Thanks Be To God!

From the New York Times:

Israel says it has agreed to set up a ''humanitarian corridor'' to ship vital supplies to the people of the Gaza Strip.

The office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says in a statement that the humanitarian corridor idea came from the U.N. Security Council, and he accepted it.

The Israeli leaders say there is no humanitarian crisis, but the UN workers in Gaza disagree. Well, it's a beginning. Let's hope and pray that this first step leads to further reductions in violent actions.

H/T to Ann.

UPDATE: A longer and more detailed article from the New York Times is here.

Grandmas Don't Know Everything

He'd been playing outside with the other kids for a while when he came into the house and asked her, 'Grandma, what's that thing called when two people sleep in the same room and one is on top of the other?'

She was a little taken aback, but she decided to just tell him the truth. 'It's called sexual intercourse, darling.'

Little Tony just said, 'Oh, OK,' and went back outside to play with the other kids.

A few minutes later he came back in and said angrily, 'Grandma, it isn't called sexual intercourse. It's called Bunk Beds. And Jimmy's mom wants to talk to you.'

From my new stringer, Paul the BB.

Thibodaux Rocker, Mary Lasseigne

From the Daily Comet:

Some musicians fret about divulging certain details, worrying the information could damage their cool veneer.

But rocker Mary Lasseigne is undaunted. She tells her age, recounts her rough times and explains her scars. The decades, and maybe the scars, too, were necessary to create the musician audiences see today.

Lasseigne is a 44-year-old Thibodaux rocker who’s reconnecting with her groove.

Lasseigne calls music “my biggest counselor, my biggest consoler.”

New Orleans-area crowds know Lasseigne as Mary LaSang, bassist for the now-defunct grunge band Isaac’s Guns, the nationally known Cowboy Mouth and now for her own act, The Kinky Tuscaderos.

My friend, Georgianne, who sometimes writes for The Huffington Post, introduced me to Mary. We went out to supper together, and I assure you that when we went out to eat, Mary looked a lot more sedate than she does in the picture. But then, she didn't have her electric bass with her, and she played no music. We had a lovely dinner, and I liked Mary quite a lot.

Mary lost both her parents within a short period of time, and those losses were soon followed by Katrina, which resulted in Mary's having to leave her beloved New Orleans and move to Houston for a spell.

Her parents’ deaths, within months of each other in 2004, rendered even music too painful. Music’s strong association with her parents, who nurtured her musical talents, compelled Lasseigne to avoid playing even as a pastime.

“I just was so numb, and I wasn’t in touch with it,” she said. “I didn’t do anything. I just tried to get up every day.”

Then came Katrina.

Lasseigne, who had been living and working in New Orleans since age 20, saw her city ravaged.

“I really love New Orleans. It’s unique, and you can’t find it anywhere else,” she said. “That punched me in the face.”

My goal is to hear Mary play music. She plays mostly in New Orleans, so it should be easy, right? The thing is that I can't find anyone to go with me at night, and I'm timid about going alone.

Laura McKnight, the reporter who gave me my 15 minutes of local fame, wrote the article about Mary, too. Laura is a fine young interviewer and writer. She establishes good rapport with her subjects and then proceeds to get it right when she writes.

For information on Lasseigne, visit www.myspace.com/marylasang.

My Hair Is Too Long And Too Wild

Today, I went at the wrong time for my appointment to get my hair cut. The appointment was at 11:30 AM, but I went at 1:30 PM. I wrote the time on my pad on the regrigerator, but that seems not enough, because I didn't look at the pad. I forgot a previous appointment in the week before Christmas. That was a wild week, and I forgot to write the time of the appointment on the pad.

After today, I was beginning to worry about myself. Am I getting senile? In addition, I'm usually running late when I keep the appointments - altogether an unsatisfactory customer. Will my hairdresser ban me for missing so many appointments?

I had to do a little shopping, and the wind is blowing hard today, so I really looked as wild and crazy as I felt, with my out-of-control hair blowing in the wind, like Phyllis Diller at her worst, if you're old enough to remember that. I began to think about what distracted me from my appointment today, and I realized that I am furious that our ambassador to the UN cast the only "no" vote to a resolution asking for a cease-fire in Gaza. Not a settlement, not an armistice, but a cease-fire to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. I want the killing and maiming to stop, at least for a while.

Lord, have mercy.

Feast of the Epiphany

 

I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practises abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

(Revelation 21:22-27)

Above is a picture of the Nativity set which my mother made with the Three Wise Men and the camels added to the tableau. I haven't displayed the camels for several years now, taking the lazy way out, but I unwrapped them this year for the picture.

The Hormone Guide

Women will understand this!

Men should memorize it!

Every woman knows that there are days in the month when all a man has to do is open his mouth and he takes his life in his hands! This is a handy guide that should be as common as a driver's license in the wallet of every husband, boyfriend, co-worker or significant other!

13 Things PMS Stands For:

1. Pass My Shotgun

2. Psychotic Mood Shift

3. Perpetual Munching Spree

4. Puffy Mid-Section

5. People Make me Sick

6. Provide Me with Sweets

7. Pardon My Sobbing

8. Pimples May Surface

9. Pass My Sweat pants

10. Pissy Mood Syndrome

11. Plainly; Men Suck

12. Pack My Stuff

and my favorite one:

13. Potential Murder Suspect



Don't blame me. Blame Doug. Besides I'm long past all this. Mine is a perpetually sunny disposition.

UPDATE: Menopausal Women At The Mall

There's a message for us all in the video. Watch for it.



H/T to Ann.

Our Supper Tonight

Would you like to know what we ate for supper tonight? No? Well, I shall tell you anyway. Grandpère and I dined on sautéed green tomatoes and roast tenderloin of wild hog, cooked by the chef in the family, GP. Both dishes were delicious. You could say it was a minimalist meal, but it sufficed. A glass of wine furnished the finishing touch.

I should have taken a picture, because GP did not bread the tomatoes, and all the pictures that I find are of breaded green tomatoes. He seasoned them and sautéed them without killing them, if you know what I mean. The pork tenderloin was tender and juicy but was much less fatty than store-bought pork.

"We Are Deeply Saddened...."

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori about the ongoing violence in Gaza:

We are deeply saddened by the first-hand reports we are receiving from Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza about the casualties they are treating under the most horrific circumstances. Not only do they lack basic medical supplies, but with windows blown out they are even struggling to keep patients warm. The high number of civilian deaths and injuries, which continue to include noncombatants, women, and children, will only prolong the violence years into the future. Israel’s disproportionate response to the rockets being fired into its cities may well encourage violence beyond Gaza and Israel. The first steps toward peace will only come if all parties unite behind an immediate ceasefire. Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded the world that “an eye for an eye soon leaves the whole world blind.” May we seek to end this blinding violence.

January 5, 2009

From EpiScope.

H/T to Ann.

Good News From California

In a decision issued today, the California Supreme Court held unanimously in favor of the general church, affirming in full the judgment of the appellate court in the case between the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and three disaffiliated parishes including St. James, Newport Beach. In its opinion the court stated,

Applying the neutral principles of law approach, we conclude that the general church, not the local church, owns the property in question. Although the deeds to the property have long been in the name of the local church, that church agreed from the beginning of its existence to be part of the greater church and to be bound by its governing documents. These governing documents make clear that church property is held in trust for the general church and may be controlled by the local church only so long as that local church remains a part of the general church. When it disaffiliated from the general church, the local church did not have the right to take the church property with it.

In a separate opinion Judge Kennard states, "I agree with the majority that the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (Episcopal Church) owns the property to which St. James Parish in Newport Beach (St. James Parish) has held title since 1950. This conclusion is compelled by Corporations Code section 9142, subdivision (c)(2). But I disagree with the majority that this provision, which applies only to religious corporations, reflects a “neutral principles of law” approach."

The decision makes clear that parish property is held in trust for the general church, a finding that would seem to make it unlikely that churches that left the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin to join the Anglican province of the Southern Cone will be successful in retaining their property.

From the Episcopal Café. There's more at their site.

Finally, good news out of California.

Thanks to Being Peace for the tip.

Please Continue to Pray For Sue And Fr. Ed

JCF has left a new comment on your post "Please Pray For Sue And Ed":

Update:

I'm back in Michigan: saw FrEd (he has t-shirts that say "FrEd", and is joking referred to sometimes as "Fred") today at church.

Things aren't good. Sue came home---but apparently prematurely. They've tried to re-arrange the rectory (2-story) to accomodate her downstairs, but she fell in the middle of the night going to the bathroom, and Ed couldn't get her back up (had to call 9/11, for the paramedics to lift her. This brought back memories for me, of the multiple times this happened to my mom&dad, in the two years before my mom died of ALS).

Ed's going to try to get her into at least a week at the rehab center, tomorrow. Her pain still isn't well controlled [Plus, even AFTER she heals, they may well have to replace her knee anyway! :-0]

PLEASE continue to pray for them? (It hurt me, just to see the obvious pain that FrEd is in---nevermind Sue!)

Prayers for Sue and Fr. Ed for healing and and that they get the assistance that they need quickly. Lord, have mercy.

UPDATE: Original prayer request and story here.