ANOTHER TEAPARTY CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT

Grady Warren is running for president. In the video, he declares teahad on the people in the country whom he does not like. And the people Grady doesn't like are not few in number. Teahad? I believe that's a new word. I've not heard teahad before now, but perhaps it's been around for longer than I know.

I'd find Grady's video incredible if I didn't hear similar talk with my own ears without the aid of YouTube. Still, I'm inclined to agree with Grady that uneducated citizens in our midst having the right to vote can be a real problem in this country.

A tip of the hat to Athenae at First Draft, who says:

You can nutpick on YouTube all day with these freaks, but I have the same confusion seeing this every damn time and I really, really would like somebody to solve it sociologically: Nothing is happening to this guy. Nobody is doing anything to him. Other people are existing, and they're living their lives and some of them are fuckups and some of them just speak Spanish in the store around him. Other people are a pain in the ass. They get in your way at the checkout line and they're loud at the doctor's office and they muck up things with their needs and their worries and their problems and their lives. I get it: The world would be so much easier for me if every experience outside my house consisted of just me getting the stuff done I need to get done....

Read the rest of her righteous rant.

DIOCESE OF KANSAS SAYS NO TO SECTION 4 OF ANGLICAN COVENANT

April 24, 2011

To: Executive Council Task Force on the Anglican Covenant

From: Diocese of Kansas General Convention deputation

The deputies to the 2012 General Convention from the Diocese of Kansas met to discuss the proposed Anglican Covenant. Consistent with the principles set out in resolution D025 of the Episcopal Church General Convention in 2009, we reaffirm the abiding commitment of the Episcopal Church to live in fellowship with the churches that constitute the Anglican Communion and we seek to live into the highest degree of communion possible. We desire to have the Episcopal Church participate to the fullest extent possible in the many instruments, networks and relationships of the Anglican Communion.

With this in mind, we gave prayerful consideration to the proposed Covenant. There were no major issues raised by members of the deputation regarding the first three sections of the proposed covenant.

However, the deputation does not support Section Four of the covenant, which for the first time in the history of the Anglican Communion, imposes penalties or “relational consequences” against Churches in the Communion should they refuse to “defer a controversial action” deemed to be “incompatible with the Covenant.” Imposing penalties for actions or decisions deemed incompatible with the Covenant is inconsistent with our traditional understanding of covenants, as reflected in the marriage covenant or the baptismal covenant. These covenants do not include penalties or “relational consequences.” The deputation believes that the inclusion of such penalties would be antithetical to any covenantal relationship. The inclusion of penalties is consistent with a contractual or legal relationship in the secular world, not a covenantal relationship.

The Anglican Communion has grown and thrived without any need for a centralized authority or the imposition of penalties for controversial actions or decisions. The members of the Anglican Communion are our brothers and sisters in Christ, and our unity should not be imperiled because of a lack of uniformity in practices or beliefs. In the 1860s, the Episcopal Church refused to split despite strong disagreement about slavery which led to a bloody Civil War. By remaining one body during this very difficult time, we emerged a stronger, healthier, and more faithful church. As Bishop Alexander stated in his book This Far by Grace, living together in tension and disagreement is always preferable to schism. Furthermore, the areas of agreement that bind us together in the Anglican Communion far exceed those areas in which we are not of one mind.

We look forward to continuing to walk together with all our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion and give thanks for our fellowship.

Section 4 is certainly the most objectionable part of the proposed Anglican Covenant for reasons which the deputation from the diocese expresses well.

H/T to Jim Naughton at The Lead.

STORY OF THE DAY - BIG PLANS

Your job is to focus on my personal
happiness, she said, & I've got big plans,
so break time is over.

From StoryPeople.

I wish!!!

NEW LIFE - TWINS BENTLEY GRACE AND NOAH ANTHONY

Hey Ms June, sorry it took so long to get these to you. I misplaced the email address you gave us at church. If sending the photos to you via this address doesnt work out, let me know.

Thank you for acknowledging our family,

Rachel & Ashley Guidry (Noah Anthony & Bentley Grace)

And what a lovely family!



Noah Anthony up close. Adorable, isn't he?



Bentley Grace close up. Precious, isn't she?

We celebrated Noah's and Bentley's baptisms at St John's on this joyous Easter Day.



Fr Ed baptizes Bentley Grace as the proud moms, their godparents and families, and the congregation look on.



Next comes Noah's baptism, and we all have a second chance to "Oooh" and "Aaah".

Thank you, Ashley and Rachel, for allowing me the honor of celebrating the birth and baptism of your darling babies here at Wounded Bird.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon Noah and Bentley the forgiveness of sin, and have raised them to the new life of grace. Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works. Amen.
....

We receive you into the household of God. Confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his eternal priesthood.

"HE IS NOT HERE, BUT HAS RISEN"

ANGELICO, Fra - "Resurrection of Christ and Women at the Tomb" (Cell 8) - 1440-42 - Fresco
Convento di San Marco, Florence

Luke 23:55 - 24:10

The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.

On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.

When I visited the Convent of St Mark in Florence, Italy, the monastery which housed both the saintly Fra Angelico and Savanarola, I was enchanted to find that, in addition to his many other paintings throughout the monastery, Fra Angelico painted a fresco on the wall of each cell for the purpose of meditation for the monk who stayed there. What a joy to walk from cell to cell to see the wall paintings.

To be in San Marco, surrounded by the lovely frescoes of Jesus, Mary, the angels, and the saints, is to have a foretaste of heaven. The artist was named Guido di Pietro, but he was not called Fra Angelico for nothing. Angels, angels, everywhere!

Collect for Easter Day

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

A Blessed and Happy Easter to all!

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

ST MARY'S MANHATTANVILLE SAYS NO TO THE ANGLICAN COVENANT

From Allen Mellon at Morningsider:

My parish, St. Mary's Manhattanville, came out unanimously against the Anglican Covenant at our Annual Meeting on the first Sunday in Lent. A drafting committee, of which as it turned out I was the principal drafter, came up with a statement for submission to national church by the stated Eater deadline. I apologize for a little awkwardness in the statement, especially for the fact the the scriptural quotations are somewhat loosely stuck in. I simply ran out of time and I wanted to include all the suggestions of all the members.

Here is the statement:

April 23, 2011

Resolution of the Annual Meeting
St. Mary's Manhattanville Episcopal Church
521 West 126th Street
New York, New York 10027

In response to the invitation extended to all parishes in The Episcopal Church to study and comment upon the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant, this parish of St. Mary's Manhattanville Episcopal Church in New York, New York recommends that the General Convention of The Episcopal Church not endorse the Covenant. Adopted unanimously, March 13, 2011....

Read the rest of the statement at Allen's blog.

AROUND AND ABOUT BLOGLAND

Kirstin at Barefoot and Laughing posted movingly and eloquently about her long Good Friday. Her words are evidence of her courage and strength.

Pray for Kirstin.



 
"The Gay Passion of Christ" series is ongoing at the Jesus in Love Blog. The combination Doug Blanchard's paintings and Kittredge Cherry's words, along with passages from Scripture is powerful, indeed. The series runs daily throughout the Lenten season.

CHRIST IN THE TOMB

Hans Holbein the Younger - "The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb" - 1521–1522
Kunstmuseum Basel

Matthew 27:57-61

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

Holbein's painting is a horrifying view of Christ's dead body entombed. Nevertheless, it compels my attention, even as it repels me and causes me to want to turn away. Rather than being wrapped in the linen cloth, the corpus lies on the cloth. What could an artist make of a wrapped body as the focal point of a painting?



Stripped altar at St John's

Collect of the Day: Holy Saturday

O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so may we await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I'm waiting, but not patiently.

ABOUT "TRUMP"

From a correspondent:

OED - the meanings of the word "trump" with which I was raised in the English NW:

Trump n 1 e. "The act of breaking wind audibly."

Trump v 1 b. "To give forth a trumpet-like sound; spec. to break wind audibly."

Pretty appropriate?

ARCHBISHOP ROWAN WRITES TO LULU

From the Telegraph:

There’s a charming article in today’s Times by Alex Renton, a non-believer who sends his six-year-old daughter Lulu to a Scottish church primary school. Her teachers asked her to write the following letter: “To God, How did you get invented?”

Instead of answering Lulu's question, Renton emailed the letter to "the Scottish Episcopal Church (no reply), the Presbyterians (ditto) and the Scottish Catholics (a nice but theologically complex answer). For good measure, he also sent it to...Lambeth Palace”.

Lulu received the following response from Lambeth:

Dear Lulu,

Your dad has sent on your letter and asked if I have any answers. It’s a difficult one! But I think God might reply a bit like this –

‘Dear Lulu – Nobody invented me – but lots of people discovered me and were quite surprised. They discovered me when they looked round at the world and thought it was really beautiful or really mysterious and wondered where it came from. They discovered me when they were very very quiet on their own and felt a sort of peace and love they hadn’t expected.

Then they invented ideas about me – some of them sensible and some of them not very sensible. From time to time I sent them some hints – specially in the life of Jesus – to help them get closer to what I’m really like.

But there was nothing and nobody around before me to invent me. Rather like somebody who writes a story in a book, I started making up the story of the world and eventually invented human beings like you who could ask me awkward questions!’

And then he’d send you lots of love and sign off.

I know he doesn’t usually write letters, so I have to do the best I can on his behalf. Lors [sic] of love from me too.

+Archbishop Rowan

How kind of Archbishop Rowan to write such a lovely and theologically simple response to Lulu.

Thanks to Ann and Cathy for the link.