Thursday, September 24, 2009

How did it get to be Thursday already?

It's been a whirly week, filled with MANY good things -- and very, very FULL of those many good things! So here, on my lunch break, are a few bits & pieces that I don't want to fall by the wayside as the weekend looms and blogging becomes even more episodic:

Denise Eger -- friend, colleague and FABULOUS rabbi -- preached a wonderful Rosh Hoshanah sermon ... you can read it all here ... (and I commend it to you!) but here's a bit to whet your appetite:

Jewish involvement in civil rights was and is an extension of our Jewish values. “Remember the stranger in your midst for you were once strangers in the land of Israel”, the Torah teaches us. This value propels us to see all as created b’tzelem Elohim, created in God’s image. We Jews have been called to a mission of ensuring human rights in places where there are none because we as a people have known throughout our history what it means to be treated without human dignity. To be ghettoized, marginalized, denied economic access and murdered. We know that there are still many places where Jews are hated for no other reason than our faith. Our people have memory of what it means to not be treated as fully human.

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Another great sermon was here at All Saints Church last Sunday, when Ed Bacon welcomed everyone back for HOMECOMING 2009. I don't have a text yet, but this video link will take you to our website. (And here's a quote:)


The American life has been very good for a substantial group of citizens but in the spirit of our interconnectedness we must admit that those ashes from the fires this summer illustrated for us, that not only in fires but in other ways we are all interconnected. Thank God we have a system in this country where firefighters and search and rescue workers work hard to put out fires for ALL people.

Thank God we don’t have some kind of system where you pay firefighters insurance and only the people with firefighters insurance get help from the firefighters. It is in the enlightened self-interest of all of us to have all fires fought with the expenses are paid for out of a common purse. You can call that socialism if you want, but I’m glad that is our system.

Do not seek to know whether those ashes were from your house or someone else’s house, seek not to know where those ashes came from—those ashes represented us all. There is that favorite word of Jesus’s. A-L-L. All. What is it about that word do we not yet get?


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Finally, here's the Bishop of New Hampshire answering the question: Where does our devotion and commitment and resolve come from to use our power for good and righteous purposes?



With DEEP thanks to this amazing Trinity of Inspiring Voices -- here endeth the lunch break. Alleluia. Amen!
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5 comments:

Mitchell said...

Yes! Mr. Robinson:

Your right! It has been very hard for you! But what makes you think that your journey has been any different from anyone else that has faced difficult odds?

And what makes you think that these people that oppose you aren't sincere in their opposition?

WHY DO THEY HATE You Pray tell??????????????????????????????????????

SUSAN RUSSELL said...

Mitchell:

That's "Bishop" Robinson to you.

And I didn't hear Bishop Robinson saying others hadn't faced equal odds. I heard him calling us to love one another in spite of our differences.

Sincere opposition is one thing. Death threats are another.

Caminante said...

Not related to Mitchell's rant...

Just read in the Lead about your being made an honorary canon this Sunday! Congratulations! That honor is well earned.

word verification: ploodd... sort of what we do when we get comments such as the above.

June Butler said...

Off topic, too. Congratulations on your well deserved canonization! What the hey! It works for me. I hope it works for you.

Mitchell said...

Dear Caminante:

I need to learn not to drink while I write. And if I have offended anyone than I apologize. It's hard not to be critical on you guys when you are an Atheist.

Just wondering if your last paragraph was meant as an insult?

I am a VERY intellegent young man who has beaten some of my professors in debates.