A documentary based on the principle that all truths lead to peace:
Posts
My friend Bryan Berghoef models wise and courageous preaching in these
difficult times ... Check out last Sunday's sermon here, in Holland, MI.
The Global Future...What is at stake
The U.S. State Department and Matt Damon team up to raise awareness about global hunger at this year's closing session of the Clinton Global Initiative:
10 Questions for Muhammad Yunus
TIME Magazine lets Nobel Peace Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus answer questions from readers about the state of microfinance around the world:
Do you think it is ethical to charge the poor interest and make a profit out of it? —Hasan Iqbal, Sundsvall, Sweden
In Bangladesh, Grameen Bank charges the lowest rate among all microcredit programs, and yes, we make a profit. But Grameen Bank is owned by the borrowers, so when we make a profit it goes back to the borrowers as dividends.
Are microloans taking a hit due to the recession? Katie Malone, Point Marion, Pa.
We use very local money that is going to the local poor, so there is no way the hit taken by the financial centers of the world could be transmitted to us. We don't see fluctuations in repayment rates or anything like that. We are O.K.
(Read "People Who Mattered: Muhammad Yunus.")
How would you help the world out of recession? Azmath Shamrad, Newcastle, England
The system failed us. There's no reason why we should resuscitate it. We have to make absolutely sure that we don't go back to the same old normalcy. We should be creating a new normalcy. That opportunity has to be taken.
Microfinancing empowers Bangladeshi women. Is it driving cultural change? Lucas Torrin, Ottawa
The most dramatic thing that has happened in Bangladesh in the last 25 years is the total change in the status of women. Microcredit has played a very important role in that, particularly with poor women.
Has technology like cell-phone payment changed the microlending environment? Daniel Weldon, Portland, Ore.
Not yet, but it opens up the door for all kinds of cell-phone-based banking facilities, health-care facilities, marketing facilities. Now you can think of lots of possibilities. The cell-phone [network in Bangladesh] has been laid out, so now it's a question of bringing the programs and content to those things.
Have you ever found an incident of corruption involving a Grameen Bank loan? Rudi Toruan, Samarinda, Indonesia
We have cases of corruption, but Grameen Bank now has 28,000 staff, 8 million borrowers and 2,600 branches. We lend out over $100 million each month and have a similar amount coming back each month, handling this physically in the villages. It's very easy to put money in your pocket. But the amazing thing is that cases of corruption are so rare.
Do you think the same model of microlending so successful in Bangladesh can be applied elsewhere? Sadruddin Salman, Dhaka
Today, Grameen programs are everywhere. We even have a program in New York City, and it works beautifully. We brought the same system as we do in the villages of Bangladesh. We do it in Latin American countries — in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica — in exactly the same way.
Why has it been difficult to implement microcredit schemes in Africa? Obi Iwuagwu, Lagos, Nigeria
We have a program in Zambia and we have absolutely no problem. If somebody says microcredit doesn't work in Africa, I will not agree because I see it working.
Population growth contributes greatly to global poverty. What are your thoughts about the problem? Bob O'Connor, Oslo
Thirty years back, Bangladeshi mothers had an average of 6.2 children. Today the average is 3.1. The population growth rate has drastically come down and among many explanations is the empowerment of women. They became aware of their ability to handle their lives and make decisions about how many children they will have. Microcredit is not a population program, but it has helped women to see how they can live their own lives.
As individuals what's the best thing we can do to consign poverty to museums? Louise Holly, London
Make people believe that we can send poverty to museums. When I talk about it, people laugh and say, "It's impossible." But when you don't believe something, you can't achieve it. You have to imagine, and make that imagination achievable.
Click Here to read the article: 10 Questions for Muhammad Yunus
Poem from Rooftop in Iran
As Iran transitions into a new uneasy phase between peace and revolution, the heartbreaking poem in this video reminds us that justice is something that dies hard in the hearts of the faithful.
A montage of Iran's protest photos along with Michael Jackson's "Beat It".
As the world remembers Michael Jackson, one Iranian pays his homage to him by reminding us of the ongoing struggle for Iranian democracy via "Beat It"
The Loyal Opposition
Well, you have to give FOX credit for trying their best (from Day 1) to make people believe that Obama is as evil as they think he is. With a approval rating near 70% for Obama, thankfully most Americans aren't listening.
Now only 21% of Americans identify themselves as Republican. Keep firing up that conservative base FOX! At this rate, your rhetoric will inspire the Republican party to implode by 2010.
Now only 21% of Americans identify themselves as Republican. Keep firing up that conservative base FOX! At this rate, your rhetoric will inspire the Republican party to implode by 2010.
With God on Our Side
I recently watched the documentary "Constantine's Sword", which looks at the history of anti-Semitism in the Catholic Church (as exposed in James Carroll's controversial book Constantine's Sword) and the link between the U.S. military and the Christian right. From Constantine's reign in the fourth century to today's evangelical base at Colorado Springs' Air Force Academy, the film offers a provocative look at the roots of holy wars past and present. It closes with a Bob Dylan song. The lyrics are below with links to YouTube where you can listen to the song:
"With God On Our Side"
Oh my name it means nothing, and my age it means less.
For the country I come from, is called the Midwest.
I was taught and brought up, to the laws to abide.
That the land that I live in,has God on its side.
Oh the history books tell it,they tell it so well.
The Calvaries charged,and the Indians fell.
The calvaries charged,and the Indians died.
Oh The Country was young then, with God on its side.
The Spanish-American, War had its day.
And the civil war to us, was soon laid away.
And the names of the heroes, I was made to memorize.
With guns in their hands, and God on their side.
The First World War,it came and it went.
And the reason for fighting,I never did get.
But I learned to accept it, accept it with pride.
For you don't count the dead, when God's on your side.
In the nineteen-sixties,came the Vietnam war.
Can someone tell me, what we were fighting for?
So many young men died, so many mothers cried.
No I ask the question, was God on our side?
I learned to hate the Russians, all through my whole life.
If another war comes, it's them must fight.
And to hate them and fear, to run and to hide.
And accept it all bravely, with God on my side.
Through many dark hours, I've been thinkin' bout' this.
That Jesus Christ was betrayed by a kiss.
But I can't think for you, you'll have to decide.
Whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side.
Now that I'm leaving, I'm weary as hell.
The confusion I'm feeling, ain't no tongue can tell.
The words fill my head, and they fall to the floor.
That if God's on our side, he'll stop the next war.
Jesus loves me, this I know.
Listen to the song by selecting the title or clicking here.
President Obama's First Official Act
NATIONAL DAY OF RENEWAL AND RECONCILIATION, 2009- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
As I take the sacred oath of the highest office in the land, I am humbled by the responsibility placed upon my shoulders, renewed by the courage and decency of the American people, and fortified by my faith in an awesome God.
We are in the midst of a season of trial. Our Nation is being tested, and our people know great uncertainty. Yet the story of America is one of renewal in the face of adversity, reconciliation in a time of discord, and we know that there is a purpose for everything under heaven.
On this Inauguration Day, we are reminded that we are heirs to over two centuries of American democracy, and that this legacy is not simply a birthright -- it is a glorious burden. Now it falls to us to come together as a people to carry it forward once more.
So in the words of President Abraham Lincoln, let us remember that: "The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 20, 2009, a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation, and call upon all of our citizens to serve one another and the common purpose of remaking this Nation for our new century.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
Hope and History Rhyme
On Inauguration night, Joe Biden, reflecting on the millions he saw gathered that afternoon watching Barack Obama becoming the 44th U.S. President, quoted from the poem The Cure at Troy by Nobel Prize winner Irishman, Seamus Heaney:
History says, Don't hope
on this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
the longed for tidal wave
of justice can rise up,
and hope and history rhyme.
Inspiration from our Next President
"Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of
-
Before Obama, before MLK, there was Langston
Before "Yes, we can!" before "I have a dream" there was "Let America be America Again".
Langston Hughes, the renowned African-America poet, was a man who dreamed of hope in a country that treated him as a second-class citizen. The powerful poem below remind us of the America's struggle to become "a more perfect union" and a hope that is now embodied in our president-elect.
Let America be America Again
Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed-- Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There's never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek-- And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope, Tangled in that ancient endless chain Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need! Of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one's own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine. I am the Negro, servant to you all. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean-- Hungry yet today despite the dream. Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers! I am the man who never got ahead, The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream In the Old World while still a serf of kings, Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true, That even yet its mighty daring sings In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned That's made America the land it has become. O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas In search of what I meant to be my home-- For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore, And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea, And torn from Black Africa's strand I came To build a "homeland of the free."
The free?
Who said the free? Not me? Surely not me? The millions on relief today? The millions shot down when we strike? The millions who have nothing for our pay? For all the dreams we've dreamed And all the songs we've sung And all the hopes we've held And all the flags we've hung, The millions who have nothing for our pay-- Except the dream that's almost dead today.
O, let America be America again-- The land that never has been yet-- And yet must be--the land where every man is free. The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME-- Who made America, Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose-- The steel of freedom does not stain. From those who live like leeches on the people's lives, We must take back our land again, America!
O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath-- America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies, We, the people, must redeem The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers. The mountains and the endless plain-- All, all the stretch of these great green states-- And make America again!
The Matthew 25 Network
I was recently left baffled by a Christian friend who wrote and e-mailed to his friends a rebuke of Obama (based on reviews of anti-Obama books). In my search for a response, I came across the Matthew 25 Network, a genuine group of Christians trying to spread the word about the real faith and religious beliefs of Barack. If you have friends or families who don't trust the faith of Obama, have them check out the Matthew 25 Network.
The Universal Rule
Believe it or not, Christians don't have the market on the Golden Rule.
In fact Jesus wasn't even the first world religious leader to use it.
In fact Jesus wasn't even the first world religious leader to use it.
The Madman of Africa
"We are not going to give up our country for a mere X on a ballot. How can a ballpoint pen fight with a gun?"ROBERT MUGABE, President of Zimbabwe, refusing to cede power to opponent Morgan Tsvangirai regardless of the results of the June 27, 2008 runoff election.
Meanwhile, America stand by silently as this paranoid madman holds hostage the lives of millions of people in Zimbabwe. Maybe things would be different if Zimbabwe had oil. Congo, Darfur, Somalia, and now Zimbabwe, when will American foreign policy care about black Africans? Hopefully policy will change January 2009.
Dalai Lama’s 18 rules for living
- Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
- When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
- Follow the three Rs:
- Respect for self
- Respect for others
- Responsibility for all your actions.
- Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
- Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
- Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
- When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
- Spend some time alone every day.
- Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
- Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
- Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
- A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
- In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
- Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
- Be gentle with the earth.
- Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
- Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
- Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
"A Death in the Family"
For those of us who consider ourselves newsbuffs, we lost a family member today, with the passing of NBC Washington Bureau Chief, Tim Russert.Russert was a man who came across as both hard-nosed and fair. He taught us how to be prepared for any debate and how to be a good listener. He taught us how to remain committed to your faith and your family amidst the pressures of the cutthroat lifestyle within Washington.
He was always passionate about politics and he exuded every time he was on air. We all knew how respected a newsman he was, but as we learn about his work and personal relationships behind the scenes, he apparently was a beloved friend, boss and mentor.
He was one of a kind in today's media and he will be missed.
What America Lost 40 Years Ago
- "What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black." Indianapolis, Indiana, April 4, 1968 Announcing to the crowd that Martin Luther King had been assassinated.
- "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."
- "Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital, quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change."
- "The sharpest criticism often goes hand in hand with the deepest idealism and love of country."
- "Men without hope, resigned to despair and oppression, do not make revolutions. It is when expectation replaces submission, when despair is touched with the awareness of possibility, that the forces of human desire and the passion for justice are unloosed."
- "There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were and ask why not."
- "Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation ... It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
- "At the University of Natal in Durban, I was told the church to which most of the white population belongs teaches apartheid as a moral necessity. A questioner declared that few churches allow black Africans to pray with the white because the Bible says that is the way it should be, because God created Negroes to serve. "But suppose God is black", I replied. "What if we go to Heaven and we, all our lives, have treated the Negro as an inferior, and God is there, and we look up and He is not white? What then is our response?" There was no answer. Only silence." South Africa, June 1966
- "What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black." Indianapolis, Indiana, April 4, 1968 Announcing to the crowd that Martin Luther King had been assassinated.
- "Fear not the path of truth for the lack of people walking on it." From his last speech, June 5, 1968
- "Laws can embody standards; governments can enforce laws — but the final task is not a task for government. It is a task for each and every one of us. Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted — when we tolerate what we know to be wrong — when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy, or too frightened — when we fail to speak up and speak out — we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice." June 21, 1961
Two Questions
Ancient Egyptians believed that upon death they would be asked two questions and their answers would determine whether they could continue their journey in the afterlife. The first question was,
‘Did you bring joy?’
The second was,
‘Did you find joy?’
An interesting thought about hapiness...
Here is an interesting thought about happiness that I StumbledUpon from Henry David Thoreau. This thought would seem to be contrary to Will Smith's movie, "The Pursuit of Happiness" where happiness is obtained through a process of intense ambition toward that goal. I tend to think maybe the right emphasis is somewhere in the middle. What do you think? Talk amongst yourselves...
The Phoenix Affirmations
Ponder these affirmations about what the church can and should be from the book The Phoenix Affirmations. Click on the this link to see a more detailed version:==================================
The public face of Christianity in America today bears little connection to the historic faith of our ancestors. It represents even less our own faith as Christians who continue to celebrate the gifts of our Creator, revealed and embodied in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Heartened by our experience of the transforming presence of Christ’s Holy Spirit in our world, we find ourselves in a time and place where we will be no longer silent. We hereby mark an end to our silence by making the following affirmations:
As people who are joyfully and unapologetically Christian, we pledge ourselves completely to the way of Love. We work to express our love, as Jesus teaches us, in three ways: by loving God, neighbor, and self.
Matt 22:34-40 // Mk 12:28-31 // Lk 10:25-28; Cf. Deut 6:5; Lev. 19:18
Loving God Includes:
Affirmation 1: Walking fully in the path of Jesus, without denying the legitimacy of other paths God may provide humanity;
Matthew 11:28-29; John 8:12; John 10:16; Mark 9:40
Affirmation 2: Listening for God’s Word which comes through daily prayer and meditation, through studying the ancient testimonies which we call Scripture, and through attending to God’s present activity in the world;
2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 13:12
Affirmation 3: Celebrating the God whose Spirit pervades and whose glory is reflected in all of God’s Creation, including the earth and its ecosystems, the sacred and secular, the Christian and non-Christian, the human and non-human;
Genesis 1:31a; Psalm 96:1,11-12; Acts 17:23
Affirmation 4: Expressing our love in worship that is as sincere, vibrant, and artful as it is scriptural.
Genesis 2:7; Exodus 31:2-5l; Revelation 18:22
Loving Our Neighbor Includes:
Affirmation 5: Engaging people authentically, as Jesus did, treating all as creations made in God’s very image, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental ability, nationality, or economic class;
Genesis 1:27; Psalm 8:3-5; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7
Affirmation 6: Standing, as Jesus does, with the outcast and oppressed, the denigrated and afflicted, seeking peace and justice with or without the support of others;
Micah 6:8; Luke 12:48
Affirmation 7: Preserving religious freedom and the Church’s ability to speak prophetically to government by resisting the commingling of Church and State;
Luke 20:25; 1 Peter 2:17
Affirmation 8: Walking humbly with God, acknowledging our own shortcomings while honestly seeking to understand and call forth the best in others, including those who consider us their enemies;
Luke 18:9-14; Luke 6:27-29; Galatians 5:22-23; John 15:18-19
Loving Ourselves Includes:
Affirmation 9: Basing our lives on the faith that, in Christ, all things are made new, and that we, and all people, are loved beyond our wildest imagination – for eternity;
Psalm 22:27-29; Psalm 23:4-6; Psalm 139:7-12; John 3:16-17; Romans 14:7-11; Philippians 1:20-26
Affirmation 10: Claiming the sacredness of both our minds and our hearts, recognizing that faith and science, doubt and belief serve the pursuit of truth;
Proverbs 1:20-22; 1 Corinthians 3:18-19; 1 Corinthians 14:15
Affirmation 11: Caring for our bodies, and insisting on taking time to enjoy the benefits of prayer, reflection, worship and recreation in addition to work;
Exodus 5:4-8; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19
Affirmation 12: Acting on the faith that we are born with a meaning and purpose; a vocation and ministry that serves to strengthen and extend God’s realm of love.
Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 5:15-16; Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-31
Seven Principles for Community
Here are seven compelling principles that form the guidelines for a particular American denomination. Read them and ponder this question, "What would your faith community look like if these seven guiding principles guided your congregation?":
- The inherent worth and dignity of every person
- Justice, equity and compassion in human relations
- Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations
- A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
- The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large
- The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all
- Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part
A song with an Emergent message
Here is a cool song from the CD, "Songs for a Revolution of Hope" by The Restoration Project and produced by Brian McLaren of "A New Kind of Christian" fame.
Rome: "Orthodox defective, Protestants wasting their time"
In another wonderfully astute move my the new Pope, the Vatican has again stated stated that Catholics are the only true Christians (see article here). Rome seems to feel the need to reiterate this every few years.
The statement stoke the smoldering flame of disagreement with the Orthodox church stating, "It follows that these separated (Orthodox) churches and communities, though we believe they suffer from defects, are deprived neither of significance nor importance in the mystery of salvation." Boy, don't you think all the millions of Orthodox Christians around the world are really going to appreciate their Catholic brothers and sisters calling them 'defects.' Wait, it gets even better for the Protestants...
The statement doesn't even give Protestants the privledge of being called 'defects'. Instead all the Protestant Christians are just fooling themselves thinking they are going to Church each Sunday, when in reality, they are merely attending social groups on Sundays. It states, "These ecclesial (Protestant) communities which, specifically because of the absence of the sacramental priesthood … cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called 'churches' in the proper sense." So all you high church Protestant out there who want think they are taking the sacraments every Sunday...too bad...its just grape juice and a ritz cracker.
Another good job Pappa Benedict! Keep up the great work of unifying and reconciling the worldwide Church to itself. At this rate, a new Inquistion might be right around the corner. I can't wait!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
