From the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana:
We will be delivering food and supplies to hard-hit Lafitte Thursday and Friday. And Saturday, a team of volunteers from throughout the diocese will be going to Bayou du Large to begin gutting. If you'd like to join us, please contact Pete Nunnally at (504) 259-1417 or pnunnally@edola.org.
We're also working with local parish leaders and exploring partnerships with local organizations to distribute supplies where they are most needed in Terrebonne and LaFourche Parishes, and we also continue to work with Mother Gay in Plaquemine in our continuing Gustav response.
Since Ike hit, deacons have been delivering sandwiches and goods to Lafitte and Crown Point, while the Office of Disaster Response has been distributing water, bleach, and gloves to Bayou du Large, as well as assessing gutting needs to be addressed Saturday.
Trinity School and Country Day School have collected canned goods which they will deliver to Lafitte, and the Mobile Loaves and Fishes truck will also be sending sandwiches to Lafitte. In addition, we have been fielding offers from churches throughout the New Orleans area to help out wherever needed with chainsaw debris clearing.
Outside of our diocese, the Diocese of Kansas is prepared to deploy small teams to our diocese to volunteer.
We continue to respond to the needs of our diocese, and we thank all of you who give of your time and money to help us in this effort.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
I was overwhelmed by the prayers and good wishes and kind words on my birthday, my friends. I'd like to answer each of you who left a comment, but that's not possible. We had not planned our celebration of my birthday for yesterday since Grandpère was out of town. It's a good thing we didn't, because the power problem came up.
He missed all the fun of the power outage. I spent much of my day on the phone with the power company, doing the number punching to get to the service that could help me and then punching in my phone number and account number or shouting into phone to a technology voice with no person behind it. You all know what it's like.
In between my dealings with Entergy, I'd peek into my blog and read the lovely comments, and that lifted my spirits immensely. Thanks to the bloggers who posted about my birthday, even MadPriest, who seems to have "lost" his post rather quickly. I was fortunate to get someone to come out yesterday to set up my temporary power supply until the workers can find the bad spot in the wire, dig up the yard, and put in another splice. I had to pick up my grandchildren at school, and I just knew that the repairmen would come while I was gone, but they did not. So for now we are set.
I used my laptop a good bit yesterday, but I like my desktop much, much better. I feel so cramped using the laptop. Also, I'm browsing with Explorer, which I do not like, but I have heard of a few problems with using Firefox with Vista, so I have not downloaded it yet. So far, Vista seems fine. I haven't run into any bugs yet, although I've heard of the problems that others have.
He missed all the fun of the power outage. I spent much of my day on the phone with the power company, doing the number punching to get to the service that could help me and then punching in my phone number and account number or shouting into phone to a technology voice with no person behind it. You all know what it's like.
In between my dealings with Entergy, I'd peek into my blog and read the lovely comments, and that lifted my spirits immensely. Thanks to the bloggers who posted about my birthday, even MadPriest, who seems to have "lost" his post rather quickly. I was fortunate to get someone to come out yesterday to set up my temporary power supply until the workers can find the bad spot in the wire, dig up the yard, and put in another splice. I had to pick up my grandchildren at school, and I just knew that the repairmen would come while I was gone, but they did not. So for now we are set.
I used my laptop a good bit yesterday, but I like my desktop much, much better. I feel so cramped using the laptop. Also, I'm browsing with Explorer, which I do not like, but I have heard of a few problems with using Firefox with Vista, so I have not downloaded it yet. So far, Vista seems fine. I haven't run into any bugs yet, although I've heard of the problems that others have.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Brownout!
Well, I'm having an interesting morning day. I had a partial power outage in my house. Some rooms had power, others did not. Then the electricity came back on, but in brownout mode where the outage had been. The brownout scared me more, because of what weak power can do to appliances and computers. I was working at my computer when I lost power.
I've been on the phone several times with the power company, Entergy, not the best company, with their punching numbers game, and I've been in touch with the electrician, who is due here shortly. Grandpère is out of town, of course. He misses all the good stuff.
Several years ago, my neighbor cut the main line that brings electricity to my house. (The utilities are buried.) Since then, the power company has come twice to repair the line. It could be that again, or I suppose it could be something in the house wiring. What fun! Dim, bright, dim, bright. Should I switch the main breaker to "off"?
I'm on my laptop connected through DSL through my phone service.
UPDATE: The electrician came, and it's definitely the power company's problem.
I've been on the phone several times with the power company, Entergy, not the best company, with their punching numbers game, and I've been in touch with the electrician, who is due here shortly. Grandpère is out of town, of course. He misses all the good stuff.
Several years ago, my neighbor cut the main line that brings electricity to my house. (The utilities are buried.) Since then, the power company has come twice to repair the line. It could be that again, or I suppose it could be something in the house wiring. What fun! Dim, bright, dim, bright. Should I switch the main breaker to "off"?
I'm on my laptop connected through DSL through my phone service.
UPDATE: The electrician came, and it's definitely the power company's problem.
Happy Birthday To Me!
Step right up folks and wish me a "Happy Birthday!". I know you will anyway, so I'll give you a place to send your good wishes. Can you imagine! I've been on God's not-so-green-anymore earth for one year short of three quarters of a century. That's a loooong time.
I've had my ups, and I've had my downs. I've taken the high road, and I've taken the low road, but, all together, it's been a good run.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you....
Thanks be to God!
And it's Ruth's birthday, too!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Economy a "Mixed Picture"
I heard on NPR that Dana Peroxide said the economy was a "mixed picture". This after Bush and McWorse have been consistently saying that the economy is "fundamentally sound". Could they actually be slouching toward reality?
The Word From Houston
My friend in Houston came through Ike quite well. She lost power for a only a few hours, and her internet connection is back up. She has an elderly friend staying with her until her power is restored, and also another friend's dog. My friend is my age, so, of course, she is not elderly - yet. She'd better not be, because that would mean that I am elderly, too. Here's what she had to say:
But it's sunny and cool - much more pleasant for "clearing brush".
I'm sure that Poppy and Barb are hard at work, too.
But it's sunny and cool - much more pleasant for "clearing brush".
I'm sure that Poppy and Barb are hard at work, too.
Feast Day Of Hildegard Of Bingen
Illumination from the "Liber Scivias" showing Hildegard receiving a vision and dictating to her scribe and secretary
Listen: there was once a king sitting on his throne. Around him stood great and wonderfully beautiful columns ornamented with ivory, bearing the banners of the king with great honor. Then it pleased the king to raise a small feather from the ground, and he commanded it to fly. The feather flew, not because of anything in itself but because the air bore it along. Thus am I, a feather on the breath of God. Hildegard of Bingen
Readings:
Psalm 104:25-34
Sirach 43:1-2,6-7,9-12,27-28
John 3:16-21
PRAYER
O God, by whose grace your servant Hildegard, kindled with the fire of your love, became a burning and shining light in your Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Please go read It's Margaret's post on Hildegard. It's beautiful.
UPDATE: More lovely music on the feast day of Hildegard from Tobias Haller.
Hildegard's words from the Lectionary.
Image from Wiki.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
On Blinking - Or Not Blinking
Two funnies on "I didn't blink".
"My Gal" from the New Yorker and "S.... P..... Won't Blink" from Jon Stewart at Comedy Central.
I had resolved not to mention her name for a while, but I broke my resolution. Well, on second thought, not really. I (Mimi) did not mention her name.
"My Gal" from the New Yorker and "S.... P..... Won't Blink" from Jon Stewart at Comedy Central.
I had resolved not to mention her name for a while, but I broke my resolution. Well, on second thought, not really. I (Mimi) did not mention her name.
The Church Militant
From the Albany, NY, Times-Union:
GREENWICH -- Over a salad lunch on an outdoor patio, Assistant Bishop David Bena is so positive and chipper it's hard to connect him with the words of a letter to the editor on the table.
"Well, that's interesting," Bena says cheerfully. "I've never been called a guerrilla warrior."
This is life on the front lines of an emotional rift cleaving the Anglican Communion, the 77-million-member Christian federation that encompasses the U.S. Episcopal Church.
Five years ago, Bena was serving as assistant bishop in Albany when Episcopalians took what he considered a misguided step: electing the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Bena was one of three people to stand up and protest at the consecration ceremony where Robinson, who has received death threats, wore a bulletproof vest.
Today, Bena still wears a bishop's ring, but he no longer belongs to the Episcopal Church. Since last March, the Mechanicville resident and former Marine has worked as assistant bishop in an upstart group called the Convocation of Anglicans in North America.
The Virginia-based outpost of the Nigerian church was established to shelter breakaway conservative Episcopalians, who were outraged over Robinson's consecration and clash with the Episcopal Church on doctrine and interpretation of scripture.
Bishop Bena serves under the authority of the staunch anti-gay Archbishop Peter Akinola, leader of the Nigerian Anglican Church, who apparently believes that he is contaminated by the mere touch of a gay person:
ABUJA, Nigeria, Dec. 20 — The way he tells the story, the first and only time Archbishop Peter J. Akinola knowingly shook a gay person’s hand, he sprang backward the moment he realized what he had done.
Archbishop Akinola, the conservative leader of Nigeria’s Anglican Church who has emerged at the center of a schism over homosexuality in the global Anglican Communion, re-enacted the scene from behind his desk Tuesday, shaking his head in wonder and horror.
“This man came up to me after a service, in New York I think, and said, ‘Oh, good to see you bishop, this is my partner of many years,’ ” he recalled. “I said, ‘Oh!’ I jumped back.”
Whence such fear?
In the Albany diocese, Bena helps run the Welcome Home Initiative, a Christian healing program for combat veterans held at the diocese's spiritual retreat here in rural Washington County.
The bishop draws on his experience as a former Marine bombardier/navigator who flew 252 missions in Vietnam. He dropped 3 million pounds of bombs over 13 months. Over a 27-year military career, he also served as an Air Force chaplain.
Bena was in his element leading prayer during a recent retreat, his right arm elevated and his podium surrounded by symbols of the two institutions that dominated his life. A flag- and gun-bearing honor guard stood behind the altar, while a cross hung on the wall overhead.
The church militant, indeed! While I applaud Bishop Bena's outreach to combat veterans, I would have hoped that he could have done without the "gun-bearing honor guard" behind the altar during the service.
UPDATE: I see that I neglected to give credit to my good friend, Fran for the link to this article.
GREENWICH -- Over a salad lunch on an outdoor patio, Assistant Bishop David Bena is so positive and chipper it's hard to connect him with the words of a letter to the editor on the table.
"Well, that's interesting," Bena says cheerfully. "I've never been called a guerrilla warrior."
This is life on the front lines of an emotional rift cleaving the Anglican Communion, the 77-million-member Christian federation that encompasses the U.S. Episcopal Church.
Five years ago, Bena was serving as assistant bishop in Albany when Episcopalians took what he considered a misguided step: electing the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Bena was one of three people to stand up and protest at the consecration ceremony where Robinson, who has received death threats, wore a bulletproof vest.
Today, Bena still wears a bishop's ring, but he no longer belongs to the Episcopal Church. Since last March, the Mechanicville resident and former Marine has worked as assistant bishop in an upstart group called the Convocation of Anglicans in North America.
The Virginia-based outpost of the Nigerian church was established to shelter breakaway conservative Episcopalians, who were outraged over Robinson's consecration and clash with the Episcopal Church on doctrine and interpretation of scripture.
Bishop Bena serves under the authority of the staunch anti-gay Archbishop Peter Akinola, leader of the Nigerian Anglican Church, who apparently believes that he is contaminated by the mere touch of a gay person:
ABUJA, Nigeria, Dec. 20 — The way he tells the story, the first and only time Archbishop Peter J. Akinola knowingly shook a gay person’s hand, he sprang backward the moment he realized what he had done.
Archbishop Akinola, the conservative leader of Nigeria’s Anglican Church who has emerged at the center of a schism over homosexuality in the global Anglican Communion, re-enacted the scene from behind his desk Tuesday, shaking his head in wonder and horror.
“This man came up to me after a service, in New York I think, and said, ‘Oh, good to see you bishop, this is my partner of many years,’ ” he recalled. “I said, ‘Oh!’ I jumped back.”
Whence such fear?
In the Albany diocese, Bena helps run the Welcome Home Initiative, a Christian healing program for combat veterans held at the diocese's spiritual retreat here in rural Washington County.
The bishop draws on his experience as a former Marine bombardier/navigator who flew 252 missions in Vietnam. He dropped 3 million pounds of bombs over 13 months. Over a 27-year military career, he also served as an Air Force chaplain.
Bena was in his element leading prayer during a recent retreat, his right arm elevated and his podium surrounded by symbols of the two institutions that dominated his life. A flag- and gun-bearing honor guard stood behind the altar, while a cross hung on the wall overhead.
The church militant, indeed! While I applaud Bishop Bena's outreach to combat veterans, I would have hoped that he could have done without the "gun-bearing honor guard" behind the altar during the service.
UPDATE: I see that I neglected to give credit to my good friend, Fran for the link to this article.
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