Saturday, September 4, 2021

Colleagues List, September 5th, 2021

 Vol XVII. No. 6

Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019                  

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE 
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE 

LABOUR DAY WEEKEND EDITION

Wayne A. Holst, Editor 
My E-Mail Address: waholst@telus.net 

This email is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list. 
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns, 
write to me personally at - waholst@telus.net 

****

Dear Friends:

Welcome to the end of Canadian summer and the beginning
of Canadian autumn! This indeed is a transitional time for
many Canadians, if not for the rest of you!

I continue to struggle with the issue of fallen heroes, both
personal and public, and encourage you to share your thoughts.

Please enjoy the Net Notes articles and the Wisdom pieces
that I have gathered this past week for you.

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.

*****

SPECIAL ITEM

A Personal Reflection:

LOSING OUR PUBLIC HEROES
A Good and a Bad Thing

Early last spring, I wrote a piece here on the fall of personal heroes for me. I focused on Jean Vanier, who - after his death - was accused of sexual abuse by several women who had trusted him. Six months later, I sense that the community of L'Arche which he had founded years ago is still doing well. The institution seems to have successfully distanced itself from its founder. As much as I support the women whom he sadly abused, I continue to believe he still deserves a place of spiritual recognition that may hopefully be redeemed in time.

Please see my article - https://tinyurl.com/sc4zfu37

This summer, the Catholic bishop Vital Grandin - who is well-known in Alberta educational circles - had his name removed from a number of schools in the province because of his association with the establishment of residential schools.

See an article about this - https://tinyurl.com/yhwhauk8

While the first hero piece related to my personal mentor Jean Vanier, this week's Special Item is triggered by the fall of Egerton Ryerson in Ontario (see articles below) and the Grandin demise in Alberta.

One would actually have to possess a historic bent to know much about Ryerson or Grandin. I, for my part, was trained in Ontario to think of Ryerson in respectful terms as the founder of public (as opposed to separate) education. When I came to Alberta more than forty years ago, I was again oriented to think of Grandin as a founder of education for all, but especially for Indigenous children in residential schools. Little criticism attacked the bishop in those days. He was praised as one who helped bring "culturally backward" native kids into a level of education that was acceptable in a Euro-Canadian world. (Of course, that never did happen, and now Indigenous people themselves have risen to loudly protest the bigotry they now recognize.)

It has taken a long time for the general Canadian population to recognize the error (even sinfulness) behind the work of Ryerson and Grandin. For sure, two important public heroes have fallen and both Protestant and Catholic churches stand duly condemned for what happened.

In their defence, I would say that both men saw the world as they did in the times they lived. Large portions of Ontario and Alberta populations applauded their efforts. Christians in both provinces thought both men to be godly servants who sought to help "the underprivileged".

--

What do I think now?

I realize that I was indoctrinated into the "common Euro-Canadian wisdom" of the time. What I have often taught my classes is that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I continue to see "flawed good intention" in the work of both men. No question - trusting First Nation children were profoundly abused and much needs to be done to change that in our society. Reconciliation will not come easily.

What I have also taught my classes is to be aware that what they think to be right today may well prove to be wrong from the vantage point of the future. Current popular thinking is not the last word on the matter.

I must continue to recognize both the good and the bad in the work of both men and follow the truth today as it leads me into the future.

Wayne

*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan,BC

Personal Web Log,
August 12th, 2021

"If the Old Trees Could Speak"

--

Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON.

Sermons and Blog,
August 27th, 2021

"Love Poem"  
  
--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site
August 30th, 2021

"Different Ways of Being
   Spiritual but Not Religious"

--

Elfrieda Schroeder,
Winnipeg, MB.

In Transit
September 3rd, 2021

"The Courage to Write"
   
*****

NET NOTES

RYERSON UNIVERSITY IS NO MORE
The Legacy of a Tarnished Hero

Broadview
March 1st, 2018 (background)/August 27th, 2021


--

CANADIAN CATHOLICS (AND ALL CHRISTIANS)
MUST DEAL WITH A HARD TRUTH
We Must be About Rebuilding Christ's Church

Catholic Register, Toronto, ON.
August 28th, 2021


--

FRANCIS QUASHES RESIGNATION RUMOURS
"It Hasn't Crossed My Mind," he says

Religion News Service,
September 1st, 2021


--

FRANCIS QUESTIONS U.S. WITHDRAWAL
STRATEGY FROM AFGHANISTAN
He is Concerned About Senseless Suffering

Catholic Register, Toronto
September 1st, 2021


--

COULD THE U.S. GOVERNMENT 
TAKE NON-VIOLENCE SERIOUSLY?
A Comment on Current World Affairs

Sojourners,
September 2nd, 2021


--

WHAT IS WICCA?
An Expert on Witchcraft Explains

Religion News Service,
August 30th, 2021


--

AS CHURCH DOORS RE-OPEN
Let's Shed the Harmful Habits
of On-line Worship

Faith Today/Love is Moving
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
September 2nd, 2021


--

DIED: THOMAS MCKENZIE
DEFENDER AND DEFINER OF ANGLICANISM
He Did a Lot to Interpret 
the Anglican Church to Evangelicals

Christianity Today,
August 24th, 2021


--

JUDAISM SCHOLAR SUSANNAH HESCHEL
ON HER FATHER'S LEGACY
Blending Prayer and Politics

The Christian Century, 
August 25th, 2021


--

AMISH NEWSPAPER READERSHIP
EXISTS SUCCESSFULLY OFF-LINE
Not Affected by Regular Newspaper Woes

Broadview
August 20th, 2021


--

BOSSEY STUDENTS LEARN ENGLISH
AND STRENGTHEN THEIR GLOBAL VIEWS
They Develop Tools for Living the Faith

World Council of Churches News,
September, 2021


*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

Provided by Sojourners and the Bruderhoff online:

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

- Julian of Norwich

--

The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it emotionally.

- Flannery O'Connor

--

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.

- Mother Teresa

--

We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.

- Dorothy Day

--

We kill at every step, not only in wars, riots, and executions. We kill when we close our eyes to poverty, suffering, and shame. In the same way all disrespect for life, all hardheartedness, all indifference, and all contempt is nothing else than killing. With just a little witty skepticism we can kill a good deal of the future in a young person. Life is waiting everywhere, the future is flowering everywhere, but we only see a small part of it and step on much of it with our feet.

- Hermann Hesse


*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - Henri J.M. Nouwen

We have been called to be fruitful – not successful, not productive, not accomplished. Success comes from strength, stress, and human effort. Fruitfulness comes from vulnerability and the admission of our own weakness.

*****

For Those Interested -

ACTS MINISTRY AUTUMN STUDIES AT ST.DAVID'S UNITED:

Monday Night Book Study - Sept. 20th - Nov. 29th 7-8:30 PM              Zoom (10 weeks)

(no class on Thanksgiving Monday, October 11th)

Book Theme: "Starlight" by Richard Wagamese

**

Thursday Morning Bible Study - Sept. 23rd - Nov. 25th 10-11 AM 
Zoom (10 weeks)

Bible Theme - "First Isaiah" (Isaiah chapters 1-39)

If you have questions, contact me at waholst@telus.net

(end)

******




at No comments:

Friday, August 27, 2021

Colleagues List, August 29th, 2021

Vol XVII. No. 5

Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019                  http://colleagueslist.blogspot/.ca 

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE 
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE 

Wayne A. Holst, Editor 
My E-Mail Address: waholst@telus.net 

This email is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list. 
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns, 
write to me personally at - waholst@telus.net 

****

Dear Friends:

As summer ebbs in our part of the world, people try to
get as much of a holiday break as they can, while many
of us are getting prepared for autumn challenges.

I hope you enjoy my reflection on what I have been learning
in my life about healing and reconciliation.

Thanks to all who have shared their discoveries this week,
and also the Net Notes and Wisdom that I have selected 
for you since mid-August.

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


*****

SPECIAL ITEM

A Personal Reflection:

SHOWING COMPASSION 
AT AN OPPORTUNE POINT IN TIME

I seem to have learned something about healing relations during my senior years that escaped me earlier in my life. There is frequently a better time than others to convey the desire for reconciliation. I can have a strong desire for relational healing, but if the "other" is not ready, willing or able to reciprocate, all my good intentions may be for naught.

Over the period of a lifetime of interaction with people, it is natural that bad relations will occur. I am the kind of person that finds it hard to live with such relations, and I find myself struggling, sometimes frantically, to overcome barriers between myself and the person or persons with whom I've had a falling-out. 

Sadly, my good will is met with rejection. The more I try to change the climate of a relationship, the more frustrated I become. I may be ready to move ahead relationally, but the "other" is not.

My senior years' learning is that it is better to wait for an appropriate time than to try to initiate healing and push my agenda. I need to become more aware of another's agenda and less of my own.

--

Two nameless but true examples may help me convey this.

Early in my career I had a strong desire to work in what was officially the headquarters of what was essentially an American organization. In those days I was convinced that this was the ideal location to situate myself. The person who headed that organization in the states had taken a liking to me and I guess I was able to convince him I wanted to join his team in the USA.

The end result, however, was that I tended to alienate fellow-workers, both Canadian and American. This caused a falling-out with my boss, and  strained feelings between he and I that lasted 25 years.

These hard barriers fell, however, on the occasion of the death of this man's wife. When I learned of it, I made a special effort to track him down and to share my condolences. He was deeply affected and I knew at that moment our relationship had healed. His response deeply affected me. I will never forget the tone of his voice when he realized that it was me. My discovery? At his moment of vulnerability - barriers down - I was there to offer my compassion in a way that he was ready to receive. 

My second example is more recent in nature. Again, it was when the recipient of my condolence was at the time of the death of his spouse. Again, I found the person with whom I had been at odds for several decades and made a phone call. I was greatly affected by the openness and receptivity of his response. This too has affected me deeply as well as I believe it has stuck with him.

Not all my initiatives, carried out in this manner, have had similar results. But I have learned from these experiences what has taken a lifetime to discover. Showing compassion at an appropriate point in time can work wonders with relational renewal.

--

Good intentions are one thing. But they are often not enough.

Good timing is the other, and I won't forget this.

*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Laura Locke
Calgary, AB

Kolbe Times,
August 21st, 2021

"A Conversation With Dr. John Rook"

--

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log
August 20th, 2021

"Make It Personal"
  
--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site,
August 23rd, 2021

"The Fading of Forgiveness"

--

Isabel Gibson,
Ottawa, ON.

Traditional Iconoclast
August 22nd, 2021

"Be Careful"

--

Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON.

Sermons and Blog
August 22nd, 2021

"Something More"
  
*****

NET NOTES

CURRENT CANADIAN LIVESTREAM CHURCH SERVICES
Focused on the UCC, but Including Others Too

Broadview,
March 18th, 2020 (upgraded)


--

VANDALS SOLVE NOTHING
A Distraction, Not a Solution

Catholic Register, Toronto
August 12th, 2021


--

"BEST SUMMER EVER" FALLING WELL SHORT
Response to Vaccine Deniers, by Glen Argan

Catholic Register, Toronto
August 13th, 2021


--

WHAT'S ON THE OTHER SIDE
OF EXITING A FUNDAMENTALIST CHURCH?
A Woman Struggles to Find Her Way

Broadview,
August 20th, 2021


--

WCC HONOURS PHILIP POTTER
He Was an Early 2/3rds World 
Ecumenical Leader

World Council of Churches
August, 2021


--

ELCA INSTALLS WEBER AS IT'S
FIRST PASTOR OF PUBLIC WITNESS
"Her Ministry Goes Beyond Church Walls"

Religion News Service,
August 23rd, 2021


--

ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY SPEAKS
ON THE SITUATION IN AFGHANISTAN 
A Church Report to the British House

Anglican World Communion Service
August 18th, 2021


--

WHAT WENT WRONG WHEN THIS 
UNITED CHURCH OPENED A 
REFUGEE SHELTER IN BANCROFT ONT
The Challenge Was Too Difficult

Broadview,
August 13th, 2021


--

OPINIONS EXPRESSED ON SOCIAL MEDIA
DON'T REPRESENT YOU OR ME
A Canadian Evangelical Perspective

Christian Week
August 10th, 2021


--

"THIS LAND IN YOUR LAND" SAY
MORE CANADIAN THAN AMERICAN CHURCHES
TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLE (US Report)

Christianity Today,
July 30th, 2021


*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

Provided by Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:

We are all born / so beautiful / the greatest tragedy is / being convinced we are not

- Rupi Kaur

--

Human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe.

- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (August 2021)

--

Whether or not we will be honest with each other, whether or not we will let ourselves be truly known, determines everything.

- N. Gordon Cosby

--

For if what you say is true, that you have kept from your youth the commandment of love and have given to everyone the same as yourself, then how did you come by this abundance of wealth?

- St. Basil of Caesarea

--

Then that little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much rights as men, ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman!

- Sojourner Truth, “Ain’t I a Woman?” (1851)

--

The church, with its message, and with its word, will meet a thousand obstacles, just as the river encounters boulders, rocks, and chasms. No matter; the river carries a promise: “I will be with you to the end of the ages” and “The gates of hell shall not prevail” against the will of the Lord (Matt. 28:20, Matt. 16:18).

- Oscar Romero

--

The question, “Why do children suffer?” has no answer, unless it’s simply, “To break our hearts.” Once our hearts get broken, they never fully heal. They always ache. But perhaps a broken heart is a more loving instrument. Perhaps only after our hearts have cracked wide open, have finally and totally unclenched, can we truly know love without boundaries.

- Fred Epstein

--

Being able to think differently from those around us and being able to function lovingly with people who think otherwise is the ultimate in human endeavor. It requires three things: a heart large enough to deal with conflict positively, enduringly, and kindly; a keen sense of personal purpose, the notion that there is something on the horizon that is worth debating; and a soul sensitive enough to transcend the tensions of the immediate for the sake of the quality of the future. 

- Joan Chittister

--

The world is upside down because there is so very little love in the home. We have no time for our children; we have no time for each other; and there is no time to enjoy each other. That is why there is so much suffering and so much unhappiness in the world today. Everybody seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for what is bigger and better and greater, and mothers and fathers often do not have time for each other, let alone their children. In the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world.

- Mother Teresa

--

Today, we are seeing growing impatience with the institutional church’s accommodation to temporal power. Younger generations, no longer willing to give the church the benefit of the doubt, are driving the mass exodus out of the Western church, which they see as a primary source of pain and abuse in the world. But for those who have not given up on the church as a vessel of God’s grace and transformation, the contours of a new reformation are beginning to surface.

- Jin S. Kim

--

How do we love those who do not love us? Firstly, we love them by believing the truth that God loves us, and that we desperately need his love – not only to sustain us but also to spend on others. Secondly, we love those who do not love us by disbelieving that we are in any way capable of this task apart from the love of Christ. The only way I can ever possibly obey Jesus and love people who hate me is if I am perpetually abiding in a love relationship with Jesus.

- Garrett Soucy

--

A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood. If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantment of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.

- Rachel Carson

*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - Arthur Ashe

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.

(end)

*****

For Those Interested -

ACTS MINISTRY AUTUMN STUDIES AT ST.DAVID'S UNITED:

Monday Night Book Study - Sept. 20th - Nov. 29th 7-8:30 PM              Zoom (10 weeks)

(no class on Thanksgiving Monday, October 11th)
Book Theme: "Starlight" by Richard Wagamese

Thursday Morning Bible Study - Sept. 23rd - Nov. 25th 10-11 AM 
Zoom (10 weeks)
Bible Theme - "First Isaiah" (Isaiah chapters 1-39)

If you have questions, contact me at waholst@telus.net

*****


(((((*****

at No comments:

Saturday, August 14, 2021

Colleagues List, August 15th, 2021

 Vol XVII. No. 4

Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019                    http://colleagueslist.blogspot/.ca 

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE 
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE 

Wayne A. Holst, Editor 
My E-Mail Address: waholst@telus.net 

This email is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list. 
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns, 
write to me personally at - waholst@telus.net 

****

Dear Friends:

This issue of Colleagues List will take us through the last few weeks of summer and the first indicators of autumn. September beckons. 

Thanks to colleagues that supply CL with helpful material for this issue.  It is good to know that summer has continued to be a productive time.  

Thanks for continuing to show your interest and support as readers.

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.

*****

SPECIAL ITEM

A SIGN OF THE TIMES

For the first time in almost 18 months, those who drop by St. David's United Church in Calgary will see our sanctuary chairs arranged in a manner that is similar to what we had been used to before the lockdown due to the virus. There may be fewer chairs with more spaces between in the nave of the church, but they have at least returned to a more traditional arrangement. We are going through gradual transition.

I take this as a positive signal.

At the same time, since we are a rather conservative group in many ways, we are not assuming "business as usual" yet. We are making changes gradually and want any return to a new normal to be done with care.

Our Monday and Thursday studies will still be using Zoom, which we have found works quite well. This does not mean we will continue using Zoom when face-to-face is again fully possible But we don't want to put our people at risk now. Perhaps we will develop a blend of the two in future.
(see the end of this blog for our Autumn ACTS program.)

This caution, I suspect, will also govern our music and fellowship  programs as we attempt to find our way back to "regular" programming.

There are still a lot of mixed virus messages about, and we as a congregation continue to follow the generally credible guidance that medical science has been offering us the past year and a half.

I hope that some of the material I have included in this issue will continue to guide both our scientific and faith efforts during "re-entry" and that this process will blend a mix of caution and healthy risk.
                
*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

Jim Taylor,
Okanagan, BC.

Personal Web Log
August 1st, 2021

"The Constant of Accelerating Change"
  
--

Elfrieda Schroeder,
Winnipeg, MB.

In Transit,
August, 2021

"All Nature Sings: The Beauty, 
  Brevity and Vulnerability of Life"

--

Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON.

Sermons and Blog,
August 6th, 2021

"Day By Day"

--

Isabel Gibson,
Ottawa, ON.

Traditional Iconoclast
July 30th, 2021

"Just Ask"

--

Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX

Personal Web Site
August 9th, 2021

"Complexity and Paradox"

*****

NET NOTES

THIS WEEK IN CHRISTIAN HISTORY
Three Special Events


--

ARE VIRTUAL CHURCH SERVICES
HERE TO STAY?
Health Restrictions are Fading Away

Broadview,
July 30th, 2021


--

FRANCIS RECEIVES DEATH THREAT
Grappling With Vatican Financial Scandals

Religion News Service,
August 10th, 2021


--

PREPARING FOR THE POST-PANDEMIC LET-DOWN
What to Expect When You Return to "Face-to-Face"

Faith Today,
August 5th, 2021


--

RELIGIOUS REVIVAL IS GOING ON IN CHINA
Under the Constant Watch of the Communists

Religion News Service,
August 9th, 2021


--

UNDERSTANDING EVANGELICALISM 
IN AMERICA TODAY
Not a Monolith but a Variety of Churches, 
Theologies, and Practices

Religion News Services,
August 4th, 2021


--

LETTER OF CONGRATULATIONS TO NEW CANADIAN GG
Submitted by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada

Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
August 2nd, 2021


--

YOUNG AMERICAN EVANGELICALS LEAVING CHURCH
LGBTQ Bias May Be Driving Them Away

Religion News Service,
August 6th, 2021


--

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - AUGUST 4th, 1892

BRITISH MEDICAL MISSIONARY
ARRIVES IN CANADA - WILFRED GRENFELL

The Christian Post
August 4th, 2021



*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

Provided by Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:

If you believe in God omnipresent, then you must believe everything that comes into your life, person or event, must have something of God in it to be experienced and loved; not hated.

-- Elizabeth Goudge

--

Art is here to prove, and to help one bear, the fact that all safety is an illusion. In this sense, all artists are divorced from and even necessarily opposed to any system whatever.

- James Baldwin

--

If they are to be the people of God, Christians have to first become a people — that is, a network of living communities working out their understandings, planning their courses of action, and organizing themselves for action.

- Leonardo Boff & Clodovis Boff

--

The great events of this world are not battles and elections and earthquakes and thunderbolts. The great events are babies, for each child comes with a message that God is not yet discouraged with humanity, but is still expecting goodwill to become incarnate in each human life.

- Marian Wright Edelman

--

In a world of dazzling technological power, it’s tempting to think that we can mass-produce love. But human souls aren’t nourished by impersonal acts of care manufactured by institutions. Even God, the maker of the universe, became small in order to deliver love to each human soul. Let’s imitate that example.

- Tim Otto

--

Who is able to withstand evil? Only those whose final standard is not their own reason, principles, conscience, freedom, or virtue, but who are ready to sacrifice all this when called to obedient and responsible actions in faith and in exclusive allegiance to God – people who try to make their whole life an answer to the question and call of God.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

--

Silence is a necessary counter to the relentless preoccupation of our multitasking minds – something that should provide a contrapuntal rhythm to the steady beat of our busy human brains. Just as we are wise to protect the earth’s vulnerable woodlands from overdevelopment, so we must protect the sanctuary of our interior lives. Speech, relationships, the soul: they begin with, and are sustained by, silence.

- Stephanie Bennett

--

I don’t see how you could get through what I’ve had to deal with without some kind of faith – without turning to Jesus and relying on him to give you peace, or the courage to get up and go through another day. Plus, I think chronic pain makes you more aware of what is important, and less easily bothered by the petty stuff of life. And that, I think, is a blessing. Because I don’t think I’d naturally be like that.

- Brenda Hindley

--

Once they told Rabbi Pinhas of the great misery among the needy. He listened, sunk in grief. Then he raised his head. “Let us draw God into the world,” he cried, “and all need will be quenched.” God’s grace consists precisely in this, that he wants to let himself be won by humanity, that he places himself, so to speak, into human hands. God wants to come to his world, but he wants to come to it through men and women. This is the mystery of our existence, the superhuman chance of humankind.

-- Martin Buber

--

We’ve decided to sort ourselves by education – the idea is that being educated is the most important thing in life and that if you fail at that, it’s your fault. It’s not just that we have a system that rewards education, it’s that we have a very narrow definition of what being smart is.

The problem with defining success like this is that, though it’s easy to measure how much education or money someone has, it’s very hard to measure the value of being a good parent or of deciding to stay in your hometown and to spend your life contributing to it. With a meritocratic mindset, when we fail to find things we can put numbers on, we tend to overlook their value.

- Chris Arnade

--

Our expectation of the kingdom cannot be a passive waiting, a sweet, soft occupation with ourselves and our like-minded friends. No, if we truly expect God’s kingdom, we will be filled with divine power. Then the social justice of the future – with its purity of heart and divine fellowship – will be realized now, wherever Jesus himself is present. Our belief in the future must bring change to the present! The spirit of expectation is the spirit of action because it is the spirit of faith. Faith is bravery. Faith is reality. If we have faith, even only a small seed, we cannot regard anything as impossible.

- Eberhard Arnold

*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - Martin Sheen

I learned that we serve ourselves best when we serve others first.

*****

For those interested:

ACTS MINISTRY AUTUMN STUDIES AT ST.DAVID'S UNITED:

Monday Night Book Study - Sept. 20th - Nov. 29th 7-8:30 PM              Zoom (10 weeks)
(no class on Thanksgiving Monday, October 11th)
Book Theme: "Starlight" by Richard Wagamese

Thursday Morning Bible Study - Sept. 23rd - Nov. 25th 10-11 AM 
Zoom (10 weeks)
Bible Theme - "First Isaiah" (Isaiah chapters 1-39)

If you have questions, contact me at waholst@telus.net

(end)

*****

- Martin Sheen
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Colleagues List, July 24th, 2022

  Vol. XVIII. No. 1 Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019                                            http://colleagueslist.blogspot / .ca           ...

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    Vol XVII. No. 14 Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019                    http://colleagueslist.blogspot / .ca   http://colleagueslistii.blogspot.co...
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       Vol XVII. No. 15 Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019                    http://colleagueslist.blogspot / .ca   http://colleagueslistii.blogspot...
  • Colleagues List, May 24th, 2020
    Vol XV. No. 42 Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019                                                                                               ...