Sivin Kit’s Garden

It was good for Friends in Conversation to slowly reemerge again.  This time with INTR.Asia  Father Jojo Fung and I felt led after the last RoH Malaysia event to organize a mini-follow-up conversation.

The main goal  was for us to engage in conversation on the relevance of themes and models brought up by theologies of liberation in Asia for the Malaysian context. In conversation with Jojo what we hoped to do was to carve out space where we can start this kind of open learning process together.  For me, personally the fact that Roman Catholics and Protestants can come in this manner is most enriching and challenging.

Father Jojo presented a theological interface of the Malaysian Barefoot Theology with Pieris and Sobrino, part of which has been published in EAPR.  Joseph Ng, SJ who did a STL in Pieris Asian Theology of Liberation added on with more in depth comments.

I was facilitating the event as a novice compared to the two Jesuits above … and tried to interact with the ideas presented more from the pastoral and missional lens influenced by Lesslie Newbigin.

This was really not for the fainthearted. But we came  together to explore a more contextualized approach for us in Malaysia. Especially, for those who are already engaged in the issues through their work, to explore theological models to center our efforts with the liberating power of the Gospel.

My good friend Alwyn Lau as usual is the fastest blogger to put some thoughts out in the world wild web for more conversation.  I’ve included some pictures interspersed between his notes to give a visual picture of the enriching event on Friday night, 28 November 2008 at Bangsar Lutheran Church!

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God of the Poor

by Alwyn Lau

Learnt some new things last night at BLC where I listened to Fathers Jojo Fung (see my short write-up on him) and Joseph Ng share on liberation theology and God’s heart for the poor in Asia:

• 1. Jesuit priests can be distinguished by at least 3 characteristics, a) gritty casualness in dressing, b) profound depth of theological reflection and c) striking gentleness and calmness in responding to criticism/objections.

• 2.There are some truly remarkable missionaries cum thinkers cum religious symbioticians in the Roman Catholic faith, and Aloysius Pieris stands tall among them.

• 3. One unique path to deeper spirituality with God may be to drop all of one’s pre-conceptions of God and take a plunge into new baptisms (or allowing oneself to be initiated) into other faith-communities (Pieris into Buddhism, Fung into Shamanism, etc.). "To the Jew, one becomes a Jew. To the Gentile, one turns Gentile. To the pagan, a pagan" - so that all avenues are covered in the work of salvation (1 Cor 9:20-23) and that one gains a fresh experience of the spiritual universe?

• 4. John 14:6 - "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life" -, traditionally used to proof-text the ‘exclusivity of Christ for salvation’ may be less a soteriological ‘How To’ and more of a Christological ‘Trust-Me"(!). Brian McLaren explains the different perspective, although (no doubt) some disagree.

• 5. The human knee-jerk reaction of avoiding hardship suffocates the impulse to be in solidarity with those experiencing hardship. The active alleviation of suffering and oppression, therefore, may be inseparable from the choice of experienced suffering.

• 6. Restating 5), ‘going barefoot, i.e. voluntary poverty, helps puts us in touch with those for whom being bare-foot isn’t an option. ‘Taking off’ our shoes is a way of putting ourselves ‘in’ the shoes of the poor.

• 7. The famous question from Jesus, "Who do you say I am?" (Matthew 16:13-15) should be posed to the poor, with serious Christological and missiological consequences i.e. who Christ is and what the Church’s calling should be could take serious turns if we listen carefully to the poor’s view of Jesus, regardless of their formal faith-confessions.

• 8. The poor reflect the kingdom of God because they form the loci of Jesus’ actions and very presence i.e. in a way reminiscient of the Church being one with the Body of Christ (Acts 26), the poor are paradoxically ‘equated’ with Jesus (Matthew 25:45).

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To be fair to Alwyn he did post first but it was focused on his own presentation and the feedback from it  . Read on.

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It was, from the start, unlikely that many would find the below presentation totally agreeable, but I appreciate the feedback nevertheless (from ROH Merdeka 2008 participants and non-participants alike).

Some responses raised to the idea that peace-making, reconciliation and forgiveness must be the Church’s defining role (in politics and all domains of life) included:

• Jesus has many facets, not merely the suffering/dying one e.g. His Temple action
• The Church also has a prophetic role to play i.e. Christians have a responsibility to rebuke the world as the Biblical prophets did
• "Love thy enemy" doesn’t apply to societal/institutional evil (e.g. we are not called to love apartheid)
• One doesn’t tell an abused wife to ‘love her husband’
• The book of Revelations was filled with tirades against Rome (e.g. it labeled Rome a beast)

A good friend even said that whilst he wouldn’t mind inviting Ahmad Ismail (who made racist remarks against Malaysian Chinese) to dinner, he would also call UMNO to fire him.

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This time Sherman Kuek beat Alwyn Lau in terms of giving a quick overview. Since it’s out here, let me repost it for regulars to my garden I hope to give my reflections on the event later.

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The people of Malaysia - a country fraught with its unique struggles amidst the dreams we share as a nation - need a sense of hope that our country will and can one day be the haven we all desire it to be.

Much has happened in the past one year leading to the March general elections. Upon the announcement of the election results, there was largely a cheer of exhilaration among the rakyat who decided it was time for a change in the state of the country’s political affairs.

But within several months after that, many were once again disillusioned like never before when they found that their hopes were perhaps illusive.

With this background in mind, the Revolution of Hope (RoH Malaysia) organised their annual Merdeka event on 10 and 11 October 2008. If last year’s theme was Merdeka 2007: A Revolution of Hope, this year’s event was themed Merdeka 2008: A Restoration of Hope.

RoH Malaysia is an ecumenical group of praxis-oriented theological and social scientific thinkers which aims to effect ripples of change among Christians, empowering them for creative theological reflection and greater societal involvement. The team consists of a mix of theologians and people trained in fields of the social sciences, lay people and clergy, researchers, grassroots activists and structural activists.

In this Merdeka 2008 event, the respective members of the team presented their analyses from a variety of perspectives. Beginning with the current Malaysian context, highlighting the hopes and challenges experienced by the nation, the team members then began to facilitate further thinking on the part of the participants by provoking reflection from theological, spiritual, pastoral and practical perspectives.

Participants were then divided into various groups - the corporate professionals, the NGO workers, pastors and church leaders, and youth - and led them through a thorough action planning process to contribute their little bits to the restoration of the nation. Because there is a praxis orientation in this gathering, the Merdeka events are usually deliberately preserved as small events. This year’s Merdeka 2008 had about 40 participants.

According to a number of the participants, two points highlighted in the event that most impressed them were, firstly, that our hope in the midst of social engagements must not rest on a false expectation of a this-worldly utopia. It is a hope that is cast far into the future, a Christian hope for the fullness of the reign of God to be actualised in this world order. The realisation of this historical event would be an inevitable and would be something worth hoping for when we embrace faith like little children.

Secondly, they were reminded that engagement in social concerns must not cause Christians to pander to negative rhetoric and verbal violence the way many anti-government bloggers and politicians are doing. The Christian community, in its social engagement, must always embody a way of mutual respect. In our endeavour to uphold justice and peace, our Christian values of respect for the dignity of our neighbours must not be compromised.

RoH Malaysia is committed to a non-partisan position in its political stance. As a team, they neither stand in support of nor against any political party in Malaysia. Their utmost concern reflects the concern of the Body of Christ: justice and peace. As they seek to uphold the dignity of the marginalised in society, they are committed to articulating their concerns regarding relevant issues in accordance with the theological and ethical standards of the Church. That these articulations pertaining to any socio-political reality implicates upon particular political positions and parties does not at all or at any time reflect a spirit of political partisanship on their part.

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It’s on folks, and we welcome more to join us … read on!

On October 10 - 11, a group of friends and fellow pilgrims on the journey have decided to bring our minds and hearts into a common focus. You are invited to join us along the way.

Spend 1 ½ days with a team of cutting-edge theological thinkers and social scientific thinkers like Tricia Yeoh, Rev Dr Jojo Fung, Dr Helen Ting, Dr Sherman Kuek, Rev Sivin Kit, Veronica Ann Retnam, Alwyn Lau, and P. Sakthivel as they describe, interpret and analyse the current state of our nation from a Christian perspective. Together, we will then try to work out a concrete plan for a restoration of hope for Malaysia.

There is a certain open ended-ness (or “open source”-ness) in the agenda more so because we cannot orchestrate end results prematurely in times like today. But what we can do is to converge our individual efforts, cross-fertilize ideas, cultivate new networks, and work out baby steps forward together.

We worked out a basic framework we can all explore together … this is a chance also to affirm existing efforts as well as forge new ones. Shall we the Church in all it’s shapes and sizes, forms and functions … emerge from our slumber or sense of inadequacy … and converge towards a future together with all our unique gifts and contributions?

Dates

10 October 2008, 1.00 pm - 5.30 pm

11 October 2008, 9.00 am - 5.30 pm

Venue

Bangsar Lutheran Church

23, Jalan Abdullah

off Jalan Bangsar

53000 Kuala Lumpur

Registration Fees

RM 10.00

(for materials, refreshments and lunch on 11 October)

Closing Date

8 October 2008

For enquiries or registration, please contact roh.malaysia@gmail.com

Download the flyer here to pass the word around, have a look at what’s planned and also get a brief profile of the panelists.

Friends, we’re back and with a new date. October 10 (Friday) and 11 (Saturday).  We hope to gather friends and like-minded individuals, representatives of networks and even institutions who would like to have space to work through what is burning in our hearts, and bubbling in our heads all this while.

There is a certain open ended-ness (or "open source"-ness) in the agenda more so because we cannot orchestrate end results prematurely in times like today. But what we can do is to converge our individual efforts, cross-fertilize ideas, cultivate new networks, and work out baby steps forward together.

We worked out a basic framework we can all explore together … this is a chance also to affirm existing efforts as well as forge new ones. Shall we the Church in all it’s shapes and sizes, forms and functions … emerge from our slumber or sense of inadequacy … and converge towards a future together with all our unique gifts and contributions?

Will the ordinary radicals in Malaysia come out from the closet?

Then again it’s not about glitz and publicity.

For me, it’s more about encouraging each other as we seek to embody and express our ideals humbly. Especially, when we are a minority.

It’s encouraging to see this development in the USA. Thumbs up!

On the 12 - 13 September 2008, a group of friends and fellow pilgrims on the journey have decided to bring our minds and hearts into a common focus. You are invited to join us along the way.

It’s not often we have Roman Catholics and Protestants having a good time of interacting together at this level in Malaysia.  Then again, we are not authoritative personalities we’ve come together out of our faith in Jesus Christ, authentic friendships and a common focus towards moving forward together, even in small baby steps.

Here’s what we plan to do … ambitious? Well, better jump first, fear later.  We’ll never know unless we try … why not? right?

Let me know if you can come …

P.S. Thanks to Kevin Thomas from Twentyfivecents for another excellent design.

Nice to hear Malaysia mentioned We had fond memories of Brian’s visit here. And he’s at his best when he’s in the "encouragement on overdrive" mode!

I think we had a pretty good meeting to prepare for an exciting "consultation-in-waiting".  More information coming when the time is right. For now, take your guess from the clues on the whiteboard.:-)