Teen crypto star Erik Finman is famous for his investment in Bitcoin back in 2011. At the age of twelve — at $12 a coin, the high schooler’s $1,000 gift from his grandmother earned over $4 million during the cryptocurrency’s 2017 all-time price highs.
Finman sealed further fame by winning a bet with his parents. They told him if he became a crypto millionaire, before the age of 18, he could opt out of college. He has announced plans to purchase a Lamborghini with a personalized license plate that highlights his 2.1 grade point average in high school.
When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
One thing is certain. When it comes to protecting our children, there are no easy answers. Sure, we could do a better job of flagging those that are correctly or incorrectly perceived as a danger to themselves and others. Although the powers that be would likely do so with the kind of coercive labeling that may outcast them for life. We could arm our teachers and administrators. That is until such time as one of them, holding a gun, is shot by a uniformed and adrenaline charged police force bursting into a chaotic active shooter situation. Then, of course, there’s always the solution of making it more difficult to obtain guns, as if someone blocked from buying one won’t be able to 3D print one.
We could home school our kids. But just how do we do that without depriving them of healthy socialization challenges? And, on that point, just what is a “healthy” socialization challenge? Our schools clearly have other problems. There are the mean kids whose chief delight is bullying the most awkward, socially challenged, or vulnerable of their peers. There are teachers that are fond of saying “There is no such thing as a stupid question.” Then, a small percentage of these very same teachers give condescending answers in ways that embarrass or shame a student before their classmates.
There are parents, so marginalized through a lack of education, a loss of legal standing, or some other impediment to participation, that they fail their kids in ways not thoroughly understood. There is a counterfeit wisdom that pervades the judiciaries, the legislatures, and the executive mansions. It is one that angers our youth while also offending the finely tuned hypocrisy detector that is an integral part of the critical thinking skillset essential to the process of education. We have taught our children well. And we can be assured that, when they call BS, it is because the Emperor has no clothes and that the prostituting politician is a BS artist first and foremost.
By contrast, statesmanship demands that the problem solver is precisely focused on mitigating the causes and not just the effects. Joseph Malin’s 1895 poem, The Ambulance Down in the Valley, underscores the kind of shortsightedness that costs lives. There’s no shortage of politicians advocating for the inclusion of anyone, who suffers from any form of mental disharmony, in a database that is designed to operate at the core of, what is in essence, a sophisticated shunning system. These same politicians have not come to grips with the fact that their efforts to gut every promising health care initiative, one that might even chance to include comprehensive mental health services, weakens the fence at the top of the cliff.
During the dark ages human knowledge and most of its derivatives were largely under the control of other retardant forces, at that time operating in the name of an institutionalized church. During the enlightenment, a great humanity began to view the fresh flow of information as trifurcated. Facts, meanings, and values as they are effectively streamed through the complementary intellectual disciplines of science, philosophy, and religion are surprisingly synergistic. It became readily apparent, the technique of isolating one’s self from the totality of objective reality is a dead end.
The Humanist Societies of England, as well as Humanist Manifestos One and Two, defined their value proposition as “Religious Humanism.” The secularization hypothesis denies this provable fact and thereby places its own value proposition on a plane of unreality. It resides at the heart of chaos. The faulty belief, that as societies progress through modernization and rationalization, faith loses its authority in all aspects of social life and governance, relies on revisionist history and a definition of religion that betrays the reality of its etymology as well as the great majority of contemporary use cases.
The term religion stems from the Latin religiō, meaning conscientiousness. Regina Westcott-Wieman, in her 1935 book Normative Psychology of Religion, wrote “The characteristics of religious behavior find their differentia in the basic definition of religion: Religion is devotion to what one holds to be supremely worthful not only for himself but for all human living. As has been pointed out, the two elements which persist and stand out strongly are devotion and supreme value. Where religion is genuine, we shall find these two elements in the functioning relationship between the devotee and his operative situation.”
As the term is used today one can be religious about auditing their bank statement, washing their car, and clipping their toenails. To the secularist and the materialist, religion refers almost exclusively to a stained glass faith. Although, it is only the religion of final value that asks the question “Is there a God? And, if so, what is my relationship with this God?” Whether or not one embraces a religion of final value, religion is the domain of values and the substance of goodness. The religionist advocates something.
The intellectual disciplines feature a triune relationship that is indissolubly linked. This intellectual triad has been knocked off balance, in the minds of some, through the attempted transformation of our society away from close identification and affiliation with religious values. True religion is always personal and always positive. Materialistic counselors that fail to recognize this fact are self-limiting to the point where they can offer very little of value or be, for that matter, truly effective.
The remedies we often depend upon are not only half baked, they are half baked without leavening. They fail to differentiate between gravity laden physical realities and the uplifting value of spiritual realities. The brain is an electrochemical mechanism. The mind is en-circuited on a higher level. It is a spiritual endowment that precisely interfaces with a healthy material brain. Whether one’s concept of spirituality refers to the collective consciousness of a great humanity, or it places its faith in an approachable God, the Latin term spīritus, refers to an activating and breath imparting force.
When spiritual growth is stunted, maladjustment occurs. Emotional cascades are often the result of rumination which focuses attention upon the symptoms of one’s distress. This may be accompanied by a fixation on the possible causes and consequences, as opposed to the search for a solution. Often one becomes self-loathing or directs their hatred towards others. At this juncture certain cognitive distortions may also come into play such as dwelling on the negatives and disqualifying anything positive. A de-facto preference for faulty perception could result with what psychometrician Renée Grinnell described as leading to systematized delusions constructed to protect the coherence of a single central delusion.
A unified personality is dominated by love and that promotes a fermentation of those things that serve to nourish the soul. A loving person tends to cultivate an appreciation for the enduring value of individual advancement in one’s self as well as one’s friends. The qualities of a spiritual person include loving service, enthusiastic appreciation, enduring peace, forgiving tolerance, sincere fairness, unfailing goodness, courageous loyalty, merciful ministry, unselfish devotion, undying hope, confiding trust, and enlightened honesty.
Just why do you suppose such a predictable array of positive qualities presents whenever spiritual growth occurs? Could it be that such a maturing individual is exhibiting an affinity for the same golden rule that is embraced by each of the world’s major religions? How would you like to be treated? True wisdom is not dependent upon a stagnant collection of negative injunctions. It is rather, continually refreshed through experiential growth complemented by a series of positive admonitions.
Health, mental health, is always dependent upon continual growth. Such growth may occur independent of intellectual understanding, philosophic acumen, social level, cultural status, or other acquirements. But it must be conversant with reality. Accordingly, growing individuals inevitably seek to align themselves with their highest and best understanding of reality. Such trueing only takes place in light of actual conditions. For only then can an individual become the arbiter of their own destiny and become effective in improving those conditions.
When politicians are focused upon funding their next campaign, they turn their attention to special interests while catering to their every indulgence. A self-serving, money grubbing politician exemplifies all that is wrong within a seriously diseased system of governance. As with any cancer, such interstitial malignancies must be excised if altruistic service, in the form of true statesmanship, is ever to take hold.
As we examine causes and effects, it becomes abundantly clear that there is no positive change in the absence of that spiritual idealism that serves to advance an individual or group from one level of attainment to the next. At the heart of true statesmanship is a fervent desire to serve a greater good. The true leader must be service motivated. The statesman is occupied exclusively with the highest and best interests of a broad constituency. By this means, he or she becomes a remedy for a variety of concerns, an emissary of social uplift, and a leavening that serves to inspire the next generation of leaders.
Our cabin fever is soon to break and, as our minds turn to thoughts of spring, these hills are very much alive with the sound of music. Julie Andrews taught us the “Do-Re-Mi” song as children. If we can understand that, we’ve already learned the basics of an Appalachian tradition akin to what was carried by the circuit riding singers and preachers of the early 1800’s. It is known as either sacred harp or shaped note singing where the “harp” is the voice you were given at birth.
Notation for Shaped Note Singing
In shaped note music notation, each interval of the standard musical scale has a different name and shape. It’s easy to memorize the shapes and the intervals they represent which makes old time music more accessible, while its enthusiasts are more agile, able to sing and read music in any key.
The late Quay Smathers was born in 1913, just west of Asheville. He is remembered as a fine example pointing to the lasting legacy of shape note singing. Family and friends recall that Smathers exuded a warmth through his music. One reminisced “It’s as if each note came with a flickering tongue of the Holy Spirit . . .”
This spring, on April 14, 2018, the Quay Smathers Memorial Singing School will hold its third annual gathering in Clyde, North Carolina devoted to carrying on Quay’s work of raising up shaped-note singers. The school teaches using The Christian Harmony songbook. This book, published in 1866, featured additional notation that effectively upgraded the “fa so la” system of four syllables and introduced the seven-syllable “do re mi” system that is used throughout Western North Carolina. The Seattle Voice Lab is where one can go to get help with their voice training.
It is for those who long to sing in the traditional style, originally heard throughout the Blue Ridge mountains.
The singing school is taught by leaders in the Blue Ridge style of shaped-note singing. The faculty includes Quay’s daughters as well as his son-in-law. They will be joined by the Christian Harmony Singers. Those who attend will gain a deeper understanding of the sacred harp tradition plus a proficiency in singing shaped-notes as they were originally sung in the Southern Appalachians.
When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
The Lost Chord performs at Jubilee on Friday, May 26, 2017. Pictured left to right: Sherman Hoover – bass and vocals, Todd Byington – acoustic guitar and vocals, Kate Barber – flute and tambourine, Paul Quick – acoustic and electric guitar and vocals. Behind them are Garry Byrne – keyboards, James Wilson – drums and percussion. Nathan Ebanks provides immersive visual effects via digital projection. – Photo by Bob Kalk
“Gazing past the planets, looking for total view.” With this lyric from the popular sixties album To Our Children’s Children’s Children, a Moody Blues tribute band opens a unique celebration of creation spirituality with the Jubilee Community in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. It was on a warm night in late May last year, that Jubilee hosted the debut performance of The Lost Chord. And the band would sing on. “Wonders of a lifetime, right there before your eyes.”
Mike Parvin attended the Friday night gathering and said “At the end of the concert I found myself standing, applauding and cheering this band.” I then realized that I was also standing, applauding and cheering the sounds and songs of the Moody Blues. This is what a tribute band is for – celebration! Were they good? Yes. Did they succeed? Yes…YES!”
The group performs in and around Asheville carrying a message that resonates with the Jubilants as well as anyone else looking for a brand of spirituality that is a bit more cosmic in scope. To contact the band visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/thelostchordmoodybluestribute/
While a Sunday morning celebration within Jubilee’s diverse community draws liberally from the Judeo-Christian scriptures for inspiration, participants might also enjoy insights from the Beatles or Dylan. At times the congregation is held, enraptured, by the sound of a Buddhist bowl. At other times they will engage with a highly versatile house band that offers a little something of everything, from Bach to Zulu. For any newcomer, it quickly becomes apparent the Jubilants are a wildly independent lot. But, when it’s time for celebration they are all in, just as they were admonished to be as the Moody Blues and the Lost Chord sang “Baby there’s no price upon your head, sing it, shout it!”
“Eighty percent of what we do is music” according to Howard Hanger. It was this same Reverend Hanger who, in May of 1984, commenced a gathering of creative people to develop an artistic interpretation of eight “Seeds of Celebration.” The group shared stories, songs, dance, poetry, paintings, and other expressions in a highly interactive, participatory way. From these humble beginnings the Jubilee Community was born.
From the time of its inception, Jubilee has enjoyed the support of area Baptist, Buddhist, Jewish, Methodist, Episcopal, Unitarian-Universalist, and United Church of Christ congregations. It has borrowed from these traditions together with Sufi, Native American and others while fostering a “Creation Spirituality” that honors all of creation as a “Holy Gift.” Among the many affirming messages displayed within Jubilee’s Earth friendly building is the statement that “Diversity of faith enriches our community.”
During the thirteenth century Thomas Aquinas wrote “We can and do relate to the universe as a whole since we are a microcosm of that macrocosm and this relationship “intoxicates” us.” Jubilant’s clearly believe that Aquinas was on to something. While this way of thinking is, perhaps, as old as humanity, it may have been best articulated in text that a scribe in ancient Egypt produced as a legacy for his son. The Instruction of Amenemope dates back to the the Ramesside Period, during which the tribes of Israel first became a unified nation. For anyone who tends to view our universe of universes in a creation spirituality context, there is one line from this text that sort of jumps out at you:
“For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen.”
Pastor Hanger describes a personal awakening of sorts in this way: “I studied under Margaret Mead. She was an anthropologist.” He goes on to say: “One of the things that turned my head around when I was twenty years old was when she said “Go to any archeological site, anyplace in the world, and one of the first things you will find are sacred artifacts. We’ve always sought to connect with that which we do not understand.”” At that point Hanger recalls that he thought to himself “Yes, yes! That’s it, that’s it, that’s it! Were yearning for that.”
“So that’s really what we try to do at Jubilee We don’t try to give anybody any answers. But, we try to open them up to ask better questions about their life, about life on this planet.” Hanger goes on to say “Music is . . . We all know it’s a social lubricant. But I say it’s a spiritual lubricant too. It gets you out of your set kind of ways of thinking and being. It opens the door to other possibilities.”
“The whole western church is built on music.” Hanger said. “The only reason we have Bach is because he was hired by a church and he had to write all these things. And so, music is crucial, absolutely crucial in Jubilee. Many people are attracted to Jubilee because of the the music. It offers such variety.”
Pastor Howard Hanger rings a singing (Buddhist) bowl during a Sunday morning celebration on November 26 at Jubilee on Wall Street in Downtown Asheville. – Photo by Bob Kalk
At one point in our interview, Pastor Hanger described the way he came into possession of a Buddhist bowl saying “A guy at Jubilee had a store, called Far Away Place. He told me “I want to give you a Buddhist bowl, but you’ve got to come in and let it pick you.” So I go to his store and he says “Now shut your eyes and I’m going to start playing them and you’ll know when it’s your bowl. You’ll just know that.” So I’m thinking, ok, I can play this game. I close my eyes and he plays fifteen or twenty of them and I’m like, this is not working. I’m getting kind of embarrassed, you know, for him. And he tells me “Just keep on, your bowl may not even be here.”
Hanger continues: “So he gets one, gets one, gets one and then, all of a sudden I said “That’s it!” Well, I don’t know. It sounded like all the other bowls, but there was something about it, the overtones that just, whew! And so, maybe the tone of that just spoke to me, cut through the crowd. That’s the bowl we use on Sunday. I don’t know if it speaks to the other people there, but it gets me there.” He said.
Pastor Hanger is in awe of the musical talent at Jubilee “We have wonderful drummers.” He said. “And there’s something about that drum. I’m a big student of ritual and, as far as we know, our first human ritual was done with drum and dance. That was our first connection to the Spirit world.” Jubilee’s schedule of celebrations is available on their website at www.JubileeCommunity.org and they will host an International Conference on Creation Spirituality in April.
In a world of competing ideas we are each searching for answers. And, there is no shortage of people with good ideas they hope will go viral, folks who sincerely believe their idea is the one whose time has come. Even so, there are many highly diversified groups like these, composed of people thoroughly jazzed by diversity and what now appears to be a new unification of contrasts, people who seem to value spiritual unity over any form of theological uniformity.
They have brought a powerful contagion into our midst. It is through this enthusiasm (en-theos), that they are truly united as they strive to be ever more responsive to the Divine leading that brings us together. Some will hum along as they find resonance in the cosmos and each other. Some will sway as they share the sound of singing bowls. Still others will raise their voices heavenward in a full throated expression of gratitude. When all is said and done, it is the common quest of searchers that make us a house undivided for, and far beyond, itself. “I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed.”
When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Left to right: Youth Choir members Danaysia Franks, Taniya Riley, and Taryn Riley lead the congregational singing at Hill Street Baptist Church on January 14, 2018. – Photo by Bob Kalk
“Hill Street, it’s time to break open the doors and take to the street.” This was the message delivered by the former pastor of Hill Street Missionary Baptist Church in Asheville. North Carolina on Oct. 18, 2015. Throughout his fourteen year tenure, Reverend Keith Ogden was a well known advocate of a biblical world view in and around Asheville. Now the church is engaged in the search for a new pastor, one that can “Articulate a clear vision for spiritual growth, Christian Education, and personal development” according to its search committee.
The Church was formed in 1915 moving from Stumptown to the Hill Street location in 1949. These and other neighborhoods would face tumultuous change in the decades to come. Sarah M. Judson with the Department of History at UNCA, wrote in 2010 “urban renewal was a continuous experience for Asheville’s African American community for almost thirty years. Beginning with the Hill Street neighborhood in 1957. ”She continued “The fabric of each of these historic African American communities was torn apart.”
Hill Street Baptist weathered these ravages of time gracefully, just as their faith was informed and reinforced by lessons such as this: “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” — Jesus (Matthew 7:25) Today, when one enters the sanctuary for a Sunday service, the warm reception and the music speaks volumes about a congregation that is steadfast and centered on the Gospel of Jesus.
Music contributes mightily to the congregation’s sense of continuity. Terry Letman, the Minister of Music was originally retained as an interim for three months. That was seven years ago. Speaking of the thirty voice adult choir, Letman said, “They love what they do. And I get truly excited by the fervency.” Letman’s own feathery touch on the keyboards also contributes to an understanding of why the group receives requests to sing at other area churches. He tells us that a city wide choir is in the works and that we can look forward to their first concert in the near future.
When we align our objectives with the Divine will, when we strive for the attainment of a worthy goal, when we begin our work with a well defined plan, and when we have ability to work together with others effectively, we have already achieved the trajectory for success. For we know that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
“Gazing past the planets, looking for total view.” With this lyric from the popular sixties album To Our Children’s Children’s Children, a Moody Blues tribute band opens a unique celebration of creation spirituality with the Jubilee Community on Wall Street in downtown Asheville. It was earlier this year, on a warm night in late May, that Jubilee hosted the debut performance of The Lost Chord. And the band would sing on. “Wonders of a lifetime, right there before your eyes.”
Mike Parvin attended the Friday night gathering and said “At the end of the concert I found myself standing, applauding and cheering this band.” I then realized that I was also standing, applauding and cheering the sounds and songs of the Moody Blues. This is what a tribute band is for – celebration! Were they good? Yes. Did they succeed? Yes…YES!”
The Lost Chord performs at Jubilee on Friday, May 26, 2017. Pictured left to right: Sherman Hoover – bass and vocals, Todd Byington – acoustic guitar and vocals, Kate Barber – flute and tambourine, Paul Quick – acoustic and electric guitar and vocals. Behind them are Garry Byrne – keyboards, James Wilson – drums and percussion. Nathan Ebanks provides immersive visual effects via digital projection. – Photo by Bob Kalk
The group performs in and around Asheville carrying a message that resonates with the Jubilants as well as anyone else looking for a brand of spirituality that is a bit more cosmic in scope. To contact the band visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/thelostchordmoodybluestribute/
While a Sunday morning celebration within Jubilee’s diverse community draws liberally from the Judeo-Christian scriptures for inspiration, participants might also enjoy insights from the Beatles or Dylan. At times the congregation is held, enraptured, by the sound of a Buddhist bowl. At other times they will engage with a highly versatile house band that offers a little something of everything, from Bach to Zulu. For any newcomer, it quickly becomes apparent the Jubilants are a wildly independent lot. But, when it’s time for celebration they are all in, just as they were admonished to be as the Moody Blues and the Lost Chord sang “Baby there’s no price upon your head, sing it, shout it!”
“Eighty percent of what we do is music” according to Howard Hanger. It was this same Reverend Hanger who, in May of 1984, commenced a gathering of creative people to develop an artistic interpretation of eight “Seeds of Celebration.” The group shared stories, songs, dance, poetry, paintings, and other expressions in a highly interactive, participatory way. From these humble beginnings the Jubilee Community was born.
From the time of its inception, Jubilee has enjoyed the support of area Baptist, Buddhist, Jewish, Methodist, Episcopal, Unitarian-Universalist, and United Church of Christ congregations. It has borrowed from these traditions together with Sufi, Native American and others while fostering a “Creation Spirituality” that honors all of creation as a “Holy Gift.” Among the many affirming messages displayed within Jubilee’s Earth friendly building is the statement that “Diversity of faith enriches our community.”
During the thirteenth century Thomas Aquinas wrote “We can and do relate to the universe as a whole since we are a microcosm of that macrocosm and this relationship “intoxicates” us.” Jubilant’s clearly believe that Aquinas was on to something. While this way of thinking is, perhaps, as old as humanity, it may have been best articulated in text that a scribe in ancient Egypt produced as a legacy for his son. The Instruction of Amenemope dates back to the the Ramesside Period, during which the tribes of Israel first became a unified nation. For anyone who tends to view our universe of universes in a creation spirituality context, there is one line from this text that sort of jumps out at you:
“For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen.”
Pastor Hanger describes a personal awakening of sorts in this way: “I studied under Margaret Mead. She was an anthropologist.” He goes on to say: “One of the things that turned my head around when I was twenty years old was when she said “Go to any archeological site, anyplace in the world, and one of the first things you will find are sacred artifacts. We’ve always sought to connect with that which we do not understand.”” At that point Hanger recalls that he thought to himself “Yes, yes! That’s it, that’s it, that’s it! Were yearning for that.”
“So that’s really what we try to do at Jubilee We don’t try to give anybody any answers. But, we try to open them up to ask better questions about their life, about life on this planet.” Hanger goes on to say “Music is . . . We all know it’s a social lubricant. But I say it’s a spiritual lubricant too. It gets you out of your set kind of ways of thinking and being. It opens the door to other possibilities.”
“The whole western church is built on music.” Hanger said. “The only reason we have Bach is because he was hired by a church and he had to write all these things. And so, music is crucial, absolutely crucial in Jubilee. Many people are attracted to Jubilee because of the the music. It offers such variety.”
At one point in our interview, Pastor Hanger described the way he came into possession of a Buddhist bowl saying “A guy at Jubilee had a store, called Far Away Place. He told me “I want to give you a Buddhist bowl, but you’ve got to come in and let it pick you.” So I go to his store and he says “Now shut your eyes and I’m going to start playing them and you’ll know when it’s your bowl. You’ll just know that.” So I’m thinking, ok, I can play this game. I close my eyes and he plays fifteen or twenty of them and I’m like, this is not working. I’m getting kind of embarrassed, you know, for him. And he tells me “Just keep on, your bowl may not even be here.”
Hanger continues: “So he gets one, gets one, gets one and then, all of a sudden I said “That’s it!” Well, I don’t know. It sounded like all the other bowls, but there was something about it, the overtones that just, whew! And so, maybe the tone of that just spoke to me, cut through the crowd. That’s the bowl we use on Sunday. I don’t know if it speaks to the other people there, but it gets me there.” He said.
Pastor Howard Hanger rings a singing (Buddhist) bowl during a Sunday morning celebration on November 26 at Jubilee on Wall Street in Downtown Asheville. – Photo by Bob Kalk
Pastor Hanger is in awe of the musical talent at Jubilee “We have wonderful drummers.” He said. “And there’s something about that drum. I’m a big student of ritual and, as far as we know, our first human ritual was done with drum and dance. That was our first connection to the Spirit world.” Jubilee’s schedule of celebrations is available on their website at www.JubileeCommunity.org and they will host an International Conference on Creation Spirituality in April.
Elsewhere and else-when, on a porch in Pensacola, North Carolina, David Green would play guitar and, along with neighbors and friends, sing “ol’ timey” Gospel hymns. Over the next ten years, the neighborhood gathering grew larger and the sing-a-long became a full-fledged community event in greater Burnsville. When David became the pastor of Grace Methodist in the shadow of Newfound Mountain, he brought his guitar, considerable talent, and a variety of lessons learned to a nearby community center in that rural valley.
Ol’ Timey Gospel Hymn Sing at Newfound Community Center featuring Three Men and a Tub. Pictured left to right are Sam Smathers, Pastor David Green, and Charles Ballew. – Photo by Bob Kalk
Pastor Green told us that one of those lessons learned underscores the value of holding these hymn sings in a neutral place. “The community center allows us to attract people who may not be inclined to cross denominational lines or others who may be reluctant to even enter a church.” He said.
According to those who regularly participate in the Friday evening events that also feature a potluck dinner, the number of area churches represented has now topped out at seventeen while it usually hovers at twelve to fifteen.
Charles Ballew and Sam Smathers joined David in leading the songs a little over a year ago according to the pastor. Charles plays a standup washtub bass of his own making. To change pitch he pulls a crank originally used to draw the shades in a chicken coop. His other hand is free to pluck the single string, that looks a lot like a clothesline, as the old metal washtub resonates, shapes, and amplifies the sound.
Sam plays the lead guitar parts while David plays mostly rhythm as he sings. Pastor Green says that Sam has a real talent for covering most of the pastor’s mistakes while weaving them into something beautiful. “You couldn’t ask for a better complement.” David says.
Judy McGargle regularly attends these first Friday of every month sessions. She says she enjoys the banter and the opportunity to sing the hymns she knew as a child and highlighted the interactive nature of the sessions saying “ I love how everyone participates.” Patty Reichstad agreed with that sentiment saying “These are the songs that we grew up with.” She continued “ I grew up in the Catholic Church where we would only sing the first and third verse. Here we sing all of them.” Speaking of those who join from all the different area churches she said “I was impressed by how good they sound together, it’s as if they practiced together.”
Francie Green, David’s wife, added this observation: “ Even though they come from fifteen different churches, they already know most of the songs. The song leader loves old hymns and just has this library in his head of beautiful old hymns, so . . .” When asked about how this event became so successful, she said that “David knew some people from church and the welcome table lunches in Leicester. We had a banner and we put up some flyers. People just started coming.”
Francie continued “We have a great variety of people that come and just worship the Lord. Where else can you go, on a Friday night, and sing praises to God. It just warms your heart. Doug May joined the conversation saying “The people in this little valley are just as friendly and welcoming as can be.” Doug has been participating in these events since they first started. The event is held at 7:00 PM on the first Friday of every month at The Newfound Community Center.
In a world of competing ideas we are each searching for answers. And, there is no shortage of people with good ideas they hope will go viral, folks who sincerely believe their idea is the one whose time has come. Even so, in and around Asheville there are many highly diversified groups like these, composed of people thoroughly jazzed by diversity and what now appears to be a new unification of contrasts, people who seem to value spiritual unity over any form of theological uniformity.
They have brought a powerful contagion into our midst. It is through this enthusiasm (en-theos), that they are truly united as they strive to be ever more responsive to the Divine leading that brings us together. Some will hum along as they find resonance in the cosmos and each other. Some will sway as they share the sound of singing bowls or a washtub bass. Still others will raise their voices heavenward in a full throated expression of gratitude. When all is said and done, it is the common quest of searchers that make us a house undivided for, and far beyond, itself. “I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed.”
The Corporation
https://youtu.be/zpQYsk-8dWg
Jesus’ Gift: The Incredible, Amazing, Pervasive & Essential SPIRIT of TRUTH
In this Cosmic Citizen webcast, hosts Paula, Andre, Christilyn, Derek and their callers explore the truth about The Spirit of Truth.
In those unusual cases in which “spirit” is sharply defined in Western scriptures or teachings and distinguished from the soul, it refers to an otherworldly entity or pre-existent “divine spark” that abides within us as a gift from a higher being. In ancient times many Gnostic sects posited an indwelling pneuma that was trapped in the physical world, but perhaps the purest version of this notion emerges much later in liberal Quakerism, with its teaching of the “inward light,” re-baptized in the late nineteenth century as the “inner light” by the popular Quaker writer Rufus Jones. By some interpretations, it may also be said that traditional Chinese religion distinguished soul from the spirit, as yang and yin. The Egyptians at times distinguished the ka and the ba; the soul (ba) was not usually believed to be pre-existent, only the ka. The Egyptian Book of the Dead describes the judgment and then ascent of the ba into the next world without requiring a return to earth—a primitive version of our concept of an ascending personal soul. — Byron Belitsos
In November of 2008, the Lead Trustee for the soon to be established Aevia Charitable Trust (The ACT), gave a talk on the carryover from person to person, or from one generation to another, that permits us to stand on the shoulders of greatness. The talk included the following statement:
“The scientific quest, the curiosity that leads to adventure and discovery yields knowledge that guides us along useful and progressive paths of physical, intellectual and spiritual growth. The collaborative urge, the desire to socialize and the ability to harmonize all point to a Spirit of Counsel prompting the exchange of ideas and opinions as we learn to cooperate for mutual benefit. Such an endowment transcends natural law and provides further evidence of mind ministry.
The religious impulse serves to differentiate the soul deprived creature from those with the capacity to appreciate origins. The worshipful expressions of the appreciative individual create deep channels through which wisdom may flow. And this wisdom yields even greater appreciation. And so we come full circle to the rolling tides. A process that favors the granularity, particularity and the specificity from which meaningful constructs and useful value propositions are built.”
