Faith Resources and More

Karen Armstrong is a highly respected author whose spiritual journey has taken her from life as a Catholic nun to an exploration of all the major faith traditions. Her commitment to understanding the three Abrahamic faiths more thoroughly has led her to become a spokesperson for peace. In her recent book, The Case for God, Armstrong does not make a case for the God that we might easily recognize. Through a meticulous examination of the history of faith, the author argues that the God of Antiquity who we identify as the Hebrew God of scripture is a far more transcendent God than the idolatrous god that the Western Enlightenment first created and that subsequent generations of scholars have sought to confine , define, and ultimately disprove. We would do well to abandon the latter god in a search of a richer experience of God.

Lacking the degree of scholarship and praxis that some of the theologians she references demand, I found myself struggling to fully absorb the nuances. Nevertheless, I have already recommended it to a colleague. The deficit is mine, not the author’s. Her analysis of the new atheism and of the fundamentalism of present-day Judaism, Christianity & Islam is astute and relevant in light of the ‘hardening of hearts’ that we see on all sides of these perspectives. Her wisdom is a great gift to the international debate on religion and peace.

What a treat! The National Organization of Episcopal Resource Center (NOERC) met at the St Raphaela Retreat Center in Haverford, PA this week. It was a meeting that I couldn’t pass up and I was very richly rewarded for partaking of the event. The theme of the devotions was Sabbath Keeping and I must confess that is an area of spirituality that I aspire to but rarely give it the attention it deserves. One writer who offers some respectful in spirations on that spiritual discipline is Lauren Winner, whose best-selling book Mudhouse Sabbath is now available as a DVD-study.

Among the resource news to anticipate is a wealth of new curricula and adult formation resources from Church Publishing Incorporated (www.churchpublishing.org). Some are in book form, others are downloadable. One new program that I will mention here is Rhythms of Grace, a book-based curriculum intended for church programs and worship for the special needs communities. Rather than being intended as a mainstreaming vehicle, this resource targets churches that offer separate regularly scheduled programs for special needs children and their families. Such programs provide an ability-appropriate opportunity for special needs families to fellowship and worship together. Having worked many years ago in a special education resource center in which mainstreaming was the rage, I welcome hearing your comments on this interesting new program.