O Clavis David

December 20

O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel;
qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit:
veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel,
that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth,
come to liberate the prisoner from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death.


Isaiah 22:22

I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David;
he shall open, and no one shall shut;
he shall shut, and no one shall open.


Antiphon sung by the Dominican student brothers at Oxford.

Text from Fish Eaters.

"Joys Seven"

The carol "Joys Seven" sung by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge.

Yes, it's a carol before Christmas Eve. So sue me.

Inspired by Rmj at Adventus, who posted the words to the carol.

Update On Sammy Cat

Dear Mimi,

Please convey my heartfelt thanks to all who have been praying for Sammy Cat and me. After Sammy's ultrasound I had a consult with the radiologist and internist. Both doctors agreed that Sammy either has inflammatory bowel disease or gastrointestinal lymphoma. Both felt that IBD was more likely given her age and general health. Sam would have to have an endoscopy and biopsy for a definite diagnosis. We are not out of the woods yet, but are going ahead with a totally new diet and some additional blood tests. If IBD is the issue we may be able to control it with diet and some medication. Keep on praying!

God bless all of my friends in Blog Land!

Whiteycat

Ouch!

Check out Jim Naughton's thoughts on the consequences of not signing the Covenant at The Lead. The beginning:

A few stray thoughts on the Anglican Covenant and the recent meeting of the Central Committee of the Anglican Communion (I can't bring myself to accept the power-grab-by-name- change that Rowan Williams has affected by calling this thing a Standing Committee, so I am using another name).

From the final Paragraph:

Finally, I think we need to stop thinking of Rowan Williams as a gentle, scholarly soul caught between warring parties, doing his best to make peace.

Do read the entire post.

CHRISTMAS AT ROCK-AWAY REST

'Twas the night before Christmas at Rock-Away Rest,
and all of us seniors were looking our best.
Our glasses, how sparkly, our wrinkles, how merry;
Our punchbowl held prune juice plus three drops of sherry.

A bedsock was taped to each walker, in hope
That Santa would bring us soft candy and soap.
We surely were lucky to be there with friends,
Secure in this residence and in our Depends.

Our grandkids had sent us some Christmasy crafts,
Like angels in snowsuits and penguins on rafts.
The dental assistant had borrowed our teeth,
And from them she'd crafted a holiday wreath.

The bed pans, so shiny, all stood in a row,
Reflecting our candle's magnificent glow.
Our supper so festive -- the joy wouldn't stop --
Was creamy warm oatmeal with sprinkles on top.

Our salad was Jell-O, so jiggly and great,
Then puree of fruitcake was spooned on each plate.
The social director then had us play games,
Like "Where Are You Living?" and "What Are Your Names?"

Old Grandfather Looper was feeling his oats,
Proclaiming that reindeer were nothing but goats.
Our resident wand'rer was tied to her chair,
In hopes that at bedtime she still would be there.

Security lights on the new fallen snow
Made outdoors seem noon to the old folks below.
Then out on the porch there arose quite a clatter
(But we are so deaf that it just didn't matter).

A strange little fellow flew in through the door,
Then tripped on the sill and fell flat on the floor.
'Twas just our director, all togged out in red.
He jiggled and chuckled and patted each head.

We knew from the way that he strutted and jived
Our social- security checks had arrived.
We sang -- how we sang -- in our monotone croak,
Till the clock tinkled out its soft eight-p.m. stroke.

And soon we were snuggling deep in our beds.
While nurses distributed nocturnal meds.
And so ends our Christmas at Rock-Away Rest.
'fore long you'll be with us, We wish you the best!

Don't blame me. Blame Robert.

Story Of The Day - Flight

I knew a man in college who grew up in
the inner city of Chicago & what he was
doing in Iowa I never did figure out. But
whenever he would see a jet trailing
across the sky, he would stop everything
he was doing & he would watch. Once,
after a jet was gone & there was nothing
left but the white line disappearing like
a scar into the blue, he turned to me &
said, An airplane is a miracle & I didn't
give it much thought, but now & then,
when I am ready to give up hope for
human beings in general, & for one or
two of them who are bugging me
specifically, I will look to the sky & there
will be one of those miracles & I will
remember it's all about concentrating
on the right thing.


From StoryPeople.

Louisiana Is First In Something Good!

From USA today:

A CDC released a four-year, 1.3 million-person study on happiness: Apparently the happiest Americans are in Louisiana, while the Empire State (N.Y.) is leaving people least satisfied.
....

If you compare the ranking of happiest states to the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, is it interesting that New York has almost double the people who report "no religion" as Louisiana (14% vs. 8%)? Or not, since Florida, which ranked third in happiness, tied with New York for "Nones"?

The list is here.

Ranking No. 1 in happiness was Louisiana, home of Dixieland music and Cajun/Creole cooking.

Now I understand why I'm always ecstatic! The music and the food surely don't hurt. Check for religion. I'd have thought the percentage of folks who claim to be religious would be higher in Louisiana, but perhaps I misjudge the numbers of young people who are dropping out.

What a surprise! Louisiana usually ranks at the bottom in good qualities and at the top in worst qualities.

Thanks to Ann, and I read the good news in the paper yesterday.

O Radix Jesse

Antiphon sung by the Dominican student brothers at Blackfriars in Oxford.

December 19

O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,
super quem continebunt reges os suum,
quem Gentes deprecabuntur:
veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.


O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people,
at Whom the kings shall shut their mouths,
Whom the Gentiles shall seek,
come to deliver us, do not tarry.

Isaiah 11:1, 11:10

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
....

On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Text from Fish Eaters.

Voila! Section 4 of the Anglican Covenant!

See the text of Section 4 at The Lead.

See above the Archbishop of Canterbury's Advent gift in the form of a video in which he flogs the dead horse named Anglican Covenant.

See my comment:

"Each Church adopting this Covenant affirms that it enters into the Covenant as a commitment to relationship in submission to God."

Signing the Covenant is a submission to God? God wants this Covenant? Or am I misreading?

Words that jump out at me: "monitor", "consequences", "suspension", "incompatible with the Covenant" - words that bring to mind disciplinary procedures which will apply to the signees, despite the ABC's averral that the Covenant will not be a "penal code", nor will it have to do with punishment.

This final part of the Covenant makes me queasy. I don't like it. Of course, I never liked the idea of the Covenant at all, because I believed that the members of the AC pushing for the Covenant had discipline in mind from the beginning. I see the ABC as flogging a dead horse.

Is it possible to offer as an alternative to this odious Covenant, the Baptismal Covenant from the Episcopal BCP for the members of the AC to sign?

June Butler

See the other comments at The Lead.

From The Thread Without End On Health Care

Both Doxy, Arkansas Hillbilly, and Counterlight contributed excellent commentary to my post on Joe Lieberman, which evolved into a wider discussion than the words and actions of Prince Lieberman. I'll hand it to Jim in GA for sticking with the discussion. Jim is one of the "sensible" of those in opposition to any kind of further intrusion by the government into the health care system, which can be good news or bad news, depending on your point of view. I selected one each of the comments by Doxy and Arkansas Hillbilly, along with a bonus by Counterlight, to bump up to a post. The comment thread, which numbers 65 at this point, is quite an interesting read.

Arkansas Hillbilly said:

Ok, let's try this mule one more time...

Jim,

I have looked up two of the individuals you have named continuously in your debate. Of them, Professor Munger, a Libertarian, has written extensively on the subject, and I disagree with his view. He seems to take the opinion that health insurance should be like car insurance, at least from the articles I have read. Mr. Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods, compares unions to VD ("The union is like having herpes. It doesn't kill you, but it's unpleasant and inconvenient, and it stops a lot of people from becoming your lover.") Both come from the position that basic healthcare is a commodity to be traded, not a right. Both advocate a system that opens insurance across state borders, uses health savings accounts and catastrophic insurance, again to make it more like car insurance.

The problem with this view is again that healthcare is not a commodity for those who can afford it. Health savings accounts are great for those who can afford to sock away the money, but for those who are barely making ends meet as it is, you might as well ask them to lasso the Moon. Even though my wife and children are not covered under my VA benefits, I am not allowed to participate in this system because I have the VA for myself. Where would this leave my wife and children for the "preventive care" like annual check ups, vaccinations, and such?

We are not dealing with automobiles, we are dealing with human lives. Lives like the police officer in Siloam Springs, AR whose wife is going through chemotherapy for breast cancer and must choose between her continued treatment or the rent for their home. Lives like the young girl in Georgia who died earlier this year waiting for Blue Cross to approve her liver transplant. Or the woman who was denied coverage for cancer treatments because she forgot to mention she was treated for acne as a teenager. Or Doxy's friend who made too much for Medicaid but not enough for insurance. She died of cancer because she couldn't afford regular doctor visits and the disease was caught too late to be treated. She left behind a young son. Care to explain to him why his mother is not able to hug him anymore? Would you explain that it was her fault for not having a health savings plan or that she would still be alive if there had been more competition between doctors for her business (the "Munger plan").

I do not purport to hold a monopoly on "compassion". I do however know that, like diapers, if something stinks, it should be changed. This system is broken. Competition between insurance companies will work about as well as competition between oil companies has. Having at least a Public Option (note the term option there, Jim) allows for true competition and cost control. Until that happens, all other methods of "cost control" will be like peeing into the wind. Sure it makes you feel better, but you still wind up standing in a mess.

Doxy said:

Jim: "Well, I suppose you are advocating that everyone, everywhere has a "right" to access to M.R.I. and machines and C.T. scans. I would think you would be more concerned that people who need basic medical care get it and that it should be affordable and of good quality."

Can you read for comprehension, Jim? That is exactly what I *am* arguing for. I don't think that one group of people should have access to all the bells and whistles of 21st century medical care while another can't even get a check-up.

I'm not riding an ideological hobbyhorse---I'm sincerely interested in in living in a fair and just world where people actually care enough about their fellow human beings to ensure that they are cared for when they are ill.

And I'm also sincerely interested in ensuring that the Big Lies spouted by the barking-mad dogs on the right are countered.

Do you disagree with me that those aims are important? We certainly don't agree on the specifics, but--like Mimi--I'm trying to figure out just what it is that you want to see happen.

I'd also be interested to know what kind of insurance you have and what (if anything) would you be willing to give up so that others could have care?

Finally, I would like to know if you've ever watched someone you care for die because they were too poor to afford healthcare? I am passionate about this issue because I have seen, up close and personal, how pernicious our current system is. This is not academic for me.
Doxy

And the bonus from Counterlight, who, along with others in the thread, speaks intelligently and clearly about the need for justice and fairness in our healthcare system:

Counterlight said...

I'm not in favor of the current health insurance bill.

As far as I'm concerned, it's a big give away to the insurance industry. People will be legally mandated to buy insurance, but there will be no meaningful way to help people pay for it. It's like the states that require driver's liability insurance, but provide no assistance to those who can't pay for it (liability insurance in states like New Jersey and New York is very expensive). These states have criminalized the problem without solving it. Legal or not, they still have a lot of uninsured drivers on the road.
So too, if the bill in its current form passes, it will solve nothing. There will still be millions of uninsured out there, only now they will be illegal and subject to fines on top of hefty insurance premiums with no meaningful help to pay for any of it.
The current bill is a bonanza for the insurance industry. Now everyone will be legally required to buy their product.

I don't buy the argument that there is no money for universal health insurance or a single payer system. There's always plenty of money to bail out the financial industry, plenty of money to subsidize the oil and auto industries, and there's always money for Freedom Bombs over the Middle East. We're just too busy giving away money to people who already have trainloads of it to bother with cutting a break to the people whose work creates that wealth.

Frankly, I don't expect to see any kind of meaningful health insurance reform in my lifetime. We've been at this issue since the days of Theodore Roosevelt with precious little progress to show for it. All of the nations of the developed world are way ahead of us, and will remain so. Their systems are not perfect, but they deliver so much more to their people for so much less than our system. Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, France, and Israel in their own different ways have finessed the issue of access to health care far more successfully than we have.
The Netherlands, the country that gave the world rich cholesterol filled cheeses, now had the world's healthiest (and tallest) people.

So, what's our problem?