Other Religious Traditions, Other Countries

May: Other Religious Traditions, Other Countries

“We are all rooted together in the ground of consciousness that is God’s gift to all of us, and our joining is absolute. When the Islamic mullah prays with a true and quiet heart, I believe the souls of the Iowa farmer and the Welsh miner are touched. When the gong sounds in the Japanese monastery and the monks enter the timeless silence of Zazen, their quiet nourishes the Brazilian native and the Manhattan executive. When Jews and Christians pray with true willingness, the Hindu scientist and the Russian policeman are enriched.”—Gerald G. May in Will and Spirit (HarperOne, 1982), pp. 319–320.

Interfaith Friendship Camp

 Many authors remind us of our connection to Nature and the world around us. Others remind us of our relationship with the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely. Gerald May reminds us of our connection to other religions—how the Spirit moves in so many different paths that we do not understand. Too deep for words. 

There is more here than just recognizing God at work in so many varied ways. May also tells us that this Spirit intimately connects us. What we do to further the Spirit, to connect to God in our own day, in our own way, makes a difference across the globe in some distant rainforest.

Again, this relationship is a profound mystery beyond our knowing. Sometimes, when I read this passage from May, I can sit and almost feel the Iowa farmer working his black dirt since we spent four years in Iowa City training. Then, I try to cross the Atlantic to England. I can connect to the shepherd, his dogs, and sheep striding through green pastures, since we have made several trips to England and Scotland.

Because of our political situation, I am having more difficulty connecting with the people in Russia. I have never been there but always wanted to go to St. Petersburg to see Rembrandt’s Return of the Prodigal Son in the Hermitage Museum. So, the next time I watch a newscast from Russia, I will look at it and try to imagine the people there instead of the leaders. I think this could make a difference. Perhaps they are doing the same for us.

Return of the Prodigal. Rembrandt

I am also reminded of Arkansas’ Interfaith Friendship Camp, where children of all different religions come to play and learn about the other’s traditions.

Saint Mark’s will also host an interfaith service, “Love Thy Neighbor,” on Thursday, September 5th at 6 pm.

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/

 

the Gospel and God's Politics

In the Midst of the City, the Gospel and God’s Politics

By Barkley Thompson

“As Christians, we must not begin with our secular political beliefs..and then use the Gospel to prop them up. Rather, we must begin with the Gospel and allow the Gospel to shape our politics.”—Barkley Thompson In the Midst of the City, the Gospel and God’s Politics.

I have now been in three book groups reading Barkley Thompson’s second book, In the Midst of the City.

The book’s first section represents a collection of sermons he wrote as dean of Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral in Houston.

Barkley reminds us of Marcus Borg’s story of the two processions in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday entering from opposite gates. Pilate enters as the representative of the Roman power of war, while Jesus enters, symbolizing God’s politics, the power of peace. “For Christians, leaving God’s politics out of the church is not an option. The Gospel, however, is not partisan, and God is neither conservative nor progressive.”

Barkley constantly reminds us of Karl Barth’s mandate to read both the Bible and the newspaper. Interpret the newspaper from the Bible, never the other way around. For example, in the face of the great tragedy of the killing and wounding at the Boston Marathon, the Gospel leads Barkley to remind us to look for the helpers, those who are reaching out to those who have been harmed.

The second section addresses what it means to be a Christian and an American in light of the Gospel. Patriotism differs from nationalism. The patriot gives his heart to the best that patriotism stands for, even in the face of fear and assault by those who have lost an understanding of liberty.

The third section represents essays published on his blog in the Houston Chronicle. They represent his personal discernment process, hoping to see God’s vision for the world. The chapter titles speak for themselves: “I Own Guns, and I Believe in Gun Control,” “Of Orlando and the Virtue of Embrace,” and “On Civil War Monuments.”

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/

 

 

 

Labor Day and Relationships

Death and Relationships

“We are given each other in trust. I think people are much too wonderful to be alive briefly and gone.”—Marilynne Robinson. 

When I talk with spiritual friends who have experienced the death of a loved one, I remind them that the God, of my understanding, does not give us an amazingly loving relationship with someone else and then abruptly takes it away. Death is not a period at the end of a sentence but more like a comma. The relationship still goes on.

Our loved ones continue in their relationship with us, but in a way we don’t yet understand. Sometimes, we can feel their presence. We often sense the reality of their prayers. In his book, A Crazy, Holy Grace (Zondervan, 2017), Frederick Buechner writes about using active imagination with those we love who have died. We can converse with them in the silence of our minds, but we often feel their presence, supporting and loving us just as they did when they were alive.

I also remind friends that those we love are now with us at all times—beside us—again, in some form, we do not understand. When they were alive, we were present with them only when we saw them physically. They are now always with us in a closer relationship than we can explain.

I often feel the presence of my younger brother, Jim, my only sibling, who died much too prematurely in 2014, the day after Christmas. I especially always feel the fun, full mischief we can so easily see in his eyes. We celebrate him again today since he was born on Labor Day, 1944.