Welcome

I had my usual Tuesday dinner with my father. Over the meal he told me a story that blew me away.

Immediately after World War II my grandfather moved my grandmother and their two boys from Philadelphia to Greenville, SC. When they arrived in Greenville, they stayed in a hotel until they could find a permanent place. My grandfather had been an active churchman in his church in Philadelphia. Their second day in Greenville a group of boys from the Christ Church youth group showed up at the hotel and took my father and my uncle around town.

I had never heard this before. I have never heard of any Episcopal related group ever doing such a thing. Certainly, it's never happened to me. But I think, on reflection, that it is no accident that my father is a dedicated and lifelong Episcopalian. If that sort of thing happened back then, then it is no accident that the Episcopal Church at that time enjoyed explosive growth.

Another thing that has happened recently is a dust up in science fiction fandom. I'm old enough to know these things happen from time to time. This most recent one is unusual in that it mostly involves authors as opposed to the more typical fan squabble. If you want the gruesome details just google "sad puppies" and ignore everything from a major media outlet.

My takeaway from the squabble is a point an author made on a podcast. She said, and it is true, that the side in opposition to her side, represents the establishment yet claims to be the scrappy outsiders. They claim to value inclusivity and diversity yet they practice exclusivity and group think.

Does that not sound like the modern Episcopal Church?

It certainly reflects my experience. I have never belonged to a church that I did not receive a cool initial welcome. I have never belonged to a church where I did not have to work at being accepted. I have never been accepted into the inner circle of an Episcopal Church. I have never been made to feel I was other than a conditional member, subject to exclusion and ostracism if I ever strayed from the unstated norms.

I process things very slowly. I have always been the person who thinks of the clever rejoinder two hours after the fact. The more emotionally hurtful, the slower I process it.

The thing that convinced me I really didn't much care for the way things were was back when I belonged to the Cathedral of St Phillip here in Atlanta. The Cathedral was and is a very large church. At the time of this story I had been a member for at least four years. I have never been a pew potato and was quite active at the time. I volunteered. I did jobs no one else would do. I gave money and time. I participated in the singles group as well as the foyers. I was an usher, a reader and an acolyte when there were no youth.

The guest preacher one Sunday was the Right Reverend Reginald Hollis, archbishop of Montreal. I had been his acolyte when he was a parish priest and his wife and my mother were good friends. After the service, I went and sought him out. He recognized me and we caught up on the news. When Dean Sanders, head of the cathedral joined us, I had the privilege of being introduced, for the fourth time, to him. But this time by an archbishop.

How many others were ignored or unnoticed? When was the last time an Episcopal Church actually welcomed anyone? Ignoring the dodgy doctrinal foundations, when was the last time someone was actually welcomed to an Episcopal Church?

My gut says, it's pretty rare.

I'm not saying anyone owes me anything. But if I ever go to an Episcopal Church and get a warm welcome, it will be the first one of my life.

Nothing Really Matters

The Archbishop of Canterbury realized recently that his warnings were being ignored and took action. An awful lot of the Episcopal Church chattering classes are upset by this. Fair enough.

I have a question. If what the Archbishop does is of no import, if he has no authority and his words do not matter to the Episcopal Church, then why is everyone so upset?

If the entire city of Los Angeles took umbrage at me, I doubt I would lose a wink of sleep. So why the strong reactions?

For my progressive friends, this may help.

Emo Breakup

Bad language alert!

Passion

Just watch:




(H/T Anchoress)

Modern Higher Education

PROFANITY WARNING



The punchline is the main malefactors are debate coaches at various universities. Don't you just love modern manners?

Comfort in odd places

My sister posted about our cousin's suicide (She is the smart one of the family). As a result of her post, we had a fairly lengthy discussion about it. So imagine my surprise when I read this. I have found great comfort in that reply tonight.

For the record, my prior post on suicide was written in grief and anger (I really do not remember being that angry in quite a while). Please do not assume that because I write dogmatically, I think dogmatically. I do not have many answers and I seem to have less the older I get.

Despair

One of the tenets of the Catholic faith is that suicide is a mortal sin. It typically comes from a feeling of despair, a loss of hope. It is also preceded by a feeling of isolation and unconnectedness. I personally think it can be the act of a selfish coward. There are exceptions. I would find it very hard to condemn someone who took their own life due to the ceaseless pain of a terminal illness. I still think that would be wrong, but I understand and empathize.

Pride is considered by Dante to be the worst of sins, but I have always found despair the most dangerous. All of the actions I truly regret, the ones I still wince at even today, were brought about by despair.

I think John Bunyan well knew the soul destroying qualities of despair. The most engaging portion of "Pilgrims Progress" is when Christian is in the castle of the Giant Despair. The image of Christian locked in the dungeon has rung true for me since I first read it more than three decades ago. What also hits very powerfully home is that the entire time that he is in the vile cell, he has the key to his release. He is just so distracted by his plight that he forgets about it.

Most of us get locked in the downward spiral of depression and despair from time to time. Some of us it hits worse than others. But unless your life is one of endless sunshine and twittering birds, you have been depressed.

Some people have predispositions to the state. Others grow depressed due to external circumstances. True love leaves, your business fails, a parent dies, or any number of other reasons. Depression's companions are usually failure, exhaustion and isolation. It can be very hard to fight it off. It is always hard when depressed or despairing to think that one will get out of it. I have learned never to try to cheer up a sad friend with "Things will get better". They won't necessarily get better. Oddly enough the single best remedy I know is a Monty Python song. Laughter can truly be the best medicine. Music, especially the blues or country music, can be a genuine Godsend.

But even deeper, as Christians, we must have faith. Life can truly suck. There is a good chance that our lives will, in fact, never get better. Life is often a slow, long, painful trek to the grave. But that is not the end of it for us as Christians. That is the hope that we must cling to. Our life is a gift, not only to ourselves, but also to those we come into contact with. That is why the sense of isolation that accompanies depression is so lethal. We forget our duties and responsibilities to others and grow self centered.

Society is prone to telling us that we can do it all, we can have it all, we do not need anyone. There are any number of books available on the subject at any given time. Reality knocks a good bit of that nonsense out of us relatively early. We need each other. As Christians we are called to model the good life, the life lived well for the rest of fallen humanity. That is why it is vitally important that we not treat the gift of life lightly.

It is not in being jolly and perky that we win souls to Christ. It is in enduring through pain, in remaining hopeful against horrible odds that the love of God shines through. We often fail at that. I know that I do. But our fellowship with other redeemed sinners can literally be the difference between life and death.

Being a Christian does not mean that you will not be cast into the dungeon of Despair. It does mean that you have the key to leaving, assuming that you remember it. Sometimes we need to remind each other of that.

/rambling