Stanley Clarke amazing upright bass solo

Stanley Clarke is probably my favorite bassist of all time. I think he is an amazing virtuoso on both bass guitar and upright bass. I have followed his career from its beginning, in the mid 70's, when I was a teenager. Here is an amazing Stanley Clarke upright bass solo, with some of his comments:

Esperanza Spalding- Mela

Esperanza performing her composition, Mela, here in two video parts; some really hot bass playing on the upright:

We all have to be pried loose.

I learned as a child not to trust in my body/I've carried that burden through my life/But there's a day when we all have to be pried loose. 


 - Bruce Cockburn, from his song, The Last Night of the World.

Your Eternal Beauty

O My Lord, if I worship You from fear of hell, burn me in hell; if I worship You in hope of paradise, exclude me from it; but if I worship You for Your own sake, then do not withhold from me Your Eternal beauty. 


- A Muslim Prayer

Documentary on Father Bede Griffiths

Father Bede Griffiths is the contemporary religious figure I admire most. The Dalai Lama said of him, "[Father Bede's] vision has guided him to open the hearts and minds of mankind to gain understanding and acceptance of all the major religions with dignity and respect."



The description of the Video: 
"Bede Griffiths was a monk, a man in whom there was no guile, and was last to see the guile that may have been in any other. This monk with a universal heart was an icon of integrity and guilelessness. As John Henry Cardinal Newman once described them, Bede was one of those: who live in a way least thought of by others, the way chosen by our Savior, to make headway against all the power and wisdom of the world. It is a difficult and rare virtue, to mean what we say, to love without deceit, to think no evil, to bear no grudge, to be free from selfishness, to be innocent and straightforward... simple-hearted. They take everything in good part which happens to them, and make the best of everyone. (homily, Feast of St. Bartholomew)Such was Father Bede Griffiths, Swami Dayananda, who died May 13, 1993, barefooted and clothed in the color of the sun, in his thatched hut at Shantivanam in South India."

Obama's birth certificate & the Crazy Train - why the Republicans do not deserve to be in leadership

The Crazy Train

The Republicans do not deserve to be in leadership. They have proven that they do not have the people's best interest in mind. The party is just what Garrison Keillor described it as back in 1994- the party of billionaires, bible-thumpers, and drunken frat boys.

The Republicans have decided to let their party travel on the Crazy Train. Ignorance is a virtue in this party right now. 

President Barak Obama

And now the White House finally had to release President Obama's birth certificate. They should not have had to. But it is probably good politics for them to do so. The Republicans have focused so much of the public debate on this damn birth certificate.  Again, in the same "crazy train" vein, they insist that Obama is a Muslim (as though that we would be bad), when he clearly is a Christian.

For Republicans to insist that President Obama was not born here, and is not a Christian but a Muslim, betrays a subtle racism. These things would not be stated if President Obama had blond hair and blue eyes.

The extreme religious right element deserve much of the blame for the Republican stance on these issues. The problem is, many of these people are fundamentalists. They see the world in black and white. The Republicans focus on social/cultural issues like gay marriage and abortion, to try and capture large segments of religious voters.

Fundamentalists of this variety are suspicious of other belief systems and those outside of their community. You cannot reason with people who think this way. Everything is a zero sum game, all or nothing, exactly what you cannot have in a democracy, which requires reason and compromise.

At the same time the Republicans are catering to the crazy train, they are viciously attacking the underpinnings of the American middle class- unions, Medicare, social security.

This is irresponsible, cynical politics, and it makes the Republican party unworthy of leading this country. 

This party is willing to dismantle the social safety net for seniors, while wanting to give even more tax breaks to the super-wealthy and corporations. The wealthy have already avoided participating in the "shared sacrifice" in this country. And now, with the claim of a "budget crisis," again, they are being told they do not need to lend a hand.

They have proven themselves to be poor leaders. I cannot imagine voting for a Republican in my life time. I cannot understand why anyone else would either, unless you are a billionaire.

U2 Until The End Of The World Live From Slane Castle

A song about Judas Iscariot. Even Judas will be saved in the end.

The Egalitarianism of the Spirit

Here is part of today’s Epistle reading:

 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

“In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,

   and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions,

   and your old men shall dream dreams.

Even upon my slaves, both men and women,

   in those days I will pour out my Spirit;

     and they shall prophesy.”

-        Acts 2.14-18.

Notice that this passage refers to people of all ages, male or female, even slaves, prophesying. The passage says that God will pour out the Spirit “on all flesh.” This is a passage that speaks of all people having the Spirit, of all being able to prophesy, to have dreams and visions. All have access to God, all have access to the Spirit.

This passage, as well as other passages, mitigates against the idea of gurus, hierarchies, priestly mediators. We do not need a magisterium to know God, all are anointed by the Spirit:

But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge. As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.

-        1 John 2.20,27

In the Hebrew Bible, Moses expresses his wish that all the people would be prophets:

But Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!’

-        Numbers 11.29

The Spirit itself is the gift of the New Covenant spoken of in the Bible. The Spirit is God dwelling within the human person, so that the human person is a temple of God (1 Cor. 3.16).

We can each one know God for ourselves. Those of us who are adults can have an adult faith. We can take responsibility for our own Spiritual development. Of course, others can teach us things, but we all can know God:

This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

   after those days, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their minds,

   and write them on their hearts,

and I will be their God,

   and they shall be my people.

And they shall not teach one another

   or say to each other, “Know the Lord”, for they shall all know me,

   from the least of them to the greatest.

-        Hebrews 8.10-11

The gate keepers of religion do not trust people to have direct access to God. They do not trust people to know God for themselves. They feel their office or education gives them authority over others.

They also want to retain power, and people give up their own autonomy and moral decision making to give them this power. Religious hierarchies can be oppressive.

But Jesus said that God gives revelation to the humble.

 At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 

 – Luke 10.21

One may say that the views expressed here are “protestant,” or “fundamentalist;” – they are not. It is simply the truth stemming from the fact that the Spirit dwells in all. It is biblical.

And most Christians and other religious people, not just Catholics, seem to have their authority figures, their own “popes”, “gurus,” pastors, celebrity preachers, religious authors, and the like.

The challenge of the Spirit is to know God for one’s self, to know God within. It calls for one to be free, and to approach faith with courage and in an adult-like manner.

Esperanza Spalding - Precious and I Know You Know, performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, 2009

In 2009, Esperanza Spalding was invited to perform at Nobel Peace Prize Ceremonies, when President Obama won his prize. She made some terrific performances, which, fortunately, are available on Youtube. All three of the videos here are performances of songs from her second album, Esperanza.

Esperanza performs Precious.

Esperanza performs I Know You Know.



Here Esperanza performs Espera.

The Shaking of the Foundations

I have recently experienced a shift in my whole spiritual and religious paradigm and outlook, caused by a deep cathartic upheaval in my life. I have discovered for myself that God is truly beyond and deeper than religion and church. I am calling this now the non-disillusioned disillusionment. I will be blogging more about it shortly.

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of God shaking the earth so that what cannot be shaken may remain. I see now, after this shaking in my life, the relativity of Church, religion, dogma. Only God is absolute. 

This Reality, this Truth, must be experienced. I had an encounter. It is not a cognitive proposition. 

God is everywhere. The Life Force is in everything, the Spirit expresses itself in art and music, and not just through religious practice. It is found when you lock eyes with your lover, when you play or listen to music, when you enjoy good food and drink with friends, as well as when you go to Church or participate in prayer or worship. Our whole life is spiritual.

This is not to say that religion is valueless. Religious practice, rites, ceremonies, and community, can be very important and helpful. When I went to Divine Liturgy most recently I very much felt the service was charged with divine energy. I am simply saying that that no one religion or church is absolute, and also that the divine is found in every part of life, not just in religion. Religion can get in the way if it becomes an end in itself.

All religion is created by humans. That is not necessarily a problem, it just means that religion is relative.  

Meditation

Make a habit of practicing meditation, and do not let your mind be distracted. In this way you come finally to the Lord, who is the light-giver, the highest of the high.

– the Bhagavad Gita, ch. 8

By the Numbers: New Poll Says Capitalism and Christianity Are Incompatible | Religion Dispatches

File under, "No shit, Sherlock!"

"A new PRRI/RNS Religion News Survey shows that more Americans believe that Christian values are at odds with capitalism and the free market than believe they are compatible (44% vs. 36% respectively). Big exception? Self-described Tea Party-ites. "

Read the rest of this brief article here, at Religion Dispatches:
By the Numbers: New Poll Says Capitalism and Christianity Are Incompatible Religion Dispatches

Accept that you are accepted

One of the Gospel readings today for Holy Thursday is from John 3:13-17:

No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.


‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.


‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

God did not come into our world to condemn the world, but God gave God's own life for the life of the world. God loves this world, God made this world and the divine presence fills all creation. God joined divinity to humanity. We are accepted.

There is no room for exlusiveness or triumphalism; God loves all without exception. And there is no room for self-loathing and trying to earn love. You are already accepted.

The famous theologian Paul Tillich expresses beautifully this idea of divine acceptance:

"You are accepted!" ... accepted by that which is greater than you and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask the name now, perhaps you will know it later. Do not try to do anything, perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything, do not perform anything, do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted.

We do not have to do anything, perform anything. God accepts us. Ultimate Reality is on our side. We only need accept that we are accepted! The true God is a God of love, who gave God's own life to have communion with us. We can weather the heartbreak and hardships of life with this knowledge that Ultimate Reality is on our side. We can face life with faith and confidence.

Knowing this acceptance, we too, can love this world, as God does- we love each other and the whole creation.

Why the Hell Does Hell Still Matter? | (A)theologies | Religion Dispatches

I am unimpressed with the idea of using hell as social control, and indignant that anyone would use hell as a political hammer. In my view, another dysfunctional aspect of the traditional American psyche, along with its idealized individualism.

Why the Hell Does Hell Still Matter? (A)theologies Religion Dispatches

Distractions - Paul McCartney

A deep cut from the Flowers in the Dirt Album. Featuring Paul on the Wal 5 String Bass, a gift given him by Linda for his birthday.

Frank Shaeffer's blog: Obama Is Now and Will Be a Great President

Frank Schaeffer offers a more positive assessment of the Obama presidency than Dr. Cornel West does on the video I posted a couple of days ago. They are both favorite commentators of mine. There is some division on the left on President Obama’s job performance. I myself will very likely vote for him, even if I feel dissatisfied with some things he has or has not done, because I cannot abide allowing the Republican candidate winning the presidency. For all their disappointing performances, the Democrats are still marginally better to have in office. Schaeffer in his blog post highlights some of the accomplishments of the Obama administration. Schaeffer may have a point, that President Obama is more accomplished than either the left or right want to acknowledge, but we still have a lot more work to do to drive a progressive agenda in this country. Whether West or Schaeffer is more correct about President Obama, it is clear we must still apply pressure to him from the left. I personally like the President; I would like to see him get much tougher with the Republicans. 


++++++++++++++++++++
an excerpt:

"President Obama wasn't able to walk on water! And he has made mistakes! But he has his feet firmly planted on the ground and understands the reality of what America has become and just where he must function, which is more than his critics can claim.

President Obama also keeps proving that compared to the talking-heads he knows how to get things done that actually change lives and matter-- health care reform, gay rights (instead of mere slogans), actual education reform, ending a war, restoring America's image worldwide.

We Americans are very lucky people. A sane and compassionate president is in charge. Over an 8 year period he will change American history for the better. Only president Obama's dimwitted and/or hate-filled opponents are unlucky: they are betting against a political genius who also happens to be a very good human being."

You can read Schaeffer's entire post here:
http://frank-schaeffer.blogspot.com/2011/04/obama-is-now-and-will-be-great.html

Jesse Ventura's Letter to the Ruling Class

You control our world. You’ve poisoned the air we breathe, contaminated the water we drink, and copyrighted the food we eat. We fight in your wars, die for your causes, and sacrifice our freedoms to protect you. You’ve liquidated our savings, destroyed our middle class, and used our tax dollars to bailout your unending greed. We are slaves to your corporations, zombies to your airwaves, servants to your decadence. You’ve stolen our elections, assassinated our leaders, and abolished our basic rights as human beings. You own our property, shipped away our jobs, and shredded our unions. You’ve profited off of disaster, destabilized our currencies, and raised our cost of living. You’ve monopolized our freedom, stripped away our education, and have almost extinguished our flame. We are hit… we are bleeding… but we ain’t got time to bleed. We will bring the giants to their knees and you will witness our revolution!

Sincerely,


The Serfs.

http://weaintgottimetobleed.com/

U2 - Vertigo (Live At The Brooklyn Bridge)

"Winter Sun", Late Show With David Letterman, 01-21-2011

After some serious posts, how about some fun! My second favorite Esperanza video (favorite one being her performance of I know you know at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony for President Obama), this performance really showcases her musical genius, possibly the best song she has written so far, with some sinewy bass playing. Very creative combination of Jazz trio with strings added, the whole concept behind Esperanza's Chamber Society Music album.

Back of My Car

Cornel West: We need a jobs program

Bede Griffiths: God is light and he manifests himself in creation and in all humanity

"For your immortal spirit is in all things."- Wisdom 12.1 

"God is light and he manifests himself in creation and in all humanity, and the degree of manifestation depends on the receptivity of the different elements. In the earth, he manifests himself without life; in living things, he manifests himself without consciousness; in human beings he manifests himself in consciousness. In the evil man, a man who has turned away from truth, the light is still there, but it is obscured. In the holy man, where the light is free from this obscurity, from sin, it reflects itself purely. The aim is that each person should be a pure reflection of the one light. That is the background of the whole of the Gita." 

From the book, River of Compassion: A Christian Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita , by Bede Griffiths, page 23. 

Craig Ferguson 11/5/10D Late Late Show Cornel West

Terrific interview of Cornell West by Craig Ferguson. Dr. West shares his view about being a Christian. Ritual has a place, especially in community says Dr. West, but being a Christian is more about being in solidarity with "the least of these."

Esperanza performing 'Inútil Paisagem' for the Chamber Society Music album

Esperanza performing 'Inútil Paisagem' for the Chamber Society Music album. Vocal duet with Gretchen Parlato, accompanied by Bass only- and amazing bass work, at that- as usual.

U2's All Because of You

One of my very favorite U2 songs of all time. I love the spirituality of the song, "I was born a child of grace...I'm not broke but you can see the cracks/only you can make me perfect again...all because of you/I am!"

Rob Bell's God of Love and Universalism

This past Monday evening, several friends and I had the opportunity to hear Rob Bell speak at Wayzata Community Church, in Wayzata, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. He is on tour promoting his book Love Wins, and proclaiming his belief in God's goodness and desire for all to be saved.


Bell is engaging, witty, and in spite of what may seem like a winsome approach to things, seems to understand the tragic side of life well from the lives of people in his congregation, Mars Hill Church in Michigan. He shared a couple of very sad stories.


He is fearless in proclaiming his belief in God's broad love. He wonders why believing in a loving God is not more desirable than a narrow god for some people.


When asked by one audience member, no doubt a Calvinist, whether or not the fact that God saved any one at all, and chose some people to be saved was an indication of the love of God, Bell simply said "no." 


The questioner used the passage from Romans 9 that talks about how some people are made as vessel of destruction and some vessels of honor. It is a favorite passage of Calvinists. But Bell did offer in quick order three passages that speak of all things being reconciled to God in the New Testament. For example, he quoted Colossians 1.20: "through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross."


One woman in the audience shared her experience of traveling to other countries, and feeling like many of the adherents of non-Christian religions seemed to be better people than she was or many of her fellow Christians that she knew. Bell acknowledged and affirmed her experience, and then followed up on that with some discussion of evangelism and claims about the uniqueness of Jesus.


I felt he back pedaled at the end, just a bit. He seems to want people know he is still in the evangelical camp, and affirmed his belief that Jesus is the "Way, the truth, and the life," as it says in John's Gospel. He seemed to hedge, just a little bit, in order to insist that he is still evangelical.


As a believer in Jesus Christ, I can affirm Jesus' statement, too. But I do not believe it means only formal Christian are in God's good graces. Jesus I believe is speaking as God when he calls himself the way, the truth, and the life.


I am a universalist in two senses:


1) I believe people can find God regardless of what faith tradition they are part of- Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, Islamic, Taoist, etc. All people are children of God. They may call God by different names.


2) I believe that all will be united to God one day, every being in the universe.  Love will win. There may well be some kind of purification or purgation for those who have acted wickedly and have greatly harmed others. But all are made in the divine image, all have God as their foundation, and as the New Testament says, God will reconcile all things to God.


I agree with Bede Griffiths, who spoke of the "childish insistence" that only Christians are saved. This position comes from a place of insecurity. It almost seems to me that some people are afraid to admit that God is all embracing in love; it is as if they believe God will punish them for believing in a loving God!


All the religions of the world with their ritual, mythology, and dogma can help people cope with the hardships of life; religion can give our lives meaning, and provide spiritual practices and disciplines that help us come to know God. But what they can't give us is certainty. We know little about God, as the book of Ecclesiastes says, "you are in earth, God is in heaven, so let your words be few."


God is truly beyond all our human religion, and that includes even Christianity.

A Poem: The Jazz Soul Liberation of the People of God

The word of God is the word of the people –

There is soul, jazz and the word of God

There are movements of liberation

The voice of God is in the people

Liberate your mind

Liberate your spirit

Break every yoke

Liberate the oppressed

Be it Martin marching for the garbage workers in Memphis
Be it Angela standing up to Reagan and the Man

Be it Oscar speaking for the voiceless of Latin America

Be it Mohandas overcoming oppression with peace in India

Be it Malcolm by any means necessary right here in America

Be it Sir Duke and the big band

Be it Coltrane with the love supreme

Be it Billie the first lady of jazz singin’ the blues

Be it Marvin askin’ what’s goin’ on

Be it Aretha demanding RESPECT
Be it Jimi in the Purple Haze

Be it Charlie speaking the truth to fascists in Portugal

Or in this present moment

Be it Stanley snappin’ & slappin’ hot licks

Be it Espe laying down the groove

It is voice of the people

It is the jazz of our soul

It is the voice of liberation

Making us whole.

Poem copyright ©Lance Goldsberry. All rights reserved.

Charity alone is not enough, justice is required.

In debates about budgets cuts and the role of government in providing for the common good, many conservative Christians insist that charity is the role of the church, not the government. I have seen people on Facebook, for example, make the dubious claim that personal or private charity could step in and replace such programs as Medicare.

Also, many Christians are fine talking about charity, but not social justice.

But the reading today in the Church is a sharp reminder that justice is required:

Isaiah 58.1-11 False and True Worship

58Shout out, do not hold back!
   Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
   to the house of Jacob their sins.
² Yet day after day they seek me
   and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practised righteousness
   and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgements,
   they delight to draw near to God.
³ ‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?
   Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,
   and oppress all your workers.
⁴ Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
   and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
   will not make your voice heard on high.
⁵ Is such the fast that I choose,
   a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
   and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
   a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶ Is not this the fast that I choose:
   to loose the bonds of injustice,
   to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
   and to break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
   and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
   and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
   and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
   the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.
⁹ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
   you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
   the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
¹⁰ if you offer your food to the hungry
   and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
   and your gloom be like the noonday.
¹¹ The Lord will guide you continually,
   and satisfy your needs in parched places,
   and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
   like a spring of water,
   whose waters never fail.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I think it is interesting that during this time of Lent, many are so concerned about following fasts and abstinences so scrupulously. But one of the reason people might want to fast during the Great Lent is to have solidarity and empathy with the poor and hungry, to feel pangs of hunger; it is not about eating a sumptuous feast of vegan food or fish, which can be done quite easily during the fast.

The fast that is spoken of here is a fast from injustice, and the recommended practice is not only that of charity, of "taken the homeless into our homes," but one of justice, to "break every yoke," every form of oppression.

This passage characterizes us as rebels if we do not engage in the practice of justice.

I am sad and disappointed the lack of courage on the part of most churches, priests and ministers during this of budget cut backs. We have a congress that wants to give the wealthy even more tax breaks, but cut off heating assistance for the poor, medicaid for the sick and poor. I have seen and heard clerics defending the status quo, defending for example, Scott Walker eviscerating the middle class in Wisconsin. The clergy sides with oppressors, those who slash and burn the American dream. It seenms to me that many clergy align themselves more with ideologies similar to that of Ayn Rand (who had no compunction about taking medicare and social security at the end of her life, after calling others freeloaders who deserved to die) than with the Bible.

Our fasts are meaningless as worker's rights are robbed:

"Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,
   and oppress all your workers."

No, many in the Church demand that the most vulnerable among take the hits, we all have to take a bite out of the shit sandwich.

But the wealthy in this country have made absolutely no sacrifice, and in fact, were relieved of tax responsibility, as we sent the underclass to fight in two ill-advised wars.

The church and the clergy, and all Christians, must decide whose side they are on, with the oppressors and oligarchs, or with the people, and with the most vulnerable people in our society: the sick, the poor, the mentally ill, the elderly.

Ralph Reed, the former leader of the now defunct Moral Majority, once admitted with regret that his fellow evangelicals sat on the sidelines during the civil rights movement. But Christians are doing it yet again now; Christians are either on the sideline, or siding with the status quo. Where is our prophetic spirit?

How will future generations of Christians judge us?

And how will we live out the rest of this Lent? Oppressing workers, hiding ourselves from the poor and vulnerable?

But oh, we kept the fast- well done!

Pursue Justice

If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard. When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous...Whoever pursues justice and kindness will find life and honor.

 - Proverbs 21.13,15,21, from today's reading in the Orthodox Church

The price of the Kingdom is the food you give to those who need it.

- Pope St. Leo the Great


You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his. You have been appropriating things that are meant to be for the common use of everyone. The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich.

- St. Ambrose


When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice.

- St. Gregory the Great

Catholic Church Targets Proponent of Women’s Ordination; Feminist Theologian | Sexuality/Gender | Religion Dispatches

Roy Bourgeois and Elizabeth Johnson

"Time will tell how this chapter of church history will play out; whether Catholicism will become a tiny tribe of clerics in brocade and their sycophants repeating Roman mantras, or a big, diverse, crowd in lively conversation and committed solidarity. If history is any measure, I daresay the crowd on the sidewalk will prevail. To be ‘catholic’ is to be broadminded, liberal, and inclusive even if to be ‘Catholic’ in the Roman sense is not. The needs of the world, a la the SOA Watch, and not the failings of the institutional church set the justice agenda. Right now, they look very similar."

Catholic Church Targets Proponent of Women’s Ordination; Feminist Theologian | Sexuality/Gender | Religion Dispatches

Esperanza Spalding Festival Jazz des Cinq Continents Marseille 2010

The Holy Eucharist

Christians in the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran Churches have historically believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

It is a quite ancient belief. It is sad to me frankly, that this belief has disappeared among many Christians. They have lost that belief because they have lost continuity and awareness of the rich, Christian heritage of 2000 years. The Real Presence in the Eucharist was not a medieval invention of the Roman Catholic Church, as some Protestant groups would have it. The Roman Catholic Church may have developed the idea of Transubstantiation, but that is only one way of understanding the nature of Christ's Presence in Holy Communion. The key is mystery.

The earliest Christians believed in the Real Presence, that Christ's Body and Blood was truly present in the Bread and Wine. St. Paul attests to this in 1 Corinthians 10.16; 11.27,29:

"The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?...Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgement against themselves."

Michael Ramsey, the late Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote that 1 Corinthians 10.16 is a clear reference to the Real Presence in the Eucharist, and to that to try and say otherwise was “a special pleading (Michael Ramsey in his book, the Gospel and the Catholic Church).”

C.S. Lewis said of the Eucharist, "The command, after all, was Take, eat: not Take, understand."

John's Gospel contains a meditation on the Eucharist in chapter 6, when Jesus says "those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day" (John 6.54).

Most of the arguments against the Real Presence are ahistorical arguments, made on rationalistic basis. But the ancient Christians believed that the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist was a mystery, they did not offer an explanation. St. John Damascus said it was enough for us to know that this is accomplished through the Holy Spirit. St. Cyril of Jerusalem said that if Christ can turn water into wine, he can turn bread and wine into his Body and Blood.

St. Ignatius of Antioch in 110 A.D. said of those who hold heterodox opinions that “they abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, which flesh suffered for our sins and which the Father, in his goodness raised up again.”

St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Gaul, wrote in his Book Against Heresies:

"When, therefore, the mingled cup and the manufactured bread receives the Word of God, and the Eucharist of the blood and the body of Christ is made, from which things the substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they affirm that the flesh is incapable of receiving the gift of God, which is life eternal, which [flesh] is nourished from the body and blood of the Lord, and is a member of Him?"

Also, St. Justin Martyr writing in the mid-2nd century said:          

"For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God’s Word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the Word of prayer which comes from him, from which our flesh and blood are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus;" and

"We call this food Eucharist; and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true…"

And then there are the comments of St. Athanasius’, who in the 4th century almost single-handedly fought off the Arian heresy ( heresy which denied the Trinity), when he states:

"So long as prayers of supplication and entreaties have not been made there is only bread and wine.  But after the great and wonderful prayers have been completed, then the bread is become the Body, and the wine the Blood, of our Lord Jesus Christ.  And again, Let us approach the celebration of the mysteries.  This bread and wine, so long as the prayers and supplication have not taken place, remain simply what they are.  But after the great prayers and supplication have been set forth, the Word comes down into the bread and wine—and thus His Body is confected."


It is a dualistic outlook that will not acknowledge the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and that sees the Sacrament as a symbol only. On the other hand, to recognize the Real Presence of Eucharist is a non-dualistic way of looking at the Eucharist.

The mystery of the Eucharist is that we become deified by partaking of Christ's Body and Blood. The early Christians said that God became human so that humans might become God. That is the blessing the Eucharist offers us in the Sacred Mystery.

I close with a quote by Jeremy Taylor, one of the Carolinian Divines of the Anglican Church. Note references to "partaking in the Divine nature (2 Peter 1.4)", analogous to the Eastern Christian concept of theosis. This is an excellent example of Anglican Eucharistic theology.

"[Christ's] power is manifest, in making the symbols to be the instruments of conveying himself to the spirit of the receiver:  he nourishes the soul with bread, and heals the body with a sacrament; he makes the body spiritual, by his graces there ministered, and makes the spirit to be united to his body, by a participation of the Divine nature.  In the sacrament, that body which is reigning in heaven is exposed upon the table of blessing; and his body, which was broken for us, is now broke again, and yet remains impassible.  Every consecrated portion of bread and wine does exhibit Christ entirely to the faithful receiver; and yet Christ remains one, while he is wholly ministered in ten thousand portions...God hath instituted the rite in visible symbols to make the secret grace as presential and discernable as it might; that by an instrument of sense, our spirits might be accomodated,as with an exterior object, to produce an internal act...Our wisest Master hath appointed bread and wine, that we may be corporally united to him; that as the symbols, becoming nutriment, are turned into the substance of our bodies; so Christ, being the food of our souls, should assimilate us, making us partakers of the Divine nature."

- Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667)

Rolling Stones Harlem Shuffle

A really cool video, the Harlem Shuffle by the Rolling Stones.

Paul McCartney on Bill Black's upright bass used in Elvis Presley's recordings

Paul McCartney plays the upright bass used by Bill Black in Elvis Presley's band...

Honestly, We Already Ordain Homosexuals

from the article-
"I'm not asking you to agree with me or disagree with me. Your choice is your choice. I'm just a bit weary of the hypocrisy in the Church over this particular matter and needed to say it out loud. It's time to stop the divisive infighting. It's time to turn outward to the world and get to worrying about the things about which Jesus actually did have something to say: loving our neighbors, advocating for the marginalized, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, healing the sick, mending up the broken hearted and proliferating peace. What a wonderful world that would be – Kingdom of God like, even." see the entire article here: Honestly, We Already Ordain Homosexuals

One of the Best Ones

Like the nine billion names of God/Don't bring you any closer/To anyone you can simply set eyes on...

- Bruce Cockburn in his song, One of the Best Ones

Get Rid of the Angry God Image

‎"Throw it [negative, internalized angry-god image] in the wastebasket. Learn that it isn't God." - Fr. Thomas Keating, OSCO

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It is time for human beings to grow up in our spirituality. We should have long ago outgrown the concept of an angry god, one who needs to pleased and placated.

For most of the history of Christianity, the image of God as judge has been dominant. God has the power to cast into hell, and will condemn people into hell for such offenses as masturbating or missing Mass on Sunday (missing Mass is still a mortal sin if there is not a good excuse for it!).

People must believe in Jesus in order to be saved, and the pagan, living as she does outside the church, will also go to hell. They may not have heard of Jesus, but many fundamentalists assure us that all non-Christians go to hell. So some people are damned by accident of geography.

This is a god that in my view is not worthy of worship.  This is a god who is running an Abu-Graib in the sky, whose archetype is sometimes filled in from experiences of childhood abuse at the hands of a parent, usually a father. The experience of physical abuse from a father is projected onto God.  This god, then, is a projection of our experience of abuse, it is the Super Ego on steroids. This god is an abuser, one that should be, as Fr. Keating says, "thrown in the wastebasket."

Write the abuser god a dear john letter, literally if necessary; tell him to go to hell, kiss him off if you must. But realize he is not God, he is an idol, a mere projection.

The real God is not only a God of love, but is a trustworthy being. The god whose anger needs to be placated is a primitive deity, no different than ones our ancestors had to placate by sacrificing animals or people to ensure plentiful crops or stave off bad weather.

I am amazed at how many people choose to still believe in this monster. The god that would send one to hell for missing Mass, for masturbating as an adolescent, for being born in the wrong place at the wrong time (not being lucky enough to be born in the west and know about Jesus) is a monster, and not worthy of worship.

But the God of love is real, the God of our creation, the God who suffers and cries with us. This God can only be found within, and this God is at the very foundation of our being. This God is the one who inspires us to love wastefully, and teaches us to see the divine image in all people.

This God awaits for us in silence, in our hearts. This God is found through prayer and meditation, in our relationship with others, in nature. This God is, as the Orthodox prayer has it, "everywhere present and filling all things."

It is this God I seek to discover, to know within myself, in others, and in the world. This is a God is a trustworthy being.

GOP Calls for $5.8T in Budget Cuts, Lower Taxes for Corporations and Top Earners

From Democracy Now! This is class warfare by the oligarchy and their servants in the Republican party on the rest of us poor, working class, and middle class. The party that wraps itself in religion is charting a ruthless course. GOP Calls for $5.8T in Budget Cuts, Lower Taxes for Corporations and Top Earners

Blood and Hammers: Elderly Anti-Nuclear Activists Sentenced to Jail | Politics | Religion Dispatches

Blood and Hammers: Elderly Anti-Nuclear Activists Sentenced to Jail Politics Religion Dispatches The five activists (Bill Bichsel, 82, Susan Crane, 67, Lynne Greenwald, 61, Steve Kelly, 62, and Anne Montgomery, 84) performed a Plowshares action, part of a tradition that was started by priests Philip and Daniel Berrigan and others in 1980, in response to the perceived threat of nuclear holocaust and as a way to galvanize the Catholic Left following the Vietnam War era. With the aim of “enfleshing” Biblical calls to resist state power and warmaking, the Berrigans and six others, the Plowshares Eight, trespassed onto the General Electric Plant in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, where four-foot-tall nose cones, for use with the then-new Mark 12A reentry vehicle system for the Minuteman III nuclear missile, had been manufactured by the GE Space Systems Division beginning in the 1970s.

Esperanza Spalding in Telluride, Colorado.

This performance is from four years ago. Esperanza in a Jazz trio, with a terrific bass solo.

No Peace Among Nations until Peace Among the Religions

Hans Kung

Noted theologian Hans Kung said in 1991 that there can be "No peace among nations until there is peace among the religions." 

Hans Kung is absolutely right; there can be no world peace until there is peace among religions. But for there to be peace among religions to take place, human beings must be humble. We must realize that we do not know everything. Sometimes our “certainty” can subvert peace among people:

“One cannot debate with fundamentalist Muslims, any more than one cannot debate with fundamentalist Jews or fundamentalist Christians. Their certainty about God renders global discourse or religious discussion almost impossible. The alternative is humble engagement and moderate conversation. It is an expression not only of dignified respect toward other human beings, but of a due response to God, who remains beyond all certainty and comprehension…a genuine and humble faith will, therefore, be tolerant of other faiths. It will not feel threatened by other faiths, but instead will freely and fearlessly embrace the adherents of other faiths. “

– Patriarch Bartholomew I, in his book, Encountering Mystery: Understanding Orthodox Christianity Today, pg. 186-187, published 2008.

If we want peace, we must be humble about our sense of certainty.

Rallies Honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s Support of Organized Labor | Religion Dispatches

"At the urging of his friend and confidant Rev. Ralph Abernathy, King came to Memphis to support the striking workers. It was part of his Poor People’s Campaign, a project to unite America’s underclass—black, white and brown. He marched in solidarity with more than a thousand men. Two weeks after his death, the city agreed to recognize the union and a 10-cents-an-hour raise."

Rallies Honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s Support of Organized Labor | Religion Dispatches

This is your future if the Tea Party gets all it wants

A terrific post by OrthoCuban-

"Let the workers die. Let them earn less money. Let them have fewer benefits. At the same time increase the wages of the officers of the company responsible for lowering operating and labor costs, even if they result in the death of workers. After all, workers are replaceable, safety costs money, and the explosion will mean tax credits for lost production and lost equipment. This is Tea Party world now."

See the link below for the entire blog posting:

This is your future if the Tea Party gets all it wants