Feast Day Of Richard Hooker

Readings:

Psalm 19:1-11
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 44:10-15
1 Corinthians 2:6-10,13-16
John 17:18-23


PRAYER

O God of truth and peace, who didst raise up thy servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Of Richard Hooker's book, The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, James Kiefer says:

In the course of his book he sets forth the Anglican view of the Church, and the Anglican approach to the discovery of religious truth (the so-called via media, or middle road), and explains how this differs from the position of the Puritans, on the one hand, and the adherents of the Pope, on the other. He is very heavy reading, but well worth it. (He says, on the first page of Chapter I: "Those unto whom we shall seem tedious are in no wise injuried by us, seeing that it lies in their own hands to spare themselves the labor they are unwilling to endure."
....

Although Hooker is unsparing in his censure of what he believes to be the errors of Rome, his contemporary, Pope Clement VIII (died 1605), said of the book: "It has in it such seeds of eternity that it will abide until the last fire shall consume all learning."

Presently, I am reading a book of excerpts from Hooker's many-volume work. It is slow going, but I find much that is profitable and applicable to our situation in Anglicanland today. Along with the book of Hooker's excerpts, I am also using Michael Russell's book, Hooker's Blueprint as a sort of "Cliffs Notes" to Hooker's writing.

Reading Hooker in fits and starts, as I do, is not the best way to go, because reading the book at longer intervals, as I have done on occasion, I fall into the cadences of the Elizabethan English, and the reading becomes easier. If you choose to read Hooker, do as I say, and not as I do. And please! Don't ask me complicated questions about Richard Hooker's writings, because I'm not likely to be able to answer them.

Image from Wiki.

Nothing Takes The Place Of You

"The Menace Of The Public Option"

From M.C. Blakeman at SFGate:

Of all the current assaults on our noble republic, perhaps none is more dangerous than the public option - specifically, the public library option.

For far too long, this menace has undermined the very foundations of our economy. While companies like Amazon and Barnes & Noble struggle valiantly each day to sell books, these communistic cabals known as libraries undercut the hard work of good corporate citizens by letting people read their books for free. How is the private sector supposed to compete with free?
....

Have you ever wondered who's really behind this public library option? And don't you think it's fishy that they mask their nefarious activities with benign-sounding names, like Friends of the Library? What's their real agenda - and why do they have so many "volunteer" meetings, anyway?

Read the rest at the link. I spent most of my working life in these places, and I attest to the dangers that lurk in public libraries. In the olden days, the subscription libraries charged for books. What a cockamamie idea to lend the books out FOR FREE. Someone's paying. There's no free lunch. It's your tax money and my tax money that pay for this socialistic, giveaway program.

H/T to Oyster.

New Colors From Crayola

I'm turning the evening over to Doug. His stuff is piling up in my mailbox. He is a terrible influence for evil on me, and I can't seem to help myself.

Kids Are Quick

TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America ..
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ?
CLASS: Maria.
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TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.
__________________________________________

TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.

(I Love this kid)
____________________________________________

TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.
__________________________________

TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago.
WINNIE: Me!
__________________________________________

TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.
_______________________________________

TEACHER: Millie, give me a sentence starting with ' I. '
MILLIE: I is..
TEACHER: No, Millie...... Always say, 'I am.'
MILLIE: All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.'
________________________________

TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand.
______________________________________

TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.
______________________________

TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's... Did you copy his?
CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog.
___________________________________

TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher
__________________________________

Remember: LAUGHTER IS THE SOUL'S MEDICINE!!

It is, Doug, it is. Thanks.

Walmart Slashes Prices For Recession

 

Thanks to Doug.

Help Fred's Friends

Fred Schwartz at Off Topic Allowed asks for a little help for his friends.

St. Mark's Chapel, Port Royal, South Carolina is in need of a letter writing campaign. This small group of Episcopalians is located in the heart of +Mark Lawrence's diocese.

My heartfelt sympathies go to the folks at St. Mark's, who have been refused mission status by Bp. Lawrence for no good reason that I can fathom, except that they may not share the bishop's views on every damned issue in the Episcopal Church. They are a dedicated and hard-working community and they deserve better from their bishop, who was, after all, elected to SERVE THEM, as well as the members of the flock in South Carolina who walk in lockstep with the bishop.

Day Of All Souls

St. John's Cemetery - Thibodaux, Louisiana

Readings:

Psalm 130 or 116:10-17
Wisdom 3:1-9 or Isaiah 25:6-9
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 or 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
John 5:24-27

Prayer:

O God, the Maker and Redeemer of all believers: Grant to the faithful departed the unsearchable benefits of the passion of your Son; that on the day of his appearing they may be manifested as your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever. Amen

We remembered the departed at our All Saints Day service yesterday, since we did not plan a separate service for All Souls Day.

"Church History In 4 Minutes"

Nicked from MadPriest, who nicked from YouTube, courtesy of Tracie.

It's wonderful, surely a welcome timesaver in this busy world of ours to learn all you need to know about church history.

UPDATE: The creator of the video, Janet Batchler, at Quoth The Maven, posted the lyrics. It's a delightful and clever video, and I'm glad to know who made it to give her due credit.

Please Don't Misunderstand...

My post below about where the comments to my blog went was mostly tongue-in-cheek. Yesterday was a dead comment day until I posted a link over at Facebook, and then folks came over to leave a word. What I found puzzling was that I had quite a high visitor count for a Sunday, without a link from any of the major bloggers, so far as I've been able to tell, and so few comments (one!) until the link at Facebook. Maybe folks were busy meditating on the saints.

Please don't misunderstand me to imply that anyone should feel OBLIGATED to visit my blog or leave a comment. I have good friends who never read Wounded Bird, and we remain good friends. Blogging is something I do, because I enjoy it, and the same goes for visiting around other blogs, although time constraints affect both activities.

Nor do I intend to fault or mock those of you who like Facebook and Twitter. With Twitter, I was in and out in a matter of hours. I didn't know what was going on, and I saw right away that it was not where I wanted to be. I see the attraction of FB. It's an easy way to keep in touch with family and friends, it can be useful as a way to circulate worthwhile information, and it can be fun. Also, in its favor, FB is not as time-consuming as blogging and reading blogs, although some folks seem to spend a good deal of time there.

Blogging is changing, if not dying, and we'll just have to see in which direction the blogs and those who read them go. Once again, I love visits and comments, but I want no one to feel obligated to visit or comment, nor do I want anyone to feel guilty for not visiting or commenting. Capice?