Vol XVI. No. 15
Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019 http://colleagueslist.blogspot/.ca http://colleagueslistii.blogspot.com
GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: waholst@telus.net
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write to me personally - waholst@telus.net
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Dear Friends:
This week I return to a Special Item promoting a Canadian publishing house that I have long supported -Wood Lake Press of Kelowna, BC.
My eyesight continues to improve, even though I must not overdo it!
Thanks to the publishers who continue to supply me with review copies, as well as author/colleagues who request my promotional support.
The rest of Colleagues List this week contains the usual themes, but always with new material.
Wayne
PLEASE NOTE- If a link, below seems to be dead, cut and paste it into the address bar at the top of your web page and it should work.
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SPECIAL ITEM
Book Notice:
IN SYNC WITH THE SACRED, OUT OF STEP WITH THE WORLD Embracing an Unconventional Life in a Culture of Conformity by Tom Stella
Wood Lake Publishers, Kelowna, BC. October, 2020. 130 pages. $17.00 CAD Paper. Kindle $7.50 CAD. ISBN #978-1-77343-407-0
Publisher's Promo:
What does it mean live “in sync with the sacred”? For Tom Stella it means living an authentic life. It means “stepping to the cadence of the sacred, ” which usually requires courage: “the courage to be different, to stand out, to be considered odd and perhaps even a threat by those who find their identity, comfort, and security in the status quo…
The good news is that we can do this within our daily lives. Unlike Thoreau, who felt he had to retreat to Walden Pond “to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,” we don’t have to retreat to the woods. According to Stella, “authenticity is first and foremost a matter of being attuned and responsive to the sacred within – to an instinct, an intuition, a sixth sense, a deep, voiceless voice that can be ‘heard’ even in a crowd. This inner guide may at times call us to live apart from others, but it surely summons us to follow a road less travelled; that is, to turn away from the conventional wisdom of society, those ways of thinking, believing, and behaving that go unquestioned – busy is good, more is better, success equals wealth…”
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Author's Words:
Henry David Thoreau spent two years at Walden Pond near Concord, MA where he turned his back on society and its comforts and distractions. He wanted to learn from life, to live authentically, and to encounter himself.
I find something compelling about Thoreau's decision to leave the security of life as he knew it. I want to confront fully my penchant to fall into routines of thought and action that devolve into ruts. I do not want to come to the end of my days without having lived.
I don't believe authentic living necessitates a retreat to the woods. I have my own inner guide that supports me wherever I am. It takes me on a road less travelled. It calls me to turn away from the conventional wisdom of society such as "busy is good", "more is better", "success equals wealth..."
What I intend to share with you here are hints for how you can step into the cadence of the sacred - about how to live with soul sense even if it may sound like nonsense.
I draw from the wisdom of the mystics - East and West; from poets, philosophers and theologians who encourage us to live out of step with the world.
When I use the word "spiritual" it is not in a religious sense. Nor do I view it as living in a world beyond the human. Spirituality is a life force, a sacred energy that enlivens nature and human nature. Spirituality is the life of our soul.
My understanding of God is like that espoused by Paul Tillich as "the ground of being." I will unpack that further in my book.
Much of what I write may appear confounding and perhaps controversial. If you find this to be true I will be pleased. Living in sync with the sacred often requires walking out of step with our culture's unquestioned values.
I hope that this book will serve as a spiritual wake-up call for you.
- taken and interpreted from the author's Introduction.
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Author's Bio:
Tom Stella, Author
Tom Stella has been sharing his spiritual wisdom with the world for years. His previous books include The God Instinct (Sorin Books), A Faith Worth Believing (HarperSanFransico), and Finding God Beyond Religions (SkylightPaths). Before resigning from the Congregation of Holy Cross in 2009, he ministered to thousands of people in parishes and on campuses for 30 years. He is the co-founder and director of Soul Link Inc., a spiritual director, retreat facilitator, hospice chaplain, and corporate chaplain for Centura Health, a Catholic and Adventist health system headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Stella holds an MDiv degree from the University of Notre Dame, an MA in counselling from the University of Michigan, and an STM in spirituality from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley.
Awards and recognition
The God Instinct (Sorin Books, 2001) – a Spiritual Book Associates selection and winner of a Catholic Press Association First Time Author award
Finding God Beyond Religion (SkylightPaths, 2013) – chosen as one of the 50 best books of 2013 by Spirituality and Health magazine
CPR for the Soul (Wood Lake, 2017), “Highly Recommended” in the Best Spiritual Author category, Soul and Spirit’s Spiritual Book Awards, 2019.
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My Thoughts:
Once you begin on a spiritual quest that opens you to new vistas of perspective and understanding, I find you need to keep pressing forward. This book is for people who have started on a spiritual journey and want to keep going!
One of the great benefits of a spiritual program in our time is that it can truly be an ecumenical/interfaith activity. Once we get started, we find that we are joined by others of many faith traditions, including our own.
To be "ecumenical" or "inter-faith" however, does not mean to "water down" or "compromised." Indeed, it could be just the opposite.
Tom Stella is in touch with many contemporary spiritual sources and it is most worthwhile to have him as one to accompany us on the journey.
Wood Lake Publishers of Kelowna BC continues to provide many helpful books to assist modern spiritual sojourners. I am grateful for access to these resources and hope you will take advantage of them too.
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Buy the book from Wood Lake: https://tinyurl.com/y3avjm4f
Buy the book from Amazon.ca: https://tinyurl.com/y25qvt56
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COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
Mark Whittall, Ottawa, ON.
Sermons and Blog,October 19th, 2020
"Whose Image?"
https://tinyurl.com/yytn9rkr
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Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX
Personal Web Site,
October 19th, 2020
"The Prince of Lies"
https://tinyurl.com/y3d2s6um
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Jim Taylor.
Okanagan, BC
Personal Web Log,
October 19th, 2020
"Apologies Need Teeth"
https://tinyurl.com/y3x9hwgr
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Isabel Gibson,
Ottawa, ON
Personal Video Suggestion
Live Science
October 16th, 2020
"Was Jesus a Magician?"
https://tinyurl.com/yylp7828
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Philip Yancey,
Colorado
philipyancey.com
October 22nd, 2020
"Showing Us Another Way"
https://tinyurl.com/y4vk8fvr
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NET NOTES
YOM KIPPUR ZOOM RE-UNITES HOLOCAUST
SURVIVORS 71 YEARS LATER
Friend Not Seen Since Austrian Camp
Religion News Service,
October 20th, 2020
https://tinyurl.com/yyt7hzfh
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FRANCIS ENDORSES CIVIL UNION LAWS
FOR GAY COUPLES IN NEW DOCUMENTARY
Pontiff Repeats Stand in Appeal to All
CBC/Associated Press,
October 21st, 2020
https://tinyurl.com/y5w5mjun
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CANADIAN ANGLICANS AND LUTHERANS
SEEK GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN
MARITIME INDIGENOUS FISHING CRISIS
Safety of First Nations People is Threatened
Anglican Church of Canada
October 21st, 2020
https://tinyurl.com/y5a645se
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UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
SUPPORTS MI'KMAW TREATY RIGHTS
United Church of Canada
October 20th, 2020
https://tinyurl.com/y2g9rrz5
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THE CHANGING FACE OF THE
EVANGELICAL CHURCHES IN CANADA
Younger Leaders Have Different Views
But are Challenged by Senior Leadership
Broadview,
October 16th, 2020
https://tinyurl.com/y4lpmo26
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WHY ARE CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED?
A Global Perspective
UCA News,
October 19th, 2020
https://tinyurl.com/y5eueavx
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SIX REASONS WHY POPE FRANCIS
SHOULD WEAR A MASK
An Open Appeal to the Pope
Religion News Service,
October 20th, 2020
https://tinyurl.com/yyx9pjuk
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CANADA BRACES FOR FALLOUT
AS U.S. ELECTION ENTERS FINAL DAYS
Coping With Donald Frump Unbound
CBC News
October 21st, 2020
https://tinyurl.com/y57hzkmf
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BILLY GRAHAM'S GRANDDAUGHTER
IS VOTING FOR BIDEN
"Graham Would Be Discouraged by Our Situation"
Christian Post,
October 22nd, 2020
https://tinyurl.com/yyoo2bvb
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WISDOM OF THE WEEK
In a society that continually disposes of those deeper in the margins, it is a critical disruption to intentionally center them.
- Whitney Parnell
- Sandy Ovalle
My faith is not identified by my title. My faith is identified
by how I live. Wearing the uniform is not the same as
playing the game.
- Lecrae
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It is useless to dream of reforming society without a
corresponding change in our own lives.
- Bishop Hélder Câmara
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If the Church is to remain faithful to its Lord, it must make a
decisive break with the structure of this society by launching
a vehement attack on the evils of racism in all forms.
- James H. Cone
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A silent look of affection and regard when all other eyes are
turned coldly away – the consciousness that we possess the
sympathy and affection of one being when all others have
deserted us – is a hold, a stay, a comfort, in the deepest
affliction, which no wealth could purchase, or power bestow.
Charles Dickens (The Pickwick Papers)
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Try walking around with a child who’s going, “Wow, wow!
Look at that dirty dog! Look at that burned-down house!
Look at that red sky!” And the child points and you look,
and you see, and you start going, “Wow! Look at that huge
crazy hedge! Look at that teeny little baby! Look at the
scary dark cloud!”
I think this is how we are supposed to be in the world – present and in awe.
- Anne Lamott
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