THE SCOTTISH EPISCOPAL CHURCH INTRODUCES INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE

From the Telegraph:

The new form of worship, which removes words such as "Lord, he, his, him" and "mankind" from services, has been written by the church in an attempt to acknowledge that God is "beyond human gender".

Episcopalian bishops have approved the introduction of more "inclusive" language, which deliberately removes references suggesting that God is of male gender.

Traditionalists have criticised the changes on the grounds that they smack of political correctness and because they believe they are not consistent with the teachings of the Bible. The alterations have been made to provide an alternative to the established 1982 Liturgy, which, like the Bible, refers to God as a man.
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"The changing of God language is a little tricky," admitted Rev Darren McFarland, convener of the church's liturgy committee.

"It is then that opinion is much more divided. We have really tried not to mess around with the descriptions of God in the biblical text. But what we want to see is generous language when it comes to gender. God is above and beyond human gender.

"We are not saying God is not masculine. God is also feminine. The problem is trying to use human language to describe the indescribable.

"The bishops have permitted these changes, people do not have to use this form. But we are trying to honour the breadth of descriptions of God in a way that's helpful to the church and its membership."

In truth, I have never been as bothered by non-inclusive language in worship services, in the Bible, or in prayers as some of my fellow Christians, both female and male. (I know "Horrors!", but that's my story.) In my mind, I rather easily make the leap to inclusive language, but I understand those who have problems with the constant references to a masculine and masculine-only God.

In my own writing, I've mostly moved away from references to God as "he" or "him". Even before the days of PC, I thought of the Holy Spirit as more feminine than masculine, with the "Wisdom of Solomon" and Lady Sophia in mind. Correcting the worship service to gender-inclusive makes for awkward phrasing at times, but, on the whole, I think the change is good. Of course, certain of my fellow Christians see the change to gender-inclusive language as earth-shaking.

I wonder.... I hope the change is not the aftershock from the travels of the Mad Three to Scotland. As my correspondent who sent me the link said, "Grandmere, you take one trip to Scotland and controversy ensues." With due respect, Ann, I won't bear the entire responsibility on my shoulders. After all, we were three.

Thanks to Ann V. for the link.

THE MIDGES OF SKYE

On our last night in Skye, after we returned to our B&B, Cathy and I watched "Milk", the story of Harvey Milk's life and death. We chatted and commented on blogs on Cathy's Notebook while drinking a dram or two of single malt, which I had never liked before, but for which I acquired a taste due to Cathy's repeatedly putting a glass of the drink in front of me. She made me do it. You know how that is and shame on Cathy.

While we were walking from the car to the house, we slapped at a few midges. Once we were in my room, we felt more bites, and I killed more than a few of the annoying insects that I saw on the bed. Where were they coming from? We couldn't have carried that many in with us when we entered the house. I checked the windows, and both were closed.

After Cathy left, I slapped at the remaining midges on the bed and got ready to go to sleep. One of the bed pillows was on the love seat in my room, and when I looked at it, it was covered with midges, like the picture above! My picture is a crude Photoshop, and the size of the midges is way out of proportion, as the insects are tiny, but it gives you an idea of what I saw. I gently picked up the pillow and placed it on the floor outside the door to my room and went to bed. What attracted the large number of midges to the white bed pillow?

Not for a second did I believe that all the midges were out of my room, and sure enough, after the light was out, I was still slapping at them as they bit me. When the midges were not actually biting me, I imagined them biting me, so, as you can guess, I slept very little that night. Unfortunately, the next day was a marathon travel day, beginning early in the morning, and involving ferries and trains after we turned in our car.

The B&B was lovely; the rooms were beautiful, and each morning we were served a delicious breakfast. I doubt that the large number of midges in my room was the fault of the proprietors.

From Wyrdology:

Midge Facts

The midge, also known as "midgie" or "midgy", is a tiny flying insect of the genus "culicoides". There many thousands of known midge species, of which only a few bite. One of the most ferocious biters is the Highland Biting Midge, Culicoides impunctatus. This is known in Gaelic as "Meanbh-chuileag" which means "tiny fly".

That's about right.

BLONDE POLE DANCER

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GOTTCHA!!
May you always have enough HUMOR in your life! I knew you couldn't resist scrolling down to look!!!

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - GOOGLE'S BOUNCING BALLS

The bouncing-all-over-the-place, multicolored balls on the Google homepage will be Google's gift only for today, right? They are driving me nuts.

UPDATE: Doug sends us this link as a possible explanation.

DINING ON THE ISLE OF SKYE

On the Isle of Skye, Cathy (the gourmet cook) and I dined out at a fine restaurant every day or evening. We savored delicious meals at several wonderful restaurants. We were turned away, and not very politely, at the Harbour View Seafood Restaurant in Portree, but we finally had an excellent meal there another day after we make a reservation. From the description of the menu:

Oysters, lobsters, crab, langoustines, clams, mussels, monkfish, scallops, sole, salmon, trout... a truly outstanding selection of the purest, freshest, most nutritious and delectable seafood.

What's not to like?

 

Harbour View Restaurant

After we were turned away at the Harbour View and another restaurant, whose name I've forgotten, we ended up at the Restaurant @ the Rosedale, where we shared a seafood platter for two, which was quite tasty and which we cleaned in a very short time and licked the platter, too.



Check out the gull in flight that I caught in the picture of the Rosedale.

The crowning dining moment came when we dined at The Three Chimneys Restaurant, pictured at the head of the post, in the back of beyond "on the shores of Loch Donvegan" on the Isle of Skye. Cathy knew about the restaurant from an earlier visit to Scotland, but she'd missed out on having a meal there, so she was determined not to miss again. In fact, Cathy was so determined that she made the reservation for our meal a good while before we left for our travels.

Ever since eating outstanding Scottish seafood at the Western Isles B&B in Mallaig on the Isle of Mull and then eating langoustines that I would kill for, from the water right into the pot, at the Glenuig Inn in Arisaig, I gorged on les fruits de mer for most of the rest of the trip. I'm from south Louisiana, and I'm quite accustomed to excellent, fresh seafood, so for me to praise Scotland for its seafood is a compliment beyond measure.

By the time we went to The Three Chimneys, my fingers were so scratched and cut from grappling with shellfish that I knew I had to give them a rest and time to heal, so I chose venison for my entrée. I don't remember what Cathy ordered. In the midst of a dining experience like that offered at The Three Chimneys, who cares what others are eating unless you want a taste? I went at the food with gusto, my readers, as did my travel companion. It's refreshing to dine with another woman who appreciates good food and enjoys it without constant worry about calories. Time enough for that when the holiday is over.

For dessert we both chose the "Dark Chocolate Ganache with Blairgowrie Raspberries & Issy’s Crème Fraîche", which came in two courses, which confused me a little. First came the palate cleanser, the berries and cream and then the dark chocolate ganache. I express my profound gratitude to Cathy for insisting that we have a meal at the restaurant. Without a GPS, I can't imagine how anyone finds their way to the place. One day, I'd like to spend a few days in one of the "6 spacious bedrooms next door in The House Over-By", but I expect that will never happen. But then, I thought the trip to the Northwest of Scotland would never happen.

 

The harbor at Portree

 

A sea gull with pink feet at the harbor in Portree.

And MadChauffeur told us the Isle of Skye was boring! We now know that he is not infallible.

UPDATE: From Cathy in the comments - a reminder:

We had damn good fish and chips in Portree too - that's worth mentioning. (And in Mull, but that's maybe another story?) It took a while to get it at that place at the top of the hill in Portree, only because there was such a long queue though, but when it finally arrived it was everything fish and chips should be.

Indeed, we did.

YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS TEA PARTY CANDIDATE....

From the Borowitz Report:

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (The Borowitz Report) - A rabid Doberman Pinscher jumped on stage at a Tea Party rally in Missouri on Labor Day and barked at the crowd for nearly twenty minutes before people realized he was not a candidate.

The dog, later identified by its owner as "Mister Buster," held the crowd spellbound as he barked, growled, and frothed at the mouth, eventually receiving a standing ovation for his exertions.

Please read the rest at the link above.

I receive the "Borowitz Report" in my email. I'm not sure if Borowitz allows excerpts from the report to be quoted, but I may soon find out. Borowitz has given me many a good laugh as a morning pick-me-up.

LITTLE JAMES IS HOME

From Ellie:

"This is such wonderful news:"

Sent: Monday, September 06, 2010 8:26 PM
Subject: James got to come home today


James got to come home from the hospital today. He still has to be closely monitored but everyone is so glad to be able to sleep at home. Thank you for all your prayers and kind words.
Susan (James' grandmother)

Full story here.

O Lord, your compassions never fail and your mercies are new every morning: We give you thanks for giving our little brother James both relief from pain and hope of health renewed. Continue in him we pray, the good work you have begun; that he, daily increasing in bodily strength, and rejoicing in your goodness, may so order his life and conduct that he may always think and do those things that please you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The hope, rejoicing, ordering his life, and pleasing God will come later for little James, but we pray that they will come.

HOW MANY DEATHS WILL IT TAKE...?

From Michael Jones at Gay Rights/Change.org:

Imagine this as the opening statement of your latest school board meeting.

"Hi, I’m Tammy Aaberg, the mother of Justin Aaberg, who was a gay student at Anoka High School who committed suicide July 9th of this year."

Tragedy. Statistics on LGBT suicide are alarming, and when the numbers fly by -- that LGBT students are 8.4 times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers -- most of us take a moment to reflect on how hard it must be, still, to grow up LGBT.

But this tragedy gets even worse, at least when it comes to the Anoka-Hennepin school district in Minnesota. Because it's not just Justin Aaberg who committed suicide this year. It was two other LGBT students, too. That's three gay students in the span of one year who have taken their lives, all the while the school district has done nothing to open discussions about LGBT bullying or creating safe spaces for LGBT students in Anoka-Hennepin schools.

Read the rest of the post and links and weep. Watch the poignant video memorial that Justin's family and friends put together.

Why is it so difficult for the Anoka-Hennepin School Board to make rules to stop the cruel bullying? Why can't the board act like adults in this situation and take responsibility for making the schools a safe place for all students? Could it be that they're afraid of the reaction of the bigots in the community?

Obituary from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

H/T to Athenae at First Draft.

PORTREE PARISH CHURCH

On our last Sunday in Scotland, Cathy and I attended Sunday morning services at Portree Parish Church, which is Presbyterian and part of the established Church of Scotland.

As you see the interior of the church is quite beautiful - simple but lovely.

The church was built as a Free Church in 1854, to a design produced by John Hay of Liverpool. Since then its history has reflected the changes that have taken place in the Church in Scotland more widely. In 1900 it became Portree's United Free Church, before finally becoming part of the Church of Scotland in 1929.

I could find only a small picture of the exterior of the church. The church sits right on the main square, Somerled Square, in the town of Portree.



The cover of the service bulletin.


The morning service.

Cathy and I both enjoyed the service, which was quite well done with an intelligent and thoughtful sermon and good participation by the congregation.

At the end of the service, on the way out, folks smiled at us, but no one spoke a word to us, until we greeted the minister outside the church door. Cathy speculated that Scottish reserve may have kept the people from speaking to us. What about welcoming strangers? Reserve or not, to me, it's a vital ministry and responsibility for members of the congregation to speak a few words of welcome to visitors to the church and not leave the greetings only to the minister. Thus sayeth the unofficial mystery worshiper.

Photos and history from Undiscovered Scotland, where you can see more pictures of the interior of the church.

Labor Day 2010

For those who work, have a good holiday.

For those who work, but must work the holiday, have a good work day.

For those who want to work, but have no jobs, may you find work soon.

For those who worked all their lives, but are now retired, have a good day.

For the kids, have fun.

For the Unemployed

Heavenly Father, we remember before you those who suffer want and anxiety from lack of work. Guide the people of this land so to use our public and private wealth that all may find suitable and fulfilling employment, and receive just payment for their labor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Collect For Labor Day

Almighty God, who hast so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Reposted from 2009 with the addition of the video. I'm having a busy morning, but I wanted to take note of our workers and all they contribute on this their day.