Dear Uncle Pollard, Thanks for your kind note about the G.A. I did have a good time seeing friends from around the country and enjoyed being roomies with Cheesehead. I'm sorry you and Aunt Cordie didn't get to meet her. If I'd known you all were going to be at the big communion service, we could have met up afterwards. I loved seeing all "mighty cloud of witnesses" coming into the worship area in their ethnic dress. I was wearing my ethnic dress of black slacks, jacket and big hair! I'm having trouble doing proper indention on this laptop of Mr. C's. Cheesehead has a birthday laptop which I got to play with a bit and now I'm thinking I need one, too. Mr. C. is suspicious of my longing for all the toys of my RGBPs (like my Christmas request for a Bearnaise Mountain Dog with Portable Air/Conditioner Back Pack). I'm not sure how to work this durn laptop. Hope you can read this. You asked how I felt about the Big Vote. I think I can discuss it now. Took a few days to think about it before I could respond. My congregation didn't have any interest in it because they don't think it will make any difference to them and as a tiny minority in Tiny Town, they don't worry what other people think. I've been surprised (do I have NO sense of history???) with the vehement response of others around the country. Let's invent a new denomination! Let's decide that we have the ability to know God's heart completely and decide what God wants! Let's go whoop it up with only like-minded folks because that is easier and more comfortable! Let's add to the general sense of malaise and fear in the U.S. by going off and leaving our "cousins" behind! Let's play "I'm MORE HOLY than YOU are!" Sarcasm aside, do people have NO sense of church history? As you and Aunt Cordie have noticed, Mr. C. and I associate with a wide variety of people. Often the only common denoninator between our friends is knowing us. We aren't X politically but we have close pals who are X's. We don't think of ourselves as "Y" theologically but associate with people who are and love them. We don't make friends so that we can consider ourselves diverse, we just love the people God has given into our hands. For all those who think they are too righteous to associate with us, how will they ever love us into understanding our position or even us. Go figure. Do you recall that summer several years ago when every church began joining the movement named after D. Bonhoeffer's movement in Germany? That summer, churches took the name of that movement and joined together to make sure that everyone knew how righteous they were. It bothered me that they used Bonhoeffer's movement name without regard to the sacrfices made in Germany. I think the summer boredom got to the preachers so they fired up the 'puters, 'phones and faxes to make sure they had a party. What's going on now, after the G.A. is different but similar in it's high school intensity to make it clear who is in the "in crowd" and who is not. Mr. C. is taking the laptop off to work so I have to stop. Love to Aunt Cordie. Come see us, ok? Love, St. Casserole
9 comments:
Great letter St. Cass. I'm glad you associate with all of us nutty bloggers of X, Y and Z persuasion!
Well, maybe the RGBPs are the church of the future, if we're the only ones left who will associate with us!
People with too much time on their hands think of these schism-making things. If those same people were here, rolling up their shirt sleeves and cleaning up debris and roofing houses of the needy, they would not have time to worry about sex issues. If those same people spent their time in their own communities taking care of the elderly, the poor, the sick, the emotionally damaged, they would be too busy to think about who they did not like. Pogo, as I always believe, is right-we have met the enemy and they are us. We don't need atheists or terrorists or Islamists to threaten our spiritual base because we make it so shaky ourselves.
Off to work, Mr. C.
Great letter! Give my love to Pollard and Gertie, sorry I missed them. Were they sitting in our section?
Wonderful letter.
There were a couple of slightly threatening comments at Presbytery here yesterday and one outright attack in a small group, and all I want to do is sign up with "anonymous" (above comment) and clear some debris. I've heard a couple of warnings about how "the Xs" better not try to submit an overture about "this" and "the Ys" better not speak out about "that." Ugh.
PS I also have an Aunt Cordie. Or at least I had one. She's now in the cloud of witnesses herself.
We've got this kind of thing over in UCC Land, too. Secret letters come from "concerned" churches, hoping to stir up troubles. Those letters go into the circular file. We are busy at Small Church trying to figure out how to keep the roof from leaking and how to look our for the people who don't have a roof at all.
I want to know where to find one of those backpacks, and Bearnaise Sauce Dog Molly wants to know, too!
This is a great letter St. C!
Funny thing, it seemed like Karl Barth's movement to us.
Another funny thing, that some folks among "progressives" always think they like the documents of the Confessing Synod, like the Barmen Declaration, but never make their acquaintance. If you ever read the Barmen Declaration, while paying close attention to the doctrine it teaches, you wouldn't like it nearly so much.
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for even suggesting that I approach "progressive". I'm flattered.
I've read all the confessional documents. Several times. I use a portion of either a confession or catechism in worship each week. If you mean that I wouldn't like the more "historically situated" portions, I explain the significance and how brave it was for the church to confess such ideas which to us may seem dated.
Thanks for commenting.
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