Quotes

"(T)he Civil Rights movement has a powerful hold on me. It's a point in time where I think heaven and earth meet. Because it's a moment in which a collective faith transforms everything."

"The art of taxation consists of so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers while promoting the smallest amount of hissing."

"The humblest citizen of all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause is stronger than all the hosts of error."

Jesus didn't send his disciples out as "Christian soldiers marching as to war." He sent them out as peacemakers, who would form circles of friendship and thereby enable people to connect with one another. That is still the primary Christian mission: better living through better circles of sharing.

From "Jesus and Buddha,The Parrallel sayings" edited by Marcus Borg,intro. by Jack Kornfield

"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" John 8:32

"One who acts on truth is happy in this world and beyond" Dhammapada 13:2

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Inded, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him". John 3:16-17

"A certain brahmin said to the Lord : "Revered Gautama, it is as if a man were to seize someone ny the hair who had stumbled and was falling into a pit, and to set him on the firm ground-just so, I who was falling into the pit, have been saved by you!" Digha Nikaya 12:78

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid;then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." Matthew 13:44

'If by giving up limited pleasures one see far-reaching hapiness, the wise one leaves aside limited pleasures, looking to far-reaching happiness. " Dhammapada 21.1

"For Atwater, politics wasn't personal; it was just about winning by disemboweling your opponent and then desecrating his grave."

-- From a review (http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/1316) of the documentary "Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story".

Atwater was the originator of the 'Swift Boating" style of Republican politics, Dukakis being the first victim. See the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY3XnLv4YpA.

"I want thus to make the following proposition: theology is not knowledge of God. How could we know God, if the sacred name is a secret? Theology is the poem we sing before this mysterious Absence, in order to resurrect the dead. Noth theo-logy: theo-poetics" - Rubem Alves "Theopoetics: Longing and Liberation"

"Good theology is a kind of transgression, a kind of excess, a kind of gift. It is not a smooth systematics, a dogmatics, or a metaphysics; as a theopoetics it is a kind of writing. It is a kind of writing that invites more writing. Its narratives lead to other narratives, its metaphors encourages new metaphors, its confessions more confssions... -Scott Holland from Theology Is a Kind of Writing
The God of liberation, however, is neither all-powerful nor a powerless sufferer. Rather God is potrayed as one who musr contend with strong and stubborn evil. God suffers, but in confrontation, not acquiescence. God i el dios pobre. - Harvey Cox. 'Religion in the secular city: toward a postmodern theology'

[Like Rilke] . . . we must learn, with trust, to be one with, a breathing with the inhale and exhale of Being, in order that "the god" may breathe through us, and we, through the translation of its breath into song, may be . . . the eyes of becoming and a tongue for Being's utterance.

--Stanley Hopper and David Miller
from Interpretation: The poetry of meaning

“Within biblical references, as well as other ancient texts, the term light refers to the ‘full spectrum of electromagnetic information,’ including and not limited to, visible light; ‘all wavelengths’ of radiant energy permeating all of creation throughout all universes. Light is energy. Light is information. Light is the fabric of creation.”
--Gregg Braden, AWAKENING TO ZERO POINT

"Each cell of your body is constantly shifting patterns of energy to achieve harmonic resonance to the reference signals of our planet.... This module, our mind-spirit-body complex, when placed within the fields of another module (planetary or human) will have a tendency to move into resonance with the higher vibration. In the human energy system, however, the process takes on an additional component: the willingness of the conscious mind governing the body to adapt to the new range of vibration. The primary tool of adaptation is life itself, complete with the bundle of emotion , attitudes, perceptions, fears, and beliefs that provide the framework for the challenges of life. One key factor in this process is the willingness of the individual to achieve balance within the energetic system using the tools of Choice and Free Will. These are the basic tools used to release old patterns of belief, lifestyle, or relationships and adapt to new, more balanced patterns.... The ancients taught meditative techniques to bypass the logical mind in an effort to consciously feel these vibrations as well as sense the pulses of light....

"When Jesus, according to Biblical reports, converted approximately 150 gallons of water into an equivalent quantity of wine, his conversion rate was about a cup of ethanol per gallon of water invested (given the typical alcohol content of wine). Compare that to current processes that use irrigated corn as their carbon source and get less than a teaspoon of ethanol for each gallon of water consumed."

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Since we're "earning points" for quotes, I think I should do more than just quote. A bit of reflection is in order.

This bit of technological evaluation of the wine-making process at the Cana wedding is perhaps just a gimmick that the writer uses to get our attention. Kind of cute. At least it caught my eye.

But there's also material here for theological/ecological reflection on stewardship and the good use of creation. In addition to the water to ethanol ratio, there are issues concerning the large amount of oil used in ethanol production (destroying the energy rationale for corn ethanol) and the need to use cropland for food instead of for ethanol fuel consumption (as food shortages begin to spread).