Tuesday, November 29, 2016

RELIGION OF CREATION VS. RELIGION OF EMPIRE

     Various attempts have been made to tease out various strands in the books of the Bible. Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918) proposed the Document Theory.   He posited four main documents in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures): J (Jahwist), E (Elohist),  P (Priestly), and D (Deuteronomist): J, a Judean source of about the tenth century B.C.; E a North Israelite source of about the eighth century B.C..; D, the core of Deuteronomy, which is identified with the "book of the law (torah)"; and P, which is variously dated before, during or after the Babylonian exile of the sixth century B.C. I have seen color coded texts of the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures, distinguishing these four strands. This Document Theory had repercussions in all fields of biblical research and influenced the course of biblical criticism to the present day.
     In 2010, Wes Howard-Brook published "Come Out, My People!" (God's Call out of Empire in the Bible and Beyond).  Wes lays out a template for reading the whole bible.  He documents that there are two religions embedded in the biblical text, but they are not Judaism and Christianity, they are a religion of Creation and a religion of Empire. In 2016 Wes published EMPIRE BAPTIZED ( How the Church Embraced What Jesus Rejected 2nd-5th Centuries).
     The recent election of Donald Trump for me has crystallized the clear fact that a significant number of  present day Christians are living the religion of Empire in contrast to the religion of Creation that Jesus lived and proclaimed.
     Look at these statistics:  In a preliminary analysis published on November 9, the Pew Research Center reported that 52% of U.S. Catholics voted for Trump.  But 60 percent of white Catholics voted for Trump. And while only 26% of Latinx Catholics voted for him—67% went for Clinton—the percentage of Latinx voters going for Clinton was an 8% decline over the percentage that went for Obama in 2012. 81% of white evangelicals voted for Trump.  These were important components of the Trump victory.
     The Second reading of the Catholic liturgy for the first Sunday of Advent said:  " But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh." In the National Catholic Reporter, a Catholic summarized why he voted for Trump: "But I still won't vote for candidates who threaten our freedom of religion and seek to expand federal support for abortion abroad and at home."  This I believe is the "pro-life" stance of the U.S. Catholic Bishops.  But I'm afraid that many people who would proclaim "I am pro-life" mean I am against abortion and attacks on freedom of religion. .  For me there is so much more to being pro-life.  Let us see where Donald Trump takes us.

     

And a little child shall lead them




David Haas: And a little child shall lead them

God,
How I delight in your word!

At the same time, however,
the promise that you proclaim
seems too good to be true!
Could such a world truly exist?
Could I truly live in this
kind of harmony and mutual love?
Sometimes these words of peace
and reverence on earth,
this vision of righteousness
and faithful living,
seem so impossible and unrealistic
that I close my eyes
and become cynical and hopeless.

I need your spirit to full me
and probe my heart,
to take away my apathy
and the numbing that the world injects.

I must remember that you are God
and that nothing is impossible with you.
You alone are wisdom and understanding,
you alone are the knowledge and comfort that I need to live.
Your ways and your works are awesome,
and your wonders are beyond my wildest dreams!

This vision that you give to me
is one that I can live out in small ways.
I need to lie down with those
I would like to devour
or with those who want to devour me.

People often say:
"Christmas is for children."
And your word says
that a little child shall lead us.
Help me to look to children,
who, with simplicity and wonder of live,
can teach me much this season.
May I love as the young child loves,
may I reach out and forgive easily as young children do,
and may I become the presence of the Christ Child
this year and every day of my life. Amen.

By David Haas
Praying with the Word (St. Anthony Messenger Press)

Reflection questions:
1. When have you been the most hopeless? Was it a choice or a feeling?

2. What are your hopes usually based on? Do you usually think they will come true?

Looking for a daily devotion for Advent? Every day,  U.S. Catholic will bring you words of wisdom and questions for reflection from the spiritual greats.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Steve Job's last words


Steve Jobs


The last words of Steve Jobs -
I have come to the pinnacle of success in business.
In the eyes of others, my life has been the symbol of success.
However, apart from work, I have little joy. Finally, my wealth is simply a fact to which I am accustomed.
At this time, lying on the hospital bed and remembering all my life, I realize that all the accolades and riches of which I was once so proud, have become insignificant with my imminent death.
In the dark, when I look at green lights, of the equipment for artificial respiration and feel the buzz of their mechanical sounds, I can feel the breath of my approaching death looming over me.
Only now do I understand that once you accumulate enough money for the rest of your life, you have to pursue objectives that are not related to wealth.
It should be something more important:
For example, stories of love, art, dreams of my childhood.
No, stop pursuing wealth, it can only make a person into a twisted being, just like me.
God has made us one way, we can feel the love in the heart of each of us, and not illusions built by fame or money, like I made in my life, I cannot take them with me.
I can only take with me the memories that were strengthened by love.
This is the true wealth that will follow you; will accompany you, he will give strength and light to go ahead.
Love can travel thousands of miles and so life has no limits. Move to where you want to go. Strive to reach the goals you want to achieve. Everything is in your heart and in your hands.
What is the world's most expensive bed? The hospital bed.
You, if you have money, you can hire someone to drive your car, but you cannot hire someone to take your illness that is killing you.
Material things lost can be found. But one thing you can never find when you lose: life.
Whatever stage of life where we are right now, at the end we will have to face the day when the curtain falls.
Please treasure your family love, love for your spouse, love for your friends...
Treat everyone well and stay friendly with your neighbours.

A PREGNANT REFLECTION ON ADVENT

This is the title of a reflection I came upon on Facebook this morning:

Preparing for the un-preparable: a first week of Advent reflection

 It is written by a Pregnant woman deacon in Roman Catholic Womanpriests (USA).  The ending of the reflection captures or summarizes the article:
"And so, Jesus is telling us, the next time that the Sacred decides to show up it will be in just as unexpected of a way. God will show up with all the drama of Noah’s flood. Or maybe quietly and quickly like a thief. Or maybe like a small and fragile baby. We don’t know what it will look like, we don’t know when. All we know is that it’s coming. Stay awake. Keep watch. Get ready to be surprised."

Saturday, November 26, 2016

THE BUSINESS OF THANKSGIVING

    With the best of good intentions I started this blog.  But as happens many times in life "I got busy about other things." Some times business can be frantic and draining.  At other times business can be energizing.  My business in these days has been the second kind.  Vacuuming the upstairs rooms, accompanying my wife on shopping expeditions, observing her diligence in preparation in such a multitude of tasks, was energizing.
     I was invited by our pastor to be one of four speakers at the 10:00 Mass.  He said, "could you speak for three minutes, a bit bilingual, about what you are thankful for?"  This too was energizing in preparation and completion.
     Our Thanksgiving this year was tri-lingual: English, Spanish, and Russian. Lizzy's husband is from Kazakhstan and his mother has been visiting the U.S. for a time.  This added the Russian language to our Thanksgiving.  (As a side note: on our Viking Cruise this November, the pilot of the vessel spoke Russian and German and a bit of English.  At the Captain's final farewell dinner we toasted our adventure.  The Captain made the rounds to toast everyone.  When he toasted Alva and I, in my best Russian I said "passeba".  It is the only word I know in Russian.  It means "Thank you."His reaction was priceless.)
      After today life will return to our ordinaryness.  But memories of 2 year old Zenny, Debbie's dog Zoe, Lizzy, Misha, Olga, Dorothy and Marie will linger on.  I can't speak for our three upstairs cats nor our one downstairs cat, but their life will also return to ordinary.
      

Friday, November 18, 2016

GOOD AFTERNOON, how's that for starting my blog MORNING RUMINATIONS?

I'm not sure where or whether this blog will go anywhere.  But some of my best inspirations it seems come on my morning bike ride.  The idea of a blog came to me one day and the idea was encouraged by my lovely wife. 

So this will be my notice of a beginning.