Prayer Request For Naomi

From Caminante:

As Kris Carr author of "Crazy, Sexy, Cancer" would say, Get your posse going.

So, you all, you are Naomi's prayer posse. She needs your prayers. Spread them far and wide. Put her on whatever prayer list you know. Just pray. Pray for her, her mother, father, four sisters and brother.

She wrote tonight on her website:

"So, not so great news. I’m going to finish radiation and try a chemo for two weeks. The chemo wont cure it but we’re hoping that it’ll slow or shrink it a little. It is Ewings and it is growing and being very aggressive. After radiation and chemo they will do an assessment but after that they said that there is nothing else they can do. After the assessment they will be labeling my case as terminal. My parents and I have talked about it and decided to try eveything out there to fight this beast. We’re going to research alternatives and holistic approaches. If anyone has suggestions or knows anything please let me know. I’m hoping things work out but now I really begin my fight."

I can't believe they told her that they would be calling her case 'terminal.' It's so harsh.

If you all know of anything that might help, write me in the comments and I will pass it along.

Our prayers can make a difference. I don't know for what to pray but God knows. Thanks.

Prayers for healing for Naomi and for comfort, consolation, and peace for her and for those who love her.

Blogging for Doorman-Priest

While Doorman-Priest is away at Vicar School this week, he gave the key to his blog to The Reverend Boy and to me, and asked us to post while he was gone. When I said yes, I had no idea how daunting the task would be when the time came to actually write a post. I struggled and discarded and finally posted at The World of Doorman-Priest. If you'd like, you can read my post there. RB's post will be later in the week.

The task was difficult, because I believe that DP is quite good at what he does, and I didn't want to disgrace him on his own blog. I wonder if he realized the risk involved in handing me the key. I've already been tempted to put up something naughty.

Signed,

Doorman-Priest's humble servant (aka Grandmère Mimi)

20th Century Martyrs - Westminster Abbey

Statues of 20th-century martyrs on the façade above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey. Those commemorated are Maximilian Kolbe, Manche Masemola, Janani Luwum, Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, Martin Luther King, Óscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Esther John, Lucian Tapiedi, and Wang Zhiming.

Thanks to Lapinbizarre who sent me the links with this comment:

It is a wonderfully "catholic" assembly, isn't it?

Indeed, it is a "catholic" assembly. That's the best of Anglicanism, the catholic, embracing Anglicanism, contrasting with the narrow, exclusive Anglicanism that certain members of the leadership in the Anglican Communion are presently advocating.

Image from Wiki

UPDATE: Links to biographies of the martyrs can be found here. Scroll down to the section labeled "Commemorated".

Feast Day Of Oscar Romero (Missed)

Yesterday, I missed the feast day of Archbishop Oscar Romero. Mea maxima culpa!

Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (August 15, 1917 – March 24, 1980), commonly known as Monseñor Romero, was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. He later became prelate archbishop of San Salvador.

As an archbishop, he witnessed numerous violations of human rights and began a ministry speaking out on behalf of the poor and victims of the country's civil war. His brand of political activism was denounced by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church and the government of El Salvador. In 1980, he was assassinated by gunshot while consecrating the Eucharist during mass. His death finally provoked international outcry for human rights reform in El Salvador.

What wise words in this prayer from Archbishop Romero:

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.

"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."
John 15:13

Archbishop Romero is under consideration for sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church, but the Episcopal Church has moved ahead and given him a feast day. Thanks be to God.

PRAYER

Almighty God, you called your servant Oscar Romero to be a voice for the voiceless poor, and to give his life as a seed of freedom and a sign of hope: Grant that, inspired by his sacrifice and the example of the martyrs of El Salvador, we may without fear or favor witness to your Word who abides, your Word who is Life, even Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be praise and glory now and for ever. Amen.

Picture and biographical quote from Wiki.

How Smart Is Your Right Foot?

This is not new, and I have already tried it, and it is true, but I needed a laugh. From my well-trained daughter, who knows when her mama needs a laugh:

I could not believe this!!! Just try it!

It is from an orthopedic surgeon [?]............ This will boggle your mind and you will keep you trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't. It's preprogrammed in your brain!

1. Without anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......) and while sitting where you are at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction. I told you so!!!

And there's nothing you can do about it! You and I both know how stupid it is, but before the day is done you are going to try it again, if you've not already done so. Send it to your friends to frustrate them too!

My friends, here is my gift to you today. I am frustrated about a good many large issues, today. Here's a small frustration to take your mind off the big ones.

PS: The left foot is just as smart.

Coal And Wood 'More Damaging Than Thought'

From the The Guardian:

So what are you going to do about it? I know what I'll do. Since I don't burn coal or wood and can't help with that, I'll start thinking a lot less.

Automatic Confession

Thanks to Doug (who else?) for bringing this to my attention.

US Troop Deaths In Iraq Rise To 4000

From the AP via The Advocate in Baton Rouge.

BAGHDAD (AP) -- The overall U.S. death toll in Iraq rose to 4,000 after four soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad, a grim milestone that is likely to fuel calls for the withdrawal of American forces as the war enters its sixth year.
....

The American deaths occurred Sunday, the same day rockets and mortars pounded the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad and a wave of attacks left at least 61 Iraqis dead nationwide.
....

Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians also have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion on March 20, 2003, although estimates of a specific figure vary widely due to the difficulty in collecting accurate information.

One widely respected tally by Iraq Body Count, which collects figures based mostly on media reports, estimates that 82,349 to 89,867 Iraqi civilians have lost their lives in the conflict.
....

President Bush has insisted the decline in violence shows his strategy is working and needs more time, a position taken by Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.
....

At least 10 civilians were killed and 20 more were wounded in rocket or mortar blasts in scattered areas of eastern Baghdad, some probably due to rounds aimed at the Green Zone that fell short.

UPDATE: Picture from The Memory Hole. It dates to 2003, because the Pentagon no longer allows photographs of the flag-draped coffins that arrive at Dover Air Force Base.

UPDATE 2: Perhaps instead of the flag-draped coffins, I should have posted this.

The Opera - Part III - "Lucia di Lammermoor"

Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor is the source of the libretto for "Lucia" by Gaetano Donizetti. It's a tragic story of star-crossed lovers, stolen letters, madness, and murder that takes place in the Scottish lowlands. The families of the lovers, Lucia and Edgardo, have been engaged in a long-running feud, and the two have been meeting in secret on the grounds of Lammermoor Castle. Lucia's brother, Enrico, sung by Mariusz Kwiecien, wants Lucia to marry Arturo, a man of great fortune, to save the family's property and honor.

The performance by Natalie Dessay, as Lucia, is possibly the most outstanding singing and acting that I have ever experienced at an opera. Dessay is quite small in stature, and to hear that great voice come from a petite woman was astonishing. I'm aware that a singer's size has nothing to do with strength of voice, yet it was surprising to me to hear such power come forth from her. Her acting, especially in her mad scenes and those in which she is forced to marry a man she does not love, is masterful. As she stands up with Arturo, she is faint, seemingly near to death, trilling her notes softly and beautifully. Dessay showcased her lovely coloratura voice to excellent effect in this bel canto opera.

Enrico, upon finding out about his sister's clandestine meetings with his mortal enemy, becomes enraged and, in fact, remains enraged through the greater part of the opera. He was excellent, demonstrating his anger in both his singing and acting with great verve and realism. Edgardo and Lucia were perfectly believable as lovers, however, none of the male characters in the opera, including Edgardo, seemed to take note of Lucia's fragility, and all contribute, in some manner, to push her over the edge into madness. The chaplain and Lucia's tutor, Raimondo, should have taken better care of her, but I suppose he was no match for Enrico's rage. Watching the angry Enrico, I could not help but wonder why he didn't find himself a rich heiress to marry to save the family fortune and honor, instead of forcing his sister into a marriage to a man she did not love. I have never, ever, been so emotionally caught up in the drama of an opera, as I was with this performance of Lucia. I was lost in it, mesmerized, outside of time and place.

Joseph Colaneri, replaced Joseph Levine, who was to have conducted the opera, at the eleventh hour and made an excellent work of it.

The Met production returned to the original custom of using a glass armonica in the orchestra during Lucia's mad scene. The instrument's volume is quite low, therefore the flute is most often used for the brief bit of music. I was told that amplification was most likely used, because we would not have been able to hear the armonica without it.

As Lucia came down the stairs after stabbing Arturo, I noticed that her blood-stained dress (or, perhaps, that of an understudy) was one that we saw during our backstage tour of the Met. Our guide told us that paint is used to great effect on the costumes to show blood, mud, etc.

Altogether a magical evening! My knowledge of opera is limited, and I am, most certainly, not a music critic. I'm probably making a mess of this, but I'm giving you my impression of the evening, strictly an effort by a dilettante. (I joke that the word was coined for me, with my knowledge of a little bit about a lot of things.) However, our lecturer, who is an expert, thought that it was an excellent production, too.

Conductor - Joseph Colaneri
Normanno - Michael Myers
Lord Enrico Ashton - Mariusz
Raimundo - John Relyea
Lucia - Natalie Dessay
Alisa - Michaela Martens
Edgardo - Guiseppe Filianoti
Arturo - Stephen Costello

Picture from the New York Times.

"Do Not Be Afraid - Of This Risen Life"

The children in our church planted the garden at the beginning of Lent, and here it is bursting with new life in bloom on the day when we celebrate the new life of the Risen Christ. Once again we are called to remembrance that we share this new life with Jesus Christ.

Ann sent me the link to this post from the Urban Hermit:

We share in the great awe and joy of the women at the tomb as we celebrate with all creation and make visible the new life that pulses through all creation.

So, the Resurrection greeting, “Do not be afraid”.

“Do not be afraid – of this Risen life.”

The entire post is surely worth a read. Thanks, Ann