List from Mashable of 15 sites where artists, photographers and creative types of all kinds can use to create products from their work.
Create away!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
The Justice Project - book review
The book is a compilation of essays from 35 authors. The variety of voices and perspectives is by far the major strength of the book. Men and women from many different countries and ministry groups contributed towards answering “What is Justice?” from a mostly Christian perspective.
Since there are too many essays to review individually, I thought I’d focus on just two: Richard Twiss’ “Reading the Bible Unjustly: How Has the American Church Read the Bible Unjustly” and “Just Perspectives: How Can We Become Just Global Citizens?” by Ashley Bunting Seeber.
Richard Twiss, a Native American, works in Washington but I particularly liked his essay for the insight it provided into some of the issues of my Native Alaskan friends and family.
Twiss’ tells of the history of the colonizing of America which led to European people “viewing Native people through the lens of Scripture, [they] people saw idolaters who were spiritually deceived, lost in rebellion, and hell-bound. While it is true that all peoples and cultures are stained by sin and the rejection of the Creator’s path of beauty, and desperately need reconciliation to God, it is also true that European enlightenment thinking colored their understanding of Scripture that manifest destiny and biblical mission became indistinguishable; one appeared the same as the other.”
His essay is a strong reminder to work with culture groups to find ways they can express their Christianity through their own cultural norms, instead of insisting it be replaced with “church culture”.
I think this book would have benefited from some more practical examples of how to live justly. A better balance of pragmatism and theory would have made the book more complete for me. It does a tremendous job of explaining what justice is and why we should care, but doesn’t often enough tell us how.
One exception was “Just Perspectives”. Seeber tells about some of the interactions she’s had with various cultures outside of the US. She goes on to provide a list of 10 practical things we each can do to make sure we, as US citizens, make for better global neighbors. Some of these ideas can be done in your own hometown and include: eating new ethnic foods, helping refugee families settle in, read news from other perspectives, pray the news, and help your children learn geography.
Overall, I think the book provides a broad view of people’s thinking on Justice, with well written, thoughtful essays. It’s a good reference book for a study on the subject of the biblical aspects of justice, but is not a how-to handbook.
Friday, December 4, 2009
God of the waiting
Love this beautiful advent prayer from Cheryl Lawrie, Director for Spirituality, Culture and Context in the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania She blogs at hold this space.
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god of the waiting
for worship next week in Port Phillip prison
Not all anticipation is hopeful,
and not all waiting is good;
so we pray for those for whom this season brings only despair.
We pray with those here in prison who long
for a decision from the parole board
for any news from a lawyer
for a phonecall from a loved one that never comes:
God of the waiting, turn anxiety into peace.
We pray with those we know who long
for a diagnosis and healing
for death
for life:
God of the waiting, turn fear into joy.
We pray with those in the world who long
for bombs to stop
for gunfire to cease
for wars to end:
God of the waiting, turn hatred into peace.
We pray with all who long
for arguments to be stilled
for a new way to be made clear
for justice to be made real:
God of the waiting, turn dread into love.
And we pray for those of us who no longer wait,
because our dreams have been shredded by the razor wire that surrounds us,
our hopes lie crumpled under the weight of systems and structures,
and our courage has been mocked by the reality of life:
God of the waiting, can you wait for us?
In this Advent, turn our despair into hope.
Amen.
---------------------------------------------
god of the waiting
for worship next week in Port Phillip prison
Not all anticipation is hopeful,
and not all waiting is good;
so we pray for those for whom this season brings only despair.
We pray with those here in prison who long
for a decision from the parole board
for any news from a lawyer
for a phonecall from a loved one that never comes:
God of the waiting, turn anxiety into peace.
We pray with those we know who long
for a diagnosis and healing
for death
for life:
God of the waiting, turn fear into joy.
We pray with those in the world who long
for bombs to stop
for gunfire to cease
for wars to end:
God of the waiting, turn hatred into peace.
We pray with all who long
for arguments to be stilled
for a new way to be made clear
for justice to be made real:
God of the waiting, turn dread into love.
And we pray for those of us who no longer wait,
because our dreams have been shredded by the razor wire that surrounds us,
our hopes lie crumpled under the weight of systems and structures,
and our courage has been mocked by the reality of life:
God of the waiting, can you wait for us?
In this Advent, turn our despair into hope.
Amen.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Waiting for the Savior
A savior is needed because something is wrong with the world. The whole created order is not functioning as God intended, not living into its fullness. Humanity is not living out its calling to be stewards of all creation and to be part of a society that places the other before the self, and recognizes God as the giver of all things. This problem is cosmic in scope.
A savior is needed because we cannot fix it ourselves. Constantly distracted by our own desires and ways of life we cannot see our own need and the need of the world. We are too busy with life…earning, collecting, hoarding. Too busy to slow down and see the signs that help is needed. Even if we paid attention our first response would be a sense of helplessness. The struggles are so many, the difficulties so large. I can see why we would be paralyzed by those things that we actually see in the world.
Hurrying to Christmas is not what is needed. What the world needs is for the Christian community to stay alert and proclaim the need for a savior. And so, we proclaim:
+ A God who breaks into history to provide for its redemption.
+ The continuing need to resist injustice, oppression and evil in whatever forms they present themselves.
+ That creation continues its groan for the day of salvation.
In Advent we wait in hopeful expectation of God’s in-breaking for the healing of the world. We depend on God’s help to help us “stay the course” and we depend on each other as a community of faith to continue discerning and calling each other to accountability, keeping one another watching, seeking and actively rehearsing the realm of God in the world.
God has brought, is bringing and will bring salvation to the world. We wait in that hope and in waiting we realize that Advent is a “wonderful time” after all!
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rest of the article is here
Cotton Patch Christmas
From the Cotton Patch Bible by Clarence Jordan
1. When Jesus was born in Gainesville, Georgia during the time that Herod was governor, some scholars from the Orient came to Atlanta and inquired, "Where is the one who was born to be governor of Georgia? We saw his star in the Orient, and we came to honor him." This news put Governor Herod and all his cronies in a tizzy. So he called a meeting of the big time preachers and politicians, and asked if they had any idea where the Leader was to be born. In Gainesville, Georgia," the replied, "because there's a bible prophecy which says:
13. After they had checked out, the Lord's messenger made connection with Joseph in a dream and said, "Get moving and take your wife and baby and highball it to Mexico. Then stay put until I get word to you because Herod is going to do his best to kill the baby." So he got right up, took the baby and its mother and checked out by night for Mexico. He stayed there until the death of Herod. (This gave meaning to what the Lord said through the prophet: "I summoned my son from Mexico.")
16. Then it dawned on Herod that he had been duped by the learned men, an he really blew his top. He gave orders to kill all the babies in Gainesville and thereabouts who were under two, on the basis of the schedule which he had obtained from the scholars. (Then the saying of Jeremiah the prophet was given meaning:
21. So he packed up and took the child and his mother, and returned to the South. He heard that Herod's boy Archelaus was governor of Alabama and so he was scared to settle down there. He was given instructions in a dream to go on over into south Georgia to the city of Valdosta. (This gave meaning to the prophet's word: "He shall be called a Valdostan.")
1. When Jesus was born in Gainesville, Georgia during the time that Herod was governor, some scholars from the Orient came to Atlanta and inquired, "Where is the one who was born to be governor of Georgia? We saw his star in the Orient, and we came to honor him." This news put Governor Herod and all his cronies in a tizzy. So he called a meeting of the big time preachers and politicians, and asked if they had any idea where the Leader was to be born. In Gainesville, Georgia," the replied, "because there's a bible prophecy which says:
'And you Gainesville, in the state of Georgia,7. Then Herod called in the scholars privately and questioned them in detail about the exact time of the star's appearance. And he sent them off to Gainesville with this instruction: "Go and find out the facts about the child. Then tell me what you've learned, so that I too may come and honor him." They listened to the governor and left. And you know, the star which they saw in the Orient went ahead of them until it came and stood above the place where the child was. (Just looking at the star flooded them with great happiness.) So they went inside the house and saw the baby with his mother, Mary. They bowed down and honored him, and opened the presents they had brought him–gifts of jewelry, incense and perfume. And having gotten the word in a dream not to revisit Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.
Are by no means the least in the Georgia delegation;
From you will come a governor,
Who will wisely guide my chosen people.' "
13. After they had checked out, the Lord's messenger made connection with Joseph in a dream and said, "Get moving and take your wife and baby and highball it to Mexico. Then stay put until I get word to you because Herod is going to do his best to kill the baby." So he got right up, took the baby and its mother and checked out by night for Mexico. He stayed there until the death of Herod. (This gave meaning to what the Lord said through the prophet: "I summoned my son from Mexico.")
16. Then it dawned on Herod that he had been duped by the learned men, an he really blew his top. He gave orders to kill all the babies in Gainesville and thereabouts who were under two, on the basis of the schedule which he had obtained from the scholars. (Then the saying of Jeremiah the prophet was given meaning:
"A noise is heard in Ramah,19. Now when Herod passed away, the Lord's messenger contacted Joseph in Mexico by a dream. "Get moving," he said, "and take the child and his mother and return to the South, for the people who were trying to take the boy's life have died."
Great weeping and anguish;
Rachel is grieving for her children
And there's no consoling her,
Because she has lost them.")
21. So he packed up and took the child and his mother, and returned to the South. He heard that Herod's boy Archelaus was governor of Alabama and so he was scared to settle down there. He was given instructions in a dream to go on over into south Georgia to the city of Valdosta. (This gave meaning to the prophet's word: "He shall be called a Valdostan.")
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
The time of waiting has arrived
Like many people, I'm in a time of waiting in my life:
Waiting for a job
Waiting for my nephew's visit
Waiting for direction
Waiting to see the family I've missed for so long
Waiting for my Ukrainian friends to arrive in The States
Waiting for the new baby in my extended family
All of these things I'm waiting for are good things, things I'm looking forward to having happen and will celebrate when they do.
Advent, the time christians begin the new year, is also a time of waiting. It's a season of remembering how the world waited for so long for a saviour and of looking forward to his return. Millions of Christians all over the world celebrate this time together. This year, I'll be joining them by posting here daily.
In an effort to slow down enough to pay attention, I'll be making daily postings of images, links, songs, and texts. Hopefully, you'll take some time each day away from the hustle and bustle that is Christmas, to be absorbed into the story in a real way.
Prayer:
Intimate God,
we yearn for the light of your coming
and the warmth of your embrace;
focus our hearts on the truly important
and keep us centered on that still point, Jesus our Emmanuel,
who is alive with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever. Amen.
Readings for the day:
Psalms 50:1-6
Zechariah 14:4-9
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Luke 21:25-31
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