SOFiA Newsletter 169 October 2023
 
 
Exploring Values, Meaning and SpiritualityImage of dover beach
 
Limestone cliffs like those at Dover, scene of the poem “Dover Beach”
Subscription Holiday
 
The national committee is proud to announce that there will be no charge for newsletter subscriptions between 1 July 2023 and 20 June 2024. The editor suggests that you use this holiday to encourage some new subscribers. Email treasurer@sofia.org.nz with their names.
 


 
‘If only… ' Thoughts on an unfolding tragedy in Gaza
By Rev Dr Keith Rowe/Oct 30, 2023

I have strongly held opinions about the recent history of Palestine/Israel, but the tragedy currently unfolding in that place raises deeper questions than can be resolved by standard arguments. Foundational questions are posed afresh: Can humanity control its tendency towards violence? Is it possible to live in peace with neighbours who live and believe differently? Can we escape from humanity’s tragic desire to possess what is valued by others?  More…
 
Creating Peace Without Weapons. An Appeal for Peace in the Israel-Gaza Conflict
by Eugen Drewermann, a pacifist German ex-Catholic theologian

I have always said that only forgiveness and non-violence can overcome violence and establish peace. Is that still true, given the current situation in Ukraine and Gaza?
I say, Yes, we have only one possibility of coming to peace. We must not put our hope in weapons and in the peace of the graveyard and the battlefield. More...
Clay Nelson 
 
Welcome to Limbo. Please leave your certainties at the door
A sermon held by the Rev Clay Nelson on 5 December 2021. This is reprinted in his memory as he died on Thursday 2 November 2023.

The Enlightened One welcomes us to Limbo and invites us to enjoy the moment. For as Shunryu Suzuki Roshi puts it: “Life is like stepping into a boat that is about to sail out to sea and sink.”
Limbo is a place we are called to live without the comfort of certainties, other than those of death and taxes.  More...
 
 
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