The Dream of God

Honoring the life of my aunt, Edna Rustenbach Fuchs (January 4, 1927 - July 23, 2011)

I keep coming back to the angel with wings outspread who stands at the entrance to the labyrinth on the plaza in front of St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe. "I am not asking to be loved. I want to love," reads one of the inscriptions.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

(from the prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, 13th century)

Now, how scary. I'm quoting myself. "The teachable moment is always at hand for each of us. A few years ago I attended a worship service at the Episcopal Cathedral in Houston. The young priest preaching that day talked about the work and writing of Verna Dozier, who at the time was in her 80s. An African American, Ms. Dozier was retired from a long, accomplished career as a public school teacher. For many years she had been an active leader in the Episcopal Church. What the priest spoke about was from Ms. Dozier’s book, “The Dream of God.” The message from Verna Dozier: Do you want to follow Jesus? Or, or you just content to worship him? In her eyes, the church chose centuries ago to worship Jesus, rather than to follow his teachings. We can all do our own homework about that history." (March 28, 2010)

Just now, I read an article by Carl Medearis on the CNN Belief Blog. There he recounts his experiences as a Christian missionary in Lebanon 20 years ago.

Medearis is an international expert in Arab-American and Muslim-Christian relations and is author of the book "Speaking of Jesus: The Art of Not-Evangelism". From the article: "What if evangelicals today, instead of focusing on “evangelizing” and “converting” people, were to begin to think of Jesus not as starting a new religion, but as the central figure of a movement that transcends religious distinctions and identities?" Read more by copying and pasting the following link in your browser window:

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/24/my-take-why-evangelicals-should-stop-evangelizing-2/