Entries in Baltimore YM 2006 session (13)
On Living in Harmony with All God's Creation -- Conclusion
Marshall Massey
in 2006 Carey Lecture, Baltimore YM 2006 session, Discernment, Environmental Theology, Witness
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We all know that feeling of helplessness, that the things we’re doing as individuals, good though they are, are not turning the tide. Not all the newspapers we recycle, combined, can halt the clearcutting of old-growth forests. Not all the Toyota Priuses we buy as individuals can halt the build-up of greenhouse gases.
There are three levels at which I believe corporate practice is needed here.
On Living in Harmony -- Parts Five through Seven
Marshall Massey
in 2006 Carey Lecture, Baltimore YM 2006 session, Discernment, Environmental Theology, Witness
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How do we discover what standards God wants us to live up to?
How do we learn to distinguish between the things that people are saying about the environment that are true, and the things that people are saying that are deceitful or manipulative or intended to stampede us in a bad direction?
And how do we find the strength and the personal skills we need to do what’s needed?
On Living in Harmony with All God's Creation, Part Four
Marshall Massey
in 2006 Carey Lecture, Baltimore YM 2006 session, Environmental Theology, Witness
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Why not let’s dream big dreams, and go for them?
On Living in Harmony -- Parts Two and Three
Marshall Massey
in 2006 Carey Lecture, Baltimore YM 2006 session, Environmental Theology, Witness
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4 Comments
The standard liberal Quaker testimonies did not emerge as answers to environmental challenges. They were answers to quite different challenges — for example, the simplicity testimony was an answer to human vainglory. And since they were aimed at different targets, we cannot count on them to hit the environmental targets we need them to hit.
On Living in Harmony with All God's Creation
Marshall Massey
in 2006 Carey Lecture, Baltimore YM 2006 session, Environmental Theology, Witness
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2 Comments
The life-support functions of Spaceship Earth have never been a reason for concern before. This is new territory for our species. These are challenges we do not yet know our ability to deal with.
In this context, then, what should we mean by “harmony with all God’s Creation?”
The Witness Workshop, Conclusion: Exploring the Mechanics
Marshall Massey
in Baltimore YM 2006 session, Witness
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If Nathan hadn’t held the reins of the interchange so firmly, David would have found a way to derail the interchange, out of an intuitive fear of what was coming. And then Nathan’s visit would have accomplished no good at all.
But equally, if Nathan hadn’t permitted David those two choices, David would not have had to accept the judgment as his own, and himself as being condemned by his own knowledge of what God reveals to be right and wrong. David would just have rejected the judgment as Nathan’s opinion.
This art of choreographing the interaction, controlling it just enough, and giving the person being confronted just the right decision points, is what makes for successful witness. I won’t claim that great witnesses sit down and diagram out what they’re going to do…. But they can feel their way to their goal because they know in their gut what works.
The Witness Workshop, Part Two: The Classic Example
Marshall Massey
in Baltimore YM 2006 session, Witness
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3 Comments
Friends, I want to make it clear that cheap feelings of moral superiority are not the point of this exercise.
…There seems to have been a particular incident that crystallized the transformation. That is what I want to talk about now.
The Witness Workshop, Part One: Secular Origins
Marshall Massey
in Baltimore YM 2006 session, Witness
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…This approach to justice gave every member of the community a strong reason to live a life of integrity — so that, if he or she ever found herself in court, perhaps accused wrongly of some crime, her testimony would be respected. There was a real incentive in this system to become the sort of person who could speak as a witness and be believed.
And what is maybe equally significant, this system also trained every member of the community to be alert for the sound and the signs of integrity, in the voices and actions of people around her or him.