Several in One

I've been meaning to post on a couple of topics but then something new happens. So I'm going to post them all at once.

At the cross

This hymn has been inside my head all day.
All weekend I've been bugged by a run in I had with a prostitute. Ho's Hobos and Joggers should stay out of the bike lane. It's a bike lane. Anyway I had rung my bell and she cursed at me saying I should move. It had been in my head to get her type back, but I experienced a small miracle and my husband's words (quoting the Bible) "Do not repay evil with evil" reminded me that I really should just let it go. But it is hard. I've decided the better come back is "Jesus loves you."
What does this have to do with the hymn in my head? Something to sing on my way to work as I pass the ladies serving the breakfast Johns. Otherwise nothing.

Catholic Deaconess- I'll take it

 I really don't think there is such an animal. Deacons are men and preferably ones who want to be priests. And in my husband's church, which also is a bit patriarchal, there are no deaconess. Well none since the split with the PCUSA.
The last week's mass was another where B & J did not show up, nor did K. Worse Fr. W. was on vacay or somewhere else, so Fr. L whose church is kinda crashing at ours, celebrated mass. Fr. L still hasn't gotten the rhythm of the Saturday quickie mass. He's got the short homily down but there were some parts (the creed) that got skipped. Now why is it important that B&J show up. J does the readings. I also do readings but I have been doing more of the readings since people aren't showing up due to Summer. And B & J take the offering, and know when to take the offering. And J also helps with the distribution of the host. J does a lot. If B&J aren't there Fr. W pretty much knows who to pull in to assist with the mass. Fr. L, and to be very fair any other substitute priest, would not. So I took charge (I did not want to) read the readings, got the hubby (who was in attendance with me) to help me with collecting the offering.
After the mass there was a regular & possible neighborhood character floating around begging for help. I have seen her interacting with Fr. W before and know she uses the church to get food. There is a food pantry somewhere in the church but I don't know much about it. Fr. L was unsure what to do or how to handle it as the people who normally deal with this matter were all unreachable. So I jumped in ans helped. I told her I'd run to the Giant on the next block and buy her 3 things, after a too long exchange of what she couldn't eat (high blood pressure, diabetes, really bad teeth) which seemed to be anything healthy (no salad, no green beans). She asked me if I was the deaconess. No, but I'll take that title to get this over with. The three things were hamburger meat, cheddar cheese and a roll of toilet tissue. You know what is near impossible to find in the store on the 4th of July in the evening? Hamburger meat. But I found it and lucky me the last few packages were for grass fed organic cows. $12 later, plus the .05 cent bag fee, she got her 3 items.

 You can't say I left the Episcopalians to get away from the gay

I am very happy that B. brings his non-Catholic partner C to mass and they are regular attendees. Same for A. who has been bringing, or has been brought by due to his illness, his non-Catholic partner (with the rings I suspect 'spouse') J. I love all these men, Catholic and non-Catholic and enjoy their presence. I also love that the diocese had a letter for everyone, that the church inserted into the bulletin clarifying its stance regarding marriage.
I was chatting with a friend at the Help's church about the continuing downward spiral of the Episcopal Church. But he summed up my feelings well saying, "Not your circus, not your problem." So with that I'm going to stop giving to all Episcopal and Anglican (even those who separated) because that's no longer my problem. There are other denominations going to Hell in a handbasket as well as they follow Mammon and the god of the zietgiest, but they are not my problem.
I am trusting the Holy Roman Catholic Church with my soul and pray that it will stay faithful to the teachings of Our Savior. I trust her to help guide me in my relations with my gay brothers and sisters in Christ as they seek G-d in a church that respects life, doesn't water down the gospel, and is universal with a place for the left and the right. 
  

Buy a Bible & Frank Griswald

This is a hodge podge entry so flow with it
1st Ret. Bishop Frank Griswald was in town. Saw him today. I'm now Catholic so I have nothing else to say.

2nd, after hearing the Help's story I immediately called my mother and told her to buy my niece a Bible. The Help's family when he was growing up was what I will call nominally Christian, and that's being generous. They'd celebrate Christmas, put up a creche, and maybe would wander over somewhere and celebrate midnight mass. However, and I found this horribly shocking, there was not one single Bible in is family's house while he was growing up. I then grabbed off the shelf my first Bible that my mother gave me when I was 10. A cheap King James that is barely staying together and littered with teenage scribbling. My point was even at the age of 10 I had my own friggin bible and that I found it unbelievable that there wasn't a single bible in his house. His parents did have him baptized by Episcopalians, and I guess could be called seekers but not to have The Word in the house just seemed.... I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it.
There are about 10 Bibles in our house. Most of my collection comes via Nora Bombay and her ex-roommate the lesbian ex-Episcopal priest. Of the ones I had already was the one mom gave, a NRSV I bought because I didn't like the Elizabethan English of KJ, and the Word in Life Study Bible recommended to me by the tall blond giant down the street. And they do get use. I grabbed the Oxford Study Bible today when we were looking at some Wikipedia entry about St. Teresa de Alva on my iphone. I wanted to see what context the referenced verses were in, as they related to St. Teresa's ideas on prayer. Also I'll try to find a verse when trying to remember it, though I tend more often to go to Biblegateway.com.
I remember listening to a podcast from a liberal Episcopal church and the speaker, who I guess was either delivering a homily or just making a very impassioned speech pleaded/demanded that they needed to take the Bible back (from the conservatives). Well first thing you need to do is have it in your house.

Also file under random deep thoughts, celibacy. I'm re-listening to the audiobook on 18th century England, and the author doubts the chastity of unmarried adults. Sadly, some people don't believe it is possible. Then later that day watched an episode of Bones where one of the characters grudgingly was trying out celibacy. Asking a lush to be chaste is like asking an epicurean glutton to fast.

Father Ronald Conner

I can't sleep.
I'm going to blame caffeine and my husband.
And there is sad news. Local Episcopal apologist Fr. Ron Conner is very, very ill. He's been battling some immunity respiratory thing for several months now, with stints up at NIH. I figured he's get better. He was getting better. Now he's not and from reports of those closer to him, he's accepting death. A selfish prayer would be to plead with the Almighty to heal him, so those of us who want more of him won't be denied. However, Conner's response is "Thy will be done."

A Good Compline Spoiled by Praise Music

We're going to give a church one more chance. The Help and I are seeking a church we can worship at together. His landlords suggested a CANA church and so since one was in walking distance, we walked this sunday to one. Unfortunately they were without a priest, so that was a problem right there. So there was a bit of free form. There was a program that had things that appeared straight out of the Book of Common Prayer. I really like the BoCP. Yet in between BCP parts there was ad-libbing. I dislike ad-libbing in worship. It's a style thing, nothing theological and that's where the Help and I depart in worship. I like my prayers time tested by at least several decades if not hundreds of years. He likes the personalization and timeliness, blah, blah, blah (I love him) and really G-d hears all prayers.
So I muddled through the break out prayer groups where we were to discuss what was on our hearts and have the small group pray for us. You know, as many years that I was a Baptist, I managed to avoid this sort of thing. As a Episcopalian that sort of thing wasn't done at the churches I attended. And as a Catholic, I'm really really ok with having the priest in charge, less work for me.
The second half was better it was like compline. I love compline. Yet the other matter was that a lot of the music came from the past 15 years, P&W music. The Help dislikes modern worship music. Me, not too much of a fan as when it is sung the male voices seem hard to hear and it sounds like a young women's choir. I love hearing male voices, strong male voices. Only in one song did I hear the male voice strongly enough.
We'll give it another chance, when the priest has arrived.

Fun Anglican Website

Considering I left the Church of England for the One True and Most Holy Mother Church (I kid, I'm just Catholic), I still keep looking back at the train wreck. I sometimes wonder if I left too early. Sigh. Anyway, Anglicans in Texas are a hoot. I subscribe to Wannbe Anglican and just found The NEW Anglican Firearms "Enthusiast". No I'm not doing this to scare the crap outta of my Jewish/Atheist liberal friends. A lot of people I know and like dislike my Lord and my G-d and are highly distrustful of guns and particularly conservatives with guns. However, being a separate person with my own mind and an American I am free to practice the 1st Amendment and maybe one day the 2nd, as the Help suggested we go to a shooting range for date night. Oh, kiss, kiss, bang, bang.
But anyway on Anglican sites, I found the Anglican Firearms Enthusiast, via Bad Vestments a blog about typically Anglican, sometimes Catholic, vestments that should be set on fire, 'cause sometimes service can get too colorful.

Compline and the Book of Common Prayer

Apparently the missal for Anglican Use is out of print... And yes I could get the PDF from the Anglican Use website, but I like the little book, so BCP it is.
Ever since I encountered compline at the convent in Catonsville, MD I fell in love with it. It is an excellent way to end the day. However on my own I have the darnest time trying to figure it out. But I muddle through. It has given me comfort.

Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Agnostic

Those are my choices.
The Help invited me to a bible study with some people from his church and I had a good time but a minor, very minor issue was the fact I was Catholic and everybody else was Presbyterian. At one point during the eating/meal part of the gathering one fellow was telling how his father led others to Christ and how the people of the town were not Christian. The people were Catholic and engaging in some odd little patron saint thing, which I guess was to illustrate their idolatry. I wasn't offended, as so much, I don't know. I decided to interpret it as the people being wrapped up in a cultural activity that had very little to do with the Gospels. The job of the saints is to point us to Christ, apparently this saint wasn't doing his job.
The more I think of it I know well in my heart I am not a Presbyterian, nor will I ever be. For one, I can only take the worship services in occasional bites. The sermons are too long to me. If you can't make your point in 10-20 minutes, you're droning. That's what drove me from the Baptist church. The sermons were long and at times didn't seem to have a point. They lost me. Thank G-d, literally, he manged to sweep me up into the crowd going to St. Augustine's Catholic Church in Gainesville, when I was on a mission to go to Burger King. It was either my freshmen or sophomore year (as I was still living in the dorms) and by that time, not going to church. When I was living with my parents, I kinda went to church, but I remember there was a point when I stopped going altogether. College, didn't go at all, until that weekend when I got swept into St. Augustines.
I did RCIA but didn't take the plunge. I was also checking out Grace Episcopal in G'ville. And come to think it is amazing I stuck with the Episcopal church then because my first encounter was with huggy hippies at the Episcopal student center across the street from campus. Ewww, hippies. My desire was to get the F*ck away from them when I saw their idea of the peace. I'm older now, now, I'd be firmer with extending my hand. Grace was cool. Grace was downtown, away from the campus. I liked them and got something out of it. I alternated between Catholic and Episcopal during my undergrad and my grad programs.
During my second grad program I didn't get to church often. I tried St. Andrew's in College Park, but didn't care for it, and didn't find it worth dealing with the metrobus in PG County nor the hills of Hyattsville to keep going. I tried to make it to St. George's in Virginia Sq, where I had been going prior to grad school, but Sunday's on a fractured green line, was a no go. So I really didn't go to church much those two years. I wasn't thinking much about theological issues much either.
After grad school I moved closer to a metro rail line. St. Andrew's was still uninteresting and I think, I'm not sure, returned to St. Georges. I can't remember when I returned to St. Georges. It might have been when I moved into DC, when going from the green to the orange lines on a Sunday morning was less a pain in the ass. But still a pain.
Somewhere in there I met up with Roland who then pointed me to the Church of the Really, Really Blond People and the Church of the Gay Lawyer (which upon last visit seemed to be getting more hetro). Though longer than I'd like, I did enjoy the CotGL, but the CotRRBP was a straight shot from the house on bike, had the best coffee hour, a kick-ass adult forum and a cool soup kitchen.
My appearances at Baptist churches pretty much came down to weddings, funerals, and instances where I had no choice (see, relatives). There are things about the Baptist Church that I enjoy, but my interest in the Lord, falls asleep, like the rest of me would if it weren't for dumb mind games I play to stay awake during the sermon. Sadly I found myself doing the same at the Help's church.
At Anglican/Episcopal and Roman Catholic churches I feel myself growing closer to G-d and I genuinely enjoy worship, even when the music is crap. At the black Baptist churches of my family, the music is good. If someone died, so is the food. The sermons are 'eh' and remind me why I left. At my grandmother's funeral (the mean one) I stayed interested in the sermon by picking out everything that was wrong. The pastor saying that she not saying one unkind word to anyone was the biggest lie. A kind lie, but a lie none the less. Note, she was the mean one.
And with the Baptist church I have all sorts of familial ties that make it a choice over any other protestant denomination outside of Anglicanism (and maybe the Lutheran church on a good day). My favorite uncle is the deacon of the baptist church where my grandfather served as deacon. My half-sister's husband is the pastor at some small baptist church in Florida. My father, just recently turning his life over to the Lord, serves on the men's choir and some church board at the baptist church where I was baptized. It is the same church that it seems many of our family has attended for decades (dare I say 100 years?). My mother serves on the usher board at another baptist church. Closer to here my aunts belong to a baptist church about 5 blocks from my home, and in helping one aunt with church activities, I've been dragged to that church and other baptist churches in DC ever since I was a teenager visiting. If it weren't for falling asleep and loosing interest, I might have remained a Baptist. If it weren't for the draw and the utter joy I feel in participating in the mass or the holy Eucharist in the RC and Anglican church I might have become an agnostic. But there is nothing (short of my struggling love of the Help) that would have drawn me to the Presbyterian Church.

The Easter Plan

I plan to attend 2 Easter vigils and continue my tradition of avoiding going to church on Easter and Christmas. Why? It's MY tradition. Yes, it didn't start with the best of intentions but I've been doing it so long it has gotten a life of its own. Easter Sunday I will be enjoying Our Lady of the Holy Comforter or St. Mattress. I may try out 1st Futon A.M.E.
Saturday, if last year is anything like the previous year, the vigil will be early and short. Father is very aware of the crime in the neighborhood and said if he had Easter Vigil at the regular time, nobody would show up. I felt badly for the folks whose car window was smashed (smash & grab?) on service..... Also last year, service came with a beggar hitting people up for money, twice. Yeah, this is happening in the daylight.
After that's over I intend to wander over to the Church of the Gay Lawyer for their most EXCELLENT Easter Vigil. I'll probably write them a check too and wind up on their friggin mailing list. I'll need to arrive as early as I can, so hopefully I can time it right. If the Catholic vigil goes longer or the metro system traps me then I'll head back home because the CotGL fills up quickly. One time I had to stand the entire time because I arrived too late.

Oppressed Methodists

Who knew.
Well I guess studying early modern British history I was supposed to know, but didn't care. I'm listening to an audiobook that I have the darnest trouble wrestling my mind away from, which I need to do when work or home requires all my mental skills and I have to get off auto-pilot. This audiobook is of Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery by Eric Metaxas. Apparently Wilberforce's parents were very fearful of Methodist, which seems to have been too enthusiastic zeal for Jesus Christ and an annoying tendency to bring him into the world (seriously I have no idea what Methodists are about), tendencies. Through the biography of Wilberforce Methodism and Methodist tendencies tend to be this boogeyman that others worried about. It seems Methodists weren't too keen on theater.
The author seems to pit milquetoast Anglicanism against enthused Methodism, which this is my first of hearing of this. Now I know of limp Anglicanism, gad nothing new there and I am vaguely aware of Methodists in history. I have heard of the Wesley brothers, and I did take Religion in America in my undergrad days. However, I just figured them to be like any other Protestant group like Quakers or Baptists to have had the initial hardships then blended into the Christian landscape. Well maybe, depending on one's social class and ambitions. If you really wanted to get anywhere you must be CofE Anglican. And as far as I can tell and I am almost done with the book, Wilberforce, that servant of G-d, never left the Church of England, he just was a really enthusiastic happy moral faithful evangelistic Anglican.

Tear down the temple

What if every Anglican/Episcopal Church in the world, every single one, was found the next day, in neat little piles of building materials. Kings College's huge churchy thing in Cambridge in several piles. A pile of stained glass. A pile of stone. A pile a wooden planks. Turo, same thing. A lovely, neatly packed pile of stone, another pile of glass, and carpeting, wood, and all the items contained in boxes clearly labeled with an inventory list tacked on to each one?
Imagine the news headlines. How would people interpret, if such a thing ever did happen, this miracle? How would the RC and other Christian groups react to such special supernatural attention given to the Anglicans? How would the Anglicans who really don't give much truck to that whole G-d/ Jesus thing react? What would the ABC do and what would he say?
How would KJS take the news? The property you've been suing for is in a neat pile. Do you still want it because if you take it now, you'll have to find a place to store it. And no, you can't store it in the rector's residence.
Three days after it happens, what will stand in its place?