WRONG BED

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

HOBOKEN JUSTICE

From the ABAJournal:

A law school graduate who works as a Bulgarian translator has refused to accept a plea bargain stemming from an accusation of improper staring and a refusal to answer a question about his country of origin.

Vesselin Dittrich, 64, says his troubles began after he stared at a heavily tattooed woman on a train in the station at Hoboken, N.J., and refused her demand to leave the car, the New York Times reports. Dittrich, who has faulty eyesight, says he was staring because the woman appeared to be blue. Dittrich tells the newspaper he has law degrees from Bulgaria and the United States, but he failed the New York bar exam.

I can't stop laughing, and it's wrong all wrong. The poor fellow has poor eyesight.

Plus, I sincerely hope I have not gone beyond fair use with my quote. I would not want to be sued by the ABA Journal. If I am sued, I have an idea who will defend me pro bono.

YOU ARE GOD'S BELOVED - I AM GOD'S BELOVED

I saw that God
never began to love us.

For just as we will be
in everlasting joy
(all God's creation is destined for this)

so also we have always been
in God's foreknowledge,
known and loved
from without beginning.

Julian of Norwich

I love the Book of Common Prayer. I love both Rites for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and all the Eucharistic prayers. I love the "Prayer of Humble Access", although a good many folks I know don't care for the prayer because of the emphasis on "We be not worthy...." There are people who have been so beaten down by "the changes and chances of this uncertain world" that they do not want nor do they need to hear that they are not worthy, and I fully understand. Still, I love the prayer for myself.

We do not presume to come to this thy Table (O merciful Lord) trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We be not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the Flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his Blood, in these holy Mysteries, that we may continually dwell in him, and he in us, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his Body, and our souls washed through his most precious Blood. Amen.

Sometimes I say the prayer before communion, because the words express what is in my heart at the moment. I sing "Amazing Grace" without cringing at "a wretch like me". What I am, I am by the grace of God, who says to me, "You are my beloved." All is grace. All is love. That I am God's beloved trumps all.

I know what I was without God in my life, and I see what I am with God in my life. To express in words the difference between living in hope and living with little or no hope, between knowing the love of God surrounds me and is within me and knowing the emptiness when I believed God had not much to do with me is close to impossible.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you....

The knowledge that I am God's beloved is my salvation every day of my life. Therein lies my strength and my song. Yes, I have my moments (even hours and days!) of discouragement, but the secure knowledge of God's love and God's grace at work in me draws me back into the circle of hope.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

Thanks be to God!

Image from Wikimedia Commons.

HILLARY CLINTON'S GREAT SPEECH

Hillary Clinton gave a great speech at the UN meeting in Geneva on Human Rights Day. Watch the video and read the transcript at the Advocate. Perhaps Clinton would have given the same speech three years ago, but since she holds her position at the pleasure of the president, she may not have been permitted to give the speech by the Obama administration. On the other hand, Hillary Clinton came late to support the repeal of DOMA. During her campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination, she supported repeal of only Part 3 of DOMA.

Now we are heading into an election period, and you will hear many brave speeches by members of the administration, so pardon me if I'm a bit cynical and don't join in the celebration with unalloyed joy. Pardon me if I think, 'Better late than never'.

Now, there is still, as you all know, much more to be done to secure that commitment, that reality, and progress for all people. Today, I want to talk about the work we have left to do to protect one group of people whose human rights are still denied in too many parts of the world today. In many ways, they are an invisible minority. They are arrested, beaten, terrorized, even executed. Many are treated with contempt and violence by their fellow citizens while authorities empowered to protect them look the other way or, too often, even join in the abuse. They are denied opportunities to work and learn, driven from their homes and countries, and forced to suppress or deny who they are to protect themselves from harm.

I am talking about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, human beings born free and given bestowed equality and dignity, who have a right to claim that, which is now one of the remaining human rights challenges of our time. I speak about this subject knowing that my own country’s record on human rights for gay people is far from perfect. Until 2003, it was still a crime in parts of our country. Many LGBT Americans have endured violence and harassment in their own lives, and for some, including many young people, bullying and exclusion are daily experiences. So we, like all nations, have more work to do to protect human rights at home.

Now, raising this issue, I know, is sensitive for many people and that the obstacles standing in the way of protecting the human rights of LGBT people rest on deeply held personal, political, cultural, and religious beliefs. So I come here before you with respect, understanding, and humility. Even though progress on this front is not easy, we cannot delay acting. So in that spirit, I want to talk about the difficult and important issues we must address together to reach a global consensus that recognizes the human rights of LGBT citizens everywhere.

The first issue goes to the heart of the matter. Some have suggested that gay rights and human rights are separate and distinct; but, in fact, they are one and the same. Now, of course, 60 years ago, the governments that drafted and passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were not thinking about how it applied to the LGBT community. They also weren’t thinking about how it applied to indigenous people or children or people with disabilities or other marginalized groups. Yet in the past 60 years, we have come to recognize that members of these groups are entitled to the full measure of dignity and rights, because, like all people, they share a common humanity.

This recognition did not occur all at once. It evolved over time. And as it did, we understood that we were honoring rights that people always had, rather than creating new or special rights for them. Like being a woman, like being a racial, religious, tribal, or ethnic minority, being LGBT does not make you less human. And that is why gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.

Secretary Clinton strikes all the right notes, and her words will be quoted time and again, as they well deserve to be. The words were spoken, and they cannot ever be blotted out from history. Congratulations due, Madame Secretary.

STORY OF THE DAY

doesn't really want to punish anybody,
but it seems to be the only way they'll
admit she's right

From StoryPeople.

GOOD FOR PORVOO COMMUNION - NOT GOOD FOR ANGLICAN COMMUNION

From Eurobishop:

From 1 to 4 November, the Churches of the Porvoo Communion held a consultation in Turku, Finland on the Churches’ teaching on marriage. Delegates represented the Anglican Churches in England, Ireland and Scotland, and the Lutheran Churches in Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Observers were present from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, the Lutheran Church in Great Britain, and the Latvian Lutheran Church Abroad.
....

The consultation concluded that differences over the introduction of same-sex marriage remain unresolved. The Churches hold a variety of views and pastoral practices along a theological spectrum. Some believe same sex marriage to be a legitimate development in the Christian tradition, whilst others see the potential for a serious departure from the received tradition. Nevertheless the consultation affirmed the benefits of "belonging to one another" and the value of honest encounter. The strong relationship of the Porvoo Communion, provides a “platform of sustained communication in the face of issues which raise difficulties for [the Churches]” (My emphasis)

Boggles the mind, doesn't it? One wonders why "belonging to one another" is not a priority for the leadership in the Anglican Communion. Why can't we have a “platform of sustained communication in the face of issues which raise difficulties for [the Churches]” of the Anglican Communion? I don't know about you, but the dissonance is deafening for me.

The Archbishop of Canterbury assures us that there is no alternative to the Anglican Covenant. My goodness! The statement above looks to me very much like a foundation upon which to build an alternative. TINA begone! Covenant begone!

H/T to Ann Fontaine at The Lead and Simon Sarmiento at Thinking Anglicans.

HAPPY SAINT NICHOLAS DAY!

Remember the follow the bouncing ball singalong shorts at the movies? Warning: If you say yes, you may give away your age. It's been a long, long time.

So. You have work to do. Sing along as you follow the bouncing ball.

Now if you'd like something a bit more serous about St Nicholas, check out the following:

Padre Mickey

MadPriest

Maria Evans (Kirkepiscatoid) at Speaking to the Soul.

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE NO ANGLICAN COVENANT COALITION

noanglicancovenant.org

NEWS RELEASE
DECEMBER 6, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COALITION CELEBRATES SUCCESSES, PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

LONDON – After slightly more than a year, the No Anglican Covenant Coalition can point to several successes, according to Coalition Moderator, the Revd Dr Lesley Crawley.

• Four dioceses of the Church of England have rejected the Covenant (Birmingham; St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich; Truro; Wakefield). Where synod members were provided with balanced background material (i.e., material that presented both the case for and the case against the Covenant), the synods have voted it down. Four dioceses, where little or no material was presented other than officially sanctioned pro-Covenant material, have approved the Covenant (Lichfield; Durham; Europe; Bristol). A total of 23 diocesan synods must approve the Covenant for the matter to return to the General Synod.

• The Tikanga Maori defeated the Covenant at their biennial runanganui, virtually ensuring the defeat of the Covenant in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

• The Philippine House of Bishops has indicated they will not support the Anglican Covenant, likely ensuring the defeat of the Covenant in the Episcopal Church in the Philippines.

• Individual dioceses in the Anglican Church of Australia (Newcastle; Sydney) and The Episcopal Church (California; Eastern Oregon; Michigan; East Carolina; and others) have indicated their opposition to adoption of the Covenant.

“In November 2010, we launched the Coalition to ensure that the case against the proposed Anglican Covenant would be given a fair hearing,” said Dr. Crawley. “Today we are seeing our efforts bear fruit. When fair debate has been allowed, the results have been gratifying.”

Critical to the success of the campaign, especially in the Church of England, has been the support of the Coalition’s Episcopal Patrons, Bishops John Saxbee and Peter Selby, who have encouraged diocesan bishops to allow for a full and open debate. In the coming months, 37 more English dioceses will vote on the Anglican Covenant. Only 18 additional no votes are needed for the Church of England to reject the Covenant.

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition continues to provide assistance to those researching the proposed Covenant. The Resources section of the Coalition website (noanglicancovenant.org) is regularly updated with new material and analysis.

In the coming year:

• The Episcopal Church will consider the Covenant at its General Convention in July in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Executive Council of the church has circulated a draft resolution to reject the Anglican Covenant.

• The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia will consider the Covenant in July at its General Synod/Te HinotaWhanui in Fiji. Given the rejection of the Anglican Covenant by Tikanga Maori, rejection of the Covenant by that church seems assured.

• The General Synod of the Church of England is scheduled to consider the Covenant at its July session. However, unless 19 more diocesan synods have approved the Anglican Covenant by that date, the matter will not return to General Synod.

“Anglican Communion Office officials have repeatedly responded to criticism of the Anglican Covenant by suggesting that critics have not read the document,” said the Coalition’s Canadian Convenor, the Revd Malcolm French. “Ironically, we find that the more familiar people are with the document, the more likely they are to reject it. The Coalition is committed to ensuring a proper and balanced debate in churches throughout the Anglican Communion.”

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition is an international group of Anglicans dedicated to protecting the Anglican Communion from the dramatic changes that would be effected by the Anglican Covenant.

noanglicancovenant.org

The Revd Dr Lesley Crawley (England) +44 1252 820537
Dr Lionel Deimel (USA) +1-412-512-9087
The Revd Malcolm French (Canada) +1-306-550-2277
The Ven Lawrence Kimberley (New Zealand) +64 3 981 7384
The Revd Canon Hugh Magee (Scotland) +44 1334 470446

RWANDA HOUSE OF BISHOPS TO AMIA BISHOP CHUCK MURPHY: RECANT OR RESIGN

From George Conger at Anglican Ink:

The head of the Anglican Mission in America has been threatened with ecclesiastical discipline for contumacy. Unless Bishop Chuck Murphy repents of his disobedience and apologizes for his offensive statements within seven days, the Rwanda House of Bishops will assume that he has “made a de facto choice to withdraw as primatial vicar” of the AMiA.

In letter from the Rwandan House of Bishops to Bishop Murphy dated 30 Nov 2011, the AMiA leader was chastised for disobedience and abuse of office.

Just read Conger's entire article. I am dumfounded.

H/T to Susan Russell at An Inch at a Time.

Update from the same article:

Questions were also raised at the meeting about the degree of accountability the AMiA had towards the Rwandan House of Bishops. Bishop Murphy charged the Rwandan bishops with seeking to impose a “reverse colonialism” on the AMiA. Overseeing a church half a world away had not worked during the age of colonial expansion when London missionary societies oversaw African churches and could not work today, he argued.

Who would ever have expected...? If that is the case, then may we expect problems in CANA and ACNA?

UPDATE: More letters here and here and rumors, but only rumors, as of now, of more resignations of Anglican bishops from Rwanda House of Bishops from Stand Firm.

SHEEP IN ECSTASY

Courtesy of MadPriest.

For lagniappe, an action-packed picture of the Mad Dogs at the beach.

The photography is not bad, not bad at all. You can see more pictures, many more, at the link above.