Saturday, February 22, 2014

Colleagues List, February 23rd, 2014

Vol IX.  No. 26 

*****

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE


Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address:
waholst@telus.net

Colleagues List Web Site:
http://colleagueslist.blogspot.com

"Quicklinks" are included with many items
at the beginning of this issue. To get a more
complete picture, however, scroll down to
find your special selection in the body of
the blog. 

Note that not all items here have links.


*****


Dear Friends:

I hope you enjoyed my reflections
on William Shakespeare last week,
and on his spiritual as well as his
literary importance.

My Special Item this week centres on
another great English playwright -
George Bernard Shaw through his play
"Major Barbara"

http://tinyurl.com/fwlg8
http://tinyurl.com/mjtkx5d

To read my thoughts, scroll down

--

Colleague Communications -

this week are from:

Phil Callaway (Three Hills, AB)
Phil uses humor to share Good News
"The Fruit of the Spirit is Not Lemons"
   http://tinyurl.com/l4wl6j5

Michael Higgins (Fairfield, CT)
Higgins expresses what many Catholics
and non-Catholics hope from Francis
"RC Laity Want Treatment Like Adults"
  http://tinyurl.com/l9z62xk
 
Art Bauer (Pompton Plains, NJ)
A lengthy article, worth reading over time,
about the changes that Amazon.com entails
"Cheap Words - Is Amazon Bad for Books?"
  http://tinyurl.com/mu7vf4v

Martin Marty (Chicago, IL) 
As usual, Marty is thought-provoking - 
and this time, he writes on disability
"God as Sister... God and Sister"
  http://tinyurl.com/kb7zgfl

Jim Taylor (Okanagan BC) 
Jim takes on the question of "elves" in
an piece that expands our world-views
"Faith in Invisible Beings"
  http://tinyurl.com/lzp35xs

Ron Rolheiser (San Antonio, TX) 
Jesus replaces old religion with his
new and freeing approaches
"Religious Coinage"
  http://tinyurl.com/mytatzv
  
--

Net Notes -


"Big in Italy - Miracles!" - Italy is
a 'religiously secular' nation as this
article helps to clarify (The Atlantic)
http://tinyurl.com/l2kn5hk

"Australia's "White Trash" Image" -
a reflection, from Asia, on how this
'non-Asian' nation compromises itself
(UCA News) http://tinyurl.com/kfyjovu

"A Time of Change... A Time of Hope" -
what may seem threatening to many
local congregations can be revisioned
as congregations can be adaptable
(Alban Weekly) http://tinyurl.com/kdqwrnv

"A Dublin Shrine Devoted to St. Valentine" -
Ireland has inherited the relics of a person
who reflects a seasonal spiritual meaning
(America Magazine) http://tinyurl.com/l5xel69

"Japanese Bishops Challenge the Vatican" -
Asian bishops are asking the pope to help
the church break out of Euro-confinement 
(National Catholic Reporter)
http://tinyurl.com/n4ucxmh

"Native Women and Girls are Abuse Targets"
- Canadians are only becoming aware of the
great tragedy suffered by First Nations females
(Christian Week Online)
http://tinyurl.com/mgsx6w4

"Anglican and United Churches Talking Again" 
- about three decades ago ACC and UCC talks
about greater co-operation broke down. Now,
in very different times, there is new hope
(Anglican Journal) http://tinyurl.com/m2uykv2

"Walter Brueggeman Discusses His New Book"
- one of America's leading Biblical scholars
talks about reality, grief and hope as major
prophetic opportunities of the church today 
(Englewood Review of Books video)
http://tinyurl.com/ogqsvsj

"United Nations Condemn DPRK Human Rights"
- this week, the UN issued a severe condemnation
of human rights in North Korea and a number of
articles are presented on this subject
(Assist News, UCA News) 
http://tinyurl.com/lvhpjyq
http://tinyurl.com/koq6dc7

"South Koreans Head North for Family Reunions"
- a time of at least temporary meeting between
families of North and South Korea was emotional
(UCA News, Korean Herald)
http://tinyurl.com/lhd5utp
http://tinyurl.com/kqmyauv

--

Wisdom of the Week - is here p
rovided by
Sojourners Online

Muhammad Ali, Ella Baker and Osheta Moore
share their thoughts with us.

 --

On This Day - 


Two historical events remembered
this past week, courtesy of the
archives of the New York Times
February 16th - 23rd

US Lands on Iwo Jima in WWII
http://tinyurl.com/a97rnfw

Nixon Departs on Historic China Trip
http://tinyurl.com/aw2mpfh

--

Closing Thought - St. Vincent de Paul

Please scroll down.

--

Church and University Teaching
Here is information on some of
my winter activity.

http://tinyurl.com/kvmu8o5
http://tinyurl.com/mnfjrdl
http://tinyurl.com/m5fedjk

--

Thanks for joining me again this week.

Wayne

(end)


*********** 

SPECIAL ITEM

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
Introducing a Contemporary Dramatist
Through His Play "Major Barbara"

"Major Barbara" by George Bernard Shaw
 is currently appearing at Theatre Calgary.

Marlene and I are regular subscribers to
our city's major theatre company series, so

we were able to see this play last weekend 
as part of our annual membership.

Over the years, we have visited the Shaw
Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
to see, for example, excellent productions
of "Pygmalion," "The Doctor's Dilemma,"
"Heartbreak House," and others.

We have come to appreciate Shaw for
his acerbic wit and critical intelligence.

He certainly knows how to challenge
common wisdom.

Even though his life spans the mid-19th
to mid-20th centuries, we find that many
of his ideas are still applicable to our lives
today - only the context needs a bit of
adjustment.

To read a good backgrounder on Shaw,
please click: http://tinyurl.com/fwlg8


Introduction to "Major Barbara"

(Note that some of what follows is taken
from the "Masterplots - Digest of World
Literature" 1971 edition - an encyclopedic
summary of hundreds of authors and
thousands of books, treatises and plays 
spanning all human history. I have found
this eighteen volume series particularly
helpful for almost forty years.)

Click here for a Wikipedia outline of this play:
http://tinyurl.com/mjtkx5d

--

Shaw considered drama to be only a means,
not an end. He used drama as a way of
educating the great "ignorant" public.

Shaw dramatized themes: philosophical,
moral, social, economic, historic, and even
biological themes - most of which were
intrinsically non-dramatic and un-entertaining.

Shaw really tried to transform difficult subject
matter to the stage in entertaining ways. He 
was sometimes more successful attempting this
than at other times. Still, one can usually gain a
lot from attending to his best efforts.

In Shaw's plays, the theme is not merely
an integral part of the characters and action;
as often as not, it is a topic of conversation
which the characters, sitting in their parlors or 
standing on the streets, discuss and explore.

--

"Major Barbara" is a sermon. The subject 
is salvation of society and salvation of the
human soul. The text is "blessed are the
poor" - a theme frequently taken up by Jesus.

As might be expected, Shaw's message is 
diametrically opposed to the lesson taught
by Christian ethics.

Shaw believed the poor were indeed un-
blessed, but he did not associate poverty 
with sin (personal or social) that kept 
people from the kingdom of heaven. He 
saw crime as evil. To eliminate poverty,
therefore was both a social and a moral
imperative.

Thus, this play is not a religious but a
social justice sermon and it turned out
to be outrageously funny. He challenged
many of the commonly held precepts -
especially religious ones.

He pits his hero, a socialist, but also a
multi-millionaire manufacturer of
munitions, Andrew Undershaft - against 
his daughter Barbara, a major in the 
Salvation Army.  

Undershaft is the apostle of Shaw's 
secular morality. He reflects Shaw's 
"enlightened socialism" as well as his 
"evolutionary capitalism." He believed 
that an enlightened society could learn 
how to turn its poor into productive
citizens, using money that benevolent 
capitalists would invest in them.

Abolish poverty, he believed and many
of the major problems of society would
be overcome.

Shaw thought that heaven could be
created on earth when poverty was
erased. He opposed religious thinkers
who saw heaven as a place of rectified
earthly injustice. He also rejected
religious institutions that were self-
preserving and used money only to
"help people get saved and into heaven."

Barbara tries to convert her father
to give his money to the Army to help
to save souls from hell. Undershaft
believes that his money should be
invested in programs to help the
poor rise in society as his own experience
and example has taught him. He seeks
to convert her to a more "realistic way."

The daughter is crushed by her dad's
cynicism and the father is disillusioned
by his daughter's social naivete.

They agree to visit each other's
communities. Barbara is shattered
when her Sally Ann superior is 
willing to take her own father's
tainted money to keep their missions
open for service. She discovers,
on the other hand, that the town where
her dad's workers live is a place of
sanitation, prosperity and advancement.

Barbara comes to realize that "the
poor need NOT always be with us."
She determines to follow her father
and feed to souls of the well fed,
rather than the hungry.

--

My Thoughts -

Summary Assessment of the Drama:

Shaw's success is to create a thoroughly
delightful drama with many great
characters who "evolve" though both
experience and thought development. 

Without the relief of humor, however,
much of Shaw's moralizing and sermonizing 
would become very tedious.

Did Shaw convert anyone to his particular
brand of socialism?

I would doubt it.

The play is so amusing that it is
difficult to take its message seriously.
But in the process of entertaining
his audience, Shaw was at least able
to acquaint them with serious ideas. 

Those ideas and the resulting debates
they should encourage must not be
lost on people of faith. That implies
those who try to "save souls for
heaven" and those who seek to
"save souls by making this world
a better place."

*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

PHIL CALLAWAY
Three Hills, AB

Christianity.ca
February, 2014

"The Fruit of the Spirit is Not Lemons"

http://tinyurl.com/l4wl6j5

--

MICHAEL HIGGINS
Fairfield, CT

Globe and Mail
February 20th, 2014

"RC Laity Want Treatment Like Adults"

http://tinyurl.com/l9z62xk

--

ART BAUER
Pompton Plains, NJ

The New Yorker
February 17th, 2014

"Cheap Words - 
  Is Amazon Bad for Books?"

http://tinyurl.com/mu7vf4v


--

MARTIN MARTY
Chicago, IL

Sightings
February 17th, 2014

"God as Sister... God and Sister"

http://tinyurl.com/kb7zgfl

--

JIM TAYLOR
Okanagan, BC

Personal Web Log
February 19th, 2014

"Faith in Invisible Beings"

http://tinyurl.com/lzp35xs

--

RON ROLHEISER
San Antonio, TX

Personal Website
February 16th, 2014

"Religious Coinage"

http://tinyurl.com/mytatzv

*****

NET NOTES

BIG IN ITALY - MIRACLES!
Saintly Celebs Inspire Italians

The Atlantic
February 19th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/l2kn5hk

--

AUSTRALIA'S 'WHITE TRASH' IMAGE
Justifiable Nickname Persists

UCA News
February 19th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/kfyjovu

--

A TIME OF CHANGE... A TIME OF HOPE
Local Congregations Quite Adaptable

Alban Weekly
February 16th,2014

http://tinyurl.com/kdqwrnv

--

A DUBLIN SHRINE TO ST. VALENTINE
A Time to Make and Renew Love Vows

America Magazine
February 14th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/l5xel69

--

JAPANESE BISHOPS CHALLENGE VATICAN
Say Eurocentric Views Don't Fit in Asia

National Catholic Reporter
February 14th,2014

http://tinyurl.com/n4ucxmh

--

NATIVE WOMEN AND GIRLS ARE TARGETS
Human Trafficking Shames Our Society

Christian Week Online
February 10th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/mgsx6w4

--

ANGLICAN/UNITED CHURCHES DIALOGUE
They Return to the Table After Many Years

Anglican Journal
February 14th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/m2uykv2

--

WALTER BRUEGGEMAN 
DISCUSSES HIS NEW BOOK
"Reality, Grief, Hope: 
Three Urgent Prophetic Tasks"

Englewood Review of Books Video
February 18th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/ogqsvsj

--

UNITED NATIONS CONDEMNS
HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA
Global Christian Agency Supports Statement

Assist News
February 19th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/lvhpjyq

Australian Missionary Detained in DPRK
In Wake of UN Human Rights Statement

UCA News
February 19th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/koq6dc7

--

Tenuous Situation Needs Wise Handling
Assist News - February 19th, 2014

The UN's Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights
in the DPRK [North Korea] released its report on
17 February. It documents a wide array of 'crimes
against humanity', details 'unspeakable atrocities'
and concludes: 'The gravity, scale and nature of
these violations reveal a State that does not have
any parallel in the contemporary world.' Tens of
thousands of Christians struggle to survive in labour
camps where they endure starvation, hard labour
and unparalleled systematic cruelty. This report
will expose the horrific situation inside North
Korea. However, the risk is it could be unhelpfully
politicised, causing repression to escalate or the
country to descend into a bloodbath. Neither would
benefit the Church in North Korea. Please pray for
North Korea and its Church.

--

S. KOREANS HEAD NORTH FOR FAMILY REUNIONS
A Bittersweet Time for Long-Divided People

UCA News
February 20th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/lhd5utp

"Tears as Separated Korean Families Unite"

Korean Herald
February 20th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/kqmyauv

*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

Provided by Sojourners Online
and Plough Press

"Prejudice comes from being in the dark;
 sunlight disinfects it."

- Muhammad Ali

--

"In order for us as poor and oppressed
people to become a part of a society that
is meaningful, the system under which
we now exist has to be radically changed.
... I use the term radical in its original
meaning — getting down to and then 
understanding the root cause. It means
facing a system that does not lend itself
to your needs and devising means by
which you change that system."

- Ella Baker

--

"We need to clear out space to make way
for the kingdom roots of God’s shalom that
Jesus, our common Lord, lived and died
violently for. His blood seeped into the
ground to create a new way of being that’s
marked by unity, sacrificially loving one
another, and eagerly empowering every
single image-bearer — regardless of the
color of their skin."

- Osheta Moore

*****

ON THIS DAY

Provided from the Archives
of the New York Times

US LANDS ON IWO JIMA IN WWII
http://tinyurl.com/a97rnfw

NIXON DEPARTS ON HISTORIC CHINA TRIP
http://tinyurl.com/aw2mpfh


*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - ST VINCENT DE PAUL

Even though the poor are often rough
and unrefined, we must not judge them
from external appearances nor from the
mental gifts they seem to have received.
On the contrary, if you consider the poor
in the light of faith, then you will observe
that they are taking the place of the Son
of God who chose to be poor.
(end)
 
************

CHURCH AND UNIVERSITY TEACHING
Contact Wayne Holst
403-286-2416
waholst@telus.net

WINTER CLASSES

At St. David's:

LINK TO OUR CURRENT MONDAY NIGHT STUDY
50 Book Sets Sold; 35 Course Registrants

NEAR DEATH AND LIFE AFTER LIFE - Course Design
http://tinyurl.com/kvmu8o5

Study Books:
 
"The Light Beyond" by Raymond Moody and
"Eternal Life" by Bishop John Shelby Spong

Audio and Video Links Added as Class Develops 
http://tinyurl.com/kq6ukpd
http://tinyurl.com/n6vpgy6

---

At the University:

LENTEN FRIDAY NOON FACULTY,
STAFF AND STUDENT STUDY

"In Search of Deep Faith" -
  A Pilgrimage Among People and Places of Europe
  by Jim Belcher, IVP, paperback. 2013.


February 27th - April 3rd, 2014
Six Fridays, 12-1PM. Native Centre Board Room,
Mac Hall.

Co-sponsored by St. David's United and the

U. of C. Faith and Spirituality Centre.
http://tinyurl.com/mnfjrdl
 
*****

ST. DAVIDS BOOK STUDY ARCHIVE
http://tinyurl.com/m5fedjk

*****

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