Daily Archives: December 18, 2019

Hundreds of Property Developers Filed Bankruptcy in 2019, Raising Concerns of Homebuyers Losing Out – Caixin Global

Posted: December 18, 2019 at 9:37 pm

Hundreds of Property Developers Filed Bankruptcy in 2019, Raising Concerns of Homebuyers Losing Out

More property developers filed for bankruptcy in 2019 than 2018 amid sluggish economic growth and tightening regulatory control over the market. Concerned bankruptcies could lead to an increase in unfinished homes, and homebuyers who bought off-plans losing out, some local governments have begun to implement specific measures.

As of Nov. 27, 459 real estate companies had filed for bankruptcy this year, which is slightly more than the 458 bankruptcy filings seen in the whole of 2018, according to data calculated by property market research institute China Real Estate Information based on public court records.

Some local governments have begun to tighten the regulations governing the funds that property developers take from the sale of off-plan homes. The government of the northwestern city of Xian has announced possible new regulations to order all funds that property buyers, including homebuyers, pay for off-plan real estate to be deposited in special accounts which are subject to regulatory oversight, according to a draft regulation issued last week by the citys housing and urban-rural development bureau for public consultation.

Li Yujia, the chief researcher of a housing policy research institution in Guangdong province, said the move by Xian is to prevent homes from being unfinished due to a breakdown of developers fund chain.

Read the full story on Caixin Global later today.

Contact reporter Guo Yingzhe (yingzheguo@caixin.com)

Related: Home-Price Growth in China Slowest in Almost Two Years

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Hundreds of Property Developers Filed Bankruptcy in 2019, Raising Concerns of Homebuyers Losing Out - Caixin Global

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Weatherford emerges from bankruptcy with $10 billion of support – Chron

Posted: at 9:37 pm

Switzerland and Houston-based oilfield service company Weatherford International has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with roughly $10 billion of financial support.

Switzerland and Houston-based oilfield service company Weatherford International has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with roughly $10 billion of financial support.

Photo: Eddie Seal / Bloomberg

Switzerland and Houston-based oilfield service company Weatherford International has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with roughly $10 billion of financial support.

Switzerland and Houston-based oilfield service company Weatherford International has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with roughly $10 billion of financial support.

Weatherford emerges from bankruptcy with $10 billion of support

Switzerland and Houston-based oilfield service company Weatherford International has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with roughly $10 billion of financial support.

In a Friday morning statement, Weatherford announced that the company emerged from Chapter 11 with $6.2 billion of outstanding funded debt, secured $2.6 billion in exit financing facilities, including a $450 million revolving credit facility, secured a $195 million letter of credit facility, and secured over $900 million of liquidity.

"This is a notable day for Weatherford as we have emerged as a stronger, more focused organization," Weatherford CEO Mark McCollum said in a statement. "With renewed balance sheet strength, a strong customer base and a portfolio designed to meet the needs of our industry, we believe we are well-positioned to build on our reputation as a leader in the oilfield services sector and to capitalize on the growth opportunities ahead."

Service Sector: Weatherford's billionaire board chair dies at age 74

Currently traded as a penny stock, Weatherford expects to return to the New York Stock Exchange after the company reports its fourth quarter earnings, holds an investor call and completes the fresh-start accounting process. That process is expected to be completed by early March.

A post-bankruptcy board of directors has been appointed. Thomas Bates Jr. will serve as chairman supported by McCollum as well as John Glick, Neal Goldman, Gordon Hall, Jacqueline Mutschler, and Charles Sledge.

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With roots in Texas going back to 1941, Weatherford grew to become the nation's fourth-largest oil field services company but racked up $10 billion in debt along the way.

Headquartered in Switzerland but incorporated in Ireland and its principal offices in Houston, Weatherford has not made a profit since the third quarter of 2014.

The oilfield service company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Houston in July and filed for similar protections with an Irish court in September.

Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com

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Weatherford emerges from bankruptcy with $10 billion of support - Chron

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How the Big Apple Circus Clawed Its Way Back From Bankruptcy – CircusTalk

Posted: at 9:37 pm

As the lights flashed and the music pulsated, I took a swig of Irish whiskey from my plastic balloon-animal dog tumbler and said to my wife, There is nooooooooo way Doogie Howser is going to take a run at the Wheel of Death.

I was wrong. Neil Patrick Harris himself banged out a couple spins before daredevil Jayson Dominguez got inside and performed breathtaking feats like rope-jumping on top of the ever-spinning-while-also-rotating human hamster cage above a packed tent of wide-eyed audience members.

Its just another day at the Big Apple Circus, now in its 42nd season at Lincoln Centers Damrosch Park, its home since 1981. Well, that evening wasnt just any other. It was opening night, hence Harris guest-hosting gig, attended by other Gotham celebrities such as Jane Krakowski, Mariska Hargitay, and, as my nine-year-old daughter rushed to tell me before she and her mom went to pay their Hamilton-ian respects, Lin. Manuel. Miranda.

Ringmaster Storm Marrero, a singer making her debut after being plucked from the burlesque supper club Duane Park, introduced a cavalcade of killer acts: high-wire cyclists Lopez Troupe, umbrella juggler Kyle Driggs, and the finicky yet ultimately game Savitsky Cats, nine domestic feline acrobats who have hit the big time and are scheduled to perform at the NBA All-Star game after this gig wraps up in February.

The Big Apple Circus is a short-term, high-volume business. The show a wildly energetic and eclectic event where audiences sit within 50 feet of the action hits hard and fast. The show runs under two hours, including intermission, because it has to in order to be successful. Tent capacity is roughly 1,600, with tiered pricing ranging from $35 to $225 for the VIP ringside package unlimited snacks, a free drink, lounge access, and a post-show meet-and-greet. The circus has only three months to try and pack em in: The last quarter of the year is the peak for New York City tourism, accounting for nearly a third of domestic and international visitors

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How the Big Apple Circus Clawed Its Way Back From Bankruptcy - CircusTalk

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Acosta says the court approved its bankruptcy reorganization – Jacksonville Daily Record

Posted: at 9:37 pm

Acosta Inc. on Monday said it has received bankruptcy court approval of its prepackaged reorganization and it expects to successfully emerge from Chapter 11 in the coming days.

The Jacksonville-based sales and marketing company, along with several affiliated companies, filed Chapter 11 petitions Dec. 1 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

The main case was filed under the name Anna Holdings Inc., a holding company formed by The Carlyle Group when the investment firm bought Acosta for $4.75 billion in 2014.

Acosta said in a news release Monday the reorganization plan eliminates about $3 billion in debt.

Acosta said in a memorandum of law filed Saturday in support of confirmation that it began negotiating with lenders to restructure the debt in August and by November, it had approval of a majority of creditors.

The memorandum said it now has unanimous support of all holders of the $3 billion, who will receive stock in exchange for the debt.

The Plan, and the remarkable consensus it represents, is the product of months of good-faith, arms-length negotiations among the Debtors, their first lien lenders, senior noteholders, and other key constituents, who all worked towards a consensual, value-maximizing restructuring, it said.

Court documents have not specified the creditors who will end up owning Acostas stock.

The restructuring includes a rights offering and direct investment to bring $325 million in new capital, sending a strong message to the Debtors employees, vendors, clients, and other business partners that they are well positioned for future success, the memorandum said.

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Acosta says the court approved its bankruptcy reorganization - Jacksonville Daily Record

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Netanyahu’s post-indictment candidacy reflects moral bankruptcy of Likud and the Israeli right – Haaretz

Posted: at 9:37 pm

Conventional wisdom about the outcome of Israel's March 2 election can be summed up with Ecclesiastes 1:9: What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

The perpetual tie between the two main ideological blocs will prevail; the stalemate that has essentially paralyzed the government for close to a year will endure. In fact, according to Channel 12s crack political analyst Amnon Abramovich, while Benjamin Netanyahu is gearing up for the third election he has inflicted on Israel within a year, he is already strategizing how to go on to the fourth, if the need arises.

Netanyahus game plan is simple: (His) immunity or (Israels) bust. His first preference is to win the election with a 61-member, Avigdor Lieberman-less majority that would commit to exempting him from criminal prosecution. His second preference is to keep Israel in limbo or keep it hostage until he can achieve his first preference. He will release his country from captivity, Netanyahu is telling Israelis, only in exchange for a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Netanyahus gambit is based on a ruse. Ever since it became clear that Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit intends to charge him with three counts of corruption, Netanyahu and his minions have highlighted the clause in Israels Basic Law: The Government that compels a prime minister to resign from his post only after he has been tried, convicted and fully exhausted his right to appeal the verdict.

What they have failed to point out is that the Basic Law refers to a duly elected prime minister who is serving out his term. It does not refer to a prime minister, like Netanyahu, who is heading a caretaker government between elections. And it certainly says nothing about the propriety of an indicted politician running for office or setting up a new government after election. Given that in the previous two elections held this year, in April and September, Netanyahu had yet to be formally charged, it is only now that Israel is entering uncharted watersconstitutionally, politically and morally.

Some of Netanyahus opponents are urging Mendelblit to rule on the issue in the hope that he will nix Netanyahus candidacy on legal grounds. The attorney general, for his part, is doing his best to skirt the legal landmine for fear of inflaming vociferous and potentially dangerous right-wing protests against what Netanyahu has described as a legal putsch. The High Court of Justice, however, has ordered Mendelblit to clarify his position, and if he fails to do so, could decide in his stead.

Lost in the complex debate, however, is the appalling fact that Israels ruling party and outgoing right-wing coalition are rallying behind a politician who has been formally indicted for corruption. The working assumption is that Netanyahu will beat challenger Gideon Sa'ar in the December 26 Likud primary election and would thus be reanointed as the rights candidate for prime minister, despite his indictments. Such a decision may or may not be valid from a legal point of view, but it certainly marks an unprecedented new low in Israeli history: A morally bankrupt challenge to the spirit, if not the letter, of the law.

There are numerous explanations as opposed to justifications for Netanyahus enduring hold on Likud and the right. After 10 straight years in power, Netanyahu casts a giant shadow over any potential rival. His omnipresence makes him seem indispensable and irreplaceable in the eyes of his supporters. Without him, they have come to believe, all is lost.

Likudniks, in any case, are loathe to abandon their party leaders, no matter what: In Israels 71-year-long history, Netanyahu is only the fourth politician to serve as leader of the party. Many of them have been brainwashed by Netanyahu to believe that he is the victim of a nefarious, plot inspired by the left wing. Replacing him, many right-wingers believe, would achieve his enemies goals. Worse, it would make them jump for joy.

Most significantly, the right wings continued backing for Netanyahu is a direct challenge to the rule of law. His supporters are not contesting the facts outlined in the attorney generals charge sheet; they are simply ignoring them. And they are well aware that if Netanyahu emerges victorious from the March 2 election, he will use his Knesset majority to thwart his prosecution and thus undermine Israels legal foundations.

So while Israeli politicians and pundits are bemoaning the March 2 ballot as the third in a series of potentially never-ending elections, the upcoming ballot is fundamentally different. In the previous two, Netanyahu supporters could delude themselves that he would not be charged in the end, but now the die is cast and the masks have come off. The right wing can no longer escape the fact that it is lining up behind a leader who has been formally charged with corruption and whose main goal in life is to extricate himself from a criminal trial. Nor can the Israeli electorate.

Which is why one should be wary of resigned predictions that nothing will change, that the third ballot will yield the same political tie that has stalemated Israel for the past year. The polls are already showing a gradual drift away from Netanyahu and increasing chances that Benny Gantzs Kahol Lavan might be able to muster their own 61-member majority, which would mean that Netanyahus career is over.

If the trend holds, Netanyahu will unleash his entire arsenal of divisive incitement and conspiracy theories. He hasnt spent the past year subverting Israeli politics and paralyzing its government only to be tossed out by voters. His counter offensives will be desperate, dangerous and possibly decisive.

Israelis have understandably grown tired of being told that the elections are critical, pivotal or the most dramatic in Israeli history, only to find out after the votes are counted that nothing has changed. Many more of them might be tempted to sit this one out. That would be a shame, because the indictments have rendered the election as much more than a personal referendum on Netanyahuit is a vote on the future character of Israel itself.

So take nothing for granted. Anything can happen. If not on March 2, then certainly in the fourth election that will ensue.

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The Quantum Computing Decade Is ComingHeres Why You Should Care – Observer

Posted: at 9:36 pm

Googles Sycamore quantum processor. Erik Lucero, Research Scientist and Lead Production Quantum Hardware

Multiply 1,048,589 by 1,048,601, and youll get 1,099,551,473,989. Does this blow your mind? It should, maybe! That 13-digit prime number is the largest-ever prime number to be factored by a quantum computer, one of a series of quantum computing-related breakthroughs (or at least claimed breakthroughs) achieved over the last few months of the decade.

An IBM computer factored this very large prime number about two months after Google announcedthat it had achieved quantum supremacya clunky term for the claim, disputed by its rivals including IBM as well as others, that Google has a quantum machine that performed some math normal computers simply cannot.

SEE ALSO: 5G Coverage May Set Back Accurate Weather Forecasts By 30 Years

An arcane field still existing mostly in the theoretical, quantum computers have done enough recently and are commanding enough very real public and private resources to be deserving of your attentionnot the least of which is because if and when the Chinese government becomes master of all your personal data, sometime in the next decade, it will be because a quantum computer cracked the encryption.

Building the quantum computer, it is said, breathlessly, is a race to be won, as important as being the first in space (though, ask the Soviet Union how that worked out) or fielding the first workable atomic weapon (seems to be going OK for the U.S.).

And so here is a postwritten in terms as clear and simple as this human could mustersumming up these recent advances and repeating other experts predictions that the 2020s appear to be the decade when quantum computers begin to contribute to your life, by both making slight improvements to your map app, and powering artificial intelligence robust and savvy enough to be a real-life Skynet.

First, the requisite introduction to the concept. Normal computers, such as the device you are using to access and display this content, process information in a binary. Everything is either a one, or a zero, or a series of ones and zeroes. On, or off. But what if the zero was simultaneously also a one? (Please exit here for your requisite digression into quantum physics and mechanics.)

The idea that a value can be a zero, or a one, or both at the same time is the quantum principle of superposition. Each superposition is a quantum bit, or qubit. The ability to process qubits is what allows a quantum computer to perform functions a binary computer simply cannot, like computations involving 500-digit numbers. To do so quickly and on demand might allow for highly efficient traffic flow. It could also render current encryption keys mere speedbumps for a computer able to replicate them in an instant.

An artists rendition of Googles Sycamore quantum processor mounted in a cryostat. Forest Stearns, Google AI Quantum Artist in Residence

Why hasnt this been mastered already, whats holding quantum computers back? Particles like photons only exist in quantum states if they are either compressed very, very small or made very, very coldwith analog engineering techniques. What quantum computers do exist are thus resource-intensive. Googles, for example, involves metals cooled (the verb is inadequate) to 460 degrees below zero, to a state in which particles behave in an erratic and random fashion akin to a quantum state.

And as Subhash Kak, the regents professor of electrical and computer engineering at Oklahoma State University and an expert in the field,recently wrote, the power of a quantum computer can be gauged by how many quantum bits, or qubits, it can process. The machines built by Google, Microsoft, Intel, IBM and possibly the Chinese all have less than 100 qubits,he wrote. (In Googles case, the company claims to have created a quantum state of 53 qubits.)

To achieve useful computational performance,according to Kak, you probably need machines with hundreds of thousands of qubits. And what qubits a quantum computer can offer are notoriously unstable and prone to error. They need many of the hard-won fixes and advancements that saw binary computers morph from room-sized monstrosities spitting out punch cards to iPhones.

How fast will that happencan it happen?

Skeptics, doubters, and haters might note that Google first pledged to achieve quantum supremacy (defined as the point in time at which quantum computers are outperforming binary computers) by the end of 2017meaning its achievement was almost two full years behind schedule, and meaning other quantum claims, like Dario Gil of IBMs pledge that quantum computers will be useful for commercial and scientific advantage sometime next year, may also be dismissed or at least subject to deserved skepticism.

Dario Gil, director of IBM Research, stands in front of IBMs Q System One quantum computer on October 18, 2019. Misha Friedman/Getty Images

And those of us who can think only in binary may also find confusion in the dispute between quantum rivals. The calculation performed by Googles Sycamore quantum computer in 200 seconds, the company claimed, would take a normal binary supercomputer 10,000 years to solve. Not so, according to IBM, which asserted that the calculation could be done by a binary computer in two and a half days. Either way, as The New York Times wrote, quantum supremacy is still a very arcane experiment that cant necessarily be applied to other things. Googles breakthrough might be the last achievement for a while.

But everybody is tryingincluding the U.S. government, which is using your money to do it. Commercial spending on quantum computing research is estimated to reach hundreds of millions of dollars sometime in the next decade. A year ago, spooked and shamed by what appeared to be an unanswered flurry of quantum progress in China, Congress dedicated $1.2 billion to the National Quantum Initiative Act, money specifically intended to boost American-based quantum computing projects. According to Bloomberg, China may have already spent 10 times that.

If you walk away with nothing else, know that quantum computer spending is very real, even if the potential is theoretical.

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The Quantum Computing Decade Is ComingHeres Why You Should Care - Observer

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Ford Teams with Microsoft to Apply Quantum Principles to Reduce… – RIDE by Kelley Blue Book

Posted: at 9:36 pm

Anyone who uses a mapping program such as Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze, knows that the shortest route often leads to gridlock. Thats because those programs calculate in a vacuum in whats considered selfish routing. The current algorithms dont account for other drivers making similar requests, so everyone ends up trying to beat traffic using similar if not the same route.

The current technology just cant handle the complex calculations necessary to coordinate traffic on a large scale. But, what if another computational method could take into consideration those other drivers?

In an article on Medium, Dr. Ken Washington, Chief Technology Officer, Ford Motor Company, discusses how Ford and Microsoft scientists teamed up in a research pilot to leverage quantum-inspired technology. Through simulations of thousands of vehicles, they examined its impact on congestion.

Quantum technology, which relies upon quantum physics, is an emerging field of research thats attempting to take advantage of atoms and subatomic particles special properties. Traditional computers process information in binary code, storing data and performing calculations by assigning values of one or zero, known as bits.

Quantum computers crunch data using qubits, which can assign values of one and zero at the same time, enabling faster computational speed. Qubits allow for consideration of other vehicles in route requests to optimize traffic. However, traditional computers just dont have the capacity to make those computations in a timely fashion, and quantum computers are still in development.

Despite the fact that theres no qubit-crunching hardware available yet, Ford and Microsofts researchers teamed up in 2018 to develop quantum approaches that could run on classical computers, already in use to help reduce Seattles traffic congestion. By simulating some specific features of a quantum computer on non-quantum hardware, the researchers were able to create some powerful algorithms.

While were still in the early stages of quantum computing development, Washington said in the article, encouraging progress has been made that can help us take what weve learned in the field and start to apply it to problems we want to solve today, while scaling to more complex problems tomorrow.

The researchers tested the algorithm in several simulated scenarios, including one with 5,000 vehicles across Metro Seattle choosing from 10 different route choices simultaneously. The results were impressive. In just 20 seconds, the algorithm suggested routes resulting in a 73 percent decrease in congestion and 8 percent reduction in commute time. That translates to more than 55,000 hours saved in congestion.

By taking what weve learned about quantum computing and bringing it to hardware thats already available, we dont have to wait until quantum computers are deployed on a wide scale to take advantage of the technology, said Julie Love, Microsofts senior director for quantum computing, in the article.

From the promising research, quantum technology looks to be a powerful tool in the arsenal for balancing traffic flow, reducing pollution and soothing the frayed nerves of city drivers.

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Intel Achieves Milestone in Quantum Practicality with ‘Horse Ridge’ – Database Trends and Applications

Posted: at 9:36 pm

Intel Labs has unveiled what it believes to be a first-of-its-kind cryogenic control chip code-named Horse Ridge that is aimed at speeding up the development of full-stack quantum computing systems.

According to Intel, Horse Ridge will enable control of multiple quantum bits (qubits) and set a clear path toward scaling larger systems a major milestone on the path to quantum practicality.

Developed together with Intels research collaborators at QuTech, a partnership between TU Delft and TNO (Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research), Horse Ridge is fabricated using Intels 22nm FinFET Low Power (22FFL) technology. In-house fabrication of these control chips at Intel will dramatically accelerate the companys ability to design, test and optimize a commercially viable quantum computer.

Quantum computers promise the potential to tackle problems that conventional computers cant handle by leveraging a phenomena of quantum physics that allows qubits to exist in multiple states simultaneously. As a result, qubits can conduct a large number of calculations at the same time dramatically speeding up complex problem-solving.

While there has been a lot of emphasis on the qubits themselves, the ability to control many qubits at the same time had been a challenge for the industry," said Jim Clarke, Intels director of Quantum Hardware. "Intel recognized that quantum controls were an essential piece of the puzzle we needed to solve in order to develop a large-scale commercial quantum system. Thats why we are investing in quantum error correction and controls. With Horse Ridge, Intel has developed a scalable control system that will allow us to significantly speed up testing and realize the potential of quantum computing.

Intel says that in the race to realize the potential of quantum computers, researchers have largely focused extensively on qubit fabrication, building test chips that demonstrate the exponential power of a small number of qubits operating in superposition.

However, it says, in early quantum hardware developments including design, testing and characterization of Intels silicon spin qubit and superconducting qubit systems it has identified a major bottleneck toward realizing commercial-scale quantum computing: interconnects and control electronics.

With Horse Ridge, Intel says it is introducing an elegant solution that will enable the company to control multiple qubits and set a clear path toward scaling future systems to larger qubit counts a major milestone on the path to quantum practicality.

For more information, go to http://www.intel.com.

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Intel Achieves Milestone in Quantum Practicality with 'Horse Ridge' - Database Trends and Applications

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Latest Innovations in Biofuels, Cancer Treatment, Water Treatment, Fireproofing Forests, Fuel Cell Membranes, and Quantum Computing, 2019 Research…

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Innovations in Biofuels, Cancer Treatment, Water Treatment, Fireproofing Forests, Fuel Cell Membranes, and Quantum Computing " report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This edition of the Inside R&D TechVision Opportunity Engine (TOE) features retina drug development and self-focussing glasses that can fight presbyopia.

It also provides intelligence on the use of novel techniques for selective nitrate removal from groundwater and use of nanofibers in wastewater treatment. The TOE also features innovations based on the use of venom for medical benefits and novel migraine-based drugs.

Additionally, the TOE covers development of effective 3D nanoprinting and overcoming quantum decoherence. The TOE also focuses on artificial intelligence, probiotics for skin care, carbon dioxide capture, biofuel conversion, and breast cancer imaging.

Key Topics Covered

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/vj8cnp

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Latest Innovations in Biofuels, Cancer Treatment, Water Treatment, Fireproofing Forests, Fuel Cell Membranes, and Quantum Computing, 2019 Research...

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The Adventurous Lectionary The First Sunday of Christmas December 29, 2019 – Patheos

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The Adventurous Lectionary The First Sunday of Christmas December 29, 2019Isaiah 63:7-9; Psalm 148; Hebrews 2:10-18; Matthew 2:13-23.

Todays readings are both painful and hopeful. They describe the contrast between the fidelity of God and the evil intentions of those in political power. Yet, the evils human plan are penultimate and will not last; Gods vision is present in threat and tragedy, giving us hope for deliverance. Todays scriptures note that the Infinite is also intimate. Gods salvation is global as well as individual.

This vision is at the heart of the incarnation. The world is saved one person one creature at a time. Gods healing initiative is everywhere and joins the healing of nations and planets with the healing of persons. We need a healing environment; our own healing also transforms the environment to support our own and others wellbeing.

The prophet Isaiah proclaims Gods faithfulness. Like a good Parent, God is not distant or abstract, Gods love is immediate and transformative. God is right here: the divine pathos, as Abraham Joshua Heschel asserts, means that God is concerned about the small as well as large details of our lives. God is intimate, moving through the lives of persons and institutions. We are saved by Gods intimate presence. The adventurous pastor may invite the congregation to consider: Where is God present in saving ways? Where do we experience Gods presence in concrete and intimate ways? Isaiah invites us to reflect on our own mystical experiences despite the fact that we seldom experience Gods presence except through the events of our lives. Only occasionally does God present us with a flashing light announcing I am here. (For more on mysticism see Bruce Epperly, The Mystic in You: Discovering a God-filled World, Upper Room.)

Isaiah invites us to be especially attentive to divine movements in ordinary as well as unique events. Isaiah is no deist who places divinity outside of the world to give humankind elbow room for creativity. God already gives us freedom and encourages creativity by working within our lives relationally and non-coercively. God is with us in the maelstrom of daily schedules and political realities. God wants us to grow to be Gods companions in saving the world through our efforts. God is even present in the House of Representatives impeachment vote, occurring in real time as I write this lectionary commentary, and in our quest to balance patriotism, law, justice, and open-mindedness.

Psalm 148 joins cosmology and praise. Astounded by our wonderful world, the Psalmist imagines a world of praise. All things reflect divine wisdom and give praise to their creator. Human praise is part of a larger community of praise that includes the many varieties of plant and animal life. The Psalmist invites us to become mystics who encounter the holy with all our senses. Divine companionship moves through fellow humans, galaxies, and companion animals. Even difficult people and situations mediate the holy, albeit in curious ways. Once again, we need to look beyond appearances and slow down long enough to see the deeper divinely-inspired realities of life. The Psalmist is not advocating pantheism, nor is the Psalmist making an exact correlation between Gods movements and the movements of creatures. When we perceive a world of praise, we see unanticipated signs of Gods handiwork in all things. Knowing God is, then, a matter of intention and perception as well as divine initiative and artistry.

The Psalmist challenges preacher and congregation alike to pause and notice, to set aside our agendas to experience the Beauty of God reflected in our wonderful world.The reading from Hebrews joins majesty and universality with intimacy. The One who creates all things moves through each thing, mirroring and responding to our feelings of joy and pain. God is truly with us, and all creation. God experiences agony and ecstasy, sorrow and joy, and acts redemptively to bring beauty out of tragedy. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once asserted that only a suffering God can save us and the deity envisaged by the author of Hebrews shares our human condition of suffering, limitation, and temptation. Christ saves by empathetic relationship and experience of our human lives.

Then and now, dreams reveal divine wisdom. When we listen to Gods whispering in our lives, we are often led on unexpected pathways of personal growth. Synchronicities emerge, guiding us toward new possibilities of adventure; luring us toward safety in threatening situations. Such messages may come to us all the time, but we are seldom sensitive to their wisdom. Once again, we are encouraged to pause and notice and then respond to the wisdom we receive. (For more on dreams as media of revelation see Bruce Epperly, Angels, Mysteries, and Miracles: A Progressive Vision, Energion Publications.)

The second theme of the Gospel reading involves the realities of immigration. Indeed, the Gospel reading is as current as USA immigration policy and the millions of refugees in our world today. The holy family flees to Egypt, having been warned through a dream that Herod plans to kill the young Jesus. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are political refugees, dependent on the kindness of strangers. Apart from the welcome of the residents, likely Jewish community, they would not have survived. In the flight of the holy family, we see both grace and initiative Gods grace mediated through dreams is fulfilled in the actions of Joseph and Mary and the hospitality of those who welcomed them in Egypt.

A third theme, and a difficult one to discuss, is Herods slaughter of the innocents. One needs to be careful to about sharing this reading with young children present, although often our young children know more than we think about the evil machinations of political leaders. Herod had a choice. Like all political powers, he can choose life or death. Then again, he was doing what he needed to preserve his throne. Perhaps, Herods court took this persecution as a matter of course, the cost of maintaining the government and their well-being. Their good fortune was based on violence to the marginal and threatening. While recognizing that some forms of potential violence are implicit in maintaining national security, this passage reminds us that the most vulnerable among us must be protected even when we try to protect ourselves and our nation. Sadly, today, we wage war with apparently clean hands and a clear conscience against the toddlers and the infants of the world in a variety of ways: cutting food stamps and Head Start programs, maintaining a minimum wage that is unsustainable for families, failing to provide adequate parenting education and job training for parents, separating children from parents on our borderlands, and refusing to give incarcerated youth flu shots.

Less obvious, and more socially acceptable, is the war against childhood when we promote adult behaviors among children through the media and advertising, and also the neglect of children by parents who place their jobs and personal satisfactions about the well-being of their children. God comes to us as a child. Pause and notice, you are on holy ground whenever you encounter one of Gods little ones.

Salvation is global as well as individual. This vision is at the heart of the incarnation. The world is saved one person one creature and child at a time. Gods healing initiative is everywhere and joins the healing of nations and planets with the healing of persons. We need a healing environment; our own healing also transforms the environment to support our own and others wellbeing.+++Bruce Epperly is a Cape Cod pastor, professor, and author of over fifty books including, Piglets Process Theology: Process Theology for All Gods Children, Become Fire: Spiritual Guideposts for Interspiritual Pilgrims, and Process Theology: Embracing Adventure with God.

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The Adventurous Lectionary The First Sunday of Christmas December 29, 2019 - Patheos

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