Sunday, December 30, 2012

Colleagues List, December 31st, 2012

Vol. VIII No. 14  
  
***** 

END OF YEAR/NEW YEAR EDITION 
  
Wayne A. Holst, Editor 

My E-Mail Address: 
waholst@telusplanet.net 
  
***** 
  
Colleagues List Web Site: 
http://colleagueslist.blogspot.com 

Canadian Anglicans Google Groups:
http://tinyurl.com/9wh2ak9

Now "Quicklinks" are included with many items. 
Otherwise, scroll down to find your selection 
in the body of the blog, as in the past. 
  
***** 

Dear Colleagues: 

This is my final mailing for 2012 and I 
am happy to share with you a kind of 
annual "summing up." 

First, I offer a personal reflection 
"Why I Edit Colleagues List." 

Then, I give you my - 

"Annual Summary of Colleagues List 
 Book and Movie Notices, as well as 
 Other Columns for 2012" 

If you missed any items through the 
course of the year, you should be 
able to find them now quite easily. 

--- 

Colleague Contribution - this week is 
from a regular columnist Jim Taylor 
who writes - 

"Calendar Full of Opportunities" 

http://edges.canadahomepage.net/category/sharp-edges/

Thanks to Jim, Ron and Marty for sharing 
much stimulating material with us in 2012. 

--- 

Net Notes: 

"EU Bans Nativity Scenes" - The 
European Union is calling for the 
"neutralizing" of Christmas art 
on official holiday promotions 
(La Stampa, Italy) 
http://tinyurl.com/cml4bef 


"Montreal Deacon Arrested" - a person 
I considered a friend when I would 
communicate with the Canadian Conference 
of Catholic Bishops was apparently 
leading a double life. Very sad. 
(National Catholic Reporter) 
http://tinyurl.com/dy76jky 

"India Heading to Fundamentalism" - 
recent developments indicate a move 
toward hyper-religious concervatism 
in the world's largest democracy 
(Commonweal) http://tinyurl.com/bwv2glz 

"Violent Indian Protests Over Rape" - 
the gang rape and death of a young 
woman has raised major justice issues 
in a nation long noted for deeply 
entrenched societal male bias 
(The Atlantic Online) 
http://tinyurl.com/c6dd5nr 

"Some Canadians Distrust Scientists" - 
Canada is by no means without it's 
citizens who doubt current scientific 
climate change theories (CBC) 
http://tinyurl.com/cuxwmfk 

"Canadian 'Beginning of Life" Debate" - 
2012 brought another round of political 
debate on the meaning of life, especially 
related to abortion (The Toronto Star) 
http://tinyurl.com/bmv32n7 

"Canada's Immigrant and Refugee System" - 
the current government is under much 
scrutiny over how we do or don't welcome 
new Canadians among us (The Toronto Star) 
http://tinyurl.com/d4exjhx 

--- 

Wisdom of the Week: 

Provided by Sojourners Online - 

Pearl S. Buck, Georg Lichtenberg and 
Bell Hooks offer their insights. 

--- 

On This Day: 

From the archives of the New York Times: 

Gorbachev Resigns as Communist Leader 
http://tinyurl.com/6z5ahcl 

Germany began dropping incendiary bombs 
on London during World War II. 
http://tinyurl.com/cdu83yw 

--- 

Closing Thought: 

Colleague Isabel Gibson, longtime friend 
living in Ottawa, adds a helpful insight 
to close off the year and begin a new one. 

--- 

May your end of year and new year times 
be happy and meaningful ones! 

I hope to meet you again in 2013! 

Wayne 

******************************** 

SPECIAL ITEM NUMBER ONE 

WHY I CONTINUE TO 
EDIT COLLEAGUES LIST 

Let me suggest just a few reasons why, 
at the end of a year impacted by illness, 
I continue to see Colleagues List as an 
important weekly investment in my life. 

1. I continue to function from within 
supportive family, faith and university 
communities that accepted me when I was 
rebuilding my life and needed a vocational 
home. That is the primary reason for any 
good I may accomplish through this endeavor 
that had its start twenty years ago and 
at age seventy, I will continue producing 
Colleagues List on a regular basis as long 
as it is being read (almost 8,000 readers 
world-wide during the past year) and as 
long as I am able to do it. Colleagues List 
integrates what has become a new vocation 
for me (teaching and writing) which began 
when I was fifty years old. 

2. I continue to serve in this way because 
I have been able to be who I am in these 
communities. I have never been asked to 
deny what shaped me and what I brought 
with me. In fact, I was encouraged to 
share this background with others. 

3. I continue to give because I truly 
need to be part of a faith community. 
I cannot be "spiritual, not religious" 
or a "free lance Christian." I seek to 
be a Christian that lives with all the 
good and bad that a faith community 
involves. I also cherish the freedom of 
thought that the university provides. 
At many of the university classes I teach 
I am asked why I am a Christian. I reply 
that while hard to explain, my faith is 
important to me and I could not be the 
person I am without my faith. 

4. I continue to contribute because I find 
myself at a vantage point that allows me 
many other considerations. I try to weigh 
them all respectfully, and am able to adapt 
new discoveriesand insights into my personal 
philosophy of life. I have learned a great 
deal over the years from believers and non- 
believers alike.I consider all of them 
special gifts from God. 

5. I continue to live hopefully because I 
choose to be positive, rather than despondent. 
Even as I wish much of my Christian experience 
had never happened, I nevertheless rejoice that 
much of it did. I want to claim what is 
good from the past, learn from it, and 
not dwell on the negative. 

6. I continue to struggle with Colleagues List 
because I want to be part of the new unfolding 
of what God has in store ecumenically for God's 
people in Canada and the world. This weekly 
exercise keeps me connected. While I do not know 
how it all will turn out, I want to be numbered 
among those who are doing what they can to bring 
about God's Kingdom on earth. 

What I say about myself, I believe is true for 
many others who faithfully tend the fires of 
hundreds of Christian communities across Canada 
and beyond. Many of them go unheralded but that 
is the price of faithfulness. 

***** 

SPECIAL ITEM NUMBER TWO 

ANNUAL SUMMARY OF COLLEAGUES LIST ARTICLES 
Written During the Calendar Year of 2012 - 
A Total of 32 Selections. 

All selections can be retrieved by clicking 
the provided link and scrolling down the page 
to the Special Item for that issue. 

--- 

A. BOOK/MOVIE NOTICES AND REVIEWS 
   Appearing in Colleagues List, 2012 

"John Howard Yoder: Spiritual Writings" 
 January 7th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/c8rfnom 

-- 

"Changing Human Nature: 
 Ecology, Ethics, Genes and God" 
 January 14th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/cgxvq77 

-- 

Two Oscar Movie Nominations - 

"The Help" and "The Iron Lady" 
 January 28th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/bpctql7 

-- 

"God is Red" 
 The Church in China 
  February 4th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/bm2ap8l 

-- 

"God is Red" 
 The Church in China - Part Two 
  February 11th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/cdwsm6z 

-- 

"Pulpit and Politics - 
 Competing Religious Ideologies 
 in Canadian Public Life" 
 February 25th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/b8b2nue 

-- 

"When God Talks Back" 
 Understanding American Evangelicals 
 March 17th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/8dga5jz 

-- 

"Amen: What Prayer Can Mean 
 in a World Beyond Belief" 
 March 24th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/cxhfere 

-- 

"Still: Notes on 
 a Mid-Faith Crisis" 
 March 31st, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/cxzh389 

-- 

"This Anglican Church of Ours" 
 April 7th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/cc77grz 

-- 

"Christian Thought in the 
 Twenty-First Century" 
 April 21st, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/ckal2p9 

-- 

"Revelations - Visions, Prophecy, 
 Politics in the Book of Revelation," 
 April 28th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/box4pob 

-- 

"John Henry Newman - 
Spiritual Writings" 
June 9th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/bb79syx 

-- 

"After Imperialism - 
 Christian Identity in China" 
  July 19th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/cvper8e 

-- 

"A New Day" Download 
 August 4th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/bqbnncp 
http://www.reginaldbibby.com/ 

-- 

"Emergence Christianity" 
 November 3rd, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/d86uonr 

-- 

"An Old Pastor Shares His New Faith" 
 November 10th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/bjrd98m 

-- 

"Intercultural Visions: 
 Called to be the Church" 
  November 17th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/bthklzf 

-- 

"Lincoln" (the movie) 
 November 24th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/c77oml6 

-- 

"The Collected Sermons 
 of Dietrich Bonhoeffer" 
 December 2nd, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/b6ruls2 

-- 

"Life of Pi" (the movie) 
 December 2nd, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/b6ruls2 

-- 

"Mythic Imagination" 
 December 9th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/bty9pcc 

-- 

"Jesus of Nazareth: 
 The Infancy Narratives." 
 December 16th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/czbaagm 


--- 

B. LECTURE NOTES AND 
   PERSONAL/COLLEAGUE REFLECTIONS 

Guest Contribution from 
Colleague Mathew Zachariah 

"Faking Compassion?" 
 January 21st, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/c3kl434 

-- 

A Personal Reflection: 

A Troubled Lenten Assessment of 
 "Miserere" by Gregorio Allegri 
  February 18th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/b5grb6n 

-- 

"St. David's Day - March 1st" 
 Thoughts on the Dedication 
 of His Shrine in Wales 
 March 3rd, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/cdz8pl2 

-- 

"Spiritual Travel - Revised" 
 A Reflection on Pilgrimage 
 March 10th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/d84slcd 

-- 

"Personal Reflection on the Titanic, 1912-2012" 
 April 14th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/d923bfe 

-- 

Bill Blackie (notes on his lecture) 

"The Left Hand of God - Why There 
 Will Always Be a Religious Left 
 in Canadian Politics" 

November 24th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/c77oml6 

-- 

"Holst Family Christmas Letter (2012)" 
 December 23rd, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/d69j5tz 

-- 

"Why I Continue 
 To Edit Colleagues List" 
 December 31st, 2012 

(this issue) 

-- 

"Annual Summary of 
 Colleagues List Articles" 
 December 31st, 2012 

(this issue) 
  
*********** 

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTION 

JIM TAYLOR 

Web Log 
December 30th, 2012 

"A Calendar Full of Opportunities" 

http://tinyurl.com/awqlkrr 

***** 

NET NOTES 

EU BANS NATIVITY SCENES 
Official Cards Now "Neutral" 

La Stampa, Italy 
December 21st, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/cml4bef 

-- 

MONTREAL DEACON ARRESTED 
Public Figure, Spokesperson 
Faces Child Porn Charges 

National Catholic Reporter 
December 28th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/dy76jky 

-- 

INDIA'S MOVE TOWARD FUNDAMENTALISM 

Commonweal Magazine 
January 11th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/bwv2glz 

-- 

VIOLENT PROTESTS IN INDIA OVER RAPE 
Major Public Reaction Reaches Peak 

The Atlantic Online 
December 28th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/c6dd5nr 

-- 

SOME CANADIANS DISTRUST SCIENTISTS 
Concern Over Climate-Change Issues 

CBC News 
Dec. 28th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/cuxwmfk 

-- 

CANADIAN 'BEGINNING OF LIFE' DEBATE 
Reflection on the Past Year 

Toronto Star 
Dec. 28th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/bmv32n7 

-- 

CANADA'S IMMIGRATION/REFUGEE SYSTEM 
Significant Changes Needed in 2013 

The Toronto Star 
Dec. 29th, 2012 

http://tinyurl.com/d4exjhx 


***** 

WISDOM OF THE WEEK 

December 24th - December 28th, 2012 

To serve is beautiful, but only if 
it is done with joy and a whole heart 
and a free mind. 

- Pearl S. Buck 

-- 

I cannot say whether things will get 
better if we change; what I can say 
is that they must change if they are 
to get better. 

- Georg Lichtenberg 

-- 

There must exist a paradigm, a practical 
model for social change that includes 
an understanding of ways to transform 
consciousness that are linked to efforts 
to transform structures. 

 - Bell Hooks, "Killing Rage: Ending Racism" 

***** 

ON THIS DAY 

December 23rd to 29th - 

Gorbachev Resigns as Communist Leader 
http://tinyurl.com/6z5ahcl 

Germany began dropping incendiary bombs 
on London during World War II. 
http://tinyurl.com/cdu83yw 

***** 

CLOSING THOUGHT 

From Colleague Isabel Gibson: 

The Gift of Humility 

In the spirit of surprises, it turns out 
that the Hippocratic Oath does not include 
these words: First, do no harm.  Maybe the 
reason so many think it does is that the 
injunction is both pertinent and pithy.   
Indeed, it neatly encapsulates the gift 
of humility, at least as it relates to 
our outcomes, medical and otherwise.   

We charge about, convinced that we are 
doing good: merely �avoiding harm� seems 
like a low standard to which to aspire.   
Yet within our polities, organizations, 
and relationships, we can see how easy 
it is to make things worse by acting 
with insufficient information or with 
insufficient attention.   

May we act or refrain from action in 
humble awareness of that fact, every day. 

(end) 

***** 

(addendum) 

ST. DAVID'S AND UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS 

St. David's and ACTS Ministry Announce - 

Our Spiritual Travelers Tour for 2013 
TURKEY AND THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

April 23rd - May 9th, 2013 

Tour sale requires a $300 deposit, with 
full payment due, and of January, 2013. 

Our major tour themes are: Classic Greek and Roman, 
Early Christian, Muslim-Christian and the beautiful 
scenery of the Mediterranian coast of SW Turkey. 

*Enjoy Istanbul (Constantinople) - long a link 
between East and West. 

*Classical cities like Troy will be visited and 
intriguing ancient sites will be revealed. 

*Pilgrims from many of the regions we will visit 
were present in Jerusalem at Pentecost - people 
from "Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia" - 
(Acts 2.) 

*Saint Paul founded churches in many of the centers 
of central and western Turkey and we will spend 
quality time in places like Ephesus. 

*We will come to know cities mentioned in the 
Book of Revelation (chapters 1-3) by Jobn. 
Cities like Pergamon, Thyatira, Philadelphia, 
Sardis and Smyrna 

--- 

Details such as costs and prep notes have been 
edited into a beautiful travel brochure. This 
was just sent to all who have thus far expressed 
interest. If you are interested, let us know! 

The brochure will also be posted to the St. 
David's Spiritual Travelers Discussion List Group. 
which is your place to express yourself! 

To join this unique internet discussion contact: 
Deb. Charnusaki - debcharnuski@hotmail.com 

Your tour hosts: 

Marlene and Wayne Holst 
waholst@telusplanet.net (or) 
marleneaholst@gmail.com 
403-286-7416 

***** 

OUR WINTER AND SPRING 2013 PROGRAMS 

With more to be announced - 

AT ST.DAVID'S UNITED CHURCH 

"WELCOMING THE STRANGER" WEEKEND AT ST. DAVID'S 

Friday March 1st - Sunday, March 3rd (confirmed) 

Special Guest: 
Mary Jo Leddy, Romero House, Toronto. 

Mary Jo's presentations will take place 
at St. David's church. 

Other guests are presently being secured for 
panels, workshop and as seminar leaders. These 
activities will be held on the university 
campus. 

Watch for new information on this 
special weekend focused on Canada's 
policy for welcoming new Canadians 
and how Christians might respond. 

***** 

MONDAY NIGHT STUDY 

From Monday, January 14th 
thru Monday, March 26th. 
7:00 -9:00 PM TM Room. 

Study Book: 

"Radical Gratitude" by Mary Jo Leddy 

Review of book links: 
http://tinyurl.com/bemfdms 
(Western Catholic Reporter) 

http://tinyurl.com/awu94eq 
(Gospel and our Culture) 

Cost of the course: $50.00 
Buy only the book: $20.00 

The course and books are now 
on sale at the church lobby. 

***** 

THURSDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY 

Begins Thursday, January 17th, 2013 

Theme: 

"'Wisdom' in the Biblical Literature" 
A six week series running through 
the winter. 10-11 AM 

All welcome. No cost. 

***** 

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY 

Tuesday Night University Study sponsored 
by the Faculty of Continuing Education: 

HERESIES AND HERETICS - The Real Story of 
Early Christianity. Cont Ed Course 198-001 

Ten Sessions - Jan. 22nd - Mar. 26th, 2013 

Click this link for books, costs and details: 
http://tinyurl.com/77xuwnu 

--- 

Faith and Spirituality Centre Winter Study 
Sponsored by the Christian chaplains of 
the University of Calgary 

TWELVE STEPS TO A COMPASSIONATE LIFE 
A Study of Karen Armstrong's latest book. 

Fridays - March 1st - April 5th 
12 noon - 1:00 PM 

Six Weeks - Native Centre Board Room, 
McEwan Student Centre, University of Calgary. 

12 noon to 1:00 PM: Cost of the book: $15. 

***** 

SPECIAL ST. DAVID'S LINKS 

Contact us at: asdm@sduc.ca (or) admin@sduc.ca 
St. David's Web Address - http://sduc.ca/ 

Listen to audio recordings of Sunday services - 
http://sduc.ca/St_Davids_United_Church/Audio.html 

***** 

STUDY ARCHIVES 

An accumulation of thirty-five books studied 
since 2000 can quickly be found at: 
http://tinyurl.com/6oxmyj4 

This collection of study resources represents 
more than a decade of Monday Night Studies at 
St. David's, plus extra courses too! 

You are welcome to use our course outlines, 
class notes and resource pages in your personal 
and group reflections. 

(end)