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A Martian Muses on Monotheism

2022 Febuary 8 Tuesday 1 pm Zoom link posted here by Monday.
Retired Clergy of All Faiths -- guests welcome

Zoom Meeting Recording may be available soon.

      

#HelpWithBook

Zen and Happiness: Practical Insights and Meditations to Cultivate Joy in Everyday Life
By Joshua R. Paszkiewicz
ISBN: 9781638784784

Reviewed by Vern Barnet

Zen masters may be able to personally guide their students toward happiness, but few masters are also able to convey such guidance to those they have never met by writing a book. Dr Paszkiewicz is such a master, celebrated internationally, and his Zen and Happiness  is such a book. 

The book's guidance is practical, with background, examples, exercises, and summaries, all in less than 150 remarkably lucid pages.

Zen awareness is accessible to those of any faith, or none. Zen happiness is not limited to a monastic or retreat setting, but can be practiced eating breakfast, driving to or from work, at work, at home -- anywhere. An unusual virtue of this book is its concluding chapter, "Zen Happiness When Happiness Seems Impossible," which recognizes dark moments of life, and shows how Zen awareness works even in the experience of grief.

The book recommends both a faithful, even rigorous, practice of meditation, but also an approach which is gentle and compassionate about one's failings.

I especially enjoyed the mix of stories from the rich and varied Zen traditions along with examples from today's problems and situations.

I first encountered Zen from a Chinese master over 50 years ago. This book not only recalled and refreshed the practice I then began, but enhanced and deepened my appreciation for how the Zen presented in this book can be of enormous help to so many others.

The Rev. Dr. Joshua R. Paszkiewicz is a multireligious cleric and scholar uniquely trained and transmitted in the Zen traditions of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. He has studied and taught Zen throughout the world and has served as an official delegate to numerous notable events, including the first White House Buddhist Leaders Conference and the United Nations' World Day of Vesak. Dr. Paszkiewicz has earned a diverse array of academic degrees and certifications in the fields of religion, psychology, education, business, and healthcare. On a day-to-day basis, Joshua maintains a private practice of spiritually integrative psychotherapy, teaches traditional life protection arts, and serves as spiritual director and consultant to numerous students, teachers, and communities around the globe. He can be found online at DRJRP.com.

Josh is known locally through his many, many paths of service, including assisting the Interfaith Council through its strategic planning process. I was fortunate to have him as a graduate student at Central Baptist Theological Seminary where he was less my student than my teacher.

For those of us given to the cause of interfaith understanding, opinions about abortion have, until now, been manageable, even welcome, in the  conversation. The right of all faith groups to practice as they see fit is protected by the United States First Amendment. Some Evangelical Christian and Roman Catholic leaders condemn all abortion, while, for example, other Christian and some Jewish leaders, among those of other faiths, believe that their traditions require different approaches to problem pregnancies (see recent opinion pieces in the Kansas City Star). The variety of opinion is healthy and contributes to our understanding of the complexities of human responses to the Sacred.

The intractable problem for those who prize religious pluralism arises when one view seeks to impose its view on others through legal compulsion. This question is raised, not too subtly, in the minority opinion of the Supreme Court ruling in discussing the legal basis chosen for the majority opinion, which according to Justice Thomas, concurring, also requires reconsideration of what have been rights of privacy including contraception and same-sex marriage, both of which are condemned in some faiths. (Justice Alito, who wrote the majority opinion, is Roman Catholic, are other justices in the majority -- Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Barrett; and Gorsuch was confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church. The minority justices Breyer and Kagen are Jewish, with Sotomayor a Roman Catholic.) The Supreme Court decision text (212 pages, majority and dissent) is here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf . 

In  2006, Missouri voters decided in favor of religious pluralism when a Stem Cell issue was placed on the ballot. At that time, Vern was asked to prepare a background paper, with a variety of views presented, to answer three questions. The first and last remain relevant.
     1. When does life begin?
     3. How can Americans can respect every faith’s opinions on this issue?

You can find this material, along with additional material directly related to abortion, in the Archive section of the CRES website at https://cres.org/pubs/2.htm . As we continue to study this controversy requiring fresh attention, additional history and opinion may be added. If it becomes necessary also to address Supreme Court decisions against contraception, certain heterosexual and homosexual behaviors, interracial marriage, and other liberties, appropriate commentary will be added in the context of interfaith understanding. One interesting possibility is a future action brought to the Supreme Court against a state that outlaws abortion in a case in which the petitioner claims an exemption from the state law on the basis of one's religious requirement to obtain an abortion in the particular circumstance.

Kansas voters soon face the question of installing one religious view as part of the law or retaining religious liberty and pluralism as Kansans consider amending the state constitution which currently allows abortion.

Legal arguments are instructive, and it is useful to see when they arise within a variety of religious perspectives. In all cases, in the midst of honest disagreements, while eschewing those who use religion to divide us politically, we must honor the sacred personhood, the genuine humanity, of everyone of good will.

The Reverend Vern Barnet, DMin
CRES minister emeritus
Founder, The Kansas City Interfaith Council

About Worship

Via Zoom, Vern visits Dr Rebecca Johnson's class on worship at Central Baptist Theological Seminary where he was Assistant Professor of Religious Pluralism. Two areas of interest around which much of his career has revolved are world religions and worship. Vern was one of five founding members of the Congregation of Abraxas, edited a collection of papers on worship, and occasionally lectures on the subject.
     A formative experience at Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago during the Vietnam War, insights about the nature of the sacred from Vern's professor and friend, Mircea Eliade, the notion of sacramentalism from Fr Michael Himes, insights from Pentecostal, Quaker, Shaker, and liturgical practices, encounters with rites from world religions, and a background in parish ministry  guide the discussion.

While the 9/11 attacks 20 years ago opened the gates of hell, the way our government has responded has brought us inside hell's domain. The smoke from that day, the acrid fumes, amplified into war, brings us purblind to the charred and hobbled Body Politic. How do we understand what has happened? How do we move forward?

One way of understanding what happened, and is still happening, is by looking at the metaphors we use to explain things and which shape our responses.

1. Before 911, terrorism had been dealt with as a CRIME, internationally and at home. The violation of life and property in an otherwise orderly society makes the terrorist an especially despised outlaw. We employ a legal system to assure justice by punishing the criminal and removing the criminal from society. International courts have done the same.

2. But since September 11 we have used a WAR metaphor. Of course the metaphor is hardly new. We love war. We have fought the war against poverty and the war against drugs, though it is hard for us to admit defeat, even though Vietnam and Afghanistan are history now. We still fight the war against cancer, against crime, against . . . you name it.

But a war against terrorism was new. The metaphor had power because we struggled not just against isolated attack but against an organized force seeking not just advantage through harm of a target but rather destruction of a government or civilization. Though we ourselves use violence, we assumed our own righteousness would bring us victory over evil.

Both of the metaphors of crime and war too easily commend themselves because they are simple, and rest on the assumption that we are wholly good — and our opponents are completely evil.

3. A third metaphor might come closer to the complexity of the situation: DISEASE. Here the metaphor suggests not two separate, competing powers but of all humanity as a sick body, within the organs of communities, cities, and nations, afflicted in various ways, degrading or sustaining each other in different degrees, infected with individuals and groups poisoned (using Buddhist language) with greed, fear, and ignorance. Now, with COVID, we are learning that, as Martin Luther King said, “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

Just so, CRES insists that the three great crises of our time, in the environment, in personhood, and in the social order, are all intertwined.

And that the world's Primal, Asian, and Monotheistic traditions, respectively, provide the therapy to heal the planet, revivify personhood, and restore social order.

Let us bring the healing powers of generosity, fellowship, and understanding to one another, expanding a circle of joy in service.

Vern

On the first anniversary of 9/11, CRES opened a day-long observance beginning with a water ceremony between City Hall and the Federal Justice Center, later shown on national CBS-TV. Click here to see a 3-minute excerpt from that ritual. 

From Aporia to Praise: TO BE SCHEDULED (postponed from 2020 May 24) An observance of the 50th anniversary of Vern Barnet's ordination Aporia: "impasse, puzzlement, doubt."

      Vern offers his conclusions from over 50 years of experience and study: in a troubled world, what paths lie forward? and how can one dare offer praise for the intertwined mix of the horror and the beauty of existence?
* Doing theology is less like mathematics and more like expounding why you love someone.
* My passion for "world religions" in the context of the crises of secularism.
* The mystic's vision (amour fati - love of fate) and the public expression in worship. 

September 13 Tuesday  5:30-8:30pm
Annual TABLE OF FAITHS
Fundraiser and Signature Event
Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center - Independence, MO
the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council
now independent but originally a program of CRES.

The Council writes --

Interfaith cooperation is key to transforming this religiously diverse society into a more just, kind, and pluralistic nation, and world. We ask ourselves what it would look like if every American, regardless of their religion or no religion, or worldview, was inspired and equipped to:

• Come together in a way that respects different religious identities?
• Build mutually inspiring relationships across differences?
• Engage in common action around issues of shared social concern?

AWARD RECIPIENTS


SevenDays - Table of Faiths Award

SevenDays® overcomes hate by promoting kindness and understanding through education and Dialogue. SevenDays® was born as the result of a hateful act when a white supremacist murdered Reat Underwood, his grandfather Dr. William Corporon, and Terri LaManno on April 13, 2014, outside of Jewish facilities.  In the aftermath, two families and our community joined hands and hearts to shine a light on the darkness of hate.
     SevenDays® is now entering its ninth year of countering hate through kindness, education and events. We are laser focused on getting our kindness resources and curriculum for K-12 grades into the schools across the metro. It is youth who will change our world. SevenDays® events will take place in April 2023.

#DavidNelsonHonored

David E. Nelson, D.Min. - Steve Jeffers Leadership Service Award Photo: David visiting a class to lecture on Appreciative Inquiry at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, 2018       Buy tickets or become a sponsor to the Interfaith Council's event here:  https://www.kcinterfaith.org/2022-table-of-faiths/ A prominent interfaith leader, David was one of twelve original faith members of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council in 1989 and served as Convenor for three years. He is senior associate minister of CRES, the World Faiths CENTER FOR RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE AND STUDY, was a major force in the 2001 Gifts of Pluralism conference where he introduced Appreciative Inquiry, played a key role in Kansas City’s first anniversary observance of 9/11, and lectured at the nation’s first Interfaith Academies in 2007. David served two years as the coordinator of the Christian Jewish Muslim Dialogue Group. He served in the Life Connections Interfaith Program at the US Penitentiary in Leavenworth for over a decade.      As an Appreciative Inquiry Coach, David has assisted individuals and groups in a variety of settings. These included the Department of Health and Human Services, Emergency Medicine, Head Start, and Community Action Agencies. He provided training in Team Building and Appreciative Supervision in 39 states and Europe.      David received his bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. His master’s degree in divinity, and his doctorate in ministry are both from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He has served as an adjunct faculty member of that school, conveying a Doctor of Ministry program in Kansas and Missouri. He also is a graduate of the two-year program in spiritual direction with the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Direction in Washington, DC.      David served as Senior Pastor at Saint James Lutheran Church in Kansas City for 13 years.  He also served Peace Lutheran Church in Manhattan, Kansas, and at Andover Lutheran in Windom, Kansas five years each.      David’s previous awards include a CRES Award in 2006 “for life-long community service, vision, and care for the future, and blessing the venture of interfaith understanding,” the 2013 Buck O’Neil Legacy Seat Award at the Kansas City Royals where David was applauded at a game of the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium for embodying Buck’s values (including diversity and working to make the world a better place), a Special Commemoration by the Interfaith Council when he retired from the Council in 2014, and the 2018 Humanitarian Award given at the Bruce R Watkins Cultural Heritage Center and Museum. In 2022, David was honored by Fitch and Associates with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his training of many of America's finest in emergency response over the last 25 years in Ambulance Services Management and Communication Center Management, shown here with the award, and below, responding to the recognition.       He continues once a month to host Vital Conversations, where, according to Vern Barnet, “the purpose is not to win an argument, but to win a friend and advance civilization.” He also hosts Morning Prayer two Saturdays a month.        The photo below was taken as he responded to the Lifetime Achievement Award. In the 1989 photo of the first meeting of the Interfaith Council in the brief history below, David is in the front row, far right. David Nelson responds to the Lifetime Achievement honor with remarks summarizing his teaching. We hope to have a link to a video recording of his moving message here shortly. ----------------- Unable to attend the Table of Faiths event this year, Vern sent the following message: When I want to email David Nelson, I do not enter his name in the TO:  slot in my email program. Instead, I type "human" and my program knows I am writing David Nelson. David, who founded The Human Agenda, is the epitome of what it means to be fully human.      David certainly has known personal disappointment and grief as well as joy, but he also sees clearly that the path forward is to appreciate the love and wonder out of which such feelings arise, and to honor the differences among us as gifts enriching our lives together.      Steve Jeffers was insistent that folks of all faiths be known, included, and celebrated, so the Council's Steve Jeffers Award to David Nelson could not be more appropriate. At the nation's first Interfaith Academies in 2007, David was asked to lead evening prayer for the faculty and students. On that occasion he celebrated "sweating with Lakota Sioux, sitting with Buddhists, dancing with Sufis, debating with Jews, fasting with Muslims."      David shows us that appreciating each other -- in our distinctive traditions, in making "your tears, my tears; your joys, my joys," as we journey together toward a more just world -- is how we become more fully human.

__________________________________
  Some images from the Table of Faiths dinner
celebrating David with the Steve Jeffers Award


The citation reads
The Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council
2022 Steve Jeffers Leadership Service Award
presented to
David Nelson
Thank you for  helping to make Greater Kansas City
the most welcoming community for all people

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE Table of Faiths  EARLY YEARS --

The first Table of Faiths event, with David Nelson as convener, was a luncheon at the Marriott Muehlebach Hotel downtown Nov 10, 2005. Alvin Brooks, one of the co-chairs (Gayle Krigel, Mahnaz Shabbir, and Chuck Stanford), welcomed guests. Mayor Kay Barnes was the keynote speaker and presented the first Table of Faiths Award to Vern Barnet.
     The second Table of Faiths luncheon, Nov 14, 2006, honored Don and Adel Hall and Ed Chasteen.
     The third Table of Faiths luncheon, Nov 7, 2007, honored Alvin L Brooks and The Kansas City Star.
     The fourth Table of Faiths luncheon, Nov 13, 2008, included a presentation of Donna Ziegenhorn's play, The Hindu and the Cowboy. Honored were Robert Lee Hill and the Shawnee Mission Medical Center, and Steve Jeffers (1948-2008) was lovingly remembered.
     The fifth Table of Faiths luncheon, Nov 12, 2009, introduced The Steve Jeffers Leadership Award, given to Ahmed El-Sherif. All Souls Unitarian Church was also recognized, and Allan Abrams (1939-2009) was lovingly remembered.
     The sixth Table of Faiths luncheon, Nov 11, 2010, honored Notre Dame de Sion High School with the Table of Faiths Award and Queen Mother Maxie McFarlane with the Steve Jeffers Leadership Award.
     The seventh Table of Faiths luncheon, Nov 10, 2011 honored the Kansas City Public Library with the Table of Faiths Award and Donna Ziegenhorn with the Steve Jeffers Leadership Award.
     The eighth and last Table of Faiths luncheon, Nov 8, 2012, presented the theme of "Spirituality and the Environment: Caring for the Earth, Our Legacy." The Steve Jeffers Leadership Award was given to Mayor Sly James and the Table of Faiths Award went to Unity Church of Overland Park.
     There was no Table of Faiths event in 2013. Beginning in 2014, Table of Faiths events were no longer major downtown civic luncheons involving elected and cultural leaders. With a longer evening format, the first in the new Table of Faiths dinners was held May 8, 2014, at Unity Village.   

--CRES ARCHIVES

#CouncilPhoto1989_____________________________________________________________

Vern Barnet founded the Council in 1989 as a program of CRES and is Council Convener Emeritus. The Council newsletter has published his brief notes about three milestones in the early history of the Council.

The Council's ancestry, in brief: the 1893 Chicago Parliament of World Religions; the interfaith gathering in Assisi, Italy, convened by Pope John Paul II, the first such gathering in North America since the 1893 Parliament, the "North American Assisi" [NYTimes] held in Wichita, KS (Vern was on the planning committee), and with some from the Kansas City area and others who had been drawn into interfaith relations through CRES, the hosting organization, the members of 12 different faith traditions began their work to honor and learn from one another and encourage the community to celebrate the rich diversity available in the Kansas City area.

Among twenty-six highly competitive nominations, congratulations to Al Brooks for his first place recognition for his book, Binding Us Together: A Civil Rights Activist Refects on a Lifetime of Community and Public Service at a wonderful luncheon at the Woodneath Auditorium at the Story Center, Mid-Continent Public Library. Al especially noted John Dill, of blessed memory, who suggested the title for the book. In his acceptance remarks, Al told a humorous story (about a religious horse!) occasioned by the remarks of the keynote speaker. Al has a story for every occasion!

The Thorpe Menn Literary Excellence Award was established in 1979 by AAUW-KC to honor Thorpe Menn (1912-1979), long-time book editor of the Kansas City Star, who supported all aspects of Kansas City’s cultural life, especially authors and artists. This is the 44th year of the awards.

Also recognized were Theresa Hupp and Steve Paul for their recent books. Lisa D Stewart, first place winner last year, was the keynote speaker. Mark Livengood, Story Center Director, welcomed everyone, along with AAUW KC President Corinne Mahaffet. Patty Cahill was the facilitator and Jane McClain was the story teller. Vern Barnet, developmental editor for Al's book, was delighted to join in the celebration.

Dean Tollefson
March 1, 1932 - September 16, 2022

I'll never forget Dean driving from home in Colorado Springs solely to surprise me
at the Marriott Muehlebach and to celebrate me as I received the Interfaith Council's
first Table of Faiths award from Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes, Nov 10, 2005.
     One winter when I was serving a church in Johnson County, he and his wife presented their baby for a "naming" ceremony -- an equivalent of baptism. It had just snowed, so -- I forget whose idea it was -- I scooped up some pure white snow and let it melt for use in the rite, and such appropriate unorthodoxy marked Dean's approach to everything.
     When Dean was on the board of the church, after favorable discussion of a plan I had offered, after the matter was settled, in a (mock?) angry (sarcastic?) tone, Dean said, " I want you to come up with another brilliant idea next month." I was shocked and a bit frightened by what came across as a threat. Only later did I see what a loving compliment it was. One of my "many brilliant" ideas was to develop lay leadership; Dean took the training, but he didn't like the "para-minister" designation, so Dean and I settled on the term for him as "counsel minister."
     With that credential, in retirement in Colorado Springs, he served many couples -- may I say "brilliantly" -- as wedding officiant. In addition to tales of such he shared with me (I was blessed to visit him and Brenda several times), he told me of how he -- my words -- drew parent and child close in devotion by playing Santa in a department store.
     Backing up again to my parish days: in another Christmas season, it was time for my to announce my resignation. Dean was at the pianist that morning; and the last hymn, right after the sermon which ended with my announcement, was "Joy to the World." Never caught off-guard, Dean played the hymn through once in a minor key, a provocative way to mesh sorrow and disappointment (for some, at least) with humor, which got us through an awkward situation.
     Before Dean and Brenda married, Dean lived with, and cared for, an uncle with Alzheimer's, and I visited with them for several days. I was astonished that Dean, who could be so direct and brash and even offensive, showed such extraordinary attention, understanding, patience, and love for someone whose mind lived in a world long gone but repeated moment by moment.

Below is the obituary in The Gazette, Sept 25.

Making visible what we all saw in Jerry, this slightly altered photograph of the Nebraska farm boy in jeans at Conception Abbey in 2013 gave Jerry a good laugh, despite his own deep humility and focus on others as a way to see God.

Vern

Obituary printed in the Memorial Service for The Rev Jerald Grahbher, OblSB Jerald (Jerry) Grabher November 29, 1935 - October 12, 2022 Jerry was born in Alliance Nebraska to Floyd and Hazle (Edwards) Grabher on November 29, 1935. He was raised with his twin brother, Derry, and his younger sister, Judy (Grabher) Theile. His parents, brother, and sister preceded him in death. Jerry graduated from Hemingford High School in Hemingford, Nebraska in 1954. He went on to attend Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln where he graduated with a BA in Sociology and Religion in 1958. Jerry attended Emory University, Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, Georgia for a year when he became a Missionary to Katanga Province, Zaire, Africa with the Board of Mission of The United Methodist Church from 1959 to 1963. Upon returning to the United States, Jerry attended St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri where he was granted his Masters of Divinity degree in May of 1966. He was also ordained as a Deacon of the United Methodist Church in 1966. From 1966 to 1970, Jerry served as Pastor of the church and staff member of The Ecumenical College Center at Bagiuo United Methodist Church, Republic of The Philippines. In 1968, he became an Ordained Elder of the United Methodist Church. Jerry returned to St. Paul School of Theology upon his return from The Philippines and received his Master's in Religious Education in May of 1971. From 1971 to 1976, Jerry served as Minister of Education at Countryside United Methodist Church in Topeka, Kansas. In 1976, he became Director of Outdoor Christian Education, Program Director of The Chippewa Camp/Conference Center located in Ottawa, Kansas, and The Forest Park Camp in Topeka, Kansas. In 1987, Jerry became the Christian Education Consultant at Aldersgate United Methodist Church and St. Paul's United Methodist Church, both in Olathe, Kansas. From 1990' to 2000, Jerry was a member of the administrative staff, a teacher, and an Accounts Receivable Bookkeeper for Brookside Day School in Kansas City, Missouri. Upon retiring from Brookside, Jerry became active in The Diocese of West Missouri and continued his lifelong educational journey. He was ordained a Deacon while attending Saint Mary's Episcopal Church in 2002. While Deacon, he continued to teach classes, attend and lead retreats, and minister to congregants. In 2009, he was assigned to Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kansas City, Missouri where he served up until his illness would no longer allow him to continue. Jerry was never one to sit still for very long and his thirst for knowledge was never able to be quenched. In addition to all of his accomplishments and professional achievements, Jerry continued to provide spiritual support and guidance through his work with The Rule of Benedict. Jerry is survived by his two daughters, Dr. Jasonne M. Grabher, Ph.D. of Melbourne, Australia, and Jocelyn R. Elliott of Topeka, Kansas; granddaughters Lyndi R. (Elliott) Dixon and husband Tim, and their daughter, Kolbee Renee of Topeka, KS; Caitlyn M. Elliott and partner Brent Botkin and their son, Connor Joseph Botkin, of Topeka, Kansas; many much-loved nieces and nephews.

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2022 November 13 Sunday 5 pm CT
INTERFAITH THANKSGIVING GATHERING
Promoting Universal Gratitude

Free -- online and accessible to all.
Hosted by the Heartland Chapter of the Alliance of Divine Love 
with co-sponsors
Greater KC Interfaith Council, Alliance of Divine Love, and HeartLove Interfaith Community

livestream on https://www.facebook.com/HeartLoveKC

or Zoom:  http://bit.ly/3zNcLX2

http://www.HeartlandADL.org  |  http://HeartlandADL@hotmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/events/751246239443650/


The annual observance was sponsored by CRES for its first 25 years. 
This year, 2022, is the 37th year of the tradition and we are grateful to the
sponsors for perpetuating the recognition of the place of gratitude in every faith.

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#221202

Groundbreaking for the
Alvin Brooks Center for Faith-Justice
at Rockhurst University
   

At the November 2 Groundbreaking ceremony and celebration for the Alvin Brooks Center for Faith-Justice at Rockhurst University, CRES senior associate minister David Nelson, Al Brooks, and former CRES Board member John Gregory greet one another as they enter the reception area.

And here is some happy shoveling . . . with Al and family members . . . .

before which officials of Rockhurst spoke with great feeling about the life and work of Brooks, and Al, now 90, spoke with generous acknowledgments of others present and his late wife, Carol, his adoptive mother and father and biological mother and father, and his children -- and his frequent question as he considers the blessings of the many opportunities he has had -- "Why me?" -- and then invited all of us to ask "Why me?" as we consider how we may be better servants of the future. Al is distinguished in many ways, and for CRES, as Kansas City's foremost leader for interfaith understanding.
     The project was announced in November, 2021, as University President Emeritus the Rev. Thomas B. Curran, S.J., received the Henry W. Bloch Human Relations Award at the JCRB|AJC’s annual Human Relations dinner. Envisioned as a hub for University-related faith-justice efforts and offices for the KC Common Good anti-violence organization, the center will also house a campus chapel. It’s a fitting tribute to Brooks, a living legend in the landscape of social justice, public service and civil rights in Kansas City. Brooks received the Henry W. Bloch Human Relations Award in 2022 and was introduced by President Emeritus Curran at the JCRB/AJC event.

Rockhurst University has released this YouTube video of the groundbreaking celebration. Although I did not speak, Al ackknowledged a number of folks, including me, and somehow Rockhurst added my favoriate photo of Al and me to the 3-minute, 20-second video, entitled Rockhurst University Breaks Ground on Kansas City's Alvin Brooks Center for Faith-Justice.
     The description under the video reads:
         Kansas City, Missouri, civil rights activist and social justice trailblazer Alvin Brooks was joined by Rockhurst University faculty, staff, administrators, donors, Brooks’ family, and community leaders in early December to celebrate the groundbreaking for the Alvin Brooks Center for Faith-Justice. The new facility will be constructed using part of what is now the Rockhurst Community Center.
     Envisioned as a hub for a number of University-related faith-justice efforts and offices for the KC Common Good anti-violence organization, the center will also house a campus chapel. It’s a fitting tribute to Brooks, a living legend in the landscape of social justice, public service, and civil rights in Kansas City.
     Brooks, 90, has lived most of his life in service to Kansas City. He was among the first Black police officers in Kansas City, Missouri, when he joined the force in 1954. He worked for Kansas City’s public schools, set up City Hall’s first human relations department (becoming the city’s first Black department head), was named assistant city manager, served on the Kansas City Council, and started the Ad-Hoc Group Against Crime, which continues today.
     It is a legacy of servant leadership that deserves recognition, said Rockhurst University President Sandra Cassady, Ph.D.
     “In his 90 years on this Earth, Mr. Brooks has provided us a powerful example of what genuine love of a community and its people can lead us to do,” she said. “Though he was never a student, faculty or staff member here, Mr. Brooks is a consummate example of servant leadership in the Jesuit tradition. This center, a concrete commitment to a ‘faith that does justice,’ represents being ‘in the city for good’ in every sense. As a space where the campus community will both celebrate faith and pursue justice, it is only appropriate that it bear the name Alvin Brooks.”
      For more information about social justice at Rockhurst University, visit https://www.rockhurst.edu/service.
   The URL is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mBTyaRGr-8
    Here are links to photos and to a news report.  

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Al's wisdom continues to guide Kansas City, as this letter of 2022 December 12 to the Board of Police Commissioners proves. No one else could write such a letter. As a result, the Board appears to have backed off its rush in hiring a new Police Chief. And The Star printed this story:

Kansas City Star, The (MO) December 14, 2022. Brooks urges KC police board to delay vote on new chief
 
BY GLENN E. RICE
grice@kcsrar.com

Alvin Brooks, a former Kansas City police officer and mayor pro tem, on Tuesday asked the Board of Police Commissioners to delay its vote on a new police chief, suggesting more community input and greater transparency is needed.
   The police board is scheduled to meet Tuesday morning at the police headquarters in downtown Kansas City. While the board has not announced when a vote would take place, it is likely they will meet in private session to discuss the three finalists.
   Earlier this month, the board announced the three finalists: KCPIYs Acting Deputy Chief Stacey Graves; DeShawn Beaufort, a commander with the Philadelphia Police Department and Scott Ebner, a retired lieutenant colonel and deputy superintendent of administration for the New Jersey State Police.
   Brooks, who served on the police board from 2010 to 2017 as a member and also as its chair, said the public forum that was held on Saturday did not provide residents with a clear understanding of what the finalists would do to embrace community policing and other crime-fighting initiatives.
   "As board members you are, of course, aware that cries have come from across the City — including in the press, that the Board has not been transparent in its deliberations in its search for a new Chief," Brooks said in an email sent to the board late Monday. ' 'I believe these suggestions can reduce some Of the perception of lack of transparency.
   "But I hasten to say that for the Board as a public body, honoring total transparency as provided by law is essential for the community to have faith and trust in your deliberations and conclusions, most especially in the selection of a Chief," he said.
   In his letter, Brooks urged the police board to conduct three public meetings to be held in the Northland, Midtown and south Kansas City.
   Each finalist should be asked to respond to the questions: "How do you define Community Policing? If you are chosen to be our next Chief, how and where would you start to implement Community Policing?"
   Brooks said in April 1992, he along with then-Police Chief Steve Bishop attended a six-week think tank organized by Harvard University, where they developed a community policing model.
   That plan was brought back to Kansas City and implemented in the Central Patrol Division, where Brooks said he believed there was a reduction in crime.
   In 1977, Brooks helped organize the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime and served as the director of the city's human relations department, which was organized following the 1968 riots in Kansas City.
   "I believe the Board in its fiduciary responsibility owes this to our city and to the Police Department," he said. "Please remember that perception over time becomes reality in the minds of those who show an interest in what you do."
   The selection process has been widely criticized for months by business, community and faith leaders. A coalition that was coordinated by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce expressed concern that the selection of a new police chief was being done behind closed doors and without the input of residents, businesses and community groups.
   That frustration spilled over into the public forum that was held on Saturday. Protesters disrupted one of the interviews where they yelled that the process was a scam, the board reneged on its promise to have several public meetings and already had decided among themselves who was going to be the next police chief.
   On Monday, Mayor Quinton Lucas criticized the process the police board has carried out during its search for a police chief, and said that more time and community input is needed before a final vote.
   "We weren't really the best at communicating this process, " Lucas said. "We did have our one meeting. And now we're just gonna decide kind of out of nowhere. This is not necessarily the best of processes that I think people would want."
   Glenn E. Rice: 816-234-4341, @GRicekcstar

Here is a report on KSHB: https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/community-leader-alvin-brooks-advises-kcmo-board-of-police-commissioners-to-not-select-police-chief-tuesday

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#Ananda
A Personal Note

 
Ananda Barnet, my former wife, died December 16, 2022, in Arcola, IL. I am very grateful to her elder bother, Robert, and sister-in-law, Claudia, now of Nokomis. FL., who oversaw her care during a very long illness.
     Just as her years of infirmary cannot obscure the joys of our marriage, so her obscurity these last two decades should not minimize the role she played as the first program director for CRES. One of her several areas of expertise was American Indian spirituality which gave special strength to the environmental emphasis in the CRES three-part approach to the sacred.
     She contributed much to the community, in person, on radio, and in brilliant writing. She was always learning, then mastering, new ideas and skills. She was an insightful, creative, well-organized, determined, and loving person, and especially cherished our son. An obituary appears here with an example of her unique essay style.

--Vern Barnet

WEDDINGS of all kinds click for information We can provide a customized ceremony. We regularly work with the great folks at Pilgrim Chapel and are happy to serve at any venue.  THANKS to Robert and Shye Reynolds, a CRES fund to assist couples with fees for weddings  has been established, to celebrate their marriage June 19, 2002, on the occasion of their thirteenth anniverary.

FORTHCOMING BOOKS  see also our publications page in progress: KC Star, Many Paths columns and fresh essays: The Three Families of Faith and the Three Crises of Secularism      Many have asked for a compilation of columns Vern wrote for the KC Star, 1994-2012,  and the essays fatured in Many Paths. Here are tentative chapter headings for the selections:       ? The Three Families of Faith ? Faith and the Arts  ? Science and Religion  ? Teachers of the Spirit ? Ritual and Worship ? Religion and Public Policy ? Specific Faiths (Buddhism, Islam, etc) ? Comparative topics (reincarnation, gods, water, prophets, etc) ? How the column began and ended

OTHER  PROGRAMS and SERVICES If you would like to engage Vern  or another member  of the CRES staff for a speech, consultation, a wedding, a baptism, or other work with your organization  or personally,  please visit  www.cres.org/work/services.htmor email vern@cres.org

A Vital Conversation Coffee

Vital Conversations monthly schedule ZOOM 2nd Wedneday of the month 1-2:30 pm MidContinent Public Library Antioch Branch, 6060 N Chestnut Ave, Gladstone, MO 64119 -- (816) 454-1306  -- to receive the zoom link: humanagenda@gmail.com or call (816) 453-3835

#vcJan 
January 12 Wednesday 1-2:30 p.m. on Zoom  --  (Notes from last month)

The Little White Boat: My Search for the Joy Beyond Time by Howard Martin who writes, “While I have written these pages for an audience of two, I trust that, if they have fallen into your hands, they are also for you. As you read them, I ask only this – that you receive them in the spirit with which they are given; with kindness, compassion, and openness of heart. Sit beside me now in the little white boat. Let’s row together through the storms into the still waters. Beauty below us, Beauty above us. Beauty all around.” 
     This book, written by a friend, did fall into my hands. It is a memoir that shares a life and connects me to literature from many ages. Howard will be with us to share his stories and his life. --David Nelson

Releasing conversation:
Share your name and make a brief comment about the above quotation.

1. “They were both born—like their older sister—with Hurler Syndrome.  Their stories are so intertwined in my memory that I cannot adequately disentangle them.” P. 12.  What is Hurler Syndrome and how is it treated?  Why is this important in your life Howard?

2.  “With her gentle whispers and kind caresses, Rene Martin nurtured a loving family into being and traveled a short while with it toward the sun…Because of her, I found it possible, ultimately, to believe in the existence of an eternal Beloved, whose presence is manifest in all of creation, always and everywhere, the loving center of gravity of all that exists…It was my first intuition of paradise.” P. 38. What is an “intuition of paradise” and how has it evolved throughout your life?

3. “There are beloved people who come into our lives as companions for a season, and then there are those who have been there from the beginning.” P. 97 Who have been some of your companions for a season?

4. “In a sense, my brother Bryn was—and remains—the other side of my very self…” p. 104-105. Please read out loud as we listen.  Did any of you have such a companion in your life, sibling, friend, or other?  “As I write this, my brother is ill, and I ponder the real possibility that he will leave this life before me.  Yet I choose to believe that there will be a time beyond Time when we will laugh together, my brother and I – and indeed all of us – in an unimaginable symphony of Joy.” P. 106.  Update us about your brother. 

5. “It became my hope, in my later years as a professor and arts educator, to offer in the classroom moments where my students could feel the goodness and rightness – and safety – of that “somewhere” else.  In that sense, I would come to think of my teaching as a means of nurturing spiritual life, an introduction to the care of the soul.” P. 108. How did you get away with that in public education?  Can real life be explored without some discussion of the spiritual?

6. “To this day, Sairey Gamp (character in Dickens) lightens my spirit and makes me laugh…What does it matter that there is no such person as Sairey Gamp in the real world?  She arises from somewhere in the human spirit.   The genius of Charles Dicken found her somewhere. So much the better for me and, I think, for all of us…All I had to so was let a film or a book take me there.” P.111-112. How can we nurture intimacy with a character in a novel or film?  Can any of you share other examples of fictional characters that have made a difference in your life?

7. “I was fast becoming aware that suffering and loss were not just themes in my own story, but were unavoidable strands in the tapestry of other lives as well, universal realities in the human condition that would require all my efforts to understand.  I would need a story of some kind – a really good story – to help me get there.” P 121 Do you have a story “big enough” to encompass the complex quandaries of your life?

8. “As a child and as a fledging adult in my teens and early twenties, I more often than not felt overwhelmed, rather than gently nurtured, by religion.  A great flood of religious dogma and practice overwhelmed the tiny channels of my interior life…Like a member of a secret society, I was initiated into this culture by repeating words…” born in sin,” or “justified by faith,” and “saved by the blood.” P 124-125. What is the role of religion in your life? 

9. “Poems—and novels and plays—were about my own inner life, my own life of felt imagination.  They were also, but extension, about the inner life of every person I knew and indeed every person on the planet.” P 139 “It seemed that whereas in religion there was a tendency to turn flesh into words, in the theatre there was an instinct to the opposite—to embody ideas in the multi-dimensional actualities of character and story.” P 139. Say more about the difference you have discovered between the church and the theater.

10. “We bear our sorrows bravely for the most part and even in the midst of them look for the return of joy.  It may well be that the experience of joy returning after times of great sadness can—if we so choose—prepare our hearts for the coming of the Great Joy beyond time.  Our sorrow and our joy are both ways in which we are, as Abraham Heschel so beautifully put it, ‘in travail with God’s dream.’” P 187. We all experience sorrow.  Why do some seem to never choose the joy that can follow?

Here is Clif Hostetler's review on Goodreads.com 

This memoir tells of the author's growing up in New Zealand, moving to the United States for college, and remaining in the USA for marriage and raising a family. Beyond the timeline of life's activities, friends, and family, the author also attempts to describe a search for transcendence beyond everyday life that the subtitle of the book refers to as the "joy beyond time."

There was a point in the book where the author describes the feelings of perceived insight that came from studying and learning about fictional characters in theatrical dramas and novels. I was impressed with the clarity with which this experience was expressed because I have been trying to communicate similar ideas in my own book reviews. Then later in the book I learned he had advanced academic degrees in Theater, and he had been a lecturer at the University of Missouri at Kansas City many years for an introductory class titled, "How Theater Can Change Your Life." No wonder he is able to articulate so clearly the merits of theater and fiction.

I was impressed that the author was willing to let his wife advance in the world of academia while he settled for being adjunct professor. This role reversal from the stereotypical norm allowed him to pursue other creative ventures and spend summer vacations with his two sons. The author is my approximate contemporary age wise, so in a hopeful sense this book could be an example for me to aspire to achieve if I were to write my own memoir. But I despair at the comparison because I'll not be able to match his writing skill.

The following are two excerpts from the book that I've decided to provide here to represent nature of the writing found in this book.

In the following excerpt the author describes his maturing beyond the conservative Christian faith of his younger years.

And so it was that I began to shift my focus from an anxious search in the forest of religion to a more restful surrender in the glade of simple trust. It was a shift of focus, not an attainment. I began to know a little of what it mean to rest in the grace of the world and breathe free. I was taken back to the whispers of the divine in the beauties of the natural world, the lives of kind and humble human beings, and to the miraculous stories of homeward return—like that of the prodigal son—I had heard in my earliest days. (p.214)

The author ends the book with the following paragraph in which he ties his boyhood memories of time spent in a small white boat with his continuing experience of life today.

In memory, I can still see my self as a kid floating in the safety of the little white boat. I see a time when I drifted in stillness on the glassy surface of the lake, the beauty around me mirrored in a Beauty within. I see a time when the waters seemed to rise up against me and, even with my brave little brother alongside, I felt vulnerable and afraid. I see a time when a great launch, regal in its trim of polished wood and brass, slowed down its heavy engines and smoothed the angry waves before me. And, as I follow in the wake of this Majestic Apparition, I see—even now—the sun-drenched shores of Home glowing on the farther shore.

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#vcFeb
February 9 Wednesday 1-2:30 p.m. on Zoom  --  (Notes from last month)

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin.

In one of the greatest American classics, Baldwin chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy’s discovery of the terms of his identity. Baldwin’s rendering of his protagonist’s spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves. With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin tells the story of the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem. Originally published in 1953, Baldwin said of his first novel, “Mountain is the book I had to write if I was over going to write anything else.”

Releasing Conversation:  In Baldwin’s book several of the chapters are called “prayers.”  Share your name and say something about prayer.  What is prayer?  How do you pray? What does prayer accomplish?

Quotations and questions selected by David Nelson:

1. “It was his hatred and his intelligence that he cherished, the one feeding the other. He lived for the day when his father would be dying, and he, John, would curse him on his deathbed.” 17. Describe John’s relationship to and with his father.  What was his father’s relationship with John? With God? With himself?

2. “’Sugar-plum, what you want to be so evil with your baby for? Don’t you know you done made me go out and get drunk, and I wasn’t a-fixing to do that?  I wanted to take you out somewhere tonight.’  And, while he spoke, his hand was on her breast, and his moving lips brushed her neck.  And this caused such a war in her as could scarcely be endured.” 88-89. Describe the interaction between these two people.  Why does this kind of abuse seem so addictive?  How do people escape this type of relationships?

3. “These, God’s ministers, had indeed grown fat, and their dress was rich and various. They had been in the field so long that they did not tremble before God any more.  They took God’s power as their due, as something that made the more exciting their own assured, special atmosphere.” 111.  “Having possessed Esther, the carnal man awoke, seeing the possibility of conquest everywhere.  He was made to remember that though he was holy he was yet young; the women who had wanted him wanted him still; he had but to stretch out his hand and take what he wanted – even sisters in the church.” 133-134.  How have you experienced religious leadership?  What happens when religious leaders no longer “tremble before God”? 

4. “Yet, most strangely, and from deeps not before discovered, his faith looked up; before the wickedness that he saw, the wickedness from which he fled, he yet beheld like a flaming standard in the middle of the air, that power of redemption to which he must, till death, bear witness; which, though it crush him utterly, he could not deny, though non among the living might ever behold it, he had beheld it, and must keep the faith.  He would not go back into Egypt for friend, or lover, or bastard son; he would not turn his face from God, no matter how deep might grow the darkness in which God hid His face from him.”  144-145.  For some repentance/conversion is instant and forever; for some it is an ongoing process throughout life.  How have you experienced and witness the mystery of grace and the love of the creator?

5. “I just decided me one day that I was going to get to know everything them white bastards know, and I was going to get to know it better than them, so could no white son-of-a-bitch nowhere never talk me down, and never make me feel like I was dirt, when I could read him the alphabet, back, front, and sideways.  Shit—he weren’t going to beat my ass, then.” 178.  Claiming innate human power and dignity results in letting go of conditioned roles. How has “Black Lives Matter” changed the dynamics of present-day culture?  Describe how different individuals and communities changed and responded to BLM.

6. “Then they rose, to come together over a great basin filled with water.  And they divided into four groups, two of women and two of men; and they began, woman before women, and man before man, to wash each other’s feet.  But the blood could not wash off; many washings only turned the crystal water red; and someone cried: ‘Have you been to the river?’  Then John saw the river, and the multitude was there…I, John, saw a city, way in the middle of the air, Waiting, waiting, waiting up there.” 216-217 – read on.  Talk about this vision.  Does it remind you of other visions you have read about or seen in films? What is happening in your imagination as you read it?

Other quotations from James Baldwin. Pick one or several James Baldwin quotations and share your reflections on why he is such an important voice and human being. 
 
q1. “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.”

q2. “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

q3. “Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.”

q4. “I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”

q5. “I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do.”

q6. “Freedom is not something that anybody can be given.  Freedom is something people take and people are as free as they want to be.”

q7. “It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”

q8. “Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does.  Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.”

Here is Clif Hostetler's review on Goodreads.com 

Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America
by Ryan Busse 

“Ryan Busse presents a fascinating, clear-eyed account of the gun industry’s slide into extremism. I was  left with a sense of hope that there is a path forward; one where the majority of Americans, including the  majority of gun owners, stand up to the gun lobby bullying and demand lasting change.” --Gabby Giffords  “Gunfight reveals the truth about the roots of our national division, and many people will see themselves in  Busse’s resistance to extremism.” --Jon Tester, three-term Montana Senator
 

Releasing conversation:   Share your name and list an organization you support. Quotations and Questions selected by David Nelson

1. “I came to understand that for my dad and me, like many gun owners, guns like this were more than tools.  They were symbols of our hopes and of our relationship to each other.  They represented things that we wanted to be true.  Unlike a hammer or a shovel, we had a deep emotional connection to these tools.”  24-25. Say a bit more about guns as symbols of hopes and of your relationship to each other.  Why are guns central to this deep emotional connection?

2. “I brought to Kalispell (Montana) all of the work ethic my parents taught me…and my limited view of politics.  I was busy chasing success and didn’t give politics much consideration other than to know I was a hardworking, red-blooded, gunrunning American.  In other words, I thought of myself as Republican.” 36. Describe the journey of your career.  Why were you so successful?

3. “During the whole debate, as I cut my teeth in this industry, manufacturers, dealers, and consumers went into a frenzy.  All the uncertainty and attention, plus a strong fear and distrust of Bill and Hillary Clinton, meant that consumers rushed to buy any guns that might be banned, and gun sales exploded.” 63 Why were mass shootings good for the gun industry?  Some of us think that such tragic events would result in stricter legislation against guns.

4. “I became a prominent player in the gun industry.  No one could deny I played a key role in helping the NRA (National Rifle Association) build the foundation for a new brand of national politics that demanded almost religious devotion.  There was only one unwritten but clearly understood line of scripture in this new political church: ‘100 percent loyalty and no one steps out of line. Period. The organization had learned to be unforgiving. 117 How was the NRA different from other member organizations?  Can you illustrate what that means?

5. “The Blackfeet called this part of what is now Montana the Badger-Two Medicine, named for the nearby Badger and the Two Medicine River.  They believed that the ‘Sky People’ the Sun, the Moon, and the Morning Star – looked over the people who were created here.  On that day, with tears still in my eyes, I knew that in a very important way I too had been born in this place…I adopted the Badger-Two Medicine as my own sacred home.”  154-155 In your chapter “Rescued by the Sky People” you describe your move to Montana, “the Last Best Place” and your very important companion “Ruark”.  In reading your book I almost felt I was starting a different book.  Geography plays a major role in your life.  Can you share why it is so important?

5. “After 9/11 and George W. Bush’s wars, the industry’s annual sales would shoot up to between thirteen million and sixteen mission units per year between 2013 and 2016.  The Bush-era cultural shift meant that the components for this sales explosion were in place.  Now all we needed for final detonation was a pinch of Sharia law conspiracy theory and a Black president with a Muslim-sounding name.”  187 Politics and gun sales seemed a strange mix.  When did you realize how toxic that had become?  When did you first feel like the “frog in the boiling water”?

7. “Of course, contrary to LaPierre’s (Head of NRA) promises the country did not crumble under Obama’s presidency, nor did gun sales suffer.  Nobody took any guns away.  I was not forced to give up hunting, and my job did not evaporate.  Instead, I sat back and watched an industry capitalize on a long-simmering pot of racism…For more than a decade it had been slowly steaming but when a Black man finally rose to power, the NRA racism pot boiled over.” 208 How did racism get into the mix of politics and gun sales?

8. “And I’d do it while enduring thousands of people who took me to be something I was not anymore.  I could not blame them, I suppose.  Sameness, solidarity, unanimity, lockstep, freedom, patriotism, us versus them, stand and fight, God and guns, good verses evil.  These were powerful verses in hymns that were written here, and they were catching on across the country…I’m just a ranch kid trying to make a living.” 219 How did you survive during the period you had intellectually separated from the mentality of the gun industry while remaining a major player in it?

9. “’I met a guy I think will be our next US senator,’ I told Sara that evening. ‘This guy Tester – he’s got something I can’t quite put my finger on.’ …Luckily for me, and for Tester, my Hail Mary promise of a victory came to pass.”  236-237. Politics is very hard.  Tell us about your friend Senator Tester.

10. “I often talked through it all with Sara, and on the night of our twentieth wedding anniversary, the subject of my exit came up again…Sara locked the door and then turned to me. ‘We are not leaving this room until we decide on the plan,’ she said, tossing me a small notepad from our hotel room.” 300 Tell us about Sara and others who have been allies in your journey from farm boy in Kansas, gunrunner in the US, and now consultant to progressive organizations aiming to undo the country’s dangerous radicalization.

Here is Clif Hostetler's review on Goodreads.com 

... built a system that relies on a political police state to enforce 100 percent loyalty: no one can dare ask any questions without immediate repercussion. It is a culture that praises violence, one where 'getting your man card back' means that it's acceptable to do whatever it takes to establish your superiority.

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#vcApr
April 13 Wednesday 1-2:30 p.m. on Zoom --
Meeting ID: 832 3534 6541  --  Passcode: 076621

The Immigrants’ New Camera: A Family Collection
by Maryfrances Wagner

Amazon listing              Whale Road review

Goodreads review         Denise Low review

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH is a time to explore how words can explore the world is beautiful ways. 
     Maryfrances Wagner is the Poet Laureate of Missouri and will be with us for this Vital Conversation.  She will not only share some of her poetry but also reflect with us on the value of poetry for our time. 
     She is a retired writing teacher and has published nine collections of poetry.  Wagner said she wants “to find ways to reach out to people who don’t usually read poetry or think they like it.”  If you like poetry or not, you will enjoy this conversation with Maryfrances.          
     David has asked Vern to lead this discussion.

Releasing Conversation: “Poetry is a type of literature based on the interplay of words and rhythm. It often employs rhyme and meter (a set of rules governing the number and arrangement of syllables in each line). In poetry, words are strung together to form sounds, images, and ideas that might be too complex or abstract to describe directly.” [LiteraryTerms.net] “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” [Shelley] Share your name and speak a few words about your favorite poem.

1. “Glimmering with the physical things of the world, offering a stepladder to the possible, Wagner’s fifth collection takes us back to awe and wonder.” [Jo McDougall.] What does that mean to you? What would you add in defining poetry and teaching poetry?

2. Maryfrances, could you tell us a few “steppingstones” in your life that has brought you to this honor? When did you first flirt with poetry? What events have been significant in your personal and professional journey that you wish to share with those of us on this Zoom gathering? Who are some of the poets you admire? How often do you read poetry? Do you write poetry every day? 

3. “The Missouri Poet Laureate enriches Missourians’ lives throughout the state by fostering the reading and writing of poetry, through public appearances, readings, workshops, and digital and social media. “As Poet Laureate,” Ms. Wagner says, “I’d like to find ways to reach out to people who don’t usually read poetry or even think they like it.” [Missouri Arts Council Web site]. Tell us about being Missouri’s Poet Laureate. What has been different during this period of your life? What has been the response from the public? How as Covid impacted your time as Poet Laureate?

4. “Specific poetic forms have been developed by many cultures, in more developed, closed or ‘received’ poetic form, the rhyming scheme, meter and other elements of a poem are based on set of rules. Common forms widely used across languages: Sonnet, Shi, Villanelle, Limerick, Tanka, Haiku, Khlong, Ode, Ghazal . . . . Poetry is often thought of in terms of different genres: Narrative, Lyric, Epic, Satirical, Elegy, Verse, Dramatic, Speculative, Prose, Light, Slam.[Wikipedia]. Poetry has played major roles in human history. Religions have used poetry in liturgy and ritual. Revolutions have been empowered, wars have been fought, unions have been made and destroyed, life and death has been honored, humor has been embodied; all this through poetry. What is it about poetry that has made it so central to the human story?

5. “Like most poets, I’ve wanted to touch the human spirit and move the reader. That’s what I want to happen to me as well when I read a poem. Not every poem is easily accessible, and not every poem will have the same impact on a person, but poems abound out there for all of us. I want to help find those poems for people.” [IN KC.] How do you “find those poems for people”? Are there types of poems that appeal to different types of people? Is there a way to discover poetry that will help me “touch the human spirit and move” me?

6. In your recent book, The Immigrants’ New Camera: A Family Collection, you introduce and reflect on a unique culture, a specific family, and several interesting places. I found myself not only learning more about you but also remembering more about myself. One example is “My Mother’s White Lies.” Talk about how living a specific life unites or divides you and others from the realities of others. Can poetry be a force in reuniting a divided community?

7. Poetry, like other art, is more about what is heard and seen than what is written or pictured. That is my opinion, anyway. The “art form method” of discussion helps us to listen to more than words. While we listen, would you read out loud your poem “Raising a Hand” (page 55)? After the reading, I will ask others “What words did you hear? What did you feel? What experiences were you reminded of from your own life?

8. Amanda Gorman in her poem “The Hill We Climb” at Joe Biden’s inauguration brought tears of hope to many in this nation and the world. The nation paused for a moment and for many we felt like a united and special people. Where else have you witnessed poetry serve to heal, motivate, empower, challenge, or inspire?

NOTE: David says, We are hoping that beginning in May we will meet both at the library and by Zoom. I have been thrilled to have participants from outside the greater Kansas City area who attend and do not want to lose them.

 Clif Hostetler's review on Goodreads.com  -- click for embedded links

 Clif Hostetler's review on Goodreads.com  -- click for embedded links 

The Memory Keeper of Kyiv
by  Erin Litteken

This novel's unique feature is to include a fictional account of the 1930s Ukrainian Holodomor. The book’s story alternates between two separate narrative chains. The first narrative takes place in the early 2000s in the USA and features a grieving widow who together with her young daughter is having difficulty recovering from the death of her husband from a car accident that occurred about a year earlier. The second narrative takes place in the early 1930s Ukraine where a young bride faces trauma and shock when her family’s way of life is brutally changed during the collectivization of their rural village.

Seventy years later that Ukrainian bride is now the grandmother of the young grieving American widow. For many years the grandmother has repressed the traumatic memories of her past and has withheld any mention of it to her family. But now this aging grandmother is developing symptoms of dementia, and those memories from long ago are beginning to arise. Furthermore, she perceives that her granddaughter and great granddaughter could benefit by learning about her experience recovering from trauma all those many years ago.

The grieving widow of the early 2000s is now living with her grandmother in order to help protect her from possible self harm caused by the on-coming signs of dementia. Consequently, she becomes aware of her grandmother’s journal written in Ukrainian many years earlier. With assistance from a friend the journal is translated into English which provides the needed inspiration for the young widow to look to—and live for—the future.

There is a first love, a lost love, and a new love in both narrative chains, so the book can be classified as a bitter-sweet romance. Its plain and direct vernacular can also put it in the young adult category, which of course can be enjoyed by older adults as well. The author includes occasional references to Ukrainian folk traditions, food, and art so the book is educational in many ways. However, the book’s most unique feature is to provide a personal up close description of life, death, and love in Ukraine during the 1930s.

The part of the story that takes place in Ukraine contains repeating ominous foreboding that the already bad events and conditions will continue to get even worse. For a hint about what takes place, check out this spoiler:

(view spoiler)

[The following description of the early 1930s Ukraine is excerpted from the nonfiction history book The Gates of Europe, by Serhii Plokhy.

Portions of this story will bring you to tears. However, the book also contains romance and parent-child love which will make you feel good. Late in the book the story contains a poignant heart warming communication between great-grandmother and great-granddaughter. And the very end of the Epilogue contains a final surprise.  

The Author's Note at the end of the book describes some interesting parallels between her own family's history and the book's story. Here's a link to a message from the Author:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4598826456
 

Dante can swim, Ari can’t. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other -- and the power of their friendship – canAri and Dante emerge stronger on the other side. 

Questions for discussion
     > Do people always have to understand the people they love?  Why or why not?
     > What characteristics are most admirable in a close friend?

 Clif Hostetler's review on Goodreads.com  -- click for embedded links 

This is a novel that explores the world of teenage angst among two male friends dealing with their slow discovery leading to acceptance of mutually homosexual feelings. The two friends happen to also be of Mexican ancestry living in 1980s El Paso, Texas, so there's a bit of an exploration of that cultural setting. But it's fair to say that neither of these young men fit comfortably in the surrounding youth culture and instead lean toward being nerds.

Typical teenage feelings and emotions are dealt with in the book's story including parental relationships and anger. But the feature that gives the book uniqueness is its description of a budding homosexual friendship. The fact that it takes place in the South in the late 1980s adds additional poignancy to the story because the social environment then was less accepting than today. The author has chosen to give these young men parents who are open minded and accepting which makes it possible for the story to end with optimistic and positive vibes.

SPOILER [I am a supporter of LGBTQ rights, and they deserve to have novels written about their own romantic experiences. However, books of the romance genre require some emotional identification on the part the reader if the book's plot is to be fully appreciated. Reading from the perspective of a heterosexual, I was hoping the book's lesson would be that two young men could be friends even if they had differing sexual inclinations. In the end that was not the direction taken by the book's conclusion, consequently my disappointment hindered my ability of fully appreciate the book's story.]

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#vcAug
August 10  Wednesday 1-2:30 p.m. on Zoom  and in person. 
Religion and the Critical Mind: A Journey for Seekers, Doubters, and the Curious by Anton K. Jacobs
     Anton Jacobs is a friend and ally with several of us who attend and participate in Vital Conversations.  He has taught in a variety of local colleges and learning places and offered leadership in The Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council.  In a time when critical thinking appears to be under attack, it seems appropriate to focus together with Anton on the role of religion.  He outlines and invites us to think with some curious minds from the past as he leads us to our own thinking about religions’ role in our lives.  His book, although out of print, is available.  Amazon had several copies when I was typing this.  There were several other links for you to find his publication for you to read before joining in our Vital Conversation with Anton.  --David

0 Releasing Conversation:  David Brooks, in his New York Times column July 29, wrote, “Everybody is grabbing from the world bits and pieces of thought and fashion that they can mishmash into their personal way of being.  The more sources you borrow from, the more interesting your self is likely to be.”  Share two or three of the sources you have borrowed from to be the interesting person you are today.  Who have you admired and borrowed from to have the wisdom and thoughts you have today?

1. “This study is for thoughtful people who want to live authentic, integrated, and responsible lives of faith in this postmodern world but who still struggle with serious doubts about their faith and their commitments.” (5)  Why did you write this book?  Why did you read this book?  What does critical theory mean to you?  Why is “critical theory” so threatening to some people today?

2. “The rule here is simple and reasonable: give them (religious criticisms) a fair hearing.  In so far as they are untrue, forget’em.  Insofar as their truthfulness cannot be determined, admit it.  In so far as they are true, however, we need to know it, and our faith-claims and religious practices need to be informed, perhaps even disciplined, by their insights.” (27) Share how your religious understanding has changed in your lifetime.  Did the change come from self-discovery/ experience or by reading what others shared?

3. “The Renaissance awakened a humanistic spirit of open inquiry and reflection that would not go back to sleep.  When the Enlightenment arrived, its greatest contributions would be in the realms of political, economic, and social thought, but it would of necessity be defined in large part in opposition to faith and religion.” (49) Was the Enlightenment a gift or a curse on the human journey?  Make the case for your answer.

4. Voltaire “If there were only one religion in England, there would be danger of tyranny; if there were two, they would cut each other’s throats; but there are thirty, and they live happily together in peace.” (65) If religious diversity worked in England in the 18th century, why is it so difficult in The United States in the 21st century?

5. “I think Nietzschean critique is useful wherever religion, in its historical forms, has channeled sacred awe into fearmongering, affirmations of servile helplessness, and legitimation of domination.” (103) Have you experienced religion that does these things?  Share some examples.

6. “To take Durkheim seriously is to recognize that our religious sentiments get all mixed up with our cultural, collective sense of self.  One of the more obvious egregious examples – one about which I think everyone would today agree—was seen in the religious justification of American slavery.” (119) How much of the difficulties we associate with religion are also very mixed up with culture?

7. “That religion in history could have been identified as oppressive (Voltaire), alienating (Marx), duplicitous (Nietzsche), socially legitimating (Durkheim), psychologically regressive (Freud), and harmful (Russell) points to the reality that it has had the power to do these things.” (164). Which of the critics of religion Anton discusses in this book to you find most challenging? Most helpful? Most accurate? 

8. “I would confess that I love religion.  The ritual, the theological struggles to understand the Divine and the relationship between the Divine and humanity, the piety of the devoted, the poetry of religious writing, the pageantry of religious ritual – I find religion exciting and inspiring, sometimes also boring and depressing, but almost always alluring.” (175)

• There is inherent in human experience a sense of the sacred.
• The Holy is ultimately incomprehensible.
• Religion is a social institution.
• Faith is a matter of ultimate concern.
• Faith is a matter of letting go.
• Faith grows best in a community.
• Belief (i.e., theology) is a journey, not a destination.
• Worship is a matter of the heart.
• The experience of the Holy gives rise to a sense of incongruity between the Sacred and the world that calls to action.
• The experience of the Holy give rise to a sense of solidarity with all of humanity.

 Clif Hostetler's review on Goodreads.com  -- click for embedded links 

A Bookstore Visit -> Steels Used Books in Gladstone. 

#vcNov
November 9 Wednesday 1-2:30 p.m. on Zoom and in person. 
Do I Stay Christian? A Guide for the Doubters, The Disappointed, and the Disillusioned by Brian D. McLaren
 
   According to McLaren, there is a way to say both yes and no to the question by shifting the focus from whether we stay Christian to how we stay human. Staying human is the challenge we all face at some time in our lives. This book can be a help in responding in a positive way. Brian is a faculty member of The Living School at the Center for Action and Contemplation.

Releasing Conversation:  Share your name and say something about your faith using the categories listed below from page 3-4.

1. Christianity can be understood historically or culturally, as a legacy you are born into or enter by choice. To be a Christian is to inhabit a cultural or historical tradition.
2. Christianity can be defined institutionally, as a power structure or hierarchy in which you participate. To be a Christian is to affiliate with an institution and accept its authority structure.
3.  Christianity can be defined doctrinally, as something you believe. To be a Christian is to affirm a system of beliefs or teachings.
4. Christianity can be defined liturgically or pragmatically, as a set of rituals you practice. To be a Christian is to engage in some version of Christianity's rituals or practices.
5. Christianity can be defined spiritually or experientially, as something you feel or a conversion experience you've had. To be a Christian is to have, foster, and share a set of experiences.
6. Christianity can be defined moralistically, as a shared set of my moral values or precepts. To be a Christian is to live your life by a moral or ethical framework.
7. Christianity can be defined missionally, as a program, plan, or movement for intentional action in the world. To be a Christian is to be on that mission as your own.
8. Christianity can be defined demographically, as a sociological or anthropological identity. To be a Christian is to identify yourself a member of a recognized group.
9. Christianity can be defined politically, as a way of organizing people for political action (or inaction). To be a Christian is to act as part of a coalition with shared theo-political aims.
10. Christianity can be defined socially, as a community of people in whose presence you feel safe, welcome, needed, accepted, or supported. To be a Christian is to enjoy an experience of social belonging with others who identify as Christian.
11. Christianity can be defined linguistically, as a shared set of words and ways of communicating.
    

PART I “NO” pages 1-80
⦁    Because Christianity Has Been Vicious to Its Mother (Anti-Semitism)
⦁    Because of Christianity’s Suppression of Dissent (Christian vs. Christian Violence)
⦁    Because of Christianity’s High Global Death Toll- and Life Toll (Crusader Colonialism)
⦁    Because of Christianity’s Loyal Company Men (Institutionalism)
⦁    Because of Christianity’s Real Master (Money)
⦁    Because of White Christian Old Boys’ Network (White Patriarchy)
⦁    Because Christianity is Stuck (Toxic Theology)
⦁    Because Christianity is a Failed Religion (Lack of Transformation)
⦁    Because of Christianity’s Great Wall of Bias (Constricted Intellectualism)
⦁    Because Christianity Is a Sinking, Shrinking Ship of Wrinkling People (Demographics)

PART II “YES” pages 81-155
⦁    Because Leaving Hurts Allies (and Helps Their Opponents)
⦁    Because Leaving Defiantly or Staying Compliantly Are Not My Only Options
⦁    Because…Where Else Would I Go?
⦁    Because It Would Be a Shame to Leave a Religion in Its Infancy
⦁    Because of Our Legendary Founder
⦁    Because Innocence Is an Addiction, and Solidarity Is the Cure
⦁    Because I’m Human
⦁    Because Christianity is Changing (for the Worse and for the Better)
⦁    To Free God
⦁    Because of Fermi’s Paradox and the Great Filter

PART III “HOW”
“Whether or not you choose to stay Christian, here’s what I recommend: pay attention to your human development, to the stage you’re entering, inhabiting, or leaving…even though a certain form of Christianity solved the problem of one stage, it can become a problem at another, creating a stained-glass ceiling that impedes further growth.” 159-160. Can you illustrate from your own faith journey?  Look at your “steppingstones” along your spiritual journey and share a story.

McLaren draws from Fr. Richard Rohr, Rob Bell, Hildegard of Bingen and adds his own thinking to share his four stages: SimplicityComplexityPerplexityHarmony.  “There’s a good chance that your stage of development is in tension with the stage of development of the form of Christianity practiced by your current faith community.” 165 Do you agree or disagree? Make the case for your answer.

“To the degree I inhabit Harmony, I am able to hold the tensions.  I don’t have to accept (or reject) Christianity as The One True Religion as I did in Simplicity.  Nor do I have to sort through all the complexities to ‘fix’ Christianity, creating my own ‘successful’ form of it, as I did in Complexity. Nor do I have to stay in a state of perpetual skepticism and suspicion as I did in Perplexity, holding myself aloof from commitments because no commitment can withstand the acid of my critique…You’re a human being on a human journey of growth and development – whether you stay Christian or not.” 167-168. How do you work at staying human?  What are practices or disciplines that work as you mature?

“I imagine a new kind of Christianity – and a new kind of humanity – that instills and strengthens this nested integration of holy, transcendent desires for the beloved world and all it contains.” 175 What do you imagine a new Christianity and a new humanity would look like in your home, community, nation and world?

“Language, we discovered, was a tool we used to describe reality, but it also could become a substitute for reality.  We might say it was the original form of virtual reality…Christian language was necessary to liberate people from another language, the language of empire and domination…terms like sin, grace, and salvation were woven together in stories, and the stories were woven together in a framing story…what once was liberating can become a cage in which in which we pace, dreaming of freedom.” 177-78. Identify several words that illustrate this point.  What is God’s original word according to our author?  See page 179.

“Being human means we have a past to contend with.  And it also means that in the present, we can chart a new path into the future. . . . Christian or not, coming out is full of challenge.” 205. After reading the six statements on pages 206-07, tell a story of your “coming out”.

Use the prayers on pages 210-12 by yourself or a small group and then reflect on what it means to you and others. “As I see it, to be loyal to God is to be loyal to reality, and to be loyal to reality is to be loyal to God.” 213

“I am learning to be content whatever I am called, as long as I remain passionately eager to embody a way of being human that is pro-justice, pro-kindness, and pro-humility.” 219

 Clif Hostetler's review on Goodreads.com  -- click for embedded links 

 If we're talking about staying or leaving Christianity, what definition of "Christianity" are we talking about? I appreciated that fact that the author acknowledged that "Christianity doesn't refer to one simple thing. Like any religion, Christianity is a complex mixture of many different things...". I've copied the eleven different facets of Christianity identified by the author in the following spoiler. (view spoiler)

     The author admits that by the time he finished college he had "affiliated with Christianity on eleven out of eleven markers." But in subsequent years every single marker became "problematized" for him. It is from this background that the author offers the following description of the purpose of this book.

The book is divided into three parts; Part I gives reasons to say no to Christian identity, Part II gives reasons to say yes to Christianity, and Part III explores the question of how we're going to live whether or not the decision is yes or no.

Part I is divided into ten chapters providing ten reasons to say no. The chapter titles provide short descriptions of their contents. I've provided the ten chapter titles (i.e. ten reasons to say no) in the following spoiler. (view spoiler)

The author's description of the reasons to say no to Christianity are quite convincing, and people who have already said no to Christianity will find the material in Part I to be a useful articulation of the reasons for their position.

Part II is also divided into ten chapters providing ten reasons to say yes. The chapter titles provide short descriptions of their contents. I've provided the ten chapter titles (i.e. ten reasons to say yes) in the following spoiler. (view spoiler)

Whether the reasons for yes are as convincing as they are for no will probably depend on the reader's existing circumstances. Readers who are members of faith communities with which they are comfortable will find the reasons to say yes to be convincing. Others faced with finding a new community with which they can comfortably identify will most likely not be moved.

Part III strives to encourage readers, regardless of their answer to the question in the title of this book, to be better humans. The author defines this as being "the most just, kind, and humble version of ourselves that we possible can, day by day ... to lean with others into a new humanity, a new generation or new kind of humanity, open to every good resource that can help us, explicitly Christian or not."

Near the beginning of Part III in the "Include and Transcend" chapter, the author has provided a chart that delineates four stages of spiritual maturity. The author suggests that some people who have left Christianity would have been happy moving instead to another stage of spiritual understanding had they known such an alternative existed. Click here to see chart (p. 162-165).

Since I have included the chapter titles of Parts I and II, I have also included chapter titles for Part III in the following spoiler. However, I found these chapter titles less descriptive of their contents than was the case in the other parts.
(view spoiler)