Multi-Faith Healing Dinner: Toledo Islamic Academy

I attended a Ramadan Fast Breaking dinner as guests of the Toledo Islamic Academy which incurred racist graffiti on its building two days ago. We were invited to a special dinner and listened to a number of guests speak of coming together in a healing process. Erase the Hate was one of the sponsors of tonight's event.

There were perhaps 50 non-Muslims in attendance and we felt a very warm welcome by the Imam and principal of the academy who thanked us again and again for attending the service with them.

At our table was a charming family from Paris who had emigrated there from Algeria. They were bright and warm people and we discussed the mutual love for all of mankind devoid of ethnic or religious beliefs. It was grand to be surrounded by folks of so many different faith traditions, breaking bread together on a special night in the Islamic faith.

My mind wandered throughout the meal to those ugly people living right here in America such as Representative king from New York who recently said that there were too many mosques in America. Or those intolerant fundamentalist Christians who demand that their religion is the only road to salvation and who demand a litmus test of American politicians.

That is where the hate begins. That is why the graffiti was sprayed on the buildings. That is why the nooses hung from the white-only tree in Louisiana. Hate for folks different than they. Bigotry deep in the heart.

God does not live in hearts such as those; there is no room for God in such empty souls as those. Yet God was clearly in that dinner hall this evening and in each person dining there with me.

IHM Nuns in Monroe Michigan are Going Green

The IHM Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, are teaching sisters who have educated tens of thousands of students in Metro Detroit. In an article in the Detroit News it says:


".. it might seem easy to conclude that the aging nuns in the order have accomplished most of the work they believe God intended for them. But life is long and the nuns say they believe it is all sacred."


Said Sister Joan Mumaw, vice president of the order, "We're educated women. Most of us have master's degrees and PhDs. So, even today, even though we have sisters in their 80s and 90s, we are still learning theology in the light of new science, in the light of new understandings"


The sisters were facing enormous energy bills for their massive 75-year-old mother house and so they decided to make it green. Most of the nuns living there are 10 years older than the building.


"So they have set a new path, emphasizing the environment and scientific discoveries as part of their spirituality. A nationally acclaimed $56 million renovation of their huge mother house, which last week received another in a long list of awards from the Environmental Protection Agency, and a newly published booklet are but two examples of their unique fusion of faith, science and the human condition."


Two of the most important renovations that were undertaken were to save on heating and water costs.


"The sisters paid to build a massive geothermal heating and cooling system. The technology uses 240 wells and 47 miles of underground pipes to take advantage of the constant, 55-degree temperature of the earth to decrease the use of natural gas by 58.3 percent -- an annual savings of about $200,000. They cut water consumption nearly in half by installing new fixtures and building a wetland on the property that collects water from sinks, showers and tubs and recycles it to flush the toilets."


How refreshing to note the care for protecting the resources of the earth in these sisters. I might add that it is encouraging to note that these religious women were able to evolve their thinking about God, creation, evolution and science and take that faith to a newer, higher level of action.


"This month, the teaching order published "Four Stories: Integrating the Universe Story, the Christian Story, the Earth Story and the IHM Story." The nuns hope the work demonstrates how melding scientific discoveries with Roman Catholic theology and their personal declaration of a "spirituality of kinship with all members of the Earth community" yields a devotion to God that is both vibrant and worldly.


In "Four Stories," Sister Mary Ellen Sheehan, a theologian, and the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary embrace the current scientific account of the universe and evolution, as well as the Christian story of faith and the history of their order."


Hats off to the good sisters 35 miles to the north for using their scientific brains to honor Creation.

It is noteworthy to point out that the Franciscan Sisters both in Sylvania and Tiffin Ohio have a similar calling to protect their environment and to promote care for the earth.

Celebration of Race Equality Day

Today at the Toledo Botanical Gardens hundreds of people gathered for a Taste of Diversity, Celebrate Race Equality Day. Folks from Africa and Asia joined with Europeans and Americans to listen to music, to taste the food of many cultures, and to listen to readings of unity of mankind. The event was presented by The City of Toledo Board of Community Relations, Metroparks of the Toledo Area and Toledo Botanical Garden: supporting the mission and vision of the Erase the Hate campaign.

As I wandered through the crowd, I had a sense of what world peace might look like, without borders, without racial and ethnic hate, without armaments. The Irish flag at left reminded me that people with centuries of hate can come together in peace.

While I was exiting the celebration, Chinese music was being played adding to the sense of wonder of the shade garden in its autumn colors. Earlier, dancers from El Corozon de Mexico entertained the crowd. Black soul music added to the flavor of today's melting pot.

A woman from Nigeria displayed clothing from her nation and explained, in her beautiful British English, the process involved in its fabrication.

Two older men, one with a thick Italian accent and the other British, were discussing world politics. What a grand venue for that discussion on this cool crisp autumn afternoon.

Christian Bishop Decries GOP Fundamentalist Agenda

Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong in his book, Liberating the Gospels, challenges fundamentalist Christians on their seemingly lockstep support of the Republican agenda election after election.

The book itself is a refreshing look at the four Gospels from the angle of Jewish midrash stories. Bishop Spong readily assumes that his vision of these works collides headlong with fundamentalist reading of the Gospels. Of this suspected attack, Spong says:

Some who cannot escape the traps of their literal minds will surely think that this is an attack on traditional Christian piety and beliefs, but I do not! I think we Christians have tried to claim too much for our revelation. I think the Bible has endured a gentile captivity.

Spong then tries to find the 'message of Jesus' in the traditional Republican political platform. Beyond the fuzzy, so-called 'family values' plank, he sees little else that Jesus would embrace. He says:

I confront this mentality overtly and publicly. I do not want Christianity to be identified in the public mind only or even primarily with the narrow and sometimes mean-spirited religious agenda that is produced by those who seek security at the price of truth. I am embarrassed when the word “Christian” has been applied publicly to that hostile negativity that creates the environment in which murder at family planning centers is actually encouraged by some religious voices. I am offended when homosexual people are still abused and scapegoated by “Christian” groups who seek to raise money by exacerbating the ignorance that justifies this prejudice. I am angry when all-male gatherings of decoratively dressed ecclesiastics solemnly pronounce moral judgments, in the name of an exclusively male deity called “father,” concerning what a woman can and cannot do with her own body. I resent anyone who defines a woman in the name of the Christian God primarily in terms of her reproductive functions. I am distressed when Christian words are used to justify and to encourage violence against the poor and the weak under the euphemistic title of “necessary welfare reform.”

Spong goes further, directly into the political arena when he says:

I regret that those politicians who have aligned themselves with what has been called “the Christian agenda” have also been a voice against society’s willingness to care for young mothers, a voice against immigrants, a voice against health care for the poor and especially against health care for poor children. I flinch when I see my Christ used this way, and I want to cry to the public that this must not be and it certainly must not be as an expression of the Christ I know, the Christ I serve, and the Christ I worship. These are the negative concerns, which prompt me to be as confrontational as some parts of this book reveal me to be.

No doubt these excerpts will knot the panties of the Religious Right; I suspect indignant and very righteous comments. Comments will be tolerated as long as they are not character assassination which has become the style of many Republicans these days.

Pope Calls for Environmental Wake-up

According to this BBC report, today is "Save Creation Day." Pope Benedict joined about 300,000 young Roman Catholics for an eco-friendly festival. "Before it's too late, we need to make courageous choices that will recreate a strong alliance between man and Earth," he said. He is installing solar panels on the roof of the main audience hall at the Vatican and is paying for a forestry project to offset the Vatican's carbon emissions.

Well, well. How about that? I don't believe I've heard too many Baptist or Methodist leaders or fundamentalist church leaders talking about 'saving creation.' I wonder if, at that specious 'Creation Museum' in rural Kentucky, there is information on how to save creation.

Of course, so many 'religious' folks are interested in making money, that they don't want to step on the toes of big business here in America. Note the Bush tax breaks for the rich and his diminution of government controls on pollution and public land grabs for businessmen. Naturally, big oil, big coal and big gas have been doing very well under the Bush/Cheney administration. Government deregulation of the electric industry as well as pollution breaks have allowed this giant industry to spoil our nation from one coast to the other.

Good for the Pope. Too bad that he doesn't have the power to immediately impact the world. Yet, he has planted a seed in the minds of many youths all over the world. Let's hope that the seed grows and is not trotted-on by greedy folks who love their money.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Imaginary Life Journey

First a childhood, limitless and without renunciation or goals.
O unselfconscious joy.
Then suddenly terror, barriers, schools, drudgery,and collapse into temptation and loss.
Defiance. The one bent becomes the bender,and thrusts upon others that which it suffered.
Loved, feared, rescuer, fighter, winner and conqueror, blow by blow.
And then alone in cold, light, open space,yet still deep within the mature erected form,a gasping for the clear air of the first one, the old one . . .
Then God leaps out from behind his hiding place.

(Schöneck, September 13, 1923)

"Just be quiet and sit down. The reason is you're drunk. And this is the edge of the roof."

Last night on Bill Moyer's Journal, poet Robert Bly was one of the guests. He read some of his poems as well as one from Rumi, the 13th century mystical poet:

ROBERT BLY: "I don't like it here. I want to go back. According to the old knowers, if you're absent from the one you love even for one second, that ruins the whole thing. There must be someone, just to find one sign of the other world in this town would be helpful." I feel that in Minneapolis.

"Just to find one sign of the other world in this town would be helpful. You know the great Chinese Saimer bird got caught in this net. What can I do? I'm only a wren. My desire-body, don't come strolling over this way. Sit where you are. It's a good place."

"When you want dessert, you choose something rich. When you choose wine, you look for what's clear and firm. What is the rest?" Talking about-- "What is the rest?" The rest is television. "What is the rest? The rest is mirages and blurry pictures and milk mixed with water. The rest is self-hatred and mocking other people and bombing. So, just be quiet and sit down. The reason is you're drunk. And this is the edge of the roof."

It's a good poem, even for the United States right now.

BILL MOYERS: Why?

ROBERT BLY: Um, look for what's clear and firm. "What is the rest? The rest is mirages and blurry pictures and milk mixed with water." That is the way to cheat in the old days. "The rest is self-hatred and mocking other people and bombing. So, just be quiet and sit down." That'd be a good thing to say to Bush. "Just be quiet and sit down. The reason is you're drunk. And this is the edge of the roof."

-------------------------------------------------

That'd be a good thing to say to Bush. "Just be quiet and sit down. The reason is you're drunk. And this is the edge of the roof."

Drunk. It used to be alcohol. Bush says he's done with booze.

Drunk. It could be something else.

Power? Knowledge of ineptitude? Righteousness? Delusions of Grandeur? Loss?

Drunk on the edge of a roof.

Chilling reality for us all.

Liberal Toledo Catholic Parish in National News

Corpus Christi University Parish, on the University of Toledo campus, is featured in an article in the National Catholic Reporter today. The title of the article is, "Liberal Catholicism endures in pastoral church."

Here is a section of the article:

At least in the United States, many observers believe that a broad liberal instinct is firmly entrenched at the grass roots.

“I think the genie has been let out of the bottle, and there is no putting it back in,” said Richard Gaillardetz, a prominent lay theologian at the University of Toledo, Ohio, even though he conceded that “liberal Catholicism … no longer enjoys the ecclesiastical support to which many had become accustomed in the ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s.”

Gaillardetz argued that in the United States, liberal Catholicism is less an ideology than a “pastoral phenomenon … alive in parishes that have a flourishing catechumenate, vibrant liturgies, thoughtful and relevant preaching, and multiple lay ministerial opportunities,” as well as “in a growing number of intentional Christian communities that are determined to keep alive a vision of the church that they associate with Vatican II.”

Looking around, observers such as Gaillardetz say that the moderate-to-liberal camp probably represents a disproportionate share of the church’s ministerial workforce, meaning priests, deacons, religious, and laity, as well as the theological guild.

A priest I knew years ago said to me that the Catholic Church will split into two groups: conservative and liberal. He told me this 20 years ago. I think he is correct. It is already happening to the Episcopal Church with many fundamentalists joining the African Diocese.

Toledo's Bishop, Leonard Blair, is way to the right on the theological scale; he even removed all women who were in some pastoral positions when he became bishop. One can only guess what his next fundamentalist dictum will be.

Nonetheless, the liberal Catholic Church will endure, whether with or without the 'official' sanctioning of the papacy. Many married priests are already serving Catholic congregations 'in exile' throughout the country. Liberal Catholics have matured far faster than the average Catholic who is still stuck in the grade school religion class mentality. These Catholics are well read and understand both the history and the hypocrisy of the church over the years. They are fed up with hierarchical structure and antiquated church doctrine.

They know, for the most part, that the Gospels were not biographical sketches of the life of Jesus but rather a Jewish midrash story, embellishing the character of the man called Jesus. They believe in birth control and divorce, and think that the church has no business in one's bedroom. They almost always are people seeking peace through justice. They believe in women as priests and the marriage of priests. They are free-thinking adults who come to their own conclusions and do not need to be given a list of do's and don'ts by an all-male misogynistic church.

The only thing stopping the split is the fear of reprisal; after all, the Catholic Church has unleashed its mighty power on many people over the ages. Few fully-functioning priests wish to rile their local bishop with talk of liberalizing the church.

So, the liberal Catholic Church remains a church in the shadows, in exile for the time being. But not for long.

Texas Executes 400th Person Since 1982

The Houston Chronicle reports:

"Yesterday Texas executed Johnny Ray Conner for the murder of a Houston grocery clerk during a failed robbery in 1998. He was the 400th person to be executed in Texas since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982. "It's the 400th execution in Texas," said Hooman Hedayati, of Texas Students Against the Death Penalty. "That's really important because it shows how Texas executes people. It needs to stop. It's a barbaric practice."

Barbaric indeed. Say, who was that recent governor from Texas who, in his lust for blood, holds the record for executions?

Tricycling Through Life