Seven whole days

While most readers of 7WD are going on about business as usual, things are not so great in Iraq. Have a look at this photo roundup from the Big Picture for a stark reminder.

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As I embark on a vacation, I’m trying to empty out my blog hopper. Here are a bunch of things I might have blogged about, given more time. Enjoy!

• You all those bits about firmament and sheol in the Old Testament? Next time you are leading a Bible study, this stunning graphic will help explain how the writers of the Bible saw the world. There’s nothing that wasn’t in my Bible 101 class in college, but this graphic is way more beautiful. Thanks to The Lead.
• Grieving is always hard work, and everyone’s grief is unique. I was moved by the vulnerability of my colleague in writing about her own grief. Beyond her willingness to open up a well of emotion and struggle, there is great strength and faith in her blog post. Have a read, and say a prayer. Hankering for the Holy, indeed.
• When is the last time you used a floppy disk? Do you miss them? Of course not! So why is that in the rest of our lives, we are willing to let things go, but in the church we insist on clinging to outmoded things? I’m not talking about matters of faith, but simpler things. Service leaflet? Bound hymnals? Printed newsletters? Pews? Let’s allow the church to move on, shall we?
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Is your computer misbehaving? Maybe prayer will save you (or your computer). If you need a reminder to pray, this USB hub might be just the thing.

Wave of the dongle to Yanko Design.

I’ve been following the Church of England’s General Synod, meeting now in York. If you made it this far into the post, you’re probably a church geek, so I’m going to use some insider language. If you are the odd ecclesiastical curiosity seeker, this will give you the basics of what’s happening with Synod’s debate about women bishops. This contentious debate, as interesting as it is, is actually an outward manifestation of some deeper problems, including a massive trust deficit.

Saturday brought some stunning news, in that Synod narrowly voted down an amendment that had been proposed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. As it is worded, the provision for women bishops would allow a parish to request pastoral care from a male bishop if their diocesan bishop is female. This is unacceptable to many conservatives, who do not want to have to request delegation from their female bishop; they would like to deal only with male bishops. There were various amendments to deal with this in different ways. The archbishops’ amendment was perhaps the most subtle, but it was unacceptable to many, including a bare majority of the House of Clergy, which voted it down on a vote by orders.

Some saw this as a defeat for +Rowan Williams as a leader, but I don’t know enough of the situation to gauge that. For Synod as a whole, there has been a fairly consistent desire to enact the ordination of women bishops in a way that provides for those who do not accept the ministry of woman while also ensuring that there are no second-class bishops. The defeat of several amendments to weaken the measure as it emerged from committee is largely, I think, in line with what Synod has been saying for some time now.

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The General Synod of the Church of England is meeting in York this weekend (more info here). As I write this, they are engaged in debate about women bishops. It seems that most Synod members favor the ordination of women to the episcopate, but there is great division about how to provide for those who do not accept the ministry of ordained women. Just a few minutes ago, an amendment that would have created “flying dioceses” for conservatives was roundly rejected. I’m pleased to report that I have the perfect solution, and I’m happy for someone in Synod to move this suggestion with no need to call it the “Seven whole days Plan” or to mention this blog’s URL in the session.

Here’s my idea: simply allow parishes who don’t care for women bishops to transfer their allegiance to the Church of Nigeria! That way, they’ll be guaranteed to have a bishop who is not a woman and who won’t have touched them in the course of ordinations. The Church of England won’t have to deal with complicated flying bishops, flying dioceses, or flying anything.

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Tomorrow and throughout the weekend, as time permits, 7WD Action News Live Team Coverage!! will be monitoring the goings on at the Church of England’s General Synod. If you are a church geek, you’ll already know what’s up. If you’re not a church geek, they’re debating women bishops and going through doors at key moments. Here’s some background on what to expect with the debate on women bishops. Blog posts might appear here at random or important moments. Tweets are very likely over here, and you might want to keep an eye on the #synod hashtag. If you are following, this realistic illustration by the ever-wondrous Dave Walker should help you visualize what’s happening:

You can check the proposed schedule here (PDF). Papers are online here and here. Excellent blog posts are likely to appear here and here. The latter link could also feature cartoons. Live streaming audio should be available here. Thinking Anglicans is probably the best catch-all to follow what’s happening. Except for this esteemed bastion of journalism/silliness, of course.

By the way, here’s some info on how different things are in the C of E. Yes, someone could swoop in and compel everyone to practice their archery skills. That is the law, friends.

Wave of the quiver to Ember Days, who noticed the bit about weapons.

Have you ever wondered if bad liturgy angers God? Maybe the Almighty doesn’t want to look at spectacularly bad vestments? And then there’s the other category: those who disregard liturgy through their behavior during services. I’m happy to report I have found video proof that God does not stand idly by while people prevent others from worshiping through their annoying actions. Here is God in action, smiting a wedding photographer. He deserved it.

Tip of the biretta to the FAIL Blog and to the Bad Vestments blog.

This is the 1,000th post on 7WD. Back in February 2008, I posted the first one. In that time, just under 50,000 unique visitors have had a look at this little corner of the interwebs. We’ve had some great conversations here. Two or three times, I’ve had to apologize to someone for a post too hastily (and crankily) written. I was once treated as a celebrity at the salad bar in the refectory of General Seminary. “Hey, it’s the guy who writes that blog!”. This was strange, and they probably know about 7WD only because the hymn from which the blog’s title is taken is sung to the tune “General Seminary” in this country. I didn’t burst their bubble to let them know that “Seven whole days” existed in poetry before their beloved seminary. (General people like to live in their own special world.) As usual, I have digressed. Mostly I’ve enjoyed my blogging. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading 7WD on occasion.

Over on Facebook, I asked my friends what I should blog about for this 1,000th post. The suggestions ranged from a video I had posted (about William Shatner stealing Leonard Nimoy’s bicycle) to millennialism. There were further suggestions to write about the current mess over in the Church of England or cupcakes. Mmmm, cupcakes. The latter suggestion came via Twitter, perhaps because “cupcakes” is well short of 140 characters. Having ranted about the CofE in post 999 and chocolate in 998, I felt it wise to eliminate those. Not feeling inclined to cover all things millennial, I decided to follow another suggestion: write about why I do this.

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I have (mostly) resisted writing about recent goings-on in the Church of England. It seems better for my spiritual health to write about mission of the church or to fill this blog with silly sundries. Still, recent events have pushed me to say a few words. Here we’ll quickly cover three different, yet strangely related events: “mitregate”, “The Betrayal of John (redux)”, and “Ewww! It’s a ‘Bishopess’!”

Mitregate

In case you were living under a rock, sanity departed the Church of England in last month’s incident in which the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church was told she could not wear her mitre whilst celebrating the Eucharist in Southwark Cathedral. Yes, the primate of the Episcopal Church, who was vested as a bishop at the Lambeth Conference in 2008 (among other places), was ordered not to wear her pointy hat, lest this bring about the ruination of Christendom. At first it seemed that this was Lambeth bureaucracy being too efficient for its own good. Then it emerged that plenty of women bishops have been wearing mitres all over England. It’s just Katharine who can’t wear hers. How would one satirize such a thing?

The Betrayal of John (redux)

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Right after coffee, chocolate is at the top of my list of favorite substances. It turns out that today is the anniversary of the introduction of chocolate to Europe. For thousands of years, cacao had been cultivated and consumed in the Americas (pardon my use of the anachronistic and colonial term). On July 7, 1550, it is said that chocolate was introduced to Spain.

Whatever its original date of introduction in Spain, chocolate did not stay there. Spanish friars spread the gospel of Theobroma cacao throughout Europe as they traveled from monastery to monastery. Hot chocolate became a hit with French royalty after cocoa enthusiast Marie Therese married Louis XIV in 1660. At the Palace of Versailles, courtiers regarded the drink as an aphrodisiac. London’s first chocolate house opened in 1657. English cafe society believed the drink to be a cure-all medicine capable of treating tuberculosis. Initially flavored with coffee, wine and pepper, hot chocolate finally achieved liftoff in the early 1700s when English and Dutch impresarios hit on the idea of adding milk and sugar.

So go celebrate! Eat some chocolate. Here in New England, I’ll be taking mine in the form of ice cream on this stifling hot day.

There a bit of a tradition of me posting patriotic music here on 7WD for Independence Day. This year’s installment is a Fugue on the Star Spangled Banner. Alas, the first part of the piece — a set of variations — does not seem to be on Youtube.

Here’s what I wrote for our weekly parish email newsletter this week. It explains why we’re not celebrating Independence Day on Sunday morning, even though it’s July 4. In an earlier post, I had a few things to say about the cross versus the flag. All that said, tomorrow after church I’ll be celebrating the birthday of the US with friends, food, and fireworks.

This Sunday many people will probably focus more on cookouts and fireworks than on offering thanks to God. At Christ Church, we’ll gather as we do every Sunday to feast on God’s presence in Word and sacrament.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with fireworks and cookouts. But we Christians should make sure that we have our priority straight: God comes before everything else. Period. While we are celebrating the birth of our nation, we would do well to put God in the center. How might we do that?

• We should give thanks to God for all the blessings of our lives. All that we have is a gift from God, not the result of our own labor.
• We should pray for our nation’s leaders — and all voters — that we might be guided to bring justice and dignity to all people.
• We should pray that we might continue to grow as a nation, celebrating our strengths and also admitting our need to improve.
• We should pray that our nation might be a beacon of hope to all nations, and that we might be worthy of that vocation.

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