There’s plenty of news about DNA ancestry going on these days. Individuals from all walks of life are tracking down their family history. The people who own these DNA search engine companies are getting rich. Millions more are finding surprises about who their biological descendants may have been.
There’s a downside, psychologically and spiritually, to this high-tech trend. That’s important to acknowledge. First, as a skeptical, wise relative of mine in Seattle quipped, “You need to watch out for this stuff. The testing is imperfect. It overlooks recessive genes. There are lab errors. It’s a bad parlor game.”
A second, I think, more important reason to pause for reflection is that DNA testing emphasizes “bloodline thinking,” something that easily is used to polarize ethnic groups and cultures. We already have our share of that with rabid nationalist movements springing up around the planet, fueled by dictators and rants from radio and television talk show hosts.
A seed for some redemptive antidote, a correction to this dangerous way of thinking, is hidden in an ancient creed of the early Christian tradition. “And he was born of the Virgin Mary.”
If one peeks under the veneer of popular religious history, you’ll find all such doctrines, like this one about the birth of Jesus, originated as responses to controversy in the early church. For some, such creedal statements still exist as literal understandings of biological processes, even as a litmus test for true believers. Should that happen, at its best it’s superficial thinking. At its worse, idolatry.
Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, wrote an essay in 1952 addressing this kind of distorted thinking. He suggested the deeper meaning of this teaching in the early church was to remind followers that each of us is more than biology, more than DNA. Tribe, nation, our biological identity, always seek to define us. Jung was convinced that the Biblical narrative of the Virgin Birth suggests our ancestry, our DNA, is only part of the story. And not the most important part, not so for the carpenter from Galilee. And not so for us.
Years ago at a retreat center in the mountains of Washington State, I recall Carroll Hinderlie, a former WWII prisoner in the Philippines, addressing a delinquent teenager, shortly before the young man was baptized. It was morning, the moment when the sun was rising over the East Cascades. Hinderlie said, “Today, a new life begins. You have a future. Your past is washed away.”
Jeff Goldblum, an actor and musician, in a recent interview in the New York Times, reflected, “It’s not what the universe serves us accidentally, but it’s about our proactive way to experience the cards, how to navigate them in ways that create meaning, purpose and satisfaction in this life.” Goldblum was warning us against being absorbed by DNA information. We are more than prisoners of our biological past.
His insight invites each of us to be set free in 2019. To recover the power of this old, often forgotten story of a Virgin Birth. To choose to live out, boldly, prophetically, and courageously, a profound and deeper truth about who we are called to be.
Jon
Winter 2019 Ecotone Newsletter
CONTENTS
JOURNAL NOTES
INSTITUTE OUTREACH
* Projects that are in initial negotiation stages for the Cedar Tree Institute in 2019 are: A series of 14 wellness programs at Senior Centers in five Counties in Upper Michigan in collaboration with the Superior Health Foundation; a workshop on mental health and congregational life for Upper Peninsula parish priests and clergy; a training seminar (the Janus Project) for hospice volunteers and staff, and our 10th annual mind/body “Iron Butterfly” summer workshop scheduled for Presque Isle Park Pavilion in June.
* CTI’s Director is the author of “Into the Mystic: Mushrooms, Priests, and Poets” an article published in the December 2018 issue of the Marquette Monthly. It’s a reflective, critical look at writer Michael Pollan’s journey into his own religious experience described in his recently published book, “How I Changed my Mind” (2018). To access this article go to cedartreeinstitute.org and link to “writings”.
* On October 6th, the Cedar Tree Institute staff presented three Northern white cedar trees as gifts to guest presenters for an interfaith event, “Called Together by Faith: Justice for Creation.” This was sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan in partnership with Michigan Interfaith Power and Light, the Northern Great Lakes Synod (ELCA), Te Great Lakes Peace Center, Temple Beth Sholom, and Marquette’s Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Special thanks to Lydia Bucklin, Episcopal priest, for leading the way with this vision.
A WORD OF THANKS
NORTHERN GREAT LAKES WATER STEWARDS
Benchmarks for this 2016-2020 interfaith initiative, thus far, have included 28 columns on the “Gift of Water” published in the Marquette Monthly by 28 authors; 3 public presentations; two parish-based adult forums; 3 community public evening gatherings with special guest presenters including physicians, botanists, and clergy; 8 public service announcements produced and distributed to regional radio stations; and 1750 trees planted in the Powell Township’s Yellow Dog Watershed to prevent stream erosion.
Moving into 2019- 2020, this effort coordinated by the interfaith team and the Cedar Tree Institute, is preparing to organize volunteer stream monitoring teams that will be based in local parishes across the Upper Peninsula.
IN APPRECIATION
The Cedar Tree Institute owns no property, supports no full time-staff, and serves the “in-between” spaces of more formal institutions.
Since our founding in 1995, we have outlasted 12 denominational bishops and executives and dozens of small businesses. We continue to provide 1/3 of all our projects pro-bono.
Grants come and go. We’ve had, as many of you know who have followed our mission over the years, our share of them: Partnerships with the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Environmental Agency, American Indian tribes, Blue Cross/Blue Shield Michigan Foundation, Northern Michigan University, the School of Human Medicine at Michigan State University, the Lake Superior Watershed Partnership, Marquette General Hospital and all ten major faith traditions across the Upper Peninsula.
We will keep on with our work, beholden to no single educational and religious institution or agency. We work in partnerships and have been able to provide an unusual presence in the Upper Peninsula because of you, our donors.
Thank you!! We invite you to keep us in your prayers and your thoughts. And for those who are able, but only for those able, a gift of generosity shared from your pocketbook.
THE WALL
Immigrants • Justice • Spiritual Life • Boundaries
A Retreat
December 6–9
El Paso, Texas & Mesilla, New Mexico
During 3 days in Advent, 20 individuals immersed themselves in a retreat experience shaped by the Institute, an example of what our friend Joseph Piccione, an ethicist from a hospital network in the Upper Midwest, calls “engaged spirituality.” In this instance, the setting was the Texas /Mexico border.
Participants included a professional clown and former criminal justice university faculty member, two hospice medical directors, a chef and carpenter, a retired physician from the U.S. Indian Health Service, the director of a child-welfare service organization, two coffee farmers from Hawaii, an Episcopal priest and refugee worker, a social worker from Las Vegas, and three ELCA Lutheran pastors. Time was spent with Ruben Garcia, who serves as director for Annunciation House, a site of hospitality for families from Central America seeking asylum, at the El Paso City Courthouse with a public defender, and with two Roman Catholic nuns working with the incarcerated.
We explored the power and dynamics of “walls” and boundaries in our own lives, reached out to touch the hands of children reaching out to communicate with us from behind the Wall separating Juarez, Mexico with El Paso, Texas, ate breakfast with refugees from Guatemala, sat with candles and music late into the night at “pop-up” hospitality hours, and tapped our feet on the chapel’s floor to sounds of outlaw country music singer/songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard during a benefit concert for a local hospice.
Participants included: John Rosenberg, Mike Grossman, Frann Grossman, Kathleen Wohlers, Dan Magnuson, Linda Frey Magnuson, Larry Skendzel, Greg Gessay, Bob Kraus, Louise Hanna, Bill Waters, Henry Atkins, Treadwell Atkins, Ruth Almén, Kent Fish, Joe Piccione, Nathan Meadows, Melanie Meadows, and 9-month-old Oakley Meadows.
Thanks to Bob Kraus for selected photos.
IN MEMORIAM
Mary K. Peterson 1932-2018
Mary, a gifted nurse from Marquette, was nationally known as an authority in the field of infant mental health. She served as part of an interfaith mission outreach in Malaysia following her years of training and was later instrumental in founding the Alger-Marquette Community Mental Health Center. As a single woman throughout her life, she established a remarkable circle of friends that served as an extended family. She held a deep, religious sensibility and was a friend of CTI and a long-time member of Messiah Lutheran Church. She was a mentor for mental health workers from all walks of life. We celebrate the gifts she left us.
Howard Ylinen 1946-2018
(A tribute from CTI’s long-time friend Ed Rodgers) “Howard J. Ylinen, Howie, was my friend, and an exceptionally gifted man. Most notable was his musical talent and his ability to masterfully play numerous instruments. His loyalty to and support of those musicians with whom he shared the stage will not be forgotten. Professional groups he was a key member of were The Tradewinds, The Rouges, The Excels, and Liberty. A man who never sought the limelight, he lived a quiet life as an educator, husband, and father.” Howie Ylinen, Ed, and the CTI Director were original members of the Tradewinds, the first of numerous folk singing groups emerging in Marquette County during the early 1960’s. Among their memorable gigs were singing at a seasonal JC Penney Store celebration in Marquette and their envious experience of 3 teenage boys singing before a prestigious sorority gathering at Northern Michigan University. The Tradewinds are long gone. Sororities at NMU no longer exist. And JC Penney went bankrupt. Enough said.
Tom Cappuccio 1942–2018
Born in Italy, Tom moved to the U.S. as a 12-year-old with his family. He and his wife were part of CTI’s Tai Chi (mind/body) practice classes and retreats. Tom also participated in the Samaritan Project, a faith-based Institute support group for persons living with serious illness. He was a gifted artist who taught as part of NMU’s faculty for over 30 years and served as a leader in the Democratic Party in Marquette County. We lift prayers for his wife Carol, and sons Mark and Christopher.
Josephine Klink 1920-2018
A long-time Cedar Tree Institute and friend, “Jo” crossed over to the Other Side a few short weeks ago. Over the years, she often prepared food for the Lutheran Campus Ministry community and enjoyed the company of university students. She radiated a joy for life, loved celebrations and community gatherings. Her daughter Carolyn Jean reminded us in a message from Mexico a few days ago, her mother is now at peace, in another place, wearing her sparkling silver dancing shoes.
MINERAL RIGHTS CONTROVERSY
SULFIDE MINE CHALLENGES
During the opening up of Michigan territories in the 19th Century, deals were made between State government officials and corporate entities to ensure access to mineral and timber resources.
This means that you can own property in Michigan but may not own its timber or mineral rights. In other words, the State of Michigan can legally lease those mineral rights to mining companies not only to explore for possible ore deposits, but actually mine precious metals under the surface of the earth within personal property lines. Part of the equation, of course, is that there will be money exchanged. And for a short period, tax revenue. The majority of these mining companies are internationally based. What will be the long-term social and environmental costs?
The first of a series of public hearings have begun as UPX, an international mining company, has expressed intentions to explore mining operations less than a mile from our city limits. Citizen action groups and American Indian tribes of the Northern Boundary Waters of Minnesota are already engaged these months in bitter resistance to a similar encroachment by PolyMet Mining.
A critical question is not one of whether any of us support economic development. Instead, “What kind of an economy do we want?”
How about an Upper Peninsula that is known for its research labs, its art festivals, musical heritage, its centers for environmental studies and diverse lifestyles, its outdoor recreation opportunities, sustainable timber harvesting, its commitment to rural community life that protects its citizen’s health and the quality of our streams and forests?
At its core, this is a spiritual issue, not a tax revenue question. We are all living with the inevitable transition from fossil fuels to green energy and the looming consequences of global-wide ecological denigration unprecedented in human history. We have a chance to find ways, economically, to build a unique quality of life in this corner of the Great Lakes Basin. This is our neighborhood. We need to protect it. Not be willing to trade it for thirty pieces of silver.
MUSIC FOR ALL KIDS
(MFAK)
An outreach program providing music lessons for under-served youth in Marquette County has now received its own 501 (c3) official recognition as a nonprofit organization. Thanks to Ken Kelly, a CTI Advisory Board member, MFAK was able to complete a five-year process to receive this IRS ruling. It’s been an honor for CTI to have assisted in launching this award-winning program in our community.
CTI BOARD
- Jon Magnuson, CTI Executive Director
- Steve Mattson, Financial Consultant, Wells Fargo Private Client Services, Retired
- Jim Elder, Attorney, Elder Agency
ADVISORY COUNCIL
- Larry Skendzel, Physician, Hospice Care
- Gareth Zellmer, Consultant, Trainer
- Ken Kelley, Professor Emeritus, NMU
- Rick Pietila, Project Technician, Lebanon
- Jan Schultz, Botanist, USFS, Retired
- Michael Grossman, Family Physician
RESEARCH FELLOWS
- John Rosenberg, Lutheran Pastor
- Joe Piccione, Ethicist
Thank you for reading the Winter 2019 Ecotone Newsletter, the official Newsletter of the Cedar Tree Institute.
