Grounding Our Faith In a Pluralistic World by John P. Keenan

Grounding Our Faith In A Pluralistic World!

By John P. Keenan

Luke 4:1-13 New King James Version

Satan Tempts Jesus

4?Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit [a]into the wilderness, 2?being [b]tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

3?And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

4?But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, [c]but by every word of God.’ ”

5?[d]Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6?And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7?Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

8?And Jesus answered and said to him, [e]“Get behind Me, Satan! [f]For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

9?Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10?For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you,’11?and,

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

12?And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not [g]tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

13?Now when the devil had ended every [h]temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time (New King James Version).

Teenage Wasteland

I have sat here bye the bye always watching.

No attention do they pay me, as I see them.

Trees and woods,

it's barren land spread amongst my, bed of Roses.

Roots are stirring, deeply in the earth,

the Lilies barely patched so like most roofs.

Teenage Wasteland

of My memory of my youth was not like this.

Am I old and they are young,

memories vague something stirring, prejudiced.

Lilies mixed with Roses.

Horse and carriage take me back to my old days

of Lilac water.

Rings of 'Cheap' cigars held out, about each label.

Holding out against tight jeans.

When I have to buy them,

does she have to make me watch her..try them on.

Burlap is not silk and each cotton face, I see.

The center rose and lily knows this teenage wasteland,

somehow got the best of what is left inside of me.

James McLain

---------------------------

??In the poem above I first found it on a wall under an overpass, where homeless teens were hanging, and one?commented, "That is us, and I mean you as well, we?live in a wasteland."

??Reading this poem over and over, my memory returned to my confirmation and receiving my first Revised Standard Version Bible, in an area where the King James Bible is THE WORD OF GOD, and now the NEW KING JAMES (in the verse above) becomes the contemporary replacement.

??Then and through the years I found myself living in a "wasteland", where my view of religion and scripture evolved into a pluralistic view.

??We, human beings, have difficulty in being open to all points of view, and we wind up persecuting others who differ.

??Reverend John Keenan draws from the Mahayana philosophy developed within Buddhism, employing it as a means to empty our usual alternatives for viewing the world's many religions--whether exclusivism, inclusivism, or pluralism. The goal is to free people from clinging to intellectual positions, enabling them gently but committedly to affirm their vernacular tradition as it is practiced on the ground. It critiques the above approaches and introduces the Mahayana philosophy of emptiness, along with its distinction between ultimate truth and conventional truth.

??Through the years personal experience has taught me to honor all paths, all traditions, for at the heart of each one is the essential truth of loving one's neighbor. All paths show the

God of rainbow colors. That God loves all, accepts all, calls us to see each person as our brother or sister.

?Through the years my vocation, my passion for Jesus of Nazareth has grown into understanding the Bible as the Holy Word of God, as well as the Scriptures of all spiritual traditions-- the same Holy Word, with basically the same message of love.

??Through working with youth in the "wasteland," one experiences the rainbow of spiritual expressions.?We have to empty ourselves of all bias and prejudice and see God through rainbow colors, radiated through the different expressions of time and culture. Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

--------------

Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min.

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

www.temenos.org

415-305-2124