Red Hat and Purple Dress

Image from Red Hat Shopping.

Here's a little something for your Saturday morning pleasure.

Sometimes when I'd think (with no small regret) about getting old, T. S. Eliot's words from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" would come to mind:

I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

But those words never really satisfied me, because I wanted something more appropriate to an aging woman. I've been searching, and I've found it!

From "Warning" by Jenny Joseph:

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

Suits me better than Eliot, don't you think?

Interview With Gene Robinson

From Ruth Gledhill via the Episcopal Café"

CofE 'would shut down' without its gay clergy, says +Gene.

Andrew Collier, a freelance journalist based in Scotland, has just interviewed Bishop Gene Robinson in London. We have reported in online. This is the bit I liked best: 'I think the thing that is the most mystifying to me and the most troubling about the Church of England is its refusal to be honest about just how many gay clergy it has – many of them partnered and many of them living in rectories. I have met so many gay partnered clergy here and it is so troubling to hear them tell me that their bishop comes to their house for dinner, knows fully about their relationship, is wonderfully supportive but has also said if this ever becomes public then I’m your worst enemy. It’s a terrible way to live your life and I think it’s a terrible way to be a church. I think integrity is so important. What does it mean for a clergy person to be in a pulpit calling the parishioners to a life of integrity when they can’t even live a life of integrity with their own bishop and their own church? So I would feel better about the Church of England’s stance, its reluctance to support the Episcopal Church in what it has done if it would at least admit that this not an American problem and just an American challenge. If all the gay people stayed away from church on a given Sunday the Church of England would be close to shut down between its organists, its clergy, its wardens.....it just seems less than humble not to admit that.'

The hypocrisy is bad enough, but pointing fingers at another church within the Anglican Communion, while at the same time covering up similar behavior in your own church, makes it all the worse.

The greater part of Gledhill's post is devoted to the interview by Andrew Collier with Gene Robinson. I was intrigued by Bishop Robinson's personal story, especially in light of my informal "survey" here.

Robinson: 'I think most gay people sense early on that they are different even if they are not exactly sure how they are different. That was certainly true for me by age 11 or 12. You have to remember that when I was that age, gay was not a word that was being used to describe homosexual people. There was very little discussion of it. There were certainly no role models like we have today of successful and productive people who were gay, so it was not something easily admitted to oneself, never mind the world.

The personal story continues at length, too long for me to quote, but it's quite good. I urge you to read the rest at Ruth Gledhill's site.

Feast Day Of William Reed Huntington

I was going to take a pass on doing the feast day today, since we've had a rather full week of feast days, but when I saw which saint was being honored, I changed my mind, because Huntington's legacy is pertinent to the times.

From James Kiefer at the The Lectionary:

W R Huntington, although never a bishop, had more influence on the Episcopal Church than most bishops....In each of the thirteen General Conventions...of the Episcopal Church that met between 1870 and his death,he was a member, and indeed the most prominent member, of the House of Deputies. In 1871 he moved for the restoration of the ancient Order of Deaconesses, which was finally officially authorized in 1889. His parish became a center for the training of deaconesses.

....

In his book "The Church Idea" (1870), Huntington undertook to discuss the basis of Christian unity, and he formulated the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, a statement adopted first by the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church in 1886 and then, with slight modifications, by the Bishops of the world-wide Anglican Communion assembled at Lambeth in 1888. The statement set forth four principles which Anglicans regard as essential, and offer as a basis for discussion of union with other Christian bodies.

From the Vauxhall Society:

Lambeth Quadrilateral

The Lambeth Quadrilateral is the name given to the four key principles that form the basis for the union of various churches that make up the Anglican faith:

* acceptance of the Holy Scripture as the rule of faith;
* the Apostles' and the Nicene creeds;
* the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper;
* and the principle of church government based on bishops.

The quadrilateral was first declared by the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Chicago in 1886 and were amended and adopted at the 1888 Lambeth Conference.

Why is this document no longer sufficient as the basis of unity for the Anglican Communion? Why do we need Windsor Reports and covenants beyond what's covered in the the Creeds and the Lambeth Quadrilateral?

PRAYER

O Lord our God, we thank you for instilling in the heart of your servant William Reed Huntington a fervent love for your Church and its mission in the world; and we pray that, with unflagging faith in your promises, we may make known to all peoples your blessed gift of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

READINGS:

Psalm 133
Job 22:21-28
Ephesians 1:3-10
John 17:20-26

Bush/Cheney - Impeachment?

I have been struggling with the idea as to whether I want to see Bush/Cheney impeached. Impeaching Bush would be useless, because Cheney is the power behind the throne. Bush is a pawn in the game. The reason I struggled with the idea is not that think Bush/Cheney don't deserve impeachment, because I think they do. There is no doubt in my mind that the House has ample grounds to vote for impeachment hearings, but I want to get our troops out of Iraq as quickly as possible. They've done what we asked them to do, and we are now an occupying force in Iraq. I want our part in the killing to stop. I hesitated on impeachment, because I have no faith that the US Congress can walk and chew gum at the same time.

But now I think it's time for impeachment hearings.

Those of you who did not get to see Bill Moyers' Journal on July 13, might want to have a look at Moyer's discussion with two constitutional scholars on whether George Bush and Dick Cheney should be impeached.

From the transcript:

Bruce Fein has been affiliated with conservative think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation and now writes a weekly column for THE WASHINGTON TIMES and Politico.com.

He's joined by John Nichols, the Washington correspondent for THE NATION and an associate editor of the CAPITOL TIMES. Among his many books is this most recent one, THE GENIUS OF IMPEACHMENT: THE FOUNDERS' CURE FOR ROYALISM.

Note that Fein's associations are with conservative institutions.

...BILL MOYERS: You're saying you want the judiciary committee to call formal hearings on the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney?

BRUCE FEIN: Yes. Because there are political crimes that have been perpetrated in combination. It hasn't been one, the other being in isolation. And the hearings have to be not into this is a Republican or Democrat. This is something that needs to set a precedent, whoever occupies the White House in 2009. You do not want to have that occupant, whether it's John McCain or Hillary Clinton or Rudy Giuliani or John Edwards to have this authority to go outside the law and say, "I am the law. I do what I want. No one else's view matters."

JOHN NICHOLS: The hearings are important. There's no question at that. And we should be at that stage. Remember, Thomas Jefferson and others, the founders, suggested that impeachment was an organic process. That information would come out. The people would be horrified. They would tell their representatives in Congress, "You must act upon this." Well, the interesting thing is we are well down the track in the organic process. The people are saying it's time. We need some accountability.

BILL MOYERS: But Nancy Pelosi doesn't agree.

JOHN NICHOLS: Nancy Pelosi is wrong. Nancy Pelosi is disregarding her oath of office. She should change course now. And more importantly, members of her caucus and responsible Republicans should step up.

....

BILL MOYERS: I have to interrupt you and say, look, you guys don't live in la-la land. Both of you are in-- in and around power all the time. Why doesn't Nancy Pelosi see it her duty to take on at least the impeachment hearings that you say would educate the public about the states that you think--

BRUCE FEIN: Because I think that politics has become debased so that it's a matter of one party against another and jockeying and maneuvering. There is no longer any statesmanship.

BRUCE FEIN: I go back to the real vulnerability and weakness of Congress, that they don't have anybody who can, as a chairman or even asking a question like John or me say, "Mr. Attorney General, you answer that question. This is the United States of America. Transparency is the rule here. We don't have secret government. That's what Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote about in the Gulag. That's not the United States of America. We pay your salary. We have a right to know 'cause it's our duty to decide whether what you're doing is legal and wise, not yours. Answer that question or you're held in contempt right now." And that's-- and all you need is that tone of voice. But what happens up there? "Well, would you please answer?" Well, are you sure? When-- could you get John Ashcroft? I mean, it's just staggering.\

....

BILL MOYERS: You just said in one sentence there "impeach Bush and Cheney." You're talking about taking that ax against the head of government, both of them.

JOHN NICHOLS: No. No, no, no.

BRUCE FEIN: It's not an ax, Bill.

JOHN NICHOLS: We're talking--

BRUCE FEIN: It's not an ax-- it's not--Impeachment is not a criminal proceeding.

JOHN NICHOLS: You are being--

BRUCE FEIN: --we cannot entrust the reins of power, unchecked power, with these people. They're untrustworthy. They're asserting theories of governments that are monarchical. We don't want them to exercise it. We don't want Hillary Clinton or Rudy Giuliani or anyone in the future to exercise that.

JOHN NICHOLS: Bill Moyers, you are making a mistake. You are making a mistake that too many people make.

BILL MOYERS: Yes.

JOHN NICHOLS: You are seeing impeachment as a constitutional crisis. Impeachment is the cure for a constitutional crisis. Don't mistake the medicine for the disease. When you have a constitutional crisis, the founders are very clear. They said there is a way to deal with this. We don't have to have a war. We don't have to raise an army and go to Washington. We have procedures in place where we can sanction a president appropriately, do what needs to be done up to the point of removing him from office and continue the republic. So we're not talking here about taking an ax to government. Quite the opposite. We are talking about applying some necessary strong medicine that may cure not merely the crisis of the moment but, done right-

BRUCE FEIN: Moreover, it's--

JOHN NICHOLS: --might actually cure--

BRUCE FEIN: It's not an attack on Bush and Cheney in the sense of their personal-- attacks. Listen, if you impeach them, they can live happily ever after into their-

JOHN NICHOLS: And go to San Clemente.

BRUCE FEIN: Yes, go to San Clemente or go back to the ranch or whatever. But it's saying no, it's the Constitution that's more important than your aggrandizing of power. And not just for you because the precedent that would be set would bind every successor in the presidency as well, no matter Republican, Democrat, Independent, or otherwise.

I had a really hard time picking out quotes to use, because the two men said so much that is right and true. If you have the time to watch the video or read the whole transcript, it's well worth it. They indict not only Bush/Cheney, but the supine Congress for not doing its job and not exercising the power of the purse to put a stop to the abuses of the Constitution.

Fein was on Countdown last night. I hope he'll be all over TV, because he is articulate and knows his stuff and makes an excellent case.

It's time for impeachment. It's past time.

Feast Day Of The Parents Of The Virgin Mary

Icon from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.

From James Kiefer at the Lectionary:

The Scriptures tell us nothing about the parents of the Virgin Mother, not even their names. An early but unreliable document, known as the Proto-Gospel (or Proto-Evangelion) of James, calls them Ann and Joachim, by which names they are customarily known. Our only real information about them, however, is an inference from the kind of daughter they reared.

Amen!

Kiefer's biographical information on Mary's parents is brief and honest.

PRAYER

Almighty God, heavenly Father, we remember in thanksgiving this day the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and we pray that we all may be made one in the heavenly family of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.

READINGS:

Psalm 132:11-19 or 85:8-13
Genesis 17:1-8
Luke 1:26-33

My Sister And Friends

Last Saturday evening a group of around 40 of us had dinner with the young finalists for the The Dillenkoffer Endowment scholarship and their families. What fine young people - two young ladies and two young men. I was proud to meet them. Each of them was truly impressive. I can understand how the committee had such a difficult time selecting the winner of the largest scholarship.

All four of these young people were open about their sexual orientation while they were still in high school. Being "out" is obviously a condition for being considered for a scholarship. Most had supportive parents, but one young man was thrown out of his home by his father at the age of 14, when he announced that he was gay. Another family took him in and became his family. Thanks be to God for that kind family.

My niece and I were talking about how courageous these young people were to have come out as teenagers. The teen years can be a terribly difficult time for anyone, and being GLBT on top of the other difficulties - well, it's harder, a lot harder. The young people suffered from abuse, I'm sure, but they were better off, in my opinion, for being open about their orientation than having to live a lie.

Mind you, I am not judging anyone who chooses to come out later or not at all. I have not walked in their shoes, therefore I cannot judge. In addition, if I call myself a Christian, I am forbidden to judge. I just think the young people who choose to come out early are incredibly brave and, in the end, better off.

I sat next to Ryan, the winner of the largest scholarship and very much enjoyed his company. He is a personable and articulate young man, and both he and his father are true sons of the Midwest.

After we arrived at the party following the dinner, I began looking over the crowd. Of the 180 guests - give or take a few - a very large majority were gay men, with a few lesbians, and a few obviously straight couples. Outside of family members, most of the straight couples were my age. I don't know what the significance of that is.

There were so many good-looking men there that I did not know where to rest my eyes. The food was delicious - or so I heard - for I could only manage to eat one crab cake after the delicious dinner.

As I was talking to the gay men, I began to do an informal survey. Yes, how creepy is that? - doing sneak surveys at a party. But it was for a good cause. The men I talked to ranged in age from late thirties to around fifty years old. My first question was at what age did you know you were gay? They answered that they knew mainly in the pre-teen and teen years. But nearly all of them volunteered that they knew they were different from most boys at around age five. Five came as an answer over and over again. They, of course, did not know about being gay, but they knew they were different around the age that they went to kindergarten.

Next, I asked them at what age they had come out. The answers ranged from 18 to 30. From my very unscientific survey, I conclude that lesbians and gays are revealing their sexual orientation at earlier ages today. Of course, I could be wrong.

I asked the guys if they had done the whole prom thing in high school, and they said yes, that it was expected of them. One was engaged to be married, but broke it off before the wedding.

One man told me his beautiful love story. He said that when he admitted to himself that he was gay, at around age 18, that he automatically assumed that he would be alone for his whole life. But then, he fell in love and has been with his partner for 23 years. He said they had never experienced the HIV-AIDS scare, except vicariously through friends of theirs, because they had only ever been with each other. A very sweet story, indeed.

You know, and I know how much my sister meant to me and to her husband, children, and grandchildren, but I did not realize that she had touched the lives of so many other people. Here we were celebrating her life with the recipients of the scholarships, honoring her memory in a beautiful way with a host of folks who knew her and loved her. I had no idea.

NOTE: I had linked to the page with the announcement of the four scholarship winners, but it's not working today. I will check back, and if the site comes back online, I will add the link again.

NOTE 2: The link seems to work now.

Feast Day of St. James The Apostle

Image from the Catholic Forum

From the Lectionary:

James the son of Zebedee and his brother John were among the twelve disciples of Our Lord. They, together with Peter, were privileged to behold the Transfiguration...to witness the healing of Peter's mother-in-law...and the raising of the daughter of Jairus...and to be called aside to watch and pray with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane on the night before His death....

I imagine what it would have been like to be with Jesus on the occasions described in the Gospels, to see him and touch him and hear his voice. I think it would have been lovely.

Jesus nicknamed the two brothers "sons of thunder",...perhaps meaning that they were headstrong, hot-tempered, and impulsive; and so they seem to be in two incidents reported in the Gospels. On one occasion,...Jesus and the disciples were refused the hospitality of a Samaritan village, and James and John proposed to call down fire from heaven on the offenders. On another occasion,... they asked Jesus for a special place of honor in the Kingdom, and were told that the place of honor is the place of suffering.

That was true for James.

Finally, about AD 42, shortly before Passover,...James was beheaded by order of King Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great (who tried to kill the infant Jesus.... James was the first of the Twelve to suffer martyrdom, and the only one of the Twelve whose death is recorded in the New Testament.

Now that I've found this information on the patronage of the saints at the Catholic Forum, I love it, and I must pass it on. The patronage of St. James includes the following:

against arthritis; against rheumatism; Altopascio, Lucca, Italy; Antigua, Guatemala; apothecaries; arthritis sufferers; diocese of Bangued, Philippines; blacksmiths; Chile; Compostela, Spain; druggists; equestrians; furriers; Galicia, Spain; Guatemala; Hettstedt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; horsemen; Jemez Indian Pueblo; knights; laborers; Loiza, Puerto Rico; Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Montreal, Canada; Nicaragua; pharmacists; pilgrims; Pistoia, Italy; rheumatoid sufferers; riders; Sahuayo, Mexico; archdiocese of Seattle, Washington; soldiers; Spain; Spanish conquistadors; tanners; Tesuque Indian Pueblo; veterinarians.

PRAYER

O gracious God, we remember before you today your servant and apostle James, first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the Name of Jesus Christ; and we pray that you will pour out upon the leaders of your Church that spirit of self-denying service by which alone they may have true authority among your people; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

READINGS:

Psalm 7:1-10;
Jeremiah 45:1-5
Acts 11:27-12:3
Matthew 20:20-28

Padre Mickey has a wonderful post on St. Christopher - no, not the non-existent Christopher - the real Christopher, who may also be the same person as St. Menas. Sound complicated? Then, go read the astonishing story of the dog-faced saint.

UPDATE: Painting of St. James the Greater by Alonso Cano (1601-67). Thanks to Lapinbizarre in the comments for the information about the painting.

Feast Day Of Thomas a Kempis

The Imitation Of Christ


From the Lectionary:

Thomas is known almost entirely for composing or compiling a manual of spiritual advice known as "The Imitation of Christ", in which he urges the reader to seek to follow the example of Jesus Christ and to be conformed in all things to His will. An extract follows:

"When God bestows Spiritual comfort, receive it with a grateful heart; but remember that it comes of God's free gift, and not of your own merit. Do not be proud, nor over joyful, nor foolishly presumptuous; rather, be the more humble for this gift, more cautious, and more prudent in all your doings, for this hour will pass, and temptation will follow it. When comfort is withdrawn, do not immediately despair, but humbly and patiently await the will of Heaven; for God is able to restore you to a consolation even richer than before...."

Those wise words of Thomas resonate strongly with me, because God has graced me with great spiritual comforts, and I am constantly on guard against pride and mindful that the comforts of God's felt presence are free gifts and not due to any special holiness or worthiness on my part. Indeed, I am not worthy in any manner of God's great love.

Paraphrasing from the Book of Common Prayer, "[I am] not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy." Amen.

The Scripture readings from the Lectionary for the feast day are a great consolation in themselves.

PRAYER

Holy Father, who have nourished and strengthened your Church by the writings of your servant Thomas a Kempis: Grant that we may learn from him to know what we ought to know, to love what we ought to love, to praise what highly pleases you, and always to seek to know and follow your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

READINGS:

Psalm 34:1-8 or 33:1-5,20-21
Philippians 4:4-9
Luke 6:17-23

Bittersweet

I'm back home again trying to process the thoughts and emotions of the past three days. It was great to see the family again. My brother-in-law sold his house and is in the process of emptying it. We went there before we went to my nephew's house where I was staying. When I walked into the house, I was blindsided by overwhelming grief. The house smelled like my sister. I understand people who keep clothing of loved ones who have passed on so they can have the smell. I felt her presence there. That's the first time I have felt her presence since she died, and I have been wanting to. That was the sweet part.

The sad part was to see what was left of her stuff - her furniture, her pictures, her linens, in the half empty house. I had to go in every room, but I could hardly bear doing it. There they were, all the things that she had accumulated, some of which no one in the family really wanted but felt bad about giving away.

My brother-in-law, my nephew and his wife welcomed me and treated me wonderfully well. But Kansas City is where my sister is supposed to be, and she was not there. Saturday was a busy day, and that evening, we had the dinner and the party for the winners of the scholarships. But Sunday was a quiet day. My nephew had to work; his wife had errands to run, and my brother-in-law went back to the house to organize what was left. I could not go to the house with him. I missed my sister so much on Sunday.

Sunday evening, my nephew and his wife barbecued and served a wonderful meal for us and her brother and his wife. Afterwards they went swimming, and my brother-in-law and I had a good long talk, which made me feel much better.

What a weekend of intense emotion! I feel drained since I've been home, empty and very sad.

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane

I hope that I do know when I'll be home again. I hope I will be home this afternoon.

Happy Feast Day of Mary Magdalene! Jane at Acts of Hope has a wonderful post on the saint.

Happy Birthday to Johnieb!