Archbishop Tutu To receive US Medal of Freedom

From The Lead:

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Anglican Archbishop emeritus of South Africa, Desmond Tutu will be among those receiving the US Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.

Desmond Tutu is an Anglican Archbishop emeritus who was a leading anti-apartheid activist in South Africa. Widely regarded as “South Africa’s moral conscience,” he served as the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) from 1978 – 1985, where he led a formidable crusade in support of justice and racial reconciliation in South Africa. He received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work through SACC in 1984. Tutu was elected Archbishop of Cape Town in 1986, and the Chair of the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995. He retired as Archbishop in 1996 and is currently Chair of The Elders.

Others named for the medal are:

Billy Jean King

Rev. Joseph Lowery

Joe Medicine Crow

Harvey Milk

Sandra Day O'Connor

Sidney Poitier

Chita Rivera

Mary Robinson

Janet Davison Rowley M.D.

Muhammad Yunus



Harvey Milk


Billie Jean King

Check out the post at The Lead to view the accomplishments of the others on the list.

That's grand, isn't it? It's a fine list, with the exception of O'Connor. It's wonderful and all that she was the first woman on the Supreme Court, but she also gave us George Bush as president, snatching the job away from the man who won.

Of course, the medal is a tad tarnished from being given to Rummy and George Tenet, but this list of recipients will help restore its luster.

All images from Wiki

I Am So Proud - Not! Shame On Us!

Hello--

This is Josh Nelson with the Hatcher Group writing on behalf of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. I wanted to let you know about our release today of the 2009 Kids Count Data Book. The Kids Count Data Book provides the most credible data on child well–being and is the only source that measures national and state-by-state trends on a wide range of indicators. The Annie E. Casey Foundation feels strongly that good data is the foundation of good policy. The types of indicators we track include infant mortality rate, teen birth rate, high school dropout rate and child poverty rate.

I thought you’d be particularly interested in our Louisiana-specific data:

State Fact Profile.

State Fact Sheets.

There are a number of opportunities to blog on this, and I hope you will consider doing so. If so, please consider the following:

The Embeddable Widget

The 2009 Essay, Counting What Counts, Taking Results Seriously for Vulnerable Children and Families:

Louisiana ranks 49th nationally in a new state-by-state study on the well-being of America's children. The 2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book reveals that since 2000, Louisiana improved on four of the 10 measures affecting child well-being. Yet on five other measures, conditions worsened for Louisiana's kids, and on one measure conditions remained unchanged. The 20th annual Data Book also contains the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s essay, which focuses on the country’s progress in keeping track of children’s well-being.

This year’s Data Book is complemented by the expanded KIDS COUNT Data Center, an online interactive database that contains hundreds of measures of child well-being covering national, state, county, and city information. To access information for Louisiana go to datacenter.kidscount.org/la.

Louisiana ranks in the bottom 10 on nine of 10 indicators. Nationally, Louisiana ranked 49th on six key measures of child well-being, including the percent of low-birthweight babies, the infant mortality rate, the percent of teens ages 16 to 19 who are not in school and not working, the percent of children without secure parental employment, the percent of children in poverty, and the percent of children in single-parent families.

In terms of key findings nationally, there were:

* Six areas of improvement: infant mortality rate, child death rate, teen death rate, teen birth rate, high school dropout rate, and rate of teens not in school and not working;

* Four areas have worsened: low-birthweight babies, children living in families where no parent has full-time year-round employment, children in poverty, and children in single parent families.

If you would like a copy of the press release, or have any questions whatsoever about this, please let me know. Additionally, be sure to send me the link to anything you write on this, so we can include it in our outreach to other bloggers and journalists as appropriate.

Thank you for your time.

Josh, I'm pleased to blog this information, but, at the same time, I'm quite ashamed of the statistics on my state. Our politicians blather on and on about family values, but it seems obvious that they don't care much about the children of the families in Louisiana.

It's more of the same old, same old, near the bottom in the good stuff, and near the top in the bad stuff. Why don't the politicians do something about this, and why don't the people of Louisiana press them to do more for the good of the children of the state? Is it that we don't care? If so, shame on us.

UPDATE: Here's the link to the Kids Count Databook of the Annie E. Casey Foundation where you can find information on your own state.

"The Berenstain Bears Meet Christopher McCandless"

At Bitch PhD, Sybil worries that we all do not Twitter.

Right now, I worry that those of you who don't do twitter are perhaps missing a twitter trend and, more importantly, B's enthusiastic participation in it: failed children's books titles. I'd hate for you to miss these gems:

The Little Engine that Warmed Up The Whole World
Harold and the Purple Thing
How to Kill a Mockingbird
Pride and Prejudice: The Story of Pat Robertson
The Scarlet Letter and Other Cautionary Tales for Abstinence-Only Education

Now pop over to the blog to see rest of the list of gems and have a few laughs.

Thanks to that rascally Paul (A.) for the link.

Happy Anniversary To The Philadelphia Eleven!

From the Diocese of Easton:

An important date in the history of the Episcopal Church: on July 29, 1974 (thirty-two years ago), eleven women were ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in Philadelphia: Merrill Bittner, Alla Bozarth-Campbell, Alison Cheek, Emily Hewitt, Carter Heyward, Suzanne Hiatt, Marie Moorefield Fleisher, Jeannette Piccard, Betty Bone Schiess, Katrina Martha Swanson, and Nancy Hatch Wittig.

This ordination, performed by bishops who had retired or resigned, was denounced as “irregular” and these women became known as the “Philadelphia Eleven.”

Shortly thereafter, four additional women were also “irregularly" ordained: Eleanor Lee McGee, Alison Palmer, Betty Powell, and Diane Tickell. A firestorm of controversy erupted in the church: charges were filed against these dissident bishops (Daniel Corrigan, Robert DeWitt, Edward Welles and George Barrett) and an emergency meeting of the Episcopal House of Bishops was convened on August 15, 1974. The stained glass ceiling had been lifted; however, and on September 16, 1976 the General Convention of the Episcopal Church (meeting in Minneapolis) adopted a resolution to change the church’s canon law to allow the ordination of women for all three orders of ministry (bishop, priest, deacon)

The decision to ordain women remains optional in each diocese, however. Today three dioceses in the United States continue to refuse to ordain or recognize the priesthood of women (Fort Worth, Texas, Quincy, Illinois, and San Joaquin, California).

From the Episcopal Church Women's Ministries:

Minneapolis, Thursday, September 16, 1976, 2:05 pm

A momentous vote was about to be taken by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. President John B. Coburn of New York called the packed House of Deputies to order, nearly 800 deputies, with hundreds of on-lookers crowding the gallery.

A resolution, already adopted by the House of Bishops, was introduced. In the time allotted for debate, twenty-nine deputies spoke in favor, and twenty-nine spoke against. The Chair of the Committee on Ministry called for five minutes of silent prayer. The vote was taken. Everyone held their breath, and then it was official: women could be ordained to all three orders in the Episcopal Church.

"All around us people were weeping, silently reaching, touching each other. No one spoke," remembered the Rev. Alla Bozarth Campbell, one of the 1974 "Philadelphia 11" whose ordinations would now be regularized (Bozarth, Womanpriest: a Personal Odyssey, Luramedia, 1988 p 115).

Immediately after the vote was announced, representatives of groups opposed to the ordination of women were recognized, to read into the record an impassioned statement of dissent. The canon had been changed, but much work lay ahead to implement it.

Read the rest of the story of the Episcopal Church's journey to the momentous vote.

UPDATE - The names of the Philadelphia 11:

Merrill Bittner
Alison Cheek
Alla Bozarth (Campell)
Emily C Hewitt
Carter Heyward
Suzanne R. Hiatt (deceased 2002)
Marie Moorefield
Jeanette Piccard (deceased 1981)
Betty Bone Schiess
Katrina Welles Swanson (deceased 2006)
Nancy Hatch Witting

Ordaining Bishops:

Daniel Corrigan
Robert L DeWitt
Edward R Welles

Thanks to Susan Russell at An Inch At A Time for the names and to Ann Fontaine for supplying links.

Feast of Mary And Martha Of Bethany

VERMEER, Johannes - Christ in the House of Martha and Mary - 1654-55(?) - Oil on canvas, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh

Readings:

Psalm 36:5-10 or 33:1-5,20-21
Romans 12:9-13
Luke 10:38-42

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
(Psalm 36:8-9)


Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’
(Luke 10:38-42)

PRAYER

O God, heavenly Father, whose Son Jesus Christ enjoyed rest and refreshment in the home of Mary and Martha of Bethany: Give us the will to love you, open our hearts to hear you, and strengthen our hands to serve you in others for his sake; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.

I've always seen myself as more Mary than Martha, and in my younger days, I patted myself on the back for it, just like the Pharisees. However, as I've grown older, I've come to see that there's too often an element of a desire to avoid work in the mix. I no longer pat myself on the back, or, at least, I try hard not to fall into the trap of doing so. Whatever the motivation, I'm not to be about the business of patting myself on the back anyway.

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

Mishmash Of A Message

The latest missive from the Archbishop of Canterbury reflecting on General Convention 2009 is so very depressing. I resolve to put it out of my mind, but commentary on it is all over Anglican Blogland. Few seem pleased with it. "Revisionists" and "reasserters" alike are unhappy. I'm yet to read an approving commentary. I wish that I could get it out of my head.

Mark Harris at Preludium shares his reflections on the ABC's reflections, which are well worth reading. The words below, taken from Mark's post, brought forth a rueful smile even in the midst of the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

The essay is a mishmash of reheated sausage, dry toast and a dropped egg or two. Hardly a good breakfast here in the US, and for that matter a sorry mess of a breakfast even in England.

Yes.

Sue-z Update (ongoing)....

From JimB:

We did CAT scans today. What we did not do is get any results. Sue-z is still retaining a lot of fluid, her feet and legs are swollen and we do not know what is going on. I suspect there will be a flurry of new tests and some new meds in the morning.

FWIW
jimB

Jim, I'm sorry. Prayers continue for Sue-Z and for you and your family.

You Couldn't Script This

Also from Doug.

If A Dog Was Your Teacher...

...you would learn things like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy.

Take naps.

Stretch before rising.

Run, romp, and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let people rub your head.

Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.

On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Be loyal.

Never pretend to be something you're not.

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY!

Thanks to Doug.

"Video Wrap-up Of GC"

From Lisa at My Manner Of Life:

Thanks to Susan Russell for drawing attention to this fine video by Jim DeLa (Director of Communications, Diocese of Southwest Florida). As Susan writes, "You could just cue up this 6-ish minute video in the Parish Hall on Sunday, do a Q&A after and call it a day on the "What did they do at General Convention" Forum!"

The video has already made the rounds of many of the blogs, but here it is again, at 6 minutes plus, if you have not seen it and care to watch.