"JOY HAS COME TO THIS SEASON"

So says Susan S.:

My son and his fiance Carly are getting married tomorrow in Sycamore IL (1:00 PM CDT). We are very excited at the prospect of having a Daughter-in-law and a Granddaughter named Zoe, the sweetest 6 year-old in the world!

Susan, we rejoice with you and and your family, and we pray for God's blessing upon David and Carly as they begin their journey as husband and wife together with their daughter Zoe.

"May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk,this marriage, like wine and halvah.
May this marriage offer fruit and shade like the date palm.
May this marriage be full of laughter,
your every day a day in paradise.
May this marriage be a sign of compassion,
a seal of happiness here and hereafter.
May this marriage have a fair face and a good name,
an omen as welcomes the moon in a clear blue sky.
I am out of words to describe how spirit mingles in this marriage."

(Poem by Mawlawi Rumi)

Susan sends a link to this song: Eric Whitacre: This Marriage & Lux aurumque.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE AUSTEN!

From the Guardian:

Google's home page is festooned today with a doodle to celebrate the 235th birthday of novelist Jane Austen. A Regency couple – most likely the novelist's most celebrated characters, Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice – are pictured taking a stroll through the English countryside, eyeing each other rather coyly, in the illustration on the search engine's site.

Not my Google! The festoon is pictured above for those who are not honored with its presence.

Often represented as a "romantic" writer, Austen's books in fact contain much comic but biting social satire, and reflections on the chances and choices of women whose options in life are severely limited. Accusations by Oxford professor Kathryn Sutherland earlier this autumn that her famously crisp prose style owed as much to her editor William Gifford as to her own talents have been rebuffed by other Janeites, leaving her reputation as the queen of elegant prose unsullied.

No named muse for writers of prose exists with the exception of Clio, the muse of history, but my muse for my prose is Jane Austen, who was a major influence in my high school years and for the rest of my rather long life. She was then, and will always be for me, the "queen of elegant prose". That's not to compare my writing with Jane's writing, but to say that her prose is my ideal.

Today, I haven't had time to do justice to Jane's birthday celebration, but here's the link to Jane Austen and Irony, which I wrote three years ago, if you'd care to read more.

"DINE TO DONATE" FOR ST. MATTHEW'S CHURCH

Click on the images for the larger view.

If any of you live near Thibodaux or Houma or will be passing through, you may want to kill two birds, as they say, and have a meal at That Place! on a Wednesday and, at the same time, help with the rebuilding of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church and School. The church was completely destroyed by fire, and the fire spread to part of the school.

Here's the link to make a donation to St. Matthew's to help the congregation rebuild their church.

TEXTING FOR SENIORS

Since more and more Seniors are texting and tweeting there appears to be a need for a STC (Senior Texting Code). If you qualify for Senior Discounts this is the code for you: Please pass this on to your CHILDREN and Grandchildren so they can understand your texts.

ATD: At The Doctor's
BFF: Best Friend Farted
BTW: Bring The Wheelchair
BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth
CBM: Covered By Medicare
CGU: Can't get up
CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center
DWI: Driving While Incontinent
FWB: Friend With Beta Blockers
FWIW: Forgot Where I Was
FYI: Found Your Insulin
GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!
GHA: Got Heartburn Again
HGBM: Had Good Bowel Movement
IMHO: Is My Hearing-Aid On?
LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out
LOL: Living On Lipitor
LWO: Lawrence Welk's On
OMMR: On My Massage Recliner
OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas.
PIMP: Pooped in my pants
ROFL... CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing... And Can't Get Up
SGGP: Sorry, Gotta Go Poop
TTYL: Talk To You Louder
WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?
WTFA: Wet The Furniture Again
WTP: Where's The Prunes?
WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil
GLKI (Gotta Go, Laxative Kicking In)

Thanks to Ann. I'm still laughing.

JUST BECAUSE....

The Madonna and Child with Two Angels - Sandro Botticelli
Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples..

Mary’s Song of Praise

And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

(Luke 1:46-55)

Just because I love Botticelli's Madonna paintings, and just because I love Mary's magnificent prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God, The Magnificat, was reason enough for me to give you this.

And then these words came to me:

O Blessed One

Mother of God, O holy one,
Inside your body, the Word made flesh,
As an infant suckled at your breast.
The God-child, cared for gently, lovingly,
Grew in wisdom and in grace.

Mother of God, what did you know?
Were you sad? Were you fearful?
Midst the joy of family life,
Did you feel a piercing in your heart?
O blessed Mary, pray for us, sinners all.

June Butler - 7/17/07

Reposted from July 2007 just because....

Image from Wikipedia.

BOROWITZ REPORT PERSON OF THE YEAR

Borowitz Report Names its Person of the Year

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – The Borowitz Report has named Sarah Palin its Person of the Year.

And the year is 1641.

Happy Holidays from The Borowitz Report!

Share this greeting with someone you love here.

From The Borowitz Report.



And I love you, my readers, so I share with you.

NO ANGLICAN COVENANT - TEN REASONS WHY

From Comprehensive Unity, the No Anglican Covenant blog:

TEN REASONS WHY THE PROPOSED ANGLICAN COVENANT IS A BAD IDEA

1. The proposed Anglican Covenant would transform a vibrant, cooperative, fellowship of churches into a contentious, centralized aggregation of churches designed to reduce diversity and initiative. The Covenant would institutionalize the “Instruments of Unity” as never before and would give extraordinary power to the newly enhanced Standing Committee.

2. Under the Covenant, churches will be inhibited from undertaking new evangelical or mission initiatives for fear of offending other Communion churches and becoming embroiled in the disciplinary mechanisms set up by the Covenant.

3. The centralization of authority envisioned by the proposed Covenant is cumbersome, costly, and undemocratic. In an era in which power and authority are being distributed in many organizations in order to achieve greater efficiency, responsiveness, and accountability, what has been proposed for the Communion seems out of step with current thinking regarding large organizations.

4. Although the proposed Covenant is offered as a mechanism to achieve unity, its immediate effect is to create divisions. Churches that cannot or will not adopt the Covenant automatically become second-class members of the Communion. The inevitable application of the disciplinary provisions of Section 4 will likely further distinguish between “full” members of the Communion and less-than-full members.

5. The proposed Covenant is dangerously vague. Sections 1–3 of the Covenant, which are seen by many as innocuous, leave much room for divergent interpretations. Section 4 makes it all too easy for any church to “ask questions” about the actions of another, which may then be subjected to unspecified “relational consequences.” There is no sure measure of what behaviour is likely to be acceptable, no checks provided against unreasonable complaints, and no guarantee that “consequences” (i.e., punishments) meted out will be commensurate with the alleged offence.

6. The proposed Covenant runs counter to the gospel imperative of not judging others. It is all too easy for Communion churches to complain about the sins of their sister churches while ignoring or diverting attention from their own failures to live out the Gospel.

7. The proposed Covenant encourages premature ending of debate. Rather than taking the advice of Gamaliel (Acts 5:38–39) and seeing how controversial matters play out, the Covenant evidences an eagerness to “settle” them. This is an unfortunate temptation to which the Communion seems subject. It has too quickly concluded that “homosexual practice” is “incompatible with Scripture” and that adopting the Covenant is “the only way forward,” neither of which is either intuitively obvious or universally agreed upon.

8. The notion that we need to make “forceful” the “bonds of affection” is fundamentally flawed. If we need force and coercion to maintain relationships between Communion churches, there is no true affection, and the very foundation of the proposed Covenant is fraudulent.

9. The proposed “Covenant” seems more like a treaty, contract, or instrument of surrender than a covenant. In the ecclesiastical context, a covenant is usually thought of as an agreement undertaken in joy and in an atmosphere of trust—baptismal and marriage covenants come to mind. The proposed Anglican Covenant, on the other hand, is advanced in an atmosphere of anger, fear, and distrust, and with the threat of dire consequences if it is not adopted.

10. The proposed Covenant is not the only way forward; there are better options. The Anglican Communion would be better served by remaining a single-tier fellowship of churches, allowing disaffected members to leave if they must, while keeping the door open for their return. Any alternative position cedes too much power to those willing to intimidate by threatening to walk away.
________________________________________


It may be helpful to think of the reasons given above in terms of one-word descriptions. The ten reasons describe the Covenant as

Radical

Reactionary

Impractical

Divisive

Vague

Judgemental

Impetuous

Insincere

Misnamed

Suboptimal

The text of the Anglican Communion Covenant may be found here.

"A DECENT AND KIND MAN...."

Mr. Narayanan Krishnan. He searches out the homeless and feeds, clothes, bathes, shaves and loves them.

H/T to Ann Fontaine at The Lead.

PLEASE PRAY...

UPDATE ON AILEEN"

Today, 9:30 a.m.---Yesterday was a great day. Aileen followed the doc with her eyes, blinked on command and moved her right arm up and then back down again upon being asked. Her blood labs looked good, and yesterday's CAT scan came back with good news. The hemorrhage on the left side is beginning to resolve itself and the pressure is going down. However, kidney and liver lab numbers are not so good today and she spiked a temp overnight. Please continue prayers.---Her husband, Mike

From Ann.


From Brian R.:

My sister is to undergo Arthroscopic Knee Surgery tomorrow (Thursday) for a torn cartilege. While it is not serious surgery, I am worried about any general anaesthetic for a person in her mid 70's. She has been in a lot of pain over the last month so hopefully all will be well by Christmas.

For Counterlight (Doug):

It's been a rough month. As always in December, I'm very busy and ill at the same time. This year, I've been going through a royal succession of flu, colds, and respiratory infections that have left me miserable but functional at best, and completely bed-ridden at worst. On top of all that, on Saturday, the boiler in our building blew, and so it's 25F outside and there's no heat. I'm sitting in front of a space heater grading papers during the day, and shivering under blankets on the couch at night so that Michael at least can get some sleep without getting sick. We went through Sunday with no water as the old boiler was torn out. I canceled one of my classes this week because of illness, and I sent an email blast to students in another that I might not have their papers graded by exam time (it looks like I will after all).

And then there are so many people for whom things are so much harder.

I made a trip to the emergency room at Beth Israel in Manhattan last night that, fortunately, turned out to be unnecessary. Another respiratory infection that gives me a nasty rasping choking cough replaced my flu, and it was starting to set my asthma off, so Michael took me to the hospital.

Please read Counterlight's entire post to see what the emergency room visit was like. Congress critters who are against national health care should be required to spend time in emergency rooms.

Almighty God our heavenly Father, graciously comfort your servant, Brian's sister, in her suffering, and bless the means made use of for her cure. Fill her heart with confidence that, though at times she may be afraid, she yet may put her trust in you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servant Doug the help of your power, that his sickness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For those affected by the flooding in Panamá. See Padre Mickey's blog to learn more and find out how to help.

A SURPRISE 14TH CENTURY CARTOON

Your face doesn't fit ... who would expect to find a mischievious caricature on a revered scripture like the Bangor Pontifical? Photograph: Tom Service

As usual click on the picture for the larger view.

From the Guardian:

It looks like something Jake and Dinos Chapman might do if they turned their hand to the creative defacement of illuminated manuscripts: the Viz-style gargoyle just to the left of the plainchant notation on page 77 of the nearly 700-year-old Bangor Pontifical, one of the treasures of the Welsh medieval world.
....

And yet in the middle of this beautiful Latin hand – the meticulous gold-leaf decorations and square noteheads of the neumes looking as vivid as they must have done in the early 14th century, and every vellum surface of the book seeming to speak across the centuries – there's a cartoonish scribble of what looks like an unshaven 21st-century bloke with curly hair, a big nose, bejewelled beard, flat cap and shades. Except that it's not. According to Sally Harper, leader of the Bangor Pontifical Project...this is an original piece of medieval satire the scurrilous scribe included beside the chant, which would have been sung to consecrate a church bell.

What a delight to find such a clever, though mischievous, cartoon in the process of doing serious research.

Thanks to Cathy for the link.

UPDATE: From Lapin in the comments:

You've jogged me into photographing a couple of items that I own and uploading them to my Facebook page. Click on the left-hand image to see the full thing. There's a fun red dragon lurking up at the top of the page.

I clicked and copied, and here is!