Jesus for Everyone

 

Two months ago I shared that New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine had been elected president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America. This delighted me because in the past few years I led study groups on three different books by Levine, who is an insightful communicator about Jesus, the gospels, and the early church. An important aspect of that insight is that she is a Jew so she brings that perspective to appreciating Jesus and his message, even though she is clear that she is not a Christian. Those who took part in our study groups appreciated her insights which provoked lots of discussion.

Shortly after the election by her scholarly peers the backlash began from anti-Semites who claimed that she was "anti-Christian,” and that she is attempting to undermine Catholicism. They clearly have not read her books, but why bother getting the facts. Others denounced Jews for not accepting Jesus, and tacked on anti-Zionist comments, conflating the actions of modern-day Israel with Jews everywhere.

While this is disheartening it's not surprising. My response was to buy her latest book. Jesus For Everyone: Not Just Christians. The Introduction begins:

Jesus is fascinating. The stories he told, his arguments with fellow Jews, even the way the Gospel writers variously describe his teachings and his works, are packed with challenge, insight, and a fair amount of humor. This material is more than the stuff of ancient history. Jesus' teaching can help us negotiate not only everyday hassles, but also global problems. 

Does this sounds like someone who is anti-Christian? I am a Jesus follower who believes in his teachings, his Passion, the profound mystery of the Crucifixion, and the transformative truth of the Resurrection. While I take a different path from Levine in regard to Jesus as the Christ, God-with-us, I respect her deeply and will continue to learn from her.  

On her Facebook page Levine offered “Hate and demonizing, name calling and slandering, are not good forms of evangelism. And now, ironically again, I have to explain that these nasty posts are not indicative of the best of the Church.”

I would encourage everyone to actual read Levine's work to find out why she is so widely respected. Doing so may even deepen your faith in Jesus. 

Here I Am & Leonard Cohen

If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game

If you are the healer, it means I'm broken and lame
If thine is the glory then mine must be the shame
You want it darker
We kill the flame

Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name
Vilified, crucified, in the human frame
A million candles burning for the help that never came
You want it darker

Hineni, hineni
I'm ready, my lord

from You Want It Darker Leonard Cohen

 Saturday marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Leonard Cohen, poet and musician and mystic, and there have been concerts to commemorate his passing. Cohen died in California at 82 and Rolling Stone decided he was the 103rd greatest singer of all time. I find that a little weird given that he had to be cajoled into singing publicly by Judy Collins and as a singer he was a good poet, an opinion perhaps not widely shared. 

Cohen began life in Montreal and was raised in the Jewish faith. Through the decades he explored Buddhism and he was much more than a dabbler or dilletante. He spent five years in seclusion at the Mt. Baldy Zen Center in California and was ordained as a monk. He was given the Dharma name Jikan which means silence 

The excellent writer Pico Iyer, himself deeply intrigued by Buddhism, visited his long-time hero Cohen and observed "I could hardly believe that this rabbinical-seeming gentleman in wire-rimmed glasses and wool cap was in truth the singer and poet who’d been renowned for thirty years as an international heartthrob, a constant traveler, and an Armani-clad man of the world."

Some of us will remember Cohen's 60s hits, Suzanne and So Long, Marianne, long before Hallelujah of the 1980s, which became the Amazing Grace of a generation.The latter is an enigmatically spiritual song with references to Samson and Delilah, David and Bathsheba. There have been a lot of covers of Hallelujah (far too many) but KD Lang's is the best. 

I've written about Cohen a couple of times, the first not long before his death. I reflected on what turned out to be one of his last songs, You Want it Darker. It includes the Hebrew word "hineni" which is part of a prayer in which the Jewish cantor recites: Hineni he’ani mima’as. Here I am, impoverished in deeds and merit. But nevertheless I have come before You, God, to plead on behalf of Your people Israel.

The cantor and choir of the chorus in the recording are from the synagogue of Cohen's youth, Montreal’s Shaar Hashomayim, The cantor, a tenor is Gideon Zelermyer, with the Shaar choir, and their voices are powerful, ethereal. 

Cohen also reflected on Yeshua, Jesus, the Jew: 

As I understand it, into the heart of every Christian, Christ comes and Christ goes. When, by his Grace, the landscape of the heart becomes vast and deep and limitless, then Christ makes His abode in that graceful heart, and His Will prevails. The experience is recognized as Peace.

Here are the links to those earlier blogs: 

https://lionlamb-bowmanville.blogspot.com/2016/10/darkness-and-light-in-leonard-cohen.html

https://lionlamb-bowmanville.blogspot.com/2025/03/leonard-cohen-and-mezuzahs.html

A Vote for "Love Thy Neighbour"? (with a u)

                                       President Donald Trump doing some self-reflection on Monday

  Merry Christmas in November to millions of  decent Americans this morning. Last night the politics of anger and ugliness was soundly rebuked across the nation and I am one of the untold millions of onlookers from other countries who is breathing a sigh of relief, although few of us are naive about what will be the ongoing machinations of the Grifter-in-Chief.

Among the Democrats who were elected is the first Black woman governor, the first Muslim senator, the first openly gay senator, and the first Native American governor. Seemingly impregnable Republican strongholds were breached, one for the first time in nearly a century. 

One of the most intense races was in Texas where a corrupt wolf-in-sheep's clothing senate candidate who has been having an affair with a Christian influencer (huh?) was challenged by James Talarico, an articulate John Boy looking candidate who was pursuing a Masters of Divinity while serving in the Texas House of Representatives. Talarico has talked the talk and walked the walk of a different kind of Christianity based on inclusion and respect for everyone. This was pounced upon by his opponents and grossly misrepresented. The president attempted to demean him with the moniker Talafreako, to which James turned the other cheek and won the election. 

Talarico employed the image of the boy David against Goliath during the final days. Clever, although through the years I have grown wary of this story in 1 Samuel 17 because of its violence. I prefer James' message of love but the truth is a seemingly insurmountable foe was slain. In his acceptance speech he said: 

In this race, we went up against our own Goliaths: the richest man in the world, the most powerful man in the world and the entire Washington, D.C. establishment. David wasn't as big or as strong as Goliath. He didn't have as many weapons, but he had hope. He had faith, and he had a slingshot. You were my slingshot. The people of Texas were my slingshot. And tonight, and tonight, we defeated Goliath.

Countries around the world, including Canada, will now watch, wait, and negotiate, aware that this heady moment may provoke a doubling down on Executive powers, but we'll savour the moment here in the 51st state. 

On Monday Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham and a relentless Trump supporter posted this message on X 

Tomorrow is a pivotal day in our nation’s history I would encourage everyone to think about—and PRAY about—the consequences of how you cast your ballot. The two political parties are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Your vote does matter and could possibly change the future of our country. So VOTE, and ask God to give you wisdom.

Well, Graham's prayers were answered, but be careful what you pray for. Love thy neighbour -- with a u. 

                  Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks at an election night watch party in Atlanta after her victory.                                                   NICOLE CRAINE/The New York Times

philip lewis

@Phil_Lewis_

·

10h

'In 1860, an enslaved man named Sheppard Peek was listed among the possessions of William Peek. His value was placed at $1400. More than a century and a half later, Sheppard’s great-great-granddaughter, Keisha Lance Bottoms, was elected governor of GA'

Biblical Values this US Election Day

Rev. Benjamin Cremer

@Brcremer

·

1h

Someone told me to "vote according to Biblical values!" So I voted for welcoming immigrants, helping the poor, feeding the hungry, bringing healthcare to the sick, forgiving debts, caring for our planet, laying down our swords, and loving all our neighbors.

This is the fateful day for midterm elections in the United States. Midterms are often a referendum on how the government generally and the President specifically are doing. Usually the electorate is somewhat disgruntled and the party in power fares worse than it did during the election two years prior. 

This time around it seems that the stakes are much higher. Both congressional and senate control could shift from the Republicans to the Democrats with many races in play. President Trump is hugely unpopular and his approval is in the red in the majority of states. One significant group which continues to support Trump is evangelical Christians, the same sector of the population that ensured his narrow victories in two prior elections. 

Conservative Christian leaders have urged pastors to speak out in favour of Republican candidates because they address the "real" issues of abortion, the redefinition of marriage, transgender identity, and illegal immigration. For me these are all dubiously Christian given that Jesus didn't focus on any of them.

 Of course, our Jesus ethic does include the sanctity of human life, so it's important to consider how his teaching influences how we respond to the marginalized in our society. He did say that the reign of God gives priority to the poor, the marginalized, the imprisoned, a message steadfastly ignored by those on the political and theological right in the United States and here in Canada as well. I often wonder if conservative Christians have cut Matthew 25 out of their bibles. 

There is an excellent piece by Peter Wehner in The Atlantic with the title:  

The Issues Christian Voters Are Neglecting: What would a Christian political agenda look like if it were measured by the lives that could be saved, sheltered, and healed?

I can't include the entire article but here are a few paragraphs;

 Why, for example, have pastors and other Christian leaders who insist that they care about human life and flourishing not spoken out against the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, carried out by DOGE, and the disruption of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief? According to modeling estimates by Boston University’s Brooke Nichols, in the first year alone these cuts had resulted in more than three-quarters of a million deaths, more than 500,000 of them children. 

A study in The Lancet projected that if the USAID cuts are not reversed, they could cause more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including some 4.5 million children under age 5. Might not those who claim to be shaped by a Jesus ethic want to speak out and make global development a first-order concern rather than an afterthought?

 Bono, the lead singer of U2 and himself a Christian, cited the Lancet study in a recent interview with The New York Times. “Let’s say they’re half wrong,” he said. “What Christian household, what Catholic household, what Jewish household, anyone of faith, in fact anyone of conscience, would allow the hemorrhaging of human life that is going to happen as a result of these DOGE cuts? It’s unconscionable.”

As a Canadian I have been praying for the outcome of today's elections because I am a Christian and biblical values don't have borders. I'm well aware that given Trump's relentless shift toward autocratic rule he could continue his agenda regardless of the outcome. I can hear the whining about voter fraud already. I will pray for a spiritual awakening in the United States, a shift back toward compassion and decency and genuine leadership in the world. 

King Charles, the Caribbean & Slavery

King Charles joins a Junkanoo parade in Parliament Square in Nassau, The Bahamas, last Wednesday during his tour of the Caribbean. (Ben Stansall/Reuters)

 King Charles III of Great Britain is on a nine-day tour of Caribbean islands which were once part of the British Empire. These former colonies made a lot of Britons very wealthy when slavery still existed and plantations thrived on the forced labour of pilfered human beings. This included the royal family, the aristocracy, the Church of England, and many more. According to a CBC piece: 

From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery by European traders, with Britain transporting an estimated 3.2 million people across the Atlantic, making it one of the biggest slave-trading nations.

There is something of a reckoning underway in Britain at the moment with important and contentious discussions underway about apologies and reparations to those who ae descended from those enslaved people and the countries where the wealth was siphoned away to the British Isles for generations. I can't watch a period piece or a murder mystery located on the glorious estates of the haughty rich without a queasy feeling about how they were financed. 

The British government is considering what recompense might look like and so is the beleaguered Church of England. Some Anglicans are furious about Project Spire, a reparative justice initiative of 100 million pounds to address the trade and exploitation African peoples. Most dioceses are running in the red and churches are closing, so why divert funds to past wrongs? The headline above is an example of the resistance to this initiative. 

Charles may not be in a partying mood during these visits. He is the titular head of the Church of England and the British monarch so while decrying the stain of slavery is important he walks a cautious line when it comes to formal apologies. These concerns are being raised during his tour and a times he looks more like the Artful Dodger than a king. We'll hear how honest he's willing to be in a speech to Caribbean leaders tomorrow. 

Making amends can be messy and even ugly at times. It can also be living the gospel and choosing justice. 

Who Are Your Saints?

 

1 For all the saints, who from their labours rest,

all who by faith before the world confessed,

your name, O Jesus, be forever blest.

Hallelujah, hallelujah!

Happy End-of-Daylight Savings Time...or not, depending where you live in the country, or even within the province of Ontario. It's all bizarre isn't it? Why mess with our circadian rhythms?

I'm content to celebrate All Saints Day instead, the Christian liturgical festival including All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day. Christians "borrowed" the notion from the Druids who believed that this was the "thin place" between this life and the spirit world. 

Christians, at least a lot of us, acknowledge the saints and souls of faith who are part of the cloud of witnesses which surrounds us. 

My dearly departed mother comes to mind today. She had a deep Christian faith that never wavered even though her life included plenty of hardships, some of which could have been soul-crushing. She sang her faith, was generous to many causes, worked at a food bank, came around on accepting LGBTQ2S persons, didn't hold grudges. 

I'm also thinking of a better known Christian, Wendell Berry, an author, professor and farmer. I admired him for decades but when he died in August I experienced the "paralysis of analysis", not able to figure out what to say about such an extraordinary life. An American, Berry wrote essays about the sin of racism decades ago and protested in his 70s against mountaintop coal mining in his native Kentucky. He left academia to return to farming and was eloquent in his assessment of agribusiness that destroyed small communities. Berry's novel Jayber Crow is one of my favourites, a story about nothing and everything that matters. 

I hope you can conjure up a saint/soul or two today. 

Here is the link to a tribute to Wendell Berry by his friend, Norman Wirzba  ttps://www.christiancentury.org/features/wendell-berry-s-vision-sacred-world

The late Bill Moyers, a superb interviewer, sat down with Berry a few years ago

https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A2RRCMPwQudqPPEAqOLrFAx.;_ylu=Y29sbwN1cy1lYXN0LTEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Nj?type=E210CA1286G0&p=wendell+berry+bill+moyers+interview+youtube&fr=mcafee&turl=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%2Fid%2FOVP.1gJrlSOFlSwJH4p1MyCQawHgFo%3Fpid%3DApi%26w%3D296%26h%3D156%26c%3D7%26p%3D0&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D95VcefsgsfE&tit=Bill+Moyers+-+Wendell+Berry%3A+Poet+and+Prophet&pos=01&vid=d7855b64b91cd11d06100dd750889920&sigr=nfZsNqOsCAa5&sigt=uWaQjpbKLIZ4&sigi=eHF5CMt1Nkae

The Indian Act & Truth and Reconciliation

            Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse with Prime Minister Mark Carney 

This past Monday First Nations Leaders met with Canada's first ministers, including Prime Minister Mark Carney. This was the first time a meeting with a primary focus on Indigenous issues and concerns has occurred in two decades. While this was an important initiative it came about, in part. because of the growing concern that the federal government's legislation to fast-track "projects of national concern" will run roughshod over Indigenous treaties and rights. 

During a media scrum during a break in the meeting in Ottawa Premier Wab Kinew of Manitoba, the only Indigenous premier in the country held up his status card and called on the Canadian government to abolish the 150 year old Indian Act. 

I am a big fan of Kinew but there has been some criticism, justified I think, that this moment diverted attention away from substantive issues on the table for this meeting. PM Carney agreed that the Indian Act in racist and seemed open to its abolition. This was a low-risk comment in some respects because nothing needs to happen immediately. In fact, the first proposal to ditch the Indian Act came in 1969 under the first PM Trudeau, Pierre, when Jean Chretien was the Minister of Indian Affairs. It was withdrawn within a year because the fine print indicated that Indigenous peoples would be worse off because existing treaties would come to an end. "Indian" leaders were opposed back then and similar concerns were expressed following Kinew's comments on Monday. 

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak at the AFN's Day of Ceremony on Sunday. (Brett Forester/CBC News)

The Indian Act is racist. It was designed to control Indigenous peoples in every aspect of their lives. They weren't allowed to leave a reserve without permission from the Indian Agent, always a white person. If an Indigenous woman married off reserve she lost her status and the benefits which derived from it. Sometimes the Indian Agent was a clergy person so the suffocating control extended to religion, including the shameful Residential School system. The national police force, the RCMP was enlisted to enforce the regulations and restrictions. 

To say that the Indian Act should be abolished may be true in general terms but the complexity of bringing this about in a way to ensure justice, dignity, and financial fairness will require a deep commitment a succession of governments hasn't been prepared to make. Removing one system, no matter how unjust, requires a clear path to something better.

 The United Church of Canada is committed to Truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, recognizing our own racist past. It's important to pay attention to what is happening here and now.