Feast Day of St. Augustine of Hippo

Tiffany stained-glass window of St. Augustine, in the Lightner Museum, St. Augustine, Florida. (Detail) - Image from Wiki.

Padre Mickey is the go-to man for the early saints of the church, and he has a wonderful post on Augustine of Hippo, with several illustrations. Born in North Africa to a Christian mother, Monnica, in 354, Augustine became a Christian after many years of struggle, to the great joy of his mother, who had prayed for him for many years.

Augustine wrote this beautiful prayer-poem after his conversion:

Late have I loved Thee, O Lord; and behold,
Thou wast within and I without, and there I sought Thee.
Thou was with me when I was not with Thee.
Thou didst call, and cry, and burst my deafness.
Thou didst gleam, and glow, and dispell my blindness.
Thou didst touch me, and I burned for Thy peace.
For Thyself Thou hast made us,
and restless our hearts until in Thee they find their ease.
Late have I loved Thee, Thou Beauty ever old and ever new.
Thou hast burst my bonds asunder;
unto Thee will I offer up an offering of praise.


PRAYER

Lord God, the light of the minds that know you, the life of the souls that love you, and the strength of the hearts that serve you: Help us, following the example of your servant Augustine of Hippo, so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

READINGS:

Psalm 87 or 84:7-12
Hebrews 12:22-24,28-29
John 14:6-15

A Word From Wigtown

The MadPriest is on vacation, (holiday, as he would say) but he has left a post on his blog that refers to me. It's a garbled post, having to do with haggis and red beans and rice and lingerie and keypads. I can't make any sense of it at all, but I suspect it's not nice - no surprise there, since when is he ever nice to me?

If you're bored and have a few minutes to WASTE, you might want to check it out, but I'd advise you not to take the trouble.

The Bible Wars

From Real Live Preacher, via Fr. Jake:

So now I’m gently sliding into middle age. I’m tired of fighting over the Bible. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about most fine points of theology. I know a little too much about how the New Testament was formed, and I know a little too much about what’s in there and how hard it is to keep it straight.

I have much simpler questions for people now.

“You reading the New Testament? Trying your best to understand it?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you trying to follow Jesus as a disciple, trying to understand what he said and live the way he did, where possible?”

“Yeah, I’m trying.”

“MY BROTHER!”


In a comment at Fr. Jake's, I said this:

Perhaps my idea of one of the purposes served by the Bible is simpleminded, but if I view any of the statements from the Testaments as prescriptions, I see them as prescriptions for me.

For instance, I love the words from Micah, "He has showed you, O mortal what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly before your God?"

I'm happy that I've read those words, chewed over them, swallowed them, digested them, and tried to make them part of the way I live my life. I don't see them as useful for beating others over the head.

The Bible includes many passages that serve as indicators of how I should live my life. Some wise one told me long ago, that I should always read the words of the Scriptures as though they are directed to me, and I have found that advice to be quite valuable and humbling.
Grandmère Mimi | Homepage | 08.26.07 - 10:14 am | #

Along with Real Live Preacher, I'm sad to see the Bible used as a weapon in the wars of words among Christians, those wars that scandalize the Body of Christ.

By reading the Bible as though the words are meant for me, I don't feel drawn to call others to account based on what I find there. I share what the words mean to me and how they draw me into a living relationship with the person of Jesus Christ, and call me, by his grace, to live a life of love, according to his command to those of us who claim to be his followers. For me, reading the Scriptures in this way has been absolutely liberating.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm deeply grateful for the teachers and preachers and writers equipped with their knowledge and insights, who have guided me in my walk with the One who is the Way, who have helped me to a greater understanding of the words whose purpose is to open my mind and heart to the living Word made flesh. I have learned much of value from them, and I thank God for them.

Addicted To Blogging?

44%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle² - Dating Site

UPDATE: I should have acknowledged that I found this questionnaire at FranIAm's blog.

No Church For Me Today

Today I woke up with the sniffles and a general feeling of mild malaise - sort of achy and lethargic - without the energy to get myself dressed and to church. Also, I thought that I might be a bit germy and that perhaps it would be a good idea to confine the germs to my household. I went to the Lectionary for today's readings.

AM Psalm 146, 147; PM Psalm 111, 112, 113
2 Samuel 24:1-2,10-25; Gal. 3:23-4:7; John 8:12-20

From Psalm 146:1-2:

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

Oh, yes, Lord! May this be the reality of my life!

And then I visited Oremus for an online service.

Along with the prayers, and Scripture readings, Oremus provides links to sites that provide accompaniment to hymns, if you enjoy singing alone at home - which I do. My husband, who is mostly not a church-goer, teased me, saying that online church did not count. Count for what? It's better than nothing when you can't be physically present. Of course, I miss the Eucharist.

As I was going through the Psalms and readings there, this passage resonated with me.

He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you. Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.' Isaiah 30:19b-21

What a wonderful word for us as we pass through difficult times. God is teaching us, and he will reveal himself to us in the midst of adversity. I know that I have gained more wisdom and more certainty of God's presence in my life in the challenges that I have faced, than in the easy times.

And for those of us who fret so about whether we are doing God's will. If our desire is to do God's will, then, even if we stray off course, or if we don't know which course to take, we can be confidant that God will show us the way.

The closing prayer of the service, by Bruce Prewer, is lovely:

May the mind that was in Christ possess us,
the love that is always at the heart of God enlarge us,
and the joy of the Spirit give us kindly eyes and thankful soul. Amen.

UPDATE: And didn't I know that there was something missing from this post? Of course! A sermon! And here it is from my friend Mags at Magdalene's Musings.

UPDATE 2: And lagniappe! A sermon from Caminante at No Hay Camino.

Lucky, Lucky New Orleans

From Nola.com:

By Bruce Alpert
Washington bureau

WASHINGTON -- President Bush will be in New Orleans on Wednesday to observe the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the White House has announced.

It provided no details of the president's itinerary. The visit will be Bush's 13th to the New Orleans area since Hurricane Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005.

Be sure to read at least a few of the comments to Alpert's story to get an idea of what the folks in New Orleans think of his visit.

In the comments to my post about attending the Rising Tide Conference 2 in New Orleans, Cynthia asked about A Day of Presence:

Massive demonstration on August 29 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans

Mimi, will you be going?

I did not know about this demonstration, but now I can say for sure that I will not be going, because whole portions of the way into the city will very likely be blocked off, because of Bush's visit. As I noted in this post, our president does not like to see demonstrations of dissenting views. We'll see what happens with the demonstrators if Bush is going to be anywhere near the Morial Convention Center.

One of the writers in the panel discussion at Rising Tide 2 said that the people of New Orleans thought that they had a democratic contract with their government to care for them in a time of great trouble, but they now know that there is no such contract. Those in the rest of the country must know that the same thing could happen to them - they could be abandoned by their government when they are most in need. When I can find this woman's name, I will pass it on.

So. It's Bush's 13th visit. Mr President, the folks in New Orleans need more than your presence. The people of New Orleans need you to honor the democratic contract that they thought they had with their government.

Rising Tide Conference 2

I will be gone most of today to the Rising Tide Conference 2 for talks, panel discussion groups, and general information on the recovery in New Orleans from Katrina and the flood. I'll be meeting up again with Scout Prime from First Draft and the New Orleans bloggers who have doing such a great job of filling us in on the local scene - what's happening and what's not happening and should be happening in the recovery, and giving us the inside skinny on our corrupt politicians. I'll probably say more about it when I return.

Have a great Saturday!

From St. Iranaeus - Not On His Feast Day

Jan at Yearning For God has a lovely quote from St. Iranaeus which I will shamelessly steal:

It is not you who shapes God, it is God who shapes you.
If then you are the work of God, await the hand of the artist
Who does all things in due season.
Offer God your heart, soft and tractable,
And keep the form in which the artist has fashioned you.
Let your clay be moist,
Lest you grow hard and lose the imprint of God's fingers.

Irenaeus, 2nd Century Bishop

Jan, I hope that you don't mind.

On A Roll - Woof, Woof!

I'm sending you on lots of errands, but our friend, Clumber, an old dog, who's sometimes good, but sometimes gets into mischief, is a master at photoshopping. Don't ask me how he does it with his paws, but he does.

He is on a roll at Barkings of an Old Dog, if you'd like to indulge in a few irreverent laughs.

The Jena Six

Ormonde Plater at Through the Dust has a post today on the Jena six with a YouTube clip from NBC.