Clergy Cowardice?

Dear Clergy Colleagues:

I am looking for your feedback and comments.

I hope you will all take the time to read this great blog entry. The blog sites the results of several new surveys on the attitudes of both clergy and layfolks in various mainline denominations. It was written by Candace Chellew-Hodge and is entitled "Clergy Cowardice."

The thesis of the blog is this:

The folks in the pews are more progressive and activist than their clergy, a new survey shows. And those clergy who are supportive of social change are often silent.

Another key quote is this:

"Fifty-six percent of the mainline clergy polled said they’d like to become more personally involved with social and political issues. When it comes down to acting on those desires, however, the clergy lose their nerve, especially on more public forms of becoming “personally involved.”

What even more interesting is something that I have observed throughout my tenure at Northaven. The survey puts it this way:

"The unwillingness and timidity of the clergy over social justice issues (be they LGBT, abortion, the environment or social safety nets for the poor) is striking in this survey. What may be most striking, however is that the clergy really do understand the source of the disconnect. More than 47 percent say that many mainline churches are declining in membership “because they have lost the courage to take prophetic stands for social justice."

I have definitely seen this personally. Time after time, colleagues have told me privately that they WISH they could be more outspoken and active on social issues, but that they feel constrained either by pressures from their particular church or denomination.

So, I have a few questions for my clergy colleagues. I hope you all will be willing to join a conversation about these issues. I have specifically posted this at my blog to allow for folks to leave anonymous comments (obviously not possible on Facebook...)

Scroll down to the bottom of this blog to leave a comment. I am specifically interested in clergy who are willing to be open and honest about these issues here.

Questions for Clergy:
1) Do you feel constrained or pressured to not speak out on social issues of the day?
2) Where does this pressure come from?
3) If you could be more open in your views, what issues would God be calling you to address publicly?
4) Do you agree with the thesis that mainline churches may be losing members because they are too cautious or conservative?
5) If not, then why do they continue to lose members, even as they have been getting more conservative over the past twenty years?
6) How do we reach the "unchurched" (a term I despise and use only because I know you will know its meaning...) without being far more edgy and socially progressive than we are now, given that most of them seem to believe that religious persons are far too conservative and judgmental?

I genuinely look forward to any dialogue and comments you might wish to leave...

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Concerns Raised by the Rainbow Room Raid

This morning, as I read additional reports about the raid on the Rainbow Room in Fort Worth I am becoming more, not less, troubled. There are deeply troubling questions that remain unanswered....


1) Why conduct this raid on the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall uprising??
My GLBT friends are rightly concerned about the timing, as are those of us who are their friends and allies. The irony of a raid in Fort Worth happening on the very night of events in New York 40-years-ago is not lost on many observers.

In a letter to Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief, Rev. Steve Sprinkle says this:

"I find it difficult not to believe that this raid was deliberately carried out on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion to create fear and consternation among gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people."

The police have issued a statement claiming that they were not specifically targeting the Rainbow Room, and that this raid was a part of greater raids conducted on that night in several locations. They appear to be insinuating that no malice was intended, and that the timing is simply an unfortunate coincidence they would have avoided had they known of the significance of the day.

If so, that still begs a second question...

2) Why are the Fort Worth police so completely ignorant of GLBT issues to *not* know and understand the significance of Stonewall?
Assuming the "best case" scenario --that this was all just unfortunate timing-- why did nobody in the Fort Worth Police Department know enough about GLBT issues to suggest that a "routine raid" be conducted on a different day?

At best, it shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the GLBT community by the Fort Worth police. Efforts should quickly be made to provide for education and training for the Fort Worth police so that they might understand and appreciate this important population.

3) What is the status of Chad Gibson, one of those arrested during the raid?
Reports are that he may need surgery to reduce swelling around his brain. This seems another shocking development in this case. What justifiable police action would end in this result? It seems hard to fathom. A full accounting of what led to his injuries is needed, and I join people of faith everywhere in praying for his recovery.

The seriousness of his condition adds fuel to the paranoia that this raid was more than a simple unfortunate coincidence.

In conclusion:
The Fort Worth police have much they still need to explain about this raid. Their initial statement is a helpful first step, but much more is needed from them. As Rev. Sprinkle has suggested, a clearer apology, a fuller explanation of events of the evening, and far more training and eduction are needed. I call on the Forth Worth police, and the Mayor, to provide all these things.

GLBT persons are citizens that deserve the same rights and privileges afforded all our citizens. They are also deserve our love, support, and embrace as God good children. As Rev. Sprinkle reminds us Christ's "Golden Rule" is a good measure of thumb for all our actions in relation to fellow human beings. So is Jesus' admonition to "love your neighbor as yourself."

Let hope that some learning can emerge from this within the Fort Worth police department, and that some healing may occur within the greater community, in the coming days and weeks.

Eric Folkerth

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Walk With Me (A New Song!)

So, this morning, I joked on Facebook that I was going to stay off the computer all day today. And, except for one relapse at approximately 9:30 (where I was busted by Susan B, Frank R, and Lisa M., all three...) I kept to my word.

In a perfect world, Fridays would always be a day for me to do three things:
1) Exercise an extra-long time,
2) Journal.
3) Write songs and do music-related stuff.

Far too often, I don't do any of them, or maybe just one.

So, low and behold, today --and for reasons I cannot entirely explain-- I appear to have written a new song. I've got about four or five half written songs. But none of those got done today. Instead, this new one popped up out of nowhere.

Go figure.

Anyway, thanks to the MacBook Pro, here's a rough cut for you (begging your close attention to the word "rough.").

Here you go:



I'm not sure where this one came from. Had the lick from the other night. The lyrics seem inspired by a picture that was sitting on my desk today, given to me by a friend name Gene many months ago now. The picture is of two friends sitting on a park bench by a lakeside, as shadows fall. That's it. I really think it probably just comes from that....and from the inspiration of being around my songwriter friends at Kerrville about a month ago now.

Lyrics below. You hope enjoy it.

WALK WITH ME

Walk with me down by the lakeside
Just as the Sun disappears
We'll skip a few stones on the smooth side
One for each thrown-away fear.

And as shadows fall
We can pause for the call
Of the night breeze.

The waves and the wind
Can remind us again
We're still free.
We're still free.
≈≈≈≈≈

Walk with me down by the lakeshore
Just as water and sky start to glow
And the glow lights this trail other feet wore
Marking each step that we go.

And with each footfall
We're reminded of all
We can still see.

So as darkness grows
Even if our pace slows
We're still free.
We're still free.
≈≈≈≈≈

Walk with me down by the lake edge
Just as the Moon rises high
We'll sing our goodbyes to the sunset
And a chorus up to the night sky.

In the calm of the night
We're amazed by the sights
We can still see.

So as night descends
And our journey ends
We're still free.
We're still free.
≈≈≈≈≈

Walk with me down by the lakeside
Just as the Sun disappears
We'll skip a few stones on the smooth side
One for each thrown-away fear.

Copyright © Eric Folkerth, 2009.
All Rights Reserved.

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Father's Day '09

When you become a parent, you fall into the understandable trap of believing everyone else in the world wants to hear about how great your kid is, and how parenthood is the best thing since sliced bread.

The most egregious example of this I ever encountered was when my friends Jeff and Susan (names changed to protect the guilty) had just given birth to their first child. Jeff was a youth minister in Austin, and I just happened to be passing through town --on my way to somewhere else-- the day their child was born. The baby was probably not even two hours old. Almost nobody, outside their immediate family, had been to visit when I snuck by the hospital to give them my "congrats."

I walked into the room, to find two new parents exhausted, but giddy. There was a lightness, a joy, on their faces. I thought to myself, "How cool to be here right now."

They immediately started telling the story of their daughter's birth; likely the first of dozens of times they have since recounted the tale.

About five minutes in to the story, Jeff stopped the narrative to say, "Oh...wait! We have video! Hey, Eric...you want to see the video?!"

Of course, there was no way in....um...no, I did not want to see the video.

I demurred, waving my hands, "No, no, nooo.... Ha! Yeah, no, that's really OK I don't really need to see..."

"Oh yes!" Susan chimed in cheerily, "let's get the video going!!"

This was not what I was hoping to hear.

Jeff pulls out the camera and various cables. He reaches up to the TV monitor and, pops the right cables in the right slots on the very first try. Thirty seconds later, the camera is whirring back to the start of the tape, and Jeff is giving me one last warning.

"Oh yeah...um...it was a C-section."

"Oh! NOOO! REALLY.....Guys!" I laughed nervously, "It's really OK. I don't need to see that!!! You probably don't want me to...."

"It's fine," Susan said, interrupting again.

And with that, Jeff had pressed "Play" and every detail was on the monitor, narrated with running color commentary by two giddy parents.

They were so eager to re-live this seminal moment in their life, that they barely noticed when a church family walked in...a Mom and two kids; the oldest from Jeff's youth group.

The younger kid, perhaps eight or nine, took one look up at the video monitor, covered his mouth, and went running from the room.

Only then did the tractor-beam of parental love break. And, as the hospital door bumped shut, Jeff and Susan looked at each other and said, "Maybe this IS a little to intense for other people to see..."

Yeah. No kidding.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

It's an easy mistake to make. If you are a parent with any kind of kind heart at all, from the moment your child is born just about everything they do amazes, astounds, and excites you; and you feel like telling everybody you can how wonderful they are.

That's certainly been the case for me and Maria. On the day she was born, I felt that first giddy sense of love, that powerful bond that literally took my breath away, even as she was first drawing it into her.

All this is on my mind, of course, because it's Father's Day. Father's Day doesn't get the notice that Mother's Day does. There are probably a zillion gender stereotypes that explain this, and I won't get into any of them here. Sufficed to say, whether or not it's a big deal to others, it's always a special day for me, when I think of the girl who still makes my heart skip a beat.


She's on the cusp of being a teenager now. Which means, of course, that there's a very good chance she's on the cusp of being "done" with us for a while. Already, I can sense a mother/daughter bond between she and Dennise on dozens of things, big and small that sort of keep my out of the picture. That's not sad, just realistic. Or even when we're together, now and then, I can sense a creeping silence.

Nothing major. Just little things.

Or, maybe it's all just projection on my part. I treated my parents like crap during much of my early teenage years. Perhaps it's the fear of karmic parental payback that I'm feeling.

I do know that I'm holding my breath about those teenage years, not because I don't trust her, but because I know enough about teenaged boys to not trust them as far as I can throw them.

But she's a good kid. A really good kid. And there's a million stories I could tell you about her. There's a ton of videos I could post (and in a YouTube world, a few that I have...). But I won't bore you with all that here. I will say that I still believe every word of what I wrote a few years back on Father's Day here.

Maria is smart. She's funny. She's comfortable with her friends, but also comfortable with adults. She seems to like school. (Got commended on two of three TAKS tests this year...) She can do stuff in gymnastics that gives me a coronary to watch. She's a good listener, and it seems like she has a good heart for people.

She seems naturally curious about the world, and asks good questions about things. I can already tell that she can already tell there is much that is good, and much that is false, in how adults go about living day to day.

She's an amazing person.





So, I won't bore you with the blog equivalent of "C-Section" birth video. Because I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable.

But, sufficed to say, the tractor beam of love is still there every time I see her.

And today, and every day of her life, I feel like the luckiest Dad in the world.

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"He carries it with him, wherever he goes..." (Kerrville 2009)

"He carries it with him,
Wherever he goes.
He carries it with him,
More than he knows."
-- Larry Murante

I am still so filled up and bubbling over with people that I don't know what to do with myself. Beautiful, incredible people from Kerrville Folk Festival...beautiful wonderful old friends at Annual Conference...just lots of experiences rattling around in the brain over these past three weeks. It's a lot to take in, really.


(Cary Cooper, Karen Mal, Jagoda, Tom Prasada-Rao, and Amilia K. Spicer at the Vic Heyman tribute)

Got to go to Kerrville for the first time in two years. I suppose that makes it three calendar years that have passed since I have seen some of these friends. In previous years, I have written long, quite verbose, summaries of my time there. I'm not quite sure how long this one will be. I'll just stop when I get finished.

Last year, I didn't get to go because Dennise had just had a pretty major surgery. Two years ago? I can't for the life of me remember why, but there was some apparently crucial reason to miss. Who knows, really? Anyway, It's been a long time.


(Home Sweet Home)

Coming back, though, was like riding a bike. Even on my first drive down the hill toward "Camp Nashbill," I passed several friends on the dusty main ranch road, and had to stop and say hi. Somehow, Austin Kessler even remembered that it'd been two years. (Nice to be remembered...)


(King Bill of Nash with Karyn Oliver)

More than anyone else at the Ranch, it was good to see all the regulars at Camp Nashbill. And it was amazing to see our camp this year. We were a greatly expanded camp. It was sort of like we had our own suburbs. Bill, our King, was there. So was JP "Jalepeño" Schwartz.


(Camp Brownies. No, just regular brownies.)

He, "Weird" Harold Stevens, and Paul Porter had done "landrush" for us all. And they did a fantastic job. Paul brought a HUGE kitchen set-up, and was justly awarded "Most Overprepared" by the Kerrville staff. He got an actual certificate. Kid you not.


(Paul Porter)

Ross and Sharon Wise were there, as was Teresa Morris. Tom and Linda were there for a few days, but headed to another trip out west, if memory serves. Perhaps the greatest additions to our camp the past five years have been Judi Sawyer and Melanie Schaffner, who have now both begun bringing their own new folks. Which is a good thing. It seems to me a camp always need to be bringing in new folks. As such, Grace Pettis camped with us. She'd been there the past few years, but she was a Columbus Discovery for me this year, via Judi.


(Karyn Oliver and Meg Braun)

Mel brought Meg Braun and Karyn Oliver, from NYC and Baltimore, respectively. What *great* additions they were. They're both incredible songwriters, and wonderful people. And if you just stumbled on our camp, you woulda thought they'd been with us for years, they fit in so well. Meg has a new CD and some really fine songs worth hearing. Karyn also has a fairly new CD, and some even newer songs that are fantastic. What an amazing voice and person. Emily Pickrell camped nearby us, and it was great to get to know her too.

We had a couple of mainstage performers camping with us this year, and that made things very very cool. Joe Jencks and Jaime Michaels both pitched their tents with us, and are now official Nashbillians, whenever they wish to be. It was very very nice having them around too. Id' known Jaime for years, and it was great to have his tent right next to mine. Nice to be with him as he got ready for his big, mainstage debut!


(Jaime, Bill and Amilia rehearse)


(The next day at the show)

I'd also met Joe a few years back, when he played a SFFF set at Kerrville, but it was brief meeting. We got a much better change to hear songs, and share stories. We apparently have quite a bit in common, spirituality-wise, in some fun ways, and it was great to share the time. Joe's new CD is incredible, btw.


(Joe, during his show at Threadgill Theater)

Another very cool change was how we connected with our next-door neighbors at "Camp Nashville." There was just a lot of very nice back and forth between the two camps this year....as if it was one large family, really. Very very nice feeling.





It's hard to describe how great the festival was for me this year. Days of filling up a very dry spiritual/artistic aquifer. Reconnecting with old friends I hadn't seen in a while. It was great to see old friends like Erik Balkey and Eric Schwartz.

I love those guys. I noted Balkey taking a special interest in the New Folk Winners this year, walking them around to other camps, making sure they got heard lots of places. He's such a great guy.

And Schwartz. Believe it or not, Eric and I always have the BEST conversations about stuff. Yes, he's an avowed agnostic and I'm a minister. But that hardly seems to matter. We can get into some pretty deep stuff pretty quickly.

For example, one day I walked up on Eric having a conversation about (among other things) heaven with a mutual friend of ours. We immediately got into a little back and forth. Not about heaven per se, but about the whole idea of "spirituality," or "soul," or whatever you want to call it...and whether it even exists. Eric got in my face a little bit. I pushed back a little too. Very good natured. It's what we do.

Anyway, as I walked off, the mutual friend whispered to Schwartz, "Eric...did you know that guy is a MINISTER?!"

Implying, of course, that Eric should be horrified by, or at least more careful with, what he'd been saying to me.

To which Eric replied, "Yeah, I know. I played at his church service once."

Which is absolutely true. You can't make up stuff like that.





Several years ago, I wrote a long, and perhaps tortured, essay about the balancing act between being a minister and musician and about having a foot in both of these worlds. I suppose most of it still applies. But there was also something this year at Kerrville that felt more....relaxed...more real....more *whole* for me.

I can't quite put my finger on it. I'm almost sure it has to be that I'm more comfortable in my own skin than I used to be. More relieved that, like everybody else, I can be who I am at Kerrville, be among friends, and take back my portion of healing for the road ahead.


(Morning around camp)

I don't know, I can't really describe it. I was less frantic this year. Less feeling the need to do *everything,* or be everywhere, and just content to be where ever it was I was....to let happen what would happen and to be with whom I would be with.

And what happened was that an amazing number of great experiences just "came" my way. Had dozens of good conversations with dozens of other old friends...and new ones too.

I also met several folks in the "real world" that I'd only ever seen online before the festival: Judy Hoover...who has a common love affair with Santa Cruz guitars, Bryan McFarland...who stopped by for a few minutes to soak in all in, and Larry Murante...who I've been an email friend with for three or four years. Nice to finally meet him in the real world. What great songs. (I thought he was gonna be a New Folk winner...) His song, which titles this blog, is *the* song that has rattled in my head the longest since I've been home.

Dennise and Maria came down for one night. That was great. I went to Austin for Theo's first birthday, and I brought them back with me to the ranch. We told Maria that she could stay up as late as she wanted. Which meant, of course, that she was ready to crash about 11 pm....really just as the party was getting started.

Had to take them back to the airport the next day, so it wasn't a long stay for them. But Maria got her first taste of the festival. Maybe next year they can come for a long weekend.

The really crazy thing this year was just how many people kept stopping by our little camp. Day and night, we had folks dropping by to pay Bill a visit, or just to sit and play for a while. I literally stayed at our camp all but two nights, our circles were that good.


(An afternoon circle with John Vezner)

A week or so ago, I was going to write long entries on all of those circles. Then, I realized that enough time had passed and I couldn't really remember everybody I'd seen. So, below are some short impressions about this year's festival. So, here goes.
Great memories that stay with me from this year's festival:

Carnal night. Sorry, I can't really explain it, except to say that there was Olympic-style judging of the songs. Steve Brooks, Annie Benjamin and Todd Hoke all came by. (It felt like old home week...) So did Sonja, Rad (the accordian guy), all our camper/players, two bass players, several lead players, and two flutes! It was crazy-good stuff. The night had an energy that I'm not sure we could possibly describe in words.

Camp Stupid. Incredible circle at Camp Stupid one night. I mean, incredible. Several folks commented (including me) that is was perhaps their favorite "Stupid Circle" ever. Hans York, Larry Murante, Anne Feeney, Megan McLaughlin, and, of course, Ken Gaines. Really a great night. (and others I am sure I am forgetting...)

Joe Jenck's last night. (which was also mine...) He invited everybody and their dog to come to our camp. TONS of folks came by. I won't remember them all...very sorry. It was a great send-off for Joe. It was a HUGE circle. What a pleasure having him in camp with us.

Jaime Michaels. How cool to be able to celebrate his mainstage debut, and to have him camp with us.

Coho Rainstorm. Rode out a pretty good storm at Coho, which interrupted "Irish Night." For years, my own assumption is that Coho is, hands down, the best place to ride out a storm.

Saw the rain sweep across the south meadow, and toward the Coho shelter. It was amazing. Lot's of scurrying musicians once the rain started, though.


(Irish toasts to the rain at Coho)

First light up on Chapel Hill. With Joe J, Karyn O, and JP....as the light began to come up on my last morning there.

Schwartz playing one last song on Drew Nelson's guitar. He played this new song which, if you haven't heard, you should. As I've often said, if you only think Eric's a funny guy, you're not really paying attention. BTW, Drew built his own guitar this last year. Kind of like a Jedi building his own lightsaber, I suppose. (Just like that, in Drew's case...) It's a beautiful guitar.


(Drew and Schwartz)

Tequila shot with Ellis Paul at the Rouses'. The night of his set, he came by there after the show, they broke out a bottle that was ceremonially passed around, and a nice circle broke out. (Which I left, actually, to go to "Political Song Night.") I left as he and Hans York started trading songs on their matching Santa Cruz's.


Rain Songs at Nashbill. We had a nice rain storm circle, where we plowed through about 40 or 50 "rain songs" around the Camp Nashbill circle...all while *real* rain fell around us, and some serious lightening flashed in every direction. Actually, I didn't think this circle would happen...I thought the rain would be too severe, and I got well-deserved grief about it too. We had matching rain ponchos, provided to us by the ever-prepared Paul Porter and the Texas Storytellers Group. You have not really lived until you've sung songs in the rain like that.


(The light in the background is actually a lightning strike)

Kristin DeWitt. Just nice to see her. We've been Facebook friends this past year, and seen each other for years at the ranch. Just nice to have real-world face-time. Man. Like everybody else on the planet, I just love the way she sings. Nice to meet Cheryl Duckett too, and to close that loop of "people I really should have met a long time ago."

The Rouses. Really loved seeing the Rouses. They are such special people in my heart, and it was very very cool to see the New Folk Camp there, how it's expanded and how great everything there was.

Todd Hoke. I loved seeing Todd. And Meg. Been missing him here in Texas, even as I know he's been where he needs to be.

MIAs noticed by me: Michael and Kendra. Saw Michael briefly. It was not enough. Breadman and Ellen. A serious black hole in the solar system. The Dalziel's, Dave Stoddard, and Dave Potts...their absences noted by me and by others.

Having been gone for two years myself, I have this theory that perhaps Kerrville is like the island on "LOST" and everybody who's ever been there is really still there. (I know, too deep for a Friday afternoon...)


(Chandler at Ballad Tree....my minimum daily requirement of righteousness)

There were other experiences, equally memorable, not noted here. If I didn't mention you in this blog, please forgive the omission. (And if I got some facts wrong, or you'd like to add to what's here, please leave a comment here at the blog).



Sufficed to say, it was my favorite festival yet. Hands down. As I said, not quite sure why, but it simply felt more *family-like,* more relaxed. I heard others say that too. Is that because we're more relaxed? Because everyone is? Who knows. It was great though.


(Always a good idea)

This afternoon, as I finished up this entry (after fits and starts the past few weeks...) I got a little sad and nostalgic. Truth is, I could use a little more Kerrville in the every-day world. Wouldn't mind that a bit, and I am totally open to any tips/suggestions for how that can happen.

But I also remembered this great lyric from Larry's song:

"He carries it with him, wherever he goes....he carries it with him, more than he knows."

It's so true. Every moment, really, if I just stop to remember.

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Homestretch Update

Sheri has sent an update about "Homestretch, the Movie" a great documentary that's airing on PBS stations around the country right now.

There are lots of showings still to come Michigan and the Baltimore/Washington area. So, set your Tivos now....you won't want to miss it.

Here's what Sheri says:

Thanks for watching Homestretch on PBS the last couple months.

We were top-rated in some market time slots, which is great news, especially for a little show with no publicity. Here's a schedule of the remaining broadcasts.

Tell your friends and lawmakers to set their DVRs, since there's anti-slaughter legislation pending in Washington. >WETP 6/18/2009 9:00 PM Knoxville >WKOP 6/18/2009 9:00 PM Knoxville >WETPHD 6/18/2009 9:00 PM Knoxville >WKOPHD 6/18/2009 9:00 PM Knoxville >WETA 6/21/2009 10:30 PM Washington, D.C. >WETADT4 6/21/2009 10:30 PM Washington, D.C. >WETAHD 6/21/2009 10:30 PM Washington, D.C. >WDCP 6/21/2009 2:00 PM Flint-Saginaw-Bay City >WDCQ 6/21/2009 2:00 PM Flint-Saginaw-Bay City >WDCPDT 6/21/2009 2:00 PM Flint-Saginaw-Bay City >WDCQDT2 6/21/2009 2:00 PM Flint-Saginaw-Bay City >WETAHD 6/22/2009 8:00 AM Washington, D.C. >WETAHD 6/22/2009 5:00 PM Washington, D.C. >These dates will also be listed at: www.homestretchthemovie.com.

Best,

Sheri

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Sufi Perspective of the Contemplative Life

One of the things I am most pleased about this Spring/Summer at Northaven is the Contemplative Life Series. It's been a wonderful success, and we are deeply grateful to the many wise spiritual teachers who are coming to present their views at Northaven.

We are deeply honored to be hosting Dr. Kavaki, considered widely to be the spiritual leader of DFW's Muslim community. The details are below....EF





The Contemplative Life:
Many Faiths—Shared Wisdom
2nd Monday Series – July 13 Session
no charge, registration requested but not required



The objective of The Contemplative Life series is to provide an overview of the distilled wisdom of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and other major religions that converge in contemplative practice. The presentations are intellectually sophisticated (but not academic), experiential, and practical. We do not seek to blur the distinctions between religious faiths; rather, we want to engage together with mutual respect to understand our common core.

Attendance has been excellent and the response very positive to the previous presentations of Ruben Habito on the Buddhist perspective and Pravrajika Brahmaprana on the Vedanta Hindu perspective. The July 13 session will further enrich our understanding of the contemplative tradition across major religions. The culmination of this series will be a retreat at Northaven led by James Finley October 16-18, with the topic: "Jesus and Buddha - How the teachings of Jesus reflect the Four Noble Truths."


Monday, July 13, 7:00-8:30 p.m., Northaven UMC, 11211 Preston Road, Dallas, Sanctuary
Dr. Yusuf Ziya Kavakci,
Sufi Perspective of the Contemplative Life

We hope you will RSVP for this event by clicking here.

Dr. Yusuf Ziya Kavakci is the resident Islamic Scholar and Spiritual Leader of the Muslim community affiliated with the Islamic Association of North Texas. Born in Turkey, by the time he was 8 or 9 years of age he had memorized the entire Qur'an. Dr. Kavakci has served in Turkey as Muadhdhin (professional caller to prayer), Imam (mosque leader), and Waiz (preacher). Dr. Kavakci was a full professor in Islamic Law at Ataturk University, chaired a number of departments, and served as Dean of the College. He has published numerous books in both Turkish and English.






Future Presentations

August 10 – Geoffrey Dennis, Rabbi, Congregation Kol Ami, “Jewish Kabbalah perspective”
September 14 – Ginger Georgulas, retired Lutheran pastor and spiritual director— “Female Mystics perspective”
October 1 (Thursday) – Father Don Fischer, St. Joseph Catholic Church—Christian esoteric tradition of Centering Prayer

For more information about the 2nd Monday Series or to register, click here. You may also call Northaven at 214-363-2479.

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I can admit when I'm wrong...

....really, I can.

And with a couple of months under our belt, I have to admit that I might be wrong about this.

I have to admit to quite a bit of pleasant surprise at this year's Texas Rangers so far. Didn't see it coming. Really didn't.

Seems to me that there have been BIG improvements in pitching this year...exactly the kinds of improvements that I've been screaming about for ten years. (As has every other real fan...)

I probably should not have been surprised by some of it. I mean, having Nolan Ryan around has *got* to rub off on your pitchers somehow. And, if nothing else, he's brought a new seriousness to their training, and that almost always pays off eventually.

Then, there's new Pitching Coach Mike Maddux, who has also clearly made a difference as this DMN story shows.

I have to say, I never doubted that the Rangers would *eventually* improve their staff. I just didn't see how that would happen this year. But it clearly has.

In my defense may I remind you of the old expression:

"Fool me once, shame on you."
"Fool me every single summer since 1972, shame on me."

OK, so that's a paraphrase. But you get my drift. I have good reason to be skeptical, and you've got to grant me that.

And, of course, it's still early. June is not September. June is not even the All Star Break.

So, for those of you who got on my case when I called for a boycott of the Rangers, I'm not yet ready to concede defeat. But I will promise that I'll happily admit to being wrong if that's what it comes to this October.

Happily.

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Up and Running Again

OK, it looks like I've successfully ported all my old blog entries (at least those worth saving) over the Blogger. And, it's now integrated with my website and with Facebook. (Meaning that, with any luck, Facebook friends should be reading this...)

I'm hoping this will be a whole lot less work to keep up and maintain and that I'll be up and blogging again soon.

If you have blogs that you'd like me to list in my blogroll, or "follow" on Blogger, let me know. I am sure I need to update these.

Thanks....EF

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A 1,000 Net Night!!!

What a show last night in Garland!!!

We had around 400 folks show up for the Chicago/Eagles Tribute show there...so many that folks were spilling out of the room and into the hallway...probably 100 folks in the hall crammed in to hear.

And there was a *great* energy in the room.

Most amazingly, because of a special matching grant offer this month, our funds raised last night will very likely total:

$10,000!!!

That clearly makes last night the biggest fundraising night ever in our history.

But it’s not about the money, of course. It’s about saving lives from the scourge of malaria. And with that money..1,000 mosquito nets will be sent to Sierra Leone, saving the lives of thousands of people!!!

As of last night, we also passed the $60,000 mark in total funds raised. See the update chart here:



Thanks to all who came to the show. We’re deeply grateful to our eve-growing number of fans and supporters. It’s such a blessing to be able to play this great music for you, to have such fun, and to raise money for such a worthy cause.

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Tweaking Continues...

OK, so day two (or three?) of having Blogger for the blog, and I'm likin' it. Got inspired to transfer last year's worth of entries over. Doesn't take long, it's just really tedious work. So, I'm probably not going to be in a big rush to finish.

The new blog address is: http://wheneftalks2.blogspot.com/

For some reason, the actual name "WhenEFTalks" seems to be taken. I halfway think I've probably got it taken somewhere, but I can't for the life of me figure it out.

I'm also apparently able to integrate the Blogger blog into my regular website, so that visitors there will continue to see it as as seamless thing. It will look like this.

Not bad.

While I've been at it, I've also been doing some other cleaning up of the website, which was probably long overdue...changed out some sidebar pics, fixed some other pages, etc, etc....

Bottom line: routine maintenance still underway....stay tuned....EF

(BTW: Never did get to post here about the Connections Show tonight. Posted about it on Facebook and the Connections website. Full info is here. Come see us if you can....)

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Torn between two blogs

So, I've been dumping some of the old entries into Blogger over the past few days, and I gotta say...I love it. Dang, this is easy. A HECK of a lot easier than Rapidweaver.

So, what was I doing not doing this a long time ago...like, maybe two years ago?
Sheesh.

Did I mention that sometime take a long time to make crucial decisions?
It's an issue.

So, now the debate in my head is what to do with all the old blog entries from the old blog. They'll hang out in cyberspace as long as I let them, I suppose. But I've already dragged them along once before (moving from iBlog to RapidWeaver...) and I'm really not thrilled about doing that again.

I supppose I will probably do it "hit and miss"...maybe importing some that seem especially important to keep around.

If there are any old entries near and dear to *your* heart....let me know.

We'll see how this goes....EF

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Deja Vu All Over Again

Jeez, I've had such crappy luck with my blogging software over the past few years. Been trying to use the integrated Rapidweaver solution to do both the website and blog. And I realize the previous sentence will only make sense to extraordinarily geeky Macheads.

Let's just say, I've tried a lot of things and it never quite works the way I hope. So, I'm going to try something totally different, and just blog on Blogger and import it to the website. Thought about doing this plenty of times. Took me just about an hour tonight to set up. So, with any luck, the whole thing should be reworked in a week or two....working a little at a time.

I mean, I hadn't blogged in six weeks before tonight....and that's all about just being frustrated with how slow and cumbersome it was.

Let's hope this will be better. More later....EF

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