Harriet Bedell spent her working life in the Episcopl Church ministering to Native Americans in Oklahoma, Alaska, and Florida. Ormonde at Through the Dust has a splendid biographical post on Harriet, who was truly an amazing woman. The Lectionary website has a biography from The Florida Memory Project.
I love these final words from "The Florida Memory Project" biography:
Bedell emphasized health and education rather than religious conversion in her work with the Seminoles; their spiritual and physical comfort was more important to her than religious conversion, and her work and friendship with the Seminoles of Florida reflected those values.
It appears that Harriet was adept at the practice of liberation theology. By her emphasis on meeting the needs of the people she ministered to first, before preaching to them, she reflected the light of Christ Jesus.
Of her work with the Cheyennes in Oklahoma, Ormonde says:
She threw herself into her work and gradually gained the love and trust of her people. She was adopted into the tribe and given the name of Vicsehia, which means Bird Woman, because she sang, hummed, and whistled constantly while she worked.
Lovely. I'm pleased to note that I am a bird woman, too, but not nearly as accomplished as Harriet in doing the work of God.
Readings:
Psalm 96:1-7
Romans 16:1-2
Matthew 5:1-12
PRAYER
Holy God, you chose your faithful servant Harriet Bedell to exercise the ministry of deaconess and to be a missionary among indigenous peoples: Fill us with compassion and respect for all people, and empower us for the work of ministry throughout the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Epiphany - King Cakes - Party Time
From Mardi Gras Unmasked.
Pictured above is a king cake or gateau du roi, a tradition associated with the feast of the Epiphany, which is celebrated in south Louisiana, French Canada, and France. At king cake gatherings, whoever gets the tiny baby hidden somewhere in the cake must provide the next king cake. The bakers no longer put the baby in the cake, because they fear litigation from folks who choke on it, swallow it, or break a tooth on it. The buyer assumes the liability of putting the baby in the cake. This is what our litigious society has come to.
I was going to write about the Carnival season in New Orleans, but then I found these lovely words from Rmj at Adventus:
Today begins the season of Epiphany: celebrated by some; ignored by others. The "original Christmas," some say. Maybe; maybe not. It is a season separate from Christmas, but related to it; and in France and Cajun Louisiana, it is celebrated itself with King's Cakes and Gateau du Roi and parties and celebrations, right up to Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, when the shriven season takes over and Lent begins. It's the English who called it Shrove Tuesday, and taught that name even to my all but non-liturgical Presbyterian church of childhood, the day to "shreve" the cupboard of fats and oils in preparation for the fastings of Lent. The French Roman Catholics had the better idea: to celebrate the 5 or 6 Sundays of Epiphany, and carry it out right up to the last possible minute, the first stroke of midnight on Ash Wednesday morning. Jesus, tradition says, was born at midnight on Christmas Day. We don't know, so why not sanctify the whole day? So, also, Ash Wednesday begins at midnight, but until then: celebration!
And him a Texan! Besting me at my own game! It's humiliating. But I figured why strain to write something original when I can steal this. No Shrove Tuesday for us. It's Mardi Gras, the party of all parties. And then, but only then, we get serious about Lent.
I love the church seasons, and I like having the season of Epiphany as a prolonged celebration of the Incarnation - of Emmanuel, God with us. Although, as children, we were taught that the greatest feast day was Easter, (a hard sell to the kids) I thought then, and I think now that the Incarnation is the great event. God become one of us! As someone once told me, "Without the Incarnation, there would be no Resurrection!"
Monday, January 7, 2008
Time For Impeachment?
From George McGovern comes an op-ed in the Washington Post. McGovern thinks that Bush is far worse that Nixon, and that it's time for impeachment. I agree, but realistically, I know that it won't happen. McGovern lays out his arguments showing that the grounds for impeachment are far more numerous in the case of Bush-Cheney than for Richard Nixon. The op-ed gives a mini-history of the the Bush-Cheney maladministration's misuse of the powers of the offices of the presidency and vice-presidency.
Amongst all of McGovern's good words, these reached out and grabbed me and made me very sad:
Of course, there seems to be little bipartisan support for impeachment. The political scene is marked by narrow and sometimes superficial partisanship, especially among Republicans, and a lack of courage and statesmanship on the part of too many Democratic politicians. So the chances of a bipartisan impeachment and conviction are not promising.
The Congress won't do its job.
I'm proud to say that, a long time ago, when McGovern ran for president against Nixon and carried only one state, Massachusetts, I voted for him.
Amongst all of McGovern's good words, these reached out and grabbed me and made me very sad:
Of course, there seems to be little bipartisan support for impeachment. The political scene is marked by narrow and sometimes superficial partisanship, especially among Republicans, and a lack of courage and statesmanship on the part of too many Democratic politicians. So the chances of a bipartisan impeachment and conviction are not promising.
The Congress won't do its job.
I'm proud to say that, a long time ago, when McGovern ran for president against Nixon and carried only one state, Massachusetts, I voted for him.
Christian Churches Targeted In Iraq
From Juan Cole at Informed Comment via MAKT006 Business:
In the northern city of Mosul, guerrillas targeted Christian churches with a series of bombings. Some church-goers were injured and there was damage to buildings. The number of Christians in Iraq has probably been halved, from 800,000, by the war.
The churches targeted by bombs on the feast of the Epiphany were the Chaldean Church of St Paul, which suffered no casualties, the Assyrian church of the Virgin Mary, in which four were killed, a monastery, and the Chaldean church of Maskanta, with no casualties.
It's a terrible thing when anyone is killed or wounded in war, but Bush and Blair, two self-proclaimed Christians, launched a war against a country which had not harmed us and failed to protect the small and ancient Christian communities in Iraq, with the result that they are now halved in number compared to before the war, due to killings, kidnappings, and flight.
Pray for peace in Iraq. Pray for the Christians in Iraq.
In the northern city of Mosul, guerrillas targeted Christian churches with a series of bombings. Some church-goers were injured and there was damage to buildings. The number of Christians in Iraq has probably been halved, from 800,000, by the war.
The churches targeted by bombs on the feast of the Epiphany were the Chaldean Church of St Paul, which suffered no casualties, the Assyrian church of the Virgin Mary, in which four were killed, a monastery, and the Chaldean church of Maskanta, with no casualties.
It's a terrible thing when anyone is killed or wounded in war, but Bush and Blair, two self-proclaimed Christians, launched a war against a country which had not harmed us and failed to protect the small and ancient Christian communities in Iraq, with the result that they are now halved in number compared to before the war, due to killings, kidnappings, and flight.
Pray for peace in Iraq. Pray for the Christians in Iraq.
From Kirstin In New Orleans
Kirstin from Barefoot and Laughing is in New Orleans working on a project. This is not her first visit to the city, so she was somewhat prepared for what she'd see on her second visit. I say somewhat prepared, but, no matter how many times you see the devastation, you cannot truly be prepared. Her account of her travels around the city by street car, and by bicycle is at the link above. It's well worth a read. The following words of hers on the Lower Ninth Ward struck me to the heart:
...but the whole time I was in the Lower 9th, I felt like I was staring at the grave of a community. I could almost see the silence. Driving—or biking—around and gawking felt profoundly disrespectful and wrong.
If you come here, I implore you—take the stories home, and tell them. Use the time that you have spent here. Don’t just look, and go on with your lives.
The Lower Ninth is, in a sense, the grave of a community. Thank you, Kirstin, for bearing witness. Thank you for telling the story.
Please go read Kirstin's post.
...but the whole time I was in the Lower 9th, I felt like I was staring at the grave of a community. I could almost see the silence. Driving—or biking—around and gawking felt profoundly disrespectful and wrong.
If you come here, I implore you—take the stories home, and tell them. Use the time that you have spent here. Don’t just look, and go on with your lives.
The Lower Ninth is, in a sense, the grave of a community. Thank you, Kirstin, for bearing witness. Thank you for telling the story.
Please go read Kirstin's post.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Interview With Bishop Katharine - BBC4
A few days ago, I linked to Lisa's post at My Manner of Life on the interview by BBC4 with Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the US, but I want to post the partial transcript of the interview, because, as I said in the comments to another blog, "Mark Bishop Katharine's words. This may be a defining moment....perhaps her words were carefully chosen. It was time. It was way past time."
3. Anonymous Layperson wrote:
[Jefferts-Schori:] The bishop of New Hampshire was duly and canonically elected, and consents received to his election, and duly consecrated. He is a bishop in this church in good standing.
[Interviewer:] It must be a pretty lonely place though to know that no one else quite like you is now going to be elected to be a bishop.
[JS]: Well perhaps not in the immediate future. But he is certainly not alone in being a gay bishop. He is certainly not alone in being a gay partnered bishop. He is alone in being the only gay partnered bishop who’s open about that status.
[I]: In your own church?
[JS]: Within our own church and within the Anglican Communion as a whole.
[I]: And so how do you respond to the fact that in a sense the Episcopal Church, your church, is paying the price for an honesty which other churches, perhaps even the Church of England, aren’t quite prepared to have?
[JS]: Well that’s certainly a significant part of the current conversation. The Episcopal Church lives in a society that values transparency, increasingly values transparency, in all kinds of operations, not just within the church. To have other parts of the Communion express distress at having to have conversations about sexuality, is certainly understandable in terms of different contexts, yet that is where this church has felt led to be and felt led to have conversation, to bring these issues out into the public sphere where we can do public theologizing about them.
[I]: But you seem to be saying there’s a problem if other churches in the Anglican Communion aren’t prepared to be honest about the fact that they too have gay bishops?
[JS]: Well it’s certainly a difficulty in our context. I think there’s a growing understanding in this church of how it can be problematic in other contexts, but there’s certainly a double standard.
[I]: The other issue is in relation to same sex blessings, the notion that the church would have an official service in order bless same sex couples. Again, the Episcopal Church has made this concession, said that there won’t be any authorized rites of blessing for same sex couples, but your opponents say that that’s all very well, but the reality on the ground is that those services are already happening and they continue to happen.
[JS]: Well those services are, yes, are happening in various places including in the Church of England, where my understanding is that there are far more of them happening than there are in the Episcopal Church, at least in the United States.
[I]: But in terms of your own church are you happy to see individual parishes having actual services of blessing for gay couples?
[JS]: That’s a matter for pastoral practice in the congregation and it’s a matter of decision for individual bishops.
[I]: But you’re not saying that those services shouldn’t be happening at all in any Episcopalian parish?
[JS]: That’s not a matter for me to say yea or nay, it’s a matter of pastoral practice in individual congregations, in the same way that I don’t enter into decisions about whether or not it’s appropriate to bless a fleet of battleships going off to war.
[I]: There are those who would just say its not good enough to, on the one hand say that the official position is these must not happen, and then on the other to be so open about the fact that they do happen at the local level.
[JS]: Our church, in the Episcopal Church, functions rather differently than some other parts of the Communion. The complaints that we should withdraw because we’ve done something that’s inappropriate often come from portions of the Communion where decisions are made fairly unilaterally, often by bishops, and I think a part of the controversy that’s often not recognized has to do with this different way of coming to theological conclusions and not looking alone to bishops to make policy and set decisions.
[I]: Is it possible for the Episcopal Church to continue to welcome and celebrate the role of lesbian and gay people and stay in the Anglican Communion in the same capacity?
[JS]: We’re in a challenging place. I certainly hope that we’re able to move through this. My hope is that the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole might remember our roots, our traditional valuing of diversity and our traditional sense that worshiping together despite differing views is what holds us together.
[I]: Of course for the Anglican Communion one of those rare gatherings of all bishops together is coming up in 2008, the Lambeth Conference. Some African churches are saying that if the Episcopal Church is allowed to attend, given what its done in relation to Gene Robinson, given what it perhaps doesn’t quite enforce in relation to gay blessings, that there really shouldn’t be a place at the table, as it were, for the Episcopal Church. How do you respond to those complaints?
[JS]: Well that feels to me much like declining an invitation to a dinner party because somebody I don’t like might be there. My understanding of the planned program for the Lambeth Conference is one that has the possibility of letting people build relationships. I think that’s a remarkable gift. I think it would be very sad to go there and simply spend all our time consumed by legislation and I don’t think that’s what’s planned.
[I]: And you’ll be there so it’s up to those who are opposed to you to decide whether or not they too will attend.
[JS]: I would hope that all invited people, all bishops of the Anglican Communion, might be there in conference and in community with each other.
[I]: And how much of a setback is it that Gene Robinson, who as you said, is an official bishop of the Episcopal Church, doesn’t have that invitation?
[JS]: Well, it’s a long time til July.
[I]: Do you think he might still be invited?
[JS]: I would very much hope so.
[I]:Have you had any indication that that may be the case?
[JS]: We’re still hoping that that might be the case.
January 1, 5:31 pm
The partial transcript was posted in the comments at TitusOne Nine.
MadPriest has the audio of the interview from BBC4 Radio.
3. Anonymous Layperson wrote:
[Jefferts-Schori:] The bishop of New Hampshire was duly and canonically elected, and consents received to his election, and duly consecrated. He is a bishop in this church in good standing.
[Interviewer:] It must be a pretty lonely place though to know that no one else quite like you is now going to be elected to be a bishop.
[JS]: Well perhaps not in the immediate future. But he is certainly not alone in being a gay bishop. He is certainly not alone in being a gay partnered bishop. He is alone in being the only gay partnered bishop who’s open about that status.
[I]: In your own church?
[JS]: Within our own church and within the Anglican Communion as a whole.
[I]: And so how do you respond to the fact that in a sense the Episcopal Church, your church, is paying the price for an honesty which other churches, perhaps even the Church of England, aren’t quite prepared to have?
[JS]: Well that’s certainly a significant part of the current conversation. The Episcopal Church lives in a society that values transparency, increasingly values transparency, in all kinds of operations, not just within the church. To have other parts of the Communion express distress at having to have conversations about sexuality, is certainly understandable in terms of different contexts, yet that is where this church has felt led to be and felt led to have conversation, to bring these issues out into the public sphere where we can do public theologizing about them.
[I]: But you seem to be saying there’s a problem if other churches in the Anglican Communion aren’t prepared to be honest about the fact that they too have gay bishops?
[JS]: Well it’s certainly a difficulty in our context. I think there’s a growing understanding in this church of how it can be problematic in other contexts, but there’s certainly a double standard.
[I]: The other issue is in relation to same sex blessings, the notion that the church would have an official service in order bless same sex couples. Again, the Episcopal Church has made this concession, said that there won’t be any authorized rites of blessing for same sex couples, but your opponents say that that’s all very well, but the reality on the ground is that those services are already happening and they continue to happen.
[JS]: Well those services are, yes, are happening in various places including in the Church of England, where my understanding is that there are far more of them happening than there are in the Episcopal Church, at least in the United States.
[I]: But in terms of your own church are you happy to see individual parishes having actual services of blessing for gay couples?
[JS]: That’s a matter for pastoral practice in the congregation and it’s a matter of decision for individual bishops.
[I]: But you’re not saying that those services shouldn’t be happening at all in any Episcopalian parish?
[JS]: That’s not a matter for me to say yea or nay, it’s a matter of pastoral practice in individual congregations, in the same way that I don’t enter into decisions about whether or not it’s appropriate to bless a fleet of battleships going off to war.
[I]: There are those who would just say its not good enough to, on the one hand say that the official position is these must not happen, and then on the other to be so open about the fact that they do happen at the local level.
[JS]: Our church, in the Episcopal Church, functions rather differently than some other parts of the Communion. The complaints that we should withdraw because we’ve done something that’s inappropriate often come from portions of the Communion where decisions are made fairly unilaterally, often by bishops, and I think a part of the controversy that’s often not recognized has to do with this different way of coming to theological conclusions and not looking alone to bishops to make policy and set decisions.
[I]: Is it possible for the Episcopal Church to continue to welcome and celebrate the role of lesbian and gay people and stay in the Anglican Communion in the same capacity?
[JS]: We’re in a challenging place. I certainly hope that we’re able to move through this. My hope is that the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole might remember our roots, our traditional valuing of diversity and our traditional sense that worshiping together despite differing views is what holds us together.
[I]: Of course for the Anglican Communion one of those rare gatherings of all bishops together is coming up in 2008, the Lambeth Conference. Some African churches are saying that if the Episcopal Church is allowed to attend, given what its done in relation to Gene Robinson, given what it perhaps doesn’t quite enforce in relation to gay blessings, that there really shouldn’t be a place at the table, as it were, for the Episcopal Church. How do you respond to those complaints?
[JS]: Well that feels to me much like declining an invitation to a dinner party because somebody I don’t like might be there. My understanding of the planned program for the Lambeth Conference is one that has the possibility of letting people build relationships. I think that’s a remarkable gift. I think it would be very sad to go there and simply spend all our time consumed by legislation and I don’t think that’s what’s planned.
[I]: And you’ll be there so it’s up to those who are opposed to you to decide whether or not they too will attend.
[JS]: I would hope that all invited people, all bishops of the Anglican Communion, might be there in conference and in community with each other.
[I]: And how much of a setback is it that Gene Robinson, who as you said, is an official bishop of the Episcopal Church, doesn’t have that invitation?
[JS]: Well, it’s a long time til July.
[I]: Do you think he might still be invited?
[JS]: I would very much hope so.
[I]:Have you had any indication that that may be the case?
[JS]: We’re still hoping that that might be the case.
January 1, 5:31 pm
The partial transcript was posted in the comments at TitusOne Nine.
MadPriest has the audio of the interview from BBC4 Radio.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
From Wenchoster - It's Still Christmas
Images from the Pharisaios Journal (except for the wee tree, which is mine).
From the Canon Precenter:
O Sapentia! O Adonai! O Radix Jesse! O Gamba! How you supple fingers ripple in this glorious musical season! From the processional joys of Advent Sunday through the offices and masses, and, oooh! I could just flick my Early English scores and bathe myself in yellow cream custard! Sorry, what was I saying? Ah! Advent music in Wenchoster Cathedral exposes the very best of our choir, and of course Jeremy (butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth) Gamba at his glorious organ. The trebles excel as ever after rigorous discipline, the tenors and basses never cease to thrill me, and the counter-tenors? Well, don’t start me on the counter-tenors especially that Luke. Only vicar-choral I’ve met who does breath fresheners in the Lesser Litany and dabs eau-de-cologne on his music folder. All a bit obvious as we used to say in school. If I pursed my lips like that they’d make me an American bishop! And I can mince with the rest of them! Sorry, what was I saying? Oh yes. I think the Dean was very pleased with my arrangements of the French carols and cantatas this year. He visibly glowed when I proffered Vierce and Dupre, although at my mention of Alain he just stared out of the window. Well! And Jeremy couldn’t believe it when I told him!
May music delight you this Christmas, and may your ears be soothed by the airs of the season!
Canon Augustus Dewdrop MA
Here's one last Christmas carol from Wenchoster:
Midi link. Reduce to the taskbar to sing along!
A GREAT ALMIGHTY BLUNDER
A great almighty blunder
Seen by a candle’s flame.
The choir torn asunder,
The crucifer’s to blame.
Let’s start the mass again.
And get it right for certain,
Then we can all say ‘Amen.’
When he approached the rood screen,
Rather then walking straight.
He took a sudden right turn,
Which made the choir irate.
Let’s start the mass again.
The tenors sat in protest
The basses roared with ire.
The trebles simply whimpered,
One set his cotta on fire.
Let’s start the mass again.
(German Carol Melody)
Good-bye little tree. Until next year.
Again, there's much more at the diocesan website. Do pay a visit.
"Get Out Of The Car!"
(This is supposedly a true account recorded in the Police Log of Sarasota, Florida.)
An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle.
She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top of her lungs, "I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car!"
The four men didn't wait for a second threat. They got out and ran like mad.
The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and got into the driver's seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition.
She tried and tried, and then she realized why. It was for the same reason that she had wondered why there was a football, a Frisbee and two 12-packs of beer in the front seat.
A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces further down.
She loaded her bags into the car and drove to the police station to report her mistake.
The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn't stop laughing.
He pointed to the end of the counter, where four pale man were reporting a car jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white, less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair, and carrying a large handgun.
No charges were filed.
Moral of the story? If you're going to have a senior moment...make it memorable.
Thanks to Ann at What the Tide Brings In for the story. While you're at Ann's place, read her posts and watch the videos, especially Set Your Watch to A.D.
An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle.
She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top of her lungs, "I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car!"
The four men didn't wait for a second threat. They got out and ran like mad.
The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and got into the driver's seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition.
She tried and tried, and then she realized why. It was for the same reason that she had wondered why there was a football, a Frisbee and two 12-packs of beer in the front seat.
A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces further down.
She loaded her bags into the car and drove to the police station to report her mistake.
The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn't stop laughing.
He pointed to the end of the counter, where four pale man were reporting a car jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white, less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair, and carrying a large handgun.
No charges were filed.
Moral of the story? If you're going to have a senior moment...make it memorable.
Thanks to Ann at What the Tide Brings In for the story. While you're at Ann's place, read her posts and watch the videos, especially Set Your Watch to A.D.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Visitors Arriving
Friends from Connecticut will arrive this evening, which means that blogging will be light to non-existent for a few days. I will be checking in, so do continue to visit and leave comments, if you'd like.
City of God In Rio
January 6, 2008, is the last day of the appeal for donations to Christ the King Church in the City of God, located in one of the poorest and most violent slums in Rio de Janiero. Our virtual friend Luiz Coelho, a candidate for the Anglican priesthood, worked for nearly a year with the children of the City of God. As of yesterday the amount of $6613.70 has been collected. Thanks be to God.
As I said in another post on the City of God:
We are taught that God loves each of us infinitely, but I cannot help but believe (probably heretically) that the destitute and the poor amongst us are more precious in the sight of God than those of us who possess more of the world's goods. God is surely present with those who live in the City of God slum.
Note the names of the slum and the church, the City of God, where Christ the King reigns amongst the poorest of the poor. Full details of the campaign for donations and the program at Christ the King are here.
Go here to make a donation by Paypal, or:
In the U.K. cheques (made payable to "St. Francis Church") should be sent to:
CITY OF GOD APPEAL,
St. Francis House
18 Cotswold Gardens
High Heaton
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE7 7AE
Please write "City Of God Appeal" on the reverse of the cheque.
In the United States, cheques (made payable to "The Episcopal Church of St. Paul") should be sent to:
CITY OF GOD APPEAL
c/o The Reverend Elizabeth Kaeton
The Episcopal Church of St. Paul
200 Main Street
Chatham, NJ 07928
Please write "City Of God Appeal" on the front of the check.
Thanks to Paul at Byzigenous Buddhapalian for the picture.
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