Lord, have mercy

It's Good Friday.


I've hardly given a thought to Holy Week. It's been rush, rush, rush to get things done, to run from one job to another. By the time I get home at night, I'm good for nothing.

I've hardly stopped to pray, to meditate, to do any of the things I want to do during Holy Week. It's all just sliding past.

Yet, I feel his presence. He's here with me, knowing I will turn to him sooner or later.

Yes, Lord, here I am. I'm sorry I haven't been listening. I'm sorry I haven't been asking.

I don't know what you want me to do; I don't know what you want for me right now. I promise to spend more time seeking your presence and your counsel. I promise to listen and to heed.

Lord, have mercy on me.

Our glorious Iraqi victory

Today's Washington Post tells us, "For a majority of Americans, today marks the fifth anniversary of the start of an Iraq war that was not worth fighting, one that has cost thousands of lives and more than half a trillion dollars. For the Bush administration, however, it is the first anniversary of an Iraq strategy that it believes has finally started to succeed."

That would be the big "surge" strategy. It could have us outta there in just years.

I'm reminded this optimism came from the president who told us in the beginning the incursion into Iraq would be a 30-day mopping-up operation. In and out.

This is the same man who, a little less than five years ago, showed up on the deck of an aircraft carrier in a stylish pilot's flight jacket and told of of the glorious victory we had attained.


May, 2003



Meanwhile, the death toll mounted, mandatory extensions of duty became standard, and our economy is down the drain. Now, Osama bin Laden still lurks in Afghanistan (or somewhere) and issues more threats.

Pardon my cynicism.

What I like about Florida

The days now are sunny and clear - warm, but not too warm. Perfect.

I took this photo on another such day, back in December, at Blue Spring. I barely managed to catch the image of this gorgeous great blue heron sweeping over the water before it was gone.

A disciple's tale

I wrote this story back in 2004 and reran it two years ago. It started as a Maundy Thursday meditation, then grew into a story about a young disciple I can relate to. Foolish, protesting strong faith but quick to succumb to despair. I think my own understanding grew through writing the story. The disciple is one of my favorite creations.


Maundy Thursday: Who will wash these feet?

Prologue:

Feeling pissy, Satan asks, "For heaven's sake. If you're God, how can you demean yourself with their smelly, stinky feet?"

Jesus looks at him with pity, then says, "Humility fosters love, both from the giver and the recipient."

"Oh, fine." Satan says. "Just continue with this 'humble servant' bit. See where it gets you."

"You will see," replies Jesus. He sighs. "Most of the time, my disciples don't get it, either."

***
The Disciple speaks:

It had been a long week. Jesus came riding into the city as an honored prophet. Many accepted Jesus as our Messiah, and some continued their disbelief. Jesus had been saying some puzzling things that we did not understand, but tonight, we would relax and have this supper together.

It is the time of the Passover. As it is written in the Book of Genesis, "This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance."

It is the custom to bathe before coming to a banquet. We arrive clean, except for our feet, which get very dirty on the streets and roads. Usually, a servant will bring water to wash the guests' feet before the banquet.

We came in, we disciples, and found our accustomed seats. We said prayers and sang songs just as we do every time we come together. Nothing seemed different tonight than any other night, except that Judas was gone, and except that tonight, there was no one to bring water to wash our feet, and no one volunteered.

I thought about it, but didn't want to appear lower than my actual station, for I was a disciple, not a servant.

We proceeded with the meal. I was careful to keep my dirty feet out of sight. They discomforted me. I saw Jesus get up and wrap a towel around his waist.

I remember...

Jesus took a towel, bowl and basin and began to wash his disciples' feet. I drew back in embarrassment. I heard Peter protest, then acquiesce. I lurked in the back in confusion, hoping to avoid notice.

"Why then, Lord, are you now kneeling in front of me, like a servant? Are you going to wash my feet, too?" I asked. I was shocked at the thought of it.

"No, I can't allow that," I said.

My feet were caked with dirt, for I had been long on the road this day. My toenails were thick and uneven. The nails and cuticles of my toes were grimy. My feet were covered in thick calluses and dry, cracked, peeling skin. And more dirt.

Lord, I thought, I can't let you look upon these feet, much less touch them. You were not meant for this.

These ugly feet were no fit offering to the Lord. I kept them tucked back, hidden from his sight.

Kneeling, Jesus looked up at me.

I implored, "Ask something else of me, Lord, and I will give it, I will do it."

He gazed at me steadily. I saw love and compassion in his eyes, and I was smitten in return.

I knew he understood my embarrassment, my pride that made me want to hide these unattractive members from his sight. But he already knew. He had seen -- he had already seen everything.

Like Peter, now I wanted to be washed all over. I wanted whatever would make me more worthy. But he required just this tonight.

Hesitantly, I pulled my feet from their hiding place.

The water sparkled as he poured it over my feet. I heard a soft murmuring and splashing of water.

Layer by the layer, he washed the grime away. The water was soothing, relaxing. I felt the blood moving through my feet, my hands, my heart. I floated into this renewal.

Jesus' hands healed the cuts and sores on my feet. He held my feet as he carefully dried them with the towel. My feet were clean and warm.

Who am I that my Lord should tend to me as a servant?

No one. It he who makes me worthy.

I am filled with a deep peace.

Thank you Lord, for this gift.

This is what happened with the Lord on the night of Passover. He told us to love one another, to be servants to each other. He showed us.

What I received from the Lord, I hand on to you. Let me look upon you with Christ's eyes, see you with Christ's love, treat you with Christ's humility. Allow me now to follow Christ's example of servanthood. Please allow me to wash your feet.

We will be blessed if we do these things for each other.


Saturday morning

Where is my God?

How can it be that my Lord is dead? I thought that cruel execution would be stopped. I prayed for it to be stopped. Yet my Lord is dead.

How could you have left me? How could you have forsaken me?

I am desolate with grief.

People on the streets snicker and say, "Where is your Lord now?"

I don't think I can even stand, yet I run from their sneering faces. I run from the image of the blood-soaked figure, lifeless, as him mother croons over him. That image has the force a thousand knives plunged into my heart. I run from it.

I run like a dog who has lost its master, loping this way then that, pawing the ground, panting with thirst.

I stop in a grove of olives. I rend my shirt. I claw at my chest until I see drops of bright, red blood fall to the ground. Yet there is no atonement for what was done. I am sick in my soul.

My Lord, my Lord, have you left us? How could you abandon us?

The sunlight is dull and wan. I watch until nightfall, and there are no stars.

I cannot sleep. Oh God, grant me death, too. My face is stiff with tears that brought no comfort, and still I cannot sleep.

I stumble back into the city, avoiding the soldiers and the mockers, and ask where they have taken my Lord. I find the tomb. I sit and lean against the stone wall.

Was it only two nights ago that we broke bread? You washed my feet. I look at them now and they are filthy and bloody.

My Lord, where have you gone?

I will wait here for whatever is to come. I lean against the cold stone, and at last, I sleep.


Saturday night, Sunday morning

Listen to my story:

I sleep against the hard stone of the tomb of my Lord Jesus, called the Messiah, who had been crucified and buried. A couple of guards come by and poke at me, but I refuse to move. I am too exhausted and too grieved to care. If they take my life, so much the better. I no longer need it.

I go back to sleep.

"Disciple, wake up. Arise," comes a voice.

I float upward to consciousness from a very deep place.

"Awake. Your Lord needs you."

A creature stands before me, luminous in the dark. It iss beautiful, the creature, but very strange. Almost like a man, but not. I have trouble seeing it properly. Its glow makes it hard for me to focus my eyes on it.

The world is moving in odd ways.

"Don't go fainting on me. You have work to do."

The creature touches the stone in front of the tomb. It rumbles away from the entrance to the cave.

Listen. I see the risen Lord.

He walks toward me. He is beautiful, so beautiful. He glows with a luminosity much greater than that of the creature beside me.

It is him.

I can see the empty funeral linens behind Him.

He's dressed in white. He moves with a fluid grace. I don't know how this could be, but it is.

He is risen, shining in glory. I see it with my own eyes.

Listen to the good news.

I remember what He said about the three days that I hadn't understood.

With one scarred hand, He touches my forehead. Peace comes over me.

"Tell the others when they come. Disciple, you will make disciples. Tell your story."

I can only say yes. I kneel. He puts His hand on the top of my head for a moment, then walks past me in radiance.

My clothes are now beautiful and white. The wound on my chest is gone. My feet are clean and soft, and my skin iss as fine as a child's.

He has done many miraculous things. But the most miraculous is that he lives.

"Wait here for the others," says the creature who had awakened me. It only can have been an angel.

I sit on top of the stone, waiting and examining my new clothes and my new skin, when the Roman guards come back. I enjoy their confusion over the open tomb.

"Are you looking for Jesus of Nazareth?" I ask in my best and most holy of voices. I chortle at the guards'confusion.

They look into the cave and then look at me in my new appearance with their mouths open, not recognizing the disciple they tried to roust a little earlier.

"He is not here. He is gone. An angel came and moved the stone with one finger. Now he is risen and he is gone."

I am now laughing, holding my sides. I realize this is joy, come back into the world.

"He died, but he rose again. He will never forsake us." I lift my arms. "Share my joy!"

The guards back away from me carefully, then run up the path from the tomb.

I sit rocking myself, singing, praying and praising and laughing through the night. I wait until I see Mary Magdalene on the path, then I jump down from the stone, landing lightly on my feet, ready to tell her the good news.

***

Listen, all of you, to my testimony and we shall make disciples of many, for Jesus Christ is alive. He brings life in abundance, life everlasting and salvation.

Lazarus

Lazarus, Lazarus, where did you go?
Once freed from the dank fetid tomb,
They say it was the Messiah who brought you back.
Couldn't you stay and tell me what you saw?
What happened to you those three days full?
Tell me, tell me.

What did you see, where did you do?
Did you just slumber? Did you descend to hell?
Did you stroll down streets of gold?
Are you glad to be snatched from the dead,
to walk with the sun on your face once more
-- Or is it hell to be snatched from heaven.

A quiet evening at home

This morning's tornado watch was extended from noon until 7 p.m., then from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m. We haven't had any really bad weather, just some hard rain. We saw a little hail this afternoon.

I saw more little bits of hail bouncing up in front of my car's headlights while ago, when I came up my driveway. It's now thundering ominously.

Yep. A good night to stay in. I'll think I'll watch a movie -- I got Babel today -- or read.

Tornado watch

Well, here we are, with the third severe weather watch in 10 days. My weather alarm sounded at 6:45 a.m., with a tornado watch in effect until noon.

It started with tornado watches all day Tuesday a week ago, then severe weather watches this past Tuesday, then today's tornado watch. Is all this stuff just the usual, cyclical pattern? Or have our weather patterns undergone an atypical change, because of global warming?

I don't know. It seems like the first many years I lived here we never worried about tornadoes. An occasional thunderstorm would catch us as fronts came through, and that was it. Now, tornado watches are becoming typical, from the end of December through spring. Then it's time for hurricane watches.

Betsy's spring do

February means springtime in Florida, and the advent of shedding.

Betsy, a border collie/Australian Shepherd mix, has copious amounts of long fur with a wiry undercoat. She sheds in chunks, with the undercoat curling up, catching loose fur and snarling like crazy. Betsy hates to be combed or brushed. It pulls, and she has even more sensitive skin than me.

So, for the past few years, I've been giving her haircuts through the shedding months - February through November.

Here's her new do. You can't see it too well, because Betsy is camera shy and skulks off when she sees the camera. She doesn't mind me giving her a haircut too much, though. Then I can brush her remaining fur with a soft brush. I left the "feathers" on her legs and her fluffy tail long, but cut the rest of her fur short.



















Betsy flees the paparazzi:















Jack and Elvis are much less camera shy:

UPDATE 3-7-08: SEE A VIDEO OF THE SPEECH at ShadowVote.org.

The right to vote?

Here's a shocker from Leon County Florida Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho: The Constitution of the United States does not guarantee citizens the right to vote in a presidential election.

You heard me right. The story I wrote on Sancho's talk got me arguments in the office. Everyone thinks the Constitution affords us that right, and perhaps the spirit of the Constitution does. But it doesn't explicitly give or imply that right.

Sancho quoted the infamous 2000 case Bush vs. Gore, the one that decided George Bush won the election.

In the decision, it was noted in Per Curium, Section II-B (page 104), "The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States unless and until the state legislature chooses a statewide election as the means to implement its power to appoint members of the Electoral College." [Bolding is mine.]

According to the 1892 Supreme Court decision in McPherson v. Blacker, state legislators can select the electors, an option which several states chose for many years — not the voter. The state can take back that power any time it chooses.

If there is a vote, equality in voting is protected; there can be no discrimination. But, the overall right to vote is not protected.

Big Brother can decide he knows what's better for us.

Sancho is calling for a constitutional amendment to ensure the right to vote for president. He believes it was an oversight by the framers of the Constitution that there is no guarantee of the right to vote. It's left up to the states.

If some partisan state officials were to decide to invoke the right to select members of the Electoral College, instead of allowing the voters to vote, there would probably be an outcry, now. But give it a few years of spin, and who knows?

Who'd have thought 10 or 15 years ago we'd have given up so many rights in the name of "Homeland Security," or that an attorney general of the United States would stand there and argue we don't really need the Geneva Convention?

Losing the "right" to vote for president could happen.

Get out and VOTE this fall.

My teachers done teached me good

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

Yes, it's true. Moi, not a graduate of Florida's public schools, knows a wee bit of spelling and grammar.


Thanks to Janis at Juanuchis' Way for the link.

Schools are so different now than when I was in high school (back in the days of horse and buggy). I'm afraid many high-school students would not pass that grammar quiz.

I was in Blockbuster a few evenings ago. As I checked out Becoming Jane, I remarked I was really getting back into Jane Austen. The clerk, who looked to be about 19 years old, looked at me blankly.

Now, I thought even if she hadn't read Jane Austen, she might know her name from the movies -- this one and The Jane Austen Book Club, (which I saw a few weeks ago, and enjoyed) and maybe the movies based on Austen's novels.

But no. She was not only clueless (heh-heh, the name of a modernized movie version of an Austen novel), she was huffy about it.

"I wouldn't know anything about that," she said.

What a shame. I fell in love with Austen's gentle novels when I was in high school. Of course, I was a nerd, even then.

Still, I feel sorry for these kids, who seem to know only Britney Spears and reality TV shows.

I've been watching Jane Austen's novels come to life on PBS-television's Masterpiece Theater. Currently, we're in the middle of Pride and Prejudice, with smart and spunky Lizzie Bennet and the melancholic Mr. Darcy falling in love.

We know Mr. Darcy's dour demeanor is about to change.

Florida: the land time and sense forgot

Mark Twain said, "God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board."

A number of Florida school boards are trying to prove that saying. They are stuck in the Victorian era, outraged that scientists say they are descended from monkeys. Yah, it's like the Scopes trial never happened.

This is their grasp of the concept of evolution, which they vigorously oppose being taught in the schools -- though it already is taught. Just the word "evolution" is avoided in curriculum guides.

Today, the state board will vote on new standards for science teaching in the state, and some of those new standards require that students be able to explain the theory of evolution by the time they graduate from high school.

When that news hit, the fur began to fly. School boards in some districts, especially in north Florida, passed resolutions against the measure. They demanded Creationism and intelligent design be taught as equally valid "scientific" explanations of the origins of humankind. Hearings around the state on the new standards ran hours and hours, as anti-evolutionists railed against these new-fangled teachings.

The local school board proved an exception to Twain's dictum, at least in this matter.

I imagine the state board will pass the science standards, including the one on evolution. Florida students are lagging too far behind in science not to.

While we may not be descended from apes or chimps, it's clear that genetically, we're not too far from these primates:




Update 2-20-08: the new science standards are in. Evolution will be taught, albeit with the emphasis that it's "the scientific theory of evolution," as a sop to its opponents.

It's all just a theory, children. Hush, now; everything will be all right.

Disenfranchised in Florida

I'm getting pretty put out with the national Democratic Party. First, they told us Florida Democrats our votes in the presidential primary wouldn't count. As if disenfranchising the faithful Democratic voters would be an effective punishment or deterrent to state officials in a Republican administration, who made the shift to an earlier primary date! (though I kinda like Gov. Charlie Crist.)

The latest was talk of a special caucus, as party leaders tried to back-pedal a bit.

Bah, humbug! Why should votes already taken be thrown out? Take the results you have, Democratic Party, and quit jerking us around. Your voters will lose faith in you.

And no backroom deals. No superdelegates deciding for us.

I don't say this out of partisan politics -- I will support Obama or Clinton, and was undecided what my vote would be until I got into the voting booth and had to make some sort of decision.

But I went to the effort to vote, like so many others. These votes should count.

Ali Gator: Making soup

Ali Gator says stop on by.

"I'm making a big pot of soup for a Lenten feast. None of that wimpy vegetarian stuff. I like a nice stew. Come on over for lunch," he says.

Good times and not so good

Yipes! Dear friends, I didn't realize how long it's been since I last posted.

At least it hasn't been all work and no fun, just mostly.

I had a good time last Sunday, down by the St. Johns River, listening to friend Rog Lee perform.

Rog is one of those people who has a special gift. He's not just a singer-songwriter, he's a poet, who tells us of Florida as it is, and as it should be. You might get to see him on the TV-show America's Got Talent - Rog got a private audition for the upcoming season!










Now, it's Lent, which is probably pretty fitting for my mood, which has been introspective and another of the reasons I haven't posted much, I guess. Feb. 2 was the anniversary of my dad's death many years ago, and mother's death a few months ago stirred up grief over dad's death, too. He was younger when he died than I am now.


Things have been pretty quiet in the Diocese of Central Florida. The convention came and went without getting a constitutional change to make us members of the Anglican Communion, in place of, and not in addition to, being a constituent member of the Episcopal Church. A handful of parishes are set on leaving, apparently without big fights over property, and one parish that earlier announced it would leave, changed its mind. A good thing.

I don't think the would-be Nigerian-bound contingent has all gone away. They've just gone to re-group.

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -- the dream thrives

I was just a kid when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to prominence as a civil-rights leader. I remember the "I have a dream" speech and a few marches, and that's about it. We lived overseas during a good part of his rise as a leader, and I'm sure I missed a lot.

We came back to the states just in time for his assassination. It was a terrible time of murders, of marches.

I really didn't come to appreciate the minister until I was an adult, and read his speeches.

One that brought tears to my eyes was this account:

In 1967, King spoke to a group of students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia. He said, “I want to ask you a question, and that is: What is your life's blueprint?”

He went on the say, “Whenever a building is constructed, you usually have an architect who draws a blueprint, and that blueprint serves as the pattern, as the guide, and a building is not well erected without a good, solid blueprint.”

“Number one in your life's blueprint, should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your worth and your own somebodiness. Don't allow anybody to make you fell that you're nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that your life has ultimate significance,” King urged the students.

We all need a good, solid blueprint. Whatever our race, our sexual orientation, our circumstances, even our looks -- whatever negative messages we received growing up. First, we have to believe in our own dignity.

King was felled by an assassin's bullet in 1968.

The birthday of civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King, is remembered on the third Monday of January. King was born Jan. 15, 1929.

The son of the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, King answered a call to the clergy, as well as to a call to seek equality for all and to advocate for the poor and against the war in Viet Nam. He believed in nonviolent forms of protest, which led to his arrest at a number of demonstrations throughout the South.

He came to prominence as a leader in the civil-rights movement after he led the black boycott of segregated buses, resulting in the desegregation of Montgomery, Ala., bus service in the mid-1950s.

King's “I Have a Dream” speech was delivered in front of the Lincoln Memorial at the climax of a 1963 civil-rights march through Washington, D.C. It helped speed the passage of major civil-rights legislation through Congress.

King’s dream was not one just for young black people. His vision was one of children standing together, hand-in-hand.

He said, “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

At 35 years of age, King was the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Peace Prize. King was also a founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957.

In my right mind?

I succumbed to temptation and took this quiz. I think I'm actually more in the middle than the results indicate, because the quiz questions force you to answer once extreme or the other. I would have taken the middle, if offered the option. But, maybe that's my left brain kicking in.

You Are 30% Left Brained, 70% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

On a weather roller coaster

As a couple of commenters have noted, we've had some cold weather here. We're on a weather roller coaster. We've had record highs and lows in the space of a couple of weeks!

We went from highs in the 80's to highs in the 50's before Christmas, then it warmed back up for New Year's Eve -- I wore sandals -- then turned cold again. We had a FREEZE the other night! Now, this may not seem a crisis to Yankees, but down here, it endangers the citrus industry and fern growers (another big local industry), who scramble feverishly to put out heating pots and misters to protect their crops.

I have to worry about water pipes freezing. My well assembly and water softener have above-ground pipes, and I've awoken a few times in past years to no water until the sun melted the ice.

This time (the first freeze for three or four years), I was out in the dark turning on a a low flow to the sprinkler on the side of the house. This kept water moving through the pipes enough to keep them from freezing up. My hands got wet and it felt like they were being stabbed! Betsy went out with me, and thought we were going to go for a walk. I told her sorry, I'm going back inside to warm up.

The ice coating on the grass and on my fence was quite pretty the next morning.

Now, the weather's turning milder again.

Animals of my life

As we roll toward Epiphany, I've taken note of the animals in my life. Betsy, the best dog in the whole wide world, and who graciously puts up with Christmas Eve antlers (for a few minutes)is my Number 1, closely followed by cats Jack the Brat and Elvis.

This Christmas, a couple of more animals have been added to the roll call.

I adopted a Manatee named Phyllis through the Save the Manatee Club. She's a habituee of nearby Blue Spring State Park, and a reminder that we need to work to protect the river and the spring from the side effects of development and population growth. Ground water levels are in danger of becoming low enough to dry up marshes, destroy ecosystems and allow salt-water intrusion, because of drawing down for drinking for the thirsty and growing population.

There are already changes to Blue Spring because of nutrient loading from nitrates found in runoff from lawn fertilizers and from septic tanks. The manatees, other wildlife and our water sources are all in peril.

Finally, some people in Africa are better off because of a Christmas gift from my friends -- the donation of a couple of goats in my name through the Episcopal Relief fund. Goats are especially valued for their milk, meat, manure -- and the offspring the produce. It's hard for us to imagine the poverty in some countries, and how much difference a goat can make.

Thank you, Lord Christ, for the bounty and diversity of life you put on this planet. Make us your trustworthy stewards of this Earth and teach us to care for it and each other.

Remind us who have so much that we are to share what we have with those in need.

In your name's sake, I pray.




(Ed. note: I started this post New Year's Day, but didn't finish it until this morning, Jan. 5)

Happy Holidays from sunny Florida

Warm season's greetings from sunny Florida! I snapped the photo of this gator at the run at Blue Spring State Park.

It's been gator weather - warm and sunny, after just a couple of cool days right before Christmas. Highs in the 80s today. It's supposed to turn chilly right after New Year.



This baby is enjoying the sunshine while he can get it. He says, stop on by, chat a while.

A big Happy New Year!

Glad tidings

Another Christmas Day is gone, but I'm trying to enjoy the season of Christmas. It seems like I've done nothing but work. I get very limited paid time off from work, and was here at the office for a good part of Christmas Eve, then went home.

I had Christmas Eve dinner at the home of one of the evangelical/Pentecostal ministers in town, and it was a lovely Italian-style buffet - his family is Italian. Yes, I'm ecumenical -- I get around! Then, I went to the late Christmas Eve service, where I put on a Santa hat to do one of the readings. With my red sweater and long, black skirt, I was Mrs. Santa Claus.

Friends shared Christmas Day dinner with me. I baked a pecan pie to bring, and we played board games after dinner.


Betsy's another year older

Betsy got her annual a couple of weeks ago, and the vet is now calling her a "senior" dog. Betsy was a little miffed at that, but good-naturedly, didn't bite, even when the vet poked around her butt. The vet pronounced Betsy in excellent health, thank goodness.


Waffling and fence-sitting

Yes, in response to someone's question. Our Bishop Howe is straddling the fence so hard I'm sure his privates are sore. This is his latest missive to clergy; it's in the same vein as previous letters. I received it Dec. 17, and copy-clipped it exactly as forwarded to me:



My Dearly Beloved Brothers and Sisters,

Most of this letter was written two weeks ago, but I did not believe it was timely to send it. I think that the Protocol has now been adopted by the Diocesan Board it may be right to do so.

Not a single one of you has asked the question: "Bishop, why are you allowing these rectors who want to 'disaffiliate' the space to pursue their objectives? They are clearly in the process of abandoning the communion of this Church. Why are you not moving against them by inhibition and deposition?"

Here is my answer to the unspoken question: I am deeply sympathetic to any who believe that the current leadership of The Episcopal Church has greatly compromised the "doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this Church has received them." And I am extremely reluctant to discipline those who, for conscience sake, are finding they MUST "disaffiliate. "

I believe that many of our clergy and lay leaders have attempted to be completely loyal to our received heritage, and have tried to reform a Church that is in many ways errant. And they have finally concluded that such reformation is not going to be successful. They want to "protect" the members of The Episcopal Church entrusted to them from any further spiritual incursions against them.

I am not convinced we have come to a point of no return. But I understand why they may believe we have done so. I believe it is still possible to be a faithful parish, or a faithful diocese, within The Episcopal Church. And I am still eager to hear what the Archbishop of Canterbury has to say about all of this.

Some of our people have expected and hoped that I would attempt to "lead the Diocese out of The Episcopal Church." (They are, frankly, deeply disappointed in me!)

I do not believe that is possible, though I recognize that some of our Bishops are attempting to do precisely that. I do not think they will be successful. They can leave, and they can take any number of clergy and laity with them. They can affiliate with some foreign jurisdiction such as the Southern Cone.

But there will be a remnant who will NOT want to leave, and that remnant will constitute the continuing Diocese of Pittsburgh, San Joaquin, Fort Worth, etc.

I expect that millions of dollars will be spent in lawsuits that will ultimately fail as far as those who wish to leave are concerned. And I cannot be part of that.

Nor can I be part of litigation against those who, for conscience sake, believe they must leave The Episcopal Church. These are faithful brothers and sisters who only want to remain true to what we have always been: orthodox Anglican Catholic Christians.

We have spent two months (four meetings, approximately twelve hours) attempting to craft a Protocol (a page and a half) which is finally in place - to deal with those who wish to "disaffiliate. " This Protocol does not spell out the whole process. It merely brings to the threshold of being able to deal with those congregations. I want to state again my gratitude for the prayers of so many, and my particular gratitude for the members of the Board, the Standing Committee, the Special Task Force, and especially our Chancellors. We could not pay them for the time they have invested on our behalf!

The Protocol does not guarantee success. If the leaders of some congregations offer unreasonable proposals, and we cannot possibly accept them, and if I and the Board offer counter proposals that these leaders cannot accept...there is no guarantee whatsoever that somebody may not do something that the other side will find litigious. I believe that nobody wants to go there. But we may not be able to avoid it.

The Church of the New Covenant attempted to transfer title to a separate non-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation, and forced our hand four years ago. We had to file suit, and we did so. Something like that could occur again. I pray it does not.

On one level, I think the honorable thing those who wish to "disaffiliate" would be to simply walk away.

That is what happened at St. John's, Melbourne, and Shepherd of the Hills, Lecanto. And it appears that is what is about to happen at St. Edward's, Mount Dora.

But, on another level, I believe that there is a validity to the argument of some who wish to 'disaffiliate" that it is they who have been faithful, while the national leadership of The Episcopal Church has increasingly abandoned the very heritage we have all sworn to protect.

So, I want to try to work with these brothers and sisters if it is at all possible. (It may not be.) We have received proposals from three of these congregations so far. In all honesty, I do not think any of the three are realistic. But now that the Protocol is in place, we can begin to discuss these proposals.

Each church's situation is unique, and each will have to be dealt with on its own merits. My life, since October 18, has been totally consumed with all of this, and I can tell you there is not a shred of joy in any of it. (Ernie's, too.)

I will attempt to keep you apprised of where we are as this process unfolds.

My warmest regards in our Lord,

(And yes, you may post off the list so long as you post the whole thing.)

The Right Rev. John W. Howe
Episcopal Bishop of Central Florida


Our diocesan convention is coming up in January. Some of the "reasserters" want to get some bail-out language into our diocesan constitution. The new, pertinent language is in bold. The final paragraph is an addition, also.

As long as we're a constituent member? As determined by whom? Who are they to grant conditional allegiance?

Sigh.

Here's the proposal:




DIOCESE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

Thirty-Ninth Annual Convention

JANUARY 25 &26, 2008

Title of Resolution: C-1 Amend Diocesan Constitution, Article III

Presenter: The Reverend Eric Turner on behalf of the Diocesan Board

Date: November 15, 2007

RESOLVED: That this 39th Annual Convention of the Diocese of Central Florida

Article III

Purpose

The Diocese of Central Florida acknowledges its allegiance to be due to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ.; {and recognizing the body known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America otherwise known as the Episcopal Church to be a true branch of said Church, having rightful jurisdiction in this country, hereby declares its adhesion to the same and accedes to its Constitution and Canons.} Furthermore, this Diocese is a constituent member of the Anglican Communion, a Fellowship of those duly constituted Dioceses, Provinces, and regional Churches in communion with the See of Canterbury, upholding the propagating the historic Faith and Order as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer. So long as The Episcopal Church is the constituent member Province of the Anglican Communion with rightful jurisdiction in this country, the Diocese of Central Florida declares its adhesion to the same and accedes to its Constitution and Canons.

The Diocese of Central Florida acknowledges itself to be called and sent to exercise the ministry of Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit, celebrating and proclaiming the mystery of redemption to the praise of God's glory, the benefit of His Church and the salvation of the world. To this end the Diocese acknowledges its duty to provide for the worship and honor due Almighty God, to provide for the tradition of the Faith and the proclamation of the Gospel, to provide for the welfare of those given to its care, and to labor to demonstrate the truth in love that the Kingdom of Christ be advanced in the world and that the Church be edified into Christ.