We'll Keep the Light On For You

The Internet was awash in forwarded emails and blog postings of the news about the secession of the Diocese of San Joachin from the Episcopal Church. The Bible study couldn't start until we had discussed it. Will other dioceses follow? What will it mean to us? Will there even be an Episcopal Church in that part of California?

Of course there will. If the leadership of San Joachin doesn't want to be an Episcopal diocese any more, someone else will do that. If they are successful in taking all their property with them, as they hope to be, new Episcopal churches will be planted and will grow in other locations. It will be an exciting time and place to be a young priest, I think: to be part of that missionary response, making common cause with those who treasure the comprehensiveness, diversity and respect for conscience most of us have come to consider one of Anglicanism's great gifts.

Maybe it's time for this to happen. It cannot have been to anyone's soul's health to be primarily identifiable by being against things for so many years. There needs to be more to faith than what one opposes. The glamour of seeing oneself as part of a faithful remnant is both seductive and addictive -- will these dioceses, who have nursed their grievances for so long, even know who they are if they are no longer aggrieved? I hope they do, and that now, free from the onerous burden of their association with us, they can turn their energies to better things.

For it must be true that they, like the rest of us, take seriously the duty we all have to care for those in need. I hope they turn to that work as soon as possible, that they -- and we -- don't choose to squander time, energy and huge amounts of money in protracted fights over buildings and bank accounts. All of us need to ask ourselves if those things are more important than getting free of the malignant tumor of factionalism that has developed its own blood supply and sucked way too much energy from the body of Christ, energy urgently needed by a world that longs for the love of God and doesn't even know it.

And one thing more: this moment in history will come to an end. The time may come when we are one again. We need to welcome that moment with an open heart. Let's keep the door open and leave the porch light on.

Copyright © 2007 Barbara Crafton
Found here: The Geranium Farm

Commentary:
A friend and I were talking after EfM last night about this very issue. In any diocese that leaves, indeed, in any church that leaves TEC, there is and will always be those few individuals who do not wish to leave. I find myself appalled at the lack of support for the very real emotional and spiritual crises in which they find themselves. What is being done as a church body to succor and help them? For I see nothing and I hear very few express concern. I suppose I am highly irritated at our Presiding Bishop for getting so caught up in the legality of the issues that it seems she forgot that churches are not buildings. Churches are not places, or revenue or grants. Churches are people. And there are people who are being set aside at the moment for what I know is a very difficult litigation. However, and this is a big however, to ignore members of our own church body for reasons of connivance is to not act as the leader and spiritual guide for all members of the church body. And shame on our PB for forgetting that.

For Your Consideration (2)

MP's constant posting of truly heinous singers has led me to search for something more easy on the ears-

Ollabelle's High on a Mountain

Christmas Driving

Right, I went to the financial aide office and got a prepayment on next semester's loan so I decided to splurge on some frivolities today and went to the grocery store. Coming back from the store with my haul of tinned tomatoes, pasta, pears, oatmeal and Tofutti Cuties I realized something. Everyone driving since Thanksgiving had suddenly gone insane.

So, apparently unbeknownst to myself, the season's Creed is actually "peace on earth, goodwill towards man and cut off as many people as possible while making up your own lane." Seriously, what is it about Christmas that turns everyone on the road into a moronic poo head? I was almost hit twice on the way home and I live maybe five miles from Sun Harvest.

And what's worse is at least ONE of the cars in question had a "What Would Jesus Do?" sticker. I am not exactly sure about the actions of our Lord and Savior, however I am pretty sure that Jesus would have used his turn signals.

Which leads me to another thought. Once while in Sunday school we were talking about how we felt about people who advertise their Christianity. I find slapping the Christian symbols up on billboards, business cards and anything nailed down pretty off putting. I tend to find myself drawing back from people who proclaim their Christianity too loudly. Which is disconcerting really. Why do I feel such animosity towards others who share my faith? And thinking back on it, I can directly point to those drivers.

These are people who obviously find Christ important enough to advertise themselves as his followers. These are people who, supposedly, follow his teachings and want others to know that they are following his teachings. These are people who want to show others Christian love, empathy and charity. And apparently they find the best way to do so is to cut off other's while hurtling down residential streets at fifty. These are my fellow Christians? These are the people I am suppose to relate to spiritually?

Is there any wonder that people hate, fear or misunderstand Christians? We proclaim ourselves loudly, we proclaim our values loudly, we proclaim our faith loudly- but when the time for talking is over, our actions speak different messages. So often we see the face of faith that is, frankly, unbecoming more then that- stomach churning. We are as steeped in hypocrisy as we are in tradition.

I am tired of Christians talking the talk without walking the walk. Words are easy, it is actions that proclaim our beliefs. If you speak of Christian love and then deny other's into the House of the Lord, do you practice Christian love? If you speak of forgiveness and hold grudges, are you really forgiving? If you speak of charity and do nothing to help your fellow man, are you really charitable? I say no. Christianity is more then a mantle we can put on or take off when convenient. It is more then words. It is our actions. Christianity is the sum of the decisions we make every day. It is the result, not the intentions. Not the plan.

So, when next you get into your huge SUV- contemplate your What Would Jesus Do? sticker. Ask yourself, would Jesus put himself so above the needs of others that he would not even notice other drivers? Would he be so concerned about shopping, chores or errands that he would never see the homeless on the side of the street? Would he consider himself the important actor and all others merely scenery on the stage of life?

Or would he know that people are watching his actions, for the speak so much louder then a few words quickly said and even more quickly forgotten?

How Misanthropic Are You?

You Are 20% Misanthropic

You're definitely not misanthropic - in fact, you're probably a people person. While you may get annoyed with the world from time to time, you remember that everyone's only human!

How Misanthropic Are You?

Huh, so I am people person. Well, I guess I knew that.

For Your Consideration

I was dragged to the Tori Amos concert by my roommate on Monday night. I spent three hours in an uncomfortable chair which was obviously not designed for a woman who happens to be 5'10 and listened to a woman sing songs to which no one could understand the words. But the upshot is, I discovered a great new artist- Yoav. And so, without further ado.....

Beautiful Lie

With Thanks....

I wanted to extend a thanks to MadPriest- the testament to how madness can sometimes be so right.
Mad Priest
In a comment I mentioned that my brother is about to return to the Middle East for the fourth time. An assignment which our family finds a difficult burden, but one which I at least carry with pride and love. He was kind enough to ask for prayers for his safe return, something I do every day.

His kindness is greatly appreciated and timely given.

O Tanenbaum

Its begining to smell a lot like Christmas.....

Ah, my second favorite holiday! (Its just slightly behind Easter.) My roommate, Eric, and myself went out late last night and bought a live (if it is cut, is it really still alive? great, now I have tree guilt) tree, wreath and pine garland. It was wonderful waking up to the scent of fir and pine. We just need a bit of holly and off we go. So far the tree only has my ornaments on it- well, what are left of them anyway. When I moved this summer someone actually stole my Christmas ornaments leaving only the bell I bought in Chinle, Arizona. They weren't valuable, but there were two from the church I had been baptized in- one which I vaguely worry about my reception in this coming Christmas service as I have decided to stay in Communion while they are leaving and, to top it all off, I have openly committed the heresy of joining an inclusive church in San Antonio. Well, if I am not welcome at Holy Trinity there is always St. Nicolas.

But I digress! Our house is shaping into a wonderful holiday confection, it smells green and happy and we got to break into our first day of the Advent Calender- a new experience that I provided for my mostly Scottish roommate. How she existed without German advent calenders and their wonderful bits of chocolaty goodness, I'll never know!

End of third semester

The last few weeks have been hectic, though good. Better perhaps then I even realized when I was in the mist of the days. As it turns out, management clinical has been going very well. I feel like a nurse, finally. I finally feel like I have chosen well, that I will appreciate my new vocation. And yes, it is a vocation. I give so much of myself, can it be anything else? Anything less? Being a nurse is more then a job, its a calling. And not an easy one at that. At the end of the day I am as drained as emotionally as I am physically. My heart aches as much as my feet. I have always been a receptacle for others, an easy place for them to lay their burdens. But being in the hospital has fine tuned this gift. Or curse. I am, now more then ever, the safe place. Its hard, but good. It needs to be done- the patients are so much more then just illness and injury.
And so, my third semester of nursing school is drawing to a close and I must start looking forward. I am suddenly asking myself, what do I want to do with this? My mental health instructor wants me to go into mental health nursing and my pediatric nursing instructor recommends that. I feel pulled in both directions. I know I have the capacity to do either, and do them well enough. But the question remains, what do I want to do? I know I am not alone in this query. I have turned to several of my friends with "What next?" and generally receive the same answer I have, "I don't know." We have all been so caught up in getting to the end that now that the end is in sight not one of us is sure about what we will do next. So I plan on taking this Christmas break to update my resume, start the outline for a cover letter and look around to see what I might possibly wish to do with the rest of my life.
To add to that, several members of our church are anxiously awaiting the decision of our bishop regarding the diaconate in the Diocese of West Texas. The meeting is in February to present the findings of the committee and hopefully we will know something in a month or two. From my understanding, the new bishop is very much willing to start a diaconate here, though there are several details to hash out. But there is always the chance that it will be rejected. Which will leave me in a bit of a quandary. I know that what I view as my ministry- creating a health clinic out of St. Paul's will not be affected but it will mean I will have to rethink what I feel is my calling. So, I am learning patience (a much needed virtue of which I have little) and acceptance.