"HEADLINES YOU HAVE TO LOVE"

From The State in South Carolina.

Shagging with Tyrone Power Jr.

I didn't say that. The newspaper headline writer said it.

From Lapin.

"BLOGGER LIFE"

This isn't actually about any specific issue at the moment, but one ongoing thing is that often people perceive my failure to comment on issue X as some sort of...well, I don't know, as meaningful in some way. Sometimes I just don't really have anything to say.

Atrios at Eschaton.

Ah yes. Me, too, but I'd add that sometimes I have something to say, but I don't have time to address the issue.

And Atrios' blog has held on to its vast numbers of comments in the face of Facebook. Why his comments ARE a virtual Facebook! Check them out. How does he do it?

MADPRIEST TURNS PIOUS

ELSEWHERE ON THE OCICBW... EXPERIENCE

THE ANCHORHOLD: "About Spiritual Direction"and a Westminster Abbey Choir vid.

ST. LAIKA'S: Daily prayer with music. I particularly like the version of the hymn, "Lord, teach us how to pray aright," that I bunged into the service today.

Posted by MadPriest

No doubt helped along by the good influence of the lovely Ellie, who runs The Anchorhold, MadPriest has taken up praying and even posting entire prayer services on his alternate webpage, St Laika's. I suspect that the posting is done by his alter-ego, the kind, gentle, compassionate, polite MadPriest, whom we catch a glimpse of only from time to time. But, if you visit the web page, you will see that, hidden away though he may be for much of the time, the alter-ego is real.

GOLF MATCH

A guy was getting ready to tee off on the first hole when a second golfer approached and asked if he could join him. The first said that he usually played alone, but agreed to the twosome.

They were even after the first few holes. The second guy said, "We're about evenly matched; how about playing for five bucks a hole?" The first guy said that he wasn't much for betting, but agreed to the terms.

The second guy won the remaining sixteen holes with ease.

As they were walking off number eighteen, the second guy was busy counting his $80.00. He confessed that he was the pro at a neighboring course and liked to pick on suckers. The first fellow revealed that he was the parish Monsignor.

The pro was flustered and apologetic, offering to return the money. The Priest said, "No, you won fair and square, and I was foolish to bet with you. You keep your winnings."

The embarrassed pro said, "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

The Priest said, "Well, you could come to Mass on Sunday and make a donation. And, if you want to bring your mother and father along, I'll marry them."


Cheers,

Paul (A.)

You're a good man, Paul (A.). What would I do without you and my other joke suppliers? Why I'd have nothing, nothing at all to keep my readers entertained.

PRAY FOR THOSE KILLED AND WOUNDED IN THE MOSCOW AIRPORT BOMBING

From the NewYork Times:

MOSCOW — A bomber strode into the arrivals hall at Moscow’s busiest airport on Monday afternoon and set off an enormous explosion, eyewitnesses and Russian officials said, leaving bodies strewn in a smoke-filled terminal while bystanders scrambled to get the wounded out on baggage carts.

Russian authorities said at least 31 people were killed and 150 injured in the attack. The Russian president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, said in televised remarks that the blast was an act of terrorism and ordered police to track down the perpetrators.

O merciful Father, who taught us in your holy word that you do not willingly afflict or grieve your children: Look with compassion upon your people who were killed and wounded in the Moscow airport. May those who died rest in peace and rise in glory. Bring healing to the wounded, for whom our prayers are offered; remember them, O Lord, in mercy. Nourish the souls of those who sorrow for their loved ones with patience, comfort them with a sense of your goodness, lift up your countenance upon them and give them peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PRESIDING BISHOP'S STATEMENT ON PRIMATES MEETING

January 24, 2011

I look forward to greeting many old friends at the Primates Meeting in Dublin, and I look forward to meeting those who have been elected in the past two years. I am deeply grateful that we may begin to focus on issues that are highly significant in local contexts as well as across the breadth of the Anglican Communion. Certainly issues of serving our brothers and sisters, offering good news for body, mind, and spirit, are the central ones in our province. The Episcopal Church is urgently focused on rebuilding in Haiti, seeking increased ways to bring good news to the poor in indigenous communities, inner cities, and expanding and depopulating rural areas in all the nations in our province. Across the globe, in partnership with Anglicans and others, we seek to serve the least of these, bringing light in the midst of darkness, peace in the midst of war and violence, and hope in the face of devastating natural disasters and the growing reality of climate change. We own our domestic responsibility to change our habits and ways of life that contribute to environmental damage and destruction. In all we do, we seek to recognize the face of God wherever we turn, realizing that the body of God’s creation will only be healed when all members of the body of Christ are working together.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church

H/T to Jim Naughton at The Lead.

STORY OF THE DAY - OLD CAT

Sometimes I think I'm going to end up
all alone in a cold apartment living on
cat food from a can but I guess that's
not so bad since I'm a cat after all.

From StoryPeople.

PRAYER FOR THE PRIMATES' MEETING...

...from the Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town.

Lord Jesus Christ, you washed your disciples' feet,
and called them to follow your example.
Bless the leaders of our churches as they gather at the Primates' Meeting.
As they take counsel together, give them grace to grow in prayer and fellowship,
so they may bear one anothers' burdens and share one anothers' joys,
and find mutual support in their heavy responsibilities of servant leadership.
Refresh and encourage them as they meet,
and empower them to lead your people
in lives of faithful worship, witness and service,
that bring your redemptive gospel to this broken and needy world.
Amen

The meeting will take place in Dublin, Ireland, January 25-30.

H/T to Torey Lightcap at The Lead

DEFINE THE LIMITS OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION?

From Anglicans United comes a report on the Mere Anglicanism Conference in Charleston, SC.

In the "About" link on the home page of Anglicans United is the following:

Purpose: to grow a faithful church for the promulgation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, while forming Christian disciples in the evangelical, catholic and reformed Anglican way.

Anglicans United traces its roots to the 3R’s Conference held in Winter Park, Florida in January of 1986. The conference brought together evangelicals, charismatics and broad-church traditional Episcopalians who shared a growing sense of alarm at the continuing moral and doctrinal slide of their Church.

Opposed to moral and doctrinal relativism, the conference highlighted the Revelation of God in the Scriptures, and called for the Renewal of God’s people. Alarmed by trends within the denomination, everyone saw the need for Reformation. The conference ended with the issuance of a 3R’s Statement and publication of a book, “The Gospel Conspiracy in the Episcopal Church”, written by the Rev. Charles Irish and the Rt. Rev. Michael Marshall.

Alarm! Alarm!

This is the first I hear of Anglicans United, or, if I have heard of them previously, I've forgotten. Perhaps, I'm derelict in not knowing or remembering.

The Mere Anglicanism conference appears to be sponsored by the Diocese of South Carolina. (Note the absence of "Episcopal" in the name of the diocese.)

The theme for the 2011 Mere Anglicanism Conference, which will be held January 20-22 is "Biblical Anglicanism for a Global Future: Recovering the Power of the Word."

At the conference, Abp. Mouneer Anis, Cairo, Egypt, the Primate of Jerusalem and the Middle East and the Diocese of Egypt, gave the main address, titled “Recovering the Power of the Word for the Anglican Communion”. The entire text of the address may be found at Anglicans United.

The archbishop spoke first about the recent New Year's Eve bombing in Alexandria.

This year the bomb happened in the New Year’s Eve service 2011, as they were coming out of the church this bombing took place. It shook the nation, as well as the moderate Muslims as well. We are not used to this. We are a peaceful nation and this happening is upsetting many Christians. Something good may come out of this. Many moderate Muslims condemned this and speak of the right of the Christians to be there and worship. I want you to pray that the Church will continue to speak in love. The Church in Egypt was founded on the blood of the martyrs. Pray for us. We are not afraid and are ready to die for the sake of Jesus Christ in Egypt.

Yes. Please pray for peace between Christians and Muslims in Egypt and other countries in Africa and the Middle East.

Then, Abp. Anis spoke about faithfulness to the Word of God, meaning the Bible. He says the following in reference to the Lambeth Conference 1888: Resolution 11.1 “The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as “containing all things necessary to salvation”:

We were formed as a Biblical Communion. We are commanded to read and interpret Scripture together in order to define the limits of Anglican Communion in regard to the interpretation of Scripture. I believe we are far from that. If we followed what our predecessors decreed since 1888, we would not be an impaired, dysfunctional Communion today.

Um - no. To set limits to who is in the family of the Anglican Communion, and who is out, according to a certain group's ideas of the proper interpretation of Scripture seems quite un-Anglican, if one knows even a little of the history of the Anglican Communion.

Later, in the Q&A period, Abp. Anis gave the following response to a question about the upcoming Primates Meeting:

With the regard of the upcoming Primate’s meeting, (Dublin, Ireland Jan 25-30, 2011) we are not boycotting. Many have said that we are boycotting this meeting. We however are not attending.

Why? Because we did ask the Archbishop of Canterbury to follow up on the recommendations of the previous meeting (Dar es Salaam, 2006; no meeting was held in 2008 because of the Lambeth Conference). At that meeting we discussed, decided and recommended actions. This was never done. It is time for decisions after comprehensive discussion.

For this meeting, we received an invitation to sit in 2 separate rooms: the revisionists in one and the Global South in another. This is a joke. We were not given a chance to affect the process and have some ownership of the meeting. When we are given that opportunity, we will attend.

Can the invitations really have gone out inviting the Primates to meet in separate rooms?

Back in October of 2010, David Anderson of the American Anglican Council gave the following opinion on the arrangements for the Primates Meeting:

Dr. Williams is being advised that numerous provinces won't attend the Primates Meeting if Jefferts Schori attends. Having booked the venue, he might as well have the meeting since he is committed to paying for it, but without the orthodox Primates in attendance it could be a dangerous meeting, giving opinion and credence to teachings and beliefs that are not representative of orthodox Anglicanism.

If asked my opinion, I would strongly advise the orthodox Primates to 1) organize before the Primates' meeting, and 2) attend and remove by force of numbers the Presiding Bishop of the American Episcopal Church (not physically, but by either voting her off the "island," or recessing to another room and not letting her in). The meeting is a place to gather and potentially to settle some of the issues that are pulling the Anglican Communion apart, and to begin to restore health to a most wonderful communion.

Can it be that Abp. Rowan Williams took David Anderson's idea of meeting in separate rooms and ran with it? I don't have the answer, but I'd like to know.

And the bishops are not boycotting the Primates Meeting; they are just not attending, because Abp. Williams has not followed through on recommended actions. I'm guessing Abp. Anis refers to actions not taken by Abp. Williams to discipline certain member provinces of the AC. And it seems that Abp. Anis was offended, rather than appeased, by the invitation to meet in separate rooms - if such is the case of the invitations going out as the archbishop describes them.

If this post seems rambling, bear with me. I'm writing in part to try to get the groups and their shenanigans straight in my head, and I'm not sure I succeeded.

H/T to Simon Sarmiento Thinking Anglicans.

PLEASE VOTE FOR MATT'S TREES EVERY DAY

Thank you.