United With God

[Luce NDs]

Is metaphorical ... abstract ... as the allegory is yet incomplete? Thus it is something of that sol-spirit that is beyond mortal ... immortal ... or I'm mortal waiting for transference ... dis positioning?

Tis a real hang up ... until cut down and loose ... after the rig a' mortise' gone ...

 

[BetteTheRed]

And there were no complaints, to Presbytery, or by Presbytery, or conference, or a congregation member, about sacraments at WHUC.

The baptisms didn't meet the ecumenical 'formula' of Father, Son & Holy Ghost, and Gretta advised parents that they were not transferrable outside of the UCCan. They have a communal bread-breaking ceremony.

This isn't a question of not DOING. It's a question of not BELIEVING.

 

[chansen]

Hi Chansen, I'm sorry if I came across as being flip or dismissive. It was late and I was tired. Revsdd wrote a post in reply to Paradox3 that answers your question to me wonderfully well. Please see it as my response to your question regarding a metaphorical God.

I take it this is the part you're referencing:

...Frankly, a metaphorical God doesn't suffice insofar as the statements of doctrine are concerned. The statements of doctrine all propose a very real (and at least potentially interventionist, if God chooses to be so) God. But, individual members of the United Church don't have to swear allegiance to the statements of faith. Ordained ministers do have to be in "essential agreement."

So the real and (when he feels like it) interventionist God is (or should be) the standard for ministers.

To me, this looks a lot like the God I argue against, and I'm often told how others here don't believe in the God I don't believe in. But here he is again.

 

[paradox3]

This isn't a question of not DOING. It's a question of not BELIEVING.

I think it is a question of both those things.

As far as we know there were no complaints made about Gretta and her approach to the sacraments. But the committee which was charged with investigating did its job and, well, investigated.

 

[chansen]

Who did the committee interview about Gretta? What did their investigation consist of?

 

[paradox3]

They interviewed Gretta and received her written submissions, AFAIK.

 

[revsdd]

They interviewed Gretta and received her written submissions, AFAIK.

From the report:

"The Committee received written submissions from Ms. Vosper and interviewed her on June 29, 2016. The Committee also received written submissions from West Hill United Church."

 

[GeoFee]

NT: "In the beginning was the word."
OT: "And God said."

We meet here in the field of language. Each of us discloses a point of view. For most of us this point of view is in motion. That is, we are learning as we go. There are some of us who are quite clear that our perspective is definitive and binding on all. I feel sorry for such folk. Almost impossible to reach them with anything even remotely resembling truth, let alone truth itself.

Going back to Carl Jung. He speaks of direct and immediate experience with the unmeasured dimension of personal being in the world. A moment of realization in which the particular knows itself to be nothing more than an aspect of the universal. Such moments have been experienced by intuitive persons in all times and places. At various times and in various places such persons have inspired collective movements by which the primary insight is communicated through time.

Religion is ubiquitous in the trajectory of human consciousness. In all times and places culture has been equipped for survival and flourishing by story, song, dance and ritual. Religion is not the problem. As with all human opportunity religion is liable to use, misuse and abuse. The same dynamic is in play with science.

I grew up in a narrow Christian language world, Dutch Calvinism. At puberty my awakened critical consciousness noticed a discrepancy between the community's precept and practice. So I turned away and began my existential quest for meaning and purpose. A long lonely road along which I experienced the very best and the very worst of being human in our time. This changed when I encountered the living God. At age thirty I symbolically died to my inherited static patterns of being and rose to discover a new dynamic pattern.

Central to my concern is the overcoming of animosity in my direct and indirect relations with others. I am not here to convince others of what is right or wrong. I am here to grow as a person. My fundamental trust leads me to relinquish my personal right in service to the common good. My prosperity is rooted in the prosperity of all. In view of this I am resistant to the privilege of some at the expense of the many. I am able to substantiate this determination by consideration of a wide circle of influence.

Last words to Jung:

"The Churches stand for traditional and collective convictions which in the case of many of their adherents are no longer based on their own inner experience but on unreflecting belief, which is notoriously apt to disappear as soon as one begins thinking about it." ​

George

 

[paradox3]

On January 1st I began a national, grassroots campaign called United With God, joyfully proclaiming God in our lives, the world and the United Church of Canada. United with God affirms the absolute necessity of God's loving presence in the life-changing work for personal spiritual transformation and social justice carried out by our church and our people in the world. We acknowledge this United Church of ours defines the nature of the triune God in many different ways, yet we come together in essential agreement and love as a community of faith to celebrate the existence of God. The only goal of United With God is to proclaim God, celebrate Jesus and welcome the Holy Spirit in our lives, the world and the United Church of Canada. Our website is unitedwithgod.org Our Facebook page is simply United With God. United With God is a celebration of God in the world and in our United Church. “Grateful for God’s loving action, we cannot keep from singing.” United Church Song of Faith 2006

Any updates on how this initiative is going?

 

[chansen]

Still can't keep them from singing.

 

[Dave Henderson]

Any updates on how this initiative is going?

Thanks for asking Paradox3. From my perspective, the very act of proclaiming God in my life, the world and my church has been a wonderfully joyful experience. It is my hope and prayer that it will bring others to experience the same joy through proclaiming God in their lives. From that perspective it has been a personal blessing, and I hope will help create blessings for others. United With God can be found at www.unitedwithgod.org Facebook: United With God

 

[Luce NDs]

How can one declare the eternal in your life when our experience as mortal is limited .. especially by closed vocabulary by some advocate of keeping it simple!

Does simplicity cause a collapse due to communicability of loss of intelligence by leaning to heavily on standards of the past? I.E. let them not approach the science of fixtures in the tree of knowledge ... epistemological untouchable ... thus the loss of feelings when carrying on in the shadow thereof ... under the trees? Little white dove erred there too ... she had a rye experience wile bier 'n it ... that support system for the malevolent flame inciting the maleficent smell ... of cliques ...

That snappy toone in English is said not to be cricket and thus another darker gam ... as redundant as can be seen if you know your metaphors ... devices found in tong's as satyr ... perhaps alien tongues? Due to the limits of what can say in presence of oligarchy ...

 

[paradox3]

I am very interested in this initiative but I don't feel as strongly as @Dave Henderson about our faith statements.

The New Creed is very meaningful to me but I have never paid a lot of attention to the other three.

We had some posters on the original WC who were very enthusiastic about the Song of Faith. Nothing against it, just saying I have never really engaged with it.

 

[crazyheart]

I agree @paradox3

 

[Dave Henderson]

I take it this is the part you're referencing:

So the real and (when he feels like it) interventionist God is (or should be) the standard for ministers.

To me, this looks a lot like the God I argue against, and I'm often told how others here don't believe in the God I don't believe in. But here he is again.

I take it this is the part you're referencing:

So the real and (when he feels like it) interventionist God is (or should be) the standard for ministers.

To me, this looks a lot like the God I argue against, and I'm often told how others here don't believe in the God I don't believe in. But here he is again.

Hi Chansen, We really have gnawed the meat off the bone of this question

I am very interested in this initiative but I don't feel as strongly as @Dave Henderson about our faith statements.

The New Creed is very meaningful to me but I have never paid a lot of attention to the other three.

We had some posters on the original WC who were very enthusiastic about the Song of Faith. Nothing against it, just saying I have never really engaged with it.

Hi Paradox3, Just want to let you know that I'm not dogmatic regarding at all regarding our faith statements. As our church states, and I agree, we do not tie our faith directly to creeds or statements. I do however consider them definitive guide posts for our faith journey.

 

[Seeler]

Today at church after the sermon our minister invited one of our church members to come up and share with us.

She told about the work we do in feeding the poor on Wednesdays throughout the year. Sixty to ninety or so people sit down to a free meal, fellowship and conversation, a free haircut, music, occasional talks on various topics - as varied as foot care, nutrition, legal rights. We also give out vouchers to a local store (about 20 to 30 vouchers a week) for fresh meat and/or vegables, which we supplement with cereal, bread, pasta, canned goods and hygiene products.
Then she told what volunteering in this program has meant to her and the changes it has made in her life and attitudes as she has come to know some of our clients and hear their stories. She feels enriched. She not only is giving but receiving a gift. She is filled with gratitude for her life, and blessed by the connections she has made.
To me, this was a wonderful example of sharing the Good News of God's work in our church and our lives.

I hope that we continue the practice of occasionally sharing the Good News in our church and our lives.

 

[Luce NDs]

Today at church after the sermon our minister invited one of our church members to come up and share with us.

She told about the work we do in feeding the poor on Wednesdays throughout the year. Sixty to ninety or so people sit down to a free meal, fellowship and conversation, a free haircut, music, occasional talks on various topics - as varied as foot care, nutrition, legal rights. We also give out vouchers to a local store (about 20 to 30 vouchers a week) for fresh meat and/or vegables, which we supplement with cereal, bread, pasta, canned goods and hygiene products.
Then she told what volunteering in this program has meant to her and the changes it has made in her life and attitudes as she has come to know some of our clients and hear their stories. She feels enriched. She not only is giving but receiving a gift. She is filled with gratitude for her life, and blessed by the connections she has made.
To me, this was a wonderful example of sharing the Good News of God's work in our church and our lives.

I hope that we continue the practice of occasionally sharing the Good News in our church and our lives.

Sounds like an outside source to a story sometimes told in church that these people deserve nothing ... as lesser humans!

Tis great satyr ... advocating the opposing parts to desire of keepage ... thus the Jared was spilled over ... sometimes referred to the surroundings or environmental enigma ... wandering folk?

 

[Luce NDs]

Then:
Why d we say things like: "Do you catch my drift" if there isn't something like a floating prick of conscience?

Would this be desired by great gods of emotions ... or is this the other side of equity as Cid, great Caesar did I say that as exponent of experience of being eliminated in a giggle? Such is the schism of denial ... onyx ... or the nailed other ...

 

[Luce NDs]

If you GOOGLE onyx you will discover the variable nature of chalcedony ... and cognate ... a cognition that words have varied understanding especially across time as sage thoughts go ... drifting like hosts ... or heard of awkward cows in heaven ... ghost written ... perhaps ridden hard ... as exposing thoughts as difficult in silent form ... tis an enigma getting across that schism ... devoid of pure thought, or pure desire ... a product of contamination of heritage and here say ... or heresy ... about things others didn't wish you to know allowing the upper Yahn ... a common John as forerunner to the lights going out in GEO Gaia?

Accept it is Yahn 'd Eire ... that darkness occurring while your thoughts are rearranged ... I.E. when you out of presence ...

 

[Luce NDs]

With growth in AI and internet are people needed for knowledge and wisdom ... or just for their moderate powers of concern ... known as Annie's harmonizing with the parallel "an" (anna --- as source of anagram, or anis/Anne) as forerunner to Delta of Venice ... considered a carnal tome ... as representative of a light Eris ... dissonant thoughts about relations.

Then there is the heralding or Hared feature of the fall and loosing IDe ... as weird Harode did with the dottering old one applying a point .. as Latin "þ" the thorn issue aside? In Greek seas this could be a tough roe ... then Michael comes in and joins with Gabriel as the waters churn ... some fishermen wrestle with such data, information and intelligence as the card house does with the CIS and KGB! But again you can't say that in church due to neuter ali Tye ... connection and relations in alchemy are denied by those that would rather you not know! Thus word become a mystic entity ... dark! In cycles an/na comes round again ...

Are we virtual examples of critters of spirit ... overtly emotional with exceptions?

Should we use the ace of spades to dig buried talents ? Is such diversity to be experienced so as to know what it is about ... environments of learning opposed to environments of roasting desires? Thus the skewered ... escrowed? Discover the shaft ... the staff of life ... with gentile peoples ... polished ð tones as shining in the dark? Shadow populations ... pe'poles in spatial mode and motes ... approaching the knight Skye of Gaol/Gael nature ... Jean, Jane, Janeis? Tis a mystery to get in there ... with the opposing nature of 'oude' Eire ... leaving the aspirant breathless ...

Stun eM ... present eM with something they didn't know ... watch the response and observe the spirits released! Some times tis and oude/odd southern perspective ... that that that creature is lacking the without portions ... thus rejected sectors ...