tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452502704430196648.post5077911317061501576..comments2023-10-01T07:55:11.953-04:00Comments on Walking Cheerfully Over the Earth: Christian Peacemaker Teams #1Rachel Stacyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09450293123771725802noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452502704430196648.post-36957072564729999812011-11-13T19:14:58.228-05:002011-11-13T19:14:58.228-05:00Friends,
Thank you for your prayers and comments...Friends, <br /><br />Thank you for your prayers and comments. I'll be blogging now that my transitions are subsiding with more regularity. I'm intending to look more deeply personally and theologically into my changing and evolving perspectives of good and evil. First though, a bit about my trip and how such threads came into my work in Northern Iraq. <br /><br />Thank you again for all of your support!Rachel Stacyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09450293123771725802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452502704430196648.post-35020940673230670442011-10-22T16:37:58.960-04:002011-10-22T16:37:58.960-04:00When I was looking for a church home, before I fou...When I was looking for a church home, before I found Friends, I specifically rejected one because they explicitly denied the concept of evil. I just don't see how evil can be denied. We can debate what it's nature is and how it affects/influences individuals, but it's hard to explain reality as lived by so many without it. I've found Walter Wink's take on evil in his "The Powers" series to be very provocative and helpful. He goes off on some odd tangents unfortunately, (which I think dilutes his appeal to many Christians), but his main thesis is compelling. The books are "Naming the Powers" "Engaging the Powers" and "Unmasking the Powers" I've only read "Engaging" so far, though it's not the first in the series. I'm trying to make time for the other two...naturalmomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15594383847916759287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452502704430196648.post-85299977219331990232011-10-19T17:38:36.906-04:002011-10-19T17:38:36.906-04:00Glad you're out there and prayers that you com...Glad you're out there and prayers that you come home safe. I'd love to hear more about your changing perception of evil. I co-led an outrach session at the FGC Gathering with Deborah Haines back in 2006 where we asked people to stand along a line of continuum of agreement/disagreement with various statements; when we got to the existance of evil, only a small few of us seemed to have a concept of it as part of our cosmology. <br /><br />I think it's hard for us to really think about bad behavior without it. And I'm not just talking about the obvious bad, like genocide, but the quotidian bad where we do something that our inner guide instructs us is wrong. The old Quaker/Christian idea of a tempter also explains a lot of the self-destructive and detractatory behavior out there.<br /><br />Sometimes just modeling modestly righteous behavior is the most powerful witness. I didn't have the honor of knowing Tom Fox personally but learning of him through stories and writings have been a blessing. It's an honor being part of the same faith community as Friends like him. I'm glad to see his witness continues.Martin Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06999620933648327663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452502704430196648.post-51767767337756433032011-10-17T20:39:35.633-04:002011-10-17T20:39:35.633-04:00Prayers of peace for you sweet RachelPrayers of peace for you sweet RachelJon Wattshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14429339392461471633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452502704430196648.post-87428963615852259602011-10-15T09:46:35.071-04:002011-10-15T09:46:35.071-04:00Precious Rachel,
We at Swarthmore Friends Meeting ...Precious Rachel,<br />We at Swarthmore Friends Meeting are holding you all in the light of love and prayer, and are preparing for you to be with us on Oct. 30 to share<br />your journey with the spirit of Peace. Thank you for being faithful.<br />Love,<br />SharonSharon Guntherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03556986195691854261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6452502704430196648.post-21110553846686696432011-10-14T12:27:57.604-04:002011-10-14T12:27:57.604-04:00Dear Rachel,
Your ministry and your calling are po...Dear Rachel,<br />Your ministry and your calling are powerful, both for yourself, and for many Quakers, who in their day to day world never experience the things that you have, the presence of the darkness looming, that brings us to our own crisis of faith.<br /><br />Many at Hopewell Centre, including myself, will be praying for you and CPT-Iraq while you are there, and in addition, we will be sharing your message, through our newsletter, and in discussion in our meeting, to give others the opportunity to interact with your powerful paradoxical calling.<br /><br />God bless each and every one of you as you tred your footsteps every day. May you know that you are not alone.<br />In love and light,<br />LindaLinda J Wilkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04307531394723506106noreply@blogger.com