i take this opportunity to intercede in an effort for my wide readership to take note

Invocations for Unity

From a text devised by Fr Paul Couturier, an Apostle of Unity

Lord, for the low importance we have given to those words that came from

your Heart: “I have other sheep not from this fold. I must also bring them;

they too shall hear my voice”:

We ask you to forgive us, Lord.

For our disagreements with our Christian brothers and sisters, sometimes full

of irony, or narrowness of spirit, or exaggeration; for our intransigence and

harsh judgments about other Christians and Churches:

We ask you to forgive us, Lord.

For all acts of violence or unkindness against our fellow Christians; for all in

the past and sustained to this day for which we are to blame:

We ask you to forgive us, Lord.

For all attitudes of pride and self-sufficiency that our Churches may have

shown across the ages to other Christians, and for all our failures of

awareness or understanding towards each other:

We ask you to forgive us, Lord.

For the bad examples in our conduct, which have slowed down, diminished

or destroyed the effects of grace in the souls of others:

We ask you to forgive us, Lord.

For forgetting to offer prayer, frequent, friendly, fervent, on behalf of our

fellow Christians:

We ask you to forgive us, Lord.

Above the frontiers of language, race and nation, through all our rich

difference and diversity:

Unite us, Jesus.

With Christians who are persecuted and in need, with our migrant and

refugee brothers and sisters across the world and in our midst:

Unite us, Jesus.

Above our ignorance, our prejudices, or any unconscious hostility, through

better understanding and ever closer communion:

Unite us, Jesus.

Above our different spiritual and theological traditions, in one spirit, one

Bread and one Body:

Unite us, Jesus.

O God, for the increase of your glory:

Gather your scattered people.

O God, for the triumph of good and of truth:

Gather your scattered people.

O God, that there may be but one fold and one Shepherd:

Gather your scattered people

.

O God, that justice and peace may finally reign in the world:

Gather your scattered people.

O God, to bring fullness of joy to the heart of your Son:

Gather your scattered people.

Daily Prayer of the Chemin Neuf Community, based on Couturier

Lord Jesus, who prayed that we might all be one,

we pray to You for the unity of Christians,

according to Your will, according to Your means.

May Your Spirit enable us

to experience the suffering caused by division,

to see our sin,

and to hope beyond all hope.

Amen.

Prepared by the Catholic League, a charity and society supporting Catholic ecumenical

principles and endeavours, towards the communion of all Christians in visible unity with the

Apostolic See of Rome. It may be reproduced free of charge

.

www.unitas.org.uk www.paulcouturier.org.uk

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR THE UNITY OF CHRISTIANS

18 - 25 JANUARY EVERY YEAR

camino del norte

I've started doing a little research on this northern route.  It looks beautiful, but could be more challenging than the standard route.  I thought I would order a guidebook from Amazon, but the only ones I could find were in Spanish, French or German.  I've tried ordering the French one through inter-library loan.  I'd have an easier time with French than Spanish.  We'll see if the library can find it.  It would be $60 to purchase.  The Spanish versions are cheaper.

The following is a direct quote from http://www.santiago-compostela.net/cdn/index_cdn_en.html

 

"The Camino del Norte (also known as the Coastal Route or the Northern Route) is one of the longer branches of the network of ancient pilgrim routes which together make up the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) . It runs for some 825 km. from the French border at Irún, through San Sebastian, Bilbao, and Santander to join the Camino Francés, (the main spine route of the Camino) at Arzua. It is also possible to divert to Oviedo and walk the Camino Primitivo (the original route) which joins the Camino Francés at Melide. 

"The scenery on this route is fantastic with fine coastal views. The terrain is quite hilly for much of the route, and you are often sent inland to reach a bridge over the numerous rivers. It is much less crowded than the Camino Francés, and because of this, pilgrim accommodation is sparse in places. There is a great Wealth of ancient monuments, particularly churches and monasteries, and the larger cities have excellent facilities. (Bilbao even has a metro which ends at the beach)

"The weather on this route is highly variable, and you need to be prepared for some quite wet days."

blue pilgrims

this is merely to announce the cognitive shift of
perception and intention of this blog
while maintaining the general title
it is my personal desire to move the conversation
along the lines of christian pilgrimage
for this is the essence of community
this is   'the way'    of which we speak

the implication being that
a reading on this blog is tantamount to
taking a step along the camino
you have participated in a movement
known the world round as a pilgrimage

the choices are immense
one can stop turn back or step forward
tentatively even nontheless

welcome

buone camino

keep the conversation moving


amen

ultreya

!

community and silence...

community and death and beauty

what does it mean for a community to be able to say
our reason for existence is in something beyond us

we exist so that by exhausting our need for existence
we give witness to something else

we are being deliberate about our obsolescence

there may be a day when this community no longer exists
but for as long as it does we give witness to that thing
which is well beyond us
we live by ideals so that in that by the successful expression of those ideals
we eventually have no purpose...our duty is complete

i was thinking about this recently as a way of not stating
what is obvious in monastic life
i was thinking about this during the funerals of two recently deceased monks

one of the monks was an artist and he spent a good deal of time
in his life trying to give beautiful expression to things
during his life he was never acknowledged for any particular piece
people tended to know he was an artist
but most people could not name any particular piece he had crafted

the other monk was a scholar a reader a linguist
he took great pride in knowing the origin of words
he was famous for his enjoyment of bawdy limericks
he understood the expression of christianity as being
a festival spirit of joy
a festival that is always nearly over and forgotten

the truth about community is that it will live
according to the transcendental values held close held true

for a christian community to say
we are in this world but not citizens of this world
leaves the community with the problem of having to organize
life
around practical matters as if they are necessary for matters that transcend our most practical designs

in the rule of benedict garden tools are given a status
equal to that as the vessels of the altar
so that the notion of survival is granted both a practical and
a transcendental purpose
we are beholden to partake in the mystery of creation
and beholden to acknowledge our dependency
on the creator and we aim our efforts
toward a hoped-in perfection

a bronze sculpture will endure quite a long time
many generations
and the name of the artist may disappear
but that is no matter for the artist
his goal is something to which he perhaps
cannot even bring adequate words

yet

he must try

new post

i suppose the last post was a bit too combatative in form to attract the wider scientific community whom i most certainly thought would by now have answered the relatively innocent query into communal dispositions if you will

in a recent life event i was able to experience first hand how the scientific mind might be valuable for community living...in a recent bout with skin encrustation a horrific combination of dry red nervous treacherous skin rash afflicted i was with discomfort and pain and stress

through a manner of "knowledge deduction"  a process of rather quick but patient observations of the characteristics of my dis-ease for most certainly i was truly dis- eased i was relieved unwillingly of my desire for contentment ah well such is physical mayhem

any how

this intellectual mind went through a process of tipping the scale to one or two characteristics eliminating these in order to address the skin...he cured me

i took his "scientific "  advice

and i took it seriously

i went to a tanning booth i drank cocanut milk smoothies i took some benedryl i finally got some sleep my nerves settled down i stopped swimming in a chlorinated pool

in short i submitted my very life to well reasoned medical opinion and i benefitted greatly

so just by way of dialectical detante
i want it known far and wide that i have accepted and seen the value
in some form of  medical science

and thus i enjoy the necessary communal attitude that attitude that makes community so
much better let me tell you
gratitude the attitude of gratitude can be brought forth happily from the generous bestowal of medical science

i also receive accupuncture from the same guy

he's a wizard

first class

and i guess i must admit however grudgingly that i am sitting at a computer console spelling out inane thoughts to the whole of the cyber world and nobody listens....i mean that is some science too  can't forget that

so bring along the scientists
let one sit in the garden
let another make the food
let another dispense good medicine
let another fix the cars
let another paint the house
let another chop some wood
let another clean the floor
let another light the incense
let another make the incense
hey there's another use
a scientist may be able to make incense

invaluable possibility

where will we put the microscope
that's the only question

wind energy
now there's a good project for a scientist

artists are probably more problematic for community life
they're so needy and reactive and expressive
maybe we need to encourage the artists to just be a bit more didactic
and systematic and diligent
and this too will benefit the art work

anyway

worthless servants
that's all we are

the presumptions of science are no more than one more channel on an outdated tv set

i wish to thank stu and sally
for the lively and deep reflection/conversation
elucidating as it were
the inner sentiments of science and scientists
thinking of god

i am taking my point of departure here
in concern for the words written by pierre tielhard de chardin sj
regarding the awareness of man
with the new astounding power in the 1940s
the power to devastate the world with atomic fire

it is my particular bias that the collective thinking
inherent in the "progress" of science reached a turning point
toward general hubris in the 20th century
with regards to two ends of the life spectrum
which have now come under confident control of the
world of technology and medical science
i regard this rather tentatively for i view the advance
as one riddled with ignorance
and thus subject to tragedy

the effort to gain control over human reproduction
through the use of synthetic contraception and abortion
has spelled a definitive break with the past
birth even conception was considered something both
ordinary
and miraculous
as well as life threatening
today at least in the countries sporting medical self confidence
there appears to be a sense of control over these matters
in ways mankind in general has never known

and with the development of nuclear power
it is clear but never really stated much anymore
that there is in the possession of the military
(if no one else)
the inherent ability to extend widespread destruction
if not the ability to wipe out all signs of human life
at least to reduce human life to a desperate remnant
(one that has been imaginatively explored in various science fiction modes)

the overarching question which i intend to bring to
the elevated discussions here at communitas dies
is:
does science serve some useful purpose
in beginning developing maintaining and propogating
community life?

a physicist i know will say:
well if you have a campfire you have science

but i am thinking of applied science
the science we confront daily
the science which is held out before us
as somehow essential to viable patterns of survival

i ask myself
where does "science" enter into the life i live
and how essential is it
can a community live without reference to scientific knowledge??

consider the community in which i presently reside:
where does science meet the reality of daily life?
my abbot is a chemist
( i have wondered whether or not his training in chemistry
affects his way of thinking in his role as "christ in our midst")

certainly science is involved in the architecture
certainly science is involved in the heating and cooling of buildings
certainly science comes into play in the feeding of 2000 plus people every day
plumbing electricity computers automobiles
the teaching of science is at a premium on this college campus
(recent reports hold that an alumnus is set to go into space with NASA)

but these matters are directed toward education primarily
and i find myself asking:
what good is any of this to me?

i contend that most applied science is both useless
and highly exaggerated in importance
i do not need atomic accelerators or any knowledge that comes form them
i do not need astronomy
i do not need geology (although i dream of rocks and volcanoes and
tectonic plates)
i do not need any of the science associated with microbiology
i do not need most medical science
i do not need computers
i do not need laboratories
i do not need anything that comes from the human sciences
(in fact i have recently concluded that there is something horribly bereft
in the presumptions of these disciplines)

any community must find practical means by which
to sustain life
heat food light sanitation
these seem to be the basics upon which any community could
sustain some form of shared life

a christian community must attend to the word
and reason and knowledge enter deeply into this matter of lived expression

thus i regard that there is quite a distinction between
running an institution
one which requires intensive attention to practical scientific matters
and sustaining a community

theoretically a community could band together around
a fire around tents or teepees
hunting fishing gardening might all require some form of "knowledge"
and be indeed increased with efficiency
given data from the world of scientific trial and error

humans are inclined to knowing
this is a given
a community might be understood as a place of shared knowing

i will contend that what is promulgated as "science" in our day is
essentially superfluous
unnecessary
nothing comes to us through the world of science
which cannot be safely done without

this is not to say that there is no usefulness
in knowing the movement of the stars
the twitching and rumblings of the earth
the chemistry of things
all knowledge is to some extent useful

but a basic community must recognize that
science is far less important
than the willingness to enter into a shared life
with basic food basic prayer
and a commitment to reflection
a commitment to a way of knowing which is not so much applied
as contemplated

i call for the end to practical science
it must no longer be taught in the schools
philosophy is the goal
and leisure is the context

to hell with the pragmatists and utilitarians

to heaven with those who know
it is enough to pray
and entrust ones livelyhood to the will of

god