Countdown Day 49
In a time when religious extremists constantly use their sacred texts to justify violence, many of us feel a moral obligation to question the ways the Bible has been used in the past to defend the indefensible and promote the unacceptable. (19)
From A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith (available February 9, 2010)
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Re-Post: The best Christmas gift you could give or receive this year …
It's not too late to participate!
Q: What do you give to the person who already has more than they need? (Or what do you put on your wish list when you have more than enough shirts and scarves already?)
A: A goat?
Well, sort of: Give them the gift of generosity.
That's why my wife and I are giving a number of people a goat for Christmas. Over the last few years, I've been honored to be part of an amazing project among the Batwa people in Burundi, which I've blogged about here and here. (If you have a minute, check these links out.)
To make a long story short, the Batwa are amazing people - great dancers and singers, potters and storytellers, incredibly courageous and resilient. But they are also among the worst-off people I've met anywhere, desperately poor, landless for centuries after having been displaced (much like Native Americans in North America), objects of prejudice, excluded socially and until very recently, politically too. Through an amazing story (which I need to share sometime), a group of these landless people were given land, from which they just reaped their first harvest (potatoes!).
You can read more about the Batwa of Matara here and see more beautiful pictures (read from the bottom up to get the story in sequence).
So ... here's what Grace and I are doing this year. We're giving a Christmas gift on behalf of some family members to the Batwa of Matara in the form of goats and cows. Well, we're not sending gift-wrapped goats and cows, but we're sending money to Claude Nikondeha of amahoro-africa.org, who is managing the Batwa project for Community for Burundi, so that goats, cows, and other farming resources can be purchased for them locally (which is good for the local economy).
We'll be making home-made cards that say, "A goat was given in your name to the Batwa of Matara," along with this link where they can learn more and spread the word:
http://communityforburundi.org/
If this idea makes sense to you, I'd be so grateful if you'd follow this link and click on "donate to matara."
A goat costs about $45 (they hope to give two to each family - a total of 56) and a cow costs $1250. You can make up a little card (you can easily pull photos from the site) and on Christmas morning, tell the story of why you've decided to give a goat or cow in their name. Somehow, I think this gift of necessities for others honors the birth of Jesus a lot more than giving luxuries to people who are already over-burdened with storing their excess luxuries. Maybe you could put GOAT or COW on your wish list?
Our little circle of online friends could easily meet this opportunity. And just think - it would save you hassling at the mall and giving people shirts and scarves they don't really need, because you could make this happen with a few clicks on our computer, right now, by going here and clicking on "donate to matara."
Please consider this. I'll let you know what happens after the New Year.
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pregnancy, birth, and a new kind of Christianity … part 5
When I invited people share how their experiences of pregnancy and birth have given them insight into the spiritual life, I had no idea I would receive such moving responses.
Special thanks to Laryn and Janel for sharing their profound experience that combines birth and loss, loving and letting go. Have some tissues close by as you read this story, and give it the time it deserves.
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Countdown Day 50
Others read the Bible within a narrative, but that framing narrative is actually foreign to the Bible, and many of us believe it is too small, narrow, and flat to do justice to the richness of the text. As it shrinks the text, it shrinks us too. (19)
From A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith (available February 9, 2010)
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pregnancy, birth, and a new kind of Christianity … part 4
Some men as well as women have responded to my invitation to reflect on pregnancy, birth, advent, and spiritual insights related to any or all ...
Adam sent in this on behalf of the VOID collective ...
I am part of a group called VOID collective that attempts to produce events of transformance art, similar to Ikon in Belfast. We are located in Waco, Texas. We just recently had an event called "Mothers of God" in which we reflected on the following adaptation of a quote from Meister Eckhart: "What is the good if Mary gave birth to the Son of God 2000 years ago, if I do not give birth to God today? We are all Mothers of God, for God is always needing to be born." We explored what it means to "give birth to God," to bring God into the world. We did this with a mixture of poetry, personal reflections, ritual, and liturgy in the middle of a bar. We have posted some pictures from the event, which I think work as reflections on "pregnancy, birth, and a new kind of Christianity." We also posted three "(Mis)Tellings of Mary's Story" that we used for the event. You can find the photos and reflections here: http://blog.voidcollective.com/ (the two most recent posts)
And Travis Reed at the work of the people offers this ... (btw you might want to use "Mary's Song" in public worship this week ...)
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