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The Beatitudes: The First Nations Translation
I shared this Scripture reading of Matthew 5:1-11 during a recent Scouting interfaith worship service. As a preface I spoke about how colonialism resulted in the decimation of indigenous traditions, languages and beliefs; and that most every major translation of the Bible is based on a Western worldview.
The “First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament” shows how a religious belief can be shared and embraced without stomping out existing traditions, languages and understanding. In the same manner we shouldn’t take Scouting into new communities to “make them like us”. Our purpose should be to use the Scouting values and programming to make people the best versions of themselves.
First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament
1-2 When Creator Sets Free (Jesus) saw this great crowd, he went back up into the mountainside and sat down to teach the people.… Read the rest
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Friendly, Courteous & Kind?
I shared this “sermon” as the inspirational message during a Scouting interfaith worship service. The service was part of an adult leader training called Wood Badge that I recently attended. It was delivered to an almost entirely white audience and was intended to show how work in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion align with the Scout Law – and intended to challenge them to actively engage in Scouting DEI work.
I’ve often wondered about the twelve words chosen for the Scout Law – particularly words like Friendly, Courteous and Kind, which seem to be synonyms.
Are they redundant? Are they interconnected? Has our modern English lost some nuance originally found in the words 100 years ago?
I couldn’t find an online dictionary with definitions from a century years ago. … Read the rest
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My Favorite Book That I Had Never Read
I’d like to tell you about my favorite book that I had never read.
Dune.
I grew up in a small Texas town. One of the few things to do there was go to the local library. I remember going with my mother when I was young and walking up and down the aisles in the “adult” section looking at the books that were beyond my comprehension.
I would wander the fiction section looking at the covers of sci-if and fantasy novels. One of my favorite books to pull off the shelf and stare at was Dune*. I remember going week after week to the library and gravitating directly to that particular shelf and pulling out that book to stare at its cover.… Read the rest
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Bring the Funk: Five Life Lessons from Bootsy Collins
You might not guess looking at me, but my favorite genre of music is funk. My favorite musical artist (by a longshot) is Prince*, but my favorite genre is funk. There’s just something about a funky groove, with a deep pocket, then gets your head bobbing.
Fans of funk also recognize that funk is a state of mind, and that there are life lessons to be found in the lyrics, the music, and the musicians. One elder statesman of funk, Bootsy Collins, stands out with his insight and wisdom on music and life.
Bootsy first gained notoriety as the bass player for James Brown’s backing band “The J.B.’s”. He later joined foundational funk pioneers Parliament-Funkadelic, and led his own P-Funk side project, Bootsy’s Rubber Band.… Read the rest