EVENING PRAYER AND SUNSET

At times, even what I think of as a rather ordinary sunset turns out to be lovely on second look.  With sunsets, the only way to have a second look is to take a photograph, because the sky view changes within seconds.  The picture was taken earlier in the week.

That this evening may be holy, good, and peaceful,
We entreat you, O Lord.

That your holy angels may lead us in paths of peace and goodwill,
We entreat you, O Lord.

That we may be pardoned and forgiven for our sins and offenses,
We entreat you, O Lord.

That there may be peace to your Church and to the whole world,
We entreat you, O Lord.

That we may depart this life in your faith and fear,
and not be condemned before the great judgment seat of Christ,
We entreat you, O Lord.

That we may be bound together by your Holy Spirit
in the communion of all your saints,
entrusting one another and all our life to Christ,
We entreat you, O Lord.

(Evening Prayer - Book of Common Prayer)

WEEKLY REMINDER

Romney is now claiming credit once again for the health care bill which he signed into law in Massachusetts after distancing himself from it for quite a while.  Well, kinda, sorta....  With each new day one wonders what will be Romney's position du jour on the various issues.

CHOOSING THE NEW ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

The body responsible for choosing Rowan Williams's successor as archbishop of Canterbury will meet on Wednesday amid great secrecy and speculation that an Old Etonian former oil executive may become the 105th man to sit on the throne of St Augustine.

As the 16 voting members of the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) gather at a secret location for a final two-day meeting, Justin Welby, the bishop of Durham, has emerged as one of the leading candidates to take over when Williams stands down at the end of the year.

That choosing the man (for now) to lead the Church of England, to perform whatever other duties are assigned to the head of the established church in England, and to serve as Primus inter pares of the churches of the Anglican Communion is in the hands of 19 people, 15 men and 4 women (3 non-voting members), on the CNC in secret proceedings in a secret place seems strange to most members of the Episcopal Church in the US, where our presiding bishop and all bishops are chosen in a more open and democratic process.

At one time, the concern of Episcopalians in the US about which person was chosen as ABC was for the sake of our sisters and brothers in England, but ++Rowan Williams changed all that with his interference in the governance of our church and his attempt to impose the odious Anglican Covenant on all the churches in the Anglican Communion.

Prayer for the Crown Nominations Commission

A Prayer to be used for the Crown Nominations Commission on the 26th and 27th September 2012 as they consider the appointment of the new Archbishop of Canterbury

Almighty God,
you have given your Holy Spirit to the Church
to lead us into all truth:
bless with the Spirit's grace and presence
the members of the Crown Nominations Commission.
Keep them steadfast in faith and united in love,
that they may seek your will, manifest your glory
and prepare the way of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
Amen.
 

MARY BLACK - "BOTH SIDES OF TWEED"

What's the spring-breathing jasmine and rose?
What's the summer with all its gay train
Or the splendour of autumn to those
Who've bartered their freedom for gain?

Let the love of our land's sacred rights
To the love of our people succeed
Let friendship and honour unite
And flourish on both sides the Tweed.

No sweetness the senses can cheer
Which corruption and bribery bind
No brightness that gloom can e'er clear
For honour's the sum of the mind

Let virtue distinguish the brave
Place riches in lowest degree
Think them poorest who can be a slave
Them richest who dare to be free

A beautiful woman with lovely, pure voice

"For the last quarter-century, singer Mary Black has been a dominant presence in Irish music, both at home and abroad. She has shared stages, tv shows and recording studios with some of the most revered performers of her time. She has also played a frontline role in bringing Irish music, past and present, to an increasingly appreciative and ever-growing global audience."  (Jackie Hayden - Music Writer - Hot Press) 

VETERINARIAN'S EMERGENCY CALL

A veterinarian surgeon had had a hell of a day, but when he got home from tending to all the sick animals, his wife was waiting with a long cool drink and a romantic candle-lit dinner, after which they had a few more drinks and went happily to bed.

At about 2:00 in the morning, the phone rang. "Is this the vet?" asked an elderly lady's voice.

"Yes it is", replied the vet. "Is this an emergency?"

"Well, sort of," said the elderly lady, "there's a whole bunch of cats on the roof outside making a terrible noise mating and I can't get to sleep. What can I do about it?"

There was a sharp intake of breath from the vet, who then patiently replied, "Open the window and tell them they're wanted on the phone."

"Really?" said the elderly lady. "Will that stop them?"

"It should do," said the vet: "IT STOPPED ME!"

Cheers,

Paul (A.)

Don't blame me.  Paul (A.) made me do it.

MY SEMI-ANNUAL VISITATION TO WALMART

Today I got up my courage to make my semi-annual visitation to Walmart to buy inexpensive picture frames, so I would not have to take my pictures to be framed by a professional here in town, inexpensive washcloths to serve the purpose for rough and dirty work around the house, and an inexpensive plastic soap dispenser for the laundry room.  Now you may read what I've written and think, "Cheap, cheap, cheap!" and you would be right.

Ah, you don't know what it takes out of me to visit Walmart, but, at times, there is no alternative - TINA!  No luck with the picture frames, so I will search for suitable frames online.  In the end, I will probably have the pictures professionally framed.  At checkout there were several people ahead of me with just a few items, but the person preceding me had a full shopping cart.  The man began a conversation about the Christmas trees which were already on display - in September!!!  The Christmas season starts earlier each year.  I thought perhaps since the man was friendly, he'd wave me, with my small number of items, ahead of him, but no luck.  We continued our seemingly endless conversation about Christmas in September during the wait, and - Lo! - just before he was ready to unload his cart, the man waved me ahead of him.  Thank you, sir!  You had me in suspense for a spell, but, in the end, you did the right thing.

Out in the vast parking lot, I realized that I had gone in one door and come out another, and I had no idea where I'd parked my car.  I clicked the lock and unlock buttons, and I could hear a faint beep, but I still had no clue.  As I tried to stifle panic and gather my wits about me, I remembered that I had parked fairly close to the store, and I looked around and finally spotted what I thought was my car, and indeed it was.

What is it about Walmart?  With me, I believe the aversion has reached nearly phobic proportions, although not quite full-blown, or I could not go to Walmart at all.  Of course, it may come to that one day, and, if that happened, my life would lose all meaning.

AND THE WINDOWS DON'T OPEN!

Romney’s wife, Ann, was in attendance, and the candidate spoke of the concern he had for her when her plane had to make an emergency landing Friday en route to Santa Monica because of an electrical malfunction. “I appreciate the fact that she is on the ground, safe and sound. And I don’t think she knows just how worried some of us were,” Romney said. “When you have a fire in an aircraft, there’s no place to go, exactly, there’s no — and you can’t find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don’t open. I don’t know why they don’t do that. It’s a real problem. So it’s very dangerous. And she was choking and rubbing her eyes. Fortunately, there was enough oxygen for the pilot and copilot to make a safe landing in Denver. But she’s safe and sound.

Of course, Mitt was concerned. And why, why does the FAA permit planes to fly full of passengers with windows that won't open? If Mitt becomes president, he will see to it that all planes are equipped with windows that roll down.

OK, I wasn't first with the news of this egregious lapse on the part of plane manufacturers and the government agencies who regulate flights and flying, but I was not altogether negligent in reporting. 

DRAMA - MYSTERY - SECRETS - SUSPENSE!

Letter to the members of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina from Bishop Mark Lawrence.

Click on the letter for the larger view.

In other words, we have a secret.  We know you are anxious and concerned, but we can't allay your anxiety and concern quite yet, because it would be imprudent to reveal the secret at this time.  Sorry about that.  Although the decision has been made, the situation remains fluid and requires discernment, thus you must be patient for a while longer.

Unless the letter is written in code that only the in-group in the diocese understands, the gist of the communication is so very immature that it could have come from a child of elementary school age were the language less high-flown.  One is left puzzled wondering if the decision (whatever it is) was premature.  Is it possible the course of action could change in response to discernment on the fluid situation?  The bishop assures the members of the diocese that the leaders "are progressing" and have not "stopped or dropped the ball".  If the decision is already made, then why the hesitation in disclosure?

But why am I surprised?  The letter is typical +Mark Lawrence.  Will he or won't he take the diocese and himself out of the Episcopal Church?  The bishop or any member of the diocese is free to leave the Episcopal Church at any time, as the church does not hold its members in chains.  My guess is that the "discernment" is about finding a way to take church property with them if and when they depart the Episcopal Church and a way for the diocese to claim to be still a part of the Anglican Communion.  Of course, I could be wrong, and I hope I am.  The matter remains of the vows +Lawrence made at his ordination as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, I,Mark Lawrence, chosen Bishop of the Church in South Carolina, solemnly declare that I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation; and I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church.

H/T to Mark Harris at Preludium, who brought the letter to my attention.

IDLE THOUGHTS OF A RETIREE'S WANDERING MIND

I planted some bird seed.

A bird came up.

Now I don't know what to feed it

********************

I had amnesia once---or twice

********************

I went to San Francisco .

I found someone's heart. Now what?

********************

Protons have mass?

I didn't even know they were Catholic.

********************

All I ask is a chance to prove that money can't make me happy

********************

If the world were a logical place, men would be the ones who ride horses sidesaddle.

********************

What is a "free" gift?

Aren't all gifts free?

********************

They told me I was gullible

and I believed them.

********************

Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to merge his car onto the freeway.

********************

Experience is the thing you have left

when everything else is gone.

********************

One nice thing about egotists:

they don't talk about other people.

********************

My weight is perfect for my height--

which varies.

********************

I used to be indecisive.

Now I'm not sure.

********************

How can there be self-help "groups"?

********************

If swimming is so good for your figure,

how do you explain whales?

********************

Show me a man with both feet firmly on the ground,

and I'll show you a man who can't get his pants off.

********************

Is it me --or

do buffalo wings taste like chicken?

********************

TODAY IS THE OLDEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN,

YET THE YOUNGEST YOU'LL EVER BE,

SO ENJOY THIS DAY WHILE IT LASTS.

Thanks to my brother-in-law, who promised to send me only his best.

LGTB ROMAN CATHOLICS IN SAN FRANCISCO WORRY

Next week, a key player in the passage of Proposition 8 — a man who has decried the "contraceptive mentality" of modern life — will become the leader of the Catholic Church here in the city that thrust same-sex marriage onto the national stage, the birthplace of the Summer of Love.
....

But many gay and lesbian Catholics worry that they will be marginalized after [Salvatore] Cordileone's arrival. Oasis California, the Episcopal Church's gay ministry, convened a meeting recently at a Castro District bar to discuss how spiritual people should respond to the "architect of Prop. 8" coming to town.

One easily understands why LGTB Roman Catholics worry.

But in a recent interview at the headquarters of the Oakland diocese, where he has served as bishop for three years, Cordileone was more direct: Gays and lesbians who are in sexual relationships of any kind, he said, should not receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, the central ritual of Catholic life.

"If we misuse the gift of sexuality, we're going to suffer the consequences," he said, "and I firmly believe we are suffering the consequences."

What consequences?  Hurricanes?   No, I suppose not.  Earthquakes perhaps since he's in San Francisco.  Did the archbishop-designate take lessons from Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell (May God rest his soul!)?

And though he strives to deliver Catholicism's absolutes in as nuanced a fashion as possible, Cordileone said, people need to understand that "the church is not going to change its teaching. ... The solution isn't to say, 'Well, I'm just going to disagree and continue being a Catholic.' That's not how we arrive at holiness."

Nuance will not cut it for the archbishop-to-be.   Cordileone's message comes across loud and clear.  His message echos that of Pope Benedict:

Cordileone was appointed to head the high-profile Diocese of San Francisco by Benedict — who, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, drafted a key 1986 letter that outlined Catholic doctrine about homosexuality.

"Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin," Ratzinger wrote, "it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder."

That teaching, Cordileone said, still holds.

If LGTB Roman Catholics in the archdiocese see Cordileone's appointment as a slap in the face, who can blame them?  And don't let the smile on Cordileone's face in the photo fool you.  Unless LGTB Catholics play by the church's rules, they are not welcome at the table of the Lord...so the RC Church says.  You know what?  It's the Lord's table, not the table of the pope or any Roman Catholic prelate or clergy, and no human of whatever position or denomination has the right to withhold the sacrament of the Lord's body and blood from another human being.  Of course, that's just my opinion.

Photo from Wikipedia.

UPDATE: My Facebook friends reminded me that just last month Archbishop-elect Cordileone was arrested for DUI in San Diego after he failed a sobriety test.  He has issued an apology.