Comments du jour

So it was 102 here in Pasadena today (ick!) and it was a hit-and-miss kind of day in blogdom. We were without internet, television OR telephone for most of the day (don't even get me started on the customer service department for our cable provider!) and so rather than blog surfing I did some closet cleaning and book reading. (Actually, time very well spent in both regards.) That said, here's what else I had to comment on now that cable is back up and running:

=======

Here's what I had to say about the "Chicago Five" in response to Fr. Jake's question: "What do you know about any of these priests?"

I have to admit, I'm feeling about the Chicago election the way I am about the Democratic Primary field: it's thrilling to have more than one horse to root for in the race!

Tracey and I worked together on the "via media" video teaching series and she offers some extraordinary insight into her faith and journey and vision for the church in the "Bible" and "Holy Spirit" segments. If you've got access to "via media" check it out.

Margaret has done an extraordinary job at 815 at the "women's desk" and has been a strong, prophetic voice with the Urban Caucus for much longer than she looks old enough to have been at it.

Jane has been a strong, valiant ally at General Conventions past and my most recent experience of her was watching her both mentor and appreciate her son who was part of the youth delegation and who spoke eloquently at several of the open hearings. You gotta admire a woman who can raise a kid like that while leading a parish and doing her part to change the world!

Tim was Associate Rector at All Saints Church under George Regas ... although I did not work with him as an ASC colleague we were clergy colleagues here in L.A. before he left for Philadelphia in 1999 and he is a great preacher and prophetic leader who would be a strong addition to the House of Bishops and a great pastor for Chicago.

Jeffrey is the only one I don't know personally but I own his "Prayer Book Book" and appreciate his scholarship.

For what it's worth I think the job of the rest of us is now to get out of the way and let the good people of the Diocese of Chicago listen to the Holy Spirit as they discern which of these GREAT candidates will make the BEST bishop for their diocese.

==========

I loved this comment from "Josh Indiana" also over on Fr. Jake:

Tracey Lind's consenting to pitch her tent next to Gene Robinson is a remarkable act of faith and courage. For the next two months at least, maybe for years, she will be subject to scrutiny and vilification. All over America are headlines, "Lesbian priest nominated..."

Her nomination sends a message to him, the people of New Hampshire and the worldwide Anglican Communion: he is not alone.

It says the same thing to persecuted Gays in Nigeria, Uganda and smalltown Illinois. God bless Tracey, the Diocese of Chicago and Bill Persell.

====================

Then there's David Virtue -- who I rarely read and less often quote -- but this one was forwarded to me with a query whether or not his description of Integrity's "strategy" for the House of Bishops Meeting in New Orleans was accurate.

Accurate?????????

Now, anybody who would ask a question like that about what David Virtue writes would probably also ask "is the Pope Catholic?" and not really know the answer. "David" and "accurate" in the same sentence are what we call "oxymoron."

But, for the record, here's the quote: "Their strategy: Be respectful, do not make threats, share your personal story and be brief. Under no circumstances are you to cite Scripture and for goodness sake don't publicly whack Nigerian Primate Peter Akinola."

Respectful non-threatening story telling is a good start. And then, actually, we're big on citing Scripture, folks. Psalm 84:11 is a fav. So is Luke 18:1-8. And Luke 4:14-21. All good. Add your own. Cite away. And as for +Peter Akinola, he's got his hands full at the moment looking for his credibility. No whacking necessary.

=====================

Meanwhile, Mark Harris continues the conversation about Peter Ould's violent video over at PRELUDIUM. Interesting to see how much energy there is out there. I was particularly intrigued by Anne Kennedy's description of her understanding of her Holy Orders:

I have written extensively about this on my own blog and my husband has written about it on SF. In any case, my position is called Limited WO. Women can be ordained to the presbyterate so long as they serve under the authority of a male rector. They may not be bishops.

Mind officially boggled on this one, folks. Honest to Pete -- I'll get back to you.

========

The most interesting comment on the video per se was from an email correspondent who wrote:

I find it ironic that the video vividly depicts the martyrdom of Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer for refusing to accept the authority of the Pope while urging the HOB to acquiesce to yielding authority to a central governing body.

All of this brings me back to one of my favorite quotes from the former Bishop of Arizona, Robert Shahan:

Faith is what you're willing to die for.

Dogma is what you're willing to kill for.

I remember being taught as a WEE little Episcopalian that the reason we were so special (and of course we thought we were!) was that our forefathers (and they would have called the forefathers back when I was a wee Episcopalian!) put an end to burning each other at the stake over whether they'd be Protestant or Catholic and decided we could be both. That, I was told, was the Holy Spirit inspiring the Elizabethan Compromise and THAT, boys and girls, is what we mean when we talk about the "via media."

Who ever IMAGINED that we'd be seeing videos glorifying the martyrdom of Christians burning Christians at the stake as something our own bishops should "go and do likewise."

I think the time honored Episcopal term for that is "RUBBISH!"