WITH CHRISTIANS IN MIND

A companion piece to Symposium Presenters Manual V-2 offered to assist facilitators when they work with a significantly Christian population.

Howard E. Friend

610.647.4142 hfriend@prodigy.net
December 2010 Dear Pachamama Partner,

REV. DR. HOWARD E. FRIEND, JR. Wellspring/Karitas Foundation Parish Empowerment Network 1275 Rose Lane Berwyn, PA 19312

I write to introduce WITH CHRISTIANS IN MIND, a companion piece to the symposium manual intended to guide and encourage facilitators working with Christian faith communities. I attended my first Awakening the Dreamer / Changing the Dream symposium by mistake! My wife and I were in Charleston, South Carolina, staying with friends. Who should show up at their garden party but Lynne Twist. I was in the midst of reading The Soul of Money. She urged us to attend her workshop the following day, which we eagerly decided to do assuming it would be based on her book. We arrived early to find a rather enigmatic quote written on newsprint if you are not pessimistic, you are not listening to reality; if you are not optimistic, you are not listening to your heart, and the workshops title blazoned on a large screen. Maybe we ought to quietly slip out, I whispered to Betsy. We didnt . . . and the rest is history, as they say. I cannot remember a seminar that had me so thoroughly discouraged and depressed at noon, yet left me so hopeful and animated at four. But when the very thought of becoming facilitators was raised, our resistance stiffened. We let that sign-up sheet slide by. Six months later, however, MapQuest led us to a retreat center at Garrison, New York, joined by our younger son, Erik . . . for a facilitator training! Our resistances had collapsed. The adventure of leading symposiums, most in our area, two in Mexico, followed. Then an invitation arrived to attend a Training of Facilitators Trainers event. I dont think so, we muttered. Discount fares too tempting to resist, Erik, Betsy and I rendezvoused in San Anselmo! Our resistances failed again! A few months later Erik, Beatriz Boers and I led a Training of Facilitators event in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico. The beat goes on. I have received so much . . . I want to give back. I spotted what seemed a promising but under-tapped population for symposiums mainstream and evangelical Christians. I imagined a companion piece that inter-wove biblical themes and stories, basic Christian theology and faith practice with the text of the Manual. Tracy gave a green light. Some other facilitators urged me on. So . . . here it is. Use it. I welcome your feedback and suggestions. Let me know how it goes. I want it to remain a work in progress. I offer it with gratitude and blessings to you and your work. Faithfully,

Howard Friend
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INTRODUCTION
The dramatic, extraordinary, exponential expansion of ATD symposium around the globe is nothing short of breath-taking. When I tell this story, which I often do, listeners are incredulous. You must have your numbers wrong they insist. Birthed less than a decade ago its first ideations little more than spontaneous, seat-of-the-pants, invent-it-as-you go processes (I love to hear those first facilitators tell the story) a third version of the DVD and manual were recently released, the symposium having been offered in eight languages, in seventeen countries on four continents. Thrilled as I am about this astounding story, I find myself curious about the profile of this international population that has gathered in such as extraordinary array of settings. Even as we expand the number of people who have experienced the symposium, I would like to address the task of expanding the kinds of folks who attend. I am guessing, and I gather we have collected no data to support my conjecture, that the symposium tends to attract a particular kind of person, a constituency with a fairly consistent profile, perchance a more narrow than necessary population. Guesses may be risky business. But Ill guess the typical ATD participant is politically progressive, more Democrat than Republican in the U.S., with minor representation from the more conservative end of the spectrum. Perhaps subtly and un-consciously, habitually and unaware, they speak a left-of-center language in what commentators concur is becoming a rightof-center national population. They are religiously ecumenical (what Matthew Fox, featured in the DVD, calls deep ecumenism, inclusive and embracing of a full spectrum of religious traditions, beliefs and practices). They may identify themselves as spiritual, but not religious, what progressive-evangelical Jim Wallis identifies as the fastest growing denomination in America. They advocate regionally-based, smaller-is-better economics with a suspicion of, even bias against national/transnational corporations. They value inclusivity, broad acceptance of differences of persons and ideas, hearty tolerance, and graciously welcome the new and creative unaware that these are values and virtues to left-of-center folks, but matters of caution and concern, even suspicion for the right-of-center population. And, as is often true of those of firm and grounded points of view, they may read books and periodicals and open websites that serve to re-confirm and substantiate their already-formed positions, with little exposure to the thinking and writing of those of differing, but viable and worthy viewpoints. Are we (and I count myself, often unthinkingly, part of this population I am profiling) at risk of more than a hint of insensitivity, more than a pinch of conceptual arrogance, the fallout being exclusion of a large circle of people who might well be excluded from our collective embrace? I think it is time for us to craft, edit and adapt, change and rework the symposium to give it a chance to land fully inside the terms and frames of reference of that group's "listening." Without, of course, losing the core of the intention a message clearly meant to be heard trans-culturally, across racial/ethnic differences, in every language and dialect, by any and every human being alive on Earth today. This is a matter of broadening, not displacing of both/and, not either/or. My wife Betsy led me to some paragraphs in Van Jones The Green Collar Economy where he chides progressives for dismissing Christians, reducing the great faiths of the world to their
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worst elements (page 89) and forgetting that people of faith have powered much of the social change in our nations history (page 91). I found myself wondering how the symposium could more graciously and assertively reach out to people of faiths, including Christians, in my case particularly Christians. My calling is to develop a supplement, a companion piece, a resource for facilitators leading symposiums with Christian populations, or groups with a significant Christian presence. It would not be exclusive or excluding, any more than the present design excludes anyone by its images and text related to spirituality. I would envision it expanding and deepening the entire design, not only the section on spiritual fulfillment. Here then is my offering based on these thoughts and intentions. I invite your comments and additions.

A POPULATION IN MIND
The rubric Christian embraces a broad spectrum of religious institutions from the extreme liberal at one end, Unitarian Universalists come to mind, to fundamentalists at the other, Southern Baptists come to mind. with a broad and diverse range in between. May I suggest three categories, sub-groupings across this spectrum, especially as they relate to openness to the symposium? Those at the liberal or progressive end of the spectrum may well accept the design of the symposium unchanged, without effort to relate it to the Bible, their basic beliefs, or to their faith practice. The principles and values, beliefs and perspectives of the symposium are viewed to be in alignment with their faith tradition, these questions largely unasked. They may appreciate allusions to elements of faith, but do not need them. This companion piece may be useful, enriching the experience of this group, but not necessary, surely not urgent. Those at the ultra-conservative or fundamentalist end of the spectrum may simply find the symposium unacceptable, no matter how frequently or accurately allusions to elements of faith are provided. The principles and values, beliefs and perspectives both explicit and implicit in the DVD or facilitator text will be viewed as inconsistent at the least; and more likely in direct opposition to their faith understanding; or even heretical and dangerous, demanding assertive and vigorous challenge. This companion piece will likely not make the symposium acceptable, and may even exacerbate resistance to it. Persons in this conservative/fundamentalist group are simply not good candidates for the symposium!

Those in the middle, a segment whose actual breadth awaits testing, range from progressive to evangelical. They include members of so-called mainline denominations
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(Episcopalian, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, American Baptist, et cetera) and Quakers. But there have been some relatively new trends among those who identify themselves as evangelical a concern for the environment gaining momentum, concern for the poor now linked with awareness of the structural dynamics that create and/or exacerbate poverty, and a slowly growing openness to those of other faiths. It is to this population that this companion piece is most vigorously focused. These folks not only welcome and appreciate these intentional and frequent allusions to matters of faith, but need them as a source of authentication of the symposium material. A first response of caution, suspicion, even rejection may soften, open and become more accepting. I invite you to consider what has become a calling and mission for me that the effort to include material from this companion piece will be fruitful, opening a potentially substantial new population to the already enormous list of symposium graduates.

A BASIC APPROACH
Following the section sequencing of V-2, this companion piece will offer, references to biblical texts, at times simply citations, more often with some commentary on the text and its relevance to this portion of the symposium, reference to biblical themes, linking relevant passages, offering compact profiles of a theme, topic, or issue that parallel the focus of that part of the symposium, references to elements of basic theology, mindful of theological differences across that spectrum of Christian institutions, reference to rituals from the Bible and/or from faith practice, and reference to themes from church history, the apostolic/biblical era church, and the broad sweep of two millennia of church history, including contemporary themes.

When a particular reference has recurring relevance later in the V-2 design, a cross-reference will be offered. And I invite you to add to this work, tapping your knowledge and/or experience of the Christian tradition, and that you email me your additions so I can periodically update this piece: hfriend@prodigy.net Be specific. What works well, and what less well. What would you add, or delete. My recently published Gifts of an Uncommon Life: The Practice of Contemplative Activism (Alban Press, 2008) and my earlier Recovering the Sacred Center: Church Renewal from the Inside Out (Judson Press, 1998) may offer helpful input.

A FEW HINTS ABOUT USING THIS TEXT

I will assume you readers and users of this text will stretch across a broad religious/spiritual spectrum. Some of you may be deeply rooted in the Christian tradition, making reading of these paragraphs easy and familiar. Others may have come from a Christian background, but have moved on to other spiritual traditions and practices, so this work may connect to that earlier faith experience. Still others may have little or no familiarity with Christianity, the Bible, the faith
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and practice of Christians. I hope this addendum can become helpful and useful, knowing the most will be demanded of you to do so. Thank you for that effort. I hope it will prove worthwhile in reaching out to Christian groups, expanding the reach of ATD. 1. I have formatted the pages so that an option is to print this text, perhaps in a color, then insert them into the Manual, section by section, where they relate. 2. I have intentionally offered more than you could possibly use, so dont be overwhelmed, or overwhelm participants. You may want to: (a) read through a given section of this addendum and get a feel for it, notice the basic themes, a broad-brush reading, and/or (b) choose one or perhaps two of multiple biblical references or theological observations. But I do think it will be most effective to make periodic, even frequent allusions to these resources, as you are comfortable. 3. Only use this material if it is, or can become with reflection, natural for you. Do not use anything in a forced or merely strategic way. As much as possible internalize the faith-based allusions, honoring and valuing them, even if they are not part of your own faith tradition or practice. 4. You may want to take particular note of How to Introduce the Universe Story to Christian Groups, a concern about which several facilitators have approached me.

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

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Eco-spot, Connections (W-1) and Define Pachamama (W.3)

The Bible, with a primitive cosmology, actually offers two creation stories, each locating a flat earth between the lower world and the heavens, locating the earth within a cosmic context a creation characterized, despite its composite parts, as a single creation. The common biblical phrase heaven and earth refers to a cosmic, whole-universe totality, and then the earth as the focal point of the biblical narrative. Its is Gods creation. It is viewed and named by God as good. It is the nature of the creation to sing praise. Some biblical references that seem to coalesce with the focus of the Eco-spot and the indigenous notions of Pachamama include: Psalm 8: the wonder and awe of creation and the paradoxical exalted and humbled place of humans. The word ruler, too easily read to endorse domination, even exploitation, has a more accurate implication of caretaker or guardian. More about this in the Environmental Sustainability section. Psalm 19.1-6: not unlike the songs that celebrate creation among the indigenous, the glory, orderliness and trustworthiness of creation and creator are sung. The voice (yet without speech, word or sound) echoes the notion from Genesis that God spoke (dahbar in Hebrew) the world into being. Psalm 65.9-13: the creation/creator is benevolent, gracious and generous, with an emphasis on providing water for fertility and harvest, a source of singing and rejoicing. Psalm 104.1-35: an exuberant psalm affirming the grandeur and bounty of the creation, a focus on all life and all that sustains and protects life . This psalm offers a tantalizing suggestion that God is both above and within the creation, not merely separate from but immersed within it. Pantheism, the concept of God only within creation has been widely rejected, but more recent exploration has suggested a similar word panentheism, God above yet also within creation.

Becoming Present (W.6)

God as Presence: There is a paradox, a mystical polarity in the biblical understanding of the Divine, extensively explored through the history of theology, per chance reinforced by experienced spirituality: the transcendence yet also the immanence of the Divine. The mystics speak of God as Wholly Other yet Wholly One. Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke of God as the beyond in our midst. (a) Psalm 139: the intimate nearness of a God who thoroughly knows us, (b) Matthew 10.29-30: God close enough to count the hairs on our head, (c) words from the psalms that speak of Gods protecting presence: sanctuary, shelter, rock, refuge, and strength to name a few. Jesus and the Gift of Presence: Note how Jesus used his senses to discern someone in need, ready to learn, seeking healing: (a) hearing the cry of blind Bartimaeus above the dim of the marketplace (Mark 10.46-52), (b) seeing in the subtle posture and facial expression of Zacchaeus perched in a tree above the press of religious pilgrims (Luke 19.1-10), (c) feeling the tentative touch of a bold woman trusting his healing power amidst the jostling of the temple crowds (Matthew 9.20-26), (d) smelling the sweet aroma of precious oil with which a distressed woman is anointing his head. And then, setting aside any
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external or internal distraction, he offered his full and undivided attention, utter and focused presence. Presence, one can argue, is healing.

Acknowledge/Celebrate Sacred Space (W.7)

(When I deliver a symposium to a significantly Christian audience, I tend to say . . . indigenous people and all those of deep, earth-honoring faith traditions with a concern that I do not want to either generalize or idealize indigenous people. I want to affirm and celebrate guardianship of the earth as a special gift and contribution of indigenous people, but name those same gifts that abide in other traditions, including Christianity.) The Bible celebrates not only sacred space but also sacred time, twin themes re-affirmed across Christian history and faith practice. A paradox is at play: (a) since creation is both gift from God and infused with God, all time and space is sacred, yet (b) in the biblical narrative, then through Christian history, specific places and times were recognized as sacred. Places become known and revered as sacred in several ways: Places where God manifested to someone: Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3.5); Jacobs dream at Bethel (Genesis 28.10-22); Jesus baptism in the Jordan (Mark 1.9-13), Paul on the Damascus road (Acts 9ff). Often these theophanies (the technical name for a direct, dramatic encounter with God) demand openness and receptivity on the persons part. Locations of historical events: Jacobs well (John 4.5-6), Sauls altar (I Samuel 14.3435); the upper room (Mark 14ff); Jesus birth place in Bethlehem and Golgotha where he was executed. Places set apart by sacred ritual led by spiritual leaders or dictates of sacred text (the temple in Jerusalem and all synagogues; cities of refuge (Deuteronomy 19ff) for those accused to find protection and legal process; virtually all sanctuaries across history around the globe; in some traditions the blessing of homes, offices, boats, pets, et cetera. Places that seem, mysteriously and inexplicably, naturally (intrinsically) sacred: as large as Chartres Cathedral or Stonehenge in England, as small as the Chapel at Chimayo in New Mexico.

Less affirmed and celebrated, but just as intrinsic to the biblical understanding of the sacred, is sacred time (read Abraham Heschel, Sabbath, for an engaging commentary on sacred time). Sabbath as divine provision: instituted in Genesis 2.2 and enumerated in Exodus 35, Sabbath at a designated time with a prescribed regime of practice. Sabbath as divine rest as a quality and gift of a balanced life (Hebrews 3 and 4), available any time, throughout time, as well as within designated time. The Bible has two words for time: chronos (clock time, chronological time, measured time) and kairos (ripe, full, pregnant time; right time; transformative time.

The Bible and the history of Christian devotional practice suggest disciplines that help people access or enter sacred space and time.
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Jesus named and demonstrated the importance of solitude (time alone, or with trusted spiritual companions), silence (or quietness), and fasting. He spoke of watching and waiting (an attitude and posture of receptivity). In quietness and trust shall be your peace . . . be still and know that I am God . . . God spoke (to Elijah) in the still, small voice of silence The monastic tradition, like many spiritualities, emphasizes disciplines of breathing. Inbreathing as physiologically effortful, intentional, perhaps imaging with in-breathing light, joy, peace, compassion or love; out-breathing as physiologically releasing, spreading light, joy, peace, love, et cetera. There is mind-focusing meditation: a word, mantra or object offering focus, and, mind-emptying meditation like Buddhist meditation. Note that in the languages of both the Old and New Testaments breath and Spirit are the same word.

Orientation of Symposium and Blessed Unrest (W.11)

More later about the Symposium standing squarely and firmly in the prophetic tradition, Jesus clearly in that tradition, but for now: (a) the prophets (including Jesus) are truth-speakers, who needed first themselves to wake up, so (b) they can speak and act to awaken others, awaken them to difficult realities subject to persistent denial, and (c) in waking up, becoming aware that
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action is urgent, (d) acknowledging clearly and courageously that irrevocable damage is imminent and can become irreversible, but always (e) this call to awakening is grounded in hope, and finally, in partnership with God, (f) they can be a force for change. The Bible overflows with persons who demonstrate lives animated by a sense of calling; bold and courageous speaking and acting; standing against privilege and power; challenging structures of oppression and destructiveness, modeling blessed unrest as a way of life. Jeremiah, among the prophets, shares most clearly his anguish, broken-heartedness, inner turmoil, sorrow and intense struggle born of his mandate to speak truth. Read any of these short passages, spoken with disarming candor, and let your own blessed unrest resonate with that of Jeremiah (and even the blessed unrest of the God he addresses): Jeremiah 8.18-21, 9.1-3, 12.7-11 (where even God is sorrowful, anguished by blessed unrest), 14.17-18. Moses, called to lead a resistant, rebellious, disobedient people toward readiness for freedom and a land to call their own, reveals his deep anguish, his blessed unrest, most profoundly in Numbers 11.10-15. Jesus, faithful to his calling and steady in his mission is no stranger to frustration, disappointment, deep sadness and even the despair of feeling forsaken by God: Luke 19.41-44 (Jesus weeps over Jerusalem), Mark 9.19 (his disciples disappoint and frustrate him), Matthew 27.45-46 (Jesus sense of divine abandonment). And he is clear that those who follow him will experience blessed unrest (not his words, but an apt description): Mark 13.9-13. Follow the missionary itinerary of Paul and his companions in Acts or in his letters and watch them constantly harassed and attacked, detained or jailed. Finally, Old Testament and New, everyday people called to follow the call of God, to make commitment to a life of faithfulness, are called to an inevitable, unavoidable life of blessed unrest. To be a sojourner in life, never fully at home in the values and lifestyle of ones social context, forever counter-cultural are defining marks of the person of faith in the Old Testament prophetic tradition. Seeking a favored position, Jesus calls his disciples to sacrifice. He prepares them for rejection and hatred; arrest, punishment, even execution (Matthew 24.9-12). The happiness he assures is accompanied by poverty, hunger and sadness, as well as ridicule and insult, all to be grounds for joy (Luke 6.2023). And nowhere are blessedness and unrest more richly blended than in Jesus last words to his disciples at the Last Supper, where, amidst predictions of extraordinary challenge the word joy is used seven times: a mothers pain in labor turns into the joy of new life (John 16.21); anguished separation will lead to joyful reunion (16.22); and most sweepingly, I have said these things to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full (15.11).

The Pachamama Story (W-6)

The Pachamama story (which is even more thrilling in its full telling by Lynne or Bill) turns on the reality and power of dream, vision and calling. One can argue that nothing more profoundly animates and moves directs and empowers biblical narrative more than dream, vision and calling. The Ashuar and Quechua people are guardians of a prophesy of possibility and hope that is expressed through symbolism and imagery the eagle and condor sharing the same sky.
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Many biblical narratives engage symbolism and imagery to inspire and animate creative and redemptive change. Indeed, the following represent a small cluster of literally dozens, maybe hundreds of illustrations. Isaiah 6.1-8, a dramatic, multi-sensory experience of this prophets calling: feeling the temple shake, seeing statuary embody and fly, smelling the smoke that filled the sanctuary, tasting a burning coal on his lips, hearing the voice of God issue the calling, and his own voice concurring. (Evidently other worshippers that day experienced nothing). Jeremiah 1.11-19, a dire visionary and symbolic experience that identified the threat he is to announce to his nation. Ezekiel 1 & 2, a lengthy narrative of Ezekiels call, a vision full of symbolic imagery, from which Ezekiel receives his word of warning and judgment to the people; and, Ezekiel 37.1-14, a vision of hope and renewal, the valley of the dry bones, familiar through the hearty gospel spiritual that sings the story. The birth narratives of Matthew and Luke are orchestrated by no less than five visions and dreams. Paul, uncertain about where to head next on a missionary journey, thwarted by several attempts, has a vision of a Macedonian, calling across the border to journey next to his country and, as one version translates a key verse, the dream gave us our map (Acts 16.6-10). This has what seems remarkable similarity to the Achuar appearing to Lynne in her vision. Dare we suggest that Christianity, while celebrating and learning from the biblical prophets, must be alert to the emergence of modern day prophets?

I. WHERE ARE WE?

Not new Information Listen with Your Heart (1.3)
Someone once said that the longest twelve inches is the distance from our head to our heart. The Bible draws both overt and subtle distinction between what is heard (or seen) but not yet understood. An astute psychologist once said we suffer from about-ism we know about so
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many things, but we know so little. Carl Jung, when asked near the end of his life if he believed in God, replied, with more humility than the words alone might imply, I think I know God. The word know in the Bible eludes precise definition because it is so deep and profound. What one knows has penetrated their deepest being, become fully internalized and integrated with who they are, resides at their core, defines and animates who they are. Jeremiah 31.31-34: Having spoken words of judgment, the prophet envisions a new and more powerful covenant, not written as words on a page or tablets of stone, but written on their hearts. Jesus, after a teaching, would frequently say, Those who have eyes to see, let them see; those who have ears to hear, let them hear, seeing and hearing not as physical capacities but a matter of the heart, inner seeing, hearing and knowing which may combine discernment and courage. Proverbs says, somewhat enigmatically, As a person thinks in their heart so it will be. Luke 24.31 (and their eyes were opened) and Acts 9.18 (and scales fell from (Pauls) eyes and he could see) among other passages imply that God assists eye-opening, heartlistening)

Actually the word heart is among a cluster of words in the Bible mind, soul, spirit, and inner self among them that allude to the essence, the core, the true self of a person. Knowledge resides at the surface, wisdom at the core; information resides at the surface, transformation at the core.

Where Are We? Environmental Sustainability (Module 2A)

The Bible celebrates Gods graciousness and bounty in largely agricultural terms. Among the gifts of God is land, and the provision of a natural world of sunshine and rain, rich soil and clean rivers, that harvests might be abundant. Though one might lack gratitude for the creation, or reap greater or lesser harvest by virtue of wise or unwise tending of the creation, there was no threat of environmental degradation, thus no issue of sustainability in the biblical era. But the Bible enumerates a clear philosophy, specific guidelines, as humankind relates to the creation.
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Some recent biblical research brings forward some important principles, largely ignored and sometimes distorted in earlier interpretations. These two are worthy of reflection: Dominion / stewardship: Genesis 1.26 and 1.28 (part of the first creation story: Genesis 1.1-2.4) in a majority of translations, give Adam and Eve and their descendents dominion over the creation. Dominion by common definition and usage suggests: possession, power over, full use of, control, sovereignty, superiority, supremacy. By extension the earth becomes resources, materials for extraction, a supply-source as needed, a creation to be consumed. More careful research suggests alternative words more faithful to the original language: stewardship, guardianship, trustee-ship (holding in trust) among others. (This important shift remains largely unrecognized, and even less widely internalized and operational among Christians, within theological discourse about creation, and in the basic paradigm of relationship with the creation.) Till and keep / serve and preserve: Genesis 2.15 (from the second creation story: Genesis 2.5-25) has, traditionally, been most frequently translated, And God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it. More careful word study suggests a more accurate translation to be to serve it and preserve it, words that imply reciprocity between the Adam (humankind) and the earth, a shift not unlike that from dominion to stewardship. Biblical scholar Gordon Wenham discovered that the only other time these two words serve and preserve are used together elsewhere in the Pentateuch the first five books of the Old Testament are three passages in the book of Numbers where the role of the Levites is defined as those who serve and preserve the sanctuary. The Orthodox branch of Christianity has held on to this notion that humanity is the priest of creation, created to unite all nature to God, as an Orthodox scholar puts it.

Where Are We? Social Justice (Module 2B)

The biblical narrative and the best of Christian history offer a major contribution to this segment of the ATD design. Beyond simply finding parallels and making connections to the Christian tradition, that very tradition can broaden and deepen the profile of injustice that we must face with integrity and courage, and sharpen and embolden the call to advocacy in word and action for justice. But this approach to the Christian faith is just as challenging and can make people just as uncomfortable as the Social Justice module of ATD does! The question is whether using scripture to support the ATD message can help some Christians to hold firmly and live out the courage of their convictions.
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Individual and corporate / charity and justice:

For many Christians, and central to many conservative Christian theologies, society is simply the stage on which the drama of individual salvation is played out. This includes the economics of the production and distribution of goods and services in a context of fair wage employment and just distribution of profit; the politics of international relations; the structures of governance at all levels; and, the social structures of education, health care, transportation, military and police, et cetera. A single verse is often used to justify this paradigm: render to God the things that are Gods and render to Caesar the things that are Caesars. In the context of this worldview, charity is the appropriate way to come to the aid of those in need, but any actions toward social justice are viewed as outside the biblical mandate. For this population of Christians, analysis of corporate/structural/institutional reality in terms of (in)justice, and any action vis--vis political/economic/social entities (supportive or challenging) is unbiblical, thus inappropriate. This is the portion of the Christian population, of uncertain size but surely vocal and assertive, that I suggested in the introduction are unlikely candidates for attending a symposium. More mainstream and progressive Christians have found in scripture a theology of institutions, a theology that focuses on the structures of politics, economics and social organization their role in creation, their conduct in their social context, and their need, like persons, for correction, healing and redemption. Thus we have two contexts for ethical focus: (a) individuals, and (b) social systems. Three Old Testament prophets offer illustration: Jeremiah 22.13-17: Scholars perceive two possible interpretations of this passage, with both/and being more accurate than either/or. It is clear why one of the two interpretations might be more popular or acceptable! Briefly: Jeremiah is standing at the foot of a street lined with immense, opulent homes. He says, Woe to you who build houses by injustice. (a) He could be referring to the one or two owners who earned their wealth and built their houses by injustice, an indictment of individual sinfulness, or (b) He could mean that the very existence of streets like this, with houses like this, is unjust, an indictment of corporate (or collective) sinfulness. Jeremiah challenged failed individuals but also a failed society. Amos: All seemed to be well in the northern nation of Israel: a time of apparent prosperity, religious piety, and national security. But this prophet looked through a different lens. He discerned an emptiness and superficiality in their piety. He observed a growing gap between rich and poor, the prosperous rich exploiting the poor. Unjust manipulation of debt. Unacceptable opulence. Widespread bribery. His prophetic challenge was two-pronged: (a) he condemned unjust judges and unjust businesspersons, and (b) he also condemned an unjust judicial system and an unjust economic system. He is never more scathing than in his most quoted words: The Lord says, I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them . . . stop your noisy songs . . . Instead, let justice
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flow like a river, and righteousness like a river that never runs dry. (5.21-25) No wonder they rode him out of town! Micah: This prophet saw in the southern nation of Judah what Amos had seen in the north, and spoke with a similar courage and forthrightness, his words of judgment more graphic, but his words of hope more promising. He confronts individuals, but his harshest words are directed at the nation. He denounces individual injustice that is supported by systems of injustice, and even the collusion of false prophets. His message is summarized is well known words, The Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do justice, love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. (6.68).

Three New Testament passages from the life and teaching of Jesus highlight the centrality of social justice in Jesus message and movement: In his inaugural sermon at Nazareth, Jesus chose a particular Old Testament passage to focus a clear intent of his ministry: good news to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed and (many scholars contend) a renewing of the redistribution strategies of the Sabbath and Jubilee Years (Luke 4.16-30), When messengers came from John the Baptist to inquire if Jesus was the one expected, he offers as evidence healings, the dead brought to life, and good news preached to the poor (Matthew 11.1-6), When Jesus suggests the criteria by which the sheep and goats will be separated, it will be based on feeding the hungry, welcoming strangers, visiting prisoners, tending to the ill (Matthew 25.31-46).

Eight Elements in a Biblically-based Economics:

If you believe our economy is broken and that rather than returning to an economy of consumption, concentration of wealth among the few, and high unemployment we need to redefine, even re-invent economics, you have an unexpected ally in the Bible. Here, briefly, are eight elements of a more just and equitable economic system drawn from the Bible: 1. Creation Economics Bounty and Abundance: In the Genesis creation story God ended each day of creation with a comment it is good, except the last day, when God sad it is very good. In biblical language, unlike ours, good is a rather exuberant, scintillating, pulsating word, better translated as bountiful, overflowing, lavish, veritably bursting at the seams. A cornucopia. A cascade. Outrageous abundance! The earth is lavish in its provision; we are inept in its fair distribution. 2. Manna Economics Enough: The Hebrews had only witnessed an economics of accumulation during their slavery in Egypt. Living on ample food provided each day, enough, they learned an economic of sufficiency, as narrated in the Book of Exodus.
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3. Promised Land Economics Fair Distribution: The book of Numbers ends with an assignment of land made with precision and clear intent. Each tribe receives an allotment based on its tribal population, each tribe dividing the land among its families with equity. 4. Sabbath and Jubilee Economics Redistribution: Inequality, over time, becomes inevitable. Contributing dynamics are endless luck or misfortune, unevenness in any generations ingenuity and hard work, healthiness and heartiness or not, favorable weather or not but a second generation, then a third will inherit the legacy of gain or loss of those who went before. So a wise and earthly Yahweh provided strategies of redistribution every seventh (Sabbath) year and 50th (Jubilee) year, as enumerated in the Books of Exodus and Leviticus. 5. Nazareth Economics Jubilee Re-affirmed: Jesus first sermon (Luke 4.1-30) includes a declaration of the acceptable year of the Lord, which many scholars view as a re-institution of the Jubilee Year redistribution. 6. Table-Turning Economics Status Quo Upended: Jesus first act after Palm Sunday (Luke 19.45-48) was to go on a mini-rampage, over-turning the tables of merchants and tax collectors, not so much, as earlier scholars assumed, to protect a worship place but, as more recent scholars believe, to symbolically overturn an unjust economic system featuring collusion of a Roman, Jewish and ecclesiastical cabal. (Remember Amos: challenging unjust business persons and an unjust economic system). 7. Barnabas Economics Radical Commonality: The evidence is unassailable and unambiguous: the economic sharing advocated and practiced by Jesus became normative in the early church. Resources were held in common, even capital reserves liquidated. No one was in need. And evidently there were richer and poorer among them. This sharing was practiced with exuberance, a source of communal deepening and shared joy. (cf. Acts 2.43-47 and 4.32-37). 8. Corinthians Economics Justice, Not Charity: St. Paul profiles his personal theology of giving in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, what one might interpret as his Jubilee Economics. Giving is a matter justice, not charity. He offers an odd but compelling formula for generosity: affliction + poverty + joy yields a wealth of generosity. He speaks of a fair balance to strike between one persons abundance and another persons need, quoting Exodus 16.18, The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little. Paul uses the word abundance with creative ambiguity arguing that the abundance of the rich must be met by the abundance of the poor, a rich reciprocity, an exchange of abundances leaving all richer for the exchange. (cf. 2 Corinthians 8 & 9). I have written these eight mini-paragraphs with perhaps obvious passion, and hopefully not undue length. If you want even more check, chapters 9 and 10 of my book, Gifts of an Uncommon Life: The Practice of Contemplative Activism.

ATD and the Biblical Challenge to Individual and Systemic Injustice: a Dialogue:
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My primary intention has been to coach facilitators working with Christian ATD audiences to incorporate references to the Bible and the Christian tradition for the participants benefit, to help them feel more comfortable and accepting of the ATD design, to find parallels that may offer support and authentication of the ATD material. I am also convinced that this biblical material can be for our benefit, ATD staff and facilitators, to expand and deepen the social justice segment of the design, to provide fresh and relevant input in our delivering the symposium.

Where We Are? Spiritual, Psychological & Social Impact (Module 2C)

This section highlights several themes: loneliness, happiness, our quest for meaning, consumerism, and the potential of pain and anguish to be useful and gifting. Setting biblical teaching and the insights of modern psychology side by side yields illumination, insight, understanding and wisdom. There is a basic paradigm of the human family, the core nature of our being, intrinsic to the Bible but rarely identified or delineated, that is worthy of note as we begin. In the western worldview the primary unit of social structure is the individual, with the formation of community being a possibility, an option, but clearly secondary to the primacy of the individual. But in the biblical worldview (and often still held among the planets indigenous peoples) community is the primary
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unit, the formation of individuals secondary. In the western paradigm individuals, as a discretionary matter, may choose to form community (and do so rather poorly, evidence suggests). In the biblical paradigm community is the source, perhaps the womb, the birthing place of individuals. We/us precedes, perhaps supersedes, I/me. The biblical paradigm for understanding personhood and identity has a clear, even remarkable parallel to various paradigms from the psychological world: particularly the distinction between inner self and outer self in understanding persons. Both disciplines suggest that the inner person is meant to shape the manifesting of the outer person; that the inner person is the proper source of basic identity; that self-definition is an inward matter; and that inner and outer are meant to be congruent and in alignment. The inner self biblically and psychologically: The Bible variously names this essence, this inner core, this true self as inner self, soul, spirit, heart, mind (heart does not refer to the physical organ or imply emotions/feelings, and, mind does not refer to the brain or to cognition, the thinking process, but each refers to this deepest, truest self). Psychology refers to person, true self, authentic self, actualized self The outer self biblically and psychologically: Psychology speaks of persona, false self, projected self, personage as ego-creations, forms of denial, a substitute-self that serves to hide or withhold the true self. A frequent word from the lips of Jesus relating to outer self is hypocrite, that has precise parallel in psychology. Persona (psychology) and hypocrite (biblical) both mean mask-wearer, donning a role and its script as in a theater production. As compelling, engaging and apparently real as an actors role role may be, it masks the authentic self of that actor. When I meet the world in a mask and playing a role as appealing, applauded and affirmed as I may be in that role, I remain hidden, isolated and alone. A pseudo-person forming only pseudo-relationships. When the outer self dominates loneliness is inevitable. The outer self, the Bible and loneliness The creation story reminds us that God said, It is not good for the man to be alone we are created for relationship. There is a subtle suggestion in the creation story that man and woman are created together, in relationship, just as the essence of God contains relationality. So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. (Genesis 1.27). Jesus has an affinity for the lonely; he is quick to speak and act with compassion toward them: women ostracized by divorce (the woman at the well/John 4.1-30) or medical condition (woman with a flow of blood/Mark 9.24-34); men marginalized by profession (Levi/Mark2.13-17, Zacchaeus/Luke 19.1-10) or disease (Bartimaeus/Mark 10.46-52 and lepers healed). The outer self, the Bible and consumerism biblically and psychologically: When one is easily seduced by external definers, co-opted by an externally formed identity, shaped by cultural expectations and influences, one result may be consumerism. What we have substitutes for who we are. The Bible abounds in stories that warn that consumerism and the quest for wealth are not life-giving: the soul required of a foolish farmer (Luke 12.1721), the other Lazarus story (Luke 16.19-31), a young man who could not release his
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wealth when new life was at hand (Matthew 19.16-30). Jesus gives us constant warnings about the perils of wealth. And the scathing warnings about wealth in the Book of James. In fact, after the references to the Reign of God, Jesus speaks most frequently about money, possessions and economic matters. The Bible and theological wisdom both highlight the primacy of inner self, the understanding and giftedness only available to the inner self: Paul, having said in I Corinthians 2.11, What knows the depth of a person except the spirit within? What knows the depth of God except the Spirit of God? completes the thought in Romans 8.16, That very Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. The inner self of the person bears witness with (connects with, resonates with) Gods inner self! Paul, having boasted that he could provide outer self credentials with the best of them (pedigree, education, esteemed position, righteousness, zealous mission), without demeaning himself or that track record, deemed all of it to be garbage (Philippians 3.46). He celebrates that, no matter what the outer circumstances, he has learned to be content (is there a more poignant human quest than for contentment?) because his inner self is in communion with Christ (Philippians 4.11-14). Both versions of the well-known Beatitudes (some call them Be-attitudes) shed light on inner self, noting that blessed can translate as happy in the deeper, more profound meaning of happiness): (a) Matthew 5.1-11 (and the twin images of salt and light that follow, 5.12-16) focuses on happiness as a inner spiritual matter, qualities of character, while (b) Luke 6.20-26 suggests that happiness is the fruit of a commitment to social justice, speaking frankly of matters of wealth and poverty. Jesus proclaimed life abundant a gift to the inner self. St. Augustine wrote, Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee If there is a homing device in the heart that is seeking divine communion, it is too easily detoured toward human desires that are not so much bad as fruitless in the quest for humanness and relationship, meaning and fulfillment. As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God . . . Deep calls to deep (Psalm 42.1, 7).

A word about Jesus Christ, with what may seem an odd way to frame it. Christ is not Jesus last name! He is often, perhaps most appropriately called, Jesus the Christ. The Spanish language literally combines the two, Jesucristo. Jesus was a historical figure, having a birth and death date, the object of years of quest for the historical Jesus about which I will not comment. Many designations are used in reference to him, among them: Anointed One, Messiah, Lord, Son of God, Son of Man, King . . . and Christ. (It is worthy of note that only one title seemed comfortable to him: Son of Man). I think of Jesus as temporal and finite and, Christ as eternal and infinite. Christ is named as before all things, present as a co-creator, seated at the right hand of God, preparing a place to welcome us after death among other things. Jesus was a teacher from whom one can learn. Christ is a presence which one can incorporate. Paul refers to
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Jesus teachings, but speaks of Christ in you . . . or I, yet not, but Christ in me, an indwelling divine presence. Finally, though Jesus is particular to Christianity, Christ can be synonymous with the in-dwelling divinity of other faiths and their particular founder, great teacher, Holy One. I hasten to add that, while I consider these statements consistent with biblical teaching and Christian theology, many of my faith would take issue with what I have written.

II. HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Worldview and Assumptions (Module 3A)
Someone once said that, the only road to where I am is the one I took, and, the road to where Im going begins with my next step. The Bible employs a cryptic paradox, an apparent contradiction, when speaking of how to relate to the past: remember . . . and . . . forget. At times of transition in both the Old and New Testaments, there is the call to remember to re-tell the formational stories, re-visit the high and proud moments, reclaim the wisdom and gifts of the heroes, renew the qualities of vision and mission, and rep-form the character and characteristics to be embodied in the present and carried into the future. Yet, at the same time, we are invited to forget to let the struggles and defeats of the past go, to know ones self as forgiven, to let negative memories be healed.
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The Hebrew Scriptures are essentially a re-telling especially the Exodus narrative, and the lives of the heroes, particularly the patriarchs, Moses and the prophets celebrated in ritual and song (the psalms) and in their histories (the books of 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles). Jesus instructed his followers to celebrate the Last Supper in perpetuity remembering him. The early church framed its message in a continual re-telling of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit. Essential to that history as it was lived and as it was re-visited was the drama of sin and redemption, confession and forgiveness, disobedience and renewal. God blamed Adam, who blamed Eve, who promptly blamed the serpent! (Genesis 3.113). When their history took a tragic turn individually or corporately, as persons or a people the Hebrews knew themselves to be held accountable. Jesus loved to forgive people and watch the new life that forgiveness bestowed, but he held people responsible. Though each departed feeling forgiven and renewed: Jesus reminded the woman at the well of her sordid past (John 4.1-16-18) and Peter of his denial (John 21.15-19). Sin is too often defined merely as badness, as immorality, committing evil deeds (maybe even contemplating them). And surely ethical standards are at play. The following biblical elements in understanding sin may broaden and deepen the word: o Idolatry: letting anything an object, person, idea, et cetera become central in life, displacing the divine, perhaps the most clearly foundational sin in the Old Testament, o Injustice: Jesus and the prophets: oppression of the poor and outcast; unfair economic practices and a discriminating judicial system; passion for wealth or power, o Guilt: the psalmist is disarmingly forthright and graphic about the interior, felt consciousness of guilt and shame; denial masks reality and responsibility; guilt awakens conscience, o Commission/omission: as the great confessional prayers of the church make clear: sin involves what we have done . . . and what we have left undone (Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, p. 352), echoing Jesus separating of the sheep and goats by their acts of compassion and/or lack thereof (Matthew 25.31-46), o Missing the mark: a literal translation of the most common word for sin in the New Testament; to be out of alignment (the Hebrew word for righteousness = alignment), o Off course: if the law is like channel markers, meant to guide and protect, then to dismiss or disobey the law is to lose direction, veer off course, steer into danger, o Separation: if we are created in and for intimacy with God, disobedience, willfulness, defiance creates separation A word about individual and corporate sinfulness: There is a clearly stated balance between these two in the Bible, rarely named or affirmed, but clearly operative in the biblical worldview, which may have potential to shed light on how we view sinfulness, responsibility and accountability in our world perchance an insight into how we got here. When crimes were
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committed in the biblical community, the criminals were held accountable for their actions, but so was the society. What dynamics at play in that culture created the context out of which a criminal developed? What social dynamics colluded with the criminals actions? Crime indicts a criminal and his society. Individuals bear responsibility for where we are and how we got here in our present global dilemma, but so do governments, educational institutions, health care organizations, corporations . . . and faith communities. Forgiveness may be most wonderfully, delightfully defined in Jesus exchange with a woman caught in the act of adultery. Careful reading of Jesus words suggest: Verdict? Guilty! Sentence? Forgiveness! (John 8.1-11)

Unexamined Assumptions (2.3)

If the biblical community was called to forget the things of the past and watch for the new thing I am doing (Isaiah 43.15-16), to forget what is behind and press on to what is ahead (Philippians 3.13), to lay claim to the all things new promised, they had to let go of unexamined assumptions never named in those words, but clearly implied. The illustrations are endless, a few worthy of note: The prophets constantly challenged pretense and denial . They challenged the pretense of faith-based security and the denial of militarism, the pretense to faithfulness and the denial of idolatry, the pretense to morality and the denial of lifestyles of injustice, the unexamined assumption that all is well. A successful and wealthy farmer lived by the unexamined assumption that prosperity yielded well-being (Luke 12.17-21).
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Pharisees paraded a hollow spirituality with the unexamined assumption that external goodness covered internal emptiness (Matthew 23.13-28). The disciples held an unexamined assumption that being chosen by Jesus was prelude to assuming ultimate positions of power, privilege and influence (Luke 9.46-48), Peter was deeply committed to eating according to the purity code, an unexamined assumption that he had to yield to follow a divine leading (Acts 10.1-43). Peter and Paul held unexamined assumptions that seemed on a collision course when they arrived at a church council to settle a divisive controversy, assumptions they had to surrender to a higher wisdom (Acts 15.1-37). Jesus challenged worshippers unexamined assumptions about Syrians, hated foreigners, and was almost lynched in the process (Luke 4.16-30). Jesus challenged vigorously, too often to itemize thoroughly, unexamined assumptions about the poor, women (especially women!), the unclean, et cetera.

How Did We Get Here? Another Worldview (Module 3B)

Acknowledgment: I am about to profile Jesus inclusivity, his challenge of attitudes and behaviors that divide, and his anti-separateness perspective. But it must be preceded by an acknowledgment. The Bible has been used to justify all manner of injustice, inhumanity, racism, domination, greed, accumulation of wealth, misuse of power, and the list goes on. Cherrypicking verses and proof-texting has been used in extraordinarily destructive ways. The history of the church is rife with its own unjust exercise of wealth and power, but more often its inexcusable collusion with forces of inhumanity. That said, the New Testament texts that are, nevertheless, rich with another worldview. Jesus attitudes, teachings and behavior constantly affirm inclusivity, bridging the gap between those divided by race, gender, age, culture, background or class. He is a uniter, not a divider in a culture characterized by divides of every kind.
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Jesus preaches on a theme often echoed throughout the New Testament, that anger divides, and forgiveness and reconciliation heals (Matthew 5.21-26), That vengeance deepens the divide, and that negotiation and respectful exchange unites (Matthew 5.43-48), That hatred of anyone, even enemies, divides, while prayer and love heals (Matthew 5.43-48), That judgment separates, and blinds the judge to his own need for healing, when working together can clear each others eyes (Matthew 7.1-6). Jesus spoke to women in public, touched lepers, sat at table with tax collectors and sinners, interacted with the unclean, healed foreigners, broke ritual laws, had the audacity to offer forgiveness, allowed a prostitute to wash his feet, and the list goes on.

A NEW STORY
Continuing in the spirit of Jesus inclusivity and broad embrace across numerous divides, I offer a blend of Old Testament references, narratives from Jesus life and teaching, citations from the writings of St. Paul, and a scene or two from the life of the early church that seem to proclaim and embody a new story. The connecting and healing power of seeing: In the Introduction section I wrote of Jesus and the Gift of Presence, Jesus using all five senses as disciplines of presence. This paragraph focuses on one key sense: seeing. When Jacob and Esau were reunited, after embracing and kissing, Jacob said to his estranged brother, Seeing your face is like seeing the face of God/Genesis 33.10) . . . Jesus invites Simon, a Pharisee, as he sits in judgment of a woman of the streets washing Jesus feet, to perceive her differently, with the simple words, Simon, do you see that woman? (Luke 7.38-50) . . . Jesus, seeing
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John and his mother standing near the cross, wanting them to care for one another, invites them to behold/look at/see one another (John 19.26-27) . . . Peter and John, rushing to the temple for prayer, confront a lame man at the gate. As part of his healing Peter said, look at us and they looked at him, as if seeing had healing possibilities (Acts 3.1-10). When we are rushed, we look at people generically not individually, perhaps not truly seeing them whereas to truly see may open up the dynamics of connecting and true relationship-building. The connecting and healing power of community: The early church experienced two things in greater measure than they ever had before love and community so they chose obscure and rarely used words investing them with these larger-than-words experiences. The word chosen for love was agape, unique in its depth of respect and regard, a love without condition or demand, freely and spontaneously given. The word chosen for community was koinonia its root being to share with a three-fold implication, three movements as it were, in the dynamics of community/koinonia: (1) to move toward each other: when attitudes or cultural forces may act to divide and distance, koinonia beckons us toward each other, a movement of approach rather than distancing, but then (2) to touch each other: in both the physical and symbolic/poetic way, I touch you; our touching is touching, and beyond that, but deeper yet (3) to interweave as beings: our lived inter-twined, while individuality not only remains but deepens. A Sufi greetings seems appropriate: Who are you, standing here before me? You are me, in another form. Who am I, standing here before you? I am you, in another form. Echoes of an ancient Christian greeting: The Christ in me greets the Christ in you The connecting and healing power of the Body of Christ: St. Pauls foundational definition of the church is the Body of Christ. More than mere poetry, just a catchy slogan, deeper than simply metaphor there is something real, richly literal, even intuitively anticipating of modern psychology and group process theory. Paul is saying more than our connecting is like being part of a body, but we truly, deeply are interconnected. Every part with its role to play, large or small, major or minor; each part is to be acknowledged and dignified; and if any part is in pain, the whole body is in pain and participates in the healing process. The connecting and healing power of compassion: The biblical language, unlike our own, is robust, earthy, image-evoking; full of texture, intrinsically poetic; and, in this case, bodily. No New Testament word is richer or heartier than compassion. The root of the word is womb, feelings that arise from the loins, the gut, in a visceral, organic way. Jesus said, Be ye compassionate as God is compassionate (Luke 6.36), thus compassion is a capacity, responsiveness, engagement with life and people that we share with divinity. God, speaking through Jeremiah says, My womb trembles for him, I will truly show motherly-compassion on him (Jeremiah 31.20). Jesus seeing and acting, teaching and healing is constantly revealed as prompted by his compassion. When he saw a woman coming from her only sons funeral, his heart was filled with compassion and raised the son to life (Luke 7.11-5). In a familiar parable, when Jesus is asked to define neighbor, the ones we are to love even as we love God and ourselves, he tells of a Samaritan (unlike two religious travelers who passed by, a despised foreigner) who
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comes to the aid of a beaten man on the Jericho road, his heart being filled with compassion (Luke 10.33). Someone has pointed out that the Great Commandment (love God, and your neighbor as yourself) is more circular than sequential, compassion momentum building as we love God/other/self together). The connecting and healing power of the mystical and mysterious: Perhaps all Truth, capital T Truth eludes the reach of language. These two biblical scenes touch a deep Ppace that perhaps one can only intuit, feel into, receive in a reverent silence o Jesus Prayer in Gethsemene: At first glance the prayer appears to come from Jesus (where he is kneeling alone) to God (a Father he seems to address as Other, separate, at a distance) about the disciples (located elsewhere in the garden, each a measurable distance from Jesus). Then there comes a shift from separateness to oneness, from distance to mystical unity, from communication to communion as Jesus prays may they be one even as you and I are one (John 17.11b), o The Lords Supper: Thousands of books have tried to explain it and various denominations offer differing interpretations of it. Jesus knew better! He seems to have known the power of ritual, of symbolic act, of enacted mystery. He offers no explanation or interpretation. Only the mandate to keep doing it breaking bread as his body and pouring wine as his blood (Matthew 26.26-30, I Corinthians 11.23-25). Perhaps the ultimate invitation to a new story. A miscellany of brief connecting and healing references: The Spirit falls broadly, even indiscriminately (would that it might fall on everyone!), as Moses shares the power of God with the people (Numbers 11.10-30) . . . That same Spirit animates and unites the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2.1-13) . . . We have spoken already of radical economic sharing in the early church (Acts 2.43-47, 4.32-37) . . . Many stories chronicle the inclusion of Jews and foreigners into the new story of Jesus and the church.

Introduction to the Universe Story (Module 4)

How to introduce the Universe Story to Christian groups? As a pastor, that is the question I am most frequently asked by facilitators. I have no easy, airtight answer. But a thought or suggestion or two: 1. For those whose resistance or discomfort you anticipate: Acknowledge that in the last decade the theory of evolution has been (at times vigorously) challenged by the theory of creationism and/or the theory of intelligent design. Observe that all three are commonly named as theories, and that proponents of each theory offer evidence to support their point of view. Honor all three, perhaps explicitly, no matter what your personal viewpoint. And you may want to verbally affirm and appreciate those for whom the Universe Story will not align with their point of view. When a persons opinion is name and honored, they are more apt to be open to another point of view. Then acknowledge that the Universe Story will speak, unapologetically, the language of evolution, but invite participants to take note of Brian
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Swimmes comments that resonate (so beautifully!) with the theory of intelligent design. Are there more stirring words anywhere in the symposium? 2. For those who might appreciate a biblical reflection first: Please know that the vast majority of Christians, even most evangelical/conservative Christians, tend to accept evolution while viewing God, at the same time, as the Creator. The creation story of Genesis 1.1-2.4 has an engaging, rather intuitive, if not consciously intended parallel to the theory of evolution. Notice: God creates the universe, not just the earth . . . that at the beginning all is formless void . . . though the cosmology is primitive, earth is created in the context of the cosmos (heavens and earth form in tandem) . . . vegetation comes first, then the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures (evolution narrates how living beings emerged from the waters) . . . the climax of the creation story being the creation of man and woman (and God, as mentioned earlier, having declared each days work good called the last day very good!) 3. Show it, or dont show it unapologetically: You may choose to show the Universe Story, with whatever introductory comments seem appropriate, perhaps helpful. Or, you may choose not to show it for whatever reasons. Whichever choice act definitively, without hesitation, un-self-consciously. Your awkwardness or anxiety will be distracting and contagious. 4. A more personal word: For me no single video or module, no group exercise or small group sharing is more important, more clearly at the heart of the work of the symposium, than the Universe Story. I cannot not show it! For me to not show it would be a betrayal of the essence of ATD/CTD. And, if I were concerned about a given groups readiness to view it, I would share just that.

III. WHAT IS POSSIBLE FOR THE FUTURE?

The Great Turning Its Happening (3.1)
Notice the words in italics in the Manual text, speaking of the New Dream its happening already the precise words the Lord speaks through the prophet Isaiah, Do not cling to the events of the past . . . watch for the new thing I am going to do . . . It is happening already . . . You can see it now (Isaiah 43.18-19). Isaiah was announcing a great turning, a historical shift. Echoes of Moses final words to the Hebrews: the heretofore only imagined Promised Land is now within view, across the river, promising a rich and wonderful future if they only they heed Moses words: The new command I am giving you today is not too difficult or beyond your reach . . . No, it is here with you. You know it. You can quote it. So now obey it . . . Choose life (Deuteronomy 30.11-21). The singularly most dramatic great turning of the Old Testament! Near scriptures end the author of Revelation shares a visionary experience: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth . . . and the one who sat on the throne said, The old things have disappeared. And now I make all things new. (Revelation 22.1, 4-5).
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Jesus and the Kingdom (Reign) of God: The theme that Jesus sounded most frequently, the metaphor that dominated his teaching, the phrase that defines the core of his message is the Reign (Kingdom) of God. A single phrase from perhaps Jesus most familiar words, the Lords Prayer, is compact and focused: thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6.10), that divinity and the reign of divinity begins to manifest in human history. We may be going to heaven but Jesus declares that heaven wants to come to us! Now theres a vision! Jesus announces the Reign of God in his typical enigmatic way (images, similes, metaphors, stories, symbols) as both to come (a future dimension, not yet ultimately fulfilled) yet as already arrived (at hand, unfolding). His familiar phrase, the Reign of God is within you actually had a delightfully double meaning: within you, individual, interior, a matter of the heart; and, among you, a corporate, communal, collective matter. Jesus constant use of the Reign of God is multi-dimensional: personal and relational; about equity and social justice; about compassion and loving-kindness; about relationship and community; universal and inclusive. The singularly most dramatic great turning of the Old Testament! An aside about the Jordan River and the crossing into the Promised Land: Forty years prior Moses had raised his shepherds staff and the Red Sea waters parted, the people dramatically set free. Now they face the Jordan River, less formidable, but water to be crossed nonetheless. Moses has climbed the mountain to die, and no one has his staff. Joshua orders the people to stand at the waters edge, the leaders in front . . . and to start walking! The waters part as they walk! Not all at once, the narrative suggests, but as they take each next step. What a metaphor! (Joshua 3.14-17)

What Is Possible for the Future? Vision, Imagine, Embody, Act (3-2)
An oft-repeated biblical pattern, especially from the prophets, has a distinct parallel to the four questions that orient the symposium: the prophets and Jesus live and write in a time of crisis for the Hebrews (where are we?) . . . they name the unfaithful, foolish, negative, non-life-giving choices they have made (how did we get here?) . . . they promise and profile the new future being prepared for them (what is possible for the future?) . . . and call the people to journey in faithfulness, determination and hope toward that future (where do we go from here?). Steps toward that possible future seem four-fold: Believe in it: My dad read it to me, I read it to my sons, and it remains a favorite with my grandsons: The Little Engine That Could. It is an axiom of virtually all religious traditions and schools of psychology: attitude makes all the difference. After Bartimaeus received his sight, Jesus said, your faith has made you well (Mark 10.52). He told a father he would heal his son by his faith (Mark 9.14-25). Seeing faith in the faces of four
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men who had brought a paralyzed friend, Jesus taps their faith to heal him (Mark 2.1-5). Jesus looks for signals of readiness as a necessary element in the healing process. Hebrews 11, which is among scriptures most stirring passages, is a retelling of the sweep of biblical history, with the power of faithas the cornerstone theme. It offers a series of vignettes each beginning with the phrase. It was by faith that . . . and cites the key moments in the lives of Abel, Enoch and Noah; Abraham and Sarah; Isaac, Jacob and Joseph; Moses and Rahab; the judges, David, Samuel and the prophets. Belief, openness, receptivity, sensing possibility, willingness to dream dreams, to envision a new future These seem the place to start. Envision it, imagine it: The power of visualization is as old as the most ancient of biblical stories. Proverbs puts it in capsule form: without vision the people perish. I invite you to visit some biblical narratives where visioning/imagining are at the heart of future-claiming: o Abraham trusted Gods promise enough a promise that he and Sarah would birth a son and thus a nation to leave the comforts and security of retirement in a walled city and become nomads. At age 75 it must happen soon, he surely reasoned, so the passage of a decade and more was troublesome. One brilliantly starry night God invites him from his tent, Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendents as that (Genesis 15.5). That vision renewed his confidence in Gods promise Sarah birthed Isaac when Abraham was 99! (Muslims trace the story of Abrahams other son, Ishmael, and his mother, Hagar.) o We have spoken already of the exodus, the two-week walk that took forty years, and Moses daunting task of leading an often doubting and grumbling people. When frustration peaked (remember, these people had never owned land or lived in prosperity; they had known only bondage and slave labor), Moses would remind them again (and again and again) to close their eyes and see it in their minds eye, a land flowing with milk and honey. Vision renewed hope and re-animated the walking. o Ezekiel is prophet to a demoralized and defeated people, exiled in Babylonia, their spirits as dead as dry bones, until the prophets vision of dry bones leaping to life inspired a great turning (Ezekiel 37.1-15). No biblical story of reversal of fortunes turns on the power of imagination and the transforming power of vision quite like this one! Be it; embody it: The Children of Israel, the Hebrews as a people, and the church as an organization seem first called to a faithfulness of being, a quality of presence, a living example, a demonstration to the world. There are words that lend definition to this calling: (a) remnant: God makes it clear in the Old Testament that a faithful minority, at times an even very small minority of the faithful , is all that is needed to carry the divine mandate forward from generation to generation, (b) leaven: A principle metaphor for the New Testament Church is the leaven in the loaf, a miniscule ingredient that allows the
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dough to rise, the full loaf to form, (c) first-fruits: The church is imagined as first-fruits, those few early branches ripe for harvest, that signal assurance the full harvest is to come. Do it; manifest it; take action: (The focus below of Where Do We Go From Here)

I have been delighting, as this work has progressed, how many rich, natural and unforced parallels arise between the work of the symposium and the writers and writings it cites. Many others come to mind: the theory of dissipative structures (Ilya Prigogine), the tipping point (Malcolm Gladwell), the variations on the turning point metaphor, critical mass theory as it applies to evolutionary leaps, together with the various speakers in the What Is Possible for the Future video.

Role of Media (3.7)

Surely there are no biblical stories that set up the Wombat video, or that utilize public relations, media, and advertising strategies. Not! The biblical era had no mass media, of course; not even amplification. But the Bible is full of street theatre, acted out parables, public demonstrations, mime, poses and postures, symbolic acts usually timed to draw a crowd, to initiate public response, to agitate even infuriate, to interpret, inspire and predict. Isaiah and Micah arent the only prophets the Lord instructed to become naked to make a point (Isaiah walking the streets naked for three years) each predicting shame and defeat for unfaithfulness (Isaiah 20.1-6; Micah 1.8-9). The Lord instructs Jeremiah to buy a clay jar, to draw as large a crowd as he can, and then smash the jar, a sign of their forthcoming doom for their disobedience (Jeremiah 19.1-13); later Jeremiah is instructed to draw the largest crowd he can, of Hebrews and foreigners alike, wearing a yoke he made of wood and leather, predicting defeat by Babylonia (Jeremiah 27.1-22)
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Ezekiel is the master of Old Testament street theatre. His one-man drama symbolizes the forthcoming defeat of Jerusalem and involves hundreds of props (from bricks and iron pans to wheat and peas), prolonged postures (lying on his left side for 390 days!), a starvation diet (water and cow dung), and animated gestures (Ezekiel 4.1-17). Jesus most elaborate symbolic act seems carefully planned with attention to detail and timing: his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The colt of a donkey arranged with a password to secure its release is ridden from the brow of the hill opposite the citys main gate, with deliberate association to an Old Testament prophesy he symbolically fulfills (Zechariah 9.9). As pilgrims, caught up in the drama, spread palms on the road, literally tens of thousands look his way and break into song. A PR scheme of exquisite execution! (Luke 19.28-40)

IV. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Lets revisit the prior reference to three defining metaphors for the people of God remnant, an Old Testament word suggesting that faithfulness is carried forward by even a small minority; leaven, a New Testament word reminding us that those carrying the message and movement of Jesus forward can be as small as the tiniest, though perhaps us most important ingredient in a loaf; and, first-fruits, the hope that is generated when only a handful make hope and possibility visible. The biblical narrative constantly demonstrates the power of one (or a few) and the transforming potential in taking a stand, that a small start can have a staggering outcome. I am struck again (again and again) how rich, authentic and synergistic the parallels are between the Symposium and the best of the biblical tradition.

The Power of a Stand (4-2)

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Understanding the deeper message and truth in a sacred text (in this case the Bible); discerning what is good and right, illuminating and just, a path of faithfulness and particularly touching the heart of divinity seems to demand an appreciation for paradox. It asks us to tolerate for ambiguity, and speak for peace in the face of uncertainty. God can be eternally gracious, patient and longsuffering (though odd-sounding, this is a translation of the most important Old Testament word referring to God: chesed). But God can also be decisive and demanding. Following God, heeding the prophets, following Jesus requires taking a stand, making choices, yes or no. A few examples: Moses could not couch the choice before the people more dramatically, the core choice that will determine their future. He frames it as a choice between life (faithfulness, obedience, love) and death (disobedience, unwillingness to listen, being distracted by other gods) poignantly challenging the people to Choose life (Deuteronomy 30.1120) The Old Testaments most dramatic show down is a contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Thousands are gathered and the stakes are high. Elijahs initial words to the people are, How much longer will you take to make up your minds? (the word for make up your minds pictures a bird approaching a tiny fork in a branch, each leg taking a different direction!). If the Lord is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him. (I Kings 18.21). Jesus placed symbolic warning labels on possessions and wealth and spoke crisply and compactly when he said, No one can be slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6.24), a passage set amidst numerous other warning label verses. The Bible offers no clearer story of the power of taking a stand and the power of one than Stephen. As a newly elected deacon, a lesser role in the early church, he demonstrated personal power that drew the suspicion of religious leaders (a familiar story!). After defying their rigged accusations, he preaches the New Testaments longest sermon, and is promptly stoned to death. A collaborating by-stander named Saul, an ardent adversary of the church, would later, inspired first by this early martyr, become the new faiths chief architect (Acts 6.8-8.1). Now thats the power of one! And taking a stand! In a letter to an apostolic church, a passage rife with its own warning labels about the delusions of wealth, the author, speaking for God, sharply decries their being lukewarm, challenging them to be hot or cold, concluding with a gracious promise, Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me (Revelation 3.14-21) The disciples defied the law and kept preaching and healing, declaring when challenged, What is right, to obey you or God? We cannot stop speaking of what we have seen and heard (Acts 4.19). The Wise Men defied a direct royal order and returned home by another way (Matthew 2.12). Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to a cathedral
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door, shouting, Here I stand, I can do no other. Dietrich Bonhoeffer left the safety of New York, joined the German underground, and was hung for his stand.

Declare What We Stand For (4.3) . . . Vision + Plan (4.5)

When describing my own desire to be discerning and faithful, I like to say that I give God the gift of momentum. It is easier to steer a moving object than start a standing object. Discerning as clearly as I am able, acknowledging that everything is seen through a glass darkly, I set off in the direction I sense I am being led, the activity and involvement I am being led to. Trusting Gods steering! Mother Teresa said we are called to faithfulness, not success. Thomas Merton, confessing that he could never be sure what he was saying or doing was, in fact, in alignment with Gods will, affirmed that he desired in all things to do Gods will, and, that he trusted that God honors that desiring. Peter was four for eleven in his attempts to speak and act faithfully. Paul had two false starts (discernment misfires) before the vision of a beckoning Macedonian set their course (Acts 16.6-10). Any demand for certainty can be immobilizing. Maybe discerning is like manna: enough to go on, one day at a time. See if this four-fold process for discerning what is yours to say and do drawn from scripture is helpful: Called: The beginning of faithful serving is to be called and the Bible is bulging with call stories with a familiar pattern to be noted. The call comes in a great variety of
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ways: Isaiahs is dramatic, Jeremiahs matter-of-fact, Ezekiels visionary, and Moses unexpected; Pauls is tumultuous, Nathanaels subtle, Matthews unexpected, and Marys startling. And the call is almost always resisted: (Isaiah felt too sinful, Jeremiah argued he was too young, Moses lacked oratorical skills, Ezekiel could not get a word in edgewise; Peter felt unworthy, Joseph unconvinced, Paul untrustworthy. But the resistance is resisted: Isaiah said, Here I am, send me. Mary said, Let it be according to your word. Fishermen left their nets, a tax collector his office, Timothy his timidity and Bartimaeus his blindness). Jesus most frequently framed his calling as Follow me. Jesus offers little information; no roadmap or timetable; virtually no certainty. The choice to follow had more to do with trust than information. Resistance is predictable, but is to be resisted. Gifted: The Bible seems to suggest, relative to the called persons, that their life to date, their biography, their lived past experience is a source of gifting: Moses had seen injustice first hand, had access to the royal court, and had passion ready to be bridled; Paul, yet to be converted, knew the message and had witnessed the power of faith. Jesus training of Peter suggests there are gifts buried within to be unveiled, nurtured and cultivated like green shoots: Simon had seemed anything but rock-like to date, a mercurial, unsteady man, but Jesus gently called forth the Peter (rock-like-ness) in him. Paul assures that those who God calls, God equips. On various occasions he speaks in general terms about gifts (I Corinthians 12.1-31), linking giftedness with the Body of Christ image (Ephesians 4.1-16), emphasizing that giftedness is for the sake of the Body of Christ/the church, and, in other passages itemizes some gifts of the Spirit (Ephesians 4.11, I Corinthians 12.13-31). Paul at times links a specific persons name with the gifts they have manifested. Finally, the Parable of the Talents insists there are five, two and one talent persons but no no talent persons! The invitation is to embrace, celebrate and multiply your talent(s). Purposeful: Pauls Ephesian letter, in its first half, is perhaps his most practical instructional writing. He hints at the sequence we are exploring, using the phrase for this reason to transition from one stage to another in growth in faith and serving: (a) Gods grace is constant, his wisdom trustworthy, the outcome of the divine plan secure (1.1-14) . . . (b) for this reason God called together a unified people to be filled with that grace, empowered by that Spirit, a living dwelling place of God (1.5-2.22) . . . (c) for this reason each one is called to confidence in the ultimate unifying power of oneness that no human of spiritual power can undo, boldness and confidence (2.23-3.14) . . . (d) for this reason each in their Inner Self (soul, heart, spirit, essence) know that they are unconditionally loved (3.4-21) . . . (e) for this reason emerging from Divine Oneness comes the gifts to be manifest to move with determination toward the divine purpose. All is toward purposeful action: Paul said, Put into practice what you have learned and received (Philippians 4.9). Jesus said: Go and do likewise . . . you shall know a tree by its fruits . . . not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, but the who hears my word and does it . . . welcomed to the kingdom are those who fed and clothed and visited . . . do for others who you want them to do for you . . . love your enemies and do good to those who hate you. The Bible is full of calls to a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one.
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I have needed somewhere (so, let it be here) to share two verses that are most sustaining of vision, energy and commitment for me; most engendering and deepening of hope; most grounding of ultimate confidence in what can seem, at times, overwhelming, discouraging and hopeless endeavors: (1) We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8.28). Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr speaks in nuanced theological language when he say that we work for proximate goals (that we must have vision, set goals, develop plans, and work to carry them out) while entrusting to God ultimate goals (goals focused well beyond my lifetime, or lifetimes to come). Moses and Martin Luther King led a people into view of an ultimate goal, but neither set foot on its soil. And (2) a second verse is like unto it (allowing, please, some interpreters license), my blend of a number of verses, a hybrid, I trust faithfully cloned: We plant and tend, water and prune, but God gives the harvest. We plant trees that will not come to full stature in our lifetime. We plant a garden before we move to a new house, others to enjoy blossoms and fruitfulness. Passionate: If a call beckons, gifts equip, and purpose directs . . . then passion sustains. Passion generates resilience, inspires the long-distance run, allows one to become thoroughly used up, to be a splendid torch . . . burning as brightly as possible. Passion is the fruit of identifying what makes your heart come alive and what you care deeply about. Who speaks and acts more passionately than Jeremiah, Micah or Amos? What animates Pauls resilience more than the passion than brims from his message and mission?

Blessed Unrest and Action (4-3)

For this section of the Symposium, you may want to refer back to Welcome and Introduction and in particular the notes on Orientation of the Symposium and Blessed Unrest (W.11). Also What is Possible for the Future (3-2) and Vision, Imagination, Embodiment and Action. (3-2 to 3-3). The notes for those sections may speak to the pages and themes at hand as well.

Being Inspired by What You (and Others) Are Already Doing (4.9)
It is a common biblical strategy, particularly evident in the New Testament, to use the responsibility-taking, faithfulness, generosity and personal example of others as a source of inspiration and encouragement. Jesus used a prophets visit to a widow, and another prophets healing of a Syrian general as illustrations in his inaugural sermon (Luke 4.25-28), a wise builders digging a firm foundation on rock to conclude his Sermon on the Mount (Luke 6.45-49), and a widows meager gift as exemplary generosity (Luke 21.1-4). He constantly affirmed the faith of
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the one healed, rather than his own, as a source of healing power, like Bartimaeus (Mark 10.46-52) or the faith of a sick mans friends (Mark 2.1-11). Jesus primary teaching method was narrative rather than mere instruction, using fictitious persons (a good Samaritan, Luke 10.25-37) or real life examples (Mary and Martha, Luke 10.28-42). The Book of Acts (authored by the gospel writer Luke) offered the extraordinary examples of profound communal sharing to inspire his readers (Acts 2.54-47; 4.32-37), the life and martyrdom of Stephen to illustrate the highest example of faithfulness (Acts 6-8), and the courageous willingness to change deeply held unexamined assumptions by Peter (Acts 10 and 11). Paul often ends a letter by naming living examples among the early faith communities: Aquila and Priscilla, Timothy and Titus, and the entire community at Philippi, for example. He cites the generosity of the churches in Macedonia, even as they were in the midst of severe hardship, to inspire generosity by the Corinthians (2.8 and 9).

Choosing Commitments (4.13)

About Covenant: For Jews and Christians any commitment that is unique and special higher and deeper than other commitments, that has an inner as well as an outer component would be called a covenant. This is among the most profound and significant of biblical words. The covenant with God provides context for all other covenants, Gods unconditional love inviting love as the response. A covenant involves deep loyalty, a promise of the heart and soul, a clear spiritual dimension. Jeremiah speaks of covenant as written on the heart (Jeremiah 31.33). Making covenant is often accompanied with a ritual or symbolic act: Jacob built a cairn where he made covenant with God (Genesis 31.23) and Jonathan gave David his armor when they made a covenant of friendship (1 Samuel 18.2). Ritual possibilities: As participants frame their commitment or covenant, you might invite them to hold it, be it in written or mentally formed, with reverence, with sacred intent, with prayerful assent, in a moment of silence. Or, as they share their commitment/covenant in threesomes, invite them to place hands, each in turn, on the other persons written document and/or on the other persons themselves.
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CLOSE
Cherokee Elder Story (CL.4)
This story is a powerful vignette of a basic principle, a foundational theme of many world religions. Buddhism suggests that every possible thought, feeling and action resides in our seed storehouse both the wholesome and unwholesome, creative and destructive, loving and hateful. We have full potential for goodness and evil. It all depends on what seeds we water! Islam posits that humanity is born with the awesomeness of free will, the invitation to choose good and the capacity to choose evil. Allah gave each human the gift of reason and an inner moral compass (fatrah), an inclination to seek God, as an encouragement to choose the good. But free choice remains. I have already cited biblical texts that focus on human accountability and the centrality and urgency of positive, intentional choice-making. Moses, in final words to the Hebrews preparing to claim the Promised Land, poses a distinct choice: Choose life (Deuteronomy 30.15-20). Elijah challenges the people to stop waffling and make a choice: If God is God, follow him (1 Kings 18.21). Jesus drew a line in the sand: God or money (Matthew 6.24).
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Paul sharpens the theme in two passages: Filling your mind resonant with modern psychology, our attitude, or where we focus our attention, makes all the difference in the world. The word mind refers to more than the brain or the act of thinking, but represents our wholeness, our essential self, our core, our truest self. Thus, how we fill our mind and where we focus our mind is not only a matter of perception but of creation. Paul invites the reader to choose: a gentle attitude . . . to release worry . . . thankfulness . . . all that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and honorable (Philippians 4.5-9). Human nature and spiritual nature echoing the Cherokee elder, Paul positions two natures in opposition: the human nature prone to jealousy, strife, ambition, rage and separateness, and, the spirit nature given to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, et cetera. Paul counsels both fighting this battle individually, and, encouraging one another in community (Galatians 5.16-28).

Hope Committed in Action (C-3)

The word for hope in Spanish is delightfully expansive and inclusive, weaving many threads into the rich tapestry of the wondrous quality called hope: esperar / esperanza blending simply to hope with to expect, to wait for, to desire. The notion of hope in the Bible is similarly nuanced, multi-textured and complex. Its use suggests a fabric of many colors, a word that in many ways eludes the capacity of language to capture. Since hope is the note the Symposium ends on, scripture may help make that a rich, beautiful and resonant note. Psalms and Proverbs suggest that hope is a gift received, rather than an outcome created. When hope is pursued by wealth or power, particularly military power, that effort fails (Psalms 33.17, Proverbs 1.7). It often manifests out of poverty and despair (Psalms 9.18). Hope is most often a by-product; the focus on God, rather than hope itself, is what yields hope. Echoing themes just above, hope is a choice, a setting of the mind, a decision. Insight from Paul: While Jesus does not use the word hope, Paul employs it thirty-eight times. He (a) He emphasizes that hope is more gift than creation (Romans 15.13, Colossians 1.5), (b) yet paradoxically, in provocative and stirring words, he suggests that
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we grow into hope, persevere into hope, journey into hope: we know that struggle produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us (Romans 5.3-4). Paul also asserts (c) boldness and confidence, resilience and durability are fruits of hope (I Thessalonians 1.3, 2 Corinthians 3.12), and that hope, while real and substantial, is yet invisible, to be waited for, though unseen, with patience (Romans 8.24-25). And finally (d) most subtly, everywhere affirmed in those thirty-eight references, is that hope is confidence in an assured outcome hope not producing the outcome, yet holding firm and vigorous confidence in the outcome. The technical, scholarly word is proleptic an outcome so secure that it essentially already is, albeit in the future, known to be so through the lens of hope. From a biblical perspective hope is not optimism: optimism is a character trait, or, a conclusion based on promising evidence; hope is a virtue, a fruit of faith, a gift born of an attitude and/or a choice. Hope may have apparent, intrinsic illogic. Hopes capacity to inspire confidence, relentless action, and dauntless stamina is an enigma, a mystery. * * *

Preaching to the choir may be a trite slogan, but I suspect that our usual ATD audience is most often the already exposed, if not the already converted. We acknowledge that ATD has this important role that re-energizing those who have been long-time advocates of environmental sustainability, social justice and spiritual fulfillment is a worthy cause. Discouragement and challenges to hopefulness are pervasive, insidious and eroding of hope. Surely bringing the environmentalists, the champions of social justice and practitioners of fulfilling spirituality all too often in separate, even awkwardly competitive camps into a single, uniting mission is important. And using the Bible as I have offered may in some settings further that uniting purpose. But in this offering of the many echoes, parallels and synergies between the Bible and the Pachamama message, there is also the potential to engage some of those who are deeply troubled by our world and not yet united in that purpose. I invite you to be in touch. Let me know ways in which these pages have been a fruitful resource. Add your suggestions for additions and changes, so this can be a work in progress, celebrating its own evolution. Ill welcome your emails at hfriend@prodigy.net Without vision the people perish . . . do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God . . .choose life! Celebrating our connection, Howard Friend
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