tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48506537711135114972024-02-19T01:57:12.548-08:00On a Bike and a PrayerGary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.comBlogger349125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-61574877009182222532018-09-02T19:34:00.000-07:002018-09-02T19:34:00.616-07:00A change in position!<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="d2t87" data-offset-key="edjv2-0-0" style="caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Dear friends,</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I am pleased to announce that I have been appointed as Priest in Charge of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Centennial, CO. It’s a congregation that I’ve known since I arrived in Denver, having worshipped and served there for several years. It is a very “musical” parish, and one that’s committed to serving the wider community. I am very excited to join them on this new chapter of my career/ministry. [Among many of the coincidences that accompanied this journey of the last few months was the fact that I signed the Letter of Agreement last Wednesday — my birthday — perhaps suggesting something like being “born anew”!]</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I’ll be in the office starting this-coming Tuesday the 4th, and my first Sunday as presider will be September 9. Sunday services at Good Shepherd are at 7:45 and 10:00 am, and 6:00 pm. Y’all are welcome any time! The church is just west of the intersection of Yosemite and Dry Creek in Centennial (you’ll see the spire!). Website: <a href="http://www.gshep.org/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">www.gshep.org</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">My new Twitter account will be @FaithFedora. My “work” Facebook page will be @FaithnFedora” [Note the “n” between Faith and Fedora]. Both are still “Under Construction”. This blog site will also transition to "Faith 'N Fedora; it should happen seamlessly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I can also be contacted by email at grb80208@gmail.com.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I am so grateful for all of your support during this time!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Blessings,</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Gary</span></div>
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Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-47619043532121524582018-06-15T14:00:00.000-07:002018-06-15T14:00:04.166-07:00Their truest life to find<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">[What follows is an excerpt from my remarks at the Farewell Reception on June 1st.]</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> I came to DU fully hoping that I’d be able to stretch myself beyond the bounds that I’d had the prior 17 years — as an Episcopal campus minister. In that role, I had a very focused community. In that role, I was always “across the street” from campus, both literally and figuratively. That is, I was employed by the Church, not by the campus. And that meant my access to the universities was somewhat constrained. At DU, the campus, from groundskeepers to Trustees, faculty, staff, and students — regardless of their religious/spiritual affiliation — all were my “flock”. And I loved moving among those various constituencies. I learned so much!</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> I learned, for example, to love lacrosse. Susan [my wife] said, after our first DU game, “They get to hit each other with sticks? And it’s legal? I LOVE this game!” And so do I!</span> <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">I now understand how the scoring in gymnastics works, and that “wins” in a match are much less important that the overall score. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> I learned, through my association with </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.jiminywicket.org" href="http://www.jiminywicket.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">Jimmy Wicket </span></a></span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">— a program that pairs volunteers (students, faculty or staff) with Alzheimer’s sufferers — not only about Alzheimers disease, but also croquet (not the backyard variety!). And I learned how much joy the volunteers gained through playing with the seniors — some of those senior citizens were DU grads!</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> Speaking of croquet, I learned that hockey players weren’t as good making the transition to croquet with seniors citizens as was the women’s golf team.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> I learned that despite the Registrar’s reservations with the course title, honors program students LOVED taking my class on human-animal interaction: “Pets, Partners or Pot-roast”.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> I learned that Trustees, Vice-chancellors and Deans loved entering a pool at commencement on how long conferring the degrees would take, and was surprised that <u>they</u>thought it odd that the University Chaplain was the book-maker.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> On the more sombre side, I learned how to respond to tragedies, whether the death of a coach’s son, to student deaths as a result of car accidents, to faculty/staff deaths from natural causes. And I learned that marshaling the resources of the university to deal with national/global disasters helped provide ways, not only for people to be involved, but also to process the ways of the world with others. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> And, of course, I learned an incredible amount about different religious traditions, their holidays, and how those traditions interacted with university life. Negotiating religious obligations and accommodations, whether dietary restrictions or the need to miss class for a holiday, gave me an insight into the collision between the “secular world” and the various “sacred worlds” that I might never have gotten otherwise.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> I’ve been asked what’s next. First, let me say that I am not retiring, although my logo at DU will be retired, and maybe I’ll leave my hat with Special Collections/Archives. In keeping with the logo, however, I will say that I am "changing hats”. Final details are still being worked out, but the high likelihood is that I will be taking charge of an Episcopal church in the area — because Colorado is INCREDIBLY awesome! Between my last day on campus (June 15) and the start of that next adventure, I’ll be able to spend some time cycling, fishing, hiking, bird-watching, camping, and, oh yes, Susan, putting on my “Tim Allen hat” for some home-improvements..</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> I’d like to close in a semi-unusual fashion ( at least for these kinds of events); I’m going to resort to the intersection of my academic training with my ministerial training. Many of you know I have a Ph.D. (from another Methodist "DU" — Duke). You may not know that it is in Early Christian History. Before you ask, my dissertation was on “Eunuchs in Early Christianity” . . . and I’m not talking about a computer language. And, if you don’t know what a “eunuch” is, </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunuch" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunuch" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">google it: “E-u-n-u-c-h”</span></a></span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> In the middle of the 2nd century of the Common Era, a letter — an “epistle”— was penned by someone called “Mathetes” (which simply means “disciple”) to someone else called “Diognetus. The Epistle is a defense of Christianity against its accusers. Some 1800 years later, a portion of that Epistle was summarized/translated into a hymn by an Episcopal priest named F. Bland Tucker. From the time I learned that hymn until now, it has remained one of my favorites, not only for its poetry, but also for its underlying theology.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> It begins:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">The great Creator of the worlds,</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">The sovereign God of heaven,</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">His holy and immortal truth</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">To all on earth hath given</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">Then follow four verses that describe the way that truth was made “flesh”. But it is the first two lines of the last verse that I want to leave with you. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">Not to oppress, but summon all</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">Their truest life to find,*</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">“To summon all” — not just some, not just one sub-population — to summon all their truest life to find. That has been my goal at DU for the last eleven years, and it is my wish for us all: May we all go forward not only to find OUR truest lives, but, wherever we find ourselves, to summon . . . to help others, THEIR truest lives to find.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> So be it! And, thank you.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">* The full text of the hymn can be found </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a data-cke-saved-href="http://ehymnbook.org/CMMS/hymnSong.php?id=pd09749" href="http://ehymnbook.org/CMMS/hymnSong.php?id=pd09749" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">here</span></a></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">.</span></span></span></span>Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-57022277955656839252018-06-08T14:00:00.000-07:002018-06-08T14:00:12.248-07:00The Joy of Frustration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Last Christmas, my wife gave me the 7th Edition of the </span></span><em style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America.</em><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> From all that I had heard, it was THE best field guide published recently. And when I looked at it I had to agree. The pictures, the range maps and the descriptions of the various birds were all FABULOUS! It even had thumb-cuts to move quickly between different families of birds. It had, not surprisingly, one deficiency: it didn’t have my notes of where I saw particular birds for the first time. All of THAT information was in my 4th Edition!</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> The 4th Edition had been my go-to field guide pretty much since I started birding in the late -1980’s. So, as much as I wanted to take the 7th Edition into the field with me, I couldn’t quite let go of the 4th . . . because of the historical data it contained. Only one solution: transfer the information from 4th to 7th!</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Do you know how long it takes to go, page-by-page, through two field guides to re-record almost 450 initial sightings of various bird species? A LONG time! I finally finished the day before yesterday (June 4).</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> But . . . that undertaking took me down “memory lane”. I was surprised by how many of the sightings happened on my birthday, or wedding anniversary. I could remember little details about almost every sighting — weather, other observers, funny stories, etc. How many states were represented as the “first time” I saw a bird? More than I recalled!</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> But I also thought, through the process of transferral from one book to another, that, “Golly, I’m a pretty accomplished birder!” </span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Hah!</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> This week I returned to the East Coast for a training in Connecticut. It was a different part of the U.S. than I’d birded before (although there was some similarity with my time in North Carolina). So I thought I’d be able to add to my life-list. I did my research. I knew what birds I might hope to find. And, when the first opportunity afforded itself, I grabbed my binocs and bird book (the 7th Ed!), and went out.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Absolute frustration! I’d forgotten bird calls. I’d forgotten field marks. I kept hearing Rocky Mountain (or West Coast) birds — which, of course, weren't there. I’d forgotten a lot . . . and IT . . . WAS . . . FRUSTRATING! The experience drove me back to the book. I needed to refresh myself with all of the details (and, of course, with the internet, I could check on bird-song). And, the next day, when I went out again, my time out was much more satisfying, even joyful.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> The whole experience reminded me that there is (or can be) a certain benefit of being frustrated in a “task”. When I’m fishing, or cycling, or birding, or . . . praying, I can either take frustration as a sign that I should set the activity aside, OR I can enter into it more fully. I can do more research; I can focus my attention differently. I cannot let the frustration be the last word. To do so would deprive me of the joy that might lie on the other side.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> The cliché is “No pain, no gain”. I’m not exactly pain-averse, but I might say “Work through the frustration; find the joy!”</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span>Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-88735300423415439022018-06-01T14:00:00.000-07:002018-06-01T14:00:09.305-07:00Moving musings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> It begins today at DU (maybe some early birds started yesterday): move out!. Today (June 1) is the last day of classes at DU. Those lucky few who don't have finals in the next few days are loading up their cars/SUVs/trailers/storage pods and are heading off to their summer adventure. And all of us know what that "moving" experience is like: deciding what to take, what to leave behind (if that's an option), and what to discard.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> For the last several years, students at DU have had the option to "leave behind" items that they accumulated over the year. Whether clothing, office supplies, ski boots or ramen (unopened, of course), each residence hall has a "depository". The left-behind items</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> are sorted with like items and are delivered to social service agencies, e.g., Goodwill, a homeless shelter, or a food bank. Many DU employees help with the sorting process, marveling at what's left behind -- often things look like they're brand new, or used only once.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Such was the case with the shoes pictured above. I can't remember WHICH year these came into the "depository", but they were the subject of much conversation and merriment. So much so, that a couple of us decided that we should retain them and turn them into some kind of "sustainability award". Over the years since, they have graced my office window-sill; the "award" purpose having disappeared with the dissolution of the committee. Visitors to my office have just looked at them with a quizzical eye, which has given me a chance to tell their story.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> And, now, I'm in the process of moving out as I prepare to leave the University of Denver for something different (and, as yet, unknown). I'm faced with the question of what to take, what to leave behind, and what to discard. I recall a friend's system from many years ago when sorting through HIS library. Three piles: (1) those books you can get at a library any time => discard (or donate); (2) those books you absolutely need on hand for professional reasons => keep; (3) those books that have sentimental value (or look good on the coffee table) => <u>hard decision! </u>Eleven years of computer files complicate everything: Did I really revise that document seven times? How many of those revisions should go to Archives? Not to mention thousands of emails that should have been deleted years ago...<br /> All of these things -- books, pictures, emails, documents -- tell a story. And, as I've been packing up, I've gotten to relive many of those stories/memories. Some are good, some less so. Sure, there are some significant professional decisions to make, but I've decided NOT to use my friend Phil's categorization system. Instead, I'm going to rely much more on the fifth and sixth assumptions of Appreciative Inquiry*: (5) People have more confidence and comfort to journey to the future (the unknown) when they carry forward parts of the past (the known); (6) If we carry parts of the past forward, they should be what is best about the past.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> We can certainly learn a lot from some of the "less good" memories/stories! And we"ll take that "education" with us; it has become part of who we are. But there is a lot of "baggage" that can be left behind. And there are a whole lot of treasures to take with us. Deciding which is which is a step towards wisdom.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Now, if I could just figure out how a pair of 5-inch zebra-striped, sequined heels fits that system?</span></span></div>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">FREE TO A GOOD HOME!</span></span></strong></div>
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<br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté</span></span></div>
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<br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">* <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.centerforappreciativeinquiry.net/more-on-ai/what-is-appreciative-inquiry-ai/" href="https://www.centerforappreciativeinquiry.net/more-on-ai/what-is-appreciative-inquiry-ai/" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">Appreciative Inquiry</span></a> is both a worldview and a process for facilitating positive change in human systems -- and is applicable in individual lives as well!</span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-57698850864792024842018-05-25T14:00:00.000-07:002018-05-25T14:00:06.567-07:00"I am" or "I have"?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> True confession (although probably not a surprise to anyone): I have "Christianism". And, to complicate it, I suffer from an extreme </span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">form of it: "Clergyism". Some folks might nod their heads -- either with humor, or disdain, and say, "Yup, you <u>are</u>disordered!". Most others, however, would probably shake their head and say, "What is he talking about?" Most of us don't use those words unless in some semi-scholarly sense, and certainly <u>not</u>about ourselves. Most ordained folks might say "I am a Christian clergy-person". It is part of what makes us who we are; I doubt few of us would think that either our religious identity or clerical identity was something that could be easily removed.<br /> <span style="color: black;">I think a lot about identities. Certainly that topic is a matter of much conversation on college campuses. Students gather around their identities. Whether it's the Muslim Student Association or the South Asian Student Association or the Black Student Alliance, students in these groups celebrate their common identity with pride, and advocate for recognition and acceptance in the wider "culture". These groups are more than simple interest groups that bring together folks who share a hobby or professional goal. In my professional context, of course, I think most about religious identities -- "identities", not "conditions".<br /> Yet there are other identities that are often discussed in the manner of conditions; identities that become marginalizable as "-isms". I was reminded of this the other day when a video was shared on Facebook in which the subject was described as "having dwarfism". I understand that the word "dwarf" can have a lot of negative baggage associated with it -- although some wear it with pride, but it is not a condition (i.e., "dwarfism") that can be remedied. It is an identity, in his case, an easily seen identity.<br /> There are, of course, "invisible" identities that are treated as conditions. I think of people who are autistic or dyslexic. When we speak of them "having autism" or "having dyslexia", we make them "other", and potentially subject to different sets of "rules". We may seek to "cure" them, or, as was the case in 1940's Germany, to eradicate them, since they aren't "normal" -- as <u>we</u>might define it.<br /> I can't deny anyone the right to "self-define", but I do believe that when we start classifying people who differ from us in any was as "disordered", we've crossed a line. My "Christianism" compels me to agree with Pope Francis who </span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/world/europe/pope-francis-gays-god-made-you-this-way-.html" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/world/europe/pope-francis-gays-god-made-you-this-way-.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">reportedly</span></a></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">told a gay man earlier this week that “You have to be happy with who you are. God made you this way and loves you this way, and the pope loves you this way.” And, although he didn't say it, I would imagine he would agree with a saying I recall from several decades ago, "God don't make no junk." Or, to quote another figure from this week's news, Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, "When love is the way, there's plenty good room - plenty good room - for all of God's children." *</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté<br /><br />Gary</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;">* From his </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: mediumblue;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/20/612798691/bishop-michael-currys-royal-wedding-sermon-full-text-of-the-power-of-love" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/20/612798691/bishop-michael-currys-royal-wedding-sermon-full-text-of-the-power-of-love" target="_blank">sermon</a> </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.</span></span></span>Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-28406117678553307452018-05-18T14:00:00.000-07:002018-05-18T14:00:07.006-07:00The Identity of a Book<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> At the beginning of his novel, <em>The Shadow of the Wind,</em>Carlos Ruiz Zafón has Daniel and his father making Daniel's first visit to the "Cemetery of Forgotten Books" in post-WWII Barcelona. As Daniel's father explains it:</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><em>This is a place of mystery, Daniel, a sanctuary. Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.*</em></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Zafón (or Daniel's father) doesn't say it, but I took this passage also to imply that the book becomes part of the soul of the reader. And, in my experience, the more folks I know who've read a certain book, who've shared their thoughts and feelings about it, my tie to the book "grows and strengthens". </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">There</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> arises a community "of the book".</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> This put in my mind of part of Tim Crane's analysis of religion in <em>The Meaning of Belief,**</em>the subject of this month's book discussion. Crane takes to task the "New Atheists" (e.g., Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, etc.) for missing the point about religion. He argues (among other things) that these authors want to reduce religion to a antiquated cosmology so that they can more easily dismiss it. He points out that these authors don't quite understand why the "religious" don't fall under the weight of their critique, and renounce their delusion. And, then, Crane asserts that it's </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">because the "religious" don't base their adherence to a religious system solely on its cosmology.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: 14px;">Crane—an atheist himself—proposes that the religious world-view is a combination of (a) a sense of the transcendent, and (b) the role of identification with a community—past and present—that provides, through rituals, being together, and common understanding, ways of making meaning <em>in one's own life</em>, and </span><u style="font-size: 14px;">of</u><span style="font-size: 14px;"> life in general. This goes far beyond any kind of cosmology. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: black;">Most religions, or course, <u>are</u>religions "of the book" in one way or another. Attitudes towards sacred texts vary, but the transmission of the tradition relies in no small part on the presence of those texts in the lives of the community of the faithful. Those texts help "make us" who we are. But, if my supposition about Zafón's implication that books become part of the soul of the reader is correct, I have to wonder what we do to ourselves when we pull other volumes off of the shelf. And, here, of course, I include more than simply novels, but movies, social media, etc. -- any transmission of information.</span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">An old cliché has it that "You are what you eat". If it were modified a bit, would we be happy knowing that "We become what we read"? And, if not, what's our appropriate response?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;">*Translated by Lucia Graves (Penguin Books, 2004), 5-6.</span><br />** <span style="font-size: 14px;">Subtitled <em>Religion from an Atheist's Point of View</em>(Harvard, 2017).</span></span></div>
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<br />Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-87606193973090686802018-05-11T14:00:00.000-07:002018-05-11T14:00:17.579-07:00Look again!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Over the last several months, I've been playing the game "Word Crossy" on my phone. The screen shot above probably says as much about how the game should be played as any narrative. But, basically, I need to string the letters together to fill the various rows/columns in the "cross-word" puzzle, without any clues. Sometimes I can speed right through the game. Other times I can barely start. There <u>are</u>some "helps" provided. Tapping the light bulb in the lower right will charge your "bank" 50 points (of the 278 in the lower left) and fill in one letter in the puzzle; often that's enough to spur thinking. Or, the little double-crossed arrows in the lower left corner will re-juggle the letters in the circle; the supposition is that seeing things differently will also spur thinking.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> There have been plenty of times when I've used up my points, and juggling the letters just doesn't work. So, in frustration (why <u>do</u>I keep playing this game!?), I leave the app and check my mail, or the weather, or Facebook. Or I just shut the phone down and go clean the bathroom. Then, more often than not, when I return to the game, I solve it within seconds. The letters hadn't changed; I simply quit staring at them for a while. </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">Clearly, the same phenomenon is part of the fascination with some optical illusions. You can look at the patterns of colors or shapes and only see </span><u style="font-size: 14px;">one</u><span style="font-size: 14px;">image. Come back to the picture later, and, all of a sudden you can't believe you didn't see the <u>other</u>one!</span><br /> </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> I've found something similar in a "non-visual" arena. Starting last year (2017), I decided that I would read another tradition's sacred text over the course of the year. In 2017, it was the <em>Quran</em>; this year is the <em>Bhagavad Gita</em>. Some of </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">this</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> comes from my innate curiosity. I just want to know what the text </span><u style="font-size: 14px;">really</u><span style="font-size: 14px;">says (rather than relying on snippets, sound-bites or proof-texts); and, I want to read it appreciatively. When I find something I don't understand, I can easily turn to a knowledgable-in-that-tradition friend. But another reason I've been doing this is that I find places of convergence between the other tradition and my own. And, often enough, my understanding of my own tradition is deepened or altered in a way that wouldn't have happened had I spent all my time in </span><u style="font-size: 14px;">my</u><span style="font-size: 14px;"> own texts. I've very much come to value this addition to my spiritual practice.</span></span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">There's something here that points, too, to one of our society's besetting problems these days. Whether its our choice of multiple broadcast news outlets or which online news sources we "follow", we have such a tendency to fall into tribalism. "Echo-chamber" is the phrase often bandied about. Getting out and hearing a different voice is becoming increasingly foreign. And, I believe, we are all the lesser for it.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Yesterday, I led a workshop on Appreciative Inquiry for one of DU's divisions. Part of the workshop had the attendees pair up and interview each other on a series of questions. At the end, when I asked "How was the process for you?", one participant said that he had been paired with someone in a different unit within the division, someone he didn't know well. And then he commented on how valuable that was, as opposed to being with someone from his own unit whose answers he probably already knew.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-size: 14px;"> It's so often time to shut the app down, do something else, read something else, talk to someone else, and then come look again.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-74761874208929226052018-05-04T14:00:00.000-07:002018-05-04T14:00:04.238-07:00Living in a microbial world<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> This past Wednesday evening, we happened upon an episode of NOVA on PBS (no, we're NOT one of <u>those</u>families!) on microbes: <span style="color: mediumblue;"></span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.pbs.org/video/56f66073-2b52-4abf-b359-aed1d5ade5f1/" href="http://www.pbs.org/video/56f66073-2b52-4abf-b359-aed1d5ade5f1/" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">"What's Living In You</span></a><span style="color: mediumblue;">?" </span>Absolutely fascinating . . . and a bit frightening! The show featured some segments where researchers took "skin scrapes" from peoples' faces (e.g., collecting the skin-cells/oil from next to the nose) and placing them under powerful microscopes. The images were astonishing. But what was even more mind-blowing (to this non-biologist) was the assertion (as described in the teaser on the <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.rmpbs.org/newsletters-copy/2018/may-1-2018/?elqTrack=true" href="http://www.rmpbs.org/newsletters-copy/2018/may-1-2018/?elqTrack=true" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">RMPBS website</span></a>): "</span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">Microbes play a central role in your life. Trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi are so abundant in your body, they outnumber your human cells." "<strong>THEY OUTNUMBER YOUR HUMAN CELLS"!</strong>There are more things living ON me, than there is OF me!</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: 14px;">My word! What if they ganged up on me? I wouldn't have a chance!</span><br /> <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Well, of course, that </span></span><u style="font-size: 14px;">can </u><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">happen, in some ways. Some of the microbes are harmful and can cause disease. And then there are others that will attack the bad guys! But, most of the time, we leave at relative peace with one another, me and my millions of microbial guests. They need me, and, apparently, I need them. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago*, we are all interconnected in ways we rarely consider.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> As humans, we have a tendency to forget that we are part of something larger, or more complex. We have been steeped in this kind of thinking since the dawn of humanity: our "tribe" is the only "human" one, all others are barbarians; our world is the center of the universe; our universe is the coolest. Or, more pointedly, in the words of Paul Simon, "I am a rock; I am an island".** We see things </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">from</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> our perspective -- naturally, but not necessarily helpfully.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Much the same point was made by physicist Carol Rovelli in an </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://onbeing.org/programs/carlo-rovelli-all-reality-is-interaction-apr2018/" href="https://onbeing.org/programs/carlo-rovelli-all-reality-is-interaction-apr2018/" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">interview with OnBeing's Krista Tippett</span></a></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">. Except he took exception (though not directly) to the fixed nature of Paul Simon's "rock": </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">"</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">We live 100 years, but suppose we lived a billion years. A stone would be just a moment in which some sand gets together and then it disaggregates, so it's just a momentary getting-together of sand." His point throughout the interview is neatly summed up in the title to the episode: "All Reality is Interaction." And I remember being taught much the same "stuff" when, in college, I took a course in process philosophy. The agreement between the physicist and the philosophers is quite striking. First, according to process philosophy, everything "proceeds" towards its goal, although not at the </span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">same speed (i.e., a spark proceeds fast than humans, which proceed faster than stones). But second, every encounter between two "entities" changes both of them in some way, so, in Rovellis' words, "all reality is interaction."</span></span><br /> <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> I can't really get over some of the implications of this. Yes, there is the "butterfly effect" -- one small action may have incredible consequences far away. But I have to wonder what would happen if we really started thinking about </span><u style="font-size: 14px;">our</u><span style="font-size: 14px;"> (inter-)actions and the impacts they may have. We are so intertwined, from the microbes on the bridge of my nose to those who supply me with tangerines. Wouldn't it make a wonderful difference if we believed that, and acted in accordance with that belief, as opposed to our ancient, and increasingly prevalent, tribalized thinking?</span></span><br /><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">* <a data-cke-saved-href="http://duchap.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-world-in-tangerine.html" href="http://duchap.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-world-in-tangerine.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">"The World in a Tangerine"</span></a></span></span>** <a data-cke-saved-href="http://i am a rock lyrics" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" target="_blank"></a><a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/i-am-a-rock-lyrics-paul-simon.html" href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/i-am-a-rock-lyrics-paul-simon.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">http://www.metrolyrics.com/i-am-a-rock-lyrics-paul-simon.html</span></span></span></a></div>
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Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-46011367257294445362018-04-27T14:00:00.000-07:002018-04-27T14:00:09.515-07:00A veiled threat . . .<div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I've been taking a few days off in order to get some home repairs done before dear daughter comes back from college -- with her dog -- in a couple of weeks. The thing that has been most pressing has been painting: both a </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">railing</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> between our kitchen and "great room", as well as part of our deck. Both of those areas are accessible to the pooch, and would be difficult to paint with a romping puppy around. This is not a onerous task! I love painting (it's one of the ways I earned my way through college and seminary). There's immediate satisfaction when the task is done. All of the nicks and scratches are covered over; it all looks clean again, and folks are happy!</span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> I also know, from years of experience, that painting can hide more than simple blemishes. It can mask some pretty serious problems. Filling in a crack with spackle, and then painting over it may make the wall look smooth, but the crack may indicate settling of the building's foundation -- not good. Spraying sealer over water stains, and then painting over THAT, doesn't solve the problem of leaky pipes or bad roofing. In some ways or circumstances, painting can be like putting a veil over the reality that is the structure: we won't see what's truly there.</span></span><br /> <span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> "Veils" were brought up in a presentation I attended earlier this week. The particular reference was to something being "veiled in print." That is, we are such a print-oriented (although now we might also be video-oriented) culture that we often confuse what is "written" about something (or, I suppose, "filmed" about something) </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">with</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> the thing itself. One could make the argument, for example, that we have substituted text-messages for real, face-to-face, conversations. Or, witness the debate over how sacred texts (including the US Constitution) should be interpreted: ought one be faithful to the words, or the spirit behind the words.</span></span><br /> <span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">This temptation to confuse the representation with reality troubles me. The representation can never capture the whole. Indeed the representation can hide the whole, much like a veil can hide what's behind it. There may be no intention to deceive, but, over the last couple of days, I've </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">taken</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> a bit more care in reading, just to be sure I'm not missing what's really important.</span></span><br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-18988076004025448072018-04-20T14:00:00.000-07:002018-04-20T14:00:41.431-07:00The World in a Tangerine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> For several years I've taught an Honors Seminar at DU called "Pets, Partners or Pot-roast". It was an examination of the various ways humans interact with non-human animals. We began by looking at how various disciplines (science, philosophy and religion) draw the distinction between "us" and "them" (everything from genetics, to reasoning capacity, to clean/unclean). Then, the remainder of the course was devoted to the arenas of interaction: environment, service animals, research animals, livestock, pets, and food. That is, what the students had to do was decide how they distinguished between "us" and "them", and then decide what difference that might make when considering whether to use animals for cosmetic research, or what happens when Fluffy runs afoul of a coyote in our suburban neighborhoods, or what conditions are "humane" when raising/slaughtering livestock. </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">At the end of the first year I taught it, I realized it was a class in applied ethics; decision-making isn't easy!</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> An exercise I had the students "do" when we got to the "Environment" week was an variation of Thich Nhat Han's </span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.buddhist-canon.com/PUBLIC/XIUZHENG/eat.htm" href="http://www.buddhist-canon.com/PUBLIC/XIUZHENG/eat.htm" style="color: black; font-size: 14px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">"Tangerine Meditation."</span></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> I give each student a "Cutie" (okay, they're not tangerines, but in February, they're plentiful and inexpensive!), and ask them to look deeply at the fruit, smell it, peel it (and notice the difference in aroma), and finally taste it. And then we talk about </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">all of</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> the factors that were necessary to produce that fruit and get it into their hands. Everything from soil nutrients, rain, fertilizer, the folks who make the trucks, who pave the roads, who make the little mesh bags in which the Cuties arrive, those who pick the fruit, who stock the store-shelves -- all of these things are found in the single Cutie. And, of course, the point of doing this exercise on "Environment" day was to highlight the </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">various ways that both big and little, human-caused, things can have an effect on the non-human animal life that populates our skies, forests and waterways.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> While I didn't teach that course this year, I recalled the exercise while reading about a waterway in </span><em style="font-size: 14px;">Where the Water Goes: Life and Death Along the Colorado River</em><span style="font-size: 14px;"> by David Owen.* The book was the focus of April's "Chaplain's Book Discussion" -- partly in observance of Earth Day. Owen follows the Colorado River from its headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park to its terminus in the sands of northern Mexico. Along the way he observes the multiple sources (i.e., tributaries) of the river, as well as the various places the "water goes". And he talks with folks whose lives and/or livelihoods are dependent on the river. I was floored by what I learned. For example, micro-irrigation may SAVE water in one way, but prevents the "overflow" from doing good in other places. Or, we "export" water in the produce and meat that we send overseas (the effect being that the water is NOT returned to the Colorado River watershed). And then, of course, there's the matter of all that water that is diverted from the west side of the Continental Divide through a series of tunnels to satisfy the thirst of Colorado's Front Range (on the eastern side of the Divide, for you non-Coloradans). Like looking at a tangerine, when thinking about the Colorado River, it is clear that there are SO many factors that have an impact ON the river, as well as so many ways the river's water (or lack thereof) has an impact on the environment and people both along its banks, as well as within reach of miles of diversion tunnels and canals.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> As we approach Earth Day 2018, I invite folks to consider the many, many, ways we experience "Interbeing" (to use Thich Nhat Han's word).** How are we intertwined with people near and far, from farmers to corporate executives to politicians -- all who have an impact on our environment? What happens to insect life when we refuse to </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">recycle? And what about that hamburger? This is the only planet we have; just about every religious tradition suggests that we have a responsibility to take care of it.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Look to your right, and pick up any item that is handy. Spend just a few minutes considering all that it took to get to that place next to you. Be it a sharpie, or a cell-phone, or a Cutie . . . It is your teacher.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span><br /><br />* <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">Riverhead Books, 2017. A "Colorado Matters" podcast with the author can be found <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=56630b6ab99eefb10c4cc599d&id=6cafcddf0c&e=38c00e332f" href="https://www.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=56630b6ab99eefb10c4cc599d&id=6cafcddf0c&e=38c00e332f"><span style="color: mediumblue;">here</span></a>.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">** A very full </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">description</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> of the concept can be found </span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://tricycle.org/magazine/interbeing-thich-nhat-hanh-interview/" href="https://tricycle.org/magazine/interbeing-thich-nhat-hanh-interview/" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">here</span></a></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">.</span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-30372625895060365042018-04-13T14:00:00.000-07:002018-04-13T14:00:10.505-07:00YOU are a Canada Goose!<div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">[<em>Caveat lector</em>: If the reader is unfamiliar with the Harry Potter series,<br />some of what follows may be a bit hard to follow.]</span></span></div>
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<br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> This last Wednesday evening, while exercising my TV-remote </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">skills</span><span style="font-size: 14px;">, I happened onto a broadcast special: "Harry Potter: A History of Magic". As described in the </span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/tv/tv-picks-for-wednesday-harry-potter-a-history-of-magic/" href="https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/tv/tv-picks-for-wednesday-harry-potter-a-history-of-magic/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;"><em>Seattle Times,</em></span></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">it was <em> "</em>A look at the British Library’s upcoming 20th-anniversary exhibition; author J.K. Rowling reveals the real-life counterparts to her fantastical world, Elizabethan invisibility spells, the real search for the Philosopher’s Stone, magical places including wizarding wandmakers in the English forest and witchcraft of Boscastle, Cornwall, with readings by actors from the Harry Potter films." Being a Harry Potter fan (indeed our whole family is -- dear daughter requesting a boxed </span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">hard-cover set of the books for her 21st birthday), this was exactly what the doctor ordered for Wednesday evening viewing. One of the things that struck me was how Rowling mixed good historical, geographical and linguistic research with her own fanciful imagination. That really came home when she described how she came up with the "spells": some very much relate to Latin descriptions ("<em>Accio</em></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>" or "Crucio" </em>spring to mind); others, she admitted, were simply products of her creativity.<br /> Thinking about the Latin background of a lot of the spells reminded me of the Boy Scout campout I helped "chaperone" last month. At one point, we went on a little hike that took us past a semi-frozen pond. Sitting on some of the ice were a pair of Canada Geese. One of the younger boys asked "What are those?" Another, older, scout said (in true Boy Scout fashion), "Birds." Now, I'm an avid bird-watcher and am also a "certified counselor" for the Bird Study merit badge. I'd heard that one of the attending scouts was working on that badge (news to me!), and I said to him, "D., here's something for your merit badge knowledge. Those are </span><em style="font-size: 14px;">branta canadensis</em><span style="font-size: 14px;">, the scientific name for Canada Geese." And, then it occurred to me, "</span><em style="font-size: 14px;">Branta Canadensis" </em><span style="font-size: 14px;">sounded just like a Harry Potter spell! You can imagine, given the correct wand motion and the proper Hermione Granger intonation, "</span><em style="font-size: 14px;">Branta Canadensis" </em><span style="font-size: 14px;">might be just the thing to temporarily turn someone into a goose! Since then, I've had some fun imagining other spells derived from bird names:</span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> "</span></span><em style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Coccyzus americanus</em><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">" (Yellow-billed Cuckoo - most of us have met someone like that), or "</span></span><em style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Molothrus ater" </em><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">(Brown-headed Cowbird -- a bird that lays its eggs in another bird's nest to relieve itself of the responsibility of child-rearing). I've even tried "casting such spells" while driving (instead of engaging in other manners of road rage); it certainly defuses the situation for me.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">The idea of "casting a spell" that turns a tense situation into a humorous one lies behind a scene in one of the Harry Potter books, <em>Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. </em>Harry's class is learning the use of the "Riddikulus" spell (yes, derived from Latin!) when confronted by a "boggart":</span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">"a shape-shifting creature that will assume the form of whatever most frightens the person who encounters it."* "<em>Riddikulus</em>" turns the boggart into the most humorous thing the spell-caster can imagine. Part of the less-physical point of the lesson is that, knowing how to defuse a fear through humor is a useful skill, whether for a wizard or muggle! </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">I was</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> given much the same advice by my spiritual director about what to do when my "shadow-side" (my inner boggart) starts to attack me. His counsel? Don't give in, but, instead, just say to myself "There you go again" and start laughing.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">The old saying <u>is</u>that "Laughter is the best medicine." I fear that it's medicine many of us have forgotten how to take. On the contrary, when a boggart appears, our first reaction seems to be to try to summon a bigger one (a "</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">biggert"?). Escalation ensues; solutions flee in terror. And, often, in the end, the "foes" come off looking like petulant children. We have to develop a better way of dealing with things. A broader sense of perspective is one way. A over-arching concern for justice is another. A sense of humor at absurdity is yet another.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"> I really do like the way "<em>Branta canadensis</em>" rolls off the tongue; it just feels right (and, if the image used above is what accompanies the spell, there is truly something "<em>riddikulus</em>" about it). But sometimes it feels more satisfying to cast a spell on someone who's all "puffed up" with the Latin name of that common spring-time bird, the American Robin (since this is a family-oriented newsletter, I'll leave it to the "lector" to look it up . . . . <em>Caveat!</em>). I recognize that, as a muggle, my ability at casting spells is non-existent. That said, simply "casting a spell" is usually a better idea than "casting a stone". Especially if it creates a smile at <u>my own </u>expense.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">* <a data-cke-saved-href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Boggart" href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Boggart" style="color: mediumblue;" target="_blank">http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Boggart</a><span style="color: mediumblue;">. </span>"Boggart" by the way, is not from the Latin, but from Old <span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 205);">English</span> or Welsh -- related to "bogey-man".</span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-13548015399128116532018-04-06T14:00:00.000-07:002018-04-06T14:00:15.693-07:00Unexpected service<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Glorify the Lord, all you works of the Lord,</span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;">praise him and highly exalt him for ever.*</span></span><br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> The </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">third chapter of the </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">biblical</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> book of Daniel tells the story of three young men - </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego**</span><span style="font-size: 14px;">. These Hebrew youths refused to bow down to an image set up by Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, the punishment for which was to be thrown into a fiery furnace. The youths declare that their faithfulness to their God would preserve them. And, indeed, according to the account, they were unharmed by their experience in the white-hot furnace. Their joy and thanksgiving is recounted in the "Song of the Three Young Men"</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">.***</span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> This long hymn expands on the first line (above) -- the "all you works" portion, with continual repetition of the second line. Based on a theology that attributes everything to the activity of God, that whole creation is summoned to give glory:</span></span></div>
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<br /><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Glorify the Lord, you angels and all powers off the Lord,<br />O heavens and all waters above the heavens.<br />Sun and moon and stars of the sky.<br /><br />Glorify the Lord, O mountains and hills,<br />and all that grows upon the earth . .<br /> . . . O springs of water, seas, and streams,<br />O whales and all that move in the waters,<br />All birds of the air . . .<br /> . . . all you flocks and herds<br /><br />O men and women everywhere . . .</span></span></div>
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<br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">And, lest one think that the inhabitants of "creation" were set in stone, a New Zealand version of the hymn adds creatures the biblical author might never have imagined (or included, as they might have been </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">considered</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> "unlean"):</span></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">Dolphins and kahawai, sealion and crab,<br />coral, anemone, pipi and shrimp:<br /><br />Rabbits and cattle, moths and dogs<br />kiwi and sparrow and tui and hawk . . .****</span></span></div>
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<br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">And, a version I recall seeing a </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">number</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> of years ago in Arizona included the javelina!</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Certainly the point of the original, and of the more localized versions, is that there is nothing that exists that does not, or cannot "praise . . . and highly exalt [God] for ever". And I get that. But I was challenged a bit recently when reading another tradition's sacred text, the </span><em style="font-size: 14px;">Bhagavad Gita, </em><span style="font-size: 14px;">where I ran across the assertion that all living entities were </span><u style="font-size: 14px;">servants</u><span style="font-size: 14px;">of God (6.29 - emphasis added)*****. That passage reminded me of the "Song" above. Yes, for many traditions, "praise" is itself an act of service, so that wasn't what challenged me. What revved up my mental engine was the idea that ALL living entities were servants of the Divine. Really? All? Even mosquitos? Norway rats? Even <em>those</em>elected officials? They are "living entities . . . so <em>they're</em>all servants?</span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Well, mosquitos DO feed birds and bats -- creatures I like! So I can see them as "servants". And, thinking that way turned the equation a bit in other areas. Perhaps the "service" provided by </span></span><em style="font-size: 14px;">those</em><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">elected officials is to prod the rest of us to make necessary changes in the direction of justice or conservation or equality or . . . ? Maybe I simply need to expand, or deepen, my idea of service. Even in the few days I've been thinking about this, I have noticed a bit of an increase in compassion for those unexpected servants. I trust that's a good thing.</span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> (I'm still working on Norway rats . . . .)</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span><br /><br />* <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">"A Song of Creation" (the Song of the Three Young Men), </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><em>1979 </em></span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><em>Book of Common Prayer</em>, p. 88.</span></span><br />** <span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The Babylonian names given to the Hebrew youths Hanania, Mishael, and Azaria.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">*** This hymn is not found in any Hebrew versions of Daniel, but is part of other early texts, including Greek, Syriac and Latin. Because it was not in any Hebrew texts, it was excluded from most Protestant versions of the Bible, although it is in Roman Catholic and Orthodox versions.</span></span><br />**** <a data-cke-saved-href="http://liturgy.co.nz/benedicite-aotearoa" href="http://liturgy.co.nz/benedicite-aotearoa" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="color: mediumblue;">Benedicite Aotearoa</span></span></span></a><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;">***** <em>Bhagavad Gita As It Is. </em>2nd Ed. (Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1983, p. 282).</span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-7280166677482845072018-03-30T14:00:00.000-07:002018-03-30T14:00:00.175-07:00Living Our Stories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://vhcoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Whats-Your-Story-860x482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="800" height="179" src="https://vhcoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Whats-Your-Story-860x482.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> I think I may've related this "story" before, but, many years ago, when I was Episcopal Campus Minister at UC-Berkeley, I was serving on a committee that was planning a campus-wide student leadership conference. At the first planning meeting, we did the obligatory "ice-breaker". This particular one was called something like "Mild, Medium, or Spicy". The individual on the "hot-seat" could declare which category s/he chose, and then the rest of the folks could ask questions appropriately. "Mild" questions were about "favorite colors" or "pets' names", etc. Medium questions were a bit more "challenging" ("Tell us about the first time you failed an exam, and why."). I'll leave it to your imagination about "spicy" questions in a collegiate setting.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> As it turned out, I was the last person to be queried. And, that meant that, while everyone else had about 5 minutes (yeah, right), to answer questions, when it came to me, I had 30 seconds. And, to show how "cool" I was, I chose "Spicy"! The response from the room? Crickets. (The looks on some students' faces said "How can we ask a "spicy" question of a clergyman?") Finally one student, with whom I'd worked before, asked, "So why ARE you in this religion 'biz', anyway?" It certainly wasn't the kind of "spicy" question I expected, and with 30 seconds, I didn't have much time to ponder. After a pause I simply replied, "It's the best way I know of making meaning in my life." He nodded, as if to say, "Not bad . . ." And the meeting ended.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Today (as I write this)</span><span style="font-size: 14px;">, in the Western Christian calendar,</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> is Good Friday. For many, it is a pivotal part of the Christian story, a story of self-sacrifice for the sake of humanity, the culmination of which is located several days hence, with the resurrection of Jesus. That story, again, for many Christians, is foundational in how they "make meaning". The specific direction each individual takes in interpreting it may vary. But, in the end, most would say that there is a strong suggestion of "light at the end of the tunnel", or, ultimately, hope in the midst of uncertainty. </span></span><br /> <span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> As the letter below suggests, I am now in a somewhat uncertain position. I have announced that I will be leaving DU at the end of June. But, at this point, I am not absolutely sure where I will land. For a marginal "control-freak" like me, that is </span><em style="font-size: 14px;">terra </em><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>incognito</em>! That said, my foundational story -- the one which helps me "make meaning" -- tells me not to worry. It will all be good.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!</span></span><br /> <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> What's YOUR story?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: brown;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><u><strong>An announcement made to the University community on March 29, 2017.</strong></u></span></span></span></div>
<br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">Dear friends and colleagues,<br /><br /> In the summer of 2007, I was honored to join the University of Denver with the responsibility of re-creating the position of University Chaplain. Over the last eleven years, I’ve advocated for the integration of religious, spiritual and ethical voices and values at DU. And, in doing so I’ve engaged many partners on-, and off- campus; I’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing colleagues, and, most importantly, our bright and committed students.<br /> Now it is time to turn over what I have put in place, and to move to the next phase of my career. After having spent more than 25 years in ministry in higher education, I hope to translate all that I’ve learned in that arena into parochial ministry within the Episcopal Church. I have several irons in the fire, but none are finalized at this point. <br /> While I will be a DU employee through the end of June, I am making this announcement now in order to give both the university and myself the opportunity to move forward transparently in order to facilitate the transition.<br /> In addition to a Community Celebration at the end of the quarter, I know there will be opportunities for “farewells”! And I wish you all the best!<br /><br />The Rev. Gary R Brower, PhD<br />University Chaplain</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">[Note: The </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://news.du.edu/university-chaplain-leaving-after-more-than-a-decade-of-service/" href="http://news.du.edu/university-chaplain-leaving-after-more-than-a-decade-of-service/" style="color: mediumblue; font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" target="_blank">official announcement</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">, sent out over the Chancellor's signature,</span></span><span style="color: mediumblue; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">was an edited version of this communique.]</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-90063632830264238612018-03-23T14:00:00.000-07:002018-03-23T14:00:24.162-07:00Held in trust<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> One of the facets of becoming a "grownup" that I enjoyed was the experience of moving out of a rental house into one that my wife and I purchased. No longer did we have to deal with landlords (regardless of how good they were!). We didn't have to see whether or not they'd allow our cat(s). We didn't have to put up with all of the walls being white or beige. We could change the shrubbery/garden plants to suit our tastes. Ownership was good! We could do ANYTHING with our house (well, almost, especially if there was a Homeowners' Association involved).</span></span><div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Of course, few of us actually </span></span><u style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">own</u><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> our houses. Most of us are in the position of having a bank/lender own the building/property; we are simply hoping that we'll get to the point where we can get to the point where we've bought it from them. In the meantime, the lender is trusting that we'll keep <u>their</u> asset in good enough shape that, in case we were to default on the loan, they could recoup their investment. It's a trust issue.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">For a number of reasons, I started to think about this "trust issue" beyond the scope of home-"ownership". I was recently in a workshop where I heard quoted the Christian theologian Douglas John Hall: "We own nothing; we are entrusted with everything." This was in the context of a discussion about the concept of "dominion" -- as in Genesis 1.26 where, after God creates humans, they are given "</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">dominion" over the earth and its creatures. Does that mean that humans OWN the earth/creatures and are able to anything they want with what they "own"? Certainly some people seem to think so. Or, does it mean, as Hall puts it, that humans are </span><u style="font-size: 14px;">entrusted</u><span style="font-size: 14px;"> with everything? The latter idea, of course, implies that at the "end", the earth and its creatures are returned "as good as new" or improved!</span></span><br /> <span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I recalled, too, that a somewhat similar notion is found in the Bhagavad Gita. Especially spelled out in Chapter 5 is the idea that all of creation is part of the Divine, that it reflects the Divine. If that is the case, then any action taken with regard to any creature is an action directed at the Divine, This implies both any positive action (such as community service) or any negative action (such as harm). The implication is that we are beings entrusted -- all of us -- with the welfare of all others. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> And then, of course, I recalled the oft-quoted Native American proverb: “Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” Beyond that proverb, there are numerous other quotations from past tribal sages about the "folly" of western beliefs about land "ownership". The notion contained within them all is still, holding the earth in trust. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> But what if we expanded the notion beyond holding the external environment -- water, air, birds, fish, mammals, amphibians, etc -- in trust. What if we held our relationships with one another as "trust" relationships rather than utilitarian? Certainly not all of our relationships are transactional, but what if, for example, in negotiating, we were as concerned that the other party leave enriched and empowered as we were for our own success? Ponder the possibilities.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-21224306629201181232018-03-16T14:00:00.000-07:002018-03-16T14:00:23.205-07:00Love-locked?<div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> If one drives (or even takes the train) from Denver to Sacramento/San Francisco, the most direct route will take you through the town of Lovelock, NV. Since I have family and friends in Northern California, I've made that trip often enough! The town was founded in 1849 by a gent named George Lovelock, and was a stopping point for folks headed to California (a lot of them, probably, in search of gold!). Within a few years, there was a train depot, and the town became quite a hub for mining activity, as mines were established in the area. More recently, it has attracted a lot of tourists, primarily because of the association of its name with a particular February holiday, as sweethearts will head to Lovers Lock Plaza, and attach a lock to symbolize their love. (And, of course, it being Nevada, it's easy to seal that love with a trip to the local court house.)</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> I didn't know that there <u>was</u> a Lovers Lock Plaza until doing a bit of research for this post. I DID know that Valentine's Day was BIG there, because signs on the freeway touted the celebration. (I assumed that the town was banking on its name, much as does Loveland, CO!) But, every time I went by the town, I recalled my family's trip to China in December of 2003. As part of our "tourist-time", we visited the Great Wall of China where . . . there was a practice of lovers coming to the wall, attaching a lock, and throwing away the key! </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">And it was the practice in China that inspired the Lovers Lock Plaza in Lovelock, NV! </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">The implication of the action, whether on the Great Wall or in northern Nevada, is that the love being declared is eternal/everlasting. </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> After a little bit more poking around, I learned that there are numerous places where this ritual is practiced. Another is Budapest. Within the city, one can go to Erzsébet Square, or to the Szechenyi Chain Bridge over the Danube. </span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">And, while some lovers chose a "hardware store" lock, others go "all out", and have them engraved and decorated. </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">The advantage, of course, of the Chain Bridge is that the key can be thrown into the river -- dramatic, and un-retrievable! While some would argue that the practice of love-locking around the world is a Chinese "export", almost all agree that it's a pretty lovely </span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">sentiment.<br /> In thinking about this a bit more, the cynic in me (and, yes, there is a bit of that!) began to wonder what happens to the locks if the couple decided they would part ways. Does someone go back to the bridge/Wall with a big pair of bolt cutters -- somewhat akin to someone having a tattoo of a former lover removed? There is something, I think, in the imagery that suggests that the couple's feelings for one another -- <u>at that moment</u> -- will be static throughout their relationship. They "lock" themselves in a moment in time.</span></span> <span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Extending this line of thought to a different kind of "love affair", I started wondering about how we can often "lock" our thinking in place. "I took a class on that subject a few decades ago; I know what I'm talking about." "What do you mean </span></span><em style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">research</em><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> suggests that I need to change my behavior? My mother smoked three packs a day and lived to be 90!" Or, more currently, "The framers of the Constitution guaranteed . . . ." Thinking like that can't bear the idea of breaking out the bolt-cutters, and the results can be tragic.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> I certainly can understand the symbolism of snapping the lock shut and throwing away the key. But what might it symbolize to use a combination lock instead, which might allow for some growth? Imagine returning to the Great Wall or the Chain Bridge or Lovelock NV, more experienced and wiser, and gently taking down that first lock, and replacing it with something that reflects a new reality. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-6943890849884322102018-03-08T14:00:00.000-08:002018-03-08T14:00:33.065-08:00Do-be-do-be-do-be . . . . <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Dear daughter is now three-quarters the way through her first year of college (out-of-state). Dear son is three-quarters the way through his first year of high school. They are both "doing" what they're supposed to be doing, what I as a parent would want them to "do." They're exploring new vistas, new possibilities. And, for the most part (if the reports are true), they're enjoying the experience and doing well. Again, I'm glad.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> I've been surprised, however, by some of the side-effects. For a couple of decades now, dear spouse and I have been "doing" for the kids: taking them to and from school and/or doctor's appointments, making sure they have all the right (sized) clothes, acting as computer tech-support (especially when a paper's deadline looms in 10 minutes!), serving as a cheering section at ballet or tae-kwon-do events. But, with one less kid in the house, and the other increasingly self-reliant, I've found myself with time on my hands.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">Now, you might think this would be a good thing (and I suppose it is, in the sense of training for the "empty nest syndrome"). But, according to my StrengthsFinder, my </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">second-strongest strength is "Achiever". In other words, I live to get things done! But, with about 60% what I formerly needed to "do" no longer necessary, I'm casting about for other things to "achieve". Our financial records are now meticulously organized. I've culled old clothes and cellphones. I've re-arranged all of the stuff in the garage. Given that we're still coming out of winter, I've not been able to devote much energy to the yard, but . . . just wait! Oh, I can take the lawn-mower to get it tuned up! That's not only <u>doing</u> something, but making it possible to <u>do</u> something better when I <u>can</u> mow!<br /> Another facet of this, though, has been that I have had the (almost enforced) opportunity to </span></span><u style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">not</u><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> do. While I might protest the lack of do-ables, I have found that the additional time has allowed me to peer around corners in my own life that I've ignored while pounding straight ahead in pursuit of a "product". In other words, I've had to question my role as a "human </span><u style="font-size: 14px;">do</u><span style="font-size: 14px;">ing" and consider a role as a "human </span><u style="font-size: 14px;">be</u><span style="font-size: 14px;">ing". Some of the insights have been surprising.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> It is in this new reality that I found the following quotation from Joseph Campbell provocative:</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">We must be willing to get rid of<br />the life we've planned, so as to<br />have the life that is waiting for us.*</span></span></em></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">* The quotation is used as the epigraph in Dan Brown's latest novel, <em>Origin</em> (Doubleday, 2017).</span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-76321091143808649142018-03-02T14:00:00.000-08:002018-03-02T14:00:11.667-08:00"You can't take it with you."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBkVMpP6tDqGvsx1T_wMZMxp3_0VVVV8bZWQaKhp3Xt3jZiGO65ib2vECc3If2-3-7ntFllu8wYDx41d4f5HrNQQbF6ooQZvbAoyDdfJ5tPECRhj9AlkOZtZQgQfIe_tGYxpTeIdukw/s1600/Overload.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="555" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBkVMpP6tDqGvsx1T_wMZMxp3_0VVVV8bZWQaKhp3Xt3jZiGO65ib2vECc3If2-3-7ntFllu8wYDx41d4f5HrNQQbF6ooQZvbAoyDdfJ5tPECRhj9AlkOZtZQgQfIe_tGYxpTeIdukw/s320/Overload.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> The other day I was listening to a fishing-oriented podcast. The podcaster is a professional guide and devoted the last episode to answering the question: "What do you pack to take with you on a fishing trip." I don't know what kind of answer the questioner expected, but I doubt s/he anticipated ALL of the information that filled the hour. The podcaster covered just about every possible trip: solo road trip (he could fill the car with the equivalent of a fly shop); family trip by air (maybe one rod); Guide trip (many rods, specific gear); winter trips (lots of layers and a heater); summer trips (chaco sandals); camping or lodging (sleeping bag? food?). In short, the kind of trip dictated the amount and type of "stuff" he took with him.<br /> This got me thinking about the "stuff" that I accumulate, and what I can "take with me". And I was reminded of the "de-cluttering" industry that seems to have gained steam over the last several years. You know, </span></span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/Clear-Your-Clutter-Feng-Shui/dp/0767903595" href="https://www.amazon.com/Clear-Your-Clutter-Feng-Shui/dp/0767903595" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">Clear Your Clutter with Feng-Shui</span></a> </i><span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">(by Karen Kingston) or Marie Kondo's</span></span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering-Organizing/dp/1607747308" href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering-Organizing/dp/1607747308" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of De-cluttering and Organizing</span></a> </i><span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">("Does that pair of socks give you joy?"), or, moving from Asia to Scandinavia,</span></span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> <a data-cke-saved-href="https://www.amazon.com/Gentle-Art-Swedish-Death-Cleaning/dp/1501173243/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520008025&sr=8-1&keywords=swedish+art+of+death+cleaning" href="https://www.amazon.com/Gentle-Art-Swedish-Death-Cleaning/dp/1501173243/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520008025&sr=8-1&keywords=swedish+art+of+death+cleaning" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">The Gentle Art of Swedish Death-Cleaning</span></a></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> by Margareta Magnusson. Every so often, I find myself on a tear, trying to get rid of stuff I no longer need (and maybe never <u>did</u> need), so I find these "systems" somewhat intriguing. </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> But, then I started thinking: "If I'm ever successful in "getting rid" of extraneous stuff, what would be left?" (because I'm certainly not in the position -- being a husband and parent -- of being able to divest myself of everything and retiring to a cave). If I assent to Marie Kondo's mantra ("Does it give you joy?"), it would seem that "what's left" should make me happy. I think, too, that what was "left' would say something about who I am or what I value.</span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> Reflecting on the kind of <u>stuff</u> I keep around me led me to start thinking about the kind of <u>people</u> with whom I associate. And I recalled a fun conversation my wife and I had several years ago. We were dining out, and, for some reason, I asked: "If we 'construct' a cul-de-sac that would be populated by the people we enjoy most, who would have in our neighborhood?" Now, we'd been married a long time, and had lived in many different places, so we had a LOT of folks from which we could choose. It made for a VERY enjoyable dinner discussion, as we were "forced" to think about the qualities of our "future neighbors". Of course, we couldn't "take them with us" and create that kind of neighborhood. But, even the mental exercise of thinking "who was left" revealed </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">something (to me at least) of what I value or who I am.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back again", declared Job, after most of his family and wealth was "taken" from him (Job 1.21). He knew that, ultimately, he "couldn't take anything with him". It's true . . . we can't. But (mixing religious metaphors), what kind of karmic dust from our "stuff" and associates might we wish to be remembered by?</span></span> <br /><div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-55628803290112123872018-02-23T14:00:00.000-08:002018-02-23T14:00:38.573-08:00"I know it by heart"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Earlier this week, I hosted a book discussion on </span></span><em style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The Dharma of the Princess Bride: What the Coolest Fairy Tale of Our Time Can Teach Us About Buddhism and Relationships</em><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">, by Ethan Nichtern.* It seemed to be a good choice for a book discussion in February, this relationship-fueled month. And, it had the "hook" of being grounded in that "cool fairy tale" that is now celebrating its 30th anniversary. Thirty years! Memorable characters (Fezzik! Miracle Max! Rodents of Unusual Size!) Unforgettable scenes (Cliffs of Insanity! The Fire Swamp! Count Rugen's Torture Chamber!) And of course the bits of dialogue most of us can quote from memory:</span></span><div>
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> <em> "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!"<br /> "You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means."<br /> "It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead."<br /> 'As you wish."</em></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Here are phrases that we can not only quote from memory, but that have become part of the cultural linguistic inventory of our time.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> In the course of our discussion of the book, the characters, and these memorable phrases, we began to wonder WHY some movies/books have had such lasting power. We thought, too, of the "Star Wars" juggernaut, now forty years old and counting. I mused that part of the reason might be that a good portion of the population that has grown up with Princess Bride and Star Wars are also the same folks who've grown up outside of any religious tradition. In other words, the stories that helped form many prior generations were NOT part of the last couple. And, without those "old" stories, new ones necessarily had to be found to help make meaning out of life. </span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I'm not saying this is bad, it's just . . . is.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> That said, I've been thinking about those things we have memorized and those things we "know by heart". It began last Sunday (prior to the book discussion) when a grandfather and his granddaughters slipped into the pew behind me at church. Given the conversation I overheard, it was clear that the girls were not accustomed to being at this church with grand-dad. As the service progressed, we reached a point at which the congregation joined together in reciting a relatively long confession of faith. Grand-dad handed the bulletin to one of the girls and said, "Here, you can have this. I know it by heart." Whether he was just using that <u>phrase</u> instead of "I have it memorized" or not, I don't know. But I'd like to think it was more than just a series of memorized sentences; I'd like to think it <u>was</u> something he knew <u>by heart</u>.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> What we know "by heart" not only forms us, but sustains us. It is no surprise that those suffering from Alzheimers Disease (or other forms of dementia) can join in singing old hymns, even when they can't string together words for a complete sentence. Hospice workers know that, when they visit patients, the Lord's Prayer or the Shema come fairly easily to folks who often seem "out of it." These "series of sentences" were learned over years, in particular contexts, and became deep-seated . . . "heart-known". I can't say for certain, but I would hope that the words from the heart at that time provide some internal comfort, a re-connection with a more "normal" life.</span></span> <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">So I wonder . . . what do we know by heart? "As you wish" may win a trivia contest, but does it sustain us?</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">* North Point Press, 2017.</span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-53886864658296557102018-02-16T14:00:00.000-08:002018-02-16T14:00:21.103-08:00A River Runs Through You<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> Many years ago, my wife and I took up bird-watching (or "birding"). A close friend of ours had been a long-time birder, and offered to take us out, and we were at a point where we believed that some sort of joint outdoor hobby would be fun. So we got in the car, picked up John, and headed to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. John had a specific lake in mind and, once we parked and got out of the car, he told us not to look at anything until he pointed. Walking across the street without "looking at anything" was a bit of a challenge, but when he told us to look, we were looking at . . . a duck. Well, that's what WE thought; it certainly looked like a duck. John told us, "I wanted you to have THIS bird as #1 on your life list. It's a Eurasian Wigeon." That was the first of about 50 birds we identified that day, driving all over the San Francisco Bay Area. And it was the beginning of a life-long hobby.<br /> We were so surprised by the variety of birds -- ducks, gulls, hawks, pigeons, songbirds. And the diversity of colors -- astonishing! We couldn't believe that we'd never really noticed before! But something else happened; I think we realized it a few weeks later walking through some meadows at the Pt. Reyes National Seashore (north of San Francisco). In our efforts to locate elusive birds, we started noticing other things: butterflies, snakes and frogs, different kinds of grasses. In other words, once we started paying close attention to one "family" of wildlife, we started seeing a lot of other things . . . and, of course, the variety there was equally astonishing.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Our experience was not unique, of course. While living in North Carolina, we learned that a lot of birders turned to butterflies during the summer when bird life was slow and "predictable". And, of course, it's helpful to know an aspen from a ponderosa pine when following someone else's directions in where to <u>locate</u> a bird. Then I learned earlier this week from a </span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a data-cke-saved-href="http://blog.aba.org/2018/02/american-birding-podcast-more-than-birds-with-jody-allair-frank-izaguirre.html" href="http://blog.aba.org/2018/02/american-birding-podcast-more-than-birds-with-jody-allair-frank-izaguirre.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">podcast</span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> from the American Birding Association that, given the portability of lots of field guides (i.e., on one's smartphone) many birders are branching out beyond avian life.<br /> The realization, however, that by carefully looking for one thing, one finds many others was a bit of a su</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">rprise. We've asked ourselves numerous times, "How could we have been so inattentive?" The easy answer, of course, is that we weren't trained to pay attention. </span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> I've had a similar set of realizations as I've become more obsessed with fly-fishing. I'd seen "rivers" before; I grew up in Portland, OR where there are a LOT of rivers, big and small. But what I'd never noticed were all the various characteristics of the rivers: pools, back-eddies, places where the current was faster than others, the slack water behind boulders, etc. All of those hold (or don't) fish. But it goes beyond that -- there's the whole question of the water's depth, and whether the fish are holding towards the bottom, or if they're taking food from the surface. AND, there's the question of what they're eating. One way of checking that is to seine the water with a fine mesh net. One finds twigs, insect larvae, perhaps a minnow. There is A LOT of stuff going on in the river that I never noticed . . . until I started paying attention.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> The other day, I started to think about this in the context of a "life", in particular, my own. I can look in the mirror and see . . . me. Yet if I start paying attention to what's going beyond the "big picture", I can see that there are "eddies", "swift currents", "twigs", "larvae" that are also significant in making me who I am. I'm going to have to take time to really pay attention to understand what all those things have contributed to who/what I am. I hadn't thought that there's a River Running Through Me.</span></span><br /><br /><div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-77713611096625795662018-02-09T14:00:00.000-08:002018-02-09T14:00:57.576-08:00Oooh, look! Shiny Stuff!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> My colleague, the university ombuds, always has a tray of very shiny wrapped candies at her table at resource fairs. She told me, at one of these events very soon after I arrived at DU, that studies have shown that people are drawn to shiny objects, and, since she wanted people to be aware of her office, if shiny candies got them to her table, she'd take advantage of our predilection! Of course, for humans, "shiny stuff" goes far beyond candy wrappers.</span></span> <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> "Shiny stuff" (or some </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">comparable phrase) came up in a </span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/conversions-1.4491880/out-with-the-new-and-in-with-the-old-1.4491885" href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/conversions-1.4491880/out-with-the-new-and-in-with-the-old-1.4491885" style="font-size: 14px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">podcast</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> that I recommended in "Listen Up" (below) last week. The suggestion in the podcast was that folks might want to consider, what David Cain (the interviewee) called, a "Depth Year." Instead of indulging in the acquisition of every new thing that "shines" (whether that's a hobby, a new car, or a new book, or something like that), Cain suggested revisiting all the unfinished things that are found in our lives. In his case, it was a guitar gathering dust, unlearned French (despite the books) and dried-up water-colors. That interview struck a nerve with many people, as the following week's </span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/self-reno-projects-1.4505448/ready-to-commit-to-a-depth-year-here-s-how-to-make-it-work-1.4505601" href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/self-reno-projects-1.4505448/ready-to-commit-to-a-depth-year-here-s-how-to-make-it-work-1.4505601" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;"><em>Tapestry</em></span></a></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> show contained a lot of suggestions that listeners were going to try.<br /> "Stuff", whether "shiny" or not came up in another podcast (<em>Common Knowledge</em>*) I heard early this week. But in this discussion, the context was quite different. The two hosts were discussing "identity", and one suggested that they share something that represented their "identities". I was expecting that they would bring an object, but one "brought" a blog that represented her "Hindu-American-Mommy" identity; the other mused on the phrase "thoughts and prayers". The "stuff-ness" of the conversation was really that there was something relatively "concrete" (even if only virtually so) to which they could point that said something about them.</span></span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Virtual "stuff" then appeared in an article published (online) in <em>Tricycle</em> magazine: </span></span><a data-cke-saved-href="https://tricycle.org/magazine/dropping-distraction/?utm_source=Tricycle&utm_campaign=41ce9b300f-Daily_Dharma_02_06_2018&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1641abe55e-41ce9b300f-307254561" href="https://tricycle.org/magazine/dropping-distraction/?utm_source=Tricycle&utm_campaign=41ce9b300f-Daily_Dharma_02_06_2018&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1641abe55e-41ce9b300f-307254561" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">"Drooping Distraction"</span></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: mediumblue;"> </span>by Leo Babauta. Babauta observes how much we are distracted by the "stuff" (he doesn't use that word) that we use everyday, particularly with our technology.: multiple open browser tabs, constant email/newsfeed notifications, iPhone trivia games, social media, etc. And, the distractions that we find there often lead us to new ones ("In-app purchases" of another iPhone game!).</span></span> <span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> So, what is it about "shiny stuff"? As I thought about this over the last few days, the notion that stayed the longest was that, as suggested but the <em>Common Knowledge</em> podcast, "stuff" can tell us a lot about who we are. AND, that can be a good, or not-so-good thing. Identifying with by a </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">"Hindu-American-Mommy" blog is one thing, but do we want to be identified by the "Tune Blast" iPhone game? A cherished family photo album can tell us a lot about who were are, and from where we came -- a good thing. But do we really want to be identified as "that person" who can't live without the newest thing?</span></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">Given all this, the idea of a "depth year" really has begun to make a lot of sense . . . in a couple of different ways. In the most material sense, for example, do I really NEED to buy new fly-tying materials for <u>one</u> fly pattern, OR should I spend more time creatively with the materials I have? But, in a more "spiritual" sense, should I simply go deeper to try to understand WHY I am so attracted to the "shiny stuff"?</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">They're not mutually exclusive, of course; perhaps even complimentary. That said, however, I don't think I'm quite ready for a depth <u>year</u>. On the other hand, like many western Christians, I'm staring at Lent beginning this-coming week. I might be able to commit to forty days . . . .</span></span></span><br /><br /><div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span><br />* <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">Available on iTunes: Podcast: "Common Knowledge"; Episode from 2/1/18: "Identity: Moving Through the World . . ."</span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-41107433787336353712018-02-02T14:00:00.000-08:002018-02-02T14:00:42.605-08:00Sometimes a cigar . . .<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> The other day I was driving my 9th-grader to school. As is often the case, we were driving in silence (he doesn't like having the radio on). But, as is also often the case, out of the blue, he said "I'm wondering . . . ." "Yes? You were wondering?" I prompted. He said, "I'm curious as to what it means if someone has the same dream over and over?" I said that I thought it probably meant that the person was trying to "work on something" in their subconscious, but that it wasn't getting resolved. And then I asked him, "Are you having the same dreams over and over." "When I was a kid, but not any more" he replied, "I was just wondering" (which he often does).</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar . . ." Sigmund Freud is reported to having said when asked about a cigar in a dream. (I didn't go into </span><u style="font-size: 14px;">that</u><span style="font-size: 14px;"> whole thing on the way to school!) But the question of dream-interpretation has fascinated me (and others) for a long time. I remember many years ago, when I was in seminary, that one of my psychology classes had a session or two on dream-work. I think THAT particular psychological "school" believed that the "important" message from a dream was found in when the "dreamer" exited the dream. That is, the point at which the dream ended held the meaning (i.e., the cigar gets lit). Then, there's a Jungian theory that the various people in a dream represent various parts of ourselves, and the interactions (and resolution) have something to say about what "we're working on" (i.e., the man smoking the cigar represents a certain part of me that is "smoky"). And, then, of course there's the theory that sometimes a cigar ISN'T a cigar.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> But there is an entirely different kind of dream interpretation, one that has a much longer history than those suggested above. And that, of course, relates to dreams being messages from outside the conscious (or subconscious) self, i.e., from a divinity. Ancient texts are full of these kinds of dreams. And usually they're "interpreted" as predictive or calls to action. In late antiquity, Plato and Aristotle discussed dreams; </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">Artemidorus wrote a manual of dream interpretation, the <em>Oneirocritica</em>. </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">In the Joseph account in Genesis, Joseph is given insight into the Pharaoh's dream -- predicting that there'd be years of good harvest, followed by famine (Genesis 41). Joseph is warned in a dream to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape from Herod murderous intent (Matthew 2.13). </span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"> Dreams were so important that their </span><u style="font-size: 14px;">absence</u><span style="font-size: 14px;"> was not a good thing, and indicative of wider problems than just those of the individual dreamer. This is so clearly illustrated in the 5th-century BCE prophet Joel. The situation to which the prophet speaks is one in which a locust plague has decimated the land (described as a day of darkness and of gloom). But, the prophet says that, after the destruction, God would restore the land and its animals. AND, after <u>that</u> God would "pour out [God's] spirit upon all mankind. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions (Joel 3.1). The picture is one of hope for the future; the presence of God's spirit, dreams and visions presaged good.</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> I continue to wonder about dreams. And I go back to my son's question about dreams in general, and, in particular, about multiple iterations of the same dream. What if they weren't just windows into the subconscious? If we listened to them differently, might we a look through a window into a possible (good) future. In a culture filled with dystopic "bad dreams" filling our "big screens", how might some positive dreams presage a better future? Of course, we'd have to take action . . .</span></span><br /> <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">What <u>are</u> the dreams we dream?</span></span><br /><br /><div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span></div>
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Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-83830732197827548322018-01-26T14:00:00.000-08:002018-01-26T14:00:01.668-08:00O beautiful . . . <div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Mount_Hood_reflected_in_Mirror_Lake%2C_Oregon.jpg/1200px-Mount_Hood_reflected_in_Mirror_Lake%2C_Oregon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="800" height="254" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Mount_Hood_reflected_in_Mirror_Lake%2C_Oregon.jpg/1200px-Mount_Hood_reflected_in_Mirror_Lake%2C_Oregon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> When I first came to Denver after accepting the position of University Chaplain, a friend and her husband drove me around Denver, showing me the various neighborhoods (mostly south of Cherry Creek) that I might want to take in consideration when relocating. Washington Park. University Park. Southmoor. They had all sorts of recommendations (for example, "Don't live south of C470 -- too far from DU"). But their final comment was the one that I the best: "Wherever you decide to live, make sure you can see the mountains every day."* Fortunately, given where we ended up living, every day, I come down a hill looking straight across the S. Platte valley at the Front Range. And, this time of year, as the Rockies put on their white winter coat, the view is spectacular, and guaranteed to lift my spirit.</span></span><br /> <span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> This may be, partly, because I grew up in one of the 'burbs of Portland, OR. To the east was Oregon's tallest peak, Mt. Hood. Depending on where we were, we could see mountains on the north side of the Columbia River: Mt. Adams and (pre-eruption) Mt. St. Helens. These peaks in the Cascade Range are not as high as those in the Rockies (the highest is Washington's Mt. Rainier, the only 14er in the range, I think). But, given that they "start" at sea level, an, as volcanos, are more isolated, they are equally dramatic as those I can see on my commute to DU.</span></span><br /> <span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">What is it about "place" that can be so central to who/what we are? My wife didn't like driving through North Carolina (at least the roads) when we lived there because the vegetation kept her from seeing the horizon (she grew up in the Central Valley of California -- no obstructions to the west and the Coast Range; no obstructions to the east and the Sierra Nevadas). On the other hand, I've heard of folks who come to Colorado from the big cities and suffer from a form of agoraphobia -- <u>too much</u> wide open space.</span></span><div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> The question/sense of "space" or "place" is an important feature in the miniseries Gods and Generals (about the beginnings of the Civil War). At one point in the film, Gen. Robert E. Lee tells one of his subordinates that the "Yankees" are only concerned about lines on a map; they have no idea of what the </span></span><u style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">place</u><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> (i.e., Virginia, for Lee) meant to those in the south. He refers to learning to walk, finding a sweetheart, raising children, cultivating crops, etc. Those everyday things imparted to him a deep appreciation for the land, the scenery, the geography. He spoke of it with reverence.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> Something in that echoed, for me, my friend's directive to "make sure you can the mountains every day." We spend so much time with screens and books. I doubt many of us find "reverence" and "awe" in them, or in much of how we spend our lives. What might be different if we <u>did</u> make certain that we connected with those (pretty much) intangible sacred spaces/places in our lives, whether they're mountains or prairies.?</span></span></div>
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<br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span></div>
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<br />* <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">I wish they'd told us one other IMPORTANT piece: "Make sure your house faces south!"</span></span></div>
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Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-78001023996768791692018-01-19T14:00:00.000-08:002018-01-19T14:00:48.553-08:00Our of darkness . . . <div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"> It was a dark and stormy . . . day. I can't remember exactly what time of year it was, but given that it was Oregon, it could have been almost anytime! I do remember I was home, so it was either a weekend or a school break (I doubt it was summer). I was in the early years of elementary school when being at home on a </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">rainy day was NO FUN! At some point, my mom, getting a bit tired of my restlessness and fidgeting, suggested I call Doug and see what he was doing. Doug's dad was the contractor who'd built every house in our neighborhood, so Doug had been a friend for as long as I could remember. "Great suggestion, mom! Why didn't I think of it?"</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> I got on the phone and called him up. He said he was feeling just about as restless as I, and to come on up to his house "in ten minutes". Yes! Ten minutes wasn't long. Or was it? It WAS AN ETERNITY! Most of us can remember (or imagine) the drill: look out the window at the rain, go check the clock, repeat . . . six cycles every minute, probably. But eventually the time did pass, and I was able to head up the hill to his house. I remember few details about the rest of the day, except that the wait was worth it (his mom's cookies were always good!).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"> I recalled this experience yesterday when our "Soul and Role" group spent an hour reflecting on the David Whyte poem "Sweet Darkness". We talked about literal darkness as well as metaphorical darkness. The poem suggests that there is learning to be found in darkness -- which we were able to find in both the literal and metaphorical. But what I also took away was that the darkness will end </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">eventually. And, if one pays close enough attention, the new "light" is of a different quality than previously experienced.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> My childhood "dark and stormy day" was not any kind of profound "darkness". But for an impatient pre-adolsecent, it was DARK! And the "light" that followed wasn't profound, either. I did learn that ten minutes isn't an eternity! And that sometimes, waiting in the "darkness" is worth it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><u><strong>Sweet Darkness</strong></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">When your eyes are tired<br />the world is tired also.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">When your vision has gone<br />no part of the world can find you.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">Time to go into the dark<br />where the night has eyes<br />to recognize its own.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">There you can be sure<br />you are not beyond love.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">The dark will be your womb<br />tonight.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">The night will give you a horizon<br />further than you can see.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">You must learn one thing:<br />the world was made to be free in.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">Give up all the other worlds<br />except the one to which you belong.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet<br />confinement of your aloneness</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><br />to learn</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">anything or anyone<br />that does not bring you alive</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">is too small for you. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;">~ David Whyte ~<br />(<em>House of Belonging</em>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "lucida grande" , "lucida sans unicode" , "lucida sans" , "tahoma" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-82760160061759008672018-01-12T14:00:00.000-08:002018-01-12T14:00:26.601-08:00The Might of a Horse?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> The clichés are out there: "Keeping up with the Jones's" or "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence". The underlying message is a nagging sense of dis-satisfaction with one's current situation. "The Jones's have just purchased a Lexus; we need one!" "<u>This</u> relationship isn't satisfying; maybe I should ask <u>that</u> person out." "Look how much better they're doing than we are; we should adopt their way of doing things." Certainly, discontent can be an impetus to change a bad situation. But that's not always the case, for we know that much advertising is built on the premise that a "need" needs to be created (or discontent needs to be created) so that the advertised product will be purchased . . . whether we REALLY need it or not.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> To be sure, there is a long history of acting on this desire for what the other has. I think of the early history of the Israelites. After their arrival in the Promised Land, they were "ruled" by a series of "judges", folks "chosen" by God to lead them. As the last great judge, Samuel, saw the end of his time draw near, he appointed his sons to be judges. They, however, were not just; rather than seeking Israel's best interests, they were more interested in lining their own pockets. As a result, the elders of Israel came to Samuel and demanded that he appoint a king over Israel, <u>just like the other nations</u> (1 Samuel 8.5). Despite Samuel's objections, God tells Samuel to do as they request; they are not rejecting Samuel, but God (8.7). And Samuel warns the people of all that a king will do: levy taxes, draft sons as warriors, etc. But the people refused to listen to the warning: "There must be a king over us. We too must be like other nations, with a king to rule us and to lead its in warfare and fight our battles" (8.19-20).*</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> A corollary to the "I've got to have what THEY have" syndrome is the idolization of glamour/celebrity/charisma: "Let's make sure our leader has panache!" The continued story of Saul illustrates this as well. Saul turned out to be disobedient to God, as well as a bit of a wacko. And God directed Samuel again to anoint a successor. Before starting the selection process, however, God warns Samuel, "Do not judge from his appearance for from his lofty stature . . . Not as [a person] sees does God see, because [a person] sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart" (1 Samuel 16.7). Samuel does NOT choose one of the good-looking big brothers, but rather David .</span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"> These stories came to mind this week, in the aftermath of the Golden Globe awards, and the acceptance speech given by Oprah Winfrey. By almost all accounts it was a very powerful speech. She was clearly able to address a timely issue in a very moving and persuasive way. Almost immediately, on social media and in print, voices called for her to consider a run for the presidency in 2020. Now, I think Oprah is an amazing human being who has had an incredible career (or several careers!). But her celebrity and passion, in my mind, are not sufficient qualifications for the highest office in the US. I don't believe we </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">should let our discontent with the current situation propel us past good sense. It may make us feel good in the moment, but the "moment" is only . . . momentary. We need to take a longer, more sober, view, and select leaders based on their qualifications to lead the complex systems that are governments.</span></span> <span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">We are very prone to look for a quick fix. And we often look to "success" elsewhere as a potential model for our own, whether that "success" is couched in terms of "power" or "celebrity". The history of that is long, of course, as I've noted above. And I think about it every time I read the Psalms, where the Israelite "envy" of other's armies is put it in its place. The psalmist contrasts <u>that</u> selection criterion with a bit more lofty one.</span></span><br /><em><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">There is no king that can be saved by a mighty army;<br /> a strong man is not delivered by his great strength.<br />The horse is a vain hope for deliverance;<br /> for all its strength it cannot save.<br />Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him,<br /> on those who wait upon his love . . . (Ps 33.16-18)**<br /><br />God is not impressed by the might of a horse;<br /> God has no pleasure in the strength of a man;<br />But the Lord has please in those who fear him,<br /> in those who await his gracious favor. (Ps 147.11-12)</span></span></em><br /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: trebuchet ms, lucida grande, lucida sans unicode, lucida sans, tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">* Quotations from 1 Samuel are from the <em>New American Bible</em>.<br />** Quotations from the Psalms are from the 1979 <em>Book of Common Prayer</em>.</span></span></div>
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Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4850653771113511497.post-29372641847167579532018-01-05T14:00:00.000-08:002018-01-05T14:01:01.874-08:00Humbled by Hubble<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", "lucida grande", "lucida sans unicode", "lucida sans", tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> The other day I got involved in a "comment dispute" on Facebook (I know, I know . . . I should be bigger than that). But I am particularly susceptible to folks who make sweeping generalizations about ANYTHING "religious". In this particular case, a friend had posted an article about the 100 largest megachurches in America and whether they are welcoming of LGBTQ folks. The first commenter wrote: "One reason more people are leaving the bigotry of religion behind." That blanket statement was like throwing a raw steak to a lion (hungry or not). Subsequent "conversations" in the Comments section clearly suggested that the commenter has "anger issues" with "religion" (Christianity in particular)!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> In my responses to the commenter, I tried to point out several things (among others). First, "religion" is bigger than even megachurches, let alone Christianity, and it's a logical fallacy to generalize from the specific. Second, every religion has, well, "traditionalists" who hold fast to the original text </span><u>as it has been received</u><span style="color: black;"> (either in terms of literal words, or "traditional" teaching), but that not everyone within that religious stream follows the same line of thinking. And I suggested that the more we learn/know/understand/investigate, the more we're able to see nuance, and context, etc. [None of that made any difference to the commenter . . . Sigh]</span><br /> Later that evening, I was lucky enough to watch the wonderful PBS Nova show <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/invisible-universe.html" href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/invisible-universe.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: mediumblue;">"Invisible Universe Revealed"</span></a><span style="color: black;">, a look back at the twenty-five years of the Hubble Space Telescope. I will set aside the fact that I can remember all of those twenty-five years, and all of the controversy and drama associated with the launching, repair and maintenance of that amazing piece of engineering; that's a story in-and-of-itself. What struck me -- yet again -- were the amazing images Hubble was able to send back to earth of the astonishing beauty of the cosmos. The commentary accompanying the visuals pointed out how mind-blowing, how revolutionary, were these images, and the realities they represented.</span><br /> Given my Facebook-war, and my stress (in that conflict) on context, I had to wonder what our ancestors, regardless of their "religion", would have done with <u>this</u> Hubble-knowledge when they were trying to understand THEIR place in the universe -- when the best they could do was give "names" to configurations of stars. Would it have increased their "social awareness" about the mysteries of human development? Probably not. But, given the transformation that the Hubble images have made in <u>our</u> understanding of the universe, I have to hope that we can begin to see the limitations of OUR declarations of certainty -- whether religious, or <u>anti-</u>religious.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">We never know what the future may reveal. I would like to think that being humbled by Hubble would teach us something.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;">Namasté,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,lucida grande,lucida sans unicode,lucida sans,tahoma,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Gary</span></span></div>
Gary Browerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785183613943463508noreply@blogger.com0