Salt

England

Greetings from England.  I'm taking a much needed vacation for a few days, but I did not expect the exchange rate to be so... colonial.  I think it's supposed to increase investment in the US, but it's a big pain in the ass to pay $15 dollars for a piece of bread, a slice of ham and a tepid, overcooked coffee.  Only for a warm scone would I spend that kind of dough.

Actually, I'm doing some work.  First, I'm strengthening the spine of the ecclesial liberals around here.   I'm also giving every one of them a copy of The Purpose Driven Church.  We're reading it as a vestry.  They have a lot of questions.

But I really just spent a lot of money to take on the Leicester Conference on Leadership, Authority and Organization sponsored by the Tavistock Institute, the premier group relations think-tank in the world.   My friend who I'm staying with remarked, 'I think Rowan could have benefitted from that course.'  So for all my English readers, I'm in town.

Interesting article by Fr. Danforth yesterday in the NYT.   'As a senator, I worried every day about the size of the federal deficit. I did not spend a single minute worrying about the effect of gays on the institution of marriage. Today it seems to be the other way around.' 

PRAY FOR ZIMBABWE.

And hi to Jane who is taking care of my cat.  And my car.  You are such a babe.

Good friday

Busy this week.  Had an ecumenical good friday service with pastors from every denomination at my old-fashioned Episcopal church.  They didn't seem to care about my politics.  A lot of people came, and there was even a nice write up.  Unfortunately, the building was stone cold.

One pastor couldn't show up last minute.  It gave me an opportunity to give an impromptu sermon ["You're a formidable pinch-hitter one person said" - I needed that as I was a bit nervous] where I said that the money would go to the ecumenical food pantry.  And to the fuel bill.  I added that I probably should have returned the many phone calls from the oil company.    As I preached on the Word "Into your Hands I commend My Spirit" I spoke how Jesus' spirit was foundationally different than the spirit of religion.  It could not be based upon punishment, fiat, resentment, or vengeance, but fully on gratitude, blessing and joy.   

My hero for the day:

Rabbi Arik Ascherman:

""The way to be pro-Israel is to work for a better Israel, and the real Zionism is to work for an Israel that is not only physically strong but morally strong," he said. "There is a false equation that if you voice any criticism of Israel you are delegitimizing Israel at some level. I believe the opposite."

"In 1998, the government was demolishing one or two Palestinian homes each day," he said. "But then the government changed its policy as a direct result of the work we had done." That success started to crumble with the onset of the second intifada in the fall of 2000, and house demolitions surged again."

Blessings to you.  I'll post my easter sermon sometime on Monday.

Getting Wax out of the Carpet

an FYI
Use a warm iron and brown (parcel) paper or paper towels. Heat the iron on its lowest setting, unplug and allow to cool, then cover the wax with the paper and iron over it briefly. The wax should melt a little and transfer to the paper like a grease spot.

important for parish priests to know.

Private Johnson Beharry

A good story.  There's always time to praise courage.

Pte Beharry, "assessed that his best course of action to save the lives of his crew was to push through, out of the ambush. He drove his Warrior directly through the barricade, not knowing if there were mines or improvised explosive devices placed there to destroy his vehicle. By doing this he was able to lead the remaining five Warriors behind him towards safety."

Another RPG hit the Warrior. "The flames and force of the blast passed directly over him, down the driver's tunnel, further wounding the semi-conscious gunner in the turret."

Pte Beharry was "forced to drive the vehicle along the rest of the ambushed route, some 1,500 metres, with his hatch opened up and his head exposed to enemy fire, all the time with no communications with any other vehicle."

A 7.62mm bullet penetrated his helmet and remained lodged on its inner surface.

Pte Beharry then climbed on to the turret of the burning vehicle and, "seemingly oblivious to the incoming enemy small arms fire, manhandled his wounded platoon commander out of the turret, off the vehicle and to the safety of a nearby Warrior".

Update

Busy for Lent.  I gave up Meat and Cheese, with some success.  I bought some wild salmon for this evening. 

Since I'm of Dutch extraction, and an Anglican, I resist much of the St. Patrick's day celebration, although I will, surely, go out and quaff a chocolate stout this evening.  That said, I know a fair number of Irish drinking songs by heart, from the days my father was a folkie.  When I was ten, I would sing, very loudly, that Whiskey was the life of Man. 

I have heard that the bishops met and published a document.  I read the document.  It seemed like a nice document.  So, for a while, a moratoria on bishops.  Commendable.   

I promise a bit more later.  There is trouble in my own parish, of a much more serious sort.  Let me just say, that my organist wants to have the children sing a little tune about bunnies on Easter. 

Apparently,  SALMA Hayek will is preparing for a role as an overweight sexually obsessed serial killer in Lonely Hearts.   The commentator said, "she isn't concerned about looking hideous."  Which is why she is so cool.  Not that it's possible.

Marriage Prospects

Two things I've been thinking:

Some states will legalize gay marriage.  Churches, including liberal ones, may refuse to bless them, as agents of the state, obeying their own canon law.  If a liberal priest decided to choose canon law and refuse to marry a faithful, church attending couple, they could be disobeying state law.  Then churches could lose their ability to marry couples as agents of the state, for they would be disobeying state law.  The question is would churches have the right to discriminate against their own members?

Second, Gay Christians may decide that they do not need established church bodies to bless couples.  They will instead, independently, create liturgies, use blessings from the BCP and other sources, call upon Jesus Christ and the Holy spirit for their presence, and enjoy the ceremony they crave.  They may rent out churches, or set up alternate altars, and engage in worship without any formal recognition from established institutions, while celebrating in a fashion identical to them.  There will become networks of Gay Christians doing this semi-publicly, without formal approval.    These networks may operate within all Christian churches.  A few clerics will participate in both established churches and in these cells of worship.

Dan Rather, Martha Stewart and Anyone Else I've Been Missing

Dan Rather signs off.   I think he was an earnest, sincere and odd reporter who stayed on a bit too long [its ok to retire and go and play golf and give speeches at fundrasing events and become active in your local church]. 

I never watched CBS.  I liked Peter Jennings better.  And to be honest, I rarely watched the news at all.   When Dan Rather became news anchor, the family would watch some comedy, waiting until McNeill-Lehrer.   And compared to the Swift Boat Veterans, and other more recent scandals of Journalist-for-hire republicans, his last mistake was trivial.  Its still clear to me that in war time, Kerry was a hero and Bush was a coward.  Kerry sought to earn his class; Bush exploited his. 

Wonkette offered a live broadcast:  " 6:48: Michael Jackson, cyanide candy, and the Pope each get a sentence. I love this country's media."

After my father retired, it was Star Trek, the Next Generation. 

Martha Stewart:  handled prison with some panache.  So, what does this mean for Worldcom?   One writer to the WSJ notes when CEOS start to swagger, investors should walk the other way.

O'Grady, who is my least favorite commentator, says today that the American Left directs the economies of Latin America.  I think that she is taking a swipe at USAID , confusing them with leftists.   On one hand, she is right about our condescending policies - but then she antagonizes those who oppose most vocally American condescension.     She misrepresents leftists: stating that they want income "equality."  Actually, they suggest land reform, and end to corruption, an opening of  political parties, and an end to the murder of Indians.   She implicitly becomes an apologist for our friends who end up doing really nasty things.   I wonder if she resents President Oscar Berger, in his attempt to end the glory days when the military could kill whoever it pleased. 

Now, if you want to really see who's telling the IMF where to stuff it, look to Argentina, which is doing much better now that its going its own way. 

Theological Notes

Pontificator's reply to my article on sexuality had more than 100 comments.  It was a thoughtful and magnanimous critique of my understanding of sexuality.  I have agreed, however, not to talk about sex, so I will refrain from mentioning sex itself.   Instead, a few theological notes [another attempt at a prolegomena].

Pontificator says that I have discarded the Christian tradition, finding it has little to teach us about sexuality.  His point is too strong.  I think that historic Christianity, the church fathers, and Paul and Jesus have seeded a very unusual way of relating to people and institutions, both inside and outside the institution of marriage.   Through the sacraments, through scripture, and through our church, the virtues offered by the church catholic have been good anchors for our love and freedom in Christ.    I affirm that truth is one; and I affirm that the generals of catholic christianity are correct; the particulars are worked out in the life of the church. 

The view towards the ancients is a bias, not a truth, just as the view towards the future is a bias as well.  The liberal orthodox practice is one of critical engagement, not blind acceptance. 

Liberals assume that there has been a severe rupture bewteen our contemporary culture and the culture assumed in scripture.    God has given us tools to handle these changes - but they are tools that are rational and reasonable [Romans 12:1-2], human reflections of the divine, not divine laws.   These changes have been caused by the growth of capitalism, abetted by technology, which has liberated desire in a multiplicity of forms.   Liberals and conservatives can agree that actions have consequences.  But actions in this age have different consequences than before. 

Freedom for the Christian has never been a liberation of desire [as the epicureans or hedonists], nor a liberation from desire [as the buddhists or gnostics do].  Freedom has meant the integration of desire in a way that serves the church and God.   This is exemplified by Paul's view of heterosexual marriage, food sacrificed to idols and his emphasis upon mutual submission.   

Liberals draw limits by affirming that promises should be kept [otherwise, even the structure of language is undermined and talk and practice become impossible], and that property should be shared in such a way that all Israel [and the church] may enjoy the fruits and abundance of God's creation. 

I also think that important acts - of any sort - communicate a variety of meanings.  They do not, and cannot, communicate a single meaning.    Thus, some acts communicate hostility and greed in one context; they communicate love and joy in another.

The catholic tradition exists, in part, to protect the souls of children and women in a world that can be very hostile toward the weak, the marginalized, and the principled. 

Obedience to the Word of God may require contradicting the tradition used to interpret it.

The risks ECUSA takes can only be made with the Grace of God.  Otherwise, it may be condemned.

Some Christians may have always believed ideas x,y and z, about the structure of the world; such beliefs may be no different than what a secularist, a pagan, or a muslim believes.    But things x, y, and z may not be distinctive, or necessary, for Christianity to be true.

Baptized believers are called to assume the best intentions of each another.

 

The Gates

My friend Claude and I went to the Gates the other day.  From a distance it was much more powerful than under them.  A friend of mine remarked that they looked a little like they were somebody's laundry.  Somebody who really liked orange.

I said that it was a HOLY color.  It did pose a nice contrast against a wintry central park.  I'll put one up a day.

Here's your daily dose of sex from your salty vicar.  The natural law theory doesn't justify marriage as it does heterosexual sex.  Affirming physical complementarity merely affirms that serial monogamy by heterosexuals could be more justified than a lifelong relationship between same sex couples - not the idea that a life long relationship has any intrinsic worth.   They seem to say that a relationship between any man and any woman is better than any man an any man, rather than acknowledge the possibility that persons are even more than their genders.

And as of now, I'm giving up talking about sex for lent.

Tough day

Tough day yesterday. 

A child died of Leukemia.  He was friends with a child in my parish who survived her battle.
Spoke with a man who's father just died; his son had been murdered four months earlier.
At the bar a friend introduced me to her sister, a woman who is dying of a brain tumor. 

That's enough for a day, I think.