Beth is the Executive Director of our (Episcopal) Camp Stevens. The Conference she is attending is vital on so many levels. The resources she highlights are provocative (if you will ‘read, mark, and inwardly’ explore them). Her invitation is to you and me for comment. Let’s engage in this conversation.
Category: Uncategorized
Can’t figure out what other category to use.
Shout it from the Mountaintop: October 4, 2013
A Brother’s thoughts on this St. Francis Day shared by the good folks at Camp Stevens in Julian, CA.
Creator by Maggie Nez
Thanks be to God for gifted poets and pray-ers. “Creator” is beautiful in simplicity and power. “Journey Youth” is curated by Joseph Begay. Please check out the blog (many posts are from the “young” and have the power to humble me. ~dan
Creator
By Maggie Nez
Holy Grandfather, who watches over us in dark and light times,
Help us to trust that new days will come
And that we will not be stuck in old ways.
Give us the calm that sees us through the times we want to die
And the joy that erupts in unexpected moments of beauty.
Join us in each step of our journey
Even as the path changes and turns.
Be our God and our Guide always.
Even when we mess up again.
Give us the strength of our ancestors
To do more than endure.
Help us to walk in beauty.
Amen
Prayer for Memorial Day
Let us pray together in remembrance and thanksgiving and make our prayers of dedication to Peace heartfelt …
New director of Rome’s Anglican Centre
Changes in Rome continue, this time on the Anglican side of the equation:
Former Archbishop of the New Zealand Dioceses, the Most Revd David Moxon, has become the new Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and the Representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See. He has been honoured with the title “Archbishop Emeritus” by the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia, the first time the church has bestowed such a title. Archbishop Moxon (62) will continue as Co-Chairman of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC).
According to Vatican Radio:
The new director of Rome’s Anglican Centre, former Archbishop of New Zealand David Moxon will be officially welcomed to his new post on Thursday at an ecumenical prayer service in Rome’s Oratory of St Francis Xavier, run by the Caravita international Catholic community.
You can read more about this change (and the hope it brings) here:
- Anglican Communion News Service article
- Vatican Radio article
- Image source
Grateful for scholars
Most of us who study the Bible depend on scholars like Geza Vermes.
All of us who have taken up Bible Study after 1947 (the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls) have benefitted from the scholarship (and advocacy) of Dr. Vermes.
Geza Vermes died on May 15, 2013. You can read more about the man in the LA Times: Geza Vermes.
Throughout his life’s work Vermes advocated for wider access to the Dead Sea Scrolls. And this has come about in the ‘digital age.’
The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls Project allows “users to examine and explore these most ancient manuscripts from Second Temple times at a level of detail never before possible.”
What do you hear? What do you see? How does the ‘Seer’ speak to you?
In the Sunday Morning Forum (5/5/13) we looked at the Book of Revelation (in a general way) and the appointed reading, Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 (in a specific way).
In general: What we are hearing (reading, if we must) is a book [Revelation] that is (a) prophetic in content, (b) apocalyptic in form, and (c) pastoral in intent.
Prophetic: the function of the prophet is to interpret history as reflecting the action of God. What we see is what is happening on the human scale; what is really going on is the work of God.
Apocalyptic in form: the word apocalypse is the Greek equivalent of revelatio in Latin. It means to unveil or disclose. What is really going on in history is not evident until the prophet draws back the curtain to show what he has seen.
Pastoral in intent: John writes to strengthen and encourage his fellow Christians in a time of peril. Horrors he knows: he has witnessed (or heard about) the execution of Christians in Rome under Nero in 64, the fall of Jerusalem at the end of the Jewish War in 70, the civil war after the death of Nero in 69, a vast destruction resulting from the eruption of Vesuvius in 80.
Revelation by Holt H. Graham on Bible Briefs from VTS
Another Resource for your Bible study
- The description (above) of The Book of Revelation is from a series of “briefs” jointly produced by Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) and Forward Movement Publications (FM). The entire series, offering introductions to the books of the Bible, is online for your study, and even download: Bible Briefs`.
If the pastoral intent long ago was “to strengthen and encourage … fellow Christians in a time of peril” let us assume the intent is the same today. What ‘perils’ do you hear about? What perils do you see? What does the ‘Seer‘ speak to you as you process what you hear and see? The conversation on Sunday was lively. There is much around us to cause fear, dismay, despair. More importantly, as we looked more closely at the text of Revelation (a text we’ve been reading for a while now) we did indeed find encouragement.
Share your thoughts in the Comment section. We want to continue the conversation.
Loving Our Way to a New Heaven and a New Earth
What I like about the “blogosphere” is that I don’t have to say everything that needs to be said or can be said. There are so many articulate voices sharing insight, wisdom and hope. Michael K. Marsh is a voice I seek out. His sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year C) speaks to my heart. It speaks to the conversation we began in the Forum on Sunday. I pray that it will speak to your heart. ~dan
“I saw a new heaven and a new earth,” St. John says. “I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” I heard “the one who was seated on the throne [say], ‘See, I am making all things new.’”
In the last two weeks I have seen and heard something very different. A bombing in Boston. An explosion in West, Texas. An earthquake in China. A collapsed building in Bangladesh. These things are happening not only at the state, national, and global levels. They are local too. I know that for some of you the ground under your feet is shaking and unstable, the structures of your life have collapsed, your world has exploded.
With all that I have seen and heard I go back to the Revelation to St. John but I don’t want to read his words again. I want to see…
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Wind Chimes: 28 Apr 2013
“I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you,
you also should love one another.”
John 13:34
Today (4/28/13) we listened to these words of Jesus from the Gospel of John. Getting home I found this post by Brian McLaren:
I compiled this list of “one-anothers” in the New Testament, a primer on a basic social practices. Not a bad curriculum!
- “…be at peace with each other.” (Mk. 9:50, 1 Thes. 5:13, 1 Pet. 3:8)
- “wash one another’s feet…. serve one another in love.” (Jn. 13:14, Gal. 5:13)
- “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34; 15:12; 15:17; Romans 13:8, 1 Thes. 4:9, Heb. 13:1, 1 Pet. 1:22, 1 Pet. 3:8, 1 Pet. 4:8, 1 Jn. 3:11, 23; 1Jn. 4:7, 11; 2 Jn. 1:5)
- “Be devoted to one another with mutual affection.” (Romans 12:10)
Brian has quite a list of ‘one-anothers.’ See for yourself. Then comes the challenge: to live (act) like we understand, believe, and cherish these words.
It sounds like the chimes have heard the Good News and are singing, “Love one another,” over and over (until we have the melody), “Love one another.”
What do you hear?
Give My Heart
A well-spoken testimony to Christina Rossetti and a wonderful lead in to both the reading from Acts and the words of Jesus in the Gospel appointed for tomorrow (4/28/13, the Fifth Sunday of Easter in Year C) — “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” ~dan rondeau
Hear what the Spirit is saying 