23 February 2011 Issue - Christian Vegetarian Association Update Newsletters


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Update Newsletters
23 February 2011 Issue

1. Activist Feedback

2. Essay: Dealing with Anger*

3. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman

4. The Next Issue of The Peaceable Table is Online

1. Activist Feedback

Amy, who leafleted at Thousand Foot Krutch Christian Rock in Green Bay on Feb. 4, writes:

I passed out the 2 boxes of leaflets. Overall, most were accepting and positive. Only one person said, "Jesus said we could eat of all foods." I encouraged her to read it for more information. Thanks for the opportunity.

Upcoming Activist Opportunities

3/3 ID Boise Thousand Foot Krutch Rock and Worship Roadshow

3/3 GA Columbus Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/4 TN Knoxville Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/4 MT Missoula Thousand Foot Krutch Rock and Worship Roadshow

3/4-5 OR Portland Revolve Tour Dream On Christian Youth Conference

3/5 WA Seattle Thousand Foot Krutch Rock and Worship Roadshow

3/5 AR Little Rock Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/6 TN Memphis Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/6 OR Portland Thousand Foot Krutch Rock and Worship Roadshow

3/10 CA Ontario Thousand Foot Krutch Rock and Worship Roadshow

3/10 SC No. Charleston Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/11 SC Columbia Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/11 AZ Phoenix Thousand Foot Krutch Rock and Worship Roadshow

3/11-12 MD Baltimore Revolve Tour Dream On Christian Youth Conference

3/12 CA Sacramento Thousand Foot Krutch Rock and Worship Roadshow

3/12 KY Lexington Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/13 TN Nashville Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/13 CA Fresno Thousand Foot Krutch Rock and Worship Roadshow

3/17 PA Reading Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/18 VA Roanoke Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/18-19 FL Lakeland Revolve Tour Dream On Christian Youth Conference

3/19 NC Fayetteville Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/20 VA Norfolk Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/23 MI Saginaw Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/24 IN Evansville Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/25 OH Cincinnati Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

3/25-26 OH Columbus Revolve Tour Dream On Christian Youth Conference

3/26 IL Champaign Newsboys Winter Jam Tour Spectacular

4/1-2 CT Hartford Revolve Tour Dream On Christian Youth Conference

4/8-9 PA Reading Revolve Tour Dream On Christian Youth Conference

4/11 FL Tampa TABLE Talking Animals Festival

4/15-16 CA Ontario Revolve Tour Dream On Christian Youth Conference

4/17 CA San Diego TABLE EarthFair 2011

6/19 VA Richmond TABLE Richmond Vegetarian Festival

7/5-8 OH Cincinnati TABLE Church Turning the World Upside

Contact Paris at christian_vegetarian@yahoo.com if you can 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. Essay: Dealing with Anger*

Life never gives us everything we want, and indeed life rarely gives us everything we expect. Anger is a natural reaction to this frustration, and this anger can poison interpersonal relationships and undermine our general desire to be compassionate people. From a spiritual standpoint, anger can be a stumbling block that prevents us from following our calling to participate in our reconciliation with God’s Creation, one aspect of which is to help reconcile humanity’s very broken relationship with nonhuman beings.

The first step in dealing with anger is to recognize the anger. We often fail to identify our angry feelings, and instead we tend to focus on the apparent source of our anger. For example, what we might regard as a desire for “justice” might be an expression of anger. Commonly, depression masks anger. Often people find themselves in situations that they regard as hopeless, and their resulting depressed mood can be a symptom of anger that they feel unable to express.

An important step in dealing with anger is to take responsibility for the anger. We can’t control many of the factors that induce anger, but the anger we feel is our own and how we respond to that anger is entirely up to us. We can choose to hold onto resentments and focus on vengeance, or we can accept that the world is full of injustices and our task is to find prudent, compassionate strategies to deal with those injustices. We are called to forgive perpetrators, but we are not called to forget their victims.

Next, we need to learn about our anger, and the only way to do this is to look at ourselves as objectively and dispassionately as we can. Strategies for this self-examination include thoughtful reflection on situations in which we have been angry and assessment of what made us angry and how we responded to the situation. How would a person who observed the scene describe what happened? How would the person with whom we were angry describe what happened?

With these insights, we can start to heal anger. I’ll continue this discussion next week.

* This essay is informed in part by an excellent book by David Loy entitled Vinegar into Honey: Seven Steps to Understanding and Transforming Anger, Aggression, and Violence.

Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.

3. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman

I See Injustice! What Can I Do About It?
http://www.all-creatures.org/sermons97/s18feb90.html

4. The Next Issue of The Peaceable Table is Online

Contents include:

* This month's Guest Editorial by Robert Heckert, "Friends and the Vegetarian Way," is of historical importance for us; its appearance in the Friends Journal in 1982 gave rise to the quarterly journal The Friendly Vegetarian, the parent of our own Peaceable Table. It is interesting to see which aspects of the concern were uppermost in the mind of this brave Friend nearly thirty years ago.

* The Unset Gem from Thomas More's novel Utopia, 1516, gives a picture of an ideal society where animals are not killed for human pleasure or convenience.

* The Lost Dogs by Jim Gorant, an account of the investigation and prosecution of Michael Vick and colleagues on dogfighting charges, and the rehabilitation of the tortured animals who survived, is reviewed by attorney and pitbull guardian Cathy Hanan.

* This simple recipe for Berry Crumble will delight your taste buds and nourish your body.

* Englishwoman Muriel Dowding, socially prominent animal activist and co-originator of the firm Beauty Without Cruelty, is the Pioneer we celebrate in this issue.

To read this issue, go to http://www.vegetarianfriends.net/issue74.html.

Your question and comments are welcome

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