we did it!!!! we did it!!! there FINALLY is a female presiding Bishop of the Episcopal church!!

"COLUMBUS, Ohio - Episcopal Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori has tackled male-dominated fields before as an oceanographer and a pilot. Now, she is taking on an even broader challenge as the first woman in the world to lead an Anglican province.

Jefferts Schori, bishop of Nevada, was elected Sunday as the first female presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the U.S. arm of the Anglican Communion. It is the latest groundbreaking and potentially divisive move by the American denomination.

Three years ago, Episcopalians stunned the communion by consecrating the first openly gay bishop — V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The Episcopal General Convention, the national meeting where Jefferts Schori was elected, will decide this week whether to appease angry overseas archbishops by temporarily barring homosexuals from leading dioceses.

As presiding bishop, Jefferts Schori will have to explain the church's decision to elevate Robinson, which she supported, to the Anglican leaders who don't even consider her ordination valid. Many Anglicans believe women should not be ordained.

Only two of the 37 other Anglican provinces — New Zealand and Canada — have female bishops, although some allow women to serve in the post."

it is going to be very interesting when she goes to gather with all the other Anglican primates (please, NO simian references here)... and we thought the biggest controversy to arise this year would be from the election of a diocesan bishop in San Francisco where 3 out of the 7 candidates are openly gay.... i think this is an exciting time to be an Episocpalian, but i wonder how this will impact on my postulancy and journey to be a priest..

let the games commence...

*edit* it's not like me but i forgot to credit the writer > Rachel Zoll, AP Religion Writer

this post is for those among us who became anxious when the infallibility of the Bible was called into question > FEAR NOT!!!  even if there  are changes or contradictions or edits, the Spirit and the Word shine forth....

this post is for those among us, in particular myself today, who are feeling battered and shaken and perhaps of no account .... FEAR NOT ... for we really do matter and we really are loved and important, no matter what others might say or think or try to get us to believe....

i did not write the following > i wish i did, for i feel it is a profound meditation on the particular passage, that of the mustard seed.  the author is a friend of mine, a female priest, Rev. Barbara Crafton, who has retired from parish ministry but remains active as a writer, inspirational speaker, and leader of retreats.  you can visit her website at http://www.geraniumfarm.org/   ...

"With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.

Just to be sure, I checked again: is there a mustard plant that's tall, tall enough for birds to roost in, a mustard plant with long, strong branches, a mustard plant that dwarves everyone else in the garden?

No, there's not. Not anywhere. Mustard is mustard -- plain and plentiful. A weed, in many quarters, although its greens are good in a salad and its seeds make the famous condiment that bears its name. The mustard Jesus knew is the same mustard we know.

We can only conclude that the enormous mustard of this passage is the fantasy of an anxious scribe, who simply couldn't believe that Our Lord meant to compare the Kingdom of God to a common weed and decided to help Jesus out a little. To explain what he thought Jesus must surely have meant: The Kingdom of God is Really Amazing!!! It's Huge!!! It's Just Incredible!!!!!!! You've never seen anything like it in your Entire Life!!!!!!!!!

When Jesus meant exactly the opposite: you have seen it before. It's right here -- it's everywhere. It is the beauty of a plant people think amounts to little or nothing -- the kingdom of God is a common carpet of loveliness, golden in the sun, and anyone can walk in it. The kingdom of God is you, you who think you're of no account, and it is you, you who are esteemed as of no account by others. Your beauty fills the earth, in community with all the other beauties God has made. "

i hope that i can assimilate this message today, for i am one of the ones who need it the most, i fear.  it is hard not to feel unimportant, passed over, or even worse, a failure.... but we are reminded that there is incredible beauty in the ordinary, that God indwells all of us, and loves all of us, believers and non-believers alike.

"When we adults think of children, there is a simple truth which we ignore: childhood is not preparation for life, childhood is life. A child isn't getting ready to live - a child is living. The child is constantly confronted with the nagging question, "What are you going to be?"

Courageous would be the youngster who, looking the adult squarely in the face, would
say, "I'm not going to be anything; I already am." We adults would be shocked by such an insolent remark for we have forgotten, if indeed we ever knew, that a child is an active participating and contributing member of society from the time he is born. Childhood isn't a time when he is molded into a human who will then live life; he is a human who is living life. No child will miss the zest and joy of living unless these are denied him by adults who have convinced themselves that childhood is a period of preparation.

How much heartache we would save ourselves if we would recognize the child as a partner with adults in the process of living, rather than always viewing him as an apprentice. How much we would teach each other...adults with the experience and children with the freshness. How full both our lives could be. A little child may not lead us, but at least we ought to discuss the trip with him for, after all, life is his and her journey, too." -
Professor T. Ripaldi

I apologize for the gender bias in this, but it is a quote and so i didn't alter it...it  was sent to me via e-mail by a friend.  Most of our joint friends seemed to feel that they had been robbed of their childhood, that they had never done anything except follow the prescribed path laid out for them by their parents and teachers.  They had taken the right courses, they had joined the right clubs, they had trained for the right careers, and yet, they never felt that they had enjoyed any of the journey.

There is a new movie, The Peaceful Warrior, coming out based on the book by the same name.  In one scene, the protagonist has hiked for several hours to the top of a mountain, very excited by the climb because of the lure of what was to be found at the summit.  When he reaches the summit, and discovers that all there is is the top of a mountain, he is angered and disappointed, until he is reminded of how much he had enjoyed climbing to the top.  At first, he tries to argue that he only enjoyed himself because of the promise of what lay ahead, but he soon realizes that it truly was the journey, and not the destination, than gave him the enjoyment.

I believe this is the point that Jesus is making when he tells us to consider the lilies of the field.  Their lifespan is short, and yet their beauty is unmistakable.  In this world of ours, children get sick and die - what a tragedy it would be if a young life were cut short and we had taken away the chance that person had to enjoy what is all around us.  We don't even know if all of the preparation would matter if you might die before you can do anything with it. 

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may"... "Dîtes-moi....ou sont les neiges d'antan?"  If all we have, whether young or old, is today, we need to be enjoying every second of what is available to us.  Have fun.  Fall in love with inappropriate people.  Make love.  Get your heart broken. "I recommend getting your heart trampled on to anyone, I certainly do..." to quote Alanis Morrissette.  Fall in love with someone else.  Be kind to everyone.  Smile. 

Don't worry about how old other people are -- if you are older, remember that you were once their age.  If they are older than you, remember that they were once your age.... But above all, live! and enjoy the journey. 

Today was the last day of Sunday School for the year... i cannot believe what God has done in this short time from January to now... in January, there were no kids who came, and by now there are 4 who come, not all of them all the time, but some of them most of the time... and one girl who said she refused to think about God because doing so makes her head hurt has come up with one of the better analogies of how God might view time and our lives... and one boy who would never be the type one would imagine coming to Sunday School not only comes but still wants to have class even when he is the only student... i just pray that God will keep this momentum going through the summer into next year...

i asked Jc and Eb, the two most regular students, and the two who showed today, if they had to summarize what we have covered in the past six months, what would they say.  their response was "other religions", and yet i wonder if they realize how much they have learned about Christianity through the study of other religions?  i wonder if they realize how their perception of God has matured in just this short time....  i know at least that they no longer thingk of God as an old white man with a beard who lives in the clouds and chucks lightening bolts... they have begun to get the concept of God who lives outside of time, and for whom (i believe) all time exists at the same time > we explained it, with help from Jc, as God seeing our entire lives as a single sheet of paper, while we see them as the individual points that make up that paper, that plane.  we have to live each point and cannot jump ahead, but the Lord sees our whole life as a complete work...

today we discussed the 10 commandments... how the first commandment is repeated in the Shema "Hear, O Israel, the LORD your God, the LORD is one"... how in the first commandment, God doesn't say there ARE no other gods, just that we are not to worship them... what the second commandment about graven images means > pc/video games or myspace/xanga or  money all can become idols... how the concept of taking the name of the Lord in vain is really a commandment for OUR benefit -- God knows what we mean even when we utter God's name in vain, but the point is for us to be aware, and to try to catch ourselves, and change our ways of thinking and speaking... and how we are not commanded not to lie, but not to bear false witness, to slander or spread rumors....

it was hard to say good -bye today, knowing that next year i will not be back... there is so much that i want them to know and to remember... all i could do was leave them with the thought that we must always question when someone says we "should" do something> do what we beieve God would want us to do, think carefully and be sure we harm no one else, and if necessary take the hurt on us, since we have control over our lives and shouldn't put it on other people...

well, kudos to CsawDMILL (aka J Solberg, aka Amos the King), who has come to the Rescue of all of us....  his comment on my post reads as follows:

"Here's the straight dope from a 24hour a day hebrew speaker (sounds like part of a jewish stereo system, ha). "El Sh'dai" in a religous context is just one of the many names...and means exactly "God, who is sufficient".."sh" means "who is" and "dai" means "enough". We say "Dai!" when we want someone to "stop it, already!"..But..wait! The word(s) "shad'ai" also mean "my breasts". Really. "shad" is breast and the "ai" ending means "mine". So there...you're all correct..sort of"

so, i thank Amos-the-King, and i know that Dr. Tanner thanks him, since this will spare her the Reprimands she might otherwise have gotten...

a Kind Reader has brought to my attention that the translation of El Shaddai i referenced in my last post might not be accurate.  if so, i apologize, and cordially invite any Irate Readers to contact Dr. Beth Tanner, Professor of Old Testatment, at New Brunswick Theological Seminary to administer Appropriate Reprimands....  "my Hebrew dictionary says "El Shaddai" means literally "God Almighty / most powerful". It is not related to any words about female anatomy"....

the correction has been assimilated...