An Inch At A Time: Reflections on the Journey: Monday, Monday!

Monday, July 02, 2007

Monday, Monday!

It has been a VERY bizzy day in the neighborhood and between catching up from being gone last week and gearing up to BE gone for 4th of July today has just flown by! I had hoped to get some thoughts up about our work in NYC around the Listening Process but that'll have to wait.

Instead, here's a quick round of "Game Du Jour" for a Monday afternoon!

QUOTE DU JOUR:

"Hang in there with us. We're going to get this right." -- Great quote from the ENS article describing House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson's visit to Episcopalians in the Diocese of Rio Grande.

And how lucky are WE to have Bonnie Anderson out there leading this church?

NOTE DU JOUR:

This note on the Titusonenine post of Ed's sermon from yesterday calling for an investigation into impeachment for the Vice President: We're turning comments off on this one. Busy day and no time for the elves to keep an eye on them. Sorry.

Hmmmm ...

COMMUTE DU JOUR:

Scooter Libby To Do Less Time Than Paris Hilton

President Bush spared former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby from a 2 1/2-year prison term on Monday, issuing an order that commutes his sentence.

Maybe he's practicing up for the day when he's going to have to commute a sentence for the Vice President!

And finally ...

THE JERRY FALWELL AWARD DU JOUR ...

[London] A senior Church of England bishop says the floods that have caused widespread damage in the UK are the result of God's wrath on a permissive society that endorses gay rights.

My, my, my ...how does he explain the lovely weather in New Hampshire this week then, I'm wondering?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: Susan, just to explain why we turned off comments on the T19 post re: Ed's sermon. I feared it might cause a rash of very intemperate comments, and with Kendall travelling, and this elf having to be offline for long periods earlier today, it seemed unwise to open comments.

Thanks for posting the news.
And Happy 4th of July!

--elfgirl
t19elves@yahoo.com; 6:18 PM
SUSAN RUSSELL said...: Thanks, elfgirl ... nothing like a rash of intemperate comments to take up a moderator's time!

Happy 4th back at'cha ...; 8:13 PM
Anonymous said...: Re: Scooter Libby; I've always been a "do the crime, do the time" type of guy. On the face of it, this looks like a favor for a friend to me. I haven't looked into it in depth, I must confess.

RonF; 9:21 AM
Muthah+ said...: How do bishops like Dow get to be bishops with understandings like this? For that matter, how does Dubyah get to be president?.... God does have a tolerance for the ridculous; 11:24 AM
Anonymous said...: I find it disgusting that Geo. W Bush's mercy begins and ends with his cronies. I can't help but remember that he scoffed at a repentant, fellow Christian, Carla Faye Tucker as he sent her to the Texas death chamber. It really is no wonder that people have a hard time taking us Christians seriously. -- Matt; 2:39 PM

... where I try to be really clear about what I'm clear about. For example:

Religious persecution is when you're prevented from exercising your beliefs, not when you're prevented from IMPOSING your beliefs.

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Using "biblical standards" to condemn those who understand that sexual orientation is morally neutral makes as much sense as using "biblical standards" to condemn astronomers who understand that the earth revolves around the sun. The Bible may have said it but that doesn't always settle it.

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It's liberty and justice for all -- not some. It's respect the dignity of every human being -- not just straight ones. Got it? Great. Let's do it.

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In order to keep moving forward toward liberty and justice for all we can't just be right about what the 1st Amendment protects. We have to be smart about how we respond to those who skipped the 9th Commandment and think lying is a Traditional Family Value.

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Jesus said "Love your neighbor." Not "Love your neighbor unless your neighbor is gay."

Smart things other people have said you should know about

“Faith in action is called politics. Spirituality without action is fruitless and social action without spirituality is heartless. We are boldly political without being partisan. Having a partisan-free place to stand liberates the religious patriot to see clearly, speak courageously, and act daringly.” -- Ed Bacon

“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"It's time for "tolerant" religious people to acknowledge the straight line between the official anti-gay theologies of their denominations and the deaths of these young people. Nothing short of changing our theology of human sexuality will save these young and precious lives." -- The Rt Rev Gene Robinson

"How can you initiate someone into the Body of Christ and then treat them like they’re half-assed baptized?" - The Rt Rev Barbara Harris

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ~ Elie Wiesel, 1986 Nobel Peace Prize

"Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant with the weak and wrong. Sometime in your life, you will have been all of these." — Siddhārtha Gautama

"I'm so glad Mary didn't wait for the formulation of a Doctrine of the Incarnation before she said 'Yes' to God." -- Ed Bacon

"The great Easter truth is not that we will be born again someday but that we are to be alive here and now by the power of the resurrection." -- Philips Brooks (paraphrase)

"History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being.” -- Walter Wink

“Patience, a quality of holiness may be sloth in the soul when associated with the lack of righteous indignation.” -- Abraham Heschel

"Don't tell me what you believe. Tell me what difference it makes that you believe!" -- Verna Dozier

“We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief. Nor will we ever. Church and state are, and must remain, separate. All are free to believe or not believe, all are free to practice a faith or not, and those who believe are free and should be free, to speak of and act on their belief. At the same time as our constitution prohibits state religion, establishment of it protects the free exercise of all religions. And walking this fine line requires government to be strictly neutral.” -- Ronald Reagan

Let's be clear. The fact that the State authorizes a marriage in no way compels any Church to perform or recognize it. Marriage equality merely guarantees equality under the law to all citizens; it does not compel churches to do anything.-- Katherine Ragsdale