George the Cable Guy

It is rather appalling to think that the coddled fratboy from New Haven, CT, considers it acceptable to speak in public as the President of the United States with his phony Texas affectations, saying "'em" for "them," dropping the letter G from all words ending in "-ing," and damn near saying "git 'er done."

AP photo/ Ron Edmonds (via Dependable Renegade)

The thought of the laziest president in history chastising Congress and telling them all they must do (while ignoring his vetoes and threats of same, the obstructionist tactics of the congressional GOP that delay or defeat practically anything that comes to either floor, and the actual accomplishments of a Congress that has done more than the previous one)--well, it makes the gorge rise along with the blood pressure.

When one contemplates the disastrous policies of this presidency on every imaginable front, the damage done to this nation and the world, and the arrogance with which they flout the law at every turn, it really is amazing and pathetic that millions don't march in the streets every week demanding a return to constitutional government. By the time folks get around to marching they will have the new device that causes intolerable pain in place for crowd control.

Have we already kissed our democracy goodbye?

WTF is this man still doing in office? Will the dems in Congress never find their gonads?

It was painful to listen to the press conference this morning. He sounded drunk, as well as stupid, insulting, and inarticulate. Narcissists should never be given this much power. The man (and I use the term as an act of obedience to the Christian faith) is a blight on the office.

There. I've stewed all day and had my rant.
--the cranky BB

Here's a film I look forward to seeing

Though I suspect watching it may be painful.



for the BIBLE tells me so, the movie


From the movie's website:

Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families -- including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson -- we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard's Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.

Bearsy Bob says check it out.
[Any old fans of Joe Bob Briggs and his movie reviews out there?]
--the BB

Not that pure and def not that young

This is not a young blogger.

The BB in Ploshchad Ostrovskovo, St Petersburg,

in front of the Statue of Katherine the Lawgiver

The choices were too narrow, not allowing for all the answers that lie between them. Anyway, while I'm being silly and taking quizzes....





h/t to Pseudopiskie, who scored the same
--the BB

I love murals

Our Lady of Kazan Russian Orthodox Church,
4th Street, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Railroad underpass mural, Tennant Street, Pinole, California

Mission District, San Francisco, California

Many years ago during Easter Week...

... the liturgical one, of course, not the secular spring break nor the erroneous confusion of Holy Week, but the first week of the Great Fifty Days, a friend and I fled work and spent some time in Santa Cruz at a retreat on the beach. Fabulous! I quite recommend it.

One late afternoon as we were walking along we agreed that "we worship a goofy God."

'Nuff said.

Which Disney character am I?

created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Goofy Your alter ego is Goofy! You are fun and great to be around, and you are always willing to help others. You arn't worried about embarrassing yourself, so you are one who is more willing to try new things. The Beast 75% Goofy 75% Sleeping Beauty 63% Ariel 56% Pinocchio 44% Cinderella 44% Peter Pan 44% Snow White 25% Cruella De Ville 19% Donald Duck 13%

--the BB

I am so relieved

Relieved that I score so low for Augie and Edwards. Hmm, I took this a few hours ago and my Tillich was higher than Luther but as I was trying to post this my whole system crashed. Oh well. The main result remains the same: Moltmann. No surprise to me.

Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Jürgen Moltmann The problem of evil is central to your thought, and only a crucified God can show that God is not indifferent to human suffering. Christian discipleship means identifying with suffering but also anticipating the new creation of all things that God will bring about. Jürgen Moltmann 67% Martin Luther 53% Paul Tillich 53% John Calvin 47% Friedrich Schleiermacher 33% Charles Finney 27% Karl Barth 27% Anselm 13% Augustine 13% Jonathan Edwards 7%

Just for the record, I know that Augie said some really good things about God and love and grace and all. He was also one hella effed up chap--too much the Manichee and twisted on sex. Then again, the poor chap had Monica in the background screeching, "Augie! When you gonna dump that trollop and come home to live with your mother and be a good Christian boy?" Sheesh.

You may well guess that Monica is not on my calendar: chiseled from the diptychs permanently. I just don't need to celebrate the patron of nagging mothers, thanks.

I like Moltmann. He makes sense to me. What does not make sense is splitting the First and Second Persons of the Trinity and calling Patripassionism a heresy. How can you read the Bible and its tales of a passionate God and decide that God cannot suffer? That is just not a biblical idea. Give me the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which I believe is also one with the Heart of God (it's all metaphor folks, so chill). A God who feels what creation feels is a God I can, will, and do worship.

I have seen too much of the dark side of "traditional" theories of atonement not to consider most of what is claimed to be codswallop. Sin: real. Redemption: crucial. Vicarious sacrifice to placate an angry deity: horsefeathers, as my mother would say. Christ's obedience: very important, though less so than its ground, his union of love with God. The Cross: absolutely central. The devil's role in all this: irrelevant. When God is at work, everything else shrinks in significance.

Glory to God who has not abandoned us in our sin and folly, nor is untouched by our pain and sorrow, nor unmoved by our lostness and confusion, but who comes to us in grace and power and mercy to bring us back to Godself!
--the BB

Questions about the strength of the Duma

Atrios notes that the Secretary of State has made certain recent utterances without any evident awareness of irony.

MOSCOW -
The Russian government under Vladimir Putin has amassed so much central authority that the power-grab may undermine Moscow's commitment to democracy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday.

"In any country, if you don't have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development," Rice told reporters after meeting with human-rights activists.

"I think there is too much concentration of power in the Kremlin. I have told the Russians that. Everybody has doubts about the full independence of the judiciary. There are clearly questions about the independence of the electronic media and there are, I think, questions about the strength of the Duma," said Rice, referring to the Russian parliament.

(Associated Press via Forbes)

Let's run that by one more time: "In any country, if you don't have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development."

SSJOAS = Sweet Suffering Jesus on a Stick

Memo to Democratic members of Congress

Giving in to bullies is always wrong.

Kick them in the balls till they fall over, kick them in the balls till they beg for mercy, kick them in the balls till they vow they'll never ever ever do it again.

Then kick them in the balls once more in front of their mob, so everyone gets you're simply not fucking around. (It saves you having to hurt them again ten future times; bullies are slow learners.)

Taken from another context at the Group News Blog.

Excellent advice. Next time you feel all bipartisan and compromisal (a non-word I rather like), remember what your Republican colleagues have consistently done to destroy this nation. Then kick. Hard. Repeatedly. And get something done for America and the world for a change.

[Nice is hereby repealed until there is a Democratic supermajority in both house of Congress.]
--the BB

"the inevitable benefits of ground already covered"

La Vie Graphite has a marvelous reflective essay, with photos, titled heart in motion. I commend it, and the blog altogether, to your attention.

I am enjoying this space on its own terms, with nothing resisted or wished away.

--the BB

It has happened before

Grandmère Mimi alerted me today to General Ricardo Sanchez's comments in the New York Times about a “catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan” in Iraq. Well big effing "duh!"

General Sanchez said he was convinced that the American effort in Iraq was failing the day after he took command, in June 2003. Asked why he waited until nearly a year after his retirement to voice his concerns publicly, he responded that it was not the place of active-duty officers to challenge lawful orders from the civilian authorities.

Excuse me. Invasion and occupation of a sovereign nation that has neither attacked us nor poses any immediate threat to us constitutes a violation of international and U.S. law. It is what we quaintly call "a war crime." Just because [expletive deleted] was recognized as President by the Supreme Court does not make anything he orders lawful. The Nixon asssetion that whatever the President does is thereby lawful just doesn't pass muster. Didn't then. Doesn't now.

I share Grandmère's outrage that people who knew this from the beginning did not speak up when it might have made a difference. For all who have since perished or been injured, maimed, displaced, or dispossessed since then it is now too late. And we are having one devil of a time trying to even have a discussion of extrication, much less any action toward the same.

“There has been a glaring and unfortunate display of incompetent strategic leadership within our national leaders,” he said, adding that civilian officials have been “derelict in their duties” and guilty of a “lust for power.”

A lust for power. That, and delusions of glory, hoping to "bring" (how patronizing) democracy to the benighted folks in other lands. Or worse, insane delusions about triggering Armageddon so Jesus will come. Oh yes, they are that crazy, and that religious fringe has deliberately made huge inroads in our military.

Vanity of vanity, all is vanity, saith the preacher.

It has happened before.
Strong men put up a city and got
a nation together,
And paid singers to sing and women
to warble: We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation,
nothing like us ever was.

And while the singers sang
and the strong men listened
and paid the singers well
and felt good about it all,
there were rats and lizards who listened
… and the only listeners left now
… are … the rats … and the lizards.

From Carl Sandburg, Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind (1922)

Democracy is not a spectator sport. We all have an obligation to inform ourselves and take action so that those we elect remember why we elected them.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

You will note the pointed absence of references to empire building in the Preamble.

--the BB

Update: John Bruhns, Iraq vet, has his own comments on General Sanchez's words at Americablog.

Artifice and discipline

Kanjincho with Ichikawa Danjuro (1990)

The magic of kabuki theatre requires incredible artifice and discipline. I learned something of this when studying kabuki at Pomona College under Leonard Pronko in the 60s. Plays were performed in translation and I fell in love with kabuki from the first performance I witnessed as a freshman. Although I had the smallest of bit parts, I did get to participate and see what it was like behind the scenes.

Whether I look today at national politics or at the current unpleasantness in Anglicanland, there seems to be a great deal of kabuki going on--kabuki in the non-Japanese-theatre sense of elaborate shows full of arcane details.

Artifice (derived from the Latin artifex, one who makes with art/skill) implies skill; it is also the source of the word artificial. In the context of church or politics it suggests all sorts of "artificial" stuff. In other words, you get great spectacle but it is all unreal--long on smoke and mirrors and short on substance. I believe artifice is a good word and one capable of a great deal of positive connotation, but that is not the case in these contexts.

Discipline suggests that some folks know what they want, will work hard to get it, will whip their troops in shape in order to achieve it, and will not give up. Good kabuki, in any sense, requires lots of discipline.

Alas, it seems those who use fear to divide and conquer, those who strive for power and the enrichment of their friends, those who cloak themselves in righteousness and condemn all others appear to have no end of discipline. Those who would unite and build peace, who show compassion for the vulnerable and seek the good of all, who do not need to denounce others to compensate for their own insecurity may well have discipline but they are up against a mighty force.

We are, perforce, in for the long haul. May practitioners of justice, mercy, truth, and peace exhibit discipline and skillful artifice to accomplish the work God calls us to do. I am strengthened by so many tales in blogtopia (TM skippy the bush kangaroo) of folks demonstrating such perseverance, creativity, and compassion.

Let's have theatres of peace instead of theatres of war.

--the BB

Friday Prince Blogging

His Royal and Imperial Highness Amedeo Marie Joseph Carl Pierre Philippe Paola Marcus d'Aviano, Prince of Belgium (since 1991), Prince Imperial and Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia. He's 6th in line to the Belgian throne. Must be hard to be so young and have a name so long.

I hope he's not as rowdy as Harry Windsor. Belgians seem a sensible lot.

Albertus Magnus

Image of Christ on the Tester

(Ceiling over St Cuthbert's Grave)

Durham Cathedral

This is not a reference to the German philosopher and Dominican friar. I am writing briefly about the Great Al of our own day, Albert Arnold Gore, Jr., who was announced this morning as co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on saving the environment.

The image above is not to liken Al Gore (the man I still recognize as the elected President of the United States, not to be confused with the impostor in the Oval Office) with a Messiah-figure. It is simply that I looked at the image this morning and it seems so full of hope and glory that I started thinking about what it would be like to have Gore officially residing in the White House, as he should have done before.

Think what it might mean to restore honor, decency, vision, and legality to our wonderful, sad country.

You can help. Draftgore.com awaits your signature.

Congratulations, Mr. Gore. Please run.
--the BB

More gratuitous prince blogging

His Royal Highness Carl Philip, Prince of Sweden

(God save the King and the Royal Family. My father's parents came from Sweden to California a the end of the 19th century.)

My heart looks for you at all times

E-mail on Wednesday, June 19, 2002

My heart looks for you at all times
My ears listen for you
My eyes seek your face
I feel like an ancient psalmist
yearning for God
We are steps on the journey
into life that has no end
love that never dies
Together we roam a path
unaware how vast and glorious
our destination
deep
deep
deeper than fears
deeper than desire
deeper than dreams
rooted beyond knowing
blossom outside all belief
fruit rich
delicious
nourishing
abiding
laughter waits
and tears of joy
at journey’s end
This step we take
hands linked
hearts freebound with all things
wondering, wandering
tasting hints, dying daily
ever newborn
My joy, we are more than stardust
we are God’s glory
shining in the eyes of all
creation

Well, that just sprang up while I was listening to music here in the church office. I guess it is today’s love poem, or prayer, or meditation. I give it to you, smiling, seeing your face before my mind’s eye. Come to me soon.

===============
(c) PES

Since we are on the theme of divine love (and human as well), here is one more.
--the BB

Lighting the Whole Sky

There is an absurd generosity in the Holy One that scatters
Haphazard all the energies and glories of creation, like star nations
Easily flung as diamonds across the velvet night sky.

Surely, we feel, there must be some obligation, some burden, some debt
Under which we must struggle to prove ourselves worthy of such
Nonsensical goodness. The smile of Jesus tells me there is

No burden other than the one we make for ourselves, for God is
Eager to give, to love, to bless, to make fruitful, to set free.
Visions are given to the unworthy and food to the wicked, and
Every gift is only and always that—Gift, free of obligation, a total
Risk taken by the Almighty and Merciful One. We may

Sing the praises of the Giver and share the gifts, or mar
And misuse them with our ingratitude, our fear, our insecurity.
You and I have nothing to prove. Perfection is for God—for us the
Sharing, the striving, choosing, rejoicing in the school of love.

That, the opportunity to know the smallest particle
Or spark of the divine fire, to be kissed by Heaven,

To know the bliss of Eternity in this moment, to be loved
Here in this place by the Source and Goal of all things,
Eating at the abundant feast with all souls, all beings,

Entering into the bridal chamber of God’s love,
And shuddering at the tender caress of the Glorious One,
Reveling in delight, alive and overflowing with life—
That is as close as we can come to obligation. To
Hear the Voice of the Beloved, that itself suffices.

You see, once loved in that way we cannot then close
Ourselves from God or from others, nor from ourselves.
Useless to resist the Divine Lover, with whom is all our bliss.

Our lives, touched by that Fire, cannot then cease to burn.
We become sparks, lighting the universe along with all those
Ever-shining stars. It is not debt, it is desire and delight.

My little efforts, my many failures, seem to undo this mystery, yet
Even when clouds cover the earth, the sun shines and God loves still.

June 28, 2002

(An acrostic from Hafiz, I believe: The sun never says to the earth, you owe me.)
--the BB

Prince of Denmark

Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark with their daughter Princess Isabella

(File photo--Reuters: Morris Mac Matzen) via ABC News

No, not the dishy crown prince (pictured above with his lovely wife and daughter). The Shakespearean one: Hamlet.

I was watching the first hour of Kenneth Branagh's production of Hamlet this evening. When Horatio speaks of portents surrounding Julius Caesar's death (Act I, Scene i, lines 112ff.), he notes:

In the most high and palmy state of Rome,
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,
The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets....

Deliciously put. Well, this is no lofty post. I only thought, "What a wonderful title for a blog!" So, if I were starting one tonight, it would be titled "Squeak and Gibber." (I'm not going to do the research to see if such already exists; I couldn't bear the disappointment.)

[The gratuitous prince blogging is for those who prefer something other than the antics of cats in their online visuals.]
--the BB

Our sights are set too low

Bernini's St Theresa in Ecstasy

photo via University of British Columbia Library

Amid our quotidian concerns over furnace repairs and leaking roofs, vestry meetings, spiritual nurture, crisis counseling, community building, outreach and evangelization, social justice work, stewardship of the environment, and annual pledge drives (the list could go on for several paragraphs), we usually manage to remember that we are seeking faithfully to follow Jesus.

Our Orthodox sisters and brothers would remind us that we are offered more than following.

God endowed [us] with the gifts "according to His [sic] image", so [we] may ascend very high, so [we] may acquire with them a likeness to [our] God and Maker; to have, not an external, moral relationship with [God], but a personal union with [our] Creator."
--The Deification as the Purpose of Man's Life by Archimandrite George, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of St. Gregorios of Mt. Athos

Our friends at JN1034 remind us of the Orthodox teaching on theosis or deification, including a posting from yesterday. It is mostly ignored in the Western churches, much as the Trinity in the West is seen more as an intellectual challenge than as our Life, our Home, our Joy. Sigh.

This is the "Byz-[antine]" part of the BB typing this morning. I picked up a copy of the limited third edition of Archimandrite George's booklet from the Greek Festival at St. George's Greek Orthodox Church on Saturday. (Fabulous lamb! I remarked to my friend that the Greeks have had thousands of years to get lamb right.) And a nice icon of St George.

While imagining what a parallel to Christianity might be like in a parallel world for my fantasy fiction, I have emphasized the Christ-figure's role as opening the way for all people to unite with the Uncreated Light of God. There is less emphasis on being saved from sin because that is only a first step, it is not the central point. Union with God is the point, the purpose, the goal.

How different that is from the faith I was raised on. I find it incredibly sad to ponder how limited, short-sighted, and crippling the emphasis on sin and atonement has been in the lives of millions of people, and it grieves me. I am not rejecting the notion of sin, nor of its consequences and the necessity of dealing with it. It is all too real and our sorry world testifies to that daily. But all the talk about it is only, as I just wrote, a first step.

The first major spiritual crisis (reformation era) of my life was centered on asking "what are we saved FOR?" I was tired of hearing what I was saved FROM, it wasn't moving me or anyone else into God's future.

Fantasy fiction as critique of Western Christianity.

I think Marcus Borg is on the right track when he rejects the inadequacies of a [liberal] examplar and a [conservative] rescuer to see Jesus inviting us into a transformative journey in relationship with the living God. Transformation, metamorphosis, transfiguration, changing from glory into glory, becoming one with the Ultimate, with the Holy, with God.
--the BB

Blame Dennis

Dennis at psychology, dogs, politics and wine got tagged with one of the list thingies. He had the decency to tag no one, so I will volunteer as a taggee.

Four answers to various things about me:

Four jobs I've held

1. Dishwasher / cook’s helper (summer camp and juvenile hall—yes, I spent a summer in juvie)
2. Resident hall assistant (graveyard shift)
3. Accountant (someone has to track the beans)
4. Parish priest (both as a gift and grace and for my sins which are many and grievous)


Four films I could watch over and over (and have done so)

1. Four Weddings and a Funeral
2. Much Ado about Nothing (with Thompson & Branagh)
3. Babette’s Feast
4. The Milagro Beanfield War

Four TV shows I watch


1. CSI (the original)
2. Law and Order: Criminal Intent
3. The Daily Show
4. Robin Hood (BBC) (I must confess I also watch Psych and Scrubs: heavy stuff)

Four places I've lived


1. Fresno, California (my birthplace)
2. Montpellier, France (for two months in my senior year, followed by one month in Paris)
3. Albany, California (small town with all the advantages of being next to but not in Berkeley)
4. Albuquerque, New Mexico

Four Favorite Foods


1. Butter (the one place where my Swedish genes come through). Not to list this first and by itself would be dishonest. So many other foods support butter well: breads, crackers, vegetables, baked potatoes, etc.
2. Anything cooked by Bill (whether grilled vegies, kulebiaka, pork loin, roast beef with his mother’s mushroom and sour cream sauce, beef stroganoff, creative leftovers, or anything else)
3. Fruit desserts, especially extremely tart lemon ones
4. Lasagna when made with al dente pasta, excellent cheeses, and really good sauce; either meat or vegetarian is fine with me (the only, only, only point at which I resonate with that vile cartoon cat Garfield)

Four websites I visit every day (How to choose? I visit so many every day.)

1. The Wounded Bird
2. Padre Mickey’s Dance Party
3. Hullabaloo
4. The Mahablog

Four favorite colors

1. Blue (royal, cerulean, ultramarine, sapphire, indigo)
2. Deep rich reds (garnet, burgundy)
3. Rich dark greens (pine, dark emerald, forest)
4. Bright saturated warm golden yellows (marigold), lemon rind, and pale butter yellow

Four places I would love to be now


1. Le Midi (the South of France)
2. Spain (never been, want to go)
3. The Berkeley hills (Chez Panisse?)
4. New England

Four names I love but wouldn't use to name the next dog

1. Vunskridh (but I wouldn’t want to marry her)
2. Hripsime (such an exotic-sounding Armenian name; I think it’s totally cool); and Stjepan Drzslav has always been big since my course in medieval Balkan history.
3. Alexander and its many variants
4. Christopher

Montpellier, France

In the words of Dennis:

Am I supposed to tag four other people? 
 I don't want to do that. I might forget someone. Or upset them. Not going to tread in those waters.

Respond if you wish.
—the BB

Tired of prelates? Invent your own!

Goddess knows I have long since burned out on church politics. When important but tedious issues are discussed... AGAIN... and anxiety rises like a hot air balloon (and it is the season of the Ballon Fiesta in Albuquerque right now) and tempers flare, I roll my eyes and walk away (literally or figuratively).

This is why I have not posted in a long time on a local list serve. Just when folks had gotten used to my rambling disquisitions on matters theological, pastoral, or practical, my voice went silent. I began posting more here where I could pursue such topics as catch my fancy without the fevered hysteria, the pain, the anger that seem to swirl about everything Anglican these days.

If you follow this blog (or have spent time at Bearfeathers, where I haven't posted in donkey's years), you know that I have been writing fantasy fiction. It springs from tales I wrote in the years from 1972 to 1974, then set aside. Now they spring forth anew with a vengeance. Friends are reading the completed draft of the first novel. It is the starting point for a series of stories about a family on earth with several members over the generations who, unexpectedly, cross over into a parallel world. Some return; some do not. They have adventures, needless to say.

It has been fun and very satisfying and I am deep into it these days. While early drafts of some of the sequels have been around for over three decades and I have done some revising and expanding in the past two years, there is much yet to do.

The first tale is set in a pagan world and I enjoyed developing its mythology. The imagery of that pre-Christian faith has become part of my own thought world now. The latter tales are in a "Christian" environment for this parallel world has a parallel Christ event. Right now I am exploring the background of the arrival of "Christianity" to the portion of that world where my tales take place. This is all backstory, stuff that wouldn't be published as narrative (or, God help us, fictive history) but serves to make the world real to me, understandable, interconnected, full of texture and detail. Then I can tell a story within that rich texture.

So this weekend I am ignoring that Genovese slaver working for the Jew- and Moor-hating monarchs of Spain (if you want Italian pride, let's think of Francis and Galileo, maybe) and focusing instead on the early church history in a backwater region of a world that only exists in my mind. So I am composing the Acts of the First Council, a prologue reciting who was there and the Canons that come out of it.

Yes, I have escaped from Primates' Meetings, ACC, Lambeth, the ABC, the HoB, and all the other alphabet soup in which TEC is drowning, to create my own Church Council, with my own clergy and laity. There are no arguments over faggotry or heresiarchs. They affirm their orthodox faith, referencing earlier councils in the Empire; they canonize two new saints (their recent martyrs); they discuss inculturation, the old faith, and the use of the vernacular and customs of the old faith; and they elect and certify their first archbishop. There are mass baptisms; one deacon and four priests are ordained; they have communion; they rejoice.

At the point in the canons where one would expect anathemas they proclaim peace and the hope that all who stray will turn and even the evil one will at the last turn to the Light.

I am clearly a bleeding-heart liberal and a Trinitarian Universalist.* So sue me. Here I stand, I can do no other.

Just think--a church meeting where you emerge with joy. Sometimes it happens on earth. I would love to see it happen with greater frequency.

Peace be to all who confess this Faith and honor to those who practice it. May the hearts of those who do not share it be turned, may all enemies of the Gospel become its friends, may Light shine where there is now darkness, may all things be brought to unity in the One God, and at the last may Atkriva [the Denier] behold, acknowledge, and adore the Radiant Song of the One. Amen. **

--the BB

* By "universalist" I do not mean that I have any certain belief that all will be saved, only that all MAY be saved. I do not believe that God coerces but I place great stock in the image of gates to the New Jerusalem that are NEVER shut. I know imagery of a shut door occurs elsewhere in the Scriptures, but for some reason this image is placed at the end of our canon as though it were the final word. Maybe that is chance or historical vagary but I still give it weight. I do not propose a debate over this in the comments; in fact, I am clearly not in the mood for more arguments. This is where I come out and y'all may come out wherever you choose.
** Even if this is not intended for publication, the non-anathema conclusion to the First Canon is (c) by me.

Frenchy: most admired, least imitated

Francis by Zurbaran

Professor Gerhard B. Ladner, in his class on early and medieval church history at UCLA, commented that Francis was, perhaps, the most admired and least imitated of all the saints.

There are wonderful posts on Francis (here and here and here and here and here). My thanks to the online company of the faithful who nurture, challenge, and care about one another.

I would like to draw your attention especially to the post by Fr. Jake. He has the lyrics there. Here is the video meditation on Surely We Can Change, David Crowder Band, Remedy (2007):

Dear Francesco,
Please pray for us; we are making such a mess of it all. Help us to see, to really see and know and understand, God's gracious love manifest in all creation. May we see Christ in friend and foe, enemy and stranger, wherever we go. Give my fond regards to the wolf of Gubbio. Thanks.

--the BB

Update: Fr. Jake credits Bob Carlton, and I hereby do the same.

Another old poem

I am reminded

daily and repeatedly—

silliness redeems

September 26, 2003

Part of my urban haiku series
--the BB

Lord, have mercy

Entsündige mich mit Isop, daß ich rein werde; wasche mich, daß ich schneeweiß werde.

Ímé én vétekben fogantattam, és bûnben melengetett engem az anyám.

Purea ahau ki te hihopa, a ka ma ahau; horoia ahau, a ka ma ke atu i te hukarere.

Curăţeşte-mă cu isop, şi voi fi curat; spală-mă, şi voi fi mai alb decît zăpada.

Окропи меня иссопом, и буду чист; омой меня, и буду белее снега.

Asperges me hyssopo et mundabor; super nivem bealbabor.

Purifícame con hisopo, y seré limpio;
lávame, y seré más blanco que la nieve.

'Shame' hardly does it justice. But it is a start. How does the country, the state, cleanse itself of the pollution of Cheneyism?

--Josh Marshall

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

V. Favorably with mercy hear our prayers;
R. O Son of David, have mercy upon us.
V. Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear us, O Christ;
R. Graciously hear us, O Christ; graciously hear us, O Lord Christ.

The Officiant concludes

Let us pray.

We humbly beseech thee, O Father, mercifully to look upon our infirmities; and, for the glory of thy Name, turn from us all those evils that we most justly have deserved; and grant that in all our troubles we may put our whole trust and confidence in thy mercy, and evermore serve thee in holiness and pureness of living, to thy honor and glory; through our only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[From the Supplication, BCP 1979]

--the BB

Everyday’s Most Quiet Need

Gustave Caillebotte,
Boatman in a Top Hat, 1877-78.
Private Collection.

It is autumn when life seems bittersweet. I am in something of an elegiac mood (as you have seen lately). A poem from a great parting:

A Poem for Memito
That I Might Grieve

In the rare still moment when I do not flee the

Savage ripping of heart’s flesh, sign of grief,
Here in a midnight moment that Sonnet from the Portuguese
Assails my bastion of busyness, my need to numb.
Love, how I miss the quiet tenderness we shared, the
Lively wit that brightened discourse, and wove the

Bittersweet moments of our lives into shared story!
Useless to deny the loss, or how I miss the wonderfulness
That sparkles in the complexity of you, dear heart.

Looking in at your new world, our shared home, from the
Outside, I find each new configuration a reminder—my
View has changed, this is not my home. You first found that
Encouraging, but I wanted to scream, “Dammit, I speak of my pain!

There is, for me, a vast emptiness no foggy shroud can
Hide; the house has become for me a shell, and this
Especially when you are not there. Yet I am glad that it
Embraces and expresses you. I’ll claim the trees!

Bill, it is no wonder people shake their heads with amazement
Each time they utter, “Twenty-four years.” We journeyed long
Together, yet how brief, how brief! Sometimes it seems
To collapse into a moment, I hardly seem to have met you.
Easy to admit I flee the pain, we all know it. Today, tonight,
Reaching for life I face this death. I walk, with new friends or

Alone in the fresh air and sunshine, feeling the bay’s breeze,
Facing the fact that I must grieve, I stopped all other activities
To think about loss, about you, to read and write some poetry.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was not the first in the Norton Anthology,
Rather the one where I was forced to pause. You used her lines to

Describe your feelings, for me I know and I suspect for someone new.
“Everyday’s most quiet need” sums up so much of all your heart
Aspires to, and mine. We are so alike and so different! In
Truth I do believe my love for you shall grow, even now in
Heart-sore moments, bearing fruit in eternity. I miss you. Be well!

July 9, 2002
(c) 2002 by PES

The poem above does not represent my current mood. It is a visitation and a remembrance.

I am happy to report that the friendship of those years together has survived, the love remained constant, and we continue to take joy and comfort in each other's company. It is better that we live apart but we do not live estranged. Thanks be to God, for we are blessed beyond measure.

--the BB

Creativity and Certainty

Trompe L'oeil, Salem (Germany) from Wiki

John Bradshaw has an interesting comment about creativity in his book Healing the Shame That Binds You. He writes:

Richard Bandler [one of the founders of NeuroLinguistic Programming (NLP)] suggested that one of the major blocks to creativity was the feeling of knowing you are right. When we think we are absolutely right, we stop seeking new information. To be right is to be certain, and to be certain stops us from being curious. Curiosity and wonder are at the heart of all learning. Plato said that all philosophy begins in wonder. So the feeling of absolute certainty and righteousness causes us to stop seeking and learning. (Page 14)

Immediately before that paragraph Bradshaw states "For me, the greatest human power is the creative power."

Rather than offer a comment on this, I offer the prayer for the newly-baptized:

Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon these your servants the forgiveness of sin, and have raised them to the new life of grace. Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works. Amen.

--the BB

Feast of St. Remigius

The Baptism of Clovis I by St. Remigius
Painted by the Master of St. Gilles (c. 1500)
courtesy of Wikipedia

Today is the fesat of Saint Remigius, also known as St Rémi or St Rémy, Bishop of Reims and Apostle to the Franks, who helped convert Clovis, King of the Franks, baptizing him in 496. The Franks eventually tried to "out-Catholic" the Pope, so this was one of those turning points in the history of both the Church and Europe. Remigius had some help in this famous conversion from St Vedast and from Clovis' Catholic Burgundian wife Clotilde.

Gregory of Tours claims that three thousand Franks were baptized with Clovis. My favorite part of the tale is Remigius instructing Clovis to bend his neck and to "Worship what you have burned, and burn what you have worshiped."

I leave to other souls to tell more of this chap but had to post something since I woke up and thought, It's Rémi's day, then turned the calendar on my bedroom wall.

O God, by the teaching of your faithful servant and bishop Remigius you turned the nation of the Franks from vain idolatry to the worship of you, the true and living God, in the fullness of the catholic faith: Grant that we who glory in the name of Christian may show forth our faith in worthy deeds; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

--the BB

If you were to imagine....

If you were going to write fantasy fiction (which is what I am up to in most free waking and non-working hours) about some parallel world, what religions might you imagine?

Would any of them resemble Christianity as we have known it?

If not, what sources would you draw on?

If so, how might this faith be enacted (by which I mean first of all an Incarnation or parallel "Christ event"), how understood, how proclaimed, how lived in community? What would you tweak and make different? Remember you have full authorial license and it's fiction, for heaven's sake.
I realize these are unfair questions. I have been doing this and, because I wish to retain copyright on my stories, I cannot really reveal my answers except on the most cursory level.

The tales I write grow out of stories I told in the early 1970s. I have not abandoned those roots but have developed, altered, deepened, and enriched them. One of the most delightful imaginative exercises was teasing out a "pagan" mythology, the belief system of the world into which my young Christian hero from this world finds himself taken, without his consent. Like many folks I have known, he practices two faiths, accepting the imagery of the new world while still saying his rosary and, later on, baptizing his children. As in many indigenous traditions (or Hinduism) the many "deities" or holy ones are all understood as manifestation of the one Ultimate Reality, so the faith is not really polytheist. The various "gods" function more like friendly saints to whom one might turn for help or guidance, some heavenly assistance in the area that is their specialty. A folk religion with strong ethical elements, sufficiently vivid that I find myself thinking in its imagery.

But then there is a Christ event in that world and the missionaries come. When they meet the protagonist of my first two books they find someone already Christian! I have not gotten to that encounter as I am working on the background for all this, the family trees and interrelations of my principal characters and their children (and grandchildren) and the whole spread of Christianity (missionary history) in that region.

Since it is a fantasy world, I could play with the context of their Christ, and I get to do outrageous things like making the Church egalitarian from the get-go. My chief Apostle to the region where my tales take place is a woman and she is elected the first archbishop. No one gives it a second's thought. And why should they?

Sin and evil are not denied but the faith of that world is far less atonement-centered than the late medieval theology that has plagued us lo these many centuries. Mysticism is more central, and the path of self-giving love is prominent. But then, the choice between power and domination or love and community is a constant theme of all the stories. It seems I never get away from the abiding question: who is Lord, Jesus or Caesar? Our answer obviously determines how we live.

So.

If you were to imagine a new faith, or an old faith that you could embrace with joy, what might it look like?

What would be your John 3:16?

Your Lord's (or Lady's) Prayer?

What would be (or already are) the virtues of your favorite saint?

Have fun!
--the BB

Bringing back hope

While chatting at a table last weekend with folks I'd never met before, I was asked if I had a favorite among presidential hopefuls. I do, but I had to answer that my real first choice, and one I could back wholeheartedly, was Al Gore, the last man I confidently believe to have been elected President. I want to elect him again and this time see him sworn in and take office!

Across from me sat a self-avowed Republican who did not care for Senator Clinton or Senator Edwards, who among Republicans would currently go for Giuliani, but who said he would vote for Gore for President. This Republican believes Gore has the experience and integrity and is probably the best choice.

Gore has still not said a definite "no." If you would like to see Al Gore, Jr. become President of the United States (or even just wish we were among our choices), why not pop on over to draftgore.com and sign the petition. It will get to him. And he is listening.

Now for some inspirational Melissa Etheridge, reminding us that truth is of the people, by the people, for the people.




Online Videos by Veoh.com

h/t to Hoffmania who posted Melissa and writes that her "What Happens Tomorrow" should be Gore's campaign song.

Because Miss E. H. of L. showed interest

Con cariño,
--Pablito

From the early middle Welsh

Hail to you, glorious Lord!

...

May plain and hillside praise you
...

Outskirts of Albuquerque
13 September 2006

Celtic Christian Spirituality, page 28

Click photo above to enlarge. Sit. Look. Listen for the plains to praise the glorious Lord.
--the BB

Dear Miss Egyptian Hippo of Love

Did I, by any chance, see you cavorting with the Rosicrucians in San Jose, California? Or was it one of your cousins?

¡Abrazos!
--the BB

Something elegiac for Michaelmas

I am tired and I a stranger,
Lead thou me to the land of angels;
For me it is time to go home
To the court of Christ, to the peace of heaven.

--From a prayer to the guardian angel (Celtic Christian Spirituality: An Anthology of Medieval and Modern Sources, Oliver Davies and Fiona Bowie, editors)

If I were a bird

If I were a bird
and able to fly afar,
I would like to be a white dove
to guide the people to freedom.
If I were a cloud in the sky,
I would shelter and bring rains
to the rice field.
If I were a grain of sand
I would throw myself down
to make a path for the people.
I will sacrifice my life
for the suffering people.
I would sacrifice myself
no matter how many times
I would have to die.
--Nid, Thailand

[This song was written by a twenty-two-year-old student at Mahidol University who sang it at the demonstration against the return of Field Marshal Thanom. When police attacked the demonstrators, Nid was shot and killed."]

The song and comment above are taken from Gifts of Many Cultures: Worship Resources for the Global Community, edited by Maren C. Tirabassi and Kathy Wonson Eddy (Cleveland, Ohio: United Church Press, 1995), page 208. I trust this reproduction falls within their understanding of "educational use with appropriate acknowledgment."

AFP photo via Aljazeera.net

God of Creation, by whose gracious gift all things spring from infinite density and flourish with diversity, you cradle the worlds in your compassion. Look now with mercy on the people of Myanmar and grant that the peoples of the world may be enlightened to see our Burmese sisters and brothers with awareness and solidarity. Grant courage to those who stand up for the multitudes, hope to the persecuted, perseverance to those who must endure, repentance to those who oppress, and a new day of self-determination, dignity, and justice. Pour your grace upon the monks and those who march with them and bathe all things in your mercy.
--the BB

Moonset

The soon-to-be-setting moon in the early morning light, looking west out my back door toward the mesa this morning.

Thought I'd share.
--the BB

Peeking behind the curtain

The Great Oz notwithstanding, it's hardly a matter of peeking behind the curtain anymore. A thousand Totos have pulled the curtain down and everyone with eyes to see can behold the mendacity involved in fomenting and executing the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Those who led this nation into such an immoral fiasco KNEW their alleged reasons and rationales were all bullshit and they did it anyway. And the media enabled them. And we followed them. And here we are.

I want to thank Crooks and Liars for this video of Dick "Darth" Cheney speaking back in 1992. He explains why it was a good idea NOT to pursue the Gulf War into Baghdad. All the reasons why it would be a nightmare (perhaps even a quagmire?) are eloquently set forth.


In other words, Dick Cheney (at the very least) KNEW that invading and occupying Iraq would be a huge mess long before Commander Codpiece went for it.



So, the question is this: What sort of person, knowing what Dick Cheney had every reason to know, would support this fiasco?

[I've read about this response by Cheney to why Pres. George H. W. Bush didn't pursue Saddam back then, but tonight was the first time I'd seen and heard it. Just wow.]

Not to mention W's conversation with then-Prime Minister José Maria Aznar of Spain (you can read about it here and here and here).

These are the minutes of a Feb. 22, 2003 meeting between Bush and Spanish Prime Minister Aznar, which El Pais has just published. In this meeting, Bush declares that he would try to get a second UN vote condemning Hussein in order to satisfy his allies, but he doesn't really care what the resolution says and in any case with or without it he intends to invade Iraq shortly after March 15 (as soon as US forces were ready to invade). Bush also shows that he has no interest in what the UN weapons inspectors are finding, and indeed he treats the UN as a cat's paw. [Source]

Los hispanohablantes pueden leerlo aquí.

Note the passage "he doesn't really care what the resolution says and in any case with or without it he intends to invade Iraq shortly after March 15...." Do you recall your civics lessons from way back when? How the Constitution and treaties ratified by the United States are the supreme law of the land? That part? Yeah. OK. Now you might have forgotten that according to treaties we have ratified, it is unlawful for any country to attack another except if they are attacked by that county or threat is imminent.

Now, let's rewind to 2003. Iraq posed no imminent threat to the United States. It is debatable whether it might have posed a longer-term threat but certainly no imminent one. Inspectors were on the ground, finally allowed to be present and inspect anywhere and anytime they wanted. Saddam did not kick them out; Bush pulled them out so he could attack.

I won't even go into the just war doctrine and the various criteria, which this preemptive invasion DID NOT MEET.

So, to sum up, we have an unlawful and immoral preemptive military action. Bush did not even fulfill the terms in the AUMF, so it didn't even fit within our own law supposedly authorizing it.

If you are reading this blog, you probably already know all this, but it doesn't hurt to remind ourselves now and again what a bunch of crooks and liars are running this country (and running a great nation, the one I love, into the ground).

As the drumbeats of war thrummed in the background back in early 2003 I said, to those within earshot, that Bush wanted his war and he was going to have it. Facts made no difference. Whatever might unfold would make no difference. It was going to happen because George [multiple expletives deleted] Bush wanted it to.

Now he and Cheney are trying to whip up a war with Iran. How stupid do you have to be to believe a single word that comes out of their lying mouths? They have repeatedly lied to the American people and the world. They have repeatedly been wrong about damn near everything.

OK. Deep breath.

People, we need to take our government back.
--the BB

What is good for the world

Sunset by Korean-born Helen Hyunsuk Kang

Maha has such a fabulous quote by Wendell Berry over at The Mahablog that I am compelled to share it here.

“We’ve lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We’ve been wrong. We must change our lives so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. That requires that we make the effort to know the world and learn what is good for it. We must learn to cooperate in its processes and to yield to its limits. But even more important, we must learn to acknowledge that the creation is full of mystery. We will never clearly understand it. We must abandon arrogance and stand in awe. We must recover the sense of the majesty of the creation and the ability to be worshipful in its presence. For it is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world that our species will be able to remain in it.” — Wendell Berry

Thanks, Maha!

She also has a great post on the Burmese monks, international politics, nonviolent protest, and the Metta Sutta. Check it out.
--the BB

You are God, we praise you...

You are the Lord, we acclaim you.

Durham Cathedral, Cloister

I remember walking through the cloister at Durham Cathedral, chanting the Te Deum with Mother Columba. We were carrying manuscripts from the Muniments room under the supervision of the Cathedral librarian. I did not realize it at the time, but I was carrying in my arms a Gospelbook from Lindisfarne with some of the same pigments as those used in the Lindisfarne Gospels.

It was artistically inferior by far and badly damaged. Still, it was a book of the Holy Gospels from that era used in the worship of God. I feel that I should remove my shoes even thinking about that moment, that book, that community from so many years ago.

Here's to Fr. Jake who writes:

...I need community. In my journey, while traveling to the outer edges of spirituality and back again, I stumbled across this Church. As flawed and frail as she is, this is where I have landed. This Church has become my spiritual home. Where else would I go?

The Church is a harlot. But she's all we've got.

Let us pray,

Gracious God, we pray for your holy Catholic Church....

--the BB

Thought for the day

There is no fire like lust, no jailer like hate, no snare like
infatuation, no torrent like greed.

Dhammapada, 251
--the BB

Blogger's slow and so am I

Good morning, sports fans!

In addition to working full-time (after an extended period of uncompensated leisure), I am also trying to continue work on the sequels to the novel I finished at the end of July. It is all part of a substantial series that I began and envisioned while a graduate student at UCLA (in a prior century). We are talking the complex process of imagining a world into existence and, for me, doing it with lots of texture and detail.

So I have been spending hours in linguistic, cartographic, and genealogical invention. Most of the maps have existed since 1973 but I am redrawing them (see above). In an effort to understand linguistic and dialectical differences better I have worked on the evolution of the languages. Then there is the cast of thousands, who they are, where they come from, where they go.

Only snippets of all this show up in the stories but I find it easy to write about something that is very real for me.

And, for all you churchoids, the church in this parallel world remains egalitarian from its founding to the end of the world. The primary missionary and first archbishop of the portion of that world in my stories is a woman. One of the privileges of writing fantasy.

You've gotta have a dream. If you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?

Thanks for your patience while I am lost in the inflections of languages that have never been spoken.
--the BB

The sun rose this morning

As I rather expected it would.
Morning by morning new mercies I see.

Oh, and the House of Bishops issued a compromise statement. As I thought they would. It affirms their shared ground but does not resolve their differences. As I figured it could not. The dissidents will not be satisfied because nothing could ever satisfy them. I have learned about that sort of dynamic on the parish level. Trying to meet the demands of some people is impossible. They are always holding out for something more (or something other but YOU have to guess what it is, they will never tell you and you will never get it).

Did I mention that the sun rose?

Peace and blessings all around.

Do something silly today. And something loving. And be nice to a stranger. Jesus will smile.
--the BB