On Killing From Afar

From a correspondent:

On my last visit to the library I happened upon a book by Arturo Perez-Reverte entitled "The Sun Over Breda". A novel set in the 17th century about the Spaniards invading Flanders. After a very graphic description of the carnage of a battle scene, the main character comes away with:

"He who kills from afar knows nothing at all about the
act of killing. He who kills from afar derives no
lesson from life or from death; he neither risks nor
stains his hands with blood, nor hears the breathing
of his adversary, nor reads the fear, courage, or
indifference in his eyes. He who kills from afar
tests neither his arm, his heart, nor his conscience,
nor does he create ghosts that will later haunt him
every single night for the rest of his life. He who
kills from afar is a knave who commends to others the
dirty and terrible task that is his own. He who kills
from afar is worse than other men, because he does not
know anger, loathing, and vengenance, the terrible
passion of flesh and of blood as they meet steel, but
he is equally innocent of pity and remorse. For that
reason, he who kills from afar does not know what he
has lost."

Do you think President Bush would consider that this passage may describe him?

My answer was that Bush would never consider that this passage applies to him. In my opinion, he would be shocked by the suggestion.

Feast Day Of Remigius Of Rheims

Saint Remigius baptizes Clovis I, by the Master of Saint Gilles, c. 1500 (National Gallery of Art, Washington)

Image from Wiki.

Remigius was the Bishop and Apostle of the Franks.

From James Keifer at the Lectionary:

A 1987 motion picture, "The Big Easy" (a nickname for the city of New Orleans), and a current (1996) television series of the same name based on it, have as the male lead a Cajun police detective named Remy McSwaine. In the first episode of the series (I am not sure of the film) we are informed that "Remy" is short for "Remington." I fear that this shows that the scriptwriters have not troubled to research Cajun culture. Remi is one of the three great national saints of France (the others are Denis (Dionysius) of Paris and Joan of Arc, or Joan the Maid (Jeanne la Pucelle)), and it is thoroughly natural for a Cajun to be named Remi. How is that for a topical introduction?

Well, James Kiefer, that's quite an introduction, especially for an old lady living in Cajunland. I love it.

Remi (Latin Remigius) was born about 438 and became bishop of Rheims about 460, at the remarkably young age of 22. (Both he and the city were named for his tribe, the Remi.) In his time, the Roman Empire and the Christian church were jointly faced with a serious practical problem -- the barbarian invasions.

Kiefer goes on to give a capsule history of the of the barbarian invasions and the dispute between the those who followed Athanasius' view that Jesus Christ was truly divine and those who followed Arius and believed that Jesus was the greatest of God's creatures. The Council of Nicea should have settled the matter because the bishops gathered gave overwhelming support to Athanasius' position. However, in the years ahead, despite the decision of the Council, political events worked to give the Arians the upper hand and Arianism spread.

Remegius was an Athanasian.

Then, along came the Franks, another barbarian tribe, led by Clovis, a pagan, who was married to Clotilda, a Christian. Keifer says:

His wife and Bishop Remi (remember him?) spoke to him about the Christian faith, but he showed no particular signs of interest until one day when he was fighting a battle against the Alemanni, and was badly outnumbered and apparently about to lose the battle. He took a vow that if he won, he would turn Christian. The tide of battle turned, and he won. Two years later, he kept his vow and was baptized by Remi at Rheims on Christmas Day, 496, together with about 3000 of his followers.

Clovis was converted to the Athanasian or orthodox or catholic faith. He brought in priests of the Athanasian persuasion, and thus the orthodox position eventually prevailed throughout Europe.

As Kiefer says:

The conversion of the Franks brought about the conversion of the Visigoths, and eventually (about 300 years later) the empire of Charlemagne and the beginning of the recovery of Western Europe from the earlier collapse of government and of city life under the impact of plague, lead poisoning, currency inflation, confiscatory taxation, multiple invasions, and the assorted troubles of the Dark Ages.

Descendents of Clovis and Clotilda, Bertha and Ethelburga, married the pagan Ethelbert, King of Kent, and the pagan Edwin, King of Northumbria, leading to their conversions, which helped the spread of Christianity to southeastern and northern England.

READINGS:

Psalm 135:13-21 or 103:1-4,13-18
1 John 4:1-6
John 14:3-7

PRAYER

O God, who by the teaching of your faithful servant and bishop Remigius turned the nation of the Franks from vain idolatry to the worship of you, the true and living God, in the fullness of the catholic faith; Grant that we who glory in the name of Christian may show forth our faith in worthy deeds; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

UPDATE: I edited the information beneath the painting at the head of the post.

Diana Is Blessed!

Today, for the first time, we took Diana to the Blessing of the Pets at our church. As you may already know - because I've said it before - Diana hates cats. She really, really hates them.

She's a good dog with people. She has never, ever growled or snapped at a human, not even at my grandchildren when they were young and annoying - not ever. But she is vicious about cats. We were afraid that she would make trouble at the ceremony if cats were present.

We decided to give it a try today, and it worked fine. There were no cats there.

She did embarrass me twice. She pooped on the lawn, and I had forgotten to carry a plastic bag with me, but fortunately another person there had a supply, so I cleaned up.

Then came the real hurt. One member of our church had taken the trouble to make home-made doggie treats, darling little bone-shaped things that looked good enough for humans to eat, and probably were, but DIANA TURNED UP HER NOSE AT THE TREATS! How mortifying.

Anyway, now that God's blessing is upon her, I'm expecting great things. I'm hoping that she will obey us in the future. She has not for nine and one-half years, but Jesus has said all things are possible for those who believe.

Diana was found with an arrow through her leg and taken to the animal rescue folks. After the vet removed the arrow, and she was spayed, the local paper ran a picture of her on the front page.

Our previous dog, Rusty the Wonder Dog, had died of lymphoma about six months before, and when I saw her picture and read her story, I asked my husband if we could adopt her. He agreed, and here she is, nine and a half years later.

If I had a scanner, I'd show you the picture that was in the local paper of me picking her up from the vet. Since the newspaper had showed her looking for a home, they wanted to show her finding a home.

Rush Limbaugh's Phony Soldiers

I've been wanting to write about Alex at Army of Dude. He joined the US Army at the age of 19, and, as most soldiers today, ended up serving in Iraq. His case is unusual in that he began writing a blog while he was on active duty, from basic training on to his time in Iraq.

Alex writes well, well enough to have a career in writing. It is amazing to see his writing skills on his blog improve and develop over time. It's also revealing to see his cynicism about the war in Iraq increase over time during his service there. Thanks to Scout at First Draft, Alex was again brought to my attention.

From Alex:

The Real Deal

Blue Girl directed me to a very interesting story about Rush Limbaugh, who called veterans opposed to the war phony soldiers. Of course, this is the same Rush Limbaugh who threw a fit about the Moveon.org Petraeus ad, calling it "contemptible" and "indecent." Apparently anyone in the military is above criticism as long as they agree with Rush's brave belief that we should be in Iraq "as long as it takes." And I use the term 'we' loosely, as I believe the closest Rush has ever gotten to combat was watching We Were Soldiers with surround sound.
....

You make a good point that people who joined the military during the war knew they were going and shouldn't be against it. As I've seen since I joined in 2004, everyone in the military is gung ho to a certain extent, at least in the beginning of their career. I was part of a large group of new guys who got to a unit that just got back from a year long deployment. After our hazing sessions became less and less frequent in the following months, we listened to the stories all of them were telling, of vicious firefights and rescue missions. We all wanted to do our part, we all wanted to get some too. We were going to see what it was like to take a life. Too bad Rush missed his chance to do so, or maybe he'd be singing a different tune. In 1992, ABC newsman Jeff Greenfield posed a question to Rush, asking if he had ever served in the military during the Vietnam War. Here is what Rush had to say:

"I had student deferments in college, and upon taking a physical, was discovered to have a physical- uh, by virtue of what the military says, I didn't even know it existed- a physical deferment and then the lottery system came along, where they chose your lot by birth date, and mine was high. And I did not want to go, just as Governor Clinton didn't."

And with Rush, isn't everything always about the Clintons? And Clinton was never president, was he?

As Rush found after dropping out of his first year of college at Southeast Missouri State University in 1969-1970, he found himself on draft status. Nothing that a claim of an old football injury or a boil on the ass can take care of, though! The medical deferment he was referring to was a pilonidal cyst, which apparently is a clump of severely ingrown hairs. That barred him from enlistment, and I'm sure he was ecstatic. After all, there was a war on.

Alex has posted pictures of "phony soldiers" he knew in Iraq, and stories about the "phony soldiers":



This was taken on a rooftop during a firefight on March 24 in Baqubah. One guy lost a leg up to his knee and another lost a foot in an IED blast that day. Talk about sacrifices! Out of seven Americans on that rooftop, one is going to reenlist! The rest decided to get out to avoid going to Iraq again, despite what Mike from Olympia, Washington said on your show about what real soldiers say, like "they want to be over in Iraq. They understand their sacrifice, and they're willing to sacrifice for their country." All I see is a bunch of phonies!



This is Chevy in Baghdad. Brian Chevalier was going to reenlist but decided against it before he was killed on March 14 during our first mission in Baqubah. His phony life was celebrated in a phony memorial where everyone who knew him cried phony tears. A phony American flag draped over his phony coffin when his body came home. It was presented to his phony mother and phony daughter.

I would be in awe if I ever met a real life soldier, and not a phony one like Bill, Matt or Brian Chevalier. Thank you, Rush Limbaugh, for telling me the difference. I hope your ass is ok.

How do people like Rush sleep nights? How do they look at themselves in the mirror? How can they show their faces in public?

Please go read Alex's post on the "phony soldiers" that Rush wants to stay in Iraq "as long as it takes". If you have time, read a few of his earlier posts.

Feast Of St. Michael And All Angels - II

Image from Christus Rex.

Since I managed to get the date of the feast day of St. Michael and All Angels wrong, I offer you this icon and links to two bloggers who get it right.

Padre Mickey has a double portion for St. Michael's feast day, a Celtic poem here and a post on angelology here.

Ormonde at Through the Dust has a lovely icon and prayers here.

Mychal Bell Free On Bail

From The Advocate in Baton Rouge:

By SANDY DAVIS
Advocate staff writer

JENA — Mychal Bell walked out of the LaSalle Parish Courthouse into freedom Thursday after being jailed for 10 months for the December beating of a white Jena High School student.
....

Bell was released after Dr. Stephen Ayres, a medical doctor who has clinics in Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Lake Charles, posted the $5,400 needed to get Bell out of jail — or the 12 percent of the $45,000 bond set for Bell’s release.
....

The case of the Jena 6 rocketed to the public eye over the last several months, drawing national and international media attention.

Finally, up to 20,000 people poured into Jena on Sept. 20 from across the country to support Bell and the five other black defendants accused of beating white Jena High School student Justin Barker Dec. 4.

The demonstration was praised because the thousands of people who literally filled the streets of downtown Jena were peaceful.

“There wasn’t even a report that a window was broken,” Sharpton said. “And no one was arrested.”
....

“Mychal Bell still faces charges in juvenile court,” Sharpton said. “But at least it’s on an even playing field now that the charges are in juvenile court.”

Sharpton noted that he was not supporting the reason Bell was arrested.

“We’re not condoning fighting in school,” Sharpton said. “But we can’t have some facing adult charges while others have only been fined.”

Perhaps, you've already heard this news, but I wanted to call attention to this statement by the LaSalle Parish District Attorney, Reed Walters:

“The only way — let me stress that — the only way that I believe that me or this community has been able to endure the trauma that has been thrust upon us is through the prayers of the Christian people who have sent them up in this community,” Walters said.

“I firmly believe and am confident of the fact that had it not been for the direct intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ last Thursday, a disaster would have happened. You can quote me on that.”

It couldn't be that the folks who went to Jena to show support for justice in Mychal Bell's case just wanted a peaceful demonstration. Oh, no. "The only way" that the demonstration went off peacefully is by the direct intervention of Jesus Christ. Otherwise - "disaster". One wonders if it was only the prayers of the white Christian people that brought the Lord to directly intervene.

Tomb of Lancelot Andrewes

One of my correspondents kindly sent me this picture of the tomb and effigy of Lancelot Andrewes, in Southwark Cathedral. I noted Andrewes feast day here.

As he says:

The tomb is in the curiously-named church of St. Mary Overie, now
Southwark Cathedral, directly across the Thames from the city of London
("Overie" apparently derives from "over rhe", the Saxon for "over
water") and close to the recently-reconstructed Globe Theatre.

So. The original name of the church is not derived from women's anatomy.

I have visited Southwark Cathedral on more than one occasion, but I don't remember the tomb and effigy, although I should, since it's striking and colorful. One particular day, I was there specifically to see the William Shakespeare Memorial, since we were headed to a performance of All's Well That Ends Well at the near-by New Globe, a replica (or close to it) of Shakespeare's original Globe Theater.



I wonder about The Bard's recumbent position.

I'm taking such trouble with Lancelot Andrewes, because I have tremendous respect and admiration for the committee that produced the King James Bible translation. I thank King James VI and I for commissioning the work and giving the scholars what they needed to complete the task.

Andrewes also served, in succession, as bishop of Chichester, Ely, and Winchester.

Go Vote At The Church Times

David has sent a notice about a poll at the Church Times on the statement issued by the Episcopal bishops - whether it was an adequate response or not. The other side is winning, as of now, but maybe we can change that. I cast my vote.

Feast Of St. Michael And All Angels

Image from Amazon.

Guardian angels are what I'll speak about today, even though St. Michael is the main man - or, I should say - main angel, the feast day is for all angels. When I attended my Roman Catholic grade school in the 1940s, the illustration above was on the wall in nearly every classroom. Having a mind that wondered - and a wandering eye, too - I'd gaze the guardian angel picture and take comfort from it, that another of God's creatures - assigned directly to me - was watching over me. The angel in the picture was God's messenger to me to say, "I love you and and care for you and watch over you".

I won't go into details - again - about my dysfunctional family life, but my school was a safe and peaceful place for me and the source of much of my moral training. Thanks be to God.

Several years ago, in an antique store, I came across a reproduction of that very same picture, and I was overcome with nostalgia. The store owner must have thought I was a little crazy with my over-the-top "Oohing" and "Aaahing" about the picture. Some things get to you, don't they? Anyway, he made a sale.

My daughter had just given birth to her second son, I bought the picture for him. It hangs in his room, and I still get a good feeling when I look at it. I hope my grandson does, too.

Actually, St. Michael is not really the main angel, since, being only an archangel, he's way down in the angelic choir hierarchy, just above the plain angels.

For information about St. Michael and about angels in general, including the differing opinions on the hierarchy of the choirs of angels, see James Kiefer's post at the Lectionary.

Sometimes, I don't know what I would do without James Kiefer. He calls attention to this hymn which I like very much:

Ye watchers and ye holy ones,
Bright seraphs, cherubim and thrones.
Raise the glad strain, Alleluia.
Cry out, dominions, princedoms, powers,
Virtues, archangels, angel choirs.
Oh, praise Him! Oh, praise Him!
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia.

I have come to the conclusion that the hymns that I like or dislike have very little to do with the theology expressed in the hymn and whether it lines up with my theology.

READINGS:

Eucharistic:
Psalm 103 or 103:19-22
Genesis 28:10-17
Revelation 12:7-12
John 1:47-51

Daily Office:
AM Psalm 8, 148
Job 38:1-7;
Hebrews 1:1-14
PM Psalm 14, 150 or 104;
Daniel 12:1-3 or 2 Kings 6:8-17;
Mark 13:21-27 or Revelation 5:1-14

PRAYER

Everlasting God, who have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

UPDATE: I see that today, Saturday, and not yesterday, is actually the feast day of St. Michael and the angels. Sorry, my mistake. Well, the post is up, so there you are, ahead of everyone else.

A Word From Canon Stevenson

From the Canon to the Ordinary E. Mark Stevenson , of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana:

I must begin by thanking all of those from our diocese, both bishop's staff and volunteers, who put so much of themselves into the logistics of these many days. The people of the Diocese of Louisiana can and should be proud of a terrific Planning Committee.
....

As to the House of Bishop's meeting itself, I feel privileged to say that as canon to the host bishop I was able to witness and participate in a great deal of the day to day functioning of the House. This experience has affected me greatly, and it is to this that I wish to address much of my reflection.

First and foremost, I was (and am still) extremely proud of our bishop. Many might think that I only say this because I work for the man, but I say it because I believe it to be true. Bishop Jenkins is an important leader in the House, and he showed that leadership in key ways at this meeting. He stood before the bishops, the visitors and the press and spoke of mission, Christian sacrifice, the dignity of every human being, the importance of mutual accountability and the importance of our Anglican Communion. When the House seemed to be drifting too far one way or the other, he gathered and participated in coalitions of bishops to help find a way back on track. And when the tension got so high that you could feel it in the air, he broke it open with his quick wit and self-deprecating comments (my favorite: "I feel like I just got hit by a stolen beer truck on the way to the Superdome.")
....

What I experienced included these things: I heard bishops on both sides speak from places of entrenchment and fear of loss, and yet I witnessed many others speak from a place of sacrifice and acknowledgment that it would require the power of God's grace to move us forward. I saw bishops on both sides move further to the extreme, and yet I saw others move ever-so-cautiously from long-held places of comfort to a place of risk. I heard words of encouragement and I heard words of doom. I saw the Episcopal Church and/or the Anglican Communion proclaimed dead, and I saw both alive and vibrant.

I was honored to be able to sit in a room at one point with several bishops, our bishop among them, and listen to men and women with extreme differences of opinion tug and pull at words to deliver to the floor of the House, words that would honor the Gospel and Christ's mission for us as Episcopalians. Contrary to what is being reported on many of the internet blogs or in the media, the statement that was passed at the end of the meeting was not "prepared well in advance," or crafted so as to "buy time" - - it was the result of prayer and consultation and hope and agreement in the face of disagreement, because it was informed and directed by the work of such groups as the one in which I sat. It was informed by bishops - left and right - who said (and I heard them say it) that this will be tough for them back home, but it is important because Christ's Church is important.
....

Two years ago, hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. But from that devastation has come new life and a renewed commitment to the mission and ministry of Christ Jesus in our midst. My prayer is that a rebirth has come to that part of Christ's body known as the Episcopal Church in that very same place, a place where all have come together and joined hands and wills for the work of the Kingdom of God.

COMMENT: As a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, I join with Canon Stevenson to thank Bishop Jenkins and all those who helped plan and carry out the hosting of House of Bishops meeting and other activities associated with the gathering. The two services that I attended - the ecumenical service and the Sunday morning Eucharist at Christ Church Cathedral - were resounding successes. I know that many inside and outside the diocese worked very hard to bring all of this to fruition. I am proud of the leadership and the people in my diocese for their hard work and gracious welcome to all who came to New Orleans.

That the bishops decided to meet in New Orleans and see for themselves the devastation there and in Mississippi is a credit to them. Perhaps it was helpful to them to keep in mind the work of mission in the church. To see pictures of the bishops themselves doing the work of rebuilding is most gratifying.

Canon Stevenson's prayer is my prayer.