"BEHOLD, I AM COMING SOON"

Mural painting from the catacomb of Commodilla. Bust of Christ.

“Behold, I am coming soon,” says the Lord,
“and bringing my reward with me,
to give to everyone according to their deeds.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last,
the beginning and the end.”
Blessed are those who do God’s commandments,
that they may have the right to the tree of life,
and may enter the city through the gates.
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to you,
with this testimony for all the churches.
“I am the root and the offspring of David,
I am the bright morning star.”
“Come!” say the Spirit and the Bride;
“Come!” let each hearer reply!
Come forward, you who are thirsty,
let those who desire take the water of life as a gift.

Revelation 22:12-17

When I read the words, "Behold, I am coming soon," in the Daily Office today, I felt a quickening, because the words are for today, not for the End Times or for the Second Coming.  The words mean that Jesus comes to us right here and right now, wherever we are physically and spiritually, to freely give us the water of life.

Image from Wikipedia.

JESUS AND MO - THERE

Click on the cartoon for the larger view.
 
From Jesus and Mo.

UPDATE: Better a moon just sitting there than a "Bad Moon Rising", which is now endlessly running through my head.  Thank you, Author.

TEC HOUSE OF DEPUTIES PRESIDENT BONNIE ANDERSON WILL NOT STAND FOR REELECTION

May 23, 2012

Dear Deputies and First Alternates,

I write to you for two reasons: to thank you for your support, friendship, prayers, challenges, brilliance and love that has inspired and humbled me during these 6 years and second, to let you know that I do not plan to stand for election as President of the House of Deputies for another term.

The reason I am not seeking re-election is a simple one: I want to spend more time with my family. My husband, Glen, is retired. I want to be with him more. Our amazing son, Justin, lives with us and reminds us every single day, by his very existence, that God is a generous miracle maker. I want to celebrate Justin’s life by being with him every day. I want to bake cakes with my grandchildren and go to all their band concerts, soccer games and school plays. I want to have leisurely phone conversations with my daughters. You get the picture.

By tomorrow, you will receive information on the process for electing a President and Vice President while we are in Indianapolis.

I have been honored beyond measure to lead this house, and gratified to observe the many ways in which Deputies and Alternates serve and lead God’s Church, both when General Convention is in session and when it is not. Your voices resonate not only within the great representative diversity of General Convention, but also in our communities and in commissions during the triennium, in vestries, and in the leadership roles you hold in our congregations, dioceses and provinces. In my 21 years in the House, and my two terms as your president, I have been reminded again and again of our forebears’ wisdom in creating a system of governance that honors the simple theological truth that the Holy Spirit blows where she will, and that to discern God’s purposes, we must listen to the voices of all of the baptized.

Please know that I will serve the House of Deputies as President at full capacity until the “gavel goes down” on July 12 in Indianapolis.

Peace and blessings,
Bonnie Anderson, D.D.
President, The House of Deputies

H/T to Jim Naughton at The Lead.

I met Bonnie in New Orleans on one occasion, and I was privileged to see her in action as Madame President at GC09 in Anaheim. She represented all of us who are not entitled to wear mitres in a professional, determined, and enthusiastic manner.  I'd say, "Well done, Bonnie," except she's not done, and I fully expect she will lead us well through the upcoming convention in July.

Almighty and everliving God, source of all wisdom and understanding, be present with those who take counsel in General Convention for the renewal and mission of your Church. Teach us in all things to seek first your honor and glory. Guide us to perceive what is right, and grant us both the courage to pursue it and the grace to accomplish it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(The Book of Common Prayer) 

EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF LEXINGTON LISTS CANDIDATES FOR BISHOP

The Episcopal Diocese of Lexington (in Kentucky) has released the Search Committee's list of five nominees to serve as the seventh bishop of the diocese.

"[The] Candidates for the 7th Bishop of the Diocese of Lexington

• The Rev. Ronald Abrams, Rector, St. James Parish, Wilmington, NC (Diocese of East Carolina)
• The Very Rev. Dr. Douglas Hahn, Rector, St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Columbus, GA and Diocesan Convocation Dean (Diocese of Atlanta)
• The Rt. Rev. Santosh Marray, Bishop Assisting, Diocese of East Carolina
• The Rev. LaRae Rutenbar, Interim Rector, St. Peter’s, Rome, GA (Resident Diocese of Western Michigan)
• The Rev. Nigel Taber-Hamilton, Rector, St. Augustine’s-in-the-Woods, Freeland, WA (Diocese of Olympia)"

More information on the nominees here.

Thanks to Nicholas Knisely at The Lead.

NOT ALL THAT ROTTEN

I have not done a post on the amendments from the Church of England House of Bishops' meeting (all male, of course!) to the legislation on women bishops which will be presented at General Synod, because I could not understand the meaning of the amendments from the poorly-written press release.  As I've said elsewhere, my initial reaction was that it appeared the writer(s) of the press release attempted to send out a double message to soothe both sides, with the result that the release does not make much sense.

Bishop Alan Wilson courageously provides a priceless explication for us, titled "Swimmin with the Wimmin part 94".  The title alone is worth noting.  A brief quote, and you can read the rest over at Alan's blog.

The result, in true C of E fashion, is a curate’s egg, but probably not such a rotten one as to send the whole process around again in five years time.

From Thinking Anglicans:

WATCH (Women and the Church) is deeply disappointed to hear that the all male House of Bishops has, in a closed meeting, decided to make two amendments to the draft legislation on women bishops that had been so carefully crafted after years of debate and scrutiny from all sides and had commanded the support of 42/44 dioceses across the Church of England.

Read the rest of their press release, which makes much more sense to me than release from the House of Bishops meeting.

I remain in the dark as to how the amended legislation will play out in practice if it passes all three houses of GS with a two-thirds vote.  We shall see.

NEW POSTURE FOR MEDITATION

From nakedpastor.  Check out the Gallery for more drawings and cartoons.

BIBLICAL MARRIAGE

Click on the chart for the larger view.

Above is Bosco's chart which illustrates marriage according to the Bible.  Well, it's not really  Bosco's chart, but I lifted it from his blog, and he does not know the origin, so I call it Bosco's chart.  We hear the phrase 'biblical marriage' tossed around quite often, along with 'redefining marriage', from folks who oppose same-sex marriage.  I will never hear or read those phrases again without laughing and thinking of the chart.

Biblical marriages are of such variety as to boggle the mind, and marriage has been redefined countless times through the ages.   If a person used either of the phrases to argue against same-sex marriage with me, I'd  ask them, "Of which type of biblical marriage do you speak?"

Then I'd whip out my copy of the chart, which I'd always carry with me, and say, "Pick one."

As for the charge of redefining marriage, the chart would demonstrate clearly that marriage has been redefined many times.

FACEBOOK IPO

Why did Facebook go public?

They couldn't figure out the privacy settings either.

(Don't blame me. Blame Doug.)

TED CENSORS NICK HANAUER SPEECH

TED: Ideas worth spreading - Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world



Apparently, the talk in the video was not riveting enough for the folks who make decisions at TED.  Or perhaps it was too riveting.

From IBTimes:

Nick Hanauer, a multimillionaire venture capitalist from Seattle, believes that rich people like himself aren't job creators. He made this known during a March 1 TED University conference where he spoke about income inequality, but that talk was censored.

The National Journal reported that officials at TED, a popular series of Web-based talks, told Hanauer in an April email that they wanted to put his talk "out into the world!" However, they quickly shifted gear and said the venture capitalist's talk was "political" and too controversial to be posted.

"Political" and controversial?  I'm no economist, but the speech sounds like Economics 101 to me.  Granted it's only one view of which policies are best to create wealth, thus, according to TED, Hanauer's ideas are not worth spreading.  The speech seems eminently sensible to me, but I'm sure that many would vehemently oppose the policies Hanauer recommends.  If the purpose of an organization is to spread worthwhile ideas, then it seems to me avoiding controversy would be virtually impossible, unless you're in the business of exploring only conservative, Republican, business-oriented, ideas.

But wait!

According to the Journal's report, TED curator Chris Anderson had reacted by saying Hanauer's talk "probably ranks as one of the most politically controversial talks we've ever run, and we need to be really careful when" to post it.

Anderson was urging extra caution especially since another politically sensitive TED talk, by Melinda Gates on contraception, was about to be released, in the midst of a media firestorm over comments by conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Media firestorm!  Rush Limbaugh!   

Now TED hearkens back to the 19th and early 20th century, when contraception truly was controversial because, in the present day, a few Roman Catholic bishops scream loud and long about contraception, which makes Melinda Gates speech on the subject "controversial", and heaven forbid that the organization have two "controversial" talks in a row.  This organization is surely not in the business of boldly exploring a variety of ideas, but is apparently rather determined to explore only "safe" ideas.  And what is "safe"?

I searched for the Hanauer talk at the TED website, thinking perhaps the group had changed its collective mind about the censorship, but with no results.  Still, the talk is now public on YouTube.  Censorship is more difficult in the age of technology.

Thanks to Ann V for the link.

HOT ITEM FOR GENERAL CONVENTION 2012

Deputies, bishops, and observers, look for the buttons as soon as you arrive at the convention.  They will go quickly.