Not Pie in the Sky when you die!

In this short video Brian McLaren reminds us what it is all about.

Brian addressed the Lambeth Conference this week and I heard him last year in Dublin - Compelling and inspiring!

For more from Brian see here

The New Blasphemy

"You can say what you like about Jesus, Mary and Joseph, but say anything reviling, scurrilous or ludicrous about a climate change scientist and you will be punished. You won’t receive a literal lashing, but you will get a metaphorical one. Speak ill of a climate expert and you’re likely to be stuck in the stocks of the public media and branded as a fact-denying, truth-distorting threat to public morals."

This from an article at spiked-online.com where Bredan O'Neill responds to Ofcom's censure yesterday of the Channel 4 documentary "The Great Global Warming Swindle". The Ofcom document is well worth a read and is worrying regardless of where you stand on the Climate Change debate.  Surely no reputable science can be pursued without robust challenge and to make such challenge off limits is ultimately anti-scientific. Anyway the scientific bodies concerned carry such clout that they hardly need defending from Channel 4 ....... unless they are worried that Joe Public might begin to believe that their theories are not completely water-tight? Oh and before you ask ... No I am not a Creationist? I believe in Evolution and other good Science.

Lambeth - A tale of exclusion!

This is a very sad post - both for its author,

Bishop Gene Robinson and for the Anglican 

Communion. I think Canterbury has made a 

huge mistake and one that could undermine 

all the good which might come from this 

conference. This is not the way to deal 

with our problems - as anyone who 

read todays Gospel would surely realize!

The posting below is from his blog: 

Canterbury Tales from the Fringe.

Pray for me

+Gene

Never have I felt more in need of your prayers. As I write this, the opening service of the Lambeth Conference is going on at Canterbury Cathedral. I am a few miles away -- but it feels like a much further difference. I am not appearing at the opening service, as I promised the Archbishop.

Yesterday was a painful day. I am feeling frustrated and angry. I dare not write too much, because I don't want to sound like I'm whining, nor do I want to say anthing intemperate. But making my first trip into Canterbury and the campus on which the Conference is occurring was difficult.

The level of fear and anxiety, especially among the Conference powers-that-be, is out the roof. No matter what I say, no matter what assurances I give, I seem to be regarded as a threat, something to be walled off and kept at a distance. Greeting a few American bishops in passing, and then at a dinner for General Seminary alumni last night, has been pleasant and supportive. But even though I thought I was properly prepared for the feeling of being shut out, I am stunned by the depth of that feeling.

I am not participating in any kind of official way at the "inclusive opening service" being held this afternoon on a green off campus. I will sit in the congregation with those American bishops who choose to show up in support of this service of inclusion. I know that a number of them will be present, even though they'll have just finished a long service at the Cathedral. This means so much to me that they would do so, especially at this time.

The most infuriating blow came this morning with news that when the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops meets on Tuesday afternoon (each of the 38 "national" provinces of the Communion will have its own gathering), I will not be allowed to participate, because this would look like I had become a "participant," and the organizers seem intent on enforcing my status as a non-invitee. If nothing can be done to change this decision, it will be a particularly painful blow. At our House of Bishops meeting in March, I pleaded with the House not to let Lambeth separate us. For me to be excluded from my own House of Bishops seems especially cruel and unnecessary.

All is not bad, of course. I had a wonderful time with organizers from Integrity, Claiming the Blessing and the Chicago Consultation. They are making a powerful and effective witness to the presence of gay and lesbian people in the Church, and I am honored to be with them.

In the afternoon, I made my own little pilgrimage -- not yet to the Cathedral, but rather to the Greyfriars, the community of Franciscans here in Canterbury. Franciscan friars made their way to England and arrived in Canterbury in A.D. 1224. They've been here ever since. I had been invited to join them for prayer, eucharist and quiet, so I wanted to touch base. I was welcomed by every single one of the community, getting a personal tour of the place (which includes a heavenly "pasture" of wildflowers tucked between two passages of the river that runs through town) by one of the brothers, and then tea with the whole community. (See photo above, which includes some of them.) I believe I have found a spiritual home here in the midst of exile. I am thankful for their hospitality and welcome.

I don't know how all this is going to play out over the next two weeks. At the moment, I am feeling like the ancient Hebrews, wandering in the desert looking for God's daily manna, just to get through. With all the exclusion and meanness that has come my way over the years, you'd think this would come as less of a surprise. But surprise me it did! And it hurts, especially at the hands of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

So please, pray for me. Pray that God will reveal to me what I am to do and how I am to do it, best reflecting God's love and spirit of reconciliation. Pray that when given an opportunity to speak to one or to many, God might replace my words with His words, my heart with His heart. In the end, I keep reminding myself, I'm going to heaven.

Breaking News from Lambeth!

The picture above shows what happened when Bishop Brennan (Ordinary to Frs Ted, Jack and Dougal of Craggy Island) turned up uninvited to the Lambeth Conference. Archbishop Rowan Williams who has just completed a course in unarmed combat in preparation for a likely confrontation with some troublesome bishops was fully prepared when Bishop Brennan gatecrashed the conference. Like all good Anglican rows it began and ended in the bedroom where Williams performed the classic Anglican 'kick up the ass' dispatching Bishop Brennan without the need to resort to Sharia law. For further details on this and other episcopal encounters check out the Blogging Bishops from Lambeth.

UPDATE: One of my sources on the inside of the conference, the Bishop of Cork, reveals enhanced new security arrangements to keep Bishop Brennan out - It seems huge numbers of rabbits have been imported onto the campus and are doing what rabbits do with gay abandon! (No pun intended).  Bishop Brennan (Len as he is known to his friends) is terrified of rabbits and is reported to have left the area. For more on the rabbits see this story from another inside source.

FURTHER UPDATE: The picture below which has been leaked from a reliable source would seem to indicate why Bishop Brennan is not welcome at the Lambeth Conference!

Brutal slaying of Andrew Hanlon

Fellow Blogger Bock the Robber has taken up this issue and uncovered some very disturbing information as to the circumstances surrounding the brutal slaying of Andrew Hanlon in Oregon recently. This is a short extract from one of Bock's postings: 

Andrew fell down before Gonzales shot him the final time, but he didn’t just trip.  He had already been shot, probably fatally, and without warning.

Gonzales only shouted a warning to Andrew after he was already fatally injured.  When he was lying on the ground, trying to get up, Gonzales then shot him again several times, in the limbs, causing the young rookie policeman who accompanied him to throw up in horror.

Now why would he do this?  Well, one possible reason is that he knew Andrew was going to die, and he needed to show that some disabling shots had been fired.  My guess is that he will now try to reverse the chronology and claim to have fired the leg and arm shots first.  He’ll claim that the fatal wounds were inflicted only after Andrew refused to stop.

I’ll remind you again: Andrew Hanlon was shot seven times, and possibly by two different weapons.

and the rest is here

If what Bock has uncovered is even half true then Andrew's killing was cold-blooded murder and a cover up to boot!

And now this:

We are a broad Church - All are welcome!

Nobody was brave enough to ask Lord Vader where he stood on human sexuality so he was welcomed into the procession.

Guess who might be coming to visit!

I have just had the third call today from the 'Meja' wondering had I heard if and when Senator Obama is coming to visit us here in Moneygall / Cloughjordan.  Apparently it was reported in the Irish Sun (tabloid newspaper) this morning as immanent so it must be true! It seems that there is pressure coming from various sources both within the Democratic party and here at home for Senator Obama to make a quick stop in Moneygall when he is in London on his european tour! Needless to say he would be most welcome but there is only one problem! The place is in a shambles - the painters, 

builders and decorators are in residence and there is a fine layer of white dust on everything inside the house including myself! There is so much of the stuff that it looks like an explosion in a cocaine factory! What if he wants to come to the rectory for high tea ( a daily ritual observed by all 'good Protestants' )? That would never do! 

Only thing for it is to get my good wife to make up a picnic of  sangwidges (cucumber naturally) and crisps - and of course a cup of tae from a paper cup- can't beat it! We could even have it on the site of the former family dwelling - And then on to Ollies for a pint of stout with the relatives and a chance to catch up where they left off - only about 160 years to cover so he should be back in the US by November!

Joking apart - it is an exciting prospect and even if it does not come to pass this time we are all looking forward  to a visit from a man who seems to have managed to rehabilitate the once noble calling of political office and given people something to really hope for and believe in - Themselves!  That may sound like a selfish and individualist philosophy but I think what makes Obama so inspiring is his ability to empower and motivate others to be the best that they can be and do the best that they can do. But his motto is not "Yes I can" but rather "Yes we can"!

(Is he a Bob the Builder fan? Who knows but I am sure Bob would approve! )

Obama builds community through his inspirational leadership and much maligned rhetoric.  In a world so full of alienation, cynicism and apathy this has to be good news!

So Senator Obama, if you or any of your team happen to read this may I formally invite you and your wife to a picnic in Moneygall. Just make sure you bring your umbrella!