Salt

Hot Gieves and Hawkes Priest

After reading Hot Ambercrombie Chick, I think I'm going to rename my website...

Hot Armani Priest?

Hot JCrew Priest?

Hot CMAlmy Priest?

Hot Whippell Priest?

Hot Thomas Pink Priest?

Hot Calvinist Priest?

Or

Cute Calvinist Priest?

Adorable sharp shoed Priest?

the possibilities are endless....

Funerals

Celebrated of a longtime parishioner today. She was active in all the local clubs - the country club, the woman's club, the garden club, the bridge club: the world of WASPy suburban Babylon. Her husband had been a major executive at Fourth Dimension founded by Henry Tight. She was always a bit difficult, with many helpful hints and corrections. Every Sunday she would tell me to speak up. "I hate using my hearing aid" she would say, tapping her ear. Once she gave me a list of all the hymns that she knew, so that I might play fewer hymns by Gibbons, Tallis, or 9th century plainchant.

For you clergy, consider the following:

Within your first week at a new call, get to know all the funeral homes in the area. The directors will tell you all sorts of interesting things. They are usually good judges of human character, and are firmly anchored in the community.

Make sure each of the funeral homes has a list of your preferences and prices. You will adjust these for pastoral reasons.

Have a procedure for informing the parish and getting things done, regularly updated [after each funeral] in the hands of all your staff and volunteers.

Immediately notify your staff and gossips about the death.

When you meet the family, pray first. Thank God for the gift of the deceased. Lift up the feelings you intuit.

Invite them to have a eucharist as part of the burial rite, and participate in the service. They may usher, bring up the offertory, say the prayers or the readings.

If they do not know any hymns, the organist will suggest some.

Gather some stories by sharing yours with them, if you have some. Take good mental notes, for these will be the basis of your homily. Consider the person's generation, location, and life-patterns as sources for preaching. The homily is your opportunity to evangelize or reinvigorate the faith.

If you decide to allow people to speak [I do this after the post-communion prayer and before the commendation] suggest they choose a one or two who are good storytellers. Mention that too many voices detracts from the gravity of the service. Invite people to tell stories at the wake.

I am personally open to tasteful, appropriate, secular music. Please do not tell your liturgy professor, however, I said this. If you do this, you must be diligent, careful and prepared. The liturgy is there to protect you and keep things efficient for praising God.

As with all services, prepare your prayer book and have a good editor edit the bulletin. Having a well-edited bulletin is a form of pastoral care! We don't want the deceased's name misspelled.

Flowers in the baptistry are appropriate [if not water].

Thom Gunn RIP

'The Hug'

It was your birthday, we had drunk and dined
Half of the night with our old friend
Who'd showed us in the end
To a bed I reached in one drunk stride.
Already I lay snug,
And drowsy with the wine dozed on one side.

I dozed, I slept. My sleep broke on a hug,
Suddenly, from behind,
In which the full lengths of our bodies pressed:
Your instep to my heel,
My shoulder-blades against your chest.
It was not sex, but I could feel
The whole strength of your body set,
Or braced, to mine,
And locking me to you
As if we were still twenty-two
When our grand passion had not yet
Become familial.
My quick sleep had deleted all
Of intervening time and place.
I only knew
The stay of your secure firm dry embrace.

-- Thom Gunn RIP

About Inerrancy

Where can you find "inerrancy" in scripture?

Is Jesus the Word? [John 1:1] Or is scripture The Word?

Here are just a few scriptural reasons to be suspicious of the "plain reading" of text.

"How can you say, "we are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us," when, in fact, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. He follows with the consequences of a people who have not taken care of the poor. [Jer8:8]

"You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life." [John 5:39-40]

"give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching." 1 Tim 4:14 What are we to exhort? "righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness" 1 Tim 6:11. Or "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness [2 Tim 3:16]

Not much about words regarding sexuality to be inerrant. Those who promote inerrancy and idolize the bible above the true Word of God, the living Jesus, are by scripture's standards preaching their own faith. Not a reasonable faith. Not a justified faith. Not the faith of Jesus. Or of Christianity. A faith that irreverently supposes they know the Mind of God.

Prisoner Issue

Looks like the Prisoner issue previously mentioned will be on CBS on May 2nd. I suspect we'll see a prison administration that is trying very hard to make itself look good.

I wonder if I too quickly participated in their pr scheme. It just seemed so... plausible...

At the very least, the prisoners have their writing back. Most of it.

On people who take things literally

Bill Hickssaid
"People in the United Kingdom and outside the United States share my bemusement with the United States that America doesn't share with itself. They also have a sense of irony, which America doesn't have seeing as it's being run by fundamentalists who take things literally."

And another

"I'm so sick of arming the world, then sending troops over to destroy the fucking arms, you know what I mean? We keep arming these little countries, then we go and blow the shit out of them. We're like the bullies of the world, y'know. We're like Jack Palance in the movie Shane, throwing the pistol at the sheepherder's feet.

"Pick it up."

"I don't wanna pick it up, Mister, you'll shoot me."

"Pick up the gun."

"Mister, I don't want no trouble. I just came downtown here to get some hard rock candy for my kids, some gingham for my wife. I don't even know what gingham is, but she goes through about ten rolls a week of that stuff. I ain't looking for no trouble, Mister."

"Pick up the gun."

(He picks it up. Three shots ring out.)

"You all saw him - he had a gun."

Via Boingboing

The Clean People

The Clean People

The clean people worry me.
Wherever I go, I face the glare
of their immaculate smiles,
their polished demeanor
declaring the good life of order.
Where is the smudged
message of grief,
the scuff-marks of pain?
With all the dirt in the world,
who got theirs?

I think I am one
and take my place with the soiled.
We are the others
who cannot balance budgets,
nor wear white to our weddings.
Our garb is the haggard
will to survive.
Our language is the mono-
syllabics of dust.
Disorderly, vagrant,
we make our salacious way,
staining the world as we go.
We sing of flesh and the earth,

while they,
haloed in an absence of filth,
must live near God,
their heavenly songs
lodged in the unmarred
keyboards of their grins.

Here they come now,
their clean mouths open,
spilling light as they go.

- from Jim Heynen A Suitable Church

The Articles of Religion

The Anglican church has 39 articles of religion - they properly distinguish the church from Romanism, Calvinism and Anabaptism. I want to call attention to the following. My interpretation is bold.

VII) Although the Law given from God by Moses, as touching Ceremonies and Rites, do not bind Christian men, nor the Civil precepts thereof ought of necessity to be received in any commonwealth; yet notwithstanding, no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral.

Yes, we are still called to obey moral commandments. Marriage, however, is a matter of civil authority.

XXVI. Of the Unworthiness of the Ministers, which hinders not the effect of the Sacraments.
Although in the visible Church the evil be ever mingled with the good, and sometimes the evil have chief authority in the Ministration of the Word and Sacraments, yet forasmuch as they do not the same in their own name, but in Christ's, and do minister by his commission and authority, we may use their Ministry, both in hearing the Word of God, and in receiving the Sacraments. Neither is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken away by their wickedness, nor the grace of God's gifts diminished from such as by faith, and rightly, do receive the Sacraments ministered unto them; which be effectual, because of Christ's institution and promise, although they be ministered by evil men.

Even if you thought V. Gene Robinson was the anti-Christ, it wouldn't matter. Besides, the antichrist probably lives in a little corner of your heart. Mine, too.

XXXIV. Of the Traditions of the Church.
It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one, or utterly like; for at all times they have been divers, and may be changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and men's manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's Word. Whosoever, through his private judgment, willingly and purposely, doth openly break the Traditions and Ceremonies of the Church, which be not repugnant to the Word of God, and be ordained and approved by common authority, ought to be rebuked openly, (that others may fear to do the like,) as he that offendeth against the common order of the Church, and hurteth the authority of the Magistrate, and woundeth the consciences of the weak brethren.

Every particular or national Church hath authority to ordain, change, and abolish, Ceremonies or Rites of the Church ordained only by man's authority, so that all things be done to edifying.

God's Word, however, is fairly supple. The view, however, is that breaking traditions is bad because it offends order; hurts the state; and makes the weak in faith less faithful. This is more credible and useful than a theological argument. Theological arguments do not lend themselves to rational discussion, I suspect, because heaven and hell are at stake.

Palestinian Human Shield

Palestinian boy said used as human shield. Arik Ascherman is the director of Rabbis for Human Rights.

Lots of bloggers are writing about abortion and choice. My heathen girlfriend, who is well-read if allergic regarding politics, remarked that she'd quickly become radicalized if her reproductive choices were limited. My step mother, who is director of a regional ACLU office, invited her to the march this week-end [note - my step mother and I do have disagreements - about religion]. "You can donate money to help someone else go, if you can't yourself." Jane was going away so she couldn't.

Being pro-choice is a matter of public policy - not actually about private morality. I'm in solid agreement with conservatives that this culture doesn't like children. But I think of abortion as a symptom rather than a cause.

More importantly, women who do insist on terminating a prenancy should not have their own lives put at risk. These might be two evil choices [the mother or the child] - and policy makes a bet regarding which is less evil. Unfortunately, we are in a culture where spending money on children is less important than spending money on weapons. Let us use our public purse for comprehensive pre- and antenatal care and we'd see a decline in the number of terminated pregnancies.

I think that technological advances, however, will make most surgical terminations irrelevant. I firmly believe that the FDA must be depoliticized and above the culture war and approve any technology that is useful and medically safe.

As far as Kerry goes, if he really believes in the separation of Church and State, and wants to take communion, he should become an Anglican. He can follow his duties as a leader who has responsibility to the country AND he can follow his conscience. The Episcopal church respects that sometimes politicians make imperfect choices, and would rather transform the soul rather than refuse a gift.

Normally I wouldn't suggest conversion. I would suggest conversion only if the Roman Catholic church politicizes the sacraments.

Anglican News and Expert Commentary

I was recognized in bOINGbOING the other day! Whee!

Friday, April 23, 2004 By Jim Naughton [ENS]

Episcopal bishops from 30 dioceses have formed a coalition to work on behalf of public policies that benefit the nation’s poor. Washington Bishop John Chane said the group decided to focus on issues of economic justice, including improving the quality of public schools, providing health care for uninsured Americans, and increasing the availability of low income housing.

Bishop Suffragan Mark Andrus of Alabama, is spearheading the effort to write a brief theology statement for the group. Chane said that Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, who did not attend the meetings but passed by the meeting room several times, said he had never seen bishops having so much fun.

“I said we are dealing with a common issue,” Chane said. “There is nothing that divides us here.”

While these good bishops do the Lord's work, Lord Carey, the former archbishop said "we are in danger" because the ordination of Vicki Robinson has torn the church. Punishments for the bishops who supported the ordination of Robinson were proposed. I don't know how they would follow through.

There are two churches. One is the first: bishops fighting for policies that benefit the poor - and there is a clear biblical mandate for this. Five hundred years ago, the second church would have burnt those same people at the stake.

The Anglican Communion's suggestions for reorienting the church were extreme and unreasonable. They essentially assert to the other side that, "you're wrong, so just go and leave us the house while you're at it."

But one didn't need to support homosexuality to support the ordination. One could merely say that the system of electing a bishop was properly followed. It did not need to be an approval or a disapproval of sexual practice.

Reading through other articles in the Anglican Communion Institute website, I was struck by what is missing: a credible response to the immense social changes that have engulfed the west over the last 100 years. I didn't have the sense they had read Wendell Berry, Christopher Lasch, or a any variety of thoughtful critics of progressivism. It lacked attention to nuance and built the liberal church with straw.

I agree with the relgious right, generally, about the issues around our culture's moral fabric. Yet I still don't understand how I'm apostate for considering homosexual acts intrinsically neutral [what if you are a gay man, married to a woman, and fantasize about a male partner? Will you go to hell for the fantasy, or for disrespecting your wife? Or were you made in such a fashion that you were always going to hell? And that's Calvinism...].