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the rev Carl Freeman Reynolds
- Enfield, CT
- United States
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the rev Carl Freeman Reynolds's Communities
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Long River Community
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Book Reviews
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CS Queer Home
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Recovering Pastors
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Discover the Cosmos
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the rev Carl Freeman Reynolds's Discussions
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Latest Activity
I wish I had the time and $ to do just that right now! I would be out there in a flash...I was just expressing that it took me 25+ years to get over my seminary education before I could open myself up...sincerely...Carl
Beautiful photograph, Carl. Now... how can I make it bigger, so I can see it better??
"Did I mention.....?" "Did I mention....?" whatisdisallabout? No...you didn't mention any of that...but you bring it all up as if we should somehow be predisposed to understand what you are saying without you having said anything ...please speak/w...
There is no CSC 101 as far as I am concerned...we are all wanderers on a path that has brought us together for this journey...I will listen to and learn from you...I hope you will do the same...there is no need for "certification"...we are all cer...
Once upon a time...Christmas meant to me the birth of Jesus Christ...it was a wondrous time...it started the day after Thanksgiving, and also the beginning of Advent when we remembered how we had longed hoped for the birth of Emmanuel and God woul...
This is the most astounding conversation I have ever been a part of...I made a number of entries back at the beginning...and I have been intently listening...we seem to be hung up on three issues: "membership", in terms of who identifies with/adhe...
The fern I am draped with has been my family for five generations. My great,great grandmother dug it up in the woods near her home and it's been with us ever since. At one point it had shriveled to two stems. I went bankrupt, left the church, got ...
it's called communication and conversation...nobody around here is going to shoot down your balloons...the only reason i am here is that others speak and listen...whadda concept!!!!!!!...to embrace the reality of true acceptance of all people and ...
A very serious question, my friend...do you worship/acknowledge the authority of/ respond to/give credence to...the CHURCH or God/Creator????? I gave up on the CHURCH a long time ago...the CHURCH and God/Creator/give IT a name!!!!????...are not th...
"Connecticut" means "long river", so I am endeavoring to start a community in the Hartford Area
Good name! Do set it up in the Communities section.
Would very much like to meet with like minded Creation Spirituality persons in the Hartford, CT area...maybe we could call ourselves the Long River Community!!!
I would be very interested if there any of you/us in the range of Hartford, CT who would like to gather in person to explore the possibility of creating a real-time CS community?
oooooohhhhhh my aching balding head......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!C
Profile Information
- How did you come to discover Creation Spirituality?
- I attended a workshop on Creation Spirituality at the Jubilee! Community in Asheville, NC in 1995 and experienced a life liberating revelation. I immediately read everything Matthew Fox had ever written and brought CS into my somewhat conservative Congregational (UCC) Church with some great successes, but ultimately led to my leaving that Church in 1999. Since then I have been serving as a Construction Supervisor with the Hartford (CT) Area Habitat For Humanity; in many ways a much more creative ministry. One thing I am searching for is a more fulfilling area in which to teach/preach/live CS. Any hints?
- How would you briefly describe your spirituality? (Be creative! Don't worry if it only seems to make sense to you - we love the diverse and the hard-to-explain!)
- I am Christian (ordained no less), who has purged myself of 90% of Christian doctrine and dogma, and what is left is a loving respect for the way Jesus introduced unconditional love for all people into the human condition. Carlos Castaneda (truth or myth) opened my being to the reality that there are many ways of percieving reality. Native Americans taught me the reality of respecting earth and the cosmos as a living reality, which both gives birth to us and we give birth to. Buddhists tauaght me how to pray (Shut up and listen). Hindus taught me the multi-faceted realities of reality the compose the Cosmos. I sit under a tree and feel with earth under, around and above me; I sense the Cosmos within around and extending beyond infinity and eternity all around me. I sit with another person and know that both they and I are children of the same Creation, and both listen to and share our wisdom and folly as beloved children of God. Experiencing the reality of the wonder and love of the Cosmos can happen when alone, but happens better when shared.
- What is your first language?
- English
WOW!!!
Thank you Susan, Jo An, Matt and michel for your quick responses, and your support. I am quite new to this kind of networking, et al. I hope to meet and connect with people who have been able to integrate CS into their lives like I have tried to. My baseline is, obviously, the Church, though I know full well that the Church can easily become an impediment to its own mission, dwelling on doctrine and dogma more than existential, experiential manifestations of love and grace. Habitat is a step in the right direction, though I have some serious issues with the directions Habitat has been heading in, especially since they essentially got rid of Millard (that's a long story), but he certainly got back his feet and kept on going. So I am searching for ideas, dreams, possibilities and outrageous manifestations of love and grace in the CS community.
the rev Carl Freeman Reynolds's Photos
The rev Carl Freeman Reynolds's Blog
Merry Christmas!?!
Once upon a time...Christmas meant to me the birth of Jesus Christ...it was a wondrous time...it started the day after Thanksgiving, and also the beginning of Advent when we remembered how we had longed hoped for the birth of Emmanuel and God would be with us
I know it is/was a wondrous experience of mythology...the stories of Jesus' birth are not historical facts...nobody was following him around with a notebook, tape recorder or blackberry from years before his birth...but somebody/many people… Continue
I know it is/was a wondrous experience of mythology...the stories of Jesus' birth are not historical facts...nobody was following him around with a notebook, tape recorder or blackberry from years before his birth...but somebody/many people… Continue
Posted on November 25, 2009 at 11:23am — 3 Comments
My new photo
The fern I am draped with has been my family for five generations. My great,great grandmother dug it up in the woods near her home and it's been with us ever since. At one point it had shriveled to two stems. I went bankrupt, left the church, got divorced, started a new life and the fern has been flourishing ever since, A new, bigger pot, lots of good dirt, fresh water and sunlight and it is now almost four feet in diameter. I took a slice out of it and gave it to my daughter for her wedding and… Continue
Posted on November 23, 2009 at 6:40am — 2 Comments
Hartford, CT area
I would be very interested if there any of you/us in the range of Hartford, CT who would like to gather in person to explore the possibility of creating a real-time CS community?
Posted on November 11, 2009 at 11:26am — 3 Comments
Stumbling upon inspiration
So I'm reading through an article in Guitar Legends magazine, and in an interview with Joe Satriani (may favorite guitarist) and Steve Vai, they are talking about how both their perception of music and their performance of music have evolved over time, and Steve Vai says: "Whether it's the way we listen to music or our concept of God, our PERCEPTION is continually evolving."
Somewhere along the line people got the notion that the universe and everything in it was all done, fine', what is is all… Continue
Somewhere along the line people got the notion that the universe and everything in it was all done, fine', what is is all… Continue
Posted on October 31, 2009 at 6:58am — 9 Comments
History, Hermeneutics and Art
These communities have caused me to reflect back on the thought/spiritual processes that have shaped my life...much has lain dormant for years...I did my seminary thesis on "History, Hermeneutics and Art" in which I sought to examine the way thoughts/feelings/spiritual perceptions are transmitted through time and cultures through the written language and Art, and the way the given language interprets, and the way the given arts interpret and so either affirm or change the original notion. Our th… Continue
Posted on October 21, 2009 at 7:43am —
Comment Wall (12 comments)
- At 2:48am on November 29, 2009,
Sara Damewood said…
- Thank you, Carl... Now I see you are the "green man." I am so curious about what's going on in that Men's Spirituality room. You'all seem to have a lot of activity in there. I'm intrigued...
- At 6:52am on October 27, 2009,
Lance Frizzell-Reynolds said…
- Hi Carl,
My family was mostly Vermonters, and some came from Quebec in to Vermont. I have a partial family tree, but our family is proving difficult to pinpoint because at one point there was a marriage on my great grandmother's side of the family that included an Abenaki individual, but the records sort of stopped before we found the connection and could go further back.
- At 7:56pm on October 3, 2009,
Mel Harding said… - Hi Carl,
You've hit on an amazing coincidence. I also prefer to think of Mystery rather than use the name 'God'. For me, the name 'God' has been so polluted with political ambition, it distracts me from awe, wonder and holiness. You asked about me. I'm a pilgrim. I seek. I wonder. I ask questions. I learn and try to share what I know. I also love to dance and sing and express myself. Stay in touch!
- At 2:12am on October 3, 2009,
Mel Harding said…
- Hi Rev Reynolds, You have so many fascinating things to say. I'm humbled by what I read here. There is so much I need to learn. My instrincts tell me you speak truth from the heart, but I need time to organise what you offer into a way I can understand. It is my honour to meet you.
May blessings and love by yours for ever!
- At 1:40pm on September 14, 2009,
Matt Henry said…
- THanks, Carl, for your descrioption, below! Very interesting and well-put. :)
- At 11:56am on April 14, 2009,
jo an gaines said… - Isn 't Creation Spirituality the 'coolest' breeze blowing???
- At 6:34am on April 5, 2009,
the rev Carl Freeman Reynolds said…
- Discovering CS for me was like finding the door I had always been knocking on some when/where down/back in my soul. I had issues with the doctrines of original sin and the need for atonement from way back: from my earliest introductions to a basic faith that I more simply "caught" than was taught, right up through seminary, though I could not find voice for those questions because they seemed so blasphemous. Creation is such a wonderful beautiful place...but...we are born into this world in sin. God loves us beyond measure...but...HE will toast us in hell for eternity if we don't turn away from the "world". This made no sense, but...I was/am a CHRISTIAN as well as an ordained minister, et. al., and I could not give myself license to question that...though I confess there were some late night somewhat altered states of consciousness conversations with collegial subversives where we dared vent those notions...but... Discovering CS was the ultimate YYYYEEEESSSS!!!!! I KNEW IT ALL ALONG!!!!
Along the way I had the blessed opportunity to learn from Dr. Burton Throckmorton, NT professor at BTS, who was a pioneer in critical examinations of NT translations from Greek, and a pioneer in the whole issue of inclusive language. I like to tell the story like this: I was first taught that God was an old man up in the clouds somewhere, judging us ' from a distance' (bad song). Then I came to realize that God is not a MAN, but as creator of male and female God is both. This led to me realizing that God is not a person at all, and from there our anthropomorphic metaphors give out. Essence of existence, every where and when, lots of words that will never get it all. CS allowed me to embrace the Mystery and not need to name it, just live it.
Lots more to say...will post more later.
Thanx
Carl
- At 4:11am on April 5, 2009,
Bill Gordon said… - Hi Carl,
As an also used-to pastor, I have an appreciation for your observations about the Church. I am working on what it means to be active in the world in ways that the Church sometimes provided, and sometimes prevented. I would welcome hearing more of your thoughts about your journey, and hope that you will bring those to this community, as well.
Bill
- At 11:35am on March 22, 2009,
Susan Coppage Evans said… - Hi Carl - Welcome to this global community where we share some similar passions. I had listed a discussion when Millard Fuller died... honoring his work. I really appreciate the work of Habitat... had a powerful experience building in Ecuador 5 years ago today. My husband, Leon, lived at Koinonia Farms when Habitat ws just starting... lots of connections. I hope you find more contacts here with CS folks that support your unfolding path.
Susan
- At 9:27am on March 21, 2009,
jo an gaines said…
- Carl, where do you live? Your spirit is so refreshing.
Jo An Gaines
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