MIND THE GPS INSTRUCTIONS

From the heraldsun.com:

An ELDERLY British couple is recovering today after a faulty GPS system led them to crash into a 19th-century German church, causing $37,000 worth of damage.

The couple, who cannot be named under German data protection laws, were traveling Friday from Austria to France guided by their GPS system. The 76-year-old husband, who was driving, followed instructions to "turn right" but ended up hitting the chapel near Freundpolz, Bavaria.

The man and his 78-year-old wife were taken to the hospital suffering from shock and bruises, before returning by train to Britain.
....

Karl-Heinz Krueger, a passing motorist, told a local radio station, "The old man was more confused than the woman. He kept saying, It's the machine - it told me to turn this way, but I suddenly ran out of road."

This story is NOT funny. Do NOT laugh.

I confess I laughed, but it's not my fault. It's Andrew Gern's fault for posting the link at The Lead.

I pray for quick healing for the couple's shock and bruises.

PLEASE PRAY...

From David@Montreal Ore

beloved Giants

i'd ask your prayers please for my cherished cousin Frank out in Brittish Columbia struggling with the effects of his long fight with lukemia.

dear Mam received a call from Carol this afternoon, and in the process also got to speak to Frank for a very short while.

able to control the spread of the fungus in his lungs, but unable to beat it with his immune system so seriously compromised by the most recent gene therapy transfer, they have sent him home from the hospital. not fully mobile, my cousin is a robust fellow and Carol is going to have to get help for handling him.apparently he spends much of the time sleeping at present.

as he is still intubated there will be medical staff going in daily to maintain it, and Frank will be returning to the hospital weekly for as long as he is able.

so i'd ask your prayers for both Frank and Carol, knowing that through the unfailing grace of that 'Love beyond our wildest imagining' they will be given what they need.

i'd also ask your prayer for dear Mam, his godmother, who at eighty-nine is finding it challenging, the possibility that her beloved godson/nephew could be dying before her.

in other quarters, i'd ask your prayers for the people of Tunisia, Egypt and Sanaa; that they indeed are able to claim that 'life more abundantly'. prayers particularly please for our Coptic brothers and sisters in Egypt- for their protection and safety. prayers please for the repose of David Kato, the gay Ugandan martyr, and for our LGBT brothers and sisters at risk wherever they might be.

prayers for the Great +Katherine and her brother primates in Dublin. prayers for Gabby and Mark and for all those struggling to heal in Tucson.

thank-you beloveds

love always-always Love

Lord, hear our prayers.

STORY OF THE DAY - STRETCHING OUT

I've been doing these Chinese stretches
that are supposed to make you live
longer, he told me. I just hope I'm not
this sore the whole time.

From StoryPeople.

MORE ON DAVID KATO'S FUNERAL

THE REV. CANON ALBERT OGLE - PRESIDENT OF ST. PAUL’S FOUNDATION FOR INTERNATIONAL RECONCILIATION in SDGLN.com:

Ten miles from a Ugandan blood-stained home, 300 friends, fellow activists from the LGBT community, his mourning mother and family joined foreign dignitaries and embassy staff to pay their respects to David Kato.

Since Kato was an Anglican, the local parish church of Nagojje was responsible for his funeral rites to be read from the Book of Common Prayer. Although tributes have been pouring into the Kato family from President Barack Obama and other international leaders, the Church of Uganda sent no priest, no bishop, but a Lay Reader to conduct the service.

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo arrived in his purple cassock accompanied by his wife Mary and let the master of ceremonies know he would like to say a few words at some point in the service. He was going to read a message from Frank Mughisu of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) where David worked tirelessly since 2004.

As an excommunicated bishop of the Church of Uganda, Christopher has no standing in the official hierarchy of the church. The Lay Reader began to make inappropriate remarks condemning homosexuality quite graphically and stating the Church of Uganda’s position that homosexuality was a sin and against the Bible.

All this in the presence of Kato's grieving mother and family.

Read on about the Anglican Lay Reader's anti-gay rant and the crowd cheering him on, as the funeral service turned into an anti-gay rally, followed by what Canon Ogle calls a Stonewall moment, when a young lesbian woman, Kasha, took over the microphone from the Lay Reader, and the voices of the friends and supporters of Kato began to be heard.

The Church of Uganda, a member of the Anglican family of churches to which I belong, took a pastoral opportunity for healing and reconciliation with family members and LGBT people and allies and turned the event into an anti-gay political rally. Following this horrific incident with the Lay Reader who condemned the LGBT community, Bishop Christopher, as a bishop of the church and wearing his purple cassock, walked behind the coffin carried by David’s friends and family to the graveside. There, although he was disinvited by the Church to speak at the funeral, he found a way to bring words of comfort to the mourners and said the final blessing over David’s battered remains.

In this one sad occasion, we can see there are two churches in Uganda and indeed elsewhere. The bishop was horrified by what he witnessed from his fellow Christians. Yet, it was good that Christopher was there. He told me he was honored to be there and though was not welcomed to speak to the whole assembly, had the final word of love and peace for David. May he rest in peace.

Sadly, a member of the Anglican family of churches to which I belong.

Lord have mercy!

Thanks be to God that the courageous Bishop Christopher spoke the final words of blessing for David Kato.

May God protect Bishop Christopher from all harm.

Thanks to Ann for the link.

GIVE UP ON THE CHURCH? - NOT YET

From Theo Hobson in the Guardian:

As regular readers will know, I’ve spent quite a lot of time on this site, and elsewhere, arguing for a rather extreme sort of liberal Christianity. I started off fulminating against the establishment of the Church of England, and went on to argue that all major forms of church were full of illiberal assumptions. Really liberal Christians must try to develop a new, anarchic, post-ecclesial Christian culture, I said.

I have changed my mind in an important respect. I now feel that organized religion might not be such a bad idea. Its various authoritarian forms might be avoidable. It might be redeemable.

Two things have led me to this re-think. First, I have admitted that, after a few years of looking, I have failed to find any significant manifestations of a new, post-institutional Christian culture. Second, I have encountered a form of church that does not offend me.
....

It was a catch-22. Organised religion was intolerably illiberal, but only organised religion seemed able to organise Christian ritual – without which Christianity is just a bunch of vague ideas. My desire was for ritual to be liberated from the institutions but, frankly, I didn't know how this could happen. After a few years staring at this question, I was no nearer to answering it.

Then last year, I moved to New York. I wanted to see if there was a stronger post-institutional Christian culture here, a more substantial ‘emerging church’ movement. There is, but I’m not sure what I make of it yet. I was also curious to see what I would make of the Episcopal Church, the American branch of Anglicanism. It is proudly disestablished, and has broken with the homophobic legalism of the rest of the Communion, so would I find it a model of liberalism, or still complicit in the various ills of organized religion? I was assuming the latter. But, to my surprise, a taste of Episcopalian worship got me asking: what’s not to like?

Looking back at the crisis in the Anglican Communion, I find that I am impressed by the boldness of the Americans. Instead of backing down over Gene Robinson’s consecration, they insisted that a basic Christian principle was at stake: the need to oppose moral legalism, and open the good news to everyone. This was Paul’s project – which is why it is so ironic that Paul also supplies the conservatives with their main ammunition. You could say that the crisis is an argument within the mind of Paul.
....

The air is fresher here. The American branch of Anglicanism has emerged over the last decade as the global pioneer of liberal Christianity. It has persuaded me not to give up on church just yet."

Hobson expresses similar frustrations to mine with the institutional church. But he comes to the same conclusions: there is, for the most part, no true Christian culture outside the institutional church; the only meaningful Christian rituals are those which exist within the institutional church.

And although the Episcopal Church is far from perfect, it warms my heart to read Hobson's words about fresh air, because I, too, believe that, in our imperfect way, the Episcopal Church is prophetic for our times. The wind of the Spirit blows where it wills, and the wind of the Spirit brings fresh air.

At times, I find myself longing for a more anarchic church, but, in my heart of hearts, I know that an anarchic church is not the answer. We have wide leeway in the Episcopal Church to experiment with different expressions of being church, different forms of worship, different ways of living out the Gospel. We're a small congregation amongst congregations, and we are even smaller in relation to the society at large here in the US, but that should not be our major concern. Our call is to be disciples of Jesus through our worship and our mission and thereby show Jesus to the world and see Jesus in every one of God's beloved creatures.

Hobson's words below resonate strongly:

The awkward fact, it seemed, was that only institutionally rooted Christians understood the primacy of ritual. Only they were committed to the ritual worship of a certain ancient Palestinian chap. And, away from such a commitment, there is surely no Christianity worth speaking of.

Indeed.

Please read Hobson's words in their entirety to get the full flavor of his message.

Thanks to Cathy for the link.

EVEN AT DAVID KATO'S FUNERAL...

From Reuters:

Scuffles broke out between locals and friends of a murdered Ugandan gay activist at his funeral on Friday after the pastor conducting the service berated gay people and villagers refused to bury the coffin.

David Kato was beaten to death with a hammer on Wednesday, police said. His photo was printed on the cover of a newspaper last October that called for gays to be executed under a headline that read: "Hang them".
....

During the funeral -- which was attended by about 300 people, including about 100 members of the country's gay community -- the pastor lashed out at homosexuality, provoking a strong reaction from friends of Kato.

"The world has gone crazy," the pastor told the congregation through a microphone.

"People are turning away from the scriptures. They should turn back, they should abandon what they are doing. You cannot start admiring a fellow man."
....

Villagers then refused to bury the body at which point a group of Kato's friends, most of whom were gay, carried his coffin to the grave and buried it themselves.

Read it all, the whole sorry spectacle of an Anglican priest Lay Reader berating the deceased and his friends from the pulpit at Kato's funeral.

The police authorities say the preliminary investigation indicates that Kato was killed in a robbery, but human rights activists suspect otherwise.

H/T to Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin.

PRESIDING BISHOP'S STATEMENT ON THE MURDER OF DAVID KATO

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s statement:

At this morning’s Eucharist at the Primates Meeting, I offered prayers for the repose of the soul of David Kato. His murder deprives his people of a significant and effective voice, and we pray that the world may learn from his gentle and quiet witness, and begin to receive a heart of flesh in place of a heart of stone. May he rest in peace, and may his work continue to bring justice and dignity for all God’s children.

H/T to Andrew Gerns at The Lead.

ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY STRONGLY CONDEMNS THE MURDER OF DAVID KATO

Archbishop condemns murder of Ugandan gay human rights activist

Friday 28 January 2011

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who is currently in Dublin for the Primates' meeting, has made the following statement regarding the murder of the gay human rights activist David Kato Kisulle in Uganda:

"The brutal murder of David Kato Kisule, a gay human rights activist, is profoundly shocking. Our prayers and deep sympathy go out for his family and friends - and for all who live in fear for their lives. Whatever the precise circumstances of his death, which have yet to be determined, we know that David Kato Kisule lived under the threat of violence and death. No one should have to live in such fear because of the bigotry of others. Such violence has been consistently condemned by the Anglican Communion worldwide. This event also makes it all the more urgent for the British Government to secure the safety of LGBT asylum seekers in the UK. This is a moment to take very serious stock and to address those attitudes of mind which endanger the lives of men and women belonging to sexual minorities." (My emphasis)

From the Anglican Communion Office.

Photo from Wikipedia.

Thanks to Lapin for the link.

UPDATE: Read Tobias Haller's post at In a Godward Direction. Shorter version: The archbishop's statement, "Such violence has been consistently condemned by the Anglican Communion worldwide, " ain't a lie, if you parse it just right.

Note: Tobias did not approve approves my shorter version of his post.

DUTY CALLS

This one is for Grandpère.

PS: Oh my goodness! I forgot to say thanks to Ann. I'm still laughing at the cartoon.

UPDATE: From xkcd.

STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT OBAMA ON THE KILLING OF DAVID CATO

From the White House:

I am deeply saddened to learn of the murder of David Kato. In Uganda, David showed tremendous courage in speaking out against hate. He was a powerful advocate for fairness and freedom. The United States mourns his murder, and we recommit ourselves to David’s work. At home and around the world, LGBT persons continue to be subjected to unconscionable bullying, discrimination, and hate. In the weeks preceding David Kato’s murder in Uganda, five members of the LGBT community in Honduras ... to strongly support human rights and assistance work on behalf of LGBT persons abroad. We do this because we recognize the threat faced by leaders like David Kato, and we share their commitment to advancing freedom, fairness, and equality for all. ...

The Primates of the Anglican Communion are gathered in Dublin. It would be a good thing to hear a few words from them on the killing.

H/T to Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin.