EASY OPTION

I'm not that good at live & let live, she
told me, when it's just as easy to avoid &
then I don't even have to think about it.

From StoryPeople.

PS: This one is mine.

XMAS GIFTS FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THE BRITISH ROYALS

The British royal family in 1968.

From the Telegraph.

Queen's undergarments' to be auctioned

The monogrammed item reportedly came into the possession of notorious Miami playboy named 'Baron' Joseph de Bicske Dobronyi more than 40 years ago, according to the celebrity website TMZ.

He received the garment from a friend after it was left on a private plane used when the queen visited Chile in 1968.

After Dobronyi's death in June aged 88, his estate began planning to auction off the royal garment which is expected to sell for £6,000.

If you must, you can see a photo of the knickers at the TMZ website, but I advise you not to look. I think how I'd feel having my much less elegant used undies displayed to the eyes of the world.

Thanks to Ann for pointing me to the story. In the subject line of her email was "TMI". Indeed!

And the next item:

 

 

Click on the text to enlarge.

From ACORN Online.

FURTHER UPDATE ON AILEEN

Tis' the season for miracles, tonight after not being awake and not responding for four days Aileen squeezed my hand with BOTH of hers and was able to move her right hand from the pillow next to her over to her tummy. Then she was able to track me with her eyes. Thats my fighter!!---Mike

Thanks be to God, the medical staff, Aileen's family, and all who care for her and pray for her. I don't know about you, but this news gladdens my heart and, along with Mike, Aileen's husband, makes me think of miracles, too. Please continue your prayers.

Aileen's story is here.

R. I. P. COLIN SLEE

Sermon by the Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans, at the funeral of Colin Slee, Dean of Southwark Cathedral.

I didn't know Colin Slee. Until his recent death, I didn't know anything about Dean Slee, but after reading Jeffrey John's lovely sermon at his funeral service, I wish I'd known him or, at least, known a bit more about him.

One of the last things Colin said before he died was, ‘I am surprisingly un-scared’. It could have been the motto of his whole life. Colin was always surprisingly un-scared. Unlike the rest of us, he never did let fear or self-consciousness or embarrassment to stop him reaching out to the most unlikely and needy people, or doing and saying what he thought was right and true. All the frightened, careful people said Colin was risky, indiscreet, unreliable – ‘the most dangerous man in the Church of England’ said one, to Colin’s deep delight. But he was not dangerous or indiscreet or unreliable - certainly not in anything that mattered. He was just surprisingly un-scared.

If you ask why he was so un-scared, I think the answer is as straightforward as he was. He really did believe. He really trusted in a good and loving God as Jesus came to make Him known to us; and that confidence set him free to be the astonishingly life-giving, brave, generous and joyous person that he was.
....

The papers and his detractors always portrayed Colin as an arch-Liberal, as if he were the leader of a faction obsessed with a secular agenda. It was never true, and it misses the whole point. For Colin it began and ended with God. The truth is that he was a traditional Catholic Anglican, thoroughly disciplined and orthodox in his faith, a man of profound prayer and penitence. His idea of inclusiveness was not that ‘anything goes’, but that we are all equally in need of healing, and therefore the Church must equally be a home for all. Colin welcomed people because Jesus did. (My emphasis)

Amen, and amen, and amen!

I'm baffled that, all too often, it seems difficult for certain of my brother and sister Christians to understand that one can be "thoroughly disciplined and orthodox" in one's faith and still welcome everyone because Jesus did. How is it arch-liberal or secular to look to Jesus in the Gospels as the model for how we are to "do unto others"?

From the website of Southwark Cathedral.

Photo from the Guardian.

IT'S CALLED CONSEQUENCES, MP BAHITI

From Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin:

Mike Jones at Change.org has learned that Ugandan MP David Bahati, who was slated to come to Washington, D.C. to attend next week’s conference of the International Consortium of Governmental Financial Management, will not be permitted entry into the conference....
....

Warren Throckmorton confirms that Bahati, author of Uganda’s proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill, still thinks he’s going to the conference, but Hadden told Throckmorton via email that “the ICGFM Executive Committee has agreed that his attendance is not consistent with the mission of the organization.”

Sadly, what I said in the past appears to be true. The secular organizations will pressure the leadership in Uganda to remove the pending anti-gay legislation from the agenda, more-so than the religious organizations, which serves to highlight the courage of Ugandan religious leaders like Anglican Bishop Christopher, who, in his retirement, chose to take up the cause of and minister to gay and lesbian persons in the country where "homosexuality is illegal and where gays and lesbians are routinely tormented and harassed". Bishop Christopher stands in opposition to the legislation, unlike certain of his brother Anglican bishops in Uganda.

RAPTURE AND END OF THE WORLD COMING SOON

From WKRN.com:

The estimated 40 billboards were put up by Family Radio, a national Christian radio group.

A spokesperson for the radio station said they are very confident that their prediction is right.

"This date was developed from only Bible scriptures from the King James Bible and a lot of it are parts that people tend to overlook," Allison Warden told News 2.

From the website of Family Radio who sponsor the billboards:

This web site serves as an introduction and portal to four faithful ministries which are teaching that WE CAN KNOW from the Bible alone that the date of the rapture of believers will take place on May 21, 2011 and that God will destroy this world on October 21, 2011.

What about the children? Do these groups truly frighten their children this way. And that's not to speak of other people's children! And gullible adults!

Well, my readers, you can't say I didn't warn you - you know - just in case....

PS: Be careful when you drive on May 21, 2011. Perhaps those who are confident that they will be raptured will be thoughtful enough of the rest of us to stay off the roads. I hope so.

Thanks to Ann V. for directing me to the story.

UPDATE: Go to Ship of Fools. Jesus is furious about the leak. Read it all. There will be consequences.

Thanks to Ann for the link.

SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT

A Song of the Wilderness

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
It shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.
Strengthen the weary hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to the anxious, "Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God, coming with judgment to save you."
Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened,
and the ears of the deaf be unstopped.
Then shall the lame leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert;
The burning sand shall become a pool
and the thirsty ground, springs of water.
The ransomed of God shall return with singing,
with everlasting joy upon their heads.
Joy and gladness shall be theirs,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

(Isaiah 35:1-7, 10)

Collect: Second Sunday of Advent

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Image from Wikipedia.

BISHOP CHRISTOPHER - THE DESMOND TUTU OF UGANDA?

From San Diego Gay & Lesbian News:

SAN DIEGO – The Right Rev. Christopher Senyonjo could have retired in 1998 as Bishop of the Diocese of West Burganda, Uganda, with his pension and the satisfaction of serving the Anglican Church faithfully for many years.

But in 2001, he felt a calling to help the young people who came to his private counseling service for advice on how to deal with coming out in this east African nation of 33 million people where homosexuality is illegal and where gays and lesbians are routinely tormented and harassed.

So Bishop Christopher, as he is fondly known and who is often referred to as the Desmond Tutu of Uganda,, was compelled to help the confused and frightened young gays who had mustered up the courage to seek his counsel.
....

A scandalous tabloid in Uganda called Rolling Stone even put his image on the front cover of a recent edition that called for the hanging of LGBT people, putting his life in danger. Never mind that the bishop is straight, and is a husband, father and grandfather.

To his enemies, Bishop Christopher turns the other cheek. He believes he is doing God’s work – and so do many of his supporters across the globe.

The bishop is in San Diego this week to accept California Senate Resolution 51, which will be presented to him by state Sen. Christine Kehoe on Thursday, Dec. 2, during a reception at Eden in Hillcrest.

Senate Resolution 51 commends Bishop Christopher’s work and calls for government to be more stringent in monitoring abuses by churches that are supporting the false claims of so called “ex-gay ministries” and exporting homophobia to countries like Uganda. It also encourages faith-based organizations in the U.S. to support the creation of policies in other countries that do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Ever the humble man, Bishop Christopher says he feels honored by the resolution.

“Thank God there are people who appreciate what I am doing,” he says. “I didn’t think, in my lifetime, that I would be recognized for what I am doing. … It encourages me to go on serving to the end of my life.”

H/T to MadPriest, who called my attention to the article and the video of the courageous Bishop Christopher. MadPriest himself also speaks powerful and true words about God and God's love:

There is one credal statement of which no greater can be imagined. It is never provisional and it cannot be subject to any other statement. All other statements are subject to it and are untruthful if they do not fully agree with it or give rise to anything that is not of it. There are no exceptions. Scripture, the Church and God cannot add to, lessen or change it in any way. It is of itself as God is of Godself, because it is God. It is the greatest truth from which all reality flows.

God is love.

Read the rest of MadPriest's words at the link above.

THE REV. RAYFORD RAY ELECTED 11TH BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF N. MICHIGAN

From the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan:

On the second ballot of today's electing convention, the Rev. Rayford Ray was elected as the eleventh bishop of the Diocese of Northern Michigan.

Results:

Delegates: 88 present, 59 required to elect. Metz: 6, Ray: 59, Tharakan: 23
Congregations: 25 present, 13 required to elect. Metz: 1, Ray: 16, Tharakan: 6

According to the bylaws of the Diocese, to have an election, a nominee must receive two-thirds of the delegate vote and a simple majority of the congregational vote. To achieve a congregational vote, delegates from a congregation meet and caucus--a simple majority of those delegates is considered a congregational vote.

Thanks to Ann Fontaine.

UPDATE: From the Google cache of the biography of Bishop-elect Ray by Nicholas Knisely at The Lead:

ESCANABA, Michigan, December 4, 2010--The Rev. Rayford Ray, a member of the Episcopal Ministry Support Team in the Diocese of Northern Michigan, has been elected as the diocese’s 11th bishop.

Ray, 54, a four-time deputy to General Convention who serves several parishes in the south central region of the diocese, was elected on the second ballot from a slate of three nominees at a convention held at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Escanaba.

“We are a life giving people here in this diocese,” said Ray, who visited the convention after his election. “It is an exciting time as we will partner together as we look at the possibilities that stand before us. We have much to do, but we will do it together as we proclaim the Gospel as we know in in Jesus Christ.”

During more than 20 years in the diocese, Ray has worked as a ministry development coordinator and collaborated with parishes across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He was recently an adjunct instructor at Episcopal Divinity School. An alumnus of Nashota House, he lives in Rapid River, Michigan with his wife, Suzanne Ray. They have three grown children and four grandchildren.

ST. ARBUCKS - PATRON SAINT OF COFFEE

Thanks to Ann V.

UPDATE: Chris said...

Collect of the day:

Oh God, who hast made the coffee bean and infused it with caffeine for our enjoyment; like Thy blessed saint Arbucks vouchsafe to keep us awake to Thy beauty, infuse us with the riches of the cream of Thy heart, and at the end bring us to Thy heavenly café, where Thou livest and reignest with your Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Thank you, Chris. The collect is perfect.