Liberal or Progressive?

When it comes to religion I thought these terms were interchangeable. That is, until a few days ago. I have been at the Common Dreams Conference these past four days and this distinction has been the stand out learning for me.  While "Liberal" churches  would probably describe themselves as open minded and open hearted, Hal Taussig would suggest that they have not changed their practices much in the last twenty years or so.  They may well have

"maintained a strong intellectual openness, an emphasis on social justice, a traditional worship with a lot of preaching and very little participation or expressiveness by the people, and not much attention to feminism, gay and lesbian issues, spiritual renewal and experimentation or other religions"  - Taussig in Grassroots Progressive Christianity: A Quiet Revolution

And it is these things that the Liberal religious have not paid much attention to that the Progressives are passionate about. The Progressive Religious are marked by what they do rather than what they believe. The key note speaker at the Conference, Gretta Vosper's book is titled With or Without God: Why the way we live is much more important than what we believe.  Another of the presenters, Margaret Mayman talked about the connection between the poetic and the prophetic and stated that the defining difference between liberal and progressive was that the latter are as much interested in practicing justice (for humans and for the earth) as they are in practices of spirituality, and that there must be connection between everyday life and liturgy/ritual: "If this is not a place where tears are understood, where shall I go to  cry?"

So why does this learning matter to me?  I have long been attracted to the irrational and dont want to live with the austerity of the rational alone but I have become disillusioned with Church - the spiritual practices offered in the Churches I have been in mostly bore me (at best) - apart from the Eco-faith community that I was part of in Adelaide.  I certainly do not believe in a god who intervenes.  When it comes to the supernatural, i dont know what I believe and I dont really care.  I like the mystery.  I like the mystics, one of whom said "God is silence". I do believe in the power of people to change things, and the power of community to change, transform me, and it these things I long for.  This hope to be part of a community that makes a real difference in the world but who has also developed some practices for sustaining and nourishing each other in this work is not something I want to go on ignoring.

Looking for Eric

Watched this film on DVD a couple of weekends ago and loved it - and I'm no footy fan!  It was funny, inspiring, and quirkily wise - with all those Eric Cantona aphorisms - like "when the seagulls follow the trawler it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea" and "he who is afraid to throw the dice will never throw a six".  The real wisdom in the film is the way in which the men, younger and older befriend each other.  There are very few films about friendships between men - yet we know how important our relational connections are, particularly when we are mentally or emotionally vulnerable.  I really like the humanness of the characters - flawed, all of them, who together are stronger than they could have ever thought possible.  Years earlier Eric walked out on his wife and baby during his first panic attack.  His fear and shame made it impossible for him to find his way back to them then and you get the sense that he's never really been able to get his life 'on track' again.  His love of footy has been the highlight of his days.  The men who step in to act like friends when he needs them are his workmates.  They can see he is not coping. One of them, Meatballs, gets them all together to talk about how they might be able to help and support Eric. Some of their attempts are pretty woeful but because they do genuinely care about Eric, the postman, their ability to connect with him and with each other over more than just footy grows apace. At his most desperate point Eric begins to have imagined conversations with his football hero, Eric Cantona, who, in Eric's imagination becomes a sort of life coach. It is wonderful to watch Eric, the postman gaining confidence in himself and beginning to make changes and boundaries in his relationships. The overriding drama that Eric is at his wits end to solve he one day shares with his friends. In conversation they bounce ideas off of each other, enabling Eric to hit upon the plan that does solve the problem - no doubt then added upon and improved by his friends who all band together to carry it out.  It is a very uplifting film