Anticipatory monkish Belgian beer

Another travel photo from late last year. (This one, though not the ones below, will enlarge if you click.)

An evening in Paris just before the trip to Belgium. I thought this kind of picture would be something I'd take in Brussels or Leuven, since Belgium held promises of beer and in Leuven I'd be staying with monks (Benedictines, not Trappists) but there I was on a Paris avenue, and suddenly I came upon a Stella Artois sign with a merry monk underneath. They were attached to a Belgian restaurant.

All this is one more proof that Paris is a world-class city.

And these buildings are part of what I miss here in the land of Southern sprawl. I am growing to love North Carolina, but give me a real city, please! Where's seventeenth century architecture when you need it? Or even nineteenth century architecture?





Life is busy here. We have finalists for a faculty search in town this week and the next two. The first left late last night. I teach Wednesday and Thursday nights. I'm still wrestling with various pieces of writing.

Peace out. Keep prayin' for your not always humble and somewhat obedient servant.

And a ferry view you can click and enlarge

Same view. More detail.

Water view, Kadikoy-Istanbul commuter ferry, December 2007.

Photo by Jane Redmont.

"Ferry to Chalcedon" post preview, and quick Senate vote roundup

Swamped again... Sigh.

To the left and below are a few preview photos of my two trips to the Asian side of the Bosphorus. The tale with photos (these and many others) in proper chronological order is under construction.

I am NOT listening to the State of the Onion. I will read it when it's over.



Cloture vote on FISA. Good. For updates on the scoundrel scene, see friends' posts here (Mimi) and here (Buddhapalian) and here (Buddhapalian again, on a not unrelated matter). Longish but worth it.





That's the view from the outdoor deck of the ferry. I froze my fingers taking it just for you.

This one's for graphics freaks and political junkies: who's got the winning font?

Great story from the Boston Globe on the fonts and graphics used by the various presidential candidates. As a font freak, I loved this one.

He taught in their synagogues

From this morning's Gospel on the call of the first disciples:

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Their synagogues. I always wondered about that. The first disciples' synagogues? Was there a tour of hometowns? Or is that just a collective pronoun as in U.K. English usage?

At any rate, note, he is said to have taught in synagogues. Hardly indicates someone on the outs with his Jewish coreligionists.

(Yes, Matthew is the Gospel most overtly preoccupied with keeping the connection with a Jewish Christian, as opposed to Gentile Christian, audience. Though there is now some interesting new work on the Gospel of John in that regard.)

And note the basic elements of Jesus' ministry after the first call: teaching in the local congregations of his own religious community, preaching the reign of God (not the cult of his own personality), and healing all manner of ills.

Note that the text uses two words for illness (nosos and malakia). In the Greek they indicate two different kinds of diseases, though it is not entirely clear (to me) what the difference is, except that one means a sort of "softenes" or weakness. One can speculate that in our language, this would include both physical and mental illness, though Greek-speaking (and Aramaic-speaking) people did not make distinctions among illnesses that way.

God of the present moment,
God who in Jesus stills the storm
and soothes the frantic heart;
bring hope and courage to us
as we wait in uncertainty.
Bring hope that you will make us the equal
of whatever lies ahead.
Bring us courage to endure what cannot be avoided,
for your will is health and wholeness;
you are God, and we need you.

Our Lord Jesus Christ be with us to defend us,
within us to keep us,
before us to lead us,
and above us to bless us.

God be our comfort, our strength;
God be our hope and support;
God be our light and our way;
and the blessing of God,
Creator, Redeemer and Giver of life,
remain with us now and forever.

Amen.

A New Zealand Prayer Book
from Prayers for Use in Critical Situations and
The Blessing of the Sick
(language adapted to the first person plural)

Chocolate truffles

Another exciting weekend night on a long-term writing project. Does this woman not have a social life, you ask? The answer is that it's on hold. But fear not, the 35th annual Mardi Gras crêpes party is upon us and I never, ever skip that. I held it the year my (then-) cat died, I held it the year my (then-) boyfriend broke up with me less than a week before, I held it when I was taking my Ph.D. comps. I held it in the middle of a job hunt involving travel. Neither rain nor sleet nor snow. Of course I am the one who stays at home. But in Boston people used to shlepp through the snow for it.

At any rate, it is a quiet scholarly night here in the Southland, Maya Pavlova is at her post, curled up on the book I need to consult (she was off in the corner for several hours, don't ask me why -- she seems to adopt places to nap for a few days running for reasons known only to her), and after many meals in the delicious-but-disgustingly-healthy category (or rather, delicious AND healthy) involving all manner of vegetables and lentils and tofu and brown rice and interesting spices, I poked around the cupboards and the fridge to see what was there in this pre-payday week of leftovers and produced chocolate truffles, and I am here to tell you that a) it's easy and b) you don't even need to have the heavy cream they tell you about in the recipe. I don't keep heavy cream in the house but with butter and a little 2% milk it worked just fine, thank you very much. Of course, there was a supply of Really Good Dark Chocolate sitting around, which helped. Also a little rum. And powdered cocoa to roll the little truffles in once the mixture had sat in the fridge to cool off and get thick.

Theology goes better with chocolate, you know.

"What Chores Would Jesus Do?" An article and short rant on "The New Monasticism"

Article on folks from "The New Monasticism" in the L.A. Times.

What's fascinating --and frustrating-- about this new movement is its a) reinventing the wheel and b) lack of ecumenical and historical grounding. If they just connected with other similar communities past and present -- Catholic Worker houses, various communes and religious houses, Amish, more mainstream Mennonites and Brethren, Quaker communities (Quaker testimonies include "simplicity") and retreat/resource centers, Jesuit Volunteer Corps communities and Mercy Volunteer Corps (not to be confused with the Mercy Corps) and their Presbyterian counterparts (yes, the Presbys have a volunteer corps, doing border work in and around Tucson), the Sojourners folks (the original ones, anyway) and any number of others -- they could get some practical tips and talk to people who've been at it for a while, in the case of the present-day communities in the U.S. The Rule of Benedict isn't made for married people, but checking in with Catholic and Anglican communities who have associates or oblates might also be helpful. Community and simplicity aren't new impulses in Christianity, though in any era they are tremendously challenging.

I'm feeling old.

There are also other "New Monasticism" communities around the country, so you'd think they'd form a loose federation or at least check in with each other.

Note: there is a New Monasticism organization and website, so it's not like there isn't some of what I am talking about going on -- but the very practical side of things needs some assistance so people can communicate and support each other. And share struggles and ideas. It's not rocket science.

This is where American individualism and also Protestant fear of and ignorance of Catholics (and other Protestants, and Anglicans) impair well-meaning efforts like these.

We also can't underestimate the grip that consumerism has on all of us.

End of rant.

I need to go and get some protein in me.

The article has some very moving aspects and is worth a read but I am just struck by the lack of "vertical" and "horizontal" (historical and geographical/present/communication) connections. We have a local group here that is an "emergent" community, lovely people --not a live-in community though, but the problem is similar-- and they are reinventing wheels all over the place.

Of course the fault may be partly ours in the institutional churches that have wonderful and rich resources. We've hidden them or not made them attractive or failed to help people outside our immediate communities see how they could renew their lives and nourish them. And folk are suspicious of established churches for all kinds of very good reasons. So, there's work for us to do too.

Hmmmm.

Friday cat blogging part 2: cacao threats

Nicked from The Website of Unknowing. (Thanks to Eileen again, I found the website through her in a post related to contemplative prayer. )

A Meme from Eileen, who got it from Episcopollyanna

I filled up Eileen's Comments section to keep these semi-hidden, but I might as well stick 'em up here for entertainment. I never write anything on blog that can't go public, so here we go. Special thanks to Eileen.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My first name, mostly not, though my parents had a good friend named Jane and that may have influenced their choice; when I was young she was Big Jane and I was Little Jane. She died a few years ago — wonderful woman, a painter who loved cats. My middle name, yes: Carol, after my maternal great-grandmother, Karoline Hirsch Tokaji. My mother was very close to her grandmother. Also, my brother helped make the final decision about my name. He is reputed to have said “Jane Carol, that’s a nice Hollywood name.” He was nine and a half when I was born. My mother is Joan and when I was young we had an English au-pair named Jean for a while, so it got rather confusing at home. Then Jean went back to England and got married and named her firstborn after me (I’m serious) so the confusion went on and on.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? At the liturgy at Diocesan Convention last Friday when the bishop gave special awards 1) to a tiny congregation of dear, sweet, perfectly ordinary and perfectly saintly people who are quietly and steadily doing Godde’s work, feeding the hungry, tending to prisoners, and praying all the way and 2) to a woman now known as the “cake lady” (I’m not clear whether she is a member of a different congregation) because a while back she decided no foster child in her county should go without a birthday cake and proceeded to start baking and hasn’t stopped since. I couldn’t stop crying. I wasn’t the only one.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes, but sometimes I’m the only one who can read it.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Ick. Never touch the stuff.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? No biological children, but three godchildren, all in their early twenties (two daughters, one son), plus one international student whom I stood up for at baptism back when I was in campus ministry and who vanished off the radar and another one who is in her thirties and also vanished off the radar — long story and on the other side of the Atlantic. Also two nephews (my brother’s kids), both in their thirties.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Sure.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Not much. I don’t like it used in my direction so I avoid it — though there’s a fine line between sarcasm and irony and I use irony a lot. And humor.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yup.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Are you kidding? I’m a physical coward. No way. But giving a speech or sermon to a thousand people doesn’t bother me.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? The local granola, from an organic farm run by a nice older couple. It isn’t sweet (I hate overly sweet cereal or overly sweet anything –except for Turkish Delight, but I am digressing and it’s not cereal) and has pecans in it.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Depends what shoes I’m wearing.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? It depends. Personality, yes; muscular strength, currently not so good except legs, because I haven’t been weight-lifting; moral strength, probably okay but we’re all sinners and you never know how you’re going to meet the next challenge; psychological strength, depends on the situation, kind of a combo; stubbornness, high.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Italian. Not ice, not spumone. Gelato. Almost any flavor — just not heavy creamy American ice cream. Also French sorbet au cassis. (Blackcurrant sorbet.) So sue me. I’m a food snob.

There’s also this really good coffee ice cream from a small organic brand that I discovered last summer at the food co-op. Oh. My. Godde. I stopped buying it so I’d make sure to fit into my clothes.

Now you’ve got me thinking about ice cream.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Eyes, gaze, general demeanor and “vibe,” facial expression. (All together.)

15. RED OR PINK? Red, though I like Eileen’s answer. ("Yes.")

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My current weight and the fact that I can’t seem to meet writing deadlines these days.

17. WHOM DO YOU MISS THE MOST? A dear friend who died in the summer of ‘02. I say his name at Mass every Sunday during the Prayers when everyone can –silently or aloud or softly– name those who have died.

18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Black pants. Pink Crocs, because I’m working at home till early afternoon. (Written yesterday, Thursday.)

19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? A teaspoonful of honey, while making tea in which I just put another spoonful. (Also Thursday.)

20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Beethoven Piano and Cello Sonatas CD my best buddy on the faculty lent me — played by Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma. But I just went through an obsessive “Guys and Dolls” revival phase. (See 3 most recent YouTubes on my blog.)

21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? No idea. Deep purple, maybe?

22. FAVORITE SMELLS? Mediterranean small town or country in summer (hot dust, rosemary, olive trees, pine), forest anywhere, Atlantic coast in New England, roasting chestnuts outdoors on street in Paris, all the white fragrant flowers like honeysuckle and paperwhites and sirynga (which I can’t spell), and six gazillion kinds of food smells. Probably a few others that don’t belong on a family blog ;-).

23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My father.

24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? World Cup soccer and various winter Olympics, and my Red Sox boys, but mostly I don’t watch sports.

25. HAIR COLOR? Silvery grey with one remaining streak of black, toward the middle in front (which looks a little weird, but that’s how Mother Nature is coloring me).

26. EYE COLOR? Dark brown.

27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No. Glasses though.

28. FAVORITE FOOD? (Eileen: “Yes.”) What Eileen said. Also, it depends on the season.

29. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings, definitely.

30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Yeesh, I can’t remember.

31. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Red flannel plaid with grey, black, and white over a grey turtleneck. (It’s Friday after work now.)

32. SUMMER OR WINTER? Both.

33. HUGS OR KISSES? Yes.

34. FAVORITE DESSERT? Berries.

35. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? A stack of stuff for a theological thing I’m writing, mostly Third World women’s theologies plus a ton of things related to courses I'm teaching. And a little book by Walter Wink called Jesus and Nonviolence. I need a good mystery novel, it’s been at least a month since the last one. (I went through a stack of Robert Parker ones not too long ago.)

36. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Nothing. It’s plain grey.

37. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? A Law & Order: Criminal Intent rerun.

38. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Too many to name. Many musical ones. Current favorite: my cat’s purr. Oddball favorite from childhood: my father’s steady typing at his manual typewriter in the room next door.

39. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles. (Sorry, MP.)

40. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Depends which home. When I was little: New York, because I lived in Europe. Recently: Istanbul, because I live in the U.S.

41. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Singing, writing when I can get my act together, preaching, spiritual direction, correcting papers while sitting in boring meetings and managing to pay attention to both.

42. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? American Hospital, Neuilly-sur-Seine (next to Paris), France.

I'm not tagging anyone, but if you want to play, all or in part, post to your blog and link it back to this one, or just answer in the Comments section here. Cheerio.

Friday cat blogging: cats in a mosque courtyard

This was a prelude to the cats of Chalcedon. It was quite the multireligious trip to Istanbul and environs.

These cats will appear again (as will the Chalcedon cats) in the forthcoming, much awaited, really and truly finally happening, leisurely tale of The Ferry to Chalcedon, coming to you this weekend! Yay! One faculty committee meeting this afternoon (on the day I am not supposed to be on campus, but that's when the chair scheduled it) and then I get to work at home with the local feline and try to hatch deep theological thoughts and coherent sentences. (A very good week on the teaching front though -- I think this semester is going to be more pleasant than the last. Thank heavens.)

Click the photo for close-up and details.

P.S. Oh geez, I just realized I already posted this on January 4. Academe is frying my brain. Someone take me back to parish work! (Right - and that will fix my brain for sure.) I'm leaving these felines here because they were handsome three weeks ago and they're handsome now. And I have to get ready for my committee meeting.

Cats in Mosque Courtyard, Uskudur, Turkey. Photo by Jane Redmont.

Silence (from the Desert Fathers via Thomas Merton)

Behold, my beloved, I have shown you the power of silence, how thoroughly it heals and how fully pleasing it is to God. Wherefore I have written to you to show yourselves strong in this work you have undertaken, so that you may know that it is by silence that the saints grew, and that it was because of silence that the power of God grew in them, because of silence that the mysteries of God were known to them.

***--Ammonas, Desert Father, disciple of St. Anthony, quoted by Thomas Merton in Contemplative Prayer (1969) (yes, a posthumous publication)

Having offered a Latin American liberation theology series here during the twelve days of Christmas, I'm thinking of offering some kind of contemplative prayer series during Lent. Stay tuned. Requests and suggestions welcome.

P.S. Good news coming soon about some of my writings on prayer.

More Peter Gallagher, more "Guys and Dolls"

What can I say. Stress reducer.

Click here.

Work-related stress really can kill you

So says the latest Serious Medical Study, from University College London.

Great.

Three new bloggety-blogs --and happy Tu B'Shvat

So three of my buddies, make that four --one blog is the work of a couple-- have new blogs, some newer than others

1. My old friend (good heavens, has it been that many years?) Ken has a new blog, replacing an old blog or two and an old website or two, unless the website is still up. It is called Le Bestiaire, the bestiary, but it's not in French. [Jan. 26 note: Ken has changed the URL but hasn't told me what it is. I will post it here as soon as I have it. Geez, boys, make up your minds ;-) So much for la donna e' mobile; our donne here are stable...] Ken loves animals and opera; he's also been through the mill in the world of work and tells it like it is; and he honored me with a little theological-spiritual reflection on his own and others' journeys through hard times. Oh, and he's also a poet. And plays the horn, or used to. An erudite fellow who knows how to curse. What's not to love? He's been a visitor to the Comments section here. And oh, he's an Episcopalian with a checkered religious past, much like my own. Checkered religious past? Doesn't that describe at least half of the readers of this blog?

2. My friends Karen and Beth, a couple I know right here in the Triad (Greensboro/ High Point / Winston-Salem, not to be confused with the Triangle, which is Raleigh/ Durham/ Chapel Hill) have just started a new blog. It is called Triad GLBT Christian and it's exactly what the name indicates -- a resource for lgbt (having lived in California for ten years, I put the "L" first) people. In their words, we will provide resources and create a forum that addresses issues affecting GLBTs who are Christian, ex-Christian, or Christian-curious. And to them I say a heartfelt "bless your hearts." They are fine women and deeply committed Christians.

3. The ubiquitous JohnieB, traveler of the blogosphere and frequent cyber-visitor to these parts, has succumbed to peer pressure and used his moniker, dontwantadamnedblog, as part of the address for his new blog, which is named Here Still Running. (JohnieB, your blog has suddenly disappeared tonight. Say it ain't so. Is it Blogger or you? P.S. the next morning: Okay, per the Comments, JohnieB has a new blog URL without the dontwantadamnedblog, same name though, Here Still Running, and the link above now works too.) A very Zen-like title, said Grandmère Mimi (if I am remembering correctly).* Good heavens, another Episcopalian with a checkered religious past. What is it with this crowd? Really, I don't read or recommend only Episcopal blogs.

*****Mimi also notes that JohnieB is a little crazy. JohnieB retorts that he is 100% government-certified wacko.

So here's a bonus. You really should read Velveteen Rabbi for some thoughtful, religiously nourishing and spiritually heartfelt Jewish fare. Velveteen Rabbi has been in the blogosphere for quite a while and she is hugely popular among persons of many faiths, and for good reason. Poke around the archive, not just the present posts.

Besides which, today is TuB'Shvat (or TuBiShvat), The New Year of Trees, in the Jewish tradition.



And now, back to our scheduled alleged non-blogging. (Ha!)

Even more Convention: resolution on inclusion of all persons regardless of sexual orientation

More from the Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina.

This resolution, also passed Saturday, occasioned a little more discussion than the one on immigration. We had already passed a resolution on inclusion of and apology to lgbt persons last year (not long after the Southern Baptist Convention, also meeting in Greensboro, had issued a condemnatory statement) which reaffirmed a statement from General Convention, but it did not go into the specifics you will see below.

The objections, and an alternative resolution proposed from the floor and defeated, were not against inclusion but they either diluted the resolution out of stated concern for its reception in the wider Anglican Communion or expressed concern that "it was not yet time" for this statement. (Some of us shuddered upon hearing that, since the very same language of "people are not ready" came up again and again during debates on civil rights for African Americans and on the ordination of women lo those not so many years ago.) As for the Anglican Communion, our partnerships with dioceses in Central America and Southern/Central Africa attest to our commitment to our common faith, work, and celebration.

The conversation and debate were civil, without acrimony or name-calling. Bishop Curry noted this and thanked us for it after the resolution passed, by a large majority. I hope that those who cast the minority votes continue to feel that we are one despite our differences.

Report of the Committee on Faith and Morals

ON THE INCLUSION OF ALL PERSONS

REGARDLESS OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION

AS FULL AND EQUAL PARTICIPANTS

IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST'S CHURCH

RESOLVED, by the 192nd Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, that the Diocese continue to demonstrate its commitment to radical hospitality and, that in accordance with the House of Bishops' Statement, Fall 2007, we "proclaim the Gospel that in Christ all God's children, including gay and lesbian persons, are full and equal participants in the life of Christ's Church" by:

1) Urging the Archbishop of Canterbury to extend to the duly elected and consecrated Bishop of New Hampshire an invitation to full participation in the Lambeth Conference of 2008;

2) Encouraging our Deputies to the 2009 General Convention to ensure compliance with Title III. Canon I. Section 2, which supports the full and equal participation of all persons regardless of sexual orientation in all aspects of the Church's ministries, lay and ordained;

3) Encouraging the General Convention to call for the development of public liturgies for the blessing of same sex unions.

Yet more Convention: resolution on immigration and immigrants

Below is the resolution on immigration passed by the Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina on Saturday. Amazingly, it passed without a peep. Even at the hearing (we hold separate hearings before the floor debate and vote ) all the interventions were in favor -- just a few friendly amendments. (I was at the hearing and offered a friendly amendment which got incorporated urging that we note not just the "plight" of immigrants but also their "gifts.") Three of our priests, Anne Hodges-Copple, Chantal McKinney (whose mother, Evelyn Morales, is a deacon in our diocese), and Hal Hayek (who is ecumenical and interfaith officer for the diocese and our liaison with the NC Council of Churches), drafted the resolution, but a larger group of lay and ordained people had input. The drafters chose their words very carefully.

There was also a very good preamble but I don't have it in electronic form.

The Hispanic Ministry Committee has sent out to every congregation a packet of Episcopal Church resources (liturgy, preaching, etc.), North Carolina Council of Churches resources, statistics, and concise and easy to understand information on immigration reform from the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

SUPPORT FOR COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM
AND EDUCATION OF CONGREGATIONS
CONCERNING IMMIGRATION REFORM
A resolution to commit the Diocese of North Carolina to study immigration reform,

encourage local dialogue

and advocate for the protection of undocumented workers.

RESOLUTION

BE IT RESOLVED that the 192nd Annual Convention of the Diocese of North Carolina encourages the U.S. government to enact comprehensive immigration reform that includes reasonable pathways to permanent residency; increased legal avenues for workers to enter the United States in a safe and orderly fashion; reunification without undue delay of families separated by migration; effective, proportional and humane enforcement of national borders and immigration policies; the right of due process for immigrants; and policies which address the root causes of migration.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 192nd Annual Convention of the Diocese of North Carolina believes that any governmental action which unduly emphasizes enforcement as the primary response to immigrants entering this country or which criminalizes persons providing humanitarian assistance to migrants does not accord with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In addition, we encourage the state and local governments of North Carolina to provide for fair treatment and protection of our state's immigrant population.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Convention encourage wide participation by our congregations and institutions in educational events and forums to learn about the plight and gifts of immigrants, to develop relationships with them, to listen to people's experiences of enforcement and its impact on their lives and their families, to learn about the root causes of migration, and to discuss long-term solutions to the immigration crisis.

Rest in peace, Edmund Hillary

Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary were the first human beings to reach the top of Mount Everest. Hillary was laid to rest today in his native New Zealand. AP story here. BBC story here.


Tenzing Norgay died in 1986.

Vergara's photos of MLK murals in U.S. cities

Photographer Camilo Jose Vergara brings us murals of Dr. King throughout the cities of the United States.


Click here for more, including a slide show and the audio of a related radio story. Thank you, National Public Radio.

Vergara has been documenting urban U.S. America for three decades. You can read more about him and his work on the web page at the link above.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: the speech we need

This is the speech we need to read, or listen to, today. The link has both text and audio.

I've put this up on all the course websites for my students. Texts of it began circulating again after we got into the latest war(s). Note the careful analysis in there. It is a much more dangerous and radical speech than "I Have a Dream."

MLK was assassinated a year to the day after giving it.

It's called "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." Riverside Church, April 4, 1967. Forty years ago.

Read it. Listen to it.

P.S. I posted this around noon but am amending the time because I had to repost the video below and I want you to see the MLK material when you first arrive. This message brought to you by the tech repair crew at Acts of Hope.

And they think we weren't about conversion...

I made the mistake of going to visit A Certain Blog to see what they were saying about my beloved diocese, and of course they have announced that we have gone off the deep end. They clearly have no idea how much talk there was about Jesus at our gathering. I'm serious.

There was even a revival among some of us hard-drinking, gambling, high-flying Episcopalians. [Yeah, I know, this scene is a takeoff on the Salvation Army, a.k.a. the Save-A-Soul Mission in the Broadway version of life, but don't get me in my professor mode.]

That's me of course in the strict Church Lady outfit there on the right, inspiring my boys to reform their evil ways.

This one's for you, boys and girls

Okay, friends, it's time for a little break in the church chat.

From my favorite Broadway musical, "Guys and Dolls" -- but at a recording session, not a performance. Enjoy. That's Peter Gallagher in the 1992 revival.

Bishop Trevor's new book: Dancing Sermons

Just found this. Have a look.

The Rev. Murdock Smith on not being a Christian alone in a corner

Our life in Christ is a communal sacrament. It is not something we do alone.

***-Murdock Smith, priest of the Diocese of North Carolina, in a short presentation on our new companion relationship with the Diocese of Botswana.

Still more Convention: quotable quotes by Bishop Musonda Trevor Mwamba

Darn. The diocese just took down the picture of our two bishops --of North Carolina and Botswana-- in Botswana drinking tea out of china teacups. It was just too too British Empire but would have made for the perfect illustration of the quote on Lambeth and the Queen below. I'll try to track it down if it is still hiding somewhere on the diocesan website. (I'm not wild about this website; but I digress.) A Sunday afternoon p.s.: here it is, folks; alas not in color as the original was. Click here for the photo embedded in a pdf version of our diocesan newspaper. Really. You must see it. It was better with the fuchsia but this is better than nothing.

Bishop Trevor, as he is known, said, among many other things:

[In] the Anglican Communion in the context of the present turbulence [we] need to be reminded of: good manners; God; humility; respect; love for one another.

[Refers to Church Times article he wrote a while back which was] a plea for mutual tolerance among Anglicans worldwide. We must all learn to live together... [Quotes former ABC Robert Runcie's book title Grow or Die.]

Oneness does not necessarily imply sameness.

The magic of Anglicanism is holding to the pillar of the Via Media. We should seek the characteristic Anglican way... not ducking hard questions but holding together contrary views and loyalties and finding a synthesis.

Part of the answer lies in all of us experiencing a change of heart in the current standoff or stalemate... It means becoming friends. ... The person we fear or resent [is] just like me, just like us. [Quotes Maya Angelou and Eleanor Roosevelt.] ... each person you meet in a spirit of adventure. Learn to understand the soil in which their roots have grown.

God is always on the other side, in the other person.

More than anything else we need to experience God afresh.

Where would our Lord Jesus Christ be in all this debate? Where IS our Lord Jesus Christ in all this debate? The core mission of the Church is the enlargement of God's kingdom on earth. everybody welcome at the table of God. Everybody affirmed and accepted.

Why do we teaching thinking separation? Have we lost sight of the height and depth of the kingdom, the infinity of God in us?

[When] I hear hushed [the News & Record reporter heard "harsh"] noises... [he's referring to the Current Unpleasantness] by these people in purple, bishops, I ask myself, "Does anyone pray?!"

We need the grace of God to reveal afresh the oneness we possess in our baptism. It is given. It's a gift.

[Talks about the diversity among African provinces, and how they reflect most of the Anglican tradition:] Catholic, Evangelical, liberal, charismatic. To think there is one view is simplistic and a distortion of the truth.

[Criticizes] the simplistic press view of a conservative African church whose position is that it sees only devils in the Episcopal Church...

The truth of the matter is --listen carefully, I'm only going to say it once-- the majority of African Anglicans, 37 million [people], are not bothered about the debate on homosexuality and impaired communion, a fact not lost on the Windsor Commission.... The majority of Anglicans have their minds focused on life/death issues: HIV-AIDS, poverty, drought, malaria... now what the Church thinks about sexuality or what color your pajamas are. Most live on less than one dollar a day and are not aware this controversy is raging.

[Refers to CAPA meeting in Mauritius last year.] Most of the Anglican provinces are actually going [to Lambeth], led by the Indian Ocean [primate] who is the head of CAPA. I will be there enjoying a cup of Earl Grey tea with cucumber sandwiches with Her Majesty the Queen. So will Bishop Michael [Curry].

Our vision for our diocese [Botswana] is 1) development of the spirituality of our people; 2) health; 3) education; 4) economic empowerment.

The future belongs to God. So does the Church.

Let us, conservatives, liberals, Africans, Americans, get into each other's worlds.

Let us beware of excommunicating each other here on earth. Or we shall find in heaven we are still bound together at the table of Christ's love: Archbishop Akinola sitting next to Bishop Gene Robinson! For such is the Kingdom of God.

PULA!

We all learned a new word at Diocesan Convention: Pula.

Pula means "blessing" in Setswana, the language of Botswana.

It also means "rain" because rain is very scarce in Botswana, which is home to much of the KalahariDesert.

Pula, because it denotes value, is also the name of the currency of Botswana.

So there you have it: blessing, rain, money.

When you are welcoming an honored guest, or in celebration mode, or when the rain comes, you shout PULA!