WHAT DO YOU NEED?

The teacher was going around her class asking each of the kids what they needed at home.

"A computer!" Joey exclaimed.

That's very useful to have at home," said the teacher.

"A new lawn mower," said Kim, who got a similar response.

"At my house we don't need anything!"

The teacher asked him to think again carefully, as everybody needs something.

"No, I'm sure," replied Little Johnny.  "I know, because when John Boehner was re-elected Speaker, I remember my dad saying, 'Well, that's the last damn thing we needed.'"

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

GERTRUDE STEIN'S MOMENT IN HISTORY

 

From Gertrude Stein's poem "Tender Buttons".

With thanks to Madpriest, who was way ahead of the times, when he posted the image years ago.

UPDATE: I should add that Gertrude Stein was ahead of her times, too.

ASH WEDNESDAY - THE LIGHTNESS OF LOVE

It is necessary that at the beginning of this fast, the Lord should show Himself to us in His mercy. The purpose of Lent is not so much expiation, to satisfy the divine justice, as a preparation to rejoice in His love. And this preparation consists in receiving the gift of His mercy—a gift which we receive in so far as we open our hearts to it, casting out what cannot remain in the same room with mercy.

Now one of the things we must cast out first of all is fear. Fear narrows the little entrance of our heart. It shrinks up our capacity to love. It freezes up our power to give ourselves. If we were terrified of God as a terrible judge, we would not confidently await His mercy, or approach Him trustfully in prayer. Our peace, our joy in Lent are a guarantee of grace.

And in laying upon us the light cross of ashes, the Church desires to take off our shoulders all other heavy burdens—the crushing load of worry and guilt, the dead weight of our own self-love. We should not take upon ourselves a “burden” of penance and stagger into Lent as if we were Atlas, carrying the whole world on his shoulders.

Perhaps there is small likelihood of our doing so. But in any case, penance is conceived by the Church less as a burden than as a liberation. It is only a burden to those who take it up unwillingly. Love makes it light and happy. And that is another reason why Ash Wednesday is filled with the lightness of love.

From Seasons of Celebration by Thomas Merton.

The emphasis is mine.  The words in bold text struck me like a thunderbolt because they are so very true and wonderful as applied to the beginning of the season of Lent.  Let us pray that our hearts may open to receive the lightness of God's love.

And then from my friend, Marthe: 

Ash Wednesday

Rituals, meant to teach, can become
public piety, for show
gloom, dismal fasting, tests to divide,
exclude, not repair the breach
greed and error tears in mortal souls
too weary to hear blessing.
Let these ashes signal life, not threat.

Marthe G. Walsh

Amen and amen. 

JUST SO YOU'LL KNOW...

Senator Marco Rubio (R - FL), who will give the official Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union speech tonight, voted against the Expanded Violence Against Women Act today.

The 22 Republicans who voted against it were:

Sens. John Barrasso (WY)

Roy Blunt (MO)

John Boozman (AR)

Tom Coburn (OK)

John Cornyn (TX)

Ted Cruz (TX)

Mike Enzi (WY)

Lindsey Graham (SC)

Chuck Grassley (IA)

Orrin Hatch (UT)

James Inhofe (OK)

Mike Johanns (NE)

Ron Johnson (WI)

Mike Lee (UT)

Mitch McConnell (KY)

Rand Paul (KY)

Jim Risch (ID)

Pat Roberts (KS)

Marco Rubio (FL)

Tim Scott (SC)

Jeff Sessions (AL)

John Thune (SD).

I'm pleased Senator David Vitter (R - LA) was not among the Republicans who voted against the bill.  Women, especially, and men, too, take note of the names of the senators who voted against the bill.   The expanded bill offers protection to "gays, undocumented immigrants and Native American women who suffer from domestic abuse."

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!

Grandpère et moi

At left, Tom and I from another year. We are quietly at home on the great day of revelry otherwise known as Shrove Tuesday.  Perhaps some folks around here will get shriven today, but my guess is not many.  They'll be too busy watching parades and partying. 

Look at that kick!

On Saturday, we reveled in Lockport, Louisiana, gathering at the Center for Traditional Louisiana Boat Building for a party with lots of tasty food, a parade a block away, and good Cajun music.


On Sunday, at St John's Episcopal Church, we had our traditional pot luck lunch after the 10:30 service and then gathered outside to watch the parades.

The Prescriptions

This year, we had musical entertainment by The Prescriptions, a five-piece band, which plays "primarily music from the late sixties, seventies, and eighties" and perform very well, indeed.

Fr Ron on the harmonica

Fr Ron, an Episcopal priest who says he's retired but works as a consultant in the Episcopal Church and serves half-time as our priest-in-charge, is a member of the band and plays guitar (above on the right) and harmonica (on the left).  Ron works more than half-time for our church, because he's always there when we need him.

The rain that was predicted came once the parade started, and I decided to leave.  The stalwarts who stayed, including Grandpère, were rewarded, because the rain stopped as I was on my way home. 

Growing up in New Orleans, I saw enough parades to last more than one lifetime.  From my quiet place at home, I wish for all the revelers a great day and a safe day this Mardi Gras.  Laissez les bons temps rouler!  

BYE-BYE, POPE BENEDICT

 

Pope Benedict XVI's abrupt resignation on Monday heralds the end of a sad and storm-tossed seven-year papacy.

The former Joseph Ratzinger came to the highest office in the Roman Catholic church with a reputation as a challenging, conservative intellectual. But the messages he sought to convey were all but drowned out, first by a string of controversies that were largely of his making, and subsequently by the outcry – particularly in Europe – over sexual abuse of young people by Catholic clerics.

So far as I can remember, child abuse and cover-up in the Roman Catholic Church were first revealed in south Louisiana even earlier than the exposure in the Archdiocese of Boston, but the national media gave the story little attention. I suppose the newspeople thought the abuse was confined to the backward crazies in the Dioceses of Lafayette and Houma/Thibodaux in Louisiana. I left the church, not only due to the many instances of child abuse, but especially because of the cover-up. If the matter of child abuse had been handled properly from the beginning, the RCC would have saved itself a load of grief.  The Diocese of Houma/Thibodaux is small, and I knew too much about the cover-up and paying victims to keep silent be able to stay in the church in good conscience.  Since then, I have not looked back, for if I had not left in 1996, the more recent actions and words of the leadership of the RCC would have caused me to make my departure many times over.

Having said that, I am shocked at the resignation. John Paul II carried on long past the time he should have stepped down, and I thought Benedict would do the same.  Popes don't resign; it's been a long, long time - 600 years - since a pope did so.

One of Benedict's goals was to re-evangelize Europe.  We see how well that worked out.  Since the two popes, John Paul II and Benedict, served respectively for 27 and 7 years, each had many opportunities to appoint cardinals of the conservative persuasion, therefore I do not expect the next pope will be a flaming liberal.  In fact, if the successor turns out to be a moderate, I will be greatly surprised.  But then, God often surprises us, so we shall see.

Update from MuckRack: The journalist who scooped all the reporters on the story, Giovanna Chirri, a reporter for Italy's ANSA news agency, heard the pope's announcement of his resignation in Latin and understood what he said, which shows that Latin is not a completely dead language.

ELEPHANT REVIVAL - "WHAT IS TIME"

Maybe give you a smile?

MOTHER JESUS

 

Canticle: A Song of Christ’s Goodness - Anselm of Canterbury

Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you:
You are gentle with us as a mother with her children;
Often you weep over our sins and our pride:
tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgment.
You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds:
in sickness you nurse us,
and with pure milk you feed us.
Jesus, by your dying we are born to new life:
by your anguish and labor we come forth in joy.
Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness:
through your gentleness we find comfort in fear.
Your warmth gives life to the dead:
your touch makes sinners righteous.
Lord Jesus, in your mercy heal us:
in your love and tenderness remake us.
In your compassion bring grace and forgiveness:
for the beauty of heaven may your love prepare us.

Prayer from The Daily Office.

Image from Wikipedia.

GILES FRASER - FAREWELL TO CHURCH TIMES

I HAVE written this column for nine years. It is time for me to hang up my hat. It has been a huge privilege to write in these pages, and I want publicly to thank the work of the editorial team, who have been so supportive of my column.

Partly, this decision has to do with the arrival of a new Archbishop. Justin Welby is a good man, and will, I expect, make a fine leader of the Church. But his moral opposition to homosexuality remains a massive problem for me - as was that of his predecessor. I do not want to spend my time getting angry with him, or continually being ashamed at the Church of which I am, and will always try to remain, a part.

But the C of E is travelling in a different direction now. And there is something spiritually deadening about being in a state of permanent opposition to all of this. In my sermon on Sunday, I preached about the loyalty of Simeon and Anna, arguing that it is more important to say what you are for than what you are against. I need to take my own advice, and find a different space where I feel more comfortable saying what I am for.

I expect we'll continue to hear from Giles in other forums, and for that I'm grateful.  The words in the column that struck me are:

"In my sermon on Sunday, I preached about the loyalty of Simeon and Anna, arguing that it is more important to say what you are for than what you are against.  I need to take my own advice, and find a different space where I feel more comfortable saying what I am for."  

As I think about what I write here on my blog, it seems to me that I write or link to more stories about what I am against than what I'm for, and, like Giles, I don't see  it's a particularly good thing.  What would I write about that I am for, that is positive?  I'm thinking...

In the meantime, I could not resist publishing once again the wonderful cartoon by Susan Russell, which is surely worthy of more than one use.

 

Click on the cartoon for the larger view.

WALKING TO NEW ORLEANS - FATS DOMINO

Friday night with Fats Domino.