'HAUNTED HOUSES'

Brown Lady of Raynham Hall

Haunted Houses

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

All houses wherein men have lived and died
Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
With feet that make no sound upon the floors.

We meet them at the door-way, on the stair,
Along the passages they come and go,
Impalpable impressions on the air,
A sense of something moving to and fro.

There are more guests at table than the hosts
Invited; the illuminated hall
Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts,
As silent as the pictures on the wall.

The stranger at my fireside cannot see
The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear;
He but perceives what is; while unto me
All that has been is visible and clear.
[...]

So from the world of spirits there descends
A bridge of light, connecting it with this,
O'er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends,
Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss.

Cackle, cackle. :-D

H/T to The Writer's Almanac for the poem.

Image from Wikipedia.

THE BEDE PARRY STORY IS NOT DEAD

Jim Naughton at The Lead once again addresses the matter of Bede Parry being admitted to the priesthood by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori when she was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada.

A story has been making the rounds in the last few days that purports to demonstrate that Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori knew that the Bede Parry, a former Roman Catholic monk, had sexually abused minors and was likely to do so again when she received him as a priest into the Episcopal Church while she was serving as the Bishop of Nevada.

I'm sorry to have to address the matter again, but groups who are generally considered not to be especially friendly to the Episcopal Church are referencing the matter, not necessarily unfairly, with links to Patrick Marker's post at Conception Abbey Abuse. Thus, those of us who who care deeply about sexual abuse and the Episcopal Church must also pay attention.

Jim says further:

In Crisis Communications 101 (a course that exists entirely in my head) one is taught rules for governing the release of bad news: tell it yourself, tell it all, and tell it quickly. These rules apply with special force to organizations whose moral credibility is their stock in trade. I don’t know that the presiding bishop has bad news to deliver, but either way, she would be well advised to put the facts of the Parry case before us. (MY emphasis)

Jim is exactly right. The opportunity for the Presiding Bishop to tell the story quickly is past and gone, but the two remaining bits of advice still apply. The time is now. We need to hear from Bishop Katharine in her own words. What we do not need is more passing the buck for commentary to the present bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, Dan Edwards, who was not the bishop who admitted Bede Parry to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church.

Two of my earlier posts on the Bede Parry matter are here and here.

ODDS AND ENDS

The dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London, Graeme Knowles, announced his resignation.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has now made a statement about the protests.

See Thinking Anglicans for the links.

Lionel Deimel has two brilliant posts, the first on...toilet paper. Yes, you read that right. Now we know where Lionel does his best thinking.

His next post, Engineer for an Hour, is about driving an old steam train. And his photo shows Lionel all decked out looking just like Mr Puffer Bill himself.

From Ron on Facebook: Words to live by: "Never moon a werewolf" -- Mike Binder.

From the sublime to the riduculous? Or the other way around?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

THE PLATTERS - 'ONLY YOU'

♫'Ah-only yoouuuu'....♫

Oooh, this video brings back memories of romantic slow dancing back in the 1950s. Nice. Slow dancing and hugging and kissing were as good as it got back in my convent school teen years. Those were the days!

Note: All the people in the nightclub are white. Only black entertainers allowed in.

RULES FOR HALLOWEEN FOR SENIORS

 

You know you are too old to Trick or Treat when:

10. You keep knocking on your own front door.

9. You remove your false teeth to change your appearance.

8. You ask for soft high fiber candy only.

7. When someone drops a candy bar in your bag, you lose your balance and fall over.

6. People say: 'Great Boris Karloff Mask,' And you're not wearing a mask.

5. When the door opens you yell, 'Trick or...' And you can't remember the rest.

4. By the end of the night, you have a bag full of restraining orders.

3. You have to carefully choose a costume that doesn't dislodge your hairpiece.

2. You're the only Power Ranger in the neighborhood with a walker.

And the number one reason Seniors should not go Trick Or Treating...
*
*
*
1. You keep having to go home to pee.

No matter, have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN anyway.

 

Thanks to Ann.

STORY OF THE DAY - UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

I try to use unconditional love in small
amounts, she said, so people really
appreciate it. The rest of the time I just
try not to yell.

From StoryPeople.

MORE ON THE PROTEST AT ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL IN LONDON

Fraser Dyer, who volunteered as a chaplain at St Paul's Cathedral announced his resignation. He blogs at Kiwianglo's blog.

Since the summer I’ve been a chaplain at St Paul’s Cathedral, one of many London clergy who give half a day a month to being the priest available to the cathedral’s visitors, and to leading prayers on the hour. It is has been immensely enjoyable and interesting to do. Arising from my relationship with the cathedral I’ve been closely following the events arising from the Occupy London protest which pitched camp in the cathedral precinct a fortnight ago. There seemed to be a great deal that was positive and constructive about the dialogue between the protestors and the cathedral. I was therefore very disappointed to learn of today’s announcement that St Paul’s is taking legal action to have the protestors removed. Consequently I have decided to stand down from the pastoral team, and explained my reasons to Michael Colclough, Canon Pastor of St Paul’s Cathedral, in an email earlier today (below).

Read the rest of the post, which includes the email which Fr Dyer sent to the Canon Pastor.

Sam Norton, who blogs at Elizaphanian has an excellent post on St Paul's Cathedral and the protest:

I've been pondering this whilst following the events outside St Paul's. There has been much criticism of the Occupy movement for not having 'clear goals' (on which see this great cartoon. That is immediately to try and force the rebellion to conform to the dominant discourse, to be co-opted into the patterns that pose no threat to the establishment. Specific claims will, I do not doubt, follow in due course. For now, however, it is enough for there to be the protest, the rebellion - the saying 'No' to manifest injustice, arrogance, ignorance and greed.

Read it all, and click the links when you get over there.

You may think I'm overdoing the posts on St Paul's, but the situation there is about more than protestors and tents around the famous London cathedral. The leadership at the cathedral was forced to make a choice. Unfortunately, in my opinion, they came down on the wrong side. I hope other churches take lessons from them on what not to do.

BISHOP ALAN WILSON ON THE PROTESTS AT ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

An excellent interview. Back to Jesus, where all of us who call ourselves Christians should surely be.

Alan Wilson is Bishop of Buckingham in England and blogs at (Surprise!) Bishop Alan's Blog.

STORY OF THE DAY MOONLIGHT

I like this place best by moonlight, she
told me. During the day, it just looks like
dirt.

From StoryPeople.

Oh yes.

PACO AND THE PUMPKIN

 

Whoops! Paco wanted out of the pumpkin just as we wanted a picture.

 

Still not quite what we want, but cute.

 

Now we're getting close...the eery eye.

 

Boo!!!

Paco lives with my daughter and her three sons.