A change to Fiat Lux, with apologies

Sorry to interrupt your Monday Funnies but I need to explain a necessary change to this blog. Lately I've had a flurry of spam comments left underneath various postings on this site. I have deleted all of them. But I am now adding the setting that all comments must be approved by me before posting. I see no other alternative. It is a sad fact of our internet life that as this blog has risen in popularity it is also now a target for spammers.

And I would again implore you, dear readers, to post your comments using your real name. I will not respond to anonymous comments but welcome honest engagement in open dialogue.

Let me return you to your Monday Funnies...

Monday Funnies

What would Monday be without The Funnies? Here's are...

The Top 24 Funniest Signs in America

24. In a Los Angeles dance hall: "Good clean dancing every night but Sunday."

23. In a Florida maternity ward: "No children allowed."

22. In a New York medical building: "Mental Health Prevention Center"

21. On a New York convalescent home: "For the sick and tired of the Episcopal Church."

20. On a Maine shop: "Our motto is to give our customers the lowest possible prices and workmanship."

19. At a number of military bases: "Restricted to unauthorized personnel."

18. On a shopping mall marquee: "Archery Tournament -- Ears pierced"

17. Outside a country shop: "We buy junk and sell antiques."

16. In the window of an Oregon store: "Why go elsewhere and be cheated when you can come here?"

15. In a Maine restaurant: "Open 7 days a week and weekends."

14. In a Pennsylvania cemetery: "Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves."

13. On a Tennessee highway: "When this sign is under water, this road is impassable."

12. In a New York drugstore: "We dispense with accuracy."

11. In the offices of a loan company: "Ask about our plans for owning your home."

10. On a radiator repair garage: "Best place to take a leak."

9. At a Santa Fe gas station: "We will sell gasoline to anyone in a glass container."

8. In a New York restaurant: "Customers who consider our waitresses uncivil ought to see the manager."

7. On the wall of a Baltimore estate: "Trespassers will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. -- Sisters of

Mercy"

6. In a clothing store: "Wonderful bargains for men with 16 and 17 necks."

5. A parking sign in front of a Boston meditation center: "Visualize Being Towed."

4. On a display of "I love you only" Valentine cards: "Now available in multi-packs."

3. In the window of a Kentucky appliance store: "Don't kill your wife. Let our washing machine do the dirty work."

2. In a Tacoma, Washington men's clothing store: "15 men's wool suits, $10. They won't last an hour!"

1. On a long-established New Mexico dry cleaners: "38 years on the same spot."

Update on my whereabouts, and a gem for your day

Friends,

I am not quite ready to re-enter the blogosphere (though obviously I am right now). To update you on my whereabouts: I am in Northern California and I've been with my mother, sister and nephew, and I've seen a handful of friends. My family continues to work through health issues, and I feel good to be here. I will be here are a few more days, and will be back regularly in this space next week.

In the meantime, I came across this the other day from Barbara Crafton, based on one of the Daily Office readings. I think this is good and thought-provoking, and so I reprint it here:

EMBARRASSING MOMENTS IN SCRIPTURE

At morning prayer, a fragment of the gospel according to Matthew that we don't encounter on Sundays: the hardly-ever-read story of how Jesus, apparently in arrears on his temple tax, sends Peter to the sea to catch a fish with a coin in just the right denomination in its mouth.

A perfectly charming tale, but we don't read it. Why? I suppose it's because it's a little embarrassing -- too folkloric, too magical, too much like encouraging people not to pay their taxes, or even to play the lottery as a means of making ends meet.

There are other stories like that, stories from the BIble we usually don't read in church. Back in the day, a child could count on a smirk or two during the annual reading of the one about Baalam's ass, gone forever from our Sunday mornings since the 1979 prayer book took them over. I, for one, miss it, although it's not like there aren't still plenty of talking asses.

And then there's the one in which Jesus, peeved because a fig tree does not bear figs out of season -- duh -- curses it, causing the tree to wither and die. We do still read that one on a Sunday here and there, and it's challenging to preach on -- it's always hard to preach on Jesus when he doesn't make much sense. Times like that are when we must all remember that these ancient books were written and copied by ordinary people, and that the transmission of the ancient words has made some interesting detours along the way from them to us. We can't hold Jesus responsible for everything we read about him. Reading the Bible can be an immediate and soul-satisfying comfort, just the face value of the old words at this very moment speaking to the heart in need of them at this very moment. But it is also a more considered thing, a subtle and demanding art, which is why it's so good to do it in company with others and to learn as much as possible about it, including how it came to be the way it is.

There is a spirit abroad among us these days which demands that everything be simple. It is a spirit suspicious of learning and of serious thought, a spirit that equates the pursuit of excellence with elitism and snobbery. It asserts that leadership is nothing more than representation of the majorit opinion, that our leaders need to be just like us, nothing more, when the truth is that leaders need to lead, and leadership often requires something extraordinary. This spirit maintains that the equality that exists among human beings in the sight of a loving God means that nobody really needs to learn anything. It contents itself with superficiality. It confuses the God who really does accept me just as I am with one who doesn't want me to grow and change. Yes, God loves me as I am. But God also wants me to be all I can be. Which is more than I am right now.

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Here are the three Bible stories I mention above.

Jesus and the fish with the coin in its mouth

After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?" "Yes, he does," he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?" "From others," Peter answered. "Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him. "But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."
-- Matthew 17:24-27

Balaam and his talking ass

And the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. And when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he struck her again. Then the angel of the LORD went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" And Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you." And the donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?" And he said, "No." Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live."
--- Numbers 22:22-33


Jesus and the fig tree

Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
--Matthew 21:18-22 (a slightly longer version of the story appears
in Mark 11)

The Almost-Daily eMo from the Geranium Farm Copyright © 2001-2009 Barbara Crafton - all rights reserved

Time away for a time

Dear Friends,

I much enjoy writing this blog, and finding the photos and artwork that fits; it is part of my spiritual discipline (even the political stuff), and it gives me pleasure to know when others are reading this. Lately, though, life at St. Paul's has been unusually intense, and I am not giving this space what I'd like to give it.

I will be heading out to see my mother and sister and nephew later this week. I am in need of a breather as I tend to my family and catch my breath a little. So consider this a sabbath from the blog for a bit. Please check back in a few days when we pick this up again. And thank you for keeping my family in your prayers. See you here soon.

Blessings to all,

Jim

The Monday Funnies

I don't know about you, but I could use a few dumb jokes today, especially at the expense of organized, and disorganized, religion. So, please, enjoy your Monday...

* * *

A missionary comes to a remote village in Africa and finds that all the men there had more than one wife. Some of them had even four or five.

The missionary addresses the men and says, "You are violating a law of God. Man can only have one wife, so you must go and tell all the women, except for one, that they can no longer consider you their husbands and live here."

The men consult among themselves for a while, then the village Chief says. "We'll wait here. YOU go and tell them."

* * *

The devout cowboy lost his favorite Bible while he was mending fences out on the range. Three weeks later, a cow walked up to him carrying the Bible in its mouth!

The cowboy couldn't believe his eyes. He took the precious book out of the cow's mouth, raised his eyes heavenward and exclaimed, "It's a miracle!"

"Not really," said the cow. "Your name is written inside the cover."

* * *

My little niece, Katy, went with a neighbor girl to church for First Communion practice. The pastor has the children cup their hands, and when he gives them the "Host," in this case, a piece of bread, he says, "God be with you."

Apparently this made quite an impression on my niece. She came home and told my sister to cup her hands and bend down. Katy took a piece of bread from her sandwich, placed it in her mother's hands, and whispered, in her most angelic voice, "God will get you."

Blogs I like

This morning I am feeling out of words -- perhaps I need a sabbath from the blog for a bit. So I want to tell you about a few blogs I really like. There is a whole string of them on the left side of this page. But here are three I am plugging:

Lori K's Cafe -- Yep, wife Lori's food blog. Check out her cooking tips, everything from the difference between fried and baked bacon to drying parsley. Even if you don't cook, it's good fun and probably will make you hungry. Find her blog by clicking HERE.

Midlife Bat Mitzvah -- My long-time friend Ilana Debare, a former reporter and columnist with The San Francisco Chronicle, has started a blog about her journey as adult Bat Mitzvah (the ceremony to take place in 2011). What else is a middle-aged former journalist to do? Ilana has a great wit and a genuine discerning heart; travel along with her by clicking HERE.

Pickup truck bishop -- Speaking of journeys, Dan Edwards, the Episcopal Bishop of Nevada, writes a wonderful blog about his travels around his state in his pickup truck (which is patched together with duct tape). He has a dry wit, a holy presence and a cowboy hat. Follow him by clicking HERE.

Sacred places, sacred moments

I spent Thursday at a diocesan monthly meeting for clergy new to the Diocese of Virginia, along with Associate Rector Ann Willms. The roads were slick with rain, but we made it to-and-fro Fredericksburg.

Our conversation at the meeting ranged over a lot of landscape, from challenges in our parishes to our leadership styles. But it was not all shop-talk about programs and church dynamics.

We also prayed together, and talked about the sacred times and places, moments of joy and pain, we are called to share with our people. There was much wisdom and considerable compassion in the room, and that made the room a sacred place.

I came across this photo on the internet Thursday evening. It was taken a few hours earlier in Yosemite near Half Dome. Seems it was rainy there, too. I share it with you simply because it feels sacred to me.

Photo by Nick Ahlgrim

What we need is here

It's been kind of rainy and dreary the past few days. We had a power outage Wednesday at our house on a mountainside. Our neighbors tell us to get used to it.

Autumn is definitely in its final throes; the trees around us are more barren than leafed, summer now a memory. There is one major benefit to the trees losing foliage; we can now see the Ragged Mountains a few miles away, and they are still a rich quilt of ambers.

One thing I miss this time of year about the West is the Pacific Flyway. We used to live under it. The geese, ducks, and other migratory birds fly south down the Central Valley in massive winged formations. Sometimes, when it is overcast, we can hear the birds squawking above clouds as they fly over our house. The birds fly day and night, and there were nights when the dog would wake up and bark at the noisy birds overhead.

I hope this day, wherever you are, you will pause, maybe look up in the sky, or just listen to the sounds of autumn around you. Here is an offering for your day from our friend Karen in Tennessee:

The Wild Geese

by Wendell Berry

Horseback on Sunday morning,
harvest over, we taste persimmon
and wild grape, sharp sweet
of summer's end. In time's maze
over the fall fields, we name names
that went west from here, names
that rest on graves. We open
a persimmon seed to find the tree
that stands in promise,
pale, in the seed's marrow.
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear,
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye
clear. What we need is here.

Photo of the Pacific Flyway by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Thanks to our veterans

Today we give . . .

Thanks to our veterans for all you have done, and for the freedom that you have protected.

Gratitude to their families, wherever and how long you serve.

Prayers to those who serve are far from our shores, and those who are near.

And may those who wait, those who suffer, and those who bind up the wounds find strength, courage and rest at the last.

To our veterans: Blessings on your day.

Join us tonight for Community Night

Wednesday Evening Prayer

Each Wednesday evening at 5:30 pm we gather in the chapel for evening prayer. On the first Wednesday of every month we have a Taize service of music, silence, readings and prayers. On the other Wednesday evenings we have prayers, music, readings and a homily from a member of the congregation. After the service, we share dinner in the Parish Hall. All are welcome! Here is a list of up-coming Wednesdays:

Nov. 11 John Frazee

Nov. 18 Hannah Tribble

Nov. 25 Thanksgiving Eve Service & Dinner

Dec. 2 Taize

Dec. 9 Matthew Lukens

Dec. 16 Kristen Suokko

Moving beyond human precepts

Now and then I run across something in the Daily Office readings that I have never quite focused on before. For the uninitiated in Episcopalspeak, the Daily Office gives us biblical readings from Old and New Testaments assigned for each day running on a two-year cycle.

We are nearing the end of Year One (the new church year begins the first Sunday of Advent, Nov. 29, when Year Two will begin).

So it was that on Monday I came across a tidbit in the Gospel of Matthew that I had seen before, but which now jumped off the page to me. The passage for the day, Matthew 15: 1-20, is a short lecture from Jesus about how religious leaders give lip service to the religious law (Torah) but do not honor it with their actions.

He ends up with the familiar statement that it is what is in your heart that leads to good or bad actions.

But that is not what intrigued me. What caught my attention Monday was Jesus quoting from Isaiah 29: 13. Jesus does not quote Isaiah precisely, but tweaks the Isaiah passage a bit. Here is how it comes out with Jesus:

“The people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.”

Teaching human precepts as doctrines.

That led me to crack open the commentaries on this passage. What I learned is that Jesus was wading into the controversy of the korban, a First Century Jewish practice of declaring something to be sacred, or "clean," when, in fact, it really isn’t. Jesus criticized the religious leaders for looking for loopholes in Torah by embracing human practices and declaring them clean when, in fact, they are merely cultural customs. Let us not forget that in this, like so much else, Jesus is Jewish and is primarily concerned with showing others how to be better Jews.

As I said, Jesus tweaked Isaiah a bit. The Isaiah passage is focused on worship practices. Jesus moves beyond worship and into life practices. He puts it squarely: how much of what we justify in life as central to religious doctrine is really cultural practice dressed up as sacred?

And that led me to wondering how much korban we do as Christians in the theological debates that so captivate us now. How often do we declare that one of our cherished cultural practices is based on “sacred” doctrine when, in fact, it is really only cultural?

This is a touchy topic, and can cut in several directions.

A century-and-a-half ago, white Americans declared that slavery was sacred, and they found much in religious doctrine to support their position. The Bible is certainly full of justifications for slavery. Yet who among us now would make the claim that slavery is justifiable based on Christian doctrine?

Did the doctrine change or did the culture? Or was the doctrine never really in support of slavery, but those who supported slavery forced the doctrine to support it?

Nothing is more culturally based than marriage customs. That has been true since the dawn of humanity, and is certainly true now. Every society and every religion has marriage rites, and rules governing who may be married to whom. The Bible reflects several forms of marriage, including polygamy. When it comes to marriage, the Bible oozes with the culture of the people who wrote it.

But what about marriage is based on doctrine?

I sincerely believe that God blesses loving relationships, and that two people can be bound together in spirit and flesh in life-long committed relationships. I believe that is at the heart of the gospel, and that St. Paul gives us a foundation of “faith, hope, and charity” that can guide us in all human relationships, including marriage.

Yet we also add layers of culture – human “precepts” – to our marriage customs. Our wedding ceremony in the Episcopal Church is based on the Book of Common Prayer; weddings in our church look a certain way, reflecting our European (English) roots. We've added a few extras in recent years, like "unity" candles. Go to Mexico or India or China, and you will see very different ways of celebrating weddings, all wonderful, and all grounded deeply in their cultures.

This passage from Matthew, if taken seriously, poses tough questions for conservatives and liberals alike on the topic of marriage.

Conservatives rightly warn that we should beware of bending our religious doctrine to changes in our culture. Yet how much of that doctrine is grounded in a cultural practice? How much of their opposition to gay marriage is really based on a cultural bias against homosexuality? Do recent votes, like in Maine, against gay marriage prove that gay marriage is wrong, or only that American culture is still much biased against gay marriage?

Recently, a wing of our church has taken to calling itself “orthodox” because it is following traditional teachings on marriage. Yet that begs the question: Are these traditional teachings “orthodox,” or merely human precepts in the guise of orthodoxy?

Liberals warn that the culture is changing, and the church needs to change with it lest it become meaningless to the people it is meant to serve. Yet does the gospel change when the culture changes? Are liberals responding merely to new human precepts? Are there timeless foundations to the gospel that can guide us beyond the boundaries of culture as it changes?

It seems to me that there are. When we discuss the issue of marriage, straight and gay, we ought to be discussing it in the context those timeless gospel values of faith, hope and charity.

True orthodoxy might just get us out of this predicament.

As I understand it, orthodoxy in a Christian context is grounded in the creeds: statements of faith about the triune nature of God and the saving acts of Jesus Christ (note: marriage is not mentioned). Resurrection is central to the creeds, and resurrection knows no cultural boundaries because resurrection comes only by the grace of God through Christ. Resurrection and salvation ought to be our guide in conversations about marriage, whether you are liberal or conservative – and maybe then our conversation might move beyond “human precepts.”

The Monday Funnies

We have another entry to the Catholic-Anglican mess-fest cartoon contest.

Once finished with that, you will find below a video tutorial on how to worship like a Pentecostal.

Hope you enjoy your Monday, all in good fun...

Giving everything you have

Today's sermon is based on Mark 12:38-44

"Beware of scribes who like to walk around in long robes."

I am not so sure I like the sound of that in the gospel today.

So, I’d like to tell you about a friend of mine. Her name is Caryl, and she celebrated her 90th birthday last night.

Caryl is not poor, but she is certainly not rich. She lives modestly, and she enjoys going to baseball games with her many friends. She has one of the greatest laughs you will ever hear and always has time to talk. She is someone you want to be around.

Caryl is one of the mainstays of the altar guild in hr church. Once or twice a month, she takes fresh baked pies to new members of the church. She also volunteers at a food closet in the community.

My friend Caryl leads a life of giving. Everything about her is about giving.

There are many Caryls here in this parish. They are people who give of themselves freely and fully, working on our altar guild, coaching our acolytes, working in the kitchen or arranging flowers, ushering, serving at communion, visiting people in hospitals, cooking dinner at the Salvation Army for homeless people, or leading discussion groups for university students who are trying to figure out life beyond their studies.

And the list Caryls and Bobs and Jeans and Bills is much, much longer than that.
The story in the gospel today is about one of these people, a woman who gives two copper pennies, and gives everything she has.

I am always struck by how people with so very much react to this story – you mean she gives everything?

Yes, everything.

But how will she survive?

But that is not the question Jesus would have us ask.

Jesus gives us this story for a reason: to show us that someone who outwardly has very little can give abundantly, and it will always be enough.

The poor woman gives knowing that there will be two more copper coins coming her way, and more after that. She trusts that God gives her everything she needs because it is all really God’s anyway.

Like my friend Caryl, and all of the Caryls in this world, her life is richer by her giving. There is freedom in her giving, freedom to stop worrying, to stop being anxious, and freedom to live life fully.

By her giving, she is fully present to everyone and everything around her. By her giving, she is a full participant in God’s miracle of creation, in God’s miracle of life.

This morning, I would like to encourage you to give everything you have to life itself. Everything.

And by doing so, I’d like to encourage you to think about how you can live your life as fully and completely as God would have you live.

What would that look like for you if you really lived fully? What do you have to give, and what do you need to give up, to lead such a life? What holds you back? Maybe you already are living this way – you are a Caryl – so what wisdom do you have for the rest of us? Give us that.

This kind of giving truly needs to start in prayer. Can you find a place this week to sit somewhere quietly and ask God to point you in a direction?

Listen for the answer. It might come loudly, or it might come as the small still voice that is inside you. The answer may take time to unfold, and it may not come immediately. Or it might be so obvious you don’t notice for a time.

But it will come.

And then act by giving everything of yourself to this project of life on earth.

Give abundantly of yourself in all you do, in your home, in the workplace, at school, to everyone you meet, and in everything you do. Be wealthy in your giving.

When you fall short, start over. Be generous to yourself, as you would have others be generous to you. Those who give sometimes have a hard time receiving; be gracious in receiving the gifts that come your way. We are never too poor to give, and never too rich to receive.

And then I’d like to invite you to give generously to the mission of St. Paul’s. Even if you give only 10 percent of yourself to this church, it will be enough.

I don’t think you should give merely because this institution needs to stay open as an institution.

I hope you might give because the mission of this church is important to your life, and this church lifts lives including your own.

I think it important that you know where the money goes, because the money follows the mission of healing, hope and redemption that this faith community serves.

Yet I strongly resist preaching a sermon about the budget, because none of this is really about numbers on a page.

It is about the mission.

The cost of our mission is about $900,000 a year. Seventy-five cents out of every dollar we spend comes directly from you as contributions.

Here are a few facts about how we spend our dollars on our mission: We will give $55,000 this year to organizations that are especially skilled in bringing our ministry beyond our walls to those in the greatest need in our community.

A hard working committee led by Marsha Trimble and Doug Little recently looked in detail at each of these organizations, and they will be speaking about their work after the 10 am service in the chapel.

We are also committed to our ministry with the University of Virginia community, and we will spend at least $50,000 on the costs related to that ministry this year, probably more depending how you add it up.

We are also hugely committed to our children and teenagers, and the cost of that ministry exceeds what we spend on university ministry.

Our participation in the mission and ministry of the wider Episcopal Church costs $67,000, which we give to the Diocese of Virginia, which in turn uses those dollars not just for a staff in Richmond but for work in Sudan and Haiti.

And perhaps largest of all is our commitment to the pastoral care of this congregation. People come here with many needs; they are young, old, rich and poor. Pain and hurt make no distinctions, and neither do we. Without our dedicated clergy and lay staff, the care of this congregation would be greatly diminished if not impossible.

All of these ministries are essential to our mission as the people of God in this time and place; as people called to be the hands and feet of Christ’s healing and hope in the world, and to each other. All of this happens only because there are people named Caryl, and people named Bill and Jean, Buck and Wayne – and people like you. AMEN.

The people of the church speak: Our priority ought to be reaching youth and young adults

You may recall a few months ago we were encouraged to complete an on-line survey on what we think the priorities of the Episcopal Church ought to be. Nearly 6,700 people responded, and the top priority is: "reaching youth and young adults." Next came "evangelism/proclaiming the good news of Christ," which I think is related.

You can read an Episcopal News Service report on the survey, which has a link to a download of the full results. The ENS report can be found by clicking HERE. I intend to read the results closely and comment further here in the coming days.

It is my hope that in the coming months we will find ways to strengthen our already strong youth and young adult programs at St. Paul's, and broaden our reach so that we can attract new people. Stephanie Bolton, our chair of Newcomers ministries, our associate rector, Ann Willms, and Tony Potter are working to develop a new system for attracting and keeping new members. If you'd like to be a part of that effort, please contact me.

Uganda and the Anglican Communion's moment of truth

Uganda is among the largest, if not the largest, province of the Anglican Communion. There are 8.7 million Ugandans who consider themselves Anglican, roughly four times the size of the Episcopal Church in the United States.

The government of Uganda is considering legislation that would make homosexuality punishable by death, and make it a crime to assist gay, bisexual and transgendered people in any way.

At risk are not only people in the LGBT community, but those providing care and counseling to people infected by HIV/AIDS.

So far the Anglican Communion has been strangely silent. Whatever our arguments over gay marriage and the full inclusion of all people may be, certainly we can agree that this proposed law is barbaric and as far from teachings and life of Jesus Christ as it possibly could be. Even the Lambeth Conference with its resolutions against the ordination of gays nonetheless acknowledges the human rights of gay people.

We have heard from Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in recent days on the issue of global warming, and let's applaud him for that. But where is he on this? Where are all of our bishops? Where is the Anglican Church of Uganda? All of the arguments over the Roman Catholic Church relationship with the Anglican Communion are but a sideshow compared to this moment of truth.

A recent article from the UK religious journal Ekklesia provides a few details:

The Anglican Communion and its leaders have reached a critical moment of judgement in its attitude to homosexuality. It is now 23 days since the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 was tabled by David Bahati, the MP for Ndorwa West in Uganda, but the leaders of the Communion have remained silent. The only Anglican groups to have responded are those working for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Let us speculate on two possible reasons for the silence. The Communion leaders might say we are focused on bigger issues – poverty, climate change, conflict zones, for example. They might say that homosexuality and a Bill proposed in Uganda are peripheral to the concerns of the Communion – homosexuality is not important to us.

This is clearly not true and might even be categorised as a lie. For over 11 years, homosexuality has been centre-stage for the Anglican Communion.

The proposed Bill legislates for capital punishment, will criminalise anyone who responds in any way to a homosexual person in Uganda and increases prejudiced attitudes towards homosexuals. American conservative Christian groups are complicit in encouraging the tabling of the Bill.

To read the full article, click HERE.

The moon's perfection

Tuesday night I went to bed early with a scratchy throat. I slept until about 2 am, and when I got up looked outside I saw a shimmery sheen on the trees surrounding our house.

The sky was crystal clear, and the moon nearly full and directly overhead. The forest was bathed in silver, the leaves dancing in the moonlight.

I half-expected a character from a fairy tale or a Harry Potter book to come bounding out of the woods.

Is the moon closer to Charlottesville? Perhaps not. But you could not have convinced me of that the other night. And at least one of our local poets could make the case that the moon is closer. Elinor Roberts Hartt, a member of St. Paul's, sent me a lovely book of her poems, and the moon over Charlottesville is among her favorite topics. I plan to go see her today. Here is one of her poems...

THIS LONG NIGHT
By Elinor Roberts Hartt

The empty silence
this long night
can offer no protection
against that proud
highriding mystery
the moon's perfection.

Footprints on the sands of time: A Psalm for Life

Another election day is past, and somehow the Republic will survive despite or because of those we've elected. Work is still work, traffic is still jammed, and life has its relentless worries.

So, please, this day, pause for a few moments in your day, listen to the silence and the beating of your own heart, and remember to live -- truly live.

Here is an offering from our friend Karen in Tennessee, and reminder that a poet's soul, like yours, lives forever. Blessings on your day...

A Psalm of Life
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, — act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

Photo by Bill Frymire

Saints of Autumn: Richard Hooker

Today is the feast day of one of the towering figures of the English Reformation: Richard Hooker (1554-1600), the theologian of the Elizabethan era who invented the concept of the via media -- the middle way -- between Catholicism and Protestantism.

Hooker's theology permeates everything about who we are as Anglicans, and how we approach the life of faith in the way that we do. His work is as relevant today as it was in the 16th century, and his arguments find echoes in many of the conflicts we have today in the Church.

To give you a bit of necessary history, you may recall that the English Reformation began with Henry VIII wanting a divorce, and breaking away from Rome to get it. That unleashed a bloody purge of the church in England, and a backlash after he died from his daughter, Mary, who attempted to re-establish Roman Catholicism. She did not live long enough to succeed.

When Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth, became Queen, the new monarch sought an end to religious conflict while preserving the Church of England as independent from Rome. Her solution was the "Elizabethan Compromise," inscribed in the Articles of Religion – or "39 Articles." You can find the articles beginning page 867 of the Book of Common Prayer. The articles, for their time, were a barebones statement of faith and church polity that left much to the eye of the interpreter.

Elizabeth looked to a brilliant priest, Richard Hooker, to give theological teeth to the English Reformation. He wrote eight books, The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, in which he fleshed out a “middle way” between radical Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. His theology became known after his lifetime as the “three-legged stool.” The metaphor was meant to symbolize Hooker's method of how to examine theological questions; such issues should be examined by looking at Scripture, Reason and Tradition. No question should be examined separately or in a vacuum.

Implicit in Hooker's method was that ambiguity could be the result, and successive generations might come to a new result. Even so, Hooker's method was inherently conservative; change was not to be taken lightly or done hastily. Scripture should be interpreted through the lens of reason and experience, and tested against the long tradition of the Church. Hooker came up not with a straight highway, but a curvy road with shoulders on each side.

His masterpiece, The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, is not an easy read. I do not recommend it for bedtime devotional reading. The first four books were published in 1594, and fifth in 1597. The final three books were published after his death. I have two copies, both rare, including a copy published in 1632 that contains all eight books.

Hooker argued that the church was not dependent on governments and monarchs, but was alive in the faith of the people. He maintained that Christianity is knit together by two sacraments -- baptism and eucharist.

His interpretation of sacraments cut through the morass of medieval arguments; he maintained that the question was not how the bread and wine are changed, but how we are changed by receiving the bread and wine. "The real presence of Christ's most precious Body and Blood is not to be sought for in the Sacrament, but in the worthy receiver of the Sacrament," he wrote.

Hooker saw bishops as instruments of unity, but he also argued that bishops had no other purpose but ministry to their people. When they cease to serve ministry, they cease to serve as instruments of unity.

Such views may seem commonplace now, but we radical notions in his day. It is a measure of his success that many of his views still underpin who we are as Episcopalians and Anglicans.

The Collect for the day sums it up well:

O God of truth and peace, you raised up your servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Monday Funnies

The events of recent days between the Anglicans and Catholics are weighty indeed, but not so much that cartoonists can't get into the act. Here's a cartoon that came my way. I am happy to post more if you find them. And we are waiting for Dave Walker to come up with something (hint, hint).

Enjoy your Monday Funny Page...

Remembering the dear departed: All Saints Sunday

Today's sermon is from Isaiah 25:6-9; Revelation 21:1-6a; John 11:32-44

“On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food.”

Topic A in Charlottesville this week was not the economy, nor any of the great issues of the day. Topic A was not church politics or any other kind of politics. Topic A was not even the fate of the University of Virginia football team.

No, none of that.

Topic A this past week was the leaves. Everywhere I went this week, people were talking about the leaves. I only had to go to my front porch to see a spectacular display that changed by the minute with every dancing sunbeam and every fleeting cloud.

Driving along the highways and byways, the yellow, red and orange autumn leaves made the surrounding mountains look like a textured quilt. I saw things I had never noticed before.

Yet, I was also mindful of what this autumn display means: the leaves are falling, the trees will soon be barren, and winter will come. The leaves are covering the ground, and in time, they will disappear – though not forever.

New life will spring from the mulch of these leaves, and the cycle will repeat itself again and again. Spring and summer will be back with us.

I don’t know if you noticed this, but our guest preacher a couple of weeks ago, the Rev. James Forbes, had autumn leaf motifs stitched to his vestments.

The leaves of autumn are symbols of resurrection.

Today is one of the great celebrations of resurrection on our calendar: All Saints Sunday, when we remember those saints – and sinners – who have gone before us, and who have made it possible for us to be here, to share this good earth, to enjoy the autumn leaves.

As we remember the saints today, we also remember the cycle of life and how we are part of that cycle.

New life comes from the old, and yet, the old is never gone; it is changed, as St. Paul says, “in the twinkling of an eye.”

On All Saints Sunday we stand in a place where the living of this world meet the living of the next. The Celtic mystics call it a “thin place.”

For modern, educated, overscheduled people, it is hard to see, hard to touch. We are too skeptical, too rushed to notice.

But for those who live close to the earth, it is not as hard to feel the thin places. I once met a Karuk Indian holy woman who told me the souls of her ancestors were in all the rocks around us. In Mexico, today is the Day of the Dead, and the cemeteries are filled with food and gifts for the dead.

One of the reasons we come together in a short while to celebrate Holy Communion is to connect not just with each other, but also with all those we love who are just over the horizon from where we can see.

The biblical authors give us images and metaphors hoping we will catch a glimpse of the thin places. The prophet Isaiah sees the thin place as a mountain with a feast for both the living and the dead: “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines.”

The writer of Revelation could only tell us about this with fantastical images, like this: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more… Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."

And we have this gospel story today: Lazarus who dies.

Jesus comes, and as the Gospel of John tells us, he is “greatly disturbed in spirit.” In this moment, Jesus shares with us our own grief, and binds himself to the pain of all our losses.

Then, Jesus goes to the tomb where Lazarus lies, and shouts “Unbind him and let him go.”

Lazarus comes out of the tomb to live again for a time on this earth.

In this one grace-filled act for one human being, the Kingdom of God bursts through the thin place into the open, showing that God’s values are grace, mercy and life for all people, one at time.

Life may be cheap in our world, but for Jesus one life is worth the whole world. One act of mercy, one person at a time, is the way of Christ Jesus. It all adds up. Each act of grace and mercy leads to another and another.

Jesus will go into every tomb and unbind every one of us and let us go. That is the central meaning of the life of Christ.

In the end, death won’t win.

Love is more powerful, new life and resurrection will come to Lazarus and his sisters, and to all of us. Yes, we have wounds and tragedies in this life. Bad things do happen to good people.

Even Lazarus and his sisters will eventually pass beyond our horizon and into the next world. But that is not the end of the story, not for Lazarus, and not for us. Jesus comes to Lazarus, and comes to us in our holes, unbinds us, and shows us a way to live with hope. New life gets the last word.

Yet it is not just about the next world. It is also about this one. All of this should raise for us a challenge about how we live our life in this world.

What if you know inside that the promise of eternal life is not a reward for the few, but another way of living for the many? How will you live your life if you know – really know deep down inside– that you are unbound? You have eternity to answer.
AMEN

Happy Halloween

From ghoulies and ghosties

And long-leggedy beasties

And things that go bump in the night,

Good Lord, deliver us!

Amen.

Applause for the Archbishop of Canterbury for his stand on global warming

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has taken a lot of flak recently, including in this space. So I want to take the opportunity applaud him for his courage in pulling together faith leaders from around the globe to take a stand on global warming.

I am mindful there are many who are skeptical, or deny that there are human causes to global warming, and others who maintain the church has no business wading into this issue.

His headquarters at Lambeth Palace issued this statement this morning. Here are the first two paragraphs.

The Archbishop of Canterbury hosted a meeting of faith leaders and faith-based and community organisations at Lambeth Palace to discuss the response of faith communities to the environmental crisis. With 40 days to go before the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit the participants have pledged to work together to raise awareness about the effects of ‘catastrophic climate change’ on the world’s poor and to take whatever action they can to "to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable practice." At the meeting a number of presentations highlighted the kind of action faith communities and faith-based organisations were already taking in the UK and with partners overseas.

In the first statement of its kind, signed by leaders from every faith community (including Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Baha’i, Jain and Zoastrian) the signatories recognise "unequivocally that there is a moral imperative to tackle the causes of global warming" and that "Faith communities have a crucial role to play in pressing for changes in behaviour at every level of society and in every economic sector. We all have a responsibility to learn how to live and develop sustainably in a world of finite resources".

To read the full statement, please click HERE.

Praying for the victims of hate crimes

This week, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard/James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act, which the Episcopal Church, and the church's organization Integrity, worked hard to see enacted. This prayer was sent along with a press release from Integrity, and I pass it along to you:

Loving God,

We pray for victims of hate crimes;

for those who have been targets of violence

just because of who they are;

for their families and all who grieve for them.



We give thanks for all those who have

labored, lobbied and prayed

for inclusive federal hate crimes legislation

and for the Hate Crime Prevention Act

signed into law today.



Bless us, we pray, with the knowledge

that we are secure in your love;

that we can make a difference;

that you call us always to seek and serve Christ in all persons

and to respect the dignity of every human being.

And may the peace the world cannot give

reign in our hearts always.

Amen

You may be interested in the Episcopal Church's stand on hate crimes, particularly crimes against homosexuals. Here are some links to positions taken by our General Convention over many years:

Resolution Number: 1988-D055

Title: Condemn All Hate Crimes-- click HERE.

Resolution Number: 1988-D100
Title: Decry Violence Against Homosexuals -- click HERE.

Resolution Number: 2000-D009

Title: Condemn All Hate Crimes -- click HERE.

Resolution Number: 2000-C029
Title: Urge Congress to Enact Hate Crimes Legislation -- click HERE.

Also, you might want to see this 2002 report on the Episcopal Church's support for this legislation -- clicking HERE.

La Ofrenda: All Saints Sunday and remembering those we love who are just beyond our horizon

This Sunday, November 1, is a major feast day on the Christian calendar -- All Saints Day.

All Saints Sunday has its origins in the ancient church when it was celebrated on the Saturday before Easter -- the day now called Holy Saturday when Jesus descends to hell to free everyone from the grip of death.

All Saints and All Souls days merged to become special masses for martyrs and those who had died anonymously. In later centuries, the day shifted into the weeks before Advent, and the day we now call "Halloween" is actually All Hallows Eve, or the even of All Souls Day.

This year we are continuing with a tradition we began last year from the part of the world where I come: La Ofrenda, a special table in the church where we display items representing people we love who have died. La Ofrenda is a major element of El Dia de los Muertos, Mexico's "Day of the Dead," and is popular in churches throughout California and the Southwest. I've seen many over the years and all of them are powerful.

This Sunday, please bring something that represents someone you love who has died; a photograph or a poem, or a candle or a paper flower. We will leave up our ofrendas until the first Sunday of Advent on November 29.

Last year our first Ofrenda was so popular we set up two more. Here are some photographs of Las Ofrendas at St. Paul's last year. I am told that we were the only Episcopal Church in Virginia with a Ofrendas, an honor I hope other churches might share with us this year.

Ringing the bell: Sounding the alarm on climate change

On Sunday, we joined a world-wide effort to bring attention to the issue of global warming. After our worship, we rang our bell 350 times (well, more than that -- a lot of people wanted to ring the bell). The photos on this page were taken by Dudley Rochester -- thanks Dudley!

Our Green Team created a mural the length of the church nave with photographs of the earth "our fragile island home," interspersed with biblical verses and prayers.

We asked parishioners to file past the mural silently, in prayer, before going to the narthex to ring the bell. Many, many did -- and it was a powerful experience.

Meanwhile, in the parish hall, we asked people to write letters to our elected leaders expressing concern about climate change. We did not endorse any specific legislation, and we did not seek to engage in a scientific debate.

What we ask is that all of us take seriously our responsibilities as stewards of the earth, and that we repent collectively of the collective sin we bear for polluting this good earth. And we ask that our repentance include actions individually and as a community to save the earth, including urging our elected leaders to act with wisdom and regard for the whole earth, and not act out of greed or short-term economic or political gain.

We got a fair amount of attention. St. Paul's was the subject of a front-page story Saturday in the Charlottesville Daily Progress, which you can read by clicking HERE. One of our local television stations also covered the event.

I've been asked about why the church is involved in what looks like a political issue. It is true, climate change is a loaded political issue, with Democrats, Republicans and various other interests looking to score points, raise campaign contributions, and not necessarily do anything constructive. It feels as if there is nothing very Godly about any of it.

It is precisely into those places we are called to go as people of faith.

The church from time-to-time must make a prophetic stand to those who hold power: the leaders of the nations. This is one of those times. We share a common fate on this planet, and the Bible calls us over and over to speak the truth to those in power: God gave us this earth, it is ours for only a short time, and ours to give to our children and their children's children. We are called to leave this earth better than we found it, and so far our generation has fallen woefully short. Our calling leads us inevitably into the corridors of power.

To not speak up about the sin of global warming endangers our soul, and endangers the lives of millions who are the most vulnerable in this world.

Our stance and actions are not done alone, nor done in a vacuum. The Episcopal Church maintains an advocacy office in Washington D.C., and our church has taken a consistent stand that global warming is real and that our elected leaders need to act. You can learn more about the Episcopal Church Public Policy Network and our stand on global warming by clicking HERE.

The Anglican Communion, of which we are the one and only branch in the United States, recently issued a statement on global warming in advance of the upcoming Copenhagen meeting of world leaders on climate change. The Anglican Communion states the case powerfully:

From all points of the globe we point to the reality of climate change and to the very serious effect it is already having upon our people; from severe weather events, to prolonged droughts, major floods, loss of habitat and changing seasons. Many of our peoples no longer have access to drinkable water, many of our farmers are no longer able to grow crops, and many of our peoples suffer from diseases which in the past have not affected us in our homelands. Sadly many of our peoples are now on the move in the vain hope that they might find another place to live, given the place of their birth can no longer support them.

Our faith and our ancestors have always taught us that the earth is our mother and deserves respect; we know that this respect has not been given. We know that like a mother the earth will continue to give its all to us. However, we also know that we are now demanding more than it is able to provide. Science confirms what we already know, our human footprint is changing the face of the earth and because we come from the earth, it is changing us too. We are engaged in the process of destroying our very being. If we cannot live in harmony with the earth, we will not live in harmony with one another.

You can read the full Anglican Communion statement by clicking HERE. A summary of the Anglican statement can be found by clicking HERE.

Finally, I've been asked is recent days about where to find understandable scientific information about climate change, and how to find out what is known and unknown about the human impact on the climate. The best single source I have seen is a website maintained by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. You can see the EPA website by clicking HERE. A thumbnail from that website includes this:

What's Known

Scientists know with virtual certainty that:

• Human activities are changing the composition of Earth's atmosphere. Increasing levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere since pre-industrial times are well-documented and understood.
• The atmospheric buildup of CO2 and other greenhouse gases is largely the result of human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.
• An “unequivocal” warming trend of about 1.0 to 1.7°F occurred from 1906-2005. Warming occurred in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and over the oceans (IPCC, 2007).
• The major greenhouse gases emitted by human activities remain in the atmosphere for periods ranging from decades to centuries. It is therefore virtually certain that atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will continue to rise over the next few decades.
• Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations tend to warm the planet.