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You may notice that I have changed the title of this series slightly. Formerly, I called it Peacemaking. However, I have learned from Rabbi Amy Eilberg‘s wonderful book, From Enemy to Friend: Jewish Wisdom and the Pursuit of Peace, that many extensively involved in peace efforts make a distinction in those efforts between three terms. ‘Peacekeeping’ is used to refer to military intervention for the purpose of ending violence and keeping it in check. ‘Peacemaking’ is used primarily to refer to large-group, national, and international efforts at diplomacy. ‘Peacebuilding’ however, refers to efforts on any level, but especially on the personal level of developing habits, relationship skills, and relationships that work to prevent violence coming about. This last definition fits more closely what I am seeking to explore in the conversations I am having with peace activists from the different world religions and humanist perspectives. I am wanting to enable you to be aware that there are peace activists in all of the world’s different faiths and worldviews. I am also wanting us all to become aware of the peacebuilding resources that come from each of the world’s faiths and worldviews.

In this episode I look at peacebuilding resources from Judaism. On the day this episode was recorded it was Holocaust Remembrance Day. If there ever is a reason for us to be urgently working at peacebuilding, it is the memory of the Holocaust! The wisdom and resources from Judaism that have come in response to that experience are profound and vital for us all in peacebuilding.

My guest for this episode is Rabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer. Rabbi Kreimer has been involved in interfaith communication and peacebuilding efforts for nearly four decades. She has been so creative, innovative, and extensively involved in so many important peacebuilding conversations and projects, one simply can Google her name and vast information and resources are available.

Rabbi Kreimer is a part of Reconstructionist Judaism. She received her rabbinical training at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and is now Associate Professor Emeritus at that College. She earned her Ph.D. in Religious Studies at Temple University.

I drew my questions for Rabbi Kreimer from three sources: The book she co-authored with Kelly James Clark and Aziz Abu Sarah, titled, Strangers, Neighbors, Friends: Muslim-Christian-Jewish Reflections on Compassion and Peace; Her delightful book, Parenting as a Spiritual Journey: Deepening Ordinary and Extraordinary Events into Sacred Occasions; and the Reconstructing Judaism website ( reconstructingjudaism.org ) where you can learn more about Rabbi Kreimer, the projects in which she is involved, and the resource from Judaism that are vital for peacebuilding.

The music for this episode is from a clip of a song called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is found on The Porter’s Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.

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This episode is the second part of a conversation I have with Dr. Marc Mullinax, who is Professor of Religion at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill, North Carolina and who is also a charter member of the creative and progressive church, Circle of Mercy.

In Part I Marc and I explored and discussed our awareness that Christians across the theological spectrum in the United States are experiencing a deep sense of anxiety. Marc proposed that we each have a worldview that gives order and guidance to our experiences, even to what we anticipate for the future. It is when our worldview is interrupted for by something significant that we experience anxiety. In my mind this worldview interruption comes with the awareness that Christianity is losing its place as the dominant culture of our nation. For progressive Christians, our anxiety was heightened by the election of President Trump and has the possibility of continuing to increase with the possibility of his re-election.

In response, Marc offers a second kind of interruption–an intentional interruption provided by the spiritual resources in all religions and faiths. This second, intentional interruption comes in the form of prayer, meditation, and practices. For the Christian, these practices arise out of our beliefs in the resurrection and are ways of practicing that resurrection in our lives and congregations. As Marc says, progressive churches have a golden moment to develop the kind of intentional interruption and resilience helpful for addressing our anxiety and the situation of our times.

Marc provides sixteen insights and practices to guide our actions and thoughts and uses the congregation he attends, Circle of Mercy . These sixteen insights and practices can be reviewed on YouTube by searching for the title, ‘Being the Church in Anxious Times.’  youtu.be/UNR804DIG-s

To have a conversation with Marc, you can reach him at mmullinax@mhu.edu.

Again, on a separate note, to repeat the promo given in Part 1, Marc has a new book coming out entitled,Tao te Ching: Power for the Peaceful to be published by Fortress Press. In The Atlantic’s September 2018 issue, editors reported out results of “The Big Question” they had asked a couple months earlier on Twitter: “What book or article would you make required reading for everyone on Earth?” Tao te Ching was the fourth most-popular text of the responses, after Fahrenheit 451, Silent Spring and The Brothers Karamazov. About the book, Marc says, ‘This English translation of Tao te Ching is for modern readers, one that poses questions and answers about how to live in peace and intentionally in chaotic times. I have made it my quest to provide a scholarly translation, but to render it in a vernacular that can also surprise as it liberates the intents of the Chinese text.’ You can anticipate a future conversation with Marc about this work!

The music for this episode is from a clip of a song called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is found on The Porter’s Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.

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This episode is the first of a two part conversation I have with Dr. Marc Mullinax who is Professor of Religion at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill, North Carolina and who is also a charter member of the creative and progressive church, Circle of Mercy, in Asheville, North Carolina.

Even before, but now enhanced by, the experiences with the Coronavirus, Christians across the theological spectrum have been experiencing a deep sense of anxiety. In this episode, we explore and discuss the reasons for that anxiety. Marc roots the anxiety in the interruption of our worldview.

In Part 2, Marc offers sixteen insights and practices, that are ways of practicing the resurrection in which we believe, to address that anxiety, especially for progressive churches. He draws on his own experiences with the congregation he attends, Circle of Mercy.

For those who wish to have further conversation with Marc, he can be reached at mmullinax@mhu.edu.

On a separate note, Marc has a new book coming out entitledTao te Ching: Power for the Peaceful to be published by Fortress Press late this year or early next year. As the title shows, the book relates to my series on peacemaking/peacebuilding, so expect a future conversation with Marc about his new work.

The music for this episode is from a clip of a song called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is found on The Porter’s Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.