Julie London - "Cry Me A River"

Because I liked it then, and I still like it now.

Failure To Condemn Violence "Disgraceful"

From Ekklesia:

The head of the Church Army, a leading Anglican mission agency with a significant evangelical constituency, has expressed his distress at the failure of two Anglican archbishops [Archbishops Peter Akinola of Nigeria and Henry Orombi of Uganda] to clearly condemn violence against gay people.

The remarks come in the personal blog of Mark Russell, the youngest ever Chief Executive of Church Army, which deploys over 350 evangelists working across Britain and Ireland.

Mark Russell says:

Growing up in Northern Ireland you see how leaders not talking divides communities. Yet now when leaders do talk and work together, despite their differences, communities have more opportunity to come together. I believe passionately our bishops should ALL be at Lambeth working out how to move our Communion forward, to further the Gospel and show Christ to the world.

I know many bishops in England who do not agree with everything other bishops say, or do not agree with some of the things they have done, but are committed to being together, to pray together, and to seek to demonstrate Christian love to their flocks. I commend them for their leadership and Godly example. It is in marked contrast to some bishops at GAFCON who refused to condemn violence against gay people in their home countries. Quite honestly that is disgraceful, it sullies their cause, and is totally un-Christian. You cannot justify violence in God's name. Period. (My emphasis)

Amen to that!

Link to the Ekklesia article from The Lead at the Episcopal Café.

Words To Live By, No?

But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’ Matthew 20:25-28

From today's Gospel in the Lectionary.

"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.