THE VIRTUE OF MINDING ONE'S OWN BUSINESS

Everyone who's anyone, and I mean everyone, has picked up Tobias Haller's reminder of the Encyclical letter of the 1878 Lambeth Conference, section 1.5 titled Those Were the Days (Lambeth 1878).

There are certain principles of church order which, your Committee consider, ought to be distinctly recognised and set forth, as of great importance for the maintenance of union among the Churches of our Communion.

1. First, that the duly certified action of every national or particular Church, and of each ecclesiastical province (or diocese not included in a province), in the exercise of its own discipline, should be respected by all the other Churches, and by their individual members.

2. Secondly, that when a diocese, or territorial sphere of administration, has been constituted by the authority of any Church or province of this Communion within its own limits, no bishop or other clergyman of any other Church should exercise his functions within that diocese without the consent of the bishop thereof.

3. Thirdly, that no bishop should authorise to officiate in his diocese a clergyman coming from another Church or province, unless such clergyman present letters testimonial, countersigned by the bishop of the diocese from which he comes; such letters to be, as nearly as possible, in the form adopted by such Church or province in the case of the transfer of a clergyman from one diocese to another.

For well over 100 years, the churches of the Anglican Communion lived according to the rules listed in the section of the encyclical quoted above, with the churches joined one to the other in the mutual bonds of affection, but with respect to polity and governance, the various churches practiced the good old-fashioned virtue of minding their own business and not intruding into the affairs of other churches without permission.

See what Tobias says about the application of the rules in the encyclical in the Anglican Communion today.

OCCUPY CAMP IN NEW ORLEANS REMOVED FROM DUNCAN PLAZA

From NOLA.com:

The two-month occupation of Duncan Plaza ended with a whimper late Tuesday as U.S. District Judge Lance Africk denied Occupy NOLA's request for a preliminary injunction that would have allowed protesters to continue camping indefinitely in the park across from City Hall. As darkness fell, protesters scurried to pack up possessions and clear out of the plaza by 10:30 p.m., the park's official closing time.
....

So while plaintiffs' lawyers spent the day hoping for a favorable decision, they also hedged their bets, helping their clients arrange places to stay in case Africk ruled against them.

"We're just heartbroken for people who are out here with no place to go," said plaintiffs' lawyer Davida Finger, who estimated that about 20 people were in that situation.
....

Across the nation, the issue of tents is one of the more unusual aspects of Occupy cases. Carol Sobel, an attorney for the National Lawyers Guild, which has represented many of the groups, says she believes that the cases have forced judges to ask, "What is the role of the tent as a symbolic expression of foreclosures and people's loss of their homes?"

Some proponents have proposed that tents, as a symbol, rise to the level of free speech. But so far, no courts have supported that argument.

First Amendment scholar Keith Werhan, a professor at Tulane University Law School, said he sees the structures as emblematic.

"Tents are in a sense symbolic of the message that the Occupy movement is trying to get out: that some people are literally left out in the cold," he said. Plus, from a practical standpoint, he said, tents also make possible a 24-7 occupation, which in itself is arguably part of a larger message.

I don't see what harm the Occupiers do that they need to be driven out. A couple of months ago, I visited Duncan Plaza, and I fail to understand why they couldn't stay, so long as Occupy followed health and safety rules. Perhaps certain people don't like the sight of the folks camped out in the plaza, but is that a reason that they must be removed?

In another story on the front page of the newspaper, we learn that Occupy negotiated a cheaper price on portable toilets than the city. Occupy paid $163.50 a week for two portable toilets, including cleaning, compared to the $1000 per week that the city paid just for cleaning four portable toilets.

Occupy's lawyers say the disparity in costs raises a broader question about whether Landrieu administration officials have overstated what the low-key protest movement has cost New Orleans.

Their memorandum accompanying Exhibit No. 1 notes that city officials claim to have spent $50,000 to maintain Occupy NOLA, including about $1,000 per week for toilets. But Occupy could have rented four toilets a week for $327, about one-third of what the city had paid.

Occupy posted signs on the toilets reminding the users to keep them clean because the cleaner is "one of the 99 percent".

Only two persons, Michael Raso and David Dantonio, refused to leave Duncan Plaza and were arrested by NOPD.

JESUS AND MO - BEAT

Click on the cartoon for the larger view.

From Jesus and Mo.

STORY OF THE DAY - LEGACY

I promise you not a moment will be lost
as long as I have heart & voice to speak &
we will walk again together with a
thousand others & a thousand more &
on & on until there is no one among us
who does not know the truth: there is no
future without love.

From StoryPeople.

THE KINKS - 'TILL THE END OF THE DAY'

Oh, how I wish!

CATHEDRAL OF ST PAUL'S IN BOSTON WELCOMES OCCUPIERS

From the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts:

As Occupy Boston protesters regroup following the recent close of their Dewey Square encampment, the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts' Cathedral Church of St. Paul has offered them meeting space for their general assemblies, beginning Tuesday, Dec. 13. The general assemblies are open meetings through which local Occupy participants come to consensus about future actions. The evening meetings take place on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.

The Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Paul, located at 138 Tremont Street in downtown Boston, has offered to host the meetings on a week-to-week basis, as needed, and is doing so not to endorse a particular point of view but instead "to endorse the conversation," according to the cathedral's dean, the Very Rev. Jep Streit.

"The issues raised by the Occupy movement are important to be discussing in society, and so I'm happy to offer our cathedral to provide hospitality and a venue so those conversations can continue," Streit said, noting he felt that attention had of late shifted to controversy over the protesters' encampment and away from the economic and social justice issues at hand.

St Paul's models the church as sanctuary, a place of refuge for the Occupiers who were driven out of Dewey Square. Thanks be to God, the cathedral dean, the Very Rev. Jep Streit, and the staff of St Paul's.

'I PLAN TO BE WITH THE MARCHERS ON SATURDAY...'

From Bishop George Packard at Occupied Bishop:

I plan to be with the marchers on Saturday (December 17th) not because I don't like and respect the Rector, the staff, and all the work of this historic parish. I believe they are making a profoundly wrong decision in this matter. Certainly they could record what they think is a trespass on the property with a note to the Occupiers but then have the grace to look the other way.

Read the rest at the link.

I don't see the standoff as between the good guys and the bad guys, but I agree that the staff at Trinity come down on the wrong side. I respect and admire Bishop George for his statement that he will be with the marchers.

MALE PENGUIN PAIR GIVEN BABY PENGUIN

From Metro UK:

The twins hatched at the Harbin Polar Land in northern China, and to give both babies the best chance in life the aquarium decided to give one of the twins to another set of parents.

The 'gay' penguin couple are notorious in the aquarium's penguin community and they have been caught many a time trying to steal eggs during the hatching season.

Penguin males have a natural instinct for parenting, in the wild the male penguins share the duty of incubating the un-hatched eggs with the female.

Read more at Metro UK.

Imagine! Baby-snatching gay male penguins! Now I suppose one might say that the baby penguin is legally adopted by the male parents.

The story gave me more than one smile.

The article gives the further good news that the bonded male pair of penguins in Toronto, Pedro and Buddy, who were separated for breeding purposes, will be together again in the spring.

Thanks to Ann V. for the link.

JESUS RESPONDS TO RICK PERRY

Rick Perry's 'strong' campaign ad.



Jesus responds.



From Funny or Die.

H/T to Rmj at Adventus.

LIFE WITH THE COMPUTER

Oh dear!

True for me, I'm sad to say.

Hasn't happened yet, but then I don't have a cat.

No comment.

To remember 'Life before....', you'd have to be of a certain age, which I am long past. The series of cartoons was sent to me by Muthah+, who blogs at Stone of Witness. I have more, enough for another post, but I limit the number of cartoons, keeping in mind the short attention spans of certain of my readers...no names, of course. ;-)