Sacristy Conversations

Teenaged acolyte to boy chorister, prior to E&B: Jacob, why are you here?

Boy chorister: Because I’m special.

Wash Me

My new digs have the remnants of a kitchen remodel going for it. (Sound familiar?) Namely, a layer of dust all over everything.  Everything needs to be wiped down or washed for it to be usable.  (No, I don’t believe dirt and dust are essential ingredients in my jambalaya, but thanks for asking…)

Yesterday, I came home and started what turned out to be a 3+ hour project to rid the flat surfaces of grime. Let’s just say many buckets of black water went down the  drain.  One more section to go, but I’m not freaked by the unidentifiable stuff on the stove any more and every surface squeaks!

Alternate

I was elected an alternate to Diocesan Convention. Wow. Regional Assembly is in two weeks.

Mass Casualties

I shaved a bit of my thumb off this morning while trying to extract a spent wick from a taper. I didn’t even feel it happening.

Being a Christian can be dangerous.

Sign Here?

Having listened for months to the Covenant discussions / arguments / shouting matches:

The Anglican tradition is old, older than Elizabeth I or Henry VIII.  Think second, third century.  It has deep roots and an independent streak wider than the Channel.  There’s a habit of working out our theology in practice rather than producing documents to which everyone must agree.  Unlike other Protestant traditions, there is no confession of faith, no “sign here.”  There is nothing to sign.  What we believe is proclaimed in the Creeds as we worship.  Last time I looked, I was still saying “We believe in one God…” every week.

Our independence led to our autonomy and doing the Church’s work in very local contexts.  The question is, where does the ancient tradition intersect with where the local community is now?  Therefore, we get situations like those in the US, the UK, Africa, and the Asian-Pacific rim — all with different means and emphases.

But what about the basics, the uniting points among the differences?  Is the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral just a historic document relegated to the back of the prayer book and forgotten about?  Autonomous churches functioned as a Communion on that basis alone for 120 years.  Intriguing though, are the last couple of resolves in that resolution:

3.  That in all things of human ordering or human choice, relating to modes of worship and discipline, or to traditional customs, this Church is ready in the spirit of love and humility to forego all preferences of her own;

4.  That this Church does not seek to absorb other Communions, but rather, co-operating with them on the basis of a common Faith and Order, to discountenance schism, to heal the wounds of the Body of Christ, and to promote the charity which is chief of Christian grace and the visible manifestation of Christ to the world;

Both sides of the Covenant discussion, for lack of a better term, need to come back to these two things.  There is some humility to be gained and wounds to be healed in the realization that no one can have it all.  It might be wise to remember that the tradition has always been one of compromise, of balancing and rebalancing.  I wonder if those on opposite tacks have looked up long enough to thoughtfully consider the other side’s opinions.

For the moment, I’m content have nothing to sign.

Tripp on Fear of God

Weeding, Pruning, Planting

The past two Saturdays, I spent the majority of the day on the rectory patio.  While the front yard, which faces the street, has a lovely cover of English ivy, the back has some issues.  Morning glories overtook the front bed, climbing up the fence, and a window, encasing the security bars in lush foliage.  The ivy in the corner bed is littered with weeds, dead leaves, and infringing roses from next door.  Six full-grown hostas were barely visible under a morass of weeds.  Creeping vinca crept from the bed over the pavers.

The first Saturday, together with Jo and Georgia, I pulled weeds from the ground and branches from an overgrown holly, scraped the seams between the pavers for dandelion roots, pruned back the vinca and the ivy, swept last fall’s leaves from the beds, clipped and hauled and stuffed too much of God’s abundance into sacks for the dumpster.  The pile of said abundance in the middle of our workspace was 2 1/2 feet high.

As I worked, I thought about The Secret Garden.  Mary Lennox finds a hidden garden, then with the help of Dickon, makes the entire thing blossom, much to the consternation of Colin, her sickly cousin.  As the day wore on, thoughts moved more along the lines of the Genesis story, specifically, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground” (v. 3:19a).

By the sweat of your face, you shall see beauty…  Especially at 95 in the shade and high humidity!

On the second Saturday, I continued with the vinca and the ivy, this time with a smaller pile.  Michael brought several mums in purple, orange, yellow, and white.   Planted those in pots, then lined them up along the house, some on the ground, others in plant stands or on overturned pots.  Pretty.

Today — tonight especially — I’m sore, as I knew I would be.  My back and thighs hurt where I was bending over or squatting.  Even the tips of my fingers hurt.  (Does every kind of beauty have a cost?)  I hurt, but at the same time, I’m delighted.

Socialized and Partied Out

Saturday night and I’m over at friends’.  I’m thankful they let me stay, as I have had more socializing in the past 48 hours than I had all last week.

Last night, after we finished cooking the First Friday mac’n'cheese for the Salvation Army, six of us went around the corner to the thai place.  Wonderful food and it was great to catch up with folks after two weeks of being totally out of the loop.

Today, I had two parties to attend.  One was an annual cookout at Robert and Kate’s, to which I was invited for hopefully not the first time.  The other was a housewarming of sorts for Scott and Kristi.

Let’s just say pacing is key.

Protected: A Fine Time to Leave Me

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GC Quoteables

But some will say, The church is the Body of Christ. And so it is. And the Body of Christ was not ordained to be lifted up, carried about, or adored, but to be put to the use for which it is intended: salvation. The church is not an end in itself, but a means to a greater end, a transcendent end. It is not an institution to be maintained at all costs, at the loss of its true self. It is the church as a whole that gives itself for the life of the world, if it is to be true to the one in whose name and by whose grace it exists.

– Tobias Haller, “The Church is Not a Leviathan,” In a Godward Direction

 

The American church seems to have decided that honesty is the best policy.

– Kelvin Holdsworth, “What’s Going on in America?,” What’s in Kelvin’s Head?

 

Possible media headline: Mary looses virginity at General Convention.

– Unidentified Twitter-er

(Thankfully, it didn’t happen.  No link to relevant resolution available at this time.)

 

How can you initiate someone, then treat them like they’re half-assed baptized?

– Bishop Barbara Harris, Suffragan of Massachusetts retired, Integrity Eucharist sermon