Our Father

January 25, 2012 2 Comments

Our Father

I often use the outline of prayer, or at least one of the prayers models of Jesus when I pray.  I no longer recite the outline found in Matthew 6 by rote memory over and over for a certain number of times as I grew up doing in the Roman Catholic Church.  Now, I concentrate on each of the statements in the prayer model and LISTEN to what meaning is given me as well as just asking about the various statements in the prayer.  One morning this week while listening to the “our Father” part some points came to me, some of which have come before, and some of which are new to me.

1.) “Our” Father is not just “my” Father… He is also “your” Father.

2.) What does “our” Father do?  “Our” Father offers us his unconditional love, but not only that, Our father means more to us.

3.) “Our” Father also supplies our needs, our food, our clothes, our need for love, our need for companionship, our need for peace, our need for trust, our needs, all of them, in many ways, in all places, at all times…

4.) But, “Our” Father does even more; our Father trains us, our Father draws us unto himself, into his arms. Our Father gives us direction in life, our Father designs into us, each of us, skills and personalities which are different from each other, but still a reflection of his being, his essence, his image.  This is our Father.

5.) “Our” Father not only loves us, but disciplines us, and our Father chastises us and corrects us when we step outside, If we can ever do that, of our Father’s will.  (I will have more to say about this point later…)

6.) “Our” Father….. You may by now have noticed a lot of “Our” Fathers being mentioned so far, but this is not vain repetition…. “Our” Father implies a communal meaning… Our Father is Your Father, Our Father is our Enemy’s father, although our enemy may not even know Our Father.  Yet…  We, as brothers and sisters, (yes, I believe our Father thinks we are human brothers and sisters), are fighting each other against our Father’s desire.

7.) “Our” Father… While listening, it came to me that just the other day I was in communal prayer with some others… We were praying from the Psalms, using Psalms 136 and 137 as our prayer model.  You may wish to look up these Psalms and read them.  If so, please notice the repetition in Psalms 136 of “for His steadfast love endures forever.”  This phrase is repeated 26 times, apparently a congregational response to the worship leader, like is done in the Roman Catholic Church, “for His steadfast love endures forever,” “for His steadfast love endures forever,” etc….  26 times.  We all know, then, by now, that our Father’s steadfast love endures forever.

Lastly, I want to mention, that our communal prayer leader also chose Psalm 137 to read in conjunction with Psalm 136.  Psalm 137 ends with:

Ps 137:8-9

8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,

happy is he who repays you

for what you have done to us —

9 he who seizes your infants

and dashes them against the rocks.

NIV

The leader, knowing me, and my beliefs in Peace and Nonviolence, poked a little fun at me, saying “This is for John’s benefit.”  I advised him I could help him understand this and indeed, just the day before, that I had shared a couple of CDs regarding things such as this with one of my Muslim friends with whom I have discussed such things about God.  Many of us wonder, and are perplexed with such things, that our Father’s love could endure forever, then see how our God seemingly approves of little babies heads being dashed against rocks, apparently taking joy in this vengeance.  Later, in the New Testament, we see Jesus dying on the cross for all mankind, both friend and enemy….

I said no more…. I did not even feel like praying, just thinking that some would believe that “our” father, MY Father, could imply God takes pleasure in dashing little babies against rocks…  This is not the God I know whose exact being, representation and substance was revealed to us in Jesus Christ.  I do not believe this is the God who lives in me, and in whom I live, and have my being.

This brings us back to the point I said I would speak more of, that “our” Father also disciplines us.  I believe this discipline is and Organismic discipline, that if we, or our enemy, refuse to LISTEN to God’s teaching as an individual, or as a nation, (which, it appears the United States is refusing to do, as well as every other nation), we are refusing that God, who lets us in our God given Free Will, do as we desire and our sins are disciplined in a natural, organic way.  God apparently turns us over to our own devices, and those of Satan, and demons, and natural circumstances and events as He withdraws His protection from us, (remember – deliver us from Evil phrase?) for our correction, just as he did with Job, and those demons bash little children against the rocks..  I believe that God also disciplines even our enemy.  When the enemy, the Babylonians, were too cruel in their punishment to the Israelites, God turned the Babylonians over to the Medes and Persians, (assuming I remember my history correctly) I believe this is what God is describing, (Descriptive), or Predicting, (Predictive), not prescribing, or actually causing it to happen. It will happen, as a natural, organic punishment, not a divine punishment.  God did not do it…  Medes and Persians did it in this case.  I believe our Father releases us to our own desires, our own wishes, and as He does so, he is weeping for us, and for our enemy…  It was not God who would be Happy about this travesty…  It was the crazed and madden perpetrators who would take warped pleasure in perpetuating this Myth of Redemptive Violence, in which 99% of the world believes, and 1% do not believe.  All the while, as our Father watches this travesty of blood spattered rocks and little babies heads crushed, bleeding, and dying.  God is crying, for both Babylon, and us, and for those who are doing such things to both of us.

I believe in these circumstances we can also listen to the words of Jesus, dying  on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  I believe His steadfast loves endures forever.  I believe our Father loves us…  (For, His steadfast Love endures forever…)

Even more, it is not just our Father, whose loving kindness endures forever, it is that our Father IS love..  Love is who he is, not just what he does…  Love is the essence of His being… This is predominately the story of the Old Covenant, (that God is a loving and just God) and clearly the story of the New Covenant, of Jesus Christ, with whose clear lens of Grace, in Christ, we can look backward to some of the clouded and less clear Scriptures in the Old Covenant.  We still see through the glass darkly, but hopefully, not as darkly as we would without the Light of Christ…..

Grace & Peace,

John Cooper

http://tuscaloosacirclesofpeace.blogspot.com/

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Puppy Love

January 19, 2012 1 Comment

Puppy Love

On the lighter side, at work this week, a cute little puppy was found by our receptionist and office manager walking in the street in front of our office… In order to protect him from traffic, he was brought in to our showroom. We tried to find out who he belonged to for the whole day. I and everyone in our business took an immediate liking to him, however, I knew the TROUBLE he would present…
Dogs are not like cats… Cats can take care of themselves… They are perhaps ambivalent about this subject of LOVE. They can be trained to use litter boxes… Dogs mostly need to be walked outside for their needs periodically at all hours of the day and night… TROUBLE…. I knew it….
Our office manager also took an immediate liking to the puppy, probably because the puppy was “so cute” and gave us his unconditional love… I liked him too, but knew a dog’s place is outside, not in a kitchen and bath showroom. Everyone else liked the dog… I just knew, if we could not find his owner, he would have to be walked, so I went to purchase a leash to keep him under control, spending $20.
I went to get lunch for some of us, and, as it turned out, WE FED THE PUPPY from our store bought lunch, knowing all along that would be a mistake… We knew he would use the bathroom on our showroom floor, which he did, but our office manager (who would not want her name to be shared), faithfully cleaned it up.. He did… She did…
After nearly the whole day of trying to find out who the puppy belonged to, and I did my best to help find out, little was done at work except for everyone to share in love for the puppy and him for us… Late in the day it was discovered that the puppy belonged to a neighbor across the street, who was at work. We returned the puppy. Case closed, right? Really? After all, the thankful owner locked the puppy up on his back porch so he could not escape…
Well……
Next day, right about lunch time, I was just outside the door and across the street, while his master was at work, trotted the puppy, on all fours, coming over for lunch with us…. We again welcomed him in, so he would not be run over by a terrible vehicle. Our office manager was very happy to see him again, being he had previously offered such unconditional love to us… The owner was away at work again, so we kept him most of the rest of the day… The owner sent food via a friend and a puppy cage, into which we just did not have the heart to put him… He took leaks on the floor, and things like that, and our office manager faithfully cleaned it all up…
One time he got under my feet without my knowing it, and I stepped on his foot, reminding me of the rat upon, sat upon, spat upon, I recently wrote of, the ones Jesus spoke of in the sermon on the mount. Maybe puppies were there listening too…. He screeched out and limped off, but just a little while later, HE LOVED ME AGAIN, ANYWAY…
I got to thinking, what is it that is designed into these puppy things? Is it unconditional love? Would we, as humans, be better to learn something from it? What if we happen to be helpless, like the puppy, if we belong to no one, no family, no church, no country, will we be loved unconditionally? Will we love others unconditionally? What is it about this unconditional love, anyway, that seems to be so attractive and such an integral part of our psyche, at least an awareness of it, whether we have it, get it, or do it? Also, what about this feeding thing, that seems to bring these unconditional lovers back to us again, at least around lunch time? It seems we all naturally just stop everything we are doing and admire it, if it is a puppy, or a baby in a mother’s arms, even our supposed enemy’s baby, that coos and smiles at us, and we offer our love and respect in return…. Also, when we hurt the unconditional lover, they just love us anyway….
Could this even be a key to our worldwide problems? this unconditional love thing, puppy love… I went to lunch today with one of my Iranian friends… I forgot to ask him… Do they have puppies in Iran? Do they have cooing babies in Iran? I think they do… Why don’t we exhaust all means, as the theory of “just” war tells us, and go over there and take a puppy to lunch, or hold a cooing baby, and them to us, and to Israel, and everywhere, for that matter? I know it is so naive to be thinking like this, (and less profitable to the military industrial complexes), or to think that God would love us unconditionally, just like this, or that we should feed our own food, under the table, to helpless, homeless people whom, we might believe, know nothing of God… Really?
What if God is watching you through the eyes of this puppy, this baby, or the one you think is your enemy, as you step upon him, set upon him, spat upon him, rat upon him, or, let us be frank, kill him and urinate upon him? Could God be watching…. to see what we will do…? All of this, just on the lighter side, without benefit of Scriptural proof texting, after all, it is just puppy love… Or is it?

Love, Grace, Peace,

John Cooper
http://tuscaloosacirclesofpeace.blogspot.com/

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What is Social Justice?

January 16, 2012 Leave a comment

 

Social Justice

Below is a response to an inquiry I received today asking about my beliefs in Social Justice… Today, the day some in our culture set aside to respect the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, is a good day to consider this question…

What is Social Justice?

Hello XXXX,

I can agree with you, after giving it a little thought, that equal justice does mean that everyone is treated equally under the law….I believe that if we are to understand Social Justice, it is helpful to look to the Roman Catholic Church who, it seems to me, has a long record of attempting to care for the poor, the disadvantaged, the hungry, naked and sick… I can recall the words of Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker movement, who if I quote her correctly, said of her church, the Catholic church, “Throughout history the Catholic Church has been the spotless bride of Christ and the Whore of Babylon”, and on another occasion, “She is a Whore, but she is my mother”, I think we will be less than honest if we do not read the history of our own churches and organizations and our own actions or lack of action in the same way. To me, Social Justice is looking at each human being as a beautiful human being created with a “spark”, as the Quakers would say it, of God in them…. Or, as we may understand it, created in the image of God…. If mankind is created in the image of God, as I would hope you would agree, then mankind is deserving of our dignity and respect… Jesus came to preach a Gospel of the Kingdom of God… He opened the scroll of Isaiah and read:

Luke 4:18-21

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 Then he rolled up the scroll , gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
NIV

To me, what Jesus read is Social Justice…. I believe we need a year of release, a Jubilee year, to which Jesus referred…. A year where prisoners are released, debts are forgiven, the oppressed are freed… I believe Dr. King envisioned this also that oppression would be justified…… I cannot imagine a more authoritative definition of social justice than that of Jesus, founded upon Hebrew Scriptures, than this… This is the essence of Social Justice…. Look to the Sermon on the Mount, Blessed are…

Matt 5:1-10
5:1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
NIV

Dallas Willard, in his book, “The Divine Conspiracy”, spoke of Jesus opening up the Kingdom of God to the Rat upon, the Sat upon, the Spat upon…. (look to about page 100, if I recall properly)..

This is Social Justice…. The Rat upon, the Sat upon, the Spat upon, even us who are called to be peacemakers, and are thus vilified by political conservatives in most all nations, who ascribe to the Myth of Redemptive Violence…

Therefore, may I ask, why would anyone who has a heart for Jesus’ words have a problem with Dr. Martin Luther King’s words, such as this:

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Also, why would any individual, any nation, conservative, or liberal political system, or any church, not want to mention in respect and dignity, the contribution of Dr. Martin Luther King to our culture and society, and world, as he echoed the ethics of Jesus, as I understand those ethics of Social Justice and Freedom, to the world?

Oh, and I should add… equal justice is under the law, as you say, but I would add, Social Justice is under Grace….

This is how I see it…

Grace & Peace…..

John

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Circles of Peace 2012

January 1, 2012 Leave a comment

Circles of Peace 2012

As the New Year begins, I have been thinking about the direction Circles of Peace, an affiliate of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, needs to travel in for the upcoming year.

I feel we made some progress in 2011, but the progress was not as rapid as it could have been.

Concerning some recent positive notes, Alina Coryell wrote and published our Circles of Peace web site http://tuscaloosacirclesofpeace.blogspot.com/, which is an excellent source for education and reference into ways of peace, nonviolence, and social justice. We were blessed to be able to host Dr. Mark Johnson, the United States Director of Fellowship of Reconciliation, http://forusa.org/, in our home and host a small group where he shared developments of that organization and conducted a lively discussion. We began a book club and discussed “The Myth of a Christian Nation” by Greg Boyd and began reading “When Religion Becomes Lethal”, by Charles Kimball. In another specialized setting David Frinfrock discussed how Christians should interface with Muslims. Also, Alina wrote an article for the FOR newsletter which goes to FOR chapters throughout the United States discussing our local Circles of Peace group. Perhaps most importantly, we were accepted into official status as an Affiliate of the Fellowship of Reconciliation by the U.S. board of directors.

In other personal efforts, Alina began a “Poetry for Peace” contest, and John Cooper began his personal blog site, https://jcooperforpeace.wordpress.com/ and has written and posted nearly 20 blogs relating to Peace, Nonviolence, and Social Justice. John has also been working on a personal basis with several individuals to discuss, teach, and share the ethics of Peace, nonviolence, and social justice. I will also mention personal prayer efforts in this regard. I am sure others have acted in personal ways to further the advancement of such goals also, and if you will share them with us, we will add your efforts to our chronicle of events. Our efforts are not only as a group, but our efforts are more importantly individually inspired as our goal to enable you is imagined.

I feel our group based efforts were interrupted, however, in many ways. It is not convenient to attempt to stop what we are already involved in and meet as a Circles of Peace group, especially since so many of us have other things going, our families, other friends, churches, sports, education, jobs, and other groups with which we interface. I for instance, have been quite busy, as many others, with responses to the April 28th tornado. I am a founder and on the Board of Directors and Executive Council of Compassion Coalition, which has served in response to the disaster. None of us can do everything, but all of us can do just a little and our combined efforts will make a difference.

Perhaps also, a book club is a little over exuberant and challenging given how busy many are and how our culture has moved from this type of education to more internet and media based venues. I am thinking, and I need your input, that we need to simplify our meetings, perhaps drop the book club idea, and meet to perhaps discuss a simpler article or watch and discuss a You Tube video, such as one by Shane Claiborne, or Walter Wink, Dr. Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, John Howard Yoder, and others who have made a difference in Peace, Nonviolence, and Social Justice.

Please offer your input regarding these matters. We can offer our home once per month as a setting for these things if others will share in any food preparation, if any. We can also meet and just have chips and drinks if that would be better. Tuesday nights and Thursday nights are good, and

a Sunday afternoon would be good also… We need to know the best times, especially for those with children. If at night, would maybe 6:30 to 8 PM work?

Let’s also look forward to the upcoming New Year. What are your personal goals? What should our Circles of Peace group Goals be? Let’s discuss this and please offer your suggestions. How do you plan to learn more about Peace and Nonviolence and Social Justice, and share your gifts in these areas with others? I believe we need to define our Statement of Purposes or together reaffirm they are the same as FOR’s (http://forusa.org/content/statement-purpose) which our Advisory Council, consisting of John Cooper, Mirza Beg, Alina Coryell, Fran Viselli, and Patrick Coryell, have thought would be close enough to ours that we would become officially affiliated rather than going through the arduous task of creating and entirely new organization. By the way, remember that as an Affiliate of FOR, we are able to use their tax exempt 501 c 3, status and accept charitable donations.

Let us examine our individual and group goals in view of the statement of purpose linked above. You may also individually sign it and become a member of FOR individually if you wish. You will be in good company if you do. Dr. Martin Luther King was a member, Albert Einstein, Walter Wink, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, several Nobel Peace prize laureates’ and many others, who share(d) in the vision of Peace and Reconciliation, have been and are members. Maybe one of your goals could be to become and individual member of FOR this year. Perhaps one of your goals may be to just decide if you are personally going to be able to participate with us at all, and let us know if you would like to take a Sabbatical for a while…. There is no compulsion in this. We understand if this cannot be a priority in your life at this stage.

I do wonder if the upcoming year is going to bring even more need for those who believe and act in Peace, Nonviolence, and Social Justice. We have seen several largely nonviolent movements in the Arab world, and some not so much nonviolent that have changed our world’s political landscape. We have seen the United States withdraw from Iraq, but remain in Afghanistan. We also have an upcoming election. In some years and nations with upcoming elections we see peoples brought into wars. Perhaps knowingly or unknowingly it seems the ruling party is more likely to be reelected in times of war. I will not predict anything or say much else, except that I wonder if Iran may be the next hot spot on earth. I believe there are unseen powers and forces that influence these matters.

We, however, can attempt to influence others for Peace, if only one individual at a time. Maybe it is just your child, to teach him not to join the military, or go to war. Maybe it is your grandchildren, or the international student, or your parents. Maybe your goal is to live at Peace with God, or at Peace with yourself, or your neighbor, or those in your church. We have to start somewhere. Maybe you are in the back of your mind against the whole idea of Peace and Nonviolence and Social Justice… Well, that is a start just to admit it to yourself and make your stand. I am reminded of the atheist who does not believe in God. They are really believers… They believe there is no God. They admit it and know it, but they may not know they are “believers” in no God. We all believe something.

I want to fill you in on my personal goals for the upcoming year. I and Mirza Beg plan to speak to Crossroads at the University of Alabama and offer to join with them in teaching a class on Peace and Nonviolence based upon Coleman McCarthy’s “Class in Nonviolence” textbook. I plan to take an additional night of the month at our home to teach the same class. I would like to ask you to come to this class in addition to the Circles of Peace monthly meeting, if you can. I also hope to teach the same class in a prison setting and another class for released prisoners, perhaps at C.A. Fred Technical School at West End. I just decided while writing this I am going to offer to teach Peace at the local Catholic Church too, mainly in response to Pope Benedict XVI message today.

It is already pretty late for some prisoners, but now is a better time than never to learn about Peace, Nonviolence, and Social Justice. Prisoners should have been taught before, in their homes, in their schools, in their churches, in their workplace, but now is better than never.

Now is also better than never for you to personally decide what you are going to do this upcoming year.

I not too long ago read Coleman McCarthy’s “I’d Rather Teach Peace.” I hope you will read it too. Mr. McCarthy has been teaching peace for many years. He has influenced quite a number of students. This endeavor however is going to take more than just one man, teaching Peace. Jesus taught Peace, and he expected his followers to follow him in teaching peace. There is even such a thing as the Gospel of Peace. Ask your pastor about it. If he does not know what it is, learn what it is and tell him about it. Unfortunately, teaching Peace appears not to be a popular thing to do in our culture, not in churches, not in homes, not in schools, or anywhere. Try it sometime. Advise you pastor that you would like to teach Peace, nonviolence, and Social Justice, and see just how far that goes… Tell the school your children go to that you would like to see Peace taught around here….

Let me know what they say….

At least today, the leader of over a billion Christians, Pope Benedict XVI, came out and made a stand for teaching peace:

(Reuters) – Humanity faces a decisive challenge – educating new generations in justice and peace in order to avoid the violent tragedies of the past, Pope Benedict said in his New Year address on Sunday.

Benedict, 84, marked his seventh New Year as pope by celebrating a Mass for several thousand people in St Peter’s Basilica on the day the Roman Catholic Church calls its annual World Day of Peace.

The pope said this year’s theme, “Educating Young People in Justice and Peace,” is a task for every generation following the two world wars in the 20th century and other conflicts since.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/01/us-pope-newyear-idUSTRE80004X20120101

In conclusion, hope springs Eternal…. Perhaps in 2012 something is about to actually change…. Perhaps the change can begin with you, with me, with us together, as we join, ever hopeful, that Circles of Peace replicate, that Peace is given a chance….

John Cooper

http://tuscaloosacirclesofpeace.blogspot.com/

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