ST JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH - BLESSING OF THE SCATTER GARDEN

After the church service on the morning of June 9, 2013, the congregation at St John's gathered for the blessing of St John's Scatter Garden.  Fr Ron, our interim priest-in-charge, instructed us to pray for clear weather on the day of the blessing, but earlier in the morning, the rains came.   I wondered whose prayers hadn't worked or who among us had sinned so grievously that God sent the rain despite the prayers.  Fortunately, the early rain proved to be only a distraction, and the prayers were efficacious, as you see from the shadows cast by the shining sun in the pictures below.

Just in case, a tent had been set up to keep the congregation dry, but instead the cover served to keep us cool and out of direct sunlight. What was the plan for Fr Ron and those who assisted him in the blessing, had the rain continued? I don't know, but with the clearing skies, we did not move to Plan B.

Fr Ron's swing with the aspergillim (Ha! I bet you're surprised I know the name of the vessel that sprinkles holy water.) is strong, indeed.  Over the years, the arm and shoulder muscles have developed suitably for sprinkling.  Then, too, picking and strumming the guitar year after year helps develop the finer muscles for the proper aim.
 

Here's Fr Ron coming right for those of us under the tent aiming, no doubt, for a direct sprinkling hit with the holy water in the aspergillim.

Joking aside, Julie Green, a member of our congregation, carved the lovely Celtic cross that stands in the middle of the scatter garden.  Photos do not do justice to the beautiful motif carved on the cross.  Once the smaller plants in the ground surrounding the cross grow as ground cover, the site will look much more attractive.

My instructions to my family for when my "little life is rounded with a sleep" are for my remains to be cremated, but I had no instructions for what to do with the ashes.  I think that neither they nor I would wish to have them in a box or a vase on the mantle, and I've thought and thought about an appropriate spot to spread the ashes, and, before the scatter garden came to be, I had no idea.  Now the problem is solved.  The garden is a lovely, peaceful area, shaded by ancient oaks.  What more would they or I want? 

GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN ON THE NSA INVASION OF PRIVACY

You see, I'm still hung on this question of privacy.  First, Google, Yahoo, Amazon, et al., have as much if not more information on me than NSA does.  Same goes for Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile, et al.  Is this not a gross invasion of my privacy?  Every online vendor knows what I've bought.  My bank knows when I've accessed my records on line.  They don't know how often I look at a printout of my statements, but they do know how long, when, and from where, I look on-line.  Have I given up my privacy to them, or should I be able to demand they not keep such records?

Exactly.  I'm puzzled by the surprise and anger.  A person who chooses to make use of the wonders of the technological revolution should know full well that private information is rather easily accessed.  Then, too, government agencies spying on Americans is hardly new.  The ways of obtaining private information are new and different.  Now it is possible to mine vast amounts of information, but one wonders if more is not less in the long run.  As Rmj says, if you are concerned about privacy, try to find an old typewriter, or, better yet, a fountain pen.

Whistleblowers who commit acts of civil disobedience and break laws, just or unjust, should know that consequences may follow.  People involved in the struggle for civil rights for African-Americans back in the 1960s were well aware of consequences, and they were willing to take the risks despite their knowledge of what might follow.  Must we all now assume, as a matter of course, that  no consequences will follow?

What Atrios at Eschaton says:

Haven't had a chance to dive into it fully, but my basic belief is that aside from civil liberties issues, the security/surveillance state industry is just a giant grift, a big scam there to enrich certain communities in Northern Virginia. That it is a net good is bullshit, that it makes us "safe" is bullshit, and that "making us safe," as opposed to perpetuating its own existence and fattening the wallets of its members and those that play along, has much to with anything that goes on is bullshit.

The "aside from civil liberties issues" most certainly concern me.

Besides, tell me the name of one politician who lost a bid for reelection because of a vote in favor of the Patriot Act.  Who among us is not complicit in the latest "scandal"?

When it comes to spying, those were the days.  Nowadays, it seems an incredibly boring undertaking.

UPDATE: Not to belabor the the matter under discussion, which, by the way, is being belabored over and over by print media and hyperventilating cable news hosts and their guests, whether bemoaning or praising Edward Snowden's actions, I believe David Simon introduces a note of sanity to the entire affair.  David's post and the large number of comments which follow, many of which Simon takes the trouble to give a response, are well worth reading.

SOELLE IN SUMMER: CHALLENGE AND WONDER - ONLINE COURSE AND RETREAT

My friend Jane Redmont writes:

Remember the question I asked here?

Well, we're on!

Soelle in Summer: Challenge and Wonder

 an online course-retreat

 June 17-July 31, 2013

Read and reflect in community on the work, thought, and spirituality of Dorothee Soelle (also spelled Sölle). 

Soelle (1928-2003) was a German theologian, poet, peace activist, and Protestant Christian with Catholic, secular, humanist, and Jewish companions and allies; she was also a friend, teacher, spouse, mother, socialist, and from mid-life on, feminist.

  
Details of the course-retreat are here.

Check it out.

IT'S NOT THE GUNS - PART 5

Santa Monica is the latest scene of a mass shooting resulting in multiple fatalities. At least six people are dead after a man reportedly wielding an AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle ran through the Los Angeles suburb, firing indiscriminately at passing vehicles and people as he made his way to Santa Monica College, where he was killed by police.

It's unknown at this time what the man's name is or why he allegedly did this. Right now, it looks like the spree began sometime around noon Pacific time at a house fire, where two men were found dead, apparently from gunshot wounds.

Another mass shooting with at least 6 people dead and others wounded.  Two of the dead were the shooter's father and brother.  And we do nothing.  How many deaths will it take?

UPDATE: Apparently, 5 rather than 6 people were killed in the rampage.

LITTLE RICHARD - "CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WANNA LEAVE"

Friday night with Little Richard.  I forgot last Friday and maybe the Friday before.  Sorry. 

TEXTING TO GOD TO SAY YOU'RE SORRY

From someecards.

LORD HARRIES' SPEECH IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS

Since I found it difficult to excerpt parts of the splendid speech by Lord Harries of Pentregarth, retired bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Oxford, at the second reading of the same-sex civil marriage bill in the British Parliament House of Lords, here it is whole and entire.

My Lords, I understand very well the unease that many of your Lordships feel about this Bill. I was brought up in a world where homosexuality was whispered about in dark corners and any hint of its expression resulted in expulsion. Our understanding of homosexuality is undoubtedly the biggest social change of my lifetime.

My own change and understanding came about when I realised—for example, through reading the biographies of gay people—that often, from a very early age, they had found themselves predominantly attracted to members of their own sex, not just physically but as whole persons. While some people are bisexual and there is a degree of fluidity in the sexuality of others, we know that for a significant minority their sexuality is not a matter of choice but as fundamental to their identity as being male or female. That is a fact that must bring about a decisive shift in our understanding.

The question arises as to how the church and society should respond to this. Both have an interest in helping people live stable lives in committed relationships. For this reason, many of us warmly welcome civil partnerships, not just because of the legal protections that they rightly afford to those who enter into them but because they offer the opportunity for people to commit themselves to one another publicly. Personally, I take a high view of civil partnerships. The idea of a lifelong partnership is a beautiful one. I deeply regret that the Church of England has not yet found a way of publicly affirming civil partnerships in a Christian context. I wish that it had warmly welcomed them from the first and provided a liturgical service in which the couple could commit themselves to one another before God and ask for God’s blessing upon their life together. If only the church had made it clear that although these relationships might be different in some respects from the union of a man and woman, they are equally valid in the eyes of the church and, more importantly, in the eyes of God.

Sadly, too many who now say that they accept civil partnerships have done so only slowly, reluctantly and through gritted teeth. Today we are not in a situation where civil partnerships are regarded as different but equal to marriage. Rightly or wrongly, the impression is inevitably created that one form of relationship is inferior to the other, and people believe that marriage is a profounder and richer form of relationship than a civil partnership.

Most importantly, many gay and lesbian people believe this and want to enter not just into a civil partnership but a marriage: a lifelong commitment of love and fidelity, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. Marriage affords legal advantages that are denied to civil partnerships, such as their legal status in many countries, but that is not the main point. The point is that those who wish to enter into this most fundamental of human relationships should be able to do so legally. I am aware that this involves a significant change in our understanding of marriage, but marriage has never had a fixed character. The noble Lord, Lord Pannick, eloquently pointed out that its legal meaning has changed over the years; and no less significantly, its social meaning has changed.

For most of history, among the upper classes, marriage was primarily a way of controlling titles and wealth. Among all classes, it involved the radical subservience of women. Often it went along with a very lax attitude—by males, not females—to relationships outside marriage. Contraception was forbidden and this resulted in many children, and as often as not the wife dying young. Only in the 18th century did we get a growth in emphasis on the quality of the relationship of the couple. Now, this mutual society, help and comfort that the one ought to have with the other, in prosperity and adversity, is rightly stressed. This is equally valued by all people, whatever their sexuality.

I really do not underestimate the linguistic dissonance set up by this Bill and the consequent unease felt by many but, for those reasons that I have briefly outlined, I warmly welcome it. I believe in marriage. I believe, with the Jewish rabbi of old, that in the love of a couple there dwells the shekinah—the divine presence; or, to put it in Christian terms, that which reflects the mutual love of Christ and his church. I believe in the institution of marriage and I want it to be available to same-sex couples as well as to males and females.

Just imagine the joy in the LGTB community if Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby had given a similar loving and pastoral address.   I know - water under the bridge, no rewind button, but perhaps the archbishop might take a lesson from Lord Harries, as he has said his views on same-sex marriage are evolving.

Lord Harries rightly calls the leadership of the church on their present claim to have supported same-sex civil partnerships in the past characterizing it as coming "slowly, reluctantly, and through gritted teeth."  His lovely words affirming that "the shekinah - the divine presence...that which reflects the mutual love of Christ and his church" is present in the relationships of same-sex couples are quite moving.

Thanks to Erp, who called my attention to the speech by leaving a quote in my comments. 

IT'S NOT THE GUNS - PART 4

A Texas girl died on Tuesday night after being accidentally shot with an AK-47 assault-style rifle while her stepbrother was “making the weapon safe by pulling the trigger,” authorities said.

In a press release on Wednesday, Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford explained that deputies responded to a call Tuesday night about 8 p.m to find 13-year-old Emilee Bates shot in the stomach.
....

Bates was taken to a Fort Worth hospital, where she died at around 10 p.m. Tuesday night. Officials said that the incident was considered an accident and no charges would be filed.

According to KXAS, this was the fourth fatal accidental shooting of a child in North Texas in less than one month.

What every household needs: a loaded AK-47.  Four fatal accidental shootings of children just in north Texas in one month, but it's not about guns.  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!  How many children's deaths will it take to bring us to our senses?

ABOUT FEEDLY

When Google announced that Google Reader, which I had used for many years, would be no more, I was quite disappointed.  I chose Feedly as my replacement reader, and a while back I complained on Facebook that I was not all that happy with my choice.  For the last couple of weeks, I have been using Feedly exclusively to follow the blogs on my list, and, as I've learned my way around, I'm pleased to say that I'm now much more comfortable with with my new reader.

The folks at Feedly are trying hard to please the new subscribers to their service, so I thought I owed it to them to amend my previous opinion from negative to positive. So.  If you are looking for a new reader, I recommend Feedly.

Image from Wikipedia.

PUFFINS ARE DYING OF STARVATION

The Atlantic puffin population is at risk in the United States, and there are signs the seabirds are in distress in other parts of the world.

In the Gulf of Maine, the comical-looking seabirds have been dying of starvation and losing body weight, possibly because of shifting fish populations as ocean temperatures rise, according to scientists.

The survival rates of fledglings on Maine’s two largest puffin colonies plunged last summer, and puffins are in declining health at the largest puffin colony in the Gulf, on a Canadian island about 10 miles off eastern Maine. Dozens of emaciated birds were found washed ashore in Massachusetts and Bermuda this past winter, likely victims of starvation.

One day, I hope to see puffins.  When I was in Scotland three years ago, we did not see the birds, as the timing was wrong, but I find puffins with their colorful bills fascinating, and I'm so sad that their habitat is affected by climate change.  A good many people in this country still believe that warnings about the detrimental effects of climate change caused by burning fossil fuels and chemicals dumped into the water and released into the air are conspiracies cooked up by bleeding-heart liberals, but there can be no doubt that the effects on the food chain in the sea, in streams and rivers, and on land, beginning with the tiniest of organisms and moving upward to affect larger animals and birds, is devastating.  The numbers of butterflies and bees are greatly reduced, mainly due to insecticides and destruction of habitats.  Polar bears are drowning, because of melting ice floes caused by warmer temperatures in Arctic waters, and as humans encroach on the the habitats of elephants, lions, and tigers and continue to hunt them down, their numbers have fallen greatly.  The creatures I mention off the top of my head in addition to the puffins, are only a very few of the many species under threat, the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, and the icebergs are melting at a rapid rate and will cause the sea waters to rise and eventually flood out coastal areas all over the world.

What will it take to convince the doubters that it may already be too late to reverse the detrimental effects?  I don't know, but we'd sure as hell better start trying.