From the Washington Post:
The battle over homosexuality in the Episcopal Church is over. The vote at the last General Convention was overwhelming. The sacred unions of gay and lesbian people are to be blessed and enfolded into liturgical patterns in the same way that the sacred unions of heterosexual people have been honored for centuries. The ministry of this church is to be open to gay and lesbian people who are qualified and chosen in the process by which this church makes such decisions.
I'm not quite as optimistic as Bishop Spong. We know the outcome of the battle, but, sadly, the battle is not over. We have a way to go.
However, I agree with him in his final words.
I am proud of the Episcopal Church and I am sure that if either the Diocese of Los Angeles or the Diocese of Minnesota elects one of the homosexual persons nominated, it will be because the delegates believe that this is the best candidate for the position. If that action offends homophobic Christians then so be it. I want my church united in truth. I do not want to be part of a church united in homophobia or one that pretends it can preserve unity by excluding any group of human beings.
Yes.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Casual Chic
Ready for just
about anything
in a casual chic
sort of way.
From StoryPeople.
Me, too. I'm ready for anything in my casual chic outerwear.
about anything
in a casual chic
sort of way.
From StoryPeople.
Me, too. I'm ready for anything in my casual chic outerwear.
US Health Care Best In The World?
Check out the rankings of health care in various countries according to the World Health Organization.
Rank - Country
1 France
2 Italy
3 San Marino
4 Andorra
5 Malta
6 Singapore
7 Spain
8 Oman
9 Austria
10 Japan
11 Norway
12 Portugal
13 Monaco
14 Greece
15 Iceland
16 Luxembourg
17 Netherlands
18 United Kingdom
19 Ireland
20 Switzerland
21 Belgium
22 Colombia
23 Sweden
24 Cyprus
25 Germany
26 Saudi Arabia
27 United Arab Emirates
28 Israel
29 Morocco
30 Canada
31 Finland
32 Australia
33 Chile
34 Denmark
35 Dominica
36 Costa Rica
37 United States of America
38 Slovenia
39 Cuba
40 Brunei
41 New Zealand
42 Bahrain
43 Croatia
44 Qatar
45 Kuwait
46 Barbados
47 Thailand
48 Czech Republic
49 Malaysia
50 Poland
Whoops! Why aren't we No. 1? Why are we ranked at No. 37, if we have the best health care in the world?
I'll tell you what it is. It's all the people in the US who keep getting sick and dragging us down. Wait. Don't folks in other countries get sick? Well, yeah, but could it be that more of the citizens in those countries have access to primary care, and that they can be treated before they get desperately and expensively sick?
Thanks to Doorman-Priest for the reminder to post these numbers again.
Rank - Country
1 France
2 Italy
3 San Marino
4 Andorra
5 Malta
6 Singapore
7 Spain
8 Oman
9 Austria
10 Japan
11 Norway
12 Portugal
13 Monaco
14 Greece
15 Iceland
16 Luxembourg
17 Netherlands
18 United Kingdom
19 Ireland
20 Switzerland
21 Belgium
22 Colombia
23 Sweden
24 Cyprus
25 Germany
26 Saudi Arabia
27 United Arab Emirates
28 Israel
29 Morocco
30 Canada
31 Finland
32 Australia
33 Chile
34 Denmark
35 Dominica
36 Costa Rica
37 United States of America
38 Slovenia
39 Cuba
40 Brunei
41 New Zealand
42 Bahrain
43 Croatia
44 Qatar
45 Kuwait
46 Barbados
47 Thailand
48 Czech Republic
49 Malaysia
50 Poland
Whoops! Why aren't we No. 1? Why are we ranked at No. 37, if we have the best health care in the world?
I'll tell you what it is. It's all the people in the US who keep getting sick and dragging us down. Wait. Don't folks in other countries get sick? Well, yeah, but could it be that more of the citizens in those countries have access to primary care, and that they can be treated before they get desperately and expensively sick?
Thanks to Doorman-Priest for the reminder to post these numbers again.
Pray For Our Lutheran (ELCA) Brothers And Sisters
From The Lead via USA Today:
The nation's largest Lutheran denomination will consider lifting its ban on gay and lesbian clergy who are in lifelong, monogamous relationships as it gathers this month for a churchwide meeting.
More than 1,000 delegates will debate church policy Aug. 17-23 at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) biennial General Assembly in Minneapolis.
....
The question is not whether openly gay and lesbian clergy can be ordained. They already are — as long as they remain celibate. The question is whether they can have committed relationships and still be called to ELCA pulpits. Partnered gay clergy are technically prohibited, though some congregations break the rule without punishment.
Prayer for those gathered at the ECLA General Assembly:
O God, you open the hearts of your faithful people by sending into us the light of the Holy Spirit.
Direct the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America by the light of that Spirit,
as this church prepares to gather in assembly,
that we might have a right judgment in all things
and rejoice at all times in your peace;
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
The nation's largest Lutheran denomination will consider lifting its ban on gay and lesbian clergy who are in lifelong, monogamous relationships as it gathers this month for a churchwide meeting.
More than 1,000 delegates will debate church policy Aug. 17-23 at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) biennial General Assembly in Minneapolis.
....
The question is not whether openly gay and lesbian clergy can be ordained. They already are — as long as they remain celibate. The question is whether they can have committed relationships and still be called to ELCA pulpits. Partnered gay clergy are technically prohibited, though some congregations break the rule without punishment.
Prayer for those gathered at the ECLA General Assembly:
O God, you open the hearts of your faithful people by sending into us the light of the Holy Spirit.
Direct the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America by the light of that Spirit,
as this church prepares to gather in assembly,
that we might have a right judgment in all things
and rejoice at all times in your peace;
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The 10 First Place Winnahs...
...in the International Pun Contest:
1. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, "I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger."
2. Two fish swim into a concrete wall The one turns to the other and says "Dam!"
3. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.
4. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says "I've lost my electron." The other says "Are you sure?" The first replies "Yes, I'm positive."
5. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.
6. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?", they asked, as they moved off. "Because," he said, " I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer."
7. A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named "Ahmal." The other goes to a family in Spain ; they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."
8. These friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars.
9. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail, and ,with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him a "super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis".
10. And finally, there was the person who sent ten different puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.
"THE ABILITY TO MAKE AND UNDERSTAND PUNS IS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT" - Anonymous
And no. I don't know if this is true. I haven't checked Snopes, but I did laugh - at more than one. And I may have published some, but not all, of these before.
Thanks to Susan S.
1. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, "I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger."
2. Two fish swim into a concrete wall The one turns to the other and says "Dam!"
3. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.
4. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says "I've lost my electron." The other says "Are you sure?" The first replies "Yes, I'm positive."
5. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.
6. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?", they asked, as they moved off. "Because," he said, " I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer."
7. A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named "Ahmal." The other goes to a family in Spain ; they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."
8. These friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars.
9. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail, and ,with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him a "super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis".
10. And finally, there was the person who sent ten different puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.
"THE ABILITY TO MAKE AND UNDERSTAND PUNS IS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT" - Anonymous
And no. I don't know if this is true. I haven't checked Snopes, but I did laugh - at more than one. And I may have published some, but not all, of these before.
Thanks to Susan S.
Health Care Is A Moral Issue
It's time that people of faith weighed in on the issue of health care reform.
H/T to The Lead for the link to the video and for further information on what faith groups are doing to support passage of the reform bill.
Regarding discussions on health care reform, the first of my bêtes noires is the folks on Medicare who don't want the feds involved in health care AT ALL. Somewhere along the way they missed the memo that Medicare is a "socialistic", government-run health care plan.
My next bête noire is the folks who like their Medicare health care plan and know that it's run by the feds, but who don't want others to have what they have, because the feds will SURELY FAIL in other efforts to provide health care.
My third bête noire is the members of the US Congress who are comfortable in their "socialistic", government-run health care, but who just WILL NOT SHARE. Why can't all citizens have what they have?
The Cowboy And St. Peter
A cowboy appeared before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates.
'Have you ever done anything of particular merit?' St. Peter asked.
'Well, I can think of one thing,' the cowboy offered. 'On a trip to Sturgis out in South Dakota, I came upon a gang of bikers, who were threatening a young woman. I told them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't listen. So, I approached the largest and most
heavily tattooed biker and smacked him in his face, kicked his bike over,ripped out his nose ring, and threw it on the ground.
I yelled, 'Now, back off!! Or I'll kick the crap out of all of you!'
St. Peter was impressed, 'When did this happen?'
'Just a couple of minutes ago...'
From Doug.
Pray For Fr. Christian
Father Christian's condition has deteriorated, although with Tamiflu and a nebulizer he's expected to be feeling much better in the next 24 hours.
....
'Consuella'
In the meantime, while he heals, he has instructed us to meditate on the icon pictured above.
Pray and meditate.
UPDATE: Thankfully, it appears that Fr Christian is on the mend.
The Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain
A wee entertainment to cheer you on a Tuesday morning, inspired by TheMe and Susan at Conscientisation. The inspiration took several days to work itself through since I read the post last Friday.
Many years ago, I played the ukulele. It was the thing to do for a while during my high school years. It's easy to play simple chords, but difficult to play really well, and I was never very good at it. However, my friends and I enjoyed singing songs together, while accompanying ourselves on instruments.
UPDATE: The first time that I played the video from my blog, it played only in stops and starts. If that happens, the only remedy that I know to offer is to play it through once in fits and starts, go do something else, and then come back and replay it. The second time, it played through for me. I hope that works for you.
"The Dangerous Bishop of Durham – part 2"
From Colin Coward at Changing Attitude Blog:
Arrogance
The Bishop of Durham claims to speak for the House of Bishops and to know the mind of the Archbishop of Canterbury better than the Archbishop knows himself. He takes it upon himself to clarify and expand upon what the Archbishop ‘really meant’.
....
Durham has a solution to the problems of complexity and manipulation. ‘The ABC himself is now the main person, if not the only person, in a position to give a clear and authoritative answer’. The bishop has spoken. The Archbishop of Canterbury must take unilateral, authoritative action now, and the action must be what Durham has decided is for the best. But as the Archbishop has made very clear, he doesn’t have any legal, canonical authority over the Communion and neither does he want it.
....
Durham refers to ‘certain habits and styles of life’ which are left behind when people rise to new life in Christ (para. 6). LGBT people do not have ‘certain habits’ which are different from the habits of heterosexuals. Nor do we have distinctive ‘styles of life’. His language is deliberately chosen to demean LGBT people. I have met hundreds of LGBT Christians whose lives are characterised by holiness and a renewed humanity. The bishop cannot know the people of his own diocese well if he hasn’t discerned holiness in many of his partnered lesbian and gay clergy and laity. Perhaps, like other bishops I know, he is blind to their presence.
....
In a confusing paragraph Durham writes about the categories of chastity, celibacy and a weak or negligible sexual drive as if they are alternative choices for Christians. Chastity – fidelity in love and sexual relationships - is for all, as he rightly says - the same for lesbian and gay people and heterosexuals. It is totally distinct from the call to celibacy, a charism given to very few people, and utterly different from having a weak or negligible sex drive. I know what the bishop really wants to say – no sex for gay people – God doesn’t approve. Why can’t be honest?
....
Prayer
The Bishop of Durham concludes by naming the main priority for the Communion as prayer. I agree 100% with his commitment to prayer and with the intentions he outlines:
Changing Attitude also prays for these intentions and for the full inclusion of LGBT people in the church of which we are already full members, though disenfranchised and condemned in many parts of the Communion.
I once stopped attending an adult class in our church which consisted of a set of DVDs by Bishop Tom, the first of which had to do with how inclusive Jesus was, associating with all manner of what were considered the undesirables of his day. The content of the teaching was quite good, but I was aware of Bishop Tom's views of LGTB folks, and I could not watch and listen to him on Jesus' all-embracing love for everyone, knowing what I knew.
As I said to Colin at CA in the comments to Part 1:
"Colin, you have no idea how tiresome a good many of us in the US find Bishop Tom's bashing of gays and lesbians and the Episcopal Church. Thanks for your essay."
However, I join with Bishop Tom in his prayer and with Colin in his addition to the prayer.
Arrogance
The Bishop of Durham claims to speak for the House of Bishops and to know the mind of the Archbishop of Canterbury better than the Archbishop knows himself. He takes it upon himself to clarify and expand upon what the Archbishop ‘really meant’.
....
Durham has a solution to the problems of complexity and manipulation. ‘The ABC himself is now the main person, if not the only person, in a position to give a clear and authoritative answer’. The bishop has spoken. The Archbishop of Canterbury must take unilateral, authoritative action now, and the action must be what Durham has decided is for the best. But as the Archbishop has made very clear, he doesn’t have any legal, canonical authority over the Communion and neither does he want it.
....
Durham refers to ‘certain habits and styles of life’ which are left behind when people rise to new life in Christ (para. 6). LGBT people do not have ‘certain habits’ which are different from the habits of heterosexuals. Nor do we have distinctive ‘styles of life’. His language is deliberately chosen to demean LGBT people. I have met hundreds of LGBT Christians whose lives are characterised by holiness and a renewed humanity. The bishop cannot know the people of his own diocese well if he hasn’t discerned holiness in many of his partnered lesbian and gay clergy and laity. Perhaps, like other bishops I know, he is blind to their presence.
....
In a confusing paragraph Durham writes about the categories of chastity, celibacy and a weak or negligible sexual drive as if they are alternative choices for Christians. Chastity – fidelity in love and sexual relationships - is for all, as he rightly says - the same for lesbian and gay people and heterosexuals. It is totally distinct from the call to celibacy, a charism given to very few people, and utterly different from having a weak or negligible sex drive. I know what the bishop really wants to say – no sex for gay people – God doesn’t approve. Why can’t be honest?
....
Prayer
The Bishop of Durham concludes by naming the main priority for the Communion as prayer. I agree 100% with his commitment to prayer and with the intentions he outlines:
‘Prayer for the church; for our beloved Communion and the many other Christians with whom we seek to deepen fellowship; for Archbishop Rowan; for wisdom, courage, clarity and vision; for God’s glory, the extension of his kingdom, and the power of the gospel and the Spirit at work in hearts, lives, communities and throughout our world’.
Changing Attitude also prays for these intentions and for the full inclusion of LGBT people in the church of which we are already full members, though disenfranchised and condemned in many parts of the Communion.
I once stopped attending an adult class in our church which consisted of a set of DVDs by Bishop Tom, the first of which had to do with how inclusive Jesus was, associating with all manner of what were considered the undesirables of his day. The content of the teaching was quite good, but I was aware of Bishop Tom's views of LGTB folks, and I could not watch and listen to him on Jesus' all-embracing love for everyone, knowing what I knew.
As I said to Colin at CA in the comments to Part 1:
"Colin, you have no idea how tiresome a good many of us in the US find Bishop Tom's bashing of gays and lesbians and the Episcopal Church. Thanks for your essay."
However, I join with Bishop Tom in his prayer and with Colin in his addition to the prayer.
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