Dearest Earthlings,
This is a photo of Dr. John B. Cobb Jr.with the Vice President of China, new and old friends and there I am, (the only woman) in the back row. It was a life transformative trip and I will of course share more as time goes on, but for now, as my beloved granddaughter Laina (one of my greatest teacher about life and God) says proudly when she comes to my house, "I came back!"
So many surprises! I about fell off my chair when the Vice President asked Dr. Cobb, "Which do you like better the Gospel of John or Paul in the Bible?" He is not only the nation's Vice President, but a professor of philosophy and are you ready for more surprises? How weird and surprising is it that Dr. Cobb being Christian theologian is less of a problem than it is for him here in the United States. Now that says a lot about the insanity of our secular anti God brainwashing! There was no security when we went to visit him. No gates, no guns, no security checks. And are you sitting down? Nowhere in China did we see trash, graffiti, homeless people on the streets and generally, people seem more relaxed. Socialism, what a great idea for us to consider here in the United States while our capitalism of billionaires is literally killing our planet, our future as a species and millions of other species. How about we all work together to assure people have education, health care, housing! What do you say Jesus? Oh yeah thats right, that's what you taught also!
Please join us as we resume regular worship every Sunday, 5 pm, in person and online skype and or live stream, as we create community, pray for the earth, share dreams and co-create an ecologic civilization together. Special thanks to my husband Walt who offered Lectio Divina, aka bible study while I was gone, and please join us as we resume worship, October 13 for our second Sunday regular worship at the La Jolla Shores Beach.
The greatest meaning for this trip for me, as always, was experiencing this holy invisible thing we call God or love. Traveling with Dr. Cobb inspired me, not only because of what he has accomplished in China, which is awe inspiring, but because he remained loving, generous, fun, caring and graceful 24/7 at his remarkable age of 94 years old. His life work is tremendously inspiring, however more than his accomplishments, it is his loving nature, humility and relationality as a human being that I am most inspired and touched by. Thank you Laina aged 2 and John aged 94 for showing me the WAY of Jesus, of socialism and "caring for the least of these" and our dreams of an ecologic civilization.
Over the years, I have heard Dr. Cobb talk about the accomplishments of China in creating ecological civilization, but I realize now that I did not really fully believe him. This was not a conscious thought on my part, just an attitude, you know, yeah , yeah John, China is really great. Well, as often is the case, Dr. Cobb is a real live prophet in the tradition of Jesus, Mohamed, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. Dr. Cobb is clearly telling us the problem and pointing us toward a journey toward God. I experienced people in many different settings talking, thinking and working in unity together for a new vision to live by both in China and in Korea. This was tremendously inspiring and life giving. The term "ecologic civilization" was used often and everywhere and the depth of its meaning was palpable. People are clearly energized and unified with a new vision to live by. Not just some people, but different kinds of people from big cities to small towns all sharing a common national and global vision. This was inspiring and surprising to me. Many people I met are feeling empowered and it was like a contagion that I caught while I was there. This feeling is so different than the depression and rugged individualism and competition here in the United States. The best part of any trip is perhaps coming "home" to loved ones. The brown mountains, palm trees and eucalyptus trees of southern California were some of my loved ones and friends I missed while I was away and I felt them welcome me back. I look forward to praying on the beaches of California tomorrow with all of you as we send love to Beijing and beyond and interconnect with all life here on our common home - Mother Earth.
A Dream from China. "I am dreaming that I am on the bus and am sitting on the front seat with John Cobb and off to the right in front of the bus moving rapidly undulating up and down like a huge dragon, a huge creature the same color grey as the concrete is leading us on the way on our journey toward ecologic civilization. We are following the dragon, fast, forward into our interconnectedness. "
My first association of my dream includes my experience of the enormity of snake or dragon like energy that has been the project of building China the last few decades. The good news is that the government in China two years ago created programs encouraging more people to move from the city to the country to create more farming and rural life, not to increase the huge industrial urban life. The amount of energy poured into making new roads or ways of moving forward in the world is mind blowing in China. This dream is not literally only about the building of concrete roads, but is about the new energy for a new journey in a new direction for an ecological civilization is leading the bus or collective group of us in a new direction. We really are an interconnected web of life and it is time we support one another in the spiritual discipline of worship, community building, prayer and dream sharing.
Please join us for a celebration of this journey to create an ecological civilization on Sunday, December 1st 5 pm. We will enjoy a Taize worship service and a pot luck and I will share more photos and stories about our trip to China and Korea. I'm excited to share this with you.
Church for Our Common Home is dedicated to prayer, dream sharing, creating loving community and other counter cultural values as we give up our competitive, depression and become disciples of Jesus and/or Lao Tzu and any and all the prophets from the past as well as living prophets like Dr. Cobb living today. Please call me. I mean it. I want to get to know you. We need you and want to invite you on a journey following a snake or dragon of huge energy here on the beaches of the west coast as we send our prayers and dreams of ecological civilization to Beijing and beyond. Dreaming it forward of course I plan to paint my snake with rainbow colors.
Sending love always,
Bonnie
Rev. Bonnie Tarwater
Minister Church for Our Common Home
13014 Calle De Las Rosas, SD CA 92129
churchforourcommonhome.com (858) 248-5123 revtarwater@yahoo.com
Affiliate Community Minister of First UU Church of San Diego
