Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Be Fruitful and Multiply

Doing our part to expand the Episcopal Church. This is about 6 weeks.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Mass in the Pope's Private Chapel

Wouldn't think the chapel would be that modern, would you?

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Anger

Last night the topic of discussion was anger. Frankly I'm still too puny to write about it with any lucidity - so here's a download with a test to see what your anger style is. Go to pages 81-86. How did you do?

Monday, February 18, 2008

Sick

The Plague

The plague has hit Waynesboro. Anyone else sick?

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Transfiguration?


Lightning hitting the world's tallest Christ in Rio de Janeiro.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Facebook for Episcopalians

While the site's server is currently down for maintenance, Episcopalians now have their own social networking site a la Facebook - www.episcopalchurch.ning.com.

Take a look. Join if you like. Spread the word. It would be interesting to see what could come from a diverse Anglican community online - the via media.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

The Race of the King in the Cake


This picture is of the infant Jesus commonly placed in king cakes (a Mardi Gras tradition). Every year I order two king cakes from Publix and every year I'm asked the same question - white Jesus or black Jesus? (My 3 year old daughter calls them a yellow Jesus and a brown Jesus). I can find no justification ordering two white babies. Even though the overwhelming majority of St Michael's is white, I am not comfortable picking the white baby over the black baby. So I order both. Yes, there are usually some odd looks when one cake produces a white baby and the other, an unexpected black baby - but I think the looks are worth the point made that Jesus wasn't Scandinavian. And for that matter, Jesus wasn't African. As a man, Jesus was a Jew - a man living in Palestine. As a Savior - Jesus isn't white or black - he's plaid. He's every color. He's all colors. He's no color.
As a son of the south, I've seen racism and reverse racism since day 1. I think every year brings more healing, but I still wonder if things will not change until a couple of generations (perhaps mine) are long gone. I wish we could be at a point in which we did not have to choose between a white Jesus and a black Jesus. Why not just - Jesus?

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Monday, February 4, 2008

A Heart Strangely Warmed

An article in the Augusta Chronicle highlights conversions from one faith to another or one tradition to another. Yours truly was included in those who have had their heart 'strangely warmed' to move to another expression of Christ's Body.

Have you been warmed? Have you moved?

Why?

Friday, February 1, 2008

The Mountaintop


The mountaintop seems to be the place to be. If you are looking for God. We can find God anywhere, even deep down in the pits of the earth, the furthest away from a mountain summit. But if you desire to see God, if you want to see God face to face, it seems the mountain is where you have to go. Abraham encountered God on Mt Moriah. Moses heard God through the bush on Mt Horeb. Moses saw God on Mt Sinai. Peter, James, and John saw Christ transfigured - they saw God - on a mountain (traditionally Mt. Hermon). Why must a person ascend a mountain to see God?

On January 11, Sir Edmund Hillary died. Most remember Sir Edmund as being the first person to summit Mt. Everest - the highest point on earth. If you ever see pictures of Base Camp, the last habitable place climbers rest before climbing the mountain, you will see dozens and dozens of flags, like bunting on the 4th of July. These flags are offered as prayers to Miyo Lungsangma, the mother goddess of earth. The locals believed Miyo Lungsangma lives on the top of Everest. Even though the Sherpas, the local people whose bodies have amazingly adapted to the high altitude, have long had the ability to summit Everest, they were afraid to upset the goddess. When Hillary reached the top, his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay offered chocolates to the goddess and left them in the snow. Hillary left a cross. Even though Hillary did not believe Miyo Lungsangma lived on the mountain, he did respect the summit as a place to encounter the divine - like Abraham, Moses, Peter, James, and John.

What is it about climbing mountains? What is it about being above and higher than everything else? Is it possible that the reason the Bible records people having theophanies on mountains is because when a person stands in a place where they can have a perspective to see the world as God sees it - they see God?

What is our vantage point? What is our perspective?

It's not that God only resides on mountains - it is when we go to mountains and look around - we see that the world is bigger than our own experience. It's bigger than our assumptions and ideas. It's when we move to a place to see things in their entirety and comprehensively - we are humbled to a point that we can recognize God.

Climbing takes effort. It takes practice and patience and knowledge. It also takes the guidance. To see God we don't always need to elevate our altitude - just our perspective.