last year when he married a 52-year-old British woman, Jane Felix-Browne, who took the name Zaina Alsabah. Now the couple say they want to be advocates, planning a 3,000-mile horse race across North Africa to draw attention to the cause of peace.
"It's about changing the ideas of the Western mind. A lot of people think Arabs -- especially the bin Ladens, especially the sons of Osama -- are all terrorists. This is not the truth," Omar told the AP last week at a cafe in a Cairo shopping mall.
Of course, many may have a hard time getting their mind around the idea of "bin Laden: peacenik."
"Omar thinks he can be a negotiator," said Alsabah, who is trying to bring her husband to Britain. "He's one of the only people who can do this in the world."
Omar lived with the al Qaeda leader in Sudan, then moved with him to Afghanistan in 1996.
There, Omar says he trained at an al Qaeda camp but in 2000 he decided there must be another way and he left his father, returning to his homeland of Saudi Arabia.
"I don't want to be in that situation to just fight. I like to find another way and this other way may be like we do now, talking," he said in English.
He suggested his father did not oppose his leaving -- and Alsabah interjected that Omar was courageous in breaking away, but neither elaborated.
Although there is no way to confirm the details he describes of his childhood and upbringing, the strong family resemblance and Omar's knowledge of Osama's family life have convinced many of his lineage.
"Omar bin Laden is the son of Osama bin Laden and his first wife, Najwa," a U.S. intelligence official said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. The official confirmed Omar was raised in Sudan and Afghanistan after his father was forced out of Saudi Arabia.
Omar and his wife insist they have not been bothered by Egyptian officials, who said Thursday that the terror leader's son did not pose a threat.
"He comes and goes just like any other tourist," said a security official, also speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. "He is taking a line that is totally different from his father."
Omar said he hasn't seen or been in contact with his father since leaving Afghanistan. "He doesn't have e-mail," Omar said. "He doesn't take a telephone ... if he had something like this, they will find him through satellites."
Omar doesn't criticize his father and says Osama bin Laden is just trying to defend the Islamic world.
"My father thinks he will be good for defending the Arab people and stop anyone from hurting the Arab or Muslim people any place in the world," he said, noting that the West didn't have a problem with his father when he was fighting the Russians in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Omar is convinced a truce between the West and al Qaeda is possible.
"My father is asking for a truce but I don't think there is any government (that) respects him. At the same time they do not respect him, why everywhere in the world, they want to fight him? There is a contradiction," he said.
Osama bin Laden, believed to be in hiding in the Pakistan-Afghan border region, offered a truce to Europe in a 2004 audiotape and a conditional truce to the United States in a 2006 message. In November, he called on European nations to pull out of Afghanistan in a message seen by some experts as an effort to reach out to Europe.
But in a series of messages since last fall, he also has been calling for Muslims to rally around jihad, or "holy war," encouraging fighters in Iraq in particular to continue their battles with U.S. and Iraqi forces.
At least two of Osama bin Laden's sons, Hamza and Saad, are believed to have an active role in al Qaeda -- with Hamza believed to be in the Pakistan-Afghan border zone and Saad thought to be in Iran, perhaps in Iranian custody.
But most of the al Qaeda leader's children, like Omar, live as legitimate businessmen. The family as a whole disowned Osama in 1994 when Saudi Arabia stripped him of his citizenship because of his militant activities.
The family is wealthy: Osama bin Laden's billionaire father Mohammed, who died in 1967, had more than 50 children and founded the Binladen Group, a construction conglomerate that gets many major building contracts in the kingdom.
Since leaving his father's side, Omar has lived in Saudi Arabia, where he runs a contracting company connected with the Binladen Group, but he spends much of his time in Egypt. It was during a desert horseback ride at the Pyramids of Giza that he met his wife.
Their marriage in April made them tabloid fodder, particularly in Britain, where headlines touted the "granny who married Osama bin Laden's son." Alsabah, who has married five times, has five grandchildren.
The couple has applied for a visa to Britain. And they are planning their endurance horse race across North Africa, which they hope to start in March. It is in the planning stages -- they are seeking approval of governments along the route and need sponsors to help pay for the event and raise money for child victims of war.
Omar said they plan to ride 30 miles a day, with periodic week long rests in each country.
Teams from around the world will be encouraged to join in what the couple envisions as an equine version of the Paris-Dakar car rally. That rally was canceled this year due to fears over terrorist threats made by al-Qaida-affiliated groups in North Africa.
Omar, however, said he isn't worried. "I heard the rally was stopped because of al Qaeda," he said. "I don't think they are going to stop me."
Posted by joshuacase at 08:36 AM
January 20, 2008
Greg Boyd on Huckabee and Jesus for President?
Greg Boyd blogs:
"Well, you may have already heard about it. Huckabee publicly proclaimed that we need to amend the constitution to bring it into conformity with "God's standards."
You can check out the minute and a half clip HERE.
Man, is he going after the evangelical vote, or what?!
Now, I can't help but wonder what this sincere man means when he says he wants to "amend the constitution to fit God's standards." Of course, he probably means he wants to outlaw gay marriage, since the Bible teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman. But if we're going to make our constitution fit "God's standards," as reflected in the Bible, why stop there?
Marriage throughout most of the book of "God's standards" allowed for polygamy and even concubines. If the Bible is to be our standard for marriage in America, perhaps our constitution should be amended to reflect its comprehensive view of marriage.
So too, the Bible allows for (and even occasionally commands) slavery, as the good old pre-abolition Christian South was eager to point out to the liberal secularists in the North. Would Huckabee have us amend our constitution to fit this aspect of the book of "God's standards"? Why not? If our goal is to conform to "God's standards," why be selective?
How about the way women are treated as property throughout much of the Bible? And let's not forget the pervasive "holy wars" we find in the Old Testament. If we want a constitution that truly reflects "God's standards," why not incorporate these as well?
And of course, the Bible knows absolutely nothing of any "inalienable right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness." This comes out of John Locke, not the Bible. So maybe these pagan concepts should be jettisoned if we're going to seek to have a constitution that conforms to "God's standards."
Then again, for Christians "God's standards" are centered on Jesus Christ and the New Testament. Since Huckabee is appealing to Christian voters, and apparently wants to promote a "Christian America," why shouldn't he center his constitution amending policy on this central aspect of the book of "God's standards"?
Now that would be interesting.
Can you imagine if it was in the U.S. constitution that whenever we as individuals or as a nation were attacked, we by law would have to turn the other cheek, love our enemies, bless our assailants, do good to our persecutors, refuse to retaliate, offer them whatever they ask (expecting nothing in return), offer to feed them, clothe them and provide housing for them, and of course offer our lives up on their behalf, however evil they may be (e.g. Lk 6:27-35; Mt 5:39; Rom. 12:17-21)?
Goodbye to "the right to bear arms"!
If this is the direction Huckabee would like to amend our beloved constitution, I would greatly admire his courage and wish him the best -- because there's no way in perdition Christians would get him elected if that is what he meant! They may want a constitution that "conforms to God's standards," but only certain passages carefully selected out of his book of holy "standards," and certainly not the standards set by Jesus Christ!
Isn't it ironic?
Now please hear me. My point is not to weigh in on the political issue of gay marriage. Vote your faith and values (like anyone doesn't do this). My point is that there's something profoundly naive, if not disingenuous, about trying to pretend like we can resolve this or any other political issue in our pluralistic society by trying to make the Bible law.
Even worse -- much worse -- when Huckabee and other well-intentioned Christians talk this way, they earn the right to be despised by non-Christians, and thus to have the Gospel they claim to represent despised as well. The beauty of God's self-sacrificial love is once again smothered in the ugliness of politics.
Jesus never let politics get in the way of the message he was sent to bring. And the central job of his followers is to simply imitate him (Eph. 5:1-2).
How I'd love it if Huckabee would call on all Christians to consider their own sins to be much worse than the sins of gay people (Mt 7:1-3; I Tim. 1:15-16) and to commit to demonstrating God's love for gay people by sacrificially serving them.
Of course, he'd never get elected.
He might get crucified.
But I'd certainly vote for him!
Blessings
Greg"
THANKS GREG!!!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 08:02 AM
January 19, 2008
Seriously Good Conversations
Here are a few 'SGCs' from this week:
1. Jemila on "Gay-ness, Gluttony, & Godly Love"
2. adventures in mercy's "The Prodigal Son Meets Limited Atonement (Why I'm not a Calvinist)"
3. Rogier's "Tall Skinny Kiwi in Amsterdam"In particular, note what Andrew is doing on his island;). This is missional community!?
4. Josh Brown's "The Consumptive Church: Appeasing The White Man's Guilt".
5. gathering in light's "Four Models of Emerging Churches". HT Mike Clawson
And once again, to re-post something i posted earlier this week, you must check out The Story of Stuff.
This is interesting to watch! Following the story of stuff from 'extraction' to 'disposal', this 20 minute video is quite interesting. Here is a teaser video:
thanks for stopping by....
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)
Its Confirmed: I am an addict.
I tag Lammert, Josh Brown, Nicholas Fiedler, and Jason Clark.
could be worse...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:45 AM | Comments (6)
January 18, 2008
Root of Jesse: More thoughts.
So little while back I posted what is below here. And while yes Nicholas, there is small dink in it due to transport, I was hoping for something a little more....deep;)
You see, while i was in Birmingham over the holidays, Laura and I decided to take a trip over to a mall before going to meet up with Nick and Leslie. It is one of the things we do for fun. To watch people and to get a sense of the contrast in life compared to Geneva. One of the things which I have been looking for a long time was an icon that I could sense needed a home. And while i never expected to find one in Alabama, the stars were aligned a more differently.
As we were walking through this mall in Birmingham Alabama (of all places), there was this guy selling religious iconography. He was also selling little nativity figurines and crucifixes. But the icons you could see he only had a few of, and they were very well done.
As we stopped and started looking, the man came over to me and started talking. It was at this point i noticed, though he had not yet, that he was probably not the only one not from around there. As we continued to talk, I asked where he had gotten them, and he gave me story about how they came from..duhda dua dhau.!!!!!...the "Holy Land" aka, the place where many American Christians will pay extra to get their stuff from!!!. No really I thought, where did they come from?
The man then proceeded to tell me that he did not know much about them; however, he being a Palestinian (he said with hush expecting me as a white guy, looking at Christian religious stuff from Alabama to freak out), had an orthodox Christian friend who painted them by hand as his trade. And, he had asked him to bring them along and sell them.
I then told him a bit of my story about living in Geneva, about the icon store we have here..and more. By the end of it, he was wanting to bargain with me about the price, and we found ourselves laughing because it felt like all of sudden we were in a different place and time..where bargaining was ok between friends. It was almost as if we were not longer in a mall in America.
I share the story because I have been doing reflective/meditative prayer in the mornings now for a few months. The addition of this icon to my times has been rich. But one of the things I have noticed, is that not a single character on the thing looks at the person looking at the icon. No, not even Jesus who finds himself in the center, really looks at you.
This was a crazy realization for me. Why? Because I guess we all figure that when we pray, somehow God is looking right at us. That somehow, like a good conversation with a good friend, the person makes perfect eye contact. That in prayer, this is what God does too. That when we sit and start sharing our burdens or our desires or our worries with God, God is looking at us..at me. But what if God is not?
What if, like this icon, all the saints in the heavenlies are looking at Christ, and Christ is somehow calling us to join in with them. To join with them in prayer, even if, we do not feel looked at? That somehow in our prayers when we don't feel like God is hearing us, or listening to us, that maybe its because our prayers have become so much about us, and so little about Jesus. Not that God doesn't want to to hear our prayers!!! Oh no! But more than that, God wants us to take us from a place petitioning God, to being in the company of God. And that this, is prayer.
I don't know, maybe its just me. But this morning I really had the sense that i needed to be reminded of how to pray without being the center of the prayers. That really, it is not all about me or you or anyone. But that prayer is inevitably about Jesus.
Jeez, does that sound simplistic to anyone else? Or is it something else? Am I missing something?
grace and peace for the day. you are in good company. and yes, God is there...
joshua
The Root and Offspring of Jesse
THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots... And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious." (Isaiah 11:1-10)
THE RABBINIC WRITINGS
And there shall go forth a King from the Sons of Jesse, and the MESSIAH shall be anointed from his children’s children. (Targum Jonathan)
THE NEW TESTAMENT
And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will." From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Saviour -- Jesus. (Acts 13:22-23)
I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. (Revelation 22:16)
Think on this image and text. What do you see?
Posted by joshuacase at 11:08 AM | Comments (4)
January 15, 2008
Tuesday is for Thomas
Recently, at the advice of a friend, I have been reading Parker J Palmer's Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation . It has been a great read and a very, dare I say refreshing book on "vocation". I have been a real skeptic of the idea of vocation and call for a long time. Every since i read Oz Guiness' book, I have been very cynical of the notion, at least as it has been expressed recently. However, this book has helped me significantly understand it better. No, wait. Not understand it, think about it and sense it. You could also suggest that the context of my life the last year or so has also helped this process, but, either way, I suggest it as a good read.
I also mention it here, on Tuesday is for Thomas because in it he mentions Merton's notion of 'true self' or that which he as a Quaker calls the 'that of God' in every person. As is such, I thought I would post a few of Merton's quotes on the self and self wrestling here:
"Obviously, anyone living a life of prayer has to confront this kind of problem and each one has to solve it for himself in his own circumstances. You being married obviously cannot evade the duties of your state. I being a monk cannot nevertheless use the duties of my 'state' as a blanket pretext for avoiding all contacts since some of them seem to be definitely willed by God. One can never work this out perfectly satisfactorily and therefore one always has to face the unpleasantness of a kind of insecurity, not knowing whether one has judged rightly. But it is a responsibility one must assume in one way or another. Once you form your conscience to abide by God's will, you will have all the fruits of prayer even though you may be deprived sometimes of the enjoyment"
"The real journey in life is interior; it is a matter of growth, deepening, and of an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts." (Road to Joy, 1. 118)
"One must know what are the real attachments in his soul before he can effectively work against them, and one must have detached will in order to see the truth of one's attachments...This attachment to the self is a fertile sowing ground for seeds of blindness, and from this most of our errors proceed. I think it is necessary for us to see that God Himself works to purify us on this inner 'self' that tends to resist Him and to assert itself against Him."
"Do not attach too much importance to any individual happening or reaction, and do not look for very special significances: all is part of a purification process, with which you must be patient,..[O]nly God can unlock the whole business from the inside, and when He does, then everything will be simple and plain... Identify with the Ground and you won't worry too much about the weeds. The Ground doesn't. And the Ground can't be anything but Good. In Himself He plants His own seeds without you knowing or being able to do much about it."
"Western thought and practice finds difficulty with the Eastern experience of and notion of the Void as The True Self. In the West no one has treated of person to show that what is most ourself is what is least ourself, or better the other way round. The void that is our personality. Our concrete individuality is not really "I". "It is what is seemingly not present, the void, that is really I. And the 'I' that seems to be I is really a void. One must learn to suppress the apparent division between empirical self and inner self. There is no such division. There is only the Void which is I, covered over by an apparent I. And when the apparent I is seen to be void it no longer needs to be rejected, for it is I."
enjoy the journey and let your life speak..to you...
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 06:56 PM
January 14, 2008
Obama: the first postmodern candidate?
As posted by Mike Clawson. Thanks Mike!
Andrew Sullivan had an interesting article in The Atlantic Monthly recently about Barack Obama. His premise is that Obama, by virtue of his upbringing, his racial complexity, his age, and his experiences is probably the first presidential candidate who can actually move us beyond the Left-Right, Black-White, Secular-Religious polarities of the Civil Rights/Vietnam Era which have been defining American politics ever since the 1960s (what Sullivan calls "Boomerism"). He suggests that what more and more Americans have in common these days is this sense of complexity that Obama embodies - a feeling that the old categories don't describe us very well anymore, that we are "both/and" rather than "either/or". In other words (my own, not Sullivan's), Barack Obama is the first postmodern candidate.
Towards the end of the article Sullivan sums up his point like this:
To be black and white, to have belonged to a nonreligious home and a Christian church, to have attended a majority-Muslim school in Indonesia and a black church in urban Chicago, to be more than one thing and sometimes not fully anything—this is an increasingly common experience for Americans, including many racial minorities. Obama expresses such a conflicted but resilient identity before he even utters a word. And this complexity, with its internal tensions, contradictions, and moods, may increasingly be the main thing all Americans have in common.
Throughout the article Sullivan also details several other specific ways that Obama bridges old divides; in his approach to faith, for instance. He points out that Obama had a Muslim father, was raised by a secular humanist mother, and converted to Christianity as an adult. His faith is genuine, and yet complex. He understands and speaks (authentically) the evangelical language of conversion, and yet without embracing the absolutism of evangelical extremes. Sullivan quote a speech by Obama given last year in which he describes his religious conversion. I was thoroughly impressed. Obama said:
One Sunday, I put on one of the few clean jackets I had, and went over to Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street on the South Side of Chicago. And I heard Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright deliver a sermon called “The Audacity of Hope.” And during the course of that sermon, he introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, he would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in him. And in time, I came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life.
It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity one day and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice and not an epiphany. I didn’t fall out in church, as folks sometimes do. The questions I had didn’t magically disappear. The skeptical bent of my mind didn’t suddenly vanish. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to his will, and dedicated myself to discovering his truth and carrying out his works.
That is an expression of faith that I, and I believe many others, can identify with. Elsewhere Obama has said “Faith doesn’t mean that you don’t have doubts.” That kind of "faith with humility" is something that resonates well with a postmodern generation.
Another point Sullivan makes about Obama's bridge-building abilities is in regards to the image of America that he will project to the world. He asks us to consider the following hypothetical situation:
It’s November 2008. A young Pakistani Muslim is watching television and sees that this man—Barack Hussein Obama—is the new face of America. In one simple image, America’s soft power has been ratcheted up not a notch, but a logarithm. A brown-skinned man whose father was an African, who grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii, who attended a majority-Muslim school as a boy, is now the alleged enemy. If you wanted the crudest but most effective weapon against the demonization of America that fuels Islamist ideology, Obama’s face gets close. It proves them wrong about what America is in ways no words can.
It's an interesting, and electrifying possibility in my opinion. In a way that no other candidate can, Obama typifies both what America really is and what it ought to be - diverse, complex, inclusive, welcoming. The article makes a number of other excellent points, and does a good job of describing many of the reasons that I do support Obama, as I've said before, not as my "ideal" candidate (if such a thing exists), but as one that I could nevertheless get behind. If he wins, Obama could become our first truly postmodern president.
Posted by joshuacase at 01:38 PM
A Cure for Burn Outs by Tony Campolo
A Cure for Burnouts (by Tony Campolo)
posted to God's Politics
Friday, January 11, 2008
Far too often, activists do little to nurture their souls. Consequently, they "burn out." Ignoring the need for spiritual revitalization to sustain their zeal on behalf of the poor and oppressed, they wear out and fade into oblivion. Often those who were one-time dynamic spokespersons for social justice while living out countercultural values become exhausted from working hard with very little sense of accomplishment. Becoming cynical, they sometimes say disparaging things about those who still remain in the fray.
It was out of deep concern for the spiritual condition of social justice activists that I teamed up with a young professor from Spring Arbor University, Mary Darling, to write The God of Intimacy and Action: Reconnecting Ancient Spiritual Practices, Evangelism and Justice.
In this book I, along with my co-author, endeavor to present ways to renew the energies of social activists by tapping into spiritual practices of Catholic mystics that we Protestants often ignore. In particular, we focus much of our attention on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius whose directives can help us move beyond the often shallow and mundane prayer styles that are common among Protestants.
First, we explore what Ignatian spiritual directors call centering prayer. Centering prayer is something I do each morning for at least 15 minutes. During the early hours, I take time to center down on Jesus as I say his name over and over again. I do this until everything else is driven out of my mind and I am almost totally focused on Jesus. In stillness I wait for Jesus to reach out from the cross and absorb into his own body the sins that mark my soul. Then, in the midst of quietude, I wait for the Holy Spirit to flow into me and saturate my personhood. I have learned from experience that "they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength" (Isaiah 40:31).
Secondly, I practice Lectio Divina. This is a spiritually informed way of reading scripture in which there is no reliance on scholarly interpretations, such as Bible commentaries. I read some carefully chosen verses, shut the Bible, close my eyes, and wait patiently for the Holy Spirit to tell me what I need to hear from God through what I have just read. There is something mystical in recognizing how verses that I have read many times before speak to me in new ways when practicing Lectio Divina, bringing new meaning that is especially relevant to my existential situation.
Next, there is a practice called "The Prayer of Examen." This I do at bedtime. With my head on my pillow, I reflect on all the ways God used me to do good during the past day. I think of all the things I did that were "honest … just … pure … lovely … of good report … and worthy of praise" (see Philippians 4:8). Only after such "feel-good" self-affirmations am I ready to review the day for a second time--this time remembering the ways in which I sinned and fell short of what I should have been and done. I confess and wait for Christ's cleansing.
Of course, there is much more to the spiritual exercises that have proved so essential in keeping me alive spiritually and revitalizing my "first love" for working for justice and doing evangelism. In the book Mary and I go into these exercises in depth and attempt to show how biblically prescribed and spiritually valid mysticism has motivated leaders such as John Wesley and George Whitefield to proclaim a holistic gospel.
I hope you get this book and find it useful in making spiritual renewal a daily practice. Developing spiritual depth through such exercises will enable you, in accord with the teachings of Jesus, to bring forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold (Matthew 13:8). Without such care of the soul you are apt, as the scriptures tell us, to "wither away" (Matthew 13:6).
Tony Campolo is founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE) and professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University.
Posted by joshuacase at 08:52 AM | Comments (3)
January 13, 2008
A Beautiful Day
Today was a good, no, a beautiful day.
First, we attended Holy Trinity Church Geneva where there was a baptism service. The children were so cute and none of them budged during the service. Furthermore, Micheal French did a great job of describing the purpose and place of rituals and symbols and in our world today. After the baptisms, we prayed this Profession of faith:
We believe in God the Father,
from whom every family
in heaven and on earth is named.
We believe in God the Son,
who lives in our hearts through faith,
and fills us with his love.
We believe in God the Holy Spirit,
who strengthens us
with power from on high.
We believe in one God;
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Beautiful.
Then, Laura, David (brother-in-law) and Chelsea (sister-in-law) went to Shema, our community. It was a another rich experience. David and Chelsea played a few songs, and as a community we discussed the nature and place of the gospel in or lives. It was rich. One of the songs David and Chelsea played was Vito’s Ordination Song by Sufjan Stevens. Here are the lyrics:
I always knew you in your mother’s arms
I have called your name
I’ve an idea placed in your mind to be a better man
I’ve made a crown for you, put it in your room
And when bridegroom comes
There will be noise, there will be glad
And a perfect bed…
And when you write a poem
I know the words, I know the sounds
Before you write it down
When you wear your clothes I wear them too,
I wear your shoes, and your jacket too
I always knew you in your mother’s arms
I have called you son
I’ve made amends between father and son
Or if you haven’t one
Rest in my arms, sleep in my bed
There’s a design to all I did and said
Rest in my arms, sleep in my bed
There’s a design….
Finally, the four of us went up to the Saleve for a snow walk. It was so beautiful. Here are a few of the photos. It was so beautiful.
Notice the moon. It was as large as I could get it. I need a new lens I guess?
Again, a beautiful day...and we didn't let it get away.
Amen....
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 10:19 PM
The Story of Stuff
This is interesting to watch! Following the story of stuff from 'extraction' to 'disposal', this 20 minute video is quite interesting. Here is a teaser video:
Check it out.
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 08:39 AM | Comments (0)
January 12, 2008
UPDATE: Pagan Christianity
Josh and Nick have posted a recent conversation with Frank Viola, author of the recent "Pagan Christianity". I had posted Nicholas' review as a Seriously Good Conversation. Make sure to check out Josh's thoughts here.
engage...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 06:32 PM | Comments (0)
Seriously Good Conversations
Jason Clark has posted a few blogs about traditionalism in light of an article he was writing and, this article entitled 'A Return to Tradition.' In particular, check out this post called Recovery of Liturgy and Ritual in the Emerging Church.
Aaron Mauer, of Shema and Franciscans International, hosted a prayer time for us at Shema on Thursday night. During the time, he highlighted the organization To Write Love On Her Arms. Check it out. Also, he shared this Lifehouse video with us:
Nicholas Fiedler's review of Frank Viola's book "Pagan Christianity".
Greg Boyd's 'A Call to Christian Anarchy'
Looking forward to sharing some stories from the last few weeks beginning on Monday.
read on...
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)
January 08, 2008
A Reflection on 'The Mission of Church'
I was asked to write a reflection on the mission of the Church. What follows is a rough-finished draft. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts and/or dis/agreements on it.
The Mission of the Church Is To Be Consumed
Joshua Case
Geneva, Switzerland
November 2007
What is the mission of the church? Depending on who you ask and where they live, the Church’s mission seems to change as often as the context of its practice. When I look around the global church in this post-colonial age, the sorts, colors and practices of Christ around the world seem to be as distinct and diverse as the communities into which they are incarnated. At the outset it must be stated…this is a GOOD THING.
A broad view of the globe would allow one to see the Spirit of God and the agency of man working together to define and to redefine the work of the Church in this age and in these contexts from every age before. And yet somehow, despite the emergence of the church over time, we find it increasingly said of the church North and West: “you are not relevant to us here” or, “my how few people fill the Cathedrals, isn’t ‘the church’ in decline?”
The definition and redefinition of the Church’s mission have led many to ask and to invite people to think about the church on the other side. Fresh expressions of the church try to think and become the ‘outside the box’ church all the while many models of church no longer call themselves ‘church’ but rather ‘missional communities.’ In some deeply innovational sense, this is the way the younger evangelicals of the Church have sought in the North and West to combat Her decline and ensure that converts continue to be won while the Church more relevantly engages with culture. However, when it comes to mission and evangelism, relevancy is not the issue.
What if the church in her present form has had her day? What if She who at one point was the ultimate Guide of the people, leading them on the way to light and into the liturgies of hope through the daily formation of prayer and services, is finished? What if She like Christ has finished her season of physical ministry in Cathedrals and parishes and is now facing her trial and immanent execution? How will the Church respond? Will She like Christ bear the cross that is in front of her in prayer and waiting or will she flee? Will the Church meet with her closest friends give them symbols to remember her by or will she quietly go away? And we must ask, what Spirit will she leave her followers to comfort them in the age to come? What message of a second coming will she gift their faithfulness and belief?
At the end of the day the Church of the last two millennia may very well be responsible for today’s consumer culture. What other institution had at its core the daily consumption of its message? What other force in the world taught salvation through formation and accessorization? As a result, the church today of the North and West faces one of the most difficult decisions of all times in concern to mission: to enter into an all out war against the consumer culture she helped to create, or to die to herself in order that she may be consumed and live on.
Today’s consumer culture says, ‘if I cannot consume you, I’ll go somewhere more convenient, I’ll find a better deal, I’ll settle for something cheaper.’ And yet the church in the North and West seem unmoved by the consumer pleas for something real. Something fresh. Something transforming. And my friends, this is not a conversation about the McDonald-ization of the Church, or the stripping away of her icons and liturgies and practices. No, this is about allowing or enabling people to enter in to the real practice of Christ in community and to be filled with the Bread of Life.
Inevitably, for the Church to re-remember its mission in the world it merely need to marinate itself in the symbol, the history, the message, the truth, and place of the Eucharist at Her heart. It is this place of ultimate consumption that She still draws people to Her.
For the mission of the church to again take its place as good news in the transformation of the world, the whole of Christianity must become consumed by its cultures. For in Her consumption, so She evangelizes.
The mission of the Church is to be consumed.
blessings...
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 02:11 PM | Comments (3)
January 07, 2008
Meditation: Root of Jesse
The Root and Offspring of Jesse
THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots... And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious." (Isaiah 11:1-10)
THE RABBINIC WRITINGS
And there shall go forth a King from the Sons of Jesse, and the MESSIAH shall be anointed from his children’s children. (Targum Jonathan)
THE NEW TESTAMENT
And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will." From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Saviour -- Jesus. (Acts 13:22-23)
I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. (Revelation 22:16)
Think on this image and text. What do you see?
More thoughts to come...as well as stories.
om..
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 05:14 PM | Comments (1)
Back in the country, but not in Geneva
Back from Oxford and back online. In Adelboden on a team retreat with members of the yfc geneva team and others from around europe. Unfortunately, Lammert is not getting to be with us. He is missed. Oxford was a good experience. I've got some good stories. But i am so looking forward to a real transition back into Geneva and to being again with my friends.
One of the things which happened since I have been offline, was Barack Obama winning Iowa! YES! Actually, the morning after the primary, Bishop Geoffry came over to me and said, ' I've got some good news, I hear your friend Obama won Iowa'. I was shocked! My friend Obama? Anyway, it was just after the morning prayers, where I had been praying about the elections. It made my day!
A prayer for epiphany:
Let us pray,
[grateful for the glory revealed today
through God made man.]
Father of light, unchanging God,
today you reveal to men of faith
the resplendent fact of the Word made flesh.
Your light is strong,
Your love is near;
draw us beyond the limits
which this world imposes,
to the life where Your Spirit
makes all life complete.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
speak soon..
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)
January 02, 2008
UN meeting highlights innovative programmes that spread from south to north
NEW YORK, USA, 27 December 2007 – Uganda, Mexico and Brazil presented innovative grassroots programmes for improving child rights at the United Nations during a recent UNICEF-organized seminar, which for the first time looked at how northern nations can learn from those in the south.
The 18 December seminar – entitled ‘Eyes on the South as a Knowledge Hub’ – featured programmes that have been so successful at improving children’s lives that they have been adopted by many other countries.
“So much of the discussion around here is, ‘What can the north do to help the south?’ I think what we underestimate is what can the north and the whole world learn from good experiences in promoting child rights and well-being from the south,” said outgoing UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Kul Gautam.
‘Testing our knowledge’
“Our world is so divided now, we need some elements of unity, and nothing unites better than the well-being of children,” Mr. Gautam added.
Supporting the seminar along with UNICEF were the Government of Japan, the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation of the United Nations Development Programme, and the World Bank.
“Becoming a learning organization, and delivering, expanding and testing our knowledge – in tandem with financing or separately – is becoming a central pillar of our work,” said World Bank Regional Vice-President Pamela Cox.
A balance between north and south
Among the initiatives discussed at the UN on 18 December were the following:
-A programme in Mexico that gives poor families financial incentives to secure health care and education for their children has proved so successful that about 35 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America have adopted it; the approach has just been implemented in New York City, as well,
-A Brazilian experiment in so-called participatory budgeting – which gives community members an active say in how money is spent – has improved the lives of children and inspired many others to adopt it, including the local government in Seville, Spain.
-And the Ugandan AIDS campaign, which has resulted in a significant drop in the rate of HIV transmission, is being closely studied by public health experts at Columbia University in New York City.
“Here at the UN, there are a lot of conflicts,” noted Mr. Gautam. “Many of the conflicts come from unequal power relations, the south feeling that they are seen as dependent on the north. We are hoping that this conference will reinforce this idea of the UN that north and south, rich and poor, east and west – we all sink or swim together.”
Posted by joshuacase at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)
January 01, 2008
Seriously Good Conversations
Here is a conversation close to my heart. Paul Mayers posted it over at jasonclark.ws. The article, entitled, 'Creating community through interfatih conversation and interaction?' has quite a few comments already. The post briefs readers on a new initiative by the government in the UK and asks a few small questions.
How about you? How have you experienced the creation of community via interfaith dialogue/action? Is this something your faith community values? Have you seen a workable model for interfaith partnership that allows for the distinctiveness of each to be celebrated?
And here is an article by Cynthia Nielson posted to the church and postmodern culture blog entitled, 'Embodied Human Beings and Our Gravitation Towards Ceremony and Ritual'. Good stuff to ponder...
Finally, one of my 2007 band discoveries, The Cobalt Season's Ryan Sharp with a recent post entitled, 'Fighting a Different Kind of Terrorism'
for unity..for humanity...for God....
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 08:47 AM | Comments (0)