HOLY TRINITY CATHEDRAL - PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI

The remains of the collapsed cathedral in Port-au-Prince.

Photo by Philipe Qualo courtesy of Mark Harris at Preludium.




Holy Trinity Cathedral before the earthquake.

Photo courtesy of Caminante.


Want to help? Donate to Episcopal Relief and Development.


A Prayer for Haiti:

Almighty Father, God of mercies and giver of comfort, deal graciously, we pray, with the people of Haiti in the midst of the great suffering caused by the catastrophic earthquake. May they cast all their care on you and know the consolation of your love.

Give us the courage, zeal, wisdom and patience to assist them, not only in these first days and weeks of urgent need, but as they continue to need the care and partnership of all their sisters and brothers around the world in the long and difficult work of healing and rebuilding.

Grant eternal life to those who have died, healing to the injured and strength to all the survivors, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

The Ven. Dr. J. Fritz Bazin Archdeacon for Immigration and Social Concerns Diocese of Southeast Florida

H/T to Andrew Gerns at The Lead.

"SOUTHERN NIGHTS" - ALLEN TOUISSAINT

Tonight I watched Allen Toussaint in a wonderful hour-long performance on PBS. He sang and played his own composition, "Southern Nights" and - lo! - I found a YouTube video of the song.

Touissaint spoke quotable words: "I'm so glad that I grew up as a plant in New Orleans." And to those lovely words, I say, "Me too, Allen". Toussaint added that in New Orleans there was music all around, and that's the truth.

Enjoy!

AND THEY THINK TEC DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO RUN A CHURCH

From the Church Times:

THE draft legislation on women bishops [in the Church of England] will not be coming before the General Synod for debate next month as scheduled. Instead, the revision committee is expected still to be working on it after Easter. It will not now be debated till July.
....

Synod members have voiced their concerns over the delay. Colin Slater, from Southwell & Notting­ham, who has been on the Synod since 1990, said on Tuesday: “I believe many members of Synod will hear this news with incredulity. The meeting at York in July will be the last in the present quinquen­nium, prior to new elections in the autumn, and it cannot be a perfect scenario that the most important single issue facing the Church of England is left so late in the cycle.”

Women and the Church (WATCH) has described the re­vision process as a charade. Chris­tina Rees, who chairs WATCH, said on Tuesday: “I am not alone in being deeply disappointed that the revision committee will not be producing draft legislation for women bishops. I consider there have been major flaws in the entire process, and that Synod — and the Church and its mission — is paying the price for this flawed pro­cess.”

She also criticised the “completely unnecessary requirement of secrecy over something that the whole Church has owned in open debate”. (My emphasis)

Another delay? How long, O Lord? How long?

H/T to Thinking Anglicans.

UPDATES ON HAITI AND THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH THERE

The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley, Appointed Missionary of The Episcopal Church, Diocese of Haiti, who is currently in Virginia on leave but who has contacts with Haitians and volunteers on the ground, gives updates on Haiti and the Episcopal Church there at Go Into the World.

Thanks to Ann for the link.

BLESS YOU, MARK AND TOBIAS

"Suffering Haiti"
Niobe, 1968 pen and chalk, Tobias Stanislas Haller BSG

For the most part, I have been rendered speechless by the massive and horrific devastation in Haiti. My heart aches; my heart breaks, but few words come. I think of the the devastation of Katrina and the federal flood multiplied by tens of thousands dead, probably hundreds of thousands injured, and millions left to survive in unspeakably wretched misery.

I consider Mark Harris a friend, although we met and conversed for only a brief few moments at GC09, because we communicate fairly regularly online. In his poem titled "RAMA: Weeping For Haiti", Mark so eloquently and movingly speaks words about Haiti which I would have wanted to speak. Below is a brief quote from Mark's poem, but I urge you to go to Preludium to read the poem in its entirety.

The sun was blotted from the sky
and the dust rose
and the night came
with agony in the buildings
and anguish in the streets.
It was day and night, the first day.

Rachel's people,
They are no more,
All have gone down,
Down with the presidential palace,
Down with the churchly palace,
Down with the all the places of block and mortar,
Down to death.

Tobias Haller, a dear friend, whose company I have enjoyed on several occasions and with whom I communicate regularly online and by email, provided me with the perfect image of Haiti in agony as a companion to the quote from Mark's poem

Thanks also to Mark for the link to this story by Simon Romero, who reports from Haiti in the New York Times.

Soon dusk began to fall, enveloping this city, still without electricity, in darkness. An aftershock sent people running out of homes into the street. Many decided it would be safer to remain in the street. They chatted with neighbors and wondered what would come next in Port-au-Prince. Some lighted candles under the night sky.

With no electricity, stars offered the only illumination in the city, which, with its suburbs, is home to nearly 3 million people. For some of those lying on the asphalt or in the parks, cellphones provided a brief glimpse of light.

Then the singing began. Those gathered outside tents, on lawn chairs, sitting in the middle of empty streets, sang their hymns. One phrase in Creole could be heard repeatedly both inside and outside the hospital walls, as if those voicing the words were trying to make sense of the madness around them.

“Beni Swa Leternel,” they sang. “Blessed be the Lord.”

Mark says, "May the faith of the people of Haiti carry them through the terrible times to come."

Amen and amen and amen.

WHAT IF WE IGNORED THEM?

First comes the video of Pat Robertson's ugly and idiotic rant blaming the earthquake in Haiti on God's vengeance for the pact with the devil that the slaves in Haiti made long ago to succeed in their revolt. Then comes convicted drug addict Rush Limbaugh's rant saying that "We've already donated to Haiti. It's called the U.S. income tax."

The despicable words of the two men have absorbed much of the oxygen on major cable news shows and in the blogosphere. I could not bring myself to post Robertson's video, nor did I post on Limbaugh's words until now. What if sensible people ignored the ravings of the likes of Rush and Pat? It seems that even as we protest their vicious and ignorant commentary, we give them loads of free publicity and attention which possibly send more viewers and listeners their way. We make them appear to be serious people, who are worthy of our taking note.

THE ANDERSON/EASLEY PROJECT

St. John's Episcopal Church in Thibodaux hosts a community music program called (surprise!) Music at St. John's. Sunday last, while Amelia and Izzie napped, I attended a concert by the members of the Anderson/Easley Project. The program description:

The Anderson/Easley Project is a jazz trio featuring David Anderson on bass and Dave Easley on pedal steel guitar and Tom Chute on drums The group performs original music of many genres including free jazz, funk, bop, and minimalist and many wonderfully unique approaches to dynamics and expression.

The trio displayed fine musicianship. I heard jazz, bop, blues, and...and..."unique approaches to dynamics and expressions", which means that I don't know how to label the rest of the pieces. When the musicians launched into their solos, their skills were notable. I can't give you titles, because either I didn't hear them or I've forgotten them, because the names were not in the program. One of the pieces was, I believe, a tribute to Gustav, the cat.

The picture at the head of the post is Anderson's bass, the likes of which I have never seen before. The fingerboard was rescued from a bass that was found floating after Katrina and the federal flood, the only usable part of the drowned instrument, and the board was built into a new instrument. During parts of the performance, Anderson played the bass beautifully with a bow, like a cello.



Pictured above is Dave Easley's pedal steel guitar. I'd never seen an instrument like his before, either. Dave is also the vocalist for the group.

The trio of performers are in the photo above with Easley, Anderson, and Chute from left to right.


In the photo above are the drums and the beautiful hammered cymbals, which look like brass, but are made of alloys and are incredibly lightweight and flexible.

During the concert, I was as fascinated by the instruments as by the music, and I made a point of getting pictures and close-up views.

Anderson/Easley Project performs regularly on Sundays at 9 p.m. at Madigan's and other venues in New Orleans and tours, also.

Reviews of the group and individual members performances may be found at JamBase.

"SPRING IS HERE"

Or so says Ann Fontaine in an email from Oregon.

from our walk

Winter Sucks

Thanks to Lapin.

WHEN WE ARE WEAK, WE ARE STRONG

God loves paradoxes and contradictions. When we are weak, we are strong. Every curse becomes a blessing, and stumbling blocks can be turned into stepping stones; the valley of Achor where all was destroyed can be a doorway of hope.

Ah God, You with the Maker's eye,

can tell if all that's feared is real,

and see if life is more than what

we suffer, dread, despise and feel.

If some by faith no longer stand

nor hear the truth Your voice intones,

stretch out Your hand to help Your folk

from stumbling blocks to stepping stones.

From Celtic Daily Prayer.