Feb 1! Another Start- a new outlook!!

ah lindsey... you're a beautiful blessing in my life. thank you for the great conversation, for caring, for pushing, for growing, for demonstrating a beautiful kind of love. :)

so, i need a mini, portable book carrier.. lol.. no, not a bookbag.. a shelf on wheels. i try to put my books in order on the shelving behind my bed, but then i want to search through them, almost daily, they end up slung all over my couch.. well, all over the studio, in general. =)

from God Calling:

Feb 1: Another Start

Take courage. Do not fear. Start a new life tomorrow. Put the old mistakes away, and start anew. I give you a fresh start. Be not burdened. Be not anxious. If My forgiveness were for the righteous only, and those who had not sinned, where would be its need?

Remember as I said, "To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much."

Why do you fret and worry so? I wait to give you all that is lovely, but your lives are soiled with worry and fret. You would crush My treasures. I can only bless glad, thankful hearts.

You must be glad and joyful.


So all things Catholic, eh? I do believe that God works through every denomination. Despite that I am sad about the fact that we do exist in a divided church and the implications that makes or question it call forth, I am grateful for varying denominations or even styles of worship (ie., house of mercy), as they all seem to reach and nourish the alike and varying people. Like we concluded last night, this is my journey. This is God showing Christ to me, more vividly every day. I feel called to find answers, spurred by the questions of my agnostic friends, Lutheran friends, Catholic friends, my own questions, and what I must assume is the Spirit!! :) In this search for answers, I feel I've been led to this point in which I'm at. The frustration lies in several places. 1) my lack of ability to recall all of the information I've learned.. theres just so much, but at times, i literally stumble upon my own words trying to recall what I learned and what made perfect sense months or years ago. This tells me that I need to review things I learn a bit more. :) 2)Trying to share with those who want to understand where i'm at, without implying that they are "wrong." learning to communicate in a way in which is open while still being true to what I do believe.

One of my friends, who calls forth many thoughtful questions, often times starts a little e-mail discussion with myself and another friend, Katie. Katie is an amazing young woman. She works for a Catholic orginzation in Duluth. Katie is at an understanding of her faith, that I hope to at someday. Not only is her knowldege and understanding deep and real, her way of conveying it, is filled with grace, openness, and poise. So, though I haven't officially obtained her permission.. I share with you something she wrote in our last e-mail discussion:

"...it is not nessacarily wrong in my opinion for any religion to think that they are right, otherwise they would be converting to relativism and really believing in nothing. So doctrinely a religion has to defend it's rightness or it doesn't have a base on which to stand. My priest put it like this, "All religions have some element of the Truth, the are searching for the Truth." but obviously being a priest in the Catholic Church meant that to him, the Church was the most "Truth" that you could find on earth. At an ecumenical council that was called a few years ago in response to a controversial Catholic document, Dominus Iesus, an assemblies of God minister said about the Catholic Church, "As I read the document it says two things. First, that Jesus Christ is the way to salvation for the entire human race. I believe that completely, and I thought every other Christain did too. Second, that the Catholic Church believes that It is the unique means of putting the human race in contact with Christ and His Gospel. I do not believe that, which is why I'm not Catholic. And if a Catholic does not believe that, I don't know why he's still a Catholic. I happen to believe that about the Assemblies of God, which is why I'm a member." This document was very important because even though it did assert that the Church was the way to salvation, it did not say that other religions were evil, it did not say that other Christians cannot be saved, and it did not say that non-Christians cannot be saved.

That said, one of the most amazing parts of Pope John Paul's pontificate, was his commitment to ecumenic understanding. In his encyclicals, he wrote about common themes that religions share to build interrelgious dialogue. One of these things is prayer and for Christians, baptism. He was also a huge advocate for religious freedom so that each person could freely chose to follow his own heart. At Vatican II, basic statements on inter religious dialogue (which the pope also took special interest in) were affirmed for the entire Catholic Community. In accordance with the belief that all religions think that they are right, an apostolic exhortation was written, Evangelii Nuntiandi, in which it was said that the Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in other religions, that religions are committed to answering the fundamental questions of life, and (as the Church sees it) preperation for the Gospel written on people's hearts. St. Thomas Aquianas felt that this preperation was for something that we on earth could not fully understand, and that God would make it possible for all people to choose to follow Him, whether on this earth or not,. The Council Fathers at Vatican II made it known that all religions, through "creed, code and cult, strive to lead human beings to respond to the promtings of the natural law and the innate desire for union with the Supreme Being." They gave special approval to Buddists and Hindus, on account of their antiquity, spiritual values and large numbers of followers. Also commended were Islam for their shared beliefs in the prophets and one God, and Judaism for what is know as "spiritual brotherhood" recognizing the roots of our religion coming from theirs.

Basically, no one is condemning anyone to Hell, because we are all on a quest for the Truth which we will never find in this lifetime and I think that it is important for churches to recognize that. But, due to the nature of religion, it is not wrong to think that you are right. Like right now, you think that you are right and Jonathan is wrong and that's good, because like Laura said it will bring you two closer together through communication. That's the point of inter religious dialogue, communication to better understand the Truth. The Church calls means to salvation "grace." "Salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church, but enlightens them in a way which is accommadated to their spiritual and material situation. This grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit." In other words, the theologians don't know how grace works, so we know it's through the grace of God, but not how or why or who, so how can we condemn those who believe differently?"

anyway.. that's probably enough to digest for now..

much love,
l