Happy Birthday To Paul The BB!

Today Yesterday Paul celebrated his life on this good earth for 63 three years. Don't focus on the number of years, because Paul is young at heart, and he looks far younger than his years. He is soooo good-looking.

Watch over thy child, O Lord, as his days increase; bless and guide him wherever he may be. Strengthen him when he stands; comfort him when discouraged or sorrowful; raise him up if he fall; and in his heart may thy peace which passeth understanding abide all the days of his life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And please go to Paul's web site to read his post titled A Modest Proposal on his idea for a moratorium.

Feast Day Of Lady Julian Of Norwich

Julian of Norwich

Icon "borrowed" from Paul the BB.

"The soul that would preserve its peace, when another's sin is brought to mind, must fly from it as from the pains of hell, looking to God for help against it. To consider the sins of other people will produce a thick film over the eyes of our soul, and prevent us for the time being from seeing the 'fair beauty of the Lord'-- unless, that is, we look at them contrite along with the sinner, being sorry with and for him, and yearning over him for God. Without this it can only harm, disturb, and hinder the soul who considers them. I gathered all this from the revelation about compassion...This blessed friend is Jesus; it is his will and plan that we hang on to him, and hold tight always, in whatever circumstances; for whether we are filthy or clean is all the same to his love."

What is going on in the Anglican Communion now, if it's not bringing to mind the so-called "sins" of others, who because they love people of the same sex must not be fully included in God's church and must not have their unions blessed by the church? Would that we'd all follow Lady Julian's directive to "preserve our peace" and fly from contemplating the sins of others as from the pains of hell. If we choose to spend our time contemplating sin, are not our own "manifold sins and wickedness" enough?

Better still, could we spend our time "seeing the 'fair beauty of the Lord'...for whether we are filthy or clean is all the same to his love"?

PRAYER

Lord God, who in your compassion granted to the Lady Julian many revelations of your nurturing and sustaining love: Move our hearts, like hers, to seek you above all things, for in giving us yourself you give us all; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Lady Julian's words from The Lectionary.

"Be Like The Bird"

A dear friend sent me the poem below this morning. She said it made her think of me. I cried when I read it. The poem makes me think of her, too, and of a good many other friends, in real and virtual life. I present it here to you, my visitors, those who comment, and those who don't, and I dedicate it to you.

Be Like the Bird

Be like that bird
Who, pausing in flight,
Feels the bough give way
Beneath her feet
And yet sings,
Knowing she hath wings.

Victor Hugo

I'm at the "farm", no, not the funny farm, Grandpère's childhood home, which is no longer a farm. He loves the place passionately. Me - not so much.

I'm on slow wireless, very slow wireless, frustratingly slow wireless, and my dear friend's poem lifts my spirits out of the frustration.

George Carlin On Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old
is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited
about aging that you think in fractions.

"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a
half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the
next number, or even a few ahead. "How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!"

You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest
day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a
ceremony . . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like
bad milk. He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now,
you're just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the
brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 . . ..
and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would! So you
BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60. You've built
up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing;
you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80s and every day is a complete
cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime.

And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I
Was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a
little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height.
Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening,
whatever. Never let the brain idle. " An idle mind is the devil's
workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is

with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, Whether it's family, pets,
keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable,
improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next
county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the
moments that take our breath away.

The last statement is so very true. I'm quite serious when I say that, although I've been through rough times, I thank God that I have had many beautiful moments in my life that took my breath away.

And turning 30 was a tremendous shock to me. I breezed through the remainder of the turning decades.

Thanks to Doug.

Rx For Hubby...

A nice, calm and respectable lady went into the pharmacy, walked up to the pharmacist, looked straight into his eyes, and said, "I would like to buy some cyanide."

The pharmacist asked, "Why in the world do you need cyanide?"

The lady replied, "I need it to poison my husband."

The pharmacist's eyes got big and he exclaimed, "Lord have mercy! I can't give you cyanide to kill your husband. That's against the law! I'll lose my license! They'll throw both of us in jail! All kinds of bad things will happen.
Absolutely not! You CANNOT have any cyanide!"

The lady reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband in bed with the pharmacist's wife.

The pharmacist looked at the picture and replied, "Well now, that's a different story. You didn't tell me you had a prescription."

From Susan S.

GOOD NEWS FROM ROSEANN!

From Roseann to Sue:

I'm on my way home as soon as they get the papers all together. Dr K determined it was bronchitis instead of pneumonia. I'll stay on the feeding tube until I get my strength built back up.

This is a wonderful day. I want to be home. I love all of you and appreciate the prayers and kind thoughts.

Love, R

Roseann, we love you, too, and we rejoice with you that you are on your way home - maybe even home by now. Thanks be to God!

Thank you, Sue, for keeping us informed.

Joke Of The Day

Pictures and captions from the genius called MadPriest.

The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) asked May 6 for a renewal of the Anglican Communion's process of listening to homosexual persons and those who struggle with the full inclusion of such persons in the life of the church.

From Episcopal Life.

In the US, the "listening process" has not yet begun in a number of dioceses. One wonders about the provinces of Nigeria, Uganda, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

UPDATE: If it's not to be about renewal in many place, lets hope that the Rev. Canon Phil Groves, the Facilitator for the Listening Process, can get the process going.

Groves said the process is "looking at new ways of moving forward." One effort will be to encourage the development of "theological resources, perhaps theological hubs around the world, to reflect on Scripture in the light of the traditions of that place, to reflect on the traditions of the church in the light of that place."
....

Another aim of the conversations, Groves said, is not just to have bishops talk, "but to have the people of those places engage one another in conversation."

"We expect hard questions to be asked of one another," he said. "We do expect some very difficult times."

Only a few people commented on the resolution. Jerusalem and the Middle East President Bishop Mouneer Anis questioned the goals of the Listening Process, saying that "if we are to achieve better pastoral care and combating homophobia, this would be an honorable achievement because I don't think we all know how to care for people with homosexual orientation and some [people] are actually homophobic."

"Homophobia is not good and it doesn't go with our Christian love at all," he said. "We should be loving, we should be caring for homosexuals." However, Anis said that the goal cannot be toleration of homosexual.

(My emphasis)

It ain't gonna be easy.

UPDATE 2: From Paul the BB in the comments:

I believe full implementation of the listening process is slated for the week following the last trumpet.

What Would You Do, Bishop Cameron?

From Episcopal Life:

During the briefing, [Welsh Diocese of St. Asaph Bishop Gregory] Cameron also vehemently criticized ongoing property litigation concerning people who want to retain church property after they choose to disaffiliate with their province or diocese. "I don't think there's any Christian who can't be anything other than aghast when Christians choose to play out their differences through the law courts," he said. "It's not an appropriate response."

He noted that the primates asked that the Episcopal Church not try to recover property through court action and that the departing members not seek to take property away from the church. "I have to say that I don't see either side of that equation heeded in the American situation," he said.

Would Bishop Cameron permit parishes in his diocese to separate from the Church in Wales and take property with them? I'd like to hear the bishop's answer to that question, before I give his words serious consideration.

I don't like the idea of Christians in litigation against each other, either, but what is the answer? Negotiations don't seem to have worked well thus far.

Louisiana Is A Leader!

From the Violence Policy Center:

States with higher gun ownership rates and weak gun laws have the highest rates of gun death according to a new analysis by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) of just-released 2006 national data (the most recent available) from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

The analysis reveals that the five states with the highest per capita gun death rates were Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, and Nevada. Each of these states had a per capita gun death rate far exceeding the national per capita gun death rate of 10.32 per 100,000 for 2006. Each state has lax gun laws and higher gun ownership rates. By contrast, states with strong gun laws and low rates of gun ownership had far lower rates of firearm-related death. Ranking last in the nation for gun death was Hawaii, followed by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York. (See chart below for top and bottom five states.

State Firearm Death Rates, Ranked by Rate, 2006

Rank State Rate

1 Louisiana 19.58
2 Alabama 16.99
3 (tie) Alaska 16.38
3 (tie) Mississippi 16.38
5 Nevada 16.25
6 Arizona 15.93
7 Wyoming 15.60
8 Tennessee 15.52
9 Arkansas 15.16
10 New Mexico 14.57
11 South Carolina 14.23
12 West Virginia 13.99
13 Oklahoma 13.47
14 Missouri 13.14
15 North Carolina 12.77
16 Montana 12.67
17 Kentucky 12.63
18 Idaho 12.30
19 Georgia 12.25
20 Maryland 12.10
21 Indiana 11.77
22 Florida 11.54
23 Michigan 11.45
24 Pennsylvania 11.05
25 Kansas 10.85
26 Virginia 10.68
27 Colorado 10.43
28 Oregon 10.40
29 Texas 10.35
30 South Dakota 9.77
31 Ohio 9.72
32 California 9.28
33 Delaware 9.26
34 Vermont 8.70
35 Utah 8.68
36 Washington 8.56
37 Illinois 8.11
38 (tie) Maine 7.99
38 (tie) Nebraska 7.99
40 Wisconsin 7.61
41 North Dakota 7.22
42 Iowa 6.49
43 Minnesota 6.38
44 New Hampshire 6.25
45 New Jersey 5.68
46 New York 5.20
47 Connecticut 4.95
48 Rhode Island 4.43
49 Massachusetts 3.28
50 Hawaii 2.58
. National Average 10.32

*Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Control and Prevention.

Just look at that! No. 1 in per capita gun deaths! I'm a tad, just a tad embarrassed by this, but many of my fellow citizens here in Louisiana seem to take this information in stride.

Who knew that weak gun laws correlated with the number of deaths by gunshot?

But remember: As the bumper sticker says, "Guns don't kill people. People do." Tell that to the loved ones of those who are dead from gunshots.

Go read Steve Kanga's refutation of the fallacious statement. Sounds good to me. I like the final words:

A wit once described this irrelevancy thus: "Fingers don't kill people, bullets do."

Let's raise a glass to that, my fellow citizens.

Holiday Complaints Received By Thomas Cook

"The beach was too sandy."

"We bought Ray-Ban sunglasses for five euros (£3.50) from a street trader only to find out they were fake."

"No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled."

"It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England but it only took the Americans three hours to get home."

"I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment with our friends' three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller."

"The brochure states 'No hairdressers at the hotel.' We're trainee hairdressers - will we be OK staying here?"

"We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white."

"We had to queue outside with no air conditioning."

"I was bitten by a mosquito. No-one said they could bite."

"I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits such as custard creams and ginger nuts."

"On my holiday to Goa in India I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food at all."

"We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels."

Thanks to Erika.