BUT WHAT IS THE QUESTION?

Is it Christmas?

Print and post in a handy location in your house for use in close encounters with young children for the next few weeks. Save your voice, and point to the sign.

Thanks to Canon Itchy.

PADRE MICKEY - A SAD END TO 12 YEARS OF MISSIONARY SERVICE

Please read Padre Mickey's A Big Honkin' Announcement post.

So, I guess I might as well finally give this news to all fifty-three of my Faithful Readers here at Padre Mickey's Dance Party, as I already announced it on Facebook and yesterday at Parroquia San Cristóbal: on Tuesday, November 22, 2011, I submitted my resignation as Rector of St. Christopher's Parish, effective December 18, 2011. I've been trying to find a position in the U.S.A. and have been unsuccessful, to say the least.
....

So, keep us in yer prayers and stuff. Personally, I find this a rather anti-climatic ending to twelve years of service as missionaries, but one never knows what God has in mind.

Padre Mickey's difficulty in finding a position in the church brings tears to my eyes. I simply can't believe that an Episcopal priest, who served sacrificially with his wife, the Lovely Mona, as missionaries in Panama for 12 years with low pay, is now having difficulty finding a job. They want to be in California, where both sets of aging parents live. Padre speaks Spanish and plays the electric bass, as you see him pictured above. Why wouldn't a number of parishes in California want to snap him up as their rector? I don't understand. Truly, I don't. I realize that not every parish considers playing the electric bass a priority, and Padre doesn't have a full head of hair, but still....

All joking aside, Padre and Mona will have no source of income once he is gone from St Christopher's in Panama, so if you'd like to help them, here's the contact information:

Nathaniel Lim
St. Francis Episcopal Church
1205 Pine Ave.
San Jose, CA 95125
408-292-7090.

Padre says:

Please feel free to check St. Francis' web site, which includes an archive of our letters and pictures of our mission.

BOROWITZ REPORTS...

Poll: 28% Think Cain Had Affair; 28% Don’t Think Cain Had Affair; 44% Having Affair with Cain Right Now

Millions of Exes Could Spell Trouble for Candidate

Read it all at The Borowitz Report.

I can't stop laughing at this gem from Andy.

LIFTING THE BAN

From the AP via The Huffington Post:

Marine Gen. James F. Amos, the face of opposition in the military to lifting the ban on gays serving openly, now acknowledges his concern has proven unfounded that repeal would undermine the war effort. In fact, he says, Marines have embraced the change.

In an Associated Press interview, Amos called the repeal in September "a non-event."

That is in contrast to his cautionary words to Congress in December 2010, shortly before President Barack Obama signed the repeal legislation. The ban was not lifted until this year to allow the Pentagon to prepare troops for the change.

"Successfully implementing repeal and assimilating openly homosexual Marines into the tightly woven fabric of our combat units has strong potential for disruption at the small unit level as it will no doubt divert leadership attention away from an almost singular focus on preparing units for combat," Amos testified. Still, he said at the time that if the law were changed, it would be faithfully followed by Marines.

He now sees no sign of disruption in the ranks – even on the front lines.

"I'm very pleased with how it has gone," Amos said during a weeklong trip that included four days in Afghanistan, where he heard nary a word of worry about gays. During give-and-take sessions with Marines serving on in Helmand province, he was asked about a range of issues, including the future of the Corps – but not one about gays.

Jim Naughton at The Lead says:

You have lived to see the day on which the commander of the U. S. Marine Corps sounds more irenic about the future of LGBT people within his organization that the Archbishop of Canterbury does about the future of LGBT people within his.

What an embarrassment! Are you embarrased? I know I am.

The Church of England and the Anglican Communion have experimented with 'Don't ask; don't tell' for ages now. Isn't the time ripe to move forward?

Note to the Archbishop of Canterbury: Tell it to the Commandant of the Marines.

CLASH OF THE TITANS OR FRIENDS MEETING?

The answer to the question in the headline is the occasion was very much friends meeting. Pictured above are Tim Chesterton and Erika Baker. The longtime online friends met in England where Tim and his wife Marci are visiting to celebrate Tim's father's 80th birthday.

My title refers to the fact that Tim and Erika enjoy engaging in debate, sometimes on the opposite side of the matter under discussion and occasionally on the same side. Although the discussions are, at times, intensely partisan, Erika and Tim always take the path of civility, and, once the discussion is over, no one is left with hard feelings. I sometimes join in their debates, but since Erika and Tim are both loaded with stamina, I usually wear out and bow out before them.

Pictured above are Erika and her wife Susan.

Above at Hampton Court is Tim's better half, Marci.

Now you've seen the quartet who did lunch. I'm sure a good time was had by all, and I'm jealous. I wish I had been there to meet Marci and Tim and to see my good friends Susan and Erika again.

The pictures are courtesy of Tim, and you must visit his blog, Faith, Folk and Charity, to see his splendid pictures of Peterborough Cathedral. They're gorgeous. Browse through Tim's other posts to see more of their photos of the places they've visited during their time in England.

MARTYRDOM POSTPONED FOR BISHOP MARK LAWRENCE

 

Click on the letter for the larger view.

From Mark Harris at Preludium:

The Living Church has posted the letter from Bishop Henderson concerning the charges against Bishop Lawrence. The letter is dated November 22nd. Read it HERE.

I am glad the specifics of those charges were not found sufficient. I too felt they fell short of the abandonment canon.

They did not include the matter of the quitclaim deeds, as those were issued only on November 15th and were not part of the charges first brought.

The headline on my post is mine, not Mark's. I agree the charges were not sufficient for the Disciplinary Board to conclude that Bp. Lawrence abandoned the Episcopal Church, Although, at times, the bishop seems to long to be a martyr, I'd rather the church did not make him one.

The quitclaim deeds which the bishop issued to the parishes in the diocese are another matter about which we shall wait and see what develops. Mark Harris' previous post to the announcement by the Disciplinary Board concerns the quitclaims.

ADVENT - EXPECTANCY OR PENITENCE?

The holiday season is officially upon us. I don't care for the hustle and bustle of getting and spending and shopping associated with the commercial aspect of the season, but I'm immensely grateful for the church season of Advent, which is my favorite of the church year.

Centuries ago, Advent was a season of fasting and penitence, though lesser in severity than Lent, in preparation for the coming of the Christ Child. We've pretty much moved away from the practice of penitence fully into the spirit of expectancy, however the wonderful readings in the Lectionary during Advent are not all sweetness and light. Does not preparing the way of the Lord in a spirit of expectancy include taking stock of ourselves and our lives to see the ways we are ready, and, still more, the ways we are unready to celebrate anew that God came down to be one of us, fully human, with the same joys and sorrow, the same pleasures and struggles common to the human family?

In her post titled 'The tender branch', Elizabeth Kaeton says:

It must be the Season of Advent.

I've been having a conversation with a male clergy colleague about Advent. He's a good guy. Truly. One of the best. Intelligent. I learn so much from him. Votes on the side of the angels in terms of all the justice issues.

We disagree about lots of things. Advent is one of them.

He sees it as a mini-Season of Penitence.

I see it as a Season of Anticipation.

He wants Liturgical Purple (the coming of Royalty).

I want Liturgical Blue (the color of Mary).

Please read all of Elizabeth's post, because it's very good.

Why must Advent be one or the other? Why not both Penitence and Anticipation? I'm with Elizabeth in regarding the Incarnation very highly. For me, Christmas is the greatest feast day for without the Incarnation, none of the rest of the Jesus story would follow. The children have it right. I remember being reminded by the nuns in my Roman Catholic school that Easter was the greatest feast in Christianity, but most children I know never took the lesson to heart. And I suppose I've never taken the lesson to heart.

2 Peter 1:1-11

Simeon Peter, a servant* and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:

May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by* his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants in the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual* affection, and mutual* affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For anyone who lacks these things is short-sighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

Pictured above is my church, St John's Episcopal Church, beautifully dressed for Advent in Mary blue, to match the window, which I freely admit I prefer to purple for the season.

And before anyone says it, I know that biblical scholars conclude it is nearly certain that the apostle Peter did not write the letter from which I quote.

TRUE LOVE

I've found that those who truly love will want a person to feel confident in themselves, and feel secure, and have their own choice of good life and the way they live it, and have their own choice of friends and partners, etc. They are honest and caring and know when to apologise and when to be there. My life is hugely blessed by having so many people in it who bring such love to the world, whether old school friends or neighbours, people from charities and community life, people from churches and faith groups, or people who have simply shared life with me and its joys and perils. May the week bring happiness to each of you.

What lovely words for a Monday morning. From Ann M. on Facebook.

'JAZZ FOR COWS'

The New Hot 5, American-based jazz band plays for a herd of cows in Autrans, France. The unedited footage is now uploaded on our channel in two parts. If you want to hear more, check out our other videos of concerts for humans.

Not bad. Not bad at all. The New Hot 5's sales pitch is altogether different from anything I've seen.

33 YEARS AGO - TODAY WE REMEMBER HARVEY MILK...

...not silenced, not forgotten. Harvey Milk's voice resonates today as though he was still with us...for he is still with us.

From teacherken at Daily Kos:

Harvey Milk had once said (h/t, Zinn Education Project), "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country."

There are still too many closets, and far too many still in them. There is still too much fear.

Yet Harvey Milk made a difference, in his living as well as his dying.

Picture from LGBTQNation

H/T to Paul the BB on Facebook.