Last night, I slept like a log, in a deep, mostly dreamless sleep, except for one vivid dream. Grandpère and I were walking along a street in New York City, when we came upon a priest standing on the sidewalk waiting for his dogs to come out of an animal carrier trailer that was parked in the street. I did not recognize the priest, but I did recognize the dogs that walked down the ramp from the trailer that was parked in the street. As soon as I saw the dogs, I knew who the priest was. I won't name him, but I'll tell you that he's from a land across the sea. I don't know what he looks like, but I know what his dogs look like, except that, in my dream, all the dogs looked like Clumber, but they were HUGE, the size of St. Bernards.
I started over to hug the priest, but then, I stopped and said, "Oh, I can't do that, can I? Well, then, hello." You see, I followed the no-hugging rule, even in my dream. The priest did not seem pleased that we had discovered him sneaking into the US without telling any of his virtual friends here that he was coming. He was here for a dog show.
I introduced him to Grandpère, but he was not overly friendly to either of us, and after exchanging a few words, we went on our way, because I could see that the brief encounter was all there was to be.
He did not look anything like what I expected. He was wearing rather large unstylish glasses, like these, and that surprised me. Of course, perhaps the style is now on the cutting edge of a resurgence of coolness for big glasses. If I could draw, I'd make a picture of what the man in my dream looked like, but unfortunately I cannot. There you have it.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
"Ticket Please!"
Three women and three men are traveling by train to the football game. At the station, the three men each buy a ticket and watch as the three women buy just one ticket.
"How are the three of you going to travel on only one ticket?" asks one
of the men.
"Watch and learn," answers one of the women.
They all board the train. The three men take their respective seats but all three women cram into a toilet together and close the door.
Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the toilet door and says, "Ticket, please." The door opens just a crack, and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.
The men see this happen and agree it was quite a clever idea; so, after the game, they decide to do the same thing on the return trip and save some money.
When they get to the station they buy a single ticket for the return trip but see, to their astonishment, that the three women don't buy any ticket at all!!
"How are you going to travel without a ticket?" asks one perplexed man.
"Watch and learn," answer the women.
When they board the train, the three men cram themselves into a toilet, and the three women cram into a toilet just down the way.
Shortly after the train is on its way, one of the women leaves her toilet and walks over to the toilet in which the men are hiding. She knocks on their door and says, "Ticket please."
I'm still trying to figure out why men think they are smarter than women.
Doug, thanks. It was time for something light, don't you think?
"How are the three of you going to travel on only one ticket?" asks one
of the men.
"Watch and learn," answers one of the women.
They all board the train. The three men take their respective seats but all three women cram into a toilet together and close the door.
Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the toilet door and says, "Ticket, please." The door opens just a crack, and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.
The men see this happen and agree it was quite a clever idea; so, after the game, they decide to do the same thing on the return trip and save some money.
When they get to the station they buy a single ticket for the return trip but see, to their astonishment, that the three women don't buy any ticket at all!!
"How are you going to travel without a ticket?" asks one perplexed man.
"Watch and learn," answer the women.
When they board the train, the three men cram themselves into a toilet, and the three women cram into a toilet just down the way.
Shortly after the train is on its way, one of the women leaves her toilet and walks over to the toilet in which the men are hiding. She knocks on their door and says, "Ticket please."
I'm still trying to figure out why men think they are smarter than women.
Doug, thanks. It was time for something light, don't you think?
From Our Friend MadPriest
From Mad Priest at Of Course, I Could Be Wrong, :
Diary Entry - 29th. May 2008
I have just heard that the position I have been waiting on for the last 6 months has been scuppered by the deanery concerned as they feel it does not warrant a full time priest. In theory this can be overturned by higher authorities but goodness knows how long that would take. I have been sent a list of other jobs that are in the pipeline but all the relevant ones are, at least, 6 months away from interviews as my diocese likes a long inter regnum so they can rent the vicarage out for 6 months and save on salaries (it's the only way we can break even at the moment).
Although I haven't quite lost the will to live, I am losing the will to get out of bed in the morning and that old black dog is a-licking at my heals (sic).
Most of you who read my blog, probably read OCICBW, but I posted this in the event that you don't. After coming out of the worst of a bout of madness, Jonathan has been serving the people of his Anglican parish as a curate in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, honorably and well for 7 years, but his time there seems to have run out, and thus far, he has not much hope for a new position. Since he lives in a rectory, he will not only lose his position, but also his home.
Jonathan's struggles every single day to serve his people and live a normal life are, in my humble opinion, nothing short of heroic. To be "rewarded" in this manner by the church he served faithfully for so many years, in the face of enormous difficulties, seems so lacking in justice and compassion as to boggle the mind.
I wrote to Jonathan to ask his permission to post his entry, but I haven't yet heard back. He may be out making calls on his parishioners, which he sees as a very important aspect of his job, or doing a funeral, which, by law, Church of England clergy are required to do for anyone who asks. Since his post is already public, and I am an impatient old lady, I'll JUST DO IT!
Diary Entry - 29th. May 2008
I have just heard that the position I have been waiting on for the last 6 months has been scuppered by the deanery concerned as they feel it does not warrant a full time priest. In theory this can be overturned by higher authorities but goodness knows how long that would take. I have been sent a list of other jobs that are in the pipeline but all the relevant ones are, at least, 6 months away from interviews as my diocese likes a long inter regnum so they can rent the vicarage out for 6 months and save on salaries (it's the only way we can break even at the moment).
Although I haven't quite lost the will to live, I am losing the will to get out of bed in the morning and that old black dog is a-licking at my heals (sic).
Most of you who read my blog, probably read OCICBW, but I posted this in the event that you don't. After coming out of the worst of a bout of madness, Jonathan has been serving the people of his Anglican parish as a curate in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, honorably and well for 7 years, but his time there seems to have run out, and thus far, he has not much hope for a new position. Since he lives in a rectory, he will not only lose his position, but also his home.
Jonathan's struggles every single day to serve his people and live a normal life are, in my humble opinion, nothing short of heroic. To be "rewarded" in this manner by the church he served faithfully for so many years, in the face of enormous difficulties, seems so lacking in justice and compassion as to boggle the mind.
I wrote to Jonathan to ask his permission to post his entry, but I haven't yet heard back. He may be out making calls on his parishioners, which he sees as a very important aspect of his job, or doing a funeral, which, by law, Church of England clergy are required to do for anyone who asks. Since his post is already public, and I am an impatient old lady, I'll JUST DO IT!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Pinocchio!!!
Have I told you about my afternoon at Pinocchio? I don't believe that I have. What an afternoon! Music, noise, games, kids, pizza, celebrities, all you could ever want from life. Well, that was all my grandson wanted from life for his eighth birthday party last Saturday. That and the chintzy prizes that break and lose tiny parts soon after the package is opened. Oh, but they loved it! And I did too. Really. I do believe that we had music coming from two different directions - and not even the same songs, but a cacophonous mixture.
Above is a close-up of celebrity SpongeBob Squarepants. He was adorable and full of personality, as you can see. Below is the other celebrity, Spiderman. Poor Spiderman seemed to be missing something. He did not have the bulk to fill out his suit. In fact, I do believe that Spiderman was a girl. I could see curves that looked more like breasts than muscles. Of course, I could be wrong.
I tried to get a better picture of Spiderman, er, Spidergirl, whatever, during her dance, but she had the moves, if she did not have the muscles, and I could catch her only from the rear.
The boys were so caught up in the games that they would not come to blow out the candles and sing "Happy Birthday", so we adults went ahead and cut the cake and served ourselves. It was a turtle cake, you see, and we just could not wait any longer. The boys never even ate any cake while we were there.
A good time was had by all, and it will very likely be another whole year before I enjoy the pleasures at Pinocchio again. Poor me.
Church Of Julian Of Norwich
Mother Julian's Shrine
"The Cell now a chapel the place where Mother Julian wrote down her Revelations of Divine Love"
We should desire to regard our Lord
with wondering reverence
rather than fear,
loving God gently and trusting
with all we are capable of.
For when we regard God with awe
and love God gently
our trust is never in vain.
The more we trust,
and the more powerful this trust,
the more we please and praise
our Lord whom we trust in.
Without this,
we cannot please God.
On the main page of the website is a video of a Benediction service. It's short and includes lovely singing by the choir. It brings back memories from my childhood in the Roman Catholic Church, when the Benediction service sometimes followed the celebration of the Mass.
St. Julian, Bishop of Le Mans
Mother Julian probably took her name from St. Julian of Le Mans.
The site is wonderful for exploring. It includes a biography of Mother Julian with the little information that is known about her life and also a brief history of the period in which she lived.
From the Church of Julian of Norwich.
Julian's words are from Meditations With Julian of Norwich by Brendan Doyle.
Thanks to Lapin for the link.
UPDATE: Kishnevi has found the original words of Julian in my quote. Doyle seems to have abridged the original somewhat.
And thus we shall in love be homley and nere to God, and we shall in drede
be gentil and curtes to God, and both alike evyn. Desir we of our Lord God to
dredin Him reverently and to love Him mekely and to trosten in Him mytyly.
For whan we drede Him reverently and loven Him mekely our troste is never in
vaine; for the more that we trosten, and the mytylier, the more we plesyn and
worshippe our Lord that we trosten in. And if us feile this reverent drede and
meke love (as God forbode we should), our trost shall sone be misrulid for the
tyme. And therefore us nedith mekil for to prayen our Lord of grace that we may
have this reverent drede and meke love, of his gift, in herte and in werke, for
withouten this no man may plesyn God.
Kishnevi has also published the original and his own translation into modern English at his website.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
"Obama's Mama"
From a column by Ellen Goodman, published on May 9, 2008, in the Boston Globe:
From time to time during this primary, I've wondered about Obama's mama. In a race that was so much about biography, about beliefs rooted in her son's "DNA," she's made only cameo appearances.
more stories like this
She was the "mother from Kansas" balanced alliteratively with the "father from Kenya." Or she was the white parent whose genes combined with the black parent. Or she was the woman dying of cancer "more worried about paying her medical bills than getting well." And on Tuesday night when her son all but sewed up the nomination, she appeared again as the "single parent who had to go on food stamps at one point."
....
The rest of the story is known: a divorce, a marriage to an Indonesian, a second divorce. She was a mother who kept her children focused as well as fed. But what's less known is the woman in her own right, the one who became an anthropologist, the woman who spent years as the respected head of research for Women's World Banking, bringing micro-financing to poor people in Indonesia.
Nancy Barry, who was the head of Women's World Banking and knew Ann well, has been bewildered by the way she's been reduced to a stick figure. "She was stubborn, hard core, decisive, convincing, deep-thinking, rigorous in her analysis," says Barry. "When I hear Barack talking about how we are not red states, blue states, but the United States, I think he gets that from his mother. The other core capability he gets from her is the desire for healing."
I, too, wonder why Obama has not talked more about the mother who was a presence in his life, rather than the father who was mostly absent. He wrote a book called "Dreams From My Father", but as Goodman says, Obama's mother has made only "cameo appearances" in his campaign. Ann, pulled herself up from depending on food stamps, got an education, and worked as an anthropologist and a head researcher for the World Bank, therefore, she must have been a strong and determined woman. How did she influence and contribute to forming Obama's character? He was brought up by two strong women, his mother and his grandmother. Perhaps, there's a story there that just might be worth telling, not simply to further the purposes of his campaign, but because it's a compelling story on its own.
From time to time during this primary, I've wondered about Obama's mama. In a race that was so much about biography, about beliefs rooted in her son's "DNA," she's made only cameo appearances.
more stories like this
She was the "mother from Kansas" balanced alliteratively with the "father from Kenya." Or she was the white parent whose genes combined with the black parent. Or she was the woman dying of cancer "more worried about paying her medical bills than getting well." And on Tuesday night when her son all but sewed up the nomination, she appeared again as the "single parent who had to go on food stamps at one point."
....
The rest of the story is known: a divorce, a marriage to an Indonesian, a second divorce. She was a mother who kept her children focused as well as fed. But what's less known is the woman in her own right, the one who became an anthropologist, the woman who spent years as the respected head of research for Women's World Banking, bringing micro-financing to poor people in Indonesia.
Nancy Barry, who was the head of Women's World Banking and knew Ann well, has been bewildered by the way she's been reduced to a stick figure. "She was stubborn, hard core, decisive, convincing, deep-thinking, rigorous in her analysis," says Barry. "When I hear Barack talking about how we are not red states, blue states, but the United States, I think he gets that from his mother. The other core capability he gets from her is the desire for healing."
I, too, wonder why Obama has not talked more about the mother who was a presence in his life, rather than the father who was mostly absent. He wrote a book called "Dreams From My Father", but as Goodman says, Obama's mother has made only "cameo appearances" in his campaign. Ann, pulled herself up from depending on food stamps, got an education, and worked as an anthropologist and a head researcher for the World Bank, therefore, she must have been a strong and determined woman. How did she influence and contribute to forming Obama's character? He was brought up by two strong women, his mother and his grandmother. Perhaps, there's a story there that just might be worth telling, not simply to further the purposes of his campaign, but because it's a compelling story on its own.
Danger! Gay Bride!
From Old American Century, via David at The Knowledge Box.
Those folks have terrific posters. I'm sure that I'll be borrowing again in the future.
"This I Believe" - Richard Rohr
Fr. Richard Rohr is a Franciscan friar and the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In an interview for a series on "Morning Edition" on National Public Radio called "This I Believe", Rohr said:
"People who have really met the Holy are always humble. It's the people who don't know who usually pretend that they do. People who've had any genuine spiritual experience always know they don't know. They are utterly humbled before mystery. They are in awe before the abyss of it all, in wonder at eternity and depth, and a Love, which is incomprehensible to the mind. It is a litmus test for authentic God experience, and is -- quite sadly -- absent from much of our religious conversation today. My belief and comfort is in the depths of Mystery, which should be the very task of religion."
And they all said, "Amen!"
"People who have really met the Holy are always humble. It's the people who don't know who usually pretend that they do. People who've had any genuine spiritual experience always know they don't know. They are utterly humbled before mystery. They are in awe before the abyss of it all, in wonder at eternity and depth, and a Love, which is incomprehensible to the mind. It is a litmus test for authentic God experience, and is -- quite sadly -- absent from much of our religious conversation today. My belief and comfort is in the depths of Mystery, which should be the very task of religion."
And they all said, "Amen!"
Monday, May 26, 2008
"Shh!" Suicides Among Veterans
Flags on the graves at Chalmette National Cemetery in New Orleans.
From the Hartford Courant:
By EMANUEL MARGOLIS
Dr. Ira Katz, chief of mental health services for the Department of Veterans Affairs, sent an e-mail to a VA colleague this past February that read:
"Shh! Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among the veterans we see in our medical facilities. Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before somebody stumbles on it?"
Unfortunately for the government, somebody did "stumble" on it. Dr. Katz lied about the numbers before the House of Representatives Veterans' Affairs Committee, grossly understating the number of such suicide attempts. He testified that the number for all of 2007 was 790. He also neglected the Army's own "Suicide Event Report," which disclosed that 2006 saw the highest rate of military suicides in 26 years!
....
The Veterans for Common Sense lawsuit has already demonstrated that the VA intentionally misled Congress and the public about the epidemic of veterans' suicides. Here are the facts squeezed out of the government to date:
• 120 veterans commit suicide every week.
• 1,000 veterans attempt suicide while in VA care every month.
• Nearly one in five service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan (approximately 300,000) have post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms or major depression.
• 19 percent of post-Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been diagnosed with possible traumatic brain injury, according to a Rand Corp. Study in April.
....
These are the real costs of President Bush's misbegotten and mismanaged wars. These are the costs that the administration seeks to hide while it attempts to make the test of patriotism the wearing of flag pins in our lapels!
It's what is underneath those flag pins that really matters. It is called compassion. It is real patriotism as opposed to the fraud of "Mission Accomplished" and promises of victory.
It's just not possible to reach the end of outrage with the Bush maladministration and its minions. You think that you have, and then word of some new outrage comes forth and leaves you gasping for breath. Look at the numbers! Surely casualties of the Iraq War along with those killed and maimed in battle.
And during the "debate" between Clinton and Obama, the lady asked Obama where was his flag pin, and ABC gave her air time.
Photo from the Times-Picayune.
H/T to Juan Cole and Paul, the BB.
Feast Day Of Agustine Of Canterbury
Augustine in Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin in 1882, from Wiki.
The Christian Church was established in the British Isles well before 300. Some scholars believe that it was introduced by missionaries from the Eastern or Greek-speaking half of the Mediterranean world. Celtic Christianity had its own distinctive culture, and Greek scholarship flourished in Ireland for several centuries after it had died elsewhere in Western Europe.
However, in the fifth century Britain was invaded by non-Christian Germanic tribes: the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. They conquered the native Celtic Christians (despite resistance by, among others, a leader whose story has come down to us, doubtless with some exaggeration, as that of King Arthur), or drove them north and west into Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. From these regions Celtic Christian missionaries returned to England to preach the Gospel to the heathen invaders. Meanwhile, the Bishop of Rome, Gregory the Great, decided to send missionaries from Rome, a group of monks led by their prior, Augustine (not to be confused with the more famous Augustine of Hippo).
They arrived in Kent (the southeast corner of England) in 597, and the king, whose wife was a Christian, allowed them to settle and preach. Their preaching was outstandingly successful, the people were hungry for the Good News of salvation, and they made thousands of converts in a short time. In 601 the king himself was converted and baptised. Augustine was consecrated bishop and established his headquarters at Canterbury. From his day to the present, there has been an unbroken succession of archbishops of Canterbury.
In 603, he held a conference with the leaders of the already existing Christian congregations in Britain, but failed to reach an accomodation with them, largely due to his own tactlessness, and his insistence (contrary, it may be noted, to Gregory's explicit advice) on imposing Roman customs on a church long accustomed to its own traditions of worship. It is said that the English bishops, before going to meet Augustine, consulted a hermit with a reputation for wisdom and holiness, asking him, "Shall we accept this man as our leader, or not?" The hermit replied, "If, at your meeting, he rises to greet you, then accept him, but if he remains seated, then he is arrogant and unfit to lead, and you ought to reject him." Augustine, alas, remained seated. It took another sixty years before the breach was healed.
By James Kiefer at the Lectionary.
Readings:
Psalm 66:1-8 or 103:1-4,13-18
2 Corinthians 5:17-20a
Luke 5:1-11
PRAYER
O Lord our God, who by your Son Jesus Christ called your apostles and sent them forth to preach the Gospel to the nations: We bless your holy name for your servant Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, whose labors in propagating your Church among the English people we commemorate today; and we pray that all whom you call and send may do your will, and bide your time, and see your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)