|
Keeping the Faiths
The photo above captures a rare site. It is a paradox rarely seen in our logical, empirical post-Enlightenment world. Ann Holmes Redding is an Episcopal priest who is also a Muslim. Impossible, yet there she is in prayer in a church and a mosque. Her radical act of praying has created a fire-storm across the blogosphere and within the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion. SMACA cannot let such an opportunity pass unnoticed and uncommented on.
In Crosshairs, Glynn examines the problem of tribalism in religion; in eNZed leNZ I look at how messy unbridled spirituality can be and what we lose by disciplining it; and in Second Thoughts we have reprinted with her permission a sermon on the Trinity by Dr. Redding. SmacaNews will fill you in on the details of the controversy and reactions. SmacaLinks explores religious paradoxes. The SmacaSermon is an American in New Zealand’s take on Barack Obama’s election.
As always we hope this issue will engender a lively conversation. We believe it to be such an important conversation to have, we are working on ways to bring Dr Redding to New Zealand to continue it.
Blessings,
Clay Nelson
Editor
|
|
Spiritual concepts find their clearest expression through paradox and metaphor.
Earon Davis
The heart has its own reasons... The ways of the soul are filled with paradox.
Thomas Moore
The words of truth are always paradoxical.
Lao Tzu
How wonderful that we have met with a paradox, now we have some hope of making progress.
Niels Bohr
Life is a paradox. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't
Nancy Cartwright
|
|
|
|
Some graphitti was written up on a wall not too far from here
It says coexist
Jesus, Jew, Mohammed, it's true
Jesus, Jew, Mohammed, it's true
All sons of Abraham
Father Abraham, Father Abraham
Where are you now
Father Abraham, look what you've done
You've pitted your son against your son
Father, Father Abraham
No more, no more, no more
No more, no more, no more
No more, no more, no more
No more, no more
Coexist by U2
|
|
|
|
|
| Being a Christian and also a Muslim
Glynn Cardy The Revd Anne Holmes Redding has been an Anglican priest for nearly 25 years. She was one of the first ordained African-American women. Now she is well on the way to being defrocked. She has committed the sin of being an Anglican and also a Muslim » » »
|
|
|
|
|
Islam, Dark Ages and the Paradox of religion
http://www.adishakti.org/_/islam_d
A fascinating article in which you will find this observation: The other problem faced by a clergy or bureaucracy is that it cannot act creatively in terms of looking at the basic assumptions or questioning the paradigm that is propounded by the founder. A clergy acts on the assumption that the fundamental issues have been solved by the founder and their job is just to implement. |
|
|
|
|
| An Unhyphenated God
Clay Nelson In my years administering Unitarian Universalist churches it was common to meet clergy with a hyphenated faith designation. It was a revelation to me as an Episcopal priest where all we had to clarify is whether or not we were low, high or broad church » » »
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Revisiting the Trinity
Ann Holmes Redding This Sunday always strikes me as something of an anomaly in the Episcopal Church: a Sunday devoted to a doctrine. What may be more ominous for some of you is the thought of a sermon devoted to a doctrine » » »
|
|
|
|
|
To Subscribe click 