Wednesday, July 25, 2012

William Stringfellow

Stringfellow is one of my favorite theologians.  I was blessed to be in class with Bill Wylie-Kellerman teaching and Bishop McGee in attendance who taught me about William Stringfellow.

I am currently reading An Alien in a Strange Land: Theology in the Life of William Stringfellow by Anthony Dancer.  I am at the beginning but so far think the author is right on!  (A nice review of this book can be found here: http://commonwealmagazine.org/inconvenient-theology)

There is some great stuff on the web about Stringfellow:

http://prodigal.typepad.com/prodigal_kiwi/william_stringfellow/

http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2012/07/william-stringfellow-project-private.html

http://andrewgoddard.squarespace.com/william-stringfellow/

If I were to start at the beginning, the two books I would get are...

A Keeper of the Word: Selected Writings of William Stringfellow by Bill Wylie-Kellerman

and
Instead of Death by William Stringfellow


and then I would continue to read Stringfellow's books!

Jesus is in the Bible

saw this online...

A litany by Br. Paul of the Capuchin Franciscans

Jesus Christ is in every book of the Bible…
In Genesis Jesus is...
“The Seed of the Woman”

In Exodus He is…
“The Passover Lamb”

In Leviticus He is…
“The Priest, the Altar & the Sacrifice”

In Numbers He is…
“The Pillar of Cloud by Day and the Pillar of Fire by Night”

In Deuteronomy Jesus is…
“The Prophet Like Moses”

Come and kneel before Him now

In Joshua Jesus is…
“The Captain of Our Salvation”

In Judges He is…
“Our Judge and Lawgiver”

In Ruth He is…
“Our Kinsman-Redeemer“

In I & II Samuel He is…
“Our Trusted Prophet”

In Kings & Chronicles He is…
“Our Reigning King”

In Ezra He is…
“The Rebuilder of the Broken-Down Walls of Human Life”

Come and kneel before Him now

In Nehemiah Jesus is…
“Our Restorer”

In Esther He is…
“Our Advocate”

In Job Jesus is…
“Our Ever-Living Redeemer”

In Psalms He is…
“Our Shepherd”

In Proverbs He is…
“Our Wisdom”

In Ecclesiastes He is…
“Our Hope of Resurrection”

In the Song of Songs He is…
“Our Loving Bridegroom”

Come and kneel before Him now

In Isaiah Jesus is…
“The Suffering Servant”

In Jeremiah He is…
“The Righteous Branch”

In Lamentations He is…
“Our Weeping Prophet”

In Ezekiel He is…
“The One With the Right To Rule”

In Daniel Jesus is...
“The Fourth Man in the Firey Furnace”

Come and kneel before Him now

In Hosea Jesus is…
“The Faithful Husband Forever Married to the Sinner”

In Joel He is…
“The One who Baptises with the Holy Spirit and Fire”

In Amos He is…
“The Restorer of Justice”

In Obadiah He is…
“Mighty to Save”

In Jonah He is…
“Our Great Foreign Missionary”

In Micah Jesus is…
“The Feet of One Who Brings Good News”

Come and kneel before Him now

In Nahum Jesus is…
“Our Stronghold in the Day of Trouble”

In Habakkuk He is…
“God My Saviour”

In Zephaniah He is…
“The King of Israel”

In Haggai He is…
“The Signet Ring”

In Zechariah He is…
“Our Humble King Riding on a Colt”

In Malachi Jesus is…
“The Sun of Righteousness”


In Ecclesiasticus Jesus is…
“Our Security”

In Wisdom He is…
“The Emanation of God’s Thought”

In Tobit He is…
“The Messenger of New Life”

In Judith He is…
“Weakness Turned into Victory”


In I & II Maccabees He is…
“The Leader Who Dies for God’s Law”


In Baruch He is…
“The Mercy From the Eternal One”

Come and kneel before Him now

In Matthew Jesus is…
“God with us”

In Mark He is…
“The Son of God”

In Luke He is…
“The Son of Mary – feeling what you feel”

In John He is…
“The Bread of Life”

In Acts Jesus is…
“The Savior of the world”

Come and kneel before Him now

In Romans Jesus is…
“The Righteousness of God”

In I Corinthians He is…
“The Resurrection”

In II Corinthians He is…
“The God of All Comfort”

In Galatians He is…
“Your Liberty. He sets you free.”

In Ephesians Jesus is…
“The Head of the Church”

Come and kneel before Him now

In Philippians Jesus is…
“Your joy”

In Colossians He is…
“Your completeness”

In I & II Thessalonians He is…
“Your hope”

In I Timothy He is…
“Your faith”

In II Timothy Jesus is…
“Your stability”

Come and kneel before Him now

In Titus Jesus is…
“Truth”

In Philemon He is…
“Your benefactor “

In Hebrews He is…
“Your perfection”

In James He is…
“The power behind your faith”

In I Peter He is…
“Your example”

In II Peter Jesus is…
“Your purity”

Come and kneel before Him now

In I John Jesus is…
“Your life”

In II John He is…
“Your pattern”

In III John He is…
“Your motivation”

In Jude He is…
“The foundation of your faith”

In Revelation Jesus is…
“Your coming King.”

He is…
the first and the last;
the beginning and the end.
He is the keeper of creation and the creator of all.
He is the architect of the universe and the manager of all time.
He always was, He always is and He always will be
unmoved, unchanged, undefeated and never undone.

He was bruised and brought healing,
He was pierced and eased pain,
He was persecuted and brought freedom,
He was dead and brought life,
He is risen and brings power,
He reigns and brings peace.

The world can’t understand him;
the armies can’t defeat him;
schools can’t explain him;
and the leaders can’t ignore him.
Herod couldn’t kill him;
the Pharisees couldn’t confuse him;
the people couldn’t hold him;
Nero couldn’t crush him;
Hitler couldn’t silence him;
the new age can’t replace him.

He is life, love, longevity & Lord.
He is goodness, kindness, gentleness and God.
He is holy, righteous, mighty, powerful, pure.
His ways are right, His words eternal, His rules unchanging,
and His mind… is on me.
He is my redeemer.
He is my savior.
He is my God.
He is my Priest.
He is my Joy.
He is my Comfort.
He is my Lord
and He rules my life.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

You are the ethicist!

How would you answer this?
Five years ago, my dear friend A. was caught by surprise when her husband asked for a divorce. She was shaken, crying and in disbelief for months. Now, just a few months after her divorce was finalized, she has met an old boyfriend who is married to another woman, B. The women know each other, and A. has now told me that she will be married to this old boyfriend within the year. She told me that this man has made plans to announce to his wife that he wants a divorce. B., who is an acquaintance of mine, is completely unaware of the impending disaster; she thinks her marriage is fine.

I can think of several roads to travel here: One is to confront A. and remind her of her pain and incomprehension. Another option is warning B. about the brewing storm (and I imagine she will take actions to save her marriage). A third is to keep my mouth shut and record the disaster as a morality play. Am I ethically obligated to admonish A. or warn B.?
You can read the Ethicist's response here.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Helping Youth on the Journey

Here are a couple of resources to help youth on their faith journey:
Call on Me: A Prayer Book for Young People
This first exclusively Episcopal prayer book for young people offers over 100 original prayers rooted in Episcopal theology and language for events in the daily lives of teens. Divided into three parts--Common Prayer, Kinds of Prayer, and Personal Prayer--topics include daily devotion, prayers of the people, faith, praying through the day, week and year, self, milestones, friends and family, school and work, and community. Youth will find prayers to celebrate personal achievements and address personal and world concerns, including thanksgiving for a driver's license and graduating, when a friend needs help, blessing of a relationship, and applying for a job and more. Youth leaders will find this to be an essential resource for camp, retreats and other youth gatherings.

Common English Bible (CEB) with the Apocrypha
The Common English Bible is not simply a revision or update of an existing translation. It is a bold new translation designed to meet the needs of Christians as they work to build a strong and meaningful relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
A key goal of the CEB translation team is to make the Bible accessible to a broad range of people; it’s written at a comfortable level for over half of all English readers. Easy readability can enhance church worship and participation, and personal Bible study. It also encourages children and youth to discover the Bible for themselves, perhaps for the very first time.

The examen is a Jesuit resource, and I am convinced we need to help youth reflect on their lives, so this is one way that is good for all Christians:




You can find the examen here.

- Posted using BlogPress from my mystical iPad!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Going on Retreat - to listen

There was a great article in The NY Times, ON RELIGION, A Refuge Silent Enough to Hear God’s Whisper.

A short excerpt:


Either he was getting to court late because he had to drop off his daughter at preschool, or he was leaving her in his law office during afternoon meetings with clients, or he was staying up for hours after reading her bedtime stories to prepare the next day’s litigation.

So Mr. Fleming arranged for his parents to care for his daughter for a couple of days and he made an announcement: he was going to spend 48 hours, as much time as he could spare, in a monastery. “It scared a lot of people,” Mr. Fleming recently recalled. “Friends of mine said, ‘Are you going to be a monk? That’s going in pretty deep.’ ”

While he did not, in fact, become a monk, he did begin a personal tradition of annual visits to the monastery run by the Episcopal brothers of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. And if there was an unlikely element to a high-powered lawyer seeking the contemplative climate of a monastery, then there was an equally improbable aspect to this particular monastery./

Read the whole article here.

Learn more about SSJE here. (I have been on retreat there and I do recommend it!)

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Saturday, July 14, 2012

You are the ethicist!

"When a dear friend’s teenage daughter was killed in a car accident, she understandably could not bring herself to erase her daughter’s message from the family phone. That was seven years ago. My friend still hasn’t changed the message, and I find it very discomforting to hear the deceased girl’s voice every time I call. My friend says, ‘‘It’s all I have left.’’ I want to be supportive, but I worry that preserving her daughter’s voice for every caller — be it a friend or a plumber — is unhealthy. Should I say something?"

How would you answer this? How do you support a grieving friend?

Here is how the ethicist answered:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/magazine/a-message-from-beyond.html

- Posted using BlogPress from my mystical iPad!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

You are the ethicist!

While walking my dog on a country lane, I encountered a chicken that had escaped from a neighbor’s property. I looked for the owners but could not see them (I have a nodding acquaintance with them). Several hours later, while walking on the same lane with my friend and her dog, we encountered the same chicken. Her dog attacked the chicken, killing it. Both of us were horrified, but we continued walking. Should I have stopped the first time and searched for the owners? Should my friend have gone immediately to their house to report the incident? I don’t think she did anything, because this morning she suggested we take an alternate route on our walk. Should I press her to take responsibility for what her dog did? J. ROOSE, DARNIUS, SPAIN

How would you respond?

Here is how the ethicist responded:

http://nyti.ms/N1iR7F

- Posted using BlogPress from my mystical iPad!