WOUNDED BIRD

ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS DON'T LIKE THE PRESIDENT'S TWEAK

2012-02-11T21:50:00.000-06:00

The Vatican

From the New York Times:

The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops have rejected a compromise on birth control coverage that President Obama offered on Friday and said they would continue to fight the president’s plan to find a way for employees of Catholic hospitals, universities and service agencies to receive free contraceptive coverage in their health insurance plans, without direct involvement or financing from the institutions.

The Roman Catholic Church will take matters to the courts, and they will call upon Congress for relief from their oppression.

Already three lawsuits have been filed against the birth control mandate, two by religious colleges and one by a Catholic media outlet.

The bishops will also renew their call for lawmakers to pass the “Respect for Rights of Conscience Act,” which would exempt both insurance providers and purchasers — and not just those who are religiously affiliated — from any mandate to cover items of services that is contrary to either’s “religious beliefs or moral convictions.”

Whoa! Internal divisions are developing.

However, the bishops are now facing a potential rift with some of their allies who welcomed the compromise yesterday — including Catholic Charities, the Catholic Health Association, which represents Catholic hospitals across the country and individual Catholic Democrats and liberals who had helped persuade the administration to make the change.

James Salt, executive director of Catholics United, a liberal advocacy group that is organizing support for the Obama administration, said, “The bishops’ blanket opposition appears to serve the interests of a political agenda, not the needs of the American people.”

It's about time!

Is it possible that President Obama will offer further concessions to bullying, celibate, old men, who experience nothing of the costs and difficulties of family life?

FEAST DAY OF FANNY CROSBY

2012-02-11T15:14:00.003-06:00

Frances Jane Crosby (March 24 1820 – February 12 1915) usually known as Fanny Crosby, was an American lyricist best known for her Protestant Christian hymns. A lifelong Methodist, she was one of the most prolific hymnists in history, writing over 8,000 despite being blind since infancy. Also known for her preaching and speaking, during her lifetime Fanny Crosby was one of the best known women in the United States.

To this day, the vast majority of American hymnals contain her work [but not the 1982 Episcopal Church Hymnal]. Some of her best known songs include "Blessed Assurance", "Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home", "Praise Him, Praise Him", and "To God Be the Glory". Because some publishers were hesitant to have so many hymns by one person in their hymnals, Crosby used nearly 100 different pseudonyms during her career.

From The Lectionary.

Alas, we should have at least a few of Fanny Crosby's many hymns in our hymnal.

PRAYER

O God, the blessed assurance of all who trust in you: We give you thanks for your servant Fanny Crosby, who, though blind from infancy, beheld your glory with great clarity of vision and spent her life giving voice to your people’s heartfelt praise; and we pray that we, inspired by her words and example, may rejoice to sing of your love, praising our Savior all the day long; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God in perfect harmony, now and for ever. Amen

Thanks to James on Facebook for the inspiration to note the feast day.

UPDATE: Paul (A.) reminds me that Fanny's hymns are included in 'Lift Every Voice and Sing II', which has a place in many Episcopal Churches.

Ann Fontaine points us to the post on Fanny Crosby at Speaking to the Soul.

'LOVE FREE OR DIE' - BISHOP GENE ROBINSON'S STORY WINS AT SUNDANCE

2012-02-11T13:52:00.000-06:00

The trailer for the film is not yet available, so far as I know, and I'm late taking note of the film's award at the Sundance Film Festival.

Ann Fontaine at The Lead:

Sundance Film Festival announces awards:

Winner of the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Prize for Grace Under Pressure:

Love Free or Die, directed by Macky Alston

The film is about what happened after the Episcopal Church in New Hampshire came under fire for electing an openly gay man as its bishop.

From Beyond the Box:

BTB caught up with Alston at a mass held at St. Luke’s Church on Sunday in Park City, where LGBT leaders showed up to support and discuss the film.

Daniel Fienberg offers a splendid review at HITFIX:

Macky Alston's "Love Free or Die," playing in the US Documentary competition at the Sundance Film Festival, begins as a portrait of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican Church.

Even if "Love Free or Die" had been content to just remain focused on "the most controversial Christian in the world," it would have had a solid story to tell. Despite facing death threats and opposition within his own church, Robinson is a sensitive, funny and altogether inspirational subject.

The thing that elevates "Love Free or Die" -- which I will eventually type as "Love Free or Die Hard" in this review -- is that in its final act, the documentary leaves Robinson almost entirely and, without belaboring its point, it becomes the story of change, a moving look at how even a rigid church with centuries of entrenched methodology can begin a slow shift towards inclusiveness and equality.

Please read the entire review, especially the final paragraph.

THE POWER OF A WIFE'S LOVE

2012-02-11T10:24:00.001-06:00

A man lay dying in his bed. In death's doorway, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookie wafting up the stairs.

He gathered his remaining strength and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort forced himself down the stairs, gripping the railing with both hands. With labored breath, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen. Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven.

There, spread out on newspapers on the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favorite chocolate chip cookies. Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted wife, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?

Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself toward the table. The aged and withered hand, shaking, made its way to a cookie at the edge of the table, when he was suddenly smacked with a spatula by his wife.

"Stay out of those," she said. "They're for the funeral.

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

I posted the joke on Facebook, and one of my friends there said, 'A spatula to the knuckles for Doug,' but I would never say that, though the humor at the expense of a poor, dying man is cruel, cruel, cruel.

A SHOUT-OUT TO ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS

2012-02-10T14:50:00.002-06:00

From the comments to an earlier post at Wounded Bird:

Tobias Stanislas Haller said...

I keep trying to remind these folks of their beloved Double Effect doctrine, but they clearly don't want that as a way out. The actual use of contraception in the cases in point are so far removed from their actual agency or action that it should not pose any moral qualm at all -- except for the reality that they don't want it no how, no way, by none!

church sponsors, supervises, etc. school > school provides health insurance > health insurer covers contraception > insured takes advantage of coverage and has contraceptive prescription > person fills prescription and > uses contraception. Only the last step is (under their concept) morally objectionable.

Sounds good to me. How about you, bishops?

Tobias Haller blogs at In a Godward Direction.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - JFK, CATHOLIC PRESIDENTS, THE VATICAN.

2012-02-10T10:26:00.002-06:00

Whatever success resulted from John F Kennedy's carefully crafted efforts to allay fears about a Roman Catholic president being influenced by the Vatican has now been washed away. I'd be uneasy with either of the two Roman Catholic Republican candidates in the White House, because I fear their policies may be influenced by the Vatican.

NOTE: My thought is not entirely original. I read similar thoughts on more than one site on the internet.

UPDATE: A Facebook friend informs me that the Vatican is ALREADY influencing the White House. Sigh...

WAY TO AGE CORRECTLY

2012-02-10T09:17:00.002-06:00

The local news station was interviewing an 80-year-old lady because she had just gotten married for the fourth time. The interviewer asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like to be marrying again at 80, and then about her new husband's occupation. "He's a funeral director," she answered.

"Interesting," the newsman thought.

He then asked her if she wouldn't mind telling him a little about her first three husbands and what they did for a living. She paused for a few moments, needing time to reflect on all those years.

After a short time, a smile came to her face and she answered proudly, explaining that she had first married a banker when she was in her early 20's, then a circus ringmaster when in her 40's, and a preacher when in her 60's, and now in her 80's, a funeral director.

The interviewer looked at her, quite astonished, and asked why she had married four men with such diverse careers.

She smiled and explained, "I married one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go."

(Oh, just hush-up and send this one on).

What could I do? Don't blame me. Blame my brother-in-law.

Photo from Wikipedia.

TO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS: STOP CRYING PERSECUTION!

2012-02-09T14:52:00.003-06:00

The Vatican

I've spoken of the heavy-handed tactics of the Roman Catholic Church in which the leaders and their true-believer followers, including Rick Santorum and the converted Newt Gingrich, accuse the Obama administration of waging war on Roman Catholics. I've written about their practice of deception by omission in never mentioning that they already provide health insurance coverage for contraceptives in 28 states that mandate coverage. Whatever reasoning the bishops use to square the coverage with their consciences, I'd suggest that they apply that same reasoning to the remaining 22 states and stop crying, 'Persecution!' Enough already!

However, should the bishops continue to prefer deceptive, political power plays to telling the truth, I recommend that the prelates and their true-believer followers visit their fellow Christians in countries in the Middle East and Africa, where real persecution of Christians is happening. Perhaps then they'd stop their pathetic braying. The group generates more heat and noise than their true numbers warrant. What they do is shameful.

Remember that RC bishops stand in obedience to the pope, a foreign head of state. Why should a foreign head of state have such great influence in the processes of government in the US?

For more light on the subject, I refer you to IT's post at The Friends of Jake and Rmj's post at Adventus.

Picture from Wikipedia.

JUDY GARLAND - 'ON THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA, AND THE SANTA FE'

2012-02-09T13:22:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, I heard Judy sing this version of the song on the radio, and I remembered how much I liked her performance with the Merry Macs back in the day and still today.

STORY OF THE DAY - HER LAUGHTER

2012-02-09T13:06:00.000-06:00

The first time her laughter unfurled its
wings in the wind, we knew that the
world would never be the same.

From StoryPeople.

BISHOP ALAN WILSON IN THE COMMENTS AT HIS BLOG

2012-02-09T07:24:00.000-06:00

Bishop Alan Wilson said...

I don't know why the English always have to find a more complicated and painful way of doing simple things. It's clear as a pikestaff from everywhere else in the world that the kindest, as well as the least histrionic way to do this is just to do it. As John Harvey Jones used to say, you can only get shot once. Then sit down with everyone it impacts and go to the greatest lengths possible, with great kindness, to help them in any way that's possible. This is all the more so in England because the variety among the tiny company of people impacted negatively is immense - for some episcopacy is actually of little to no account, to others it's the core of their ecclesiology, for some it's about preaching, for others the Eucharist. Listen carefully to the real issue and then respond kindly to real issues as they arise. That way everybody ends up in the best possible place.

Bishop Alan's suggestion for a simple and straightforward way for the Church of England to include women in the order of bishops seems so eminently sensible to me. The CofE is not my church, and perhaps I should not even express an opinion, but the process at General Synod is painful to observe.

Alan is area Bishop of Buckingham in the Anglican Diocese of Oxfordshire.

I AM THE ORIGINAL SEARCH ENGINE

2012-02-08T21:55:00.000-06:00

See? I once was the original search engine. And I'm good at searching on Google, too. So there!

From Book Riot on Facebook.

ODDS AND ENDS FROM THE PRESS ON THE WOMEN BISHOPS DEBATE IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

2012-02-08T19:47:00.008-06:00

From 'When is a bishop not a bishop?' by Nelson Jones in the New Statesman:

The big decision won't be taken until July: this week, the Synod has been debating proposals aimed to protect male clergy who oppose women's ordination from finding themselves under the authority of a female bishop. Rowan Williams, introducing this quintessentially half-baked compromise, spoke today of seeking to respect the "theological integrity" and ensure the "pastoral continuity" of opponents. But his proposal hasn't gone down well with many in the church, who argue that it would make women bishops inferior to their male counterparts; and in any case it doesn't go far enough to satisfy diehard opponents.

So. Defenseless male clergy in the Church of England need protection from the invasion of women bishops into the heretofore all-male, pure line of bishops who watch over them, and Rowan wants the clergy protected.

From 'Fratricidal tensions at the Church of England Synod' by Michael White in the Guardian:

If you think David Cameron frets about his uppity Lib Dem coalition partners and loses sleep over eurosceptic Tory hooligans at Westminster, trot across Parliament Square to Church House this week and weep for a leader with serious problems and conflicting thinktank advice that goes back 2,000 years.
....

In fairness to the Synodistas, both sides were studiously civil and constantly invoked the importance of mutual tolerance and their cherished Anglican heritage, which is strong on inclusivity and diversity. Wishy-washy C of E, as the more authoritarian papal model might put it. The Vatican would have handed this lot over to the Inquisition via rendition the moment it heard a bishop saying "bishops do not dissent lightly from the views of their archbishops".

In her article in the Guardian, titled 'Church of England reaches compromise on women bishops', Riazat Butt summarizes the proceedings at General Synod and makes the most sense for me, although I'm still not entirely clear on the substance of the agreement reached today.

The archbishops of Canterbury and York has avoided humiliation in the Church of England's law-making body, the General Synod, by putting off a split over the ordination of women bishops.

The synod voted against measures that would have given traditionalists the legal right to ignore the leadership of women bishops. The proposal by the Manchester diocesan synod would have accepted that parishes opposed to female diocesan bishops could be ministered by male bishops.

But the synod also rejected an attempt by the Southwark diocese in London to ensure bishops press on with legislation to introduce women bishops.

H/T to Peter Owen at Thinking Anglicans for the links to the press reports.

'MALICIOUS IMAGES' OF PRESIDENT OBAMA DISPLAYED IN A LOUISIANA PUBLIC SCHOOL

2012-02-08T13:05:00.002-06:00

From NOLA.com:

Controversy erupted at a Slidell junior high school late last week when at least one parent observed drawings and altered pictures depicting malicious images of President Barack Obama, including one photo in which a bullet hole was portrayed on his head. The work is believed to be part of a class project done by students at Boyet Junior High, and several similar pieces were posted on walls at the school.

At least five images were posted, including a drawing of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck standing next to a tree with a sign that read, "Obama Season," underneath a likeness of the president. Also in the depiction was an image of what appeared to be presidential candidate Mitt Romney smiling.

I can't bring myself to post the drawings, but you can see them at the link...at least for now. I saved copies in the event that the pictures disappear from the website. So. What sort of assignment brought forth this 'artwork', and why were the drawings allowed to be put on display in a public school and remain on the walls for days?

St Tammany Parish Public Schools Superintendent Trey Folse, who will not comment further while the investigation of the drawings takes place, released a statement:

"The St. Tammany Parish public school system takes matters such as this very seriously," Folse said. "The school system became aware of this situation Friday afternoon and immediately started an investigation into this matter. The investigation will include interviews with students, parents, teachers and administrators.

"The appropriate disciplinary action will be taken as soon as all of the facts are in and legal requirements have been met."

James "Gus" Davis, president of the Covington branch of the NAACP, said:

"This just puts hate right into the children. Why would they draw that if it weren't coming from someone else? ... It was there for a few days, and no one brought it up."

What's behind the hateful drawings? Racism? Hatred of Obama's 'socialist' agenda? Both and more?

What's shocking to me is not so much the sentiments the drawings express, because I hear that sort of talk from time to time around here, too, but that the drawings were displayed in a public school for days, and none of the school authorities or staff seemed to see a problem and moved to have them taken down.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND SYNOD DEBATES WOMEN BISHOPS

2012-02-08T10:00:00.000-06:00

From the BBC:

A compromise to try to meet objectors' concerns will be presented by the Manchester Diocesan Synod at a meeting of the Church's ruling council later.
....

It would give a greater measure of autonomy to male bishops appointed to oversee traditionalist parishes.

But many supporters of women bishops oppose the plans, saying they would make women second-class bishops.
....

The intention is to meet traditionalists' objections that a male bishop appointed to look after them would derive his authority from the female bishop who appointed them.
....

Many conservative Evangelicals also oppose women bishops because they believe the Bible requires male "headship" in the Church and in the family.

How insulting, patronizing, and downright tedious to read of this sort of nonsensical discussion in this year of 2012. For heaven's sake, the Church of England has had women priests for 20 years! How long, O Lord!

OLD BUTCH

2012-02-07T20:54:00.000-06:00

John was in the fertilized egg business.

He had several hundred young layers (hens), called 'pullets,' and ten roosters to fertilize the eggs.

He kept records, and any rooster not performing went into the soup pot and was replaced.

This took a lot of time, so he bought some tiny bells and attached them to his roosters.

Each bell had a different tone, so he could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing.

Now, he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report by just listening to the bells.

John's favorite rooster, old Butch, was a very fine specimen, but this morning he noticed old Butch's bell hadn't rung at all!

When he went to investigate, he saw the other roosters were busy chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing, but the pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover.

To John's amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn't ring.

He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one.

John was so proud of old Butch that he entered him in the Saint Lawrence County Fair and he became an overnight sensation among the judges.

The result was the judges not only awarded old Butch the "No Bell Piece Prize," but they also awarded him the "Pulletsurprise" as well.

Clearly old Butch was a politician in the making. Who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the unsuspecting populace and screwing them when they weren't paying attention.

Vote carefully this fall, the bells are not always audible.

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

Picture from Wikipedia.

PROPOSITION 8 DECLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL

2012-02-07T13:02:00.000-06:00

From IT at The Friends of Jake:

Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite sex couples The Constitution simply does not allow for "laws of this sort" (Romer v. Evans.)

For more, see TFOJ.

JUAN COLE TRANSLATES OMAR KHAYYAM

2012-02-07T12:31:00.000-06:00

OMAR KHAYYAM 15

As far as you can avoid it,
do not give grief to anyone.
Never inflict your rage
on another.
If you hope for eternal rest,
feel the pain yourself;
but don’t hurt others.

trans. Juan Cole
from Whinfield 15

Juan has posted a series of wonderful translations of Omar Khayyam's lovely peotry.

You may also consider reading his blog regularly for a dose of sanity on the situation in the Middle East, as an antidote to the scary, overblown rhetoric that is common in the media...not that the situation isn't scary, but, at the moment, I'm more afraid of what Israel or the countries in the West might do than I am of Iran.

THE KOSSOY SISTERS - 'THE WAGONER'S LAD'

2012-02-07T11:49:00.002-06:00

Still like this in some places.

FLYING FIRST CLASS

2012-02-07T11:48:00.000-06:00

A blonde gets on an airplane and sits down in the first class section of the plane. The steward rushes over to her and tells her she must move to coach because she doesn't have a first class ticket. The blonde replies, "I'm blonde, I'm smart, I have a
good job, and I'm staying in first class until we reach Jamaica."

The disgusted steward gets the head stewardess who asks the blonde to leave. The blonde yet again repeats "I'm blonde, I'm smart, I have a good job, and I'm staying in first class until we reach Jamaica."

The head stewardesses doesn't even know what to do at this point because they still have to get the rest of the passengers seated to take off; the blonde is causing a problem with boarding now, so the head stewardess gets the copilot.

The copilot goes up to the blonde and whispers in her ear. She immediately gets up and goes to her seat in the coach section.

The head stewardess asks the copilot in amazement what he said to get her to move to her correct seat. The copilot replies, "I told her the front half of the airplane wasn't going to Jamaica."

Cheers,

Paul (A.)

(I don't usually do blond jokes, but Paul (A.) made me do it.)

OH DEAR! THIS ONE IS OURS

2012-02-07T10:05:00.004-06:00

From Kaili Joy Gray at Daily Kos:

This just in: Louisiana Republican Rep. John C. Fleming, M.D. is tossing his hat in the ring for Dumbest Member of Congress.

Dino Grandoni at The Atlantic reports that "pro-life" Rep. Fleming M.D. posted a story from The Onion on his Facebook page, offering it as proof that Planned Parenthood offers "abortion by the wholesale."

The satirical story from May 2011

Let's see what the gullible pro-lifer representative believes.

Planned Parenthood announced Tuesday the grand opening of its long-planned $8 billion Abortionplex, a sprawling abortion facility that will allow the organization to terminate unborn lives with an efficiency never before thought possible. [...]

Where on earth did the congressman get this information?
Why from The Onion!

Thanks to Paul (A.) for the link, which he sent with the following message:

Louisiana is, however, responsible for this one.

Cheers,

Paul (A.)

Ah yes. Though we are not responsible for state Sen. Shadrack McGill of DeKalb County, Alabama, Rep. Fleming is from Minden, Louisiana, so he is, indeed, our responsibility, and we must claim him, even as we blush for him.

UPDATE: Thanks to AB for sending in the video with the story from Newsy.com.

ASBO JESUS - STEAMROLLER

2012-02-07T06:58:00.001-06:00

Click on the cartoon for the larger view.

From jonbirch at ASBO Jesus.

STORY OF THE DAY - COLOR BLIND

2012-02-07T06:47:00.000-06:00

What color are souls? she said & I said,
Color isn't that much of an issue when
you're talking souls.

From StoryPeople.

THREE MONKS IN THE DESERT

2012-02-06T13:39:00.001-06:00

Three monks lived as hermits in an isolated desert place. On rare occasions, the monks came together and broke their silence. One day, Brother Edgar said, "That was a beautiful white horse that passed by, wasn't it?"

One year later, Brother Paul said, "That wasn't a white horse; it was a black horse."

Another year passed, and Brother Silas said, "If there's going to be constant bickering, I'm leaving."

HAPPY DIAMOND JUBILEE, YOUR MAJESTY!

2012-02-06T12:31:00.000-06:00

AN ANNIVERSARY?

2012-02-06T11:51:00.001-06:00

Lurking in the back of my mind is the vague notion that today is the anniversary of some occasion or other. Will someone remind what the celebration is all about? Thanks in advance. :-)

AND THE DIOCESE OF CANTERBURY...

2012-02-05T18:08:00.001-06:00

...(surprise, surprise!) voted to adopt the proposed Anglican Covenant.

Lionel Deimel reports at the No Anglican Covenant blog:

Unsurprisingly, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s own diocese has voted in favor of the Covenant and issued a press release to that effect. According to the diocese, the vote was as follows: bishops—1 for; clergy—26 for, 11 against; laity—26 for, 14 against. There were no abstentions.

Well, if we can't win 'em all, two out of three ain't bad.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - WENDELL BERRY

2012-02-05T15:27:00.002-06:00

Well, anyhow, I am
not going to die young

From Given - by Wendell Berry.

Since I turned 70 in the latter part of the year before the book was published, the short poem is one of my favorites by Berry, who is high on my list of favorites of writers of contemporary poetry.

'CALLING THE ARCHBISHOPS' BLUFF'

2012-02-04T20:18:00.000-06:00

Don't blame me. Blame Mr C. In my heart, I can't blame him at all. It's way past time for the misogynistic nonsense to be over.

In the event that you don't understand Mr C's every word, the transcript is at his blog and at YouTube.

GOOD NEWS! DIOCESES OF DERBY AND GLOUCESTER SAY NO TO ANGLICAN COVENANT

2012-02-04T16:53:00.004-06:00

From Tobias Haller at In a Godward Direction:

The Diocese of Derby in the Church of England voted against the adoption of the proposed Anglican Covenant.

Bishops: for 0; against 1 (bishop Humphrey not present)
Clergy: for 1, against 21, abstention 2
Laity. for 2, against 24, absention 1

Tobias says:

Derby has been an Indaba partner with New York and Delhi (India) and according to the Twitter feed comments on the debate the Indaba experience contributed to the negative vote. This is natural, because Indaba represents the ideals the Covenant lauds but paradoxically disables in its notorious Section 4.

Yes! May the vote in Derby inspire other dioceses in the UK to vote against the proposed covenant. The supporters of the document say that there is no alternative to the covenant, but Indaba is one better way forward for the Anglican Communion as opposed to threats of 'relational consequences' for provinces who do not toe the line, although where the line is drawn, who can say?

Update from Nicholas Knisely at The Lead:

We're also seeing reports on twitter from Lesley Crawley's stream that Gloucester has voted against the Covenant as well. We're hoping to find more information soon on that.

It is confirmed that the Diocese of Gloucester voted against the Anglican Covenant. The numbers are below.

House of Clergy YES: 16; NO: 28; 1 abstention
House of Laity YES: 14; NO: 28; 6 abstentions
House of Bishops YES: 1; 1 abstention

'NEWS AND TRUTH ARE NOT THE SAME THING'

2012-02-04T15:56:00.001-06:00

News and truth are not the same things. News, at least as it is configured in the faux objectivity of American journalism can be used quite effectively to mask and obscure the truth. ‘Balance,’ in which you have to give as much space, for example, to the victimizer as to the victim, may be objective and impartial, but it is usually not honest. And when you are ‘objective,’ it means that, in your reasonableness, you ultimately embrace and defend the status quo. There is a deep current of cynicism that runs through much of American journalism, especially on commercial electronic media. It is safe and painless to produce ‘balanced’ news. It is very unsafe, as the best of journalists will tell you, to produce truth. The great journalists, like the great preachers, care deeply about truth, which they seek to impart to their reader, listener or viewer, often at the cost to their careers.
....

My former employer, the New York Times, with some of the most able and talented journalists and editors in the country, not only propagated the lies used to justify the war in Iraq, but also never saw the financial meltdown coming. These journalists and editors are besotted with their access to the powerful. They look at themselves as players, part of the inside elite. They went to the same elite colleges. They eat at the same restaurants. They go to the same parties and dinners. They live in the same exclusive neighbourhoods. Their children go to the same schools. They are, if one concedes that propaganda is a vital tool for the power elite, important to the system. Journalists who should have been exposing the lies used to justify the Iraq war or reporting from low-income neighbourhoods- where mortgage brokers and banks were filing fraudulent loan applications to hand money to people they knew could never pay it back- were instead ‘doing’ lunch with the power brokers in the White House or on Wall Street. All that talent, all that money, all that expertise, all those resources proved useless when it came time to examine the two major cataclysmic events of our age. And all that news, however objective and balanced turned out to be a lie.

The World As It Is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress by Chris Hedges, pp xi and xii.

Thanks to David@Montreal for sending me the quotes from the book, which I have not yet read, but which I intend to read.

I well remember Judith Miller's front page articles during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in the New York Times on the supposed WMD in the country obtained from her Iraqi 'source', Ahmad Chalabi, who was later proved to be lying. Oops!

Brave reporters like Walter Pincus of the Washington Post wrote articles questioning the information on WMD in Iraq but received only back-page coverage.

Days before the Iraq war began, veteran Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus put together a story questioning whether the Bush administration had proof that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction.

But he ran into resistance from the paper's editors, and his piece ran only after assistant managing editor Bob Woodward, who was researching a book about the drive toward war, "helped sell the story," Pincus recalled. "Without him, it would have had a tough time getting into the paper." Even so, the article was relegated to Page A17.
....

An examination of the paper's coverage, and interviews with more than a dozen of the editors and reporters involved, shows that The Post published a number of pieces challenging the White House, but rarely on the front page. Some reporters who were lobbying for greater prominence for stories that questioned the administration's evidence complained to senior editors who, in the view of those reporters, were unenthusiastic about such pieces.

Of course, Judith Miller's stories ran on page 1 of the NYT with large headlines. Who you gonna believe? In these times of 'balanced news', you believe what you want to believe. In seeking to provide 'balance' the reporters give equal weight to spurious nonsense and the truth of a situation in order not to appear to be leaning to one side or the other, despite the fact that, at times, there is no sensible other side. And we are left with Stephen Colbert's 'truthiness'.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

OUT TO DINNER

2012-02-02T20:01:00.001-06:00

In a short while, I will meet Muthah, who blogs at Stone of Witness, and several other folks for dinner here in New Orleans. I'm looking forward to meeting another blog friend face to face. Tomorrow, you'll hear all about our gathering.

UPDATE: Muthah took pictures of our gathering, so I'll wait until I have the photos to write more, if that's all right with the rest of you.

PAY TEACHERS WELL AND YOU'LL ATTRACT THE WRONG SORT

2012-02-02T14:21:00.004-06:00

From the DeKalb County (AL) Times-Journal:

State Sen. Shadrack McGill defended a pay raise his predecessors in the Legislature passed, but said doubling teacher pay could lead to less-qualified educators.
....

McGill, R-Woodville, said a 62 percent pay raise in 2007 - passed first by a controversial voice vote and later in an override of a veto by then-Gov. Bob Riley - better rewards lawmakers and makes them less susceptible to being swayed by lobbyists.

Lawmakers entered the 2007 legislative session making $30,710 a year, a rate that had not been changed in 16 years. The raise increased it to $49,500 annually.
....

McGill said that by paying legislators more, they're less susceptible to taking bribes.

"He needs to make enough that he can say no, in regards to temptation. ... Teachers need to make the money that they need to make. There needs to be a balance there. If you double what you're paying education, you know what's going to happen? I've heard the comment many times, ‘Well, the quality of education's going to go up.' That's never proven to happen, guys.

"It's a Biblical principle. If you double a teacher's pay scale, you'll attract people who aren't called to teach.

"To go in and raise someone's child for eight hours a day, or many people's children for eight hours a day, requires a calling. It better be a calling in your life. I know I wouldn't want to do it, OK?

"And these teachers that are called to teach, regardless of the pay scale, they would teach. It's just in them to do. It's the ability that God give 'em. And there are also some teachers, it wouldn't matter how much you would pay them, they would still perform to the same capacity. (My emphasis)

I don't know but that all sorts of riff-raff might be attracted to run for the state legislature at pay close to $50,000 per year. I know folks who make less, that is, the people who have jobs.

Still, if the Bible says to keep teachers on a short wage leash, perhaps the Christians amongst us should pay attention. But wait! Where in the Bible does it say, "If you double a teacher's pay scale, you'll attract people who aren't called to teach." Can anyone out there cite chapter and verse?

Seems to me that Sen' McGill assumes more character and principles in teachers than in legislators. He could be right.

And what do Meshach and Abednego think about Shadrack's proposal? I guess we'll never know.

Thanks (or no thanks?) to Paul (A.), who sent the link with the following subject line:

At least Louisiana isn't responsible for this representative.

At least...

DIOCESE OF WESTERN LOUISIANA LISTS CANDIDATES FOR BISHOP

2012-02-01T21:35:00.001-06:00

Today, the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana published the list of candidates nominated for the position of 4th bishop of the diocese.

Click on the image for the larger view.

THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF OUR 'CHRISTIAN' NATION

2012-02-01T20:19:00.003-06:00

Nevertheless, because the revolutionary leadership sprang from the social establishment in several colonies, it included many who were Anglicans by denominational loyalty, no less than two-thirds of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. Elite egalitarians tended to lead these Founding Fathers not to the Awakening but to the Enlightenment and Deism: cool versions of Christianity, or virtually no Christianity at all. The polymath Benjamin Franklin seldom went to church, and when he did, it was to enjoy the Anglican Book of Common Prayer decorously performed in Christ Church, Philadelphia; he made it a point of principle not to spend energy affirming the divinity of Christ. Thomas Jefferson was rather more concerned than Franklin to be seen at church on key political occasions, but he deplored religious controversy, deeply distrusted organized religion and spoke of the Trinity as 'abracadabra...hocus-pocus...a deliria of crazy imaginations, as foreign to Christianity as that of Mohamet'. In the face of such low-temperature religion, many on the present-day American religious right, anxious to appropriate the Revolution for their own version of modern American patriotism, have sought comfort in the ultimate Founding Father, George Washington, but here too there is much to doubt. Washington never received Holy Communion, and was inclined in discourse to refer to providence or destiny rather than God.
....

What this revolutionary elite achieved amid a sea of competing Christianities, many of which were highly uncongenial to them, was to make religion a private affair in the eyes of the new American federal government. The constitution which they created made no mention of God or Christianity (apart from the date by 'the Year of our Lord'). That was without precedent in Christian polities of that time, and with equal disregard for tradition (after some debate), the Great Seal of the United States of America bore no Christian symbol but rather the Eye of Providence, which if it recalled anything recalled Freemasonry. The motto 'In God We Trust' only first appeared on the American coin amid civil war in 1864, and it was 1957 before it featured on any paper currency of the United States.

From Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCullough, pp. 763-764.

So much for the United States as a 'Christian' nation established by 'Christian' Founding Fathers. Citizens who do not know the true history of the country make up from whole cloth a false history to suit their individual purposes.

You may find this hard to believe, but during all my years in elementary and high school, I said the Pledge of Allegiance minus the words 'under God' and, I came out of that period of my life unscathed. The words were added in 1954, during my university years.

Further reading on the subject of the 'Christian' Founding Fathers in a splendid article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the religious views of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Thomas Paine, none of whom would be electable today.

"TWITTER ON"

2012-02-01T13:49:00.000-06:00

There’s a little “Occupy” in all of us just waiting to come out and you don’t have to be on the streets to feel it in your gut. Individuals in all cultures now pause—the Church included—when top-down edicts and closed discussions are passed off as normal. The current demand to stop Episcopal Church Council members from tweeting during meetings is an example. OWS is committed to horizontal and radically open discussion. It is “radical” because allowing more and more persons into the conversation revolutionizes what the democratic experience looks like...and is. Indeed, the EC debate engages the consequences of an Information Age but the scent of unfairness when access is denied comes from a far deeper place. Occupy!

From Bishop George Packard on Facebook. A longer version may be found at +George's blog, Occupied Bishop.

What I said on Facebook:

As I see it, transparency is always in order. I don't tweet myself, but I say let them tweet.

"Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops."

...sooner or later. Why not sooner?

DOG TIRED

2012-02-01T13:27:00.002-06:00

"An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.

He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head. He then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.

An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.

The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks.

Curious I pinned a note to his collar:
'I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.'
The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar:
'He lives in a home with a non-stop chatting wife, 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 - he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?"

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

STORY OF THE DAY - HALF NAKED

2012-02-01T13:16:00.000-06:00

only half-naked in her dream that night
because everybody else was completely
naked & she just had to be different &
when she woke up, she finally figured
out why she spent most of her free time
by herself.

From StoryPeople.

MR CATOLICK - "MR SENTAMU DOES IT TO THE GAY COMMUNITY"

2012-02-01T11:52:00.012-06:00

MrC reviews Mr Sentamoo's recent work and offers his thoughts.

From Mr CatOLick. A transcript may be found at Mr C's blog and on YouTube.

Mr C reminds us in the video:

Mr Sentimoo’s Christ might go down well in some places, but then so does the death penalty for gays. This is not what Jesus came to teach us and people who talk in this way are playing a very dangerous game with other people’s lives.

Words have consequences.

HOUSEWORK

2012-01-31T12:31:00.000-06:00

From Kennilynn on Facebook. H/T to Erika.

MADPRIEST'S NEW PROJECT: "NEW WORDS FOR HOLY COMMUNION"

2012-01-31T12:12:00.000-06:00

From Jonathan Hagger aka MadPriest:

HERE IT IS!

My new project.

A monthly, downloadable resource providing prayers, intercessions, acclamations, biddings and blessings for use in the eucharistic services of the church.

Each issue will contain material for every Sunday and every principal feast during the month.

All the material is strongly linked to the gospel reading of the day based on the Common Lectionary. It is a truly international and ecumenical resource but it also provides extra material for national peculiarities such as Mothering Sunday in England.

I have tried to reflect, in a modern way, the words and meter of our traditional prayer books. I have also made sure that the new words will fit seamlessly into all orders of service so that congregations will not be confused or worried about changes and innovation.

For a sample copy of the material for the
Annunciation of Our Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary

CLICK HERE.

I read the sample copy of the service for the Annunciation of Mary, and it is, as it has already been described, "quite good". Jonathan adds:

Please feel free to print it and use it. It's already formatted for A4 paper in nice large print so even oldies with poor eyesight, like me, can read it easily in church.

The cost of each monthly issue is only £2.49 (just less than $4.00 U.S.). It is available by monthly subscription but you can cancel your subscription at any time - there is no minimum subscription period. Payment is via PayPal but you do not need a PayPal account of your own to subscribe. Subscribers will be sent each new issue approximately one month before the month covered.

Subscribe at Jonathan's blog, Of Course I Could Be Wrong...

WHAT A CATCH FOR NACC!

2012-01-31T11:40:00.003-06:00

From No Anglican Covenant Coalition:

COALITION ANNOUNCES PROFESSOR DIARMAID MacCULLOCH AS PATRON

LONDON – The Revd Dr Lesley Crawley, Moderator of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition, has announced the appointment of Oxford University Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, DD, as a Patron of the Coalition. Professor MacCulloch joins the Rt Revd Dr John Saxbee and the Rt Rev Dr Peter Selby, who were appointed last June.

“I’m thrilled that Professor MacCulloch has agreed to accept this appointment,” said Crawley. “As one of the acknowledged experts in the English Reformation, he has a very clear understanding of how the centralization of authority in the proposed Anglican Covenant is at odds with fundamental Anglican ecclesiology.”

“Anglicanism was born in the Reformation’s rejection of an unwarranted and unhistorical over-centralization of ecclesiastical authority,” according to Professor MacCulloch. “This pernicious proposal of a Covenant (an unhappy choice of name if you know anything about our Church’s history) ignores the Anglican Communion’s past, and seeks to gridlock the Anglican present at the cost of a truly Anglican future.” (My emphasis)

MacCulloch is Professor of the History of the Church, and Fellow of St Cross College, in the University of Oxford. He is also a Fellow of the British Academy and co-edits the Journal of Ecclesiastical History. He has written several books on Christian history and the English Reformation, including the award winning Thomas Cranmer: A Life and The Reformation: A History. His most recent book, A History of Christianity: the First Three Thousand Years, won the 2011 Cundill Prize. He devised and presented the BBC television series based on that work. MacCulloch received a knighthood earlier this year for his services to scholarship.

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition is an international group of Anglicans concerned about how the proposed Anglican Covenant will radically change the nature of the Anglican Communion.

The Revd Dr Lesley Crawley (England)
Dr Lionel Deimel (USA)
The Revd Malcolm French (Canada)
The Revd Lawrence Kimberley (New Zealand)
The Revd Canon Hugh Magee (Scotland)

In my book (which I have never written), MacCullough is a god in the pantheon of historians of Christianity. Several years ago, I read The Reformation by the author, and I am presently about two-thirds through MacCullough's Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. Both works are masterful, and I recommend them highly. Don't expect a dry historical account when you start to read. The books carried me rapidly along, even when I knew what happened next. MacCullough intersperses the history with interesting and sometimes amusing anecdotes about the characters that people the periods he describes.

MacCullough, who was not always well-treated by the Church of England, says:

I was brought up in the presence of the Bible, and I remember with affection what it was like to hold a dogmatic position on the statements of Christian belief. I would now describe myself as a candid friend of Christianity.
....

I was ordained Deacon. But, being a gay man, it was just impossible to proceed further, within the conditions of the Anglican set-up, because I was determined that I would make no bones about who I was; I was brought up to be truthful, and truth has always mattered to me. The Church couldn't cope and so we parted company. It was a miserable experience.

From Wikipedia.

The Church of England still has trouble coping with gay clergy who are open and honest about their sexual orientation and relationships.

Disclosure: I am a member of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition.

H/T to Ann Fontaine at The Lead.

HOW MANY TIMES MUST I SAY THIS?

2012-01-30T12:17:00.001-06:00

From Ross Douthat in the New York Times on the evils of the new rules of Obamacare:

But sometimes the state goes further. Not content with crowding out alternative forms of common effort, it presents its rivals an impossible choice: Play by our rules, even if it means violating the moral ideals that inspired your efforts in the first place, or get out of the community-building business entirely.

This is exactly the choice that the White House has decided to offer a host of religious institutions — hospitals, schools and charities — in the era of Obamacare. The new health care law requires that all employer-provided insurance plans cover contraception, sterilization and the morning-after (or week-after) pill known as ella, which can work as an abortifacient. A number of religious groups, led by the American Catholic bishops, had requested an exemption for plans purchased by their institutions. Instead, the White House has settled on an exemption that only covers religious institutions that primarily serve members of their own faith. A parish would be exempt from the mandate, in other words, but a Catholic hospital would not.

Ponder that for a moment. In effect, the Department of Health and Human Services is telling religious groups that if they don’t want to pay for practices they consider immoral, they should stick to serving their own co-religionists rather than the wider public. Sectarian self-segregation is O.K., but good Samaritanism is not. The rule suggests a preposterous scenario in which a Catholic hospital avoids paying for sterilizations and the morning-after pill by closing its doors to atheists and Muslims, and hanging out a sign saying “no Protestants need apply.”

Ross, I ponder that, and I am not at all disturbed that the Roman Catholic hospitals and universities will need to provide all types of health care to all of their employees. Not one bit. Have you pondered that some communities have only a Roman Catholic hospital to serve them and that not all of their employees are members of the RCC? Why should everyone who works in the community hospital have to play by Roman Catholic rules? What about the common good?

Furthermore, Ross, have you pondered the fact that Roman Catholic hospitals and universities already provide coverage for contraceptives in health care packages? See below from NPR. How does the church square the coverage that is already offered in some states with their consciences? Whatever the reasoning of the powers in the case of the states which mandate coverage for contraceptives, the same powers should apply that reasoning to the hospitals and universities in the rest of the country under the new rules for health care coverage.

From NPR:

But while some insist that the rules, which spring from last year's health law, break new ground, many states as well as federal civil rights law already require most religious employers to cover prescription contraceptives if they provide coverage of other prescription drugs.

While some religious employers take advantage of loopholes or religious exemptions, the fact remains that dozens of Catholic hospitals and universities currently offer contraceptive coverage as part of their health insurance packages.

"We've always had contraceptive birth control included in our health care benefits," said Michelle Michaud, a labor and delivery nurse at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, Calif. "It's something that we've come to expect for ourselves and our family."

Dominican is part of the Catholic Healthcare West System. A spokeswoman for the 40-hospital chain confirmed that it has offered the benefits since 1997.

Ross takes it further. The way of Obamacare is a slippery slope that leads to what? Armageddon? A dark future surely.

The White House attack on conscience is a vindication of health care reform’s critics, who saw exactly this kind of overreach coming. But it’s also an intimation of a darker American future, in which our voluntary communities wither away and government becomes the only word we have for the things we do together.

Ross, I doubt that. I doubt much of what you write.

That Douthat, along with David Brooks, writes for the Yew Nork Times, the newspaper of record, continues to amaze me. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but I believe the paper could hire better opinion writers from the freshman class of a school of journalism.

PAY ATTENTION!

2012-01-30T10:22:00.000-06:00

Of course, I think of our friend Kirstin Paisley, but it doesn't have to end that way.

Thanks to Paul (A.)

WHAT STEPHEN SAYS...

2012-01-29T19:50:00.001-06:00

I report. You decide.

Click on the picture for the larger view.

'THE BLESSED COMPANY...'

2012-01-29T15:10:00.000-06:00

From Donald Schell's essay titled 'The Blessed Company of All Faithful People', Part II at the Daily Episcopalian:

Just what do Episcopalians mean by “salvation?” A lot of different things, of course. I think salvation has little to do with “where we end up” and everything to do with God’s work reconciling us to each other and to God, moving closer to our embrace of one another in God now and forever.

Amen! Read the rest of Schell's essay, which is excellent, along with the commentary, which is quite good.

STORY OF THE DAY - GODDESS

2012-01-29T11:34:00.000-06:00

I do much better as a goddess, she said,
since my secretarial skills have always
been limited

Oh yes. Quite true.

From StoryPeople.

LORD CAREY, PLEASE ENJOY A QUIET RETIREMENT

2012-01-29T09:47:00.003-06:00

From the Telegraph:

Lesley Pilkington was effectively barred from her professional register after attempting to convert a homosexual man in a therapy session at her home.

Her patient turned out to be a gay rights journalist, who had secretly recorded the sessions and then reported her to her professional body. Mrs Pilkington, a committed Christian, was subsequently found guilty of professional misconduct.

The therapy practised by Mrs Pilkington had been described as "absurd" by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and roundly condemned by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

But ahead of her appeal against the BACP ruling, Mrs Pilkington has received backing from the Rt Rev Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.

In a letter to her professional body, Lord Carey – along with a number of senior figures – suggests Mrs Pilkington is herself a victim of entrapment whose therapy should be supported.

So now Mrs Pilkington is the victim and wants professional recognition and approval to practice her brand of psychotherapy, which has been shown to be destructive in some cases and ineffective over all.

Amongst the co-signers of the letter are Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester and the Rt Rev Wallace Benn, the Bishop of Lewes. You may recall that Bishop Benn compared the campaign for women bishops in the Church of England to the storm clouds gathering over Europe in 1939.

In the course of the type of psychotherapy practiced by Mrs Pilkington and her cohorts:

Homosexual men are sent on weekends away with heterosexual men to "encourage their masculinity" and "in time to develop healthy relationships with women", said Mrs Pilkington.

When will Lord Carey cease his foolishness and fade away into the quiet retirement he so justly deserves?

Picture from Wikipedia.

Thanks to Lapin for the the link to the Telegraph.

NEW ORLEANS JAZZ GREATS - 'BUCKET'S GOT A HOLE IN IT'

2012-01-28T22:23:00.001-06:00

Uptown Bumps (1958).... Featuring: Sweet Emma Barrett, Punch Miller, Slow Drag Pavageau, George Guesnon, Paul Barbarin, Peter Bocage, Charlie Love, George Levis, Louis Nelson

When Preservation Hall opened in 1961, it was my great pleasure to hear music played by the New Orleans jazz musician greats featured in the video.

WINTER FLOWERS

2012-01-28T20:06:00.000-06:00

The dwarf azaleas in front and on the side of our house are in bloom once again after showing their colors around Christmas. We never know when the azaleas will burst into bloom, so they're always a pleasant surprise.

JONATHAN CLATWORTHY ON THE PAPER DOLL

2012-01-28T12:24:00.003-06:00

At Modern Church, Jonathan Clatworthy, General Secretary to the organization, wrote an excellent response to Peter Doll's inaccurate and downright insulting essay on the Episcopal Church in the United States and its relationship to the Anglican Communion and to the proposed Anglican Covenant. Doll is originally from the US, but he has served in the Church of England since his ordination. Still, Doll claims to know the church which he says nurtured him well. Peter Doll is Canon Librarian at Norwich Cathedral in England, therefore one would expect the fruits of his personal knowledge and research to exhibit a result that paints an accurate and evenhanded picture of the Episcopal Church, rather than the biased views expressed in the essay.

Keep in mind that Clatworthy is English and that it is entirely possible to arrive at a more realistic and balanced view of the Episcopal Church from across the big pond in the Green and Pleasant Land. That Doll's paper was sent to all the bishops in the Church of England with the stamp of approval from Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is astounding to me.

Wait! On second thought, as I remember certain of Rowan's statements about the Episcopal Church, I am not so surprised, because Doll and Rowan come to seem more like birds of a feather, which makes me even more grateful for Clatworthy's admirable rebuttal.

I met Jonathan when I was in England, and we had a wonderful, long, chatty lunch in London between his trains, and I speak from personal knowledge when I say that he's all right.

Disclosure: Jonathan and I are both members of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition.

Jonathan Clatworthy lives in Liverpool and is Modern Church General Secretary. He has worked as a parish priest, university chaplain and lecturer in Ethics.

APHORISM OF THE DAY - A BETTER WORLD

2012-01-28T09:13:00.000-06:00

I dream of that better world, too. Poor chickens.

Thanks to MM for my first laugh of the day.

WAXING CRESCENT MOON

2012-01-27T21:03:00.003-06:00

Bright hornéd crescent
Suspended in darkened sky
Upward facing points

SATURDAY UPDATE: Tonight at twilight, the sky was a beautiful, clear midnight blue, with the very bright crescent somewhat larger than last night, again poised between the shining planets, Venus and Jupiter, with Orion overhead, slightly to the east. Lovely.

STORY OF THE DAY - QUIET PRIDE

2012-01-27T15:15:00.001-06:00

There has never been a day when I have
not been proud of you, I said, though
some days I'm louder about other stuff
so it's easy to miss that.

From StoryPeople.

The story is for Grandpère as a late birthday gift. I'm sad to say the story applies, more often than I'd like.

SOUL REBELS BRASS BAND - LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL 2010

2012-01-27T14:12:00.004-06:00

Oh, I love this video of the Soul Rebels marching and playing their way across the Golden Jubilee Bridge, a pedestrian bridge which crosses the River Thames, linking the Embankment with the Royal Festival Hall. Now if this group had been marching in New Orleans, a number of folks would have joined the band and made the march a parade. Ah, but the Londoners heading across the bridge were in a hurry to get on with their very important business. I can read their thoughts, 'Who are these black dudes on our bridge playing jazz and blocking our way?' What can I say? I kinda like it that the band 'took the bridge', so to speak, but then, I am from New Orleans, and I have the soul of a rebel. Since applause is audible at the end of the video, I gather some folks 'got it'. The comments at YouTube are...um...interesting.

Last summer I heard the Soul Rebels play at the music festival at the Sage in Newcastle upon Tyne, fronting for Soul Queen, Irma Thomas, and they were terrific, a taste of home upon the River Tyne.

When I was in London last summer, after a bit of difficulty in finding the stairs, with help from my friend Cathy by cell phone, I walked the London Millenium Footbridge from the Bankside to meet Cathy on the City side to view the Miró exhibit at the Tate Modern, which was fantastic.

Oh dear! I feel a wave of nostalgia coming on.

WOUNDED BIRD IS FIVE YEARS OLD...

2012-01-26T21:40:00.001-06:00

...and a few days. My first post was on January 22, 2007. I meant to mark the anniversary, but the day slipped past me. Anyway, it's been a good run.

No. of posts: 5869
No. of visits: 858,629 (plus a few lost when my counter went down for a couple of days)

To everyone who visits, reads, and comments, thank you. To my stringers who send me links and material to post, another thank you. My life would be much the poorer without the friends I've made online, many of whom I've met in real life. I can say, in all truth, that those I've met face to face were as I expected, but for two. I thought Tobias Haller would be an introvert, and I expected Fr Jake to be an extrovert, and the two were just the opposite, which was a surprise. If I liked you online, I liked you when I met you. As George W said:

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

The old saying is in Louisiana now, too.

These here intertubes are a wonder, indeed. Hugs and kisses all around.

IF LOOKS COULD KILL...

2012-01-26T19:21:00.002-06:00

Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Presov Slovakia
Lukáš Kmiť plays the viola
by Milan Ferencik/Greatmilan & Jakub Hasko/CTZ Films

Thanks to Paul (A.).

DAVID KATO - 1964-2011 - WE REMEMBER...

2012-01-26T14:24:00.000-06:00

David Kato, Ugandan LGBT rights activist, was beaten to death one year ago today (Jan. 26). He is considered a father of Uganda’s gay rights movement.

Some blame religious rhetoric for his death. American evangelicals helped stir up the hostility that led to Kato’s death because they promoted a law imposing the death penalty for homosexuality. Shortly before his murder Kato won a lawsuit against a Ugandan magazine for identifying him as gay and calling for his execution.

More at Jesus in Love.

Blessed are you, gracious God,
creator of heaven and earth;
you are glorified in the assembly of your saints.
David Kato and all your martyrs bless you and praise you,
confessing before the powers of this world
the great name of your only Son.
Therefore we join our voices with theirs,
and with all who have served you in every age,
to proclaim the glory of your name.

(Preface of a Martyr, Book of Alternative Services, Canada)

THE NEW BOSS

2012-01-25T23:21:00.000-06:00

If you've ever worked for a boss who reacts before getting the facts and thinking things through, you will love this!

Hamson Metal-Steel, feeling it was time for a shakeup, hired a new CEO. The new boss was determined to rid the company of all slackers.

On a tour of the facilities, the CEO noticed a guy leaning against a wall. The room was full of workers and he wanted to let them know that he meant business. He asked the guy, "How much money do you make a week?"

A little surprised, the young man looked at him and said, "I make $400 a week. Why?"

The CEO said, "Wait right here." He walked back to his office, came back in two minutes, and handed the guy $1,600 in cash and said, "Here's four weeks' pay. Now GET OUT and don't come back."

Feeling pretty good about himself the CEO looked around the room and asked, "Does anyone want to tell me what that goof-ball did here?"

From across the room a voice said, "Pizza delivery guy.”

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

PREJUDICE IS PREJUDICE IS PREJUDICE

2012-01-25T21:06:00.004-06:00

Andrew Brown in the Guardian:

The Church of England's House of Bishops – for which, read the archbishops of Canterbury and York – has explained how they hope to mollify the opponents of female clergy. The proposals are breathtaking.

From the Code of Practice suggested by the two archbishops:

The House of Bishops does not wish to see any outcome that would entrench radical division or give any impression of a 'two-tier‘ episcopate. Because of their commitment both to this principle and to the most adequate and sustainable provision for theological dissent over the ordination of women, they are seeking a balanced provision within the overall framework that will allow all members of the Church of England to flourish and to pursue the mission to our nation and society that we share.

We are aware as bishops that there are very difficult decisions ahead for many of our clergy and faithful; we want to honour the desire of all who wish to remain loyal Anglicans, fully engaged in this mission. And we are not thinking in terms of a time-limited provision, mindful that such a suggestion was rejected at the Revision stage of amending the legislation under discussion.

Despite the statement above, in the suggested 'Code of Practice' the two archbishops in the Church of England are quite determined to enable prejudice against women bishops and, further, to assure that prejudicial attitudes and practices remain entrenched in the church.

Andrew Brown:

The archbishops envisage that the Church of England, once it has female bishops, will continue ordaining men who do not accept these women, finding them jobs they will deign to accept, and promoting some of them to be bishops who will work to ensure the continued supply of male priests who refuse to accept female clergy. In fact, the church will pay three bishops (the formerly "flying" sees of Ebbsfleet, Richborough, and Beverley) to work full time against their female colleagues, and to nourish the resistance.

Funds are scarce, and yet the CofE will support three bishops to continue to ordain priests who would not consider ordination by a female bishop as valid, because, not only would the women not be real bishops, but they were never even real priests in the first place. How is the support of bishops to prevent candidates for ordination from besmirchment by the laying on of hands by a woman bishop not entrenchment of division?

Code of Practice

In the light of our discussion, the House will continue to uphold these three principles:

• Bishops will continue not to discriminate in selecting candidates for ordination on the grounds of their theological convictions regarding the admission of women to Holy Orders;

• In choosing bishops to provide episcopal ministry under diocesan schemes for parishes requesting this provision, diocesan bishops will seek to identify those whose ministry will be consistent with the theological convictions concerning the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate underlying the Letter of Request;

• The archbishops and bishops commit themselves to seeking to maintain a supply of bishops able to minister on this basis. This will obviously have a bearing on decisions about appointments and on the role of bishops occupying the sees of Beverley, Ebbsfleet and Richborough (which will, as a matter of law, continue to exist even after the Episcopal Ministry Act of Synod has been rescinded).

Andrew Brown

Despite all these concessions, there will be female bishops, as there are already female priests, and these will be treated exactly the same as male ones – except by the men who don't want to treat them equally and who believe that God has called them to undermine women's authority wherever it appears.

This is apparently Rowan Williams's idea of justice.

The two archbishops could not get their desired legislation through the previous General Synod and are aware that church members, bishops, and clergy are embarrassed and weary of efforts to cater to the prejudicial "theological convictions" of the squeamish, so now they attempt a new tactic by calling the effort to prolong discrimination against women by a different name, a 'Code of Practice'. Do the archbishops think that by this blatant attempt at subterfuge through name change, they will get the code passed? Perhaps they will. I hope not.

UPDATE: The official title is 'The Illustrative Draft Code of Practice'. I was tempted to omit the letter 'r' from one of the words in the title. The word starts with 'D'.

STORY OF THE DAY - RESET BUTTON

2012-01-25T12:27:00.000-06:00

He discovered his reset button early on
& there were not many things that
bothered him all the rest of his days just
because of that.

From StoryPeople.

Like.

ROMNEY WISHES HE WAS POORER...

2012-01-25T09:22:00.004-06:00

From the Wall Street Journal:

If elected president, Mitt Romney might consider ending a tax break that helped the former Massachusetts governor accumulate his fortune, an aide suggested Tuesday.

The comments came as the Romney campaign made available more than 500 pages of tax-return data for 2010 and 2011 amid signs the issue was hurting him with some voters.

No, wait! He's happy to be richer.

Later in the day, in a signal of how the tax issue is roiling the GOP campaign, the Romney camp tried to step back from the aide's remarks, underscoring that the former Massachusetts governor didn't want to raise anyone's taxes.

Romney closed down his Swiss bank account but retains accounts in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and other tax havens.

How rich is Romney?

Also from the WSJ.

So rich, that he makes the one percenters look like the 99 percent.

According to a calculation from Emmanuel Saez, the economist at the University of California at Berkley, who has become the top expert on top incomes, Mitt Romney’s income of $21.7 million puts him well above the 1%.

In fact, his income puts him in about the 99.9975% income bracket. Put another way, Mitt is in the top 0.0025%.

Whoa! That IS rich. But we all knew Romney was extremely wealthy. He should have released the tax returns early on and not shown such reluctance. Who did he think he was kidding?

Picture from Wikipedia.

UPDATE: And further, I hear complaints that the Occupy Wall Street folks have no coherent message. Well, at least one coherent message seems to have been sent out that even the Wall Street Journal understood: the 1% compared to the 99%. I don't remember seeing the percentages mentioned in the media before the OWS movement. "We are the 99%," is brief, pithy, and quite easy to understand. Yo, everyone! OWS has a coherent message.

H/T to Charles Pierce, who sees evidence that President Obama also understands the message.

PONDERISMS - PART 4

2012-01-24T20:59:00.003-06:00

11 * Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

12 * The second mouse gets the cheese.

13 * When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

14 * Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

16 * Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.

17 * We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box

18 * A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

19 * Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY

20 *Save the earth..... It's the only planet with chocolate !*

More ponderisms from my brother-in-law, Frank.

See No. 18? I did that. My plan was to go by train from Manchester to Leeds in the UK, and I took the wrong train. The train stopped seemingly at every village along the way, some of them quite pretty, with interesting old train stations. The views of the Pennines were gorgeous. I thought I had mistakenly taken a commuter train to Leeds, but I ended up in Sheffield at the end of the line. When I told the conductor where I'd intended to go, he said, "Oh, there's a train for Leeds in 5 minutes on the next track over." How about that? I didn't even have to buy another ticket. Although, I was twice as long reaching my destination, I would not, for the world, have missed my wonderful detour.

I traveled southeast instead of northeast on, I believe, the Hope Valley Line, which passes right through the Peak District National Park. A mistake? Maybe, but a mistake that I would not have wanted corrected.

THEY HAVE NAMES

2012-01-24T11:43:00.003-06:00

Total Coalition War Deaths: 7678

Iraq: 4802
-no casualties this past week

Afghanistan: 2876

BATEMAN, Jon-Luke, 22, CPL, USMC, Tulsa, OK, I Marine Expeditionary Force
COCHRAN, Kenneth E., 20, LCPL, USMC, Wilder, ID, III Marine Expeditionary Force
WISE, Benjamin B., 34, Seaman, US Army, Little Rock, AR, 1st Special Forces Group
BENSON, Keith D., 27, SPEC, US Army, Brockton, MA, 172nd Infantry Brigade
McGEATH, Phillip D., 25, CPL, USMC, Glendale, AZ, II Marine Expeditionary Force
LOGAN, Joseph D., 22, CPL, USMC, Willis, TX, III Marine Expeditionary Force
McHONE, Nathan R., 29, CAPT, USMC, Crystal Lake, IL, III Marine Expeditionary Force
STITES, Jesse W., 23, CPL, USMC, North Beach, MD, III Marine Expeditionary Force
BARTLE, Daniel B., 27, CAPT, USMC, Ferndale, WA, III Marine Expeditionary Force
REINHARD, Kevin, 25, CPL, USMC, (home not reported), III Marine Expeditionary Force
RIDDICK, Travis, 40, MSGT, USMC, Centerville, IA, III Marine Expeditionary Force

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

May God give comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to those who love the service members who died.

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

List from The Daily Office.

Source: iCasualties.org

THE FRAT BOYS OF WALL STREET

2012-01-23T23:31:00.002-06:00

From the New York Times::

The chandelier-filled ballroom was teeming with 200 men in tuxedos — and a smattering of women — whose daily decisions can collectively make or break the global financial markets. Most were picking over a lavish dinner that included rack of lamb and crème brûlée. Others were preparing to sing bawdy show tunes.

Kappa Beta Phi, an exclusive Wall Street fraternity whose members include big-name bankers, hedge fund billionaires and private equity titans, met at the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan on Thursday night for its 80th annual black-tie dinner and induction ceremony.

As always, the event was held in strict secrecy, with members being told that “what happens at the St. Regis stays at the St. Regis.”

But wait!

A reporter, however, was able to walk in unquestioned and observe the proceedings.

At least this year the secret is not so well kept. The name of the fraternity is the reverse of Phi Beta Kappa. Once a year, the merry band of hard-working rich men and a "smattering" of rich women let off steam at a jolly party which includes performances by the members. According to the report, most of the jokes are at the expense of the members themselves, but they also move out of their own circle to find humor.

The Occupy movement was fodder for several after-dinner skits. In one, a documentary filmed during the protests, James Lebenthal, a bond specialist, joked with a protester whose face was appeared to be tattooed.

“Go home, wash that off your face, and get back to work,” Mr. Lebenthal told the protester.

Several anonymous members did not attend the gala, because they feared to appear insensitive to those adversely affected by the dismal state of the economy, and one admitted that he found the skits offensive. Why not resign? I guess it counts for something to be able to mingle with the likes of "Ace" Greenberg, formerly of Bear Stearns, and Robert H. Benmosche, chairman of AIG.

Fellas and "smattering" of gals, you've had your "lavish dinner" and your fun, but I hope you feel a little ashamed now that your fun time is exposed to the light. You raise my ire when you mock the Occupy Wall Street folks who put themselves out there to awaken the rest of the citizenry, the 99%, to the mess you and the politicians who are indebted to you have made of our country. Shame on you.

H/T to Occupied Bishop George Packard for the the link posted on Facebook.

GATHERING UP THE CHICKENS

2012-01-23T13:40:00.001-06:00

The farmer's son was returning from the market with a crate of chickens his father had entrusted to him, when all of a sudden the box fell and broke open.

Chickens scurried off in all different directions, but the determined boy walked all over the neighborhood scooping up the wayward birds and returning them to the repaired crate.

Hoping he had found them all, the boy reluctantly returned home an hour late, expecting the worst. "Pa, the chickens got loose," the boy confessed sadly, "but I managed to find all twelve of them."

"Well, you did real good, son," the farmer beamed. "We only had seven to begin with."

Cheers,

Paul (A.)

Does the farmer keep the extra chickens? THAT is the question. Never mind, "To be or not to be..."

Picture from Wikipedia.

ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER - 'THERE IS A HAPPY LAND'

2012-01-23T11:44:00.002-06:00

Today Ormonde Plater remembers the anniversary of the death of Yona Kanamuzeyi, deacon and martyr, killed in Rwanda on 23 January 1964. Yona walked to his death singing the 1938 Scottish hymn “There Is a Happy Land”.

There is a happy land, far, far away,
Where saints in glory stand, bright, bright as day.
Oh, how they sweetly sing, worthy is our Savior King,
Loud let His praises ring, praise, praise for aye.

Come to that happy land, come, come away;
Why will ye doubting stand, why still delay?
Oh, we shall happy be, when from sin and sorrow free,
Lord, we shall live with Thee, blest, blest for aye.

Bright, in that happy land, beams every eye;
Kept by a Father’s hand, love cannot die.
Oh, then to glory run; be a crown and kingdom won;
And, bright, above the sun, we reign for aye.

[Source: Proposition Sound Track] [Original Source: There Is a Happy Land" 1850] [Music by Leonard P. Breedlove (1850)] [Words by Andrew Young (1838)]

After I read the lyrics of the hymn, I looked on YouTube to see if here was a version of the hymn and found the video above. The hymn, along with other sad and haunting music, which was composed (except for the hymn) and performed by Nick Cave and violinist Warren Ellis, is on the soundtrack album of the movie "The Proposition".

UPDATE: Sadly, the soundtrack album includes only an instrumental version of the hymn.

TWO STORIES OF THE DAY

2012-01-22T21:10:00.000-06:00

seems to be digging a really deep hole
for himself, but, really, he doesn't like to
get dirty, so he'll probably stop & clean it
all up pretty soon now

GOOD TRICK

this is a special balancing trick that
requires a small child to stay completely
still (so it's still only theoretical)

From StoryPeople here and here.

DEACON SERVES AS PASTORAL PRESENCE

2012-01-22T16:13:00.004-06:00

From The Advocate in Baton Rouge:

At 60, Camille Carpenter Wood answered a calling to become a deacon in the Episcopal church.

“I come from generations of Episcopalians,” Wood said. “The church has always been important to me. I wanted to be sure that my children were always involved with the church.”
....

The journey to her ordination on Dec. 4, 2010, was both intense and lengthy.“It was a very gradual process,” Wood said. It began about 2007 at Baton Rouge’s Trinity Episcopal Church.
....

She joined the altar guild, became a Eucharistic minister, did readings as a lector and even served as senior warden for a while.

“The more I got involved, the more I just sort of had a passion to do more,” she said. “It led to other things. I truly felt a call. It’s hard to explain, but it’s something that kind of grabs you and takes over. You can’t deny it, really.”
....

After her ordination, Wood stayed at Trinity for almost a year as director of lay ministry, a position she had held even before she was ordained.

She was in Seattle at her niece’s wedding when Bishop Morris Thompson called her to serve as a pastoral presence at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Clinton.
....

Wood immediately accepted the bishop’s call. “I didn’t have to think about it,” she said. “It was not only something I needed to do but something I wanted to do.”

She has served the church since the first Sunday in September. She appreciates St. Andrew’s history of support for the local community, its history of serving the needs of the community.

The article about Deacon Camille Wood was featured on the front page of the Religion section of the Advocate, along with an article on the history of St Andrew's Church in Clinton, Louisiana.

Two retired priests, the Rev. Maggie Dennis, who is originally from Liberia, and the Rev. Don Brown, conduct services at St. Andrew’s three Sundays a month.

One Sunday a month, Wood leads morning prayer the way services were done at Trinity Episcopal Church, in Natchez, Miss., where Wood grew up.

“I grew up having morning prayer three time a month and Eucharist once a month,” she said. “We have morning prayer with hymns and sing canticles (songs taken from Biblical passages), and I give a homily. There is just no Eucharist because a deacon cannot consecrate the bread and wine.”

I expect we may see deacons acting as the permanent pastoral presence in Episcopal parishes more and more often. St Andrew's is blessed to have the service of Deacon Camille Wood and fortunate to have the same two priests presiding at the Eucharist, rather than an ever-changing roster of priests.

I've heard folks who are long-time members of the Episcopal Church and remember the period before the Eucharist became the norm for Sunday worship say they miss Morning Prayer. I love the Eucharist, and one reason I chose to attend the Episcopal Church after I left the Roman Catholic Church was because of the frequent eucharistic services. Recently, I've heard and read a good many discussions about the pros and cons of communion before baptism. I know that the Canons of the church say all baptized Christians are welcome to receive communion, but I also know that some Episcopal churches welcome everyone to communion, baptized or not.

Whether communion should or should not be available to all is not my point, but I wonder whether it might be a good thing to have a service of Morning Prayer at least once a month. All are welcome to participate in the entire service without question. No one is excluded. Especially when we've been between rectors and without a priest, I've wondered why we don't have Morning Prayer in my church, led by one of the two members of our congregation who are qualified to lead the prayers, rather than having a supply priest for every service.

PONDERISMS - PART 3

2012-01-21T22:49:00.001-06:00

1 * Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue!

2 * Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

3 * Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

4 * Drive carefully... It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.

5 * If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

6 * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

7 * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

8 * Never buy a car you can't push.

9 * Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

10 * Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

More ponderisms from my brother-in-law. This time I name and shame...don't blame me, blame Frank.

JUST STOP IT!

2012-01-21T13:01:00.002-06:00

From NPR:

Despite a furious lobbying effort by the Catholic Church, the Obama administration today said it won't weaken new rules that will require most health insurance plans to offer women prescription contraceptives at no additional out-of-pocket cost.

The final version of the rules will give religious-based hospitals, universities, charities, and other organizations whose primary purpose is not religious, an additional year to come into compliance with the contraceptive requirement. Churches are exempt.

But even a face-to-face meeting in the Oval Office last November between President Obama and the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops failed to change the administration's position to allow a broader exemption.

Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan's response:

The Catholic bishops of the United States called “literally unconscionable” a decision by the Obama Administration to continue to demand that sterilization, abortifacients and contraception be included in virtually all health plans. Today's announcement means that this mandate and its very narrow exemption will not change at all; instead there will only be a delay in enforcement against some employers.

“In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The cardinal-designate continued, “To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their healthcare is literally unconscionable.It is as much an attack on access to health care as on religious freedom. Historically this represents a challenge and a compromise of our religious liberty."

Cardinal-designate Dolan, if you want fewer abortions, in the name of heaven, stop complaining about persecution, follow the law, and allow employees of the Roman Catholic Church to have access to birth control in health insurance plans and RC hospitals.

Besides, from another article at NPR:

But while some insist that the rules, which spring from last year's health law, break new ground, many states as well as federal civil rights law already require most religious employers to cover prescription contraceptives if they provide coverage of other prescription drugs.

While some religious employers take advantage of loopholes or religious exemptions, the fact remains that dozens of Catholic hospitals and universities currently offer contraceptive coverage as part of their health insurance packages.

"We've always had contraceptive birth control included in our health care benefits," said Michelle Michaud, a labor and delivery nurse at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, Calif. "It's something that we've come to expect for ourselves and our family."

Cardinal-designate Dolan conveniently fails to acknowledge that access to contraceptives is already available in Roman Catholic health plans and hospitals. As to the descriptive 'unconscionable', it depends upon whose conscience is being violated. The decision by the Obama administration has nothing to do with religious liberty, but rather concerns women's equal treatment in health care. Roman Catholics and anyone else are completely at liberty to avoid the use of contraceptives. The issue is that the US will now insist on non-discriminatory rules for health care coverage. What Cardinal Dolan and the RC College of Bishops attempt is to impose their religious views on people who do not share their beliefs, and they need to stop or be stopped.

ONE MORE FAVORITE IN MEMORY OF ETTA JAMES

2012-01-21T09:44:00.001-06:00

'Seven Day Fool'

MadPriest posted a terrific selection of songs by Etta and Jimmy Castor, aka Omar Sharriff, etc., who died earlier this month.

ETTA JAMES - R. I. P.

2012-01-20T15:30:00.001-06:00

'AT LAST'

Etta aged like a fine wine.

'IT'S A MAN'S WORLD'

In younger days, a wonderful song by a fabulous singer. It's still a man's world, but Etta made her mark as one of the greats.

'CHURCH OF ENGLAND REPORTS ON ACNA'

2012-01-20T13:23:00.002-06:00

From Thinking Anglicans:

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...

18. We would, therefore, encourage an open-ended engagement with ACNA on the part of the Church of England and the Communion, while recognising that the outcome is unlikely to be clear for some time yet, especially given the strong feelings on all sides of the debate in North America.

19. The Church of England remains fully committed to the Anglican Communion and to being in communion both with the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church (TEC). In addition, the Synod motion has given Church of England affirmation to the desire of ACNA to remain in some sense within the Anglican famil

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...

There you have it. Nothing to see here. Move along.

I AM THRILLED!

2012-01-20T11:27:00.001-06:00

Every single day, or whenever I want to have another look, even several times a day, I am able to gaze upon the preserved body of Kim Jong Il through the wonders of the internet.

Kim joins a group of illustrious, preserved dictators: Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

From the Washington Post.

PETS!

2012-01-19T22:13:00.001-06:00

More thanks to Doug.

STILL MORE ON JEFFREY JOHN

2012-01-19T15:14:00.002-06:00

From Martin Reynolds in the comments to the post at Thinking Anglicans titled "Discrimination alleged in the Church of England". (What?! Can it be?! Say it isn't so!) The commentary was posted in several sequences because the number of words in a single comment is limited. I included a question by Colin Coward in the sequence, along with Martin Reynolds' answer.

There was once a Welshman and a Welshman and a Welshman ........

This increasingly acrimonious and hugely damaging story has emerged from where? And this very private letter was released by who and to what effect?

Nowhere can I find a reference to the supposed quote in the Mail on Sunday headline, and as the letter is from a lawyer, when is Jeffrey supposed to have said this? Isn't that rather key information to the story?

And who, on this Commission, would leak a legal letter - surely this is yet another breach aimed at damaging John? Did the last secret enquiry throw up a culprit who revealed the names on the shortlist for Southwark?

What seems to emerge from all this is that these letters changed hands some time ago, after the Southwark fiasco where Rowan was discovered browbeating the Commission members to reject Jeffrey. bullying some to tears.

The legal exchange must be seen in this context, the aftermath of the Southwark fiasco when it now seems clear a conservative evangelical member of the Commission revealed that John and Holtam were on the shortlist - probably the same person who has now revealed this letter. Jeffrey John would have discovered that although clearing with Rowan Williams that he was OK to allow his name to go forward for Southwark he was then stabbed firmly in the back and ruled out. This despite having be assured by Lambeth that a few years after Reading he would be acceptable as a bishop.

Cont.
Posted by: Martin Reynolds on Tuesday, 17 January 2012 at 3:24pm GMT

So, contrary to George Pitcher's vicious little piece in the Mail, John was not saying "make me a bishop- or else!" ....He was saying: "start telling the truth, or else..." - rather a different way of looking at the facts.

Pitcher's unnecessarily nasty account does, I believe, reveal the Rowanesque spin that Lambeth has put on this whole tawdry affair. An affair that has nothing to do with "gay rights" - Jeffrey has assiduously avoided being "tainted" with any support for LGBT causes and has for ever been willing to tow the CofE party line on gay issues even to the point of giving up sex with his life-long partner! In fact Rowan has a much higher profile as a gay campaigner. But everything to do with - Misleading and duping a rather nice, devoted and faithful Churchman and Christian into believing that what bishops and archbishops say can be believed.

Jeffrey has not once given an interview or acted anyway disloyally to the Church of England - he was right to question what underpinned the appalling treatment his candidacy had in the secret dealing of the Commission - the mauling his supporters had was unsupportable, approaching abuse. That this close questioning of the actions of Rowan Williams - combined with the opprobrium rightly heaped on his shoulders when he forced John to resign from Reading and then failed to acknowledge messages from John rescinding his withdrawl - makes the Archbishop and his staff uncomfortable - indeed uncomfortable enough to attack Jeffrey - is perverse in the extreme.

What we now know is that as soon as Jeffrey (through his lawyers) started to question the actions of the appointment commission then the third Welshman in this miserable joke, the lawyer John Rees sought to justify what had already happened by writing that awful document misnamed a legal opinion claiming gay people had to repent if they wanted preferment.

It was another evil and malicious step from Rowan in his dealings with gay people since he took office.

George Pitcher says that Jeffrey's actions in questioning the duplicity of Lambeth Palace and its occupants would throw the rights of gay people back decades.

George completely fails to see that Jeffrey has never been interested in being a "gay bishop" any more than he has ever had an genuine interest in "gay rights" in the Church - Jeffrey is an advocate for honesty, faithfulness and trusting people at their word - he believes they are the mark of a true Church - that is what he is chasing.

Cont:
Posted by: Martin Reynolds on Tuesday, 17 January 2012 at 3:52pm GMT

Jeffrey didn't get Southwark as there was a "better man" - because of Colin Slee we all now know the truth and George Pitcher can't spin that Lambeth Palace line and expect to be believed. That's not what happened.

Now we have ended up with the horrendous "legal opinion" from Welsh lawyer John Rees - I do wonder what the future holds for the Church of England after three three Welshmen have done their worst/best.

George Pitcher mistakes who has been responsible for throwing back the place of gay people in the Church - it is not careful, diligent, cautious, courteous almost obsequious Jeffrey John - it is ambitious and determined Rowan Williams who has savaged us and demeaned us in his failing attempt at keeping the communion united and keeping ecumenical dialogue open. It is cruel, but a common characteristic, that abusers blame their victims.
Posted by: Martin Reynolds on Tuesday, 17 January 2012 at 4:10pm GMT
....

Martin, the quote in the headline that you open your comment with is 'I'll sue Church of England if it bars me from being bishop' - is that correct?

Your analysis and theory makes perfect sense and fits all the evidence. It explains why people were phoning me on Sunday and Monday in a fruitless chase for inside information, which I certainly don't have. But someone inside Church House or someone with an axe to grind and access to the correspondence certainly would have access.

This places responsibility yet again on the practice and culture inside Church House where devious tactics are being employed to block any progress towards a re-examination on church policy, let alone real change leading to the full inclusion of LGB&T people. It feels a bit like war!
Posted by: Colin Coward on Tuesday, 17 January 2012 at 6:19pm GMT

Yes Colin, that's the "quote" I can't find except in the headline. Perhaps I missed something?

One does wonder, Colin what the CofE is doing. Take the appointment of Robert Paterson as the chair of the group looking into Civil Partnerships, he was one of only two English bishops to vote AGAINST giving civil partners pension parity.
Posted by: Martin Reynolds on Tuesday, 17 January 2012 at 6:59pm GMT

In his commentary, Reynolds brings together information which I knew from various sources and includes information of which I was not previously aware. He sheds far more light on the treatment of Jeffrey John by the leadership in the Church of England than any of the press accounts.

Martin Reynolds is a retired south Wales priest who is an adviser to the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement headquartered in the UK.

And I've already been called out for excessive use of exclamation points. So sue me!

UPDATE: The Church Times has further information and commentary on the question of the legality of the actions by the Church of England in barring Jefffrey John from being a bishop.

STORY OF THE DAY - HANGING ON TIGHT

2012-01-19T11:38:00.000-06:00

Of course I hang on tight, she said. You
can't believe the kind of stuff that
happens when you let go.

From StoryPeople.

OUR LOT IN LIFE

2012-01-19T11:31:00.000-06:00

That is our call in life, servants to our canine and/or feline masters.

Thanks to Doug.

THEY HAVE BABIES!

2012-01-18T17:52:00.003-06:00

From Vatican Insider:

The story of a former Anglican priest who converted to Roman Catholicism and thanks to new regulations, can keep his marital bond

How kind that the Vatican does not ask the priests to abandon wife and children.

“Be fruitful and multiply”. There is one man in England who has taken this old biblical call too seriously. His name is Ian Hellyer and together with his wife Margaret is raising not one but nine children. He is also more than well acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, being a Roman Catholic pastor. Yes, that is right, he is both a father and a priest, and yet there is no excommunication on the horizon for him. The story appeared a few days ago in English daily newspaper The Guardian. Beware though, the Fr. Ian affair is no theological trick. The 45 year father of nine was an Anglican priest until last year and following a spiritual journey and a course of study, he decided to convert to Catholicism.

The Rev Hellyer and his wife have done their part to increase and multiply. What about the pope, the cardinals, and the bishops? Why haven't the prelates taken the old biblical call to increase and multiply more seriously and set the example for the flock under their care?

I wish the Hellyers well now that the family is in the right church, and I'm pleased that the authorities in Our Lady of Walsingham ordinariate placed Fr Hellyer as chaplain at Plymouth University and gave the family a five bedroom house in which to live. I'm sure there will be a period of adjustment on both sides.

The article in the Guardian which is mentioned above says:

In the past, Anglican priests who made the switch to Catholicism could only become priests if they weren't married, but two years ago, the Vatican changed the rules and established a new organisation – the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham – into which married Anglican priests could be ordained as Catholics after converting.

Perhaps in England, but not in the US. The Vatican has ordained married Episcopal clergy since 1980.

From the Q&A at EWTN:

Pope John Paul II, through the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a clear although brief statement in June 1980.
....

Finally, concerning married Episcopalian clergy becoming Catholic priests, "the Holy See has specified that this exception to the rule of celibacy is granted in favor of these individual persons, and should not be understood as implying any change in the Church's conviction of the value of priestly celibacy, which will remain the rule for future candidates for the priesthood from this group."

Thanks to Ann V for the link to the Vatican Insider.

NO SOPA/PIPA - CONTACT YOUR REPPRESENTATIVES

2012-01-18T16:31:00.001-06:00

Wikipedia is blacked out today, and I miss them. Click here to learn about the blackout and for contact information on your representatives.

Watch the video.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

H/Y to Ann Fontaine fore the video.

'DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY'

2012-01-18T12:53:00.002-06:00

In her latest novel, P. D. James carries forward the story of Elizabeth and Darcy six years into their life together after their marriage in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. And, of course, since James is a writer of mysteries, the tale includes a murder. James writes in the style of the late 18th/early 19th century, but, of course, she does not write like Jane Austen. No one writes like Jane Austen. Her sparkling wit, her great gift for creating comic characters and writing dialogue, the thread of irony that runs through all her work...no one can duplicate, and I'm quite certain the object of James' effort was not to copy, but was rather to write an homage to Jane, whose books she greatly admires.

While largely remaining faithful to the characters as Austen created them, James cleverly takes them through rather surprising twists and turns as she continues their story. The book was an enjoyable read, but, in the end, P D James, writing in the style of the turn of the 18th to the 19th century is not James writing at her best. I've read all of her mystery novels, and I think she ranks amongst the best, thus my mild disappointment. At one point, the author hit a real clinker with the word 'lifestyle', which I was pretty certain was not in use in the period in which the mystery is set. It turns out I was right: the first known use of the word dates to 1929.

Since I don't want to write a spoiler review, I won't say more, except that James held me in suspense with the identity of the murderer until the mystery was solved, taking me completely by surprise. Never would I have thought...

'BIG TROUBLE FOR ROMNEY'

2012-01-18T12:34:00.001-06:00

Romney Under Pressure to Prove He Was Manufactured in US

Rivals Demand He Produce Label

Read the rest at Borowitz Report.

I don't know about you, but I want to see Romney's long-form birth certificate with the official stamp, that is, if he's not a Ken doll in disguise.

JESUS AND MO - NO OFFENSE

2012-01-18T11:19:00.000-06:00

Click on the cartoon for the larger view.

From Jesus and Mo.

FACE THE DAY

2012-01-17T22:41:00.000-06:00

My eyes only see stuff I believe in
already, she said. I couldn't face the day
otherwise.

From StoryPeople.

HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY BETTY WHITE!

2012-01-17T14:18:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Crooks and Liars.

THE SIGN OF THE BOW IN THE CLOUDS

2012-01-17T12:50:00.002-06:00

From the Lectionary:

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.’

Genesis 9:8-17

The rainbow in the clouds signs to us God's everlasting covenant with every living thing, not just egocentric humans, the plants, the fish, the birds, the animals, the whole earth that teems with life we cannot see. God will never again destroy the whole earth with a flood, but what have we egocentric humans done with God's great gift of the whole earth? And what will we do in days to come?

Picture from Wikipedia.

GRATITUDE!

2012-01-17T12:48:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Doug.

MORE ON DR JEFFREY JOHN AND HIS ALLEGED LITIGATION AGAINST THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

2012-01-16T11:54:00.003-06:00

Thus far The Independent seems to have the most reliable coverage of the alleged litigation being prepared by Dr John and his legal advisers against the Church of England.

Under current equality laws religious organisations are are given dispensation to discriminate against those who do not comply with their teachings, allowing clerics like Dr John to be passed over, and mosques to only have male imams, for example. Were the Church's current stance on homosexuality to be tested in court the Church would almost certainly win, for if it didn't the very existence of many faiths would be under threat. But by forcing the issue those at the top would be forced to confront some embarrassing - and extremely divisive - issues.

Some of those who know him expressed surprise that he would take such a step. "Jeffrey's always wanted to do things within the church," said one. "He's not the litigious type."

Others questioned where the leak came from. "It's so obviously deeply counter-productive to Jeffrey," said another colleague. "It makes him look like he's saying promote or I'll sue. It's a rather good way of smearing him."

The newspaper report includes a photo of a nasty sign, which I don't see as necessary, but I admit the sign is the reality for some who oppose the appointment of gay bishops.

The Independent also understands Dr John was not even long-listed for the currently vacant post of Bishop of Edinburgh, meaning no church leader was willing to put him forward for another key diocese with liberal leanings.

More's the pity. I expect Jeffrey John will not be a bishop, which is very much the Church of England's loss.

Read the article which reminds us of what conservatives happily label "The Jeffrey John clause", in which gay persons are asked to repent of their "physically homosexual past", whereas such repentance is not asked of heterosexual candidates, a Catch-22, which is about as blatantly discriminatory as one can imagine.

UPDATE: Andrew Brown in the Guardian thinks it is unlikely that Jeffrey John will sue the Church of England because he keeps his personal life private, which he could not do in the midst of litigation, and because he will lose the case anyway.

Last year the Church of England published a legal opinion that makes it quite clear that it believes it is legal to discriminate against John, not because he is gay, since he is also celibate, but because he is not in the least bit ashamed of being gay. That is what sticks in the craw of the conservative evangelicals who oppose him. They have moved on from supposing that it is absolutely wrong to be gay. They now believe that it is OK to be gay providing that you are very unhappy about it.
....

Look at the small print of its legal opinion on civil partnerships, transparently designed to prevent John from being able to sue for discrimination. No selection committee would ask straight candidates for a job whether they had ever had pre-marital sex, and, if they had, whether they were jolly sorry for it. Yet the Church of England believes that it is legally and morally OK to ask the equivalent questions of gay men: "Whether the candidate had always complied with the church's teachings on sexual activity being solely within matrimony; whether he had expressed repentance for any previous pre-marital sexual activity."

As the late, great Molly Ivins said so often, you can't make this stuff up.

UPDATE 2 from Jim Naughton at The Lead:

Articles appeared in several British newspapers over the weekend suggesting that Dean Jeffrey John of St. Alban's Cathedral was going to sue the Church of England for discrimination unless he is made a bishop. We don't think these stories were quite right.

It is our understanding, after some extensive conversations, that what John has done is hire a lawyer to inform the Church of England that provisions which prohibit anyone in a civil partnership--be they gay or straight, celibate or sexually active--from becoming a bishop exceed even the generous exemptions provided for religious organizations in the Equality Act of 2010.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR - 'A KNOCK AT MIDNIGHT'

2012-01-16T10:52:00.004-06:00

Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him"?
Luke 11:5-6, rsv

Although this parable is concerned with the power of persistent prayer, it may also serve as a basis for our thought concerning many contemporary problems and the role of the church in grappling with them. It is midnight in the parable; it is also midnight in our world, and the darkness is so deep that we can hardly see which way to turn.
....

It is also midnight within the moral order. At midnight colours lose their distinctiveness and become a sullen shade of grey. Moral principles have lost their distinctiveness. For modern man, absolute right and wrong are a matter of what the majority is doing. Right and wrong are relative to likes and dislikes and the customs of a particular community. We have unconsciously applied Einstein's theory of relativity, which properly described the physical universe, to the moral and ethical realm.
....

The traveller asks for three loaves of bread. He wants the bread of faith. In a generation of so many colossal disappointments, men have lost faith in God, faith in man, and faith in the future. Many feel as did William Wilberforce, who in 1801 said, "I dare not marry---for the future is so unsettled," or as did William Pitt, who in 1806 said, "There is scarcely anything round us but ruin and despair." In the midst of staggering disillusionment, many cry for the bread of faith.

There is also a deep longing for the bread of hope. In the early years of this century many people did not hunger for this bread. The days of the first telephones, automobiles, and aeroplanes gave them a radiant optimism. They worshipped at the shrine of inevitable progress. They believed that every new scientific achievement lifted man to higher levels of perfection. But then a series of tragic developments, revealing the selfishness and corruption of man, illustrated with frightening clarity the truth of Lord Acton's dictum, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." This awful discovery led to one of the most colossal breakdowns of optimism in history. For so many people, young and old, the light of hope went out, and they roamed wearily in the dark chambers of pessimism. Many concluded that life has no meaning. Some agreed with the philosopher Schopenhauer that life is an endless pain with a painful end, and that life is a tragicomedy played over and over again with only slight changes in costume and scenery. Others cried out with Shakespeare's Macbeth that life

is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

But even in the inevitable moments when all seems hopeless, men know that without hope they cannot really live, and in agonizing desperation they cry for the bread of hope.

And there is the deep longing for the bread of love. Everybody wishes to love and be loved. He who feels that he is not loved feels that he does not count. Much has happened in the modern world to make men feel that they do not belong. Living in a world which has become oppressively impersonal, many of us have come to feel that we are little more than numbers.
....

When the man in the parable knocked on his friend's door and asked for the three loaves of bread, he received the impatient retort, "Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything."....

Millions of Africans, patiently knocking on the door of the Christian church where they seek the bread of social justice, have either been altogether ignored or told to wait until later, which almost always means never.
....

In the terrible midnight of war men have knocked on the door of the church to ask for the bread of peace, but the church has often disappointed them. What more pathetically reveals the irrelevancy of the church in present-day world affairs than its witness regarding war?
....

And those who have gone to the church to seek the bread of economic justice have been left in the frustrating midnight of economic privation. In many instances the church has so aligned itself with the privileged classes and so defended the status quo that it has been unwilling to answer the knock at midnight.
....

The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority. If the church does not participate actively in the struggle for peace and for economic and racial justice, it will forfeit the loyalty of millions and cause men everywhere to say that it has atrophied its will. But if the church will free itself from the shackles of a deadening status quo, and, recovering its great historic mission, will speak and act fearlessly and insistently in terms of justice and peace, it will enkindle the imagination of mankind and fire the souls of men, imbuing them with a glowing and ardent love for truth, justice, and peace. Men far and near will know the church as a great fellowship of love that provides light and bread for lonely travellers at midnight.
....

Midnight is a confusing hour when it is difficult to be faithful. The most inspiring word that the church must speak is that no midnight long remains. The weary traveller by midnight who asks for bread is really seeking the dawn. Our eternal message of hope is that dawn will come. Our slave foreparents realized this. They were never unmindful of the fact of midnight, for always there was the rawhide whip of the overseer and the auction block where families were torn asunder to remind them of its reality. When they thought of the agonizing darkness of midnight, they sang:

Oh, nobody knows de trouble I've seen,

Glory Hallelujah!

Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down,

Oh, yes, Lord,Sometimes I'm almost to de groun'
....

Faith in the dawn arises from the faith that God is good and just. When one believes this, he knows that the contradictions of life are neither final nor ultimate. He can walk through the dark night with the radiant conviction that all things work together for good for those that love God. Even the most starless midnight may herald the dawn of some great fulfillment.

Read the entire speech.

Choosing excerpts from MLK's sermons and speeches is difficult, and my post, of necessity, runs long. With adjustments of references to the situation in the present day, the Rev King's words appear cutting edge, though the sermon was delivered on June 11, 1967.

Picture from Wikipedia.

PLEASE PRAY...

2012-01-16T09:46:00.003-06:00

...for retired Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, James Brown, who is in the hospital ill with pneumonia.

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servant James the help of your power, that his sickness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer)

Update from Ann Fontaine:

And for Bishop Gene Robinson - whose mother is dying and who broke his foot.

Lord, hear our prayers.

STORY OF THE DAY - REAL NAME

2012-01-16T09:40:00.000-06:00

I can remember walking down the
street, saying my name over & over,
until all of a sudden, it didn't sound like
my name anymore. It didn't even sound
like a word at all & then I stopped & the
silence rushed in & whispered words
that sounded more like my real name &
I smiled & thought to myself how
surprised my parents would be when
they found out what a mistake they had
made.

From StoryPeople.

EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH ANNOUNCES PRELIMINARY SLATE FOR BISHOP ELECTION

2012-01-15T23:00:00.002-06:00

From the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh:

The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh takes great joy in presenting its preliminary slate of four priests who will stand for election in April to become the next Bishop of Pittsburgh.

The slate is preliminary because the diocese now enters a short period during which names may be added to the ballot by petition.

The preliminary slate was unanimously recommended by the Nominating Committee and unanimously accepted by the Standing Committee. The candidates, in alphabetical order, are:
The Rev. Canon Michael N. Ambler, Jr.
Rector of Grace Episcopal Church
Bath, Maine

The Rev. Dorsey W. M. McConnell
Rector of Church of the Redeemer
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

The Rev. R. Stanley Runnels
Rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Kansas City, Missouri

The Rev. Ruth Woodliff-Stanley
Rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church
Denver, Colorado
The four were selected from an initial field of 125 names submitted to the Nominating Committee last year. Of those, 62 agreed to enter the discernment process. The committee then narrowed the selection over the course of several months through a review of submitted documents, telephone interviews and face-to-face meetings.

"The Nominating Committee involved itself in a prayerful and intense scrutiny of all the candidates. We then carefully listened and discussed with them whom they chose and how they went about doing so. We are all in agreement about this slate and that the committee did an extraordinary job," said the Very Rev. George L. W. Werner, speaking on behalf of the Standing Committee as its president.

Further details at the diocesan website.

Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a bishop for the Diocese of Pittsburgh that they may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip them for their ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

RUTH ETTING - "AMERICA'S SWEETHEART OF SONG"

2012-01-15T16:48:00.000-06:00

"If I Could Be With You"

Ruth's voice was lovely; she was beautiful; and she had a great singing style, which was ahead of its time, the 1920s and 1930s. The sound in the video is poor, but you can see her perform and compare her style to that of her accompanist, who sings the song straight.

Below is another video of Ruth singing with better sound quality.

MadPriest is such an inspiration...well, about music, anyway. A few days ago, he posted a podcast of Ruth singing "The Right Kind of Man", which shows off wonderfully well her lovely voice and great style. The first time around, Ruth did not choose the right kind of man, but rather a gangster. Read all about her at Wikipedia.

WHEN I DIE...

2012-01-15T14:03:00.000-06:00

Omar Khayyam (5)

When I die,
prepare my body in wine,
and in place of a eulogy
lift a glass!
On Resurrection Day
you’ll find my dust
stirring beneath
the threshold
of the bar.

translated by Juan Cole
From Whinfield 6

Lovely. I'd like such a sendoff.

Image from Wikipedia.

JEFFREY JOHN V. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND?

2012-01-15T13:38:00.000-06:00

From the Guardian:

The Church of England's most senior openly gay cleric is understood to be considering suing his employers for discrimination unless he is made a bishop.

I doubt that Jeffrey John will pursue litigation on the basis of what is stated above. The article includes words such as, "Reports on Sunday suggested..." and "It is thought..." Jeffrey John, along with his reported legal representative, have refused to comment. The Church of England also refuses comment. Much is yet to be known about what's really happening, thus the wording that indicates much less than certainty about the situation by the writer of the article.

A source close to John told the Sunday Times: "This is not a case of demanding something he is not entitled to but a way of resolving the flawed voting process that prevented him being made the bishop of Southwark."

If possible litigation is pending, then the above statement would more likely be the basis for John to pursue legal action against the Church of England, rather than his demanding that he be made a bishop. The Guardian usually does a better job of reporting.

PRAYER FLOWCHART

2012-01-15T09:20:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Ann.

A GOOD LETTER TO THE CHURCH TIMES FROM TWO CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOPS

2012-01-14T20:01:00.006-06:00

From the Church Times:

From the Rt Revd Dr John Saxbee and the Rt Revd Dr Peter Selby

Sir, — Whichever side of the argument you are on there are grounds for real concern about the way the debate about it is progressing. It cannot be good to learn, as we do, that many bishops who are against the Anglican Covenant don’t want to say for fear of seeming disloyal, that diocesan synods are “debating” the issue without hearing both sides of the argument equally presented, and that there is so much boredom and weariness about the whole issue.

This is a major proposal with potentially serious consequences for this and future generations of Anglican Christians, and for those ecumenical partners with whom we are in conversation. Nothing will be worse than for the Covenant to be yawned through at a July Synod preoccupied with debating the ordination of women as bishops, passed and then put in a drawer — only for us to discover that those who now brand it “toothless” then use it and propel the Communion into a litigious and factious future.

The Archbishop of Canterbury made it clear in his Advent letter that such is not his purpose. But the proposed Covenant cannot now escape the identity it has acquired as an instrument of exclusion. He also asks what is the alternative; we respond that the alternative to having a Covenant is not having one, and this is a time to hold fast to Anglicanism’s inherited culture of inclusion and respectful debate which is our way of dealing with difference rather than require assent to procedures and words that have already shown themselves to be divisive.

In short, if we can agree it we don’t need it and if we need it we won’t agree it. We believe that the Covenant is to be resisted. But, above all, our plea is for a debate that is candid, even-handed, and open. If it comes to the General Synod, it should do so as its seriousness deserves, as the principal business.

JOHN SAXBEE
PETER SELBY

The Archbishop of Canterbury is trying to railroad the Anglican Covenant through the Church of England General Synod quickly, before too many people in the church have a chance to study the document closely and note what harm may result for the Anglican Communion and for the Church of England if the covenant is adopted. The Anglican Communion Office sends out only pro-covenant materials, which is not right and not fair, because the members of Synod need to hear from both proponents and opponents of the document in order to vote wisely.

Thank you, Bishops Saxbee and Selby for speaking out. Isn't it time for the other bishops who doubt the wisdom of adopting the covenant to lend their voices to the debate? I like very much the answer the bishops give to Archbishop Rowan's statement that there is no alternative to the covenant:

...we respond that the alternative to having a covenant is not having one and this is the time to hold fast to Anglicanism's inherited culture of inclusion and respectful debate....

Amen and amen!

Thanks to my English friend, Neal Terry (aka themethatisme), who sent me the letter which can now be viewed on the website of the Church Times.

STORY OF THE DAY - OLD SPIRIT

2012-01-14T13:47:00.000-06:00

The feel of his spirit was too old for most
people to understand & when he walked
by they would look up & say O, the sun
went behind a cloud, or, the moon must
be full & so he walked for a long time by
himself with no one to talk to.

From StoryPeople.

PONDERISMS - PART 2

2012-01-14T09:41:00.000-06:00

11. How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

12. Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things and drink whatever comes out'?

13. If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

14. Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?

15. If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

16. If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?

17. Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?

18. Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?

19. Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

20. Do you ever wonder why you gave me your email address?

If you remember, my brother-in-law sent me twenty ponderisms, but I know some of you have short attention spans, so I divided them to post in two parts.