WHEEE!!! I CAN SEE!!!

After cataract surgery, patients must wait at least a month for vision to settle in to what it will be permanently. For over one and a half months, I've been driving with what I was told was sufficient visual acuity in my right eye to pass the eye test for a driver's license. What can I say? To me, it seemed that my distant vision was not that good, so I drove only in my little town, where I know where I'm going, and I didn't need to read street signs or speed limit signs.

Today, I finally picked up my glasses, and it's a whole new world of clarity out there - 20/15 vision. How about that? I can see well up close and in the middle distance without glasses, but I will still need bifocals, because I can't see up close with the distance vision prescription. I'd hoped to be rid of bifocals, but it's not to be. Sigh.... On the other hand, around the house, I don't need glasses at all. Don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining. I'm quite thankful for my new, improved eyesight and my successful surgery.

Note: The original image which I used in my post is back up, but I don't know for how long. The link is to another website, Roadside Scholar. Let's see if the chart will remain for a while.

Oyster Scores

My friend Oyster at Your Right Hand Thief is on a roll here and here.

Read on past the title of the first link, "Since the Federal Flood, the Army Corps of Engineers has kept us safe", because the title is irony of the sort that may be plain only to Louisiana/New Orleans insiders. The subject of the post is the woeful state of certain of the news media at the present time. The manner in which Oyster writes his posts makes it difficult for other bloggers to excerpt and quote, so just go read the posts.

In the second linked post titled, "'Tis the season for GOP elves in their talking-point workshops", Oyster discusses the woeful state of the economy which is the heritage left by BushCo. It's quite good. Oyster did his homework.

Woe upon woe.

GOOD WORDS FROM LOUISIANA

From Churchwork, the official publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana.

With Mud on My Shoes
by Bishop Charles Jenkins

Holy Scripture tells us that when we come to a place where the Good News of God in Christ is not honored we should "shake the dust from our sandals." There is no dust in south Louisiana this wet winter. My wellies are covered in mud and I have no intention of trying to shake that river mud from my feet! Serving God as Bishop in Louisiana has been an honor for me.

I had no idea how this ministry of episcope would turn out. If God had told me that a fellow from rural north Louisiana would ended up doing the ministry that has been mine for the past five years, I would have questioned God's credibility. Indeed, these last five years have been the hardest of my life. It has been frustrating as can be to try and deal with all that I have had before me whilst dealing with my own impairment. So, with honor there is humility. God is good.

My parting hope is that we shall continue strong as a Church to stand for all of God's children. There have been times when we alone have so done. If we keep doing God's will, we shall not be alone for long.

Thank you for your kindness and support. Please show the same and more to Bishop Thompson as he takes up the joy of episcope in Louisiana. Please forgive me for those things I ought not to have done and those things that I ought to have done that I did not do. They are many.

God bless you.

+Charles

Bishop Jenkins, I don't know if you meant to, but you made me cry. I shall miss you. May God bless you in your retirement. Take your time to rest and recover. Take all the time that you need. However, I, for one, do not believe that your ministry is over. I pray that God will enlighten you and Louise and guide you in the way forward.


When Anticipation Becomes Reality
By Harriet Murrell, Director of School for Ministry and Diocesan Archivist

...We woke up Saturday morning, December 5 and by mid-day experienced the naming of the eleventh bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana.

Since December 2008 when Bishop Jenkins announced his retirement, all Episcopalians, with varying degrees of interest, wondered what his decision meant. What would the nominating process be like? Would there be a woman among the nominees? Would the candidates pay attention to what we said in the prepared profile? Would our electing delegates reflect the attitudes of their constituency? After the walkabouts, did the candidates become real people expressing sincere interest in us as a diverse group of Episcopalians with spiritual and cultural differences?

The reality is here. The Very Rev'd. Morris Thompson, Dean of Christ Cathedral in Lexington, KY has been elected and, God willing, will be consecrated Bishop of Louisiana on May 8, 2010.

While appointed committees work to say goodbye to Charles and Louise Jenkins, to manage during the transition and to welcome Bishop-elect Thompson, his wife, Rebecca and his grown children, Virginia and Trey, is there anything we as members of the flock need to do? I contend yes.

Let our prayers for the Jenkinses, the Thompson and the congregations of this diocese be loving and sincere. Let us be open to the leadership of Bishop Thompson, resisting the urge to even think the words, "We don't do it that way."

As Dean Thompson visits the diocese in the winter and the spring of 2010, he is laying the ground work for his episcopacy. ...[We] must do what we can to be ready to welcome Morris Thompson as our leader, shepherd and friend.

Amen, Harriet.

A Note from Bishop-elect Thompson

Dear Clergy and Communicants of the Diocese of Louisiana,

It is with the highest pleasure that I accept your election as 11th Bishop of Louisiana.

I want you to know I am so very impressed with the diocese, both clergy and lay leadership, and look forward to our shared ministry. I have visions of being in each of your parishes and am anxious to get started.

Please know Rebecca joins me with excitement in getting to know you. She's already looking for books and movies that will teach us more about your rich culture. Any suggestions? We know we have lots to learn and are ready for you to teach us.

Our immediate residential plans are to move into 2605 St. Charles Ave. around the first of April. Catching the trolley in front of our home seems surreal. From 2605 our hospitality will extend throughout the diocese. Although we aren't there, you are in our daily prayers and thoughts. The ministry that is unfolding before us is filled with God's mystery and joy. It is this Gift that we share.

May God's grace be with us all in these times of anticipation.

I am as always...
Faithfully yours,
The Very Rev'd Morris K Thompson

May God bless you, Bishop-elect Thompson, and may God bless us here in south Louisiana as we await your consecration as our new bishop.

My two early suggestions for you to get to know us better are:

First: take care about which movies you watch, because films about us so very often get it wrong.

Second: Practice calling the trolleys "streetcars".

NO CHURCH OF ONE

At Trinity Episcopal Church, on Sunday 2C, Caminante preached from the words of Psalm 84. The psalm begins:

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise.

Caminante's sermon is lovely. It's worth reading in its entirety. The words I quote below resonated especially with me.

What brought you to church this snowy morning? What compelled you to shovel out, drive through the mush to arrive here to sit on hard pews cushioned by futons? More aptly asked, who brought you here this morning? Can you feel in your heart the words of Psalm 84, ‘How lovely is your dwelling place...’?
....

There is no church of one. We can pray alone at home, outdoors, in whatever place we call sacred but finally we need to come back together. This community, the church, is a sanctuary where we can become vulnerable and search for deep intimacy with God.
No good thing will the LORD withhold from those who walk with integrity.

Shoveling out is not one of my before-church chores, but other than the snow, Caminante describes my reasons for attending church. "...who brought you here this morning?" We can pray anywhere, any time, and God is with us, but we need the time of coming together. At church, I may brush up against fellow parishioners with sharp elbows. Other times it's my sharp elbows that poke the others. Still I cherish the gathering for worship, for hearing the words of the Scriptures and the sermon, and for sharing the Eucharist around the Lord's table. "There is no church of one", but the many become one as we gather in the presence and the name of the Lord.

Carnation milk - 65 YEARS AGO ...

A little old lady from Wisconsin had worked in and around her family dairy farms since she was old enough to walk, with hours of hard work and little compensation.

When canned Carnation Milk became available in grocery stores in approximately the 1940's, she read an advertisement offering $5,000 for the best slogan. The producers wanted a rhyme beginning with 'Carnation Milk is best of all.'

She thought to herself, I know all about milk and dairy farms. I can do this!

She sent in her entry, and several weeks later, a black limo pulled up in front of her house. A man got out and said, 'Carnation LOVED your entry so much, we are here to award you $2,000 even though we will not be able to use it!




Don't blame me. Blame Bob. He twisted my arm.

Britt Hume, Tiger Woods, Bill O'Reilly!

Three guys to whom I never wanted to give space on my blog, and here I am doing it. I mean EVERYONE is talking about Britt Hume's commentary.



If you were Tiger Woods, and you heard Hume's advice, wouldn't you convert to Christianity on the spot?

The transcript of the video is at Think Progress along with good commentary.

Fox prides itself on being “fair and balanced.” Will it now give equal time to other religions for proselytizing, or is it comfortable becoming the next Christian Broadcast Network?

Paul (A.) sent me the link to Bill in Portland Maine at Daily Kos. Should Tiger choose to convert to Christianity, Bill says:

Generically urging a Buddhist to convert to Christianity---as the Fox Conservative Opinion Channel's Brit Hume urged Tiger Woods to do Sunday on Fox Conservative Opinion Channel Sunday---is like telling a child to trade in his dependably-yummy carrots for a new vegetable. If you gorge on a really crappy one willy-nilly and it makes you throw up---I'm looking at you, Brussels sprouts---it can leave a spiritually sour taste in your mouth. So you have to pick your brand of Christianity carefully---sniff it, squeeze it, bang it on the table, see if the dog likes it, throw it in the microwave and see how long it takes before it explodes and, finally, drown it in ranch dressing and try a nibble.

Tiger must choose wisely.

I'm Episcopalian, mostly because God gave us the power and the glory to ditch the vegetables and instead put on the best pancake suppers on Earth. ("Why, yes, it is real Maine maple syrup. What's that? The Lutherans use that Mrs. Butterworth goop? And sausage patties instead of links? Heathen.") Plus we have Bishop V. Gene Robinson on our team, and I believe that makes us the coolest denomination by default.

And ain't that the truth?

David Gibson, at Politics Daily, without question, has the best headline:

Brit Hume: Jesus Can Tame You, Tiger

Britt Hume is a senior religious political analyst at Fox News.

Bishop Charles Jenkins Retires

Crozier in hand, Bishop Charles Jenkins on Wednesday entered his cathedral for the last time as head of Louisiana’s 18,000 Episcopalians, leading a celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany that closed, at least temporarily, a 12-year Episcopal career both ruined and transformed by Hurricane Katrina.

Jenkins’ retirement, effective Wednesday, is coming earlier than it should. At 58, he has stepped down on orders of doctors who diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by the storm.

Locally and nationally, Jenkins has described how the post-Katrina suffering of poor New Orleanians transformed his ministry and awakened him to the broad social and economic inequalities of life in New Orleans. But he has said the aftermath also left him medicated, prone to depression and frequently unable to focus on administration.
....

...although he opposes gay marriage and the ordination of partnered gay clergy, since 2003 Jenkins has been among a small cadre of Episcopal leaders who urged the national church to hold together despite its deep and apparently irreconcilable differences over those questions. He has argued that living together with confusion is preferable to living apart in schism.

In 2007, when Episcopal bishops from around the country met in New Orleans with the archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the 70 million-member Anglican Communion, for a showdown over homosexuality that some thought might blow up the communion, Jenkins worked behind the scenes with liberal Bishops John Chane of Washington and Jon Bruno of Los Angeles to fashion a temporary compromise.

“Charles Jenkins was a key, key player in that meeting, aside from being its host,” said Jim Naughton, a liberal Episcopal writer from the Diocese of Washington, D.C. “He was this reconciling figure, and he as much as anyone made that happen.”
....

Jenkins said the diocese closed only two parishes after the storm. He frankly acknowledged that given his own post-Katrina conversion experience, he was little interested in assessing the vitality of 55 congregations and helping them rethink their future.

“Instead, I was pretty drawn to doing prophetic work and the work of justice,” he said. “I was much more interested in that than whether St. Swithin’s somewhere should stay open.”

How many bishops would be as honest and forthcoming? Not everyone in the diocese was pleased with Bishop Jenkins choice of priorities, but I admired him greatly for making the choice to focus on those who were suffering the worst hardships after Katrina and the federal flood. As always, in the worst of times, "the least of these" have the hardest time of it. Bishop Jenkins looked and did not look away but went to work organizing and working to relieve suffering.

When our bishop spoke the words below in the liturgy for his ordination to the office of bishop, he meant them.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, I, Charles Jenkins chosen Bishop of the Church in the Diocese of Louisiana, solemnly declare that I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation; and I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church.

I admire Bishop Jenkins' loyalty to the church in which he was ordained a bishop and his efforts at reconciliation amongst those within the church with opposing views. To my regret, I did not attend the service and reception, but I'd like to have been there to wish our bishop farewell at his retirement ceremony. I was on grandmother duty today.

UPDATE: Oh dear! I left out the link to the article in the Times-Picayune.


From Ormonde, our on-the-scene reporter:

Mimi, I was there and saw your priest, who as always had a twinkle in his eye. The mass was extremely moving, although at two hours it stretched my capacity for endurance. I thought the best part came at the end, when Irvin Mayfield played "Amazing Grace" on his trumpet. Then we all dashed for the reception. A priest came up to me and said, "I hear the wine is a côte du Rhone." My reply: "I don't care if it's Chateau Tchoupitoulas." (An inside joke, for those who know the names of our streets.)

I'd love to have heard Irvin Mayfield play "Amazing Grace" again. Did Mayfield play the Elysian Trumpet? And it's true that my priest always has a twinkle in his eye. So, Ormonde, another missed opportunity for a face-to-face meeting with you. So near and yet so far.



Jazz trumpeter Irvin Mayfield plays Amazing Grace during a September 23 [service] at Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans.

The piano player in the video, Roland Markham, is right up there with Mayfield.

EPIPHANY - KING CAKES - PARTY TIME

From Mardi Gras Unmasked.

Pictured above is a king cake or gateau du roi, a tradition associated with the feast of the Epiphany, which is celebrated in south Louisiana, French Canada, and France. At king cake gatherings, whoever gets the tiny baby hidden somewhere in the cake must provide the next king cake. The bakers no longer put the baby in the cake, because they fear litigation from folks who choke on it, swallow it, or break a tooth on it. The buyer assumes the liability of putting the baby in the cake. This is what our litigious society has come to.

I was going to write about the Carnival season in New Orleans, but then I found these lovely words from Rmj at Adventus:

Today begins the season of Epiphany: celebrated by some; ignored by others. The "original Christmas," some say. Maybe; maybe not. It is a season separate from Christmas, but related to it; and in France and Cajun Louisiana, it is celebrated itself with King's Cakes and Gateau du Roi and parties and celebrations, right up to Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, when the shriven season takes over and Lent begins. It's the English who called it Shrove Tuesday, and taught that name even to my all but non-liturgical Presbyterian church of childhood, the day to "shreve" the cupboard of fats and oils in preparation for the fastings of Lent. The French Roman Catholics had the better idea: to celebrate the 5 or 6 Sundays of Epiphany, and carry it out right up to the last possible minute, the first stroke of midnight on Ash Wednesday morning. Jesus, tradition says, was born at midnight on Christmas Day. We don't know, so why not sanctify the whole day? So, also, Ash Wednesday begins at midnight, but until then: celebration!

And him a Texan! Besting me at my own game! It's humiliating. But I figured why strain to write something original when I can steal this. No Shrove Tuesday for us. It's Mardi Gras, the party of all parties. And then, but only then, we get serious about Lent.

I love the church seasons, and I like having the season of Epiphany as a prolonged celebration of the Incarnation - of Emmanuel, God with us. Although, as children, we were taught that the greatest feast day was Easter, (a hard sell to the kids) I thought then, and I think now that the Incarnation is the great event. God become one of us! As someone once told me, "Without the Incarnation, there would be no Resurrection!"

(Reposted from last year around this time.)

"THE YEAR OF THE TYGER"

Mark Harris posted an excellent essay at Preludium titled The Prophetic Spirit and the Year of the Tyger:

"The Episcopal Church has for too long suffered a failure of nerve, one that has been costly to its missionary efforts and its ministry in a suffering world.
....

That ailment, I suggest, is that the Episcopal Church is sick at heart because it longs for an easier, surer and safer time. But no dosage of ancient orthodoxy or modern interpretation of faith will deliver the cure for that longing. Indeed what we long for in that longing is death disguised as life.

If we are to set our hand to the plow, our hands and hearts must take courage in God's presence, always both present and going before us giving us clues of the Way. The only cure for what ails us is to renew our confidence in the plowing, in the belief that with all its struggles, God is working a new thing, and at the same time the oldest thing of all, the making of creation.
....

Anglicanism as a community of poetic sensibility, I believe the way forward concerning the Anglican Covenant, relations with Anglican communities not part of the Anglican Communion (which by the by might at some point include this or that current province of the Anglican Communion), and all other matters of ecclesial and ecumenical dance, is best found in our willingness to find in every one of us a sense of the poetic call to prophetic voice. All our sacraments point to that prophetic spirit, all our best preaching proclaims it, all our poets live into it. They all point towards a unity that is not about conformity or sameness or even coherence. They point to a unity that is first seen in God's compassion towards us in Jesus Christ. We are one not because we all have the same vocation and task, we are one because God has already done for us what we cannot do for ourselves - made us one in God's compassionate gaze.

Do read Mark's entire essay. For me the piece was a tonic for my soul.

You know, perhaps I am too drawn to speak and act precipitately, but I've sensed in the Episcopal Church that once we move forward in a manner which seems good and right, we hesitate to take the next step. Well, we've done that, so let's wait a bit before we move on. Mark's metaphor of plowing a field brings to mind Jesus' use of the same metaphor and his caution against looking back after putting a hand to the plow.

FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY

PERUGINO, Pietro - "The Adoration of the Magi" (Epiphany) - c. 1476
Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia

Readings:

AM Psalm 46, 97; PM Psalm 96, 100
Isa. 49:1-7;
Rev. 21:22-27;
Matt. 12:14-21

Isaiah 49:1-7

Listen to me, O coastlands,
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, ‘You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord,
and my reward with my God.’

And now the Lord says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
he says,
‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’

Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
the slave of rulers,
‘Kings shall see and stand up,
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’

If we believe that the Scriptures are God's living word, then the "you" in the passage refers not only to God's people Israel in Isaiah's day, but also to God's people today. And who are God's people whom God called by name? Who are God's people who were formed from the womb to be his servants? You and I, and when you and I and the multitude of God's people gather in God's name and labor in God's name, then surely we shall be "as a light to the nations" so that God's "salvation may reach to the end of the earth".

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

(Micah 6:8)


PRAYER

O God, who by the leading of a star manifested your only Son to the Peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

And oh my! Isn't Perugino's painting a manifestation of the glory of God? The infant Jesus seems to raise his hand in blessing over the kneeling Magi-king-wise man. And so Jesus blesses you and me today.

Image from Web Gallery of Art.

UPDATE: Today is also the anniversary of Ann Fontaine's ordination to the priesthood. Read about her call to serve God as a priest at The Daily Episcopalian at the Episcopal Café.

Congratulations and blessings, Ann. May you have many more happy years serving God and God's people.