A Disaster Awareness Forum will be held at First Baptist Church of DeLand 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, March 6.
The forum will emphasize preparedness for disasters in communities and at home, and will be sponsored by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Disaster Response Team.
To register, call 386-734-5085.
Soul Food Feast
On Saturday, Feb. 27, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., soul-food aficionados will be able to chow down to a soul-food feast at the fourth annual Throw Down With Bethel Soul Food Feast at Bethel AME Church in DeLand.
For a donation of $10, attendees will receive two meats, multiple sides, and dessert. Choices include barbecued ribs or chicken, pig feet, fried fish, maws, pigeon peas and rice, candied yams, red beans and rice, macaroni and cheese, and collard greens.
For more information, call 407-330-8492 or 386-717-5112.
Annual fashion show
The Knights of Columbus Council No. 6584 Ladies Auxiliary is preparing for its annual Fashion Show noon-3 p.m. Saturday, March 6, at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 1385 Maximilian St. in Deltona.
Proceeds from the fashion show will go to the Scholarship Fund, which is used annually to help a student in financial need.
Fashions will be provided by Bealls, and the show will also include lunch and dessert. A donation of $12 will cover the cost of the meal.
Call Evelyn Blaschick at 386-860-2341, Danielle Baez at 386-837-7822, or Dory Ciamartaro at 386-789-2735 to purchase a ticket.
Higgins to speak
The Rev. Jack Higgins will speak at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 28, at First Unitarian Universalist Church of West Volusia in DeLand, 116 S. Clara Ave.
Religious education for children of all ages is provided.
For more information about the church, or to look at photos of the new building, visit www.uudeland.org. The phone number is 386-734-6499.
Spirit Wind Band to perform
Sunday, Feb. 28, is the date set for a mouthwatering Fish Fry, served by the United Methodist Men, a group at First United Methodist Church of DeLand.
A dinner of fried fish, coleslaw, baked beans, tater tots and beverages will be served 5-7 p.m. in the Life Enrichment Center. Desserts will be provided by the United Methodist Women. Ron Kruger and the Spirit Wind Band, members of the Christian Motorcycle Association, will provide the entertainment. Tickets cost $6 in advance or $7 at the door.
Feb. 28 is also Brown Bag Sunday. Those attending all services are urged to bring canned goods and staple items to help replenish the local food banks and assist those in need.
Offering the featured entertainment for Lunch Bunch on Wednesday, March 3, will be Trall and Beverly Heitzenrater, who will present a musical program, “Irish Music for St. Patrick’s Day.” Dinner before the program will be served at noon in the Life Enrichment Center. The menu is ham, parsley potatoes, green beans and rolls, and rainbow sherbet for dessert. The cost is $6 per person, and reservations are required by Monday, March 1.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Purim Holiday Spirit is Upon Us
By MICHELE DARGAN
Daily News Staff Writer
Friday, February 26, 2010
Meghan McCarthy
(enlarge photo)
Rebbetzin Hindel Levitin, at right, leads Mirel Levitin, 4, Joshua Haik, 4, Rivka Levitin, 6, and Victoria Egan, 4, in Purim songs Tuesday at the Palm Beach Jewish Center.
RELATED LINKS
Palm Beach Purim observances Saturday and Sunday
In keeping with the joyous spirit of Purim, children from the Palm Beach Synagogue will deliver food baskets to the ill and homebound who are unable to attend synagogue.
Not only will they deliver the baskets — but they will deliver them in Palm Beach style.
The synagogue has rented a stretch Hummer limousine, which seats 22 people, for the children to ride in while making deliveries.
"It's a day of merriment and festivities," said Rabbi Moshe Scheiner of the Palm Beach Synagogue. "Purim is about being over the top."
Costumes, noisemakers, partying and the reading of the Megillah (scroll of Esther) are an integral part of the joyous 24-hour Jewish holiday of Purim, which begins Saturday night at sundown.
Celebrations include giving gifts of food and drink to friends, donating to the poor and a celebratory meal.
The holiday is based on the Book of Esther, in which Esther rescues the Jews from elimination. The Scripture tells of Haman, the most powerful adviser to Persia's King Ahasuerus, who plotted to kill all Jews and their leader, Mordechai.
Esther, the Jewish wife of the gentile king of Persia, foiled Haman's plans to kill the Jews. Instead, Haman was hanged and the Jews were saved.
"Let's Fiesta" is the theme of the Purim party at the Palm Beach Synagogue, 120 N. County Road. Festivities begin 7 p.m. Saturday.
"Purim in the White House" is the theme at the Palm Beach Jewish Center, 205 Royal Palm Way. Impressionist and comedian Bob Deverti will entertain at the Purim party, beginning at 5 p.m. Sunday.
"We chose the Purim in the White House theme because we are hoping that the interesting theme will pique the interest of the Jews in our community and excite them to participate in a Purim celebration, which is a mitzvah," said Rabbi Zalman Levitin. "Having a twist, something different and original, makes what might be a typical Purim feast into something fun and entertaining."
Temple Emanu-El will have a Purim pasta dinner at 5:30 p.m. followed by a carnival at 6:15 p.m. Saturday at the synagogue, 190 N. County Road.
One of the best themes of Purim is about the Jewish people coming together, said Rabbi Michael Resnick of Temple Emanu-El.
"In the beginning of the Book of Esther, the Jewish people are not unified," Resnick said. "At the end, they come together. The whole message is that we're all one people no matter where we are in the world, no matter what movement of Judaism we subscribe to. We are one people with a common heritage and a shared destiny. That's one of the messages of Purim that's worth celebrating."
The New Synagogue of Palm Beach, held in the roof garden of the Palm Beach Hotel, 235 Sunrise Ave., will have children's festivities — including a clown, games and food — after the 7:15 p.m. Megillah reading Saturday.
"As we celebrate the joy of Purim, the triumph of good over evil, we are filled with hope and optimism regarding the future of our world," said Reuven Blank, president of the New Synagogue.
Daily News Staff Writer
Friday, February 26, 2010
Meghan McCarthy
(enlarge photo)
Rebbetzin Hindel Levitin, at right, leads Mirel Levitin, 4, Joshua Haik, 4, Rivka Levitin, 6, and Victoria Egan, 4, in Purim songs Tuesday at the Palm Beach Jewish Center.
RELATED LINKS
Palm Beach Purim observances Saturday and Sunday
In keeping with the joyous spirit of Purim, children from the Palm Beach Synagogue will deliver food baskets to the ill and homebound who are unable to attend synagogue.
Not only will they deliver the baskets — but they will deliver them in Palm Beach style.
The synagogue has rented a stretch Hummer limousine, which seats 22 people, for the children to ride in while making deliveries.
"It's a day of merriment and festivities," said Rabbi Moshe Scheiner of the Palm Beach Synagogue. "Purim is about being over the top."
Costumes, noisemakers, partying and the reading of the Megillah (scroll of Esther) are an integral part of the joyous 24-hour Jewish holiday of Purim, which begins Saturday night at sundown.
Celebrations include giving gifts of food and drink to friends, donating to the poor and a celebratory meal.
The holiday is based on the Book of Esther, in which Esther rescues the Jews from elimination. The Scripture tells of Haman, the most powerful adviser to Persia's King Ahasuerus, who plotted to kill all Jews and their leader, Mordechai.
Esther, the Jewish wife of the gentile king of Persia, foiled Haman's plans to kill the Jews. Instead, Haman was hanged and the Jews were saved.
"Let's Fiesta" is the theme of the Purim party at the Palm Beach Synagogue, 120 N. County Road. Festivities begin 7 p.m. Saturday.
"Purim in the White House" is the theme at the Palm Beach Jewish Center, 205 Royal Palm Way. Impressionist and comedian Bob Deverti will entertain at the Purim party, beginning at 5 p.m. Sunday.
"We chose the Purim in the White House theme because we are hoping that the interesting theme will pique the interest of the Jews in our community and excite them to participate in a Purim celebration, which is a mitzvah," said Rabbi Zalman Levitin. "Having a twist, something different and original, makes what might be a typical Purim feast into something fun and entertaining."
Temple Emanu-El will have a Purim pasta dinner at 5:30 p.m. followed by a carnival at 6:15 p.m. Saturday at the synagogue, 190 N. County Road.
One of the best themes of Purim is about the Jewish people coming together, said Rabbi Michael Resnick of Temple Emanu-El.
"In the beginning of the Book of Esther, the Jewish people are not unified," Resnick said. "At the end, they come together. The whole message is that we're all one people no matter where we are in the world, no matter what movement of Judaism we subscribe to. We are one people with a common heritage and a shared destiny. That's one of the messages of Purim that's worth celebrating."
The New Synagogue of Palm Beach, held in the roof garden of the Palm Beach Hotel, 235 Sunrise Ave., will have children's festivities — including a clown, games and food — after the 7:15 p.m. Megillah reading Saturday.
"As we celebrate the joy of Purim, the triumph of good over evil, we are filled with hope and optimism regarding the future of our world," said Reuven Blank, president of the New Synagogue.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Soviert Spiritual Enlightenment
http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-02-01/alatyr-orthodoxy.html
Published 01 February, 2010, 07:06
Edited 01 February, 2010, 17:17
A Catholic Frenchman in search of spiritual enlightenment found it in an unusual place. In a remote Russian town, 13 years later he is now an Orthodox priest and a Russian citizen.
Yahoo
StumbleUpon
Google
Live
Technorati del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Mixx
Propeller Born Pierre Pasquet in France, Father Vasily was raised Catholic. But searching for something he could not articulate, the priest accepted the Orthodox faith and followed his spiritual advisor to Russia.
They came to the old town of Alatyr, in Russia’s republic of Chuvashia, in the height of its re-building of churches destroyed during the communist rule.
Read more
Inspired by the work and influenced by Russian Orthodoxy, Father Vasily sold his home and used the money to renovate his church, Iverskaya Icon Mother of God Cathedral.
"What I am doing here is not my job. It is my responsibility, my calling, my duty. That is how I live,” Father said.
13 years after settling here, he is now a Russian citizen.
“If I want to be a priest in Russia and to be a Russian priest, I have to be a Russian citizen,” Father Vasily said. ”So I decided to be, and I say it is a good thing.”
Parishioner Alyson Backhouse said that it is perhaps his open attitude that has endeared him to the congregation and to the community.
“I think, perhaps as a Westerner, perhaps he is a little bit more free and open, and his character – you know, he is somebody who jokes and is very easy to get on with,” she said.
”I think as a result many people – through him – it perhaps opens their eyes to another side of the church life," Backhouse added.
Like Father Vasily, Alyson Backhouse came from the West in search of religious clarity. Raised in England on the border with Wales, Alyson was a practicing Methodist.
“I had many questions about the history of the church, about the practice of the church and the faith of the church and I began to search,” she said.
She found answers and a new religious path as a foreign exchange student in Russia.
“Although at first it was something very strange for me – almost alien, not just strange – I gradually began to see that many of the things I was seeking really in my own church and not finding I could see in the Orthodox Church,” Backhouse said.
She moved to Chuvashia in 1995, first living in the capital Cheboksary, but after finding Father Vasily, as a spiritual advisor she moved to Alatyr.
Eight years later, Alyson is a permanent resident in Russia and a devoted member of the parish, teaching religious courses and leading the choir.
However, the religious road that led Father Vasily from France to Russia is now taking him to a new church home in Chuvashia’s capital of Cheboksary.
Following his calling, the former Frenchman hopes to bring more soul searchers to the Orthodox faith.
Published 01 February, 2010, 07:06
Edited 01 February, 2010, 17:17
A Catholic Frenchman in search of spiritual enlightenment found it in an unusual place. In a remote Russian town, 13 years later he is now an Orthodox priest and a Russian citizen.
Yahoo
StumbleUpon
Live
Technorati del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Propeller Born Pierre Pasquet in France, Father Vasily was raised Catholic. But searching for something he could not articulate, the priest accepted the Orthodox faith and followed his spiritual advisor to Russia.
They came to the old town of Alatyr, in Russia’s republic of Chuvashia, in the height of its re-building of churches destroyed during the communist rule.
Read more
Inspired by the work and influenced by Russian Orthodoxy, Father Vasily sold his home and used the money to renovate his church, Iverskaya Icon Mother of God Cathedral.
"What I am doing here is not my job. It is my responsibility, my calling, my duty. That is how I live,” Father said.
13 years after settling here, he is now a Russian citizen.
“If I want to be a priest in Russia and to be a Russian priest, I have to be a Russian citizen,” Father Vasily said. ”So I decided to be, and I say it is a good thing.”
Parishioner Alyson Backhouse said that it is perhaps his open attitude that has endeared him to the congregation and to the community.
“I think, perhaps as a Westerner, perhaps he is a little bit more free and open, and his character – you know, he is somebody who jokes and is very easy to get on with,” she said.
”I think as a result many people – through him – it perhaps opens their eyes to another side of the church life," Backhouse added.
Like Father Vasily, Alyson Backhouse came from the West in search of religious clarity. Raised in England on the border with Wales, Alyson was a practicing Methodist.
“I had many questions about the history of the church, about the practice of the church and the faith of the church and I began to search,” she said.
She found answers and a new religious path as a foreign exchange student in Russia.
“Although at first it was something very strange for me – almost alien, not just strange – I gradually began to see that many of the things I was seeking really in my own church and not finding I could see in the Orthodox Church,” Backhouse said.
She moved to Chuvashia in 1995, first living in the capital Cheboksary, but after finding Father Vasily, as a spiritual advisor she moved to Alatyr.
Eight years later, Alyson is a permanent resident in Russia and a devoted member of the parish, teaching religious courses and leading the choir.
However, the religious road that led Father Vasily from France to Russia is now taking him to a new church home in Chuvashia’s capital of Cheboksary.
Following his calling, the former Frenchman hopes to bring more soul searchers to the Orthodox faith.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Meeting with Obama Shows Important of Spiritual Pursui
Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama went into yesterday’s meeting with the Dalai Lama on notice that it would anger China’s leadership and add tension to an already strained relationship.
China reacted swiftly, saying, “the U.S. act grossly violated the norms governing international relations,” in a statement today by Ma Zhaoxu, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry. The meeting ran counter to longstanding U.S. commitments to recognize China’s sovereignty over Tibet and refrain from supporting separatist forces, the statement said.
The rhetoric isn’t likely to fray economic ties secured by $366 billion of mutual trade and $755 billion in Chinese-held U.S. Treasury bills, according to analysts.
And the path to a more constructive overall relationship may lie in both sides dropping any pretense at friendship and acknowledging they are competitors as much as partners, said Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute of International Studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
“If China and the U.S. identified each other as rivals I don’t think they would be disappointed with each other,” Yan said. “Both sides pretend to be friends. Actually, they are not.”
During the 70-minute White House meeting today in the Map Room, Obama “stated his strong support for the preservation of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans in the People’s Republic of China,” according to a statement from White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.
‘Genuine Concern’
The Tibetan spiritual leader said it was a “great honor” to meet with Obama and that they talked about his emphasis on the “promotion of human value.” He said after emerging from the White House that the president showed “genuine concern” about Tibet.
Speaking to reporters later in the day, the Dalai Lama said Tibet “should have meaningful autonomy so that we can preserve the Tibetan unique cultural heritage.”
He said he wasn’t frustrated about the pace of progress for autonomy in Tibet. Asked how Obama can help Tibet, the Dalai Lama said, “time will tell.”
Relations between the Obama administration and China have suffered recently as the U.S. announced a planned $6.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan, Google Inc. threatened to exit China on the grounds that user e-mail accounts were being hacked and China taxed American chicken imports after the U.S. imposed tariffs on Chinese tires.
The two countries also have differed on steps to halt global warming and nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Feb. 4 rejected Obama’s call to strengthen the Chinese currency, saying that “accusations and pressure will not help solve the issue.”
‘Cruising Altitude’
All this since U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman told reporters during Obama’s November visit that the relationship was at “a cruising altitude that is higher than any other time in recent memory.”
Still, there is little chance that these differences will fundamentally damage the network of economic and political ties that China expert Orville Schell calls the “most important bilateral relationship” in the world today. He is director of the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations in New York.
In a positive sign, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and four other U.S. warships yesterday anchored in Hong Kong, where more than 5,000 sailors will get shore leave.
In 2007, China prevented the USS Kitty Hawk from visiting the city, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao saying China was angered that President George W. Bush met the Dalai Lama and presented him with the Congressional Gold Medal. Although China belatedly approved the port-call, the fleet had already turned back.
Ratchet Down
“I don’t see anything that could destabilize the relationship right now,” said Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. “Leaders on both sides will ratchet this back down at an appropriate time, but not right now, because a little chest-thumping serves domestic purposes.”
Neither nation can afford to sabotage the economic relationship, said Carl Lantz, an interest-rate strategist at Credit Suisse Group AG in New York.
“We are kind of joined at the hip economically,” Lantz said. “People refer to it as Chimerica, and in general it’s worked out relatively well, where they finance our borrowing and consumption and we buy their exports to finance their social stability.”
China’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries have increased more than 10-fold in the past decade, from $71.7 billion in 2000 to $755.4 billion in December.
Largest Creditor
China surpassed Japan as the largest creditor abroad to the U.S. in September 2008, although it fell back to second place in December when its Treasury holdings declined for the second consecutive month, the Treasury Department said on Feb. 16. China allowed its short-term Treasury bills to mature and replaced them with a smaller amount of longer-term notes and bonds, the Treasury data showed.
The December reduction in China’s holdings didn’t prompt a sell-off in U.S. bonds as investors focused instead on an overall increase in foreign holdings of U.S. Treasuries, which rose by a net $69.9 billion. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell three basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 3.66 percent on Feb. 16, according to BGCantor Market data.
The Obama administration is also convinced that the recent tensions won’t fundamentally change the countries’ relationship, said an administration official who asked not to be identified out of concern for Chinese sensitivities.
Trading Blows
That hasn’t stopped both sides from trading rhetorical blows.
China demanded last week that Obama cancel the meeting with the Dalai Lama, even though Obama informed Chinese President Hu Jintao during his Beijing visit that he planned to receive the Tibetan leader, according to the administration official.
The U.S. also told China in advance of the Taiwan arms sale, the official said.
‘Thorough Investigation’
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she expected China to conduct a “thorough investigation” of charges from Mountain View, California-based Google that hackers had entered e-mail accounts it hosted belonging to Chinese dissidents. Free access to information and protecting what she called the “basic rights” of Internet users is essential, Clinton said.
Such exchanges may paradoxically allow both countries to pursue their own agendas and work together on larger issues without fear of domestic backlash, said Robert Barnett, director of Modern Tibetan Studies at Columbia University in New York.
“We’re seeing a slightly more confident America, which is trying to communicate that distinction between interests and values,” Barnett said.
Visits by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader are a perpetual irritant to China. It has opposed any outside pressure on how the country runs Tibet, which was brought under its rule after a military invasion in 1950.
The Dalai Lama has met with every U.S. president since George H.W. Bush in 1991. While China has exacted diplomatic punishment on leaders who met him -- it canceled a China-European Union summit after French President Nicolas Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama in 2008 -- trade relations have been little affected, said Schell.
China received the Dalai Lama’s envoys at the first talks on Tibet in 15 months, which ended Feb. 1. China’s top negotiator rejected calls for greater autonomy for the region, the Tibetan exile administration said.
Douglas Paal, vice-president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, said the discussions probably were partly to prepare for the effect the Obama meeting could have on Chinese public opinion.
“More is imputed to these meetings than actually occurs,” said Paal, who was at the White House National Security Council from 1989 to 1993. “Presidents have to check the political box of seeing the Dalai Lama.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Peter S. Green in New York at psgreen@bloomberg.netEdwin Chen in Washington at EChen32@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 18, 2010 19:38 EST
China reacted swiftly, saying, “the U.S. act grossly violated the norms governing international relations,” in a statement today by Ma Zhaoxu, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry. The meeting ran counter to longstanding U.S. commitments to recognize China’s sovereignty over Tibet and refrain from supporting separatist forces, the statement said.
The rhetoric isn’t likely to fray economic ties secured by $366 billion of mutual trade and $755 billion in Chinese-held U.S. Treasury bills, according to analysts.
And the path to a more constructive overall relationship may lie in both sides dropping any pretense at friendship and acknowledging they are competitors as much as partners, said Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute of International Studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
“If China and the U.S. identified each other as rivals I don’t think they would be disappointed with each other,” Yan said. “Both sides pretend to be friends. Actually, they are not.”
During the 70-minute White House meeting today in the Map Room, Obama “stated his strong support for the preservation of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans in the People’s Republic of China,” according to a statement from White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.
‘Genuine Concern’
The Tibetan spiritual leader said it was a “great honor” to meet with Obama and that they talked about his emphasis on the “promotion of human value.” He said after emerging from the White House that the president showed “genuine concern” about Tibet.
Speaking to reporters later in the day, the Dalai Lama said Tibet “should have meaningful autonomy so that we can preserve the Tibetan unique cultural heritage.”
He said he wasn’t frustrated about the pace of progress for autonomy in Tibet. Asked how Obama can help Tibet, the Dalai Lama said, “time will tell.”
Relations between the Obama administration and China have suffered recently as the U.S. announced a planned $6.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan, Google Inc. threatened to exit China on the grounds that user e-mail accounts were being hacked and China taxed American chicken imports after the U.S. imposed tariffs on Chinese tires.
The two countries also have differed on steps to halt global warming and nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Feb. 4 rejected Obama’s call to strengthen the Chinese currency, saying that “accusations and pressure will not help solve the issue.”
‘Cruising Altitude’
All this since U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman told reporters during Obama’s November visit that the relationship was at “a cruising altitude that is higher than any other time in recent memory.”
Still, there is little chance that these differences will fundamentally damage the network of economic and political ties that China expert Orville Schell calls the “most important bilateral relationship” in the world today. He is director of the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations in New York.
In a positive sign, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and four other U.S. warships yesterday anchored in Hong Kong, where more than 5,000 sailors will get shore leave.
In 2007, China prevented the USS Kitty Hawk from visiting the city, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao saying China was angered that President George W. Bush met the Dalai Lama and presented him with the Congressional Gold Medal. Although China belatedly approved the port-call, the fleet had already turned back.
Ratchet Down
“I don’t see anything that could destabilize the relationship right now,” said Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. “Leaders on both sides will ratchet this back down at an appropriate time, but not right now, because a little chest-thumping serves domestic purposes.”
Neither nation can afford to sabotage the economic relationship, said Carl Lantz, an interest-rate strategist at Credit Suisse Group AG in New York.
“We are kind of joined at the hip economically,” Lantz said. “People refer to it as Chimerica, and in general it’s worked out relatively well, where they finance our borrowing and consumption and we buy their exports to finance their social stability.”
China’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries have increased more than 10-fold in the past decade, from $71.7 billion in 2000 to $755.4 billion in December.
Largest Creditor
China surpassed Japan as the largest creditor abroad to the U.S. in September 2008, although it fell back to second place in December when its Treasury holdings declined for the second consecutive month, the Treasury Department said on Feb. 16. China allowed its short-term Treasury bills to mature and replaced them with a smaller amount of longer-term notes and bonds, the Treasury data showed.
The December reduction in China’s holdings didn’t prompt a sell-off in U.S. bonds as investors focused instead on an overall increase in foreign holdings of U.S. Treasuries, which rose by a net $69.9 billion. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell three basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 3.66 percent on Feb. 16, according to BGCantor Market data.
The Obama administration is also convinced that the recent tensions won’t fundamentally change the countries’ relationship, said an administration official who asked not to be identified out of concern for Chinese sensitivities.
Trading Blows
That hasn’t stopped both sides from trading rhetorical blows.
China demanded last week that Obama cancel the meeting with the Dalai Lama, even though Obama informed Chinese President Hu Jintao during his Beijing visit that he planned to receive the Tibetan leader, according to the administration official.
The U.S. also told China in advance of the Taiwan arms sale, the official said.
‘Thorough Investigation’
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she expected China to conduct a “thorough investigation” of charges from Mountain View, California-based Google that hackers had entered e-mail accounts it hosted belonging to Chinese dissidents. Free access to information and protecting what she called the “basic rights” of Internet users is essential, Clinton said.
Such exchanges may paradoxically allow both countries to pursue their own agendas and work together on larger issues without fear of domestic backlash, said Robert Barnett, director of Modern Tibetan Studies at Columbia University in New York.
“We’re seeing a slightly more confident America, which is trying to communicate that distinction between interests and values,” Barnett said.
Visits by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader are a perpetual irritant to China. It has opposed any outside pressure on how the country runs Tibet, which was brought under its rule after a military invasion in 1950.
The Dalai Lama has met with every U.S. president since George H.W. Bush in 1991. While China has exacted diplomatic punishment on leaders who met him -- it canceled a China-European Union summit after French President Nicolas Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama in 2008 -- trade relations have been little affected, said Schell.
China received the Dalai Lama’s envoys at the first talks on Tibet in 15 months, which ended Feb. 1. China’s top negotiator rejected calls for greater autonomy for the region, the Tibetan exile administration said.
Douglas Paal, vice-president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, said the discussions probably were partly to prepare for the effect the Obama meeting could have on Chinese public opinion.
“More is imputed to these meetings than actually occurs,” said Paal, who was at the White House National Security Council from 1989 to 1993. “Presidents have to check the political box of seeing the Dalai Lama.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Peter S. Green in New York at psgreen@bloomberg.netEdwin Chen in Washington at EChen32@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 18, 2010 19:38 EST
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Health and the Pursuit of Spirit
By Jeff Klein
Boy, this is a big issue. I’ve always known it to be so, but since I started writing this piece a couple weeks ago it’s significance has become even more apparent.
People frequently ask me how I do all that I do and how I look and act so young. I suppose I have a pretty full life – working essentially all the time, while (solo) parenting, working out regularly, and always finding time to play. And, I acknowledge, I carry my nearly 52 years well. I actually think I am in the best physical condition of my life, with strength and endurance comparable to, if not better than, that of my teens. And I seem to be healthy in other domains – including emotional, mental, spiritual, and social – too. (Have to be careful not to presume too much!)
I think the answer to the question (how I do what I do and look and act so young) is simply “I take care of myself.” While that may be a simple answer, I realize that, for many people, doing so is not so simple. While laziness or busyness may explain it, as I think about this more and more and observe others, I think the root of the difficulty for many people is that they were never really encouraged to take care of themselves or taught how to do so. Many of the explicit and implicit messages in our culture say “Follow the rules.” “You don’t really have any power or authority.” “Someone else will take care of making important decisions.” “Something wrong, the professional will take care of it for you (you pay, of course).” “To get the golden ring you have to sacrifice almost everything except the pursuit of the golden ring” (and the golden ring is a single, specific goal, usually material or status related).
I vividly remember my visit to Bainbridge Graduate Institute last April and how exhausted and stressed so many of the students were and, with my invitation, they acknowledged this to be true. And this is at a wonderful program designed to cultivate conscious, sustainability-minded MBA students.
So, what does it mean to take care of yourself, of ourselves? First, is to recognize that we are multi-dimensional beings with an array of needs, including physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, relational, etc. Second, is to truly understand the nature of interdependence and to recognize that healthy systems, sustainability, peace, and other virtues we aspire to manifest in the world begin with healthy individuals, embodying the attributes we envision defining the system. “Put your own Oxygen mask on first before you assist other passengers.” And third, we need to understand that, as with all things, we reap what we sow – it takes focused, persistent attention and effort to cultivate health in every domain, but this effort ultimately creates a positive inertia – movement in the direction of health. And the process of focusing of self care generates a sense of confidence, capacity, and sensitivity that carries over into other realms, including caring for others, and creating or building whatever it may be – a company, project, product, work of art….
Over the years I have found countless ways with countless teachers or guides to care for different aspects of my being, which I actively apply to myself and my relationships, and which I enthusiastically share with others. I think we need to create a culture in which open exploration and collaboration in caring for ourselves, each other, and our groups is a primary focus. This is one of the core commitments of the Working for Good team and we embody it in practice every day. The result is deepening understanding of and love for each other, and a safe and supportive container that allows us to more fully show up, express our unique gifts, and co-create together. While our team is relatively new, the depth and openness of our relationships is stunning, and the results are magnificent.
I find the same to be true in relationships in general – with my daughter Meryl Fé, with friends old and new, and in intimate relationships. If we can truly hold ourselves, then we can hold each other without grasping. We can celebrate each other and enthusiastically embrace the success and full expression of our beloved, without feeling diminished or out of balance.
While it may seem counterintuitive, I think a key to liberation is to love yourself and to truly take care of yourself. From there, you can care for all people and things, and transcend your self. The object is not to become self absorbed or narcissistic, but to become healthy and secure, so you can fly beyond yourself.
I encourage you to give yourself full permission to take care of yourself, and to find ways to do so that really serve. Asking others for support and attention may be one of those ways.
***
About Jeff Klein: As CEO + Chief Activation Officer of Working for Good® Jeff Klein produces collaborative, multi-sector, Cause Alliance Marketing® programs that drive social and environmental change while addressing the business objectives of alliance partners. He is a founding director of Conscious Capitalism, Inc. and is producing a campaign for O.N.E. Drinks to educate health care practitioners, mothers, and others about the health benefits of coconut water.
Boy, this is a big issue. I’ve always known it to be so, but since I started writing this piece a couple weeks ago it’s significance has become even more apparent.
People frequently ask me how I do all that I do and how I look and act so young. I suppose I have a pretty full life – working essentially all the time, while (solo) parenting, working out regularly, and always finding time to play. And, I acknowledge, I carry my nearly 52 years well. I actually think I am in the best physical condition of my life, with strength and endurance comparable to, if not better than, that of my teens. And I seem to be healthy in other domains – including emotional, mental, spiritual, and social – too. (Have to be careful not to presume too much!)
I think the answer to the question (how I do what I do and look and act so young) is simply “I take care of myself.” While that may be a simple answer, I realize that, for many people, doing so is not so simple. While laziness or busyness may explain it, as I think about this more and more and observe others, I think the root of the difficulty for many people is that they were never really encouraged to take care of themselves or taught how to do so. Many of the explicit and implicit messages in our culture say “Follow the rules.” “You don’t really have any power or authority.” “Someone else will take care of making important decisions.” “Something wrong, the professional will take care of it for you (you pay, of course).” “To get the golden ring you have to sacrifice almost everything except the pursuit of the golden ring” (and the golden ring is a single, specific goal, usually material or status related).
I vividly remember my visit to Bainbridge Graduate Institute last April and how exhausted and stressed so many of the students were and, with my invitation, they acknowledged this to be true. And this is at a wonderful program designed to cultivate conscious, sustainability-minded MBA students.
So, what does it mean to take care of yourself, of ourselves? First, is to recognize that we are multi-dimensional beings with an array of needs, including physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, relational, etc. Second, is to truly understand the nature of interdependence and to recognize that healthy systems, sustainability, peace, and other virtues we aspire to manifest in the world begin with healthy individuals, embodying the attributes we envision defining the system. “Put your own Oxygen mask on first before you assist other passengers.” And third, we need to understand that, as with all things, we reap what we sow – it takes focused, persistent attention and effort to cultivate health in every domain, but this effort ultimately creates a positive inertia – movement in the direction of health. And the process of focusing of self care generates a sense of confidence, capacity, and sensitivity that carries over into other realms, including caring for others, and creating or building whatever it may be – a company, project, product, work of art….
Over the years I have found countless ways with countless teachers or guides to care for different aspects of my being, which I actively apply to myself and my relationships, and which I enthusiastically share with others. I think we need to create a culture in which open exploration and collaboration in caring for ourselves, each other, and our groups is a primary focus. This is one of the core commitments of the Working for Good team and we embody it in practice every day. The result is deepening understanding of and love for each other, and a safe and supportive container that allows us to more fully show up, express our unique gifts, and co-create together. While our team is relatively new, the depth and openness of our relationships is stunning, and the results are magnificent.
I find the same to be true in relationships in general – with my daughter Meryl Fé, with friends old and new, and in intimate relationships. If we can truly hold ourselves, then we can hold each other without grasping. We can celebrate each other and enthusiastically embrace the success and full expression of our beloved, without feeling diminished or out of balance.
While it may seem counterintuitive, I think a key to liberation is to love yourself and to truly take care of yourself. From there, you can care for all people and things, and transcend your self. The object is not to become self absorbed or narcissistic, but to become healthy and secure, so you can fly beyond yourself.
I encourage you to give yourself full permission to take care of yourself, and to find ways to do so that really serve. Asking others for support and attention may be one of those ways.
***
About Jeff Klein: As CEO + Chief Activation Officer of Working for Good® Jeff Klein produces collaborative, multi-sector, Cause Alliance Marketing® programs that drive social and environmental change while addressing the business objectives of alliance partners. He is a founding director of Conscious Capitalism, Inc. and is producing a campaign for O.N.E. Drinks to educate health care practitioners, mothers, and others about the health benefits of coconut water.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Dalai Lama Talkilng Smack
Feb. 22 (ANI): The Dalai Lama may have never heard of Tiger Woods and his famous "transgressions" but the spiritual leader appears to share similar views on Buddhism and infidelity.
Buzz up!Woods, who recently renounced his adulterous ways in a carefully crafted apology to his family, fans, and fellow golfers, remained an unfamiliar subject to the Dalai Lama, who is on a US tour after his controversial meeting with President Barack Obama last week.
He called his unfamiliarity with sports "my disgrace" when questioned on the subject.
When told of the golfer's indiscretions and subsequent enlightenment, he made observations about restraint close to the line Woods took.
"Whether you call it Buddhism or another religion, self-discipline, that's important ... self-discipline with awareness of consequences," the Independent quoted him, as saying.
"Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse," he added.
Even though the Dalai Lama is expected to be in Woods's home state Florida on Monday, the world's no. 1 golfer won't be able to meet the leader of the religion he promises to re-embrace, as he is due back at his sex rehabilitation clinic in Mississippi. (ANI)
Buzz up!Woods, who recently renounced his adulterous ways in a carefully crafted apology to his family, fans, and fellow golfers, remained an unfamiliar subject to the Dalai Lama, who is on a US tour after his controversial meeting with President Barack Obama last week.
He called his unfamiliarity with sports "my disgrace" when questioned on the subject.
When told of the golfer's indiscretions and subsequent enlightenment, he made observations about restraint close to the line Woods took.
"Whether you call it Buddhism or another religion, self-discipline, that's important ... self-discipline with awareness of consequences," the Independent quoted him, as saying.
"Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse," he added.
Even though the Dalai Lama is expected to be in Woods's home state Florida on Monday, the world's no. 1 golfer won't be able to meet the leader of the religion he promises to re-embrace, as he is due back at his sex rehabilitation clinic in Mississippi. (ANI)
Monday, February 22, 2010
Dalai Lama Brings Spiritual Message for All
NPR
Whenever the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, comes to the West, his trips are fraught with political implications.
That's because China, which claims Tibet as part of its territory, is particularly sensitive to Western leaders greeting the Dalai Lama as a "political" leader.
When he met last week with President Obama, the White House was careful to describe it as a meeting with a "religious" leader.
But that didn't stop China from lashing out at a man they've called a "wolf in monk's robes" — and warning of possible negative consequences, suggesting that a spring meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao might be cancelled.
Part of what exiled Tibetans are asking for is what the Dalai Lama calls "The Middle Way" — a measure of political autonomy and greater protection for Tibet's culture and religion.
In a conversation with NPR's Renee Montagne in Los Angeles, the Dalai Lama said he is committed to the promotion of human value and religious harmony.
"Our main concern is 6 million Tibetan people's basic rights and their culture, including their language," he said. "My future, no problem. If 6 million Tibetan people are satisfied and have basic rights ... no problem."
A Childhood 'Like Any Other Child'
The Dalai Lama was in Los Angeles as the guest of Whole Child International, a group that works with orphanages to train caregivers on how to foster more nurturing environments for institutionalized children.
It's something he has experience with: He was enthroned at the age of 4, and spent much of his childhood away from his family in a grand palace outside Tibet's capital, Lhasa.
But he told Montagne that he had what he considered a normal childhood.
"My childhood like any other child," he said. I [loved to] play. I very much reluctant for study."
Though he didn't have other children to play with, workers at the palace played games with him, he said. That playtime gave the young Dalai Lama a sense of the home he had lost.
He laughed that losing at games also taught him a key tenet of Buddhism — humility.
From his mother, he learned a different lesson — compassion.
The illiterate peasant woman always shown brightly as a beacon of compassion, he said. Her first impulse was to help anyone in need.
That lesson helped shaped his desire to seek a peaceful solution to the worsening situation in Tibet.
A Focus On The Spiritual
When President Obama met last Thursday with the Dalai Lama, Tibetans in northwest China set off fireworks to celebrate the meeting.
"Initially they a little bit sort of excited" about the meeting, he said, adding that Tibetans know that Americans value "democracy, freedom, liberty."
But Chinese leaders had a different reaction to the meeting. Though he is regarded as a separatist leader in Beijing, the Dalai Lama says that 90 percent of the time, his energy is spent on spiritual things.
"I think the Dalai Lama's main importance in politics is mainly created by Chinese government," he said.
He reiterated that he supported Obama's decision not to meet with him during Obama's first presidential visit to China last fall.
Postponing the meeting until Obama met with Chinese leaders allowed the president to "engage more effectively [with China]," he said.
The Future Of The Institution
Now 74, there has been speculation on who the Dalai Lama's successor might be. Amid fears that China might choose its own candidate, the Dalai Lama says it's up to the people to decide whether the institution should continue.
"If people feel that the Dalai Lama institution is no longer much relevant, then this institution will cease — no problem. It looks like the Chinese are more concerned about this institution than me."
Of course, at this moment in history, the majority of the Tibetan people have made it clear they very much do want the institution of the Dalai Lama to continue.
That is likely to keep the man revered by millions traveling the world for some time to come.
Whenever the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, comes to the West, his trips are fraught with political implications.
That's because China, which claims Tibet as part of its territory, is particularly sensitive to Western leaders greeting the Dalai Lama as a "political" leader.
When he met last week with President Obama, the White House was careful to describe it as a meeting with a "religious" leader.
But that didn't stop China from lashing out at a man they've called a "wolf in monk's robes" — and warning of possible negative consequences, suggesting that a spring meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao might be cancelled.
Part of what exiled Tibetans are asking for is what the Dalai Lama calls "The Middle Way" — a measure of political autonomy and greater protection for Tibet's culture and religion.
In a conversation with NPR's Renee Montagne in Los Angeles, the Dalai Lama said he is committed to the promotion of human value and religious harmony.
"Our main concern is 6 million Tibetan people's basic rights and their culture, including their language," he said. "My future, no problem. If 6 million Tibetan people are satisfied and have basic rights ... no problem."
A Childhood 'Like Any Other Child'
The Dalai Lama was in Los Angeles as the guest of Whole Child International, a group that works with orphanages to train caregivers on how to foster more nurturing environments for institutionalized children.
It's something he has experience with: He was enthroned at the age of 4, and spent much of his childhood away from his family in a grand palace outside Tibet's capital, Lhasa.
But he told Montagne that he had what he considered a normal childhood.
"My childhood like any other child," he said. I [loved to] play. I very much reluctant for study."
Though he didn't have other children to play with, workers at the palace played games with him, he said. That playtime gave the young Dalai Lama a sense of the home he had lost.
He laughed that losing at games also taught him a key tenet of Buddhism — humility.
From his mother, he learned a different lesson — compassion.
The illiterate peasant woman always shown brightly as a beacon of compassion, he said. Her first impulse was to help anyone in need.
That lesson helped shaped his desire to seek a peaceful solution to the worsening situation in Tibet.
A Focus On The Spiritual
When President Obama met last Thursday with the Dalai Lama, Tibetans in northwest China set off fireworks to celebrate the meeting.
"Initially they a little bit sort of excited" about the meeting, he said, adding that Tibetans know that Americans value "democracy, freedom, liberty."
But Chinese leaders had a different reaction to the meeting. Though he is regarded as a separatist leader in Beijing, the Dalai Lama says that 90 percent of the time, his energy is spent on spiritual things.
"I think the Dalai Lama's main importance in politics is mainly created by Chinese government," he said.
He reiterated that he supported Obama's decision not to meet with him during Obama's first presidential visit to China last fall.
Postponing the meeting until Obama met with Chinese leaders allowed the president to "engage more effectively [with China]," he said.
The Future Of The Institution
Now 74, there has been speculation on who the Dalai Lama's successor might be. Amid fears that China might choose its own candidate, the Dalai Lama says it's up to the people to decide whether the institution should continue.
"If people feel that the Dalai Lama institution is no longer much relevant, then this institution will cease — no problem. It looks like the Chinese are more concerned about this institution than me."
Of course, at this moment in history, the majority of the Tibetan people have made it clear they very much do want the institution of the Dalai Lama to continue.
That is likely to keep the man revered by millions traveling the world for some time to come.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Spiritual Schedule for the Southern Brazil
Friday, February 19, 2010
Brazil Times
Harmony United Methodist Church
This Sunday we will hear about Methodism in Liberia as Ann Newton shares about her recent trip to Africa as part of Operation Classroom. This will be a wonderful opportunity to see how God continues to work and build His Kingdom! Please come and share in the blessing!
A reminder that next Saturday, Feb 27, the Town and Country Christian Men will be sharing in their Saturday Morning Lenten Breakfasts leading to Easter. Breakfast on the 27th will be at Harmony UMC. Our guest speaker will be Jay Nicoson who will be sharing about Teen Challenge. All breakfasts start at 8 a.m., with food and fellowship and include a 20-30 minute program highlighting a local mission or service project. There is no cost for these meetings and everyone is welcome!
As always, Sunday Worship at Harmony UMC begins at 9 a.m. and Sunday School follows at 10:45 a.m.
Everyone is truly welcome! Come and join us!
Eastside Christian Church
It was good to see so many in church considering the weather. Some weren't able to get out and were missed. Dave was gone, and Ron did a good job filling in for him. We do appreciate him very much.
Our thanks go out to Jerry Buchholz for shoveling around the church.
Pastor's messages have been on the healthy body The topics so far have been The Church is the Body of Christ, Connect to our Head, Full of Breath Holy Spirit, Free from Infection {sin}, and last Sunday was Grows through Making Changes. Tomorrow's message will be Exercising in Faith.
There will be a short meeting following the worship service tomorrow concerning Vacation Bible School. Jayme would like as many as possible to stay who are willing to help with it.
Please mark March 5 on your calendars. That is the date for the SOS Faith Dessert Fund Raiser at North Clay Middle School from 7-9 p.m. Please let Mary I. or Sharon L. know if you can attend.
Our Friend Day, March 28, is fast approaching. Have you invited a friend yet? The group, Higher Calling, will be with us on that day, and there will be food following the service.
If you are not attending church anywhere else, we want to invite you to come be with us tomorrow. It is never to late to let God into your life. And your life will only get better if you let Him in. We look forward to seeing you.
Little Historic Church of Carbon
The Friday program is scheduled for Feb. 26. A pitch-in dinner will be at 6 p.m., and "Breaking Silence," the praise band from McKinley Hill Church of Christ will perform at 7 p.m.
Everyone is invited to come out and enjoy an evening of food and song.
Community Missionary Church
Carol Vanatti opened the services with congregational singing, "He The Pearly Gates Will Open," and Travis Terril and, "The King Is Coming."
Pastor Ken Thomas had prayer for sick and shut-ins and then asked the question, "Are you running from God, anyone?"
Then, he told of this fellow, "Jonah," whom kept running from God. And the more he ran from God, the more troubles he got in. He knew God wanted him to go preach to the Ninevites, his disobedience, and punishment.
Jonah reproved of God's mercy and his deliverance by his Prayer to God. Do you know when God gets after you to do something, he doesn't let up?
His people need always be mindful to follow his plan for our own God.
Jonah was afraid of the heathen, but God would protect him. When we call on God, he knows our needs, and to run from God's desires only gets us in trouble.
If you have a problem, are upset that things aren't going your way, talk with God.
Most times, the answer will come to you. Not always when you want it.
In God's time, and his way.
Thank Him for it and keep the faith.
"For every action, there is a reaction."
Pray and talk it out with the Lord.
Pastor Thomas invites every one whom doesn't have a church to visit us at 21 W. Pinckley St., Brazil. Sunday School at 9:30 a.m., and morning worship at 10:30. Ample parking and a cry room for small children and junior church.
First Christian Church
This Sunday, Feb. 21, as we continue our journey through the Bible, our special guest with "Walk Thru The Bible," Greg Carlson, will be speaking.
Weekidz, for birth through pre-school will be available during both the 9 a.m., and 10:30 a.m., services.
For children K-5th grade, Friend Zone, which is a Bible study time designed for each specific age group, is at 9 a.m. and Kid Zone, a worship service designed for kids, will be at 10:30 a.m.
There will be Reel Worship at the Walnut Theater for middle school and high school ages at 9 a.m., and then Bible Study's at 10:30 a.m., also at the Walnut Theater.
More information about First Christian Church and Cornerstone Christian School is on the church's web site, fccbrazil.org.
Brazil First United Methodist Church
Pastor Tony Alstott begins the new sermon series, "God is Closer than you think," tomorrow during Sunday morning worship.
"This can be the greatest moment of your life because this moment is the place where you can meet God," John Ortberg said about the topic.
The Chancel Choir will sing, "Amazing," at the 9 a.m., traditional worship.
The praise band will lead the 11 a.m., contemporary worship.
"God is Closer than you think," is also a small group experience that begins Sunday, at 5:30 p.m.
A free meal is offered through our Soup Kitchen, which is every Wednesday, at 4:30 p.m. IHOP is serving free pancakes Tuesday, Feb. 23, to raise money for the Crisis Pregnancy Center.
Brazil's Serving on the Streets will have its annual Dessert Fundraiser Friday, March 5, at 7 p.m., at North Clay Middle School.
We are accepting applications for employment for a Children's Director. The deadline for applying is Feb. 26, 2010.
More information is on our website at brazilfirstumc.org.
Carbon Baptist Church
This morning is the Men's Prayer Breakfast at 7 a.m., in the fellowship hall. Please come and enjoy the fellowship and a very interesting speaker and also a wonderful free breakfast.
We help support the S.O.S. program in Brazil and want everyone to know about the Leap of Faith, it is a Dessert fundraiser and silent auction Friday, March 5, from 7-9 p.m., at the North Clay Middle School. Ray and Charlotte Chamberlain from our church have a host table and they would like to see it full.
This week, the Ladies Ministry will be meeting at the home of Gina Girton. The time is 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 23. This is a wonderful time for the ladies to fellowship and minister to one another.
Have a good week and come see us at Carbon Baptist Church.
When we are thankful for what we have, we want to share it with others.
Carbon United Methodist Church
Last Sunday, we had the nicest St. Valentine's Day dinner at the church.
It was prepared and hosted by our youth. The tables were beautifully decorated, the food was delicious, and they were superb hosts and hostesses.
Especially one 5-year-old who met each person at the door, "read" the menu from scribbles he had put into a small tablet, very graciously extended his arm and offered to take each person to his seat. All he needed was a white towel over one arm. What a delight! There were about 40 people present, which was really great for our little church, especially with the weather such as it was!
Speaking of weather, I don't know about you, but snow has ceased to be beautiful to me right now. I am very tired of it! But wasn't that frost beautiful last week! After this winter, they are going to have to do some high-powered convincing to make me believe in "global warming!"
The Town & Country United Christian Men will hold their first Lenten Breakfast on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 8 a.m. This is the former Town & Country United Methodist Men, but the organization has expanded to include a number of men from different denominations. This first Lenten Breakfast will be here at Carbon United Methodist Church. Pat Egloff is head chef, so we know it will be good! We invite all men to come participate in the Lenten Breakfasts.
There will be a Board Meeting on Monday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. I hope we can all get around again by then.
The Youth will meet Sunday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. It was so good to see all of them at church last Sunday.
Surely we will all be able to get out and about by tomorrow. We hope you make the effort. Sunday School is at 9:30 a.m., and Worship is at 10:30.
First Baptist Church
We in the United States have so much to be thankful for, but have you considered socks? We at First Baptist are now giving to the America For Christ Offering to support Christ-centered ministries that will transform lives across the United States and Puerto Rico.
This week's fun challenge is to give five cents for each pair of socks you have. You will probably be in for a surprise as well as get a chance to organize. An AFC Walk is scheduled for Saturday, March 13. Walkers will meet at the church at 9 a.m., go to Forest Park, and then return to the church for brunch. Walkers are getting sponsors now. If you would like to walk with this purpose, call the church at 448-8112.
Sunday morning at FB begins at 9:30 a.m., with Sunday school classes for all ages. The elevator is now available for your use. Someone will be available to help you if needed. Enter the church at the NE doors in front or from the drive-up canopy doors in back for access to the elevator.
Morning worship begins at 10:30 a.m. Courtney Plummer will be in the nursery. Deb Plummer, with Cody, will take the Spirit Kids to their program from the sanctuary. Pastor Mark will be continuing his message on the Holy Spirit.
Sunday evening begins with the Sr. High Youth at 4:30 p.m. AWANA and Jr. High Youth begin at 5:30 p.m. Many adults and youth are devoted to using the richness of God's Word for discipleship as well as providing nourishing food and physical activities.
All adults are welcome in the sanctuary for praise and study at 6 p.m.
Monday evening at 6 p.m. the nominating Committee will meet.
Wednesday, Feb. 24, the Midweek Bible Study will meet in the Fellowship Room. You are welcome to join us as we continue our study of 1 Samuel.
Wednesday evening the Music Committee will meet at 6 and the Deacons will meet at 7 p.m.
The number 40 is a special number in the Bible. It signifies preparation for something special: The rain lasted for 40 days in the mighty flood, Moses stayed on the Mount Sinai forty days, Jonah gave the people of Ninevah forty days to repent, and Jesus, before starting his ministry, spent forty days in the desert in prayer and fasting.
This is the 2nd Sunday of Lent (the 40 days and the Sundays leading up to the resurrection of Jesus)
Luke's Gospel says: 'Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.'
So, as in the Bible, Christians spend forty days in preparing themselves to rejoice at the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter.
See you in church!
Seelyville United Methodist Church
Seelyville United Methodist Church is a Christian community of Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Doors. We are located at US 40 and 2nd Street in Seelyville, one block east of the stoplight.
Join us for 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning worship as we are reminded that it's our capacity to name and confess our identity in God that enables us to resist temptation. A time of fellowship follows worship with Sunday school for all ages beginning at 10:45 a.m. Nursery care is provided beginning at 9:15 a.m.
February Share Food orders can be picked up 8:30-10:30 a.m., Saturday morning, Feb. 27, in Fellowship Hall on the lower level of the church.
For more information, visit www.seely-villeumc.org, email seelyvilleumc@verizon.net, or call 812-877-1868.
Center Point United Methodist Church
Mission Sunday is coming! It is our second annual Mission Sunday Event. We chose the first Sunday in March for the annual effort. So, that makes this year's date Sunday, March 7.
Starting at 2 p.m., we will host "Ride The Wind" in concert. At 3 p.m., we will have a Pie Auction that will include pies, cakes and other desserts, as well as homemade noodles and rolls.
At 4:30 p.m., a freewill-offering chili supper will take place in the family life center. Each part of the afternoon and evening will present you with an opportunity to support our mission effort by donating to the ministry of Serving on the Streets. Come for one part or for all three.
Each year we choose a mission focus. Last year we raised funds to support a mission trip to Mexico by four members of our congregation. This year we decided to support a local effort. Serving on the Streets of Brazil (Indiana) is a blessing to the children and parents touched by it. The workers involved with SOS have a vision of improving their ministry as they grow. We invite you to come be part of helping them grow.
Last year's mission event went very well. We had "soo many" comments on how much fun it was. The pie auction was a big highlight of the festivities. Chris Pell did a great job and contributed a lot to the fun. We are glad to welcome him back this year to conduct our auction. We invite you to come and join us for great music, great desserts, great chili and great fellowship.
Mark you calendar! Sunday, March 7, 2010. Center Point United Methodist Church, Center Point, Indiana.
Contact Cheryl at 835-2037 Monday thru Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m., or 835-2198 if you have any questions.
Benwood Mt. Lebanon Church
Greetings From Benwood Mt. Lebanon Church. Our Pastor is Dick McShanog
"We are all children of God, come and share in the Worship of our Father."
Sunday School classes for all ages is 9:30 a.m., with Morning Worship at 10:30 a.m.
Children's Church for ages up to third grade. This week's teachers are Cheryl, Matt and Caitlynn McKinney.
Awana Youth Clubs meet at 5 p.m., and Evening Worship is at 7 p.m.
Wednesday Night Bible Study is at 7 p.m.
If school is cancelled due to weather, there will be no meetings or service that day.
Our upcoming events:
S.O.S. Leap of Faith Dessert Fundraiser and Silent Auction will be March 5, at 7 p.m. Contact Pastor Dick or Dianna they are hosting at least one table. There is no charge for attending but please remember this is a fundraiser.
This past Sunday we were blessed with a "Masterpiece" picture on our way to church. Only God's hand could have painted that picture and I know it was enjoyed by many.
The Valentines Banquet was a success and a good time had by all.
We are located two miles north of U.S. 40 on the Knightsville Road or two miles east of SR 59 on Rio Grand Road.
For more information, call the church at 812-446-0531, or Dick McShanog at 812-448-2871.
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church
Pastor Father Harold W. Rightor II; revhwr@juno.com
Email for the parish office can be sent to annunicationchurch@msn.com.
Mass schedule: Saturday 6:30 p.m., Sunday 8:30 a.m., and 12:30 p.m., Tuesday 5:30 p.m., Wednesday 9 a.m., Thursday 9 a.m. Reconciliation is 5:45- 6:15 p.m. Saturday or by appointment.
Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayed the first Sunday of each month at 8 a.m.
To schedule time to see Father Harold please call the parish office, at 448-1901.
The church is located at 19 N. Alabama St. in Brazil. Handicapped parking is available in the parking lot between the church and the Parish Center.
If you have any news of interest to the parish please send me an e-mail at eaburt48@hotmail.com. News must be submitted to me before Wednesday to get it in the paper on Saturday.
http://mysite.verizon.net/resolhio/annun...
I updated the website with pictures of the stained glass window restoration. I think you will enjoy seeing the work in progress.
The Lady Knights will also host an indoor yard sale at Kennedys Crossing Bingo Hall, Saturday, Feb. 27 from 8 a.m. -1 p.m. Breakfast will be available. All proceeds benefit Lady Knights projects.
Work continues by Artisan's Art Glass on our window. It is really looking good. He said another 2-3 weeks and he should be done. We have to have some nice weather so that we can open up the window frame on the inside of the church then he can re-install the window for us.
The Brazil Times ran a nice story on the window this week and WTWO has shown some interest in running a story also.
I have to contact the people who are installing new windows in the parish center basement so that we can set up a time for them to come and do the installs on the windows that the Lady Knights have purchased.
Bingo News.
Bingo every Sunday evening at Kennedy Crossing. We are smoke-free. Packages start as low a $17. Come early and socialize and get something to eat. We always have good food and free coffee. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. We play 10 speed games starting at 6 p.m.. each and every Sunday. and our Early Bird games start at 6:30 p.m. Regular bingo starts at 7 p.m.
Our bingo hall is located at 8990 N. Kennedy Crossing Rd. across from the Northview High School baseball field. We are handicapped accessible and we have a lighted parking lot and a covered outside smoking area.
© Copyright 2010 Brazil Times
Brazil Times
Harmony United Methodist Church
This Sunday we will hear about Methodism in Liberia as Ann Newton shares about her recent trip to Africa as part of Operation Classroom. This will be a wonderful opportunity to see how God continues to work and build His Kingdom! Please come and share in the blessing!
A reminder that next Saturday, Feb 27, the Town and Country Christian Men will be sharing in their Saturday Morning Lenten Breakfasts leading to Easter. Breakfast on the 27th will be at Harmony UMC. Our guest speaker will be Jay Nicoson who will be sharing about Teen Challenge. All breakfasts start at 8 a.m., with food and fellowship and include a 20-30 minute program highlighting a local mission or service project. There is no cost for these meetings and everyone is welcome!
As always, Sunday Worship at Harmony UMC begins at 9 a.m. and Sunday School follows at 10:45 a.m.
Everyone is truly welcome! Come and join us!
Eastside Christian Church
It was good to see so many in church considering the weather. Some weren't able to get out and were missed. Dave was gone, and Ron did a good job filling in for him. We do appreciate him very much.
Our thanks go out to Jerry Buchholz for shoveling around the church.
Pastor's messages have been on the healthy body The topics so far have been The Church is the Body of Christ, Connect to our Head, Full of Breath Holy Spirit, Free from Infection {sin}, and last Sunday was Grows through Making Changes. Tomorrow's message will be Exercising in Faith.
There will be a short meeting following the worship service tomorrow concerning Vacation Bible School. Jayme would like as many as possible to stay who are willing to help with it.
Please mark March 5 on your calendars. That is the date for the SOS Faith Dessert Fund Raiser at North Clay Middle School from 7-9 p.m. Please let Mary I. or Sharon L. know if you can attend.
Our Friend Day, March 28, is fast approaching. Have you invited a friend yet? The group, Higher Calling, will be with us on that day, and there will be food following the service.
If you are not attending church anywhere else, we want to invite you to come be with us tomorrow. It is never to late to let God into your life. And your life will only get better if you let Him in. We look forward to seeing you.
Little Historic Church of Carbon
The Friday program is scheduled for Feb. 26. A pitch-in dinner will be at 6 p.m., and "Breaking Silence," the praise band from McKinley Hill Church of Christ will perform at 7 p.m.
Everyone is invited to come out and enjoy an evening of food and song.
Community Missionary Church
Carol Vanatti opened the services with congregational singing, "He The Pearly Gates Will Open," and Travis Terril and, "The King Is Coming."
Pastor Ken Thomas had prayer for sick and shut-ins and then asked the question, "Are you running from God, anyone?"
Then, he told of this fellow, "Jonah," whom kept running from God. And the more he ran from God, the more troubles he got in. He knew God wanted him to go preach to the Ninevites, his disobedience, and punishment.
Jonah reproved of God's mercy and his deliverance by his Prayer to God. Do you know when God gets after you to do something, he doesn't let up?
His people need always be mindful to follow his plan for our own God.
Jonah was afraid of the heathen, but God would protect him. When we call on God, he knows our needs, and to run from God's desires only gets us in trouble.
If you have a problem, are upset that things aren't going your way, talk with God.
Most times, the answer will come to you. Not always when you want it.
In God's time, and his way.
Thank Him for it and keep the faith.
"For every action, there is a reaction."
Pray and talk it out with the Lord.
Pastor Thomas invites every one whom doesn't have a church to visit us at 21 W. Pinckley St., Brazil. Sunday School at 9:30 a.m., and morning worship at 10:30. Ample parking and a cry room for small children and junior church.
First Christian Church
This Sunday, Feb. 21, as we continue our journey through the Bible, our special guest with "Walk Thru The Bible," Greg Carlson, will be speaking.
Weekidz, for birth through pre-school will be available during both the 9 a.m., and 10:30 a.m., services.
For children K-5th grade, Friend Zone, which is a Bible study time designed for each specific age group, is at 9 a.m. and Kid Zone, a worship service designed for kids, will be at 10:30 a.m.
There will be Reel Worship at the Walnut Theater for middle school and high school ages at 9 a.m., and then Bible Study's at 10:30 a.m., also at the Walnut Theater.
More information about First Christian Church and Cornerstone Christian School is on the church's web site, fccbrazil.org.
Brazil First United Methodist Church
Pastor Tony Alstott begins the new sermon series, "God is Closer than you think," tomorrow during Sunday morning worship.
"This can be the greatest moment of your life because this moment is the place where you can meet God," John Ortberg said about the topic.
The Chancel Choir will sing, "Amazing," at the 9 a.m., traditional worship.
The praise band will lead the 11 a.m., contemporary worship.
"God is Closer than you think," is also a small group experience that begins Sunday, at 5:30 p.m.
A free meal is offered through our Soup Kitchen, which is every Wednesday, at 4:30 p.m. IHOP is serving free pancakes Tuesday, Feb. 23, to raise money for the Crisis Pregnancy Center.
Brazil's Serving on the Streets will have its annual Dessert Fundraiser Friday, March 5, at 7 p.m., at North Clay Middle School.
We are accepting applications for employment for a Children's Director. The deadline for applying is Feb. 26, 2010.
More information is on our website at brazilfirstumc.org.
Carbon Baptist Church
This morning is the Men's Prayer Breakfast at 7 a.m., in the fellowship hall. Please come and enjoy the fellowship and a very interesting speaker and also a wonderful free breakfast.
We help support the S.O.S. program in Brazil and want everyone to know about the Leap of Faith, it is a Dessert fundraiser and silent auction Friday, March 5, from 7-9 p.m., at the North Clay Middle School. Ray and Charlotte Chamberlain from our church have a host table and they would like to see it full.
This week, the Ladies Ministry will be meeting at the home of Gina Girton. The time is 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 23. This is a wonderful time for the ladies to fellowship and minister to one another.
Have a good week and come see us at Carbon Baptist Church.
When we are thankful for what we have, we want to share it with others.
Carbon United Methodist Church
Last Sunday, we had the nicest St. Valentine's Day dinner at the church.
It was prepared and hosted by our youth. The tables were beautifully decorated, the food was delicious, and they were superb hosts and hostesses.
Especially one 5-year-old who met each person at the door, "read" the menu from scribbles he had put into a small tablet, very graciously extended his arm and offered to take each person to his seat. All he needed was a white towel over one arm. What a delight! There were about 40 people present, which was really great for our little church, especially with the weather such as it was!
Speaking of weather, I don't know about you, but snow has ceased to be beautiful to me right now. I am very tired of it! But wasn't that frost beautiful last week! After this winter, they are going to have to do some high-powered convincing to make me believe in "global warming!"
The Town & Country United Christian Men will hold their first Lenten Breakfast on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 8 a.m. This is the former Town & Country United Methodist Men, but the organization has expanded to include a number of men from different denominations. This first Lenten Breakfast will be here at Carbon United Methodist Church. Pat Egloff is head chef, so we know it will be good! We invite all men to come participate in the Lenten Breakfasts.
There will be a Board Meeting on Monday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. I hope we can all get around again by then.
The Youth will meet Sunday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. It was so good to see all of them at church last Sunday.
Surely we will all be able to get out and about by tomorrow. We hope you make the effort. Sunday School is at 9:30 a.m., and Worship is at 10:30.
First Baptist Church
We in the United States have so much to be thankful for, but have you considered socks? We at First Baptist are now giving to the America For Christ Offering to support Christ-centered ministries that will transform lives across the United States and Puerto Rico.
This week's fun challenge is to give five cents for each pair of socks you have. You will probably be in for a surprise as well as get a chance to organize. An AFC Walk is scheduled for Saturday, March 13. Walkers will meet at the church at 9 a.m., go to Forest Park, and then return to the church for brunch. Walkers are getting sponsors now. If you would like to walk with this purpose, call the church at 448-8112.
Sunday morning at FB begins at 9:30 a.m., with Sunday school classes for all ages. The elevator is now available for your use. Someone will be available to help you if needed. Enter the church at the NE doors in front or from the drive-up canopy doors in back for access to the elevator.
Morning worship begins at 10:30 a.m. Courtney Plummer will be in the nursery. Deb Plummer, with Cody, will take the Spirit Kids to their program from the sanctuary. Pastor Mark will be continuing his message on the Holy Spirit.
Sunday evening begins with the Sr. High Youth at 4:30 p.m. AWANA and Jr. High Youth begin at 5:30 p.m. Many adults and youth are devoted to using the richness of God's Word for discipleship as well as providing nourishing food and physical activities.
All adults are welcome in the sanctuary for praise and study at 6 p.m.
Monday evening at 6 p.m. the nominating Committee will meet.
Wednesday, Feb. 24, the Midweek Bible Study will meet in the Fellowship Room. You are welcome to join us as we continue our study of 1 Samuel.
Wednesday evening the Music Committee will meet at 6 and the Deacons will meet at 7 p.m.
The number 40 is a special number in the Bible. It signifies preparation for something special: The rain lasted for 40 days in the mighty flood, Moses stayed on the Mount Sinai forty days, Jonah gave the people of Ninevah forty days to repent, and Jesus, before starting his ministry, spent forty days in the desert in prayer and fasting.
This is the 2nd Sunday of Lent (the 40 days and the Sundays leading up to the resurrection of Jesus)
Luke's Gospel says: 'Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.'
So, as in the Bible, Christians spend forty days in preparing themselves to rejoice at the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter.
See you in church!
Seelyville United Methodist Church
Seelyville United Methodist Church is a Christian community of Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Doors. We are located at US 40 and 2nd Street in Seelyville, one block east of the stoplight.
Join us for 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning worship as we are reminded that it's our capacity to name and confess our identity in God that enables us to resist temptation. A time of fellowship follows worship with Sunday school for all ages beginning at 10:45 a.m. Nursery care is provided beginning at 9:15 a.m.
February Share Food orders can be picked up 8:30-10:30 a.m., Saturday morning, Feb. 27, in Fellowship Hall on the lower level of the church.
For more information, visit www.seely-villeumc.org, email seelyvilleumc@verizon.net, or call 812-877-1868.
Center Point United Methodist Church
Mission Sunday is coming! It is our second annual Mission Sunday Event. We chose the first Sunday in March for the annual effort. So, that makes this year's date Sunday, March 7.
Starting at 2 p.m., we will host "Ride The Wind" in concert. At 3 p.m., we will have a Pie Auction that will include pies, cakes and other desserts, as well as homemade noodles and rolls.
At 4:30 p.m., a freewill-offering chili supper will take place in the family life center. Each part of the afternoon and evening will present you with an opportunity to support our mission effort by donating to the ministry of Serving on the Streets. Come for one part or for all three.
Each year we choose a mission focus. Last year we raised funds to support a mission trip to Mexico by four members of our congregation. This year we decided to support a local effort. Serving on the Streets of Brazil (Indiana) is a blessing to the children and parents touched by it. The workers involved with SOS have a vision of improving their ministry as they grow. We invite you to come be part of helping them grow.
Last year's mission event went very well. We had "soo many" comments on how much fun it was. The pie auction was a big highlight of the festivities. Chris Pell did a great job and contributed a lot to the fun. We are glad to welcome him back this year to conduct our auction. We invite you to come and join us for great music, great desserts, great chili and great fellowship.
Mark you calendar! Sunday, March 7, 2010. Center Point United Methodist Church, Center Point, Indiana.
Contact Cheryl at 835-2037 Monday thru Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m., or 835-2198 if you have any questions.
Benwood Mt. Lebanon Church
Greetings From Benwood Mt. Lebanon Church. Our Pastor is Dick McShanog
"We are all children of God, come and share in the Worship of our Father."
Sunday School classes for all ages is 9:30 a.m., with Morning Worship at 10:30 a.m.
Children's Church for ages up to third grade. This week's teachers are Cheryl, Matt and Caitlynn McKinney.
Awana Youth Clubs meet at 5 p.m., and Evening Worship is at 7 p.m.
Wednesday Night Bible Study is at 7 p.m.
If school is cancelled due to weather, there will be no meetings or service that day.
Our upcoming events:
S.O.S. Leap of Faith Dessert Fundraiser and Silent Auction will be March 5, at 7 p.m. Contact Pastor Dick or Dianna they are hosting at least one table. There is no charge for attending but please remember this is a fundraiser.
This past Sunday we were blessed with a "Masterpiece" picture on our way to church. Only God's hand could have painted that picture and I know it was enjoyed by many.
The Valentines Banquet was a success and a good time had by all.
We are located two miles north of U.S. 40 on the Knightsville Road or two miles east of SR 59 on Rio Grand Road.
For more information, call the church at 812-446-0531, or Dick McShanog at 812-448-2871.
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church
Pastor Father Harold W. Rightor II; revhwr@juno.com
Email for the parish office can be sent to annunicationchurch@msn.com.
Mass schedule: Saturday 6:30 p.m., Sunday 8:30 a.m., and 12:30 p.m., Tuesday 5:30 p.m., Wednesday 9 a.m., Thursday 9 a.m. Reconciliation is 5:45- 6:15 p.m. Saturday or by appointment.
Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayed the first Sunday of each month at 8 a.m.
To schedule time to see Father Harold please call the parish office, at 448-1901.
The church is located at 19 N. Alabama St. in Brazil. Handicapped parking is available in the parking lot between the church and the Parish Center.
If you have any news of interest to the parish please send me an e-mail at eaburt48@hotmail.com. News must be submitted to me before Wednesday to get it in the paper on Saturday.
http://mysite.verizon.net/resolhio/annun...
I updated the website with pictures of the stained glass window restoration. I think you will enjoy seeing the work in progress.
The Lady Knights will also host an indoor yard sale at Kennedys Crossing Bingo Hall, Saturday, Feb. 27 from 8 a.m. -1 p.m. Breakfast will be available. All proceeds benefit Lady Knights projects.
Work continues by Artisan's Art Glass on our window. It is really looking good. He said another 2-3 weeks and he should be done. We have to have some nice weather so that we can open up the window frame on the inside of the church then he can re-install the window for us.
The Brazil Times ran a nice story on the window this week and WTWO has shown some interest in running a story also.
I have to contact the people who are installing new windows in the parish center basement so that we can set up a time for them to come and do the installs on the windows that the Lady Knights have purchased.
Bingo News.
Bingo every Sunday evening at Kennedy Crossing. We are smoke-free. Packages start as low a $17. Come early and socialize and get something to eat. We always have good food and free coffee. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. We play 10 speed games starting at 6 p.m.. each and every Sunday. and our Early Bird games start at 6:30 p.m. Regular bingo starts at 7 p.m.
Our bingo hall is located at 8990 N. Kennedy Crossing Rd. across from the Northview High School baseball field. We are handicapped accessible and we have a lighted parking lot and a covered outside smoking area.
© Copyright 2010 Brazil Times
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Sunday Schedule in Madera County
COARSEGOLD -- In a former homebuilder's office at Highway 41 and Road 417, Believers Assembly provides more than Sunday services in the foothill community.
It also does outreach. The church's pastor, Brian Cunnings, teaches martial arts classes in the worship hall on weeknights. The classes are presented through Believers Chi-Tu Do, Mandarin for "Christian way."
Cunnings, a Madera County sheriff's deputy, says the classes emphasize discipline and respect with reverence to Jesus Christ. Cunnings has reached Grandmaster level in Tae Kwan Do, Ju-Jitsu and Escrima.
"The more you know about fighting, the less you fight," he says.
A congregant, John Durham, who has a purple belt, believes it is important the church provides the outreach.
"It's a good thing for kids in our community to do to stay out of trouble," he says. "There's not much to do."
Durham was among 40 people at a recent Sunday service, when congregants sang worship songs to recorded music and some shared prophetic words or visions that they had experienced. The pastor's son, Brent Cunnings, spoke in tongues.
Brian Cunnings gave a sermon on "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand." And a first-time visitor, Betty Fernandez, says the service hit home.
"I love it," she says.
Here are other notes from the visit:
What's the first thing you notice from your chair?
It's the "Warriors Code" displayed on a wall -- "To live a life of honor embracing my duty to God, family and my fellow man, and upholding justice and mercy with courage and humility."
What might you see here that you can't other places?
The worship hall's floor is covered with a spongy sports mat in green, blue and purple colors.
What's everyone talking about?
It's the church's signs, intended for highway motorists. One reads: "Tired and weighted down? Find rest in Jesus alone!"
Who's the behind-the-scenes hero?
She's Durham's daughter, Alley, 4, who was happy dancing to the worship music.
The basics
* Location: 32019 Meadow Ridge Road, Coarsegold
* Contacts: (559) 641-7524; chitudo.com; believers@sti.net
* Services: 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sundays
* Child care: Available
* Pastor: Brian Cunnings
* Congregation: 35 average attendance
* History: Founded in Oakhurst in 2008
* Religious association: Independent
* Key ministries: Believers Chi-Tu Do martial arts, prayer meeting, women's Bible study
It also does outreach. The church's pastor, Brian Cunnings, teaches martial arts classes in the worship hall on weeknights. The classes are presented through Believers Chi-Tu Do, Mandarin for "Christian way."
Cunnings, a Madera County sheriff's deputy, says the classes emphasize discipline and respect with reverence to Jesus Christ. Cunnings has reached Grandmaster level in Tae Kwan Do, Ju-Jitsu and Escrima.
"The more you know about fighting, the less you fight," he says.
A congregant, John Durham, who has a purple belt, believes it is important the church provides the outreach.
"It's a good thing for kids in our community to do to stay out of trouble," he says. "There's not much to do."
Durham was among 40 people at a recent Sunday service, when congregants sang worship songs to recorded music and some shared prophetic words or visions that they had experienced. The pastor's son, Brent Cunnings, spoke in tongues.
Brian Cunnings gave a sermon on "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand." And a first-time visitor, Betty Fernandez, says the service hit home.
"I love it," she says.
Here are other notes from the visit:
What's the first thing you notice from your chair?
It's the "Warriors Code" displayed on a wall -- "To live a life of honor embracing my duty to God, family and my fellow man, and upholding justice and mercy with courage and humility."
What might you see here that you can't other places?
The worship hall's floor is covered with a spongy sports mat in green, blue and purple colors.
What's everyone talking about?
It's the church's signs, intended for highway motorists. One reads: "Tired and weighted down? Find rest in Jesus alone!"
Who's the behind-the-scenes hero?
She's Durham's daughter, Alley, 4, who was happy dancing to the worship music.
The basics
* Location: 32019 Meadow Ridge Road, Coarsegold
* Contacts: (559) 641-7524; chitudo.com; believers@sti.net
* Services: 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sundays
* Child care: Available
* Pastor: Brian Cunnings
* Congregation: 35 average attendance
* History: Founded in Oakhurst in 2008
* Religious association: Independent
* Key ministries: Believers Chi-Tu Do martial arts, prayer meeting, women's Bible study
Friday, February 19, 2010
Dali Lama Coming to Obama
(RTTNews) - Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is scheduled to meet US President Barack Obama Thursday at the White House amidst objections from Beijing.
The meeting will take place in the White House Map Room and not at the Oval Office, where the US President normally meets foreign heads of state.
The Tibetan leader will also meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the visit which Washington had kept at low profile apparently to play down China's concerns.
Earlier, China warned that the meeting will undermine Sino-US relations which hit a low recently over US arms sales to Taiwan and Beijing's clamp down on search giant Google.
The meeting will take place in the White House Map Room and not at the Oval Office, where the US President normally meets foreign heads of state.
The Tibetan leader will also meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the visit which Washington had kept at low profile apparently to play down China's concerns.
Earlier, China warned that the meeting will undermine Sino-US relations which hit a low recently over US arms sales to Taiwan and Beijing's clamp down on search giant Google.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
All Paths Lead to the Cross Roads
Terra Ciolfe
Feeling like an amateur; sitting with your legs crossed uncomfortably; hands in some unnatural position, resting on your knees; back straight; eyes awkwardly closed in public; desperately trying to understand how it is that your shoulders could possibly be gentle, and what exactly that means anyway.
"Just breathe, nice and down into your tummy. Inhaling up, expanding and opening to receive the sunlight. Exhale. Closing the flower down for the night," she said in a slow and calming voice - while adjusting her microphone - to the sea of her pupils that sat before her on their mats, clad predominately in lululemon gear.
Go into any gym across the country and you are likely to find yourself in a similar situation.
With the increase in popularity of yoga within the past few decades, somewhere along the lines this Eastern tradition has managed to transition into the mainstream. It now has a massive following within the West and can be considered a multi-billion dollar industry.
There is a multitude of accessories available; from ohm decorated mats to yoga bricks, entire stores and particular gyms dedicated to its practise, instructional DVDs, yoga retreats, magazines and even YouTube videos - all in the name of Namaste.
With all of these easily accessible to the general public, it is easy to by-pass or forget what the crux of yoga was initially intended for: spiritual enlightenment - to reduce it to its most basic ideal.
While millions of people attempt to stay balanced in their tree positions, some are concerned that with the increased commercialization of this ancient tradition, that its true nature is being completely eroded, leaving the practise of yoga caught in a contradiction of ideals.
This is not to say, however, that yoga as we know it is an evil demon. In fact, it would be hard to argue that this increase in popularity is necessarily a bad thing.
Speak to anyone who claims to practise yoga or has been to a few classes and they will most likely speak its praises. People tend to enjoy it. It gets them out to the gym, gives them some time to themselves, improves strength and flexibility and makes people feel calmed or centered - whatever the terminology may be.
However, the problem comes in the definition.
Is this really yoga?
Feeling like an amateur; sitting with your legs crossed uncomfortably; hands in some unnatural position, resting on your knees; back straight; eyes awkwardly closed in public; desperately trying to understand how it is that your shoulders could possibly be gentle, and what exactly that means anyway.
"Just breathe, nice and down into your tummy. Inhaling up, expanding and opening to receive the sunlight. Exhale. Closing the flower down for the night," she said in a slow and calming voice - while adjusting her microphone - to the sea of her pupils that sat before her on their mats, clad predominately in lululemon gear.
Go into any gym across the country and you are likely to find yourself in a similar situation.
With the increase in popularity of yoga within the past few decades, somewhere along the lines this Eastern tradition has managed to transition into the mainstream. It now has a massive following within the West and can be considered a multi-billion dollar industry.
There is a multitude of accessories available; from ohm decorated mats to yoga bricks, entire stores and particular gyms dedicated to its practise, instructional DVDs, yoga retreats, magazines and even YouTube videos - all in the name of Namaste.
With all of these easily accessible to the general public, it is easy to by-pass or forget what the crux of yoga was initially intended for: spiritual enlightenment - to reduce it to its most basic ideal.
While millions of people attempt to stay balanced in their tree positions, some are concerned that with the increased commercialization of this ancient tradition, that its true nature is being completely eroded, leaving the practise of yoga caught in a contradiction of ideals.
This is not to say, however, that yoga as we know it is an evil demon. In fact, it would be hard to argue that this increase in popularity is necessarily a bad thing.
Speak to anyone who claims to practise yoga or has been to a few classes and they will most likely speak its praises. People tend to enjoy it. It gets them out to the gym, gives them some time to themselves, improves strength and flexibility and makes people feel calmed or centered - whatever the terminology may be.
However, the problem comes in the definition.
Is this really yoga?
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
One Man's Thoughts on Haiti
http://blog.beliefnet.com/omsweetom/2010/02/the-complex-karma-of-haiti.html
Vineet Chandar
It is natural, though never pleasant, to question the workings of the Divine when we see (and feel, and weep over) suffering on a grand scale.
In the West, philosophers like Epicurus and David Hume lay it out for us. (Their Eastern counterparts do the same, by the way). Either God wants to prevent suffering but is not able to do so, or he is able but not willing to prevent it. In either instance, the existence of suffering (or evil) in the world is a real challenge to the notion of God -- or to a God worth worshiping, at any rate.
One could try to explain the existence of evil actions that people perform (like murder or terrorism) by arguing that God allows us our free will; I touched on this in a blog post about the Mumbai terror attacks a few months ago.
But what about the suffering that is unleashed by an earthquake or hurricane or a baby who dies of SIDS in his crib? What about the horrible, sickening, painful things that "just happen" one morning? What about a tragedy like the devastating 7.0 earthquake in Haiti.?
Does Hinduism have something to say about Haiti?
I think it does. But first, some more illumination on the problem before us.
In his thoughtful BBC piece, philosopher David Bain explores this problem in some detail. Here's a sampling:
Doesn't our world contain a surplus of suffering? People do truly awful things to each other. Isn't the suffering they create enough for soul-making? Did God really need to throw in earthquakes and tsunamis as well?
Suffering's distribution, not just its amount, can also cause problems. A central point of philosopher Immanuel Kant's was that we mustn't exploit people - we mustn't use them as mere means to our ends. But it can seem that on the soul-making view God does precisely this. He inflicts horrible deaths on innocent earthquake victims so that the rest of us can be morally benefitted.
That hardly seems fair.
It's OK, some will insist, because God works in mysterious ways. But mightn't someone defend a belief in fairies by telling us they do too? Others say their talk of God is supposed to acknowledge not the existence of some all-powerful and all-good agent, who created and intervenes in the universe, but rather something more difficult to articulate - a thread of meaning or value running through the world, or perhaps something ineffable.
But, as for those who believe in an all-good, all-powerful agent-God, we've seen that they face a question that remains pressing after all these centuries, and which is now horribly underscored by the horrors in Haiti. If a deity exists, why didn't he prevent this?
Newsweek's Lisa Miller echoes Bain's why in her own piece, poignantly (and sarcastically) titled "Why God Hates Haiti."
Now, with as many as 100,000 dead in last week's earthquake, a sensible person of faith has to grapple with the problem of what scholars call theodicy. If God is good and intervenes in the world, then why does he make innocents suffer? Why, as Job might have said, would God "crush an impoverished people with a tempest and multiply their wounds without cause? He will not let them get their breath."
Over the next weeks, sensible clerics will struggle with what to say. "The really smart ones," says Ehrman, "will be saying that God is mysterious and we can't explain everything." Others will teach that the earthquake is the work of the Devil or that believers can find blessings in the calamity, for in heaven the dead will finally find tranquillity and repose. As a Roman Catholic blogger wrote last week, "This world is not all there is."
Both Bain and Miller also quote -- and take issue with -- loudmouth TV evangelist Pat Robertson's predictably crude suggestion that the earthquake was God's curse on Haiti for a supposed pact their forefathers made with the Devil. (Bain and Miller weren't the only ones to call Pat out on this. Over at Huff Po, my Princeton colleague and friend Rev. Paul Raushenbush told Mr. Robertson exactly where he could go.)
That Robertson's spewing should emerge as a legitimate "religious" response to Haiti is itself a tragedy worth questioning the existence of God over. Thankfully, though, there are other faith perspectives out there.
Which brings us back to Hinduism's view of the Haiti tragedy. How does my own faith answer the question? Much like other thoughtful people of faith, with a lot of head scratching and admissions that the mind of God is not easily read.
Still, we can say something. Hindu scholar Ramdas Lamb did a good job, I think, in this blog post.
After reading Lamb's post, I reflected on three ways that my own understanding of Hinduism informs the way I try to make sense of Haiti:
This material world is a place of suffering. Okay, so I know that it isn't the most optimistic view of the world, and it may strike some as unnecessarily harsh. After all, isn't Hinduism all about recognizing the divinity in all; shouldn't we see this word as spiritual as well? Yes, In a sense. In the Bhagavad Gita (7.6), Krishna declares that this world emanates from him. And yet the same Bhagavad Gita (9.34) tells us that this world is temporary (asasvatam) and full of suffering (dukhalayam). And in the Gita's 8th chapter, Krishna elaborates: "This world is a fleeting, ephemeral place of sorrow," he explains, "and for all beings in it, from the ant to the gods, there is the day of birth and the night of death. But there is another, hidden place. That Supreme abode remains even when this world is annihilated. Those who go there never return." The world of matter, it seems, is rigged -- booby-trapped, if you will -- towards suffering. It is the nature of the beast, designed by a Divine personality who wants us to return to our rightful, blissful home rather than get too comfortable here. Asking why there is suffering in such a world is a little like asking why the surface of the sun is so hot. Better to realize (truly and deeply) that, as the Roman Catholic bloger said, "this world is not all that there is.
Karma. Did all the victims of the Haiti earthquake do something horible to deserve such suffering? Did the nation violate some kind of cosmic law and is now reaping the fruit? Not quite. The idea of karma is not that simplistic or blindly mechanistic. At the same time, we don't know exactly what cosmic baggage (the accumulation of several lifetimes perhaps) the victims of the Haiti earthquake were carrying with them. And consider that even the age we live in -- what the Hindu sacred texts cal the age of Kali, the darkest winter of cyclical time -- carries its own karma. It is an age marked by discord and strife, where suffering is especially palpable. Our age implicates us -- not just Haiti, but all of us -- in actions and reactions full of exploitation of the earth and other beings. As residents of this age, we are born into a certain karmic milieu. And tragedies and catastrophes that seem cruelly random and brutally arbitrary may be all a part of the collective karma we share.
Suffering Leads to Spiritual Growth. Suffering is not, Hinduism asserts, meaningless. It is full of lessons to teach us exactly what we need to learn. We can never know what was in the hearts or minds of those hundred thousand people who faced death. But we can imagine that in many instances these people had opportunities to make tremendous spiritual advancement. It is entirely possible that at least some of these people achieved a certain state of enlightenment or union with the Divine even, perhaps especially, in the moments when every shelter of this material world was stripped away from them and the ground was literally pulled out from beneath them. And for those who survived, or are grieving the loss of loved ones, or are mourning the tragedy from oceans away-- beneath the tears and grief and anger, there are lessons there too. There is an opportunity to grow deeper in our own spiritual identities, and to be forever and fundamentally changed. Rather than simply going "back to normal", we can choose to be transformed.
In the final equation, I don't think that Hinduism has "the answer" to the age-old Problem of Suffering question any more than Christianity or Judaism does. And whether you call it a "curse" or "bad karma," a spiritually immature practitioner's attempts at philosophizing suffering away does much more harm than good. (Just ask Sharon Stone, whose "bad karma" explanation for the devastating 2008 Chinese earthquake went over about as well as Pat Robertson's Haiti comments.)
Still, for me, Hinduism helps me to reconcile a stark and sobering view of suffering in the world with the idea of compassion. I'm reminded of a famous Hindu parable involving a sadhu (monk) and a scorpion:
A sadhu was meditating by a strongly flowing river when he saw a scorpion struggling against the current, about to drown. Feeling great compassion, the monk picked the creature up. Immediately it stung him, causing the sadhu to drop him into the river. Again, the scorpion began to struggle, again the monk picked him up, and again the scorpion stung. The scene repeated itself several times, until finally the sadhu was able to place the scorpion safely on dry land. A friend of the sadhu happened to be passing through and had witnessed the scene from some distance. Astonished, he came to the monk and asked him to decipher the strange scene he had just seen. The monk smiled shyly and explained: "Everything has its God-given nature. The nature of this river is to move swiftly. The nature of the scorpion is to sting. But the nature of a compassionate man is to be compassionate, even when stung."
Vineet Chandar
It is natural, though never pleasant, to question the workings of the Divine when we see (and feel, and weep over) suffering on a grand scale.
In the West, philosophers like Epicurus and David Hume lay it out for us. (Their Eastern counterparts do the same, by the way). Either God wants to prevent suffering but is not able to do so, or he is able but not willing to prevent it. In either instance, the existence of suffering (or evil) in the world is a real challenge to the notion of God -- or to a God worth worshiping, at any rate.
One could try to explain the existence of evil actions that people perform (like murder or terrorism) by arguing that God allows us our free will; I touched on this in a blog post about the Mumbai terror attacks a few months ago.
But what about the suffering that is unleashed by an earthquake or hurricane or a baby who dies of SIDS in his crib? What about the horrible, sickening, painful things that "just happen" one morning? What about a tragedy like the devastating 7.0 earthquake in Haiti.?
Does Hinduism have something to say about Haiti?
I think it does. But first, some more illumination on the problem before us.
In his thoughtful BBC piece, philosopher David Bain explores this problem in some detail. Here's a sampling:
Doesn't our world contain a surplus of suffering? People do truly awful things to each other. Isn't the suffering they create enough for soul-making? Did God really need to throw in earthquakes and tsunamis as well?
Suffering's distribution, not just its amount, can also cause problems. A central point of philosopher Immanuel Kant's was that we mustn't exploit people - we mustn't use them as mere means to our ends. But it can seem that on the soul-making view God does precisely this. He inflicts horrible deaths on innocent earthquake victims so that the rest of us can be morally benefitted.
That hardly seems fair.
It's OK, some will insist, because God works in mysterious ways. But mightn't someone defend a belief in fairies by telling us they do too? Others say their talk of God is supposed to acknowledge not the existence of some all-powerful and all-good agent, who created and intervenes in the universe, but rather something more difficult to articulate - a thread of meaning or value running through the world, or perhaps something ineffable.
But, as for those who believe in an all-good, all-powerful agent-God, we've seen that they face a question that remains pressing after all these centuries, and which is now horribly underscored by the horrors in Haiti. If a deity exists, why didn't he prevent this?
Newsweek's Lisa Miller echoes Bain's why in her own piece, poignantly (and sarcastically) titled "Why God Hates Haiti."
Now, with as many as 100,000 dead in last week's earthquake, a sensible person of faith has to grapple with the problem of what scholars call theodicy. If God is good and intervenes in the world, then why does he make innocents suffer? Why, as Job might have said, would God "crush an impoverished people with a tempest and multiply their wounds without cause? He will not let them get their breath."
Over the next weeks, sensible clerics will struggle with what to say. "The really smart ones," says Ehrman, "will be saying that God is mysterious and we can't explain everything." Others will teach that the earthquake is the work of the Devil or that believers can find blessings in the calamity, for in heaven the dead will finally find tranquillity and repose. As a Roman Catholic blogger wrote last week, "This world is not all there is."
Both Bain and Miller also quote -- and take issue with -- loudmouth TV evangelist Pat Robertson's predictably crude suggestion that the earthquake was God's curse on Haiti for a supposed pact their forefathers made with the Devil. (Bain and Miller weren't the only ones to call Pat out on this. Over at Huff Po, my Princeton colleague and friend Rev. Paul Raushenbush told Mr. Robertson exactly where he could go.)
That Robertson's spewing should emerge as a legitimate "religious" response to Haiti is itself a tragedy worth questioning the existence of God over. Thankfully, though, there are other faith perspectives out there.
Which brings us back to Hinduism's view of the Haiti tragedy. How does my own faith answer the question? Much like other thoughtful people of faith, with a lot of head scratching and admissions that the mind of God is not easily read.
Still, we can say something. Hindu scholar Ramdas Lamb did a good job, I think, in this blog post.
After reading Lamb's post, I reflected on three ways that my own understanding of Hinduism informs the way I try to make sense of Haiti:
This material world is a place of suffering. Okay, so I know that it isn't the most optimistic view of the world, and it may strike some as unnecessarily harsh. After all, isn't Hinduism all about recognizing the divinity in all; shouldn't we see this word as spiritual as well? Yes, In a sense. In the Bhagavad Gita (7.6), Krishna declares that this world emanates from him. And yet the same Bhagavad Gita (9.34) tells us that this world is temporary (asasvatam) and full of suffering (dukhalayam). And in the Gita's 8th chapter, Krishna elaborates: "This world is a fleeting, ephemeral place of sorrow," he explains, "and for all beings in it, from the ant to the gods, there is the day of birth and the night of death. But there is another, hidden place. That Supreme abode remains even when this world is annihilated. Those who go there never return." The world of matter, it seems, is rigged -- booby-trapped, if you will -- towards suffering. It is the nature of the beast, designed by a Divine personality who wants us to return to our rightful, blissful home rather than get too comfortable here. Asking why there is suffering in such a world is a little like asking why the surface of the sun is so hot. Better to realize (truly and deeply) that, as the Roman Catholic bloger said, "this world is not all that there is.
Karma. Did all the victims of the Haiti earthquake do something horible to deserve such suffering? Did the nation violate some kind of cosmic law and is now reaping the fruit? Not quite. The idea of karma is not that simplistic or blindly mechanistic. At the same time, we don't know exactly what cosmic baggage (the accumulation of several lifetimes perhaps) the victims of the Haiti earthquake were carrying with them. And consider that even the age we live in -- what the Hindu sacred texts cal the age of Kali, the darkest winter of cyclical time -- carries its own karma. It is an age marked by discord and strife, where suffering is especially palpable. Our age implicates us -- not just Haiti, but all of us -- in actions and reactions full of exploitation of the earth and other beings. As residents of this age, we are born into a certain karmic milieu. And tragedies and catastrophes that seem cruelly random and brutally arbitrary may be all a part of the collective karma we share.
Suffering Leads to Spiritual Growth. Suffering is not, Hinduism asserts, meaningless. It is full of lessons to teach us exactly what we need to learn. We can never know what was in the hearts or minds of those hundred thousand people who faced death. But we can imagine that in many instances these people had opportunities to make tremendous spiritual advancement. It is entirely possible that at least some of these people achieved a certain state of enlightenment or union with the Divine even, perhaps especially, in the moments when every shelter of this material world was stripped away from them and the ground was literally pulled out from beneath them. And for those who survived, or are grieving the loss of loved ones, or are mourning the tragedy from oceans away-- beneath the tears and grief and anger, there are lessons there too. There is an opportunity to grow deeper in our own spiritual identities, and to be forever and fundamentally changed. Rather than simply going "back to normal", we can choose to be transformed.
In the final equation, I don't think that Hinduism has "the answer" to the age-old Problem of Suffering question any more than Christianity or Judaism does. And whether you call it a "curse" or "bad karma," a spiritually immature practitioner's attempts at philosophizing suffering away does much more harm than good. (Just ask Sharon Stone, whose "bad karma" explanation for the devastating 2008 Chinese earthquake went over about as well as Pat Robertson's Haiti comments.)
Still, for me, Hinduism helps me to reconcile a stark and sobering view of suffering in the world with the idea of compassion. I'm reminded of a famous Hindu parable involving a sadhu (monk) and a scorpion:
A sadhu was meditating by a strongly flowing river when he saw a scorpion struggling against the current, about to drown. Feeling great compassion, the monk picked the creature up. Immediately it stung him, causing the sadhu to drop him into the river. Again, the scorpion began to struggle, again the monk picked him up, and again the scorpion stung. The scene repeated itself several times, until finally the sadhu was able to place the scorpion safely on dry land. A friend of the sadhu happened to be passing through and had witnessed the scene from some distance. Astonished, he came to the monk and asked him to decipher the strange scene he had just seen. The monk smiled shyly and explained: "Everything has its God-given nature. The nature of this river is to move swiftly. The nature of the scorpion is to sting. But the nature of a compassionate man is to be compassionate, even when stung."
Seeking a Life in the Holy Land
Listen up, liberals and leftists: The personal is not always political. Ignore the name David Horowitz on the cover of "A Cracking of the Heart," forget his politics, and plunge into this tender-hearted, yet disturbing tribute to a daughter's life and values so different from the author's own. Sarah Horowitz was born in 1964 with Turner's Syndrome, a congenital chromosomal disorder, which burdened her with a variety of handicaps, including physical imbalance, early arthritis of the hips, severe hearing loss and a weak heart. She faced physical infirmities which would have daunted and depressed just about anyone; but Sarah, whose physical growth stopped short of five feet, grew to be a giant of hopefulness and generosity of spirit, apparently inspiring everyone who knew her. And she packed more than a lifetime's worth of experience, friends, projects, travel and writing into her mere 44 years on earth.
She was a seeker, but not just after spiritual enlightenment, and her various interests led her to study many things, including psychology and music. Wanting to be a writer, like her father, Sarah somehow found enough time between her other myriad activities to write and publish arresting paid-for-pieces on a range of subjects, and even to do public readings of her poems. But apparently, performing mitzvot, like feeding the homeless, and reading to hospital patients, and promoting social justice were most important to her. And in the last decade of her life she pursued these goals in an explicitly Jewish context with the guidance of her friend and spiritual leader, Rabbi Alan Lew of California.
Even her truculent right-wing father, who went from being a "red diaper baby" to a 60s radical, then did an about-face and became a leading American ultra-conservative beginning in the 70s, came to see Sarah in her activities and his conversations with her as one of the 36 truly righteous individuals living in our universe at any one time and upon whom, according to Jewish tradition, the continued existence of the world depends. Instead of allowing herself to be overwhelmed by the unfair hand life dealt her, Sarah showed boundless compassion for the underserved and the overlooked. And she committed herself to helping in every way she could: devoting herself to a career (income-producing, but barely sustaining ) in special education, by caring for and teaching an autistic niece, and by aiding developmentally disabled children and adults in schools, hospitals and other institutions in India, Israel, El Salvador, Africa and the United States. She also wrote letters on behalf of political prisoners, stood vigil against capital punishment and marched against war as a primary response in international relations.
Horrific political episodes
Her father did not discourage her in any of this. But then, by the time Sarah was a teenager, David Horowitz was living apart, and moderately estranged, from his daughter. He had left the household after a series of horrific political episodes in the 1970s (which he details in an earlier book, "Radical Son," published in 1997 ) drove him into personal chaos, unremitting depression and divorce.
In 1974, when Sarah was 10, Betty Van Patter, who worked as a bookkeeper for Horowitz when he was the editor of the radical magazine Ramparts, disappeared from a local pub in Berkeley. Her body was found weeks later on a San Francisco beach. Van Patter had been keeping the accounts of a school run by the Black Panther Party, for which Horowitz had raised a large sum of money. She had been involved in a contentious dispute with Panther leader Elaine Brown over financial irregularities shortly before she vanished; and although the killer was never apprehended and the case remains officially unsolved, it was widely and reasonably thought that Betty had been beaten to death by the Panthers before she could blow the whistle on the misappropriation of funds.
Yet another Berkeley radical, Fay Stender, an internationally renowned lawyer and pacifist with whom Horowitz was closely acquainted through his leftist activities, was allegedly shot by Black Panthers in 1979 when she refused to smuggle a weapon into prison to rescue Panther leader George Jackson. Stender, hit by six bullets, was permanently paralyzed. Her sense of having been betrayed, combined with her severely diminished existence, sent her into a horrendous depression that ended with her suicide. In both the Van Patter and Stender cases, the Panther leadership showed a decided lack of interest in cooperating with investigators, and apparently even warned Horowitz against asking probing questions.
That the "progressives," to whom Horowitz had devoted many years of his life, appeared to be protecting murderers not only shattered his faith in the left, but seems to have produced a crisis of the spirit that drove him 180 degrees to the right, where he has stayed ever since. In "A Cracking of the Heart," Horowitz tells us about his earlier published explanation of why, in 1980, he voted for Ronald Reagan for U.S. president, and as Sarah put it, went over to "the dark side."
Casting his ballot for the Republicans was a way, he said, of finally saying farewell to radicalism and its romance with what he calls "corrupt Third Worldism," to its casual tolerance of Soviet totalitarianism and to the self-aggrandizing anti-Americanism "which is the New Left's bequest to mainstream politics."
For the left-leaning Sarah, it was not as disturbing to read her father's far-right positions in a magazine as to have him spew them at her and other members of the Horowitz clan at a relatively rare family get-together one evening in a restaurant in San Francisco. Acting out of his own bitterness and grief, and perhaps also out of fear of losing his daughter entirely to the left he now despised, Horowitz self-righteously declaimed that the purpose of anti-war movements was to disarm democracies and encourage their enemies. But during his restaurant meal tirade, he soon noticed that Sarah's eyes had begun to brim with tears and that her face trembled as though a colossal weight was pushing relentlessly down upon her. Sarah's "expression in that instant was one of such mute and irremediable suffering" that the distress of it, Horowitz writes, continues to haunt him and changed forever the way he related to his daughter over matters political.
Meeting of the minds?
Horowitz was compelled to write a memoir about his daughter, about what she was able to achieve against great odds, and about the efforts of father and child to understand and reach each other, and it deserves an audience. In the process of putting the book together, Horowitz says he learned even more about Sarah's courage and righteousness (especially when, after she died, he went through her journals and her unpublished stories, essays and poems, some of which he reproduces here ) that led him to reflect "ruefully" on the ways he had failed to appreciate or support her sufficiently. Horowitz even goes so far as to say that Sarah had not only challenged his personal and political certitude while she was alive, but also by what she left behind in her papers. His new book, however, while profoundly moving, doesn't quite back up that claim. Horowitz's confrontational and abrasive style may have changed, but only in the way he conversed with his daughter. The substance of his reactionary thinking was barely touched. It may look as if he and Sarah had had a meeting of the minds in the years before her 2008 death, but in actuality Horowitz was seeing only the side of his daughter with which he had always been in sympathy.
When the two of them talked about capital punishment, for example, Horowitz was relieved to know that Sarah's oppositional stand was not based on an automatic insistence on the innocence of the convicted. And when he defended the market system in conversations with her about minimum wages and sweatshops in the underdeveloped world, he was happy that she looked thoughtful and did not immediately reject his argument. Horowitz was also delighted to learn that Sarah knew that the left was not always a friend to freedom nor always fair in its criticism of Israel, a nation whose "resilience of spirit" they both admired. Moreover, when Sarah protested against war, she did so, Horowitz realized, not as a "starry-eyed" pacifist, but as one who recognized the existence of terror, tyranny and evil, and the right to self-defense against them.
All of this leads Horowitz to conclude that he and his daughter shared "universal themes" which transcended their political differences. In this, he is only partly correct. In her politics Sarah was not obsessed with the kind of secular messianism that imbued some on the left with arrogance and self-righteousness. She knew, along with the late Rabbi Lew, that the Messiah could not be hurried. And she may not have shared with other radicals what her father calls the hubristic desire for a world "fundamentally different from the one we have been given." But it is clear that though Sarah was aware of the limits of human ability to change the world, she was impelled by the injunction of tikkun olam to do what she could to make it better. Unlike her father, who thinks the human condition obdurate and incorrigible, Sarah believed the world could be repaired and significantly improved, if not completely made over.
Horowitz, knowing Sarah's idealism was tempered by a sober realism about the limits of political movements, supported and even encouraged his daughter when she went to Iowa in early 2008 to campaign for Barack Obama. But when the first African-American ever elected to the American presidency took office less than a year after Sarah died, and only weeks before "A Cracking of the Heart" was published in October 2009, Horowitz said in his online magazine, FrontPage, that Obama had been, and still was, a radical, and that part of his agenda was to gain control for "the armies of the left" and create "slush funds" for them.
Horowitz claims in his book that it was impossible to read Sarah's material and watch her pursue justice without becoming a more compassionate person. One might think this would have taken some of the jagged edge off Horowitz's own staunch conservatism and brash rhetoric. Instead, he now tells us that the Obama gang in Washington is the most "anti-Jewish" and "the most dangerous political administration ... that we have ever seen."
It is a miracle that a book as sensitive to his daughter and to her desire to repair the world has emerged from a mind and heart as congealed as Horowitz's. He writes that Sarah taught him many important lessons, and this seems to be the case in regard to his relationship with her. It is naive, I suppose, to hope that Horowitz will apply that sensitivity to the larger political dialogue (perhaps in a sequel entitled, "An Opening of the Brain"? ). Sarah would be pleased.
Gerald Sorin, Distinguished Professor of Jewish and American Studies at the State University of New York, New Paltz, is the author of many books, including "Irving Howe: A Life of Passionate Dissent." He is currently working on a biography of the Jewish American Communist writer Howard Fast.
She was a seeker, but not just after spiritual enlightenment, and her various interests led her to study many things, including psychology and music. Wanting to be a writer, like her father, Sarah somehow found enough time between her other myriad activities to write and publish arresting paid-for-pieces on a range of subjects, and even to do public readings of her poems. But apparently, performing mitzvot, like feeding the homeless, and reading to hospital patients, and promoting social justice were most important to her. And in the last decade of her life she pursued these goals in an explicitly Jewish context with the guidance of her friend and spiritual leader, Rabbi Alan Lew of California.
Even her truculent right-wing father, who went from being a "red diaper baby" to a 60s radical, then did an about-face and became a leading American ultra-conservative beginning in the 70s, came to see Sarah in her activities and his conversations with her as one of the 36 truly righteous individuals living in our universe at any one time and upon whom, according to Jewish tradition, the continued existence of the world depends. Instead of allowing herself to be overwhelmed by the unfair hand life dealt her, Sarah showed boundless compassion for the underserved and the overlooked. And she committed herself to helping in every way she could: devoting herself to a career (income-producing, but barely sustaining ) in special education, by caring for and teaching an autistic niece, and by aiding developmentally disabled children and adults in schools, hospitals and other institutions in India, Israel, El Salvador, Africa and the United States. She also wrote letters on behalf of political prisoners, stood vigil against capital punishment and marched against war as a primary response in international relations.
Horrific political episodes
Her father did not discourage her in any of this. But then, by the time Sarah was a teenager, David Horowitz was living apart, and moderately estranged, from his daughter. He had left the household after a series of horrific political episodes in the 1970s (which he details in an earlier book, "Radical Son," published in 1997 ) drove him into personal chaos, unremitting depression and divorce.
In 1974, when Sarah was 10, Betty Van Patter, who worked as a bookkeeper for Horowitz when he was the editor of the radical magazine Ramparts, disappeared from a local pub in Berkeley. Her body was found weeks later on a San Francisco beach. Van Patter had been keeping the accounts of a school run by the Black Panther Party, for which Horowitz had raised a large sum of money. She had been involved in a contentious dispute with Panther leader Elaine Brown over financial irregularities shortly before she vanished; and although the killer was never apprehended and the case remains officially unsolved, it was widely and reasonably thought that Betty had been beaten to death by the Panthers before she could blow the whistle on the misappropriation of funds.
Yet another Berkeley radical, Fay Stender, an internationally renowned lawyer and pacifist with whom Horowitz was closely acquainted through his leftist activities, was allegedly shot by Black Panthers in 1979 when she refused to smuggle a weapon into prison to rescue Panther leader George Jackson. Stender, hit by six bullets, was permanently paralyzed. Her sense of having been betrayed, combined with her severely diminished existence, sent her into a horrendous depression that ended with her suicide. In both the Van Patter and Stender cases, the Panther leadership showed a decided lack of interest in cooperating with investigators, and apparently even warned Horowitz against asking probing questions.
That the "progressives," to whom Horowitz had devoted many years of his life, appeared to be protecting murderers not only shattered his faith in the left, but seems to have produced a crisis of the spirit that drove him 180 degrees to the right, where he has stayed ever since. In "A Cracking of the Heart," Horowitz tells us about his earlier published explanation of why, in 1980, he voted for Ronald Reagan for U.S. president, and as Sarah put it, went over to "the dark side."
Casting his ballot for the Republicans was a way, he said, of finally saying farewell to radicalism and its romance with what he calls "corrupt Third Worldism," to its casual tolerance of Soviet totalitarianism and to the self-aggrandizing anti-Americanism "which is the New Left's bequest to mainstream politics."
For the left-leaning Sarah, it was not as disturbing to read her father's far-right positions in a magazine as to have him spew them at her and other members of the Horowitz clan at a relatively rare family get-together one evening in a restaurant in San Francisco. Acting out of his own bitterness and grief, and perhaps also out of fear of losing his daughter entirely to the left he now despised, Horowitz self-righteously declaimed that the purpose of anti-war movements was to disarm democracies and encourage their enemies. But during his restaurant meal tirade, he soon noticed that Sarah's eyes had begun to brim with tears and that her face trembled as though a colossal weight was pushing relentlessly down upon her. Sarah's "expression in that instant was one of such mute and irremediable suffering" that the distress of it, Horowitz writes, continues to haunt him and changed forever the way he related to his daughter over matters political.
Meeting of the minds?
Horowitz was compelled to write a memoir about his daughter, about what she was able to achieve against great odds, and about the efforts of father and child to understand and reach each other, and it deserves an audience. In the process of putting the book together, Horowitz says he learned even more about Sarah's courage and righteousness (especially when, after she died, he went through her journals and her unpublished stories, essays and poems, some of which he reproduces here ) that led him to reflect "ruefully" on the ways he had failed to appreciate or support her sufficiently. Horowitz even goes so far as to say that Sarah had not only challenged his personal and political certitude while she was alive, but also by what she left behind in her papers. His new book, however, while profoundly moving, doesn't quite back up that claim. Horowitz's confrontational and abrasive style may have changed, but only in the way he conversed with his daughter. The substance of his reactionary thinking was barely touched. It may look as if he and Sarah had had a meeting of the minds in the years before her 2008 death, but in actuality Horowitz was seeing only the side of his daughter with which he had always been in sympathy.
When the two of them talked about capital punishment, for example, Horowitz was relieved to know that Sarah's oppositional stand was not based on an automatic insistence on the innocence of the convicted. And when he defended the market system in conversations with her about minimum wages and sweatshops in the underdeveloped world, he was happy that she looked thoughtful and did not immediately reject his argument. Horowitz was also delighted to learn that Sarah knew that the left was not always a friend to freedom nor always fair in its criticism of Israel, a nation whose "resilience of spirit" they both admired. Moreover, when Sarah protested against war, she did so, Horowitz realized, not as a "starry-eyed" pacifist, but as one who recognized the existence of terror, tyranny and evil, and the right to self-defense against them.
All of this leads Horowitz to conclude that he and his daughter shared "universal themes" which transcended their political differences. In this, he is only partly correct. In her politics Sarah was not obsessed with the kind of secular messianism that imbued some on the left with arrogance and self-righteousness. She knew, along with the late Rabbi Lew, that the Messiah could not be hurried. And she may not have shared with other radicals what her father calls the hubristic desire for a world "fundamentally different from the one we have been given." But it is clear that though Sarah was aware of the limits of human ability to change the world, she was impelled by the injunction of tikkun olam to do what she could to make it better. Unlike her father, who thinks the human condition obdurate and incorrigible, Sarah believed the world could be repaired and significantly improved, if not completely made over.
Horowitz, knowing Sarah's idealism was tempered by a sober realism about the limits of political movements, supported and even encouraged his daughter when she went to Iowa in early 2008 to campaign for Barack Obama. But when the first African-American ever elected to the American presidency took office less than a year after Sarah died, and only weeks before "A Cracking of the Heart" was published in October 2009, Horowitz said in his online magazine, FrontPage, that Obama had been, and still was, a radical, and that part of his agenda was to gain control for "the armies of the left" and create "slush funds" for them.
Horowitz claims in his book that it was impossible to read Sarah's material and watch her pursue justice without becoming a more compassionate person. One might think this would have taken some of the jagged edge off Horowitz's own staunch conservatism and brash rhetoric. Instead, he now tells us that the Obama gang in Washington is the most "anti-Jewish" and "the most dangerous political administration ... that we have ever seen."
It is a miracle that a book as sensitive to his daughter and to her desire to repair the world has emerged from a mind and heart as congealed as Horowitz's. He writes that Sarah taught him many important lessons, and this seems to be the case in regard to his relationship with her. It is naive, I suppose, to hope that Horowitz will apply that sensitivity to the larger political dialogue (perhaps in a sequel entitled, "An Opening of the Brain"? ). Sarah would be pleased.
Gerald Sorin, Distinguished Professor of Jewish and American Studies at the State University of New York, New Paltz, is the author of many books, including "Irving Howe: A Life of Passionate Dissent." He is currently working on a biography of the Jewish American Communist writer Howard Fast.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Spiritual Happenings
The GazetteFebruary 13, 2010
TODAY
Congregation Dorshei Emet's Shabbat Mini-series with Susan Weidman-Schneider: Are Boys the New Girls? The Impact of Feminism on Jewish Men. Service 10 a.m., speaker 10:45 a.m. 18 Cleve Rd., Hampstead, 514-486-9400; www.dorshei-emet.org.
Shabbat service at 10:30 a.m., Parashah Mishpatim-Shekalim, Kehilat She'ar Yashuv, at the Messianic Jewish Congregation, 8255 Mountain Sights Ave., Suite 225. Call 514-481-4579 or visit www.ksy.ca.
Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, 395 Elm Ave. in Westmount, offers Shabbat morning services at 10:30 a.m. and Lifelong Learning, Shabbat Torah Study from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. Call 514-937-3575 or visit www. templemontreal.ca.
World Day of the Sick: A Eucharistic Celebration with Anointing of the Sick presided over by Msgr. Sean Harty, E.V., from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Ascension Parish, 375 Kitchener Ave., Westmount. Contact your Parish Pastoral Home Care Coordinator or Cathie Macaulay, 514-925-4354.
Faith and Media, Saturday Sit-in with Paolo Buccella, 10 -11:30 a.m. at St. Thomas a Becket Parish, 4320 Ste-Anne St., Pierrefonds. Call the Parish 514-626-4111.
St. Lawrence Choir singalong with Fauré's requiem, 2 to 5 p.m.at St. George's Anglican Church, 1101 Stanley, (opposite Windsor Station) Bonaventure métro. Scores will be provided (or bring your own). Tickets at the door are $15 for adults, $10 for students, or reserve in advance at info@choir.qc.ca. Light refreshments will be served. Call 450-679-2368.
St. Thomas More Parish: International Supper & Auction, at 6 p.m. at St. Thomas More Parish, 980 Moffat Ave., Verdun. Tickets $10/person. Call 514-768-4741.
St. Veronica's Faith and Light Fundraising Dance, in support of families dealing with intellectual disabilities in Montreal and Haiti. From 5 p.m. to midnight at Dorval Community Centre. Dance lessons, live band and DJ. Assigned tables for groups. Tickets: $25. Contact: Donald Bidd at 514-631-3427, donaldbidd@gmail.com.
Celebration of the Original Church 1929,7:30 p.m.at Valois United Church,70 Belmont Ave., Pointe Claire. Choral Concert: Choirs, solos, duets.Tickets $10, free for children under 10,available at door or call the church office. 514-697-0651.
TOMORROW
Women's Rosh Chodesh Service for the Hebrew month of Adar will take place at 9:30 a.m. in the downstairs chapel of the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, at St. Kevin Ave. and Lemieux St. Dvar Torah follows. Call Shelley 514-489-9094 or Barbara 514-683-4926. Women's Purim Megillah reading will take place on March 28 at noon.
St. James Anglican Church, 328 Pine St. in Rosemère, has Morning Prayer at 9:30 a.m. www.stjamesrosemere.ca. Call 450-621-6466.
St. George's Anglican Church, 1101 Stanley St., main entrance on Ave. des Canadiens (de la Gauchetière). 9 a.m. Holy Communion, 10:30 a.m. Morning Prayer; Sermon: The Rev'd Robert Bergner, Curate. 514-866-7113.
Christ Church Cathedral, 635 Ste. Catherine St. W. at University St. 8 a.m. Said Eucharist; 10 a.m. Theological Education Sunday: Choral Eucharist. Preacher Rev. Canon John Simons, principal of Montreal Diocesan Theological College; 4 p.m.: Choral Evensong.
Anglican Parish of Verdun/Ville Emard: Church of the Epiphany (formerly St. Clement's Church). Holy Eucharist 10 a.m. 4322 Wellington St., Verdun. 514-769-5373.
Unitarian Universalist Church of North Hatley, at 10 a.m.: The Rev. Carole Martignacco on the topic All About Love, 201 Main St., North Hatley, north-hatley.qc.uua.org.
Lakeshore Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 202 Woodside Rd., Beaconsfield. 10:30 a.m.: Sunday service on Valentine Voices - songs and poetry with Kerry Anne Kutz and Michael Cartile, 514-695-3031, www.luuc.org.
Unitarian Church of Montreal, 5035 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W. 10:30 a.m.: Say It With Love, by Nicoline Guerrier and Ann Beer; 10:30 a.m. Church school directed by Caroline Balderston Parry. Child care also provided. 514-485-9933 (Mon.-Fri. a.m). www.ucmtl.ca.Wheelchair accessible.
St. James the Apostle Anglican Church, 1439 Ste. Catherine St. W. (at Bishop St.), holds Sunday services: Holy Communion, 8:30 a.m.; Adult Bible Study, 10 a.m.; Sung Holy Communion, 11 a.m.; Children's Ministry available at 11 a.m.; Service Wednesdays at 12:15 p.m.: soup and meditative readings. Call: 514-849-7577 or visit www.stjamestheapostle.ca.
St. Stephen's Anglican Church - Guest speaker Donald Boisvert, assistant professor of religion from Concordia University, will speak on the topic Theological Education, at the 11 a.m. Eucharist. 25-12th Ave in Lachine.514-637-0814.
St. Timothy's Anglican Bible Church at Emmanuel Christian School, 4698 St. Jean Blvd. in Dollard des Ormeaux, offers services every Sunday at 10 a.m., including Sunday school and youth service. 514-697-5209.
The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, 3415 Redpath Ave., offers Sunday worship service at 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (Feb. 14, 21, 28) organ recitals; proceeds to Haiti Relief.
Visit www.standrewstpaul.com.
Loyola Chapel, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. W.: Mass at 5 p.m. Sundays until April. Call 514-848-2424, Local 3588.
The Padua Centre, 1950 St. Antoine St. W., offers Insight Meditation (Vipassana) every Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. Meditation, Buddhist teachings, discussions led by Daryl Lynn Ross. Donations requested. Call 514-488-7484 or visit www.truenorthinsight.org.
Spiritual Enlightenment Centre offers inspirational services at noon (guided meditation, lectures) and chakra therapy (energy healing) clinics that will help balance your energy (body-mind-spirit), from 3 to 4:30 p.m., 1476 du Collège St., 2nd floor, St. Laurent (du Collège métro). Call 514-331-5870.
MONDAY
Still Presence West Island offers an ongoing meditation circle: Inviting Peace into Our lives, at 7 p.m. at Christ Church,455 Church St. in Beaconsfield. Sessions include teaching, meditation and a question period. Donation $5.Call 514-697-2204 or www.stillpresence.com.
TUESDAY
Stories of Heroic Faith Series - A DVD will be shown on the life of Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan, 9-10:30 a.m. at Corpus Christi Parish in the Church Hall, 16 Pacific Ave., Senneville. 514-457-3896.
A Call to Justice-Amos-Hosea-Micah: Finding Our Way Home, from 9:15 to 11:15 a.m. at St. Luke's Parish, 106A Anselme-Lavigne, D.D.O. Contact: Adult Faith. 514-683-4941.
Mindfulness Meditation Practice at the N.D.G. Y, 4335 Hampton Ave., 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Pre-registration suggested: Call Allen Lobo, 514-484-3014 or visit radiantand free@gmail.com. Cost: $50 for 10 weeks.
Christ Church Cathedral Fulford Hall, 1444 Union Ave. 5 p.m. Pancake supper.
WEDNESDAY
Christ Church Cathedral, 635 Ste. Catherine St. W. at University St.: Said Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes, 7:30 a.m.; Said Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes, Celebrant Bishop Barry Clarke, noon; Choral Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes, 7:30 p.m.
St. Paul's Anglican Church, 377 44th Avenue, Lachine. Ash Wednesday services, 9:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. 514-634-1965.
St. James Drop-In Centre is open every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 328 Pine St. in Rosemère. An informal gathering place to chat, read and reflect over a cup of coffee. The church sanctuary is open for quiet prayer and reflection. Call 450-621-6466.
Anglican Parish of Verdun/Ville Emard: Church of the Epiphany (formerly St. Clement's Church). Holy Eucharist, noon; Ash Wednesday and Imposition of Ashes Holy Eucharist, 7 p.m.. 4322 Wellington St., Verdun. 514-769-5373.
St. James Anglican Church, 328 Pine St. in Rosemère, invites you to join us for Ash Wednesday Services at 7 p.m. Wheel-chair accessible. www.stjamesrosemere.ca
Awareness Meditation Practice, to invigorate your soul, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Church, 5035 de Maisonneuve Blvd W., near Vendôme métro. Freewill donation. Call Allen 514-484-3014 or email radiantandfree@gmail.com.
Ash Wednesday Indoor Labyrinth Walk - Begin your Lenten journey by following the ancient pattern outlined on the floor. Between 7 and 9 p.m. at Wadsworth Hall, Montreal West United Church, 88 Ballantyne St. (one block north of Sherbrooke Ave). No cost, but socks or slippers required. Call 514- 482-3210 or www.mwuc.org.
Secularism in Quebec, a free conference (in French) by Professor Gregory Baum as part of the Warm Encounters Series of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Canadian Centre for Ecumenism, 1819 René Lévesque Blvd. W. (Guy-Concordia métro, exit Saint-Mathieu). Questions can be in English. Free refreshments. RSVP: info@oikoumene.ca or 514- 937-9176, Local 26.
Halachic Living Wills: The Gift You Give Your Children. A discussion with Rabbi Ira Ebbin, at 7:45 p.m. Free. Beth Zion Congregation, 5740 Hudson Ave., Côte St. Luc. 514-489-8411; www.bethzion.com.
THURSDAY
The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, 3415 Redpath St. Adult Bible Study Group (Feb. 18-March 25,during Lent) at 11 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Lenten Chapel Service, then lunch. www.standrewstpaul.com.
FRIDAY
Catholic Charismatic Services of Montreal weekend retreat. The theme: My Soul Waits for the Lord. Feb. 19 to 21, at Villa St. Martin 9451 Gouin Blvd. W., Pierrefonds. Cost: $165/person; without sleepover $100/person. Call Hal Horwood at 450-621-6775.
Come and See Evening. Intended for men 18 to 54 who may be considering a vocation to follow Jesus as a priest. 5:30 to 9 p.m. at St. Willibrord Parish, 351 Willibrord Ave. in Verdun.Contact: Diocesan Vocation Office, at 514- 925-4348, or vocationsmtl@hotmail.com.
Engaged Encounter focuses on the marriage itself and leaves aside the immediate preparation of the wedding day. This weekend deals with marriage as a sacrament, providing couples with the opportunity to dialogue honestly and to listen to one another lovingly in preparation for life together. View: www.engagedencountermontreal.org Feb. 19-20-21, at Villa Marguerite,Pierrefonds. Cost: $300 per couple (no couples refused because of lack of funds) Contact: Paul and Linda, 514-
697-9805, evansgdc@videotron.ca.
Friday Evening Bible Study: The Gospel of John. Based largely on the commentary by Scott Hahn. Friday evenings at 7:15 p.m. at St. John Fisher Parish, 120 Summerhill Ave. Pointe Claire, in the Beverley Room. Call Adam or Joanna at 514-694-8291.
COMING UP
Still Presence West Island presents The Breath of Life, a retreat workshop with meditation, spiritual exercises and space for peace. Sat., Feb. 20, 9 a.m. to 12 noon at Christ Church, 455 Church St. in Beaconsfield. Donation $15.www.stillpresence.com.
Montreal Directed Retreats. Feb. 26-28, at Villa Marguerite. Cost: $120, includes meals and lodging. Call Paul Empsall, 514-626-9462, or Patricia Riley 514-697-6684. Or visit www.montrealretreats.org.
Christian Youth Leadership Camp - A formation program for young adults 14 to 18 to develop interpersonal skills and leadership through fun, games, workshops, prayer, reflection. Friday, March 5 (7 p.m.) to Sunday, March 7 (5 p.m.), at Tibériade MJ - Bellefeuille (transportation provided). Cost :70$ per person (limited space) (Includes all material, food, and sleep-over, transportation) Contact:Mission Jeunesse-Youth Ministry, Archdiocese of Montreal,514- 925-4300, Local 258. jeunesse@diocesemontreal.org
Diocesan Marriage Preparation: From This Day Forward. This faith-based marriage preparation program is offered in a non-threatening group environment. Visit www.
diocesemontreal.org - click marriage. March 5-6-7, at the Archdiocese of Montreal, 2000 Sherbrooke St. W. Cost:$225/couple includes lunch and materials. No couples refused because of lack of funds. Call Dept. for Family Life, 514-925-4300, Local 219.
ONGOING
Do You Wish to Join a Bible Study Group? Join us after Monday evening Mass 8 to 9 p.m. at St. Thomas à Becket Parish, Pierrefonds. Contact Rev. Mike Shaw at 514-696-6451.
Community Meditation at Yoga on the Park, every Sunday at 10 a.m. 5582 Sherbrooke St. W. Check www.yogaonthepark.ca for weekly topic. Donations go to local and developing world projects. Call 514-712-9642.
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Religion+Calendar/2559022/story.html#ixzz0fZz8cfm9
TODAY
Congregation Dorshei Emet's Shabbat Mini-series with Susan Weidman-Schneider: Are Boys the New Girls? The Impact of Feminism on Jewish Men. Service 10 a.m., speaker 10:45 a.m. 18 Cleve Rd., Hampstead, 514-486-9400; www.dorshei-emet.org.
Shabbat service at 10:30 a.m., Parashah Mishpatim-Shekalim, Kehilat She'ar Yashuv, at the Messianic Jewish Congregation, 8255 Mountain Sights Ave., Suite 225. Call 514-481-4579 or visit www.ksy.ca.
Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, 395 Elm Ave. in Westmount, offers Shabbat morning services at 10:30 a.m. and Lifelong Learning, Shabbat Torah Study from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. Call 514-937-3575 or visit www. templemontreal.ca.
World Day of the Sick: A Eucharistic Celebration with Anointing of the Sick presided over by Msgr. Sean Harty, E.V., from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Ascension Parish, 375 Kitchener Ave., Westmount. Contact your Parish Pastoral Home Care Coordinator or Cathie Macaulay, 514-925-4354.
Faith and Media, Saturday Sit-in with Paolo Buccella, 10 -11:30 a.m. at St. Thomas a Becket Parish, 4320 Ste-Anne St., Pierrefonds. Call the Parish 514-626-4111.
St. Lawrence Choir singalong with Fauré's requiem, 2 to 5 p.m.at St. George's Anglican Church, 1101 Stanley, (opposite Windsor Station) Bonaventure métro. Scores will be provided (or bring your own). Tickets at the door are $15 for adults, $10 for students, or reserve in advance at info@choir.qc.ca. Light refreshments will be served. Call 450-679-2368.
St. Thomas More Parish: International Supper & Auction, at 6 p.m. at St. Thomas More Parish, 980 Moffat Ave., Verdun. Tickets $10/person. Call 514-768-4741.
St. Veronica's Faith and Light Fundraising Dance, in support of families dealing with intellectual disabilities in Montreal and Haiti. From 5 p.m. to midnight at Dorval Community Centre. Dance lessons, live band and DJ. Assigned tables for groups. Tickets: $25. Contact: Donald Bidd at 514-631-3427, donaldbidd@gmail.com.
Celebration of the Original Church 1929,7:30 p.m.at Valois United Church,70 Belmont Ave., Pointe Claire. Choral Concert: Choirs, solos, duets.Tickets $10, free for children under 10,available at door or call the church office. 514-697-0651.
TOMORROW
Women's Rosh Chodesh Service for the Hebrew month of Adar will take place at 9:30 a.m. in the downstairs chapel of the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, at St. Kevin Ave. and Lemieux St. Dvar Torah follows. Call Shelley 514-489-9094 or Barbara 514-683-4926. Women's Purim Megillah reading will take place on March 28 at noon.
St. James Anglican Church, 328 Pine St. in Rosemère, has Morning Prayer at 9:30 a.m. www.stjamesrosemere.ca. Call 450-621-6466.
St. George's Anglican Church, 1101 Stanley St., main entrance on Ave. des Canadiens (de la Gauchetière). 9 a.m. Holy Communion, 10:30 a.m. Morning Prayer; Sermon: The Rev'd Robert Bergner, Curate. 514-866-7113.
Christ Church Cathedral, 635 Ste. Catherine St. W. at University St. 8 a.m. Said Eucharist; 10 a.m. Theological Education Sunday: Choral Eucharist. Preacher Rev. Canon John Simons, principal of Montreal Diocesan Theological College; 4 p.m.: Choral Evensong.
Anglican Parish of Verdun/Ville Emard: Church of the Epiphany (formerly St. Clement's Church). Holy Eucharist 10 a.m. 4322 Wellington St., Verdun. 514-769-5373.
Unitarian Universalist Church of North Hatley, at 10 a.m.: The Rev. Carole Martignacco on the topic All About Love, 201 Main St., North Hatley, north-hatley.qc.uua.org.
Lakeshore Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 202 Woodside Rd., Beaconsfield. 10:30 a.m.: Sunday service on Valentine Voices - songs and poetry with Kerry Anne Kutz and Michael Cartile, 514-695-3031, www.luuc.org.
Unitarian Church of Montreal, 5035 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W. 10:30 a.m.: Say It With Love, by Nicoline Guerrier and Ann Beer; 10:30 a.m. Church school directed by Caroline Balderston Parry. Child care also provided. 514-485-9933 (Mon.-Fri. a.m). www.ucmtl.ca.Wheelchair accessible.
St. James the Apostle Anglican Church, 1439 Ste. Catherine St. W. (at Bishop St.), holds Sunday services: Holy Communion, 8:30 a.m.; Adult Bible Study, 10 a.m.; Sung Holy Communion, 11 a.m.; Children's Ministry available at 11 a.m.; Service Wednesdays at 12:15 p.m.: soup and meditative readings. Call: 514-849-7577 or visit www.stjamestheapostle.ca.
St. Stephen's Anglican Church - Guest speaker Donald Boisvert, assistant professor of religion from Concordia University, will speak on the topic Theological Education, at the 11 a.m. Eucharist. 25-12th Ave in Lachine.514-637-0814.
St. Timothy's Anglican Bible Church at Emmanuel Christian School, 4698 St. Jean Blvd. in Dollard des Ormeaux, offers services every Sunday at 10 a.m., including Sunday school and youth service. 514-697-5209.
The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, 3415 Redpath Ave., offers Sunday worship service at 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (Feb. 14, 21, 28) organ recitals; proceeds to Haiti Relief.
Visit www.standrewstpaul.com.
Loyola Chapel, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. W.: Mass at 5 p.m. Sundays until April. Call 514-848-2424, Local 3588.
The Padua Centre, 1950 St. Antoine St. W., offers Insight Meditation (Vipassana) every Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. Meditation, Buddhist teachings, discussions led by Daryl Lynn Ross. Donations requested. Call 514-488-7484 or visit www.truenorthinsight.org.
Spiritual Enlightenment Centre offers inspirational services at noon (guided meditation, lectures) and chakra therapy (energy healing) clinics that will help balance your energy (body-mind-spirit), from 3 to 4:30 p.m., 1476 du Collège St., 2nd floor, St. Laurent (du Collège métro). Call 514-331-5870.
MONDAY
Still Presence West Island offers an ongoing meditation circle: Inviting Peace into Our lives, at 7 p.m. at Christ Church,455 Church St. in Beaconsfield. Sessions include teaching, meditation and a question period. Donation $5.Call 514-697-2204 or www.stillpresence.com.
TUESDAY
Stories of Heroic Faith Series - A DVD will be shown on the life of Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan, 9-10:30 a.m. at Corpus Christi Parish in the Church Hall, 16 Pacific Ave., Senneville. 514-457-3896.
A Call to Justice-Amos-Hosea-Micah: Finding Our Way Home, from 9:15 to 11:15 a.m. at St. Luke's Parish, 106A Anselme-Lavigne, D.D.O. Contact: Adult Faith. 514-683-4941.
Mindfulness Meditation Practice at the N.D.G. Y, 4335 Hampton Ave., 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Pre-registration suggested: Call Allen Lobo, 514-484-3014 or visit radiantand free@gmail.com. Cost: $50 for 10 weeks.
Christ Church Cathedral Fulford Hall, 1444 Union Ave. 5 p.m. Pancake supper.
WEDNESDAY
Christ Church Cathedral, 635 Ste. Catherine St. W. at University St.: Said Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes, 7:30 a.m.; Said Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes, Celebrant Bishop Barry Clarke, noon; Choral Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes, 7:30 p.m.
St. Paul's Anglican Church, 377 44th Avenue, Lachine. Ash Wednesday services, 9:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. 514-634-1965.
St. James Drop-In Centre is open every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 328 Pine St. in Rosemère. An informal gathering place to chat, read and reflect over a cup of coffee. The church sanctuary is open for quiet prayer and reflection. Call 450-621-6466.
Anglican Parish of Verdun/Ville Emard: Church of the Epiphany (formerly St. Clement's Church). Holy Eucharist, noon; Ash Wednesday and Imposition of Ashes Holy Eucharist, 7 p.m.. 4322 Wellington St., Verdun. 514-769-5373.
St. James Anglican Church, 328 Pine St. in Rosemère, invites you to join us for Ash Wednesday Services at 7 p.m. Wheel-chair accessible. www.stjamesrosemere.ca
Awareness Meditation Practice, to invigorate your soul, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Church, 5035 de Maisonneuve Blvd W., near Vendôme métro. Freewill donation. Call Allen 514-484-3014 or email radiantandfree@gmail.com.
Ash Wednesday Indoor Labyrinth Walk - Begin your Lenten journey by following the ancient pattern outlined on the floor. Between 7 and 9 p.m. at Wadsworth Hall, Montreal West United Church, 88 Ballantyne St. (one block north of Sherbrooke Ave). No cost, but socks or slippers required. Call 514- 482-3210 or www.mwuc.org.
Secularism in Quebec, a free conference (in French) by Professor Gregory Baum as part of the Warm Encounters Series of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Canadian Centre for Ecumenism, 1819 René Lévesque Blvd. W. (Guy-Concordia métro, exit Saint-Mathieu). Questions can be in English. Free refreshments. RSVP: info@oikoumene.ca or 514- 937-9176, Local 26.
Halachic Living Wills: The Gift You Give Your Children. A discussion with Rabbi Ira Ebbin, at 7:45 p.m. Free. Beth Zion Congregation, 5740 Hudson Ave., Côte St. Luc. 514-489-8411; www.bethzion.com.
THURSDAY
The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, 3415 Redpath St. Adult Bible Study Group (Feb. 18-March 25,during Lent) at 11 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Lenten Chapel Service, then lunch. www.standrewstpaul.com.
FRIDAY
Catholic Charismatic Services of Montreal weekend retreat. The theme: My Soul Waits for the Lord. Feb. 19 to 21, at Villa St. Martin 9451 Gouin Blvd. W., Pierrefonds. Cost: $165/person; without sleepover $100/person. Call Hal Horwood at 450-621-6775.
Come and See Evening. Intended for men 18 to 54 who may be considering a vocation to follow Jesus as a priest. 5:30 to 9 p.m. at St. Willibrord Parish, 351 Willibrord Ave. in Verdun.Contact: Diocesan Vocation Office, at 514- 925-4348, or vocationsmtl@hotmail.com.
Engaged Encounter focuses on the marriage itself and leaves aside the immediate preparation of the wedding day. This weekend deals with marriage as a sacrament, providing couples with the opportunity to dialogue honestly and to listen to one another lovingly in preparation for life together. View: www.engagedencountermontreal.org Feb. 19-20-21, at Villa Marguerite,Pierrefonds. Cost: $300 per couple (no couples refused because of lack of funds) Contact: Paul and Linda, 514-
697-9805, evansgdc@videotron.ca.
Friday Evening Bible Study: The Gospel of John. Based largely on the commentary by Scott Hahn. Friday evenings at 7:15 p.m. at St. John Fisher Parish, 120 Summerhill Ave. Pointe Claire, in the Beverley Room. Call Adam or Joanna at 514-694-8291.
COMING UP
Still Presence West Island presents The Breath of Life, a retreat workshop with meditation, spiritual exercises and space for peace. Sat., Feb. 20, 9 a.m. to 12 noon at Christ Church, 455 Church St. in Beaconsfield. Donation $15.www.stillpresence.com.
Montreal Directed Retreats. Feb. 26-28, at Villa Marguerite. Cost: $120, includes meals and lodging. Call Paul Empsall, 514-626-9462, or Patricia Riley 514-697-6684. Or visit www.montrealretreats.org.
Christian Youth Leadership Camp - A formation program for young adults 14 to 18 to develop interpersonal skills and leadership through fun, games, workshops, prayer, reflection. Friday, March 5 (7 p.m.) to Sunday, March 7 (5 p.m.), at Tibériade MJ - Bellefeuille (transportation provided). Cost :70$ per person (limited space) (Includes all material, food, and sleep-over, transportation) Contact:Mission Jeunesse-Youth Ministry, Archdiocese of Montreal,514- 925-4300, Local 258. jeunesse@diocesemontreal.org
Diocesan Marriage Preparation: From This Day Forward. This faith-based marriage preparation program is offered in a non-threatening group environment. Visit www.
diocesemontreal.org - click marriage. March 5-6-7, at the Archdiocese of Montreal, 2000 Sherbrooke St. W. Cost:$225/couple includes lunch and materials. No couples refused because of lack of funds. Call Dept. for Family Life, 514-925-4300, Local 219.
ONGOING
Do You Wish to Join a Bible Study Group? Join us after Monday evening Mass 8 to 9 p.m. at St. Thomas à Becket Parish, Pierrefonds. Contact Rev. Mike Shaw at 514-696-6451.
Community Meditation at Yoga on the Park, every Sunday at 10 a.m. 5582 Sherbrooke St. W. Check www.yogaonthepark.ca for weekly topic. Donations go to local and developing world projects. Call 514-712-9642.
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Religion+Calendar/2559022/story.html#ixzz0fZz8cfm9
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Spiritual Testimony
http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2010/0215/annata021510.shtml
Sr. Annata Brockman gave the witness presentation at the Feb. 4 Nothing More Beautiful session on the theme, Jesus Christ: Lamb of God and Bread of Life. Here is her testimony.
When Jesus was on earth he said that he spoke only the words that his Father told him to speak (John 12.49-50). In preparing for this "witness," I have asked God to let me speak only the words that Jesus tells me to speak, so I hope that some of you will be able to identify with the action of Jesus in your life as I reveal his action in mine.
So, this is a story about Jesus acting in my life as Lamb of God and Bread of Life.
It is the journey of faith by which Jesus invites me to inner transformation, so that by using "God's gift of free will", I might enter into an intimate relationship with Jesus and thus become that special person God had in mind when he created me in his own image and likeness.
I was born the eighth child in a wonderful Saskatchewan family of strong faith - Paul and Louise Brockman and their 12 children - six boys and six girls. We lived on a farm, eight miles from the nearest Catholic church, and attended Mass and other church services regularly.
If we were unable to get to church because of muddy roads, we would go back home and, in today's liturgical vocabulary, you could say that we participated in Mom and Dad's "lay-led liturgy." Our family prayed together, worked together, played ball, cards, sang and danced together.
Most of our family was baptized a few days after we were born, and I received my First Communion when I was seven years old. My First Communion was not a very happy one because in those days Church law stated that to receive Holy Communion we had to fast from food and drink from the midnight before.
CRUMBS ON THE TABLE
While I was waiting to go to Church, I ate a few crumbs from the table where my mother had made some sandwiches. At age seven I didn't realize that "the law was made for us, and not we for the law," so even though my conscience bothered me, I received Communion.
For months later I thought I had committed a horrible sin, and that if I died then I would go straight to hell. This thought bothered me so much that one day I pretended I was in hell. I imagined the worst possible scenario: a place where there was no love, where only hatred existed, and from there I cried out to God, "Put me in hell if you want to and you will see that I will love you from there!"
PHOTO SUPPLIED
Sr. Annata Brockman as a postulant in 1946.
Immediately that fear of hell left me and I was never afraid again. I entered a new relationship with Jesus, the Lamb of God, who freed me from fear. After that we were always together, and I depended on God for everything.
JESUS ON THE HANDLEBARS
When I was 17 years old we moved to Kelowna, B.C., on account of my father's health. At that time students usually only completed Grade 12 or senior matriculation, then went to normal school in preparation for teaching.
Each school day as I rode home alone, I would pretend that Jesus was sitting on the handlebars as I rode the bike, and we would talk. Of course, I did all the talking! I would ask, "What do you think I should do next year"?
The thought would come, "Maybe you should be a sister," and I would say, "0h, Lord, please don't ask me to do that." I had my own plans. I planned to get married, and have a large family. For months the thought would come, "Maybe you should be a sister", and I would always say, "Lord, please don't ask me to do that."
One Sunday I had just come back from receiving Communion when the invitation of Jesus was so powerful that I realized it was God's plan for me, so I said, "Alright, Lord, if that's what you want, but let sister come to me."
Right after Mass, Sister Superior sent for me and, as I ran over to where she was waiting, she said, "I think you have a vocation, and you should come to Halifax this summer."
CLOSE TO FAINTING
I have never fainted in my life, but I was never so close to doing so because I realized how God took me at my word, not interfering with my free will, but waiting patiently until I was ready to say "yes". That very afternoon two sisters arrived at our home to inform my parents that they felt I had a vocation, and should enter the Sisters of Charity in two months.
In response to my excuse, that I should teach first and help the younger family members to get an education, Dad replied, "If God calls, nothing stands in the way." The words of Scripture came to me, "You did not choose me, but I chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last" (John 15.16).
I promised God then that I would love him for ever, that I would give 100 per cent of love and service to his people, and I meant what I said.
PHOTO SUPPLIED
Sr. Annata on her final Vows in 1949.
I knew that God had chosen me not for who I was or for anything I could do, but for what he could do to reach out to his people through me. I would be the body and the bones, but the spirit in me would be his spirit.
Just as the Father has sent Jesus to the world, Jesus was sending me, as he has sent multitudes of bishops, priests, religious and lay people to carry on his mission and to act through us "to save and to give life."
In spite of my promise to follow God's plan for me, it wasn't easy for I had to die to my own plans, in order to rise to God's plan. I was still a novice when my father died, and for a long time I experienced real loneliness for him and for my family.
The loneliness was so intense that I wanted to die, and I even prayed that my community would find me "unfit" to be a sister, and would send me home. In hindsight, this time of loneliness was the best thing that could have happened because every time this emotion struck me, I would say over and over again, "May Jesus Christ be praised!"
To help me to die to that loneliness, and to rise above it, I took a resolution "that I would smile, even if I cracked my face in the effort." Needless to say, through this painful experience, I grew in my relationship, in my friendship with Jesus.
After my first profession as a Sister of Charity, I began teaching in Halifax, then North Sydney, Kelowna, Cranbrook, Edmonton and Vancouver. I loved the students, teachers, and parents and tried to call forth the best in them.
GOD'S LOVING PRESENCE
While in Cranbrook, I experienced a conscious awareness of God's presence within me. All I had to do was to close my eyes, and experience God's loving presence. It was an experience that I would love to enjoy every minute of every day. But I realized that it was easy to serve others when Jesus was my very Bread of Life nourishing me from within.
So I shared my thoughts with Jesus, "It's easy to serve you, Lord, when you flood me with an awareness of your loving, warm presence. I know there is probably a better way to serve your people." Then I said, "Only if you want to," and I repeated it: "Only if you want to, you can take away this awareness of your presence and give this experience to others somewhere in the world who are finding it difficult to cope with their situation." I stressed again, "only if you want to, and provided that I never offend you."
From that moment this conscious awareness of God's loving presence within me left me and I have not experienced it again in these last 50 years. I know that my love for God does not depend on feelings or emotions, but on my decision to love God, and Jesus our Lamb of God, and Bread of Life.
When I had completed my master's in administration and was appointed principal of St. Mark School, I had an excruciating pain in my back. I knew I could not carry on as a principal and accept this constant pain, so I talked the situation over with Jesus on the cross.
'YOU CHOOSE!'
I looked at the crucifix in our chapel, and said to Jesus, "If you want me to be a good principal, that's fine with me, or if you want me to bear this excruciating pain the rest of my life, I can accept that, but I can't do both."
Then I looked intently at the crucifix and said to Jesus, "You choose!" The pain left me, and I knew what Jesus had chosen as part of God's plan for me.
My years in school as teacher and principal were very happy ones for I believed that together with the teachers and parents we were preparing the students for life here on this earth, for life in a world community and for life in eternity, our true home.
I believed then, as I do now that every human being on this earth is my brother, my sister in God's family, and therefore, I should respect each student and person as I would respect the Lord.
PHOTO SUPPLIED
Sr. Annata dances with her brother at her 50th anniversary.
I saw The Lord's Prayer as a most important prayer, not only because Jesus gave it to us, but also because it gave us the power to be the mouthpiece for every human being each time that we address God as "our Father", not "my Father" asking Our Father that God's kingdom of love would reign on earth, that God's will be done, that God would forgive us as we forgive one another.
IMITATING JESUS
I often wondered what the forgiveness of Jesus was like that I was to imitate. How could Jesus, the Lamb of God, become alive in me? How could Jesus as Lamb of God reach out through me rescuing, saving, salvaging, freeing, liberating me and those with whom I come in contact from the things which keep us from God?
When a friend of mine suddenly turned against me for no apparent reason, I felt like Peter asking Jesus, "How often should I forgive? As many as seven times?"
I felt like giving up many times, but took a resolution not to let anyone destroy me as a person. By some special gift, I was with this person when she was dying.
After some moments of silence, she said to me, "How can you ever forgive me? I was so jealous of you, and I tried really hard to hurt you. Can you ever forgive me?" I could truthfully say, "I have already forgiven you."
Then she asked me if I thought all the others, whom she had hurt, would forgive her and I assured her that I knew they would. Her response was a deep sigh of relief. Knowing that she was forgiven, she died peacefully about 20 minutes later.
Some time later, I was asked to see a patient who was dying, and didn't have much time left, so I went that night to see him. I knew that he had not spoken to his sister for 17 years, and now he was dying in a state of a lack of forgiveness.
So I asked him if I could contact his sister, but he refused as he did not want to have anything to do with her. When I reminded him that Jesus would forgive him as he would forgive his sister, he finally agreed to let me try to reach her. But he did not want to be alone with her until they were reconciled.
He died peacefully three weeks later, and I knew it was Jesus who longed to reconcile them, and I was the "lamb with skin on" that made reconciliation possible followed by a happy death. I knew, as St. Paul said in his second letter to the Corinthians (5.18-20), "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; so we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
PRAYER AND SACRIFICE
From my dad I learned how to be an ambassador for Christ, and that sometimes both prayer and sacrifice are required, as in the life of Jesus.
While Dad was dying of cancer and had been given five days to live, a woman was dying in an angry, bitter manner. Dad heard her yell at the priest to get out of her room. Dad said that he would suffer as much as necessary, as long as necessary, if that woman would only die in peace.
She died in five days having been reconciled to her family, to God and to the Church while Dad lived for almost six more weeks in excruciating pain without complaining.
A similar opportunity came to me when a friend was dying at home. After visiting the man, the family told me that their Dad really wanted to die at home, but they didn't know how much longer they could carry on.
When I went home that night, I asked Jesus not to let that family break under this. I told Jesus that if there was any unfinished work in this man's life on earth, I would take it upon myself to complete it in whatever way God chose. I wasn't surprised when I received a call from the family two days later informing me that their Dad had died peacefully at home.
After my years in school, I was asked to be pastoral associate in St. Joseph's Basilica. This was all part of God's plan for me because I realized more than ever that I would be one of those people through whom Jesus would eagerly reach out "to touch, encourage, challenge, love, inspire, and reconcile" his people.
For 23 delightful years I believed that I was privileged to share in the ministry of truly great archbishops, priests, staff and parishioners, and in the mission of Jesus in this intimate, compassionate way. I asked Jesus not to let me "get in the way of his action through me."
WORKING FOR GOD'S PEOPLE
We worked together on behalf of God's people, sometimes through prayer, sometimes through action by coordinating the RCIA journey of faith, or by preparing children and adults for the various sacraments, or families for Christian burial of their loved ones, sometimes encouraging and helping people prepare to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation when past fear kept them from experiencing God's loving forgiveness through this sacrament.
Every day was a special day because I knew that Jesus was indeed touching the hearts of many people, changing them and giving them new life.
PHOTO SUPPLIED
As a pastoral assistant at St. Joseph's Basilica, Sr. Annata is calming the nerves of Edmonton Sun Columnist Graham Hicks on his wedding day.
In conclusion, I can say with St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians (3.12-15), "I have not yet reached the goal - the finish line. I give no thought to what lies behind, but push on to what is ahead - life on high in Christ Jesus."
THE GOSPEL LIVES
In spite of the fact that Jesus has nourished me for over 60 years in daily Eucharist - nourished me through the Scriptures and nourished me with himself as Jesus, Bread of Life, in his sacramental presence - I realize that the Gospel is only the printed word until it becomes alive in me, and until the Spirit and action of Jesus becomes alive in my day-to-day living.
To be alive in me means to take on the mission of Jesus when he said, "I have not come to condemn the world, but to give it life - and life in its fullest." Jesus came to announce a kingdom or reign of love where no one is excluded from the Father's love, so I have to ask myself the question, "Do I allow God to "stretch me" to include everyone in my love?
GOD'S FAMILY
I know at this age in my life, I only need to prove myself to God - to be my best self to God. I can accept myself for who I am because God has accepted me, the Father has given me my identity - I am a daughter in God's family - and Jesus has reached out through me to touch his people.
It makes no difference to me whether I live another hour, another year or 10 years, because my time on earth will be for God's people. I believe my work will continue in heaven since, if Jesus answered my prayer on earth, how much more would he answer my prayer when I am in his loving presence.
I truly want God's best for each one of you! May Jesus reach out through you to touch, encourage, challenge, love, nourish and reconcile his people. My prayer for you will be The Hebrew Blessing, the words and music by one of our sisters, Suzanne Abruzzo, and sung now by the choir.
"May the Lord bless and keep us, and let his face shine upon us. May he be gracious to us all. May he show his love so kindly, and give us peace and strength. Amen. Amen
Sr. Annata Brockman gave the witness presentation at the Feb. 4 Nothing More Beautiful session on the theme, Jesus Christ: Lamb of God and Bread of Life. Here is her testimony.
When Jesus was on earth he said that he spoke only the words that his Father told him to speak (John 12.49-50). In preparing for this "witness," I have asked God to let me speak only the words that Jesus tells me to speak, so I hope that some of you will be able to identify with the action of Jesus in your life as I reveal his action in mine.
So, this is a story about Jesus acting in my life as Lamb of God and Bread of Life.
It is the journey of faith by which Jesus invites me to inner transformation, so that by using "God's gift of free will", I might enter into an intimate relationship with Jesus and thus become that special person God had in mind when he created me in his own image and likeness.
I was born the eighth child in a wonderful Saskatchewan family of strong faith - Paul and Louise Brockman and their 12 children - six boys and six girls. We lived on a farm, eight miles from the nearest Catholic church, and attended Mass and other church services regularly.
If we were unable to get to church because of muddy roads, we would go back home and, in today's liturgical vocabulary, you could say that we participated in Mom and Dad's "lay-led liturgy." Our family prayed together, worked together, played ball, cards, sang and danced together.
Most of our family was baptized a few days after we were born, and I received my First Communion when I was seven years old. My First Communion was not a very happy one because in those days Church law stated that to receive Holy Communion we had to fast from food and drink from the midnight before.
CRUMBS ON THE TABLE
While I was waiting to go to Church, I ate a few crumbs from the table where my mother had made some sandwiches. At age seven I didn't realize that "the law was made for us, and not we for the law," so even though my conscience bothered me, I received Communion.
For months later I thought I had committed a horrible sin, and that if I died then I would go straight to hell. This thought bothered me so much that one day I pretended I was in hell. I imagined the worst possible scenario: a place where there was no love, where only hatred existed, and from there I cried out to God, "Put me in hell if you want to and you will see that I will love you from there!"
PHOTO SUPPLIED
Sr. Annata Brockman as a postulant in 1946.
Immediately that fear of hell left me and I was never afraid again. I entered a new relationship with Jesus, the Lamb of God, who freed me from fear. After that we were always together, and I depended on God for everything.
JESUS ON THE HANDLEBARS
When I was 17 years old we moved to Kelowna, B.C., on account of my father's health. At that time students usually only completed Grade 12 or senior matriculation, then went to normal school in preparation for teaching.
Each school day as I rode home alone, I would pretend that Jesus was sitting on the handlebars as I rode the bike, and we would talk. Of course, I did all the talking! I would ask, "What do you think I should do next year"?
The thought would come, "Maybe you should be a sister," and I would say, "0h, Lord, please don't ask me to do that." I had my own plans. I planned to get married, and have a large family. For months the thought would come, "Maybe you should be a sister", and I would always say, "Lord, please don't ask me to do that."
One Sunday I had just come back from receiving Communion when the invitation of Jesus was so powerful that I realized it was God's plan for me, so I said, "Alright, Lord, if that's what you want, but let sister come to me."
Right after Mass, Sister Superior sent for me and, as I ran over to where she was waiting, she said, "I think you have a vocation, and you should come to Halifax this summer."
CLOSE TO FAINTING
I have never fainted in my life, but I was never so close to doing so because I realized how God took me at my word, not interfering with my free will, but waiting patiently until I was ready to say "yes". That very afternoon two sisters arrived at our home to inform my parents that they felt I had a vocation, and should enter the Sisters of Charity in two months.
In response to my excuse, that I should teach first and help the younger family members to get an education, Dad replied, "If God calls, nothing stands in the way." The words of Scripture came to me, "You did not choose me, but I chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last" (John 15.16).
I promised God then that I would love him for ever, that I would give 100 per cent of love and service to his people, and I meant what I said.
PHOTO SUPPLIED
Sr. Annata on her final Vows in 1949.
I knew that God had chosen me not for who I was or for anything I could do, but for what he could do to reach out to his people through me. I would be the body and the bones, but the spirit in me would be his spirit.
Just as the Father has sent Jesus to the world, Jesus was sending me, as he has sent multitudes of bishops, priests, religious and lay people to carry on his mission and to act through us "to save and to give life."
In spite of my promise to follow God's plan for me, it wasn't easy for I had to die to my own plans, in order to rise to God's plan. I was still a novice when my father died, and for a long time I experienced real loneliness for him and for my family.
The loneliness was so intense that I wanted to die, and I even prayed that my community would find me "unfit" to be a sister, and would send me home. In hindsight, this time of loneliness was the best thing that could have happened because every time this emotion struck me, I would say over and over again, "May Jesus Christ be praised!"
To help me to die to that loneliness, and to rise above it, I took a resolution "that I would smile, even if I cracked my face in the effort." Needless to say, through this painful experience, I grew in my relationship, in my friendship with Jesus.
After my first profession as a Sister of Charity, I began teaching in Halifax, then North Sydney, Kelowna, Cranbrook, Edmonton and Vancouver. I loved the students, teachers, and parents and tried to call forth the best in them.
GOD'S LOVING PRESENCE
While in Cranbrook, I experienced a conscious awareness of God's presence within me. All I had to do was to close my eyes, and experience God's loving presence. It was an experience that I would love to enjoy every minute of every day. But I realized that it was easy to serve others when Jesus was my very Bread of Life nourishing me from within.
So I shared my thoughts with Jesus, "It's easy to serve you, Lord, when you flood me with an awareness of your loving, warm presence. I know there is probably a better way to serve your people." Then I said, "Only if you want to," and I repeated it: "Only if you want to, you can take away this awareness of your presence and give this experience to others somewhere in the world who are finding it difficult to cope with their situation." I stressed again, "only if you want to, and provided that I never offend you."
From that moment this conscious awareness of God's loving presence within me left me and I have not experienced it again in these last 50 years. I know that my love for God does not depend on feelings or emotions, but on my decision to love God, and Jesus our Lamb of God, and Bread of Life.
When I had completed my master's in administration and was appointed principal of St. Mark School, I had an excruciating pain in my back. I knew I could not carry on as a principal and accept this constant pain, so I talked the situation over with Jesus on the cross.
'YOU CHOOSE!'
I looked at the crucifix in our chapel, and said to Jesus, "If you want me to be a good principal, that's fine with me, or if you want me to bear this excruciating pain the rest of my life, I can accept that, but I can't do both."
Then I looked intently at the crucifix and said to Jesus, "You choose!" The pain left me, and I knew what Jesus had chosen as part of God's plan for me.
My years in school as teacher and principal were very happy ones for I believed that together with the teachers and parents we were preparing the students for life here on this earth, for life in a world community and for life in eternity, our true home.
I believed then, as I do now that every human being on this earth is my brother, my sister in God's family, and therefore, I should respect each student and person as I would respect the Lord.
PHOTO SUPPLIED
Sr. Annata dances with her brother at her 50th anniversary.
I saw The Lord's Prayer as a most important prayer, not only because Jesus gave it to us, but also because it gave us the power to be the mouthpiece for every human being each time that we address God as "our Father", not "my Father" asking Our Father that God's kingdom of love would reign on earth, that God's will be done, that God would forgive us as we forgive one another.
IMITATING JESUS
I often wondered what the forgiveness of Jesus was like that I was to imitate. How could Jesus, the Lamb of God, become alive in me? How could Jesus as Lamb of God reach out through me rescuing, saving, salvaging, freeing, liberating me and those with whom I come in contact from the things which keep us from God?
When a friend of mine suddenly turned against me for no apparent reason, I felt like Peter asking Jesus, "How often should I forgive? As many as seven times?"
I felt like giving up many times, but took a resolution not to let anyone destroy me as a person. By some special gift, I was with this person when she was dying.
After some moments of silence, she said to me, "How can you ever forgive me? I was so jealous of you, and I tried really hard to hurt you. Can you ever forgive me?" I could truthfully say, "I have already forgiven you."
Then she asked me if I thought all the others, whom she had hurt, would forgive her and I assured her that I knew they would. Her response was a deep sigh of relief. Knowing that she was forgiven, she died peacefully about 20 minutes later.
Some time later, I was asked to see a patient who was dying, and didn't have much time left, so I went that night to see him. I knew that he had not spoken to his sister for 17 years, and now he was dying in a state of a lack of forgiveness.
So I asked him if I could contact his sister, but he refused as he did not want to have anything to do with her. When I reminded him that Jesus would forgive him as he would forgive his sister, he finally agreed to let me try to reach her. But he did not want to be alone with her until they were reconciled.
He died peacefully three weeks later, and I knew it was Jesus who longed to reconcile them, and I was the "lamb with skin on" that made reconciliation possible followed by a happy death. I knew, as St. Paul said in his second letter to the Corinthians (5.18-20), "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; so we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
PRAYER AND SACRIFICE
From my dad I learned how to be an ambassador for Christ, and that sometimes both prayer and sacrifice are required, as in the life of Jesus.
While Dad was dying of cancer and had been given five days to live, a woman was dying in an angry, bitter manner. Dad heard her yell at the priest to get out of her room. Dad said that he would suffer as much as necessary, as long as necessary, if that woman would only die in peace.
She died in five days having been reconciled to her family, to God and to the Church while Dad lived for almost six more weeks in excruciating pain without complaining.
A similar opportunity came to me when a friend was dying at home. After visiting the man, the family told me that their Dad really wanted to die at home, but they didn't know how much longer they could carry on.
When I went home that night, I asked Jesus not to let that family break under this. I told Jesus that if there was any unfinished work in this man's life on earth, I would take it upon myself to complete it in whatever way God chose. I wasn't surprised when I received a call from the family two days later informing me that their Dad had died peacefully at home.
After my years in school, I was asked to be pastoral associate in St. Joseph's Basilica. This was all part of God's plan for me because I realized more than ever that I would be one of those people through whom Jesus would eagerly reach out "to touch, encourage, challenge, love, inspire, and reconcile" his people.
For 23 delightful years I believed that I was privileged to share in the ministry of truly great archbishops, priests, staff and parishioners, and in the mission of Jesus in this intimate, compassionate way. I asked Jesus not to let me "get in the way of his action through me."
WORKING FOR GOD'S PEOPLE
We worked together on behalf of God's people, sometimes through prayer, sometimes through action by coordinating the RCIA journey of faith, or by preparing children and adults for the various sacraments, or families for Christian burial of their loved ones, sometimes encouraging and helping people prepare to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation when past fear kept them from experiencing God's loving forgiveness through this sacrament.
Every day was a special day because I knew that Jesus was indeed touching the hearts of many people, changing them and giving them new life.
PHOTO SUPPLIED
As a pastoral assistant at St. Joseph's Basilica, Sr. Annata is calming the nerves of Edmonton Sun Columnist Graham Hicks on his wedding day.
In conclusion, I can say with St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians (3.12-15), "I have not yet reached the goal - the finish line. I give no thought to what lies behind, but push on to what is ahead - life on high in Christ Jesus."
THE GOSPEL LIVES
In spite of the fact that Jesus has nourished me for over 60 years in daily Eucharist - nourished me through the Scriptures and nourished me with himself as Jesus, Bread of Life, in his sacramental presence - I realize that the Gospel is only the printed word until it becomes alive in me, and until the Spirit and action of Jesus becomes alive in my day-to-day living.
To be alive in me means to take on the mission of Jesus when he said, "I have not come to condemn the world, but to give it life - and life in its fullest." Jesus came to announce a kingdom or reign of love where no one is excluded from the Father's love, so I have to ask myself the question, "Do I allow God to "stretch me" to include everyone in my love?
GOD'S FAMILY
I know at this age in my life, I only need to prove myself to God - to be my best self to God. I can accept myself for who I am because God has accepted me, the Father has given me my identity - I am a daughter in God's family - and Jesus has reached out through me to touch his people.
It makes no difference to me whether I live another hour, another year or 10 years, because my time on earth will be for God's people. I believe my work will continue in heaven since, if Jesus answered my prayer on earth, how much more would he answer my prayer when I am in his loving presence.
I truly want God's best for each one of you! May Jesus reach out through you to touch, encourage, challenge, love, nourish and reconcile his people. My prayer for you will be The Hebrew Blessing, the words and music by one of our sisters, Suzanne Abruzzo, and sung now by the choir.
"May the Lord bless and keep us, and let his face shine upon us. May he be gracious to us all. May he show his love so kindly, and give us peace and strength. Amen. Amen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)