Monthly Archives: August 2024

BIRTHDAY GIFT FOR MY BROTHER ROY

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Note to my readers:  I self-identity as a Judeo-Christian heretic. I make no apologies to anyone, trusting that God, our Tutor, has faith in each of us. (I did graduate study briefly at an “ivy” divinity school, but not for the ministry; I dropped out, welcome to return.) I’ve been elected by congregations to conduct weekly worship, doing so for several years, but no longer sit in pews – instead, studying The Text(s) daily at home, but always approachable by anyone with spiritual curiosity, hunger, thirst. (I peddle no brand, aside from Universal Divine Love.)   ‘Nuff said.

 

Dear Roy,

“The Lord is my [our] shepherd . . .”  (see Psalm 23)

The Lord is also our Patient Tutor, inviting us into daily dialog. Rabbi Jesus was a speaker of truth, but not a writer. Showing up for breakfast with Jesus is stimulating!    He speaks to us between the lines of our Textbook, the Bible.  We speak with him in prayer and listening, in quiet meditation — “My sheep know my voice . . . (see John 10).
     I don’t sit in pews anymore, except to pay respects to late friends, young couples, or new arrivals. Church is/and can be enjoyed anywhere; ad hoc, spontaneously. St Paul terms church “the body of Christ; ekklesia”(118 times in Luke-Acts).  It’s not a building, or a brand; it’s a relationship, a delight regarding our community, our context, recognizing Christ in each other, and in our neighbors.

             The Welcoming Committee / “Prepare to meet thy God.” ~ Amos 4:12    [photo by MeridaGOround]

     I’m about 15 years your senior. And for about 15 years, while still up north, I learned much from a small weekly Saturday-morning Bible study at a nearby farmhouse attended by Catholics, Baptists, Mennonites, non-affiliateds, after which a few of us would adjourn to a local prison to continue in a nondenominational Bible study with a group of about a dozen inmates, reading the Text aloud around the circle, for discussion. Being a fellow student in both of those studies was often a high point of my week. We were there to learn, too, along with those prisoners, some of whom were very astute.

     The portions of the Textbook detailing the career and after-effects of the life of Jesus — the “good news”/gospels and “the letters”/epistles — were written by witnesses, or reported to their listeners, at least 30+ years after the crucifixion, but we have none of those original documents, which were later tampered with by well-meaning (but biased and meddlesome) scribes/”copyists”, as is clearly evidenced in the many hand-copied scrolls and codices of those early times, by comparing them, which reveals variations between them.   (Could anybody write accurately of what they heard that long before? — but the point is moot, as we don”t have the originals.) So, if we want to listen for our Tutor’s voice, it’s an asset to have flexibility for reading between the lines of the Text in it’s many translations; and to think with intense curiosity about the words and meanings.

The word logos in Greek means reasoned, principled; we see it in our English word logical — something very different than emotional : moving (Fr. a public disturbance). In John’s gospel, Logos is capitalized as Word in chapter one to represent the Messiah, the Christ, “the Annointed”. Rationality (logos) is a two-edged sword, affirming and denying. It defends truth and cuts down lies. Ancient Greeks wrestled to fathom truth, eventually describing it as “that which is not a lie”.  Such a slashing definition!  Faith requires logic and appetite — hunger and thirst for right thinking and principled living — to maintain justice and balance in our communities.

     In spite of our distractions, rebellions, class-skipping, chasing after our own desires, God has patience with us, and faith in us.  Faith comes from God. We can’t generate it on our own! Trust, yes we can do that, gradually. But the faith is God’s, in us and through us. God believes in the human family!  The best way to sharpen our appetite is to dine with God daily, our morning meal of communion.  Bread and fish and many a dish are served, freshly prepared and deliciously seasoned, washed down with the fruit of the vine (see John 15; and John 6).   Relocating hunger from our bellies to our hearts is wise. The “SERMON ON THE MOUNT” (Matthew 5-7) is a good place to start. I hope you will visit this great gift often. (You can pick your preferred translation from dozens.) THE GIFT: I’ve queued up a fresh modern version for you.   Got appetite?
     Religion and politics are very separate topics, which the Founders of our nation treated wisely in the First Amendment. But we’ve forgotten much, and are ignoring those guardrails.  (America is not a “Christian nation”; we allow all religions.) The Founders built a wall of separation between church and state – a global first – to protect the church from the state, and the state from the church.  See  CURING CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM by Congressman James  Talarico (TX) a short video (19 minutes) – a powerful Christian rebuke! (NOTE: his sermon starts with funny beer-jokes.)
     Roy, if you insist on voting for someone who is unkind, unChristian, undemocratic, unreasonable, I will honor your right to do so; that’s your privilege in America. (We both defended that right.) But just remember: I still love you, and my vote cancels yours <wink/grin>
     ~God is the Giver!  “Thank God for this gift, too wonderful for words.” (2Cor9:15 ~NLT)
      Note: I’ve attempted my own translation from the Greek, consolidating many of the ethics teachings of “The Sermon” from the gospels into a single document, for anybody who knows how deeply hungry they are.

Book review : : a divine We ?

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This entry is for rationalists, atheists, and weary Christians capable of thinking outside the box; and for anyone interested in a One-Thing approach to ontology (the science of being).  Brace yourself. Fasten seat-belts: Turbulent god-language ahead.  Below I will show a screenshot of text — a pdf-page from a book first published in 1910, but the pdf is from a 1919 edition.  (Note: the book is written in the voice of a divine We – which is not the title; I wonder if it might be from an author’s “near-death experience.”) I’ve never seen a printed copy of any editions.  The book speaks of One Thing: wholeness, health, holiness — as a unity.

PHOTO by MeridaGOround

SCREENSHOT of pdf page below:

[it . . . the pages break thusly.]  If you’re a brave and open-minded student, open the pdf of the book, below in red, which is titled CHRIST IN YOU.  (This generically-Christian work seems devoid of factional Christian denominationalism.)

A personal note: I no longer sit in pews (except to honor late friends; weddings, etc).  I studied briefly in a graduate program at a nondenominational “ivy” divinity school in the early 80’s where the school provided financial support.  Without being ordained, over the years I was elected to conduct worship by two congregations, which I did for a total of nearly six years, often twice weekly — four of those years while I was daily running a commercial business with a technical staff and a retail footprint. I also did weekly nondenominational Bible study in a local prison for nearly 15 years.   I carry no brands or banners, but endeavor to wear and share the light divine, without partiality.

christinyou

Further research at Library of Congress rare book collection has revealed that the book was published by Dodd, Mead, in 1919.