Jesus, Rabbi, Teacher and His 12 Students

Maybe it's because I go back to school two weeks from today, but yesterday's Gospel made me think of Jesus as a fellow teacher. As an English teacher, I constantly use metaphors to explain things (especially during the dreaded grammar units), or I'm explaining metaphors authors use in the literature the students read. So when we heard another parable from Jesus, I couldn't help but recognize Jesus as the Rabbi that He was.

Not only does Jesus use lots of examples to make His point, but He tries to get his students, the Apostles, to understand what he's saying. I don't know about you, but I am usually a little confused when listening to the parables in the Gospels, usually needing the guidance of someone who has attended a seminary. So I can only imagine when the Apostles, a group that often seems confused by what Jesus says and misunderstands Him, think about the parables. That is why in yesterday's Gospel, I love that when Jesus asks the Apostles if they understood what He was saying, they simply say "Yes." I sense that they were more confused than they wanted to let on, just like my students after I discuss, say, noun clauses as the object of a gerund phrase.

"Yeeaaahhh. . . we get it. But will this be on the test, Jesus?" they seem to be saying.

During yesterday's sermon, I must confess that I let my mind wander on this topic, and I started to amuse myself by thinking of the Apostles as students.

Naturally, Peter would be the class leader, despite the fact that he isn't the best student or that he gets carried away by extraneous projects. think about his behavior during the Transfiguration. After experiencing this miraculous event, this amazing meeting among the leading prophets of Judaism, all Peter can think about is doing an extra credit project: building tents for the prophets to stay in, even though they are gone. And the rest of the Apostles follow along with what Peter says, no matter if he loses his temper or doesn't understand what's going.

James is said to be Jesus' favorite, but isn't that just a euphemism for Teacher's Pet?

Thomas, of course, is the student who doesn't believe anything that the teacher says, arguing every point, just generally the student I hate having in class. (Personal note: these are the students I usually get exasperated with at some point during the year and ask them which university awarded them their English degree. When they answer they don't have a degree, I tell them they probably should listen to the person who does, me.)

Judas is the rare student who is always looking for the teacher to break the rules so that they can rat him out to the principal. Relationships with these students often end badly.

Sadly, the rest of the Apostles are like many students. They do their work, answer the occasional question, but for the most part they are quiet and don't stand out, which is why we rarely hear about them.

Except for Andrew. Since he is traditionally considered the first Apostle, the one who first recognized Jesus for what he was, I consider Andrew to be the best, and most intelligent student in the class.

But I might be biased.

"I'm Fixing a Hole. . . "

I haven't been blogging recently because we've been busy at the homestead with a big home improvement project. We found out that we had no insulation in the walls, which is why our AC was running constantly. To fix the problem, we had a company come blow insulation into the walls. To do so, they had to drill holes every 16 inches in order to get insulation around the studs. That means they had to drill a lot of holes.

144 holes to be exact. A gross of holes.

So we've been spackling holes, sanding, and touching-up the paint. And while doing all this, I thought about a definition of sin I was taught in Catholic school: sin is like a nail being driven into your soul. When you confess your sins, a little hole is left, which you have to do penance for in order to fill it. The smaller the sin, the smaller the hole, and vice versa. A mortal sin like murder leaves a big enough hole that your soul threatens to break. Or so the metaphor extends on and on . . .

I'm thinking about this while my wife and I are filling all these holes. Is that what God spends most of his time doing up in Heaven? Concerning himself with the holes people have in their souls, and whether they have filled them properly? Is God like a housing inspector? A soul inspector?

I don't know.

I do believe that sin damages our souls, but not because it makes our souls look like Swiss cheese. I prefer the other metaphor we were taught in school: that sin causes a separation from God. And that asking God for forgiveness brings us back to Him. No filling needed.

Now if I could only say the same for our house.

Immigration Travesty in Iowa

This NY Times op-ed piece pointed me to an essay by Dr. Erik Camayd-Freixas, Ph.D. who writes about the aftermath of the giant immigration raid in Postville, Iowa. Reading such a heart-rending essay made me think about social justice and religion, naturally. There are some bright spots during the dark time of the raids, like how many of the immigrants turned to the local Catholic church for comfort, protection, and aid. But overall, the essay is a sad one

Dr. Camayd-Freixas tells about how this raid is not just a simple matter of illegal immigrants being arrested and sent home. Instead, of the nearly 400 Guatemalan and Mexican immigrants arrested, around 260 were charged with identity theft and Social Security fraud for using fake Social Security numbers to get work. Once again, even this aspect wasn't simple. According to Camayd-Freixas, most of these people truly are innocent of these charges because they don't know what Social Security is or how it works, simply knowing that the nine digit number was required to work. Virtually no identity theft occurred either because most of the immigrants didn't even fill out the paperwork to get hired, letting someone at work do it for them.

So we have a group of immigrants who were convinced to waive their rights because they thought it would get them deported faster (which is the ultimate result no matter which of the three possible plea bargains the people face), only to be charged with serious, complicated charges. And immigration lawyers were banned from the proceedings because these charges were not immigration-related.

Further complicating the situation is the fact that many of these Guatemalan immigrants could possibly be political refugees because of the gross human rights violations still occuring in that country (begun and sponsored by our own government's support of the Contras).

Obviously, social justice has taken a vacation in Postville.

Aside from the spuriousness of charging immigrants with trumped up charges after convincing them to waive their rights, what I find disturbing about this case is the after affects on, surprisingly, the non-immigrant population. Camayd-Freixas writes about how the entire town lost a large segment of the population all at once, traumatizing many citizens, especially the children who suddenly lost classmates and friends (by some counts, some classes at the elementary school lost up to a dozen students at once). Children were having nightmares that their parents were also taken away suddenly without explanation.

Stories like these show just how integrated we all are. What seems like a simple case of illegal immigration isn't so simple, with the reality being families separated, traumatized children, a town in trouble because the government has turned a blind eye to justice or common sense, or even the humanity we all share. In prosecuting people they will eventually deport instead of deporting them immediately, the government has reminded us of why Jesus reminded us to "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" because the government is not necessarily with social justice.

Marriage Advice from a Catholic Priest and from Your Blogger

Being lazy yesterday and today in terms of hunting down interesting stories, I have yet another NY Times article to point out. This one is an op-ed piece by Maureen Dowd, this time on marriage. In it, she gets marriage advice from a Catholic priest, who gives Dowd the spiel he gives seniors in high school.

Getting marriage advice and counseling (like my wife and I did) from a celibate man forbidden to marry is one of the two supremely ironic features of the Catholic Church to me who was born and bred Roman Catholic (the other one being that at the same time women aren't equal to men, the Church venerates Jesus's mother as being greater than all other humans ever born.) But the advice seems pretty good to me after what I've learned in five years of marriage: i.e., being able to communicate, manage money, etc.

In my humble opinion, however, the one piece of advice missing from the priest's talk to high schoolers is this:

Marriage is hard work.

Don't expect it to always be fun, or easy. There will be hard times when you really don't like your spouse (my wife and I use the line from a movie "I love you, but you are not my favorite person right now!"), but the hard times will make you stronger.

My wife and I are part of the generation just getting married right now, and we're scared for our peers. Using our friends from before we were married (we won't count since we've been married because married people tend to befriend married people, naturally), only three are currently married; five if you count our siblings. But we know almost a dozen people our age who have been married and divorced already.

I'm ashamed that my generation has also come up with the concept of the "starter marriage." Just like a starter house is one that you live in for a few years as you get to know the ropes of home ownership but never imagine you'll settle down in, a starter marriage is one where you get a feel for what marriage is like, but not one where you're fully committed to it lasting. Is it any wonder that a marriage with such a level of commitment doesn't make it?

It all comes back to the misconception that marriage is supposed to be easy, or solve your problems. I know of one couple where the wife wanted to work on their problems after two years of marriage, but the husband thought it was too hard because marriage should be easier than theirs was. And if you don't take seriously the vow "to love, honor, and cherish till death," why go through the hassle of trying? Just use it as a learning experience so you will avoid the same mistakes in your next marriage, you know, the one that won't be so difficult because you're older and wiser. But are you more committed, though?

That brings me to another piece of Catholic advice I received that shows the commitment needed for a successful marriage: "Murder, yes. Divorce, never." That is marriage advice I'll trust, given not by a priest but by my Catholic mother.

It is advice that works: my parents have been married for 45 years and counting. Maybe because Dad always gets nervous when she says that.

Tricia's Eulogy at Billi Neal's Funeral

I'm going to put most of Tricia's sermons up here the Monday after she delivers them; they are also available here on the church's website. Yesterday's sermon is not up yet, but Tricia did put up her eulogy from Billie Neal's funeral. As Jeanne Taylor told me, it is a wonderful eulogy that captures Billie well.

"Making All Things New" by The Rev. Patricia Templeton

We are gathered here today to celebrate the life and mourn the death of our beloved Billie, and to commend her into the care of a gracious and loving God.

The last conversation I had with Billie was last week, about four days before she died. I went into her room and could see that she had declined significantly from just the day before.

“How are you doing today, Billie?” I asked.

“They say I am supposed to be dying,” she replied in a weak voice.

This was not the first time “they” had made that pronouncement in the last 10 months. At least twice in that period, Billie had been wheeled into surgery that doctors cautioned she might not survive.

And there was the time last fall when a toxic staph infection raged through her already weakened body. She might not make it through the weekend, doctors warned. That Sunday I announced in church that Billie was gravely ill, and that her family was gathering.

As I headed to the hospital that afternoon for what I thought would be a solemn occasion, my phone rang. It was Billie’s longtime friend, Betty Whittier.

“I know what you said in church today,” Betty said. “But I just left the hospital, and Billie’s sitting up, eating, and bossing everyone around. She’s back!”

But last week it was clear that this time “they” were right, and Billie knew it.

As she lay there with her eyes closed, I asked, “Are you scared?”

Her eyes flew open and for a moment the familiar twinkle was back in them as she looked directly at me and said, this time in a strong, clear voice – “Wouldn’t you be?”

It was classic Billie, one last zinger in a friendship that had been full of back and forth repartee.
Knowing that her question demanded an answer, an honest one, I admitted that yes, I would be scared; that if we are honest, we are always scared when faced with the unknown.

And we don’t know with any certainty the details of what lies beyond this life. But, I told Billie, I trust that the God who has been present with us in this life will not abandon us in death.
Billie, who had experienced God’s presence in very tangible and palpable ways, smiled and nodded.

I firmly believe that although she had moments of anxiety at facing the unknown, that Billie was also ready, that she trusted that the God who searches us out and knows us would continue to be with her after this life is over.

Billie’s spunk and energy and enthusiasm for life sustained her and kept her going long after many of us would have stopped.

But in the last months it was increasingly clear that she was deeply tired, worn out in body and, at times, in spirit.

But now we trust she is in a place where, as our prayer book says, “life is changed, not ended.” A place where the book of Revelation says, “Death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more.”

A place where, we are told, God is “making all things new,” including worn out bodies and tired spirits.

So now, dear Billie, may the angels lead you into paradise.

May all the saints rise up to greet you.

And may you be made new once more.

Amen.

First Jesus as Messiah, Now as a Samurai?

I posted below about the article in the NY Times about the ancient tablet that might affect how people understand Jesus in a historical and cultural context. Now, how about an article about how some current people understand Jesus in today's cultural context?

The Bible as a graphic novel, anyone? For those not familiar with the hot publishing trend, graphic novels are essentially a more sophisticated, literary form of comic books. Think of the Pulitzer-winning Maus, not Archie and Jughead. (See this great web feature from The NY Times website about graphic novels.)

Ajinbayo Akinsiku, who wants to become an Anglican priest (alright!), has written The Manga Bible (manga is a Japanese style of graphic novel), with Jesus as a samurai. The Manga Bible cuts all the non-action parts of the Bible (read: the boring parts) and makes it exciting. Jesus is, as Akinsiku's says in the article, " 'a samurai stranger who’s come to town, in silhouette,' here to shake things up." The article later compares Akinsiku's Jesus to Clint Eastwood.

A valid comparison, no?

Ancient Tablet Opens Debate on Jesus as Messiah

The New York Times has an eye-opening article about a tablet from the decade before Jesus' birth that might shed some light on the political situation of Judaism in Jesus's lifetime. The article brings up some interesting points about the political situation in Judea around Jesus' birth, but I felt that a lot of the article's points are pretty vapid if taken at face value.

Many of the points the article makes seem obvious to me. For example, the table could be "part of a growing body of evidence suggesting that Jesus could be best understood through a close reading of the Jewish history of his day." As opposed to understanding Jesus through the history of 16th Century Finland? Also, that this stone might predict the Messiah will rise from the dead after three days does not seem all that revolutionary to me. I have 13 years of Catholic school religion classes under my belt, and one of the basic tenets I learned about Jesus as Messiah is that there are parts of the Old Testament that describe the Messiah, many of which Jesus fulfilled. Some of those predictions, however, do tend to be vague foreshadowings of events in Jesus's life.

But then again, this stone might be one more way of reading Jesus' life as part of the Messianic tradition in Judaism, a more explicit one than some of the Old Testament predictions. And, according to the article, a clearer understanding of how the idea of a resurrection in three days was not something original to Christianity, but rather part of the Jewish political revolts against the Romans. (See the stuff about Simon the Messiah in the article.)

Does this article change your understanding or belief in Jesus in any way?

Tricia's Summer Reading Recommendations

Published in this month's Bellows, the following post is Tricia's summer reading recommendations. If you've read any of these books already, please comment on it below. If you haven't, follow the links to Amazon.com to purchase a copy.

Non fiction

Here if You Need Me by Kate Braestrup. When our former parishioner Mary Sadler, who now lives in Hartwell, called me last summer and asked if her sister-in-law Kate Braestrup could hold a book signing at St. Dunstan’s I said yes, just to do a nice favor. Turns out the favor was to me and everyone else who came that night and bought Kate’s book. Kate is a widowed mother of four (her husband and Mary’s brother Drew, a Maine state trooper, was killed in a car accident), a Unitarian minister, and a chaplain to game wardens in Maine. Kate intersperses the story of her life in with stories of the people she serves on search and rescue missions. Here is an example of her fine writing: “Nowhere in scripture does it say ‘God is a car accident’ or ‘God is death.’ God is justice and kindness, mercy, and always, always love. So if you want to know where God is, look for love.”

The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg. If you were intrigued by Marcus Borg’s comments in the Living the Questions series in Sunday School this spring, you will love this book. In it, Borg writes of an emerging new paradigm of Christianity, which is about loving God and loving what God loves, rather than rigidly adhering to a specific set of beliefs. Borg offers an intelligent, compassionate view of Christianity that offers a welcome counterpoint to much of what is presented as Christian today.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen. This is hands down the most powerful book I have read in the last year. Mountain climber Greg Mortensen became separated from his group on an expedition in Pakistan. Lost and alone in some of the world’s most breathtaking but inhospitable terrain, he stumbled into a remote Pakistani village, whose people literally saved his life. When Mortensen realized that the village was so poor it had no school, he promised to return and build one. Three Cups of Tea is the story of how he built not only that school, but more than 50 others in the remotest areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, areas that have become strongholds for terrorist groups. Mortensen offers a powerful witness for peace in a part of the world torn apart by war.

Speaking of Faith by Krista Tippett. Every Sunday morning on the way to church I listen to a snippet of Krista Tippett’s NPR show Speaking of Faith. In her book by the same name, Tippett weaves the story of her own life with the conversations about faith she has had with many of the world’s greatest theologians, philosophers, scientists, artists and authors. The intelligent conversation about faith that Tippett offers radio listeners is echoed in this thoughtful, well-written memoir.

Amish Grace by Donald Kraybill, Steven Nolt and David Waver-Zercher. In a time when shootings at schools have become sadly almost routine, the shooting of 10 Amish schoolgirls in Pennsylvania still shocked the country. Even more surprising than the shootings was the Amish response to the killer and his family – total forgiveness. Amish Grace tells the story of the community’s response to the tragedy and explores the Amish people’s countercultural, but deeply Christian, practice of forgiveness.

Fiction

I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming. How can I resist a mystery series where each book begins with an epigraph from the Episcopal hymnal or Book of Common Prayer, and the protagonist is a female Episcopal priest, the Rev. Clare Fergusson? I Shall Not Want is the sixth, and best, of this series. As with many mystery series, it is best to begin at the beginning, which in this case is In the Bleak Midwinter. Spencer-Fleming does an excellent job of combining the suspense of murder mysteries and the suspense of character development with Clare and the chief of police in the small upstate New York town in which she works, Russ Van Alstyne.

World Without End by Ken Follett. Eighteen years ago, Follett wrote Pillars of the Earth, an epic novel about the building of a great cathedral in 12th century England. The Kingsbridge cathedral is also at the center of this sequel, set 200 years later, as the descendants of the cathedral’s builders engage in love and intrigue, and battle the Black Death that is racing through Europe. You don’t have to have read Pillars to enjoy World Without End, but I ended up rereading it and enjoying them both.


To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. When I first read Harper Lee’s classic novel about growing up in the South during the Depression, I, like Scout, had to look up the word rape in the dictionary, and still wasn’t sure what it meant. Despite that, I loved this book and its commentary on race and justice and the pains of growing up. More than four decades later, I still love it. If you’ve never read it before, do it now. If you read it as a child or teen-ager, read it again. You won’t be disappointed. [Andy's English teacher note: here's a link to a great resource page from the National Endowment for the Arts that I use when I teach TKAM.]

Song Without Words by Ann Packer. Packer’s beautifully written novel is about the place of friendship in women’s lives, what brings us together, and what can tear us apart. Sarabeth and Liz, now in their 40s, have been friends since they were teenagers. Their friendship helped Sarabeth survive her mother’s suicide. But a crisis in the life of Liz’s daughter threatens to tear the life-long friends apart.

Tricia's Op-Ed Piece in the AJC

Tricia has a new op-ed piece in the AJC. In keeping with the July 4th spirit, she discusses all the implications of the term "God bless America."

After you've read that, read Mark Twain's essay/short story "The War Prayer," mentioned in Tricia's piece. Twain's essay is worth reading for anyone who has never done so. I teach it to my 7th graders every year, and it always suprises them and leads to great discussions. (Animated version, part 1 and part 2.)

The Religions of America's Founding Fathers

In honor of the 4th of July, here's an online exhibition on the religious persuasions of America's Founding Fathers. Even with the seperation of church and state, it bears remembering that there is nothing banning politicians from being religious, just against them making their religion the law. In fact, being openly religious but balancing religion and the secualr is a selling point to me for many politicians, even Republicans.

Happy 4th of July! Don't blow off any fingers, or eat as many hotdogs as this guy.

Why Women Bishops are Needed

Inclusive Church has a great article giving their ten reasons why women should be consecrated as bishops. The fact that they are fellow human beings isn't enough for some people, I guess. (Those people are probably the same who support GAFCON and don't like God being portrayed as a black woman either.)

More on Earth than your philosophies, Horatio

Yahoo! pointed me to this article about the mysterious 1908 Tunguska event in Siberia (here's Wikipedia's entry on the event with eye witness accounts). Evidently something either came out of the sky or exploded from the ground in a remote area of an already remote region of Russia.

What this illustrates to me is how amazing this world is that God created. No matter how much we learn about the world and what goes on here, there will always be mysteries that only God knows about.

But, personally, I really like the Nikola Tesla "death ray" theory, followed closely by the UFO crash theory.

Somebody Better Warn Tricia

The Washington Post has a report on the latest study that abumper stickers often incite road rage incidents against other drivers. After taking a look around the St. Dunstan's parking lot on an average Sunday morning, I believe that some people should be extra cautious while driving from now on. Tricia already told me about one incident where a bumper sticker resulted in soft drink violence against her car in a parking lot (an event that inspired her latest op-ed piece in tomorrow's AJC), so she should be extra cautious.

All the more reason to pray while driving, huh?

Thanks to The Lead for pointing me to the article.

Face plants, the Olympics, Passions, and the Holy Spirit (a longer post)

Because I had trouble embedding it, follow the link to watch this video from the 800-meter final at the Olympic Track Trials in Eugene, Oregon, first--watch about 15 seconds from about the 4:42 mark. I promise the reason I chose it has more to it than simply wanting to watch some poor runner land on his face in the Olympic Trials.

Now that you're back, what did you think? Did I choose it just for the face plant? Or is it an interesting view of what someone (Christian Smith) was willing to do (dive face first) to achieve their dream (making it to the Olympics in Beijing next month)?

When I first saw this video, I did laugh a little at Smith's faceplant. But then I read he was the 31st qualifier out of 30 invited to the Trials; he only got in when someone else dropped out. And he did it all 16 months after a burst appendix and pneumonia. His making the team is a story almost on par with Rocky or, as Bob Longino would point out, Chariots of Fire. As I thought about it, I realized Smith's faceplant was an excellent definition of passion and the Holy Spirit.

To be honest, whenever I think of passions, I think of my high school German teacher. In one of the oddest combinations I've experienced, our German teacher was a small, Japanese-American man, Herr Nakamatsu, who we all called Herr Naki. He was easily one of the best teachers I ever had, and he also happened to dream of being a professional pianist.

But he didn't just dream. Most days he practiced from 5-9am, went to school and taught until 3, graded papers until 5 or 6, then went home to practice until 11 pm. And he loved them both: he loved teaching and he loved playing the piano, even if he loved the latter a little more. At the end of my junior year, he won the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, jump-starting his new career as a pianist, complete with a record deal and two years of concert bookings.

Piano playing was Naki's passion, and he devoted himself fully to it even while devoting himself fully to teaching. In the documentary about that year's Van Cliburn Competition, the conductor said "Passions are what won't leave you alone." That's a good summary or passions, I think: the things that make you want to practice piano eight hours a day even while working full-time, or make you dive forward, landing on both your face and the Olympic team. Passions are the things that burn inside of you.

And that makes me think of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit tends to appear as a bird at times in the Bible, but the one that stands out to me is when He appears as tongues of flame on Pentecost, giving the Apostles a whole new life's passion. After following Jesus, they are lost after He has ascended to heaven, not doing anything really. That is until the Holy Spirit descends on them in a violent, stormy wind. This isn't the peaceful, dove-like Holy Spirit, but one that wants to get them moving. And off they go, spreading the Word, and creating Christianity as we know it (at the risk of a gross over-simplification.)

With the Spirit burning inside them, not leaving them to sit quietly anymore, I'm sure that some of them would have dove across a finish line if they ran a race at that moment. My money's on Peter: he seems crazy enough to do that.

External Links:

A good video summaryof the Cliburn Competition here, with some clips of Naki winning.

Naki on Wikipedia page and some video of him playing on YouTube

A great article on Christian Smith embodying the spirit of the Olympics from the Eugene Register-Guard .

How is the GAFCON meeting like terrorism?

This interesting post from "Father Jake Stops the World" points out that the whole GAFCON controversy is not as dire as the media portrays it. Much like the media and the Bush Administration can't stop harping about the "global war on terror" that is actually being won, so do a few loud voices make it seem like the Anglican Communion is ready to split into two equal factions. In reality, GAFCON has members primarily from a narrow swath of Africa and disgruntled, conservative Americans.

NY Times Review of "The Shack"

Here's an article I read last week, but didn't comment on until today. I'd heard about this book, The Shack, from my principal and from some students. They all liked it, but I haven't heard much about it since then. Evidently, this is a big deal.

My favorite line from the article is "Even people initially put off by the book’s characterization of God as a black woman were won over." Are there a lot of people sitting in their arm chair reading the book, only to throw it across the room?

"God appearing as a black woman?! That's preposterous! Everyone knows God is white, with long hair and a flowing white beard only! Sometimes he appears in tortillas in Mexico, or on the side of barns at night, but never as a woman, let alone a black woman."

I guess some people can only suspend disbelief so much before they stop reading.

Blog Roll

I've added some interesting blogs to the blog list on the sidebar.

Episcopal Life Online is the church's news portal with features, profiles, op-ed, and news. Think of it as the Episcopal Church's newspaper, with less grammatical errors than the AJC.

Daily Episcopalian is a daily essay on Episcopal life in all its forms and varieties. Today's is about the things one woman does for love. Hint: it involves motorcycles.

Episcopal Cafe is a blog on a variety of Episcopal topics, with videos, and miscallaneous odds and ends from around the 'net. It also hosts "Daily Episcopalian"

Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta says it all. Email them to find out how running a parish is like running a McDonalds. (It involves inventing the Egg McMuffin. )

The Lead is the link dump (a list of links to other blogs and articles around the 'net) from Episcopal Cafe.

The Revealer is a blog that looks at how the news covers religious topics. Interesting stuff on many different religions and topics.

Father Jake Stops the World are the thoughts, musings, and analyses of an Episcopal priest who labels himself a heretic.

And from jolly olde England, Thinking Anglicans is a blog for just that. Thinking Episcopalians are welcome too, though the exchange rate kills us.

Inclusive Church is a website dedicated to, naturally, inclusive Anglican churches around the world, sharing a global mission of sharing the message of Jesus to everyone, regardless of their gender, class, or sexual orientation.

Interesting Blog Entry

"Father Jake Stops the World" is a blog by an Episcopal priest who invites controversy, even seems to revel in it. Our seminarian Tim Black, who I hope starts blogging here sometime soon, recommended it to me. I hadn't read it until today, when I found this interesting take on the GAFCON statement from last week.

I've also added "Father Jake" to our blog roll. Check it out.

Our Beloved Parishioner and Friend, Billie Neal

Today in the AJC is a nice obituary for long-time parishioner Billie Neal. Billie was an "almost founder" of St. Dunstan's: she joined the church, according to Tricia on Sunday, "fifteen minutes" after the founders did.

The funeral service is at 2 p.m. today at St. Dunstan's.

God bless you, Billie. St. Dunstan's will miss you.

"We Can Never Give Up on One Another"

To stimulate even more thoughts and comments (hopefully) about the whole GAFCON controversy during the Lambeth Conference, there is an interesting op-ed piece at Episcopal Life Online by the Rt. Rev. Robert O'Neill, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado, on whether we need a world-wide Anglican Communion by getting the GAFCON group to stay.

Without ruining it, O'Neill believes the answer is yes. To see why, read here.

Archbishop of Canterbury responds to GAFCON statement

Again, from Episcopal Life Online:

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, has responded to the final declaration of the Global Anglican Future Conference with the following statement.

The Final Statement from the GAFCON meeting in Jordan and Jerusalem contains much that is positive and encouraging about the priorities of those who met for prayer and pilgrimage in the last week. The 'tenets of orthodoxy' spelled out in the document will be acceptable to and shared by the vast majority of Anglicans in every province, even if there may be differences of emphasis and perspective on some issues. I agree that the Communion needs to be united in its commitments on these matters, and I have no doubt that the Lambeth Conference will wish to affirm all these positive aspects of GAFCON's deliberations. Despite the claims of some, the conviction of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as Lord and God and the absolute imperative of evangelism are not in dispute in the common life of the Communion

However, GAFCON's proposals for the way ahead are problematic in all sorts of ways, and I urge those who have outlined these to think very carefully about the risks entailed.

A 'Primates' Council' which consists only of a self-selected group from among the Primates of the Communion will not pass the test of legitimacy for all in the Communion. And any claim to be free to operate across provincial boundaries is fraught with difficulties, both theological and practical – theological because of our historic commitments to mutual recognition of ministries in the Communion, practical because of the obvious strain of responsibly exercising episcopal or primatial authority across enormous geographical and cultural divides.
T
wo questions arise at once about what has been proposed. By what authority are Primates deemed acceptable or unacceptable members of any new primatial council? And how is effective discipline to be maintained in a situation of overlapping and competing jurisdictions?

No-one should for a moment impute selfish or malicious motives to those who have offered pastoral oversight to congregations in other provinces; these actions, however we judge them, arise from pastoral and spiritual concern. But one question has repeatedly been raised which is now becoming very serious: how is a bishop or primate in another continent able to discriminate effectively between a genuine crisis of pastoral relationship and theological integrity, and a situation where there are underlying non-theological motivations at work? We have seen instances of intervention in dioceses whose leadership is unquestionably orthodox simply because of local difficulties of a personal and administrative nature. We have also seen instances of clergy disciplined for scandalous behaviour in one jurisdiction accepted in another, apparently without due process. Some other Christian churches have unhappy experience of this problem and it needs to be addressed honestly.

It is not enough to dismiss the existing structures of the Communion. If they are not working effectively, the challenge is to renew them rather than to improvise solutions that may seem to be effective for some in the short term but will continue to create more problems than they solve. This challenge is one of the most significant focuses for the forthcoming Lambeth Conference. One of its major stated aims is to restore and deepen confidence in our Anglican identity. And this task will require all who care as deeply as the authors of the statement say they do about the future of Anglicanism to play their part.
The language of 'colonialism' has been freely used of existing patterns. No-one is likely to look back with complacency to the colonial legacy. But emerging from the legacy of colonialism must mean a new co-operation of equals, not a simple reversal of power. If those who speak for GAFCON are willing to share in a genuine renewal of all our patterns of reflection and decision-making in the Communion, they are welcome, especially in the shaping of an effective Covenant for our future together.

I believe that it is wrong to assume we are now so far apart that all those outside the GAFCON network are simply proclaiming another gospel. This is not the case; it is not the experience of millions of faithful and biblically focused Anglicans in every province. What is true is that, on all sides of our controversies, slogans, misrepresentations and caricatures abound. And they need to be challenged in the name of the respect and patience we owe to each other in Jesus Christ.
I have in the past quoted to some in the Communion who would call themselves radical the words of the Apostle in I Cor.11.33: 'wait for one another.' I would say the same to those in whose name this statement has been issued. An impatience at all costs to clear the Lord's field of the weeds that may appear among the shoots of true life (Matt.13.29) will put at risk our clarity and effectiveness in communicating just those evangelical and catholic truths which the GAFCON statement presents.

Our Presiding Bishop Responds

From Episcopal Life Online:

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has responded to the Global Anglican Future Conference with the following statement.

Much of the Anglican world must be lamenting the latest emission from GAFCON. Anglicanism has always been broader than some find comfortable. This statement does not represent the end of Anglicanism, merely another chapter in a centuries-old struggle for dominance by those who consider themselves the only true believers. Anglicans will continue to worship God in their churches, serve the hungry and needy in their communities, and build missional relationships with others across the globe, despite the desire of a few leaders to narrow the influence of the gospel. We look forward to the opportunities of the Lambeth Conference for constructive conversation, inspired prayer, and relational encounters.
-- The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church

Who's leading whom?

Reading the caption to the photo in the NY Times article on GAFCON (see below), I was struck by how strange it is to have Americans being ordained in the Anglican Church of Nigeria. Americans looking to the Third World for leadership? That just seems strangely ironic to me.

I don't mean to sound xenophobic or racist about Africa. I just find it strange that Americans are looking for leadership to a part of the world where equality for all is less of a possibility than it is here, where a comprehensive educational system for all doesn't exist, where food for all is a problem more so than elsewhere in the world. Essentially, aside from our shared humanity and belief in Jesus Christ, the only thing it seems that an Episcopal parish in the United States and an Anglican parish in Nigeria might really have in common is a dislike of homosexuals. Please correct me if I'm wrong. For a church in Africa to remove itself from the resources (both monetary and charitable) of its fellow First World parishes in order to make a point about homosexuals seems absurd. To me, it translates to "Sorry, poor Nigerians, but we won't be getting aid from churches in the Anglican Communion because they accept homosexuals as equal members of the body of Christ." And while America is not a perfect place of freedom and equality, we certainly have figured out how to get closer to it than many other countries, I believe.

So for American parishes to look to African churches for leadership seems fascistic to me, since they're essentially aligning themselves with churches in an unjust part of the world that instead of fighting that injustice instead concern themselves with denying respect towards and fellowship with one particular group of people. And this from a group that did not enjoy being marginalized, . . .

Tricia's Op-Ed Piece

Keep an eye out for our rector's latest opinion piece coming soon in the AJC. Of course a link will appear here as soon as her piece hits the presses.

New York Times Article on GAFCON

Tricia pointed me to this latest article, in the New York Times, about the GAFCON conference being held in Jerusalem.

One of the funniest parts of the article (as funny as this controversy can be, I guess), is where the group explains why they decided to leave the Anglican Communion: the group says they have been "ignored" and "marginalized," according to the Times article.

Essentially, members of GAFCON have been marginalized and ignored in their attempts to marginalize and ignore homosexuals. So they took their ball and went home. The article doesn't say whether they tried to feel better with milk and cookies from their mothers.