Sarx

UB SCOUTS In the UK say a a young boy who refuses to say the Scouts’ pledge of allegiance to Queen can’t be a scout.

Indeed.

In this country you can’t be a scout if you’re gay. The Papists are in odd company, but in the *right* company I think. I would that everyone who claims to be a Christian would refuse to say an oath of allegiance to the crown over their heads.

I would that we’d get kicked out of voting booths and government jobs all over the world; that we’d stop sucking up to the very powers that oppress us at every turn and get on with being the Kingdom of God on Earth.

Indeed.

Tags: queen, romans, scotland, scouts, UK

ARAUDING, murdering, racist xenophobes with a penchant for story-telling?

Tags: bible, hamilton, irony, photos

Tags: graffiti, hamilton, irony, kids, photos

ATE & I journeyed to the Erie County Fair on Sunday afternoon. It was quite entertaining. We went to the 4H pavilions, which was a first for me: Mom and Dad never took us to this world when I was growing up. I can see why: it would have either been very boring, or else traumatic.

As it was for the Animals.

Nate snapped this cute bunny - eye liner and all - with his cell phone (no flash). But up and down the aisles there were other folks without so much concern: bunnies don’t do well with crowds. Hands poking at them, strangers walking by. One was dead in his cage; one was twitching so hard that it was scary; one most were stuck at the back of the cage, frozen. One mother had birthed four kits: the card proudly reading “4 2 Kits born 11 August”.

Clearly, 4H and County Fairs care less about the animals involved than about displaying to the public the ribbons they get.

I took the card of one of the breeders, however. I figured if I waited three months (after fair season) that would give time for all the digestive systems to clear out of the rabbits. The ones that had gotten sick would be finished being sick and, maybe, they would have had time to breed a generation that wasn’t exposed to this.

Tags: abuse, emo, fair, kids, ribbons, trauma, wabbits

T THE Recovery Centre - and in 12 Step Programmes around the world - the definition of “insanity” is “Doing the same thing repeatedly expecting different results.”

This is seen, especially, in the addict’s attempt to recreate her world over and over doing the same drug and ending in chaos every time.

I’m exploring a second definition - perhaps a subsidiary one, or #2 to the above #1.

I don’t have a succinct way to say it, though…

Continue Reading »

Tags: bias, communication, insanity

AUL May be the first one to wrestle publicly with the question of difference between Jews (and Gentiles) who accept Jesus as Messiah and specifically Jews who reject Jesus as Messiah. He is doing so in to-day’s RCL readings (for Proper 15, Year A, RCL):

Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy.

The Jews and, for the most part, the Gentiles in this early congregation (who were probably interested in the Ethical Monotheism of the Synagogue before the Christian message was preached) had all come to an important decision in their lives at some point: that the Holy One (Blessed be He) was doing something different in and through Israel than he was doing anywhere else (if, indeed, he was acting elsewhere at all). This beginning continued through the acceptance of Jesus as Messiah and, when the vast majority of Jews rejected this Jesus, the question then became, “Wait. If God’s doing something through Israel, and Israel rejects what God is doing, what becomes of Israel?”

Paul, to, is struggling with this and we get, in the lections, an attempt at an answer.

See if you can follow the logic:

Gentiles are bad (that’s a given) but the Jews rejected Jesus so now Gentiles are blessed.

In like manner

Jews are now bad but because Gentiles are Blessed - Jews will be blessed.

There is no logic at all. Paul is stumbling in the dark. It’s ok: we’re still there!

I wrestle with this constantly because Paul is asking who can be saved at all if they are not in the Church? Can Jews? And by extension, can Gentiles? How do we come to the answer? If we take the meaning of “saved” in the way that many moderns do - getting out of hell free - well then, naturally, not everyone will be saved. In fact, we’d rather like it if our enemies, at least, were not. Yes?

When I was completing my college degree in San Francisco (way back in 2002), we did a group-building exercise one day, called “The Milling“.

At one point in the exercise, I was face to face with a Hindu woman, a fellow student. In the course of the exercise, I was invited to honour her respect for the earth, her living on this planet, her healing work (she was invited to honour mine as well). And then I was asked to wordlessly end this rite in a way of my own choosing. Having seen all of these things in her eyes and soul, I prostrated myself before her.

And she swept in weeping to pull me up. Breaking the silence , she gasped, “We only do that for very special people!!!!” And we hugged. Ever ever that moment we were close in class and through graduation…

The other person: who is this other person, next to me on the subway, on the bus, at work? At St Gregory of Nyssa parish, we began every Sunday with this prayer as the worship team gathered around the altar to plan the Morning Service:

Blessed by God the Word, who came to his own and his own received him not, for in this way God glorified the stranger. O God, show us your image in all whom we meet today, that we may welcome them, and you.

I believe that everyone who comes to me is Christ. This is a common theme in the writings of the saints (from Paul’s letters, to Benedict’s rule to Francis to Dorothy Day). It is a basic understanding of Jesus teaching on not-judging. It is the basic teaching of the Christian tradition on human beings: that person, just there, is Christ. The Eastern Churches teach that honour and worship paid to the icon, the image, passes to the divine one depicted. If each of us are the image of God (image is the meaning of “icon”) then any honour I pay to you passes to God. Equally, and disrespect I pay to you passes to God.

What would it be like for me to go through life prostrating at the feet of everyone who came to me? Is there a way I can do it in my heart - even though not in person? How is it possible to walk that way in all the world, prostrating before the icon of God present in everyone?

At my former job, in an rehab centre, it became increasingly important - for my own salvation - to remember that this, strung-out, bitter, angry, toothless teenager in front of me was Jesus. At the employment agency where I work now, it is equally important. This is practice though: I’m stuck believing something I can not yet act on. It’s far easier for me to judge someone than to acknowledge them as a channel of the Godhead in my world, in my life, to my being. Each person who comes to me is Jesus saying “This is my body.”

I’ve been adding that same short prayer to my morning devotions lately. It is a centring call to remember what I believe: that everyone is Christ coming to me.

If they are Christ, are they not saved? They may choose - freely - to reject this: but I’m in no position to prejudge them for it. “Christ coming to me” must surely include his own people?

I don’t have an answer for how, nor do I think we need one. I’m happy saying God was doing something so profound in Jesus that I don’t pretend to understand it or to be able to explain it save in the first person!

Tags: jews, patristics, paul, RCL, salvation, universalism

E’RE BACK. I’m happily ensconced in Hamilton with a fully charged iBook Battery and blogging away - having just had some AMAZING falafel from Lulu’s. So I figured, after a week’s absence, why not top off the night with an even ten posts.

Ten posts in an hour and a half. I think I’ve done ok.

I had a curious dream last night: the first night I slept without either cold medication or sleeping assistance all week. It was the sort of dream that plays in one long story line - even though I woke up in the middle of it!

In the dream I was in a Western Rite Orthodox parish. It was one of those things you “know” rather than see. I “knew” I was in a WR parish. It was filled with youth and young adults - as if on an overnight retreat. In the dream I thought it rather like “Night Watch” at the Cathedral of St John the Divine.

But they were worshipping rather Novus Ordo - meditative silences, etc - MY WR readers will make it clear now that I was dreaming. Further, they were singing in a very traditional style that is not Orthodox or WR at all.

And the guy I was sitting next to (he seemed a friend) got up and walked out and I - and some of the youth - followed along.

As we were sitting outside talking, watching water flow along, there was a “plop” and I remembered that there were alligators in the water. So I pulled my feet back from the water’s edge. In doing so, I dislodged one of my sneakers. The pair I was wearing had rainbow shoelaces. A large snake surfaced from the water at that point and took the sneaker with it under the water… and off to the right, into a sort of culvert under a highway. I ran up on to the highway and looked into the culvert where the snake had dropped the sneaker. And two squirrels? badgers? water rats? were fighting over the sneaker. I yelled and my voice echoed in the culvert and from out of the culvert came MANY animals: birds, rodents, and a large grey fox with very poofy fur.

There we go. Ten posts between 9:00 and 10:30 pm.

Tags: blog, dreams, mac, rainbows, WR

HE Globe and Mail asks one of the more important questions of the week: Is Russia morphing into another USSR?

“Moscow apparently calculates that its brute seizure of another country’s territory can be disguised as a ‘peacekeeping’ operation to prevent ‘genocide’ and ‘ethnic cleansing’ by the Georgians. A sophisticated press operation to popularize this mendacious “narrative” is being mounted internationally and at home.”

No no no no. You mean “Washington” and “Iraqis” don’t you?

Ah, our Northern Neighbours are missing the real excitement…

Russia causes a war.
France brokers a peace.
Europe flexes her muscles.
And the USA? Stands back and waits until it’s all over and shows up for the signing ceremony.

Because we have NO WEIGHT WHATSOEVER left anywhere in the world. We have become the odd side show.

But - just so you know there are still total NUTS left in the world: Frankie Schaeffer says this is an Orthodox War against the Heterodox West.

As Russia sees it, Bill Clinton turned the American Air Force into air support for an Islamic revolution against the Orthodox world. The attack against the Serbian homeland was an exercise of naiveté equivalent to bombing Vatican City then wondering why Roman Catholics might be upset and stay upset. Then George Bush decided it would be a good idea to place a missile defense system in Poland, disregard Russia’s advice and invade Iraq and further insult and encircle the heart of the Eastern Orthodox world.

The Canadians were wrong, says Frankie: this is “post-Soviet Orthodox Russia”.

Yup:

Mother F’in Russia is striking back! Get your honkey Protestant asses out of the way!

Tags: georgia, russia, usa, useless, war

O YOU think the CNA knows what this headline says?

I don’t think they know. Like all True-Believers™, Left or Right, Romans seem, over all - especially in the US - to be Irony Challenged.

Tags: irony, romans

ES, IT’S true that the Jewish Tradition doesn’t need clergy to lead a service. But take a look at this post over at Jewschool (ignore the politics, the meat is here):

It happened that this particular pilgrim’s grandfather passed away almost a week following the trip’s conclusion and he was rushed with his family to Florida for a quick funeral and subsequent shiva [Mourning] period. When it was time for mincha [Afternoon Prayer] and maariv [Evening Prayer] respectfully, no one volunteered to lead because no one knew how. There was not one skilled individual who was able to recite Kaddish Yatom (Mourner’s Kaddish). So with all his courage, this pilgrim stood up and for the first time in his life led both themincha and maariv services for his grandfather’s shiva.

He told me this story to simply thank me for his success and gained knowledge. Not once during the summer did he express interest in leading a service or show a strong interest for the prayers. Instead, he complained that three-times-a-day was too much, and that learning tefillah (prayer) was not fun. Even if prayer was the only part of the trip that was not exciting, when he was in a situation where a prayer leader was needed, it clicked in his head how important it was to know prayer, and what prayer means for us as Jews today. It is both personal and communal; tefillah [Prayer] is comforting, and uniquely ours.

That last line is important. It is both personal and communal; [Prayer] is comforting, and uniquely ours.

For my Anglican Readers: do the youth of your parish now how to navigate the Book of Common Prayer? Easily 50% of the things in there can be read by laity in church. Would they know how to lead their family in Mornign Prayer? Evening Prayer? Even the Daily Devotions for Families and Individuals?

For my Orthodox Readers: do the youth of your parish know how to assmeble even a simple 1st, 3rd, 6th or 9th Hour? Are they familiar with Reader’s Services? Could they lead their own family in Typica? Hell - do the adults?

It is both personal and communal; [Prayer] is comforting, and uniquely ours. But it is only ours if we make it ours, use it, live it. “Read, Mark, Learn and Inwardly Digest It.”

Tags: leadership, liturgy, prayer, youth