By Susanne Severeid

But how can that happen? my friends who dont live in Ashland are asking me. Thats not the Ashland we know.

They are referring to the recent recommendations by the Ashland Parks & Recreation Commission to lay off the entire staff of the Senior Program (which is all-female and all seniors) and move several aspects of the program to The Grove, and to the recent APRC Commissioner meetings where the public comment was treated with disregard.

What community doesnt take care of its disadvantaged elders? they are asking me. Thats just a given, a no-brainer. Especially in an affluent town like Ashland that sees itself as so progressive, inclusive and compassionate.

I sincerely hope that the public, young and old, is following the recent Letters to the Editor and articles in the Daily Tidings about the changes being put into place regarding our 43-year old senior program, which was originally designed to be a social service safety net for our lower-income senior population. The public comments have been unanimously opposed to these proposed changes.

Lets also look at the bigger picture for a moment: Within days of these recommendations becoming public, Michael Black, director of APRC, went before our Ashland City Council and mayor (with two council members absent) asking for $235,000 to be paid to a Portland consultancy firm for a plan to map out the future of Lithia Park. So, we are told that the senior program, which came in under budget and is not designed to produce revenue, is too costly for APRC, but that they need to send a cool quarter of a million dollars to an out-of-town consulting firm to tell us what Lithia Park needs? Who, my friends ask me, is establishing the priorities for our fair city?

Our senior program may be the first neck on the chopping block under the axe of the Parks & Recreation Commission, but if you love Lithia Park for the jewel that it is, beware. Stay informed, and speak up.

Our senior program has helped countless elders in our town. When one elderly woman stopped coming to our lunch program, it was learned that she didnt have any money at all, as she had been the victim of identity fraud and her meager bank account had been cleaned out. The program director personally accompanied her to the bank, reestablished her account, and got the Ashland Police Department involved. There are so many stories like this, of people who have called or come into the office in tears, at wits end, with nowhere else to turn. Poverty and lack of options are not always a result of bad choices. As anyone who has lived long enough and who has even an ounce of empathy knows, sometimes life just gives you one too many sucker punches, and can be especially cruel to those least able to defend themselves. If, on top of that, there is no family to lean on or limited (or no) financial means, it can bounce you to the gutter and leave you there.

The actions by the APRC affecting our existing senior program, a program which took decades of hard work by dedicated staff to build, should now be thoroughly examined by our City Council and mayor.

There is a quote by French philosopher and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin that says, Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you havent committed. If that is so, then as a community is it not incumbent upon us to care for those who are less able, or no longer able, to care for themselves?

As I sit with my friends and we prepare to bring this evening of discussion to a close, they reflect on their experience of Ashland as that of an idyllic, enlightened tourist town.

What would our society be if we didnt care for our disenfranchised and elderly? they ask. What would we look like? I have no answer for them, as they shake their heads in disappointment.

Award-winning author, TV presenter and world traveler Susanne Severeid is an Ashland resident who enjoys making time for the important things in life including mocha. Read more of her columns at bit.ly/adtssmm. For more, go to http://www.susannesevereid.com. Email her at susannewebsite@olypen.com.

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Mocha Musings: Aghast at Senior Center changes - Ashland Daily Tidings

There were two things I most wanted to see in my life: Denali and the solar eclipse of 2017. Though I didn't see them, there was grace in the not-seeing.

Arriving as "pilgrims" at Denali National Park in Alaska, my two companions and I set out eagerly on a tundra tour to see moose and caribou and grizzly bears and were supposed to top it all off by seeing Denali, formerly Mount McKinley. At over 20,300 feet, it is the tallest mountain in North America. Its mountains have always been a spiritual experience for me, and I was so excited that I kept annoying the bus driver with questions: "Can we see it yet?" "What direction will it be?" "How close will it be?"

We had been warned that Denali makes its own weather and is visible less than 10 percent of the time, so when we pulled up to the overlook and the driver said, "There's Denali," waving in the general direction of a huge cloud, I was disappointed but not surprised.

I was not ready to give the driver any peace yet.

"Where is it exactly?" "Show me, point to it." I wanted to feel it.

And we did. Behind the cloud, we could feel the immensity, the presence of the mountain. Huge. Powerful. There. It was the way God is present to us sometimes an immense, transcendent presence. But one of the graces of that day was to help me realize in a deep, visceral way what it means to know, through the Incarnation, a God who is also immanent.

Though that day we had to settle for transcendence, Denali was not finished with us yet. The next day, an obliging Alaska Airlines pilot flew us right by the peak. Flying at 22,000 feet, on a crystal-clear day, it felt like we could brush the snow from the top. How immanent is that?

I had always thought it was a pure tragedy that the founder of my religious community, St. Angela Merici, became blind just when she was setting off on a long-awaited pilgrimage to the Holy Land. She had to experience the holy places without seeing them and only regained her sight on her return to Italy. I never really believed the account of biographers who claimed that she experienced the holy places in a deeper way than she would have if she had seen them.

But after Denali, I understood, and even now, when I think of that day, I feel immense presence behind a cloud.

Moving ahead to Aug. 21, 2017. Kansas City, where I live, was right in the path of the total eclipse of the sun. What luck! I went to a nearby retreat house run by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Kansas, for a weekend retreat on the universe of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and we were invited to stay Monday to top off our retreat with a celestial spectacular. My heart is beating faster right now, just thinking about how eagerly we awaited it!

The sisters were prepared: a picnic, solar glasses for everyone and an excited crowd of about 200 people. And as it turns out clouds and rain. Only a brief glimpse of the early eclipse, but we did experience the complete darkness at midday, heard the night songs of birds and insects, saw the 360-degree "sunset" all around, and saw the "dawn" break high above us in the middle of the sky. And I watched the actual eclipse on a smartphone, broadcast from a town to the east of us.

Here's a little irony for you. If I had gone to work (only 33 miles away) instead of taking a third day of retreat, I would have seen the eclipse. Is there a lesson for us there?

Did you notice a certain theme of clouds in my stories? The Cloud of Unknowing suggests that the seeking soulshould surrender mind and ego to the realm of "unknowing," at which point one may begin to glimpse the nature of God.

Perhaps we have to be content with the darkness of mystery. Perhaps darkness is its own blessing.

[Ursuline Sr. Michele Morek isGlobal Sisters Report's liaison to sisters in North America. Her email address ismmorek@ncronline.org.]

Visit link:
The grace of not seeing - Global Sisters Report (blog)

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a famous French philosopher and Jesuit priest who was also trained as a paleontologist and geologist. He took active part in the discovery of both Piltdown Man and Peking Man. Teilhard proposed the concept of the Omega Point and further developed Vladimir Vernadsky's concept of Noosphere. Some of his ideas caused dispute between him and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, because of which several of his books were censured. In his significant book, The Phenomenon of Man, he described the unfolding of the cosmos. In another work, Book of Genesis he deserted the traditional interpretations of creation which greatly displeased some officials of the Catholic Church. He was opposed by his Church superiors and some of his books were denied being published during his lifetime by the Roman Holy Office.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Childhood and Early Life

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was born on May 1, 1881 in Orcines, France. On his paternal side, he was a descendant of an ancient family of magistrates from Auvergne originating in Murat, Cantal whereas from his maternal side he belonged to a family which was entitled under Louis XVIII. His father, Emmanuel Teilhard was an amateur naturalist. He was also an avid stone and plant collector and always promoted conservation of nature in the household. The birth of Teilhards spirituality was credited to his mother, Berthe de Dompiere. In 1893, when he was only twelve, he went to the Jesuit college of Mongr, in Villefranche-sur-Sane. In 1899, he joined the Jesuit novitiate at Aix-en-Provence, where he started his philosophical, theological and spiritual career. In 1902, he earned a licentiate in literature in Caen. Between the time period 1905 and 1908, Teilhard taught physics and chemistry in Cairo, Egypt, at the Jesuit College of the Holy Family. From 1908 to 1912, he studied theology in Hastings, in Sussex. During this time, he developed his scientific, philosophical and theological knowledge in the light of evolution. Teilhard was consecrated as a priest on August 24, 1911, at the age of 30. For the next two years, from 1912 to 1914, he worked in the paleontology laboratory of the Muse National d'Histoire Naturelle, in Paris.

In June 1912, Teilhard was a part of original digging team along with Arthur Smith Woodward and Charles Dawson who were carrying investigations at the Piltdown site; it was the site where first fragments of the Piltdown Man were discovered. He was acquainted with Henri Breuil at the museum's Institute of Human Paleontology, and in 1913, he took part with him in excavations in the prehistoric painted caves in the northwest of Spain, at the Cave of Castillo. He also served in World War I in December 1914 where he was a stretcher-bearer in the 8th Moroccan Rifles. During the war, Teilhard narrated his experiences in his diaries and also to his cousin, Marguerite Teillard-Chambon in letters who later edited these experiences into a book, Gense d'une pense (Genesis of a thought). He wrote his first essay, La Vie Cosmique (Cosmic life), in 1916, in which he had revealed his scientific and philosophical thoughts. On May 26, 1918, Teilhard pronounced his solemn vows as a Jesuit in Sainte-Foy-ls-Lyon. In August 1919, while he was in Jersey, he wrote Puissance spirituelle de la Matire (the spiritual Power of Matter). For some time, he pursued three unit degrees of natural science: geology, botany and zoology at the Sorbonne. After 1920, he taught geology at the Catholic Institute of Paris. After being granted a science Doctorate in 1922, Teilhard became an assistant professor.

Career

Teilhard traveled to China in 1923 with Father Emile Licent, who was in-charge of important laboratory collaboration between Natural History Museum in Paris and Marcellin Boule's laboratory. While he was in Ordos Desert, he wrote several essays which also included La Messe sur le Monde (the Mass on the World). The next year, he resumed his lecturing at the Catholic Institute and also took part in several conferences for the students of the Engineers' Schools. The Catholic Church asked him to teach at the Catholic Institute and to continue his geological research in China. In April 1926, he traveled back to China. Teilhard remained in China for the next twenty years which also included a number of voyages throughout the world. Between 1926 and 1935, he made five geological research expeditions in China, which enabled him to establish a general geological map of China. During 1926-1927, Teilhard traveled to the Sang-Kan-Ho valley near Kalgan (Zhangjiakou) and made a tour in Eastern Mongolia. In this period, he wrote Le Milieu Divin (the divine Medium). He also started writing the first pages of his main work Le Phnomne humain (The Human Phenomenon).

In 1926, Teilhard joined the excavations of the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian as an advisor. He also played the role of the advisory for Cenozoic Research Laboratory of the Geological Survey of China, which was founded in 1928. He stayed in Manchuria with Emile Licent and for some time remained in Western Shansi and northern Shensi with the Chinese paleontologist C. C. Young and Chairman of the Geological Survey of China, Davidson Black. After the tour of Manchuria in the area of Great Khingan, Teilhard joined the team of American Expedition Center-Asia in the Gobi organized by the American Museum of Natural History with Roy Chapman Andrews. Teilhard, along with Henri Breuil, discovered that the Peking Man the nearest relative of Pithecanthropus from Java was a faber. During this period, Teilhard wrote L'Esprit de la Terre (the Spirit of the Earth). As a scientist, he also took part in the famous Croisiere Jaune or "Yellow Cruise" managed by Andre Citroen in Central Asia. He joined the China Group in Kalgan who joined the Pamir group, in Aksu. He spent several months in Urumqi, capital of Sinkiang with his colleagues. In 1933, he was ordered by Rome to give up his post in Paris. Teilhard also undertook many explorations in the south of China which included his traveling to the valleys of Yangtze River and Szechuan (Sichuan) in 1934 and to Kwang-If and Guangdong, in the next year.

World Travels

Between 1927 and 1928 Teilhard stayed at Paris, France during which he traveled to Leuven, Belgium, to Cantal, and to Arige, France. On the invitation of Henry de Monfreid, he went to Obock in Harrar and to Somalia with his colleague, geologist Pierre Lamarre. Teilhard stayed in France and in the United States from 19301931. In 1935, he joined the Yale-Cambridge expedition in northern and central India along with geologist Helmut de Terra and Patterson, who had affirmed their assumptions on Indian Paleolithic civilizations in Kashmir and the Salt Range Valley. On the invitation of Professor Ralph van Koenigswald, he went to the site of Java man during which a second cranium, was discovered. In 1937, onboard of the boat, the Empress of Japan, he wrote Le Phnomne spiritual (The Phenomenon of the Spirit). The ship carried him to United States where he was awarded with the Mendel medal by Villanova University during the Congress of Philadelphia, recognizing his works on human paleontology. In the year 1939, his book LEnergie Humaine was banned by Rome. During his stay at France, he suffered from malaria. While returning to Beijing, he wrote L'Energie spirituelle de la Souffrance (Spiritual Energy of Suffering). In 1941, Teilhard presented his most important work Le Phenomena Humaine to Rome and by 1947, he was precluded by Rome to write or teach on philosophical subjects.

Death

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin died in New York City on April 10, 1955. He was buried in the cemetery at St. Andrews-on-Hudson in Poughkeepsie, upstate New York.

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Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Biography - Pierre Teilhard de ...

Stephen Colberts desktop computer monitor is ringed with reminders Post-it notes (Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin), keepsakes (cards from musicians Regina Spektor and Jack White), directives (Ask yourself this question: Is my attitude worth catching?), affirmations (Enjoy life: It is better to be happy than wise) and one note that simply reads: History.

When not in use, Colberts computer screen defaults to a live feed of the Earth taken from the International Space Station. Right now, the view has just crossed the Nile, the sun is setting and clouds are casting long shadows across the Red Sea. Colbert looks at these images whenever hes feeling anxious. Theres the whole world, he tells himself. Calm down.

Professionally, at least, Colbert has little reason for worry these days. The Late Show With Stephen Colbert has reigned as late-nights top program since February, and the recent Russia Week segments featuring Colbert visiting Moscow and St. Petersburg drew nearly half a million more viewers than its closest competitor, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Its a remarkable reversal for Colbert, wholl be the first to admit that he stumbled out of the gate when The Late Show debuted on CBS in September 2015. I was not indulging my own instincts, Ill tell you that, Colbert says.

Thats no longer the case. Colberts blistering broadsides against Donald Trump and his revolving cast of subordinates have played to the 53-year-old hosts strengths, combining an intellectual rigor and bracing morality that make Colbert, in the words of Dave Chappelle, one of the most important voices in comedy.

Colbert, host of this years Emmys, took a break on a recent morning from preparing the show to talk about the trials and triumphs of the last two years. News alerts on his watch pinged a handful of times the Senate was moving on healthcare and Colbert, a focused man given to staying in the moment, fought against the distraction.

But you have to look, he says, glancing at his watch, apologizing. We add new material between 4:45 and 5:15 almost every night. [The show tapes around 5:30 p.m. Eastern time.] We dont want to wait until tomorrow. Theres an urgency now. We dont want to leave anything on the vine for the next day.

I dont know why I thought going from one show to the other and trying to change forms wouldnt be difficult and painful. But I had this weird feeling that it would be somehow easier than it was. Not easy. But easier.

You dont want to have the exhaustion and anxiety of trying to find a new voice, but its just part and parcel of it sometimes. And I realized I took the job so that would happen, and it comes with some rough road at first. I took the job to be challenged. I was getting a little bit on autopilot with the old show. And thats certainly not the case now.

We purposely threw out the baby with the bathwater. And we didnt realize it until a year in. So we re-indulged our appetites, if you know what I mean. Its not so much groove back as giving ourselves permission to do what we like. [Pauses.] We stepped away from politics to a fault. How about that?

The way to stay hopeful is to acknowledge and to not accept what is absolutely amoral, mentally ill behavior as normal.

Stephen Colbert

I was trying to do everything to a fault. I remember on the anniversary of doing the show for a year, I was shaving, looking in the mirror and, as I was wiping the last of the shaving cream off, I went, God, this is a hard year. Then I thought immediately, I wouldnt have traded it for anything. Because how would I have learned a new skill? How would I have learned to be able to do a monologue? How would I have changed my voice at all if it hadnt been for the challenge of this year?

Right. But every time I think that, I also have to remind myself how short I fall of what I hoped for when I said that. That poison cup, man. Its very hard not to drink from. Its very tasty.

Imperfectly. The way Ive tried to explain it both internally and to other people in the business, not the press is that, at our best, we dont engage in burning things to the ground. We point to things that are on fire and say, Do you think that should be on fire? I think that we can all agree its on fire, OK? Now, is that something we really want to burn to the ground?

And the problem with tone is: How close can I get to the fire without being in it? Cynicism is an enormous problem. Im actually a hopeful person. But the way to stay hopeful is to acknowledge and to not accept what is absolutely amoral, mentally ill behavior as normal.

To get children to boo and hoot. Better a millstone be tied around your neck and you be tossed in the deepest part of the river than you should scandalize one of these. Theres a moral heresy involved with the president getting children to engage in his own behavior.

Im not here to scold and, again, imperfectly, because you cant help but engage in that. The times you see me being my harshest or scolding, I promise you, thats not what we wrote. I just get swept up in the emotion of the moment while Im talking about it.

Its hard but thats part of the job, to maintain the discipline of pointing and not finger-wagging. Dont think youre changing the world through mime, as I like to say. Youre here as a release valve for peoples emotions. And thats a very valuable thing.

People would say, Oh, you say you just do jokes. I dont just do jokes. I do jokes. Jokes are important. They saved my life when I was younger. Hopefully were making things nicer at the end of the day for people. Thats the entire goal, and thats the touchstone and the North Star for the tone.

Im not familiar. Im not familiar. You say youve got a sock holder? I think I see the lawyers about to come in the room. Yes. That would be an example of perhaps letting my emotions get the best of me. Yes, I would say that would be in the fire, not dancing next to it.

(Laughs) I hadnt thought about it that way. That quotes a good guide for everything. That response arent all punishments Gods gifts? is such a bigger thought, bigger than a political thought. Thats a personal thought. And the personal is bigger than the political because the personal is almost unfathomable.

(Laughs) I do it all the time myself.

But you absolutely cant do it! Its a goal, but you absolutely cant do it. I dont think Ive ever said this in an interview, but when I was younger, my parents used to quote this French philosopher, Lon Bloy, who said that the only sadness is not to be a saint.

And I always think about that. Thats the great sadness, not to be perfect, meaning not to be a saint, not to see the world the way God does. Which is that everyone is going through a battle you know nothing about. But of course not, because Im sitting here making absolutely joyful fun of the Mooch [former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci]. Or Donald Trump.

But youre not talking about a person. Youre talking about ideas. Donald Trump, yes, hes somebodys little boy. But he is his ideas because his ideas are whats going to affect us. As a man, he can do very little. But his ideas could [pauses for drama] kill us all.

Fake news and fake media the interesting thing about that is that its a heresy against reality. Again, as a Catholic, I was taught that the greatest sin was heresy. Because not only are you a sinner, you are proselytizing and inviting other people into your sinful state through your heresy. Youre a recruiter for your own fallen state.

So Trump is a heretic against reality. Basically, hes lying for sport. Hes inviting people into his heresy that there is no objective reality.

I still carry a pocket Gideon around with me wherever I go.

Yes, I picked up a box of little pocket Gideons New Testament, Proverbs and Psalms from a Gideon on the street in Chicago. It was one of those 20-below days and it was so cold, I had to snap [the New Testament] over my knee to get the pages to turn.

And I immediately opened it to Matthew 5 and it was the Sermon on the Mount. Do not worry, for whom among you by worrying can change a hair on his head or add a cubit to the span of his life?

Really, that moment changed my life. I understood what it spoke to me meant because it didnt feel like I was reading it. I just felt like it was literally just talking.

That impulse toward gratitude is what originally relinked me to the idea of God.

Well, it's always the same thing which is to exist. Thats the baseline. Theres a great line from this Neutral Milk Hotel song [bangs on his desk] ... I think its In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. It goes:

And when we meet on a cloud

Ill be laughing out loud

Ill be laughing with everyone I see

Cant believe how strange it is to be anything at all

So why is there something instead of nothing? Why am I here instead of nowhere? Thats the first thing I have to be aware of. And then Im grateful for my children and my wife. Thats first and then as the hymn goes, For the beauty of the earth comes after that.

glenn.whipp@latimes.com

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Stephen Colbert on ideas that 'could kill us all' and the moment that changed his life - Los Angeles Times

The Phenomenon of Man (Le phnomne humain, 1955) is a book written by the French philosopher, paleontologist and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. In this work, Teilhard describes evolution as a process that leads to increasing complexity, culminating in the unification of consciousness.

The book was finished in the 1930s, but was published posthumously in 1955. The Roman Catholic Church initially prohibited the publication of some of Teilhards writings on the grounds that they contradicted orthodoxy.

The foreword to the book was written by one of the key scientific advocates for natural selection and evolution of the 20th century, and a co-developer of the modern synthesis in biology, Julian Huxley.

Teilhard views evolution as a process that leads to increasing complexity. From the cell to the thinking animal, a process of psychical concentration leads to greater consciousness.[3] The emergence of Homo sapiens marks the beginning of a new age, as the power acquired by consciousness to turn in upon itself raises humankind to a new sphere.[4] Borrowing Huxleys expression, Teilhard describes humankind as evolution becoming conscious of itself.[5]

In Teilhard's conception of the evolution of the species, a collective identity begins to develop as trade and the transmission of ideas increases.[6] Knowledge accumulates and is transmitted in increasing levels of depth and complexity.[7] This leads to a further augmentation of consciousness and the emergence of a thinking layer that envelops the earth.[8] Teilhard calls the new membrane the noosphere (from the Greek nous, meaning mind), a term first coined by Vladimir Vernadsky. The noosphere is the collective consciousness of humanity, the networks of thought and emotion in which all are immersed.[9]

The development of science and technology causes an expansion of the human sphere of influence, allowing a person to be simultaneously present in every corner of the world. Teilhard argues that humanity has thus become cosmopolitan, stretching a single organized membrane over the Earth.[10] Teilhard describes the process by which this happens as a "gigantic psychobiological operation, a sort of mega-synthesis, the super-arrangement to which all the thinking elements of the earth find themselves today individually and collectively subject".[8] The rapid expansion of the noosphere requires a new domain of psychical expansion, which "is staring us in the face if we would only raise our heads to look at it".[11]

In Teilhards view, evolution will culminate in the Omega Point, a sort of supreme consciousness. Layers of consciousness will converge in Omega, fusing and consuming them in itself.[12] The concentration of a conscious universe will reassemble in itself all consciousnesses as well as all that we are conscious of.[13] Teilhard emphasizes that each individual facet of consciousness will remain conscious of itself at the end of the process.[14]

In 1961, the Nobel Prize-winner Peter Medawar, a British immunologist, wrote a scornful review of the book for the journal Mind,[15] calling it "a bag of tricks" and saying that the author had shown "an active willingness to be deceived": "the greater part of it, I shall show, is nonsense, tricked out with a variety of metaphysical conceits, and its author can be excused of dishonesty only on the grounds that before deceiving others he has taken great pains to deceive himself".

The evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins called Medawar's review "devastating" , and The Phenomenon of Man "the quintessence of bad poetic science".[16]

In the June 1995 issue of Wired, Jennifer Cobb Kreisberg said, "Teilhard saw the Net coming more than half a century before it arrived":[17]

Teilhard imagined a stage of evolution characterized by a complex membrane of information enveloping the globe and fueled by human consciousness. It sounds a little off-the-wall, until you think about the Net, that vast electronic web encircling the Earth, running point to point through a nerve-like constellation of wires.

In July 2009, during a vespers service in Aosta Cathedral in northern Italy, Pope Benedict XVI, reflecting on the Epistle to the Romans in which "St. Paul writes that the world itself will one day become a form of living worship", commented on Teilhard:[18]

It's the great vision that later Teilhard de Chardin also had: At the end we will have a true cosmic liturgy, where the cosmos becomes a living host. Let's pray to the Lord that he help us be priests in this sense, to help in the transformation of the world in adoration of God, beginning with ourselves.

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The Phenomenon of Man - Wikipedia

The Phenomenon of Man 4.09 avg rating 1,088 ratings published 1955 36 editions

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Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (Author of The Phenomenon of Man)

Times Record staff

Eddie James coming to area

Better Life Church, 4615 S. 16th St., will host a pair of events featuring Eddie James of Eddie James Ministries.

James will hold a one-hour workshop from 5-6 p.m. Monday at the church. Cost for the workshop is $25. Visit EddieJames.com or James' Facebook page to register.

James will also hold a free back to school event at 7 p.m. Monday at the church. This event will include praise and prayer for the upcoming school year.

Call Bertha Mitchell, Better Life Church social pastor, at (479) 285-5725 for information.

Camp meeting planned

Christ for the World will hold a public Divine Release camp meeting Aug. 30 through Sept. 4 at the church, 4401 Windsor Drive. Services will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 30; at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Aug. 31 through Sept. 1; at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Sept. 2; at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sept. 3; and at 9 a.m. Sept. 4. Speakers for the event will include Dr. Aretha Wilson, Dr. Mike Brown, Prophet Bobby Hogan and Prophet Bennie Baker.

Rooms are available for $55 at Comfort Inn. Call (479) 434-5400 and ask for the CFTW rate.

Call (479) 434-4038 for information.

St. Scholastica offers retreats

St. Scholastica Retreat Center, 1205 S. Albert Pike, will offer two ways to practice the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

Retreat in Daily Life will be held both in St. Scholastica Monastery and in northwest Arkansas. Participants will meet weekly in small groups from October through April, meet with a spiritual director twice monthly and spend time in daily prayer, scripture reading and journaling.

Cost is $560 plus the cost of twice monthly spiritual direction at $20 per session.

Ignatius Transposed! Retreat in Daily Life "transposes" the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius for the 21st century, according to the teachings of the great mystic and scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Biweekly meetings will be held between Aug. 29 and May 1 in northwest Arkansas and possibly Fort Smith, and can also be attended through Zoom conferencing.

Participants will meet from 6:30-8:30 p.m. every other Tuesday evening, meet with a spiritual director once a month and participate in 30-45 minutes of daily prayer, scripture reading and journaling.

Cost is $480 plus $20 per month for spiritual direction.

Scholarships are available.

Call (479) 783-1135 or (479) 651-1616 or email retreats@stscho.org or anahas@me.com to register or for information on these retreats.

Religion Notes is published each Saturday as a free public service. All items must reach the Times Record, 3600 Wheeler Ave., by noon Wednesday of the week the item is to be published. Photographs submitted cannot be returned but may be picked up at the office the week after they are published. Photographs will be kept for six months. The street address of the church and the name and phone number of a contact person must accompany each item submitted, or it will not be published. Email submissions to speterson@swtimes.com.

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Religion notes 8.12.17 - Times Record

Id dreamed of being a nun since the age of 12, when I transformed from a caterpillar to a butterfly at the hands of Sister Helen Charles. I was a mess the day I entered her 6th gradean eleven year old misfit whod been bullied and beaten for being a tomboy. I walked with my head down, rarely made eye contact, spoke only when I had to. I didnt fit in anywhere and had no expectations things would change.

Sister Helen Charles, however, saw a spark inside and set out on a mission to kindle the flame. She called my mom and introduced her to a new idea they agreed to try. It was called positive reinforcement. Every time I did something right, they made a big fuss over it. I thought they were weird at first, going on about how athletic I was, how creative, how smart and trust-worthy.

But after a few weeks, an amazing thing happened. Their affirmations took root. I woke up one day and believed in myself. There was a fire inside me and I felt its heat. That day I decided to be a nun when I grew up. I was sure they had some kind of magic wand hidden in those folds of black serge and I wanted one. I wanted to do for other kids what Sister Helen Charles had done for me.

At the age of eighteen I entered the convent. I found my bliss in this spiritual boot camp. They scheduled our time in a way that met all my needs: equal parts of prayer, solitude, community and service. We were in training for the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and there were rules galore. I obeyed the ones I agreed with and followed my own conscience in most situations.

I was introduced to the three teachers who influence my life to this day: Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin . I steeped myself in their work, studied every word they wrote, took on their mantles of monasticism, activism, mysticism. I made contact with my inner divine, explored texts from Eastern traditions, committed myself as an agent of change, and saw the infinite in all things.

In my first Theology class, I struggled to understand the distinction between religion and faith. I wanted to hold on to my certainties, my catechetical beliefs, thinking thats all I needed, when our Jesuit professor was pushing us to evolve spiritually, to say aloud what we committed to.

Your religion is a set of beliefs that you inherit, he said. Your faith, your spirituality, is what you yourself create based upon your ultimate concerns and commitments. I suffered deep anxiety as I let go of certainty to enter into the mystery of my own faith-making. It took everything I had to lay my foundation, to discern what I valued most, to develop a language of personal authority, to proclaim that my faith is my commitment to justice, to peace, to community-building.

After two years of this deepening, transformative work and prayer, I was dismissed. At the end of a long day, I was taken to a basement parlor and told by my Novice Director that my parents would be there in a half an hour. Chapter has decided youre not to continue your novitiate. I froze, unable to speak, afraid to cry for fear of what might be set loose. She took my veil, then we sat in silence till we heard my parents being ushered into the room next door.

Ten years went by before I wrote and asked why. The letter was short, but stated that I didnt have a religious disposition because of my excessive and exclusive relationships. Memories of feeling like a misfit fired in every neuron. They didnt use the word gay or homosexual, but it was right there between their lines. You dont fit in here. Youll never fit in.

I spent many hours in therapy trying to heal from the rejection, but couldnt get past the pain. Finally, after twenty years, I asked the sister who was Provincial Director at the time of my dismissal, in charge of our Motherhouse of 400 sisters, to sit with me as I unwound the story in her presence. By now, she had rotated out of leadership and was teaching in a Syracuse Catholic high school.

We sat together in a parlor, knee to knee in hard-backed chairs, and she listened to my whole story, starting with sixth grade. I told her about the formula for bliss and how I organize my life into equal parts of prayer, service, solitude and community since I learned it in the Novitiate. I told her how many years I ran to the mailbox hoping that would be the day Id get the letter where they asked me to come back, that theyd made a terrible mistake.

I told her about coming out to a priest and being refused absolution unless I denounced my own gayness, and how grateful I was for that Theology class where I learned I could be a woman of faith without religion. I told her what it had been like to have no Plan B, no idea how to create a life I had not prepared forthat I went into social work, thinking that was closest to being a nun, but left it for social activism when I realized I wanted to be more like Gandhi than Mother Teresa.

I am out here alone, but I am living the charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph. I am lonely for community and so terribly sad that it worked out this way and I cant seem to get over it, I said. Im trying this last thing to see if a miracle might happen and my heart can find its peace. Thats all.

When I was done, she took my hand and said, Sister, will you forgive me for the role I played in this terrible injustice done to you on my watch?

It cost me nothing to forgive her. I did not blame her for anything. Once I said Yes, of course, she asked if I would forgive the entire congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet for this terrible injustice that was done to me by this community. Again, I did not blame them and said immediately, Yes, I forgive the entire community.

When these words left my lips, all heaven broke loose. I felt the release of a huge weight. I felt the fire again in my belly. I felt the surprise of an illuminating thought that has remained with me to this day: there is nothing to forgive. What happened, happened for me as much as to me.

I also felt gratitude that I hadnt felt in twenty years, because there was no room inside me to hold it. All the space that was taken up by rage, angst, humiliation, despair, shameall that space opened up for gratitude when the story shifted. I turned to Sr. Marian Rispski, in tears again but for a whole new reason, and said Thank you so much for letting me live a monastic life for two years. Thank you and the whole community for my spiritual underpinnings. Thank you for the foundation I needed to find my voice and offer my gifts.

Had they let me stay, this would be the beginning of my Jubilee Year, a grand celebration of fifty years as a Sister of St. Joseph. I attended two Jubilee celebrations this summer and felt mixed blessings at both of them. I longed to stand with all the Sisters as they renewed their vows and sang Sancte Joseph, and I was also grateful for my life of freedom.

The physicist Neils Bohr writes, Opposite a true statement is a false statement. But opposite a profound truth is another profound truth. That is the case here. When I spin the story to its true end, I feel deep gratitude for the ordeal that was grist for the masterpiece of my life. They let me go because I was an eagle and needed more room to fly. They knew I could not be silenced, obedient, true to any authority other than my own. They knew I was an activist down to my marrow and would not always be on the side of the official church. They really did see me.

And as I look back at my last fifty years, I see, too, that what Ive become would not have been possible as a Sister of St. Joseph.

I became a gay activist because I experienced such cruel homophobia I could not remain silent in the face of it. I made a year long peace pilgrimage around the world which exposed me to faith traditions I would have never known had I not stayed in the homes of Hindus, Muslims, Palestinians, Israelis, Buddhists, Sikhs, Taoists and Wiccans. I am free to criticize the Catholic Church for its positions that put so many people at risk and in harms way. I have preached in hundreds of churches in dozens of countries and speak from the authority of my own experience.

My own spiritual practice is the center point of my life, and while I am not engaged with the Church, everything I do and am is rooted in my faith.. It does not matter if I believe in the God I grew up with. It does not matter if I am Catholic or not. What matters is that I am true to my own vows of authenticity, creativity and peace-making.

So its with odd and mixed feelings that I enter into this, my Jubilee Yeargrateful that I once heard my Novice Director Sister Elizabeth Thomas say, Once a CSJ, always a CSJ. I wont have any fancy reception, nor will I be preaching from the pulpit in a Catholic Church, but I thank my lucky stars that I have lived a life true to the fire in my own belly. Open the champagne! I celebrate these fifty years of being the Light I want to see in the world.

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Happy Jubilee to Me! - HuffPost

Its going to be about 80 degrees during orientation weekend and youll quickly regret overpacking.

Your dad might show off and take a big load of your stuff from the trunk through the front doors of your residence hall, perhaps down some stairs or up an elevator but the destination doesnt really matter in the end.

Wherever your stuff ends up, that space will become yours. So before you move in, get to know your home away from home.

Alliance

Originally constructed as an all-male dorm, Alliance House is currently one of the only all-female dorms on Gonzagas campus. Built in 1962, this dorm was initially erected as an experiment in foreign relations. Twenty international students were housed there each year along with 25 American upperclassmen, with the goal of educating international students on the American lifestyle. This experiment ended around 1966, when students expressed an interest in other dorms as to integrate themselves further into the Gonzaga community.

Catherine-Monica

Catherine-Monica (C/M) has been on GUs campus map since the Fall of 1962. Costing nearly $1 million to construct, C/M was initially built to increase the number of women Gonzaga could accommodate. Prior to this, GU rejected over 250 female applicants annually due to the lack of facilities. Now a coed dorm, C/M houses around 370 students each year.

The dormitory was named after two female saints. Saint Catherine of Alexandria is the patroness of students, teachers, librarians, and lawyers. Saint Monica of Hippo, mother of Saint Augustine, was the patroness of wives and abuse victims.

Nowadays, C/M is known as the social dorm of Gonzaga. Apart from an unspoken open-door policy, C/M is part of the annual C/MDeSmet football game, Bulldog Bowl, and the Midwest Block Prom.

DeSmet

Directly in the heart of Gonzagas campus rests the oldest dorm on campus, DeSmet Hall. Named for Fr. Pierre Jean DeSmet, the first Jesuit missionary to come to the Northwest, DeSmet Hall was built as a senior hall to provide housing and classroom facilities for a greater influx of students in 1923. That year, Gonzaga broke its own record by having a freshman class of more than 100 students. Housing 140 male students, DeSmet has and will continue to be a staple of the Gonzaga community.

Lincoln

Constructed in 1963, Lincoln House was named for President Abraham Lincoln. This dorm was originally adorned with a large mosaic of Lincolns head above the main door, which has since been removed due to deterioration. Lincoln House offers a small community of close and supportive residents.

Marian

Located two blocks off of central campus, Marian Hall was purchased in 2005 by the University. This dorm was originally used to house nuns, but is now used for students who want to engage with Gonzaga Outdoors. This outdoor-themed dormitory offers residents the chance to engage in adventure with their community. Primarily housing students who share a passion for outdoor recreation and environmental issues, Marian offers residents the chance to engage in regularly scheduled hall trips that focus on different outdoor experiences, such as hiking, skiing, and rafting.

Welch

Constructed in 1957, Welch Hall is another all-female dorm which was once all-male. This dorm was named after Patrick Welch, a prominent railroad builder who resided in Spokane for most of his life. After his death, his two daughters generously funded the construction of this building. Presently, this dorm houses around 150 female students. Located directly across from DeSmet Hall, Welch Hall is also a central staple of the Gonzaga campus.

Welch Hall is one of the only dorms that has an elevator, so students have a lot easier time moving in than the residents of other multiple storied dorms, such as DeSmet. Another benefit of living here is the smell of fresh-baked cookies on Wednesday nights, as the sandwich shop located on the first level of the building has a cookie event each week.

Coughlin

Constructed in 2009, Coughlin Hall houses roughly 330 first and second year students. The coed dorm has four floors plus a lobby. Being the main Learning Center on Gonzagas Campus, the dorm is lively and social, but courteous to those focused on their studies. The second, third and fifth floor accommodates those who want a quiet study room. The building is named after the Universitys 23rd president, Fr. Bernard J. Coughlin, S.J. who served from 1974 to 1996.

Crimont

The three-story coed dorm is located at 1321 N. Standard St. and mainly houses first year students. Named after Joseph Raphael Crimont, S.J., president to the University from 1900 to 1903, the first Crimont Hall was a large home located at 526 E. Sinto Ave. The second, and main hall, was opened in 1965. During the short time he was president, Crimont ruled with a bite the bullet kind of attitude, requiring military uniforms and parent signatures for those wishing to participate in intramural activities. One of his decisions was built into College Hall. Crimont expanded the administration building to include a gym, pool, and the students chapel. The gym has since been converted into the Magnuson Theatre, while the pool has since been removed after being closed for health reasons.

Chardin

Named after philosopher, theologian, geologist Pierre Teilhard De Chardin, Chardin House accommodates about 50 first- and second-year students. Chardin served in the French army during WWI, was member of an expedition in China that led to the discovery of the Peking Man, a subspecies of Homo Erectus, and wrote several works that were published and became famous after his death in 1955. He was a man of great personal charm, as is Chardin House. The three-floor coed dorm has common areas on each floor.

Cushing

Designed just like Crimont and located at 428 E. Sharp Ave. the three-story dorm houses first and second-year students in a suite style fashion. The coed hall was named after Cardinal Richard Cushing. He was known for his resilience in creating facilities for education, the sick, and the poor.

Madonna

Madonna Hall has three floors with a prime location across the street from the Hemmingson Center and Mulligan Field. Located at 1020 N. Cincinnati St., Madonna Hall houses around 120 freshman students. Never did anyone think it would house a serial killer. About 40 years ago, a couple students met Ted Bundy at a party and let him crash in their dorm room for a few days while he checked out Gonzagas law school. According to associate professor of business law Don Hackney, The room is all the way to the left, to the north, facing west. The story was told to him by his wifes friend, who let Bundy stay in his dorm. Hackney uses it as a warning to his female students to not get into a car with someone you dont know, after a girl hitched a ride from Bundy to Pullman. He believes the only reason she made it there alive was because people knew his name and car.

Roncalli

One of the all-male halls, Roncalli House is located at 711 E. Boone Ave. Though second-year students are eligible to apply, it predominately houses freshmen. It has three floors plus a basement, with a corridor style layout. Roncalli House was name after Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, better known as Pope John XXIII. He was unexpectedly elected and thought to become a caretaker pope, but he set in motion major church reforms.

Molly Gianerelli and Marissa Kneisel are a staff writers.

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Every dorm has a story - Bulletin

Times Record staff

Transitional pastor named

Central Presbyterian Church announces that the honorably retired Rev. Rita Wilson will serve as transitional pastor while the congregation searches for a permanent pastor. Wilson joined Central in 1971 and served as director of Christian education for seven years. She retired in 2015 after 37 years of active service.

St. Scholastica offers several retreats

St. Scholastica Retreat Center, 1205 S. Albert Pike, will offer a weekend retreat Sept. 22-24 titled "Seven Sacred Pauses." Using themes drawn from Sr. Macrina Wiederkehr's book, "Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully" and Velma Frye's accompanying CD, "Seven Sacred Pauses: Singing Mindfully," the presenters will lead participants into the contemplative practice of deep listening.

Cost is $245. A $50 nonrefundable, nontransferable deposit is required at time of registration. Lodging and meals are included.

Additionally, the center will offer two ways to practice the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

Retreat in Daily Life will be held both in St. Scholastica Monastery and in northwest Arkansas. Participants will meet weekly in small groups from October through April, meet with a spiritual director twice monthly and spend time in daily prayer, scripture reading, and journaling.

Cost is $560 plus the cost of twice monthly spiritual direction at $20 per session.

Ignatius Transposed! Retreat in Daily Life "transposes" the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius for the 21st century, according to the teachings of the great mystic and scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Biweekly meetings will be held between Aug. 29 and May 1 in northwest Arkansas and possibly Fort Smith, and can also be attended through Zoom conferencing.

Participants will meet from 6:30-8:30 p.m. every other Tuesday evening, meet with a spiritual director once a month and participate in 30-45 minutes daily of prayer, scripture reading and journaling.

Cost is $480 plus $20 per month for spiritual direction.

Scholarships are available.

Call (479) 783-1135 or (479) 651-1616 or email retreats@stscho.org or anahas@me.com to register or for information on these retreats.

Religion Notes is published each Saturday as a free public service. All items must reach the Times Record, 3600 Wheeler Ave., by noon Wednesday of the week the item is to be published. Photographs submitted cannot be returned but may be picked up at the office the week after they are published. Photographs will be kept for six months. The street address of the church and the name and phone number of a contact person must accompany each item submitted, or it will not be published. Email submissions to speterson@swtimes.com.

Originally posted here:
Religion notes 8.5.17 - Times Record