No Tutu - Yes Coulter

Image from Wiki.

From Pioneer Press:

Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu will speak on a St. Paul campus next spring about peace and peacemaking - but it won't be at the University of St. Thomas.

St. Thomas leaders chose not to bring Tutu to campus after hearing concerns about "hurtful" comments he's made about Israel that might offend local Jews, a university official confirmed Wednesday.

The youth group that wanted Tutu at St. Thomas moved its conference to Metropolitan State University, where the Nobel laureate will lecture April 11.

St. Thomas' loss is surely Metropolitan's gain. Look at the picture. How could you disinvite that man?

St. Thomas has invited controversial speakers before. Two years ago, conservative author and commentator Ann Coulter came to the campus to speak about her book, "Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right," an appearance that required extra security.
....

Marv Davidov, an adjunct professor at St. Thomas, was incensed by the decision.

"I think the Israeli lobby in our country has been attempting to silence criticisms of Israel in the academic world. That does a disservice to the state of Israel and all Jews," said Davidov, 76, who said he experienced anti-Semitism as a child in Detroit.

He said anyone who criticizes Israel for treatment of Palestinians, and for tactics such as demolishing homes of suspected terrorists, ends up labeled as anti-Semitic.

Not only that, but Professor Cris Toffolo, who was chair of the Justice and Peace Studies program was removed from her position as chair. Because she is a tenured professor, she could not be fired.

What can the administrators be thinking? Desmond Tutu is a giant of a man, a living saint, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. They look very foolish.

Note: It appears that you may now have to register to read the article in the Pioneer Press, but you can read the story at Minnesota Public Radio.

Thanks to Juan Cole for the tip.

"A Saint Has Died"

From Ormonde at Through the Dust:

A saint has died.

The Rev. William P. Richardson, 98, rector of St George's, New Orleans, from 1953-1976, died peacefully last night at 10:48 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. George’s on Monday, Oct. 8, at noon.

Among the gay community in the United States, Bill Richardson is honored as a hero.

Go read why he is a hero - and he is a true hero.

God Speaks From The Freeway

From the AP via AZ Central:

RENO, Nev. - Carla Dupree says God is trying to tell her that five kids is enough. That's after No. 5 was born at a freeway offramp.

Dupree, 29, said her mother-in-law was driving her from Sparks to a Reno hospital on Saturday when Jayden Dupree took things into his own hands.

"I had him on the freeway," she said. "This is the last one. God is telling me something."

Louisiana Shortchanged

From the Baton Rouge Advocate:

WASHINGTON — Louisiana was shortchanged in funding for a pilot program to build so-called Katrina Cottages as a disaster-housing alternative, the investigative arm of Congress concluded.

The Government Accountability Office, in a report issued earlier this week, said the state could have received almost double the $74.5 million it has been slated had the agency overseeing the program used a more fair formula.
....

Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the congressional delegation cried foul, noting that Louisiana suffered more than three times the housing damage in hurricanes Katrina and Rita than Mississippi.

The GAO finding was similar to a report issued earlier this year by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which includes FEMA.

Andy Kopplin, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, pointed out Wednesday that the report showed FEMA ignored the recommendations of its own panel of 11 experts when issuing the awards.

Of course, none of this has anything to do with the fact that Mississippi has a Republican governor, Haley Barbour - a Bush crony, actually - and Louisiana has a Democratic governor. No politics in operation here. Nothing to see. Move along now.

That money is gone, spent. The only hope:

A spokesman for [Sen. Mary] Landrieu said Wednesday that the state has little recourse as it pertains to the December award but may benefit if the federal government agrees that the cottage pilot is the best disaster housing alternative.

Feast Of St. Francis Of Assisi

Padre Mickey has a beautiful post on the life of St. Francis. I'm going to give away Padre's ending, because I like it so much:

The life of St. Francis is proof that, if one is to be great, one must be the servant of others. May all of us look to the life of St. Francis and see God in the faces of the least among us.

He's gone all out and given us a poem about Francis, too.

James Kiefer at the Lectionary quotes Dante's Paradiso on Aquinas' words from the poem about Francis:

Let me tell you of a youth whose aristocratic father disowned him because of his love for a beautiful lady. She had been married before, to Christ, and was so faithful a spouse to Him that, while Mary only stood at the foot of the Cross, she leaped up to be with Him on the Cross. These two of whom I speak are Francis and the Lady Poverty. As they walked along together, the sight of their mutual love drew men's hearts after them. Bernard saw them and ran after them, kicking off his shoes to run faster to so great a peace. Giles and Sylvester saw them, kicked off their shoes and ran to join them....

READINGS:

Psalm 148:7-14 or 121
Galatians 6:14-18
Matthew 11:25-30

PRAYER

Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace gladly to renounce the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may for love of you delight in your whole creation with perfect joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Image from the Lectionary.

UPDATE: I recommend God's Fool: The Life and Times of Francis of Assisi, by Julien Green for a good biography of Francis of Assisi.

UPDATE 2: From Jane in the comments, "That is a stained glass window from Taizé! I love it. Thank you for posting it." Thanks for the information, Jane.

Words Too Good to Be Hidden Away

A quote from Dorothy Sayers set Magdalene, from Magdalene's Musings, to musing on the experience of tension in serving as both prophet and pastor. It's well worth a read. Here's the link and a bit of wisdom from a former mentor of hers, "They are treading the thin line between prophet and pastor. They neglect either one at their peril." Read the rest.

In the comments to that post, I found words too good to be hidden away:

MadPriest said...

The pastoral role validates and informs the prophetic role. Unless you are prepared to spend most of your time visiting people in their homes, sitting with the dying etc. and listening to people, your prophetic voice will be nothing but your own voice and will be just yourself moaning about your own concerns. Visiting is not regarded as a primary concern by so many priests nowadays and this may account for the lack of ordinary prophesy at parish level and beyond.

Good words, aren't they? Sometimes the mad among us speak the sanest words.

My Conversation With Bishop Katharine

In September, Bishop Katharine participated in the consecration of the new - and young, aged 32 - bishop of Western Pennsylvania, Sean Rowe. My good virtual friend Pseudopiskie sang in the choir for the event and posted wonderful pictures of at her blog Mom Said Nobody Cares.

Piskie also posted pictures from the rehearsal for the consecration on the day before. In the comments you will see that I had a few words to say:

Grandmère Mimi said...

Should I say this? Probably not, but I will anyway. I wish that Bishop Katharine would occasionally wear a skirt.
September 8, 2007 1:31 PM
PseudoPiskie said...

Mimi: I'll ask her about it tomorrow.
September 8, 2007 4:28 PM
Grandmère Mimi said...

Well, Pseudo, I did not know that you two were on such intimate terms. Lucky you.

I admire her so, but I'd like to see a variation on what appear to be men's pants and suits. But who am I to comment on something as trivial as her manner of dress? I suppose she wears what she's comfortable in....

So. I find that Piskie's going to ask her about why she wears what she wears.

Then Piskie put up a post just for me - for my information.

For Grandmère Mimi

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori seldom wears a dress. She started wearing pants when she started to fly because dresses presented problems. She is more comfortable in pants. Her grey suit today was masculine. No, Mimi, I don't know her that well but I have talked to her quite a bit in the last two days. For me it has been a thrill having her here.

OK, I have that. Of course, Bishop Katharine can wear whatever she likes, right?

I know that some of you may be wondering why I'm running on about the PB's clothes, but hang with me. I will make an important point.

When Piskie found out that I was going to Christ Church Cathedral to attend the Eucharist in which Bishop Katharine would be presiding and preaching, she said this:

PseudoPiskie said...

I so wish you would have the opportunity to talk to ++Katharine! And tell her you are the person who asked about dresses. If you think she is impressive in procession, you need to meet her in person.

There you have it, folks. Did I have a choice about the subject of my conversation with the PB, if I had the opportunity to talk to her? I think not. Piskie forced me to talk to her about clothes. Of course, clothing styles is the subject that is uppermost in the minds of most thinking women anyway. Am I right?

Now when I tell folks I met with Bishop Katharine and chatted with her for a few minutes, I get profound questions like, "Did you call her Bishop Katharine Zeta-Jones?" and, "What did you talk to her about?" I can answer, "No!" and "Clothes!"

I said, "Welcome to Louisiana, Bishop Katharine." Then I went on, quite lamely, IMHO, to say, "Remember in Pennsylvania when Pseudopiskie asked you why you didn't wear dresses? I was the person who wanted to know." She smiled graciously at my lameness and told me that yes, she was more comfortable in pants, but that she does sometimes wear skirts.

That's the scoop. That's the gist of our conversation, because others were waiting to talk to her, and I had to move along. No talk of deep theology or the crisis in the Episcopal Church, just clothes.

Watch out for future "Skirt alerts!".

One of my questioners said, "That was probably refreshing and a great relief from the heavy conversations." That could be true. I hope it was.

Anyway, Piskie made me do it.

Virtual September

Bill, at Not Quite Dead Poet, left this poem in my comments, and I thought it was too good to have hidden away. He very kindly gave me permission to post it. Thank you, Bill.

Virtual September

Through your words
I see angels fall from pillars of flame,
but cannot taste your salted tears.

Through your words
I hear the chaos of a thousand souls,
but not one of your choked sobs.

Through your words
I touch the broken shards, pick through the scraps of paper,
scraps of lives. But My hands are empty,
My hands are clean.

Is it the same for the leaders of terror and war,
Too far to see or hear or feel.
Too far removed, too distant, too un-real, too un-real.


Bill – Sept 27th, 2002

Church Of All Souls

For some time, I have been trying to put together a post on the Church of All Souls in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans.

From Episcopal News Service:

In a part of New Orleans that is still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, a new sign of hope has appeared.

In the midst of the Lower Ninth Ward, the Diocese of Louisiana and the Church of the Annunciation in New Orleans have launched a mission station named the Church of All Souls to minister to the many working class families who are trying to return to their homes -- where some have lived for generations.

Located downriver from the Industrial Canal, the lower Ninth Ward received between four to 20 feet of floodwater following Katrina.

The Rev. Shola Falodun, an Anglican priest from Nigeria who moved to the United States to be a missionary to African Anglicans, began assisting with the relief work in the diocese immediately after the hurricane. He helped deliver supplies through the diocesan Mobile Ministry Respite Unit, a recreational vehicle that carried necessary items to the lower Ninth Ward on a regular basis.

Fr. Shola visited our parish as a supply priest on a couple of occasions while we were searching for a rector. He preaches lively sermons and likes a response from the folks in the pews, perhaps as proof that we're not sleeping through the sermon. Take my word for it. His sermons are not the kind that would be likely to put us to sleep. We're not accustomed to the call and response type sermon at my church, but we tried - somewhat lamely, I'm afraid.

When he visited us, he was trying to get his green card to establish permanent residency and bring his wife over to New Orleans from Nigeria. I hope that by now he has his card, and his wife is with him.

While Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was in New Orleans, he visited the site of a former Walgreens pharmacy, which will be renovated and used for church services by the congregation of All Souls.

From Webwire.

Arriving after an all-day session with the House of Bishops at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown New Orleans, Williams visited one of two mobile respite care units that had made their routine stop in the parking lot of the former Walgreens. He also briefly toured the inside of the building before speaking to the members of All Souls and other neighborhood residents.
....

"I want you to know that the Anglican church worldwide knows about you, cares about you, prays for you and we won’t leave you alone" he said.
....

The Diocese of Louisiana and the Church of the Annunciation in New Orleans launched the Church of All Souls as a mission station to minister to the many working-class families who are trying to return to their homes.
....

[Fr. Shola] Falodun proposed planting a church and received the diocese’s blessing to start All Soul’s. Falodun has said he chose the name to honor the new souls who will be coming to worship and those souls who were lost in Katrina’s waters. When it began, the church was housed in the garage of a parishioner during a time when few homes on the street were occupied. The congregation now rents space at a nearby Baptist church.

"If we are here, we are a light to the world" he told reporters September 20, adding that the light of Christ could banish the darkness felt in the neighborhood since Katrina and her aftermath.

Such efforts, Jenkins said, are part of the diocese’s new-founded role in racial reconciliation in the city and the state. There was a diocesan presence earlier in the day in Jena, Louisiana, at a rally that drew some 60,000 people to protest the treatment of six black teenagers arrested in the beating of a white schoolmate last year.

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.