They drove south one winter until they
could stand outside with no coats on &
we never saw them again.
I saw someone's lost pet bird in the local park yesterday as I was running for the Tube. It was a cockatiel (same as my birdies) and I could tell it was lost because it was in a horrible panic and screaming frantically in the hope of getting a response from familiar faces and voices, but it must have flown too far away from its home for anyone to hear. It called desperately for a few seconds then flew off. I couldn't help it because cockatiels are very strong flyers and it was high up in the trees - by the time I had walked to the tree it was in it could already have been a quarter of a mile off. In the meantime this big freeze and heavy snow has come down. I prayed for it whenever I thought of it yesterday and this morning. There is pretty much no chance it will ever be reunited with its owner but there is a very slim chance it will land in someone's backyard so exhausted that they will be able to catch and rescue it. I feel so sorry for it and also for its owner, who, if they loved their bird, must be utterly distraught,
As the Ten Reasons Why the Proposed Anglican Covenant Is a Bad Idea circulated around the internet, several persons left comments here at Wounded Bird and at other blog sites pointing out that reason No. 1 was unrealistic, because the churches of the Anglican Communion are not "a vibrant, cooperative, fellowship of churches".Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The effect of the Covenant on mission
Deputy Lisa Fox of the Diocese of Missouri reflects on the relationship between the Diocese of Lui in Sudan and her diocese:
My Diocese of Missouri is in a companion relationship with the Diocese of Lui (Episcopal Church of Sudan). Before the governing bodies of Missouri and Lui adopted the covenant between our dioceses, it is my understanding that the bishops had frank conversations.
There are many differences in our dioceses.
The Diocese of Lui uses a Moru translation of the 1662 CoE prayer book, and their translation is a very Protestant one in which the Eucharist is merely a "memorial" of the Lord's Supper.
The Diocese of Missouri celebrates the Eucharist as a sacrament, informed by the liturgical renewal of the past century.
The people of Lui tend to read the Scriptures more literally than do we in Missouri. LGBT persons are ordained in Missouri, while that isn't on the radar in the Diocese of Lui or anywhere in Sudan.
We have very different ways of counting our "members."
However, we have a healthy relationship, between our bishops, congregations, and individuals. There is deep sharing between us as dioceses and individuals. We recognize and accept the differences, but we are brought together by our respect for each other and by our respect for one another's churches.
The current structure of the Anglican Communion allows us to do that. We can differ, but still love and support one another. We can and do respect the different contexts of how we minister in Missouri and Lui.
I believe it has been a blessing to our Diocese of Missouri to understand and walk with the people in the Diocese of Lui. I hope the reverse has also been true.
The proposed Anglican Covenant would, I fear, bring an end to this "diversity within unity." That Covenant would give each province a right of "veto" over any other province's movement. Many other people have written more articulately than I can about the loss of unity in the enforcement of uniformity.
This much I know: I have learned a great deal about Christian faith from my brothers and sisters in Lui, when I was there in 2006 and in our communications since then. We would disagree about some philosophical/theological/theoretical matters. But we are bound together in love, fellowship, and mission.
For the life of me, I do not understand those who support a Covenant that would reduce our respectful and diverse fellowship to a curia demanding "uniformity of belief."
I've been a kibitzer on the Bishops and Deputies listserve (HOBD) since 2003, and hope to contribute to our dialogue now that I've been elected a deputy.
Gratefully --
Lisa
Lisa Fox
L4, Diocese of Missouri
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One time on Hollywood Boulevard I saw
a young girl with a baby. It was a crisp
winter morning & her hair shone dark
purple in the sun. She was panhandling
outside the Holiday Inn & the door clerk
came out & told her to be on her way & I
wondered if anyone would recognize the
Christ child if they happened to meet. I
remember thinking it's not like there are
any published pictures & purple seemed
like a good color for a Madonna so I gave
her a dollar just in case.
O Wisdom that comest out of the mouth of the Most High,
that reachest from one end to another,
and orderest all things mightily and sweetly,
come to teach us the way of prudence!
O Sapientia, quæ ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,
attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter
suaviterque disponens omnia:
veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiæ.
Blake Edwards, a writer and director who was hailed as a Hollywood master of screwball farces and rude comedies like “Victor/Victoria” and the “Pink Panther” movies, died Wednesday night in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 88.
A lifelong depressive, Mr. Edwards told The New York Times in 2001 that at one point his depression was so bad that he became “seriously suicidal.” After deciding that shooting himself would be too messy and drowning too uncertain, he decided to slit his wrists on the beach at Malibu while looking at the ocean. But while he was holding a two-sided razor, his Great Dane started licking his ear, and his retriever, eager for a game of fetch, dropped a ball in his lap. Trying to get the dog to go away, Mr. Edwards threw the ball, dropped the razor and dislocated his shoulder. “So I think to myself,” he said, “this just isn’t a day to commit suicide.” Trying to retrieve the razor, he stepped on it and ended up in the emergency room.
I have been seriously ill the last month and a half, first with gall bladder (resulting in a long stay at Ochsner Hospital and eventually surgery), then with bladder failure. While at Ochsner I had atrial fibrillation and was shocked out of it (none of which I can remember), and now I am catheterizing myself several times a day to empty the bladder. What a mess is old age!
And who's the patron saint of bladders? I need to appeal to the guy.
Benedict of Nursia
Drogo
Aelred
Margaret of Antioch
Ursus of Aosta
Ursus of Ravenna
Okay --off to the hospital to visit Joel. I went last night before I came home, and he was having trouble breathing. Poor guy --he hasn't been in a bed since Monday --because when he lays down, he can't breathe at all. They have him on oxygen and all that stuff.
....
And, hey everbuddy! --HE'S HOME!!!! They sent him home with me despite the snow --or maybe because of it!!! He's home!!!!
Ma Latest
Talked to Ma very very briefly over the phone today. She recognized me and asked how I was. I said, "fine and how are you!" She replied, "feeling strange," and then said something about the nurse coming in and hung up. I talked to my brother who said that now the doctors are not sure she even had a stroke. They now think the dizziness may have been caused by a drop in her blood pressure, which apparently is still low. They think the memory loss and disorientation may be more from the head injury. They don't know if she'll ever completely recover her short term memory and former mental function, but they do expect that she will recover about 90% of it. She is still in the hospital trying to build her strength back up for rehabilitation.
Very confusing.
I made it into work today. I gave a final exam and graded it in my nice warm office. I hope our apartment is nice a cozy again when I go home presently.
Just a quick note to let you know that dear Rosemary entered eternal life last evening.
As tiny as she was physically, dear Rosemary was a giant in her passionate determination to beat her cancer so as to see her two sons make it to adulthood.
I ask your prayers for Rosemary husband David, their two sons, Rosemary's mother, two brothers and her sister.
I would also ask your prayers for my baby sister Jenny, who for close to two years was Rosemary's chief ally in keeping things as normal as possible and getting her to treatments and appointments.
The last time I saw Rosemary we spoke of the prayers which were accompanying her, and she asked about each of you- it was important to know each of you by name,
Jacques continues to be palliative, though there has been some slight rallying, just in time for my niece Marion and her daughter to make it back from the Gaspe
....
and I'd ask your prayers this evening for a young girl of only six years old, flown down south after being gravely attacked by four sled dog in her settlement- the dear child is litterally fighting for her life
Frank & Carol send their thanks and love- and he wants you all to know he is very much aware of the role you all played with your love and the support of your prayers in the fact that he will be here again this Chirstmas
Thank-you my cherished giants
love always-always Love
David
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!
"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)
