The Feast Day of Lancelot Andrewes

From James Kiefer at the Lectionary:

Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626), Bishop of Winchester, was on the committee of scholars that produced the King James Translation of the Bible, and probably contributed more to that work than any other single person. It is accordingly no surprise to find him not only a devout writer but a learned and eloquent one, a master of English prose, and learned in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and eighteen other languages.

Before the day was done, I had to write about Lancelot Andrewes - and don't you love that extra "e" in his family name? - because I read a wonderful book called God's Secretaries, by Adam Nicolson, on the history of the writing of the King James Bible.

In my humble opinion, the KJB is a literary masterpiece. I'm told by those who know more than I that the translation is not as accurate as later versions, and I believe them, but the literary quality of the language is unmatched by any subsequent translation.

Imagine! A literary masterpiece written by a committee! However, the author says that the masterpiece came forth precisely because of its being written by a committee of scholars.

As Nicolson says:

The translation these men made together can lay claim to be the greatest work of prose ever written in English. That it should be the creation of a committee of people no one has ever heard of - and who were generally unacknowledged at the time - is the key to its grandeur. It is not the poetry of a single mind, nor the effusion of a singular vision, nor even the product of a single moment, but the child of an entire culture stretching back to the great Jewish poets and storytellers of the Near Eastern Bronze Age. That sense of an entirely embraced and reimagined past is what fuels this book.

Thanks be to God for Andrewes and the fellow members of the committee. The KJB served the church well for many a year. Now we have superior translations, but nothing even close to it in quality of expression.

READINGS:

Psalm 63:1-8 or 34:1-8
1 Timothy 2:1-7a
Luke 11:1-4

PRAYER (traditional language)

O Lord and Father, our King and God, by whose grace the Church was enriched by the great learning and eloquent preaching of thy servant Lancelot Andrewes, but even more by his example of biblical and liturgical prayer: Conform our lives, like his, we beseech thee, to the image of Christ, that our hearts may love thee, our minds serve thee, and our lips proclaim the greatness of thy mercy; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

UPDATE: Since I have seen references to Lancelot Andrewes as a "prayer warrior", I have included one of his prayers.

Faith

Coming unto God,
I believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him:
I know that my Redeemer liveth;
that He is the Christ the Son of the Living God;
that He is indeed the Saviour of the world;
that He came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am chief.
Through the grace of Jesus Christ
we believe that we shall be saved
even as our fathers withal.
I believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.

My Response To The HOB Statement

Last night, I reacted to the statement of the House of Bishops in the comments of other bloggers, such as Richard at Caught By the Light and Fr. Jake at Fr. Jake stops the World. In the light of the morning, what I said last night deep in the comments does not look bad, so I hope that Richard and Fr. Jake don't mind if I steal my own words.

From Caught By the Light:

Grandmère Mimi said...

"Richard, I spent today in a glum mood, because the number of troops that have died in Iraq turned the 3800 corner and because I expected the statement that actually did come out of the HOB meeting.

They cannot have it both ways regarding our LGBT brothers and sisters.

They cannot say this:

We proclaim the Gospel that in Christ all God's children including gay and lesbian persons, are full and equal participants in the life of Christ's Church.

and this:

'to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion.' The House acknowledges that non-celibate gay and lesbian persons are included among those to whom B033 pertains.

and this:

We, the members of the House of Bishops, pledge not to authorize for use in our dioceses any public rites of blessing of same-sex unions until a broader consensus emerges in the Communion, or until General Convention takes further action.

and expect us to believe that the first statement and the two latter statements can be true at the same time.

That they probably could not have done very much more, makes it no easier to swallow.

Just as with the war in Iraq, in which only the troops and their families and friends pay a price and are asked to sacrifice, with the rest of us living our lives as usual, so too, with the HOB. What sacrifice do the bishops make, even as they ask their GLTB brothers and sisters to bear the brunt of the sacrifice?"

8:15 PM, September 25, 2007

And then, when I read at Fr. Jake's that some of my virtual gay and lesbian friends felt that this was the last straw and that they would be heading out of the Episcopal Church, I issued this plea from my heart. I don't blame them at all, and I have no right to ask them to sacrifice themselves, but I did anyway:

From Fr. Jake Stops the World:

"...all of you GLTB folks here, you should not have to ask for recognition of your humanity. It's unconscionable. And that this request comes from those who are responsible to God as your shepherds makes it all the worse.

I won't tell you what to do, but I will tell you that I need you to stay. It's your choice whether to stay or whether to go, but I will be diminished if you go.

I believe this fight is for now and for those who come after. Time is on our side - maybe not enough time for many of us as individuals - but as MLK said, 'The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice.'

We need your help in the fight. You are witnesses as I can never be a witness. I have not ever experienced cruelty or prejudice as you have. I have only your words and your presence to bear witness for me."

Grandmère Mimi | Homepage | 09.25.07 - 9:53 pm | #

A Healing Service

On Sunday, I missed a healing service at my church, because I went to Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans for the Eucharist at which Bishop Katharine presided and preached. I'm sorry I was not able to be at St. John's.

From the Daily Comet:

THIBODAUX - The words were hard for the shepherd to say and even harder for his flock to hear.

“We must pray for Derrick Odomes,” said Ed Robertson, pastor of St. John Episcopal Church, during the second of two services Sunday morning.

Robertson’s words contained the sort of compassion generally reserved for a sick church member, not someone accused of killing a former pastor.

Fr. Ed is right. We must pray for Derrick Odomes.

After the service, Horgan’s sister said her brother believed in forgiveness and true healing can only begin if people apply his teachings to their own lives.

Those are beautiful words from Kay Hardee, and I do believe that Fr. Horgan would have counseled forgiveness.

In The Lord's Prayer, we say, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us...." It seems to me that we ask God to forgive us in the same way that we forgive others. They're hard words to bear, but Jesus, himself, taught us to pray this prayer.

For purely selfish reasons, I believe that forgiveness is a good thing. As we harbor unforgiveness, it eats away inside us. If, by the grace of God, we let it go, we are healed from its ill effects.

Robertson told his congregation to pray for Odomes, citing a verse from the Bible’s first chapter of Timothy that says “pray for them all without distinction.”

“It might be a bitter pill to swallow, but that which saves our enemy saves us too,” Robertson said.

Amen.

My prayer for the relatives and friends of Hunter Horgan and for the congregation at St. John - for everyone who loved him and misses him - is that "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

"Attention must be paid!"

Once again it is my sad duty to take note of another corner turned. According to Iraq Casualty Count 3800 American troops have been killed in Iraq, with the numbers of wounded standing at 36,943, and 122 dead from self-inflicted wounds. I keep the turning of the 100s.

That's not counting those wounded in mind and spirit, many of whom get less than optimum care once they return home. That's not counting the large percentage of families broken by divorce among those who have served.

According to Iraq Body Count between 73,606 – 80,224 Iraqis have been killed in the war. I have seen other numbers, but all are estimates, therefore, for today, I will go with these.

All these casualties for what?

"Attention must be paid!"

For those who have died:

Deliver your servants, O Sovereign Lord Christ, from all evil, and set them free from every bond; that they may rest with all your saints in the eternal habitations; where with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, forever and ever. Amen. "Book of Common Prayer" (paraphrase)

For those who have been wounded in body, mind, or spirit:

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servants the help of your power, that their sicknesses may be turned into health, and their sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. "Book of Common Prayer" (paraphrase)
....

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

"Episcopal Leaders Consider Barring...Gays"

From Yahoo News:

By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer Sun Sep 23, 6:30 PM ET

NEW ORLEANS - As Episcopal leaders consider barring more gays from becoming bishops to prevent an Anglican schism, the world Anglican family is already dying by a thousand cuts.

We shall see, Rachel.

This is the part of the article that I wanted to highlight:

The strain on Anglican relations with other Christians was clear at an ecumenical service in the Morial Convention Center here Thursday night with the archbishop of Canterbury and Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Catholic Archbishop Alfred Hughes of New Orleans didn't attend. A spokeswoman for Hughes said he had a scheduling conflict and that Baton Rouge Catholic Bishop Robert Muench was participating in his place. But Muench sat in the audience so far back from the stage that few people knew he was there until an Episcopal leader asked him to stand up and wave.

This is no small snub. Anglicans and Catholics have been in high-level negotiations for years to rebuild ties between their churches. Those talks have been complicated not only by Robinson's election, but also by the ordination of women in Anglican provinces.

At the time, it seemed kind of funny. Perhaps Bishop Meunch thought his presence would not be noted, but I wonder if this could be a story manufactured by the press. It did not occur to me that this was a major snub, but perhaps it was.

Anyway, I don't care if it was. I'm tired of reading about Episcopal bishops and Anglican archbishops begging for scraps at Rome's door. Give it up, please. The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church believe that theirs is the only true church, and they are not ready to accept other Christian denominations as equals. Let them be.

Ephraim Radner has the final word:

If Anglicanism continues on the path of slow but steady splintering, it will effectively do as much harm as a formal schism. Anglicans in Africa, who derive much of their stature from their global ties, will become just another church. The 2.2 million-member Episcopal Church, which has played such a central role in U.S. history, will also be marginalized.

"If that happens, people will say, `This wasn't much of a church anyway,'" said Ephraim Radner, an evangelical Anglican and a theology professor at Wycliffe College in Toronto. "The results will be the disappearance and dissolution of Anglicans as a whole in North America."

So. The Episcopal Church may be marginalized. Maybe on the margins is a good place to be. Maybe we stand closer to Jesus Christ when we are marginalized.

Lord, have mercy on the House of Bishops

Lord, have mercy on us all.

Bishop Robinson Preaches At Grace Church

Bishop Gene Robinson and a number of other bishops were missing at the service at Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday, because they were preaching elsewhere in the vicinity of New Orleans.

From the Times-Picayune in New Orleans:

As the leadership of the Episcopal Church meets in New Orleans to confront dissension over the role of gays in religious life, the church's first openly gay bishop gave a sermon at a liberal church on Canal Street focused on the inclusiveness of divine love.
....

Although Robinson occupies the center of the controversy, he did not use the sermon he gave at Grace Episcopal Church on Sunday to advocate for the rights of gay ministers. The sermon, rooted in the Gospel of Luke, nonetheless conveyed his view that the church should embrace outsiders who live "on the edges of acceptable society."
....

His sermon turned on two points: The church should offer a haven for sinners and outsiders who want to repent, and it should be a place where the faithful can come to renew and recharge their commitment to seeing justice done in the world.

"You and I are called to take a risk, trusting in God who loves us beyond all our imagination," Robinson said.

Amen. We are.

Members of Grace Episcopal Church expressed pride Sunday that Robinson would make a guest appearance at their parish, and they sent him off with a rousing rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In," complete with a second line-style processional led by the rector, the Rev. Walter Baer.

The congregation of Grace Church and its rector are full of grace.

Baer called Robinson "an icon of the inclusive nature of the Episcopal Church," but he said he was not surprised that the prelate kept his sermon focused on the Gospels rather than on the church politics at hand.

"His being the lightning rod for all this controversy is secondary to his being a bishop and pastor," Baer said.

It's not at all surprising to me that Bishop Robinson preached the Gospel of love, rather than advocate for church politics.

Padre Xico Speaks

From Luiz at Wandering Christian:

FYI

The Secretary-General of the Province of Brazil has written about the
Anglican Covenant. That's an interesting piece. Too bad I don't have
many people's addresses to send it to.

Here's the link at KANTINHO DO REV.

We need only a kind of Covenant. Each Christian is sealed in Baptismal liturgy to be a signal of love, peace and justice, continuing the ministry of Jesus. Each Christian is demanded to share body and blood to transform the world in a place where all humankind feel the presence of God. Each Christian is invited to promote the inclusion of all excluded to the great Lord’s banquet.
....

The instruments of unity gradually established: Archbishop of Canterbury, Lambeth Conference, Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates’ Meeting never were seen as canonical rulers with authority to exclude anyone. The links were more heartfelt tha[n] legal. Collegiality and the shared authority were a common and truly accepted spirit of communion.

What Kind Of Wine Are You?

You Are Chardonnay

Fresh, spirited, and classic - you have many facets to your personality. You can be sweet and light. Or deep and complex. You have a little bit of something to offer everyone... no wonder you're so popular. Approachable and never smug, you are easy to get to know (and love!). Deep down you are: Dependable and modest Your partying style: Understated and polite Your company is enjoyed best with: Cold or wild meat

What Kind of Wine Are You?

How much do I love this? Let me count the ways.

I'm not much of a chardonnay drinker, but I'll take the results of the survey in a heartbeat. Only four questions? They can tell this much about me with four questions? What's with the "Cold or wild meat" business?

Thanks to Padre Mickey for the link.

The Presence Of The Lord

Image from Episcopal Life

Bright and early yesterday morning, I was up and out, headed for New Orleans to attend the Sunday service at Christ Church Cathedral, at which Bishop Katharine presided and preached. That was a sacrificial act on my part, because I am no longer an up-and-out person early in the morning.

On the way, I prayed for a safe trip, that I would find a place to park, not too far away from the cathedral - which has no parking facilities - and that I would get a seat in the cathedral. Does anyone else pray about these sorts of things? Anyway, all my prayers were answered - or not. Maybe all that would have happened anyway.

Christ Church Cathedral is a Gothic-style structure with beautiful stained glass, built in the 1880s. You can view the building and the glass in this photo gallery.

Bishop Jenkins, Dean DuPlantier, the choir, the musicians, and everyone who planned and worked with the arrangements for the service did a terrific job. The cathedral looked beautiful. We had a sung Eucharist and smells and bells. For those among you who are uninitiated into the mysteries of Episcopal Church liturgy, the smells are incense, and the hand bells ring to highlight important parts of the liturgy.

Bishop Katharine wore the vestments that were designed for her installation ceremony as presiding bishop. They are lovely, and I was pleased to see them up close. Her sermon is here.

She spoke of Philander Chase, whose feast we celebrated yesterday. He was the founder of Christ Church Parish in New Orleans, and he went on, after many travels, to become presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. She spoke of trumpets, trumpeting the Gospel, traveling light, for folks in Louisiana, traveling lighter than they believed possible, and getting in the line.

When the saints go marching in, it's going to be with every last one of us. This procession is going down to the grave, and it's going to dance away on the other side, but only when we join the traveling throng. None of us is going home until all of us have a place to lay our heads, and music for our grieving hearts, and a feast for the belly and for the soul. When the saints go marching in, it's going to be with every last one of us."

Can you imagine how much I liked these words?

During the Offertory, Irvin Mayfield, Jr. played "Amazing Grace" on the Elysian Trumpet.

The Elysian Trumpet, hand-built by David Monette, the modern master of trumpet design, is dedicated to the memory of Irvin Mayfield, Sr. and all of the victims of Hurricane Katrina.


The image of the trumpet and information on the instrument is from Elysian Trumpet. There's much more on the story of the trumpet at the website.

The trumpet produced the sweetest sound I have heard come out of a horn - ever. And I have heard many trumpets. Mayfield played the most magnificent "Amazing Grace" that I have been priveliged to hear. Two such superlatives, one after the other, may be hard to believe, but they are true. I was crying during his performance. What heart! What an instrument!

But it wasn't all about pretty vestments, good music, and heavenly trumpet sounds. The words of this hymn came to mind during a quiet period after communion:

Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place
I can feel His mighty power and His grace
I can hear the brush of angels wings
I see glory on each face
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place

The Lord was powerfully present, and for that I give thanks.

After the service, we were invited to a reception in the parish hall with very tasty refreshments. Many of the bishops were not at the service Sunday, because they were visiting around at churches in the area. Someone pointed out Bonnie Anderson (president of the House of Deputies) to me, and we talked for a few minutes. She said she had been well received by the groups she met with in Dallas and Fort Worth, except, of course, for Bishop Iker, who was rudely on her case for crossing the Texas state line. She's a lay person. Why does she need his permission to visit Texas? She told me that one parish from either Dallas or Fort Worth had moved from the Network back to the Episcopal Church.

Then I spotted Bishop Katharine. I made my way over to her and spoke with her only briefly, because others were waiting to talk to her. She is warm and easy to talk to. I have not agreed with everything our PB has said and done, and I will likely not in the future, but I do believe that GC03 made the proper choice when she was elected. She is a woman for this season in the Episcopal Church.

Upon reflection, I'm glad that I attended the two religious services rather than the bishops' meetings - not that I could have. Both the services were uplifting. I doubt that the meetings were, but perhaps - and that is my hope - God will turn them to good.

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Remaking Myself

How often does a person get to remake oneself in old age? Not very often, right? Well, I'm going to do it.

My nom de blog is Grandmère Mimi. My real name is June Butler, as most of you know by now, since I had to out myself at the Episcopal Café in order to write there. My blog name will continue to be Grandmère Mimi; I'm not switching to my real name for the blog.

I have never liked my given name. It was not cool ever, not even when I was young. Sorry, Mother dear, forgive me. I know you will, because you are in that better place where forgiveness flows freely.

For you, my new virtual friends, so there won't be confusion, I have a request: please call me Mimi. I like that better than June - much better. My grandchildren and my daughter-in-law call me Mimi, so I do answer to the name. When we meet in person, if you call out Mimi, I won't look around to see who you're calling for. I will answer. Thank you.

The service this morning, at which Bishop Katharine presided and preached, was wonderful, and I am going to write about it - just not tonight. I'm tired. Tomorrow.

REMEMBER: MI CHIAMANO MIMI!