PLEASE PRAY...

Joel is in the hospital. He has chronic and serious health issues. If you follow their story at Margaret's blog, Leave It Lay Where Jesus Flang It, Margaret lost her job; they are now trying to sell their house; and day before yesterday was their 30th wedding anniversary. In the face of all their trials, Margaret posts:

Paul (to the Philippians beginning at 2:1)

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus...

Margaret: I consider these words to be a description of the Christian life-style... but was Paul himself ever able to live them? No... which is where the glory comes in --the glory. And that Paul himself was never able to live them makes them not less true, but more true and more the glory.

At least, that is my hope --the glimpses... of glory....

...but all of us do get glimpses of it... every now and then...

The great riddle of the Gospel --it's all ours, not because of what we do, but because we are loved --so we should try to do... but even what we do in faith will need redemption... so it is all grace. All is grace.

From the Book of Common Prayer for which I am so very grateful:

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

Let us pray for both Joel and for Margaret. The prayer that comes to mind is from Morning Prayer for individuals in the Book of Common Prayer.

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

From the Houston Chronicle:

Texas wildfires claim 2 lives

A wildfire is forcing authorities to evacuate an area of more than 2,000 residents in Waller County this afternoon, according to the Waller County Sheriff's Office. The area being evacuated is south of FM 1488 between Kickapoo Road and the Montgomery County line.

---

Fed by wind and parched vegetation, wildfires continued to rage Tuesday through Central Texas, where an out-of-control blaze claimed two lives and 550 homes, and in the Magnolia area, where officials ordered the evacuation of more than 4,000 households.

Sadly, that's not the end of it. Read it all.

O God, creator and preserver of all mankind, we pray for those who died. May they rest in peace and rise in glory. May God give comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to all who grieve.

We pray for those who lost their homes, that they will receive help in their time of need and distress, and that God will give them strength and courage to rebuild their lives and their homes.

We pray for the safety of the firefighters.

We pray for all in the path of Texas wildfires, especially for the sick and disabled and those who care for them; for all who watch and wait in uncertainty; we ask you to comfort and relieve them and bring them safely through the fires. And this we pray for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

FRAN MOVED!

Our friend Fran moved her blog to WordPress. Her new address:

There Will Be Bread

CARDINAL LEVADA TO RETIRE?

From California Catholic Daily:

Italian newspaper says former San Francisco archbishop wants this year to be his last as guardian of Catholic orthodoxy.

Pope Benedict XVI will need to find a new prefect for the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith – “the most delicate department head of the Roman Curia” – early next year, the Italian daily La Stampa reports.

The newspaper is known for its “Vatican Insider” project, staffed by experienced journalists well connected to sources inside the Holy See. In its Aug. 25 edition, La Stampa’s “Vatican Insider” reported that Cardinal Joseph Levada, who turned 75 on June 15, has made it known “he does not wish to remain in the position beyond the end of 2011.”

I checked a translated version of “Vatican Insider” at La Stampa and could not find the article on the possible retirement of Cardinal Levada, but that does not mean it isn't there. Well, we'll see. If, indeed, the cardinal will retire, who will be his replacement?

Under the previous pope, John Paul II, the position of prefect of the CDF was held by the present pope as Cardinal Ratzinger.

Quotes from Cardinal Levada:

Catholic theology does not recognize the right to dissent, if by that we mean adopting conclusions which are contrary to the clear teachings of the authoritative, infallible magisterium and which are presented to the public in such a way as to constitute equivalently an alternative personal magisterium.
....

On Protestant ecclesial communities: "According to Catholic doctrine, these Communities do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament of Orders, and are, therefore, deprived of a constitutive element of the Church. These ecclesial Communities which, specifically because of the absence of the sacramental priesthood, have not preserved the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic Mystery cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called 'Churches' in the proper sense"

Thanks to Ann V. for the link.

UPDATE: Thanks to Paul the BB, here's the link to the article in La Stampa.

TWO QUESTIONS FOR THE DAY

1. Will Archbishop Rowan Williams come to rue the day that he rammed the Anglican Covenant through General Synod of the Church of England?

2. If the answer to the above question is, 'Yes', will the archbishop ever admit to his rue?

DON'T BLAME ME - BLAME BOROWITZ

Borowitz Report - Rabid Dog Briefly Mistaken for Tea Party Candidate

Read it all.

I know. Wicked, wicked, wicked.

LYME REGIS - PART ONE - WHY I WANTED TO VISIT

Click on the pictures for the larger view.

Ever since I first read Jane Austen's novels starting at the age of 16, I've wanted to visit Lyme Regis on the southwest coast of England. In Austen's novel, Persuasion, during a visit to Lyme Regis and a walk along the Cobb, Louisa Musgrove, a character in the novel, slips and falls and suffers a serious injury on the treacherous (at least to me, and with reason considering what happened to Louisa!) stone steps on the side of the Cobb. The fall drastically alters the plotline in a manner as to give the readers the conclusion to the novel which is thought by many to be the only proper ending. "It was (you may say) satisfactory, " poor Louisa, notwithstanding.

In my many visits to England, I never made it to Lyme Regis until this past July, when my friend Cathy and I made our trip by car to the West Country. Needless to say, my visit there was one of the high points of my trip to England. I was nearly beside myself with joy and disbelief that I was finally there.

The picture to the left is a scan of an illustration of Louisa's fall from a limited edition copy of Persuasion, signed by the illustrator, Tony Buonpastore. I bought the book for the introduction by Louis Auchincloss, many of whose novels of upper-class New York I'd read. At first, I didn't care for the illustrations, but they've grown on me.

From Persuasion:

There was too much wind to make the high part of the new Cobb pleasant for the ladies, and they agreed to get down the steps to the lower, and all were contented to pass quietly and carefully down the steep flight, excepting Louisa; she must be jumped down them by Captain Wentworth. In all their walks, he had had to jump her from the stiles; the sensation was delightful to her. The hardness of the pavement for her feet, made him less willing upon the present occasion; he did it, however. She was safely down, and instantly, to show her enjoyment, ran up the steps to be jumped down again. He advised her against it, thought the jar too great; but no, he reasoned and talked in vain, she smiled and said, "I am determined I will:" he put out his hands; she was too precipitate by half a second, she fell on the pavement on the Lower Cobb, and was taken up lifeless! There was no wound, no blood, no visible bruise; but her eyes were closed, she breathed not, her face was like death. The horror of the moment to all who stood around!

Well, not to appear heartless, Louisa was not quite lifeless. She only appeared to be. As Lady Catherine de Bourgh said in another of Austen's novels, "Obstinate, headstrong girl!"

After seeing the movie The French Lieutenant's Woman and reading John Fowles novel of the same title from which the story in the movie was taken, I was even more desirous of a visit to Lyme Regis to see and walk the Cobb. The film and the book caught hold of my imagination and stayed with me through many years. In 1982, when Tom and I made our first and very romantic two-week trip (We'd never been away from our three children for that long!) to England, we both wanted to go to Lyme Regis, him also because he was intrigued by the movie, but we never made it there.

A few months before I went to England this year, I went to a book fair at my grandson's school and saw the novel Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. Listed amongst her other published books was The Girl With the Pearl Earring, which I thought I had read and liked, so I bought the book. But I discovered that I had not read the other book but had rather seen the movie based on the novel of the imagined life of the girl in the gorgeous Vermeer painting of the same name. Are you still with me?

Remarkable Creatures is a fictionalized account of the life of Mary Anning, born in 1799, a fossil hunter from a poor family in Lyme Regis. Mary began to search for fossils at an early age, with her father and older brother, Joseph, both uneducated, as her teachers. Otherwise, Mary was entirely self-taught, and she had "the eye" for finding fossils. Mary discovered the first plesiosaur fossil skeleton and made other major finds, such as the first specimen of Ichthyosaurus to be known in London scientific circles, which she and her brother found when she was only 10 or 12 years old. Although many of her discoveries are in museums, she is often not credited for her finds.

The small ammonite fossils, called curies (curiosities), which she and her brother collected, cleaned, polished, and then sold to visitors to Lyme Regis helped the family survive after the death of their father.

Mary was not the only person to have the eye. As we walked on the beach at Lyme Regis, Cathy looked down and found the fossil pictured below right at our feet, and she so very kindly gave the stone to me as a memento of our visit. How generous of her! Thank you, Cathy. I treasure my curie. We never saw another fossil on the beach for the rest of our time there, and I've read that we were very fortunate to find any fossil at all during tourist season.

Like the long-winded lady that I am, I've run on to make this post quite lengthy, but I've told you only about books, movies, and fossil-hunting and precious little about Lyme Regis, so I've decided to tell the story in two parts (three if you count my silly post). Besides, I have more pictures of the beach and the town that I want to post, so the account of our visit to Lyme Regis is to be continued....

The University of California at Berkeley provides a brief biography of Mary Anning.

Image of Mary Anning from Wikipedia.

HAPPY LABOR (AND UNEMPLOYMENT) DAY

Why we even bother any longer to pay lip service by setting aside a day to honor those who work, I can't say. The workers, those who are lucky enough to have jobs, have been trampled upon time and again here in these United States. Thus the national day of honor seems ever more hypocritical each year when it rolls around. Who amongst the powerful gives a shit about the workers? Let them stand up and be counted and show us by deeds and not just by empty words.

The power of unions as a political force, except for the public employee unions, has been emasculated by laws which weakened them and allowed the giant global corporations to have their way. Even now, politicians are working overtime to destroy any power that the public service unions retain. So the Woody Guthrie video and the prayers for workers and for the unemployed that follow are all I have for you today, my readers. I'm flying on a wing and a prayer in the hope that, despite all evidence to the contrary, things will get better.

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Heavenly Father, we remember before you those who suffer want and anxiety from lack of work. Guide the people of this land so to use our public and private wealth that all may find suitable and fulfilling employment, and receive just payment for their labor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PLEASE PRAY FOR JOEL AND MARGARET

Joel is in the hospital in the cardiac ward, and he has other chronic and serious health issues. If you follow their story at Margaret's blog, Leave It Lay Where Jesus Flang It, Margaret lost her job; they are now trying to sell their house; and today is their 30th wedding anniversary. Margaret says:

And, I pray for my beloved --that his grief and frustration with his body do not overwhelm him, that he may be given a path to stability, and that he may bring to mind all the true blessings we share.

From the Book of Common Prayer for which I am so very grateful:

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

Let us pray for both Joel and for Margaret. The prayer that comes to mind is from Morning Prayer for individuals in the Book of Common Prayer.

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

When my friends have trouble upon trouble come upon them, I'm all too often left without words. Such is the case now with Joel and Margaret, except to say that I will hold them in my heart and in my prayers.

'A FRIEND IN NEED'

And we call them the lower animals.

Thanks to Ellie at The Anchorhold for calling my attention to the video.

BESSIE SMITH - BACKWATER BLUES

Ormonde Plater at Through the Dust inspired me to search out the video. Here's Bessie Smith, with her amazing voice, in splendid collaboration with James P. Johnson on the piano. What a team! I like the listening guide.

At the moment, the sun is, if not shining, at least showing itself from time to time. The wind has picked up some, but we are not feeling the backwater blues. It appears that the worst of Tropical Storm Lee may be past us, as the radar shows the storm is now mostly to the east of us. Scroll down at the link to see the radar.

However, areas in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish experienced flooding, as did lower Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes, and folks there may be feeling the backwater blues.

UPDATE SEPT. 4: Tropical Storm Lee finally came ashore at Vermilion Bay west of us. It's blowy and rainy here, but nothing serious for us.

Rain and storm surge are causing flooding in other areas of south Louisiana.

UPDATE ON OUR FRIEND DAVID (DAH-VEED)

Brother David said...

Thank you all for the remembering prayers. The procedure came out well. I had a fully occluded artery that was successfully reopened and had four stents inserted. The time for the procedure used the time I could be subjected to the radiation and dye, so I will be doing it again on the 15th for two partially blocked arteries. But now, a day later I am doing and feeling well.

TBTG and knowledgable physicians.

'O Lord, your compassions never fail and your mercies are new every morning: We give you thanks for giving our brother David both relief from pain and hope of health renewed. Continue in him we pray, the good work you have begun; that he, daily increasing in bodily strength, and rejoicing in your goodness, may so order his life and conduct that he may always think and do those things that please you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.'

ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF AUCKLAND, NZ, OPPOSES ANGLICAN COVENANT

Bosco Peters at Liturgy informs us of the good news that the Anglican Diocese of Auckland, New Zealand, passed a motion opposing the Anglican Covenant. Read the text of the motion at Bosco's blog.

TAKING DOWN THE PROFESSOR'S ARGUMENT AGAINST SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

The argument by Prof. John Araujo, SJ, Loyola University School of Law, posted at Mirror of Justice, comes via Rob Tisinai at Box Turtle Bulletin:

Let us assume that two planets which have not yet been inhabited by humans are to be colonized by them; on Planet Alpha, heterosexual couples only are assigned; on Planet Beta, only homosexual couples. In one hundred years, will both islands be populated assuming that reproductive technologies are not available to either group? I suggest that Planet Alpha will be; but Planet Beta will not. Why? The basic answer is to be found in the biological complementarity of the heterosexual couple necessary for procreation that is absent in same-sex couple.

Rob calls the professor's argument 'The Stoner Argument Against Same-Sex Marriage' because it reminds him of stoner conversations back in his college days.

Stoner: Dude, I just blew my mind.

Rob: I’m trying to study.

Stoner: Dude, I figured out why gay marriage is, like, a no-go!

Rob: I don’t have time –

Stoner: DUDE!

Rob: Fine. Tell me.

Stoner: Suppose we dump a bunch of gays on an empty planet.

Rob: Why would we do that?

Stoner: Dude…

Rob: Never mind. Go on.

Stoner: And we dump a bunch of straights on an empty planet.

Rob: Okay.

Stoner: So if we come back to Planet Straight in, like, a hundred years, we’d find a bunch of new people. BUT! If we go back to Planet Gay, there’d be like no people at all.

Rob: Why not?

Stoner: Because – dude! – they’re gay.

Rob: So?

Stoner: They’re gaaay.

Rob: They can still –

Stoner: Gaaaaaaaaaay.

Rob: What’s your point?

Stoner: Um…

Rob: Right.

Stoner: I remember! Don’t let gays marry.

Rob: Why?

Stoner: Dude, one of the planets is empty.

Rob: So your point is…we shouldn’t colonize planets with lesbians and gays?

Stoner: YES! Wait. No. Don’t let gays marry.

Rob: On other planets?

Stoner: No, dude, here, now, today!

Rob: Why not?

Stoner: Because of the planets, dude! The planets!

Rob: I don’t get it.

Stoner: Dude, you need to smoke more weed.

As I read the conversation, I was rolling on the floor, and I can tell you that it's hard to read while rolling on the floor. I hope Rob doesn't mind that I stole his very clever satire in its entirety. I couldn't resist. If he asks me to take it down, I will.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY FROM ATRIOS

Odd how both parties think the path to election is "pissing off liberals."

Maybe they're even right!

Quite odd.

I've been reading Atrios at Eschaton for years and years, although I'm not a member of his tight community of commenters. They all seem to know one another, and I'm not sure they take easily to newcomers. In general, they do not like religion. Can the religious amongst us blame them with the many examples of hateful speech that circulate on the internet in the name of religion?

Hey, guys! We're not all hate-filled.

'WHY I OPPOSE THE ANGLICAN COVENANT' - CANON ALAN PERRY

Canon Alan Perry of the Anglican Church of Canada, who blogs at Insert Catchy Blog Title Here, dissected the Anglican Covenant, part by part, in a good many posts at his blog. At the link above Alan summarizes the reasons why he opposes the covenant. His entire post is excellent, but two statements in his summary jumped out at me.

Most of the member churches of the Anglican Communion seemed to find the first three sections of the covenant acceptable as a document to which they could attach their name, but Alan cautions us to think again. With regard to Section 3:

But, as I have said, “there is one fundamental problem with this whole section of the proposed Covenant, and that is that it seems to assume both that Churches will have a tendency to act in a manner which is irresponsible, or that their mechanisms for discernment and consultation are inadequate. And it seems to assume that relations among the churches of the Anglican Communion will normally be marked by conflict.” In fact, those assumptions underlie the entire proposed Covenant, which says much more about the context of our current conflict than about our aspirations for life as an Anglican Communion. (My emphasis)

That's a pretty sad assumption. What a crooked foundation upon which to build a community based on the New Covenant of Jesus Christ in which we are bid to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves!

Skipping to Alan's commentary on Section 4:

And what to say of the dispute-settling mechanism? It provides for a process by which “controversial actions” can be assessed and, if such actions are determined to be “incompatible with the Covenant,” impose “relational consequences” on a Church that refuses to withdraw the offending action. But this process has more holes than Swiss cheese. For starters, there is no definition of what might constitute a “controversial action.” You might imagine that it would be something that is contrary to the standards of faith, but since, as mentioned above, these standards are not clearly defined, we're really no further ahead. Nor are “relational consequences” clearly defined. So we don't really know what the rules are or what the punishment is for violating them. (My emphasis)

So. We are to sign on to play the Anglican Covenant game despite uncertainty about what will be required of us after we sign and what consequences will follow if we break the rules of the game, even though we don't know the rules. The words in bold actually made me burst out laughing, but it's not funny, because the people in high places who ask us to agree to such an absurd document are quite serious.

Alan has a Master's Degree in Canon Law from Cardiff University, but he wishes his words on the covenant to stand or fall on their own without reference to his credentialed expertise. Oh that Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams would take a lesson from Alan! For his part, he seems determined to ram the adoption of the covenant through the Church of England General Synod, not on the basis of the soundness of the document itself, but on the basis of personal loyalty to him in his position as Archbishop of Canterbury. It's a shameful exercise to witness.

Read Alan's entire summary.

The complete text of the Anglican Covenant may be found here.

A GOOD RECIPE FROM GRACIE

Thanks to Doug.

HURRICANE/TROPICAL STORM IRENE RELIEF

From Episcopal News Service come reports of damage in the Eastern United States from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene.

Katie Mears, Episcopal Relief & Development manager for its U.S. disaster program, said Aug. 29 that the amount of damage from Irene "seems to vary widely from place to place."

"Some people were able to stay in their homes and are now just waiting for the power to come back on; others were evacuated and are returning to try and salvage what they can from their flood-soaked homes and businesses," she said in a press release.

"We are still in the very early stages of assessment and planning in partnership with local dioceses," said Mears. "I have been in contact with a number of the diocesan disaster coordinators from impacted areas, and they will be working with diocesan leadership to see what needs to be done and how churches can help."

Here's the link to Episcopal Relief & Development, to donate to help with hurricane relief.

US Hurricane Relief

Gifts to this fund will enable Episcopal Relief & Development to support the hurricane response efforts of dioceses in the United States. In the wake of these events, we partner with local dioceses and churches to provide essential supplies such as food, water and medical care to those in need. Donations to the US Hurricane Relief Fund at this time will assist dioceses impacted by Hurricane Irene.

TOP-PAID CEOs TAKE HOME MORE THAN THEIR COMPANIES PAY IN TAXES

From The Nation:

Of last year’s 100 highest-paid US CEOs, twenty-five took home more in compensation than their company paid in 2010 federal income taxes. As a new report by the Institute for Policy Studies reveals, these twenty-five CEOs averaged $16.7 million, well above last year’s $10.8 million average for S&P 500 CEOs.

Even more stunning is the fact that most of the companies they ran actually came out ahead at tax time, collecting tax refunds from the IRS that averaged $304 million, instead of contributing their tax dollars to the common coffers.

Institute for Policy Studies

In the slides that follow, the Institute for Policy Studies’s Sarah Anderson uncovers ten companies that paid their CEOs more last year than they paid in corporate income taxes.

Watch the slide show of the Hall of Shame companies and CEOs, and read the article at the Institute for Policy Studies. This information needs to be widely distributed. Greed, greed, greed! And Republicans insist upon even lower takes for the rich and for corporations to allow them to keep even more of their compensation and profits at the expense of the rest of us in the country.

Thanks to Lapin for the link.

ABOUT TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE...

From today's readings from the Lectionary:

King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the Israelites, ‘You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you; for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods;’ Solomon clung to these in love. Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.

1 Kings 11:1-4

...I guess it depends upon how far back you go in the traditions.

DISCIPLINE

Doug has very kindly been searching for the Episcopal Church take off on the New Yorker cover pictured here. He did not find what he was looking for, but he found the image below. Click on the picture for the larger view.

STORY OF THE DAY - ENGLISH MAJOR

When I told him I had a major in
English, he said, too bad for you this is
America & he started me out at the
bottom.

From StoryPeople.