P age B4 O ctober 11, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver A L T E R N A T IV E S Physical And Spiritual Healing n M. L aais to err at times, but sim p ly by asking a lo vin g G od to forgive and remove the habit o f sin, our records are cleansed as we grow in the fear and grace o f God. We, in Am erica, are our own very harsh judges and our worse en­ emies. We suffer g u ilt feelings and create our own retributions, espe­ c ia lly i f we have had some religious upbringing; and it is because we judge ourselves and are our worse ene­ mies, the Gospel o f Jesus C hrist should be taught, remembered and reviewed on a daily basi«. The Gospel o f C hrist teaches that “ We believe in God the Father, G od the Son and God the H o ly S pirit, therefore, we are forgiven; washed clean in the B lood o f the Lamb; through the sacrifice o f the perfect Son o f Man, who paid the ransom demanded fo r our redem ption from the shackles o f sin, w hich separated us from H im in whom we believe. The debt is paid, therefore, there is no sin, therefore, there is nothing o f w hich to feel g u ilty ; no retribution required fo r something that never was. Being human, we w ill continue In some ethnic cultures, certain diseases, such as hypertension, are exacerbated due to a dropping away from Church involvement and the serv­ ing o f religious connections and fam­ ily religious teachings; these being replaced w ith greed for 'th in g s ’ , greed for money and desire for social status G u ilt feelings brought on by methods used to acquire money, social status and things, in turn brings on severe attacks o f hypertension, which in turn kills. The spiritual aspect o f life, the inner person, which no one sees (un­ less a person chooses to reveal) needs an outlet for tensions; A Way o f es­ cape is apparent, although we may choose not to follow The Way. A be­ lie f in God offers a way o f escape, a flig h t from ourselves, from our bad decisions, our guilt feelings and our harsh judgements against ourselves. Some ethnic groups have had more life pressures to confront, fo r a much longer time, with no effective self- motivated change available and have relied on faith in God and his Son, gospel teachings and the intervention o f the H oly S pirit in their live as their only means o f release o f pressure, their only means o f bearing their bur­ dens; their only unchanging Godly Laws for rearing their children. D ropping away from G od, shun­ n ing a foundation in b e lie f in God, seems to give some people an inde­ pendent believable aura; but also brings about deep seated g u ilt feel­ ings, violent actions and reactions, greed, anger and hopelessness. Physical and S p iritu a l healing comes about when there is a return to a foundation o fb e lie fa n d reliance on G od; a return to the teaching o f c h il­ dren to love each other and honor parents. This w ould be the sure life ­ line to the sure preservation o fG o d ly people in Am erica. Am ericans must learn again to never injure another by act o r by word. We must learn again to fo rg ive ourselves and others. T o fo rg ive as soon as we are injured and to forget as soon as we forgive Be­ cause o f these teachings and beliefs a great number o f people in America have refrained from taking up weap­ ons against oppressors in this country. Physical and S p iritu a l healing is im perative ¡fo u r nation w ill survive. A tu rn in g away fro m ungodly coun­ c il and scorn o f a lm ig h ty God must soon take place. A return to the God o f our fathers and a great e xh ib itio n o f his love among the people is long overdue. H ow long w ill G od abide us th e s ic k and s tr iv in g fo r s o c ia l ju s tic e gets o v e rlo o k e d . Pope John Paul has turned the hierar­ chy o f the U.S. C atholic Church into In his 17 years as pope, they argue, John Paul has changed the U.S. too conservative a b o d y — one that is in touch w ith h im but out o f touch w ith both its la ity and priesthood, one hostile to dissent. They say that, as a result, the Am erican church, once in the fore­ front o f protecting the rights o f the poor and powerless, has become too passive in debates on such v ita l so­ cia l issues as the one raging over welfare reform . Som e e x p e rts a ls o c o m p la in the ch u rc h has becom e so a s s o c i­ ated in th e p u b lic ’ s m m d w ith issues su ch as a b o r tio n , b irth control and o p p o s itio n to co n d o m use th a t its e x tr a o rd in a r y w o rk in m inisterin g to the p o o r, h e lp in g C atholic hierarchy from a m od­ erate and progressive one into a deep­ ly conservative group that has to agree w ith his views. M a n y w is h th a t th is v e ry c o n ­ s e rv a tiv e pope c o u ld fin d a w ay to bend on such q u e s tio n s as a l­ lo w in g w o m e n in to the p rie s t­ h o o d and p rie s ts to m a rry b e ­ women and the need to m aintain a celibate priesthood. U n iv e rsity o f W isconsin C atholic scholar Richard Schoenherr, author o f “ Full Pews and Em pty A lta rs,” a w id e ly praised study o f the priesthood, says that unless the rules on priestly celibacy are abandoned, there w ill be hardly any priests in the 21st century to m inister to Catholics. cause th e y fe a r fo r the fu tu re o f the c h u rc h i f he does not. “ We w ill see a 40 percent de­ cline in the number o f priests from 1966 to the year 2005 w hile the lay population w ill grow by 65 percent in that same period. A nd in all the studies I have done, the main reason Polls o f Catholics echo those sentiments - fin d in g that a large ma­ people are leaving the priesthood is male celibate e x clu sivity,” he said. jo r it y adm ire and approve o f the P olish-bom p o n tiff even as they dis­ “ I see this papal adm inistration as the last hurrah fo r a male celibate agree w ith his stands on abortion, b irth control, divorce, ord in a tio n o f p rie s th o o d ,” S ch o e n h e rr added. “ This current pope is appointing o n ly éZtwinq ö&emorp Devota Norman Sunrise ■om, August 12 ,1 9 7 1 Sunset,October 1 ,1 9 9 5 For Those Who Love Me: When I am gone, release me, let me A rm strong, the musical inspiration fo r M ariah Carey, Luther Vandross S o n g s tre s s honors in black gospel music. B o th a rtis ts re c e n tly c o n ­ trib u te d to V e r ity R e c o rd s ’ A and favorite o f the queen ofd a ytim e television, Oprah W infrey, makes T rib u te T o Rosa P arks a lb u m in c o m m e m o ra tio n o f the 4 0 th a n ­ an astonishing come-back w ith her new album , The Secret Is O u t n iv e rs a ry o f the M o n tg o m e ry B us B o y c o tt. Arm stong and Kee w ill be fea­ tured solo artists on the all-star track “ Something Inside So Strong” along w ith H o w a rd H e w itt, Y o la n d a a restoration o f the church as it was before the Second Vatican C ouncil. M any in the church th in k he is beat­ ing a dead horse.” C atholic w rite r and e d ito r T h o ­ mas C a h ill, author o f “ H ow the Irish Saved C iv iliz a tio n ,” agrees. “ T here’ s a real d ivisio n in the Am erican C atholic mind: people like this man personally but they sim p ly disagree w ith his policies. There is also a pow er struggle between a cle r­ ical elite and a la ity w ho have no executive producer on Secret and re ce n tly garnered 3 E xcellence Financial Center at a charity event benefitting the U nited N egro C o l­ awards at the G M W A , the highest lege Fund. The G ro tto is seeking choral P e rfo rm in g at the fe s tiv a l groups to perform between C hrist­ mas and N ew Y e a r’ s Eve at the eighth annual “ Festival o f Lights,” the largest choral festival in the P acific N orthw est. has b ecom e a h o lid a y tr a d itio n fo r m any sin g e rs and m u sicia n s. L a st y e a r, 110 m u sic g ro u p s, re p re s e n tin g 3 ,9 0 5 sin g e rs and m u s ic ia n s gave th e ir g i f t o f The holiday event w ill attract 125 concert-style performances re­ flecting the Christmas season ’ s spe­ m u sic d u rin g th is e cu m e n ica l C h ris tm a s c e le b ra tio n . cial message. Four musical p e rfo r­ mances o f approxim ately 45 m in ­ utes in length are scheduled each evening during the period. pected to welcome 45,000 visitors during it 29-evening presentation. Interested performers are en­ couraged to call early, as p erfor­ mance schedules are fille d quickly. Contact Patty Gicante, Festival o f Lights music program coordinator, no later than Nov. 10, at The G rotto at 261-2442. The cathedral-quality acous­ tics offered by The G ro tto ’ s 500-set chapel make it one o f the prem ier venues fo r choral performances in the Portland area. The Festival o f Lights is ex­ Mt Olivet Baptist Church 8501 N. Chautauqua Blvd., at Willis Blvd. Grief Recovery Dealing w ith the loss o f a loved one can be devastating, especially i f you are going through it alone. Worship Services 8:00am & I 1:00am. Church School 9:30 to 10:30am, Bible Study, Wednesdays, 10:30am & 7:00pm Radio Ministry each Sunday, 8:00am on KBMS A Teaching Church With A Reaching Ministry Dr. James E. Martin, Senior Pastor (503) 240-PRAY Portland First Church o f the N azarene is offering a G rie f Recovery Workshop 6 Tuesday evenings, Oct. 3 - Nov. 14, (N o session O ct 31) Cost: $15 A d d itio n a l costs fo r childcare Phone 297-6100 to register re n tly w rapping up the national Choral groups Invited ‘To Perform change from a focus on the church and the Pope to a focus on the people in the church,” he added. gave you my love. You can only guess, h you gave me in happiness. I H awkins and others. Vanessa Bel I A rm strong is cur­ B lack F am ily Reunion tour. She is also slated to make a special public performance in New Y o rk ’ s W o rld figure but the w hole focus has to P ortland First C hu rch o f the N azarene Adams, S hirley Caesar, Tramaine remained in the Top 5 on B illb o a rd ’ s “ T op Gospel A lb u m s” chart for over 6 months. Kee, dubbed the "P rince o f Gospel M u sic,” also served as voice but whose power is that it sup­ ports the church,” he said. “ The pope has great courage and cuts a great go. I have so many things to see and do. You mustn't tie yourself to me in tears, he happy that we had so many years. I B e ll A rm stro n g ’ s The Secret Is O ut jo in s labelmate John P Kee Whose album, The N ew L ife C om m unity C h o ir Featuring John P. Kee, has H isto ry has many examples o f un­ g o d ly inner decay being the d o w n fa ll o f many a nation. I f we w ould sur­ vive, we must return to G od fo r phys­ ical and spiritual healing. conservative bishops w ho agree w ith him and w ith his strategy. He wants V anessa A rm stro n g ’ s Secret debuts in this w eek’ Top 10 B illb o a rd ’ s “ T o p Gospel A lbum s” chart as we now are? Continue as we are A m erica w ill suffer a fa ll that w ill be fe lt and heard throughout the w orld. Cat ho [ics Admire (Pope ‘P u t ‘Disagree ‘W ith fiim B e h in d the a d u la tio n , m any Am erican C atholic scholars say that “Secret" CfospetAct 6100 S W R aab Road (Sunset H w y at S ylvan) ~ 1 - - _ _ .. ¿ . / ¿- W O Ü you for the love you each have but, now it is time I travel on Cox Funeral Home Inc. So grieve fo r me a little w h ile i f you must, then let g rie f be com fo rte d by trust. I t ’ s only fo r a w hile that we must part. So bless the m em ories w ith in yo u r heart. I w o n ’t be far away fo r life