Follow-up: Windsor Listening Process in the Diocese of Virginia

This is a week heavy with church affairs on this blog. I promise it will ease up and we will have a poem or two later in the week. For now, a few more developments:

You may recall that earlier this year, St. Paul's was invited to participate in a diocesan pilot program for "listening" related to the Anglican Windsor report related to the conflicts over sexuality issues. A team of four St. Paul's Memorial Church parishioners was paired with a team of four from St. John the Baptist, Ivy. They met for weeks to share their stories and talk through the issues facing our church. A total of twelve churches -- six pairings -- participated in the pilot project in the diocese.

The Diocese of Virginia last week posted on its website a report summarizing the work of all of the participants in the pilot project. You can read the report by clicking HERE.

I would also suggest you read the report from our St. Paul's team; it goes into greater detail and nuance without violating any confidences. I posted that report on this blog May 6, and you can access it by clicking HERE.

The Anglican Railroad: Rumbling down the tracks, a train to somewhere (but where?)

There is considerable commentary in recent days on the latest conflicts in the Anglican Communion, which, at last notice, we are still a member in good standing. You may be excused if you find this topic tedious and not worth reading further.

Truthfully, I find this topic tedious, too, and much of it smacks of ecclesiastical inside baseball at its worst. You may rightly ask: What does any of this have to do with me, or my family, or my work, or even what does this really have to do with the life of my local church? All fair questions, and questions for which I have, at best, partial answers. I hope you will keep reading but I would not blame you if you stop here.

I want to start by saying I do not question the faith or sincerity of the advocates on any side of this. I leave that judgment to God alone. If everyone could subscribe that statement we might get somewhere. But not all do, and so into the swamp we go.

Before we get our ankles muddy, let’s take a few steps back. This conflict predates the election of Gene Robinson, the openly gay bishop of New Hampshire. The fight 30 years ago was over the prayer book and the ordination of women; before that it was a fight over whether African Americans were included in a predominantly white upper class church. Now it is an argument over whether gays and lesbians are included. Yet it is Robinson’s election in 2003 that sparked the latest fire in the Anglican Communion, and that fire is not going out anytime soon.

I highly recommend reading the commentaries of recent days put forth by advocates of differing points of view (and thanks to several of you for bringing these to my attention). Among the best I’ve seen recently is by Jim Naughton in the U.K. Guardian; you can it read HERE. Another, by Frank M. Turner, on the Episcopal Café blog, is a good critique of the mythology of the Anglican Communion as an “imagined community.” You can read Turner's piece HERE.

On the conservative side, Fr. Dan Martins from Indiana offers thoughtful comments as he works through how he and his diocese attempt to remain in an Episcopal Church even though he and his diocese see themselves much at odds with the majority in the church. His questions are genuine and should engage all of us. You can read Martins' comments HERE.

On the extreme side, you can read David Anderson’s commentaries, though I hesitate to send you to his screeds. They are worth reading if for no other reason than he reveals much about the motives, tactics and divisions among his right-wing allies. You can read his website HERE.

Now that I have sent you there, fair warning: I want to express in the strongest possible terms my disagreement with Anderson, who heads up the American Anglican Council, a self-appointed schismatic organization aligned with those seeking to create a new Anglican communion based on an exclusionary view of the Gospel. He long ago claimed the mantle of being “orthodox” though he has acted as anything but. He received an ordination as a bishop that was, at best, irregular and outside of any Episcopal election or confirmation process.

Anderson's use of language is no small thing. Most disturbing, Anderson uses creepy rhetoric of war and warriors to make his case for purging the Episcopal Church of gays, liberals and other ilk he finds heretical. In a recent commentary he talked of the church needing “war chiefs” and “peace chiefs.” How that is scripturally based is beyond me. Note well the tone and content of his words in his Sept. 4 newsletter:

"As with a nation, so does the church require an appropriate leader for the time and the circumstance. What do these days in the Anglican World Communion call for, a Peace Chief or a War Chief? I would argue that this present time requires a War Chief for the defense of the Gospel and the Anglican Communion."

It should also be noted that Anderson and his allies are using same tone as the extremist “tea-bagger” anti-Obama forces so vocal this August in a supposedly secular debate over health care. Anderson and his allies stand for continued militaristic confrontation with the Islamic world; are against a two-state Israel-Palestine solution; and are stridently anti-gay and anti-abortion.

That is no coincidence – the same people who are underwriting the schism in The Episcopal Church are the same people underwriting the attacks on President Obama in Washington DC and in townhall meetings, including the likes of Richard Mellon Scaife (who underwrote the scurrilous film that accused the Clintons of murdering Vincent Foster). Make no mistake: these people have a larger political agenda beyond the Episcopal Church. As Naughton points out:

“[A]warding the Anglican brand in North America to the schismatics would reverse the trend by handing the American right the opportunity to wrap its agenda in the endorsement of a major mainstream religious organisation.”

All this leads to one basic fact: The conflict in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion remains an argument over power, and it is playing out in the arena of who gets ordained and who does not, who may be married and who may not. Various interests have attempted to dress this up as an argument over the authority of Scripture and the divinity of Christ, asserting that it is self-evident that there is only one interpretation of the Bible possible (their own).

Weaponizing the Bible, by the way, is as un-Anglican is it gets; one of the bedrock values of Anglicanism is the acknowledgment that it is just possible that there are competing interpretations of Scripture, so we best be humble when we throw our Bible verses at each other (see Article 20 in the Articles of Religion, p. 871 of the Book of Common Prayer).

Everyone in this conflict interprets the Bible, and none are abandoning their vow of discipleship of Jesus Christ as they see it. I do not doubt that David Anderson is a deeply devoted disciple of Jesus, though I wish he would acknowledge the same in Susan Russell and Louie Crew of Integrity.

In reality, there is precious little in the Bible to go on to guide us about who may be ordained and who may not, which is one reason everyone can claim to have the Bible on their side.

And while this sounds esoteric – and it is – and while this may not directly affect you if you have no intention of being ordained, it does boil down to this issue: Who holds power in the Church and how they get it. And that should concern you.

That brings us to where we are now: This past summer, the General Convention – the once-every-three years legislative meeting of elected Episcopal church leaders – approved two significant measures which roiled the waters further throughout the rest of the Anglican Communion. One resolution lifted a moratorium on ordaining new bishops who are openly gay, and the other resolution allows bishops to sanction same-sex blessings if they so wish.

And that brings us the Anglican Railroad.

After General Convention, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who is the titular head of the Anglican Communion (Note: he is the first among equals and not the Pope) stated that there ought to be two “tracks” in the Anglican Communion. He has no direct power to create such tracks, but his voice carries considerable weight throughout the Communion.

In Williams’ scheme, the first track would subscribe to his complicated proposal for an “Anglican Covenant” that would, in effect, declare that no province of the communion may do anything significant without consensus from the rest. Issues including the ordination of openly gay people and women would presumably remain on the backburner on the first track until everyone reaches a consensus.

How such a consensus would come about is not clear. The archbishop has pushed hard for the adoption of his covenant, and he appears to be proposing this “First Track” as an incentive for the provinces to sign up and fall into line.

The second track would be churches that don’t sign up for the covenant, but can remain within the communion at a lower status level. The consequences of being relegated to secondary status are not entirely clear.

There are a number of practical issues at stake, first and foremost which national province is running on which track and who gets to decide. The first track presumably would be those Anglican provinces subscribing to the more traditional structures of ordination (i.e., no gays and women), and those provinces it so happens coincide with the poorest countries in the

communion (Nigeria, Uganda, Sudan, etc).

To add a new layer of complexity, seven American Episcopal Church bishops met with Rowan Williams last week to explore whether they could bring their dioceses onto the first track while the rest of the Episcopal Church remained on the second track.

The seven American bishops signed a statement following General Convention stating that they have no intention of leaving the Episcopal Church but they are trying to find a way of co-existence without compromising their beliefs.

We shall see where this goes, but it begs the question: If individual dioceses can get onto the first track, what about single parishes, or individuals? This railroad could end up with many side spurs.

The second track is likely to be inhabited by the more liberal communion members who, it so happens, are mostly of the industrialized world – the U.S., Canada, Scotland, South Africa, and maybe even the Church of England itself.

The second track, it should be noted, is the track with the most money, begging the instant question about which track would, in reality, end up the first track. Even David Anderson sees that point and raised that issue in his Sept 4 newsletter:

"Opposing Dr. Williams is Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the pronouncer of heresy on the historic faith, the Presiding Bishop of the competing Anglican Communion, who will assume that if she is in a tier or track, it will be the favored and most blessed one."

The question of which track will end up the favored first track should give Rowan Williams pause about his two-track proposal. He is setting about to create a supposedly “separate but equal” system of church life. While at first glance that may seem of interest only to those bishops who crave invitations to Lambeth and tea with the Queen, there are real-life consequences to this for real people.

It is as basic as mosquito nets.

By creating two tracks, the archbishop would be sanctioning a great tragedy: the developed world could find an excuse to abdicate its responsibility to the poorest regions of the world; and the government-church power structures in the poorest regions could avoid enlisting assistance from the developed world.

Sanctioning two tracks will make it more difficult than it already is for church relief workers to operate in the undeveloped world. Lest you think this is theoretical objection, our Virginia diocesan missionary in Sudan last summer was ejected from that country at the behest of the Anglican bishops there because she had the temerity to suggest that the Sudanese people really do not care who marries whom in America. Her ejection was met with silence by Canterbury and the rest of the Anglican Communion. That is not a good sign.

I would also suggest the Archbishop of Canterbury’s proposal of two tracks further degrades his own position. His legitimacy rests entirely on the idea that he is an “instrument of unity.” In the name of unity, he is now proposing disunity. Unity cannot be won with a piece of paper called a “covenant,” nor can it be won by coercion from the top down based in a class system of multi-track communion members. I do not recall that Jesus had two tracks at his table, nor did he require signatures on a legalistic covenant to share at his table.

Sadly, Rowan Williams appears not to have learned the lessons of his own truly inspired leadership last summer at the Lambeth conference of Anglican bishops. He was at his best when he got the bishops to sit and listen to each other and their individual stories without ginning up reams of toothless resolutions. Rather than pounding on tables, the bishops discovered true unity in their shared discipleship of Jesus Christ. All of us share in that call as a people of faith, and we can discover this unity, one day, one prayer, one disciple at a time. Even bishops can find that unity, and they don't need a piece of paper or a railroad track to find it.

The photo of mosquito nets is from Oxfam, an amazing organization. For more information about Oxfam, please click HERE.

Cartoon by Dave Walker; apologies to the USC Trojans.

The Monday Funnies

Here are a few groaners to get your week going. The cartoon is by Dave Walker, and any resemblance to anyone living or dead, or their church, is only a coincidence. Enjoy your Monday. . .

* * *

As the beloved pastor is being honored on the occasion of his departure, an elderly woman greets him with tears in her eyes.

"Pastor," she says, "we're really going to miss you."

"Don't worry," replies the pastor, "I'm sure the diocese will find someone
at least as good to replace me."

The woman sobs uncontrollably and answers, "That's what they've always said,
and they've all been wrong."

* * *

A Sunday School teacher asked her class, "Does anyone here know what we mean
by sins of omission?"

A small girl replied, "Aren't those the sins we should have committed, but didn't?"

Take up your Cross: What an odd thing to say

Today’s sermon is taken from Mark 8: 27-38

“Take up your cross and follow me.”

What an odd thing to say. Being nailed to a cross is not an invitation that I, for one, am particularly inclined to accept, thank you very much.

Whatever is Jesus talking about?

Last week we hear about healing, this week we hear about death and the Cross.

There is an unavoidable edge to the gospel today. This business of bringing healing and hope, paradoxically, does not always lead to immediate tranquility for the healed or the healer.

For Jesus, his mission of healing and hope is bringing him to a place of pain and death. And his follower Peter sees where this is going and objects strenuously.

And that brings us squarely in front of a difficult subject: sacrifice. I do not want to avoid it today, but try to sort this out with you because it is at the heart of the gospel, indeed, at the heart of Christian faith itself.

One conventional way of understanding this is to see Jesus on the Cross as a ransom to bail us out of jail. The idea is that a blood-thirsty, vengeful God needs payment for all of the bad things God’s created beings – humans – have done.

And that is certainly how Peter is hearing this, and he can’t stand the concept. Why should he?

But instead of offering Peter comfort, Jesus tells him to “Get behind me Satan.”

Jesus is saying, Peter, you don’t understand this yet – hold on. Conventional ideas of blood ransom miss the mark, the idea comes from a wrong-headed – dare we say Satanic – concept of God as needing blood sacrifice. Jesus tries over and over to get us to see God differently, and still Peter doesn’t see it.

Jesus is not offering a blood sacrifice to satisfy a blood-thirsty deity, but is presenting an offer of love to go with us into whatever pit we may dwell, experience whatever pain we experience, and go with us even into the to free us from what hurts and wounds us. This is about healing at the deepest core of our being.

But before we can go there, Jesus issues a challenge to us to participate, and not half-heartedly, but fully. And so he declares this challenge in the strongest words imaginable:

“Take up your Cross” and follow. Those words are at least as sharp as the rebuke to Peter about Satan. Let me explain why:

The Cross is the Roman Empire’s favorite tool for execution. By telling us to take up the Cross, Jesus is co-opting the very symbol of evil.

Jesus is saying take up the cross as a sign of defiance against the power of evil, as a sign of defiance against death itself. He is stealing the Roman’s favorite symbol.

And that is where hope enters our story, where we can look for the courage to push aside whatever hurt and pain plagues us, whatever personal demons get in our way, and become being fully the people God would have us be.

Finding strength from outside ourselves will allow us to be servants to each other, to build the beloved community bringing light and hope into our world.

Our task here is to do precisely that: build the beloved community, right here, in our own time and in our own world, right here in this church on this corner.

I want to close by reading something from Oscar Romero, who was the Archbishop of El Salvador. He took up his Cross, giving up his life for his people. His words are a reminder, I think, of Christ’s call to all of us:

This is what we are about: We plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.

We plant the seeds for the future and we are the builders in bringing forth this abundant, extravagant love God gives to all of us free of charge.

The question for each of us is: How will we share this love lavishly with the rest of our world? How will we take up our Cross not to die, but to live?

A few words about the flu season and our common worship and the common cup

In recent days I have received inquiries about the H1N1 swine flu and any special measures we may take to protect ourselves in our worship services. I have monitored various health alerts; I have consulted with health experts, and discussed with colleagues in other churches measures they are taking.

Also, I highly recommend you read the swine flu guidelines published by the University of Virginia Medical Center. You can read these by clicking HERE.

Here is the best advice I can give you and your families:

1- If you or anyone in your family is feeling ill or has immune system issues, please stay home and consult your doctor. If your children are sick, please keep them home.

2- If you are well, please come to church to pray for the sick and those who are anxious about becoming sick.

3- Please wash your hands frequently, and wash your hands before coming to church. Please cover your mouth if you need to cough or sneeze, and then wash your hands. Use hand sanitizer.

4- You do not need to shake hands during the passing of the peace. A wave of the hand or a nod is perfectly fine.

5- All of the clergy will be using hand sanitizer before distributing communion bread.

6- You do not have to receive wine from the common cup, and you are welcome to dip your bread in the cup. Please do not let your fingers touch the wine. According to health experts, dipping your bread in the cup is not more sanitary than taking a sip from the cup. The cup is wiped and turned by the chalice bearer after each reception. If you do not want to receive wine, you can cross your arms when the cup comes by and the chalice bearer will say a prayer (please don't shake your head).

Please keep those who are sick in your prayers, and do come to worship as you are able.

Jim+

Remembering this day

From our friend Karen...

The Prayer Tree

by Michael Leunig

God give us rain when we expect sun.
Give us music when we expect trouble.
Give us tears when we expect breakfast.
Give us dreams when we expect a storm.
Give us a stray dog when we expect congratulations.
God play with us, turn us sideways and around.

Roadside shrines: Find them where you live and work

A friend of mine who lives in Southern California, and who regularly reads this blog, mentioned to me last night that this space reminds her of a roadside shrine, a place to pause for a few moments on the roadway of life for a bit of reflection and a touch of the Spirit.

I rather like that, though I am not sure this blog always lives up to that ideal. Maybe there is a little too much politics, a little too much church stuff here to be completely a shrine. But I like that idea of a shrine, and I hope it can be that now and then for you.

We live on a rural mountain road in Virginia, but I have not seen any roadside shrines upon it in our walks along the road. There are many trees along our road, and the trees are a living shrine to me. The deer meander through them, and the variety of birds seems endless. The tops of the trees seem always shaking with wildlife. The rocks and boulders along the road are covered with lichen, and they are something of a shrine to the tenacity of life.

The other day, our house guest, Anthony Ramirez, took a few photos along our country road. Today I share one I particularly like.

I hope you find a roadside shrine in your travels today, whether on a country road, or on the freeway during your commute, or in your home, or at school, or at your desk. May you find that place where you can pause, maybe say a little prayer, and take a few moments to hear yourself breathe -- a few moments of sabbath -- before the rush of business intrudes. May you enjoy your respite and a few moments at the shrine of the Holy.

The Saints of Autumn: Constance and her companions, the Martyrs of Memphis

This is not a pretty story, but it is a story of courage and faith, and is one of those times when the Church lived into the fullness of Christ's call to bring healing to those abandoned by the dominant society.

In 1878 Memphis was plagued by an outbreak of Yellow Fever. The city's leader's ordered an evacuation, and those who were able fled Memphis on every horse, cart and train they could find. Some 30,000 people ran for their lives.

Those left behind -- 20,000 people -- were mostly African American. They had no means to get out, and nowhere to go. They began succumbing to the Yellow Fever at a rate of 200 deaths a day. By the end of the epidemic, an estimated 5,000 people had died.

A group of Episcopal and Catholic nuns and priests stayed behind, rallied by Sister Constance at a cathedral girl's school. They tended to the sick and dying until they, too, succumbed to the plague.

Constance and her nuns are credited with saving thousands who survived. Constance and her companions have been ever-after known as "The Martyrs of Memphis." Today is their feast day in the Episcopal Church.

There is a monument and park dedicated to Constance and the Martyrs of Memphis along a bank of the Mississippi River in Memphis. It is located in an industrial part of town, on the edge of an historically African American neighborhood, and only a few blocks from the motel where Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated almost a century later. The park is located on the site of what was Fort Pickering in the Civil War.

Fort Pickering was soldiered by a black Union regiment, the 7th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery. My great-great grandfather, The Rev. George W. Richardson, was the white chaplain to that regiment (all black regiments were required to have white officers), and he was posted with them at Fort Pickering in 1864-1865. He left at war's end, returning home to Minnesota, and then went to Texas where he founded a college for ex-slaves (Huston-Tillotson University in Austin).

Many of the black soldiers he served with mustered out of the Army and stayed in Memphis, rearing families and settling in the neighborhood that grew around the fort. These ex-soldiers and their families were doubtless among those who contracted Yellow Fever in the 1878 epidemic.

Finding Fort Pickering today is not easy. After the Civil War, the white citizens of Memphis dismantled Fort Pickering, stone by stone, in an effort to rid themselves of any memory that a black regiment had once been posted in their midst.

A few years ago, on a very windy day, I walked this hallowed ground where Fort Pickering had once stood. I tried to imagine the place as it must have been when my ancestor served there, but it was difficult to picture it as it once was. There was no marker showing it as the site of Fort Pickering; I needed a local historian-guide to show me the site.

Yet there was redemption in this: A monument to Constance and the Martyrs of Memphis is there at the place where Fort Pickering once stood. It seemed very right they are honored on this spot, and very right we remember them today.

The photos are from my pilgrimage to Memphis and Fort Pickering in April 2004, showing the monument and marker to the Martyrs of Memphis.

President Obama and the nation's school children

Like many of you, I have been stunned by the hysterical reaction to President Obama's planned address to the nation's school children. Other presidents have done so with barely a mention in the media. I've thought about saying something in this space, but then on Monday, the ever-eloquent Barbara Crafton offered a few words on the topic. She says it better than I, so let me offer her observations in the hope that we may act as adults with our children:

From Barbara Crafton's Geranium Farm website

The president will be speaking to kids starting school in his weekly address, as a number of presidents have done before. President Reagan did it. The first President Bush did it. The second President Bush was actually in a public school classroom, reading a story to the children, when the World Trade Center was destroyed. Incredibly, though, this rather routine item in President Obama's schedule has been greeted with hysteria in some quarters, as if it were an enemy invasion of our schools. As if the President of the United States had no appropriate interest in encouraging school children in their work of learning, which is so important to our country.

It is not unAmerican to disagree with anything the government does; our system is built on the right of anyone to do that. But is it helpful to express disagreement so harshly? Is it really good for our children to see us behaving in this way? They have the right to inherit someting from their parents besides spleen. They deserve to have in us an example of how adults navigate diagreement, which is not by namecalling and death threats. They need to see us respect the office of the president, whether or not we favor its incumbent.

The best way I have found in which to manage my own powerful feelings about political figures is to pray for them. You should pray for the one with whom you disagree FIRST, Deacon Brooke used to say firmly, because that's the one you may skip over if you wait till you're almost finished, and she was right. Every Prayer Book the church has ever published has included a prayer for the head of state, and we pray for the president at every service, whether or not we share his political views.

During the Bush administration, a group of praying people began the Presidential Prayer Team, an online place in which people of faith who love this country could pray for its leaders. Visiting it is heartwarming -- it includes prayer for the president, of course, but also a daily selection of other leaders in government, a daily roster of what will come up in Congress and in the Supreme Court, prayer for the armed services, those in active service and those who have been injured, as well as those who have died. The most heartwarming thing about the PPT is that it was begun during a Republican administration and continues under a Democratic one.

Prayer is a remarkable form of energy. It always changes the one who prays. It always changes the one for whom she prays, too, although the pray-er may never know how. And prayer changes the world, as well, bit by bit: it is the creative energy of God passing through our minds and hearts into life here on the earth where we live. God made everything, we believe, although we may differ on just how God did that. God made it all, and said that it was good. We have the chance, when we pray, to be a conscious part of that ongoing, ongrowing goodness.

Barbara mentions the Presidential Prayer Team, and I joined this soon after the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Though I was initially skeptical, it has proven to be a non-partisan ecumenical organization. I am very grateful that the team has continued its work during the Obama administration, and you can check out its website by clicking HERE. There are some interesting items on the website. Please pray for our President and all who serve our nation.

And you can access Barbara's website by clicking HERE. Her daily missives are always worthwhile and you can sign-up for her daily emails on that site. Blessings to all.

The Monday Funnies

Well, we haven't had wedding bloopers in awhile. This one is destined to be a classic. Turn up your sound...

This Earth, our island home

Our friend Karen sent this poem the other day. I've read it several times. Take your time with it. Savor the sabbath, enjoy the Earth, and the dance that is life in this moment ...

The Ball

by Wislawa Szymborska

As long as nothing can be known for sure
(no signals have been picked up yet),
as long as Earth is still unlike
the nearer and more distant planets,

as long as there's neither hide nor hair
of other grasses graced by other winds,
of other treetops bearing other crowns,
other animals as well-grounded as our own,

as long as only the local echo
has been known to speak in syllables,

as long as we still haven't heard word
of better or worse mozarts,
platos, edisons somewhere,

as long as our inhuman crimes
are still committed only between humans,

as long as our kindness
is still incomparable,
peerless even in its imperfection,

as long as our heads packed with illusions
still pass for the only heads so packed,

as long as the roofs of our mouths alone
still raise voices to high heavens--

let's act like very special guests of honor
at the district-firemen's ball
dance to the beat of the local oompah band,
and pretend that it's the ball
to end all balls.

I can't speak for others--
for me this is
misery and happiness enough:

just this sleepy backwater
where even the stars have time to burn
while winking at us
unintentionally.

Photo of the Earth by Apollo 17, displayed on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Labor Day: Farm workers deserve better

This is Labor Day weekend, a time for picnics, families, good food and enjoying one last respite before the work of Fall begins in earnest.

It is also time to consider those who labor, and, yes, honor the labor unions that brought you this holiday.

I have been staying out of California politics -- I don't live there anymore (though I still have a home in Sacramento) -- and my focus is here in Virginia. Yet there are a few issues that stick with me and which speak broadly across state and regional lines.

One of those issues is the condition of farm workers and their continuing struggle to unionize.

I want to register my deep disappointment with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for vetoing on Thursday SB 789 by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a simple bill that would have made it easier for farm workers to organize. Perhaps the veto is no surprise, but it is nonetheless deflating for those who struggle to organize workers who are, by definition, difficult to organize because they are migrants. Read the bill for yourself by clicking HERE.

I know I will alienate someone here; I am mindful of how emotional this issue gets especially in California. I once got into hot water in Auburn, Calif., with a prominent and loyal parishioner when I preached about how growers and union representatives could find reconciliation. My grandfather, when he lived in Modesto, was Julio Gallo's accountant, and I can tell you the suspicion of unions -- especially farm unions -- runs deep in my family.

Yet, years ago I met Cesar Chavez, the founder of the United Farm Workers when he was leading a boycott against Gallo Wines and grape growers. I heard Chavez speak many times over the years, and interviewed him when I was a journalist.

I was much inspired by Chavez and how his deep Christian faith drove him to create a union for a people who are truly at the bottom of society's food chain. Yes, Chavez had many flaws as an organizer, he made decisions that were not always strategically good for his union. He could not compromise, which was both his strength and undoing.

But he never lost sight of the fact that those who harvest our food deserve a fair shake and have families like those of us who enjoy the food farm workers bring to our table. Our food is affordable because farm workers are paid poorly. Their working and living conditions are not much better than in the era of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and Carey McWilliams' epic documentary book, Factories in the Field.

Recently the nation eulogized Ted Kennedy and many powerful people -- Republican and Democrat, and independent alike -- paid their respects at his funeral, including Governor Schwarzenegger. Let us not forget the support the Kennedys gave to Chavez and his farm workers union; Robert Kennedy traveled to the fields of Central California to be with Chavez during one of his fasts; it was, in fact, Robert Kennedy more than anyone else who brought Chavez and his union to national attention.

No doubt Governor Schwarzenegger is sticking to the Republican Party line on unions with his veto. No doubt Senator Steinberg is appealing to his union base with his bill. No doubt fund-raising appeals capitalizing on the veto are already in the mail on both sides. I know how the game is played in Sacramento. I find all of that sad. Truthfully, we have not had gubernatorial leadership on farm labor issues in more than 30 years. At least Senator Steinberg, a friend of many years, is trying.

Governor Schwarzenegger, at his best, has appealed to a "post-partisan" approach to California's and the nation's problems, from water to the budget, to the economy and poverty. Certainly he could include the condition of farm workers in his appeal, and show leadership on the issue rather than merely sitting back and responding to the Legislature with a veto. He is the governor; leadership must start with him. To paraphrase Ted Kennedy, farm workers may be out of fashion but they are not without human needs.

The governor of California can do better. So can our nation. ¡Sí se puede!

Photo of farm workers in The Sacramento Bee by Bryan Patrick. Photo of Chavez, photographer unknown but I am happy to give credit if someone can provide the information; it appears to have been taken in Los Angeles late in his life.

The Saints of Summer: Bishop Paul Jones

Nearly a century ago, one of the worst calamities of all time began, the war to end all wars -- World War I. Both of my grandfathers fought in that war, and returned home to rear families. Many were not as fortunate. Our church was caught in the war fever of the time, and yet there were voices of peace who were brave enough to stand against that fever.

Episcopal Bishop Paul Jones of Utah (1880-1941) stood up to oppose that war, bearing witness to the gospel of peace of Jesus Christ. The reaction against Bishop Jones was intense, and he was forced to resign his seat as a bishop. He continued for many years thereafter working in the church, and died in 1941 as World War II was erupting. Today we remember his feast day. You can read more about Bishop Jones in an article written a few years ago in Witness by my friend Joseph Wakelee-Lynch; you can read it by clicking HERE.

You are free to disagree with Bishop Jones, and many did. Yet we need voices of peace, especially in those times when it is not popular to be one of those voices. Pray we always have them pricking our conscience, reminding us that warfare and violence are the not the way of Jesus. At best, warfare may be the lesser of evils, yet it is still evil. And I am proud that I represented my diocese at the 1996 General Convention that voted to honor Jones' life and witness by adding this day to our calendar of saints.

Postscript: Poem from Sunday

This past Sunday we were treated to a poem read by Debra Nystrom, who is a professor of English at the University of Virginia. A number of you have asked for a copy of the poem, and here it is:

Postscript

By Seamus Heaney

And some time make the time to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore,
In September or October, when the wind
And the light are working off each other
So that the ocean on one side is wild
With foam and glitter, and inland among stones
The surface of a slate-grey lake is lit
By the earthed lightning of a flock of swans,
Their feathers roughed and ruffling, white on white,
Their fully grown headstrong-looking heads
Tucked or cresting or busy underwater.
Useless to think you'll park and capture it
More thoroughly. You are neither here nor there,
A hurry through which known and strange things pass
As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways
And catch the heart off guard and blow it open.

From THE SPIRIT LEVEL (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1996)

These are the days we bless

Last night's sunset was followed by a moonglow that lasted most of the night, near as I can tell. This morning is clear and crisp. The newspapers are at the end of our long driveway, and this was the first day sweaters are required to retrieve them.

Life at St. Paul's is definitely picking up after a sleepy summer. We've been painting hallways and doors; a new effort at cleaning things is underway. Our upstairs youth group rooms will soon get spruced up. New staff are definitely in the building, buzzing about with drive and purpose.

This past Saturday the Vestry -- all 18 present -- and the clergy took a day together to share stories and brainstorm about what might be at St. Paul's. We talked about our mission to the community and to the University of Virginia. We talked about how we care for one another, we talked about our worship, and we talked about how we could become more diverse in every meaning of the word.

Autumn in Charlottesville is really something closer to what I associate with Spring -- a time of new birth, resurrection, new energy. It is also a time to stop now and then, and notice, listen, be present to each other and to the living God amongst us. These are moments of sabbath, moments to smile, moments to bless.

Photo by my friend Peter Carey on his Santos Popsicles blog.

Savoring the last of Summer; the Autumn breeze is with us

The hints of Autumn are upon us here in Virginia: leaves with edges of yellow; the tomatoes are ripe; the mornings are darker and cooler; the sunset Tuesday was clear, red and rich. The air feels lighter, the evening breeze crisper.

Still, I am a summer person, and I am not quite ready to give up the long days and the lushness of my favorite season. Please let me cling a little longer to my "Endless Summer," though now instead of lazy Zuma Beach, I have a wonderful wooden rocker on the front porch to enjoy the last remnant of summer. Let Fall come, but, please, one day at a time, and not too soon.

Near our house, the pond looks like it fell from a Claude Monet painting, a living icon of summer. But even there, a hint of Fall's yellow hangs from the branches. Our houseguest, Anthony Ramirez, took a few photos the other day, and I share one here.

And our friend Karen from Tennessee sent this wonderful poem Tuesday to mark passing of the season. May we savor each day's blessings:

Rivertalk
by Jeanne Lohmann

Rivertalk

is whatever comes along,
practice always here while we

keep on shore, all the time
saying we want to get wet.

But the river has ways
of sound and light, ripples

and waves that tell us:
don't be so serious, rumble in

where nothing is finished or broken
and nothing asks to be fixed.

The Great Western Heresy

A few weeks ago, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori gave a sermon at General Convention in which she spoke of the "great Western heresy" of individualism (the photo at right was taken during her sermon).

She has been much vilified for her comments since then. Recently she wrote an article clarifying her remarks for Episcopal News Service, and I much commend it to you:

Salvation's goal: returning all to right relationship

By Katharine Jefferts Schori, August 27, 2009

[Episcopal Life] I always am delighted when people listen to what I say in a sermon or address. Sometimes I am surprised by what they hear.

In my opening address at General Convention, I spoke about the "great Western heresy" of individualism (see the full text here). There have been varied reactions from people who weren't there, who heard or read an isolated comment without the context. Apparently I wasn't clear!

Individualism (the understanding that the interests and independence of the individual necessarily trump the interests of others as well as principles of interdependence) is basically unbiblical and unchristian.

The spiritual journey, at least in the Judeo-Christian tradition, is about holy living in community. When Jesus was asked to summarize the Torah, he said, "love God and love your neighbor as yourself." That means our task is to be in relationship with God and with our neighbors. If salvation is understood only as "getting right with God" without considering "getting right with (all) our neighbors," then we've got a heresy (an unorthodox belief) on our hands.

To read the full article, click HERE.

The Monday Funnies

It is the Dog Days of Summer, and the jokes are getting a bit thin. The joke bank is definitely depleted, but here we go anyway. Welcome to the Monday Funnies, and have a good week...

TOP 10 SIGNS YOU'RE IN FOR A LONG SUNDAY SERMON

10. There's a case of bottled water beside the pulpit in a cooler.

9. The pews have camper hookups.

8. You overhear the pastor telling the sound man to have a few (dozen!)
extra tapes on hand to record today's sermon.

7. The preacher has brought a snack to the pulpit.

6. The preacher breaks for an intermission.

5. The bulletins have pizza delivery menus.

4. When the preacher asks the deacon to bring in his notes, he rolls in a
filing cabinet.

3. The choir loft is furnished with La-Z-Boys.

2. Instead of taking off his watch and laying it on the pulpit, the
preacher turns up a four-foot hour-glass.

AND THE NUMBER ONE SIGN YOU'RE IN FOR A LONG SUNDAY SERMON

1. The minister says, "You'll be out in time to watch the super bowl" but
it's only August!

And our Dave Walker cartoon is a repeat, but I love it!

The Washing of Hands

Barbara Crafton is back from her year in Italy, and she has not missed a beat in her daily meditations from her "Geranium Farm." She sent this one Saturday, meant to go along with today's biblical readings. Have a look, and you can sign up for her "almost daily" emails by clicking HERE. And here is her meditation for today...

The Washing of Hands
By Barbara Crafton

For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it.
-- Mark 7:3-4

Often, people who want our religion to be more logical than it is will maintain that the dietary laws and cleanliness codes of ancient Israel were about sanitation. They try to argue that shellfish were forbidden to the Hebrews because they are dangerous without refrigeration, or that the injunction against boiling a kid in its mother's milk was really a practical response to the problem of unpasteurised dairy products.

This is unlikely. They were a means of maintaining Israel's separateness, not her cleanliness. To this very day, observant Jews and Muslims shape their daily life around their strictures. Most will tell you that they do not find the rules onerous: rather, they find them reassuring. Through them, they connect with the past of their people, and they connect to God through them, as well. Whatever their orgins, rules can help people to be who they are.

So the Israelites' handwashing was not primarily about sanitation. But we do now know, as they could not know then, that simply washing one's hands is one of the largest factors in the prevention of disease. Worldwide, diarrhea kills more children under the age of five than any other cause -- ten million will die of it before the year is over, the vast majority of them in developing countries. Children's bodies are small: it doesn't take long for an infection to overwhelm them. But educating mothers and village leaders in developing countries in very simple practices -- washing hands thoroughly before food preparation, before eating, after using the the toilet. Along with mosquito netting and medicine, Episcopal Relief & Development trains village volunteers to educate each mother in a village in this simple thing -- the washing of hands, to save her children's lives.

+

To learn more about ER&D or to make a donation, visit www.er-d.org or telephone 1-800-334-7626, ext 5219.

Welcome University of Virginia students! Please join us for dinner Sunday evening

This Sunday evening we renew a great tradition at St. Paul's: Complimentary dinner for university students.

If you are a University of Virginia student, please come to our 5:30 p.m. worship service (it is brief), and then come to dinner in the lounge. Dinner is free, and the company and conversation terrific. No commitment is necessary, but this is a great way to meet other students. We would love to see you! For more information, please contact The Rev. Neal Halvorson-Taylor at: neal.halvorson.taylor@stpaulsmemorialchurch.org

During the week, we offer much else for students worth checking out. On Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. is our Taize service, a simple prayer service with chanted singing led by students. Our Canterbury Fellowship group meets on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m.

St. Paul's is located on "The Corner" just across the street from the Rotunda. And you are always welcome to join us Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

Please come as you are, with your questions, your faith and your doubts. We would love to see you!

The Saints of Summer: Augustine of Hippo

Today is the feast day of one of the major figures of Christianity: Augustine of Hippo, about whom almost as many pages have been written as about Jesus of Nazareth and St. Paul. Augustine looms so large, and his shadow so long, that it is impossible to talk of him without bringing up debates that are as alive today as they were 1,600 years ago.

Augustine (354 to 430, bishop in North Africa), did as much as anyone to shape the theology and ethos of western Christianity. The arguments that rage today in the church are echoes of the fourth-century conflicts in which he was so central, and which were never fully resolved.

Truthfully, Augustine gives us a mixed bag. It was Augustine who interpreted the Adam-and-Eve story as an allegory for original sin, elevating that story for Christians in importance above the Abraham saga that is foundational to Judaism. A piece of our Jewish roots was lost, and not for the better. Augustine rendered sex into the original sin, and you can connect the dots from that to all of the arguments we have today over sexuality. He also explored the idea of predestination and came up with a double-predestination concept that puzzled his contemporaries at least as much as it might puzzle us.

Yet I would give you another picture of Augustine that is worth exploring. He was the first to write a spiritual autobiography, Confessions of a Sinner, and it is still readable today (there are several new translations). He left us hundreds of sermons and major books. Most spectacularly, Augustine explored the meaning of grace, and how grace comes to us free of charge whether we deserve it or not. Augustine was accused of preaching "cheap grace" by those who believed we needed to earn God's favor. Augustine stood firm that grace is a gift of God and not anything we can control. And he preached how we are called to bring heaven to earth -- the city on a hill. Central to Augustine was Christian hope for a better world.

Augustine battled the Donatists, a north African movement that preached that only the pure could be in the church. The Donatists never conceded the point, and they never went away. We see echoes of Donatism today among those who feel the church needs to purge itself of those people who are considered impure or unworthy. Augustine and his arguments remain as relevant today as they were 1,600 years ago.

If you want to know more, I highly recommend Garry Wills' short biography, Saint Augustine, in the Penguin Lives series. For a longer scholarly treatment, Peter Brown's biography, Augustine of Hippo, published by the University of California Press, is still a masterpiece.

The Saints of Summer: Thomas Gallaudet and Henry Winter Syle

Thomas Gallaudet (1822-1902) and Henry Winter Syle (1846-1890) were pioneers in the education and inclusion of the deaf in the life of The Episcopal Church. Galladet, born in Connecticut, followed in his father's footsteps as an educator of the deaf.

Thomas (in the color image) was not deaf, but his wife, Elizabeth was deaf. He was ordained in The Episcopal Church, and established St. Ann's Church in New York with worship services primarily in sign language.

One of Gallaudet's students, Henry Winter Syle (black and white photograph) became the first deaf person ordained an Episcopal priest. Syle, born in China, educated in Gallaudet's school, was encouraged by Gallaudet to seek ordination. Syle went on to establish his own congregation for the deaf.

The work and witness of Gallaudet and Syle are great reminders that our church has long sought to include all of God's children at the Holy Table. We follow giant footsteps as we continue their work.

Health care reform and the faith community: 40 days for Health Care reform

Last week, President Obama spoke with faith leaders via a conference call about his vision for health care reform. There is considerable misinformation about the issue floating on the airwaves and on the internet, and scare tactics abound. I was unable to connect to the call -- "all circuits are busy" -- nor could I connect via a webpage, but at the bottom of this posting is an account of the call.

I would ask that those reading this blog not succumb to the politics of fear. I would especially ask those who consider themselves to be Christians to remember that Jesus said over and over "Do not be afraid." Our mission is to bring healing and hope to this world, not fear and division. Healing is what we are about, and that means we cannot avoid being involved in this health care reform debate.

Those of us who spend time visiting patients know how much our health care system needs fixing. For the uninsured, the emergency rooms become clinics, at great expense. Even those with health insurance are stymied in receiving treatment for life-threatening illnesses because of decisions by insurance providers. A friend of mine with cancer spent her last days battling her insurance company over its denials of treatment. She was economically destitute by the time she died.

Those who are anxious about government-sponsored health care are right to be concerned. Government (i.e., The Congress) may yet botch this. But I would point out that those who say they want no government health care may have forgotten how Medicare takes care of millions of people effectively. Medicare is such a part of our national landscape that we've all but forgotten it is a government program that works.

Episcopal News Service covered the call with President Obama, and here is the account, complete with links to other related websites:

Obama, religious leaders urge people of faith to participate in health care reform

By Lynette Wilson, August 20, 2009

[Episcopal News Service] President Barack Obama urged people of faith to knock on doors and spread the facts and the truth about health care reform during "40 Minutes for Heath Care Reform," an August 19 telephone call-in and webcast.

"Time and again men and women of faith have helped to show us what is possible when we are guided by our hopes and not our fears. That's what you have done before; that's how we were able to succeed in establishing social security and Medicare and bring about justice through the civil rights movement," Obama said. "That's what you can do again today to help us achieve quality affordable health care for every American."

An estimated 140,000 people of faith participated in the national conference call/webcast with the president and the faith community. Sponsored by more than 30 religious denominations -- including the Episcopal Church -- and organizations that cut across race and religious tradition, the call helped launch the "40 Days for Health Reform" campaign aimed at mobilizing people of faith to press Congress to finish work on health care reform when they return after Labor Day Recess.

"I am deeply concerned with all the shouting, the fear and even the hatred we are now hearing, we are in danger of losing the moral core of this debate, which is that many people are hurting as a result of a broken system," said Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, which approaches faith, politics, and culture from a biblical perspective.

"This call shows how united the faith community is around the moral principal of accessible, affordable quality care for every American, for all of God's children. Tonight we are calling on the people of faith to make our political representatives understand that the faith community will be satisfied with nothing less than accessible, affordable health care for all Americans."

40 Minutes participants shared their personal experiences with health care at the start of the conference. Karla Carranza, a 15-year-old who attends Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, Colorado, shared her family's story. Carranza's mother works cleaning houses and her father works in the meat department of a grocery story. The family lost their Medicaid coverage because Carranza's parents combined income exceeded the Medicaid limit by $6. Carranza is going without treatment for scoliosis, and her mother cannot afford medications to control diabetes, tendonitis and high blood pressure and cholesterol.

"I don't want my mom to die," she said. "I want my parents to be there as I grow up. I want them to meet my children and for them to see me reach my goals in life. I don't want to grow up without my family's support."

Melody Barnes, the Obama Administration's domestic policy director, answered questions from the faith community, including one from Deacon Jo Glasser from the Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Glasser said that people in her diocese are concerned that reform means a government take over of health care, and others are concerned that without a strong public option Americans will be at the mercy of the insurance industry. "What is the president's position and how will it affect people in my diocese?" she asked.

Like people everywhere, Barnes said, members of the Diocese of Eau Claire are likely watching their wages fall while their health care costs rise. The proposed heath care reform would decrease heath care costs and end "sweetheart deals" for insurance companies, creating and effective and efficient system that provides better care, Barnes said.

"I would say that health reform is at the crux of being a faithful steward of our resources," she said.

Obama addressed the moral dimension of the health care debate, recognizing the important role of the faith community in finally achieving health care reform.

"I know we have thousands of people on this call from many different denominations and faiths but the one thing that you all share is a moral conviction. You all know that this debate over health care goes to the heart of who we are as a people," he said. "I believe that nobody in America should be denied basic health care because he or she lacks heath insurance and no one in America should be pushed to the edge of financial ruin because an insurance company denies them coverage or drops their coverage or charges fees they can't afford for care that they desperately need."

Obama used the conference to correct some of the misinformation that has plagued the national debate.

"If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. Nothing that we are doing obligates you to choose any plan other than the one you have. If you like your doctor you can keep seeing your doctor," he said. "We are not going to interfere with that. I don't want government bureaucrats meddling in your health care, but I also don't want insurance company bureaucrats meddling in your health care … and that's what health insurance reform is all about."

Obama also address the so-called "death panels," calling the idea "an extraordinary lie." There is a provision in the House bill that provides Medicare reimbursements for counseling to set up a living will and advice on other end-of-life decisions, he explained.

Heath care reform is not designed to provide health insurance for illegal aliens, or to fund abortions, he continued, calling the lies and misinformation, "fabrications that have been put out there to stop people from meeting a core moral and ethical obligation that we look out for one another … that I am my brother's keeper, my sister's keeper, and in the wealthiest nation on earth we are neglecting to live up to that call."

Over the next 40 days, communities of faith are organizing and hosting heath care forums, prayer rallies, contacting elected officials, picking up the phone and knocking on doors in support of heath care reform.

The Episcopal Public Policy Network sent a policy alert August 17 inviting members active in health care advocacy to participate in the call with Obama.

The 76th General Convention recently passed several health care-related resolutions, including CO71, in support of universal access to quality, affordable health care in the United States and calling on Congress to pass comprehensive health care reform this year.

A recording of the call is available at http://www.faithforhealth.org or www.blogtalkradio.com/40mins4health, which live-streamed the call.

More information about the 40 Day Campaign for Health Care Reform is available here.

-- Lynette Wilson is staff writer, Episcopal Life Media.

Speaking of Faith: President Obama's theologian

Krista Tippett, who is gaining a reputation for insightful podcasts on theological topics, recently interviewed E.J. Dionne, columnist with The Washington Post and David Brooks, columnist with The New York Times, about President Obama's theological perspective and how it is shaped by the writings of Reinhold Niebuhr.

For those unacquainted with Niebuhr, he was hugely influential particularly before World War II in moral theology. In his work and writings, for example his book Moral Man and Immoral Society, he wrote about how Christians are called to create an economy that cares for the poorest among us. Among Niebuhr's students was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who returned to his native Germany to attempt leading a Christian opposition to the Nazis, but was arrested and executed.

This podcast is fascinating and goes a long way beyond the demonizing and sloganeering that has so far characterized Obama's religious underpinnings. You can listen to the podcast by clicking HERE. And then lend me your thoughts. And I am much appreciative of Mike Kinman in St. Louis for bringing this to my attention.

A word on words...

Until now, I have avoided setting down ground rules for this blog. But lately I've had to remove comments that were inappropriate. I want to give a little advice on what works and what doesn't. There are boundaries here, this is not a saloon.

It is my hope that this blog will be a place of dialogue and conversation. But please consider that you are a guest in someone's home (mine). Angry yelling may work for talk-radio, but it doesn't work here. Take your anger elsewhere. Present your point of view respectfully, and be open to others having a different point of view. Be respectful. Have a conversation. Take a deep breath before you hit the "submit" button.

And, I shouldn't have to spell this out, but I will:

1- Comments that are hateful toward any individual or groups will be removed. Period.

2- Comments that promote a commercial product will also be removed.

3- Keep it tasteful; use common sense and watch your language (this is a church blog).

4- I will not be drawn into arguments with anyone leaving an anonymous posting. You can leave an opinion anonymously, and if it is respectful, I will leave it stand. But do not expect a response from me. Conversation requires both parties introducing themselves. You know who I am, so have the courage of your convictions and stand by your comment with your name. Then we'll talk.

The name of this blog is Fiat Lux -- "Let There Be Light." So, please, shed light, not heat.

-- Jim