tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42246765313446738962024-03-05T12:26:36.522+02:00CONFESSIONS OF A FORMERLY BOGUS ANGLICANAn irreverent Anglican/Episcopal worldview <a href="http://website.sablogawards.com/2016/vote/voteforme/561" title="SA Blog Awards Badge"><img src="http://website.sablogawards.com/2016/files/images/badges/2016votebadge.gif" alt="SA Blog Awards Badge" width="140px" height="137px"></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-89749099343167559252017-02-05T14:33:00.000+02:002017-02-05T15:23:23.823+02:00I’M GIVING UP TRUMP FOR LENT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: orange; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: large;">I'd spent hours glued to CNN and BBC, watching the unfolding saga of Donald Trump's first 100 days as America's newest President. As a political and news junky I was overdosing on talking heads. Half in jest I posted on Facebook: "I'm seriously considering giving up Donald Trump for Lent."</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-size: large;">The response was great: 140 likes/loves, four shares and 26 comments. Oh, and I zapped a Facebook 'friend' who loves The Donald and called me an ugly old witch.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-size: large;">All light relief from the right-wing bigotry of a tweeting billionaire with a false tan and funny hair who looks set to hurtle us into World War 3. I was on a roll – until I received an invitation to lead a quiet morning for our diocese. What a wake-up call! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initially, I was gobsmacked. You see, I’m not a quiet priest and I’m far from holy. So, I told my caller I’d think about it and let her know the following day. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-size: large;">I had a ready excuse: “Thanks, but I’m too busy”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now, unlike so many other good Anglicans, I’ve never had God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit speak directly to me but occasionally I get a spiritual zap that stops me in my tracks. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-size: large;">I pondered the Diocesan invitation. If I did accept what would the theme be?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where am I spiritually? What right do I have to guide people, who unlike me, are not “too busy” to devote quiet space to God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-size: large;">I prayed. Not a Tweet from heaven. But the vitriolic response from the Trump fan I’d de-friended kept rattling. It was like a stubborn tune that becomes an unsolicited soundtrack and it signalled that I’d reacted exactly as Trump would have. I’m wielding social media as a weapon. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then it hit me, I’d lost the plot – too quick to demonise and dehumanise. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the frenzy of interacting with some 4000 Facebook and 5000 Twitter followers I was so busy being smart-assed I had shelved God in cyberspace. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">I did accept the invitation to participate in the quiet morning and I knew that my role was not to lead but to facilitate a mutual spiritual journey. I prayed some more. Still no Tweet from heaven. I did, however, receive Greg Goebel’s blog. He pointed out that, although we priests</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman";"> are supposed to be politically non-partisan, the Gospel does need to be proclaimed in every aspect of human life. This includes politics, social conflict, and institutions. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman";">I quote, “Being non-partisan doesn’t mean that we should avoid politics or protests or social conflicts. It can’t mean that, because we are supposed to be there with the Gospel.”</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of course, so much depends on how one interprets the Gospel and we Christians are past masters at interpreting Scripture to justify our bigotry, racism and other uglies. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">My personal saga continued.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I’d no sooner mulled over Greg’s blog when </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Michael Weeder, Dean of St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, posted a story on Facebook. It is called </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">“White Beaches”. It was his comment at the end of his post that made me realise how badly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>I</u></i> needed to reset my spiritual compass. Instead of exclaiming about American politics I must refocus on the gospel imperative to love and serve my neighbour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <span style="background-color: orange; color: #783f04; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">I am ashamed of letting my dream new South Africa slip away. Thousands of children are not in school; the #FeesMustFall crisis continues; unemployment is rife; At least 94 mentally ill patients died in Gauteng last year. I had even lost sight of how we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to make a difference – each in our own sphere of influence. How it begins with empathy, caring about and for others. Listening with our hearts. Using social media as a positive force. Stepping out of our comfort zones.</span><!--EndFragment--> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here's Michael’s story. Called ‘White Beaches” it is about his youth in Cape Town:</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">They laughed their way along the winding roads through the Gardens, Tamboerskloof ...up towards the mountain way before the sun had touched their homes on the flats.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Hello uncle." someone would always shout to a white man behind a fence. A smile or a languid wave of the hand in acknowledgement, if not an acceptance of familial ties then to indicate, “You don’t scare me, chaps.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Why do you call the vark (pig) ‘uncle’?” Sammy once asked of his younger cousin, George. The reply was quick in coming, “Because I see him visit your mother when your toppie’s (father) at work.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sammy’s father was a Bedding Boy on the railways and his job took him out of town for long periods of time. When he was home he continued with the drinking that helped him deal with long nights through the Karoo. And the passengers. Their attitudes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">That and blikseming (beating) his eldest son who he believed wasn’t his own. He knew he was wrong and that the boy was his, evident in his Maasbieke (Mozambican) complexion, flat nose and lopsided smile and his Barry White baritone. But the accusation helped him feel less guilty about his frustrated fists that kept Sammy at a cautious distance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Roger, the St Andrew’s Eureka Estate Church Lads Brigade captain, intervened before Sammy could reply with an open-handed klap to the head of his nemesis. Instead he responded with Option 2, a fervent “J-j-j-ou m-ma se p...” His stutter slowed him long enough for Roger’s sharp pinch on the back of his neck to curb the challenge of a thousand township fights.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Over the years “Hello uncle” was replaced with a good-natured, “Look ma’ nice after the house. I am moving in when the revolution comes.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sammy, George and Ivan were sitting at Breakfast Rock. It was 11’0’clock and they had finished their padkos of boiled eggs, cream crackers and Kool-aid. Roger had joined the navy and was no longer moving with them. Ivan spoke about his cousin in Bonteheuwel. He had seen a laaitie<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(young boy), Christopher Truter die in front of him. "It was during the riots."<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">George had once seen a dead man lying under a bush at the Hoene’ Kamp near Balvenie Avenue. “He was very light. The Diener just held his legs together by the knees. With one hand.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">The sun was hot on their back as they looked towards the white sand of the beach in the distance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">“My broer (brother), if you swim in a straight line for five days you’ll get to Brazil.” Sammy was looking towards the blue water of Camps Bay when he offered this bit of travel news. “That whole country is just full of coloureds just like us.” Roger had told him this at the church Youth Club. “And the gooste (girls), my broer, don’t even wear bikinis. Just a piecie string called a tanga.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">“You are blind stupid, you know?” Challenged George. He was still naar about Sammy’s intended attack on his mother’s honour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">“The sharks will vreet (eat) you like kaaiangs and you can’t even swim!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">He started moving away as Sammy stood up finally completing the sentence that Roger had stopped a few years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Ja man, and in Brazil there are only Brazilians. We coloureds are not made anywhere else.” Ivan joined him, “We are one hundred per cent Bushies, jou nwata!” He shouted and started running across Pipe Track and down the side of the mountain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: black; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">They kept running towards the beach. The cool breeze coming off the sea spurring them on. They realised that hardly had they stumbled and jumped over boulders and shrubs for more than 10 minutes that they were no longer on the mountain but running onto private property.</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: orange; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">Michael ‘s comment at the end of his Facebook post was: “</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">The memories, laughter always to mask the pain of our savage rejection. Will this injustice to us ever leave us? I doubt it!</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8nQS-eJt-e2jj-CfYcCkKvipMC_nZ9tvT9Vu-QaHhgKMKq-xIr9dzWOHFEAKrEiYRS9c11FNsQCMudzfEN-eEsdrImjuiLF36JMAyDNyR8wTpP8RLYo-TNHlFNZinCextTemDXYtUjds/s1600/whites+only+beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8nQS-eJt-e2jj-CfYcCkKvipMC_nZ9tvT9Vu-QaHhgKMKq-xIr9dzWOHFEAKrEiYRS9c11FNsQCMudzfEN-eEsdrImjuiLF36JMAyDNyR8wTpP8RLYo-TNHlFNZinCextTemDXYtUjds/s320/whites+only+beach.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">I wanted to post back, “I feel your pain.” But that would have been a lie. I’d never experienced the rejection of those young boys. Those beaches were always mine to use and they now call out to me in their windswept beauty to remind that there are still too many youngsters who feel unwelcome on too many beaches. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our communities and even our Anglican parishes are planets apart – pockets of misunderstood pain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">I know a ‘coloured’ parish that is making the priest’s life hell because she is a woman and black. I know a black parish that resents having a priest of any other colour celebrate the Eucharist. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know a white parish that resists the smallest ‘Africanisation’ of liturgy with the determination of last defenders of European colonialism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">I also know that our country is riddled with the cancer of subliminal racism and I’m hungry for the passion that once fuelled all our hopes for the future. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">South Africans are allowing the rainbow dream to slip away and I believe we in Church are called to prophetic ministry along with our Archbishop Thabo and other faith leaders who are speaking out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because I stopped listening with my heart and I forgot a black friend’s recollection of our first democratic election back in ’94:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: #783f04; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">“For me, going to the voting booth was like going to a very private chapel. There was elements of great joy of knowing that this is a victory, this is a burial of something very evil, and that was my joy and my private satisfaction. What was also an element of great sadness was knowing that I was doing something which my father couldn't do. He couldn't vote...he couldn't exercise the very basic right. Knowing that there were so many of our people who had gone on beyond without tasting, without savouring this simple thing, I think I'll always carry that.”</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: orange; font-size: large;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; font-family: "times new roman";">Too many of us have forgotten the privilege of our vote and the cruelty of apartheid. Unless we share our stories we will never close the divide. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">And it’s not just about black or coloured pain. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQDu2X3046j_epgwAAftQrD9BEOUoSR2pnQRO-rOFcnIPe5tUlfo2AECTkbGiQ_3Rnvbl_AXJlpmOOQQi-mSAUU6IK_6P55gLm3qexLdQOXr38hkeLqrLTilyRWiHzZFlydHjSye_tpE/s1600/wendyandxylon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQDu2X3046j_epgwAAftQrD9BEOUoSR2pnQRO-rOFcnIPe5tUlfo2AECTkbGiQ_3Rnvbl_AXJlpmOOQQi-mSAUU6IK_6P55gLm3qexLdQOXr38hkeLqrLTilyRWiHzZFlydHjSye_tpE/s320/wendyandxylon.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wendy and Xylon van Eyck</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">In her devotional blog Wendy van Eyck, a white woman married to a black man, tells of how differently they are treated because of the </span><span style="font-size: large;">colour<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;">of their skins – how a second-hand book store accepts books from her but not her husband. She also reveals the pain a white mother when her darker skinned children are rejected socially – how white women who inter-marry lose their “whiteness” within their own communities.</span></span></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="line number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="page number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of authorities"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="macro"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="toa heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">When last did you hear a sermon on racism? Is it addressed in our Confirmation syllabus? Do we fuel it in conversations our children overhear? Do we underpin it with indifference about our neighbours?</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">How do you think we can make a difference?</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-26855275974740060772017-01-22T20:06:00.000+02:002017-01-24T10:36:01.365+02:00JESUS AND TRUMP - SPOT THE SIMILARITIES (or not)<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The official Christmas message from the American Republican National Committee created a Twitter storm because many felt the party was trying to liken then President-elect Donald Trump with Jesus.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;">Here it is: </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;">"Merry Christmas to all! Over two millennia ago, a new hope was born </span><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;">into the world, a saviour who would offer the promise of salvation to all mankind. Just as the three wise men did on that night, this Christmas heralds a time to celebrate the good news of a new king." </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was that reference to a ‘new king’ that got the Twitterati going - you be the judge. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">One must, however, concede that there are similarities – two superb communicators, offering a counter-cultural solution, both with extensive geographic influence. Their messages impact on the world order and Trump's circle of advisors is reminiscent of the disciples.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They both qualify as natty dressers, Jesus with his seamless woven tunic fit for a high priest and The Donald in his tailored suits. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Not least, both were underestimated by the religious and political authorities of their times.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Okay, I’ll stop there and concede to diametrically opposite messages. Whereas Jesus championed the poor and the oppressed Trump has promised to strengthen an economic system that has the world's eight richest people having wealth equal to half of humanity combined. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Jesus preached inclusiveness and love for all, Trump’s worldview includes winning at all costs, world conquest and entrenched privilege. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I also doubt that Jesus was obsessed with the size of his crowds.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBygM1TNuLwrB00BqTcxJqRRegCT1ToxG-FUe_2kDjI9AcsGKmjA4wHbhfd6j9ett4a4mYglBaj1nuDc7zgCFdFoF5NxWVSej0oRrjrmkniqLEn9WI5R7bZqVhc9r42vThzHQ89rnokZI/s1600/fox+inaugural.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBygM1TNuLwrB00BqTcxJqRRegCT1ToxG-FUe_2kDjI9AcsGKmjA4wHbhfd6j9ett4a4mYglBaj1nuDc7zgCFdFoF5NxWVSej0oRrjrmkniqLEn9WI5R7bZqVhc9r42vThzHQ89rnokZI/s400/fox+inaugural.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Trump inauguration</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABHosIoZZHrrOWSkmYlhUI4lDuLBr5NL3QU1vsJxF83O4PjbMTbS6Z4OR7iZDITbNhh2EoeTNs1uZ3WL3NAyDM1Nc00Q865J74YMowqMcjSL5DMMqmTQoDu83aT58OnNRJ0WwifoQzDE/s1600/hadrian+bigger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABHosIoZZHrrOWSkmYlhUI4lDuLBr5NL3QU1vsJxF83O4PjbMTbS6Z4OR7iZDITbNhh2EoeTNs1uZ3WL3NAyDM1Nc00Q865J74YMowqMcjSL5DMMqmTQoDu83aT58OnNRJ0WwifoQzDE/s1600/hadrian+bigger.jpg" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> (I must admit to trying to find a way to connect Trump’s proposed Mexican wall with Hadrian’s wall and then Jesus, but it was a stretch.) </span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The eternal optimist</span></span></b></h3>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As President Donald Trump and other populist politicians gain traction across the western world, I find myself pinning hope on a young woman called Yael. That’s the name Ivanka Trump adopted when she converted to Orthodox Judaism and married Jared Kushner. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kyjrpR2we5h4dY-VNsvr0yLkRyAxPl7Sye3rf19HtqwCWJElOVu9IjuIX1Ci6KIaGd7PARgT_e_695SfjbNhXMwybWiDyzUH_bmPdanmDkB9ZuSPLRPrs9lAENkPRyYH0CJmuvioeSs/s1600/ivanka-trump-inaugural-ball-dress-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kyjrpR2we5h4dY-VNsvr0yLkRyAxPl7Sye3rf19HtqwCWJElOVu9IjuIX1Ci6KIaGd7PARgT_e_695SfjbNhXMwybWiDyzUH_bmPdanmDkB9ZuSPLRPrs9lAENkPRyYH0CJmuvioeSs/s320/ivanka-trump-inaugural-ball-dress-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jared and Ivanka Kushner</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Already pundits are predicting that she will be the most influential First Daughter in American history, a surrogate First Lady while her step-mother is in New York. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Although hers is officially an advisory role, she is known to blunt her father’s rough edges.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Moreover, her husband is The Donald’s senior White House advisor and often acts as a buffer between his father-in-law and the new people in his political life. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">She is pivotal to two of the most powerful men in the world!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Having played a key role on the campaign trail, she attended her father's transition meetings which included the Japanese prime minister and technology leaders. And I find comfort in the theory that, if The Donald could do such a good job with his kids, he can’t be all bad.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For me it’s important that Ivanka and Jared are practicing Orthodox Jews. Observing the Sabbath, turning off cell phones and walking instead of driving between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday. Having to get rabbinic permission to travel by car on her father’s inauguration day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It’s also important that her husband is the grandson of holocaust survivors who spent three and a half years in an Italian 'displaced–persons' camp while waiting for a US visa. Her in-laws speak of having had “nowhere to go”. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Moreover, she has experienced religious exclusion. When Jared’s family objected to her not being Jewish their relationship broke up in 2008. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I particularly like that, despite her high-powered business schedule, she tries to be with her children for breakfast and to put them to bed. She is also interested in working on policy issues related to children. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Some even argue that she has a bipartisan streak. They point to a close friendship with Chelsea Clinton. (Although I’m not sure how that stood up to the strain of the vitriolic presidential campaign.) Seems their husbands are also friends.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Do I hear mutterings of rose tinted glasses? </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Yes, we optimists tend to dig deep for our hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just think back on how disparaging folk were about Joe Biden when Barack Obama picked him for a running mate and look how he turned out.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I am encouraged that Ivanka is intelligent, highly successful and loyal to America’s new president. It means he is likely to take her advice. I am mindful too that western democracy was borne on the wings of a Judeo/Christian moral humanitarianism. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And, as I watch ‘women’ marches in cities across the world I’m depending on Ivanka <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aka</i> Jael to get daddy to understand an African maxim: </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“When you strike a woman you strike a rock.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">Not confusing religion with God</span></b></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Despite the ungodly South African hour, I watched the inaugural balls that at times seemed more like religious revival services. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The prayers, gospel singers and black entertainers all spoke to good political marketing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s called “wooing the religious right” and reminds one never to confuse religion or politics with God. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;">Trump, who recently dropped money into a communion plate he thought was for the collection, grew up in a church-going Presbyterian family. This past Christmas Eve he and Melania attended midnight Mass at the </span><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">church they were married in – the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">You could tell they weren’t dyed-in-the-wool Anglicans because they opted for the third pew from the front instead of squeezing into a back row. (I believe they received hearty applause and a standing ovation from the congregation.)</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For security reasons, the rector would have had prior notification of the Trump’s visit so I find his gentle sermon particularly interesting. The Rev. James Harlan encouraged the congregation to let the little things go, saying, “All of us have some hurts, some resentments, some fears, some ways that someone has hurt us or offended us in the past that we won’t let go of. We kind of like it. I have those.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“We won’t let go of those things and I can tell you over time those little hurts, those little slights, those little things, consume us and they will push out that space for God’s love all too easily.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Trumps accepted Communion and there was no irate tweet in the middle of the night. </span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Pulpit power</span></span></b></h3>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">That social media respite was short-lived but the Christmas Eve homily was a gentle reminder of overdue pulpit power. Thankfully that sleeping giant is being shaken awake by recent world events.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In South Africa, President Jacob Zuma is likening himself to Jesus. (He says he has also been betrayed by people close to him and his mantra is that the ANC will rule until Jesus returns.) </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Trump appears to be obsessed with size (hands, crowds, NATO contributions and media column inches.) </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Europe is in a tizz over Brexit and right wing parties are fast gaining political support.</span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Good news</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Thankfully, religious leaders are mobilising but the battle is having to be fought on two fronts – against the powers that need to be checked as well as folk who believe Church should stay out of the political arena.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So, when President Zuma’s warned Archbishop Thabo Makgoba to stay out of politics and pray instead, the churchman used the power of the pulpit in his midnight mass sermon at St George’s Cathedral: </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"It feels as if we are back to the national pain of 1963, living under a state of emergency, imposed on us by careless and corrupt leaders who have forgotten us, stripped us of our dignity, "</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"People of faith need to begin asking: at what stage do we, as churches, as mosques, as synagogues, withdraw our moral support for a democratically-elected government?"</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Makgoba also asked: "When do we name the gluttony, the inability to control the pursuit of excess? When do we name the fraudsters, who are unable to control their insatiable appetite for obscene wealth, accumulated at the expense of the poorest of the poor?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"A president of a democratic South Africa telling the church to stay out of politics? You would be forgiven for thinking that you had climbed into a time machine and gone back 30 years into the past when apartheid presidents said the same thing…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"Mr President, we will ignore your call, made from the palaces of power where you and your fellow leaders live in comfort. We will lament and ask God, 'Where are you, God, when your people are marginalised and excluded?"</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Archbishop of Canterbury has publicly supported Makgoba but the Church challenge is not confined to us Anglicans. Other denominations and faiths are rallying. </span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For example, the evangelical Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a Christian social justice organisation, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">says in his latest blog: “Faith must stand up for itself, for its values, for its standards, and for its priorities.”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">Wallis also says, “I believe at the heart of this election campaign was the deeply biblical, theological, and spiritual issue of how we treat ‘the other’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He suggests that </span><span style="color: black;">faith communities, especially congregations at the local level, could become safe and sacred spaces for deeper conversations about race in our history and in our communities, today.</span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A bumpy ride </span></span></b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">Let’s face it, no politician welcomes Church criticism even our beloved President Nelson Mandela bristled when Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane called the government out for, among other things, failing to ensure that old-age pensioners in the Eastern Cape got their money. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He’d warned, “Madiba magic won’t be solving our problems.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A furious Madiba accused the archbishop of being ill-informed and of trying to undermine his government. The dispute raged as a presidential spokesperson suggested that the archbishop was seeking publicity and Ndungane declared that “no one will silence the Church.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Asked what sort of relationship the Anglican Church ought to have with the government, Ndungane spoke of his ‘dual citizenship’ – South African and the Kingdom of Heaven. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“One seeks through the grace of God to be able to discern what to say. What we say will not always be popular. But we try under God to discern what is His mind and His will for a country at a particular time.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><br /></span></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">In short, our benchmark is what fulfills justice by God’s standards. Speaking out is a gospel imperative.</span><span style="color: black;"></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-25690208131179374332017-01-09T11:50:00.001+02:002017-01-20T09:08:09.637+02:00WORLD NEEDS PRIESTS FIT FOR PURPOSE<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">Billy Willson, straight A student at Kansas State University, has announced on Facebook that his first semester would be his last. His comment, which went viral, was “YOU ARE BEING SCAMMED. You may not see it today or tomorrow, but you will see it someday. You are being put thousands into debt to learn things you will never even use. Wasting 4 years of your life to be stuck at a paycheck that grows slower than the rate of inflation. Paying $200 for a $6 textbook."</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Billy Willson</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">The Architectural Engineering under grad’s post struck a global chord. Many young adults are wondering if higher education is worth the time and money. As Billy pointed out in a BBC Trending interview, the cost of inflation is relatively small compared to fees inflation over the past three decades. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">He has a point.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">The average annual increase in university tuition in the UK grew by 260% between 1980-2014. Compare this to the cost of consumer items which grew at about 120% in that period. (And that was bad enough)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even worse, worldwide graduates are finding that their hard-earned degrees are not an <i>open sesame</i> to their desired careers. Trey Foshee, one of many who commented on </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Billy’s </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Facebook post, wrote: "Years and money wasted. Very much agree. I have two degrees that I would sell back right now if they'd let me." Others mentioned professions that would be better served with on the job training.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last year a UK education NGO reported that most graduates are employed in jobs unrelated to their degrees. Hopefully, few are in the same situation as the 35-year-old who graduated in 2010 with a master's in town planning and transport but works in a pub. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our South African can of worms, opened by the #FeesMustFall movement, raises several issues. The new generation of students want, among other things, a ‘decolonialised’ education, lecturers who treat them with respect and fit for purpose content.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s time for a paradigm shift. Do the older folk who control tertiary education have the courage to acknowledge the sheer snobbery of a system that panders to the privileged by offering unaffordable education that does not prepare students for the workplace? <b></b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">Conceived in Church</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, what has all this to do with Church? A great deal, if one considers that "universities" were conceived and developed in 814 when Charlemagne realised he needed educated people to ensure the survival of his empire. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">Every monastery and cathedral was commanded to provide free education to every boy who had the intelligence and perseverance to complete a course. Key to all this was to develop a large body of educated priests to whom the empire and communities could turn. The focus was on Latin grammar, public speaking, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">Arithmetic, for example, was the basis for quantitative reasoning; geometry for architecture, surveying, and calculating measurements. All necessary for managing Church property and income. Astronomy was needed for calculating Easter, foretelling eclipses, and identifying the seasons.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">By the second century, the church universities had expanded their curricula to develop secular leaders. For example, the cathedral school of <i>Reims</i> introduced <i>Arabic numerical notation</i> and the use of the <i>abacus</i> for numerical calculation. The Cathedral of Orleans specialised in classical studies, Chartres focused on the mathematical theory of music and the Norman monastery of <i>Anselm</i>, became known throughout northern Europe for the teaching of Law.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Birthed in a tavern </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Before I get on my soap box I must share a delightful story which showcases the birth of the modern university and the importance of faculty and students speaking truth to power. It is told by Dr Lynn Harry Nelson</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman";">Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at Kansas University. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman";">She writes:</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;">One day in the Autumn of 1200, a German student decided to throw a bit of a party in his apartment for some of his friends and sent his servant, a ten-year-old boy, down to the corner tavern to get his large wine-jug filled. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;">The tavern owner gave the boy sour wine and, when the boy complained, the bartender and some of the barflies beat the kid up and threw him out into the street along with his broken jug.</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;">Why? I don't know. Perhaps it was because the German emperor had stirred up the English to start a long and bloody war with France. Or maybe it was because the barkeep liked the students' money, but not the students.</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;">In any event, the boy dragged himself back to his master, and the student and his friends went down to the tavern and beat up everybody before they went home with a large jugful of decent wine. The barkeep asked the provost to punish the students, and the provost gathered his men, with volunteers, and blocked all the streets into the Latin Quarter. They then went hunting for the German student, slapping people around as they went. A number of masters and students were irritated by this, took to the streets, and a pitched battle ensued. The provost and his men finally withdrew, but not before they had killed five students, including the German student who had started it all, and who happened to have been the prince-bishop elect of Liege (in what is now Belgium).</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;">The chancellor refused to help the master and students of the Latin Quarter, so they barricaded the streets leading into the Latin Quarter, and the masters held a meeting that night. They decided to organize themselves into a union, or, as it was called in the Latin of the time, a <i>universitas</i>. Since their students were studying to become masters themselves, the union included the students as more or less junior members. The next day, representatives of the union went to the king of France and announced themselves as spokesmen for <i>The University of the Masters and Students of Paris</i>.</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;">They demanded corporate rights, privileges and protection from the king. When the king asked what they would do if he decided to say no, they replied with the famous words, <i>"Then we shall shake the dust of the streets of Paris from the hems of our gowns."</i> </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;">In effect, they were threatening to leave and to do their teaching elsewhere. King Philip realized that Paris would lose much of its attractiveness and he would lose a considerable amount of taxes if the masters, students and the people who provided services to the Latin Quarter were to leave, and so agreed to protect the members of the <i>Universitas</i>.</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;">Much more happened in succeeding years. There were continuing struggles with the chancellor and provost, and even among the students and masters themselves, but in the end, the union of masters and students was recognized by all. They gained powers -- the right to establish the curriculum, the requirements, and the standards of accomplishment; the right to debate any subject and uphold in debate any subject; the right to choose their own members; protection from local police; the right of each member to keep his license to teach as soon as he had been admitted to full membership; and others. These rights were often won in open battles in which people -- masters and students -- died, but they were rights that faculty still guard jealously today.</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; line-height: 150%;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Church wherefore art thou?</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">As we ponder a changing world order, faculty and students don’t appear to be that close anymore and how does Church rate in all this?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thabo Makgoba Archbishop of Cape Town says “In times such as these, we need theologically trained leaders who will, in turn, encourage everyone in the church - clergy and lay people - to be theologically attuned,” he also told a recent synod that sound theological training provides essential grounding for the Church to face the challenges of today’s world.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">The good news is that he fits the bill.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">He has a BSc, a BA (Hons) in Applied Psychology and a Masters in Educational Psychology from Wits University as well as a Ph.D. on Spirituality in the South African Mining Workplace. Both a lecturer and chaplain at Wits he </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">also served as Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape. And h</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">e gets street cred for having a son who was arrested for being involved in the recent student demos. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our archbishop's dream for 2017 is “that labour and business, together with civil society, traditional leaders and religious leaders will all sit together at the table of brother and sisterhood where the menu answers the question, “what is in the best interests of the majority of our people in South African society?” And that all children, yours and mine, will one day, as a result of a “New Struggle”, all live in a South Africa that has an abundance of unlimited and equal educational, health care, service delivery and economic opportunities.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">Archbishop Thabo has also strongly rejected a call by President Jacob Zuma for the Church to stay out of politics.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">Just what I expect of my archbishop. BUT where is the rest of Church in this? How good/relevant/ for purpose is the theological teaching provided from the pulpit? Is Sunday School a good ethical foundation? Does anyone bother to tell our Confirmation candidates that a 10-minute kiss makes you crossed-eyed and causes your brain to fall out of your ears? (A survey taken among Confirmation candidates about 15 years ago revealed that many had their first sexual experiences at 12 years of age. The majority confirmands were not virgins.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">How many of our clergy, including those from privileged backgrounds, consider a diploma in Theology good enough to equip them to equip the people in the pews. How much training have they had in balancing reason with tradition and Scripture? As importantly, how many read a daily newspaper, follow politics or keep up to date with scientific findings on human sexuality? Do they study developing theologies?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">Just asking because I’m convinced bad theology has much to answer for as the talking heads on TV declare that we have entered a new world order. Only bad theology allows us to judge and hate those who are different. It’s bad theology to turn our backs on the marginalised.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">I know it’s not easy preaching about unpopular subjects - congregations vote with their feet and their tithes. But we can’t abrogate our responsibility to archbishops and the Holy Spirit.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;">Charlemagne was right: We need our priests to survive the emerging world order.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Aw shucks!</b></span></span></div>
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mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:595.0pt 842.0pt; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; 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<span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman";">I can’t for the life of me understand the fuss about: “Happy Holiday” greetings; the neutral Starbucks coffee mug designs; and halal turkeys. Our Christmas celebrations were always based on popular secular traditions. The early church melded Jesus' nativity celebration with pre-existing midwinter festivals and we should give those guys a gold star for pragmatism but, let's face it, along the line we've thrown the baby out with the bathwater.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNDa8Ow5V-X3Po4WDmkFIF7Umof_oDh-LDyFSWk-iaydanj-NVnyFrbf2LJSLFsVn1IZRyvTCeBZ92CtAxdo1XlqZ2b6Uuigsx72HgEaM8yrKzy9wYh8I-gPeKbtC5myVx_FlrKUwiBw/s1600/dont-throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bath-water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNDa8Ow5V-X3Po4WDmkFIF7Umof_oDh-LDyFSWk-iaydanj-NVnyFrbf2LJSLFsVn1IZRyvTCeBZ92CtAxdo1XlqZ2b6Uuigsx72HgEaM8yrKzy9wYh8I-gPeKbtC5myVx_FlrKUwiBw/s320/dont-throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bath-water.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">There’s good reason why our retail chains and big business have dared to remove Jesus from their displays. They claim not to want to discriminate against their “non-Christian” customers. But, it’s the majority who claim to be Christian in the national census that have </span><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">chucked Jesus out of Christmas. We raise our children to believe it’s the season of wish lists and receiving – the opposite of what the Christ child was about. </span><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="background-color: orange; font-size: large;">How many 'Christian' homes include a nativity scene in their annual decorations? More importantly, how many preachers speak about Jesus and the Father being one? (Mind you, most avoid the </span><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: orange;">tricky challenge of preaching about the Trinity at any time of the year.) Do we shirk from linking that cute baby who didn’t even have Pampers nappies with God? Or is he only presented as a cute boy who grew up to do great party tricks? (Water into wine is my favourite.)<span style="color: #545454;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7WhIBOzuFHzTiM7wcn3pKL27Ad1lXCAfi-Xmc4zGh2RsvPwW-vVIvRu2UNt9EXXLgEo3IbU1Hw6psP1WZvKF1MpX7Y3xzI75zti4enF7s4ikhtcNnpBCw3gWt_K11P_8h9xFwqJOHon4/s1600/water-into-wine-400x410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7WhIBOzuFHzTiM7wcn3pKL27Ad1lXCAfi-Xmc4zGh2RsvPwW-vVIvRu2UNt9EXXLgEo3IbU1Hw6psP1WZvKF1MpX7Y3xzI75zti4enF7s4ikhtcNnpBCw3gWt_K11P_8h9xFwqJOHon4/s320/water-into-wine-400x410.jpg" width="312" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">It’s such fun celebrating a manageable baby that we pack away by New Year’s Eve. And, because we largely ignore the next three decades of his life, we ignore God </span><span class="s1" style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">manifesting God to us in that part of Jesus’ life. Surely there must have been a good reason for Jesus to start from the womb? Or he could simply have skipped the potty training and other learning hurdles to arrive in time for the Wedding of Cana. </span></span><span style="color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: orange;">Instead, we have a westernised </span><span style="background-color: orange;">instant Jesus pop up at around the age of 30. and we’ve even changed his skin tone.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: orange;"> <span style="background-color: orange;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">As a former PR practitioner, I’ve always been impressed with God’s good marketing sense in that Jesus, the child of Middle Eastern Jews, was neither white nor black. Then along came our colonialist missionaries who did a superb job of “selling” a lily-</span><span style="color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">white Jesus to the heathens. Check out the pale pink doll in the nativity scene. </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfZD1C5TwMqgw1GAmfgbJb7HmEzlF6wYsw3QCxKULgCpw1NuzBrpF4xm8iakLSm12fWtFbXSqW8YVPUftA9IdgspbCpRloEFNzjJ5IiGoS7j4XPGtT5BeSV5vFyQnESXE139MPGCUm8g/s1600/s-l300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfZD1C5TwMqgw1GAmfgbJb7HmEzlF6wYsw3QCxKULgCpw1NuzBrpF4xm8iakLSm12fWtFbXSqW8YVPUftA9IdgspbCpRloEFNzjJ5IiGoS7j4XPGtT5BeSV5vFyQnESXE139MPGCUm8g/s1600/s-l300.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">No wonder so many children grow up convinced that God is white.</span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"><b>It gets worse</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">I’ve attended a couple of nativity plays this year and was twice hugely entertained when a fairy tale was incorporated. However, as I write this I am having to tell myself: “STOP IT” – once again we are allowing Jesus, who should be central to the story, to be usurped.</span><span style="color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">When the grand finale is Cinderella marrying the prince, the little pink doll and the rest of the cast are a mere backdrop to a concert.</span><span style="color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">Don’t blame the Sunday School kids if they grow up thinking the Jesus story is a fairy tale.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1ApoTm8ORKp2_F8TrwO1imY48OAAfl0z0Ezvvud1hN2J6e6s5lV44oOsiVIljwV_I_CVk7Kug95ddu5TYWgSqNHaHdoPKsJzaVc621PVL6gmxncfd6BUeTusBXoYv4FcjlgAC-D2_7E/s1600/cinderella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: orange; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1ApoTm8ORKp2_F8TrwO1imY48OAAfl0z0Ezvvud1hN2J6e6s5lV44oOsiVIljwV_I_CVk7Kug95ddu5TYWgSqNHaHdoPKsJzaVc621PVL6gmxncfd6BUeTusBXoYv4FcjlgAC-D2_7E/s320/cinderella.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;">And worse still</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;">Despite the emphasis on content marketing, Church fails dismally in nurturing human interest about the boy Jesus. Having packed the baby away with the Christmas decorations we suddenly haul out the grown man and hurtle towards Lent, the crucifixion, and Easter. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;">I know, I know, we are essentially resurrection folk but surely the people in the pews would find it easier to develop a spiritual relationship with Jesus if there was greater understanding that he was fully human. He was once a teenager and experienced all that entails physically and emotionally. An added complication was having to grow up in a village in which history indicates the village gossips had labelled him the bastard son of a Roman soldier. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;">Who could possibly appreciate the bravery of a teenage girl and her fiancé if we don’t offer in-depth teaching on an honour driven culture. One in which a girl rape victim is killed for disgracing her family and in which Joseph would have lost honour (his most valuable asset) for marrying the pregnant Mary.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: orange;">How did the boy Jesus cope? How did his siblings react? We do know they weren't all that impressed with his public ministry. As John's gospel reveals: "Even his brothers did not believe him." There's no mention of sisters but in that culture their opinions were worthless. (To understand that is to better understand the counter cultural significance of the adult Jesus' attitude to women.) </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></span> <span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">I grew up believing Jesus was an only child because there was never any mention of siblings by the Catholic nuns at my boarding schools.</span><span style="color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">The implication being that Mother Mary never did anything as dirty as sex. (I used to feel sorry for Joseph on that score.) </span><span style="color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">The Mary I grew up</span><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">wit</span><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">h</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white;"><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">More likel</span><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">y</span><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">?</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;">Methinks that the only way to make Jesus and Christianity relevant in a modern world is for our theologians and theological educators to apply empathy and develop a whole picture. We use intellectual and historical deduction in so many other arenas, why not with Jesus. That would make it so much easier to get Christians riled enough to make Jesus more important than the fat bearded man in a red </span><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;">tracksuit.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjRS5GQPA4d9x9Cq48gSDngSE88aavNDybN8FQRhBfJi22Pn52iynN-Q1xkWQ4KwkJE2siSgPkz4D03mvWXbgLrR6dxsLu2qarySv_zRtwZ5qEJud-awyVhd4yXW1PBP3e8CUTmsXaPo/s1600/Father_Xmas75Small.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjRS5GQPA4d9x9Cq48gSDngSE88aavNDybN8FQRhBfJi22Pn52iynN-Q1xkWQ4KwkJE2siSgPkz4D03mvWXbgLrR6dxsLu2qarySv_zRtwZ5qEJud-awyVhd4yXW1PBP3e8CUTmsXaPo/s320/Father_Xmas75Small.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white;">Okay, I’ll stop now</span><span style="background-color: orange;"> </span></span></b><br />
<b style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;">Let me share what Jim Wallis - <i>New York Times </i>bestselling author, public theologian, speaker and international commentator - says about his parish Christmas Carol concert which always ends with the Hallelujah Chorus:-</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: orange; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #454545;"><em>The kingdom of this world</em></span></i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #454545;"> <em>Is become the Kingdom of our Lord</em><br />
<em>and of his Christ, and of his Christ;</em><br />
<em>and he shall reign for ever and ever ... </em><br />
<em>King of Kings, and Lord or Lords,</em><br />
<em>Forever and ever. Hallelujah!</em></span></i><span style="color: #454545;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545;"><span style="background-color: orange; font-size: large;">Who is in charge? Who will reign? Not the would-be rulers who now think they are in charge or believe they soon will be. Not in God’s world. Not in the hearts of those who begin with God’s word and are reminded this Christmas of what the coming of Christ means.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545;"><span style="background-color: orange; font-size: large;">When it came to the carol service’s triumphant ending with the Hallelujah Chorus, we all rose to our feet, as, legendarily, did English King George II when he first heard it and people have traditionally ever since. And when we proclaimed who will reign forever and ever at the top of our lungs, I felt like pumping my fist into the air this holiday season (but didn’t for fear of embarrassing my college son). I desperately need the <i>hope </i>that Christmas brings me every year, and still does; that the new order that this child brings to the world literally <i>overturns </i>the world of our politics today. And that hope allows me to sing out:</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #454545;">J</span><span style="color: #454545;">oy to the world, the Lord is come!</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: orange; font-size: large;"><i style="color: white;"><span style="color: #454545;"> <em>Let earth receive her King;</em><br />
<em>Let every heart prepare him room…..</em><br />
<em>He rules the world with truth and grace</em><br />
<em>And makes the nations prove</em><br />
<em>The glories of</em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>his</strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>righteousness,</em><br />
<em>And wonders of</em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>his</strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>love.</em></span></i><span style="color: #454545;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545;"><span style="background-color: orange; font-size: large;">I especially need my Christmas carols this year when darkness seems to be settling in on all sides, and faith will mean finding a little light in that darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545;"><span style="background-color: orange; font-size: large;">For reasons that some of you can understand, I have also been drawn to German theologian and political resister Dietrich Bonhoeffer this Christmas season, and to the Christmas sermons he preached as darkness grew in his own country many years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545;"><span style="background-color: orange; font-size: large;">Bonhoeffer said, “God is in the manger.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #454545;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #454545;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;">Thank you, Jim. Many of us are worried about the shift in our world order.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;">In lighter vein<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;">As usual, our Anglican services were packed with families who love the Christmas tradition but don’t attend throughout the year. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;">I’m reminded of the preacher who drew once such person aside and said: “You need to join the army of the Lord!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;">To which the man replied:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am already in His army.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;">“How come I don’t see you except at Christmas and Easter?”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAdDkWWEhd2GGliXENfqtF3f66J7wKEm5Sn3_g0RAt7pUtu4MkHG2fWkDiqVhMt5CUJw1YdFZG-wQxONyZxsnWDZs2pkbPTWajEIs3v3ca7usgIBoJQrx2CdDL0AALLyIKG5lGB9bP5ic/s1600/007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: orange; color: white;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAdDkWWEhd2GGliXENfqtF3f66J7wKEm5Sn3_g0RAt7pUtu4MkHG2fWkDiqVhMt5CUJw1YdFZG-wQxONyZxsnWDZs2pkbPTWajEIs3v3ca7usgIBoJQrx2CdDL0AALLyIKG5lGB9bP5ic/s320/007.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"><b>PS:</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #545454; font-family: "times new roman";"><o:p><span style="background-color: orange; color: white; font-size: large;"> Any thoughts about what Jesus was like as a boy?</span></o:p></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-193485429948359482016-11-27T07:57:00.001+02:002016-12-24T09:01:10.966+02:00I HAD THE WEIRDEST DREAM<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:595.0pt 842.0pt; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I believe we talk to ourselves in our dreams. I dream often, in technicolour, and they are invariably exhausting. But this one was different. Verging on weird, it touched my soul. Not gently.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">One of the problems with being a political junkie is one often loses sight of life. Between the US Presidential primaries, #FeesMust Fall and #SaveSouthAfrica I’ve barely had time to breathe. For months, I was sleep deprived as my inner alarm sounded at 3am for crucial debates. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Oh, the analysis, the commentary, the social media skirmishes! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Then, early this morning I dreamed I was in Israel being herded into a holding place with a large group of tourists - Muslims, Jews and Christians. There was some sort of invasion and we were in danger. At first we were fearful and then this narrator with a heavy accent took over. It was much like a Yentl movie with a talking ‘Fiddler on the roof’. (I kid you not.) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There was this, running commentary on the little miracles that were happening as we scrounged for and shared food and how we were learning to love each other in the process. Then I woke up but the heavily accented voice continued. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Now let me be upfront. Unlike so many others, I’ve never heard God’s voice. So often I’ve had someone share: “God told me.” Frankly, I’ve suffered serious ‘Godspeak envy’ over the years. And I’ve always wondered what God sounds like – authoritative, melodious, a choir of angels, Alanis Morrisette? (Anyone out there old enough to remember her playing God in <i>Dogma</i>?) Mind you, I was consoled when my former bishop shared that he’s also been deprived.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Because I’ve never had God speak directly to me, I’m sure you’ll forgive me for getting my hopes up. No such luck. I’d fallen asleep with BBC News on and Stephen Sackur was interviewing Lithuania’s heavily accented Foreign Minister. I usually pause to check if my dreams mean anything and then shrug them off. But this one persisted. So, I hit the TV rewind button, made a strong cup of coffee and watched <i>Hardtalk</i> with a listening heart.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">That didn’t help much. Essentially, Minister Linas Linkevicius spoke about: how populists were winning the day; how false news often precedes warfare. He was waiting to see how Donald Trump would react to reality and felt we should all make an effort to calm things down.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was time to switch off and get on with life. But the feeling persisted. My dream still demanded attention. For the first time in months, I ignored work deadlines and took stock.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The result: my God connection is worse than my jittery Wi-Fi. What spirituality?? And the wheels must have fallen off the bus somewhere along my Anglican journey. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Fact is, all three have been sadly neglected. How easily one’s prayer life disintegrates. What arrogance to assume that my fragile spirituality would fare any better than my drought-stricken garden. I’ve hardly attended church in the past few months.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I can’t even pretend that it will simply be a matter of rearranging my daily schedule. I’m afraid of the battle ahead. I must resume my journey.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For starters, I acknowledge that my weird dream was well timed and apt. Part of my new daily discipline is to count my blessings and today I am reminded of a time a couple of years ago when my income had totally dried up. Having acquired religion late in life, I’ve always felt uncomfortable about praying </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">for money but it reached a point where I capitulated: “Okay God, I give up I’m desperate.” An hour later an email dropped to say I’d been awarded a fat government contract. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Co-incidence or God-incidence? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I know that when my younger son suffered a serious head injury in a motorcycle accident, although I wasn’t into religion at the time I did send arrow prayers tempered with “in case you exist God”. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The doctors said he’d be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life but don’t tell that to the guy who plays bowls three times a week and hopes to represent Western Province one day.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Please bear with me. You’ve probably guessed by now that I’m writing this blog to myself. Know that your comments and prayers are welcome.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">When I joined the church, well into middle age, I was amazed to learn that Advent –the weeks preceding Christmas - is meant to be a mini-Lent. It is a time to take stock and get our spiritual lives in order for the day we celebrate the birth of Christ. Who’d have thought that? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In fact, I’ve always admired the Early Church’s practical approach of adopting pagan rituals that dated thousands of years before Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My own experience of Christmas had hardly been holy. My mother was one of 15 siblings, of which only one had died in childhood. All the rest had married and made children and Christmas on granny’s farm in Polokwane was not negotiable. I can’t for the life of me remember how many cousins there were but “lots” is an apt description. Some of us kids were sent ahead of our parents during which time I was only allowed to play with the boys if I walked barefooted across a patch of paper thorns. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">By Christmas day we’d formed various special interest alliances. There was, however, consensus on important matters. These ranged from the need to avoid kissing the uncle with the beer soaked moustache to an agreement not to report the family cook for sipping the pudding brandy. We all loved her. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Of course, in that lot there was always the uncle with wandering hands but a whisper in Gran’s ear soon fixed that. In short, our special feast day was always robust and memorable with not a church steeple in sight.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">When I did become an Anglican I was a bit embarrassed by my Christmas history but soon realised that in family there is always an element of holiness. Besides, the way we Christians hurtle through the shopping and party season there’s not much time for reflection. (Maybe my dream was a hefty Advent nudge.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I am encouraged by an email received from our Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, in which he says, “... I want to say that whatever the challenges or sense of darkness you may have felt or be feeling this year, know that Christ the hope and light of the world has been there illuming your path. As you work through Advent to the celebration of Christmas, may you, to borrow a phrase from Advent's sister season, Lent, “bury the past in ashes.” Remember that we are people of the Resurrection and are called to spread Christ, the hope of the world, this Christmas, Epiphany and beyond.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">By the way, he is placing a recorded advent message on <a href="https://soundcloud.com/anglicanmediasa">https://soundcloud.com/anglicanmediasa</a><span style="color: red;"> </span>each week until Christmas.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Now, where was I?</b> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Oh yes, busy contemplating my spiritual navel. I’ll keep you posted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-66437256011340919922016-11-22T17:55:00.002+02:002016-11-27T12:16:44.009+02:00WHAT DO THE POPE, TRUMP, ZUMA & JESUS HAVE IN COMMON?<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Take a bow Fake News. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I know you’ve been around since that darned snake whispered in Eve’s ear and she passed the false info to her hubby, but you are now possibly more famous than the Kardashians.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Admittedly, when you consider the fake stories even cynical journalists have fallen for, social media has given you wings that an Archangel would give her halo for. As the Trump dust settles and the pundits analyse the USA presidential election to death, you have emerged as the villain<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>of a bitter campaign that kicked sand in pollster and commentator faces alike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A convenient scapegoat</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Amidst wails of “information warfare”, warnings that “the first casualty of war is truth” and talk of “the collapse of world order”, you Fake News are the perfect scapegoat. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It’s frightfully biblical my dear, and we must not forget the clever role you played in Pilate’s condemnation of Jesus. The baying mob who influenced his decision was as misinformed as so many electorates are today. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A global phenomenon</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In modern time your undue influence spreads well beyond the good old US of A. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Take, for instance, your story about Jacob Zuma’s presidential pardon of Oscar Pistorius. It made headlines in respected newspapers across the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I can imagine your glee when you tricked the social media fraternity into believing that dear Pope Francis had endorsed The Donald. Then there’s the old, but often repeated, one about the pastor who is about to be crucified by Isis. We’ve gone through that dramatic countdown so many times I’m surprised Hollywood hasn’t made the movie. Who knows how many shares and amens it’s had on Facebook. All the while fueling anti-Islamic hysteria.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> <b>Feeling neglected?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There is one arena where you haven’t attracted the attention you probably think you deserve – the Anglican Church. While pundits pontificate and Google and Facebook threaten to shut your bogus news accounts, I’m wondering how many sermons you have featured in? It seems that, along with other insidious sins like racism, gender violence and cyber bullying, you are seldom taught in a Confirmation class. Nor are the adults in our pews reminded of our Christian responsibility in all this. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Words of a conservative</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I must give the<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span>Executive Director of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at Wheaton College, his due. Eighteen months ago, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dr Ed Stetzer </span>wrote about an ‘<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Embarrassing Week for Christians Sharing Fake News’.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dr Ed Stetzer</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">His opening gambit was: “Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. You embarrass us all when you do.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has even written a series called "Faux Christian Controversy of the Week". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As he says, “it just keeps happening”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Two 'news' stories doing the rounds that week were: ‘Pastor Arrested for Refusing a Same-Sex Marriage’ and a report about a homosexual man who had filed a $70 million lawsuit against Bible publishers Zondervan and Thomas Nelson, alleging that their version of the Bible referred to homosexuality as a sin and violated his constitutional rights.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>What to do</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Essentially, Ed Stetzer’s message is: Stop it! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Importantly, he offers practical advice: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If something sounds crazy, check the URL<i>. </i>The lawsuit story was on<span style="background-color: white;"> <a href="http://nbc.com.co/">NBC.com.co</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Did you notice the extra .co on the end? That’s the giveaway. It’s a fake site. (I often Google the gist of the headline and add ‘Hoax? And <a href="http://www.snopes.com/">http://www.snopes.com/</a><span style="background-color: cyan;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">,</span></span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>which features trending false stories, is a great help.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Dr Setzer reminds that<b> </b>it’s OUR job—yes OURS—to check the facts. Our websites should do that as well, but most are more concerned with gaining page views than earning credibility.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He adds, “There are real issues about religious liberty right now. Posting links to fake ones just make all of us look gullible.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(By implication we'd be easily fooled by theology as well.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So, if you realise you have posted a fake story, here are a few things you can do:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">1. <b>Be humble and post a retraction. </b>As he points out “Integrity is important for the Christian. The Scriptures are clear, especially in Proverbs 2:20-21 which says:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So, follow the way of good people,<br />and keep to the paths of the righteous.<br />For the upright will inhabit the land,<br />and those of integrity will remain in it;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Later, Proverbs 28:18 says:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The one who lives with integrity will be helped,<br />but one who distorts right and wrong<br />will suddenly fall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We are duty bound to protect our friends from being tricked as we were.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">2. <b>Don’t excuse a falsehood</b> by saying, “Well, it might be true.” Or, “Well, there is something like that." "Or, well, it will be true soon." Or even, “It should be true.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">No, if you were wrong, say it and move on.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">3. Be less gullible next time.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Wisdom is valuable:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Get wisdom—<br />how much better it is than gold!<br />And get understanding—<br />it is preferable to silver. (Prov 16:16)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"But," you may think, "I'm not wise. I get fooled by this stuff all the time." That's okay, Scripture accounts for people like us. James 1:5 says:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him.”, Thanksgiving</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Finally, the Bible makes it clear: Lying is wrong. Don't lie, even if you don't mean to. And make it right if you do. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Thank-you Dr Ed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Talking turkey:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This weekend an emotional <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Brian</span> Stelter, CNN’s host of ‘Reliable Sources’, predicted that many<span lang="EN-GB"> Thanksgiving dinners would be ruined by people whipping out their iPhones to prove a fake point. He urged viewers to be more discerning and to help each other to resist you Fake News. Facebook users, he said, should refuse to be used, journalists must be more vigilant.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A South African pundit was saying much the same on Aljazeera and President Obama was warning European heads of state of the dire consequences of social media propaganda.</span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Better than real news? </span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Interestingly, in the last weeks of the US election campaign revealed that you – whether claiming that the Pope had endorsed Trump, or that Clinton sold weapons to Isis – actually outperformed real news, with more shares, reactions and comments.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Another widely shared story used a young picture of Donald Trump with variations on a quote he reportedly gave People magazine in 1998: “If I were to run, I’d run as a Republican. They’re the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they’d still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB">It’s a serious situation and we can’t just tweet about it or angst on Facebook. </span>Social media has enabled you, Fake News, to assume pandemic proportions but it’s far from a new phenomenon and I believe it’s time for all of us to take ownership of the situation to fend you off.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Not my fault.</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh489RTLNJ7hHlV7o-ehEodd6XkjfD4simk7nUiCyp06tzWDvSI9NnI8BLHyEBh7NePIrqiKGs1vTOHCYEhd3qk2uhpS-NsavvE7Vrx1kQ_TpEVYkrehiJt5tVLNiPHNUp06NZh5Gyh-jc/s1600/adameve02lg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh489RTLNJ7hHlV7o-ehEodd6XkjfD4simk7nUiCyp06tzWDvSI9NnI8BLHyEBh7NePIrqiKGs1vTOHCYEhd3qk2uhpS-NsavvE7Vrx1kQ_TpEVYkrehiJt5tVLNiPHNUp06NZh5Gyh-jc/s320/adameve02lg.jpg" width="262" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We can’t afford to do the Garden of Eden thing, where Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the snake and we blame you. Because just as countries across the globe are experiencing a swing to conservatism and populist leaders the Anglican Church could be sharing that experience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>The KISS principle</b> (keep it simple stupid)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">According to <span lang="EN-GB">Harry Farley, a Junior Staff Writer for Christian Today, </span>conservative Anglican churches have bucked the trend of decline to show an increase in attendance over the past five years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He claims the Church of England, as a whole, has seen a seven percent drop in the number of people at weekly services since 2010. But those churches with stricter teaching on issues such as the infallibility of the Bible, women priests and same-sex marriage report a dramatic increase in regular attendance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If he is right, it means people don’t want reasoned religion. They don’t want to unpack the Bible by taking author, history and culture into consideration. They want their Christianity packaged as a no-nonsense brand. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Just checking</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I’m waiting for the outcome of a global conference that is exploring the growth and decline of our Anglican communion. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-H4yKIVWL_zv0koMv5qGkXyljMePrKzLsNzZs_qZ3nN0kPauqOBZDVQcFdPFJTiUWujW-kGwSTw9e5lJDkOBp4j1PukAmTHEtGuot4YmyecfkhehmgaLdiWX4TE9UxD9IuRy-8N0DOw/s1600/empty+church.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-H4yKIVWL_zv0koMv5qGkXyljMePrKzLsNzZs_qZ3nN0kPauqOBZDVQcFdPFJTiUWujW-kGwSTw9e5lJDkOBp4j1PukAmTHEtGuot4YmyecfkhehmgaLdiWX4TE9UxD9IuRy-8N0DOw/s320/empty+church.jpg" width="317" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The key resource being a published study prepared by an international team of researchers across the five continents. There are 12 detailed case studies of Anglican churches in Australia, Congo, England, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, South America, South India, South Korea, and the US.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Grace Davie, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Exeter, describes the book as “a veritable goldmine”, adding: “it contains a huge amount of mostly numerical information on the Anglican Communion in all its fullness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“Quite rightly it eschews easy generalisations, probing instead the complex and evolving mosaic that constitutes modern Anglicanism. Almost every reader will be surprised about something.”</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Guilty as charged</span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Not sure whether you’ve noticed but I have quoted conservative Christians to make this blog’s point. Yet I have previously slammed their stance on homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Have I cherry picked to suit myself? We all do it, determined to stay in the corners of our diversity unless it suits us. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It’s time to break that cycle.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I’d like to suggest that the starting point in the task of eradicating the Fake News pandemic is for religions to renew its focus on teaching about the importance of truth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must stretch across the raging river of diversity. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We also need to stop using the Scriptures like a hoax site or a literal dictation from heaven. From an Anglican perspective, good theological education comes to mind. It should also be compulsory for our priests to follow news in order to identify relevant issues.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Let us remember that Anglicanism rests on the pillars of Faith, Scripture and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Reason.</b> Fortunately, or unfortunately, this makes it complex and not for the faint hearted. It’s why the Anglican Church always seems to be teetering on the edge of schism.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I also think it’s high time education curricula included social media and aspects such as cyber bullying and soft porn. To be sandwiched between ethics and how to fact check information.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Bizarre</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So much for us to do, so little time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I’ll pop outside and smell a rose or two if the drought hasn’t killed them off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB"></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Besides, I need to meditate on a comment regarding Fake News in South Africa. William Bird of Media Monitoring Africa, says, "Much of our news is so bizarre that it could actually be fake." </span></div>
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<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:#0563C1; mso-themecolor:hyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:#954F72; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:595.0pt 842.0pt; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-68938887047266334892016-11-14T10:07:00.000+02:002016-11-19T10:12:44.804+02:00THE RESCUE OF HALLELUJAH FROM RELIGION<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon, has declared the overused word </span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">hallelujah</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> rescued from being "just a religious word" by poet and songwriter Leonard Cohen who died on November 7. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Discussing the legendary hit song on a BBC documentary, the bishop said, "We're broken human beings all of us, so stop pretending. We can all use <i>hallelujah </i>because it comes from being open and transparent before God and the world while saying 'This is how it is mate' "</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In death Cohen's timing was impeccable. He couldn’t have wished for a better week in
which to have an inevitable global focus on a powerful body of work – poetry and song
– that stretched from the early 60s to a week in which.... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: -18pt;">Donald Trump defied the pundits to become ‘President Elect’. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hillary Clinton supporters wept and demonstrated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: -18pt;">South Africa's Jacob Zuma survived yet another 'No Confidence Vote' as our </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: -18pt;">young people marched for free higher education.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: -24px;">'Corruption' and 'State Capture' loomed large.</span><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: large; text-align: center; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><br />
<b style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Planet Turmoil</b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">In short, my world was in turmoil. My spirituality was in
tatters. I was angry and disappointed. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">My solace came as tributes poured in for the 82-year-old poet,
composer and singer, I was reminded of how his hit song <i>Hallelujah</i> had impacted on my spiritual journey, particularly as I
began my middle-aged venture into Anglicanism and priesthood. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">West Wing
and Shrek<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Even if you are not a Cohen fan chances are you
have heard the song, albeit on the popular West Wing series, watching Shrek
with your kids or perhaps sung by the likes of Bob Dylan, Bon Jovi or Bono, who
declared it “the best song in the world”.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's a short version of the lyrics:<b><o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now I've
heard there was a secret chord<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">That
David played, and it pleased the Lord<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">But you
don't really care for music, do you?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It goes
like this<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
fourth, the fifth<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The minor
fall, the major lift</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The baffled king composing Hallelujah</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Your
faith was strong but you needed proof<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">You saw
her bathing on the roof<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Her
beauty and the moonlight overthrew her<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">She tied
you<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">To a
kitchen chair<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">She broke
your throne, and she cut your hair<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">And from
your lips she drew the Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">You say I
took the name in vain<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I don't
even know the name<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">But if I
did, well really, what's it to you?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">There's a
blaze of light<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In every
word<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It
doesn't matter which you heard<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The holy
or the broken Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I did my
best, it wasn't much<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
couldn't feel, so I tried to touch<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I've told
the truth, I didn't come to fool you<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">And even
though<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It all
went wrong<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I'll
stand before the Lord of Song<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">With
nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hallelujah<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
perfect and the broken<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Incidentally, the song is broadcast at 2am
every Saturday by the Israeli Defence Force's radio channel and Cohen once said
of the song's meaning: "It explains that many kinds of hallelujahs do
exist, and all the perfect and broken hallelujahs have equal value."</span></span></div>
</div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">
</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf8y9lddF3b4xuZOyBzM_ybB6LlntMor9GSMfz7IttIxKfV7XhqIFzrU1vuZhCOHPRhaF_HnxR9bBducDgR15fq5iY9v2sDhF9Z_fzhw99pFVsNjWWwjpF64k69Avmshu2fVBBGtNTlD4/s1600/rs-leonard-cohen-2c24a166-affc-4250-a4a5-a8fd0a52a730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf8y9lddF3b4xuZOyBzM_ybB6LlntMor9GSMfz7IttIxKfV7XhqIFzrU1vuZhCOHPRhaF_HnxR9bBducDgR15fq5iY9v2sDhF9Z_fzhw99pFVsNjWWwjpF64k69Avmshu2fVBBGtNTlD4/s320/rs-leonard-cohen-2c24a166-affc-4250-a4a5-a8fd0a52a730.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span class="tgc"><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not a born and bred Anglican, I don’t hum hymns
under my breath when washing the dishes and Cohen’s Hallelujah was the only ‘hymn’
in my arsenal when I knocked at the Church’s door. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It would carry me through my questioning of
why the Almighty needed praise. And it's interesting to note how often Cohen’s ‘psalm’
has been the focus of sermons within Judaism, Christianity and even Buddhism.
(Cohen was a Buddhist monk for a time and re-entered the music world when he felt
he had attained sufficient spiritual discipline.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">As Rabbi Michael Sternfield remarked </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">at Chicago Sinai Congregation on the Day of Atonement in 2008, “One of
the most overworked words in the Bibles of both Judaism and Christianity is
‘Hallelujah’, which literally means, ‘Praise God’. Even after all these years I
still can’t understand why we need to praise God so much. Could God possible be
so insecure that God needs to be told how great God is? Or worse, do we really
believe that God is susceptible to flattery?”</span><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Interestingly in the Jewish faith Hallelujah is
a commandment to praise. In the Christian tradition, it is a word of praise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">The
rabbi added that the more he listened to Cohen’s Hallelujah, “I have come to recognise
the struggles many of us go through, especially on a night such as this, when
we are expected to praise God but our hearts may not be in it”.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A
reluctant song of praise<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I agree with Rabbi Michael – Cohen’s Hallelujah
is a reluctant song of praise, expressing gratitude in the midst of sorrow (and
my political angst) it serves this broken time, our failures and
disappointments. Maybe it’s not a song for the young who march in our cities
but it resonates with my life experiences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNt3xe0-F1yzSwXhe1PGeMJkfSATCCpkvtYEHjBwC4wu7EXlnFr4LyWobQgMUpqEnCJw8YkPLa9kFkrcCWZdea_vLiwUWIDMfNfVJ_52sB0GyVOg4kVCleJ-qJbWIVuxNWvVbgj2hog5s/s1600/MOSES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNt3xe0-F1yzSwXhe1PGeMJkfSATCCpkvtYEHjBwC4wu7EXlnFr4LyWobQgMUpqEnCJw8YkPLa9kFkrcCWZdea_vLiwUWIDMfNfVJ_52sB0GyVOg4kVCleJ-qJbWIVuxNWvVbgj2hog5s/s320/MOSES.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">It also fits well with a rabbinic legend that
when Moses descended from the mountain carrying the tablets with God’s
Commandments. He was so distraught by how his people had behaved during his
absence that he threw the tablets to the ground where they smashed into
countless fragments. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">When the people repented of their idolatry new tablets
were made. Legend tells us both sets were then placed in the Ark and Rabbi
Michael suggests that the Ark of the Covenant is our hearts which hold both the
whole and the shattered elements of our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As the rabbi emphasised, “In spite of all the
pain and sadness we have known, still life is good, every day is a blessing and
therefore we praise and express gratitude to God, even in our darkest hours.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Birth of
the blues<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh39sBJyQUpPeLmynNp9l81kMARELS-GET9XTRx3nW5Tshl6NlQFxOpdI2eM2N4JKRRwpyFnH25fai7Z2SztmC5Z7I9SsP2_0cS3VzD0QqVL8Iczsf12Xxi-7i3W6luSwksga0VvT4_z2k/s1600/BONO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh39sBJyQUpPeLmynNp9l81kMARELS-GET9XTRx3nW5Tshl6NlQFxOpdI2eM2N4JKRRwpyFnH25fai7Z2SztmC5Z7I9SsP2_0cS3VzD0QqVL8Iczsf12Xxi-7i3W6luSwksga0VvT4_z2k/s1600/BONO.jpg" /></span></a><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bono, singer and Christian, once shared that
the invocation of David resonated because, “I’ve thought a lot about him. He
was a harp player and the first God heckler ….’Why hast thou forsaken me?’
That’s the beginning of the blues.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Maybe it’s a good time for those of us battered
by recent events to do some heckling of our own.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You will find a stack of erudite comments about
Hallelujah’s musical composition on Google if you are interested. For me the
comfort is in the poetry and Cohen’s assurance: “This world is full of
conflicts and things that cannot be reconciled but there are moments when we
can transcend the dualistic system and reconcile and embrace the whole mess,
and that’s what I mean by Hallelujah.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Flowers
for Hitler<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Perhaps the pollsters who were embarrassed by
Donald Trump’s win should reflect on Cohen’s poem <i>Flowers for Hitler</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I quote:
“what is most original in a man's nature is often that which is most desperate.
thus, new systems are forced on the world by men who simply cannot bear the
pain of living with what is. Creators care nothing for their systems except
that they be unique. if Hitler had been born in Nazi Germany he wouldn't have
been content to enjoy the atmosphere.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS8YYg8m6NntDRP-XaaKen0xS-lvVTgxgcuALPwM4iqGXY2Im06WxgWGjdP1aXylGhOhjDDryjvxW6WD9LtSbAg5KKYmgVKlyFtGL8kYu2UvK1U5CXT3qj3EvsYNOzHKVrM2hwjJy_fjY/s1600/hITLER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS8YYg8m6NntDRP-XaaKen0xS-lvVTgxgcuALPwM4iqGXY2Im06WxgWGjdP1aXylGhOhjDDryjvxW6WD9LtSbAg5KKYmgVKlyFtGL8kYu2UvK1U5CXT3qj3EvsYNOzHKVrM2hwjJy_fjY/s320/hITLER.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">As the poet pointed out, what’s the use of
decrying the Holocaust, a Trump win or racism, if in our own lives we are cruel
to others?</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">If at our own dinner tables
we are guilty of denigrated those who are different from us?</span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
<b>To the end<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In October 2016, mere weeks before his death,
Cohen released the album <i>You Want It
Darker</i>. Severe back issues made it difficult for him to leave home so his
son Adam placed a microphone on his dining room table and recorded him on a
laptop. The album was met with rave reviews as the 82-year-old lived up to his maxim
of never retiring.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 10.8pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Adam says he continued
composing to the very end and died with his sense of humour intact. Earlier,</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> he reportedly said “I am ready to die," and
added, "I hope it's not too uncomfortable. That's about it for me."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-top: 10.8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Typically, when that crisis
passed, he confessed to a tendency to exaggerate," "I’ve always been
into self-dramatisation, I intend to live forever.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Despite his Zen leanings the songwriter
requested that he be laid to rest "in a traditional Jewish rite beside his
parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.”
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Maybe it’s a good time for those of us battered
by recent events to examine who we are. to shout out “Hallelujah” and to heckle
God for the strength to change our world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pass the
safety pin<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One last thought, I’ve decided to subscribe to
the ‘Safety Pin movement’.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-dCUSua10yvlwxfeTfAOdv1BQqi1YnjLoVUVFoRiOZws6zk6dPmLSbc5EChXxDTVyp8is0Dq85Y1A56lvwICpbqVKJL5LItajtX76MGQUipeibLJJEKABaKQ5RBveOm_-uGpfOKDNxY/s1600/safetypin-keith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-dCUSua10yvlwxfeTfAOdv1BQqi1YnjLoVUVFoRiOZws6zk6dPmLSbc5EChXxDTVyp8is0Dq85Y1A56lvwICpbqVKJL5LItajtX76MGQUipeibLJJEKABaKQ5RBveOm_-uGpfOKDNxY/s320/safetypin-keith.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Huffington Post reports:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">In the wake of<span class="apple-converted-space"> Donald Trump'</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">s election, many groups in the US, including African Americans, Muslims and women, are feeling scared and uneasy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Trump, who has said he would<span class="apple-converted-space"> ban all Muslims from entering the US, made sexist and insulting comments </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">about women and<span class="apple-converted-space"> racist comments about people of color in America</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">, is a frightening prospect for many Americans who believe he is unfit for office.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">So, while<span class="apple-converted-space"> protests rage on across the country</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">, one movement is using a simple yet powerful symbol to show their support for anyone who is fearful of what is to come</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">By fastening a safety pin to their clothing, people are declaring themselves allies to groups who have been maligned by Trump, to show that they stand in solidarity with anyone who might be afraid.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Who knows
what Donald Trump will do. Meanwhile, in South Africa the safety pin is fast
emerging as a sign of solidarity against racism. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hallelujah!
That works for me.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Y16wDAPYEBY18INumT-N7mH17uvFau3YZsdCHLzdKbsvro7dfmdpuUCxOwlZg0s3m2JErGLUKDBxh1lfJVkE0Vj2VVwrlIrThoETThC9DrdbCGGhLwiOfn_mMzeL44_8vv72sdccnYE/s320/quote.jpg" width="240" /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Just in case you haven't heard <i>Hallelujah </i>or you would like to hear it again, here's the link: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q</a></span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-50694911869116934412016-10-03T11:09:00.000+02:002016-10-03T15:10:56.305+02:00THE EXCRUCIATING AGONY OF A CHRISTIAN CLOSET<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">As the dust settles on the Anglican Church in Southern Africa’s most
recent synod, our Archbishop Thabo Makgoba is being quoted globally regarding
the pain he is experiencing from a decision not to
allow our clergy to bless same sex marriages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Archbishop Thabo Makgoba </span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">Please note that I speak of a simple blessing, not marriage, yet 16 of 22
bishops voted against this. Archbishop Thabo speaks of a double edged sword. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">Allow me to introduce a third edge...</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">As I write this, my own pain centres around an aspect seldom
acknowledged - those gay Christians who actually believe their gender
“leanings”, “temptations”, “preferences” are an abomination to be resisted. To
the extent that they pray and fast their way out of their natural sexual identity
in order to be saved. This, as a CNN journalist said about Aleppo, “It is what
Hell is really like and then it got worse.” </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Aleppo</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b>Marrying for Jesus</b></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">These 'good' gay Christians all too often go to the extent marrying
someone of the opposite sex. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">Yes, many manage to be relatively happy, they love their spouses, their
children, the holiness of family. But the need to suppress their sexual drive
looms larger as the years pass. Inevitably their denial of self takes its toll
on the relationship and mostly on the person committed to Christ and
the Church. Some soldier on. Others don’t resist temptation and are caught.
Others, in their maturity have stopped reading the Bible literally and decide
to do the honourable thing by confessing to their spouses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b>It seldom works</b></span></h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">Having counselled several of these committed Christians, all men
admittedly, I am appalled at the excruciating pain this can cause everyone
from the family to the secret gay partner. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">They were Anglicans, Methodists and Lutherans and, where love, mutual
respect and concern for the children were dominant elements of the marriage, I witnessed
some remarkable solutions. A generosity of soul not always found in our pews.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">Other situations, involving righteous judgment and literal Scriptural
interpretations, have left an unholy trail of devastation – fathers unjustly
accused of pedophilia and banned from interaction with their beloved children. Off spring whose minds were poisoned and whose emotional wellbeing was mortally wounded. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Vocations had to be abandoned.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">I'm not gay</span></b></h3>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">Let’s be clear: I’m not a Lesbian, trans or bi sexual. My children
aren’t gay and I don’t’ have LGBTI siblings to campaign for. I wasn’t a gay
activist before re-joining the Anglican Church 35 years after my Confirmation.
I didn’t need to be one because nobody in my secular social circle was bothered
with judging our gay friends or condemning them to hell. We were all too busy getting
on with life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had no concept of the
hell too many Christian gays go through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial";">Called to priesthood at the turkey-necked age of 51, I was far more
concerned with political activism. Desmond Tutu was an important role model and
the main reason I asked to be trained in Soweto. Truth be told, I had visions
of becoming the Mother Theresa of the townships. What arrogance and what
ignorance of God’s sense of humour. I was too old to suit the Church’s pension
fund so self-supporting ministry was my only option. </span><span style="font-family: "arial";">In other words, I had to
keep earning a living as a PR consultant. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Archbishop Emeritus Njongonkulu Ndungane</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">It’s how I became Archbishop
Njongonkulu’s international media liaison consultant and how I jumped into the
deep end of one of his signature ministries – HIV/AIDS.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">It's NOT...</span></b></h3>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">All this at a time when the disease was increasingly identified as punishment for
homosexuality. That stigma became the incubator for millions of
deaths. I thank God for ++Jongo who insisted on a communication campaign that
would “shout from the roof tops that AIDS is an illness like any other, and not a punishment from God.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">A frightening number of Anglicans ignored the message.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b>The third edge</b></span></h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">Inevitably my personal ministry veered into that arena. Our national
Health Department was refusing to provide antiretrovirals. I was clocking up
funeral services at an alarming rate and working with passionate activists,
several of whom were Anglican priests and gay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some were infected others weren’t, all suffered the pain of being open
about their sexuality in a Christian environment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">I had stepped into the realm of the "third edge”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b>More broad minded?</b></span></h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">But I was not your typical Anglican priest: I hadn’t attended church for 35
years; I was battling to curb a vocabulary learned in a news room (still am); I
was a divorcee who had had two long term live-in relationships; and, I loved to
party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps it is because my gay
associates felt I would be more understanding that they began recommending me
to married gay men seeking counselling. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">What a learning curve for me. I encountered an awful aspect of
Christian cruelty, good intentions gone awry and responses that caused
excruciating pain to EVERYONE<span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> </span>in the affected family and
even their extended families. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">Can you begin to imagine the pain of being rejected by a Church that is
part of your DNA?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">And don’t for one millisecond think you can crack it with “Love the
sinner, hate the sin.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is that very
approach that gnaws at family and friends who fill our pews and share
Communion. We hurt them by judging their loved ones and relegating them to hellfire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: large; mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: large; mso-spacerun: yes;"><b>How we must hurt the Tutus</b></span></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFR_CZr0vFMfF7l19KOBnmUyUreyE_h3EVMoRtoWXJ7L27eavhCIjkcrjaU_J1G43PB9dLeQReXgvVjGRm6X8TAIksA2iWAUKb7aBbItls90nfdecxjI6qupCEDmSKcleLcbvnal_l-Y/s1600/tutu%2526wife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFR_CZr0vFMfF7l19KOBnmUyUreyE_h3EVMoRtoWXJ7L27eavhCIjkcrjaU_J1G43PB9dLeQReXgvVjGRm6X8TAIksA2iWAUKb7aBbItls90nfdecxjI6qupCEDmSKcleLcbvnal_l-Y/s320/tutu%2526wife.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Leah and Desmond Tutu</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDfne9-49k9h-uKrHqsBs_JsRkOdrbDBDFURlIvZ4Q7DeidBS9xskDchsOUa2raM_yQiw1QXBbWvCJ8MXhf6_nd-u-SeUCzIhzITM672j1XhYw89oqB1KeSPtxE8yXsHFw_bBG-V6gEE/s1600/Tutus-daughter-welcomes-Anglican-proposal-to-allow-civil-unions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDfne9-49k9h-uKrHqsBs_JsRkOdrbDBDFURlIvZ4Q7DeidBS9xskDchsOUa2raM_yQiw1QXBbWvCJ8MXhf6_nd-u-SeUCzIhzITM672j1XhYw89oqB1KeSPtxE8yXsHFw_bBG-V6gEE/s320/Tutus-daughter-welcomes-Anglican-proposal-to-allow-civil-unions.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Revd Mpho von Furth Tutu and her wife, Marceline</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I worry about the hurt Desmond and Leah Tutu must
feel because since her marriage their daughter Revd Mpho is not licensed in Southern Africa. Yes, she could return to the USA and minister there but her parents
are in their twilight years and the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation needs her
management. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b>Time to revolt?</b></span></h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">I never bothered to become a marriage officer and I applauded priests
who refused to act as marriage officers when mixed race marriages were banned.
I now applaud those who either ignore the ‘gay’ rules or are heeding the call
to hand in their licences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">Too many of my brother and sister priests have gone through 30 years of
the Anglican Church saying “soon there will be a breakthrough.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too many have battled the Church’s trade-off:
“be celibate and you can be licensed to be a priest”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">If social demographics apply, some 10% of our priests are gay. Maybe
more because it makes so much sense for God to call natural nurturers into our
vocation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b>Older and wiser</b></span></h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">I do, however, take comfort from the fact that age invariably
brings a more mature interpretation of Scripture and greater confidence in the
findings of modern science as well as confidence in God’s abiding love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">As Rabbi Dr Jay Michaelson Ph.D. writes in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Behold I make all things New,</i> “God versus Gay isn’t just a false
dichotomy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a rebellion against the
image of God itself.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1SyB0sEqyEfXYTCt3dWjFw1jhJ0rmd3y8xua6fmhyma8T5n7IB4JHygCdO0HMK532Lw1g-feoYBzMRumkLYuD2Tp4GENOCBm4v-7MXscO1IXPSi7jmLc7tpMXjX7K5wMOvDeLrDmVspQ/s1600/JAY+MICHAELSON+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1SyB0sEqyEfXYTCt3dWjFw1jhJ0rmd3y8xua6fmhyma8T5n7IB4JHygCdO0HMK532Lw1g-feoYBzMRumkLYuD2Tp4GENOCBm4v-7MXscO1IXPSi7jmLc7tpMXjX7K5wMOvDeLrDmVspQ/s320/JAY+MICHAELSON+3.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rabbi Dr Jay Michaelson</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">Allow me to share more of the rabbi’s quotes: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">“As a rabbi and long-time LGBT activist, I’ve counselled many Orthodox
young people who are terrified of having to choose between happiness and their
religious way of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Families have
been torn apart by this issue and as long as the false choice between God and
gay persists, our brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends will continue to
struggle. They will torment themselves and be excluded from their families and
communities.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">“Before I came out, I was certain that being openly gay would spell the
end of my religious life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was an
Orthodox-practicing Jew which gave meaning and shape to my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I repressed my sexuality, acting out
occasionally but regretting it afterwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I tried, for years, to change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Eventually, after 10 years in the closet I had had enough. The pain,
isolation, loneliness, and shame had grown so great that I was ready to forsake
my religion for the sake of my happiness.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">“Coming out was the doorway to greater religious faith and joy than I
had ever imagined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My relationship with
God and my religious community grew stronger. My spiritual path began to unfold;
my prayer life began to awaken. My love for other human beings slowly unfurled
and expanded.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">“Imagine believing that because of something you cannot change God hates
you.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">“Whose fault is it that 40% of gay teenagers consider suicide – four
times as many as straight kids?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ours, of
course.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv1509192492msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b>"It's not African"</b></span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial";">I know that a
number of the bishops at the synod hailed from countries far more conservative
than South Africa, where same sex marriages are legal, but I quote a Nigerian, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The </i></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Revd. Rowland ‘Jide’ Macaulay LLB, MTh, “</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial";">Historically, Africa has always been
the friendliest and most tolerant continent. Homosexuality and same-gender
behaviours date back to before colonialism and the intervention of religion.
The arrival of colonialism contributed to the mass hatred and also the
influence of </span><span class="yshortcuts"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">religious
fundamentalism. It</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial";">
contributed to the debased argument for homophobia. Yet
Christianity teaches and encourages <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love
thy neighbour as thyself.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv1509192492msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv1509192492msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial";">I am busy working on
a manuscript that examines h</span><i><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">ow faiths
based on rebirth and karma -Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Hinduism – affirm
the dignity of queer identities and sexualities. </span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial";">In it Devdutt Pattanaik, author of more than 30 best-selling
books and lecturer on the relevance of mythology in modern times, says “the
well-meaning doctrine of ‘all religions are the same in essence’ has led to the
assumption that all religions are intolerant of all things LGBTIQ.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">He adds, “When faiths affirm the dignity of the queer, they empower them
psychologically, politically, and economically.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv1509192492msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: large; mso-spacerun: yes;"><b>That third edge</b></span></span></h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In all this let us not lose sight of the third
edge of the sword the Anglican Church continues to wield. I have watched young
priests grow old while waiting to be affirmed. One of the saddest stories I was
told was how, many years ago, seminarians were told that a bishop was refusing
to ordain single priests. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: large;">The young man,
fighting his gay sexuality, proposed marriage to a woman who knew about his
personal battle, but also believed they would conquer all through prayer and
faithfulness to the Church.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv1509192492msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv1509192492msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">As it turned out,
in order to have sex, and for her to conceive, he would have to read porn and
then pounce on her as he was about to climax. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Of course the marriage didn't last. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As the Lord says:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv1509192492msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“My
people, what have I done to you?”</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv1509192492msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">*********</span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Watch Mpho Tutu van Furth speak about human sexuality and her marriage - </span></b><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsL0kBJAy2s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsL0kBJAy2s</a></div>
<div class="yiv1509192492msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv1509192492msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv1509192492msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv1509192492msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-33315490624758527362016-07-15T12:37:00.000+02:002016-07-16T11:20:33.715+02:00WE ARE IN A DITCH DOLLS!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">If ever there was proof that God has a sense of humour it
was when I was ordained to priesthood. When I hit the half century mark Church
wasn’t on my bucket list, I was saving for a world cruise on the QE2. God was
more likely to be mentioned when I stubbed my toe and Jesus didn’t really
appeal other than to discuss whether he and Mary Magdalene had had sex.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Nonetheless, as I began attending services at St Martin’s-in-the-Veld,
Joburg, I had that ‘new convert’s’ romantic perception of religion and clergy.
Probably a hang-over from my convent boarding school days when the only posters
we stuck on our walls were of the pope and various saints. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFJkbk8bTRenSQZR-WY9pn4YZIaynOWirpnUqp9vubxJPgmcaBwpI_NIjRD33O0jfYkEo_AGRka0iUfxFM94YHl2rVFWGD9A1WZRONSC92rNEY6anDi_0_KBGpkdHeKiph_2nS15ihSw/s1600/St-Dominic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFJkbk8bTRenSQZR-WY9pn4YZIaynOWirpnUqp9vubxJPgmcaBwpI_NIjRD33O0jfYkEo_AGRka0iUfxFM94YHl2rVFWGD9A1WZRONSC92rNEY6anDi_0_KBGpkdHeKiph_2nS15ihSw/s320/St-Dominic.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">So I was quite shocked when a woman who had dealings with
the higher echelons of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa made disparaging
remarks about clergy who “slept around” and “reallocated” funds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">It was the best thing that could have happened to me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">With my rose tinted glasses relegated to the dustbin and a
healthy dose of cynicism I came to understand that Church is, at best, a messy
organisation – a peculiar balance of humanity at its best and its worst. If you
are looking for miracles, look no further than your nearest parish and how it
has survived personality clashes and varying levels of competence, humility and
servanthood. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Ignorance is</b>…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">But the years passed and I’ve been jogging along with a sense
of ‘knowing the Church’. Then the One
with the quirky sense of humour had yet another belly laugh as I began writing
my mystery series. Having worked as Archbishop Njongo’s media
liaison person for seven years and been a Susan Howatch fan, my first novel was
inevitably set within Church. The main protagonist is a former PR guru testing
a calling to a monastic vocation but who has to solve a couple of murders with
the help of the folk running the agency. Alec Fergusson is white middle aged and a
doddle for me to write about. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">A strange thing<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Then, as I began the next novel, a strange thing happened. Alec
began taking a back seat as Archbishop Shakes Khumalo assumed centre stage. At
first I wasn’t too bothered. After all I’d spent many years within the ANC, I’d
trained for priesthood in Soweto, I’d worked for Archbishop Njongo. It also
helped that Shakes spent several years in the UK where he studied Law.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Of course I could write from a black archbishop's perspective.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">But as Shakes drew me into his worldview I came to understand
how much I still have to learn. How patient my black friends and associates
have been with me all these years and why I have to rely on black editors to
help keep Shakes credible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">There’s no turning back. The series belongs to Shakes and
its meant to be a fun read. But against the backdrop of the #black<b>livesmatter</b> vs #all<b>livesmatter </b>debate and at a deeply personal level, I know that I
have to dig ever deeper into his world. Not
because it will make him more credible but because I must.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">A wake up call<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">My unease increased when I shared this Facebook post, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUFjfS_-AgNO5zhFHVxmnlpNZHtSIQmqVSisG1GjY_lmswMEdC945-TH0-wEhhs8Q2sbTMU4bll-09E49ptpNYvR7Aj1rzIENcpxkh8-UDJE8AxhEkyFnTrUqA2_vGAXX_ZtRDXxXE8YI/s1600/1601550_717617571714283_655642630518431547_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUFjfS_-AgNO5zhFHVxmnlpNZHtSIQmqVSisG1GjY_lmswMEdC945-TH0-wEhhs8Q2sbTMU4bll-09E49ptpNYvR7Aj1rzIENcpxkh8-UDJE8AxhEkyFnTrUqA2_vGAXX_ZtRDXxXE8YI/s320/1601550_717617571714283_655642630518431547_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span id="goog_558760217"></span><span id="goog_558760218"></span><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">and a dear friend responded ‘Black lives matter’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">That brought me up short. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The following morning at around 4:27 I watched a CNN
interview with Dr Brian Williams, the black trauma surgeon who had treated the
Dallas policemen shot during a Black Lives Matter protest march. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Emphasising that he didn’t want to detract from the pain of
the slain officers’ families, Dr Williams told how he too feared for his life outside
the hospital. He spoke of the need for more open discussion about race. “How
can we understand each other better,” he asked. “We need to stop talking over
each other, to truly listen to the other side, to not shut each other out.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Other interviews followed and, as the slow winter dawn
stretched across Kommetjie, I came to understand that until and </span><span style="font-size: large;">unless</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333;"> </span></span></span>we erase the vulnerability of and dehumanisation of black
people, all lives can’t matter.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">As with all cataclysmic events an iconic picture emerges. My
bet is that this is the one that will epitomise the Black Lives Matter
movement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZp0M6FqxVIQQtVxPhzCg5lZLNbcxtZ17jyKaYksTt-EoEfKzIRYseb4K6u_iE3gPXmA4tIM_dv9HGRQs4NLs8sEAop3472qXyR_pIxhrY2YnTZQlO4OeA0mqia3xiu7sASptpohnVT3I/s1600/ieshia-evans-batonrouge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZp0M6FqxVIQQtVxPhzCg5lZLNbcxtZ17jyKaYksTt-EoEfKzIRYseb4K6u_iE3gPXmA4tIM_dv9HGRQs4NLs8sEAop3472qXyR_pIxhrY2YnTZQlO4OeA0mqia3xiu7sASptpohnVT3I/s320/ieshia-evans-batonrouge.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Facebook user R. Alex Haynes posted: “This is my best friend
that I have known since we were 8 (20 years now). “Her name is Leshia and she
has a 5-year-old son. She went to Baton Rouge because she wanted to look her
son in the eyes to tell him she fought for his freedom and rights. They haven’t
released her as of yet but she’s fine.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hopefully, the US discussions on racism will spill over into
South Africa where the sin of differentiation and privilege bubbles and boils.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Where is Church in all this?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Anglican (Episcopal) Church in Southern Africa has
transformed, If I’d made Shakes white, he wouldn’t have been credible. But I am acutely conscious of the
cringe-worthy unconscious racism that still exists among clergy and laity
alike. It’s a spin-off of privilege, the
sense of white is right and better. (Anyone tried to introduce choruses in a
traditionally white parish lately? ever
wondered why so few black parishioners serve on committees?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Of course there are exceptions but, while we Anglicans don’t
usually sink to the depths of the
preacher from another denomination who told his congregation that white people
were better off because they work harder, we have at many levels yet to truly
listen to each other. To respect each other. To see God in each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnmEcuS0QorKTIz5V9vjOTDpZJoa-c-8UllCmaGd4STrX08io_rUhjHiuFUCm3DNpOQWK13CNSlQxyFRAjQxMdFZKXrEiKPdpYw_knTAicbVxes42uOaNnzsrr8XEqVqYYaZGQ1HIxf50/s1600/newcover+design1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnmEcuS0QorKTIz5V9vjOTDpZJoa-c-8UllCmaGd4STrX08io_rUhjHiuFUCm3DNpOQWK13CNSlQxyFRAjQxMdFZKXrEiKPdpYw_knTAicbVxes42uOaNnzsrr8XEqVqYYaZGQ1HIxf50/s320/newcover+design1.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Because I haven’t made the Shakes
series a soapbox for racism it is in the detail of his life that I am made
aware of his daily realities. The white suffragan bishop who disapproves of any
efforts to “Africanise” the Church. The difficulty he has in dealing with an
apartheid era security operative and his guilt for abandoning his Sowetan
boyhood friends on his journey to success – first as an advocate and then as a
church man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Yet again, God has nudged me out of my comfort zone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Not the Samaritan</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I felt this as I preached on the Good Samaritan last Sunday.
I’d filled an emergency pulpit gap and was relieved to find it such an easy
reading. But no matter how I leaned on past interpretations this nagging voice
kept saying “it’s about being in the ditch.”
I realised that for too long I’d viewed myself, my congregants and my
Church as the Samaritan – duty bound to minister to those in need and less
privileged.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3MFtn7klltD0-BqkFRd9_6mCOtbYw3ZZ5L_JqjuUnEyQ91ULt6AYKMi2lhBnmldcdjg8ap3eM9bPPgBejC2QuS977zkKVhaV015qfG8_L5H98kAStP0UzYNHQvJwX0pOw2lkS66egTw/s1600/marcia+snoop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3MFtn7klltD0-BqkFRd9_6mCOtbYw3ZZ5L_JqjuUnEyQ91ULt6AYKMi2lhBnmldcdjg8ap3eM9bPPgBejC2QuS977zkKVhaV015qfG8_L5H98kAStP0UzYNHQvJwX0pOw2lkS66egTw/s320/marcia+snoop.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large; text-align: start;">The Revd Dr Marcia Mount Shoop</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">In the US the Revd Dr Marcia Mount Shoop, preached that same
day on the same reading at the Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Asheville
North Carolina .</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">A consultant, author,
and theologian who focuses on healing and spiritual growth around issues of violence,
race, power, privilege and loss, she was far more eloquent than I was in Ocean
View Cape Town.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>A moral ambivalence</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Addressing white supremacy and the moral ambivalence of
white dominant institutions around race and power question she urged, “Brothers
and sisters in Christ, we are at a crossroads as a nation and as a faith. The
road behind us is washed out—we cannot go back, we cannot un-see what we have
seen, we cannot deny the blood on our hands, we cannot deny the moral
ambivalence around the very category of full humanity that rests at the
foundation of our most hallowed institutions—our justice system, our education
system, our government, our economic system, and yes, even the church.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">She spoke of how duty is an attempt to tidy up the ambiguity
of our human situation. “And while our human minds like simple, clear,
non-negotiable answers to life’s most complicated questions, ambiguity
abides—and calls us to a deeper place from which to define our morality, our
responsibility, indeed our humanity. Far deeper than our learned reflexes of
duty is our blood chilling vulnerability: mine, yours, ours.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Snoop elaborated, “And while the normative culture of
mainline Christianity has taught us the language of helping the “least of
these,” white culture, white patriarchal culture has told us lies: that we can
somehow secure our safety, our well-being on the backs of others and make
ourselves less vulnerable than everyone else. As white dominant institutions,
Mainline churches have not often considered our own profound vulnerability.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">“What if we are not the Good Samaritan? What if we are
naked, barely conscious, and beaten within an inch of our lives on the side of
the road? ….. What if being Jesus followers is less about being the one with
the power to help and more about telling the truth of just how vulnerable we
really are? This is not duty. This is not pity. This is our humanity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">“White culture has distorted our shared humanity and our
full humanity because it formed us with an expectation of safety and
self-protection. White culture has tried to tell us we can erase our
vulnerability, our grief, our fragility, our uniqueness, our idiosyncrasy—and
from this attempted erasure we have learned repetitive, dehumanizing habits. We
are habituated to ask “How can we help?” But rarely do we ask, “How can we
change? How can we be the change?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">“White supremacy is a powerful demon that must be exorcised.
This does not mean all white people are bad, this means the culture spawned by
white supremacy is a disease that afflicts us all—it permeates our instincts,
our muscle twitches, our gut reactions, our intimacy, our self-understanding.
Jesus, help us, help us not be afraid to tell you the truth of our affliction.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: rgb(250 , 250 , 250); color: #333333;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: rgb(250 , 250 , 250); color: #333333;">For her full sermon go to: </span><a href="http://ow.ly/bwPj302gNlI">http://ow.ly/bwPj302gNlI</a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Or maybe we should all simply watch this 14 year old white boy's You Tube video:</span><br />
<a href="http://ow.ly/QNpX302h0tI"><span style="font-size: large;">http://ow.ly/QNpX302h0tI</span></a><br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-12700505605535470802016-04-29T18:49:00.000+02:002016-04-30T18:55:49.320+02:00A DOSE OF HOLINESS FROM AN ARCHBISHOP CONCEIVED IN A DRUNKEN COUPLING <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%;">A
healthy dose of reality<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%;"><span style="background-color: #990000;">The recent revelation
that our Anglican Archbishop, Justin Welby, is the illegitimate son of</span><b style="background-color: #990000;"> </b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="background-color: #990000;">Sir Anthony Montague Browne has all the ingredients for a global scandal.
After all, it has elements of sex, booze, high society, beautiful women, political
power and religion. Yet the public face of some 77 million Anglicans worldwide
has deftly deflated the story by resorting to good old fashioned honesty and,
yes, holiness. </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin1enX8-p55AnA10YAzRVLoaaxKQVpyjq_ZjXQ70dzN27bdv7S2xFDUNAz9t4ji3Guq5GEJ6jhOkK23BwJRLQV1YJ6BYSMLi836M2V8T5EEmU4KKyCRGBSO8axXNFKcqBrsS7Mg4FleAg/s320/94963661_Lady-Williams-of-Elvel-xlarge_trans%252B%252BLAytCB22JFHJrkkGJ56-gq8lloUahhLvJkih2lHBh44.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Lady Williams</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin1enX8-p55AnA10YAzRVLoaaxKQVpyjq_ZjXQ70dzN27bdv7S2xFDUNAz9t4ji3Guq5GEJ6jhOkK23BwJRLQV1YJ6BYSMLi836M2V8T5EEmU4KKyCRGBSO8axXNFKcqBrsS7Mg4FleAg/s1600/94963661_Lady-Williams-of-Elvel-xlarge_trans%252B%252BLAytCB22JFHJrkkGJ56-gq8lloUahhLvJkih2lHBh44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm;">
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">H</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">onesty is the best
policy<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">For starters, his 86-year-old mother, a
recovering alcoholic who hasn’t touch a drop in decades, deftly took the wind
out of the yellow-press sails. Lady
Williams of Elvel, a former </span>magistrate and a
deputy lieutenant for Greater London, said in an interview: “Naturally, my son
has deserved an explanation and I have been as open as I can.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">She went on to reveal that, “fuelled by a large amount of
alcohol on both sides”, she and Sir Anthony had slept together only days before
her “very sudden marriage” to <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Gavin Welby, a
whisky salesman with social aspirations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">Because our archbishop was born nine
months after that wedding he was presumed to have been a honeymoon baby. So mother
and son would have been shocked by the paternity news but there was no attempt by
either to dodge the issue. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">An
uncomplicated response<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">The Telegraph broke the story and a
senior journalist reveals that, when he approached the archbishop with
circumstantial evidence that had been garnered, Justin Welby’s uncomplicated reaction
was “why don’t we do a DNA test?’ A
saliva swab was taken from inside his cheek.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">Lady Montague Browne, Sir Anthony’s widow and a former
personal assistant to Churchill’s wife, readily produced a hair from her
deceased husband’s hairbrush for the other half of the DNA test.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_t7f9vmRq8VcaG_-N8W8wXYzeRGTVipLgwGEQFitnUXil7fIvbmY3EMpyabT9NsFTxfabqxCO62BHB3PP6br_1XfD4M_SyMVEFCaQX8L_OVjPz_JymC7tL1qSoMYEYINGjVLBk9PSG0/s1600/94857953_Brush-Anthony-Montague-Browne-large_trans%252B%252BPk36I1drRgJuJXFml5hiL78Z4NkBpZG_C41Hv2E7GBw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_t7f9vmRq8VcaG_-N8W8wXYzeRGTVipLgwGEQFitnUXil7fIvbmY3EMpyabT9NsFTxfabqxCO62BHB3PP6br_1XfD4M_SyMVEFCaQX8L_OVjPz_JymC7tL1qSoMYEYINGjVLBk9PSG0/s320/94857953_Brush-Anthony-Montague-Browne-large_trans%252B%252BPk36I1drRgJuJXFml5hiL78Z4NkBpZG_C41Hv2E7GBw.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">It appears that she had long suspected that he was Justin
Welby’s father. She told The Telegraph
that, many years earlier, her then husband had teasingly said: “I’m told I have
a son… you’ll find out one day.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">Moreover, when Archbishop Justin’s appointment was
announced her son from a previous marriage (seems the aristocracy and Elizabeth
Taylor have multi-matrimony in common) began discussing with Sir Anthony how
uncannily alike they looked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4udsZcBkdYOsZtRFEBQ4sDR_-zvy6D2sluWqDN-W_6KiS0DSUt8Guno100SBG52Pcwl7anN05xCrmkP8JuHa_aGh23sYmX75-4jDgLLRBIP02eyX_i2KHDSwkWDlTcO37YmuYEH3FFNA/s1600/SIR+ANTHONY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4udsZcBkdYOsZtRFEBQ4sDR_-zvy6D2sluWqDN-W_6KiS0DSUt8Guno100SBG52Pcwl7anN05xCrmkP8JuHa_aGh23sYmX75-4jDgLLRBIP02eyX_i2KHDSwkWDlTcO37YmuYEH3FFNA/s320/SIR+ANTHONY.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">Sir Anthony Montague Browne</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">The old man was in a care home at the time and they spoke
in French to avoid being overheard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">Separately, Jane Hoare-Temple, the daughter of Sir
Anthony and his first wife, Noel, had concluded that there must be a family
connection because the Archbishop was “the spitting image of my father”. (Add a half-sister to the already interesting
equation)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<b><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVrpVx-mqID2zaQw-eVzjEDWUREzhoDjS36-Ve4ssESEHy6teIj2luPxlwtnY5m3YttWdDiGOjwXiTKandj6IscVNGmtIm3VW5jS4vbJzsZhCqqXb-54WzWCoKqBEdsjAAZdJP1rPsRs/s1600/JUSTIN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVrpVx-mqID2zaQw-eVzjEDWUREzhoDjS36-Ve4ssESEHy6teIj2luPxlwtnY5m3YttWdDiGOjwXiTKandj6IscVNGmtIm3VW5jS4vbJzsZhCqqXb-54WzWCoKqBEdsjAAZdJP1rPsRs/s320/JUSTIN.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">Archbishop Justin Welby</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<b style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">True
leaders don’t duck</span></b></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">It all makes for a great story but I
believe history will underscore the archbishop’s response rather that the juicy gossip.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">I’ll treat you to his statement in
full:-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">In the last month I have discovered that my biological
father is not Gavin Welby but, in fact, the late Sir Anthony Montague Browne.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">This comes as a complete surprise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">My mother (Jane Williams) and father (Gavin Welby) were
both alcoholics. My mother has been in recovery since 1968, and has not touched
alcohol for over 48 years. I am enormously proud of her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">My father (Gavin Welby) died as a result of the alcohol
and smoking in 1977 when I was 21.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">As a result of my parents’ addictions my early life was
messy, although I had the blessing and gift of a wonderful education, and was
cared for deeply by my grandmother, my mother once she was in recovery, and my
father (Gavin Welby) as far as he was able.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">I have had a life of great blessing and wonderful
support, especially from Caroline and our children, as well as a great many
wonderful friends and family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">My own experience is typical of many people. To find that
one's father is other than imagined is not unusual. To be the child of families
with great difficulties in relationships, with substance abuse or other
matters, is far too normal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">By the grace of God, found in Christian faith, through
the NHS, through Alcoholics Anonymous and through her own very remarkable
determination and effort, my mother has lived free of alcohol, has a very happy
marriage, and has contributed greatly to society as a probation officer, member
of the National Parole Board, Prison Visitor and with involvement in penal
reform.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">She has also played a wonderful part in my life and in
the lives of my children and now grandchildren, as has my stepfather whose
support and encouragement has been generous, unstinting and unfailing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">This revelation has, of course, been a surprise, but in
my life and in our marriage Caroline and I have had far worse. I know that I
find who I am in Jesus Christ, not in genetics, and my identity in him never
changes. Even more importantly my role as Archbishop makes me constantly aware
of the real and genuine pain and suffering of many around the world, which
should be the main focus of our prayers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">Although there are elements of sadness, and even tragedy
in my father's (Gavin Welby’s) case, this is a story of redemption and hope
from a place of tumultuous difficulty and near despair in several lives. It is
a testimony to the grace and power of Christ to liberate and redeem us, grace
and power which is </span><span style="background-color: #990000; color: #f3f3f3;">offered to every human being.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: #f3f3f3; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: #f3f3f3; line-height: 150%;">At the very outset of my inauguration service three years ago, Evangeline Kanagasooriam, a young member of the Canterbury Cathedral congregation, said: “We greet you in the name of Christ. Who are you, and why do you request entry?” To which I responded: “I am Justin, a servant of Jesus Christ, and I come as one seeking the grace of God to travel with you in His </span><span style="background-color: #990000; color: #f3f3f3; line-height: 150%;">service together.” What has changed? Nothing!</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"><br /></span><b style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">Cheated by death</span></b></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7ijyqDmcvISKGlL5UiLyTh3liO4oU_fR1014fhRs_S2oem1ApRgCSdTClMsTgzf5Rt4xbDEUBXDoddU7Ur1wCvLwM6W6hgxpi9rJHLiQTBf0Uv2F594lYvrIyZLb1YlvZr5myxHlIzk/s1600/Winston-Churchill.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7ijyqDmcvISKGlL5UiLyTh3liO4oU_fR1014fhRs_S2oem1ApRgCSdTClMsTgzf5Rt4xbDEUBXDoddU7Ur1wCvLwM6W6hgxpi9rJHLiQTBf0Uv2F594lYvrIyZLb1YlvZr5myxHlIzk/s320/Winston-Churchill.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">Sir Winston Churchill</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large; line-height: 150%;">Father
and son had met within the Churchill circle. when Archbishop Justin was still a boy. Poignantly, when
the archbishop was appointed in 2013, his father asked to see him but died
before that could happen.</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%;">Sir Anthony Arthur Duncan Montague Browne KCMG
CBE DFC was a decorated war time pilot and diplomat who was private secretary
to Sir Winston Churchill for the last ten years of the latter's life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">Gavin
Welby, who died of a heart attack in 1977, also served in the Second World War
but later “promoted” himself from lieutenant to captain A social climber, he’d changed
his name from Weiler to Welby and dated John F Kennedy’s sister Pat as well as
the actress Vanessa Redgrave. The Gatsby-like character stood for the UK Parliament
twice and never revealed a short-lived marriage to an American heiress. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">The
archbishop would later describe him as “a complicated man” but “really, really
brilliant”. Notably, he honours Gavin Welby in his statement and once remarked
that if his presumed father had been honest about his life, it would have been “a
fantastic story” of overcoming setbacks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%;">Two very different
‘fathers’. No doubt our archbishop is the sum of both parts and I love how real
he is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4htZM6Ns4a18OAOJtL2oSZ0BavsE_9Z09OL8BkaCy_SWfxsZkQPqhyphenhyphenIkTmz6k08v64JS_fzEnHhHxjRBktznWPlez2-Ug7Y_OfM2tx2IU5hLIz8Bm6Pd6oB5y_np09n1Wu2AifkbLf64/s1600/welby+in+Zambia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4htZM6Ns4a18OAOJtL2oSZ0BavsE_9Z09OL8BkaCy_SWfxsZkQPqhyphenhyphenIkTmz6k08v64JS_fzEnHhHxjRBktznWPlez2-Ug7Y_OfM2tx2IU5hLIz8Bm6Pd6oB5y_np09n1Wu2AifkbLf64/s320/welby+in+Zambia.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<b style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">Lessons in identity</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">It
appears that he hinted at the dramatic revelations to come when he spoke in
Zambia to a gathering of young people from across Africa two days
before the news broke.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">Addressing the question of personal identity on the eve of the Anglican Consultative
Council meeting, he told them: “We need to be a church where I am who I am
because I am in Jesus Christ. That’s the only thing that gives me identity and
you will see why I am saying that in a couple days’ time."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-size: large;">Since
that dramatic disclosure Archbishop Welby has been widely praised by faith
leaders, Coptic, Jewish and Catholic alike for the dignity, grace and
forgiveness with which he greeted the revelation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%;">For my part I’m immensely relieved
that the Church scrapped the rule that barred an illegitimate man
from becoming archbishop. That particular Canon was around for hundreds of
years so perhaps there is hope for a couple of others to be trashed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%;">I also know that by
simply writing this blog I have not only been alerted to several potential sermons on
identity, I have a glimmer of hope that the example of compassion will take us on a journey of love towards greater acceptance of political refugees and our LGBT brothers and sisters.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-24577890971006267332016-03-25T10:26:00.001+02:002016-04-07T21:06:49.337+02:00OF SCAPEGOATS, MEL GIBSON AND THE DONALD<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />We Christians have a knack for giving biblical personalities a bad press, or, at best, distorting their bios to suite our own agendas. We brand God as loving and forgiving while wielding the Scriptures much like the Pharisees who Jesus consistently exhorted us not to emulate. We peg our scapegoats and never let them go. It feeds our smugness. <br /><br />For example, at this time of the year we contemplate the crucifixion– all too often like voyeurs at a motor accident. Soon after that we focus on Jesus’ re-appearance to his apostles. Pivotal to those narratives are Judas Iscariot (think greedy traitor) and Thomas (think doubter). <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjf27eIjtj2yFEqO3OdM-XdEoGOl4JCtWPUfIBj8f9Pe0bsvpW2rWW0gpzmoTRaIap7NsK403_-_HrKAbVYyWwwycFLyOpQ3hpUPH_9Y5PXXpzebSOP4eiZ9agFLD31BIELV6dKeaPa8/s1600/judas+kiss.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjf27eIjtj2yFEqO3OdM-XdEoGOl4JCtWPUfIBj8f9Pe0bsvpW2rWW0gpzmoTRaIap7NsK403_-_HrKAbVYyWwwycFLyOpQ3hpUPH_9Y5PXXpzebSOP4eiZ9agFLD31BIELV6dKeaPa8/s320/judas+kiss.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Judas has had a particularly bad press but it can be argued that there was much more to that infamous kiss than 30 pieces of silver. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3biQrMZeEGHPBmOyPUk1MbHPN6Z3rE4BvbX3nzajVabwcj6H6hY1_nJBBWyUc55nPN5GVWfqJQ90QENpCs7XpZqg5QyJ5qcT0MtQnkmmYMSq1reYY3qYNuLsJoEyHob4GZpxbPaODtAo/s1600/30+pieces.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3biQrMZeEGHPBmOyPUk1MbHPN6Z3rE4BvbX3nzajVabwcj6H6hY1_nJBBWyUc55nPN5GVWfqJQ90QENpCs7XpZqg5QyJ5qcT0MtQnkmmYMSq1reYY3qYNuLsJoEyHob4GZpxbPaODtAo/s320/30+pieces.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Firstly, as the Jews suffered under Roman oppression their vision of a Messiah had little to do with heaven. The afterlife didn’t feature as powerfully as their worldly hardships and they were anxiously waiting for their very own ‘Che’ Guevara to overthrow their rulers. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2nofjp47HgHOGcvWuJcroq9l9i9FZsaCHJVvTonUxtKFAJE0vkS_tFYkabfK9M1r3jlRRJp5zSuSMA2SLniK5StOWjNZDEWJ4sxKIV4rBlisSKUf-9yaw03hgb-Y2i68HhcE0UwI-H4/s1600/roman+soldiers.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2nofjp47HgHOGcvWuJcroq9l9i9FZsaCHJVvTonUxtKFAJE0vkS_tFYkabfK9M1r3jlRRJp5zSuSMA2SLniK5StOWjNZDEWJ4sxKIV4rBlisSKUf-9yaw03hgb-Y2i68HhcE0UwI-H4/s320/roman+soldiers.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />Enter Judas who, it seems, was a passionate revolutionary probably growing impatient with Jesus’ dis-inclination to lead a political uprising. Well aware of Jesus’ miraculous powers (as in sticking an ear back after it had been chopped off by a sword), it was highly unlikely that he believed he was sending his leader to his death. His intention was simply to nudge Jesus into action. The man he had watched raise the dead and heal the sick could surely dethrone Herod and zap the Romans?<br /><br />That kiss was a classic case of a plan gone wrong. Was Judas’ suicide akin to falling on one’s sword in other honour cultures? <br /><br />There’s yet another factor. By classifying Mr Iscariot as the arch betrayer we paint Jesus as a victim. It’s the ultimate insult or do we find a gentle Jesus, meek and mild, easier to manipulate for our own purposes?<br /><br />Yet, John’s gospel presents Jesus as being in full control of the situation from the Judas kiss to his last breath on the cross. The reasoning is that Jesus allowed those awful events to flow in order to live out the Messianic prophesy. The proof sits with the resurrection. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJ3ZEA4ZVEfx5kz1pjFC_72ofkaNYsngtBjUHrWFqaTqKGshazgipgye-Cfd7ZITVDvSGj6V-jO6PfbNYzpk5sj3lEhmJgYCU03TUj9xIWAi09NFKN4EEoFSh_j8dmzGdl23Ahf9nt5A/s1600/Donald_Trump_August_19%252C_2015_%2528cropped%2529.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJ3ZEA4ZVEfx5kz1pjFC_72ofkaNYsngtBjUHrWFqaTqKGshazgipgye-Cfd7ZITVDvSGj6V-jO6PfbNYzpk5sj3lEhmJgYCU03TUj9xIWAi09NFKN4EEoFSh_j8dmzGdl23Ahf9nt5A/s320/Donald_Trump_August_19%252C_2015_%2528cropped%2529.jpg" /></a><br /><br />I suspect even Donald Trump would agree that power over death far outweighs political power.<br /><br />On that basis Judas simply served Jesus’ purpose. But do we give him an iota of sympathy? No ways!<br /><br />We’ve done such a good job of making him synonymous with betrayal that he is linked to one of the most famous rock and roll heckles of all time. It was 1966 at a concert in England that, as Bob Dylan switched to an electronic guitar an outraged member of the audience yelled “Judas!”<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPdoQ15rul6dLrthMUpdPp8YEWqpuD2tf_3yIsiJAtmwcls8A4dKBqp_6mR9V2t7yhKRIjBsNTUIQO1_MK1-mhvNrGVlU91gK74JXqIKBzkibOarGOF9t2b4God-2Qy2giOJqiXkdUAY/s1600/PHO85e047d8-e3e3-11e2-8ff2-5aa1557aaa69-805x453.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPdoQ15rul6dLrthMUpdPp8YEWqpuD2tf_3yIsiJAtmwcls8A4dKBqp_6mR9V2t7yhKRIjBsNTUIQO1_MK1-mhvNrGVlU91gK74JXqIKBzkibOarGOF9t2b4God-2Qy2giOJqiXkdUAY/s320/PHO85e047d8-e3e3-11e2-8ff2-5aa1557aaa69-805x453.jpg" /></a> <br />Dylan’s love for his new electric instrument was viewed a blasphemous. <br /><br />That story would not have gone down in the annals of music history if we Christians had been less condemning of Judas. When he planted a kiss on his rabbi’s cheek after three years of faithful following, he was branded for ever. One can just imagine how quick the other disciples were to condemn, despite their own failings.<br /><br />No one really knows what drove Judas. But, for sure, we Christians have judged and sentenced him mercilessly to our lectionary of derogatory terms.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvWKC4WAyabWfS91bTHU2sGwJCcc1C1f-Kld7fNUMjVQ4X4cAAHLiBe3Ki5EqUt55INo1Pze0o-hjPhwot0TD0tsEtJQ0Oi_k1b-1V_RhCs0bUtEBm3DT56ZG-fHZ2YVC2I1TjW5r-rDo/s1600/doubting-thomas.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvWKC4WAyabWfS91bTHU2sGwJCcc1C1f-Kld7fNUMjVQ4X4cAAHLiBe3Ki5EqUt55INo1Pze0o-hjPhwot0TD0tsEtJQ0Oi_k1b-1V_RhCs0bUtEBm3DT56ZG-fHZ2YVC2I1TjW5r-rDo/s320/doubting-thomas.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Thomas is also much maligned. We’ve made him a synonym for doubt, particularly doubt in God, lack of faith. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEySaSH6Q9cxjtXkFsc_uyTXjFQV-73u1KGphlRkRSAd5zjEZ10qE9IeJ3KXzCrh8fam7hKUqAod6F-x2WIKhQMJhTYTgH271bJXvh7hDdp_VgYTtFYdoiDrz_l9b_GoNWBSQO9DUvTVI/s1600/doubting-thomas-cartoon.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEySaSH6Q9cxjtXkFsc_uyTXjFQV-73u1KGphlRkRSAd5zjEZ10qE9IeJ3KXzCrh8fam7hKUqAod6F-x2WIKhQMJhTYTgH271bJXvh7hDdp_VgYTtFYdoiDrz_l9b_GoNWBSQO9DUvTVI/s320/doubting-thomas-cartoon.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For starters nobody seems to notice that Jesus doesn’t reprimand him for doubting the resurrection. He simply seeks to reassures the disciple by inviting him to check out the crucifixion wounds. (No fuss, no rant. Just as nobody ever seems to notice that Jesus doesn’t criticise the woman at the well for the men in her life. He doesn’t even instruct her to leave the man she is living with.) But we Christians have an awful tendency to look askance at folk who have difficulty believing in God.<br /><br />For heaven’s sake! Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has shared that sometimes he doubts. I know I do. Many of my Anglican friends grew up confident that God exists, they have absolute confidence that their guardian angel hovers and Jesus loves them. It’s not that easy for me. I have to work at my faith. <br /><br />Sometimes I have to work extra hard but I do take comfort from Mother Theresa who wrote in her private journals that she lived much of her life not feeling God’s presence.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMLJJAFZ-sqPei0uBxz_U6HTuMJtno-i7f7I51TslprS3fhk5TcodxpLm2InQhmgXnbT4CoFCmQNP67DVhMERcPHiyPH86qh2v9w7OFUqd83bR7gI1AKFUIyR6YWsUmste7c2Rxm4SDX8/s1600/roulette.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMLJJAFZ-sqPei0uBxz_U6HTuMJtno-i7f7I51TslprS3fhk5TcodxpLm2InQhmgXnbT4CoFCmQNP67DVhMERcPHiyPH86qh2v9w7OFUqd83bR7gI1AKFUIyR6YWsUmste7c2Rxm4SDX8/s320/roulette.jpg" /></a>In fact, I was only ready to place my chips on the roulette wheel of faith when reading Gerard Hughes God of Surprises at the grand age of 50. He helped me understand that I could not intelectualise God, God wouldn’t be God and my best bet was to get on with the game.<br /><br />My spiritual journey will always involve potholes of doubt. But that’s okay. It’s part of my human condition and its never boring. <br /><br />Another incredibly valuable lesson I learned for Father Gerry is not to confuse God-incidences with coincidences. As I prepare to launch the first in my Archbishop Shakes mystery series, I’m experiencing a major one. Besides a lot of grind, the book has inched forward against a backdrop of many arrow prayers for help. <br /><br />In the short cul de sac I live in there is a friend on the opposite side of the road who edits non-fiction books and was an excellent beta reader for the novel. My neighbour on one side is an IT specialist who has helped me set up social media platforms, websites, blogs and all the other stuff one has to do when self-publishing. On the other side is a couple of graphic artists who are designing my cover. A stone’s through down the road is a friend who is a professional editor. Add to that all the other friends who have read the book to check for errors and know that there is one big God-incidence happening.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAkPhyn1RVTXAt-ctjvVX7ezIbBQgcEohGI_k72q7XYedl8YeAyv__JY29XAdXHf8VdtC3Soj9CvQrHZxa4M2DmrdJPkJIxR7J7vG3wyiVWEbhSIiAYiY9TfDyTLNWi8NM1p4w-Z4yf4/s1600/Thepassionposterface-1-.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAkPhyn1RVTXAt-ctjvVX7ezIbBQgcEohGI_k72q7XYedl8YeAyv__JY29XAdXHf8VdtC3Soj9CvQrHZxa4M2DmrdJPkJIxR7J7vG3wyiVWEbhSIiAYiY9TfDyTLNWi8NM1p4w-Z4yf4/s320/Thepassionposterface-1-.jpg" /></a><br />But, back to Good Friday for a moment. Do you remember the Mel Gibson movie called The Passion of the Christ? It grossed millions of dollars. Christians across the globe packed cinemas. Gibson, a conservative Catholic, brought home the sheer brutality of what Jesus went through. <br /><br />Even now, 12 years later, if I meditate on the gruesome events, scenes from the movie spring to mind. The blood, the cruelty, the suffering. It worries me that too many of our Good Friday services assume a morbid overtone that isn’t healthy. I think we work too hard at blocking out the joy and promise of the resurrection. It’s too much like self-flagellation. I don’t think Jesus went through that ordeal for us to beat ourselves up about it, surely the whole point was to draw us into a joyous mystery?<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZn2YT4E06LZhVxGghgy3gdvCUVlSqpXTL-CY4GhQ2CtbcRIVHItZFaaBF7bnTuTS7WULy1oTMap-zzaDFd7UXjmJJ9SJvzYn471fjzjROwncrzng3UZOtEUb4DxhsC-ZC1TqQ6oUuUx4/s1600/o-KAROO-900+donkey.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZn2YT4E06LZhVxGghgy3gdvCUVlSqpXTL-CY4GhQ2CtbcRIVHItZFaaBF7bnTuTS7WULy1oTMap-zzaDFd7UXjmJJ9SJvzYn471fjzjROwncrzng3UZOtEUb4DxhsC-ZC1TqQ6oUuUx4/s320/o-KAROO-900+donkey.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Another lasting impression I got from the movie was of the fine donkeys. (Not sure if they were Hollywood manicured and blow dried or the genuine Jerusalem breed.)<br /><br />I’d always imagined Jesus riding into the Holy City on the kind of asses we see in the rural areas of South Africa. But the animals that starred in The Passion, especially around Herod’s court, were truly impressive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I tried to source photos from Google by typing in ‘donkeys, Mel Gibson movie’ nothing came up so I tried ‘asses, Mel Gibson movie.’ Guess what it gave me? On second thoughts, let’s not go there</span><em style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">.</span></span></em></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-13340214683620105382016-02-23T17:52:00.000+02:002016-03-26T14:53:50.474+02:00INCREDIBLY HUNG UP ON SEX<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Why do Christians flip at any suggestion that Jesus and Mary Magdalene may have been an item? Why did the nuns who taught me throughout my school years cultivate the myth that Jesus was an only child? Was it because, heaven forbid that Mary should have had sex with the long suffering Joseph? (I was 50 years old when I realised Jesus had siblings.) </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNwh0fkPtmWr-1cFgSdCzLdA0X1lxO0utmkZ3aVpN2Mnhb9mkUUUEfXLyozI31dka8APzhyphenhyphenZHBS3Dl4egmJt0GQ45gLVx90BECubOaWrhSD2xvkCK9VbbKgmaXruMtX6QA6Z6VkwoNiQ/s1600/Joseph_Jesus_Mary_525.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNwh0fkPtmWr-1cFgSdCzLdA0X1lxO0utmkZ3aVpN2Mnhb9mkUUUEfXLyozI31dka8APzhyphenhyphenZHBS3Dl4egmJt0GQ45gLVx90BECubOaWrhSD2xvkCK9VbbKgmaXruMtX6QA6Z6VkwoNiQ/s320/Joseph_Jesus_Mary_525.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a sibling in sight</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What was the biggest unspoken question when Pope John Paul II’s letters, spanning 32 years, to a married woman were published? In my book, if he did have an oops with the beautiful Polish philosopher he deserved to be Ssainted for sticking with his vocation and serving a broken world.<br /><br /><b>SECOND COUSIN TO SIN</b><br />Fact is we Christians are incredibly hung up on sex, too often declaring it second cousin to another three-letter word – sin. Notably the heroines in our religious traditions are either virgins or reformed prostitutes. There is no middle ground. Too often we fail to take the measure of sexuality within the context of God’s plan for humankind. <br /><br />Professor Dr Riffat Hassan, a Pakistani-American theologian, notes that human sexuality has been much debated in most religious traditions, including those of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">However, while the Jews and the Muslims regard being sexual as good and certainly not the opposite of spirituality, in our early tradition we even regarded sex within marriage, as a necessary evil! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I paraphrase from Prof Hassan’s contribution to Behold, I make all things new, a book I recently co-edited.<br /><br />The Qur’an encourages all Muslims who are able and willing, to marry a ‘virtuous’ or ‘chaste’ man or woman. Marriage is viewed as a sign of God’s mercy and a most solemn and serious pledge.<br /><br />Traditional Judaism views marriage as a contractual bond commanded by God. A man and a woman come together and create a relationship in which God is directly involved (Deuteronomy 24:1). <br /><b><br />GRUMPY OLD MEN</b><br />But in our early tradition celibacy was viewed as the prime Christian vocation. Paul didn’t think there was any point in saddling oneself with a spouse because he believed Jesus’ return was imminent. Although we must give grumpy Paul his due, he did say it was a personal opinion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">St Augustine didn’t make things easier. He taught that, while sex in the Garden of Eden had been good and rational, the grand Fall turned it into a mindless, bestial enjoyment. A sin that held us back from the contemplation of God. <br /><br />As Karen Armstrong, eminent historian of religion, points out, his doctrine of original sin would fuse sexuality and sin indissolubly in the imagination of the Christian west. For centuries this tainted the institution of matrimony. Augustine’s teacher, St Ambrose of Milan, believed that ‘virginity is the one thing that keeps us from the beasts’. The North African theologian Tertullian equated marriage with fornication. <br /><br />St Jerome wrote, ‘It is not disparaging wedlock to prefer virginity. ‘No one can compare two things if one is good and the other evil.’ (I kid you not)<br /><br /><b>IT GETS WORSE</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b>Martin Luther, who left his monastery to marry, inherited Augustine’s bleak view of sex. ‘No matter what praise is given to marriage,’ he wrote, ‘I will not concede that it is no sin.’ (Nonetheless he and Katharina, a former nun, did produce six children.) He regarded matrimony as a ‘hospital for sick people’ which merely covered the shameful act with a veneer of respectability, so that ‘God winks at it.’ <br /><br />It wasn’t until the 16th Century that Frenchman, John Calvin, became the first western theologian to praise marriage unreservedly. Thereafter Christians began to speak of ‘holy matrimony.’ <br /><br />In short, the present enthusiasm for ‘family values’ is relatively recent. Mind you Catholic priests and gay Anglican priests are still required to be celibate. And the Catholic ban on artificial contraception implies that sex is only for making kids. <br /><br /><b>SEX CAN BE SPIRITUAL</b><br />Yet it was the Catholic Cardinal Basil Hume who wrote, ‘every experience of love gives us yet another glimpse of the meaning of love in God himself. Human love is the instrument we can use to explore the mystery of love which God is.’ <br /><br />Of course there is loveless sex but, let’s face it, sex between two people who do love each other can be glorious. A hymn to our Creator. <br /><br />Needless to say, passion is fueled by obstacles – the basis of the world’s most famous love stories. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Throw a priest in the mix and you have a doozy.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: times, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">MEGGIE AND FATHER RALPH</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Anyone out there old enough to remember The Thorn Birds? A best-selling book in 1977 and a popular TV series starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward. The love story involving Meggie Cleary and the strikingly handsome and ambitious priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart tugged at heart string across the world.<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It struck a special chord with me because a 17-year-old school friend had had an affair with an equally beautiful Catholic priest. All of 16 myself I walked her path of desolation through the minefield of nuns, parents and Church as she was labelled a temptress and he was relocated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />I’ll never forget the day he arrived to conduct a three-day silent retreat for us girls – about 150 teenagers with raging hormones and not a boy in sight. As he walked on the stage, black cassock, white dog collar, thick black hair, the collective ooh, aahs and giggles must have sent shock waves through the gaggle of nuns who had joined us for his first address.<br /><br />It was group adoration at first sight. <br /><br />For my friend – tall for her age, a bit overweight, introvert and battling a bad case of acne, it was the beginning of much, much more. Long story short, she arranged a private session to pour out her troubles. It was close to end of term and they continued to meet during the school holidays. Her mom, a single parent with problems of her own, thought it was for spiritual counselling.<br /><br />I can’t remember how the truth eventually emerged but I will never forget the depth of my friend’s misery. How she was judged and why she attempted suicide. Nearly 20 years later we bumped into each other in a shopping mall and she shared that she still loved him. She even joked that he’d helped to clear her acne.<br /><br />As a mature woman all I could think about was how he had abused a desperate young girl. Years later when I was ordained into Anglican priesthood I came to understand that it’s not all about paedophilia or abuse. Priests fall in love; ordination doesn’t stifle libido, therein lie some of history’s most famous love stories. <br /><br /><br /><b>MODERN LOVE STORY</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The recently published letters written by the sainted and popular Pope John Paul II to the Polish-born US philosopher Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka have added to the cache. Although her letters are still locked away, the 350 he wrote reveal real affection and I found his gift of a mini scapular to her deeply moving. A gift from his father, he’d worn it since childhood and it would have been one of very few possessions.<br /><br />She was married and he had taken a vow of celibacy but that scapular, an intimate item, reflected a deep spiritual bond.<br /><br />In case you are wondering, a mini-scapular consists of two postage pieces of cloth, wood or laminated paper. About the size of a postage stamp it features a prayer text or a devotional picture linked by cords and is worn with one image hanging on the chest, the other on the back. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLaXPwNprAx2aZHMWsKIlGsm8A_hfpw4Q8iQJpOCI1uTdotUdO8aXwz2jWVtYWtnPbP2rjB0s5yS4y3u-WUFMjXy-qsJcQPb8zrses8a98UooGOat0ObdVDOJRQbH3hfI_NBPJIw09uuw/s1600/scapular.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLaXPwNprAx2aZHMWsKIlGsm8A_hfpw4Q8iQJpOCI1uTdotUdO8aXwz2jWVtYWtnPbP2rjB0s5yS4y3u-WUFMjXy-qsJcQPb8zrses8a98UooGOat0ObdVDOJRQbH3hfI_NBPJIw09uuw/s320/scapular.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br /><b>DOING WHAT ONE OUGHT</b><br />One of Pope John Paul’s better known quotes is:<i> Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought</i>. Against the backdrop of his deep friendship with Tymieniecka it assumes huge significance. <br /><br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFZwU2C7mklu_9fhpYg9-lQZ9GM-z8is_-nh2eQUSlwRZzasUomgOp5CdSmKKqW9kjUFoqpG-HDGJFenrjR8h4sf8V8KqV2elExQ9eIzxKt7BRKG20zZXefAWbjTsREU4XQ0nHVIfAm3U/s1600/SetHeight450-park-decjusza-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFZwU2C7mklu_9fhpYg9-lQZ9GM-z8is_-nh2eQUSlwRZzasUomgOp5CdSmKKqW9kjUFoqpG-HDGJFenrjR8h4sf8V8KqV2elExQ9eIzxKt7BRKG20zZXefAWbjTsREU4XQ0nHVIfAm3U/s320/SetHeight450-park-decjusza-3.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br />Edward Stourton, the lead journalist behind the BBC report, was told that Tymieniecka had professed her love in a letter written from a park bench in Krakow in summer 1975.<br /><br />John Paul visited her and her family the next year when he spoke at Harvard. <br /><br />In a letter dated Sept. 10, 1976, he wrote: “Last year I was trying to find an answer to the words, ‘I belong to you.’ Finally, before leaving Poland, I found a way — a scapular.”<br /><br />In subsequent letters, he referred repeatedly to it, saying it allowed him to “accept and feel you everywhere, in all kinds of situations, whether you are close, or far away.”<br /><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>THE END</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Friends of Tymieniecka told Stourton she was at the Pope’s bedside on the eve of his death at age 84 on April 2, 2005. Her husband, Hendrik S. Houthakker, a Harvard economist who <a href="https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/textual/central/smof/cea-houthakker.php">served in the Nixon administration</a>, died in 2008. She died in 2014, at 91. <br /><br /> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGpM6pXx8OIRoxQoP6g9tEByGkS33c0x6VCR4hL1ukkW_NJJbmjYx0Op0qSl0il3iJDhCstUs5LsGB9lyAKk-baO6oGUTDFiJ6UmUrfkesfIyz0-0OQ-CDePp0gpQPaHqLz-64TMxB0g/s1600/pope+paul+and+Anna+Teresa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGpM6pXx8OIRoxQoP6g9tEByGkS33c0x6VCR4hL1ukkW_NJJbmjYx0Op0qSl0il3iJDhCstUs5LsGB9lyAKk-baO6oGUTDFiJ6UmUrfkesfIyz0-0OQ-CDePp0gpQPaHqLz-64TMxB0g/s320/pope+paul+and+Anna+Teresa.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />It’s a great story, possibly because it leaves so much to the imagination and it has the best of ingredients – a beautiful brainy woman and the most powerful man in the Catholic Church.</span>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-29948489279403038372016-02-01T13:11:00.000+02:002016-02-01T13:11:53.809+02:00NO VOCATION UNDER THE DUVET<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br />Writing this blog has been a wake-up call. <br /><br />I have always fallen short in the retentive memory department and I really battle to recognise people until I have had a lot of interaction with them. <br /><br />The former translates into cramming for school exams, struggling to remember names in my congregations, forgetting birthdays and the dates of life’s milestones. The latter is a mild form of ‘face blindness’ which is why it didn’t help when the Lesotho police once put me in the same room as a man who had held a gun to my head the night before. <br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjETLRA7X8Izyh8KyT2rPnpvmPUaTfvkvqj910I72pjifiELCsBF31OpSy4ArYuGa2LM_0WSCgwc6lKv_Ygm7azsBm1GkxZNAVgI6G4EAOAywEYwBXqZrEhAr8QmkWWJkn_KpBjsj5po-c/s1600/Maseru-city.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjETLRA7X8Izyh8KyT2rPnpvmPUaTfvkvqj910I72pjifiELCsBF31OpSy4ArYuGa2LM_0WSCgwc6lKv_Ygm7azsBm1GkxZNAVgI6G4EAOAywEYwBXqZrEhAr8QmkWWJkn_KpBjsj5po-c/s320/Maseru-city.jpg" /></a>I’d helped them capture him and his accomplices but he’d changed his distinctive tee shirt and red shoes which I would have recognised like a shot. He was also too far from me in the large room to pick out his distinctive body odour which I still recall 40 years later. <br /><br />Of course the cops had to let him go.<br /><br />Reams have been written about face-blindness, which in its extreme form is called prosopagnosia and is a neurological disorder. Who knows, my mother may have dropped me on my head as a baby but I’m pretty certain that both deficiencies are the outcome of being an adored only child primarily focussed on future achievement and self. <br /><b><br />It hurts</b><br /><br />Problem is, I hurt people, as in when I confused two women in my parish. The one had visited me in my home with her husband but I mistook another for her the following Sunday.<br /><br /><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggluO0q76rq8RtQ5UhW0eOsCK5_HgXXIog7JWzvnjVjGf8hxTDmYe76iHAOQqCZ0uP4f-7FjwmK01Ayy5gnShoW_zzUhwz76afohR3u6ZK7UIg-nrnWwPwgsxY2r0ZQc7Mi2ksIxz-cds/s320/LONGBEACH-MALL-NOORDHOEK-quot-53b40c9bb0cad1d56b23.jpg" />It’s why when I shop in our local mall I smile and greet all shop assistants – many of my parish work there. I also do a lot of nodding and eye contact as I wander for shop to shop. If anyone half smiles at me I do a proper greeting. (Father Christmas and I should open a charm school together.)<br /><br /><b>A fuzzy past</b><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO7rnOpn_TO6b7ouM1JMA2UCrGG-DbVfIQHHoSj45WiJuZHDH8TitfLciAGhBPeL91a6DiBZTZx65fV-ier6xfG8If8UIInk2SCg2QZLAGS-qhewnGkgfWxw2CV3IyvfrwTGHSIkfu-7g/s1600/looking-back-looking-forward.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO7rnOpn_TO6b7ouM1JMA2UCrGG-DbVfIQHHoSj45WiJuZHDH8TitfLciAGhBPeL91a6DiBZTZx65fV-ier6xfG8If8UIInk2SCg2QZLAGS-qhewnGkgfWxw2CV3IyvfrwTGHSIkfu-7g/s320/looking-back-looking-forward.jpg" /></a><br /><br />As I blogged my journey towards Anglicanism and my rather unusual priesthood, I was forced to work out dates and remember details that were part of the blur of my past. Looking back, I am amazed that my lifelong friends have stuck with me. (Spare a thought too for the rectors I have worked under and my bishops.)<br /><br /><b>The now</b><br /><br />The blog was also a whole lot more. It forced me to take measure of the present. One in which I, a ‘retired priest’, pick and choose my involvement with Church. I commiserate with friends who still have to attend Council meetings and synods as well as deal with pew politics. I pontificate on Facebook. Twitter, Google+ and in the blogosphere.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQPzw1EukatjOeI3pNEo2XneHXCD2j343vVjDpPg4rspIRIHb3yJF2Ya2niVZKMU0KJ7DzHojeljRtwwGUaweSC_Qi_ZFneUdU_3UGMNqrWhLWzxfPX3n-jXI9cxvwoW8tMIa6FMdct8/s1600/blog+unto+others.gif"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQPzw1EukatjOeI3pNEo2XneHXCD2j343vVjDpPg4rspIRIHb3yJF2Ya2niVZKMU0KJ7DzHojeljRtwwGUaweSC_Qi_ZFneUdU_3UGMNqrWhLWzxfPX3n-jXI9cxvwoW8tMIa6FMdct8/s320/blog+unto+others.gif" /></a><br /><br />By the 20th post it was becoming increasingly more difficult to write. Besides being thoroughly bored with myself, the blog was a convenient distraction from the relevance of my present relationship with God and my chosen Church. <br /><br />I’d forgotten the key lesson I’d learned so many years ago from the Mother’s Union at St James in Diepkloof, Soweto: There is no retirement from God or ministry. Vocational seasons may end but you can’t spend the Winter of your life in bed with a duvet over your head.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCpLL3hpNsVX9aMLqUdxGN0PFh4eDh7nVGwDCf9dpd_1P16Z2F3MqryzasQxxGm5btBDE8jLZR9nWBWW2o9nhw-hdyfiK_iZ5PsG6J4niyL5auN8Pd-JLwdXx96_kBpy-rAKqPgmKGg60/s1600/under+duvet.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCpLL3hpNsVX9aMLqUdxGN0PFh4eDh7nVGwDCf9dpd_1P16Z2F3MqryzasQxxGm5btBDE8jLZR9nWBWW2o9nhw-hdyfiK_iZ5PsG6J4niyL5auN8Pd-JLwdXx96_kBpy-rAKqPgmKGg60/s320/under+duvet.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />The blog posts proved a soul-jolting alert that I had allowed myself to drop into a quagmire of complacency. I’d forgotten the long hard journey I’d undergone to reach an understanding that my prime vocation lies in my talent for communication, not parish ministry.<br /><br />I’d forgotten, and hadn’t even blogged about, the long battle to accept that editing the Southern Anglican magazine, serving as the archbishop’s international media person and using my writing skills was my vocation. <br /><br />In recent years I’ve effectively relegated my vocation to ‘the good old days’. <br /><br />As I reached blog post 32 it was like pushing a wheelbarrow full of rocks. December offered the excuse to take a break. Blog 33 wasn’t any easier, particularly within my personal anger of yet another Anglican delay regarding homosexuality. When I re-read that rant I knew it was less about my relationship with Anglicanism and a whole lot to do with spending the winter of my vocation under a duvet.<br /><br />For what it’s worth, herewith the result of my reflections. If anything they prove, yet again, that there are no coincidences. They are God-incidences. And, yes, God does have a sense of humour.<br /><br />The first step was to acknowledge that my vocation is not to swan in and out of my parish on high days and when the rector is on leave. I may have to use Google a whole lot more these days but I can still write. <br /><br />So, if writing and editing is my ministry where do I stand?<br /><br />Ever stood on a rake and had the handle swat your nose? That’s what happened to me as I reviewed 2015, which I’d come to regard as annus horribilis. I’d lost my main source of income as the publisher I worked for had his own problems. There was a mad scramble to survive financially. <br /><br />True to form, I tackled the problem myself with only the occasional desperate arrow prayer. (I’m superstitious about praying for money.) Eventually things got so bad, I conceded that I could do with some Godly assistance. (A smidgeon off a grovel.)<br /><br />Call it luck or a God-incidence, shortly afterwards I was commissioned by the Church of Sweden to edit a remarkable book. Called 'Behold I make all things new'. Its contributors present a compelling case for reinterpreting the Jewish, Christian and Muslim sacred texts with regard to homosexuality. <br /><br />I’d lived through the reinterpretation of the Bible to prove that apartheid was not God’s will. I’d watched Anglican theologians reinterpret Scripture to allow women to be ordained into priesthood. I had seen the pain Christians inflict on God-loving homosexuals. In short, I jumped at the chance to edit that book. <br /><br />Besides providing a welcome editing fee, it has proved a personal blessing and I can’t wait for it to be published. (I will keep you posted). <br /><br />In January this year I finished my mystery novel. Far from holy, it is also in the publishing pipeline and is set in the Anglican Church. Its main character is Archbishop Sibonelo Shakespeare Khumalo (his mother was an English teacher) and some of you may have met him on his Facebook account. <br /><br />Shakes has a lesbian daughter who expects him to live up to his promise to preside over her marriage service and a wife that reads the bible far more literally than he does. But his immediate challenge is that he needs to solve a couple of murders to stop a campaign to defrock him. <br /><br />It’s meant to be a fun read. The God-incidence is that the writing of it has forced me to walk in the shoes of an Anglican archbishop who is torn between his personal life, current theology and the need to avoid schism.<br /><br />Needless to say, I was so busy with both books that the ‘vocation thing’ lost priority. Besides, there are two other books in the pipeline, I manage three Facebooks accounts, two Twitter accounts, this blog, a LinkedIn account and I potter in Google+. <br /><br />I’ve hit the pause button. Please pray for me as I try to discern if God has deftly recalled me into a vocation of communication or if I am just interpreting that ‘call in the night’ to suit myself.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQSzRO3knH1hKwXjALcqr6h8_l3uXL8M-nVNDP6Qlzd8OcEnHBHyDbFfeGTcQnHbGRfmYBoWBZoMTlLjFxgUccH4RwA3-c282IKk-fT1hyRO0tSRiaIDLoab8T1DuK8P7YVwoaBjiMbU/s1600/RABBI-MEIR1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQSzRO3knH1hKwXjALcqr6h8_l3uXL8M-nVNDP6Qlzd8OcEnHBHyDbFfeGTcQnHbGRfmYBoWBZoMTlLjFxgUccH4RwA3-c282IKk-fT1hyRO0tSRiaIDLoab8T1DuK8P7YVwoaBjiMbU/s1600/RABBI-MEIR1.jpg" /></a>Meanwhile, I am encouraged by Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes who says: ‘Any interpretation of scripture which leads to hatred or disdain of other people is illegitimate.’ <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrDvh8OtFWi26KROymf5sfW94gps3qFET8mJ183MElT4Rput-lCMveiAgrkEaFUXpq65txz3qfqgQ6OA6EKMyerejUTjaH-BBsWIe4e5KWjXUge6dcryebNFBJF_M1UT0EHaRPdyYpfk/s1600/armstrong.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrDvh8OtFWi26KROymf5sfW94gps3qFET8mJ183MElT4Rput-lCMveiAgrkEaFUXpq65txz3qfqgQ6OA6EKMyerejUTjaH-BBsWIe4e5KWjXUge6dcryebNFBJF_M1UT0EHaRPdyYpfk/s320/armstrong.jpg" /></a>In the same vein, Karen Armstrong, the moving spirit behind the worldwide launching of a Charter of Compassion in November 2009, has stated: ‘If your understanding of the divine made you kinder, more empathetic, and impelled you to express sympathy in concrete acts of loving-kindness, this was good theology. But if your notion of God made you unkind, belligerent, cruel, self-righteous, or if it led you to kill in God's name, it was bad theology.’</span>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-50584568999327349162016-01-25T08:47:00.000+02:002016-01-25T08:47:28.090+02:00'SORRY' DOESN'T CUT IT<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB3Ag8d_ugt5ZJVR4xVDplW-LI673QEMBY30r1mXTqkMrkS5fv8elt21dfjutOzb5z1MyByjJGzsQW1LnYyw9Gj1I_OHBo_WakeeshiNNmbqBGbTheUbDFW2RWnfaJxmZQiDN5VuUttmg/s1600/B0220000BL0000024290909090052YG0000AFA%252Cproud-to-anglican.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB3Ag8d_ugt5ZJVR4xVDplW-LI673QEMBY30r1mXTqkMrkS5fv8elt21dfjutOzb5z1MyByjJGzsQW1LnYyw9Gj1I_OHBo_WakeeshiNNmbqBGbTheUbDFW2RWnfaJxmZQiDN5VuUttmg/s1600/B0220000BL0000024290909090052YG0000AFA%252Cproud-to-anglican.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />A Facebook friend sent a 'proud to be an Anglican' photo and urged me to share it. <br /><br /><br /><br />I couldn’t.<br /><br /></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In the past couple of weeks I have seriously debated whether I want to be an Anglican. This is premised largely on the primates meeting that saw fit to ‘suspend’ the American church for three years BUT the trigger to my personal disgust was Archbishop Welby’s apology to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people for the hurt the Church has caused them over the years.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlB_tp0bu0E">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlB_tp0bu0E</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmH5OTwaIbNdFxpU8x-UXTq239UWgdSgEtsap8TFduv_dNDzD6VEtwhgLXGipSdcfUKmFYT4RYN3UABa9emLQsnYyWxZ8OYuCtP2VOxgncVFafO8d0H3NEtGJlodPN2Pp835kxT8ab3M/s1600/welbyworried-940x564.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmH5OTwaIbNdFxpU8x-UXTq239UWgdSgEtsap8TFduv_dNDzD6VEtwhgLXGipSdcfUKmFYT4RYN3UABa9emLQsnYyWxZ8OYuCtP2VOxgncVFafO8d0H3NEtGJlodPN2Pp835kxT8ab3M/s320/welbyworried-940x564.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br />I know that for many of you that apology was a gracious personal touch and incidental to Welby’s successful sidestepping of what seemed an inevitable schism. Perhaps you feel I should be more outraged by the primate’s readiness to accommodate African provinces that support the criminalisation of homosexuality? (Including the death sentence.) Or maybe I should be questioning the authority of that primates’ meeting? (Others, far better positioned than I am, are already doing so.)<br /><br /><br /><b>I’m not gay, but..</b><br />Let me first share my context. I am neither lesbian nor bi or transgender. I don’t have gay children or grandchildren. I do have many gay friends, ironically, most met through the Church. Several are priests in leadership positions, others have powerful ministries in the NGO sector. Still others are faithful worshippers. <br /><br />I have for 20 years watched them, including bishops and deans, being hurt by the Church. I have limped alongside a gay priest suffering a nervous breakdown. I have watched grown men, married and in committed service to God, weep uncontrollably because they could no longer deny their sexuality. I have tried to comfort their bewildered wives and children in the wake of an inevitable divorce. <br /><br />I’ve seen a faithful rector, who’d been in a long term relationship with the knowledge of his bishop, forced to leave the Church. This because a handful of parishioners complained when his long-time partner arranged a permanent job transfer to the same small town. After a decade in a committed relationship they wanted to be closer to each other.<br /><br />Others continue to live and work under the threatening shadow of the Anglican ‘don’t ask don’t tell system’.<br /><br /><br />It’s cruel and sorry doesn’t cut it.<br /><br /><b>Not Anglican enough?</b><br />I’m hardly a died-in-the-wool Anglican. From the age of 17 to my 50th birthday I didn’t attend church and only began to do so because at that milestone age it seemed a good insurance policy.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8XZ29ji_H5TRulp2CJl6e30NHGiUUZHbHi9GqWAdv-A3UHMyLDLDBCv8gp2xnqqh7N_stnwkU6ba22dbEx_Z11FKxEQRGmQL3l_XSvmtSvLSN7L1yt4JD60nTiTiMomwThABSx1CyMz4/s1600/three-pillars.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8XZ29ji_H5TRulp2CJl6e30NHGiUUZHbHi9GqWAdv-A3UHMyLDLDBCv8gp2xnqqh7N_stnwkU6ba22dbEx_Z11FKxEQRGmQL3l_XSvmtSvLSN7L1yt4JD60nTiTiMomwThABSx1CyMz4/s320/three-pillars.png" /></a> In my maturity I was attracted to the three pillars of Anglicanism – Scripture, reason and tradition. I really liked that I could question dogma without being excommunicated. Liberation Theology was an elixir to a former political activist. <br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMODC3pQn5Alndri5sNv4zLsAgV3y0r-RXyjdSdeReKmBaMyV2DW8gqt7YAN7_zDfr6hym9OSoSyHFO4VPmB14ExzwnM3nCoeg1ATGP71fAIGmdA3Oj5ASnI_xRYkHiPTwIo1nWIPojo/s1600/desmond-tutu-1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMODC3pQn5Alndri5sNv4zLsAgV3y0r-RXyjdSdeReKmBaMyV2DW8gqt7YAN7_zDfr6hym9OSoSyHFO4VPmB14ExzwnM3nCoeg1ATGP71fAIGmdA3Oj5ASnI_xRYkHiPTwIo1nWIPojo/s1600/desmond-tutu-1.jpg" /></a> People like Desmond Tutu made me realise that, while the church could be weird, it was often wonderful. I loved its commitment to justice and gobsmacked by a call into priesthood.<br /><br /><br /><b>A heady era</b><br />At the time we Anglicans in Southern Africa, invariably decades ahead of the Church in England, had reinterpreted our sacred texts to permit divorcees to remarry and repentance of apartheid. Women were being priested. We’d even bought into Climate Change at a time when cynics were decrying apocalyptic forebodings as hogwash. In the context of Africa, Southern Africa lead the way in combatting the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS. <br /><br /><b>But..</b><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrY-KMMLE-OHmogJvvhymLbisAm4UroCSJh7JbT2XSQepux-mIC5AjQSu9a0jEeW38Gx5NDxm6wtxf-Fx7_FfCPa5Youu8tRGaA7wjdHtQXAZyFGJJsc2m294RBBvV3w1Yc8c8cvGyBoE/s1600/elephant-in-the-room.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrY-KMMLE-OHmogJvvhymLbisAm4UroCSJh7JbT2XSQepux-mIC5AjQSu9a0jEeW38Gx5NDxm6wtxf-Fx7_FfCPa5Youu8tRGaA7wjdHtQXAZyFGJJsc2m294RBBvV3w1Yc8c8cvGyBoE/s320/elephant-in-the-room.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />As always, there was an elephant in the room. Ours was homosexuality. <br /><br />Then, as now, gay and lesbian priests were ordained but expected to remain celibate. No, these are not men and woman called by God into religious communities where celibacy is part of the package. These are folk called to a priesthood that encourages marriage because people in a stable relationship are more effective as clergy. (It’s our one-upmanship on the Catholics and, theoretically diminishes the incidence of paedophilia). <br /><br />Adding insult to injury is the traditional readiness of our hetero bishops to forgive clergy who are unfaithful to their wives. At pew level we counsel hetero adulterers but still offer them Communion.<br /><br />We offer the sacrament of marriage to couples who have cohabited for years. And we’ve long accepted that it’s okay for mutually accepting heterosexual partners to be far more creative and adventurous than ‘the missionary position’. So why are we so hung up on how gay people find sexual pleasure? Why do we presume to know how they do this?<br /><br />By the way, those dudes in Genesis 19, who surrounded Lot’s home and threatened to have sex with the two angels in the guise of visitors, weren’t gay. They were townsmen intent on sexual aggression in a conflict situation, what the United Nations defines as a war crime. The abomination was violence.<br /><br /><b>Parenting</b><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVSB_0wzKv2fSIQnygX-UvbGciX2yr4KCNzJYGYNdWnfE5rDoeZOSpM5Hw-sikgjpUK0ybDqvD8iVSRB6CqxVh9SEwdngDUbQuZnOAsq6x_IrXAmF8uIo_SwypruXRYm2Q0oVeyXh1qPA/s1600/gay+parents.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVSB_0wzKv2fSIQnygX-UvbGciX2yr4KCNzJYGYNdWnfE5rDoeZOSpM5Hw-sikgjpUK0ybDqvD8iVSRB6CqxVh9SEwdngDUbQuZnOAsq6x_IrXAmF8uIo_SwypruXRYm2Q0oVeyXh1qPA/s320/gay+parents.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Why do we presume gay people can’t be good parents? Many single folk, men and women, do a great job. Surely in this day and age we know better than to equate good parenting with a particular set of genitalia?<br /><br /><b>Not sorry, repentance</b><br />If the Anglican Church is genuinely sorry for the hurt it has caused over too many decades, sorry won’t cut it. It’s repentance we need. Surely sound theology is based on more than culture and supposition? <br /><br />Welby equates the church to a rowing boat going in circles. It needs to invests in an authoritative map. There was no mention of our primates consulting with experts on sexuality although they are happy to quote scientific evidence in regard to Climate Change. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Se5Kg_gTAP8nAFkMFji4ewAQKUOZ2gIBJVjMbwFzS1wnudq4FG0S1nDlojP_255IMAPIsC4DLge0mKtjJULCa9rkzzKo510zokEcOqysqZVIPli5wTCUUp_6KzM4II_upPyJr657ioc/s1600/Mpho%252BTutu_1.JPG"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Se5Kg_gTAP8nAFkMFji4ewAQKUOZ2gIBJVjMbwFzS1wnudq4FG0S1nDlojP_255IMAPIsC4DLge0mKtjJULCa9rkzzKo510zokEcOqysqZVIPli5wTCUUp_6KzM4II_upPyJr657ioc/s320/Mpho%252BTutu_1.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Enough said, I ache for parents like Desmond and Leah Tutu whose daughter Mpho recently married her lesbian partner. It’s not just LGBT people that are hurt by the Church. Those who love them are too. <br /><br /><b>I am proud of…</b><br />Michael Curry’s measured and loving response to the primate’s meeting. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ3HBdz1iyHmcstGzjr-HYwCRN5MnqHuNZ830zpfimRtTrZ8_Mv5Y-svf6ScU0UDmI1QqJk7qbI8bi2AYsLAJd2w6NsAPQAPzfz2ISKqMrcJHKsIdxshHzc7cpzyG_nH0AFx5KsJJBoKQ/s1600/mcurry_videograb_p17v746geb1d5ub78iiv7ru1ib75.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ3HBdz1iyHmcstGzjr-HYwCRN5MnqHuNZ830zpfimRtTrZ8_Mv5Y-svf6ScU0UDmI1QqJk7qbI8bi2AYsLAJd2w6NsAPQAPzfz2ISKqMrcJHKsIdxshHzc7cpzyG_nH0AFx5KsJJBoKQ/s320/mcurry_videograb_p17v746geb1d5ub78iiv7ru1ib75.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://ow.ly/XtR62">http://ow.ly/XtR62</a><br /><br />The American Presiding Bishop (archbishop) responded to the three-year suspension of the Episcopalian Church with amazing grace. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">To quote him: "I stand before you as your brother. I stand before you as a descendant of African slaves, stolen from their native land, enslaved in a bitter bondage, and then even after emancipation, segregated and excluded in church and society. And this conjures that up again, and brings pain. The pain for many will be real. But God is greater than anything. I love Jesus and I love the church. I am a Christian in the Anglican way. And like you, as we have said in this meeting, I am committed to 'walking together' with you as fellow Primates in the Anglican family."<br /><br />As Ruth Gledhill, Contributing Editor for Christian Today, commented: “The holiness in him and in his words is tangible. It is a genuine turning of the other cheek. He is not threatening to walk away; he is pledging his Church to walk together with all the Primates of the Anglican Communion.<br /><br />“It is his grace in the face of terrible rejection that shines out from this whole sorry episode. This grace and sacrifice is what has allowed the Archbishop of Canterbury to preserve the unity of the Anglican Communion.”<br /><br />She speaks of the terrible price exacted from The Episcopal Church in the US and from LGBT communities around the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I, in my anger and shame, am reminded by her of the need to focus on grace and the importance of finding a way forward. <br /><br />One way could be parallel provinces of conservatives and liberals. Another possibility is a more federal model, similar to that of the Lutheran churches of northern Europe and Scandinavia.<br /><br />Please God let Archbishop Welby, an expert in dispute resolution, find a way for the Communion to stop the hurt. We have to find a solution; we’ve been apologising for decades!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-41978581261426990602015-12-08T09:04:00.000+02:002015-12-08T09:04:24.274+02:00DON'T EXPECT STARBUCKS TO SERVE UP JESUS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />When I launched this blog in April I had no idea what it would entail, emotionally or the effort it would take to feed it regularly. I don't have a retentive memory so digging into my past hasn't always been easy. <br /><br />As an extrovert and ENTJ I am not naturally inclined to contemplate my navel, tending always to be planning forward. Besides, for the past year I've been writing a novel, editing and marketing a book on theology as well as earning a living as a journalist and as a PR professional.<br /><br />Dolls there just hasn't been enough time in my days!<br /><br /><b>Bored with myself</b><br />Thirty-one posts later I decided to review what I have done and emerged thoroughly bored with myself. I am also aware of the temptation to linger in my Soweto period, because it was such a wonderful entry to priesthood.<br /><br />As always in ministry, the season had to end.<br /><br />I'd originally been designated to St James in Diepkloof for six months but managed to stretch that to two years. My ministry was focused on HIV/AIDS, my parish was vibrant, I was running a PR agency and serving as Archbishop Jongo's media liaison person. Eventually I would come to understand the gospel references to ‘the spirit being willing but the flesh being weak’. <br /><br />Burnout was on the horizon.<br /><b><br />A course for the horse</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Brian Germond, My incredibly understanding bishop, sent me to St Michaels and All Angels in Weltevreden Park. Although the parish was quite a distance from my home its new rector, the Revd Dr Tim Long, had also recently emerged from a township. <br /><br />He and his wife Kirstie had lived and served at St Bernard Mizeki in Atteridgeville in the Diocese of Pretoria. It wasn’t easy. For example when their geyser burst the wardens took a year to fix it – and this only after a threat to leave. <br /><br />But, they like me, had fallen in love with their community.<br /><br />So I had a boss who understood my need to dance in church. As importantly, he led me through my never ending journey of theological doubt and inquisitiveness. <br /><br />Tim, a former teacher, had a doctorate in biblical studies and didn't bat an eyelid when I needed to question whether Jesus is God. He was erudite, non-judgmental and great at people development. <br /><br /><b>Back to school</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Enrolling for an Honours degree in Systematic Theology was a natural progression and the Revd Dr Peter Wyngaard agreed to be my mentor. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My Prof at UNISA was gregarious and eccentric and encouraged my journalistic approach while others bothered about me not toeing the academic line. (Being in my mid-50s I was more concerned about enjoying the process than passing <i>cum laude</i> although I hated missing that by a few percentages.)<br /><br />Tim was assisted by a retired priest who lived on the property, three self- supporting women priests – known as ‘Tim’s harem’ – and a self- supporting man.<br /><br />There would be two key aspects to the next two years. I was involved in one of the fastest growing parishes in the diocese and I was having to cope with my lost “only white woman” status. That dreadful self centered only child syndrome that I carry inside me. <br /><b><br />Not easy </b><br />Fortunately our ‘self-supporting’ team had all gone through the ordination process together so we were good friends. But it couldn’t have been easy for Tim. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Self supporters tend to decided when they can take leave and just how much time to allocate to the parish. The rector isn’t treated like God’s second cousin and we also usually have a fair amount of control over where we work. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(I sometimes envied the married women who could blame their husbands if they didn’t want to do something or move somewhere.)<br /><br />In short, we are a mixed blessing and the result of an era in which the Church was battling with budgets and we were cheap labour. Most were women and many suffered under chauvinist rectors. Notably, we were not as subservient as young curates. <br /><br /><b>Go forth</b><br />Brian Germond often commented that Christianity is not a spectator sport. The study of Liberation Theology had convinced me that theology without praxis is just hot air. Tim Long who’d emerged from an Assembly of God background lived mission. With all this I was convinced that parishes that just tread water are little more than weekly side shows. <br /><br />It is a gospel imperative that we draw community in and consistently expand our offerings. </span><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">Second class priests?</b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Looking back I think self-supporting ministry is incredibly difficult, largely because Church doesn’t know how to capitalise on this important human resource. Too often a self-supporting priest with invaluable business experience is under-used. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Equally sad is how many self-supporters feel like second class clergy or, at best, volunteers. Part of the problem is that deep down inside few feel like ‘real priests’ unless they are given a parish to run. They are not programmed to view their paying job as an important element of their ministry. <br /><br />Seldom are they reminded that ordination doesn’t hang its hat up at the office door. We are priests 24/7 even if it isn’t all sacramental. I, for example, often found myself acting as unofficial chaplain to a newspaper group I worked for. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Through someone in that office I served a motor cycle club where the parties were wild and hearts were enormous.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">One of the most difficult things about being a self-supporting are the weeks on end in which there is no break from the parish/work cycle. This has a terrible impact on families and relationships.<br /><br /><b>Integration</b><br />An interesting aspect of my move to the leafy suburbs was watching the slow integration of black families into traditionally white parishes. <br /><br />St Mikes was a middle class traditionally white parish with a handful of mostly professional black parishioners. It helped that our rector had worked in a township and Tim was good at drawing black parishioners into leadership roles. <br /><b><br />The dog thing</b><br />But they, like me, missed the traditional choruses. I also had one couple share how irritating it was at tea time when we whiteys discussed our dogs as if they were children. Another noted that we seemed to think Africa started north of the Limpopo, and excluded South Africa. I may not be guilty on the second point but <i>mea culpa</i> on the canine issue. I am always touched when black friends not only asked after my pets’ health but remember their names!<br /><br /><b>An easy mistake</b><br />Speaking of names. I really felt for that ANC Woman’s League representative who mixed up Oscar Pistorius’ surname with Reeva Steenkamp’s when expressing the league’s delight that he had been found guilty of murder. <br /><br />Oh the high indignation and the social media tsunami among those whose grandparents used to call all male gardeners ‘John’ because black names were too difficult to learn! Besides it must have been pretty hectic outside the court as the media competed for comment.<br /><br /><b>Saved by the President</b><br />If only we South Africans could honour our Madiba legacy by giving each other a little leeway. Speaking of which, as we mark the second year since his death, I am reminded of an incident that epitomised his attitude to others.<br /><br />I’d had a hectic shopping spree in Sandton City and was in danger of being late for a meeting. My car was parked in the hotel garage (Those good old Merc days when the concierge would park it for me). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: times, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: large;">The passage to the Convention Centre, which was en-route, had been taped off for security reasons. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Naturally I did what any woman in hurry would. I ducked under the tape and kept going. Around the next corner I bumped into President Nelson Mandela and his entourage heading for an event. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As bodyguards bristled the old man with twinkly eyes knew exactly what I’d done and came to my rescue by shaking my hand and asking “And how are you today?” The guards backed off and we all carried on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Thank you <i>Tata.</i><br /><b><br />What would he think?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It is two years since our national hero died and Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said at a memorial service in St George’s Cathedral this week: "As someone who prayed with Madiba, I cannot help but ask myself: If he were alive today, what would he think of South Africa?”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I’m thinking that it’s up to ordinary South Africans to sustain that legacy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Just as it’s up to Christians, </span><span style="font-family: times, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: large;">not Starbucks or the local supermarket,</span><span style="font-family: times, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: large;"> to put Christ into Christmas.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">You may enjoy this video of the Nelson Mandela Commemoration service in St George's Cathedral</span></b> <span style="font-size: large;">https://youtu.be/Pg5DHxqTpFE</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-3547841941134624322015-11-26T12:19:00.000+02:002015-11-29T09:56:25.150+02:00MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">One of the wonderful advantages of only becoming “churchy” after the age of 50 is that it was much like travelling to a new country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Your senses are in top gear. You get excited about stuff the locals take for granted. You ask: why? You take measure when others feel that’s unacceptable, simply because it’s never been done before. Change doesn’t bother you because you have no norm.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Preconceptions take a dive</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For example, I like so many whiteys, had assumed that Anglican Church services would be far less formal in the townships than in the leafy suburbs. Wrong! In Soweto the best of British liturgy rules. Our Sunday altar party would be at least a dozen people, all superbly trained by their guilds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Our choir was about 30 strong. Although African choruses were integral we also sang those ‘deep English’ hymns from old green hymn books, mostly passed down from parishes on the other side of town that had replaced them with Songs of Fellowship.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Another fallacy is that a black skin guarantees a wonderful singing voice. Not true. The objective is to worship God with the voice you’ve been given.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Incense was mandatory. The swinging of the thurible an art form.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHl1ivkfWNpDG53mdkZMx4HKX1wtB96azlBVJg0sXlTELVZL91mAIudwYIV_K2WWyUzTWunAbMJMKWVLqGY2p0MJG03KVKLMQ_5sI1U1xQ4w_TY5-hH2dLWE1_g8heXmbwD2z3Run1FvY/s1600/Incense039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHl1ivkfWNpDG53mdkZMx4HKX1wtB96azlBVJg0sXlTELVZL91mAIudwYIV_K2WWyUzTWunAbMJMKWVLqGY2p0MJG03KVKLMQ_5sI1U1xQ4w_TY5-hH2dLWE1_g8heXmbwD2z3Run1FvY/s320/Incense039.jpg" width="233" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4O9UB_oChyphenhyphengBGuoU47UF58IhzgUcy49PVBPjL6056d_B3ofOyHE5SL4IazZa4FIsv3cx-_Nr_ULIfx1DYyPUnub745HOZ-sMc-g4p5fRtfv1oscM5q0kIgHpOlxClVP-fjzHet0vA7xk/s1600/jesuschrist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4O9UB_oChyphenhyphengBGuoU47UF58IhzgUcy49PVBPjL6056d_B3ofOyHE5SL4IazZa4FIsv3cx-_Nr_ULIfx1DYyPUnub745HOZ-sMc-g4p5fRtfv1oscM5q0kIgHpOlxClVP-fjzHet0vA7xk/s320/jesuschrist.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="224" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A 45 minute sermon was par for the course and never warranted surreptitious glances at one’s watch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My misconceptions included an assumption that my parishioners would be far more enthralled by a darker skinned Jesus. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">When I suggested we should retouch a large mural so that Jesus would look less like an Oxford don dressed for a Nativity play and more like a darker skinned Middle Eastern Jew, the refusal was gentle but firm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Fact is, the extra white Jesus is deeply loved. Those early missionaries who worked so hard at branding colonial standards as superior did a pretty good job. They were subsequently affirmed by apartheid, advertising, the education system, movies, nursery rhymes and even toys. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What some scientist think Jesus looked like</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In a country where the colour of one’s skin is still a major differentiator a Messiah of a darker hue doesn’t stand much of a chance. Sure, some parishes have painted their statues dark brown but the pointed Caucasian nose is a dead giveaway. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Queen is also loved</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I remember taking a BBC TV crew to film a typical Anglican Eucharist in Soweto. The opening hymn (in their honour) was <i>God Save the Queen</i> and the choir, which was at least 60 strong, opted for a black tie and evening dress code. The film crew’s intention was to get a few good shots and then head back to the pool at their Sandton Hotel. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I had to explain that the parish and gone to extraordinary lengths for their visit, including items by the Sunday School and a major feast afterwards. Initially, they were a bit grumpy but as we headed home three hours later it was declared ‘an experience of a life time’.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, through Archbishop Njongo, I was working closely with Canon Ted Karpf and the Revd Jape Heath in the HIV/AIDS and gay arenas.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Confession time (once again).</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Although I’d grown up in a family that regarded homosexuality as nothing to get excited about, few of my gay and lesbian friends had ever shown affection in public. There was a dinner party to which Jape arrived late. His partner had joined us earlier and they kissed each other hello. It was a Damascus moment. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As I registered my discomfort and was ashamed I suddenly understood how awful it must be for same-sex couples to have to refrain from everyday gestures of affection and the level of trust I’d been afforded in that moment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I’d always understood how incredibly difficult it was for gay priests to honour the Church’s call for celibacy – usually from married heterosexual clergy. But never quite how this stretched to the daily fabric of their lives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It didn’t help that HIV/AIDS was still largely viewed as God’s punishment for homosexuality and depraved promiscuity.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">An inside job</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ironically, the likes of Njongo, Ted and Jape were being hugely undermined by their own Church.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">That brings me to another facet of Anglicanism. Some call it ‘diversity’ others speak of ‘schizophrenia’. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Somebody once told me that theologically the pulpit tends to be 19 years ahead of the pew. For me the fissures were less between clergy and laity and mostly between clergy and clergy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">People in the pews tend to take what they are dished.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The three pillars of Anglicanism, i.e. Scripture, reason and tradition are not adopted or applied in equal measure across the Church. The same priests who laugh off St Paul's injunction that women should cover their heads and are horrified by the Old Testament custom of offering one’s virgin daughter to an overnight visitor, continue to interpret other sacred texts literally.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Instead of examining our sacred texts by taking into consideration who wrote them, the circumstances as the time, the audience and the agenda they ignore reason and wield verses like weapons.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Schism. what schism?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Within our global Anglican Communion we used to laugh off our differences and speak of bonds of affection. We scorned suggestions of a schism because historically the Anglican Church has shown a remarkable ability to accommodate differences. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Jongo would often urge his clergy and laity to come out of their corners of difference and find strength in diversity. He had every right to, having proved this could be done. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I’ve told how at the 1998 Lambeth Conference he’d chaired a 30 hour session, on homosexuality. Sixty bishops of diverse theologies, cultures and traditions had hammered out a proposal on the anvil of their pain. Yet the one and a half hour plenary session that followed ignored their 180 hours of input and produced ‘Resolution I.10: Human Sexuality’.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The resolution upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage i.e. gay priests must be celibate. It also refuses “to advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions or ordaining those involved in same gender unions.” </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Behold the chasm</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Subsequently 182 bishops would see fit to apologise to gay and lesbian Anglicans in a ‘Pastoral Statement’ but the pain and the resolution remain. That fissure would turn into a chasm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I was working for Jongo and picked up stories of how several African bishops and their entourages had been financed by American conservatives who had set up camp just outside Canterbury. At the end of every meeting with the Archbishop they would meet to strategise for the next day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Williams, an academic, a renowned theologian, poet, author and social activist would prove a babe in the political woods.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-NU-VNCK1ww4xocJmn0qRiYeHCTNbEUBZmLDwaMxMrY9KZ-cxhgsOE3sGTZu1qJvTKW9us2H9Tg9ixOl-hzXB8KyxelL_RBTQulnna-SHC5zQZFCM7PIsMpWiA53QmnnRchkJr5cRkw/s1600/Rowan-Williams_1993907c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-NU-VNCK1ww4xocJmn0qRiYeHCTNbEUBZmLDwaMxMrY9KZ-cxhgsOE3sGTZu1qJvTKW9us2H9Tg9ixOl-hzXB8KyxelL_RBTQulnna-SHC5zQZFCM7PIsMpWiA53QmnnRchkJr5cRkw/s320/Rowan-Williams_1993907c.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Despite him having persuaded a gay priest in a relationship to withdraw his controversial candidacy for Bishop of Reading, 250 bishops out of 800 boycotted Lambeth 2008 in protest against his perceived liberal sympathies. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Instead they hived off to Jerusalem where they held a seven day Global African Future Conference (GAFCON) to address the rise of secularism, HIV/AIDS and poverty.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Notably, Welby has indefinitely postponed the 2018 Lambeth and we continue to tip-toe around that awful word “schism”. We can afford to. Each of the 38 provinces that make up the global Communion does its own thing anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">More recently Rowan Williams, has admitted he has "no problem" with legal parity for same-sex couples. But he feels the State rushed into "redefining" marriage without giving the Church enough time to think about it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">His biography, <i>Rowan's Rule</i>, by Rupert Shortt tells how the Archbishop, now a baron, was tackled by a disappointed friend at the Hay Festival: "A venerable Roman Catholic priest and scholar confronted Rowan after the ceremony for 'letting us down', by which he meant gay and pro-gay Catholics hoping for a lead from the Anglicans. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Rowan clasped his head in his hands – a characteristic gesture – in apparent acknowledgement that his questioner (also an old friend) had a point."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He would share with Shortt, "Let me just say that I think the present situation doesn't look very sustainable." </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Gay marriage</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">On gay marriage, he said: "I have no problem with legal parity for same-sex couples. But I'm not sure it's an appropriate use of the state's power to change a social institution. It felt as though we were being bundled into redefining a word without sufficient time to reflect."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">On the failure of General Synod to pass the legislation on women bishops (It has since changed its mind), Shortt writes: "Rowan fell into a pit of depression on returning to Lambeth, during which he hardly spoke to anyone but [his wife] Jane – invariably a model of calm as well as charm."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The book also tells of the massive emotional toll Williams suffered over the sexuality battle. In 2005 he had slumped against a doorway during a bishops' meeting and said to a colleague, 'I can't tell you how much I hate this job.' </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Shortt’s own recent comment is, "It seems to me that the Church of England has got to the point on the formal affirmation of same-sex relationships that it had reached with remarried divorcees 40 years ago. A once rigid discipline is being gradually relaxed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"Some traditionalists will see this as yet another example of the way Anglicans have buckled in response to changing attitudes in society at large. But that is not where Rowan Williams is coming from. The pro-gay arguments he voiced in the 1980s and 90s sprang from a belief that church teaching on sexuality might evolve for solid theological reasons, not through a desperation to keep up with the times at any cost.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In describing current teaching as very unstable, Dr Williams is echoing opinions also voiced by other retired archbishops.” </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">More important things</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">With millions of refugees needing help, terrorism and police brutality you’d think we Christians would stop worrying how people choose to express love. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This week I presided at the funeral of a parish stalwart. His last words to his children were: “Love each other, don’t fight.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A prophet for our times.</span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">You may find these interesting: </span><br />
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At COP21, the UN climate summit in Paris, Archbishop
Thabo Makgoba joined other members of the international ecumenical grouping,
the ACT Alliance, in handing over petitions signed by 1,7 million people,
urging political leaders to take decisive action to curb global warming and
deliver a strong, fair deal that helps poor countries adapt to their changing
climate. In the photo with Archbishop Thabo is Cristiana Figueres, who as
executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is the UN's
top official dealing with the issue.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Arcbishop Thabo Makgoba's reflection on Advent : <a href="http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2015/11/audio-archbishop-thabos-reflections-on.html">http://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2015/11/audio-archbishop-thabos-reflections-on.html</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: yellow;">Rupert Shortt speaking about difficulties Christians are experiencing across the world <a href="http://ow.ly/V5TRd">//ow.ly/V5TRd</a></span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-92101022319945601152015-11-14T10:41:00.000+02:002015-11-14T10:50:27.690+02:00THE CORRUPTION OF A PRIEST<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">’ve skipped a week in my postings. Partly because I had to fly to Jo'burg for a church committee meeting.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr5i7fJwA888WGkuJeH4gwQT1J4UNRXWUH7k06cjsD1LLRBKtHmtkumlebzSE7UDNEuEa5BWGMWcPsquApfiBhP6jzX2SsReEmZmRQNGTpPu1-0V04HO5klvtyDOdP20xnQpRWraHHY8k/s1600/Screen-shot-2011-11-24-at-11.14.00-PM.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr5i7fJwA888WGkuJeH4gwQT1J4UNRXWUH7k06cjsD1LLRBKtHmtkumlebzSE7UDNEuEa5BWGMWcPsquApfiBhP6jzX2SsReEmZmRQNGTpPu1-0V04HO5klvtyDOdP20xnQpRWraHHY8k/s320/Screen-shot-2011-11-24-at-11.14.00-PM.png" /></a><br /><br />Mostly because I have been doing some serious soul searching. <br /><br />In my previous post, I recounted how the heady ‘New South Africa/’Rainbow Nation’ era had coincided with my ordination and a ministry in Soweto. Yet, even as I was recording those happy times, our University of Cape Town students were forcing their way into the parliamentary precinct and were being fired on by police stun guns. They and other students across the country were demonstrating against proposed fee hikes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />There was a point at which I wondered if I shouldn’t stop writing the blog post and hare across the mountain to join those kids. Would they accept a granny activist priest in their midst? <br /><br /><b>SA in demo mode</b><br />I couldn’t put this to the test. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Our nearest township was also on the march, protesting against the arrest of a community leader who has campaigned incessantly for better policing. Our village road to Cape Town was blocked. Just as it would be a few days later when Anglicans staged a silent vigil outside St George’s Cathedral. <br /><br />South Africa is in permanent demo mode. Once again we speak of end times.<br /><br /> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8lU6J1_Z7lFfmTeobDwLZqS2jXdWKqTR5na6ydKidon9vM9BSUwVVU0HbYsytQtdgx2SU8rPIf6Yjyf0Cn8sKMmVyD96KsRzuUbEJadTz3PI3Z7WnsehmNszVxiqtOO9XCEWyPEYw9Us/s1600/Nyallo+Makgoba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8lU6J1_Z7lFfmTeobDwLZqS2jXdWKqTR5na6ydKidon9vM9BSUwVVU0HbYsytQtdgx2SU8rPIf6Yjyf0Cn8sKMmVyD96KsRzuUbEJadTz3PI3Z7WnsehmNszVxiqtOO9XCEWyPEYw9Us/s320/Nyallo+Makgoba.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Among the non-partisan university students arrested outside Parliament was our Archbishop Thabo Makgoba’s son, Nyakallo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Kgotsi Chikane was another. His dad Frank is President of the Apostolic Faith Mission International and a former Director General of the presidency of South Africa. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Notably both the high profile clergy fathers support the protests and are proud of their sons.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f1f1f1; color: #888888; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: start;"> Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches (right) comforts Archbishop Thabo</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Archbishop Thabo commented, “As parents we find it difficult to hold back our tears. This is a hard one… they are kids. We had a wonderful conversation with him and I told him welcome to adulthood, and I have to be strong for him,” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />He added, “I told him be strong, and not forget dad wants you to have a social conscience and equally to pass.” <br /><br /><b>A matter of principle</b><br />Yes, he worried about Nyakallo and the other kids being injured, “but otherwise they made a choice for a principle… this is a principled position and it is not about him or an ability to pay, it’s about the rest of people who are poor and have to pay.”<br /><br />The following week-end our State President lambasted church leaders for their involvement. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This confirmed my suspicion that some of the kids who were arrested while Parliament did a ‘Marie Antoinette’ and carried on with a budget speech had been cherry picked for arrest.<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">On social media the dominant hashtag was #FeesMustFall. Our State President announced that the proposed increase for 2016 would be put on hold. As the situation escalated government was promising to consider free tertiary education. The big question being how to fund this. <br /><br />Corruption has left our state coffers very low. But deep down in my soul I know that this is about so much more than university fees. <br /><br /><b>Where were we?</b><br />Where were we adults as government steadily reduced its subsidies for tertiary institutions to the point that they have been forced to raise fees dramatically in order to survive? Why didn’t we protest? <br /><br />Where were we when black students, two decades after Nelson Mandela was sworn in, were being made to feel like second class citizens on their campus? <br /><br />Where were we when our politicians slurped at the trough of excess?<br /><br />What did we, white and black parents, do to correct racist remarks at the dinner table. How many priests, pastors, imams and rabbis have preached on racism or corruption in recent years?<br /><br />What have I done to stem corruption other than to post remarks on social media? In fact, to my eternal shame, I’ve contributed to our system of bribes. <br /><br /><b>My corruption</b><br />I own two semi-detached student houses and two cottages behind the University of Johannesburg and one Friday afternoon several years ago I was called by my house manager. The City Power guys were there to disconnect the electricity. I’d forgotten to pay the bill. The accounts office was closed so there was no way she could rush there and pay. <br /><br />I explained to the disconnection guy that I had 17 students who needed to cook, bath, study and watch TV that week-end. That I was in Cape Town. He was sympathetic and had a solution. For R600 he would postpone the disconnection until the Monday afternoon which would give us time to sort the problem out. <br /><br />It took a few minutes to call a hardware store proprietor a block or two from the student houses and he was happy to lend us R600. Problem solved. All was well. <br /><br />Not quite. <br /><br /><b>No right to cast stones</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I hadn’t hesitated to do what I had preached and pontificated against. I was no better than the guys who had strategically timed their visit to the student houses. Only a lousy steward would have forgotten to pay the bill. My own value system had been corrupted. <br /><br />It was a humbling and deeply troubling experience.<br /><br />An architect friend used to speak about God being in the detail of a design. I believe it is equally true of our lives and of our national well-being. <br /><br /><b>Stepping off my soap box</b><br />Okay, I’ll get off my soap box but I must share that I have since my previous blog post experienced real pain. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">How did I allow the cocoon of self-interest to be spun? At my age do I still have time to make a difference? Or do I sit back and pray that our youth will do better than I did?<br /><br />I don’t have an answer but I do know that I am increasingly proud to see the Anglican Church in Southern Africa don the mantle of prophetic ministry.<br /><br />It seems that Archbishops are tempered by the challenges they face – Desmond Tutu by apartheid, Njongo Ndungane by Third World Debt and HIV/AIDS, Thabo Makgoba by our education crisis and corruption. <br /><br />I am reminded of the folly of denying that Church and politics are first cousins, perhaps even more intimately related. It is when we allow politics to drive religion that the wheels fall off. <br /><br /><b>#AllLivesMatter</b><br />To quote Archbishop Thabo: “Covenant is entirely ubuntu-shaped – we find our humanity through the humanity of others – we flourish through promoting the flourishing of others. SePedi has a proverb for this: <i>Mphiri o tee ga o lle</i> – one bangle makes no sound. But working in harmony can create a beautiful symphony!"<br /><br /><b>#WeAllHaveAPartToPlay </b><br />The challenge is to identify our roles and to play our part. <br /><br />Addressing a protesting crowd outside Parliament in September Archbishop Thabo said, "We need to stop marching against corruption. Yes, you heard me right. We need to stop debating and discussing anti-corruption. We need to start being pro-courage." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />He reminded that courage is not the absence of fear but the conquering of it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I assure myself that if we could overcome apartheid the struggle against corruption can also be won. And methinks its time to re-read some Liberation Theology.<br /><br /><b>Audio links you may find interesting:</b><br />In April Archbishop Desmond Tutu issued a stern warning to Government <a href="http://ow.ly/UCRVe">http://ow.ly/UCRVe</a><br /><br />Archbishop Thabo speaks to radio host Tim Modise about courage: h<a href="http://ow.ly/UCWcd">ttp://ow.ly/UCWcd</a><br /><br />Nyakallo Makgoba speaks to <i>AM</i> Live about being arrested <a href="http://ow.ly/UDKcA">http://ow.ly/UDKcA</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-76466875491862916822015-11-02T05:25:00.001+02:002015-11-05T11:11:37.032+02:00POLITICS, SEX AND BRIDGE <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I am certain that if one grows up with Gentle Jesus on one shoulder and a cute guardian angel on the other your entry to priesthood would be quite different to mine. God was not an issue in my home so I’m not sure whether my family were agnostic or atheist. Dinner table conversations tended to revolve around politics, economics, topics such as the Kinsey Report on male sexual behaviour and my grandmother’s latest ‘brainless’ bridge bid. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xuymi41YVy2yiVfJMcvW-KO6qibSH2J1J58r4ki-P6HnzvY3Kw9eYybb1RDsRoRvmIUh0k80yM8Dah44kQOtAs3oLUhdXDataBUwOcEgJjLSzbNWUH2GMIe0ChcJE_9Ey7_dTVBpyMY/s1600/bridge.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xuymi41YVy2yiVfJMcvW-KO6qibSH2J1J58r4ki-P6HnzvY3Kw9eYybb1RDsRoRvmIUh0k80yM8Dah44kQOtAs3oLUhdXDataBUwOcEgJjLSzbNWUH2GMIe0ChcJE_9Ey7_dTVBpyMY/s320/bridge.jpg" /></a><br /><br />The tone was often heated but never boring.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><b>THE END IS NIGH</b><br />Perhaps the reason I’ve remained optimistic about South Africa is that I’ve been hearing predictions about my homeland’s demise ever since I was five years old. As with so many diet fads, it just hasn’t happened. <br /><br />How clearly I remember my grandfather, who’d just failed to win a United Party seat in parliament, declaring in 1948 that the end was nigh. The Nationalist Party, architects of legislated apartheid, had clocked a landslide win.<br /><br />My grandmother was more concerned about being raped by black men. This did require a basic sex lesson over breakfast which went largely over my five year old head. But I loved the hat pin she gave me as my very own weapon to carry in my school satchel. <br /><br /><b>A RELIGIOUS SMORGASBORD</b><br />The nuns at the nearest convent had accepted me at ‘big’ school early because I could read and knew my times tables. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eJlNJLmcR3IkWlv3wFZGiJKaoFh4BUzbuXgxb8IplFjHkm6v7RShF4I9QKlk-RGxuPtJuKgqcPpcitPsMk3qTZMlfJODP5njX14kc1XlCKZ40ohPEeLPXZzYo6T6D3XkNL55fK3ew3g/s1600/mother-of-jesus-christ.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eJlNJLmcR3IkWlv3wFZGiJKaoFh4BUzbuXgxb8IplFjHkm6v7RShF4I9QKlk-RGxuPtJuKgqcPpcitPsMk3qTZMlfJODP5njX14kc1XlCKZ40ohPEeLPXZzYo6T6D3XkNL55fK3ew3g/s320/mother-of-jesus-christ.jpg" /></a>They also offered a smorgasbord of Mary, Jesus, God (in that order) and a host of useful saints. It is a credit to my doting family that there were no snorts of derision when I advised my grandmother to consult St Christopher whenever she lost her spectacles.<br /><br />Ironically it was because I’d been taught by my elders ‘to think’ that by 14 I was seriously questioning their politics and my own perception of black people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My first mentor was a ‘domestic helper’ who used to clean our bathrooms at the convent boarding school I later attended. How patiently she answered my questions about life in the township and her family. <br /><br />We’d always had ‘help’ in our home but I’d never perceived them as having a life beyond my personal needs.<br /><br /><b>BEWARE GERMS</b><br />Although our domestic helpers (note the plural) lived on our property I was not allowed into their quarters. A while before I started school my mother had shown me a tiny bug in a basin and explained that germs were a thousand times smaller which was why we couldn’t see them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And, she added, there were lots in those rooms in the backyard. So I was never to visit them and never to eat off a helper’s plate or take mealie pap out of a pot. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Oh, and it wasn’t a good idea to play touch tongues with the neighbour’s kids either – those damn germs were everywhere!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />I wish I could tell you I’ll never forget the name of my first black mentor. I'm not sure if I ever knew it because the friendship ended quite soon. The Irish nun in charge of our boarding section forbade the friendship and the cleaning lady was allocated to another part of the school. As the sister explained, it was ‘a class thing’.<br /><br /><b>NO COUNTRY CLUB</b><br />Not that I had much social clout to spare.<br /><br />Although my grandfather was a pharmacist, politician and intellectual he’d died when I was about six, having dropped while on a walk along the main Lyndhurst road. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We had a large property and I still remember a ‘green mamba’, what we used to call the buses for black people, slowly winding its way up our long driveway. The driver had emptied the vehicle of passengers and brought his body to us. <br /><br />My father inherited the family canvas business but left most of the shares in his mother’s name so that when my mother divorced him there wasn’t a very generous maintenance settlement. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As a single-parent my mother couldn’t afford private school fees so a convent boarding school was our best option. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />I’m sure many who read this will horrified by the overt racism in this tale. Fact is even if we didn’t have Country Club membership, we whites were privileged beyond sensitivity. Even the kindest, most religious folk lived in blissful ignorance of the cruelties of apartheid. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Frankly, my dears, many were of the opinion that the early missionaries hadn’t done much to civilise the locals. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Religious folk, including our Prime Minister, a pastor, were really clever at quoting the Bible to justify legislated segregation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Most of us probably knew more about other planets than we did about the nearest township that provided our labour. Incidentally those townships were spatially designed so that if the ‘natives’ became troublesome they could be easily closed off with half a dozen tanks. <br /><br />I’m not going to take you too deep down that atrocious pit. You may not be able to bear the pain. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Suffice to say that by the time I matriculated my political genes had kicked in. I was, and still am, aware that sorry doesn’t do the trick.<br /><br /><b>BYE BYE PARTY POLITICS</b><br />As I look back on my priesting I am reminded of the pain of having to disassociate myself from party politics. I cannot tell you what it meant to serve as an observer in our first democratic elections in 1994. The hopes, the dreams, the path towards a rainbow nation. Our beloved Madiba.<br /><br />Looking back entering the priesthood was much like matriculating. So many years focusing on a particular goal. Then you leave school and the door opens on another chapter in your life. The expectations are invariably unrealistic and reality can be harsh. <br /><br />However, my years in Soweto were a privilege. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 2001 there was such a huge sense of new beginnings and of an emerging middle class. I’m often amused by those who are surprised by the growth of the cell phone industry in this country. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What did they expect? By far the majority of our population had not been served by Telkom, our state owned telecoms provider. There were very few landlines in Diepkloof but I remember so well my first ‘Baptism class’. Of about 15, mostly young unemployed women, by far the majority owned a cell phone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For the first time in their lives my young parishioners were experiencing connectivity!<br /><br /><b>AN INTEREST TREADMILL</b><br />Meanwhile Archbishop Njongo was waging his battle to have third world debt cancelled. Among the many lessons I learned from him is that the debt incurred by emerging nations had already been repaid several times over. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They were on a hamster wheel fueled by interest. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">More money was pouring into the global north than the other way round! Jongo’s allies included the world renowned economist Prof Jeffrey Sachs. They were both part of the Jubilee 2000 movement, named after the Biblical exhortation to observe a Jubilee year once every fifty years, in which debts would be forgiven. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As they campaigned for the UN’s Millennium Development goals and cancellation of debt for highly indebted poor countries they were joined by U2 frontman Bono. (It was never boring working for Jongo.)<br /><br /><b>A FOUNDATION</b><br />At yet another level, Jongo had Ted Karpf serving under him as an Episcopal Provincial Canon Missioner. This was on a HIV/Aids project called <i>Isiseko Sokomeleza</i> (Building the Foundation). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">You may remember an earlier blog in which I mentioned how the then President of the United States, Bill Clinton had agreed that Ted should be seconded to Africa. <br /><br />In 2001 Ted was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop an international development pilot project under an initiative with the 10-million member Anglican Church of the Province of Southern Africa </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">i.e. Jongo’s domain. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and St Helena) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The project would run for nine years supported by the UK Department for International Development and the US President's PEPFAR programme. These provided more than USD10 million a year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Two years later our ‘Big Gun’, as my son used to call Canon Ted, was also named HIV/AIDS Coordinator of the world-wide Anglican Communion. He developed faith-based responses and community planning programmes globally. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Traditionally the SA National Aids Council is chaired by our Deputy State President who at that time was Jacob Zuma. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It may surprise you that in the midst of the Mbeki denialism and Health Minister Manto Tshabalala’s much derided beetroot campaign he provided <i>Isiseko Sokomeleza</i> with welcome support. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This included addressing the All African Anglican Conference on HIV/AIDS in 2001.<br /><br />Zuma lamented that the stigma attached to AIDS had resulted in horrific forms of discrimination and violence including rejection, ridicule and death. He spoke of the many families who had suffered untold pain and discrimination. <br /> <br />Jongo, who opened the conference warned the 130 delegates representing 34 countries, "We have an alarming tendency to be dazzled by statistics and a great need to put a human face to the people who are infected and affected."<br /><br />It would become his mantra.<br /><br /><b>FORGET LEVITICUS</b><br />Ted was also a gay rights activist with a wonderful son and daughter from a marriage of 13 years. He'd ‘come out’ at age 40 in 1988, reporting that the role models were “few and far” between, but sexual liaisons were not. His partner for 12 years was HIV+ AIDS activist Warren W. Buckingham III. <br /><br />At that conference I met another gay priest, Jape Heath. HIV positive, he was a founder of INERELA+ an international network of religious leaders, lay and ordained, women and men, living with, or personally affected, by HIV.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Both men would go on to earn global reputations for their work in the HIV/AIDS arena. Both would also underscore the invaluable contribution gay priests can make and why they deserve better from their Church.<br /><br />Although my lifelong best friend was lesbian, she didn’t move in church circles so I’d never understood the unholy hurt religious lesbian and gay people experience.<br /><br />In short, I’d discovered another insidious form of discrimination that still runs deep. <br /><br />My friendship with Ted and Jape would add another dimension to my ministry as I increasingly counselled deeply troubled Christian men and women who had opted for heterosexual marriage in a desperate attempt to deny their sexuality and to please God. <br /><br />I live in the hope that if we could stop quoting the Scriptures to justify slavery and apartheid this is also possible regarding lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and trans (LGBT) rights.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-46234635838022786482015-10-26T13:39:00.001+02:002016-12-01T12:31:43.052+02:00WHEN IN DOUBT BLAME GAYS AND PROMISCUITY<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ten of us were priested in St Mary’s Cathedral, Johannesburg on 29 June 2001. (This time I didn’t wear mother’s pearls). We were a strange mix of middle aged self -supporting whiteys and black full timers yet we had grown extraordinarily close. We’d studied together, survived the discernment, been deaconed and shared inevitable hurts. <br /><br />My wonderful Sowetan parish was there in full force.<br /><br />Our new bishop, Brian Germond (my first rector), washed our feet and dried them with white towels – one for each of us and with our names embroidered on them. I still have mine which reads ‘Moruti Loraine’. Moruti being southern Sotho and Tswana for teacher or priest. Genderless, it is far more useful as a honorific for women than ‘Father’. <br /><br />As I’ve mentioned before, my son has referred to me as ‘Dad’ since my ordination which leaves some folk assuming that I am lesbian. Among many special gifts I received that day was a bunch of dried imphepha. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_hYMvKFV60gWmc7dXaRi1cOVWT2wzu_nGLyJypDlBgUakpjxa_pjkXvcpDiTyTjqGwzLnFqgy2FD-_fEiRQlzGOHNzC439VOZrS8nYY7UyJOrlPsH9E7cVwX7ip9qxLD-JJORkIhatg/s1600/Imphepha.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_hYMvKFV60gWmc7dXaRi1cOVWT2wzu_nGLyJypDlBgUakpjxa_pjkXvcpDiTyTjqGwzLnFqgy2FD-_fEiRQlzGOHNzC439VOZrS8nYY7UyJOrlPsH9E7cVwX7ip9qxLD-JJORkIhatg/s320/Imphepha.jpg" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In African tradition the herb is burned to ward off evil spirits and it was from one of several black priests who had taken the time and trouble to teach me about his culture.<br /><br /><b>Celebrating in another language</b><br />I was determined to not just celebrate the Eucharist in English and opted to learn to do parts in Sesotho because I had spent much time in Lesotho and had a small vocabulary. Again my black friends galloped to my rescue. <br /><br />Mind you, I was admonished by one priest for not opting for Zulu. I lacked the courage to confess that I was trying to clear my system of the detested Fanagalo. This Zulu-based pidgin language was used primarily on the mines and often adopted by employers to speak to their domestic help.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Looking back I am amazed at how embracing my parish was. They never made me self-conscious of my white skin or my ignorance of their cultures and traditions. Yet I must have made some terrible mistakes. <br /><br />There’s the wonderful story of how the renowned Fr Trevor Huddleston, who also strove to celebrate in the vernacular, had over many years begun the Eucharist using a word that meant ‘erection’. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">No one ever had the heart to tell the much admired anti-apartheid activist.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Another culture</b><br />My rector, Fr Charles May, now also a bishop, was generous and gentle as he allowed me to assume more parish duties. One of my favourites was being sent to bless the mokoti, the traditional ceremony when a new daughter-in-law is welcomed into her husband’s parental home. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">On a Sunday before the wedding she arrives with a kist filled with gifts such as linen and pots and pans and is accompanied by female relatives and friends. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Photographer Monica Dart blogs about the first isiXhosa traditional wedding she was asked to shoot. She writes of her heart racing with happiness and how it felt like being in a new country. I can identify with that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Dancing at the mokoti event or in the bridal procession and singing choruses was an exciting taste of a different spirituality. I was beginning to understand why the late Duncan Buchanan, known as ‘the dancing bishop’, had taken so much trouble to explain that it was okay to be an extrovert in the Church. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>A sad side too.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The HIV/AIDS pandemic was cutting a swathe across Africa. In South Africa the situation was exacerbated by the fact that our State President Thabo Mbeki had been persuaded by global denialists that HIV did not cause AIDS. <br /><br />The pipe smoking intellectual had succeeded our beloved Madiba and was a popular choice among most whites and the business community. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What endeared him to them were statements such as: "I am certain that South Africa will not succeed in its efforts to rebuild, reconstruct and develop herself if she does not inspire all our people, black and white, to accept that they share an equal and shared responsibility and opportunity to work together to ensure a happy future for all."<br /><br />But his AIDS denialism struck terror in some of us. In 2000 Mbeki scoffed at the claim that the HIV virus could cause a deficiency syndrome i.e. AIDS in the South African context had entered an unholy era. One that would court charlatans and cost taxpayers a fortune. <br /><br />Denialism would also subsequently be blamed for </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">300 000 AIDS related deaths – by far the majority being black people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Singing off the same hymn sheet was our Minister of Health. Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang declared the desperately-needed anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) poison. She preached that the only solution was nutrition. Garlic, beetroot and lemons topped the list. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> It was great fodder for cartoonists.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Sadly, while nutrition is key for infected folk, that wisdom was tainted by denialism.<br /><br />I have often wondered about that. Manto was a friend. She’d earned her medical degree in Russia and had registered some major achievements in other African countries. Did she really believe that HIV didn’t cause AIDS or was she pandering to the President to hold her cabinet post?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Although the virus was creeping into the white community many of the infected enjoyed the benefit of medical aid and had access to ARVs. For them it was becoming a manageable chronic disease. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Moreover, their doctors and medical aids were sworn to secrecy so publicly HIV/AIDS was viewed as being suffered primarily by black, gay and promiscuous people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Stigma a killer</b><br />What a potent brew. Its name was Stigma and it ruled supreme in religious circles where AIDS was all too often pronounced as being God’s punishment. (My, how we religious folk excel at exhorting the bible and God to underpin our own ignorance and prejudice!) <br /><br />Very few Sowetans had access to medical aid. Everyone else was at the mercy of the public health system. Because of the social stigma people at risk weren’t testing. They didn’t want to be spotted at the AIDS clinic. By the time they sought help their CD4 counts were so low little could be done. <br /><br />Beetroot was no help at all. <br /><br />Sometimes I felt I was involved in a fast funerals franchise. In Avalon cemetery graves were being dug less than a metre apart. The space between two open graves would sometimes crumble and I had a server whose job was to stop me from falling in. It never happened but there were several close calls.<br /><br />In those days funerals were usually held over a week-end so mourners could attend. This translated into traffic jams between the church and the cemetery that could hold the cortege up for over an hour. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There were so many burials at a time that occasionally I couldn’t find ‘my’ burial site. The lay ministers had standing instructions to do the internment if I didn’t make it.<br /><br />Initially I thought it was my white ignorance but felt better when I learned it had happened to Fr Charles as well. <br /><br />One major mistake I did make was when a prominent parishioner died of natural causes while Fr Charles was out of town. Imagine my delight when I discovered how easy it was to spot his grave – the family awning had his surname emblazoned across the roof. Such a sensible arrangement. Problem was, so did at least a dozen others. I hadn’t realised that the deceased had owned a funeral parlour.<br /><br /><b>Back to the AIDS debacle</b><br />There were other complications. Grandmothers who should have been cared for by family in their old age were having to raise their grand-children. This was invariably on their meagre pension. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Our orphanages were filling up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Although government did introduce a child subsidy many grandmothers didn’t seek the much needed financial help because, as one shared with me, “I don’t want my grand-children to be known as AIDS orphans”.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I am told we have about three million children orphaned by AIDS today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Of course it is about so much more than statistics and funerals. It becomes personal as one interacts with the infected and the affected. But I was inordinately blessed to be working for an archbishop who would declare, “We must shout from the rooftops that AIDS is not a sin.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He'd imported Revd Ted Karpf, with the blessing of US President Bill Clinton, to head up the Anglican Church’s HIV/AIDS desk in Africa. <br /><br />Njongo knew that one of our biggest challenges was ignorance among our clergy and Church leadership. To this end we added a PowerPoint presentation to our arsenal. Although it was my job to produce it I had a great deal of help from Ted and Jongo kept a beady eye on the project. <br /><br /> One slide showed a grandmother with half a dozen orphans under her care. (we had permission to use it.) Little did I know that it would cause me immense personal pain. <br /><br />The presentation had just been approved by Jongo and was ready for use when I got an evening call from my diocese asking if I could help out. The person who was scheduled to do a Clergy Day presentation in the morning had called in sick. Was I able to talk on anything?<br /><br />Yes, I could. There was much scrambling to find a projector and next morning I faced my fellow clergy, all bushy tailed and eager with our new presentation.<br /><br />Big mistake! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In that environment I was not representing Njongo, I was a newly ordained junior priest at my own Clergy Day. Looking back I should have prefaced the presentation with more humility and care.<br /><br />When that slide came up. An angry priest accused me of being racist. I tried to explain that white grannies were highly unlikely to find themselves in the same situation. But the discussion escalated. There was deep resentment that I was talking about good black Anglicans being infected. I, who was so used to being accepted by my black parish, was being treated with anger and suspicion. It hurt. Badly. <br /><br />I didn’t handle it well. The person who had arranged the day didn’t do too well either. A friend who tried to come to my rescue admitted afterwards said he’d been caught flatfooted. <br /><br />I went home to lick my wounds and was followed shortly by a priest who I doubt had ever spent much time in a township. He had come to berate me about my ‘overt racism’ and need to respect senior clergy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In a way he was a blessing. Armed with my former newsroom vocabulary I was able to let off steam by kicking him out.<br /><br />Nonetheless I was deeply hurt. The scar still itches. But it was an invaluable lesson in humility and PR, the game I was supposed to be so good at. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was also a clear signal that most clergy were woefully ignorant and not well equipped to minister in the AIDS arena. Although AIDS Committees were being formed and candles were being lit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Later two ordinands in my diocese died, despite our bishop’s commitment to HIV/AIDS. One was a large hearty young man who had attended theology classes with me. Asked to visit him in a hospice, I didn’t recognise the skeletal patient I was directed to. He died in my arms 15 minutes later. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I remember howling like a banshee in the middle of the street outside. Even without access to ARVs he could have been saved if we’d only known early enough.<br /><br />Although by that time their parishes had AIDS Committees neither of the young men had felt they could reveal their status or ask for help. <br /><br />Njongo and Ted had an uphill battle and it is a credit to them others that the World Health Organisation (WHO) would come to recognise faith based communities as key to the fight against the pandemic. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />I am yet to have a parishioner come up to the altar rail and ask for special prayer because he or she has tested positive. Stigma still rules.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-54635861308562923092015-10-18T15:32:00.000+02:002015-11-29T18:03:14.809+02:00ANGLICANS OPTING FOR SEPARATE BEDROOMS?<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />By the time I was deaconed my spirituality may have been shot but I admit to feeling I’d died and gone to heaven. <br /><br /><b>A political tango</b><br />On entering the Church I’d handed in my ANC membership card but I was still a political animal. So working as Archbishop Njongo Ndungane’s media person was more than a privilege. It was a tango with the country’s ‘Struggle’ history. An adrenaline high. <br /><br />Njongo attended school at Lovedale College in Alice, cradle of many black political leaders. It was while serving a three-year sentence on Robben Island as a political prisoner that he received his calling to priesthood. Upon release he had a two year banning order slapped on him. <br /><br />I initially assumed that he was such a stern critic of government’s failures to deliver on its promises to the poor because he’d come out of the PAC, a party left of the ANC. But I would come to understand that it was his equal commitment to South Africa and the Kingdom of Heaven that made him a moral force difficult to ignore.<br /><br />Famously he even made Nelson Mandela mad. Criticising Madiba’s government for, among other things, failing to ensure that old-age pensioners in the Eastern Cape got their money, he reportedly said, “Madiba magic won’t be solving our problems.” <br /><br />Although Thabo Mbeki had succeeded Madiba by the time I started working for Njongo, I found it exceedingly difficult dealing with the president’s director general, the Revd Frank Chikane. Clearly the ANC leadership had still not fully forgiven the Archbishop. <br /><br /><b>A new experience</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In many ways Njongo’s Africanism was a new experience for me. It was less about race and more about the future. He was quick to condemn inefficiency and corruption and I revelled in drafting his speeches and press statements. <br /><br />He taught me that the only ‘African time’ was ‘on time’. A lesson which stood me in great stead in township churches where they tended to be relatively empty as the service started and slowly filled in time for Communion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In Alexandra, where I was standing in for several weeks, I restarted my first service after 40 minutes, explaining that I wanted everyone taking Communion to have had the benefit of confession and absolution. Ninety-percent were on time the following week. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Incidentally Jongo’s first political experience was as a teenager in the Cape flats township, Langa. On a Sunday afternoon, on their way to a soccer match, he and some friends took a short cut through Freedom Square where Robert Sobukwe, founder of the PAC, was addressing a crowd. <br /><br />Njongo recalls, “We stopped to listen and he captured our minds with his charisma, his authority, his directedness. He was talking about the pass laws being at the heart and core of the oppression of the black person and that we had to do something about it.” <br /><br />Years later with a master’s degree in theology from King’s College London, Njongo would become bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman. Among many other achievements he represented the Anglican Church twice at the Vatican. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /><b>The last 'normal' Lambeth</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Also important for me was the fact that he had chaired the 1998 Lambeth Conference committee for human sexuality. The consequences still reverberate. It was probably our last ‘normal’ Lambeth. 2008 was boycotted by about 200 bishops. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Now Lambeth 2018 is looking iffy. <br /><br />Convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury almost every 10 years since 1867, a Lambeth Conference is, in Anglicanspeak, one of four 'instruments of unity'. The others being the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates’ Meeting. <br /><br />Unlike the Pope, Canterbury is a figurehead and the Communion is an international association of autonomous national and regional churches. So Lambeth is not a governing body it simply expresses "the mind of the communion" on issues of the day. Its resolutions are not legally binding but historically they have been influential i.e. until now. <br /><br /><b>Not of one mind</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Fact is the global Communion is not of one mind on lesbian and gay (LGBT) issues. While America has a gay bishop, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda are pressing for the criminalisation of homosexuality. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The 1998 Conference, called by Archbishop George Carey, is where the proverbial hit the fan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Of the 749 bishops who attended 11 were women. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Some Provinces had finally crossed that gender Rubicon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The hottest topic was homosexuality. In those days agenda matters were first discussed in committees and then debated in open plenary sessions conducted on Westminster Parliamentary lines. <br /><br />Our </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Archbishop Njongo </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">chaired that committee, a 30 hour session involving 60 bishops from across the world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It is important to bear in mind that there can be a vast difference in how, for instance, a bishop from North America and one from Uganda interprets the Scriptures. <br /><br /><b>An anvil of pain</b><br />Years later Njongo would say, “Our work was hammered out on the anvil of pain”. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Despite massive theological and cultural difference the committee came up with a proposal. The idea was to avoid too much detail and allow the 38 Anglican provinces to return home and discuss the matter. This was supported by another 140 bishops. <br /><br />But conservative politics won the day. George Carey yielded to pressure for a fuller resolution on homosexuality. So the proposal was debated in a mere one-and-a-half hour open plenary session of 600 bishops, spouses, observers and guests. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">All in the full glare of the media! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />The result was ‘Resolution I.10: Human Sexuality’ which is often referred to as the demise of our global Communion. <br /><br />In short it upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union. It declares that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage i.e. gay priests must be celibate. It also refuses “to advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions or ordaining those involved in same gender unions.” <br /><br />The Primates (archbishops) and the Consultative Council were directed to establish a means of monitoring the work done on the subject of human sexuality in the Communion and to share statements and resources. <br /><br />Resolution 1:10 was passed by a vote of 526–70. The 180 executive hours put in by Njongo’s committee were ignored. In fact an amendment stating that "homosexual practice" (not necessarily orientation) is "incompatible with Scripture" was passed by a vote of 389-190. <br /><br />Subsequently 182 bishops issued a public apology to gay and lesbian Anglicans. They included Brazil, Canada, Central Africa, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. <br /><br /><b>Gay was normal</b><br />You may wonder why a heterosexual priest is so concerned about LGBT issues. Bear in mind that I was middle aged before I took out my spiritual insurance policy and joined the Church. In my circles ‘gay’ was normal. My lifelong best friend is a lesbian. <br /><br />Over the years I have ministered to parents, counselled gay priests, waded through shattered heterosexual marriages entered into by gay men desperate to live by ‘Christian’ values. I have feared for the lives of guilt ridden Christian teenagers. <br /><br />Resolution1:10 has been one of my biggest challenges as a priest. <br /><br />More recently I edited a book for the Church of Sweden in which Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologians argued the case for reinterpreting our sacred texts. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">How I wish I’d had access to their reasoning earlier in my ministry.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br />The Anglican Church continues to be affected by Resolution 1:10. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I’m not declaring our conservatives wrong. But surely we can all be drawn out of the corners of our conviction, just as happened in Njongo’s committee? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As also happened with other key issues such as slavery, gender equality and apartheid. <br /><br />Archbishop Justin Welby, now the symbolic head of some 80 million Anglicans worldwide, has called a meeting of all archbishops for January next year. Among other things the structure of the Church is to be reviewed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">To quote a Lambeth Palace source: The archbishop felt he could not leave his eventual successor in the same position of “spending vast amounts of time trying to keep people in the boat and never actually rowing it anywhere”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Welby, a former oil executive who was involved in reconciliation processes in Africa before he became the symbolic head of Anglicanism. He says the Lambeth 1998 resolution must be respected as must our different cultures.<br /><br /><b>Divorce?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Amidst talk of each Province doing its own thing but still calling ourselves Anglican he was asked if are about to undergo divorce?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">His reply: “It’s more like sleeping in separate bedrooms.” <br /><br />Meanwhile, I’m seriously considering compiling a dictionary of Anglicanspeak. A language that has evolved from within our corridors of episcopal power over centuries. Not generally spoken by the people in the pews, the more common phrases include ‘bonds of affection’ and ‘instruments of unity. It is particularly useful when outsiders claim we are a Church in schism. <br /><br />I also keep reminding myself not to confuse Church with God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">PS. You may enjoy this You Tube interview with Archbishop Justin Welby. <a href="http://ow.ly/TxA7m">http://ow.ly/TxA7m</a></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-4092331547139271062015-10-09T12:52:00.001+02:002015-11-29T18:09:30.120+02:00ANGLICAN DITHERING ON GAY ISSUE IS CRUEL<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />I need to take a step back to the discernment process that led, somewhat surprisingly, to me being deaconed and then priested. Actually 'surprisingly' is too mild a term. By the time I came out of that wash I expected a resounding "No". <br /><br />In our diocese you went through a fairly long 'fellowship of vocation' process. We met regularly for training and were allocated mentors. If your mentor felt you were a suitable candidate the next step was a day spent with a psychologist.<br /><br /><b>The inkblot test</b><br />Mine was a Catholic nun who began with a Rorschach inkblot test. Not sure if it is still used but this is a process whereby the subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded. They are then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms or both. <br /><br />To quote Wikipedia, some psychologists use this test to examine a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning. It has been employed to detect underlying thought disorder, especially in cases where patients are reluctant to describe their thinking processes openly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The image card is held up and you have to quickly say what it represents to you. The presumption being that you have never seen it before.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The nun was such a nice woman I didn't have the heart to tell her I'd played the Rorschach game several times at parties, where the interpretations were far from holy. BESIDES I really, really wanted her to tell my bishop I'd make a great priest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The system is named after the psychiatrist who introduced it back in the 30s. I also didn't have the heart to point out that he subsequently had serious doubts about its usefulness.<br /><br />So I gave her nice holy interpretations like "monks dancing in a circle holding hands". To give the good sister her due, she did tell the bishop I had a tendency to view the world with rose tinted glasses. But then she also told him that I was so upset by my divorce that I'd started wetting the bed. Silly woman had read her handwritten notes incorrectly - it was my younger son who had been affected. <br /><br />In all it was an interesting day. After one of many other tests she asked if I knew I had an eccentric genius IQ. Surely all only children born of doting parents know that?</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtrA4NVWVNT3ugR4d33kFkqXhsjFZkxLVxrcVAAp5-YTl3hW6vBln_B6Tqyp5NbVMppa9e1cp3hgg7vQ1Nw-8prgEqZ2DJc3baWLdSuIJrLptTmZs-l-k7Q5y3ZzndWScmPh07VPk0v5U/s1600/ONLY+CHILD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtrA4NVWVNT3ugR4d33kFkqXhsjFZkxLVxrcVAAp5-YTl3hW6vBln_B6Tqyp5NbVMppa9e1cp3hgg7vQ1Nw-8prgEqZ2DJc3baWLdSuIJrLptTmZs-l-k7Q5y3ZzndWScmPh07VPk0v5U/s1600/ONLY+CHILD.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /><br /><b>Discernment committee</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ah well. At least her report got me to the next step - the discernment process. This is a full day in which you are interviewed by small teams on various aspects of your life. The teams meet at the end of the day to discern if you should be deaconed and also if you should go forward for priesthood.<br /><br />I knew I'd blown in with my very first response.<br />Question: What will you do if you get turned down today?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />The correct answer, with eyes humbly downcast, should have been: "I will accept it as God's will." But the joking retort just flew out of my mouth before I could stop it: "I'll probably have a nervous breakdown!"<br /><br />In the 'good stewardship' session I admitted I was born to shop (despite being broke). In the health session I had to be honest: instead of exercising, my preference was to lie down until the feeling passed.</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhES6JFfEnOUrLp0vJIrpkAkityqEI_9HcQkfKUBiDS5U3g34QgyWQwp8bclDCCSvpr8_TGU7B9CPH1zE-4eV5i7s9DERUfU4UDnTo1CYiTHuFzjiclJtEpp4u-F76Q0CuSIahH_QXoqrY/s1600/dog+couch+potato.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhES6JFfEnOUrLp0vJIrpkAkityqEI_9HcQkfKUBiDS5U3g34QgyWQwp8bclDCCSvpr8_TGU7B9CPH1zE-4eV5i7s9DERUfU4UDnTo1CYiTHuFzjiclJtEpp4u-F76Q0CuSIahH_QXoqrY/s320/dog+couch+potato.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br /><br />Well at least the outcome proved that Church does have a sense of humour. <br /><br /><b>Shot to hell</b><br />Looking back I am aware that by the time I was deaconed my spirituality was shot to hell. Too much time and effort had gone into juggling my life and impressing folk who had no concept of my busy work load. It is a constant refrain from so many self-supported clergy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Part of the problem was that my bishop at that time had advised me to change Spiritual Directors. The suggestion was well meant and he was among the best directors, but I'd travelled too far and too deeply with my first. I still turn to her. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was an important lesson. Find one that works for you and your personality type.<br /><br /><b>A short-lived deacon</b><br />I'd heard tales of desperate-to-be-priests being held in deacon limbo for years. So it was a huge relief to only wait 5 months. Frankly, except for that crossed deacon's stole and the long white dress, life as a deacon was no different from being a hard working lay minister.<br /><br /><b>The Jazz in my heart</b><br />Naturally, as a died-in-the-wool kugel, I had my chasubles and cope specially designed. One well meaning fellow ordinand did warn me that it wasn't a good idea to have a gold saxophone embroidered on the top left of the front of my green one. Advice I ignored. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I am a John Coltrane fan and the Trinity is the jazz in my heart.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Invaluable advice that my bishop did give me was that as an extrovert I would be the exception, not the rule, among clergy. He shared that he often felt holier in a large assembly that in a silent retreat. I came to understand that no one spirituality fits all. It's okay to prefer progressive jazz to an organ recital.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Soon after I celebrated with a quarter cow and lots of chickens it was time to party again. The parish catered. I was grateful and my bank manager was happy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>DRC makes history</b></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As I write this, news has just filtered through that the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa voted 102 to 88 in its synod in favour of ordaining gay ministers and blessing same sex unions. Real history in the making and placing the generally conservative protestant denomination well left of us Anglicans. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I suspect the Methodists may just pip us to that post as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In case you are wondering, the rest of our global Communion is not in step with our Episcopal cousins. Nor is it likely to be in the near future. Meanwhile the hurt and pain among our gay and lesbian clergy escalates. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The dithering is cruel.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-71190927874024812312015-10-05T11:30:00.000+02:002015-11-29T18:42:20.650+02:00BISHOPS CAN BE DOLLS<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The after party for my deaconing on December 1 2000, was a hoot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Hat's off to my family and the northern suburbs white friends who braved the journey from the Cathedral in the centre of the city to Soweto in the deep south. It was a trip to no-man's land for most of them. Moreover, it was a Saturday evening. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Their abiding image of Soweto was of death, carnage and violence. In fact it is a 'city', with a variety of neighbourhoods and various levels of safety. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Diepkloof was a nice suburb. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKzX5Tc3Mh_bXzybGDLufRRHIMUDhVNZyIHpAmjPyDRBpq7wMq0TxtgiQ_3xNp_b3_PXdxHaMTKqjLgdi1DzniGYb_NvSd6YBZ_9bU29IgiJ6S-P9PCdVQP0_oRqhXHckErAtQ9h5ybI/s1600/diepkloof+home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKzX5Tc3Mh_bXzybGDLufRRHIMUDhVNZyIHpAmjPyDRBpq7wMq0TxtgiQ_3xNp_b3_PXdxHaMTKqjLgdi1DzniGYb_NvSd6YBZ_9bU29IgiJ6S-P9PCdVQP0_oRqhXHckErAtQ9h5ybI/s1600/diepkloof+home.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Some upmarket homes</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_ZOjJquOAfWbihMWfUEMvDZFKanfC1Q6lL6Lgb1MNlgOGxMK4S_agdNZgA2irp5yj1AgE_2rohaDMMGJVhdggUGM-RvqgHgIutT4NqQZSxEcA8t3O2LhdV4yeEdF_J2Y8xAsqxvosMg/s1600/3_bedroom_house_for_sale_in_diepkloof_ext_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_ZOjJquOAfWbihMWfUEMvDZFKanfC1Q6lL6Lgb1MNlgOGxMK4S_agdNZgA2irp5yj1AgE_2rohaDMMGJVhdggUGM-RvqgHgIutT4NqQZSxEcA8t3O2LhdV4yeEdF_J2Y8xAsqxvosMg/s320/3_bedroom_house_for_sale_in_diepkloof_ext_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3SPK4mkD2lxWQD2Xs2WwS5aG46zMwNZyEJIfJ0kEe9BdBOstkEhzPbQQLoub6FbGBJMxxIYQooJrRDnVPPcbFL7gkl6CnHJzG-c_P3r2kDBKI8sXrOBxP9Jsu_R7X95V0b8OQn0ooBJ4/s1600/2-Bedroom-House-for-sale-in-Diepkloof-Zone-1-20140626080037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3SPK4mkD2lxWQD2Xs2WwS5aG46zMwNZyEJIfJ0kEe9BdBOstkEhzPbQQLoub6FbGBJMxxIYQooJrRDnVPPcbFL7gkl6CnHJzG-c_P3r2kDBKI8sXrOBxP9Jsu_R7X95V0b8OQn0ooBJ4/s320/2-Bedroom-House-for-sale-in-Diepkloof-Zone-1-20140626080037.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and others not so posh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Because I hired a bus to get them in and out everyone was pretty relaxed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As I've mentioned before, my parish did me proud. The food was beautifully cooked and presented. The hall was decorated. The music and the singing was unforgettable. The St James folk had gone to inordinate lengths. (As I write this I am choked.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>A deacon's stole</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Next day I wore my deacon's stole appropriately crossed in front and tucked into the girdle around my alb, which my domestic helper and I called 'that long white dress'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(Cringe. I know. I know. I'd lost my money. We'd moved into a pretty crummy suburb and used the dog's bath for a while. But I was basically a kugel. My wonderful domestic helper travelled that long road with us. Today she manages a small business for me.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Back to being a deacon. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">At that time there was huge drive to push the concept of 'the ministry of all'. As lay ministers we'd visited the sick, conducted funerals (too many people were dying of AIDS related diseases). Many of us had also conducted Baptism and Confirmation classes. We'd even officiated at services with pre-consecrated wafers! Essentially we'd been doing 'deacony' stuff for quite a while before our ordination. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I seriously wondered why one couldn't just be done and dusted straight into priesthood in one shot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Not by osmosis</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">By then I'd studied and passed 13 theological subjects but I have always been conscious of not having absorbed Anglicanism - the tradition, the vestments, the ritual - by osmosis. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So I was delighted to discover the modern cassock alb which meant I could chuck the girdle. To this day I see nothing holy in a pall, especially for the extra chalices. It's only a useful cover to keep insects and dust out. My heart bleeds for lay folk who get themselves into a knot about these things when serving at the altar. There is such a danger of confusing ritual with worship.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx08cfXDO38omON-akuBXhLTc2x9NIvihbjvi8p3sn8pQeXqjMztBy2G3wxqQ31VSCNE6325HPxAf7RkVxAvdpWK-1a6YVXOPOz2aiwHllQSDshAzRrHbIi63BcgF1x7FzXqtxOQ9VADc/s1600/chalice+and+pall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx08cfXDO38omON-akuBXhLTc2x9NIvihbjvi8p3sn8pQeXqjMztBy2G3wxqQ31VSCNE6325HPxAf7RkVxAvdpWK-1a6YVXOPOz2aiwHllQSDshAzRrHbIi63BcgF1x7FzXqtxOQ9VADc/s1600/chalice+and+pall.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Useful for keeping flies and dust out</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My other world, which included working as speechwriter and media liaison officer for Archbishop Njongo Ndungane, involved bishops, whose names I could never remember. 'Doll' did come in useful as most were very gracious. (It's a strange fact - bishops are often less status conscious than their clergy.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>A horrific pandemic</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There was also that 'AIDS' thread. Although Njongo's </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">prime focus was development, by 2000 the HIV/AIDS pandemic was horrific. Africans were dropping dead at an alarming rate. Stigma reigned supreme. Our State President and our Health Minister were denialists. Refusing to acknowledge any connection between the HIV virus and AIDS she advocated garlic and sweet potatoes over anti-retrovirals. They were dubbed 'a medicine from hell.'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Njongo declared the national AIDS policy "sinful" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">i</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">n 2000 led a protest march on parliament.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, his international advocacy role was growing apace and President Clinton invited him to a White House function on World Aids Day on the first of December that year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Always one to marshal expertise for his pet projects, the archbishop zoned in on Ted Karpf. The tall </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Washington</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">priest with a Texan accent had written the liturgy for the AIDS Day service. But was better known for risking the loss of an entire congregation for insisting that a man with AIDS be allowed to attend the Eucharist and receive Communion using the chalice. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirviq4c1D4EEVr4zlZ9g2lVPUph2IrwofqWS5xWgZ5bT6fXa7X7ntzjR16kwNHQ0Aj0U89kQcQ65x25xNXrQKkw62D0xGSRPYOJjp4zX3-BwltNRHWrX7rsh7Nlh7ztE6nGc_otk2NDpE/s1600/TedKarpf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirviq4c1D4EEVr4zlZ9g2lVPUph2IrwofqWS5xWgZ5bT6fXa7X7ntzjR16kwNHQ0Aj0U89kQcQ65x25xNXrQKkw62D0xGSRPYOJjp4zX3-BwltNRHWrX7rsh7Nlh7ztE6nGc_otk2NDpE/s320/TedKarpf.jpg" width="279" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">The Rev Cannon Ted Karpf</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">That first week the infected person was too ill to attend and nobody else pitched. In short, he experienced every priest's nightmare - an empty church.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Ted has a great turn of phrase so I'l let him share the next bit, "The night before the White House events, I learned an important life lesson: never drink scotch during a decision-making session with an Archbishop on an empty stomach. In the course of a long conversation, he suggested that I come to South Africa to help build an AIDS response. <br /><br />"It was a major challenge as the province included 10 million people in seven countries, including the worst-affected in the world. Njongo argued that God had answered our prayers and it was clear what I was really called to do. I capitulated. <br /><br />"The next morning at breakfast with the President, Sandy Thurman, and South African ambassador Sheila Sisulu, the President offered the Archbishop whatever support he wanted. The response was: “I want this priest, Ted Karpf, to come to South Africa to work with me.” <br /><br />Ted was instructed to go to Africa where the archbishop steered him into strategic planning on how to meet the challenges of HIV/AIDS in 23 dioceses over half a dozen countries. <br /><br />Above all, our new AIDS champion was to listen. <br /><br />Never one to stay quiet for long, Ted soon had us all listening and responding. He and the archbishop quickly became a formidable force.</span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Together they developed a programme, coining the notions: <i>We are building a generation without AIDS</i>, as well as <i>No one dies alone and no one cares alone.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> Funded by the British government (DFID), the Americans (PEPFAR) and many others, it was until recently, the largest funded programme for faith-based AIDS work in Africa. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">An added bonus for me was a very special friendship. The spare room in our home is still referred to as 'Ted's'. (Don't get too excited, he's gay.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Part of what brought us together was the fact that we had both discovered Anglicanism in adulthood. And he, like me, had a strong Catholic connection. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Do you see Jesus?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ted tells the delightful story of a great aunt, </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">an immigrant Irish nun, a Sister of Charity. "She saw it as her mission to convert her heathen nephews and nieces. We would go to see her at her convent, and she would take us, gravely and with great care, to the sacristy in the convent. 'Do you want to see Jesus?' she would ask. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"Then she would solemnly take the key out of the sash in her robes, go to the tabernacle box, and open it slowly. 'Do you really want to see Jesus?' 'Yes', we would answer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /><br />"She would reach in, and pull out the host, (a large consecrated wafer.) By now I was convinced that Jesus must be tiny, a kind of Tom Thumb. She would carefully pull out her hand, then, before we saw anything, thrust the door closed. 'You can’t see,' she said, 'because you are not Catholic'. And that was that."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There's plenty more to tell of Ted. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I have an abiding memory of him teaching me how to celebrate the Eucharist the night before I was priested. We used an ironing board, dishcloths and an excellent red wine.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-54981110142441413592015-09-26T18:11:00.002+02:002015-09-30T11:42:23.821+02:00WHEN GROWN MEN CRY<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There I was, prostrate and with mother's pearls digging into my chest during my ordination to the diaconate. Regrettably I must leave myself face down for another week. I digress to ponder on a 78 year old man in a long dress and the power of gospel teachings to make grown men cry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Pope Francis' historic trip to Cuba and America had millions of us glued to our TVs. Speculation was rife. Would the Castro brothers take out heavenly insurance and convert from Communism to Catholicism? Would there be an assassination attempt or a lone wolf ISIS attack? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Would the Pontiff rant at America's politicians? Would he ignore the advice given by the Secret Service? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">None of the above. </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Bu</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">t he did make history. And he did so by simply offering the gospel message of love.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">In Cuba, where religion was banned for decades and Communist ideology has </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">ruled with an iron fist, there were no water cannons or teargas when he said, </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 32px;">“Service is never ideological, for we do not serve ideas, we serve people.” </span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Instead he was invited to tea with Fidel Castro and his family. Of course Francis had been key to the rapprochement between Cuba and the USA.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Francis also urged Cuban believers to play their part in transforming the country. Reminding that being a Christian “entails promoting the dignity of our brothers and sisters, fighting for it, living it.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">History was made when he spoke gently to Congress, scene of so many bitter partisan battles in recent years. Besides receiving two standing ovations by the Republican-held seat of power, (home of ardent capitalists) he was interrupted by applause 24 times! Yet his message, in broken English, was pure gospel. As in 'love one another.' 'Give preference to the poor and vulnerable.'</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">While he was tough on Catholic priests and nuns, he gently urged America's politicians to be nicer to each other and work for the collective good.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">For me a defining moment of the entire papal visit was seeing House Speaker John Boehner (a Republican) weep during the Pope's address to Congress. Also visibly moved was Vice-President Joe Biden (Democrat) seated beside him. Both of those powerful men are Catholics yet they have been caught up in some of the bitterest political battles of the decade. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 32px;">The following day </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 32px;">Boehner announced his earlier than intended resignation. The turning point had been when Pope Francis humbly asked the Speaker in private to pray for him. </span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">As I write this political junkies like me are waiting anxiously to learn whether Biden will enter the presidential race. I have no doubt that his decision will have been influenced by the gospel message.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 32px;">And I have no illusions. By next week politicians and Christians alike will all be having a go at each other. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 32px;">Maybe we could begin by being a little less fierce and a whole lot less judgemental.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 32px;">But the optimist in me hopes that the widely publicised papal visit will remind all of us to vote good men and women into power.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There is one group that is going to be smiling for a long time. The marketing folk in Fiat must think they've died and gone to heaven. </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Among my favourite tweets are: "What would Jesus drive?" and "Who knew a hatchback would hatch a pope."</span></span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-44854925792819850062015-09-19T11:39:00.000+02:002015-11-29T18:52:20.558+02:00A QUARTER COW AND MOTHER'S PEARLS<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Ever shopped for a cow? I hadn't and didn't know where to start. But if I wanted to celebrate my ordination to the diaconate properly I needed a mountain of meat. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In Soweto egg mayonnaise sandwiches were not going to crack it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We had this amazing butcher shop a few doors away from the church where you could braai (barbecue) your meat at a fire in the yard. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A typical buy and braai set up in Soweto</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Because services in the township end when the Holy Spirit decides I would emerge ravenous after as long as three hours. Across the road from St James was a small supply store where I'd pick up a couple of lovely fresh buns. Next door was a tavern that stocked my favourite red wine. They'd sell it to me by the glass which I'd carry with my buns to the butcher where I could buy fillet steak for a song. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My mouth waters as I write this. Those lunches were to die for dolls! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I learned later that all the surrounding shops knew when I had preached because the congregation would emerge at least half an hour earlier.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Who needs a mic?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Speaking of preaching, I am always amused when wealthier parishes panic if the sound system packs up. We had a huge congregation but no microphone. So the norm was to trot up and down the aisle as you preached at the top of your voice. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxCvCNfbKv8UOeORZJIlz5Sz-4gpWtR6DVQN4N4S1MvEmUJ4QYQjYy8OKWeU4Oetbug1kxHPtM33_c2MrLDHfv4HyJkR9fN0sICzAQJLjfHRUEgkXWwPQbNT5J6EZ8JkvLMpnPjyE0B6A/s1600/holy_cross_soweto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxCvCNfbKv8UOeORZJIlz5Sz-4gpWtR6DVQN4N4S1MvEmUJ4QYQjYy8OKWeU4Oetbug1kxHPtM33_c2MrLDHfv4HyJkR9fN0sICzAQJLjfHRUEgkXWwPQbNT5J6EZ8JkvLMpnPjyE0B6A/s320/holy_cross_soweto.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you don't have a mic you trot up and down the aisle to preach</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It's a wonderful way of connecting. One thing I never had the courage to do was to start a chorus while I was expounding on the readings of the day. My rector, another who has since become a bishop, would do this with such aplomb. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What I did learn to do was worship with my whole body. I didn't have a singing voice but oh the joy of dancing to those choruses! Many year later when I was serving a traditionally white parish<i> </i>I was touched when a parishioner shared that she had prayed for me before the service - until she added, "that you will stand still during the hymns."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Numbers don't count</b></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But, back to my ordination and the after party. I still couldn't pin my rector down on the number of people I needed to cater for. Silly me. The system is to do the best you can. If the food runs out that's life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There was no way I could afford a whole cow even though my favourite butcher gave me a good 'clergy' price. So we settled on a quarter cow and several boxes of whole chickens. The Mother's Union, who volunteered to do the cooking, also gave me a shopping list for side dishes like rice and three bean salad. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXxOJ64lylitOd9XKEh3x79S9EgORzgV7pz_gDnd8zjNscFo648fe2eggnTXrKVa6UIPIngwNpS8Izix5UAY-5unP_V4_cjWytt22BPQ3WFeY01PuuqWVnDgA3YCYG07pul-PWQlvl548/s1600/Township-Food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXxOJ64lylitOd9XKEh3x79S9EgORzgV7pz_gDnd8zjNscFo648fe2eggnTXrKVa6UIPIngwNpS8Izix5UAY-5unP_V4_cjWytt22BPQ3WFeY01PuuqWVnDgA3YCYG07pul-PWQlvl548/s320/Township-Food.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wonderful township food</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The feast they produced was memorable. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">More importantly the township approach to catering taught me an invaluable lesson. So three extra people pitch for Christmas dinner. Bring in extra chairs from the garden and share. It's the company that counts. There were times during those years when I felt as if I was witnessing the miracle of the feeding of the 5000. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">You can imagine how I cringed on one of our ordinands' training week-ends. Held at another Soweto parish, the deal was that we would all bring lunch and share. We whiteys duly arrived with our cooler boxes, serviettes and cutlery but there was huge resentment when the rector invited his Mothers Union to join us. Horrors they hadn't brought any food!! Several indignant ordinands shunned the hall and took their cooler boxes to a spot where they could eat without sharing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I was so ashamed but the miracle was that we all had ample lunch that day and the fellowship made the event special. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In these circumstances it would have been easy to romanticise the whole Soweto thing but God had given me Archbishop Ndungane to work for. Among the gems of his sage advice was to insist on punctuality "there's no such thing as African time". Another was to always stay on the right side of the Mothers Union in the parish. Often a good translation for "It's not in our culture" was "I don't want to do that."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Spectacular on a small budget</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Another practical lesson was how even a relatively poor parish (60 percent unemployment) could stage a spectacular event. Typically, when the archbishop visited our parish for an AIDS service the huge parking lot was carpeted with our congregants' finest rugs. Everybody, including pensioner grannies caring for their orphaned grandchildren, contributed. It was a feast of note.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In that congregation there was no discussion about whether tithing should be calculated before or after tax and I often witnessed the power of the widow's mite. My years in that wonderful community underscored what the archbishop was telling the world as he campaigned for the cancellation of the debt owed by the by the most impoverished African countries to the World Bank. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_9uK_fAypN4-zKzCyjNDOJdZlscTWoFtfh67UUcAlvl5u9aNwZDp5X_f2QCBa9Gkj8SbnLJOFIdavg1EXOjetN3OtiVURuP-dg10aVHHWKE0budEVG4pdbgdeH2RgXfUIt3RR1QQqs4/s1600/poverty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_9uK_fAypN4-zKzCyjNDOJdZlscTWoFtfh67UUcAlvl5u9aNwZDp5X_f2QCBa9Gkj8SbnLJOFIdavg1EXOjetN3OtiVURuP-dg10aVHHWKE0budEVG4pdbgdeH2RgXfUIt3RR1QQqs4/s320/poverty.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He also argued that South Africa’s foreign and domestic debt, since it was
incurred under the apartheid regime, “should be declared odious and written
off”. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>An interest treadmill</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Although I had been a political journalist I was surprised to learn that Africa was on an interest treadmill. Original loans had been repaid several times over. In an era when international handouts to our continent were the norm, more money was streaming out to the developed world than was coming in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">At a grass roots level I was learning that people aren't poor because they are lazy and choose to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Ordination</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My ordination date galloped closer, there were stoles and to be designed and clerical shirts to be tailored. Invitations to print and distribute (Okay, I'll admit I was still a bit of a kugel.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xXMC_Hsfs5Ei6szBj_jl-VlrwQr-WkT-YjqOn55moYZT5Bq0Wi8xD_LczvfvnD2sZRdNrV03z5n8QexH_shTqbg4dXZrVjUpZ-nZQZLw2nk6OUN1Eepkm9bH1JmT7f1wCK0Q1FiJVcE/s1600/st+mary%2527s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xXMC_Hsfs5Ei6szBj_jl-VlrwQr-WkT-YjqOn55moYZT5Bq0Wi8xD_LczvfvnD2sZRdNrV03z5n8QexH_shTqbg4dXZrVjUpZ-nZQZLw2nk6OUN1Eepkm9bH1JmT7f1wCK0Q1FiJVcE/s320/st+mary%2527s.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St Mary's Cathedral</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Buses were hired to take my congregants to St Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg's city centre. Another was hired to transport my rather nervous white friends and family to the after party. They had to be convinced that they would emerge from the township alive, their jewellery and handbags intact. (The effects of segregation were insidious and still are.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Thank goodness those of us who were to be deaconed were placed in a conducted silent retreat at St Benedict's. I stepped off the merry-go-round into the oasis where I had first received my calling, where I was now a tertiary. It was a profound experience. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I felt loved by God, loved by the nuns who I had grown close to, loved by my parish, my friends and my family. </span><br />
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</div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So often people who know I only really became a Christian at the age of 50 will comment on how I must have experienced happiness for the first time. Do they really think I was miserable until then? In fact I've been happy for most of my life. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What I did experience at my ordination was unprecedented joy. Except for one small problem, I wore my mother's pearls for the service and, as we prostrated ourselves for the long litany, those damn beads really hurt - a touch of reality. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp4o6rKZYY9caq7AEbQlMFmmhwlPtCQA_eqh8vRVnjTDX1wXNIeFFg4R5HUaE7ntcRpW4nnccxRVQJSBO2wByRAbnPRcOhQ9lhQasSzN5Dohz6b1ppw-DvR-3uVpzhb6UtrU0YQEpjyDE/s1600/man+prostrate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp4o6rKZYY9caq7AEbQlMFmmhwlPtCQA_eqh8vRVnjTDX1wXNIeFFg4R5HUaE7ntcRpW4nnccxRVQJSBO2wByRAbnPRcOhQ9lhQasSzN5Dohz6b1ppw-DvR-3uVpzhb6UtrU0YQEpjyDE/s320/man+prostrate.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advice: Don't do this wearing a string of pearls!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">PS: See my guest blog on TheologyMix </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://theologymix.com/biblical-interpretation/its-time-for-christian-women-to-lean-in/">http://theologymix.com/biblical-interpretation/its-time-for-christian-women-to-lean-in/</a></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13995246417119890210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4224676531344673896.post-58227084628228298492015-09-12T10:51:00.000+02:002015-09-19T04:07:44.030+02:00DON'T CALL THE ARCHBISHOP DOLL<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The day of my interview loomed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Would the rector at St James in Diepkloof have me ? Was having a white, middle aged woman ordinand who needed a lot of training in keeping with his plans for the busy parish?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We set a time and he gave me directions. Along the way I took a wrong turn. No problem. Ask a policeman. 'Sure,' he said. 'Follow me.' Which is exactly what a I did - through several suburbs. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BSwBfLYwQaQPib92Ox1WYb-gifYWqqcXZARuVh9pkOvUqp_N4tRALLEVzIe2qF-Ec85TzC9MHzHiT5qMX1FazPqoLBbrKWXlXJP1y0Q3wYiuwhPgHhsjEj3-B-aKaivACbnylzeL0co/s1600/toyota_police_van.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BSwBfLYwQaQPib92Ox1WYb-gifYWqqcXZARuVh9pkOvUqp_N4tRALLEVzIe2qF-Ec85TzC9MHzHiT5qMX1FazPqoLBbrKWXlXJP1y0Q3wYiuwhPgHhsjEj3-B-aKaivACbnylzeL0co/s1600/toyota_police_van.JPG" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOlluGEGxHkbTKAmyHbL9tPWFkHPPmBDd6WypKH03ic_rL8wOmV-_NH53Afb5IXSBsyHpjxQzXhYYM0x4QdAT5iRXprE9b4azwEj9wU7_PFwRhZZfH5cCSWXztKp069wAjwLMpdSAOfk/s1600/Soweto-bungee-1024x6821-590x295.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOlluGEGxHkbTKAmyHbL9tPWFkHPPmBDd6WypKH03ic_rL8wOmV-_NH53Afb5IXSBsyHpjxQzXhYYM0x4QdAT5iRXprE9b4azwEj9wU7_PFwRhZZfH5cCSWXztKp069wAjwLMpdSAOfk/s320/Soweto-bungee-1024x6821-590x295.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Sure enough we pulled up at St James but it was a Catholic Church. I explained that I was worried about being late for my important interview. 'Don't worry,' he assured. 'I'll ask another policeman.' </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Soon we were travelling through more suburbs in a convoy of two police vans and my Merc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It proved to be third time unlucky. But, you've guessed it, we met another policeman and he had the the good sense to call my potential rector for directions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">By now there was total buy-in to my future in the Anglican Church. I was going to be embarrassingly late so the lead van used its blue emergency lights. I arrived at St James with three cop cars in attendance feeling like the Queen of England.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It was my first taste of what it would be like to work in Soweto. Those guys really cared.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">You may recall that I had permission to only spend six months in the township but I knew there was no way I'd learn enough in that period. Confession time. I didn't give the rector the bishop's letter which meant he could honestly say he'd never read it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">That afternoon marked the beginning of some of the best years of my life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Another interview</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There was another game changer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A friend in my original parish knew that I had counted among my PR clients the government of Lesotho. I'd conducted communications campaigns for two of the Mountain Kingdom's leaders besides various government departments. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane had succeeded Desmond Tutu and needed a speech writer and media consultant. My friend recommended me.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiowQHd_EjMDql_XEfPAVte04h8YMW2GkYlwDo0tKA5SoF86ce395h8BQ6KAfQ66ABt_S8sgrduGpKkQ2rTeDtOMH4SICWoFeUR4RhenK8w69Mjv8cb3m9odr7zPnZmepq7dt68rwqBwjE/s1600/Archbishop+Winston+Njongonkulu+Ndungane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiowQHd_EjMDql_XEfPAVte04h8YMW2GkYlwDo0tKA5SoF86ce395h8BQ6KAfQ66ABt_S8sgrduGpKkQ2rTeDtOMH4SICWoFeUR4RhenK8w69Mjv8cb3m9odr7zPnZmepq7dt68rwqBwjE/s320/Archbishop+Winston+Njongonkulu+Ndungane.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This interview was at a classy hotel in one of Joburg's better suburbs. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">When Archbishop Ndungane was installed as archbishop one of our Sunday papers ran a cartoon in which an extra large mitre (That high pointed headgear bishop's wear) was half way down his face. The implication being that he had a very large one to fill. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">As a huge fan of 'The Arch', as we still call the beloved Tutu, I must admit to wondering if there wasn't a great deal of truth in the cartoon. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Archbishop Ndungane was very serious, quite shy and went to a lot of trouble explaining how the Anglican Province of Southern Africa worked. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">While Desmond Tutu's focus had been on apartheid. His successor was deeply involved in a campaign to abolish the debt of developing countries and combating HIV/AIDS. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">He'd spent three years on Robben Island, was big on theological education and had formerly served as Bishop of Kimberly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">At one point in the interview I asked what I should call him. 'Your Grace or Archbishop.' was the reply. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Now you have to understand that I'd been calling my chief executive clients 'doll' for years. I opted for 'Your Grace'. Initially it didn't roll off my tongue easily but growing respect helped. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8s5Seacj79_wTgpegajVp7bvdiE8wv1XPMt9EfEglwNWAPWcXqhE28HQNkOXwNOA5kn9clpNmNwP7yf4Y3pjQXEuuEfEhePrPAxPHIQvbzhmmjsDmXKYYyx_F6jklxnEtyXjDuX7Lbs/s1600/jongo+shirtsleeves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8s5Seacj79_wTgpegajVp7bvdiE8wv1XPMt9EfEglwNWAPWcXqhE28HQNkOXwNOA5kn9clpNmNwP7yf4Y3pjQXEuuEfEhePrPAxPHIQvbzhmmjsDmXKYYyx_F6jklxnEtyXjDuX7Lbs/s320/jongo+shirtsleeves.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was no Tutu. He was his own man</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">A hint to all ordinands, don't call your archbishop doll. It won't advance your career.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Understood by God</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">I got both jobs but looking back I see yet another God-incidence. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">As mentioned in my previous blog, ordinands sit at the bottom of the clerical pile. It was tough for someone who'd dealt with leaders of countries and major corporates. Archbishop Ndungane drew me into a world that included Bono, Jeffrey Sacks the world renowned economist and even (at arms length) the White House.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikAv2BZzz3V2TOvGTcCWKPY64rn0vPjrJ6NMbNX_7gyRBUdUGZVURQPeAD-IVqlN0oDNrCZOPz_QzkyPteIGBmMi3SjMUhAlhyjoOCVgOstyPAM3IUdJyIIdZuuiqmGoYWST5HdnHS9Nw/s1600/bono-lg+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikAv2BZzz3V2TOvGTcCWKPY64rn0vPjrJ6NMbNX_7gyRBUdUGZVURQPeAD-IVqlN0oDNrCZOPz_QzkyPteIGBmMi3SjMUhAlhyjoOCVgOstyPAM3IUdJyIIdZuuiqmGoYWST5HdnHS9Nw/s320/bono-lg+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bono</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prof Jeffrey Sacks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2PbifGbsHMMGR-0JndtH7g-qW_ptveWGmnnzpZHh3nr1sQFrLsxR0i7UbL1kxbtI_1fdQ-pDCx1Tv5EmQRJXwXMOoObgQmlLIublIyWBish9W9oWTis1AhiuHuzSqAWE4TyNle4jumMc/s1600/whitehouse_historypg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2PbifGbsHMMGR-0JndtH7g-qW_ptveWGmnnzpZHh3nr1sQFrLsxR0i7UbL1kxbtI_1fdQ-pDCx1Tv5EmQRJXwXMOoObgQmlLIublIyWBish9W9oWTis1AhiuHuzSqAWE4TyNle4jumMc/s320/whitehouse_historypg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Writing speeches for him to make at the White House</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">There was another great turnaround. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">PR practitioners have to stroke the media to get coverage for clients. I now had journalists clamouring for interviews with the Archbishop on every conceivable subject. </span><br />
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Mind you, I did turn down a plea by one TV station wanting him to comment on a tagged penguin that had swum from Cape Town to Robben Island.</span><br />
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Indeed, working for Jongo, (which I didn't call him to his face) made my internship much easier. Largely because I was experiencing Church in action.</span><br />
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I'd given up my HIV/AIDS work at the Joburg General Hospital in order to cope but the infected and affected would remain part of my ministry. </span><br />
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I cannot tell you what it meant to write speeches in which the archbishop declared 'We must shout from the roof tops that AIDS is not a sin.' Or to be with him when the medical staff at a major AIDS research centre gave him a standing ovation.</span><br />
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It was the height of the AIDS pandemic and people were, as they are now, being destroyed by the stigma surrounding the immune deficiency.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /><b>A tattered spirituality</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There was study, ordinand training, looking after my existing clients, working for the archbishop, serving in a new parish and finishing my house. God was becoming a pinpoint on a distant horizon. Every now and again I'd collapse in a heap at St Benedict's, my favourite retreat house run by the Sisters of the Order of the Holy Paraclete (OHP). Filled with new resolve I'd emerge and jump straight back on my hamster wheel.</span><br />
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My Spiritual Director suggested that I become an OHP tertiary. I needed the gentle, sensible, spiritual discipline. A thread to run through my perpetual busy-ness.</span><br />
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She knew that St Benedict, father of western monasticism, would appeal to me. He was the guy who broke ranks with the self-flagellants. Instead he embraced humanism, art and thought. His spirituality is all about balance between prayer, work and play. Hospitality is important. (Thank heavens I didn't have to give up my dinner parties.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">As a tertiary I would develop my own vows and my journey towards priesthood assumed a new rhythm and perspective. I learned to say, 'sorry I can't do that, I'm too busy.' I knew that if God wanted me to be a priest I would be one. </span></span><br />
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Despite a new prayer discipline (not too hectic but in place) my work diary worked better.</span><br />
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When I went through my formal discernment conference for priesthood the first question was: 'What will you do if you are rejected today?' </span><br />
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The answer I once would have given (with downcast eyes) was: 'I'll accept God's will.' Instead I was able to joke: 'I'll probably have a nervous breakdown.' </span><br />
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The committee considering my physical well-being asked about my exercise regimen. I assured them that if ever I did feel that energetic, I lay down 'til the feeling passed. </span><br />
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I hope St Benedict smiled when the conference voted to allow me to be ordained. I had a permanent grin for at least a week. The ordination to the diaconate was barely two months away and I had an after party to organise. </span><br />
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By then I'd learned that a genteel tea and cakes was not going to crack the nod in my new parish. Meat was essential. But I did make the awful mistake of trying to pin my darling rector down on how many to cater for. </span><br />
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He kept avoiding the issue. Silly me. In Soweto you don't send invitations for an ordination party everyone is welcome (the parish roll must have had over a 1000 names). </span><br />
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I had some serious shopping to do!</span><br />
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