Please Pray For My Friend....

...my friend of more than 50 years, one of my closest friends in high school and college, still a friend. Although we don't live that far away from one another, we don't see each another as much as we'd like, but we keep in touch.

Last night, she called me with sad news. She recently had surgery for colon cancer. The surgeon removed two-thirds of her colon. She has not seen her oncologist yet, so she does not know what sort of further treatment she will undergo.

I was devastated when I heard her news. I could hardly take in what I was hearing. However, my friend is a person of great faith, full of courage and hope, and after we spoke for quite a long time, I felt better. She was strong enough for the two of us. She believes that she will be fine, and by the end of our conversation, I agreed with her. She will be fine.

My friend has many admirable qualities, but one especially stands out in my mind. She will not gossip. When the conversation veers in the direction of gossip, she either goes quiet or tries to steer the talk into another direction. I confess that on more than one occasion, she made me ashamed that I joined in.

My friend, no doubt, faces difficult times ahead. Please pray that she will continue to be strong in faith and hope and that the treatments will not take too heavy a toll on her. This request is close to my heart.

Update from Ann:

Wes and Laura Shields, he was recently rector of St Andrews in
the Pines, Pinedale, WY have experienced a tragedy. Their new
baby girl, born Oct 1, died Friday in her crib. Her name was
Matty Mae. Please pray for them.

They are in the Diocese of Maine now.

What a terrible tragedy for Wes and Laura. May Matty Mae rest in peace and rise in glory. May God give comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to Wes and Laura and all who love Matty Mae.

Big Daddy Went To Sleep

Big Daddy has not been well for quite a while. My son was to take him to the vet tomorrow to be put down, but he died last night. His mother, Sweet Babs, died a few months ago and BD was very much a mama's boy. I'm not surprised that he did not linger long after her passing.

Pray for my son and his family. Only Trigger is left of the Basset trio.

Christmas "Must Haves"

 

I like the idea of wine glass holder, but the arrangement seems a bit risky, unless you don't mind wine spillage on your clothing.

 

Back to the store with this one.

 

Perhaps some years ago....

 

Pretty scary in the middle of the night and first thing in the morning.


Thanks to Doug.

The Rev. W. Andrew Waldo Elected 8th Bishop of Upper South Carolina

 

From the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina:

The Rev. W. Andrew Waldo elected on the third ballot.
The Rev. W. Andrew Waldo has been rector of Trinity Church, Excelsior, Minnesota, since 1994. He was born in Douglas, Georgia, and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, the second of six children in an Episcopal clergy family. He received his M.Div. from Sewanee, M. Mus. from the New England Conservatory of Music, and B.A. from Whittier College, and is a graduate of Indian Springs Preparatory School, Helena, Alabama.

More good news in my humble opinion.

Thanks to Lapin and Ann for the news.

Lapin was present at the electing convention, and he says:

Take back what I said a week back about the Holy Spirit being a flighty bird. We both got the candidates we wanted. Upper SC has just, to my amazement, elected Andrew Waldo, the most progressive of the six candidates, on the third ballot. He led in total votes in all three, and in both groups, clergy and lay, on the second and third ballots. John B Burwell, the biggie from the diocese of SC, head of all its GC delegations for the last 10 years, polled least (4:20 first ballot; 2:3 second; dropped out in third but collected just one, clergy, vote in that round - 59 clergy, 118 lay needed for election). Waldo, who has described Gene Robinson as "my old friend and mentor" attracted particular venom from the Right. Much good it did them.

I am now deleted and banned at Stand Firm, where the folks are quite unhappy about the election. Here's the message I left:

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at [him].’

When I stand before the judgment seat, I am grateful that I will face a loving God and not certain of the posters and commenters at Stand Firm.

Yes, it's the "known raving revisionist" once again.

Surely, beyond the pale. Can I truly blame them?

Story Of The Day - Waiting for Signs

I used to wait for a sign, she said, before
I did anything. Then one night I had a
dream & an angel in black tights came to
me & said, you can start any time now,
& then I asked is this a sign? & the angel
started laughing & I woke up. Now, I
think the whole world is filled with
signs, but if there's no laughter, I know
they're not for me.


I love this story. It is absolutely one of my all-time favorites.

From StoryPeople.

"...How The Angels Came To Congo..."

My friend Georgianne Nienaber wrote a lovely Christmas story, titled "A True Tale of How Angels Came to Congo This Christmas", which you may read at The Huffington Post. Georgianne loves the poor and suffering people of Congo with a passion that moves her into action to help relieve the misery of at least a few of the vast number of those who live in the midst of misery and poverty that is unimaginable to most of us.

I have a copy of the CD Congo's Angels by a fine group of musicians, which I enjoy quite a lot.

Women singers, songwriters, and poets join a global initiative to raise awareness about violence against 200,000 women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

If you like, you can listen to the songs and purchase the album at the link.

The image above, of the guardian angel, is one of my favorites. It may be mushy and sentimental, but the picture had its place in many of the classrooms in my Roman Catholic elementary school, and, as a child, I found great comfort in the image. I believed that a guardian angel watched over me. In my heart of hearts, I still believe in guardian angels.

In Honor of Stupid People

In case you needed further proof that the human race is doomed through stupidity, here are some actual label instructions on consumer goods.


On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding --"Product will be hot after heating."
(....and you thought????)

On packaging for a Rowenta iron -- "Do not iron clothes on body."
(but wouldn't this save me time?)

On a Sears hairdryer -- "Do not use while sleeping."
(That's the only time I have to work on my hair.)

On a bag of Fritos -- "You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside."
(the shoplifter special?)

On bar of Dial soap -- "Directions: Use like regular soap."
(and that would be???.....)

On some Swanson frozen dinners --"Serving suggestion: Defrost."
(but, it's just a suggestion.)

On Tesco’s Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom) -- "Do not turn upside down."
(well...duh, a bit late, huh!)

On Boot’s Children Cough Medicine -- "Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication."
(We could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction accidents if we could just get those 5 year-olds with head-colds off those bulldozers.)

On Nytol Sleep Aid -- "Warning: May cause drowsiness."
(...I'm taking this because???)

On most brands of Christmas lights -- "For indoor or outdoor use only."
(as opposed to what?)

On a Japanese food processor -- "Not to be used for the other use."
(now, somebody out there, help me on this. I'm a bit curious.)

On Sainsbury’s peanuts -- "Warning: contains nuts."
(talk about a news flash)

On an American Airlines packet of nuts --"Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts."
(Step 3: say what?)

On a child's Superman costume -- "Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly."
(I don't blame the company. I blame the parents for this one.)

On a Swedish chainsaw -- "Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals."
(Oh my God….was there a lot of this happening somewhere?)


Thanks to Ann.

An Old Guy Remembering

Grandad was reminiscing about the good old days...

"When I were a lad, Momma would send me down to t'corner store wi' a dollar, and I'd come back wi' five pounds o' potatoes, two loaves o' bread, three pints o' milk, a pound o' cheese, a packet o' tea, an' 'alf a dozen eggs. Yer can't do that now.

Too many security cameras."

Thanks to Doug.

"Wounded Bird Table"

Ann sent me the link to Image & Spirit, a blog that combines lovely images with prose and and poetry. A description of the blog:

Image & Spirit, an ECVA blog, is a journal of images and words that explore life lived in community, where art and faith are a primary focus.

Image & Spirit presently features a series of daily Advent posts, which are worth a look. I'd like to have copied the picture of the table sculpture to post here, but the words and images are under copyright.

Happy Hanukkah! - "Ocho Kandelas"

We invite parents into the classroom to tell about family celebrations. Last year a parent taught us the "Ocho Kandelas" song, which is a Hanukkah song in Ladino, a Sephardic language that sounds like Spanish and Hebrew with a little Arabic in there as well. The native Spanish speakers in my class were pretty excited to get the idea of the song, even if the words weren't exactly the same as in Spanish. The video is us learning and practicing the song with the lyrics on the ActivBoard. We say "Kandelikas" a lot, it's pretty fun.

From k1classroom at YouTube

Shamelessly stolen from Paul the BB, who stole it from Jane R. at Facebook, who stole it from YouTube.

Arkansas Hillbilly says, "Please Pray"

Arkansas Hillbilly posted several prayer requests. You may want to check in over there. He and his family are fine, but you know what a great-hearted Hillbilly he is, always thinking of others.

Hmmm....

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

What the well-dressed and rich, I would guess, young lady of the mid 1880's might have been wearing under those gowns.

Well.

From a reader.

Story Of The Day - Timing

There are moments when I'm
completely at peace, but it's usually
before my children wake up & they'll
have none of that.


♫Memories, memories....♫


From StoryPeople.

Howard Zinn's "People's History"

From Alternet:

On December 13th, a date I've basically had tattooed on my arm like the guy from Memento, The People Speak finally makes its debut on the History Channel. This is more than just must-see-TV. It is nothing less than the life's work of "people's historian" Howard Zinn brought to life by some of the most talented actors, musicians, and poets in the country. Howard Zinn and his partner Anthony Arnove chose the most stirring political passages in Zinn's classic A People's History of the United States, creating a written anthology called Voices of a People's History of the United States. Those "voices" have now been fully resurrected by a collection of performers ranging from Matt Damon to hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco to poet Staceyann Chin.
....

Certainly the lunatic right will howl to the heavens after seeing "liberal Hollywood" perform the words of labor radicals, anti-racists, feminists, and socialists. In fact, aided by the craven Matt Drudge, they are already in full froth, campaigning online to get the History Channel to drop The People Speak before its air-date. If it weren't so contemptible, their actions would be almost quaint, like a virtual book burning.

Be sure to watch the video trailer at the History Channel. As the commentary says:

Democracy is not a spectator sport. Using dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries and speeches of everyday Americans, THE PEOPLE SPEAK gives voice to those who spoke up for social change throughout U.S. history, forging a nation from the bottom up with their insistence on equality and justice. Narrated by Howard Zinn and based on his best-selling books, A People's History of the United States and Voices of a People's History of the United States, THE PEOPLE SPEAK illustrates the relevance of these passionate historical moments to our society today and reminds us never to take liberty for granted.

Tattoo your arm right now so you don't forget to watch the show, and pass the word to others.

Thanks to my Texas friend for the reminder.

The Affirmation Declaration

Introduction

This document presents a rebuttal to the now famous (or, in my case, infamous) Manhattan Declaration. I only rebut the portions of the Declaration that deal with same-sex marriage—specifically, the Preamble, the introductory portion of the Declaration section, and the Marriage sub-section.
....

Preamble

The Christian call to compassion is more than a religious obligation for the Christian. It is a byproduct of the beating heart of Christ at work within the regenerated spirit of all Christians. The charity that emanates from the heart of Christ does not make room for His children to pick and choose those to whom they will extend compassion. We are not afforded the freedom of being moved by the suffering of one group, while overlooking and/or causing the suffering of another.

Indeed, the inconsistency of such religiosity was one of the chief criticisms our Lord had against the Pharisees of His day that group of religious leaders who mastered the form of godliness, but who were quick to judge, condemn, and cruelly treat those they deemed unworthy of God's grace.

For far too long, members of the GLBTI community have been the recipients of the very oppression and suffering that the MDAs claim to fight through compassionate outreach. Our Lord would call such a claim hypocritical. As He did with the Pharisees of old, He would accuse these people face to face, and challenge the sincerity of their convictions. Unfortunately, many Christians are, today, so convinced that they alone uphold the blood-stained banner of Christian truth that they would reject any such challenge out of hand, being so blinded by religious ideology that the possibility of growth and change would be as practically impossible as Christ so often found it to be in the case of the Pharisees.

Still, as hopeless a cause as it must have seemed, Christ repeatedly challenged the Pharisees not to attack those He disagreed with, but, no doubt, in the sincere hope that somewhere, somehow their eyes would be opened and they would be able to see past their religious rhetoric and tap into the heart of God. In a manner reflective of Christ's own approach to religious contradiction and hypocrisy, we intend to directly challenge the claims of the Manhattan Declaration in an effort to compel the adherents of that declaration to uphold the standards set forth by their own pens in extending to the GLBTI community the compassion they so proudly held up to the world as a sign of their convictions.


The text of the Affirmation Declaration rebuttal.

Sign the Affirmation Declaration. I did. The sponsors of the Manhattan Declaration are busy gathering signatures, so let us be busy about supporting religious leaders who stand up for justice and equality.