Monthly Archives: May 2004

Anglicanism?

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Every now and then, I ponder a return to the Episcopal Church. It was my first stop when I accepted Christ and one could say that I “imprinted” on it. I love liturgy, organ music, hymns that date back hundreds of years, the fact that I am allowed to have a brain (instead of the “you can be a Christian intellectual if you agree with what we’re talking about” that I get from all other Protestant and Reformed groups), the idea that the Eucharist is an integral part of the service (still getting used to Communion once a month instead of once a week), the reverence that I have yet to find anywhere else…

I cannot describe the feeling of Episcopal/Anglican worship any other way than the feeling that I’m home. Jon’s internship parish was the only other place that came close — it’s the idea that the church service isn’t just an hour of listening to people talk about God but a time of communal prayer/singing/celebration which is over when it’s over and not subject to a specific time limit. (Well… other than Sunday school.) It’s having worship being a verb and not a noun. It’s letting some things about the Lord remain mysteries and reveling in the fact that there are so many incomprehensible things and yet we serve a God who wants to love us. It’s understanding the traditions of those who have come before us and saying the same creed as people on 6 other continents. It’s being able to enter a church on all 6 of those continents and be completely at home with the worship service. It’s the liturgy which gives my life direction as the church calendar cycles through the seasons in a way that covers the life of Christ and the Church. It’s the tradition of sung worship.

So what’s stopping me? Well, there’s the fact that the nearest non-mission congregation is an hour away and we have only one car. There’s the fact that me attending an Episcopal church would potentially undermine Jon’s ministry in the ELCA and would royally irritate some members of our church who are active in Word Alone. (I’ll disclose my thoughts on Word Alone another time.) There are the serious issues I have with the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson. There’s the fact that you have people in the Church who are syncretistic. (Well… you have that in most mainline Protestant denominations.) There’s the fact that any seminary that is as conservative as I am wouldn’t accept me as a student because I have an extra X chromosome.

Yet, I feel like I need to do something. Jon is a Pietist and that’s great for him if it works for him. I, on the other hand, am very high church and am not being fed by having to worship with people who are allergic to Catholicism as most Protestants are. I *WANT* to sing prayers and psalms. I *WANT* to celebrate the Eucharist weekly. I *WANT* to be part of a body that lets me have a brain. I *WANT* to be part of a body that doesn’t dictate to its members how they should vote. I *WANT* to be part of a church that thinks about the world around them. I *WANT* to be part of a church that isn’t terrified of Latin.

Guess I’m staying put for awhile. Hopefully, I can find some high church friends in seminary (when the ELCA decides that they want to let me start my candidacy) so that I don’t feel like such an anomaly. Otherwise, I’m guessing that I’ll be one of those strange Lutherans who ends up serving an Episcopal church.

Birthdays

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Happy 26th birthday to my friend Michelle who has been a pen pal and sister blogger for 11 years. I hope your day is wonderful. 🙂

Thank you also for letting me steal your color scheme for my new layout.

Pat Tillman Memorial

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After MSNBC decided to cut the memorial broadcast to engage in some really inane commentary, I decided to watch it online. I’m not a Cardinals fan — he grew up in my area, went to my high school, and I figured I’d watch it to see if there were people I knew there. His brothers Kevin and Richard were within a year of me there and watching it is also one of these “bonding with my roots” things even though I can’t say I spoke 10 words to him in my life (though I probably saw him around). Pat’s wife is also from the area and her younger brother Paul was in my graduating class. (He was a jerk and I really hope his ego got flattened at Cal.) In other words, he was from “the neighborhood”.

The pros and cons:

Pro
–Maria Shriver: very very tactful and personalized.
–his friends: very poised and very well-spoken.
–Terry Hardtke: well-spoken and didn’t go into his fame — talked about him as a person.
–Paul Ugenti (II): He did very well in his eulogy. Touched a lot on Pat’s example, which I think is good. Also looks the same as he did in high school.
–Paul Ugenti (I): his father-in-law who said some good words and was succinct.
–Jim Rome: Interesting stories and defined “hero” well.

Cons
–his brother Richard: you really shouldn’t say “he’s not with God, he’s f*ing dead” in front of your parents at a public memorial. It also appeared that he was drunk off his butt while up there. (This was later confirmed by the fact that someone mentioned the Guiness that he was drinking.)
–MSNBC: you cut out what was probably a really beautiful singing of “America the Beautiful” by Darius Rucker to basically repeat the same inane crap that has been on the news for the last few days. Kindly shut up next time and let people watch the memorial.

And to Pat’s father: God created the 1993 Leland varsity starting line-up, ergo He could have made the team. That is all.

Because I Need To Remind Myself of This

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“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
–Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)

CD Meme

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(From Rick, who has too much time on his hands…)

They’re gathered in circles
the lamps light their faces
The crescent moon rocks in the sky
The poets of drumming
keep heartbeats suspended
The smoke swirls up and then it dies

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1. Grab the nearest CD.
2. Put it in your CD-Player (or start your mp3-player, I-tunes, etc.).
3. Skip to Song 3 (or load the 3rd song in your 3rd playlist)
4. Post the first verse in your journal along with these instructions. Don’t name the band, nor the album-title.
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Good News and a Prayer Request

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Good News: We have a new car! The loan went through on Friday and we are now the owners of a 1992 Volvo S70 wagon. Boo yah! We’ll be extending the California trip for another week to drive it back.

Prayer Request: Could y’all pray that I can find a job? Every time I think something is viable, it turns out not to be. We really do need another paycheck coming in, so please pray that something will materialize.