The Baltimore Ten Miler was held Saturday, June 2nd, 2018. Thunderstorms had been forecast, but the weather was warm and cloudy, 73 degrees at starting time, with calm wind. The route was the same as last year, starting in Druid Hill Park, leading along East Drive to Wyman Park Drive, down Howard St. to 28th St, along 28th St. to Greenmount Ave., up Greenmount to 33rd St., along 33rd to Lake Montebello, around Lake Montebello, and back along the same route to Druid Hill Park.
Dave Berdan, from Owings Mills, MD, was the winner in the men's division, with a time of 54:28. Breanna Bordenski, from Pasadena, MD, was the winner in the women's division, with a time of 1:03:39.
My son Douglas and I ran together the whole race. He's an experienced runner and triathlete who ran the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia on May 6th. Our finish time was 1:26:19, for a pace of 8:38 per mile, better than I expected. I finished 453 out of 3898 total finishers, number 1 out of 40 finishers in my age group!
Saturday, June 2, 2018
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
The Cosmic Christ
At the church I attend on Sunday mornings, the 8 a.m. service ("Faith at Eight") is usually a small gathering of people, including the
rector, deacon, and 10-12 parishioners, who come together to say prayers, share
readings from the lectionary, participate in a reflection period (during which
we talk about the readings and whatever else is on our minds), and share Holy Communion. The following is a reflection that I gave on Sunday, September 16, 2012, about a reading
from the lectionary.
Mark 8:27-30 27Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am? 28And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah;
and still others, one of the prophets.” 29He asked them, ”But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him,
“You are the Messiah." 30And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
In today’s reading from Mark, Jesus asks his disciples,
“Who do you say that I am?” It’s a question with many levels of meaning, since it
concerns not only his identity, but also his mission, the purpose of
his ministry, and the meaning of his teachings. And thus it leads us to ask
ourselves, “Who is Jesus for us today?”
But to ask this question is also to
ask, “Who or what or where is God?” Can we say anything with certainty about
God? Is the concept of God something we can describe with any degree of
adequacy? Does the concept of God transcend the limits of language? If the term
“God” is a name we use to refer to absolute being, ultimate realty, or
the guiding principle of the universe, then what is our relation to this absolute being, ultimate reality, or guiding principle? Is God a cosmic presence, truth,
or reality? If so, is there a cosmic Jesus?
The question of who Jesus is
has cosmic importance, and its answer has cosmic implications. Who then is
the cosmic Jesus?
Maybe the cosmic Jesus is the Jesus
who brings to us the consciousness that we are one with the universe, and that the universe is always changing. Maybe the cosmic Jesus is
the Jesus who teaches us that everything is interdependent, and that our own
well-being depends on the well-being of others, as well as on the well-being of the world
in which we live. Maybe the cosmic Jesus is the Jesus who teaches us that God is creator, redeemer, and sustainer of the universe. Maybe he's the Jesus who teaches us that
God is the eternal principle on which is based all being and becoming.
Maybe he's also the Jesus whose
appearance is like lightning and who’s more powerful than the Big Bang. The Jesus who transcends the realm of asteroids, comets, planets, stars, constellations,
and galaxies. The Jesus who’s not earthbound. The Jesus of cosmic infinity. The
Jesus who says, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).
Because there’s a here and now Jesus,
and there’s a cosmic Jesus, who are one and the same. An earthly Jesus and a
heavenly Jesus. A bodily Jesus and a spiritual Jesus. A Jesus of human
history and a Jesus of universal power, who are not two different beings, but
the one Jesus, who lives and reigns in unity with the Holy Spirit and God the Almighty.
Jesus may be seen as not
only a redeemer and savior, but also a cosmic reality whose transformative power
extends throughout the universe and whose sacramental presence is a cosmic
mystery. He's a Jesus who was crucified, who suffered death for our
sake, and who ascended into heaven. He's a Jesus who resurrects the dead, and who
leads us to eternal life. He's a Jesus who walked among us, and who remains with us
for all eternity.
He may also be seen as not only a scriptural
Jesus, but also a living Jesus. A corporeal Jesus, and a transfigured Jesus. An
electric Jesus who electrifies us with his eternal and universal power. An
electric power Jesus who has more power than Baltimore Gas and Electric. A
cosmic power Jesus who never has a power outage and who always sustains us
whenever we’re in need. A Jesus who teaches us there’s no greater power than the
power of love. A Jesus who supports us in times of trial and who gives us strength
in our faith.
If there’s a cosmic Jesus, then is there also an interplanetary and intergalactic Jesus, a Jesus who transcends
the limits of time and space? Indeed, a Facebook page for the “Interplanetary
Church of Jesus Christ the Galactic Savior” makes the very odd and amusing
claim that “God Almighty gave us the technology of space flight so we could
spread HIS healing gospel to the extraterrestrials!”
The question may then be asked: if
there are other worlds of living beings in the universe, has a cosmic Jesus
been crucified in those worlds and redeemed sinners on other planets and in
other galaxies? Is Jesus a redeemer and savior only for our own world? When
Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world,” is he perhaps saying his
kingdom is not localized to any one particular world? (I’m jesting here; I
don’t seriously mean that Jesus is flying around somewhere in another galaxy
saving sinners!)
But speaking seriously, I
think the cosmic Jesus is also the Jesus through whom is revealed the unity
of the logos and cosmos. In the original Greek of the New Testament, the word
“logos” means “word” or “law,” and the word “kosmos” means “world” or “order.”
The Gospel According to John (1:1) says “Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος” (“En
archē ēn ho Lógos, kai ho Lógos ēn pros ton Theón, kai Theós ēn ho Lógos”)—“In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Jesus is the Word incarnate, the Word given human form. John continues, in
Chapter 1 verse 10, ” ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος δι᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ κόσμος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔγνω” (“en tō kosmō ēn, kai ho kosmos di’ autou
egeneto, kai ho kosmos auton ouk egnō”)—“He was in the world, and the
world was made through him, yet the world knew him not.” Thus, the Word or law
(the logos of the cosmos) is both immanent and transcendent. Jesus is in the
world, but he also transcends the world. The cosmos is sustained by God’s law, by God’s will, and by God’s love, as personified by the cosmic Jesus. The logos
governs the cosmos, and the cosmos is an embodiment of the logos. The logos
is also the ultimate truth or reality of the cosmos. Although the universe may
often appear impersonal to us and may also appear
indifferent or hostile to us, the ultimate truth or reality of the universe is
personified by the cosmic Christ, who reveals to us that at all times and in
all places God loves us and watches over us. The logos is the key to understanding the mysteries
of the universe. The logos may also be an underlying cosmic principle that
explains things. It may even be a principle of cosmic necessity or destiny.
We may thus have to consider how we
can reconcile the concepts of “cosmos” and “chaos.” Is chaos governed by the
cosmos, or is the cosmos governed by chaos? Is the universe ruled by order or
disorder, by chance or necessity? Is divine love a governing principle of the
universe?
Belief in a cosmic Christ may be found in Christian mysticism, insofar as it may lead to a quest for union with God. (Union with God is in fact what happens when we share the Eucharist; we are united with the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.)
Belief in a cosmic Christ may be found in Christian mysticism, insofar as it may lead to a quest for union with God. (Union with God is in fact what happens when we share the Eucharist; we are united with the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.)
Insofar as belief in a cosmic Christ
leads to a quest for union with God, it may also be similar in some ways to other
kinds of religious mysticism. But it doesn’t necessarily eliminate any distinction
between God and ourselves or between God and the universe. It may or may not be
compatible with various forms of panentheism (the belief that all things are in
God, and that God is in all things), and it may actually be incompatible with pantheism
(the belief that God is identical to the universe).
Both pantheism (the belief that all
things are manifestations of God) and panentheism (the belief that all things
are in God and permeated by God’s being) may fail to distinguish
between the Creator and the created, and they may therefore be incompatible
with a belief “in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally
begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were
made” (Nicene Creed).
Panentheism may not allow for any
ontological distinction to be made between the universe and God, if the
universe and God are seen as having the same mode of being. It may also be
taken to imply that God’s presence is somehow to be found in material things,
and it may therefore not fully recognize God’s transcendence of the material world.
Belief in a cosmic Christ may be further
distinguishable from panentheism if it's a belief that God is capable
of being in every part of the universe, as opposed to a belief that God is
actually in every part of the universe. Belief that God is capable of being in every part of the universe may allow for the existence
of evil and for the existence of that which has not yet been redeemed by the saving
grace of God.
Belief in a cosmic Christ may also
be distinguishable from pantheism insofar as it may be a belief about the
presence of God in the cosmos, as opposed to a belief about the identity of God
and the cosmos.
Cosmological Christology may be a
quest for a better understanding of the relation between Christ and the cosmos,
and it may also be a quest for a better understanding of the cosmic Christ. It
may also enable us to reconcile our theology and Christology with the insights
of modern science concerning the origin, evolution, and destiny of the universe.
Hebrews 1:3 says, [Jesus] “reflects
the glory of God…upholding the universe by his word of power,” and Colossians
1:17 says, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
Thus, the cosmic Christ is our hope, our sustainer, and our salvation.
The cosmic Christ is also the Christ
who said to his disciples after he had risen from the dead, “I will be with you
always, to the end of time” (Matt 28:29). The cosmic Christ is the Christ who,
in the words of the Lord’s Prayer of the New Zealand Prayer Book, is “Eternal
Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is and that
shall be.”2
Interestingly, there may be similarities (as well as differences) between the kinds of viewpoints taken by Christianity toward the nature of cosmic reality and the kinds of viewpoints taken by other religious and philosophical traditions. For example, just as some Vedanta philosophers describe the world as the body of Brahman, some Christian theologians describe the world as the body of God. Just as some Buddhist thinkers describe the dissolution of the self in the state of enlightenment, some Christian thinkers describe the dissolution of the self in the state of union with God.
Sallie McFague, Professor Emerita of Theology at Vanderbilt University, says, in an essay entitled “The Scope of the Body: the Cosmic Christ” (1996),
Sallie McFague, Professor Emerita of Theology at Vanderbilt University, says, in an essay entitled “The Scope of the Body: the Cosmic Christ” (1996),
“The body of God…is also the cosmic
Christ—the loving, compassionate God on the side of those who suffer,
especially the vulnerable and excluded. All are included, not only in their
liberation and healing, but also in their defeat and despair. Even as the
life-giving breath extends to all bodies in the universe, so does the
liberating, healing, and suffering love of God. The resurrected Christ is the
cosmic Christ, the Christ freed from the body of Jesus of Nazareth, to be
present in and to all bodies. The New Testament appearance stories attest to the
continuing empowerment of the Christic paradigm in the world: the liberating,
inclusive love of God for all is alive in and through the entire cosmos. We are
not alone as we attempt to practice the ministry of inclusion, for the power of
God is incarnate throughout the world, erupting now and then where the
vulnerable are liberated and healed, as well as where they are not.”3
FOOTNOTES
1Interplanetary Church of Jesus Christ the
Galactic Savior, online at https://www.facebook.com/pg/Interplanetary-Church-of-Jesus-Christ-the-Galactic-Saviour-143402275672805/about/?ref=page_internal.
2A New
Zealand Prayer Book: He Karakia O Aotearoa (HarperCollins, 1997), p. 181.
3Sallie McFague, “The Scope of the Body: the
Cosmic Christ,” in This Sacred Earth:
Religion, Nature, Environment, edited by Roger S. Gottlieb (New York:
Routledge, 1996), p. 286.
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
The Four-Seven Debate
The following is a brief synopsis of The Four-Seven Debate: An
Annotated Translation of the Most Famous Controversy in Korean Neo-Confucian
Thought, by Michael C. Kalton et al. (State University of New York Press,
1994).
The Four-Seven Debate was a debate in
sixteenth century Korean Neo-Confucian philosophy, between Yi Hwang (Toegye,
1501-1570) and Gi Dae-seung (Gobong, 1527-1572), and between Yi I (Yulgok,
1536-1584) and Seong Hon (Ugye, 1535-1598), about the ways in which the Four
Beginnings and Seven Feelings are similar to, or
different from, each other.1
The Four Beginnings (compassion, shame,
respect, and the sense of right and wrong) were described by Mengzi
(Mencius, 372-289 BCE), who said, ”The sense of compassion is the beginning of
benevolence (ren), the sense of shame
is the beginning of righteousness (yi),
the sense of respect is the beginning of propriety (li), and the sense of right and wrong is the beginning of wisdom (zhi). All human beings have these four
senses, just as they have four limbs.” (Mengzi,
2A.6).2,3
The Seven Feelings were described in
the Liji (Book of Rites) as basic feelings
of which all human beings are capable. The Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong), a chapter of the Liji attributed to Zisi (c. 481-402
BCE), describes four basic human feelings or emotions (joy, anger, sorrow, and joy) whose
arousal to appropriate levels results in a state of harmony, and whose non-arousal
results in a state of centeredness or equilibrium, but the Li yun (Evolution of Ritual) chapter of the Liji describes seven basic human feelings or emotions (desire,
hate, love, fear, grief, anger, and joy).4
The Zhongyong says, in describing the basic human feelings or emotions:
“When joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure
have not yet arisen, it is called the Mean (centeredness, equilibrium). When
they arise to appropriate levels, it is called “harmony.” The Mean is the great
root of all-under-heaven. “Harmony” is the penetration of the Way through
all-under-heaven. When the Mean and Harmony are actualized, Heaven and Earth
are in their proper positions, and the myriad things are nourished.”5
But the Li yun says,
“What is meant by the genuine (qing) in man? Pleasure, anger, sadness,
fear, love, hate, desire, these seven we are capable of without having learned
them.”6
The tone of the Four-Seven Debate,
as manifested in the letters exchanged between Toegye and Gobang from 1559-1566,
was quite courteous and respectful. The tone of the letters subsequently exchanged
between Yulgok and Ugye was also quite cordial and respectful.
In a letter written to Gobong in
1559, Toegye says the emergence of the Four Beginnings is purely a matter of
principle (li) and therefore involves
nothing but good, but the emergence of the Seven Feelings includes material
force (qi) and therefore involves
both good and evil.7
In a reply written to T’oegye in
1559, Gobong contends that to say that the Four Beginnings are produced by
principle and are therefore nothing but good, and that the Seven Feelings are
produced by material force and therefore involve both good and evil, is to
differentiate the one from the other and make them two distinct things.
However, principle and material force are always combined in actual things, and
are inseparable.8
In a reply written to Gobong in
1560, Toegye agrees that the Four Beginnings and Seven Feelings are equally
feelings, but he says the Four Beginnings correspond to the original goodness
of human nature, while the Seven Feelings correspond to changes in human nature
that may be caused by external conditions. Toegye agrees that principle and
material force are interdependent, and that just as there can be no material
force without principle, there can be no principle without material force. But
he suggests that the Four Beginnings are predominantly a matter of principle,
and that the Seven Feelings are predominantly a matter of material force.
In a reply to Toegye, Gobong says
that although the Seven Feelings combine principle and material force and
involve both good and evil, the Four Beginnings are actually only those of the
Seven Feelings that are in accord with principle and are good.9 Both
the Four Beginnings and the Seven Feelings emerge from the same source: the
mind and heart. The Four Beginnings are not a distinctive set of feelings that
only arise from principle and not from material force.10
In a reply to Gobong, Toegye
suggests that to say the Four Beginnings and Seven Feelings are the same, with
nothing distinguishing them, is to say that principle and material force are
the same, with nothing distinguishing them.11
In a letter written
to Ugye in 1572, Yulgok explains that material force is what principle “mounts
upon” (like a rider mounting upon a horse). Without principle, material force
has nothing to guide it, and without material force, principle has nothing upon
which to mount. Principle and material force are interdependent; there can’t be
one without the other. “The Four
Beginnings are the good side of the Seven Feelings, and the Seven Feelings are
a comprehensive term that includes the Four Beginnings,” says Yulgok.12
The term, “The Four Beginnings,” is just another term for the subset of Seven
Feelings that are good feelings. The Seven Feelings include the Four
Beginnings.13
In a reply to Yulgok, Ugye compares
the relation of principle and material force to that of a rider and a horse.
Without the horse, the rider cannot come and go, but without the rider, the
horse will stray from the proper path.14
In a reply to Ugye, Yulgok says that
principle is formless, but that material force has form. Principle pervades, but material force delimits. Principle has no beginning or end, no before or after, and it isn't subject to the constraints of space and time, but it makes all concrete form and activity possible.15
FOOTNOTES
1The Four-Seven Debate: An Annotated Translation
of the Most Famous Controversy in Korean Neo-Confucian Thought, by Michael
C. Kalton, with Oaksook C. Kim, Sung Bae Park, Youngchan Ro, Tu Wei-Ming, and
Samuel Yamashita (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994).
2D.C. Lau translates this saying of Mencius as “The
heart of compassion is the germ of benevolence; the heart of shame, of
dutifulness; the heart of courtesy and modesty, of observance of the rites; the
heart of right and wrong, of wisdom. Man has these four germs just as he has
four limbs.” (Mencius, translated by
D.C. Lau, New York: Penguin Books, 1970, pp. 82-83).
3Irene Bloom translates this saying of Mencius as
“The mind’s feeling of pity and compassion is the sprout of humaneness (ren); the mind’s feeling of shame and
aversion is the sprout of rightness (yi);
the mind’s feeling of modesty and compliance is the sprout of propriety (li); and the mind’s sense of right and
wrong is the sprout of wisdom (zhi).
Human beings have these four sprouts, just as they have four limbs.” (Mencius, translated by Irene Bloom, New
York: Columbia University Press, 2009, p. 35).
4Deborah Sommer, “Xing qing (The nature and feelings),” in The Encyclopedia of Confucianism, edited by Xinzhong Yao (Abingdon:
Routledge, 2003), pp. 701-702.
5The
Doctrine of the Mean, translated by A. Charles Muller, 2016, online at http://www.acmuller.net/con-dao/docofmean.html.
6Lisa Raphals, “Reflections of filiality, nature,
and nurture,” in Filial Piety in Chinese
Thought and History, edited by Alan K.L. Chan and Sor-hoon Tan (London:
RoutledgeCurzon, 2004), p. 217.
7The Four-Seven Debate: An Annotated Translation
of the Most Famous Controversy in Korean Neo-Confucian Thought, by Michael
C. Kalton et al. (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994), p. 1.
8Ibid.,
pp. 4-6.
9Ibid.,
p. 9.
10Ibid.,
p. 32.
11Ibid.,
p. 55.
12Ibid.,
p. 131.
13Ibid.,
p. 134.
14Ibid.,
p. 140.
15Ibid., pp. 175-176.
Friday, April 6, 2018
Revolutionary Love
What is revolutionary love? Is it a theological, religious,
ethical, philosophical, or political form of expression, or is it perhaps all
of these? When does love become a revolutionary act? Is revolutionary love the
kind of love that is required in order to change the world? Where does the love
revolution begin?
What happens to us when we feel,
express, are touched by, or are empowered by revolutionary love?
The answers to these questions may
depend in part on whether the kind of fundamental change produced by
revolutionary love is psychological, moral, political, social or institutional
in nature.
There may of course be many kinds of
love: romantic, parental, filial, sisterly, and brotherly. There may also be
love of one’s family, love of one’s friends, love of one’s community, love of
one’s country, love of God, love of self, love of one’s neighbor, and love of
the stranger. Can each of these kinds of love be in some cases revolutionary?
If so, then there may be many kinds of revolutionary love.
Revolutionary love, as described in The New Testament, is the kind of love that teaches us to love our enemies, and
to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). It’s also the kind of love
that teaches us to “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with
one another…Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in
the sight of all…if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him
drink…Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans
12:14-21).
Revolutionary love is also the kind
of love that changes others when they see that we have only love, and not
bitterness or hatred, in our hearts. It reconciles us with others, and others
with us. It enables us to overcome our differences, and it motivates us to
promote social harmony and cooperation. It’s also a kind of love that may be so
powerful that it changes our whole way of looking at the world. It may also
encourage others to reciprocate with kindness and understanding.
Denise Levertov’s poem, “Prayer for
Revolutionary Love” (1975), begins with the lines:
“That a woman not ask a man to leave
meaningful work to follow her.
That a man not ask a
woman to leave meaningful work to follow him.”1
Thus, Levertov suggests that love may be revolutionary
insofar as it fully allows for and respects the personal autonomy and moral
agency of those who share it.
Thomas Jay Oord (2017), a professor
of theology and philosophy at Northwest Nazarene University, describes
revolutionary love as a kind of love that promotes overall well-being, not only
individually or locally, but also collectively or globally. He argues that “revolutionary
love works to overcome, overthrow, and oppose structures, systems, or
authorities that undermine overall well-being. Revolutionary love seeks justice
in the face of evil.”2 He also argues that “We need revolutionary
love when the status quo and the established systems disenfranchise, oppress,
and degrade our lives and our planet…Revolutionary love opposes the status quo
whenever the status quo does harm and evil, whether at the local, national, or
international levels.”3
Revolutionary love is also the kind of
love that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. describes in a sermon entitled “Loving
Your Enemies,” which he delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in
Montgomery, Alabama, on Nov. 17, 1957. Dr. King may in some ways be described
as a revolutionary, and his preaching, ministry, and civil rights activism may in some ways be described as an effort to promote revolutionary
love. What he says we must recognize is that
“Within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the
worst of us, there is some good. When we come to see this, we take a different
attitude toward individuals. The person who hates you most has some good in
him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it…
And when you come to the point that
you look in the face of every man and see…what religion calls “the image of
God, you begin to love him…Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all
men, so that you love everybody, because God loves them…
and...there is a final reason I think
that Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” It is this: that love has within it a
redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms
individuals. That’s why Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” Because if you hate
your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if
you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the
power of redemption.”4
Serene Jones (2017), a
professor of theology and President of Union Theological Seminary, explains that
just as there may be many kinds of love, there may be many kinds of
revolution. Thus, there may be “revolutions of loves.”5 She explains
that great harms may sometimes be perpetrated under the guise of “love,” and that revolutionary love must therefore be committed to telling the truth about
social inequity and injustice. Revolutionary love
“recognizes our fundamental interconnection and
interdependence as human beings with one another and with our planet. It
affirms the fundamental equality and value of every human being…and the
fundamental value of the planet in which we find ourselves. It also goes beyond
a justice-based, distributive understanding of equal value and steps into the
space where we imagine how to actually care for one another, how to have our
lives invested in the pursuit of the well-being of the other.”6
Jones also explains that
revolutionary love is not simply or exclusively a Christian theme or concept,
and that love, justice, and promotion of overall well-being are at the center
of a variety of religious traditions. Revolutionary love is also a theme
that has secular or nonreligious meanings and implications.
John J. Thatamanil (2017), a
professor of theology at Union Theological Seminary, also argues that
revolutionary love is not a narrowly Christian category, but rather an
interreligious comparative category that may be useful in comparing the Christian,
Buddhist, and Hindu traditions. Thus, for Engaged Buddhists, revolutionary love
may be a political expression of karuna
(compassion) or metta (loving-kindness),
and for Gandhian Hindus, it may be an expression of ahimsa (non-injury or non-violence).7 Thatamanil quotes
the words of the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh:
“Aware of suffering caused by exploitation, social
injustice, stealing, and oppression, I vow to cultivate loving-kindness and
learn ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants, and minerals.
I vow to practice generosity by sharing my time, energy, and material resources
with those who are in real need. I am determined not to steal and not to
possess anything that should belong to others. I will respect the property of
others, but I will prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the
suffering of other species on Earth.”8
Thatamanil also quotes the words of Mohandas K. Gandhi:
“I accept the interpretation of ahimsa, namely, that it is not merely a negative state of
harmlessness but it is a positive state of love, of doing good even to the
evil-doer. But it does not mean helping the evil-doer to continue the wrong or
tolerating it by passive acquiescence. On the contrary…Non-cooperation is not a
passive state, it is an intensely active state—more active than physical
resistance or violence. Passive resistance is a misnomer.”9
FOOTNOTES
1Denise Levertov, “Prayer for Revolutionary
Love,” in Selected Poems (New York:
New Directions Books, 2002), p. 106. Online at https://books.google.com/books?id=h9FX2cgifcMC&pg=PA106&lpg=PA106&dq=denise+levertov+prayer+for+revolutionary+love+selected+poems&source=bl&ots=TxErzsJ0yv&sig=8WwRF7oxR7jG3deOrjBQnJme0Nw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZlY7Jh6baAhWIvVMKHcgVAC8Q6AEIRTAD#v=onepage&q=denise%20levertov%20prayer%20for%20revolutionary%20love%20selected%20poems&f=false.
2Thomas Jay Oord, “Revolutionary Love,” March 22,
2017, online at http://thomasjayoord.com/index.php/blog/archives/revolutionary-love.
3Ibid.
4Martin Luther King, Jr., “Loving Your Enemies,”
Sermon Delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church,The Martin, Luther King, Jr. Papers Project,
Stanford University, online at https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/loving-your-enemies-sermon-delivered-dexter-avenue-baptist-church.
5Serene Jones, “Revolutions of Loves,” in Toronto Journal of Theology, Vol. 33,
No.2, 2017, p. 159.
6Ibid.,
p. 161.
7John J. Thatamanil, “Revolutionary Love as
Shared Interreligious Comparative Category: Christian Engagements with Engaged
Buddhism and Gandhian Nonviolence,” in Toronto
Journal of Theology, Vol. 33, No. 2, 2017, p. 169.
8Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ (New York: Riverhead Books, 2007), p
93.
9M.K. Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance (New York: Schocken, 1961), p. 161.
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Charlottesville Ten Miler, 2018
The Charlottesville Ten Miler was held Saturday, March 24, 2018, three days after a snowfall caused the closure of city schools. However, there was no snow left on the ground. The weather was chilly, with a temperature of 31 degrees at the start of the race. There was no wind. The race started on Massie Road, between John Paul Jones Arena and University Hall. It led over a series of hills to the Downtown Mall, and then back over more hills to Alderman Road, and then back to Copeley Road, near where the race had started.
I finished with a time of 1:31:25. This was better than I'd expected. I was able to survive the uphills and coast along the downhills. My pace was 9:09 a mile. I finished 910th out of 2027 participants, 9th out of 27 in my age group.
The winner of the race, in the men's group, was Silas Frantz, from Richmond, Virginia, who finished in 52:43. The winner of the race, in the women's group, was Rachel Ward, from Charlottesville, Virginia, who finished in 58:53. The youngest male in the race, Jack Boyles, age 13, finished in 1:25:40. The youngest female, L. Holland, age 12, finished in 2:01:43. The oldest male, Jim Cargile, age 79, finished in 2:01:43, and the oldest female, Susan Thomas, age 75, finished in 2:20:58.
I finished with a time of 1:31:25. This was better than I'd expected. I was able to survive the uphills and coast along the downhills. My pace was 9:09 a mile. I finished 910th out of 2027 participants, 9th out of 27 in my age group.
The winner of the race, in the men's group, was Silas Frantz, from Richmond, Virginia, who finished in 52:43. The winner of the race, in the women's group, was Rachel Ward, from Charlottesville, Virginia, who finished in 58:53. The youngest male in the race, Jack Boyles, age 13, finished in 1:25:40. The youngest female, L. Holland, age 12, finished in 2:01:43. The oldest male, Jim Cargile, age 79, finished in 2:01:43, and the oldest female, Susan Thomas, age 75, finished in 2:20:58.
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