Weekly Newsletter from Christian Vegetarian Association CVA - February 13, 2022
From Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

  1. SARX Lent Guide
  2. Activist Feedback
  3. The Garden of Eden (cont.) - Nakedness
  4. All-Creatures.Org Ministry

1. SARX Lent Guide

40 Days with God's Creatures - brochure from SARX

SARX: God All God's Creatures

2. Activist Feedback

Rick Hershey has been active leafleting at Winter Jam events. He writes:

I handed out 1200 CVA booklets at T-Mobile Center (formerly Sprint Center) in Kansas City for Winter Jam today. This crowd was not too receptive toward accepting a booklet, and I had competition from a few other leafleters and a preacher with a loudspeaker.

Wichita: Dianne and I handed out 1100 CVA booklets at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita for Winter Jam. It was the smallest Winter Jam at this venue that I’ve seen, but still worthwhile of our efforts.

Tulsa: I handed out 950 CVA booklets at BOK Center in Tulsa today for Winter Jam. The crowd was smaller than pre-pandemic.

Great work, Rick and Dianne! 

3. The Garden of Eden (cont.) - Nakedness

After eating the forbidden fruit, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons” (Genesis 3:7) Why did Adam and Eve feel compelled to cover themselves, in particular their genitalia?

Though any answer would be speculative, I suggest that their eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil made them ashamed of their naked bodies. The came to see their bodies not as unqualified good but rather imperfect flesh destined to deteriorate over time, and they came to regard their sexual desires not as natural expressions of their being but rather as sources of angst and conflict. The Garden of Eden represented a world of unlimited resources designed to meet their every need. Prompted by the knowledge of good and evil, they feared scarcity, feared the limitations of their bodies, and feared the ultimate evil – death, i.e., the extinction of the self. They were ashamed of their limitations, which exacerbated these fears, and covering their private parts were an attempt to hide their imperfections.

The desire to overcome our fears has been a root cause of human misery. Paradoxically, the desire to prevent suffering has become a principal source of suffering for ourselves and for those impacted by our striving to secure safety, comfort, pleasure, and the greatest goal – a sense of immortality. Though sexual conquests or great wealth can provide a sense of power and control, they cannot overcome the inevitable decay of the body. Thus, the writer of Ecclesiastes wrote, “I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind” (1:14).

Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D. 

4. From All-Creatures.Org Ministry

And we are always delighted to provide you with this week's edition of the All-Creatures.org Newsletter covering up-to-the-moment 2022 topics including GOOD news for animals, thought-provoking AR articles, religious and spiritual vegan information, art & stories, and so much more!

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