Nick Brenton, a follower of a network of Spiritual Progressives, lives in Melbourne just a few blocks from the new convention hall. A conversation between a spiritual progressive and a Christian Scientist would naturally lead to an exploration of the meaning of spirituality. We agreed that the disconnect from human will is what allows God into the center of our lives. “Awareness” is the way Nick describes the consciousness into one’s inner being. Awareness is a joy, bringing awe and wonder.

While we share a desire to find God at the center – whether it’s the “kingdom of God” or the consciousness within one’s being – we also agree that spirituality needs to be made practical. Nick thinks that one must take a position in the public sphere and be willing to engage politically. He said that progressives may tend to lean left, but their greater priority is to challenge the polarity of left and right. I also resist polarity, because I find Christ as type of “option 3” – that is, when left and right oppose each other, I think they miss the relevance of spiritual ideas. Prayer, we agreed, in its basic form awakens us to forces beyond the mundane life. This is where we find practical, real solutions for the human experience.

Let me introduce the magazine Nick shared with me: Tikkun — whose mission is to “create a new bottom line, a world that values compassion, creativity, ecological sanity, awe and wonder; and not just money and power.”

Episode #27 of Spirituality and Christianity.com is a discussion about the relationship between Christian Science and New Thought.

Across the aisle from each other in the Exhibition Hall at the Parliament of the World’s Religion in Melbourne, were the booths (or, “stands”) of Christian Science and Association of Global New Thought. Christians Scientists think of their distinction from New Thought, whereas New Thought representatives welcome their origins in Christian Science.

Although we were all busy running around listening to talks on Buddhism, Islam, peace, pluralism, and a mind-boggling array of topics, we also thought it was important to take time to listen to each other! Indeed, Peggy Price surprised me with the similarities I wasn’t familiar with. The description of her healing practice sounded quite familiar to aspects of my own. Her motives – to love, to heal, to care for humanity – resonate with me. Also her commitment to the goodness of God and God’s whole creation is very close to my heart.

Peggy was easy to talk with, and following our initial conversation, I began to wonder if we could plunge a bit deeper. I went back to the booth and found other people willing to engage in conversation too. We dug into questions about the meaning of spiritualism and medicine. Also the role of Christ Jesus in our faith journeys. We discovered the place where we agreed to our disagreement, but this clarification did not diminish our mutual appreciation for each other’s commonalities.

Christian Science was a participant in the first Parliament, which took place in Chicago in 1893. New Thought wasn’t recognized as a religion at the Parliament in Barcelona five years ago, but the Alliance has grown, highlighting especially their love for youth and for interfaith activities at this year’s Parliament. It was good for us to become better acquainted.

The following websites are rich resources for both New Thought and Christian Science:

• New Thought sacred texts
• New Thought Movement Home Page
• International New Thought Alliance Declaration of Principles (includes all New Thought denominations as well as the agreement for adherents, as amended January, 2000)

• Official Christian Science website with discussion forums
• Daily Lift (two-minute inspirationals)
• TMC Youth (Christian Science activity and discussion for youth and young adults)

From a Catholic: “the essence of what my life is about; an expression of my relationship with God”

From a yoga practicing Christian from Latvia: “to know who I am; to see the same in another human being”

From Science of Spirituality: “refers to the Soul and God, which is the only true and permanent part of our life in this world of mind, matter and illusion”

From Buddhist: “something beyond material”

From Sikh: “doesn’t mean anything”

From Jewish: “feeding a hunger to find out who we really are”

From United Church of Canada: “the faith resources that enable me to work for justice and transformation”

From Salvation Army: “the way I transform that Spirit into a way of living; has to be practical; impulse to move me forward”

From Christian: “exploration of our most inner being”

From Christian: “internal resonance of your relationship or experience with the divine”

• Don’t fight the system; work with reporters, and let them see the value of your message.
• Social media gives more voices to more people, so it is important to let the entire faith community become well informed in the internal issues.
• Take care with what is said in social media, because it is very transparent. Writers cannot hide identities very well, and what is said is permanently locked into cyberspace.
• It is important to read and make space for negative feedback. These are often the best opportunities to clarify the message. Allowing negative comments give the audience trust in authenticity.
• Technology in dialogue is important, because its influence is growing exponentially. But it’s important to remember that even tech-savvy people don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. It’s integrity and authenticity that win the day.
• Using the media to convert others is mostly over. What’s important is communicating the story, the meaning of faith.

The theme of the four sessions I attended on the first day of the Parliament of the World’s Religions was understanding why interfaith or inter-religious dialogue is important and how to do it.

The first session I selected was “Strengthening One’s Faith Through Interfaith Dialogue.” Before we could even start talking with others, our instructors, Peta Pellach and Jeremy Jones, instructed us to think through one or two basic ideas from our own faith experiences that were of profound importance to us. Things that we hold most dear. In my practice dialogue, I talked with a Jewish professor from Europe. I learned from our experience that sharing what we want to tell about ourselves isn’t really the goal. A good conversation begins with a sincere interest in hearing the other. And yet becoming more conscious of our own distinct messages and finding the freedom to say so makes it easier to hear the issues most profound for my conversation partner.

Pellach encouraged us to consider whether we are allowing our religions to be time capsules, or time-lines. A time capsule keeps everything inside its self-made bubble; a time-line indicates the movement of the religion through the relevance of human history.

My second session was a Buddhist-Muslim dialogue. Four speakers of Buddhist and Muslim faiths (Dharma Master Hsin Tao, Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, and Ruben Habito) shared their visions for the way both religions can contribute toward resolutions of conflict between the two groups. One pointed out that the theological differences between the two – even though they are quite dissimilar in many ways – they cannot be the excuses for not working together to heal the earth. The greater dividing issues are fear, anger, historical misunderstandings, and other human failures.

Third, I attended the Arizona Interfaith Movement presentation on “Developing a Dynamic Interfaith Movement for Your City or Area.” They are a very active and involved organization in the Phoenix area, focusing on education, understanding and respecting others. Their activities are quite diverse and of interest to people of all religious and faith backgrounds, including atheists. The stories of their activities inspired me to realize there are practical steps any of us can take in our communities that would benefit everyone.

Finally, I stepped into a packed room, where the discussion was on the need for educating religious leaders. This was an academic exercise for many seminary students from around the world, including both papers and group discussion. The papers were inspiring, but the questions in our discussion group were new to me: 1) Does inter-religious dialogue mean learning about or learning from another? 2) What is more important today: dialogue or cooperation? Very deep and provocative questions that led to conversation that could have lasted all night.

These questions provided a good framework for the whole day for me. I concluded that inter-religious dialogue would have to include learning from each other, or else I’d never truly learn about them. And although cooperation would certainly bring about more peace on earth, I”m convinced that dialogue is even more important, because peace will never exist without understanding our neighbors.

The opening Plenary included music from Didgeridu player, Alan Harris, along with the beautiful Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra. Welcome messages from religions around the world showcased singing, dancing, and prayers. The message from every language, custom, costume, dance, and song was — Welcome!

I couldn’t help but want to give my best, whatever that might be, when I felt such sincere welcome from every religious voice we heard. Of course not all of the religions of the world were able to speak their words of welcome, but the ones we heard were Zoroastrian, Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Baha’i, Aboriginal, and Shinto.

Three brief keynote addresses brought us into the heart of understanding and acting on our appreciation of the religious values and insights of others. My take-away message from Dr. Sakena Yacobi was that we have a choice in the way we’re going to confront the sorrows and pains of the world today. Either we can be audiences to those who suffer, or we can become authors of good. The message encourages us to find the means to take action and take responsibility for the opportunities we have at our disposal to accomplish some good for humanity.

I feel welcome in Australia and ready to listen, learn, and take action everywhere I can.

One of the themes of the meeting was an honest self-examination as to why Christian Scientists so often find themselves isolated from mainstream conversation. It became clear that effective conversation is based on a two-way channel. We wondered aloud why there is a tendency among Christian Scientists, who are usually well informed about their own religion, are generally not so familiar with the religions of others.

Although none of the reasons are especially good ones, a couple of them included 1) that we have everything we need to experience our relationship with God, and 2) that the time spent in dialogue with others either slows down the spiritual journey or confuses us with unnecessary knowledge.

An adjustment of our motives gives us a powerful incentive to pick up the dialogue and commit to learning from others. Presbyterian Frederick Buechner once said, “The place where God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” That idea is certainly applicable for all faith traditions, and it illustrates the reason why discourse with others does not retard our spiritual journey.

The Christian Scientists who came to the meeting on Tuesday were among those especially eager to break out of the isolation and to engage in the rich opportunity to learn from others and to work together to address the heart-aches of the world.

I’m heading to Melbourne, Australia today, to arrive in time for the week-long Parliament of the World’s Religions! From December 3 - 9, more than 10,000 participants from 80-plus countries are expected to convene for the world’s largest interreligious gathering.

I’m one of many hundreds of participants who will make a presentation in support of the theme, “Make a world of difference: hearing each other, healing the earth.” I’m also going to participate in an off-site interfaith panel focused on the main theme but available to those not registered for the actual Parliament.  I plan to tweet a favorite aha (http://twitter.com/ShirleyPaulson) moment from each of the sessions I attend, and I’ll post a blog entry here at spiritualityandchristianity.com daily. I hope you’ll catch some of the spirit, flavor, feelings, and spiritual sense of the reasons we need such a gathering of world religions.

I believe in religious pluralism. It means that people of all faiths need each other. We can’t possibly live in harmony with others without understanding something of their religious and spiritual heritage. We also can’t survive without learning our own religious traditions well enough to explain why they are a blessing to all humanity.

I first caught the spirit of religious pluralism when I attended the resurrection of the Parliament in Chicago in 1993, a century after the first truly global dialogue of faith took place, also in Chicago, in 1893.  The plan emerged at that time (1993) to reconvene as a conference every five years at various places around the world. I didn’t make it to Cape Town in 1999 or Barcelona  in 2004, but it’s great to have a chance to get to Melbourne. Stay tuned.

So I hope you’ll join me here and on Twitter — http://twitter.com/shirleypaulson

He’s really good at caring for others and being attentive to the needs of others. But he never liked asking for help for himself — until the day he had no alternative.

I don’t want to give away the adventure in the wilderness in the show notes here, because it’s more fun to hear Bob tell it himself on the podcast. What we can say is that the scary moments brought him face to face with the realization that his own strength and wit were not enough.

We thought together a bit about why so many people face reluctance in asking God for help. Obvious reasons may include pride and doubt. But there are also more subtle excuses that keep us wandering in the dark far too long. Getting over that reluctance has added benefits as well. Bob and I discovered that in our moments of humility, when we surrender to God’s availability and capacity to help, we discovered our own increased desire to help others.

Be sure to check out Bob’s entire website, where he shares the details of this story more fully. You’ll also find his personal reflections and transparent prayers dealing with other tough life situations.

Don’t forget how much we’d like to hear from you too. Have you had to struggle with the reluctance to ask God for help? What made you do it? What happened? Share your comments at the end of the show notes on this website, at Spirituality and Christianity.com.

References in the podcast:

* Bob’s website

* Luke 13:4-5

Sometimes the effort to discuss politics and religious convictions in the same conversation can be hazardous. All the more reason to find a basis for successful conversations.

Will is a student at Principia College, where he’s studying political science. He’s also deeply committed to  his spiritual growth. Our discussion raises questions and uncovers possibilities for those who deeply care about the relevance of spiritual living in a political context.

Whether you lean left or right, it’s encouraging to find common ground in the belief that God’s goodness is available to everyone at all times. It gives hope for peace, and it encourages grace in the midst of our differences.

It might be helpful to clarify one point in the podcast conversation. Near the end of the podcast, Will is discussing “three degrees” of human experience, which come from his study of Mary Baker Eddy’s book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (115). He is distinguishing between the second and third degrees, in which the second is a transitional state of thought to the third level, which includes spiritual understanding and power. Will describes the meaning of that third state of human thought without clearly identifying it; but his point is that it’s helpful for us as humans to be clear about the type of thinking we bring to our experiences. We are able to achieve wisdom, spiritual understanding, and spiritual power (the “third degree”) as we grow spiritually; and on that basis we are not victims of politics, but contributors to society’s well-being.

Please do join us in this conversation. We’re interested in they way you make connections between your spiritual searching and your political pragmatism. Share your comments at the end of the show notes on the website, SpiritualityandChristianity.com.

Some relevant links:

• The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
• Religion and Ethics Newsweekly
• See spirituality.com for podcast reference to Science and Health

Anyone who knows anything about Roman Catholicism and Christian Science knows that we celebrate the Eucharist in entirely different ways, but Michele and I were interested in discovering its profound meaning in both of our lives.

For Michele, the celebration of the Eucharist is an awakening to the presence of “kairos,” or the meaning of life’s moments filled with God’s presence. For Shirley, the celebration (which takes place without ritual) is a pricking of the heart, reminding us of God’s healing love. Our mutual enthusiasm for this sacred prayer is that it calls us to ministry. The cross, for instance, is more than a symbolic reminder of Jesus’ crucifixion. When we think deeply about it, we’re impelled to “take up our own cross,” as Jesus asked of his disciples. We notice others in need, and we confront our own obstacles that would keep us from binding up the broken hearted and seeking healing for others.

What a rich experience it is to share our mutual love of this prayer. We’d like to multiply our exploration on this topic and hear what Eucharist means to you. Would you jot down your own thoughts or life experiences with it? We’re convinced this is a topic that provides lots of space for learning from each other. Submit your comments just below the show notes on the website, SpiritualityandChristianity.com.

References from the show

• Eucharist from Catholic Encyclopedia
• Search “Eucharist” from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy

Meg is immersed in the issues of emerging media, and we decided to explore together the impact this new technology might have on religion, and vice versa. Meg is a Journalism student who was selected as one of the scholarship students attending the Religion Communicators Council (RCC) convention in Boston this year. She was featured on episode #21 also.

Globalization can offer exciting new opportunities, but the  idea of a single currency for the world, for example, can also be scary if it leads to the end of society as we know it. Meg wonders aloud whether journalism technology is contributing to it or offering sufficient warnings against it. Some of our other questions have to do with the relationship between soul and digital machinery. Does God give humanity dominion, or are we victims of our own creations? Does moral strength play a role in the development of technology?

We feel like kids peering into an unopened treasure box, ready to discover things no one ever told us about before. We’d love to hear  your insights and questions too. This is a topic that needs the best of everyone’s thinking. Please join in! Post your comments on the Spirituality and Christianity.com website. Subscribe to the podcass at the link on the right side of the website page: “Sunbscribe to S+C Podcast.” Thanks!

Related Links:

• Ray Kurzweil, The Age of Spiritual Machines
• Ragan on emerging media
• Religion Communicators Council

My mother passed away just a few weeks before Mother’s Day this year, and Judy’s mother passed on suddenly a few years ago. Our different faith backgrounds — in Christian Science and Roman Catholicism — have given strength, love, and spiritual insights to the meaning of our mothers’ lives.

While it’s never a good time to say goodbye to those we love so much, we both found that our own spiritual depth has given us more profound ways of living the blessings of our mothers. Judy’s poem (read on the podcast) is a beautiful tribute to her mother’s affection for the Madonna, and I find my tribute to my mother in my every day actions.

Loving our mothers has also helped our spiritual journeys progress. We have discovered that it’s easier to understand life beyond corporeality, and that the meaning of life is greater as we transcend the limitations of our bodies.

We’d love to have you join the conversation. Please post your comments on the Spirituality and Christianity.com website. And if you haven’t subscribed to these podcasts yet, there’s an easy “Subscribe to S+C Podcast” link on the right side of the website page. Thanks!

Meg is a religiously minded Journalism student at Butler University. She is one of nine scholarship students who attended the recent Religion Communicators Council (RCC) convention this year, and I had the privilege of being appointed as her mentor. This year’s topic - Identity amid diversity - was a perfect springboard for our podcast conversation. Meg has just been discovering the depth of spirituality within herself, so the anchor of her identity is important while she navigates the contemporary pluralistic religious world. I have lived with a more secure religious foundation, but the security of my identity is increasingly challenged in the context of the same increasing pluralism.

Meg and I are happy to discover in our discussion how much the changing landscape of increasing contact with new religious communities has been enriching in our experiences. Meg points out that contact with her new Muslim friend at RCC (another scholarship student) made her ask herself about her own level of devotion. And I find it helpful to learn that others cope with feeling as isolated or different as I do. And an even greater benefit is the unifying power we discover together in our mutual love for God. Regardless of our different religious practices, our desire to be close to God and to live faithfully to God brings the security we need in the midst of the diversity.

Here are some questions we’d love to hear your thoughts on:

1. How have you related to others with strong differences in faith backgrounds?
2. How do you balance the need to establish an identity for your religious community, and yet maintain your unique individuality?
3. How has your experience with religious pluralism benefited your own faith?

Please post your comments just below the links related to this podcast on the Spirituality and Christianity.com website. Also, if you haven’t subscribed to these podcasts, there’s an eas “Subscribe to S+C Podcast” link on the right side of the website page. Thanks.!

Some related links:

• Religion Communicators Council
• Meg’s blog called “Digital Disciple”
• Meg’s church away from home
• Meg’s intership with the Center for Faith and Vocation
• Trends in online journalism

Shirley Paulson, a Christian Science practitioner, and Barbara Zeman, a Roman Catholic, find common ground in the quest for healing. The complexity of healing arises out of the limitations of human language, but the beauty of healing is evident in the closer relationship with God.

While we might be enthusiastic about the spiritual adventure of seeking healing through prayer, we also recognize that the struggle that precipitates the healing often includes the battle with the very thing that resists the healing. Stubbornness is an example. Despite our shortcomings, though, we agree that God or Christ is able to move our thoughts where we need to be in order to welcome the healing adjustment.

People need personal healings, and the whole family of humanity needs healing of injustice, oppression, and economic disruption. We’d love to welcome your thoughts on healing of any kind. Tell us how you’ve experienced healing, or how you heal others. Please scroll down to the “comments” here on the Spirituality and Christianity.com website. Tell us your thoughts or experiences. Thanks!

Some related links:

• Christian Science healing
• Catholic healing prayers
• Beliefnet healing prayer archive
• Healing prayer: online resource for Christian prayer
• Christian Science Sentinel (print version)

We know it’s a topic close to the hearts of many spiritually minded people, as was evident in a recent cover story with TIME magazine, called, “How Faith Can Heal.” Barbara did a healing service with her colleagues at the hospital, and I keep a full time office devoted to healing through prayer.

Even though our traditions and practices are different, we find a common thread in our understanding of the way healing happens. God’s will is harmony, peace, wholeness, and blessing, so our prayers for healing are for the purpose of finding alignment with God. It appears that the sincere desire to be close to God inspires us to find healing for our own broken hearts, broken peace, or even broken bodies; and this is the same inspiration that impels us to extend that same kind of healing for others.

Please join the conversation and tell us your healing experiences. Click on the comments button at the end of the show notes, here on the website, “spirituality and Christianity.com.”  thank you!

References from the podcast:

• Healing in the History of Christianity, Amanda Porterfield, p. 158
• Saint Blaise
• Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp.326-442

Sometimes people who live with a deep-seated spiritual connection with God are challenged to show how that spirituality can be relevant in the midst of lost jobs or lost hope. The theme of our conversation centers on responsibility, because so many people find it tough to take care of themselves during economic downturn, let alone care for dependents and others. Bob and I think that a very spiritually understanding of God, or love for God brings genuine hope and peace. It’s not naive, because finding the connection with God’s grace and government opens our eyes to the presence of goodness.

Please join the conversation and tell  us your stories. Click on the comments button at the end of the show notes here on teh website, spiritualityandchristianity.com. Thank you!

That kind of close encounter with God can seem both scary and profoundly satisfying, and it certainly never leaves us where it found us.

We discussed two basic ways of finding that kind of intimacy with God. One is through love, and the other is from listening, which is of course a form of listening. We both recognize the way some people tend to balk at this type of spiritual experience, so we talk about why we don’t believe these objections are necessary. John’s experience with the writings of St. Theresa of Avila and of Thomas Merton, and my experience with the writings of Mary Baker Eddy give us rich background for the mutual exploration of our subject.

Our stories cover John’s 4-day experience at the monastery at Gethsemane, in Kentucky and one of my aha! moments that lead to physical healing. These types of experience may be relatively brief, but they are fundamentally transforming, Interestingly, we both found that our private, intimate experience with God always ends up enlarging our heart for humanity. Rather than indulging selfishness with privileges from God, we concur that intimacy with God is the foundation for more commitment to comforting and helping others.

Here are links to some of the subjects and events we talked about.

• Study on friendship decline in the United States
  
• The real mission - be close to God
• St. Theresa of Avila
• Abbey of Gethsemani of Trappist, Kentucky

We searched for an understanding of the term “miracle” that doesn’t dismiss the heavenly good within the rest of us who experience the same earth that Jesus did. In my Christian Science practice, we tend to avoid the use of the term “miracle” in reference to Jesus’ works, because it tends to dilute our expectancy of divine power in our own lives. Barbara notes that children had access to the goodness and power Jesus brought about — perhaps especially so because they were children. They are not jaded, and they may anticipate the divine power as natural phenomena.

It became clear to us that the best way to understand those miracles is not through human analysis of a physical event, but rather through the realization of the same divine power within each of us, in all human history. We still have questions about the fig tree.

Listen in, and let us know if you have some ideas to offer. Be sure to leave your comments here at the end of the show notes on Spirituality and Christianity.com.

Here are some links related to our discussion:

• Story of the fig tree
• Diane Treacy-Cole: Jesus and the fig tree
• Syro-pheonoecian woman and her daughter
• Jesus and children
• Jesus’ claim for believers to do greater works than his own
• Gospel accounts of Jesus’ miracles

The biggest question we were discussing this time is how to deal with Jesus who was a human being, but a human being that did and said things that other human beings didn’t say and do. Of course we’re curious about his human family and every day life, but we keep searching for the way his human life relates to ours today. It continues to energize us, and yet everything Jesus did resulted in overturning the status quo.

It’s his message about the kingdom of God that got us going in this conversation. There’s a huge power play in that it Jesus’ message was threatening and yet promising. It seemed to throw the powers of the state together with the powers of the church, until that power-sharing exploded. The “king” part of the kingdom is problematic.

But whether we call it “king”dom or realm, there’s clearly something about the presence of God that changes lives. It transcends history, and it transcends our human bodies too.

Tell us what you think about the historical Jesus. What difference does it make that there was a human being named Jesus of Nazareth who lived over 2,000 years ago? Be sure to leave your comments here at the end of the show notes on Spirituality and Christianity.

Here are some links related to our discussion:

1. Leo Tolstoy: The kingdom of God is within you
2. Stephen T. Davis: Why the historical Jesus matters
3. Lyle Young: The historical Jesus and the living Christ
4. Elaine Follis: Citizens of the kingdom
5. Bart D. Ehrman: Historical Jesus (Course 643 of the Teaching Company)

Mark starts off our conversation by saying Christmas is about hope and also about realizing hope. I couldn’t think of a more relevant way to get into the subject, especially this year. I have relatives and close friends who are either laid off from work or whose houses are in foreclosure. So, if hope is more than a theological pipedream, it’s worth thinking about it.

Christmas, for Mark, is about the way the Lord came into the world making it possible for us humans to respond, giving us ideas so that we can be governed by in our responses to bad things that happen.

Those are kind of startling words. The presence of the baby Jesus was and still is like a signal that there’s another way of thinking about things around us. In my Christian Science approach to everyday human struggles, I also see that “God so loved the world, giving us His only begotten Son…” (John 3), and this is a reminder that we are loved — now. Being loved is a different feeling from the anxiety of loss.

So, how do these “ideas” and this “love” relate to the struggles? Mark says the way it works in his Swedenborgian approach is that the Lord gives us “spiritual principles,” which are an option for us to move to in with our minds and hearts. These principles, or “spiritual realities” are stronger and longer lasting than those natural events — like the job losses, for example. We both found that this spiritual sense of things is very real, despite the immediate problem at hand. It means that Jesus’ birth was a very tangible, understandable event in human history, and that his human presence made his examples and teaching practical to the rest of us humans and our very human troubles.

Platitudes about God’s goodness in the middle of needing enough to pay the rent or mortgage would sound condescending and patronizing if there wasn’t something very real and powerful in the Christmas story. Mark’s point about hope was that the Lord is always showing us how the things of the Spirit really do transcend the “natural” or earthly things.

My experience with Christmas — which is truly an every-day-of-the-year concept — is that no matter what’s going on, there is good to be found right here and now. Opening our hearts and minds to that reality not only makes us feel the love and joy of Christ, but makes us feel generous. It’s so much more fun giving than sorrowing over what we don’t have.

Mark puts it so well. He says, “The Christmas story interpreted spiritually can be thought of as the story of the birth of unselfish love in a human heart — or, the birth of a love of serving other people, of being of useful service, without thought of reward.” I can’t imagine a greater gift than the knowledge of being loved and wanting to love others.

Merry Christmas from both of us!

Here are a couple of links related to our thoughts on Christmas and on Mark’s church, The New Church:

1. ChristianScience.com: Christmas

2. The Glenview New Church website

3. The New Church website

4. Spirituality.com

Barbara is a Roman Catholic who has been faithful to the calling she has felt since she was a young child, to be in the priesthood. While she was young, she hoped the Church would change its policies regarding women in the priesthood, but that hasn’t happened.

I have been raised in a church (Christian Science) founded by a woman, so I have lived with the assumption of equality between men and women in the Church. And yet, I relate to Barbara’s struggle, because Mary Baker Eddy, the woman who founded my denomination, struggled with opposition to the Christian church authority on other topics that were established around the time of the first Church Councils in the fourth century.

Even though the mainstream Christian Church still opposes what Barbara and I find true in our Christian lives, we agree it’s necessary to hold our ground. We both see a need to inspire Christians to return to earlier Church practices that both liberate women and support spiritual healing. Our motives are to be closer to God and to serve others, and we have no interest in opposition for the sake of argument. Barbara is preparing to become a hospital chaplain; and I’m in the healing ministry using prayer and Bible study.

We’d love to welcome your thoughts on the subject. Have you experienced a heart-felt disagreement with the Church you love? If you have, how are you praying about it? How are you being guided to deal with it? Be sure to leave your comments here at the end of the show notes on Spirituality and Christianity.

Here are some links related to our discussion:

• Can Women be Catholic Priests? (video)
• Priest Bridget Mary’s (blog)
• Woman Priest in Asia summer, 2008 (blog)
• Roman Catholic Womenpriest (website)
• Christian Science and early Christianity
• Christian Science pioneer and future ages

Most of my conversations about the Ten Commandments have taken place among Christians. And in general I don’t hear a lot of love for them. Yes, we’re all pretty grateful to Moses for leading the Children of Israel out of bondage and for his courage in bringing the commandments of God to the people. But God’s deal — “Obey my commandments, and I’ll be your God for you” — doesn’t seem fair. It’s not realistic to think we could really obey them all the time. Who could avoid coveting, or bearing even a little “false witness,” or who can really keep the Sabbath day hold all day long?

I wanted to hear a Jewish perspective, because I wondered if my Christian orientation colored the meaning of these commandments differently from Jews. To my surprise, I found myself resonating with Gail’s delight in these commandments of God. I love them too, and I found it refreshing to consider the great blessings available to us by understanding and living these commandments. I would say I love them, because they make me think God has enabled us to live in obedience to them. They’re not threats, but supports to our human journeys.

No doubt, some of these commandments seem tough. I think the last one, the one that says we “shall not covet” is very demanding. But if this commandment is awakening us to see that we have no need to covet, because God is supplying all good for us, then this is a comfort rather than an impossible standard to achieve. Listen in, as Gail explains the beauty of the 4th commandment — keeping the Sabbath. We chew over the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 10th commandments in particular.

Which commandment do you especially love? Tell us how the Commandments work in your life. Whether you’re Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, or even atheist, we’d be interested in your thoughts.

Check out these links to learn more:

• The Ten Commandments
• Gail’s website
• Gail’s recommended Jewish website
• Online Jewish education program
• Christian Science perspective on Ten Commandments
• Various perspectives and problems with the Ten Commandments

It’s strange that it means so many things to so many people, and yet it has held such a powerful hold on diverse people for some 2,000 years. Rather than arguing over who’s right or wrong about its meaning, John Spangler and I found a more useful approach to the Bible’s meaning by expanding our views of interpretation. John is a Lutheran teacher, serving as Executive Assistant to the President at Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, PA. My seminary degree is from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and I am a Christian Science practitioner.

We enjoyed sharing just a few of our experiences with our efforts at interpreting the Bible. John brings out one of the most significant difficulties in our modern-day understanding of the Bible by pointing to the importance of our culture when we read any ancient text. Considering the wide gulf between the culture of the early Christians in the Middle East and the American culture of today, it’s hard to imagine how the words could convey anything of meaning. And yet, the enduring part of the Bible is that it does appear to transcend all the human boundaries of time, culture, language, and history.

John’s story of a woman’s life-size pictures of dead birds, and my attempts to express the meaning of a psalm through ripping paper are two examples of the wonderful adventure of Biblical interpretation through art.

Tell us your stories. We’d love to hear from you. Enter them into “comment” just below this posting on episode #11 of Spirituality and Christianity. Thanks!

From the podcast:

• Religion Communicators Council
• Lutheran Theological Seminary
• Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
• Hermeneutics

We’re talking about the source of grace and happiness. Many Americans may relate to Anuttama’s Anglo-Saxon appearance, his American grown accent, his monotheistic beliefs, and his desire to live a life of grace. But his clothing and his name are non-traditional, and his religious practice originates in India. Despite surface differences, Anuttama makes it easy for his conversation partners to hear him. His kind eyes and gentle demeanor inspire trust and an eagerness to know his spiritual story.

We found a number of perhaps surprising points of similarity in our spiritual foundations. For example, 1) our shared belief in monotheism, 2) that true happiness is found in Soul, not in the body, and 3) that every moment is a precious opportunity to discern deeper love for others.

Since we met each other our work together on the Board of Governors for the Religion Communicators Council (RCC), we share an interest in interfaith dialogue. Although neither of us wants to dilute or lose the close ties to our own faith traditions, we find that interfaith conversations such as this one, is actually a necessary part of our faith journeys. We value and learn from each other, as we discover what spiritual insights and faith dimensions lead to more gracious living.

Here are some links and websites that will guide you to a better understanding of Anuttama’s life:

1. The site all about Krishna
2. Official website of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
3. The news agency for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Judy’s experience as a contributor for PBS’s Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly and commentator for Chicago and National Public Radio, as well as her personal quest for spiritual meaning, continue to draw her simultaneously deeper into the heart of humanity and into the private chambers of her own heart.

One of my teachers at seminary was not at all happy with my own efforts to claim the unity of doing good for humanity and taking time for prayer and contemplation. Judy and I discuss the current tension between what’s known as the “contemplative life” and the “active life.” In every day terms, that means, “Is praying and contemplating God a privilege for the wealthy that keeps them from actually doing something for those less fortunate?”

Both of us draw on our faith traditions to express the power and beauty of what Judy thinks of as monastic practices, and what I think of as prayer. And from those experiences, we’re both convinced that these quiet, private moments of communion with God do contribute to the blessings for humanity.

Tell us what you think about this conversation, here on Spirituality and Christianity.com. We think a better understanding of the monastic life — or prayer life — would benefit not only those who take up the practice, but also the whole world. Click on “Comments” below to contribute to the conversation.

Mentioned in this podcast:

• About Judy and the book, 20 Poems to Nourish Your Soul
• Chicago Public Radio - search for Judith Valente
• Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly website
• Benedictine Sisters
• Mother of God Monastery
• Mount St. Scholastica Monastery

I met Greg Lemon via email; and we ultimately spoke to each other via skype, and recorded our conversation on remote recorders in California and Illinois. While it’s obvious that technology is a convenience for modern living, it can be argued that technology gets us so comfortable we have no need for religious practices. But both of us agree that technology would never be able to replace for us the deep meaning of life we find from our devotion to God. Greg is a self-confessed geek, and I’m struggling to keep up with what I need to keep producing podcasts. So I was interested in hearing how easily Greg makes use of his technological wizardry to provide easier access to the teaching and preaching in his world of religion. But I was also curious as to whether technology can go too far and ultimately turn us into slaves or even victims of technology. Ray Kurzweil argues in his book, Spiritual Machines, that technology has advanced so far that within the relatively near future, we’ll be able to download even our spiritual elements into embedded computers in our bodies. This way, we can live as long as we continue to download our internal computers. The moral dimensions of these issues are deep and complex, but Greg and I concur that our true natures are spiritual and therefore will not be dominated by man-made creations. Let us know what you think about this conversation, here on Spirituality and Christianity.com. As usual, we think this is a very large topic that could benefit from thoughtful discourse.

Click on “comments” below to tell us what’s on your mind.

Let me introduce you to Greg’s faith life on his church website and his personal life on his own website:

Greg’s faith life
Greg’s website: Myth Show and Myth Minute Podcasts
Greg’s podcasts on his Myth Show

We noted that women in the Bible and throughout Christian history have been marginalized, sexualized, demonized, and marked as incompetent — by men. Men wouldn’t do that if they weren’t scared of something. We started the discussion with some evidence of this very deliberate reaction. Mary Magdalene, for example. Was she a prostitute, as the Church Fathers have taught us? Or, was she a spiritually mature, strong leader, as her gospel claims? What about Martha, the sister of another Mary? Why does the emphasis on her character remain on her bustling about as a hostess, when she was also one of very few who confessed to the identity of Christ?

Heidi and I discuss other women throughout Jewish and Christian history, whose lives and characters have been under attack. The common thread we found in these women is that they were extraordinarily strong — spiritually. We could see how spiritual strength could be perceived as a threat, when it is invisible to earthly prowess. But the solution is not in the destruction of femininity, or even the hostessing and attractiveness attributed to womanhood. Rather, a stronger spirituality in both men and women can remove the threat and enable women to make their contributions to Christianity and to the world.

Let us know if you have some further insights to add to this conversation. We feel we just cracked the door open to a very large topic. Click on “Comments” below this posting of episode #7 in Spirituality and Christianity, to tell us what you think. Thanks!

Also mentioned in this podcast:

• Lilith
• Queen Esther
• Ruth, great-grandmother of King David
• Mary Baker Eddy
• Eddy’s concept of woman’s contribution

Ellen became a Baha’i when she was 25 and feels her new-found religion gave her a clear purpose in life that motivates her profoundly. My life purpose is deeply centered in my faith life as a Christian Scientist, too. A prayer from Baha’u'llah, Founder of the Baha’i Faith, includes the basis for purpose: “I bear witness, O my God, that Thou has created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth…” Ellen and I agree that God has given purpose to all that God created.
But everyday living can appear to have either self-made purpose or no purpose at all. “What-are-you-going-to-do-when-you-grow-up?” can weigh heavily on adults who think they have no particular talents or calling. And even “Type A” people who are workaholics sometimes wonder whether their drive is self-made or God-given. Ellen and I try to sort out the distinction between God’s purpose and the human opinions about purpose. Some of our questions were, “What if you don’t feel any purpose?” or “What if your purpose isn’t the same as God’s?” or “How do you get to know God’s purpose if you don’t already?”

Ellen and I love interfaith conversations, and that’s one reason we’re both members of RCC (Religion Communicators Council). We’ve found that listening to people whose religions we don’t know well helps us know how we’re understood by others, and it strengthens our ability to love and understand all God’s creation in new ways. Join us in this discussion, and let us know what you think about purpose.

Some words and ideas mentioned in this podcast:

• Jesus’ parable of talents
• Baha’u'lla on God’s purpose for creation: to know and love God
• Website of the Baha’is of the United States
• eNewsletter of the Baha’is of the United States

What inspires both Stan and me in our desire to forward justice is a shared conviction that justice is a divine right for everyone. Stan cites numerous examples from the Bible where the voice of God rebukes oppression and inspires dignity for all humanity. Whoever has been systemically locked out of society — whether women hitting glass ceilings, Jews bombarded with anti-Semitism, Muslims confronting Islamaphobia, African-Americans deprived of educational opportunity — each individual has a right to succeed in his or her life purpose.

A thread throughout the conversation returned to the significance of God’s presence. Where there’s a welcome of God, there’s an innate conviction to do something about injustice and an assurance that quiets fear. The fire that keeps Stan searching for justice was kindled in his faith journey since he was young. He was a foot soldier under Martin Luther King in Chicago, and he continues to find opportunities today to bring people of all different backgrounds together.

People who want to participate in social justice often find that it feels like a promise to God, rousing them to defend and support God’s precious creation. When it starts in the heart, it inevitably finds expression in human action. Please let us know your own prayers and experiences with social justice, right below this posting of episode #5 of Spirituality and Christianity. Thanks!

Also mentioned in the podcast:

• Children of Israel escaping Egypt
• Message of Prophet Amos
• Message of Prophet Micah
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Martin Luker King, Jr. Museum
• Desmond Tutu
• Janis Joplin: Freedom’s just another word
• Oak Park, Illinois