"Amazing NASA Picture of Water on Mars"

With gratitude to Doug. I simply had to steal this from OCICBOV. It struck my funnybone, and I could not resist. As I said over there, "Doug, I love it. That's my kind of humor - easy to understand, no brain strain involved."

The other commenters were not nearly so kind. I hope that Doug's contribution receives a gentler reception here.

From Our Friend Luiz Coelho

Dear friends in Christ,

I would like to invite you all to visit my new blog/visual lectionary/fundraising effort EIKON.

As some of you already know, I have been chosen to be a steward at the upcoming Lambeth conference, representing the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil. For the last few years, I have been discerning a call to the religious life which involves the use of visual arts as a means for healing and reconciliation. Currently, I am pursuing a dual degree both in Painting (at the Savannah College of Art and Design) and in Theology (through the long-distance program of the Seminário Teológico Egmont Machado Krischke).

During the Lambeth Conference, I will be producing a series of pieces (paintings, drawings, photographs, collages, etc.) based on the "Signs on the Way" Bible studies series, which is a special series of studies for the Conference. Those images will be posted on such blog, as a visual devotional. The blog is also a fundraising effort. Half of the price of each piece will be redirected to the Archdeaconry of Western Rio, which comprises 5 churches and is located in the poorest area of the city.

If you find it a good idea, please help me by spreading the word and talking about this initiative with your friends.

Thank you very much. Blessings in Christ!

--
Luiz Coelho
--
luizcoelho@luizcoelho.com
http://www.luizcoelho.com
--
"No to hate and yes to love,
No to death and yes to life,
No to falsehood and yes to truth,
No to oppression and yes to justice,
No to cruelty and yes to mercy,
No to violence and yes to the path of peace,
No, no matter what it may cost, and yes, no matter what it may cost.
For you are the source of love leading to reconciliation and forgiveness."
(a Sabeel prayer - http://www.sabeel.org)
--
"Não ao ódio e sim ao amor,
Não à morte e sim à vida,
Não à falsidade e sim à verdade,
Não à opressão e sim à justiça,
Não à crueldade e sim à misericórdia,
Não à violência e sim ao caminho da paz,
Não, não importa o que custe, e sim, não importa o que custe.
Pois és a fonte de amor que leva à reconciliação e perdão."
(uma prece de Sabeel - http://www.sabeel.org)

We're New Orleans Bound

Today we're going to New Orleans to meet my daughter and have lunch at La Vita, an Italian restaurant near City Park. It's a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant, but it serves excellent food. Below is the bar, made of what appear to be old, unretouched barn boards. It's a little funky, a typical New Orleans place.


Before we go to lunch, we'll say "hello" to my daughter's exotic chickens. These are the young ones, which have not yet begun to lay. Look at the feathered feet on the white hen. I've never seen that before.


Below are the old hens (like me) who are now retired from their laying jobs. My daughter lives in an unincorporated area of suburban Jefferson Parish, where the rules are less restrictive about what kind of pets are permitted. One of the old hens laid green eggs in her younger days, so my grandsons were able to have green eggs and ham.


Au revoir, mes amis. À ce soir.

100,350 Visitors - Thank You!

I meant to note the turning of the counter to 100,000, but I forgot. It's now at 100,350. Thanks to all the visitors who have helped me to get to that number in one and a half years of blogging. Especially, thank you to the regulars who make return visits. I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

On Bishop Gene Robinson

Gentlemen's Quarterly has an extraordinary article in its most recent issue titled Let God Love Gene Robinson. Robinson is the openly gay and partnered bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. It's long, 20 pages, but it's definitely worth taking the time. Andrew Corsello, the author of the piece seems to have got it right. Thanks to a lurking reader for the tip.

Bishop Robinson is the only duly elected and consecrated bishop of the Episcopal Church who has not been invited to the Lambeth Conference, a gathering of the bishops of the Anglican Communion called by the Archbishop of Canterbury once every ten years.

I'd be at a loss to select brief excerpts from the article, but after reading it, it seems to me that what keeps Gene Robinson afloat in these difficult times is the all-embracing love of God.

More From The Garden

Our deep pink crepe myrtles are blooming nicely. The picture shows three of them planted in a triangle. They are the same age as the pale Pink Snow that I showed in an earlier post. We have six of this variety.


The trumpet vine, flowers above, is all over over fence, along with Confederate jasmine and another vine, which looks more like a weed. No fence to be seen.


Pretty plumbago in a pot. I could not adjust the color, which is lovely, to closer to the original.


We changed the original location of the house on the lot to save this oak tree, which is about 30 years old. Boston fern is at the base. When the ferns begin to look bad in the planter on the front porch, we set the wire hanging baskets on the ground around the tree, and they put down roots in the ground and revive and grow well.


Finally, one of our white crepe myrtle trees, with a hybiscus flower in the foreground. If everything looks lush and green and flowering, it is, but Grandpère is at his wit's end with the grass. It grows so quickly that you can almost sit and watch. We've had rain nearly every day - not showers, rain and wind. God and Grandpère get all of the credit for the beauty. My specialty is the indoor plants, which are not nearly as successful.

Counterlight Has A Blog!

Yes, our very own Counterlight has opened his own place to rant and blather. It's called - surprise! - Counterlight's Rants and Blather. Check it out. He won't restrict himself to ranting and blathering. He'll talk about art, too, or so he says. He has some lovely Jesus pictures posted.

Banned From GAFCON

From The Lead at the Episcopal Café:

The GAFCON leadership has a list of eight people who are not welcome to observe the proceedings under any circumstances. The list includes Colorado Bishop Robert O’Neill, Nigerian gay activist Davis MacIyalla, Louie Crew, Rev Colin Coward, Susan Russell, Scott Gunn and Deborah and Robert Edmunds.

If you would like to join the ranks of those who wish to be banned from GAFCON, go to the I Want To Be Banned By GAFCON, Too! website. You will need to sign up at Facebook, if you are not already.

From The Anglican Bishop Of Jerusalem

Pluralist Speaks says:

"Well, The Suheil Dawani, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, at Saint George's Anglican Cathedral, Jerusalem, had some phrases worth listing in his sermon for the GAFCON leaders; the best potential one-liner I put first:"

*Pilgrims here do not bring decisions with them.

"And here are the others:"

* The greatest gift that Anglicanism has offered to the Middle East is a ministry of reconciliation
* we are a voice of moderation in a region of turmoil
* We work with humility and in a spirit of servanthood
* build and strengthen relationships among Christians, Moslems, and Jews and to work together with other Christian bodies here
* We are a people who know what it is to live faithfully and with humility in a pluralistic society
* we work for peace and unity
* Our work here is the very presence of Christ among the needy, offered without differentiation based on religion, gender, or nationality
* a crucial network of bridges on the international scene
* grateful for our relationships across the breadth of the Anglican Communion
* we have the utmost respect for the Archbishop of Canterbury
* I look forward to the Lambeth Conference
* Throughout its history, the Lambeth Conference has dealt with many difficult issues. At times these issues looked as if they might divide us, but they did not because we persevered in prayer and fellowship, together, with respect and patience
* The very stones of this holy city of Jerusalem teach us patience and humility
* God will always surprise us
* I pray that as you meet in this holy place, you will all be open, in real humility, to the Spirit's guidance and that you will continue here in a spirit of peace, reconciliation and goodwill
* I pray God's blessing on you, on the Archbishop of Canterbury and on our Anglican Communion

"Let's see if any of his words have an impact on the Global Anglican Future Conference."

If only the bishop's words would have an impact, but I doubt that the GAFCON leaders will take them to heart. Of course, I could be wrong. Let us pray.

Tip from Doorman-Priest, who would not give us a link. I am kinder than he, in that I linked to his blog in giving him credit.

Archbishop Peter Akinola's Speech

Archbishop Peter Akinola's speech is posted at GAFCON's official website, if you care to read it. I could not get through all of it. Reading Bp. Duncan's 14 page speech and writing about it took a lot out of me, which is probably why all I'm good for today is watching movies.

I'm warning you: if I hear one more time about how the Episcopal Church has "torn the fabric" of the Anglican Communion, I will SCREEEAM!

Lapin sent me a link to the speech earlier from Stand Limp, but I do not want to link to them on my blog. It could attract the wrong type here - if you know what I mean.