The trials, and blessings, of peacework

The full text of US HR508 can be found at:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-508

and significant parts at my post on this site "Generosity Replacing Dominion"

The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

I, too, was at the Anti-War march in Washington D.C. last Saturday, to join the people gathered to speak their collective moral Voice against the new *surge* in Iraq and war in the region, including the anticipated new Iranian incursion.

The conversion being asked for is that Generosity Replace Dominion.

I gathered with many of these people for a prayer service at a Lutheran Church on Second Street to prepare us for the march. The diversity and quiet dignity of those many many people gathered was eloquent in its respect and sorrow. The interfaith liturgy was also, however, a service of joyful praise to the Living God for God's guidance and presence. The Saturday evening gathering after the march was held at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Rabbi Michael Lerner was one of the clergy who met in both the morning and evening, along with Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, and Christians.

The appeal to the One Loving God to whom we together gave praise and thanks was, for me, the most moving part of the long day. Truly, it seems to me that all things are possible in the New Covenant of our God. As Rabbi Lerner put it:

“During the subsequent march, I stood at one intersection for about an hour and watched as tens of thousands passed by (it took a full three hours for everyone to get passed that intersection). The amazing creativity, diversity both in racial, class and age terms (yes, finally there was a very large turn out of people in their teens and twenties, not much from the lost generation of people from 30-50, but then plenty of aging boomers and grannies for peace, vets and even active duty military people, parents of children in the military, people in wheelchairs, and many others). And at various times I just broke down cried for joy to experience the life energy and love energy flowing through that crowd, the goodness of the universe, the God of the universe manifested in human form, however temporary—it was a deep religious experience for any who would open their hearts to it.”

The next major effort will be: MARCH 17th. There are local organizers in all regions.

For Michael Lerner’s Network for Spiritual Progressives go to:

http://www.tikkun.org/

For the United for Peace and Justice url :

www.unitedforpeace.org.

For progressive news go to:

http://www.commondreams.org/

For a full report of last Saturday’s march go to:

http://www.democracynow.org/
The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

YES! YES! YES!

"That generosity replace dominion!" Truly the Gospel.

Thank you...so much...for your sharing and your witness, Elaine.

Onward to March 17!

With deepest gratitude,
Sister Lea

Nice posts and links Rev. I'm glad you were there. It must have been wonderful! :-)

The more we discover how much we are Loved by God, the more we want to do God's Will

Good for you, Joe! It was a great day of peace for us too, when what must have been 100,000 plus citizens marched in Washington on Saturday. It was a fantastic experience, filled with the Holy Spirit and with so much camaraderie among Americans from all corners of the country. I'm still trying to recover from it!

The entire Mall was filled to capacity, with people flooding the streets around it as well. There were Pax Christi groups from Virginia, Maryland, the national group, and PC individuals from Chicago and Cincinnati as well. I had a couple people run alongside me as I marched, wanting to know how they could form a Pax Christi group in their city!

There was a group of people stationed at the Supreme Court building who sent up a cheer for each group as they called out which state or city they were from... and one person working in one of the Congressional office buildings opened their window and draped a big rainbow-striped "Peace" flag down the side of the building!

The speakers stressed HR508 to us as well... and I really enjoyed listening to Dennis Kucinich, Jesse Jackson, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and the father of Ehren Watada, an Army lieutenant who refused to serve in Iraq and who is now facing court-martial.

It was a day of repentance for us all as well, as we showed by our numbers how many of us grieved over the actions of our government and how much we want this insanity to end. It was very healing to be there to support so many other peace-loving Americans.

Hey Pat! I can tell you're still filled with the spiritual energy of working for Peace! God Bless you Pat. I'm glad you got to go to DC too. Did you see the Rev. there? I guess there was only a few hundred thousand people to look through! :-) LOL.

The more we discover how much we are Loved by God, the more we want to do God's Will

It seemed half the United States was there! They had expected 500,000, and people who had been at both the March 2006 rally and this one said there were more at this one... In our group, there were quite a few 30-40 year olds like myself, plus an infant, four small girls 6- 8 years old, and about 10 teenagers, which was fantastic to see. Two parents had boys in the military, with deployment to Iraq imminent... It was a true crossection of society.

I missed the interfaith service as my local peace group wanted to go to the Code Pink Rally instead, and we didn't want to break up and lose track of each other. It must have been a truly powerful service.

Hey Pat! I was walking with the Episcopal Peace Fellowship. The Episcopalians were a smallish group (probably about 30 or 40) because the Washington Diocese had its Diocesan Convention that weekend. Next time we'll be better represented I hope. We may well have crossed each other; I marked the 30-40yr generation and kids! Apparantly many came as individuals moved simply by faith and good will. One person reportsde that the majority came without any formal organizational ties. THAT is very impressive to me.

The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

I don't remember seeing an Episcopalian group, but I have never seen so many people in one place in my life, and so much of the day was a complete whirlwind! It's too bad I missed you! We were marching with a 20-foot-long banner showing X's for all the Iraqi and American war dead... it was yeoman's work just keeping it straight and hanging onto it as we were pushed along for 3 hours!

I should have stated that I'm in my early 40's, not "30-40"! Didn't mean to fib, I just felt I'm still a part of that generation...

When we were leaving Bangor, a lady from Mt. Desert Island showed up, near tears, saying she hadn't known until just then that there were buses leaving from Bangor, and now it was too late for her to go. She got on our bus to say her spirit was with us on the trip... she tried to continue but she began crying. That's what it meant to take part in this march. I'll never forget that.

JT

I too, hope not to attend my death!

Ray,

I think we must explore the possibility that "vested interests" were at play in the formation of the Bible in general and the Gospels in particular. I do not see this as a threat, but I believe it is something we have to investigate and understand if we are to understand the massage of Jesus Christ.

JT

Bob,

Which "vested interests" are you suggesting? Was the unseen hand of bankers and stock brokers at play? Maybe, just maybe, some conspiracies are in the eye of the beholder. I'd like to spend my time understanding what has been included in the Bible and what is expected of me. The Gospel according to Dan Brown, and the epistles of Elaine Pagels will have to wait for some reincarnated soul to decipher.

JT,

Many questions arose in the early days of Christianity. Apostilic teaching did not always give clear answers to those questions. My question is, as the Community wrestled with these questions and arrived at acceptable answers (as opposed to those answers which were not acceptable and rejected) was the message which would eventually become the written Gospels modified to give a firmer foundation to these answers. We know that the Evangelists themselves adapted or redacted the message to meet the needs of the people and situations to whom it was being addressed. Did this process continue and influence to the final form of the Gospels as we know them today?

Preach on!

Jesus died because He chose to lay down His life.

For ALL of us with *vested interests* - otherwise known as sinners.

The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

Elaine,

I do not know that I would necessarily identify "vested interests" with sin. Certainly, it could be. But I also think we can look at it in relationship to honest, sincere people who may just be right, having a "vested interest" is seeing to it that their outlook is accepted. I wonder to what extent the interest of early Chruch leaders who were seeking to understand truth and pass it on, having come to a conclusion as to what was true, did not modify that which would become the Gospels to reflect and support the conclusions they had come to. Quite possible there were vested interests in assuming authority and power never intended by Christ, as well as an honest attempt to establisy truth. I believe, to understand the message of the Gospels, it is important to underatand how they came to be and the factors that influenced the outcome.

Yes, Bob, I agree that these kinds of phrases are subject to all kinds of interpretation. In my perspective, the term *vested interest* has a very specific meaning: it derives from the large literature in political philosophy addressing the eighteenth - twentieth century liberalism of so-called 'liberal democratic' polities. "Interests" are those *individual* claims to subjectively identified wants and needs that mobilize a person's social engagement. Some philosophers pinpoint the emergence of this concept (& behavioral expression) to the *acquisitiveness* of *modern* persons; i.e., in our socially-determined urge to *gain* or *own* commodities (goods, land, even other peoples' labor). C.B. McPherson traces this to the philosophy of John Locke & Thomas Hobbes. Many contemporary constitutional analysts would say that the legal structure of our laws and social forms are based on the notion of acquisitive self-interest. Underlying all of this is the general, and very late modern assumption, that *competition* (i.e., market exchange) determines who we are and how we behave.

My own view of this is that to base social interaction on *self-interest* is WRONG on two counts: a) it is immoral (despite its claims to be amoral) because it disowns social responsibility; and b) it is un-Christian because it violates both OT and NT teaching regarding the fundamental second commandment.

Sincere, honest people, as you say, may be "sinful" as acquisitive self-interest seekers despite any claim to "seeking truth" because we ALL are necessarily subject to the society that forms us. We can only be faithful Christians, in my view, if we constantly interrogate the tension between our faith and society, while, at the same time, being fully IN society. Jesus teaches us the way to do this. Insofar as we ALL fall short of Jesus' own courageous honesty and constant prayer and faithfulness to the Father, we ALL carry this very *self-interest* that is our social warrant. This is why, in my opinion, it is so important to judge others less than we judge ourselves because we can never know to what extent our "righteous judgment" actually is a subtle expression of (selfish) self-interest.

The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

Elaine,

Given your understanding of “vested interests” I understand your post. Thanks

I once had a Scripture professor who could spend days considering the nuances of a Greek verb. I often wondered if the authors of the Gospels had the same sophistication he had and chose their words as carefully of if they simply used the word that came to mind.

I believe understanding Scripture is essential to our faith and think insights into how it was written and what influences were at work help us do that. We have so much more knowledge of that process than we have had in the past and I feel it worth looking at.

The Gospels are based on the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. I think the closer we can come to Christ himself the better we understand what our faith is all about.

I strongly suspect that, in the process of the message reaching the form in which we have it today, how the early Church leaders understood the message influenced the formation of the message.

That may or may not be “vested interests” . I think, very often, as we read Scripture today, we see what we want or expect to see. My question is, did those early theologians not only see what they wanted to see or did they actually modify the text to be seen as they wanted it to be seen?

Bob, "I think, very often, as we read Scripture today, we see what we want or expect to see. My question is, did those early theologians not only see what they wanted to see or did they actually modify the text to be seen as they wanted it to be seen?"

Beats me!?

For me, the process of attempting to understand with all the tools of experience: engagement, intelligence, reason, emotion, etc., but most of all dialogue-in-community, is a practice of faith. I can no more genuinely understand the experience of early Christians than I can understand the experience of my evangelical neighbor, but I know who they are - at least a little. I treasure and value my experience as a grace from god, but I know also how transitory it is.

Even our apprehension of the truth of scripture is mediated by grace and experience. This is why the diversity of that experience is so greatly to be valued. It all points to God-in-Christ.

Bonaventure says this at the end of his "Journey to the Mind of God":

"After our mind has beheld God outside itself through and in vestiges of Him, and within itself through and in an image of Him, and above itself through the similitude of the Divine Light shining above us and in the Divine light itself insofar as it is possible in our state as wayfarer and by the effort of our own mind, and when at last the mind has reached the ... step , where it can behold in the first and highest Principle and in the Mediator of God and men, Jesus Christ, things transcend all acuteness of the human intellect ..."

And then later he says:

"If you wish to know how all these things come about, ask grace, not learning; desire, not understanding; the groaning of prayer, not diligence in reading; the Bridegroom not the teacher; God, not man; darkness not clarity; not light, but the fire that wholly inflames and carries one into God ..."

I think that it is only at this place of grace where we loose our "vested interests." I don't know whether or not any one really can, but we can only rely on grace for the little vestiges of light. For me, the practical part of that reliance is engagement with other seekers. Thanks for your company along the path.

The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

Elaine,

I would agree that the process of attempting to understand is a practice of faith. As for, " I can no more genuinely understand the experience of early Christians than I can understand the experience of my evangelical neighbor," I have these thoughts. I believe that it is only to the extent that we understand the events of history within the contexts in which they occrued that we understand history. Likewise, it is only to the extent that we understand what we read in Scripture meant to those to whom it was first addressed that we can truly understand the message and what it means to us. In fact, there is much we can know and understand about the times and cultures which gave us the Bible. If this were not so, much of our scriptural scholorship would be futile. Unless we are willing to set Scripture aside, I believe it most important to understand the cultures in which it came to be and the processes that influenced how it was handed down to us. My evengelical neighbor (who is quite apt to be a fundamentalist), because of his/her orientation, will understand what he or she reads in a way very different from mine. While I do often have great difficulty "understanding" how anyone can be a fundamenalist, I think it important to attempt to see as my neighbor sees if we are to converse with one another. Agreement is not necessary and I can learn from him/her.

However, if we are to be agents of change in our societies and churches, I think we have to understand how and under what circumstances past and current values were arrived at and how a different understanding of the world, of ourselves, of science, of Scripture, etc. moves us to modify those values and to justify those modifications to others.

Faith and reason go together and grace and nature work together. It seems to me that, throughout Salvation History, the starting point has always been where people were/are and then the Spirit moves them on to deeper understanding. Scripture is to me, as I know it is to you, very important. I believe we have to do all that is humanly possible to know as much about it as we can and rely on grace to give us understanding.

Point very well stated and taken, Bob. I prefer a combination of historical and form criticism for my own exegeses. There is no doubt in my mind that we can better understand the core message let alone the more subtle nuances of the synoptic gospels, John, and most importantly to me, Paul, when we understand the contexts within which they thought and wrote. You and I are in agreement there. [I don't know if we can ever know their "interests" in the way we have been discussing this concept ...?]

My previous comments were only to say that, in the end, the true progress of "understanding" is an action of the heart graced by God. But let me be clear. Without the scholarship of comparison and discovery - that is, without a dedication to the continuing revelation of God as that occurs in our own progressive knowledge of the *times* and the *people* - we are doomed to rely on the static profession of dogma that stands in for faith. Like you, I want to "do all that is (personally and) humanly possible" to discover a historical context in my study of scripture.

The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

Elaine,

Thanks for keeping the conversation going. I guess what gets me all excited about all this is not an academic consideration, but where it leads me in faith. Now, please don't anyone see what I am about to say as an indication that I, in any way, do not have proper respect for the divinity of Jesus. However, I often think we have short changed his humanity. I believe Jesus was truly a man of faith. As a matter of fact, far more than Abraham, THE man of faith. While the Gospels indicate he had no "formal" education, he certainly was familiar with the Scriptures. Considering how difficult it was to produce a scroll, I think it safe to assume he did not have one at home. But, he obviously had extensive exposure to and instruction in Scripture as well as his Jewish faith. I'm sure his family had a lot to do with his beliefs. Then, too, there was his prayer life. Now, as I see it, Jesus, as human being, had no inside track on prayer. Not to say he did not have a very deep prayer life, simply to say he prayed as a human being.

With all of this, he had a "feel" for the will of the Father. If was not as if the Father came to him and said, "Look son, this is the way it is." Rather, Jesus, as a man of faith followed his heart and saw things that just did not appear right to him and he spoke out against them.

I identify with this because, while I certainly do not consider myself anyone special, there are times when I see and hear things and something within me screams out "THIS IS WRONG!" Like war, the death penalty or when I hear a story like William"s. Now only how William has been treated, but the very outlook on human sexuality that is used to condemn him and others. It is just wrong. It is not the will of God. It is not what Scripture says.

I think God speaks to you and I just as God spoke to others in the Bible, just as he spoke to Jesus. I think we have to be opened to hear what God is saying even if it sounds contrary to what we expect God to say. I don't want to mislead anyone. I don't want to shake anyone's faith. But I see so much that, for me, just can't be of God. How do I know I am right and another wrong? I don't! I don't think Jesus did. I only know what I feel in my heart and I just can't help letting my thoughts be known.

JT

"true progress of "understanding"..." By that, do you mean knowledge or empathy? What precisely do you mean by, "progressive knowledge of the 'times' and the 'people'...?

For me, an "action of the heart" is faith informed by and informing experience in all of its abundant love.

The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

Alas, your partisan diatribe is fundamentally flawed on two counts:

a/ you disown peace by displaying your own fear and it's legacy, hate; (your simplistic attribution of evil to a political party in a nation not your own is only an excuse for what I suspect is a gut-level fear of "liberalism" or "modernism" or "humanism");

b/ your facts are wrong and you misuse the teaching of both Ghandi and King.

Here is what Martin Luther King (a Democrat, no less!) ACTUALLY said about political responsibility:

" ... A time comes when silence is betrayal. That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam.

The truth of these words is beyond doubt but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on.

Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak..."

(April 1967 Riverside Sermon; for the entire speech go to "The Madness Must Cease" topic on this site.)

The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

Peace is based on justice which is based on love and that's the truth.

Do you have a real doctorate or is it in something like Theology or Art?

The theologians should love this one!

P.S.:

Just to be clear: that would be a PhD.

Who are you???

The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

My academic disciplines are: Constitutional Law, Political Science, and Economics. My doctorate is what is called "earned"; i.e., it is the result of original research and peer review. My dissertation was externally examined and passed with strong recommendation, (i.e., no changes required to the submitted two-volume text), at the London Scool of Economics and NYU. I also have two Masters degrees: one in Constitutional Law and one in Divinity, (I have participated in writing national legislation and so am a 'practiced constitutional lawyer').

Thanks for asking; I actually also am an *artist* (intaglio print making and paint) but do not claim any standing as an artist as I do this only for personal pleasure. I do, claim some expertise in Theology as a result of formal study and original writing.

Who are you???

The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

fredpruss

JT

What happened to those priorities when the budget was in surplus and there was no war, 8-10 years ago?

A Hostile Republican Congress????

The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

Did you know that there are 2,300,000 Episcopalians in the US but that 10% of all US Senators are members of this church?

JT

Or no political will anywhere?

Having studied the Congressional Record vs. the judicial appointment record, HOW can you arrive at that observation??? [Or perhaps it was just a quip ...]

The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

It might have had something to do with the Gingrich revolution and the "Contract for America."

JT

It could have something to do with Clinton's obsession with "polling" the electorate and contact with America.

I love puns so I gave you a four.

Will you give me a fore for Pres. candidate Gingrich's "Contract ON America"? ;{

[ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease...]

The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)

I came late to the table but it was SOOOOoooo worth it...my neighbors must be wondering what I am laughing and howling about...Elaine, are you certain you don't also have a PhD in great timing???? :) What would we do without you???

Only because you reduced yourself to begging---one step away from flagellating.

And you too, Col!!! You are BAAADDD!!!