Greetings, WesleyNexus Colleagues:
Intro August newsletter:
“Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness,
I fear no harm, for You are with me:
Your rod and Your staff – they comfort me.”
Psalm 23: The Tanakh
Recently I had occasion to celebrate the life of a family member who had died several days previously, and this familiar scripture reading was an integral part of the service. The words of the rabbi who was presiding provided a measure of comfort for the rest of us. But it was an occasion to reflect on the meaning of death in the midst of life. It was a time to reflect on one’s own mortality and the inevitability that one’s life will end – later or sooner, but inevitably so.
Other words come to mind:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” And those of us who follow Jesus can reflect on why his contemporaries and those in the early church spoke of Jesus as the “light of the world.”
Those of us who pay any attention to what is manifest in our city and in cities across our country are reminded of death every day, sometimes the result of mass shootings, but more often the deaths of innocent passers-by and of children having their life snuffed out by a stray bullet while sleeping in their beds – lives snuffed out in the blink of an eye– with no solution to the crisis on the horizon. All of us are soon to be reminded of even more massivedeaths 78 years ago: on August 6, 1945 a bomb called “Liitle Boy” was dropped from the Enola Gay on the sleeping city of Hiroshima, and three days later on August 9 another even more powerful was dropped on Nagasaki. A total of 400,000 people had their lives snuffed out – perhaps a means to save the lives of double that number had the war continued unabated.
Even so, the bombing wiped out more lives in those instants than anything in history before or since. A new film under the name of Oppenheimer will portray for many of us the months before and the years after those events, and for sure it will be an occasion for us to resolve never to bring about the circumstances that might require such use of deadly weapons again.
But how do we in the Church get our minds and hearts around alternatives? On the first Sunday of every month (in some congregations more often) we celebrate the Eucharist, but what meaning does this ritual carry for us in the 21st century? Too often, and for too many, the ritual is a solemn event to remember a dead Jesus – but that is not the meaning carried forward in the early church. The Eucharist was for 800 years a celebration of the gifts of life, an occasion to lift up memories if a loving and caring teacher who spent his life encouraging the spirits of his oppressed people in the midst of their suffering under Roman domination. It was only after the coronation of King Charles the Great (better known as Charlemagne) in 800 ce that the Christian tradition was “corrected” to bring a dead Jesus on the Cross to the center of attention. It was only then and in the decades following that the notion of a substitutionary atonement took shape in the church’s theology. It was only in these years that Christian bishops and priests began to sanction wars against pagans and Jewish infidels, often under the banner of the Cross.
How can we recover a more healthy and uplifting theology that has at its center a celebration of life rather than death? Can we leave behind the notion that at the moment of death a divine judge stands ready to assess each soul for either punishment or reward? We need not live under “the shadow of death.” There are much better ways to honor and remember Jesus than praying before an image of a corpse hanging on a cross. There is enough misery in the world waiting for us to utilize our time and talents to make a difference in the circle of our friendships and acquaintances. As Dr. King reminds us “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” That is what the Eucharist should bring to our consciousness.
Contents:
Practical Spirituality and the Use of Spiritual Principles in Moments of Crisis, Addiction and Loss of Meaning
Science, Spirituality and the Noosphere
God on the Brain: The Nexus of Religious Faith & Mental Well-Being
Whitehead & Teilhard: Convergences, Divergences and Integration
What Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán Understand About Your Brain by By MARCEL DANESI
J. Robert Oppenheimer stifled a petition by 70 scientists beseeching President Truman not to use the atomic bomb.
Decades-long bet on consciousness ends — and it’s philosopher 1, neuroscientist 0
”Composting Christianity” with Catherine Keller
Theo-photography by Tom Oord
Thanks continue to go out to our generous contributors. We encourage you to share comments, articles and insights that will help us all weather these difficult times.
Blessings,
Maynard Moore and the rest of the WesleyNexus team
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Practical Spirituality and the Use of Spiritual Principles in Moments of Crisis, Addiction and Loss of Meaning
with Rabbi Igael Gurin
August 9, 2023, at 4 PM Central time, 5 PM Eastern time
Presentation Overview:
Exploring the concept of practical spirituality and its application in navigating moments of crisis, addiction, and loss of meaning, we will delve into the utilization of spiritual principles to cope with adversity and find strength, solace and insight during challenging times. By examining the integration of spiritual beliefs into everyday life, we will highlight how modern and ancient practices can offer individuals a sense of purpose, inner strength, and resilience in the face of personal struggles. Bridging best practices and spiritual practices—emphasizing the potential for transformation and healing—we will lean on its positive and life changing effect it has on a diverse group of individuals from the rehab setting to C-suite executives, examining the role of practical spirituality in fostering resilience, inner strength, and transformative growth during times of personal struggle. Through a rigorous analysis of case studies, we will underscore the significance of embracing practical spirituality as a potent resource for navigating the complexities of life’s most profound challenges.
About the August 9th presenter:
Rabbi Igael “Iggy” Gurin-Malous is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of T’Shuvah Center, in New York, NY. He is a Talmud teacher, spiritual counselor, artist, and educator. He specializes in subjects ranging from Talmud, Jewish text, spirituality, addiction, recovery, fatherhood and LGBTQI+ issues. Through practical spirituality and his unique approach, he offers modes of healing that look at an individual’s actions, beliefs and values.
His aim in providing spiritual counseling is to guide individuals in developing a life of meaning, joy and purpose, powered by spiritual practices and wisdom. He has devoted his life to helping people whom others have neglected, with guidance and any resources that could help them and their loved ones. It is his goal to continue to offer not just direct resources and services but hope and a community of understanding for all who need them. Previously, Rabbi Iggy was the Director of Spiritual Counseling at Beit T’Shuvah in Los Angeles, CA.
Register Here: https://starisland-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xVpXQAAWQfezltARq6Skpg#/registration
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With Renowned Spiritual Pioneer & Author of More Than 35 Books
Matthew Fox
and Professor, Author & Director of the Third Story of the Universe
Brian Thomas Swimme
New 7-Week Live Video Course Starts
Tuesday, August 8, 2023
Register here: Science, Spirituality & the Noosphere: Hope for Humanity’s Future With Matthew Fox and Brian Thomas Swimme | The Shift Network
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God on the Brain: The Nexus of Religious Faith & Mental Well-Being
Saturday, September 23, 2023
The Virginia Annual Conference (United Methodist Church) and Randolph-Macon College will co-host a one-day seminar exploring the connections between religious faith and mental well-being. Dr. Andrew Newberg, researcher and pioneer in the field of neurotheology, will give the keynote address. The breakout sessions feature a variety of workshop topics related to mental health and well-being. This seminar is open to everyone. CEUs available for clergy and church professionals. Registration is required for both in-person and online participation.
To learn more or register
Https://vaumfoundation.org/2023/07/07/fox-symposium-on-faith-science/
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Whitehead & Teilhard: Convergences, Divergences and Integration
September 21@8:00 am – September 23 @ 5:00 pm PDT
The respective work of Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) and Pierre Teilhard De Chardin (1881-1955) continue to inspire distinctive trajectories in modern process philosophy and theology. Although contemporaries for a time, both men were unable to benefit from each other’s vast visions of reality. Yet a shared indebtedness to Bergson’s temporal metaphysics and a commitment to incorporate new advances of the sciences—evolutionary biology and quantum and relativity theory in particular—would stimulate deeply resonant vectors in their thought. Nevertheless, Whitehead and Teilhard continue to be studied largely independent of each other’s contributions. The time has come to fill this scholarly lacuna with deliberate efforts aimed at creative mutual transformation. What results when Whitehead and Teilhard meet? What do they each offer the other such that a mutual deepening might take place? This conference draws together Whitehead and Teilhard scholars to advance the possibilities and relevance of process philosophy and theology through an integrative encounter between these two foundational figures.
The Inn at Villanova University
Co-sponsored by The Center for Process Studies, Center for Christogenesis and Connelly Chair of Villanova University.
General Admission: $130 (Student: $65)
Virtual Admission: $100 (Student: $50)
(All admission includes access to video recordings.)
Https://christogenesis.salsalabs.org/whitehead-teilhard-conference/index.html
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What Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán Understand About Your Brain by By MARCEL DANESI
Why do some people who support Trump also wind up believing conspiracy theories? There’s a scientific explanation for that.
Marcel Danesi is a professor of semiotics and linguistic anthropology at the University of Toronto. He is the author of the recent book, Politics, Lies and Conspiracy Theories: A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective.
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J. Robert Oppenheimer stifled a petition by 70 scientists beseeching President Truman not to use the atomic bomb. By Jenny McGrath
On August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, killing at least 100,000 people instantly and thousands more from radiation illnesses and injuries, according to the National Archives Museum.
Three weeks earlier, Leo Szilard and dozens of other scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project signed a petition to President Harry Truman, pleading with him to reconsider dropping the bombs they had helped create.
The petition can be found here: https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/key-documents/szilard-petition/
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Decades-long bet on consciousness ends — and it’s philosopher 1, neuroscientist 0 by Mariana Lenharo
Christof Koch wagered David Chalmers 25 years ago that researchers would learn how the brain achieves consciousness by now. But the quest continues.
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”Composting Christianity” with Catherine Keller
Unknowing with Brie Stoner
In this second to last episode of Season 3, Brie invites process theologian and author Catherine Keller to help explain how process might invite a more compatible paradigm to the efforts of composting Christianity, and a to a more relational and ecological worldview.
Catherine Keller is Professor of Constructive Theology at the Theological School of Drew University. In her teaching, lecturing and writing, she develops the relational potential of a theology of becoming. Her books reconfigure ancient symbols of divinity for the sake of a planetary conviviality—a life together, across vast webs of difference. Thriving in the interplay of ecological and gender politics, of process cosmology, poststructuralist philosophy and religious pluralism, her work is both deconstructive and constructive in strategy.
Https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unknowing/id1569173352?i=1000590431526
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Theo-photography by Tom Oord
Once or twice a year, I set aside words and do theology with images.
Here are photos I’ve made in the last year or so. To me, at least, they say something theological.