STORY OF THE DAY - SAVING UP

saving up a bag full of peak moments 
she's going to have someday if she can 
ever get away from all the same old stuff 
that's holding her back & you can pretty 
well guess how it's going

From StoryPeople.

DIOCESE OF CHRISTCHURCH NZ DEFEATS ANGLICAN COVENANT

From a correspondent in Christchurch, New Zealand:

Hi Mimi,

Have come home from Christchurch Synod meeting.  We had a vote on the Covenant.  Passed by laity, DEFEATED by clergy... therefore DEFEATED by Christchurch New Zealand.

Thought I'd share the good news!

This is good news, indeed.

CHURCH IN WALES GIVES 'AMBER LIGHT' TO COVENANT

A plan to protect the unity of the worldwide Anglican Communion was given an amber light, rather than a green light, by the Church in Wales today (April 18).

Members of its Governing Body voted to affirm their commitment to the Communion and the Covenant process, but asked questions of the Anglican Consultative Council which meets in October. They feared the recent rejection of the Covenant by the Church of England jeopardised its future and clarifications about that were now needed before a decision could be made.

The Bishop of St Asaph, Dr Gregory Cameron, who proposed a motion which was amended in the light of the Church of England decision, said, “We have given the Covenant an amber light rather than a green light but in doing so we are being honest about where the Church is today. However, I think we need to reaffirm our strong commitment to each other through the saving power of Christ revealed in the Gospels. That is what I believe the Covenant ultimately calls us to do and I hope one day the Church in Wales will be able to vote for it.”

Living in Glasgow says AMBER means STOP.  I'm not sure what AMBER means in Wales.

Despite advice from Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Office Kenneth Kearon to carry on with consideration of the Anglican Covenant, the member churches of the Anglican Communion are concerned and confused about the status of the document now that the 'mother' church, the Church of England, has voted it down.  I doubt proponents of the covenant envisioned defeat of the covenant in England, so there is no Plan B.

Kearon lists the churches that have adopted, acceded to, or subscribed to the covenant, but he neglects to mention that The Episcopal Church in the Philippines voted it down, along with the Church of England.

H/T to Peter Owen  at Thinking Anglicans.

Thanks to Simon Sarmiento in the comments for the link to Living in Glasgow.

EINSTEIN IN HEAVEN

Albert Einstein dies and goes to heaven, only to be informed that his room is not yet ready.  "I hope you will not mind waiting in a dormitory.  We are very sorry, but it's the best we can do, and you will have to share the room with others," he is told by the doorman.

Einstein says that this is no problem at all and that there is no need to make such a great fuss.  So the doorman leads him to the dorm.  They enter and Albert is introduced to all of the present inhabitants.

"See, here is your first roommate.  He has an IQ of 180!"

"Why that's wonderful!" says Albert.  "We can discuss mathematics!"

"And here is your second roommate.  His IQ is 150!"

"Why that's marvelous!" says Albert.  "We can discuss physics!"

"And here is your third roommate.  His IQ is 100!"

"That's great!  We can discuss the latest plays at the theater!"

Just then another man moves out to grasp Albert's hand and shake it.  "I'm your last roommate and I'm sorry, but my IQ is only 80."

Albert smiles back at him and says, "So, where do you think interest rates
are headed?"



Cheers,

Paul (A.)

The photo is from Wikipedia and shows Einstein with his halo slipped a little down and to the side.

GOOD NEWS FROM BISHOPS

From the presidential address of Archbishop Barry Morgan of the Church in Wales:

Lambeth 1998, as I said, accepted homosexual orientation – what some have regarded as "a natural attribute for some people," that is, a natural predisposition toward people of the same sex –which has only been fully understood fairly recently.  Even so, the Lambeth answer was to separate orientation from practice and commend celibacy.
 
But can celibacy be imposed?  Shouldn't it be freely undertaken as a personal vocation by heterosexuals and homosexuals alike?  As Rowan Williams once put it, "anyone who knows the complexities of the true celibate vocation, would be the last to have any sympathy with the extraordinary idea that sexual orientation is an automatic pointer to a celibate life: almost as if celibacy before God is less costly, even less risky to the homosexual than the heterosexual."  And is not separating mind and body or feelings or orientation from practice a kind of dualism which the church has condemned in the past since human beings are a unified whole and cannot be compartmentalised in such a way.  If that is true of humanity in general, why should we expect people of a homosexual disposition to be singled out in this way?
....

If the legislation to allow civil marriage is passed, I cannot see how we as a church, will be able to ignore the legality of the status of such partnerships and we ought not to want to do so.  There is a further complication and that is that just as the Government only initially allowed civil partnerships outside religious premises but has now extended that provision to include them, the same may happen as far as what they call civil marriage is concerned and indeed some argue that it is against European law to separate the two since there is no distinction in law in this country between marriage in church and marriage in a register office.

The question then as now is, will the church protect and support pastorally, faithful, stable, lifelong relationships of whatever kind in order to encourage human values such as love and fidelity and recognise the need in Christian people for some public religious support....  It is a discussion we need to have.

 Dr Morgan, in a brilliant stroke, quotes the wise words of the previous Archbishop of Wales, Rowan Williams, on the folly of the imposition of a mandate to the celibate life on anyone, including those with a same-sex orientation.

Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham, in his post referring to Barry Morgan's address says:

Therefore the highest duty of the Church is not to preserve institutions, but to be, simply and completely, good news. The gospel isn't “good news/bad news” or “good news as long as you buy it properly.” It isn’t even “what would Jesus do?” It’s “What is Jesus actually doing through the whole creation, and trying to do through us if only we got real?” 

Jesus referred marriage back to the way God actually made us. Marriage is a gift of God in creation that strengthens community and expresses divine love — that’s what’s meant by calling it “sacramental.” 

In fact a very small but significant proportion of every human population is gay. If some of these people want to build stable faithful relationships based on love, that has to be a good thing. Love is love wherever it is found. We know it by its fruits, not its origins. But the fruits reveal the origin. God is love and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them. This is the good news.

Amen to the Good News from the bishops, arch- and plain.  Alan Wilson has long been a breath of fresh air and a voice of sanity within the circle of bishops in the Church of England, and, thankfully, his is no longer a lone voice. 

BISHOP KATHARINE ON THE BORDER

From Episcopal News Service:

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori recently spent three days on the U.S.-Mexico border between Arizona and Sonora engaged in educational and faith-based activities organized by the Diocese of Arizona and aimed at giving positive attention to the borderlands, upholding unity between the two countries, remembering the victims of the immigration crisis in the United States and Mexico, and raising consciousness and action toward immigration reform and economic development. Jefferts Schori offered the following words before a border crossing in Naco on April 14.  

Bishop Katharine speaks of humans as wanderers from the beginning.  The history of our faith life begins with the wanderings of Adam and Eve.  On throughout the Hebrew Testament the story of the Israelites is that of travelers from place to place.  Jesus was not born in the home town of Mary and Joseph, because they were traveling on account of a census ordered by Caesar Augustus, and then his parents were abruptly ordered to Egypt by an angel to escape the predations of King Herod.  Jesus himself was an itinerant, wandering from one town to another to preach the Good News.

God is not much interested in borders except as our flimsy excuses – to be crossed, bridged, and transcended. What is the greatest word in our story? The central word, according to Jesus, is “love God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Love is what gets past the fence. Love is what gets us past the fence.

The overwhelming witness of the scripture is about loving God and neighbor, particularly the neighbors who have no family member or tribal structure to look after them. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the god of aliens and migrants. We hear over and over that “the Lord your God is the one who executes justice for the orphan and widow, and who loves the stranger, providing them food and clothing.”  When the Israelites take up their harvest, they are charged to leave some “for the alien, the orphan and widow, so that the Lord shall bless your undertakings…. Remember that you were a slave [and an alien] in Egypt.” (6) It gets even more explicit, “‘Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice.’ Let all the people say, ‘Amen!’”

The prophets continue the litany, ‘care for the widow and orphan, and the stranger or alien in your midst, for you were strangers in Egypt.’ Those who seek God’s blessing will not find it unless they remember the alien and the sojourner, the migrant who needs justice.

Right and true words, indeed.  Borders are artificial constructs by which the powers attempt to order the lives of people, often for the named purposes of safety and security.

H/T to Andrew Gerns at The Lead.

STORY OF THE DAY - SINGLE MIND

If I love you with all my heart, she said, 
what will you give me? & then she 
stopped & said I didn't have to answer 
that because she was going to do it 
anyway.

I love this story.

From StoryPeople.

SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

YOM HASHOAH

Holocaust Memorial Museum - Replica of a boxcar used to transport prisoners

Yom Hashoah is Holocaust Remembrance Day.  Counterlight has a terrific post with pictures on the Shoah and its history on his blog, Counterlight's Peculiars.

Prayer by Elie Wiesel

I no longer ask you for either happiness or paradise; all I ask of You is to listen and let me be aware of Your listening.

I no longer ask You to resolve my questions, only to receive them and make them part of You.

I no longer ask You for either rest or wisdom, I only ask You not to close me to gratitude, be it of the most trivial kind, or to surprise and friendship. Love? Love is not Yours to give.

As for my enemies, I do not ask You to punish them or even to enlighten them; I only ask You not to lend them Your mask and Your powers. If You must relinquish one or the other, give them Your powers. But not Your countenance.

They are modest, my requests, and humble. I ask You what I might ask a stranger met by chance at twilight in a barren land.

I ask you, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to enable me to pronounce these words without betraying the child that transmitted them to me: God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, enable me to forgive You and enable the child I once was to forgive me too.

I no longer ask You for the life of that child, nor even for his faith. I only beg You to listen to him and act in such a way that You and I can listen to him together.

They are modest, my prayers, and humble. I ask You what I might ask a stranger met by chance at twilight in a barren land.

I ask You, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to enable me to pronounce these words without betraying the child that transmitted them to me. God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, enable me to forgive You and enable the child I once was to forgive me too.

I no longer ask You for the life of that child, nor even for his faith. I only implore You to listen to him and act in such a way that You and I can listen to him together.

From On Being Blog.

 Picture from Wikipedia.

MANNA FROM HEAVEN

Manna from Heaven; Maciejowski Bible, 13th century.

Exodus 16:10-22a

And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. The LORD spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’”

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer to a person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.’” The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed. And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.” But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul. And Moses was angry with them. Morning by morning they gathered it, as much as each needed; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers apiece.

From Bro Cuthbert at St Cuthbert's Cottage:

To each of us God gives riches that we may enhance by squandering on those who need us.

Br. Eldridge Pendleton 
Society of Saint John the Evangelist

Image from The Daily Office.