St. Nicholas
St. Nicholas website
Thornton brass
Photos
Virtual tour
mediaeval glass
crown spire
maddison monument
st. george's chapel windows
Saturday, April 25, 2009
If Christianity Is About Anything....
Faith is not certainty so much as it is acting-as-if, in great hope.
What chutzpah to quote my own words right under the title of my blog. Well, why not? It IS my blog. And the words describe my faith quite well.
Perhaps due to old age and a greater conviction that there really is nothing new under the sun, I seem to be repeating myself more and more. Nevertheless, I'm convinced that if Christianity is about anything at all, it is about hope, and I often speak those words - to myself and to others - my Good News, so to speak.
The prophets in the Hebrew Testament and the writers of the Christian Testament show us the path of hope. Above all, the Gospels, the books that tell the story of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, the Word made flesh, the One whom we are called to follow - the Gospels, above all - point the way to hope. The Incarnation, the teachings, the healings, the embrace of the outcasts, the death on the cross, and the Resurrection, the whole of the human life of Jesus Christ shows us the way to hope.
In the face of our own sinfulness, struggles, sicknesses, losses, deprivations, and all manner of adversity, we are called to be a people of hope.
From Isaiah in the Lectionary on the feast day of St. Mark, a bearer of the Good News:
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’
Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices,
together they sing for joy;
for in plain sight they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
Break forth together into singing,
you ruins of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
Isaiah 52:7-10
What chutzpah to quote my own words right under the title of my blog. Well, why not? It IS my blog. And the words describe my faith quite well.
Perhaps due to old age and a greater conviction that there really is nothing new under the sun, I seem to be repeating myself more and more. Nevertheless, I'm convinced that if Christianity is about anything at all, it is about hope, and I often speak those words - to myself and to others - my Good News, so to speak.
The prophets in the Hebrew Testament and the writers of the Christian Testament show us the path of hope. Above all, the Gospels, the books that tell the story of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, the Word made flesh, the One whom we are called to follow - the Gospels, above all - point the way to hope. The Incarnation, the teachings, the healings, the embrace of the outcasts, the death on the cross, and the Resurrection, the whole of the human life of Jesus Christ shows us the way to hope.
In the face of our own sinfulness, struggles, sicknesses, losses, deprivations, and all manner of adversity, we are called to be a people of hope.
From Isaiah in the Lectionary on the feast day of St. Mark, a bearer of the Good News:
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’
Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices,
together they sing for joy;
for in plain sight they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
Break forth together into singing,
you ruins of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
Isaiah 52:7-10
Deep Thought
In earlier days, my blog was better than it is now.
(I've turned off the comments to this post, because I'm not fishing for compliments, nor for helpful suggestions. I'm just saying what I think. It is what it is.)
(I've turned off the comments to this post, because I'm not fishing for compliments, nor for helpful suggestions. I'm just saying what I think. It is what it is.)
Food Art
Make sure you scroll all the way down and read what is written.
Today is International Disturbed People's Day.
Please send an encouraging message to a disturbed friend... just as I've done.
I don't care if you lick windows,
take the special bus,
or occasionally pee on yourself...
You hang in there, Sunshine, you're special.
Every sixty seconds you spend angry, upset or mad, is a full minute of happiness you'll never get back.
Today's Message of the Day is:
Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile.
Life may not to be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance!
Thanks to Ann.
Note: The bottom picture is supposed to be animated, but I could not get that to work.
Today is International Disturbed People's Day.
Please send an encouraging message to a disturbed friend... just as I've done.
I don't care if you lick windows,
take the special bus,
or occasionally pee on yourself...
You hang in there, Sunshine, you're special.
Every sixty seconds you spend angry, upset or mad, is a full minute of happiness you'll never get back.
Today's Message of the Day is:
Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile.
Life may not to be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance!
Thanks to Ann.
Note: The bottom picture is supposed to be animated, but I could not get that to work.
Friday, April 24, 2009
"...There Is A Depth Of Evil...."
Rmj at Adventus wrote a series of thoughtful and thought-provoking posts on torture, including links, beginning with the most recent, which is linked above, going backwards from there. Or you can start with the earliest and read them in sequence, as they were written.
The post written today concludes with the words:
Yes, there is a depth of evil here that is very, very difficult to fathom.
Yes, there is.
The post written today concludes with the words:
Yes, there is a depth of evil here that is very, very difficult to fathom.
Yes, there is.
Hey Blogger!
Hey Blogger! Oh, Blogger! Is anyone home? Is anyone listening? What's with the line breaks in the comments that don't happen with HTML? There's a bug! Eeew! Exterminate it!
Four Worms And A Lesson
Good Morning..........now read and release the laughter......it's good for the soul..........
A minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon.
Four worms were placed into four separate jars.
The first worm was put into a container of ALCOHOL.
The second worm was put into a container of cigarette SMOKE.
The third worm was put into a container of CHOCOLATE SYRUP.
The fourth worm was put into a container of GOOD CLEAN SOIL.
At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the following results:
The first worm in alcohol - DEAD!
The second worm in cigarette smoke - DEAD!
Third worm in chocolate syrup - DEAD!
Fourth worm in good clean soil - ALIVE!
So the Minister asked the congregation, "What can you learn from this demonstration?"
Maxine was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said,
"As long as you drink, smoke and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!"
That pretty much ended the service --
And yes. Maxine gets to take her coffee into church during the service.
And yes, again. There are only three cans of worms in the picture.
Thanks to my daughter-in-law.
Roseann Is Going Home!
From Sue:
Mimi, This will be quick, Roseann is on her way home.
Thanks be to God!
S.
Thanks be to God, indeed!
Mimi, This will be quick, Roseann is on her way home.
Thanks be to God!
S.
Thanks be to God, indeed!
"Covenant Is To Be Used As Litmus Test Of Anglicanism"
The title above is the headline in the Church Times. A bit of truth-telling, no? The Covenant will be used to exclude and to punish.
The statement asserts the right of individual dioceses to sign the Covenant. Failure by the Church to sign the Covenant, or any attempt to prevent dioceses’ signing, “would be decisive”.
At the same time as producing this statement, the Anglican Communion Partner bishops have been planning to test the waters of diocesan autonomy. In a series of emails, they have discussed a potential request for alternative episcopal oversight by a priest in the diocese of Colorado, where the Bishop is a liberal....
The Anglican Partner bishops have declared themselves to be loyal to the Episcopal Church and to the Anglican Communion. Their move can be seen as an alternative path to that taken by the Common Cause Anglicans in the United States, who last year established the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) under the deposed Bishop of Pittsburgh, the Rt Revd Bob Duncan.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord George Carey, is concerned about conservative bishops in the US. “All signs suggest that, over time, they are likely to be cleaned out of the Episcopal Church.”
Over time many changes will come. We can't know now quite what the changes will be. At the present time, no one is trying to clean out conservative bishops from the Episcopal Church.
Lord Carey, give a thought to your own Church of England. Would you want conservative bishops to take the same alternative path in England? I can't say. Perhaps, you would.
The signatories of the Bishops' Statement appear to want to depart from the polity of the church that has been in operation since 1789.
Thanks to Themethatisme for pointing the way to the article in the Church Times.
UPDATE: Post corrected to read "Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord George Carey" rather than his son Andrew, the journalist. Thanks to Lapin for pointing out my mistake.
The statement asserts the right of individual dioceses to sign the Covenant. Failure by the Church to sign the Covenant, or any attempt to prevent dioceses’ signing, “would be decisive”.
At the same time as producing this statement, the Anglican Communion Partner bishops have been planning to test the waters of diocesan autonomy. In a series of emails, they have discussed a potential request for alternative episcopal oversight by a priest in the diocese of Colorado, where the Bishop is a liberal....
The Anglican Partner bishops have declared themselves to be loyal to the Episcopal Church and to the Anglican Communion. Their move can be seen as an alternative path to that taken by the Common Cause Anglicans in the United States, who last year established the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) under the deposed Bishop of Pittsburgh, the Rt Revd Bob Duncan.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord George Carey, is concerned about conservative bishops in the US. “All signs suggest that, over time, they are likely to be cleaned out of the Episcopal Church.”
Over time many changes will come. We can't know now quite what the changes will be. At the present time, no one is trying to clean out conservative bishops from the Episcopal Church.
Lord Carey, give a thought to your own Church of England. Would you want conservative bishops to take the same alternative path in England? I can't say. Perhaps, you would.
The signatories of the Bishops' Statement appear to want to depart from the polity of the church that has been in operation since 1789.
Thanks to Themethatisme for pointing the way to the article in the Church Times.
UPDATE: Post corrected to read "Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord George Carey" rather than his son Andrew, the journalist. Thanks to Lapin for pointing out my mistake.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Bishops' Statement On The Polity Of The Episcopal Church
The shorter version from a humble pew warmer of what I believe the Bishops' Statement says:
The Bishops' Statement quotes the Archbishop of Canterbury:
The organ of union with the wider Church is the Bishop and the Diocese rather than the Provincial structure as such.... I should feel a great deal happier, I must say, if those who are most eloquent for a traditionalist view in the United States showed a fuller understanding of the need to regard the Bishop and the Diocese as the primary locus of ecclesial identity rather than the abstract reality of the "national church".
Are we to assume that the Archbishop of Canterbury regards the Church of England as an "abstract reality" and that the dioceses of the Church of England are free to go their own way and sign covenants and maintain constituent membership in the Anglican Communion separately from the Church of England? Or do the words apply only to the Episcopal Church?
The Bishops' Statement says further:
The traditional doctrine and worship and the historic polity of the church are in grave peril.
As I see it, the Bishops' Statement puts the "historic polity of the church" in great peril.
Two caveats:
I may have left out something important, as I tend to fall asleep when I read documents like the Bishops' Statement.
Of course, I could be wrong.
The Episcopal Church has governed itself all wrong since 1789.
The numerous lawsuits in the US which have been decided in favor of the Episcopal Church as a hierarchical church count for nothing. Only the outlier decision in California counts.
The comparisons to the Roman Catholic Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church show that the Episcopal Church is not like them.
The Bishops' Statement quotes the Archbishop of Canterbury:
The organ of union with the wider Church is the Bishop and the Diocese rather than the Provincial structure as such.... I should feel a great deal happier, I must say, if those who are most eloquent for a traditionalist view in the United States showed a fuller understanding of the need to regard the Bishop and the Diocese as the primary locus of ecclesial identity rather than the abstract reality of the "national church".
Are we to assume that the Archbishop of Canterbury regards the Church of England as an "abstract reality" and that the dioceses of the Church of England are free to go their own way and sign covenants and maintain constituent membership in the Anglican Communion separately from the Church of England? Or do the words apply only to the Episcopal Church?
The Bishops' Statement says further:
The traditional doctrine and worship and the historic polity of the church are in grave peril.
As I see it, the Bishops' Statement puts the "historic polity of the church" in great peril.
Two caveats:
I may have left out something important, as I tend to fall asleep when I read documents like the Bishops' Statement.
Of course, I could be wrong.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)