Feeling stupid, but still reading and learning

I got home from a Crown Center bus trip to the grocery store only to discover I'd lost my keys and couldn't unlock the door to my apartment.  Did they slip out of my pocket on the bus?  No, Yoram checked before bringing a key from the office to open my door for me.  Should I call the store to see if they'd been found?  Yoram asked if I had a spare key to my apartment or my mailbox.  Yes, a spare for the apartment, but not for the mail ... and a lightbulb clicked on over my head.  Here's my mail right here on top of the groceries in my cart; therefore, my keys must still be hanging from my mailbox.  Yes, they were.  Yoram assured me I wasn't the first, but I still felt stupid.

Unbelievable: Why Neither Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith Today ~ by John Shelby Spong, 2018, theology, 10/10

"If God is the Source of Life, then the only way I can appropriately worship God is by living fully. ... If God is the Source of Love, then the only way I can worship God is by loving 'wastefully,' a phrase that I like. ... If God is the Ground of Being, then the only way I can worship God is by having the courage to be all that I can be ... So the reality of God to me is discovered in the experience which compels me to 'live fully, to love wastefully, and to have the courage to be all that I can be.' ... the mission to which my mantra calls me is the task of building or transforming the world so that every person living will have a better opportunity to live fully, love wastefully and be all that each of them was created to be in the infinite variety of our humanity" (quoted from pp. 285-286).

I read this book in 2018, but I hope to re-read it as I discuss it with the Seekers Class at my church in Chattanooga.  Zoom allows us to meet with friends near and far, you know!  I pulled it off the shelf recently because Bishop Spong died a couple of weeks ago, and this is his last book.

Second iPhone class via Zoom

On Friday, I attended our second (and last) Zoom class about using iPhones.  Last week, we learned a word new to me (haptics) and words with new meanings (swipe, pinch, gesture).  This week, I learned how to find more screens and how to use Siri, among other things.  I learned that updates only arrive when the iPhone is plugged in.  I also learned that swiping the Home page one extra time takes me to my app library, grouped together in pre-set groups like these in the illustration.  If I then swipe up from near the bottom of that page, I'll see all apps in alphabetical order.  So much to remember!  I especially want to remember I can say, "Hey, Siri, call 9-1-1" even if the phone is not turned on.  This option must be pre-set to allow it, though.

Ten ways to say "No"

1. No.
2. I can't give you an answer right now; will you check back with me?
3. I'm not able to commit to that right now.
4. I really appreciate you asking me, but I can't do it.
5. I understand you really need my help, but I'm just not able to say yes to that.
6. I'm going to say no for now.  I'll let you know if something changes.
7. I'm honored that you would ask me, but my answer is no.
8. No, I can't do that, but here's what I can do.
9. I don't have that to give right now.
10. Under different circumstances, I'd love to, but right now I can't.

And the best part of this list that I found on Facebook six years ago is the name of the group who posted it:  The Society for Recovering Doormats, who claim that "No" is the most important word every recovering mat needs to learn how to say.

___________________________________

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The
Sunday Salon. Bloggers gather in the
Sunday Salon — at separate computers
in different time zones — to talk about
our lives, our books, and our reading.

Live, love, be

Here's a quote from Bishop John Shelby Spong that I like.

This photo is from 2011, when Bishop Spong signed a couple of his books that are now on my bookshelves across the room.  I have about a dozen of his books.  I just learned today that he has died.  June 16, 1931 — September 12, 2021

Addendum (9/19/2021):  Here's a link to the Wikipedia article on John Shelby Spong.

Sunday Salon ~ new ideas

More Sunday Salon posts are on Facebook

Sophisticated Dorkiness wrote a post today using these categories:  Around Here, Reading, Watching, Listening, Loving, Hating, Reflecting, Recommending, Anticipating.   I don't "watch" or "listen" to books, but I can use the other ways of sorting.

Reading

The Lightkeeper's Daughters ~ by Jean E. Pendziwol, 2017, fiction (Canada)

Morgan, a delinquent teen performing community service, helps elderly Elizabeth sort through her late father's journals, which were found in the ruins of an old shipwreck.  I got this book a month ago, but have been too busy reading other books.  Now I have only two renewals left and better start reading.

Anticipating

The Future of Humanity: Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality, and Our Destiny Beyond Earth ~ by Michio Kaku, 2018, science

Physicist Michio Kaku explores our need to leave planet Earth to survive as a species by developing a sustainable civilization in outer space.  This book is nonfiction, so I'll probably read it at the same time as the fiction above.  It, too, arrived a month ago and has gone unread.  Maybe I'll get to it this week.

Recommending

Although I moved to St. Louis four years ago, my Sunday School class in Chattanooga still includes me in their group email.  George emailed me yesterday, "I haven't heard from you in 'a month of Sundays.'   How are things in Saint Louis?  I trust you are doing well.  We are about to finish another book in our Sunday morning study class and could use any suggestions from you that you might share.   I have tried to copy you on my weekly notes to the group, so you know what we have been reading of late.  We have a list you shared with us a couple of years back, but have you read anything lately you would particularly recommend?"  Oh, yes, I highly recommend Bishop Spong's latest book:  Unbelievable: Why Neither Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith Today (2018).

Loving

Today's cooler weather.  It's been hot and humid for much too long, but today we have overcast gray clouds, and 77° feels like 77° at 1:30 pm.

Hating

I don't give space to "hated" books, mostly because I toss them aside and don't bother to finish them.  Why waste any more time on a book I don't like?  So am I hating anything else?  Yes, I feel oppressed by the boxes still unpacked after four years here and by the stacks of books and papers still in my apartment.  Resolved:  to throw away all of it ... uhm, most of it? ... a lot of it?  Let's start over.  I resolve to pitch a ton of it before the end of July.  A ton?  Well, you know what I mean.

Reflecting

On call blocking for robo-calls.  One number tried four times to reach me yesterday and already three times again today.  Reports say it's a debt collector, but I don't owe anyone anything.  (Edited to add:  Plus a fourth call from that number about 3:20 pm, when I was napping.)

I have now looked up how to block calls on my flip phone (yes, I choose to have a flip phone) and will work on doing it as soon as I post this.

Sunday Salon ~ friends, books, and okra

Out-of-town visitors

My friend Ginny visited me at the end of May, bringing along her sister Bunny.  Although she lives in Florida, Ginny figured out how to come through St. Louis on her way to Pennsylvania.  Makes sense, doesn't it, driving from Florida to Missouri to get to Pennsylvania?  Okay, it's not exactly a direct route from one to the other, but I enjoyed their short visit.  I forgot to take pictures, but Ginny sent me this photo taken a couple of days later by Bunny's son.

Bookmarked books

• Love Begins in Winter: Five Stories ~ by Simon Van Booy, 2009, fiction
• Ten Women ~ by Marcela Serrano, 2011, fiction (Chile)

Books I'm studying

• Why I Left, Why I Stayed: Conversations on Christianity Between an Evangelical Father and His Humanist Son ~ by Tony Campolo and Bart Campolo, 2017, religion
• Unbelievable: Why Neither Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith Today ~ by John Shelby Spong, 2018

Recently finished

• Shine ~ by Jodi Picoult, 2016, fiction (short story), 10/10

Okra

If okra does even half what this article promises, I'd say it's a good thing.  The chart above is from a different site, and this photo of oven-fried okra is from a third site.  I love fried okra, which isn't very heart-healthy.  Baked in the oven sounds okay.

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Sunday Salon ~ two authors, two tee shirts, two words

John Pavlovitz

Donna and I each have a copy of John Pavlovitz's book A Bigger Table, which he signed for us on Friday.  We have attended three of his presentations this weekend at Parkway United Church of Christ:

• Friday evening, his seminar was "Building a Bigger Table."
• Saturday morning, it was "Rebounding from Compassion Fatigue."
• Sunday morning, he preached at their regular church service.

On the first evening, Donna and I bought these tee shirts, which we wore to Saturday's seminar.

SPEAK LOVE ~ while you still have breath (Donna's tee)

RESIST ~ bigotry, racism, zenophobia, homophobia, 

transphobia, antisemitism, misogyny, hatred, fear, lies (my tee)

Sexism and Misogyny

When I taught EEO compliance (Equal Employment Opportunity) to managers in the 1970s and 1980s, we focused mostly on racism and sexism.  I noticed my new tee shirt had one, but not the other.  There's that word "misogyny" on the list, but in my mind sexism and misogyny are not the same.  So I went in search of answers.  I like these remarks from an article in the Guardian:  Sexism and Misogyny: What's the Difference?:

"Sexism is to misogyny what antisemitism is to Jew-hating. ... Misogyny has ... contempt and violence in it." ― Naomi Wolf

"Misogynists are always sexist, but sexists are not always misogynists." ― Julie Bindel

Mysogyny seems to be about hating.  Okay, then my tee shirt does need "sexism" on the list.  My friend Sheila thinks the list also needs the word "greed" on it.  What other things do you think we should resist?

Paul Coutinho

My new friend, Sandy S., came for lunch at our Circle@Crown Café on Friday, bringing four books for Sheila to peruse.  I was able to flip through them before passing them along to Sheila on Saturday when we met for our discussion of Unbelievable by John Shelby Spong.  All four books are by Paul Coutinho.

• How Big Is Your God? : The Freedom to Experience the Divine (2007)
• Just as You Are: Opening Your Life to the Infinite Love of God (2009)
• An Ignatian Pathway: Experiencing the Mystical Dimension of the Spiritual Exercises (2011)
• Sacred Darkness: Encountering Divine Love in Life's Darkest Places (2012)

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Sunday Salon ~ books, shirt, and family

Stephen Hawking:  "Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change."  I'm trying to finish a couple of library books due back this week (see below), so I haven't been reading Hawking's book as I'd hoped.

Books:  I'm halfway through Friday's book, which is due back on Thursday.  Someone has requested it and it's new, so I cannot renew it from the library.  What's next for me to read?  There's no way I can finish the other book also due on Thursday, but I plan to at least skim it — and buy a copy for myself, so I can mark it up.  Here's the book, the latest by Bishop Spong:

Unbelievable: Why Neither Ancient Creeds Nor the Reformation Can Produce a Living Faith Today ~ by John Shelby Spong, 2018

Five hundred years after Martin Luther and his 95 theses ushered in the Reformation, Spong delivers 12 forward-thinking theses to spark a new reformation to reinvigorate Christianity and ensure its future.  At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Christianity was in crisis — a state of conflict that gave birth to the Reformation in 1517.  Enduring for more than 200 years, Luther’s movement was then followed by a "revolutionary time of human knowledge."  Yet these advances in our thinking had little impact on Christians’ adherence to doctrine — which has led the faith to a critical point once again.

Spong contends that there is mounting pressure among Christians for a radically new kind of Christianity — a faith deeply connected to the human experience instead of outdated dogma.  To keep Christianity vital, he urges modern Christians to update their faith in light of these advances in our knowledge, and to challenge the rigid and problematic Church teachings that emerged with the Reformation.  There is a disconnect, he argues, between the language of traditional worship and the language of the twenty-first century.  Bridging this divide requires us to rethink and reformulate our basic understanding of God.

With its revolutionary resistance to the authority of the Church in the sixteenth century, Spong sees in Luther’s movement a model for today’s discontented Christians.  In fact, the questions they raise resonate with those contemplated by our ancestors.  Does the idea of God still have meaning?  Can we still follow historic creeds with integrity?  Are not such claims as an infallible Pope or an inerrant Bible ridiculous in today’s world?  In this book, Spong outlines twelve "theses" to help today’s believers more deeply contemplate and reshape their faith.  In this, his final book, he offers a revisionist approach that can strengthen Christianity.

Family:  This is my great-grandson.  His mother wrote on Facebook:  "Don’t they know this boy can’t sit still for 2 hours?!"

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Sunday Salon ~ what's up?

READING

FINISHED

The Invention of Wings ~ by Sue Monk Kidd, 2014, fiction (South Carolina), 10/10

I told you about this one when I got it from the library, so click the title to read about it.  The story was inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, an abolitionist.  This isn't a review, but I rate the book 10 of 10, my highest rating.  Some of the women from my church met Saturday morning to start a book club, and I praised not only this book, but the author.  I also especially like her The Dance of the Dissident Daughter (nonfiction) and The Secret Life of Bees, her highly acclaimed novel (which I also rated 10 of 10).

CURRENTLY READING

The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic ~ by John Shelby Spong, 2013, religion

I'm studying this one with a clergywomen's group on Facebook, and I'm already way behind in my reading.  I should focus on one thing or the other, but I'm studying with too many groups of people!  Like the next book.

CURRENTLY STUDYING

Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life ~ by Karen Armstrong, 2010

The goal of this study is not to "learn about" compassion, but to PRACTICE compassion.  Karen Armstrong shares concrete methods to help us cultivate and expand our capacity for compassion and provides a reading list to encourage us to “hear one another’s narratives.”  She teaches us that becoming a compassionate human being is a lifelong project and a journey filled with rewards.

CURRENTLY FINISHING

Living Buddha, Living Christ ~ by Thích Nhất Hạnh, introduction by Elaine Pagels, 1995, religion

I never finished it when I started in 2012, and now it fits in with my Monday Mindfulness posts on this blog and with my study of compassion with Book Buddies during all of 2014 (as I mentioned above).  I'll probably quote from this book a time or two, possibly even tomorrow.

CHALLENGES

I'm "working on" a couple of challenges, sort of.  The main reason I even signed up was curiosity about letters and numbers.  Neither of them will make me read more books, and I only occasionally think to update my lists.

The 2014 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge is to read one book with a title starting with each letter of the alphabet.  I imagine some letters may be harder to find than others, but I've already got 8 of the 26 letters.

I've been doing A Century of Books since the beginning of 2012.  Since there didn't seem to be any ending date, I'll keep adding to my list until I've read a book for every year.  Obviously, I'm reading more from this century than the last, so I decided to have two lists and include two centuries:

20th century (1900-1999) ~ I've read 18/100
21st century (2000-2014) ~ I've read 14/15

NEW BOOK CLUB

I mentioned above that I am helping to start a book club with other women of my church.  The only problem is that I'm planning to move.  I met with them yesterday anyway, discussed books the group might read, and shared ideas about what to name the group.  Two possibilities that came up were Bookworms and Mind Benders.  Do you like either of those?  What does your discussion group call itself?

From The Sunday Salon's original website:

"Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together — at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones — and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs."

The Book Seer

The Book Seer has been on the Links to Interesting Sites on my sidebar since at least February 2010, when I first wrote about it.  But I've discovered it again and want to share it with you.  Enter a book title and author, and The Book Seer will suggest other books you might like to read.  I entered:

Honest to God ~ by John A. T. Robinson (a 1963 book I read in the early 1970s and one that's important in my understanding of God and religion)

and the Book Seer came back with this list of similar or related books that might interest me:

• The Plague ~ by Albert Camus (I read this 1948 novel as an English major in college, about the same time I read Honest to God)
• Introducing Liberation Theology ~ by Leonardo Boff (I haven't read this 1987 book, but have read articles by Boff)
• Leviathan: With Selected Variants from the Latin Edition of 1668 ~ by Thomas Hobbes (I haven't read this 1668 book, but I did study Hobbes as an undergraduate philosophy major)
• On Liberty ~ by John Stuart Mill (same here, I studied and taught Mill, but read only excerpts of this book published in 1859)
• A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith is Dying and How a New Faith is Being Born ~ by John Shelby Spong (I read this 2001 book and several others by this author)
• Sexism and God Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology ~ by Rosemary R. Ruether (when I read this 1983 title, I glanced to my right and took it off my shelf)
• Situation Ethics: The New Morality (Library of Theological Ethics) ~ by Joseph Fletcher (I read this 1966 book for a philosophy class and wrote one of my most memorable college papers about situation ethics)
• Waiting for God ~ by Simone Weil (I read this 1951 book several years ago.  Albert Camus described her as "the only great spirit of our times.")
• The Trial and Death of Socrates ~ by Plato (I also read this in a college philosophy class)
• Dynamics of Faith ~ by Paul Tillich (I've read this 1957 book on the philosophy of religion and several other books by Tillich)

All in all, I'd say The Book Seer does an excellent job of instantly finding comparable books.

Once Upon a Readathon ~ challenges

The hosts of this readathon are giving away a $100 gift card to Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  To be eligible, I must post at least one update and participate in at least one challenge.  Here are the challenges:

Monday Challenges (July 8, 2013)

Cover2CoverBlog

For my mini challenge I would like to know...

1.  Which book you are most excited to read in the coming year?

The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic ~ by John Shelby Spong, 2013

2.  Which book would you re-read if you had the time and weren't so busy reading ALL of the other good thing?

The Mists of Avalon ~ by Marion Zimmer Bradley, 1982

3.  If you could meet any fictional character who would it be and why?

Miss Rumphius ~ by Barbara Cooney, a 1982 children's book character who grew up wanting to make the world a better place.  I love how she did it.

BookBFFs

"Enter by leaving a comment or video response on this video saying how you met your Book BFF, or what you look for in a Book BFF.  Giveaway runs from 7/8 12:00 AM EST until 7/10 11:59 PM EST."

I met my Book BFF in an online book club in 1996.  We didn't meet face to face until 1998, but eventually she sold her house in St. Louis and moved to Chattanooga, where we opened a suburban bookstore together from 2004 to 2006.  But we still discuss books together, sometimes daily, but at least every week.  What works for us is that we read the same kind of books and have enough of the same interests that we always have something to talk about.

Tuesday Challenges (July 9, 2013)

Better Read Than Dead
IB Book Blogging
(I'm not doing either of these mini-challenges.)

Wednesday Challenges (July 10, 2013)

Rainy Day Ramblings
(I'm not interested in this topic either.)

Dizneeee's World of Books

"For my little challenge, I would like for you to tell me your favorite genre, favorite book within that genre, and your favorite character from the same genre."

Favorite (fiction) genre = literary fiction

Favorite novel = The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, 2002

Favorite character = Lily Owens, the girl in that novel

Favorite (nonfiction) genre = theology

Favorite nonfiction book = The Heart of Christianity by Marcus J. Borg, 2003

Sunday Salon ~ teaching Sunday school

This morning I'll be teaching the Seekers Sunday school class.  They'll be my face-to-face Sunday Salon discussion.  Yes, they talk.  They aren't bashful, and the class often goes off on a tangent to something one of them read or saw or heard about.  Recently we talked about the newly surfaced papyrus fragment about Jesus's wife that Harvard Divinity School professor Karen L. King announced at the International Association for Coptic Studies, meeting in Rome earlier this month.  The Vatican has, of course, already called it a fake.  One line ends this way:

Jesus said to them, "My wife..."

Dr. King said in the Harvard Gazette article "Suggestion of a married Jesus" by B. D. Colen:

“Christian tradition has long held that Jesus was not married, even though no reliable historical evidence exists to support that claim,” King said. “This new gospel doesn’t prove that Jesus was married, but it tells us that the whole question only came up as part of vociferous debates about sexuality and marriage. From the very beginning, Christians disagreed about whether it was better not to marry, but it was over a century after Jesus’ death before they began appealing to Jesus’ marital status to support their positions.”

I'm interested in another line of the papyrus.

Twice in the tiny fragment, Jesus speaks of his mother and once of his wife — one of whom is identified as “Mary.” The disciples discuss whether Mary is worthy, and Jesus states that “she can be my disciple.”

The idea of women disciples can be just as controversial with some folks as whether or not Jesus was ever married.

“The discovery of this new gospel,” King said, “offers an occasion to rethink what we thought we knew by asking what role claims about Jesus’ tmarital status played historically in early Christian controversies over marriage, celibacy, and family. Christian tradition preserved only those voices that claimed Jesus never married. The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife now shows that some Christians thought otherwise.”

Those of you who regularly read this blog know this is the kind of thing that interests me.  It's kind of fun to have people in the class call or email me to tell let me know about things like this, usually found in that morning's paper.  When Jane, my friend from that class, called me early on the day this news broke, she said, "Darn!  I thought surely I'd beat you to this news!"  Nope, I'm a night owl and read about it during the night before, online.

This morning we will be continuing to study from Bishop John Shelby Spong's 2011 book, Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World.  That's one of the books he signed for me when I heard him speak in November.  It's the thicker book, on the bottom, and that's why the class is still plugging away at it, months later.

The Seekers Class is interested in some cutting edge theology and has been called by a few "The Heretic Class."  If you lived around here, would you be brave enough to check us out?  I guarantee a more exciting discussion than most of what you'll find on Sunday mornings.

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Sunday Salon ~ I've been busy

Perfectly fried okra is my favorite comfort food.  Slice fresh okra, bread it with yellow corn meal, salt it lightly, and fry it in vegetable oil until crispy.  Would you like to know why I wanted comfort food this week?

For starters, there's my car, named Maxine because she's a Maxima.  This shows her on Saturday, September 1st, when I was ready to trade her in for a newer car.  Maxine is a 1983 Datsun Maxima, because Nissan Maximas didn't come out until the following year.  Yes, Maxine is 30 years old, since dealers around town already have 2013 models on their lots.  I decided to keep Maxine when I got really annoyed by the used car salesman's refusal to pin down actual numbers.  Using his figures, my overall cost for the 2006 used car, counting principle and interest, was about double the original asking price I was quoted.  Nope, sorry, I'm not willing to pay that much — or continue to play those used-car-salesman games.  Maxine and I came home together.

On Sunday the 2nd, I led our Sunday school discussion on Matthew, using three chapters from this book:  Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World ~ by John Shelby Spong, 2011.

Raegan with her new puppy toy

After Sunday school, I took Raegan and her parents to lunch at Red Lobster.  Her mother, Kenzie, is my granddaughter; her father, Michael, took offense at something I posted on Facebook back in May and spent the summer trying to convince me (on Facebook) that I was wrong.  When I finally un-friended him, it caused a ruckus in my family, so I tried to improve the situation by inviting Michael and family to lunch.  I also invited my friend Donna, who — in defending my stance — also offended them.  So here we are, smiling.

Donna and Kenzie

Michael and Bonnie

I'm not sure it made any difference, since we didn't discuss the "problem" in front of Raegan, but I did try to ease tensions by having us get to know each other a bit better.  On to the next event, which got complicated.

Bea and Sharon, with Jaxon in his great-grandmother's lap at his first birthday party in December.

On Monday the 3rd, which was Labor Day in the United States, my daughter-in-law Sharon learned that her mother (Bea) had died in her sleep.  Sharon asked me to do her mother's funeral, and I offered to go with the family to make arrangements, since that's what pastors do.  On Wednesday the 5th, Maxine wouldn't start when I needed to go to the funeral home, so I borrowed Donna's Saturn.

After we spent hours making funeral arrangements, my son followed me home and jump-started my car.  Maxine ran okay and even started after being turned off — but not the next time I tried.  On Friday the 7th, Donna drove me to the service in her car, since Maxine obviously needs a new battery.  After two hours of visitation, I officiated at the graveside service, inviting those who were present to share their memories.  Friday was a sunny day, with temperatures in the mid-90s, very hot to be outside, even for those of us under a canopy.  I came home hot and tired.

Saturday cooled off considerably, but can you see why I wanted comfort food this week?

P.S.  Jaxon and Raegan are my great-grandchildren.  And here's the book I've been trying (off and on) to read this week:

With or Without God: Why the Way We Live Is More Important than What We Believe ~ by Gretta Vosper, 2008

Envisioning a future in which the Christian church plays a viable and transformative role in shaping society, Gretta Vosper argues that if the church is to survive at all, the heart of faith must undergo a radical change.  Vosper, a minister in Toronto, believes that what will save the church is an emphasis on just and compassionate living — a new and wholly humanistic approach to religion.  Without this reform, the church as we know it faces extinction.

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