I go to Church a lot. I'm an Episcopalian (formerly a catholicish Methodist, turned MCCer) . I'm also an aspiring Priest and Anthropologist( of the socio-cultural variety). Also, I'm a gay with a wonderful Boyfriend. This blog will likely be a combination of churchy things, anthropology, and things I find amusing. Please forgive my grammar and style, because most of my writing on here is stream of consciousness. I don't argue.
“We know we’re a house of prayer, but perhaps we need to be reminded. Gone is the assumption of open naves and chapels twenty-four hours a day, standing ready on the street corner for anyone who needed a holy space to encounter God. I know I’ve needed an empty church many times in life, sometimes to feel the absence of God while at others to trust in the presence. Perhaps we need to stop worrying and just open the doors again. Being open to prayer is half the battle. In my tradition, Episcopal, we’ve also lost touch with the Daily Office, reading the ancient prayers of the Church at Morning and Evening Prayer and Compline. But a resurgence of these offices among millennials evidences a deep hunger for the life of prayer. We must recollect the prayers of the Church, even when we don’t feel like it, because prayer expresses and shapes our belief; it is who we are. We need the daily bread of common prayer internalized in our hearts. With scripture we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest, the prayers of the Church sustain us. And while the Christian practice of prayer is foundational, we must not see prayer narrowly. We must embrace our Christian voice among multiple voices, risking invitation to and among other religious communities so that the multiple voices of prayer might help us understand God, ourselves, and all creation. Our houses of prayer have wrongly become ways to perpetuate segregation and separation rather than opportunities for seeing the face of God in all.”— “Ten Practices of Vibrant Parishes” (via affcath)
All Saints’ Day at a cemetery in Sanok - flowers and light candles to honor the memory of deceased relatives. Poland, 1 November 2011
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Permit me not to be separated from Thee
From the malignant enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That with thy Saints I may praise Thee
Forever and ever
Amen
Is it cheating to have a veggie burger during a (meat)fast? I have taken up meatless (minus fish) Fridays, and I panicked yesterday when I was eating chik’n (non-meat chicken approximation) at a picnic, I realized that by eating a very close meat approximation I wasn’t making a real sacrifice. So is it cheating?
Are there any orders of monks or nuns (of any denomination) that take care of otters?
There are orthodox bear having monastics, and Episcopal nuns with ducks, but how about otters? It would be totes adorbs!
Here’s another update to my list of saints I want to write about. I don’t want to hae too much overlap with My Life with the Saints so despite being tempted I have avoided adding Dorothy Day and Theresa of Lesieux. Here’s the whole list with additions bolded:
- Mary
- Mary Magdalene
- Sts. Sergius and Bacchus
- Julian of Norwich
- Ignatius of Loyola
- Francis Xavier (for his friendship with Ignatius and my own previous misgivings about him)
- King Charles the Martyr (Preserver of the Episcopate/Anglo-Catholic Hero)
- John Wesley
- Enmegahbowh (Native American Episcopal Priest)
- St. Herman of Alaska (Orthodox influences in Anglicanism)
- Charles Henry Brent
- Bl. John XXIII of Rome
- Martin Luther King Jr. (Secularly canonized ‘saint’/non-catholic ‘saint’)
- Margaret Mead
I still need to make some changes or additions. I need a few more women. Any suggestions?
