1. Activist Feedback
2. Weekly Commentary: How Should a Christian
Live?
3. This Week’s Sermon by Rev. Frank and Mary
Hoffman
1. Activist Feedback
Pat, who tabled at the World Vegetarian Festival in SF, writes:
The two-day event was successful in terms of having a Christian
presence amongst a dominating tide of eastern mysticism and secular
humanists. Dave and I were there for both days full time. Many who
stopped by the table were grateful to see a Christian veg table and that
such an organization exists! Plus - there were those who signed-up with
an interest in doing volunteer outreach! The kids coloring books are
fabulous – several were distributed.
Of particular note, one gentleman (already veg) expressed his desire
to rededicate his life to God. Dave was able to pray with him and weekly
bible studies are taking place.
Fr. River Sims joined the CVA table Sunday morning. Fr. Sims is
looking forward to other CVA volunteer opportunities. Paris also stopped
by to visit and share her bounty of veg materials!
Lastly, so many people were encouraged to learn that Wellness Central
offers weekly vegan dinners/lectures in San Francisco. Dave has
coordinated with several professionals at the festival to come and
lecture, including Fr. River Sims. Attendance at these weekly dinners
has more than doubled since the festival!!
Thank you for the opportunity to witness and spread the Word. It is
truly a welcomed blessing.
Upcoming Activist Opportunities
Contact Paris at
christian_vegetarian@yahoo.com if you can to help. To find
out about all upcoming leafleting and tabling opportunities in your
area, join the CVA Calendar Group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/christian_vegetarian/
2. Weekly Commentary: How Should a Christian
Live?
Last week, I posed the question: How do we resist the temptation
to transfer our sense of shame and guilt onto others? This is
crucial if we are avoid the temptation to scapegoat, and it is
impossible to have a world in which God’s will is done “on earth as
in heaven” as long as people participate in the injustice of
scapegoating.
A central part of Christianity’s response to the perennial
problem of scapegoating is the teaching that all our sins are
forgivable. Christian writings and tradition hold that, because God
loves all God’s Creation, God is willing to forgive any
transgression as long as the desire for forgiveness is genuine,
i.e., the person genuinely aims to avoid sin in the future. Faith in
the tenet that we are forgivable quells our desire to blame other
people for our shortcomings, failures, and sins. Indeed, just as
Jesus said that people can distinguish between true prophets and
false prophets “by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16), those with strong
faith are disinclined to condemn, scapegoat, or otherwise victimize
other individuals. As I see it, those with strong Christian faith
can and should denounce hurtful actions and take steps to prevent
further damage, but they do not want to see anyone hurt or punished.
Vengeance is often self-righteous scapegoating, because vengeance
presumes that we have not contributed to the conditions that have
led to discord or injury. When we model our behavior of God’s
forgiving ways, we are letting go of the natural desire for
vengeance in favor of a faith in God’s universal love. In this way,
we become open to Jesus’ teaching that we should love our neighbor
as ourselves. Herein, I think, lies the solution to the paradox that
responding honestly and fully to the question of our origins focuses
our concern outward, while responding honestly and fully to the
question of what happens when we die focuses our concern inward. We
are to love ourselves, as creations of God, and we are to love
everyone and everything else, since they are also creations of God.
To love our neighbor as ourselves is a Christian answer to the
third existential question: What is the purpose of my life? To show
what Jesus meant by loving our neighbor, Jesus gave the example of
the Good Samaritan who acted with love, compassion, and concern. Who
are our neighbors? Neighbors are those whose lives can be changed by
our actions and include family, friends, community-members,
strangers, and animals. If we exclude anyone, we undermine our
response to one or both of the first two existential questions and,
in doing so, allow existential anxiety to plague our souls. This is
why great spiritual leaders have almost always embraced everyone,
including animals, in their circle of compassion and concern. This
is also why stories about these great spiritual leaders have
described them as having inner peace, even though many of these
spiritual leaders experienced rejection or were even killed. I think
one reason people are attracted to spiritual leaders such as Jesus
is that all of us crave the inner peace they manifested. Jesus, even
as he suffered on the cross, said “Father, into thy hands I commit
my spirit” Luke 23:46) and “it is finished” (John 19:30). Jesus
evidently found equanimity in the face of the profound existential
challenges of life. Yet, few Christians (and likewise followers of
other spiritual leaders) have the faith to fully embrace Jesus’
teaching that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. Instead,
many Christians gravitate toward religious “authorities” who claim
that we can have the salvation that Jesus offers without giving up
the egocentric benefits of exploiting and scapegoating other
individuals. These, I submit, are false teachers, about whom Jesus
said, “Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the
kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.
3. This Week’s Sermon by Rev. Frank and Mary
Hoffman
I’m a “Lert” on the Alert. Are You One Too?
http://www.all-creatures.org/sermons97/s2dec90.html .