“The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.” - Lily Tomlin

Luke 21: 5-19
Some people were talking about the temple and waxing lyrical about what a spectacular building it was with its ornate stonework and all the beautiful fixtures which had been donated and dedicated to God. Jesus spoke up, saying, “The days are coming when everything you see here will be flattened. There will be nothing left of these great stones but a heap of rubble.”
“Can you tell us when these things are going to happen?” they asked, “and what warning sign should we watch for? What will tip us off that it is about to happen.”
Jesus replied:  “Be on your guard. Don’t fall for all the doomsday madness. There will be no shortage of people bobbing up and saying, ‘Follow me! I’m the One!’ or ‘The world is about to end!’ Don’t even begin to take them seriously. Every time there’s a new war or a flare-up in some trouble-spot, the fanatics will crank up the speculation again. Keep your cool. These things will happen, but they are not an indication that the end is close. Nations will set out to destroy each other; there will be ethnic conflicts and civil wars; there will be horrendous natural disasters. In many places people will face starvation and there will be terrible outbreaks of disease. There will be terrifying signs, as though the sky itself was going to fall in.
But before all this happens, the world will turn against you. You will be harassed, arrested and locked up in detention centres. Because of your association with me, you will be dragged before the religious authorities, the civil magistrates, and even the political leaders. These hearings will give you an opportunity to speak out for the truth. Make up your minds now not to worry about it in advance. Don’t bother trying to plan what you will say in the witness box. When the time comes, I will give you the words. I will give you such wisdom that all the lawyers seeking to undo you will be left floundering, lost for words.
Even those closest to you may end up betraying you. Some of you will be dobbed in by members of your own family or close relatives and friends. People everywhere will despise you because of your association with me, and some of you will be killed. Nevertheless there is not even a hair on your head that is not safe in my care. By toughing it out you will gain your souls.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

One plot at a time
Sunday, 18 November, Luke 21:5-19
If I could tell when the end times were on their way by the number of wars, famines, earthquakes and plagues that are afflicting our world, I’d say, “Wow! Here they come!” The Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America—you name it, atrocities are taking place. Even in the United States of America, the home of the free, the hope of the huddled masses, the place where no one really has to go hungry, human-caused disaster is everywhere.
http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=3167

Christian Peacemaker Teams Advent resources now available on CPT website
Reflections for each Sunday in Advent focusing on lectionary readings from the Revised Common Lectionary and on a particular CPT project site are now available on CPT’s website.  Pastors and worship leaders may find the pieces useful in incorporating themes of active peacemaking into their liturgies for the season.  The reflections draw on the experiences of CPTers in Colombia; Chiapas, Mexico; Palestine; and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Go to: http://www.cpt.org/publications/worship/advent2007.htm

C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest
An Eastern Mennonite University student has received first prize in the bi-national [USA and Canada] C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest.  Nicholas L. (Nick) Stoddard, a senior biblical studies major from Wellman, Iowa, won a cash gift and a scholarship to attend a peace-related conference for his speech, “Connect the Dots.” His oration focused on developing a mindset that sees how one’s actions have a direct effect on other people, even those at great geographic distance.  The contest was established in 1974 by the directors of the C. Henry Smith Trust as a way of honouring the late Mennonite historian who taught at Goshen (Ind.) College and Bluffton (Ohio) University.  It is administered annually by Peace and Justice Ministries of Mennonite Central Committee U.S.  Students from every Mennonite and Brethren in Christ college in North America are eligible to participate. The winning speech can be viewed at:
http://www.emu.edu/news/nicholas_stoddard.pdf

An Emerging Profession: Sharing Power In A Flattened World
The church all too often plays into the hands of consumer culture, if not for any other reason but to stay “relevant to the times.” It takes only a small step to see how our perspectives on leadership over the past century have been shaped by these sentiments…Emerging churches have gained attention because they tend to reject the consumer model of faith by putting into practice the idea that all come to produce, not consume in worship…
http://gatheringinlight.com/2007/11/12/an-emerging-profession-sharing-power-in-a-flattened-world/

Conference looks at reclaiming hope from cynicism
Cynicism results from misplaced hope, and hope should only be placed in Christ, many participants in a recent Chicago area gathering concluded.  The conference, “Cynicism and Hope: Reclaiming Discipleship in a Post-Democratic Society,” brought about 200 academics, activists, pastors and lay people to Reba Place Church Nov. 2-3.  The idea for the event bubbled up in March as about a dozen young Mennonites from Reba Place and its sister congregation in Chicago, Living Water Community Church, were driving back from a peace witness for Iraq in Washington, D.C. Instead of feeling rejuvenated in their work for justice, they wrestled with depression and disempowerment. Their solution was to gather intergenerational speakers and participants for two days to grapple with questions about sources of hope and the roots of cynicism.
http://www.mennoweekly.org/NOVEMBER/11-12-07/HOPEa11-12.html

[Isn’t Mother Nature great?]
Humans hard-wired for optimism, study finds
Humans are hard-wired for optimism and think good things will happen to them in the future despite no evidence to support such expectations, according to a study by U.S. and British researchers.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/10/24/science-optimism.html

On the Road to Peace by John Dear S.J.: Daniel Berrigan’s ‘Prayer for the Morning Headlines’
I was in Los Angeles this past weekend to speak at the American Film Institute and saw the inspiring new documentary, “Pete Seeger: The Power of Song,” about the legendary folk singer and social activist, now 88 years old. I’ve been privileged to know Pete for several years through his generous help with various demonstrations and projects. The film left me in awe of his lifelong fidelity to the struggle for justice and peace. He’s never given up. To this day, he’s still at it, just like my Jesuit brother, the legendary poet and anti-war activist, Daniel Berrigan, now age 86. That may be their greatest legacy: They never gave up. They stayed faithful to the journey to peace.
http://ncrcafe.org/node/1434

Archbishop encourages world Anglican peace gathering
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has held discussions with the Dr Robin Eames, former Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, about the forthcoming Worldwide Anglican Peace Conference in Korea, known as TOPIK (Towards Peace in Korea) …Dr Williams said that the Conference’s work of “supporting and resourcing the painstaking work of building and sustaining peace and promoting reconciliation” would give a practical demonstration of the Anglican commitment to Korean reunification declared by the Anglican Consultative Council and Lambeth Conference…
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/6208

US Catholic bishops warn against attack on Iran
US Catholic Bishops have said that while the prospect of Iran developing nuclear weapons is unacceptable, in the absence an immediate threat, the USA and other nations must pursue a diplomatic solution to the present confrontation…”From a moral perspective,” Bishop Wenski wrote, “in the absence of an immediate threat military action would constitute an act of preventative war.” The Catholic Church, he noted, teaches that “engaging in a preventative war without clear proof that an attack is imminent cannot fail to raise serious moral and juridical questions.”…
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/6209 

Who’s the Enemy? In Iraq, It’s Getting Harder to Find Any Bad Guys
Who is the enemy? Who, exactly, are we fighting in Iraq? Why are we there? And what’s our objective? Nearly five years into the war, the answers to basic questions like these ought to be obvious. In the Alice in Wonderland-like wilderness of mirrors that is Iraq, though, they’re anything but…None of this means that Iraq has become Sweden. It’s still a violent place. There is no real government; the economy is in shambles; basic services — electricity, water, trash collection — are nonexistent; and most areas of the country are ruled by militias, gangs, criminal elements, or local warlords. But for the first time since the invasion in March 2003, there is a real opportunity for the two main blocs of Iraqi Arabs, the Sunni and Shia communities, to strike a deal. If such a deal were indeed struck, the Kurds would have little choice but to buy into it. Problem is, the United States cannot broker the deal. Having spent five years boosting sectarianism in Iraq, killing innocent Iraqis, busting down doors in small villages, and trying to turn Iraq into an American colony, the United States simply has no credibility left…
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/11/12/5165/

The Anabaptist Vision
Early Anabaptists were persecuted during the Reformation by both Catholics and Protestants. Today, Anabaptism is being rediscovered as a theological vision which can inform the practice and faith of Christians from many different traditions. Read Transcript
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