Become What You See, And See Who You Are

COMMUNION
/kəˈmyunyən/ (v.):

The divine act of connection between God and human

and human to human


in order to change the world.

The Center Will Hold

...as long as Christ is the center.

The Episcopal Church is in Communion with G-d.

Can The Center Hold?

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear
the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere

anarchy is loosed upon the world..."
-William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming"

This isn't a happy post. In fact, I deleted it last night because I hate offending people. But I've decided to re-post it after encouragement from some good friends of mine. I feel it needs to be said. Our silence is implicit acceptance of the unacceptable.

The Episcopal Church is facing a crisis.

We've tried to ignore it, we've tried to pretend it doesn't exist, but the truth is that our numbers are dwindling, and a bleak sense of apathy has settled over us as Bishops battle Primates over petty, meticulous details which the outside world couldn't care less about. We are so polarized along liberal/conservative lines, and our ideologies are increasingly defined along these false dichotomies. If you're liberal, you're automatically a revisionist. If you're orthodox, you're presumed conservative. Such oversimplified rhetoric is destructive and unhelpful.

At best, this inability to agree on anything has choked our growth to a standstill. At worst, it is tearing our church apart.

Of course, I'm no different than anyone else. Yes, I do happen to believe my progressive/orthodox stance is the "right" one, and I know this probably only contributes to the problem.

But I can't offer any solutions. I don't have any answers. And, it seems, neither does my church - only questions. The only advice we hear is to keep pretending that our "common prayer" has any semblance of integrity anymore, coming from priests and Bishops who think it's so cool that they have a blog and a MySpace account.

Always more questions.

If we are defined by a lack of definition, then we either cease to exist, or cease to be what we once were. Period.

I love the Church -I love this church - despite all its flaws and scars and violent history and yes - sins. The only way it gets better is if we make it better, and I want to see the Church still standing proclaiming Christ is Lord today, tomorrow, and for all the days to come. That's why I simply can't give up and say, "who cares?"


Right now, the question on my mind is can the center hold? Can we agree on something? Is our tent big enough for all opinions, no matter how diverse and complex?

Really?

Let Be

After reading Tamie's blog, one of my favorite quotes came to mind, and I wanted to share. It's an excerpt from My Antonia, by Willa Cather:


"I did not believe that my dead father and mother were watching me from up there; they would still be looking for me at the sheep-fold down by the creek or along the white road that lead to the mountain pastures. I had left even their spirits behind me. The wagon jolted on, carrying me I knew not wither. I don't think I was homesick. If we never arrived anywhere, it did not matter. Between that earth and that sky I felt erased, blotted out. I did not say my prayers that night: here, I felt, what would be would be."

- - -

How Long, O Lord?

Thanks to Fr.Rob for this.

The Cost of Being Gay in the World

"How long must justice be crucified, and truth buried?" -Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Cost of Being Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual or Transgendered around the globe:

Algeria - A Fine to 3 Years in Prison
Angola - Labor Camps
Antigua and Barbuda - 15 Years in Prison
Bahrain - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Bangladesh - 10 Years to Life in Prison
Barbados - Life in Prison
Belize - 10 Years in Prison
Benin - 3 Years in Prison
Bhutan - 1 Month to 1 Year in Prison
Botswana - A Fine to 7 Years in Prison
Brunei - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Cameroon - A Fine to 5 Years in Prison
Cook Islands - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Djibouti - 10 to 12 Years in Prison
Dominica - 10 Years in Prison
Egypt - 5 Years in Prison
Eritrea - 3 to 10 Years in Prison
Ethiopia - 10 Days to 3 Years in Prison
Gambia - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Ghana - Not Known
Grenada - 10 Years in Prison
Guinea - 6 Months to 3 Years in Prison
Guinea Bissau - Labor Camps
India - A Fine to Life in Prison
Iran - Death
Jamaica - 10 Years Hard Labor
Kenya - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Kiribati - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Kuwait - A Fine to 7 Years in Prison
Lebanon - A Fine to 1 Year in Prison
Lesotho - Not Known
Liberia - A Fine
Libya - A Fine to 5 Years in Prison
Malawi - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Malaysia - A Fine to 20 Years in Prison
Mauritania - Death
Mauritius - A Fine to 5 Years in Prison
Morocco - 6 Months to 3 Years in Prison
Mozambique - Labor Camps
Myanmar/Burma - 10 Years to Life in Prison
Namibia - Not Known
Nauru - 14 Years Hard Labor
Nepal - A Fine to 1 Year in Prison
Nicaragua - 1 to 3 Years in Prison
Nigeria - 5 Years in Prison to Death
Niue - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Oman - A Fine to 3 Years in Prison
Pakistan - 2 Years to Life in Prison
Palau - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Palestine - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Papua New Guinea - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Qatar - A Fine to 5 Years in Prison
Saint Kitts and Nevis - 10 Years in Prison
Saint Lucia - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Saint Vincent and Grenadines - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Samoa - A Fine to 7 Years in Prison
Sao Tome and Principe - Labor Camps
Saudi Arabia - Death
Senegal - 1 Month to 5 Years in Prison
Seychelles - A Fine to 2 Years in Prison
Sierra Leone - Life in Prison
Singapore - 2 Years in Prison
Solomon Islands - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Somalia - 3 Months in Prison to Death
Sri Lanka - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Sudan - 5 Years in Prison to Death
Swaziland - A Fine
Syria - A Fine to 3 Years in Prison
Tanzania - A Fine to 25 Years in Prison
Togo - A Fine to 3 Years in Prison
Tokelau - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Trinidad and Tobago - 25 Years in Prison
Tunisia - A Fine to 3 Years in Prison
Turkmenistan - A Fine to 2 Years in Prison
Tuvalu - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Uganda - A Fine to Life in Prison
United Arab Emirates - Death
Uzbekistan - A Fine to 3 Years in Prison
Yemen - Flogging to Death
Zambia - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Zimbabwe - A Fine to 1 Year in Prison