Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church
1948 The Alameda
San Jose, CA 95126
San Jose, CA 95126
I have been reading (re-reading, after a great deal of time) Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. In his section on Economy, he writes the following:
I read in the Gulistan, or Flower Garden, of Sheik Sadi of Shiraz, that "They asked a wise man, saying: Of the many celebrated trees which the Most High God has created lofty and umbrageous, they call none azad, or free, excepting the cypress, which bears no fruit; what mystery is there in this? He replied; Each has its appropriate produce, and appointed season, curing the continuance of which it is fresh and blooming, and during their absence dry and withered; to neither of which states is the cypress exposed, being always flourishing; and of this nature are the azads, or religious independents. - Fix not thy heart on that which is transitory; for the Diljah, or Tigris, will continue to flow through Bagdad after the race of caliphs is extinct: if thy hand has plenty, be liberal as the date tree; but if it affords nothing to give away, be an azad, or free man, like the cypress."
As often happens on the spiritual journey, we have arrived at the heart of a paradox: each time a door closes, the rest of the world opens up. All we need to do is stop pounding on the door that just closed, turn around - which puts the door behind us - and welcome the largeness of life that now lies open to our souls. The door that closed kept us from entering a room, but what now lies before us is the rest of reality …
If we are to live our lives fully and well, we must learn to embrace the opposites, to live in a creative tension between our limits and our potentials. We must honor our limitations in ways that do not distort our nature, and we must trust and use our gifts in ways that fulfill the potentials God gave us. We must take the no of the way that closes and find the guidance it has to offer - and take the yes of the way that opens and respond with the yes of our lives.
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This award winning documentary delves into one remote community's radical resistance to a proposed copper mine that would level and destroy their way of life forever. Set in an iso0lated cloud forest of the north Andes Mountains, the film is narrated bys the founders and the children of Junin who depict how the village's daily life has been affected by the rich ore deposit that was discovered beneath their land. Suddenly these once peaceful farmers find themselves thrust in a dangerous world of corruption, murder and arson as they fight tenaciously to protect their land and families. Two mining companies are increasingly brazen in their attempts to infiltrate and control the area, and in response the community unites in resistance in order to survive.
The last few decades have seen a resurgence of the scholarly quest for the historical Jesus - for the words and deeds that probably can be attributed to the human Jesus who walked the hills of Galilee some two thousand years ago. You might not be aware of the recent scholarship, and the reason is simple. For the most part, many scholars write for and talk to other scholars, using their own technical language. This leaves huge numbers of Christians unaware of their discoveries. So even though you may have studied the Bible for years, you still may be a historical Jesus beginner.
After the life of Jesus, his followers began to develop their memory of this sayings and actions. Then, year after year, and century after century, tradition grew until it became Christianity as it is known in the twenty-first century. What if you could go back in time and delve beneath all the layers to find what Christianity would be if it were based upon the historical Jesus? If you are a person who would like to begin to be informed, this book is for you.
"This very helpful book delivers what it promises and more. It combines a lucid introduction to the basics of historical Jesus scholarship with extended excerpts from several of today's scholars, tyhus putting the reader in touch with a number of voices. And more: it explores the implications of jesus scholarship for those to whom it matters most, namely, Christians and churches in our time. Recommended not only for beginners, but also for those who already have some familiarity with this fascinating and important subject."
Marcus J. Borg
Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture
Oregon State University