Seven whole days

This is from the Gospel in the Office lectionary for today.

Heal me, hands of Jesus, and search out all my pain;
Restore my hope, remove my fear, and bring me peace again.

Cleanse me, blood of Jesus, take all bitterness away;
Let me forgive as one forgiven, and bring me peace today.

Know me, mind of Jesus, and show me all my sin;
Dispel the memories of guilt, and bring me peace within.

Fill me, joy of Jesus, anxiety shall cease,
and heaven’s serenity be mine, for Jesus brings me peace.

Words: Michael Perry

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This was our opening hymn this morning. Here I’ve included all five of the original verses, not just the three in the Hymnal 1982.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

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From one of the psalms appointed for today’s Office.

The King of love my shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am his,
and he is mine for ever.

Where streams of living water flow,
my ransomed soul he leadeth,
and where the verdant pastures grow,
with food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
but yet in love He sought me,
and on his shoulder gently laid,
and home, rejoicing, brought me.

In death’s dark vale I fear no ill
with thee, dear Lord, beside me;
thy rod and staff my comfort still,
thy cross before to guide me.

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I have grown weary of regular distortions and flat-out errors in some of the “news” writing of the Anglican right. The Rev’d George Conger, who seems like a perfectly pleasant fellow, is a major figure among “news” reporters of the right. He’s also one of the most egregious offenders in this department.

So I’ve decided, here on 7WD, to begin debunking these distortions and errors when I see them. This is not the first time I’ve gone on a debunking campaign, you’ll remember (see here, here, and here). To be fair, I do occasionally make mistakes here, and in the name of so-called humor, I sometimes take liberties of all kinds. But I don’t pass myself off as a bona fide news sources.

Here’s today’s. It shows basic sloppiness. Writing for the Church of England Newspaper (which, despite its name, is not affiliated with the Church of England), Conger describes Virginia as “The Episcopal Church’s largest diocese”. Of course, that’s just not true. That claim belongs to the Diocese of Haiti. Fr. Conger might find it easier to keep this in mind if he also avoided the term “national church” when referring to the Episcopal Church, since it encompasses many more nations than the United States.

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This one’s inspired by the Gospel appointed in today’s Office lectionary. Who doesn’t love a good Percy Dearmer hymn?

Lord, the wind and sea obey Thee,
Moon and stars their homage pay Thee;
Listen to us, as we pray Thee,
Who on Thee for all depend.

Bless all travelers and strangers,
Safely keep the ocean rangers,
Guide them in the midst of dangers:
All to Thee we now commend.

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This is nothing to do with anything for today. I’m still basking in the strangely warm glow of the Wesleys from yesterday. Enjoy.

O for a thousand tongues to sing
my dear Redeemer’s praise,
the glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of his grace!

My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to proclaim
and spread through all the earth abroad
the honors of thy Name.

Jesus! the Name that charms our fears
and bids our sorrows cease;
’tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’tis life and health and peace.

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Of course, I am NOT referring to Isaiah’s prophecy with the title of this post. I’m talking about kids as air traffic controllers. You read that right. Maybe you caught the story:

They have confirmed for FOX 25 that the recording we have with a child directing airplanes is an authentic recording from the JFK tower and an investigation is now underway. The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday two children were able to instruct pilors over two days in mid-February.

No, kids didn’t take over the control tower by force and start issuing random commands. It turns out that one of the controllers brought his son to work, and then a different child the next night. On both occasions the kids were allowed to give a few instructions to aircraft. Over at this article (yes, I just linked to a FOX News site) you can hear audio of the event.

Opinions about this will vary greatly. Some will say that the controller and a bunch of other people should be fired. Kids jeopardized lives! Others will say this is harmless; the father told the kids exactly what to say, and the pilots clearly didn’t mind (listen to the recording).

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I have nothing clever to add in view of this stunningly clever video.

A wave of the pen to Dave Walker for posting this on his so-called “The Cartoon Blog”. Clearly, he needs to think about renaming his blog “The Cartoon and Music Video Blog” but I suppose that’s his business.

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This has nothing in particular to do with today’s lections. However, today is the commemoration of John and Charles Wesley, so it seemed fitting to choose this one, which is a favorite of mine. Given a chance to play a hymn on the magnificent organ at Grace Cathedral last summer, this is the one I picked. Check the videos below.

Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven, to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart.

Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy life receive;
suddenly return, and never,
nevermore thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray, and praise thee without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.

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Effective immediately, I am changing the name of the parish I serve. What was once Christ Church is now St. Google’s Church. Why? Is this because I wish to pray to Google? No.

I want a ridoncuously fast Internet connection. Google recently announced plans to deliver 1 Gb/sec fiber to lots of homes. For my non-technical readers, that’s a gazillion times faster than whatever you have. Oh, you say you have Fios? Compared to what Google’s going to offer, you might as well be on dial up.

Yesterday, the mayor of Topeka announced that he is changing the name of his city for the month of March to Google, Kansas. I am not making that up. You can check the New York Times if you don’t believe me. The idea is to attract Google’s attention in order to convince them to light up Topeka (or Google) with this blissful Internet access.

Here’s the thing. Topeka has nothing on us. We are a CHURCH. That means your fancy Internet gets you a fast connection to us, and we’re connected to God. That’s basically a way for Google to get faster access to God. Can Topeka top that? I think not.

By the way, Google, one more thing. When you hook up the church, don’t forget the rector’s house.

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This choice is inspired by the Gospel reading for the Feast of St. Chad. It also goes nicely with the Gospel reading appointed in the Eucharistic lectionary for today. Finally, in a bout of ridiculous cleverness, it portends tomorrow’s commemoration of Sts. John and Charles Wesley. Oh, and I also enjoy the fact that this text is said to have aided in the conversation of the heathen in Boston — of which there are still a few. See the bottom of the post for more info.

Come, sinners, to the Gospel feast;
Let every soul be Jesus’ guest.
Ye need not one be left behind,
For God hath bid all humankind.

Sent by my Lord, on you I call;
The invitation is to all.
Come, all the world! Come, sinner, thou!
All things in Christ are ready now.

Come, all ye souls by sin oppressed,
Ye restless wanderers after rest;
Ye poor, and maimed, and sick, and blind,
In Christ a hearty welcome find.

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Watch this sermon. You will quickly conclude one of two things. First, you might conclude that things like vestments and women clergy are to be avoided, because they are not pants-like. You might further conclude that your previous ideas about sartorial history are wrong. Or, second, you might conclude that it’s possible to say just about any ridiculous thing you want and claim that it’s scriptural. In this case, you might further reflect on other times you’ve seen God’s word misused recently.

By the way, I thought this was a spoof at first, but this video and the church look real. I’d like to be wrong about that, actually. Thanks to Unthinking Anglicans for drawing my attention to this.

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