Praying In the New Year...Lord, Hear Our Prayer...

In peace, let us pray to the Lord, "Lord, have mercy":

Almighty God our heavenly Father, guide the nations of the world into the way of justice and truth, and establish among them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness, that they may become the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Lord, have mercy.



God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Lord, have mercy.



Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Lord, have mercy.



Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Lord, have mercy.



Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Lord, have mercy.



God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior, the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Lord, have mercy.



Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated unto you; and then use us, we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Lord, hear our prayer.

God in a baby's hand: lyrics by John Bell

Woodblock: Nativity with Midwife (1913) by Eric Gill 1882-1940

Hat tip to Karin, a fellow blogger, who kindly corrected my information!

"God in a baby's hand"

I sought him dressed in finest clothes,
where money talks and status grows;
but power and wealth he never chose:
it seemed he lived in poverty.

I sought him in the safest place,
remote from crime or cheap disgrace;
but safety never knew his face:
it seemed he lived in jeopardy.

I sought him where the spotlights glare,
where crowds collect and critics stare;
but no one knew his presence there:
it seemed he lived in obscurity.

Then, in the streets, we heard the word
which seemed, for all the world, absurd:
that those who could no gifts afford
were entertaining Christ the Lord.

And so, distinct from all we'd planned,
among the poorest of the land,
we did what few might understand:
we touched God in a baby's hand.
___________________________________

We can do likewise, as we are called to do for those that Christ Jesus loved
most...

Catherine+

This poem/lyric was found on http://freedom-bound.blogspot.com/by a spot on Brit named John Bell.

I don't know if these blind will ever see the light: We can pray they will one day...

I have been catching up on my blog reading the last few days and some of the truly crass comments made by so-called Christians in the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church [that's right, you cannot escape!] are beyond belief. Yes, I know, they really are this narrow-minded. Thanks be to God that His Son was not! Grace and reconciliation to the Trinity is not a narrow-minded concept...go figure.

Today is the day we commemorate the Holy Innocents. I love the prayer for this day because it reflects so much from when it was written to the very present, and I am sure for years to come:

"We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

I could not have said it better myself. How well this prayer rings true of today's world, of today's tyrants, including those in our own Communion [Minns, Schofield and the rest of the noisy gaggle]. There are those who seek to imprison, torture and blaspheme the very grace and reconciliation that Christ Jesus died for until it fits their skewed view of God and Christ's fulfillment of the Law [Hmm...could it be Peter Akinola?].

In a time when the one thing everyone could agree on at our last national Convention was the Millennium Development Goals, how quickly the secessionists and fundamentalist Anglicans forget. Here, let me remind you of what those Goals are that we so wholeheartedly support:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

Though all of these goals are important, I wish to focus on one in particular that some of the fundamentalist "anonymous" commentators on many progressive blogs are coming down very negatively on. I refer to Goal number 3: Promote gender equality and empower women. Why are we not surprised...

In one particular case the commentator, obviously of the male gender and certainly NOT representative of good men everywhere, was particularly cutting in regard to our Presiding Bishop and her gender. The comment was made in regard to a letter by the Archbishop of Nigeria in regard to our Presiding Bishop in that she will not be invited to Tanzania and should not be invited to Lambeth 2008, because among other things she's a woman and can't possibly know anything about leadership and God.

This guy said because "Doctor Katharine" is a woman how could she possibly know anything about scripture, or its proper interpretation. The Brits tend to call their bishops doctor hence the addressing of our PB as "Doctor". Well, obviously this man has been living in his cave a bit too long and does not care a whit about promoting gender equality and empowering women. It's sad that some men, American and British, and some women for that matter, are sooooo behind the times and do not "get" what Jesus was all about. At least thirty years behind the last time we checked. Our Presiding bishop fulfills the promoting of gender equality and the promotion of women's empowerment in the Church as well as the world by her very Christian example and her authentic humility. It's what Jesus did, that darn radical hippie! Who the bloody heck does that Boy think He was and is! Having women as disciples and financial supporters! The bloody nerve! Didn't He know He was wrecking a good thing for the rest of us guys?

I must say that ++Katharine's letter to the diocese and churches that were considering and have rebelled against the Constitution and Canons of the Church, but more so against the teachings of Christ, was "love in control". I refer to the letter and gloriously wonderful captioned picture at MadPriest's "Of Course, I Could Be Wrong" blog: http://revjph.blogspot.com/2006/11/love-in-control.html . Basically the letter and the picture says it all about the humility and dignity of our God-given, God-sent Presiding Bishop. How well she counters, with love, all the fallacies and hyperbole that the fundamentalist Episcopalians/Anglicans put forth.

I am so very proud and thankful for her leadership and Christlikeness in our Church. We have needed her and she has come to us by way of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit. Thankfully most of the Episcopal Church and other dioceses outside of our borders can see what we see...real leadership and grace.

Catherine+
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"And God was a child curled up who slept in her and her veins were flooded with His wisdom which is night, which is starlight, which is silence. And her whole being was embraced in Him whom she embraced and they became tremendous silence."

~Thomas Merton~

Crafton sums it up...

The Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton, writer of The Daily eMos and other wonderful stuff, wrote in today's eMo the words I have not been able to find in myself regarding the most recent news in the Church and the current Advent season. I think anyone can think better than I can at this point in time. Here are her pearls of simple wisdom and observation, of why Jesus came to us in the first place, and answers the question in my mind recently as to why Jesus never spoke a Beatitude for blessing those who divide the Body.

Catherine+

THE SELF-ANOINTED RIGHTEOUS

So much un-peace, in the Church and in the world. A peculiar pride in our own stubbornness has infected many of us -- as if reconciliation somehow represented a failure of moral nerve. We are strongly attracted to visions of ourselves as lonely martyrs for a holy truth -- and this is a dangerous self-image to have. It leaves no room to accept criticism we may desperately
need.

And so we leave churches that aren't holy enough for us. Assume we know God's will solely through a narrow reading of scripture, and pride ourselves on never changing our minds. We stay the course.

In doing so, we are in danger of ignoring a God who is free. A God who does new things. We won't allow it. We insist on worshipping the ancient record of God's work in the world, instead of the God to which it all attests. We will not allow God to be the unexpected thing God must be in every age.

Here comes Jesus -- a child born into a world of division. In his name, we will exclude and even kill, and we will tell ourselves in that very moment that we are doing the work of the Prince of Peace.

No wonder Jesus wept. Lord, have mercy.

Copyright C 2006 Barbara Crafton - http://www.geraniumfarm.org

_______________________________________

"You see," writes Catherine of Siena,
speaking in the person of the eternal Father,
"this sweet and loving Word born in a stable,
while Mary was journeying; to show to you,
who are travellers, that you must ever be born
again in the stable of knowledge of yourselves,
where you will find Him born by grace within
your souls."

Spam in the Comments and What I will do about it...

I am in the unenviable position of having to block anonymous comments from my blog entries at this point in time.

There are some folks who do not have the courage to identify themselves, giving them license--or so they think--to be offensive and demeaning.

Well...

I will brook no such activity on my blog.

If you want to comment you will need to register yourself on blogger.com and/or identify yourself with your real name, et al. You can always tell who the cowards are when they refuse to identify themselves and are blatantly crude in what they say about you, the writer, or someone you respect and has been elected to a place of authority and respect by bishops and lay people, legally and legitimately within the Church. This applies to all entries, church-related or not.

I suppose there will always be people who will act like spoiled children in their adult lives...and that is the real pity.

Catherine+

"The theory of relativity applies only to physics, not to ethics."
~~ Albert Einstein ~~

THE letter from ++Katharine to the Prodigals of Division

My dear brother:

I have seen reports of your letter to parishes in the Diocese of San Joaquin, which apparently urges delegates to your upcoming Diocesan Convention to take action to leave the Episcopal Church. I would ask you to confirm the accuracy of those reports. If true, you must be aware that such action would likely be seen as a violation of your ordination vows to "uphold the doctrine, discipline, and worship of Christ as this Church has received them." I must strongly urge you to consider the consequences of such action, not only for yourself but especially for all of the Episcopalians under your pastoral charge and care.

I certainly understand that you personally disagree with decisions by General Conventions over the past 30 and more years. You have, however, taken vows three times over that period to uphold the "doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church." If you now feel that you can no longer do so, the more honorable course would be to renounce your orders in this Church and seek a home elsewhere. Your public assertion that your duty is to violate those vows puts many, many people at hazard of profound spiritual violence. I urge you, as a pastor, to consider that hazard with the utmost gravity.

As you contemplate this action I would also remind you of the trust which you and I both hold for those who have come before and those who will come after us. None of us has received the property held by the Church today to use as we will. We have received it as stewards, for those who enjoy it today and those who will be blessed by the ministry its use will permit in the future. Our forebears did not build churches or give memorials with the intent that they be removed from the Episcopal Church. Nor did our forebears give liberally to fund endowments with the intent that they be consumed by litigation.

The Church will endure whatever decision you make in San Joaquin. The people who are its members, however, will suffer in the midst of this conflict, and probably suffer unnecessarily. Jesus calls us to take up our crosses daily, but not in the service of division and antagonism. He calls us to take up our crosses in his service of reconciling the world to God. Would that you might lead the people of San Joaquin toward decisions that build up the Body, that bring abundant life to those within and beyond our Church, that restore us to oneness.

I stand ready for conversation and reconciliation. May God bless your deliberation.

I remain

Your servant in Christ,

+Katharine

Giving Thanks

I give thanks to God for my best friend, an agnostic who has made time in her life to encourage and support me, spiritually, steadfastly and sincerely, who helped me build a rabbit run for my little orphans.

I am thankful for a wonderful friend in Tacoma, Washington who prays for me and encourages me, who loves wildlife [not "wild life!"], the outdoors and nature as much as I do, who understand how important our furry domesticated friends mean to us who live alone and endure loneliness but would prefer not to.

I give thanks for a womanly couple who have been strong allies in the fight for right in the workplace and who have had faith in me since our first introduction [and who appreciate animals, especially my rabbits] who also long for a spiritual home.

I give thanks for a licensed clinical social worker who I got to know from my church when I agreed to read to one of her hospice patients [and that in turn began a new friendship between she and I], and for her outrage at the lack of concern from our own parish members for my situation.

I give thanks for the Domestic Violence Coordinator at Rogue Valley Medical Center who has been a friend and support in trying to help me find work so I can support myself [and no, I did not require her professional services as a DVC; my Shih Tzu and rabbits are not abusive!], and who has made time to listen to my cares and concerns, who has made phone calls on my behalf to other clinics to try to find me a job.

I am thankful for my second oldest brother who works for Homeland Security at PDX who tries his best to help me from afar. It's more than my other two older siblings have ever done for me.

I am thankful for my dog and teenage rabbits, who love me without guile or conditions for their affection; they give my love and compassion a place to go...

Mostly I am thankful to God who gives me the roof over my head, the clothes that protect me, the food which feeds me, and books to nourish my mind. I am thankful for 8 year old moosehide slippers that are all worn out inside but enable me to pad around my home in warmth.

I am most grateful for the Son of God who died for me that I might live with the Holy Family in heaven, Father, Son and Holy Spirit--in all of Her motherly glory and wisdom.

I am thankful that I live in the freest nation on the planet, so I can live and worship in my own way, speak my mind and not walk my street in fear.

I
Am
Thankful...