BadgerThoughts

Flying Machine:Smile A Little Smile For Me

2008-08-18T18:40:00.003-04:00

I ran across this (Thank-you, Queerty!) and this really takes me back. This was a favorite song of mine back when. Gosh, judging from my musical preferences, I was one melancholy adolescent.

Snubbed by a Priest in Teaneck?

2008-08-18T09:59:00.006-04:00

Since there was no mass at St Johns, I decided to go to the church in Teaneck.

St. John's had their vestry retreat there a few years back and I knew their priest and his partner. I also attended an Oasis event there a year or so ago. And I knew the church was thriving, in the past several years they have grown from one mass on Sunday to four. I thought it would be good to visit a little church that was vibrant and growing.

Arriving about 10 minutes before service time, I was surprised to see the priest standing in front of the church, I guess he was greeting people. I was surprised because I associated the practice (unfavorably) with our former rector.

But the rector did not greet me.

He appeared to be looking at me long and hard as I parked across the street. Then, as I got out of my car, he turned and slowly walked away.

So I entered the church (no ushers or greeters) and sat in the last pew.

After the service one of the greeting ministry people invited me up to meet the priest. I said I knew him already, but when I did go up, his greeting to me was brusque and perfunctory. She presented me to him and he said 'oh, I know him' and turned away. He did not smile.

His partner spoke to me later, but again, briefly and perfunctorily.

All in all, the church seemed to be a cliquey place, but lots of churches are cliquey.

I was struck by what seemed to be the unfriendlyness of the rector. Had he heard about my troubles at St. John's? I found myself wondering what might have been said to him about me and by whom. Did he read (or hear about) my tear-stained rant to the bishop?

Had I been slandered by Priestly scuttlebutt?

He's active in the Oasis. Ostensibly an outreach to GLTB's, in reality its a gay clergy club. Everybody that I knew to be in The Oasis was either gay clergy or the partner of one. The principal exception to that was (incongruously) our former rector's husband. He was (or had been) on The Oasis board. Did he say something to Fr. R against me?

When I walked the labyrinth a few days previously, I left my card on the Rector's door. He never called me. Was that more than an oversight on his part?

Maybe I'm paranoid. Maybe he was not deliberately snubbing me.

Information is missing. But I did not feel wanted there.

Which is too bad. They do a nice little service.

Well, Speaking of Rain . . .

2008-08-15T11:38:00.001-04:00

NYC W 14th St Near 7th Ave 5:30 Pm

2008-08-15T11:24:00.002-04:00

A rainy day in Manhattan.

Bread 'n' Butter

2008-08-15T09:09:00.002-04:00

Today is the Dormition of Mary. The Mary Fast is over.

The Orthodox call Mary the Theodokos. The God-birth-giver. They consider her to be the first Christian.

"Listen to Him. Listen to my Son. Do what He tells you."

Reflection

2008-08-14T14:45:00.002-04:00

Last night Ross came by and saw me at the office. We talked vor about a half an hour. James may say we have a mountain of work ahead of us, but after talking to Ross, I get the impression he's going to hire an interim and dump everything in his lap.

Labyrinth Walk, St. Mark's Teaneck

2008-08-13T17:48:00.007-04:00

Maria needed to go to the hospital in Teaneck for a consultation, so I volunteered to give her a ride. After I dropped her off at the front door, I went around the corner and dropped in on St. Mark's.

St. Mark's has a ministry of hospitality. Each day volunteers open the church so that people may come in to meditate and pray.

The church is located on a corner lot in an upscale residential community and the building and grounds are open to all. It's a park-like setting.

There was a sign on the sidwalk bidding all who wished to do so to come into the sancutary.

The vestibule of the church was wide and clean and uncluttered and full of light. Large glass windows opened up the space to the out doors and to the sanctuary. There was a built-in coat hanger at one end of the room, concealed storage bins and a few chairs, so the vestibule can also double as a cry room. A discreet plug-in fills the room with a floral scent.

If one enters by the side door the church is totally barrier free. A person in a wheelchair can enter the church and go up to the altar rail for communion completely unassisted.

The church was quiet. The windows were open and minimal lights were on. I sat in the chapel area and there was not a sound to be heard except for the water playing in the fountain in the garden.

Then I saw the doors to the parish hall were open (they cannot be locked) so I entered in expecting to encounter a sexton or a secretary ora priest or someone, but there was nobody. I was the only person in the complex.

In the common room is a labyrinth cut into the carpet. It's a Chartres-style labyrinth of 11 circuits, which is quiet large. So I kicked off my shoes and stepped into the entrance.

“I am breathing in and making my whole body calm and at peace.
I am breathing out and making my whole body calm and at peace.”

That, at least is what I tried to say, but because I was trying to walk, I couldn't say each phrase with one breath--couldn't control my breathing to fit the words, nor empty my mind. Is it even possible to clear one's mind? To have a mind that is empty?

The utter stillness of the room. Nobody at all there but myself. No sound except the breath of the air in the ventilation and the chirping of sparrows in the gutters. Step, step, step, step, step, turn turn. Placing one foot in front of the other like walking on the wire in a circus, but it was hard to keep my balance, so I'm walking with my arms out.

And trying to be incarnate in the experience, but I find myself thinking of how walking the labyrinth is like the journey of sailboat or of a life (at least the right kind of life, the life I aspire to).

One walks the labyrinth in a journey to the center, toward unity. One is progressing towards that unity all the time even though at any one point one may appear to be closer or further away from that center. One is journeying to that destination although that might not always be the appearances at any one point in time.

Like a sailboat journeys towards a destination, usually not in a straight line, but tacking left and right, traveling towards a destination although at any one point in time it may appear to be pointed in a different direction.

I hope that is how my life is: traveling towards a destination. Not drifting like a boat without a rudder.

The door opened and a middle-aged woman entered. She had keys on a lavalier which she carried in her hand. She was roughly dressed, I had no idea what was her station in life or in the church (if any). We exchanged polite hellos. She walked past the clergy offices as if she was looking to see if anybody was in, then turned and left.

And I resumed the labyrinth walking in to the center and back out. Then it was time to collect Maria

Maria's Ripost

2008-08-12T19:47:00.002-04:00

"I think you should speak with your spiritual director about your obsession with attending a church where you are made to feel unwelcome."

Reflection

2008-08-12T19:29:00.003-04:00

Exactly who was it who went to the rector on June 2 and set her off? Who manipulated that gullible woman into calling me into that terrible meeting on June 2 where I humiliated and degraded and deprived of everything she could do?

I thought it was Denise. That was my first thought.

Then I thought it might be Lorraine. Maybe it wasn't Denise.

It never occurred to me until Sunday that it might have been J.

That's a thought that makes me very sad.

Email from J and My Reply

2008-08-12T19:22:00.003-04:00

Enclosed are the minutes of the vestry meeting from the 4th.

You are a member of the Vestry, whatever else has happened and how ever much you may resent it, you are a member of the Vestry and we have a mountain of work before us. How that is approached is up to you and the other members of the Vestry. For myself, I do not have the time or inclination for drama. You have a unique perspective and I welcome that, if it is offered with an open heart.

I said:

Thank-you for forwarding the minutes. Forgive me if I wonder if they are done to your satisfaction.

Yes, indeed I am still a member of the vestry. But that is only because our by-laws don't permit the rector to dismiss an elected vestryman. Otherwise, I would have been gone on June 2. That was the one and only humiliation and degradation beyond the reach of C***** C*****.[The past rector]

Yes, I suppose there is a mountain of work to be done. Did we start on it yet? I wonder who else (besides myself) shares your sense of urgency.

Concerning resentment, my policy is to let the past be past and bygones be bygones. Resentment on my part is not at issue. Unfortunately I am in no position to help with the mountain of work due to the strained relations that make me feel unwelcome in church. As long as I am being made to stand with the penitents in the vestibule, I can't do much until I am welcomed back into the congregation.

Concerning what happened on June 1, you are correct, it is God's cup (and God's table). So what happened then is a matter between Denise, God and myself. Why you choose to involve yourself in a matter not your concern is beyond me.

Looking forward to seeing you the 21st.[The date of the next vestry meeting.]

More Unpleasantness in Church

2008-08-12T19:17:00.002-04:00

Tuesday, August 12 2008

There were 25 people in church on sunday. I think attendance is down 20% since the rector left. Prior to her leaving attendance was in the low 30's. The number 33 sticks in my mind. 25 from 33 is 8. That would be a decline of 24%.

This church is falling down between two horses. The rector drove away many parishioners that she disliked; now she has left and the people who were coming only out of some personal attachment to her have left also. Meanwhile, the others have not come back.

I was snubbed by a visitor. A visitor! Later I saw him speaking with the F*****s and who were also snubbing me.

T walked past me 3 times at the peace and only came up to me at the very end. J stayed in the back the whole time.

So after church, when we were all in the back having coffee, I approached J when he was by the baptistry and pretty much by himself and asked if he was angry at me.

This provoked quite a angry tirade.

So I guess the answer was yes.

He said it was too bad if I was unhappy because people were mad at me. He said he did not believe I was truly sorry for not giving the Chalice to Denise on June 1.

So I asked him if he actually saw it happen. He said yes.

So I asked him to tell me exactly what happened. He said Denise was kneeling at a certain place (I made him point out exactly where) and that I skipped over her without giving her the chalice. So she signaled to Lorraine and Lorraine administered the chalice to her.

He did not think I was truly sorry. Then he started on how he did not like how I took the minutes. He said I never included his opinions in the meeting but did manage to include my own. And although I was trying hard to keep a sober face, he kept accused me at least twice of smirking.

When I asked if he could provide some examples of me failing to include his opinions while including my own, his voice was very loud, he said I was making him very upset and walked out.

So much for coffee and fellowship at St. John's. J stormed out the red doors and I turned and walked the length of the church and exited through the door into the Parish Hall. There were probably about 10 people in the church who saw this, I did not like to think who.

Now, J never spoke to me about skipping Denise, not at the time it happened. I had no idea he had a dog in the fight until two weeks ago.

He said I had no right to deny God's cup to Denise.

But if it is God's cup, and God's Table, then this matter is between Denise, God and myself. So why should this be any of J's concern?

The Transfiguration

2008-08-06T09:37:00.005-04:00

When one follows the church calendar, observing the seasons, one begins to live and breath the calendar. It acquires a deeper meaning. The fasting seasons are interrupted by feasts, welcome interruptions, like rain in the desert. So in the midst of the Mary fast comes the Transfiguration. For a day abstinence is relaxed. So I have cream cheese on the bagel and milk in the tea. And perhaps some baked salmon come dinner.

I found this in about.com concerning The Transfiguration. It's from Scott's Catholicism Blog:

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration, when Christ ascended Mount Tabor with three of His disciples and was transfigured before their eyes. Shining brightly with the light of His divine nature, He spoke with Moses and Elijah, who appeared alongside Him.

While an important event in Christ's life, the Transfiguration was added to the Christian calendar relatively late, and few people realize that it was not declared a universal feast of the Church until August 6, 1456. Even fewer know that it owes its place on the calendar, in part, to the courageous actions of Dracula.

Yes, Dracula--or, more precisely, Vlad III the Impaler, who is better known to history by the dreaded name. Pope Callixtus III added the Feast of the Transfiguration to the calendar to celebrate the important victory of the Hungarian nobleman Janos Hunyadi and the elderly priest St. John of Capistrano at the Siege of Belgrade in July 1456. Breaking the siege, their troops reinforced the Christians at Belgrade, the Muslim Turks were routed, and Islam was stopped from advancing further into Europe.

With the exception of St. John of Capistrano, Hunyadi could find no significant allies to accompany him to Belgrade, but he did enlist the help of young prince Vlad, who agreed to guard the passes into Rumania, thus cutting off the Turk. Without his aid, the battle might not have been won. Vlad was a brutal man whose actions earned him immortality as the fictional vampire, but some Orthodox Christians venerate him as a saint for confronting the Islamic threat to Christian Europe. As we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration, we might at least offer a prayer for his soul.

The Mary Fast (3)

2008-08-05T16:46:00.003-04:00

Waiting for 3 o'clock, I tend to doze at my desk between 1 and 2. So I seached the internet for vegetarian versions of my staple recipies: split-pea soup without ham? Lentil pilaf? Navy bean soup?

The Mary Fast (2)

2008-08-05T16:41:00.003-04:00

What do you schmear on your bagel if you are abstaining from dairy?

A dry toasted bagel is not as miserable as it sounds.

I tried apricot preserves. A little too sweet, considering it was a cinnamon-raisin bagel.

Meeting with The Canon

2008-08-05T11:06:00.004-04:00

My first vestry meeting after the break. Special meeting with the congregational development officer on the subject of calling an interim minister. She had her laptop computer with her powerpoint dog-and-pony show: "We have a Savior, We need a Priest"

But first she had us do a go-round where we introduced ourselves. She asked us to tell what Jesus would be saying is the mission of our congregation.

Ross said Children's ministry.
Lorraine said serving the neighborhood
Rich said 'Healing Ministry'
Elaine said 'Serving children and adults'
James said serving the community.
Robert said we should shine.

She was pretty easy going and had a few remarks about each contribution, except for me. I said that in light of the dissension and division we had experienced lately, Jesus wanted us to focus on healing and reconciliation.

Her voice got really tight. "Ok, healing and reconciliation" she snapped, and moved on to Lorraine.

Gosh, Canon, a penny for your thoughts.

The Mary Fast

2008-08-04T16:27:00.005-04:00

Monday August 4, 2008

I realize that when I say “I prefer Constantinople to Rome in spiritual matters”, I am speaking gibberish. I imagine most people don't know what to make of that statement.

Another way of saying it might be that I am a non-Roman catholic.

Or perhaps, an anti-papist anglo-catholic.

But anti-papist has it's own overwrought connotations. “Anti-papist anglo-catholic” would seem to be an oxymoron. So I don't have a clearly-understood shorthand way of saying what I believe.

As an Anglican, my faith rests on the three-legged stool of scripture, reason and tradition. But how do I understand tradition? Tradition is a tangled skein of teachings and practices, some of them contradictory. How do you pray? What do you say? What is fasting? When do you fast?

If you are doing a liquid fast, can you eat anything at all as long as you liquefy it in a blender?

I want to understand the traditions and teachings handed down to me. So I look to the traditions and teachings of the undivided church for keys to understanding.

While I don't know if the Orthodox would know what to make of me, taking sides with the Orthodox simplifies a lot of things. Rules for fasting for example. When to fast.

The side benefit is one gets to justification for a lot of things one accepts anyway. The orthodox reject the universal sovereignty of the pope, papal infallibility, the immaculate conception, and the Augustinian doctrine of original sin, for example.

Too bad I can't call myself an Orthodox Anglican. You might think I'm a faithful reader and partisan of the repugnant David VIrtue.

I digress.

So I am in a fasting season now. August 1 is the beginning of one of the 4 “lents” in the Orthodox Church, the Dormition fast. English would call it the “Mary” fast. It's usually the shortest of the four lents. It proceeds from August 1 to August 15, The “Dormition” of the Theotokos” which means God-Birth-Giver.

Catholics would say the BVM.

Dormtion. Falling asleep.

According to Wikipediea--

"The Dormition of the Theotokos (Greek:Koimesis) is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches which commemorates the "falling asleep" or death of the Theotokos (Mary, the mother of Jesus; literally translated as God-bearer). It is celebrated on August 15 . . .

The Feast of the Dormition is preceded by a two-week fast, referred to as the Dormition Fast. From August 1 to August 14 (inclusive) Orthodox Christians fast from red meat, poultry, meat products, dairy products (eggs and milk products), fish, oil, and wine. The Dormition Fast is a stricter fast than either the Nativity Fast (Advent) or the Apostles' Fast, with only wine and oil (but no fish) allowed on weekends. As with the other Fasts of the Church year, there is a Great Feast that falls during the Fast; in this case, the Transfiguration (August 6), on which fish, wine and oil are allowed."

So basically from now until August 15, I'm a vegetarian. And I don't eat lunch until 3 o'clock. I admit I'm not the greatest at this, but trying has its own benefits.

Eziekiel's Diary

2008-07-30T13:58:00.004-04:00

. . . he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.

I think of this dead little church, once so full of life, and wonder if it will ever live again.

Can these bones live? Can these bones live? God knows.

How did we go so wrong?

So on sunday I saw Elaine, she who replaced me as clerk, going to the office to collect Maria's vestments, and I knew thereby Maria was severing all ties.

I heard later that somebody in the church went to our former rector (who has yet to vacate the rectory) and badmouthed Maria for bringing me to church the previous sunday, and as a result the ex-rector was not speaking to Maria.

I would assume the person who badmouthed Maria to her was the same who accused me by my presence at church of "disrespecting herself and the whole congregation".

I could be wrong.

Can these bones live?

no doubt.

Shall these bone live?

Now, that's the question.

Church, Almost Normal

2008-07-28T19:15:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was morning prayer but not in the garden. It was morning prayer in church. Perhaps the forcast for rain had something to do with that. And one person I spoke with was pleased we were not in the garden sitting under the tree with twigs and leavings falling on you.

The L_______ were not there, neither D nor R. Lorraine was still displeased to see me, and her mother was cold, still, but not uncivil.

At coffee hour, Ross, still in his alb, was cutting cake. He cut me the first piece, a mango cake from a filipino bakery. Quantity of snacks were adequate. On a sunday when Ross was lay reader, gospeller, preacher and now coffee-hour host, I found myself wondering if Ross was doing the one-man band routine. Does he have control issues? Or is there nobody to lighten the load?

Also absent: James and his brood, but present was she who is my replacement as Clerk. She collected Maria's cassock for her, a sign, I would gather, of Maria severing all ties.

Also in attendance who were not there last week, the Bodtmanns.

About 20 in attendance, all told. It was Dottie who was glad we were not in the garden.

Church almost normal. Rich grumbled to me that he had heard decisions affecting the church were being made outside Vestry meetings by persons not on the Vestry.

Church almost normal. It looks friendly enough, but scratch the surface and one finds anger resentment and strife.

Then again, maybe this is normal for us.

A Grueling Visit--3

2008-07-26T11:48:00.001-04:00

Saturday July 26

Church tomorrow? Morning Prayer in the garden?

Denise haranguing me some more?

I don't know.

After the service last sunday, (there were all of 22 people in attendance, only 9 at the beginning of the service) I spoke with a guest who said I had showed him and his parter some real estate a few years back.

James gave me a stentorian lecture about not giving the chalice ot Denise.

Here's the problem: I don't recall the incident. The only thing I remember for sure is that after the service on June 1 Lorraine said something like “You forgot to give the chalice to Denise, but I got her.”

So I didn't give the chalice to Denise, but Lorraine served her.

That's all I remember. There was nothing from Lorraine to suggest it was some big deal. But Denise, apparently was fuming.

But she didn't talk to me. She complained to JCC who immediately rushed to judgement.

Nobody ever asked me my version.

When Cooper brought it up at the end of the murder meeting, it seemed like an afterthought, but I suspected that it was the real crux of the matter. But she was too busy rushing to judgment to be just or fair or ask me my side of the story.

JCC is an only child and the mother of an only child. It's not like she has practice arbitrating competing claims of competing siblings. She's never been a school teacher, never had to arbitrate disputes on the playground.

(Note to file: interrogate all clergy candidates about birth order.)

So James is lecturing me about how wrong it was to refuse the chalise to Denise and Maria came over and asked if I would apologize to Denise. I said of course. So Maria brought over a distinctly unwilling Denise and I gave her a polite apology which she interrupted. Never got to finish. Oh, she had words, lots of angry words about how my presence was disrespecting her and the whole congregation.

The usual Denise harangue. But Maria was satisfied that I had apologized to Denise, which was her purpose all along.

Like I said, I don't recall the incident. I assumed that Denise must have been kneeling at the gate maybe just on Lorraine's side. Sometimes I'll start one or two person's over, if it's a family, for example.

But Lorraine says that is not what happened. And I guess James saw it as well. But I don't remember it. I certainly wasn't being spiteful. I would have remembered that.

Maybe Denise was sending an ambiguous signal and I thought she wasn't partaking.

Maybe I was distracted and didn't see her—a possibility that finally occurred to James. He told me at the end of his lecture that if that was what happened I needed to concentrate on what I was doing.

But it says a lot about the state of relations between Denise and myself that James was willing to believe I refused the cup to her out of spite.

A Grueling Visit Part 2

2008-07-22T14:51:00.003-04:00

One of the issues Lorraine was so heated about--she said I sent the letter to the bishop out of spite. I asked her why was it so necessary to JCC that she be cruel when she dismissed me. Why was it so necessary to call me to a meeting, blindside me and throw me into a spinning propeller?

She could have sent a letter: Dear K, Your services as Clerk of the Vestry are no longer needed. Thank-you for your devoted service to St. John's.

Or the Tag team: Dear K, We are reorganizing the TAG team and your talents would be better spent elsewhere. . . "

Something like that. There was no reason to be deliberately cruel.

Lorraine said I would never accept that. She didn't understand that if you do it the right way, no matter the real reason, there's no choice but accept the decision. Leaders discredit themselves when they act overtly out of anger.

A Cleansing Moment

2008-07-21T13:09:00.002-04:00

A Grueling Visit

2008-07-21T13:03:00.003-04:00

July 20, 2008

A Grueling Church Visit.

Maria said she wanted to go to St. John's. She wanted to see how Doug Bendel runs a service.

St. John's, former rectorship of you-know-who-I-mean. St. John's, where I have not been in attendance for 7 weeks. I, who for so many years scarcely missed a Sunday.

I was dropping off Maria at the front door when Lorraine passed by. She looked at us both hard and snubbed us.

No mistaking.

I only had to circle twice before I found a parking space.

Marge, Lorraine's mother was in the back handing out programs. She was cold.

Maria was sitting up front on the right where Pauline usually sits. I told her I was going to sit in the back. Returning to the back, met Lorraine again walking up the isle. Without breaking stride, she muttered in passing, “you're not welcome here.”

Lorraine met me in back again and we proceeded to have a heated argument. She said I spread rumors, I wrote letters to the Bishop, I wrote letters to other priests, I did all this stuff just because I didn't get my way.

Now, I was so focused, I had tunnel vision. I kept my voice down. I didn't see what was going on elsewhere. I didn't see Maria tuning to see what was going on. She couldn't hear my voice but she certainly could hear Lorraine's. There might have been 5 other people at church at that time.

I said I loved this place and had as much right to be here has she did. (She's a life-long member).

I reminded her I was a member of the Vestry, a point that left the Junior Warden singularly unimpressed.

I said anything I wrote to the Bishop was confidential. I said the only letter to a priest that I wrote was to Janet and that was because Janet repeated to Cooper remarks that I thought were confidential.

Lorraine said I should have kept my mouth shut and I said Janet encouraged me to to talk, and I thought it was confidential. Was that right?

Lorraine said it was. Now she seemed to be defending Janet.

“You approve of betraying confidences?” I asked.

She stepped away for a second and Doug Bendel geeted me. He remembered me. I said “Doug, the lady says I'm not welcome here. She says I'm a troublemaker.”

Doug said since he was a visitor here himself, he was not in a position to get involved, but if we needed to speak with him after the service, he would be available.

Lorraine returned and repeated that I was not welcome here. At that point Ross, the Senior Warden came up and kissed me and said “welcome.” Then he left. The service must have been starting and he was vested. He was layreader.

I turned back to the burning gaze of Lorraine. She's a tough hard-bitten urban woman. In a movie she would be depicted as being from Brooklyn, like the home-care attendant in Hitchcock's Rear Window.

I gestured in a manner to indicate Ross. “You know, the two of you should get together and coordinate your message.”

Lorraine's last words to me: “Sit down.”

So I took a bulletin and a fan and took a pew on the extreme right of the church. On the bulletin was printed the following:

ST. JOHN’S CORE VALUES

We believe that:

· All are welcome at God’s table.

· We honor the dignity of every human being.

· God is present in our interactions with one another.

· We can make a difference in this world.

July 10: An Anniversary

2008-07-11T11:54:00.002-04:00

On July 10, 2007 my friend Fredrick Gratiot, aged 83, died.

Fragments of a Life

Not Farewell but Fare Forward: Fr. Jake

2008-07-07T19:51:00.006-04:00

Fr. Jake has discontinued his blog, a fact I only discovered reading Preludium a few days ago. I missed his last few posts, a fact of which I am truly sorry. I would have liked to read his farewell and to have wished him best.

There was a time I read Fr. Jake every day. I discovered him in 2005 or 2006, I know I was a regular reader of his by the time of the 2006 General Convention. I know he was at the GC the same time I was but we never ran into each other, although I know we had to be at some of the same events. Not that I would have recognized him if I had run into him. (I certainly met lots of other noteworthys, Mark Harris and Sarah Dylan Breuer included.)

For the better part of the year, I have not been reading Fr. Jake so frequently, I would check in once a week or so, not oftener. It wasn't that I had any disagreement with him, rather this grinding war of attrition being waged by the dead-enders is wearying, and I was (and am) weary and awaiting renewal.

So I bid Fr. Jake not farewell but fare forward-- with fondness and regret--and a few lines from T.S. Eliot:

You cannot face it steadily, but this thing is sure,
That time is no healer: the patient is no longer here.
When the train starts, and the passengers are settled
To fruit, periodicals and business letters
(And those who saw them off have left the platform)
Their faces relax from grief into relief,
To the sleepy rhythm of a hundred hours.
Fare forward, travellers! not escaping from the past
Into different lives, or into any future;
You are not the same people who left that station
Or who will arrive at any terminus,
While the narrowing rails slide together behind you;
And on the deck of the drumming liner
Watching the furrow that widens behind you,
You shall not think 'the past is finished'
Or 'the future is before us'.

The Dry Salvages

Concerning the Humane Treatment of Badgers

2008-07-06T12:31:00.002-04:00

Found this on our friend, the Mad Priest's blog.

I fully approve of humane live-and-let-live treatment towards Badgers.