Sadly, the patient is not only quite ill, but in denial as well.

♪"Baby, baby why can't you sit still?
Who killed that bird out on your window sill?
Are you the reason that he broke his back?
Did I see you laugh about that?"♪

♪"I need a rem-e-dy
for what is a-ailin' me..."♪

Remedy, by The Black Crowes

A Visit From the Archbishop
Written by The Anglican Communion Institute
Wednesday, 25 April 2007

It is becoming obvious that the leadership of TEC means to move resolutely ahead with its mission of civil rights and inclusion, insisting that these are imperatives of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a kind of brand name for American Episcopalianism. (We leave to the side whether inclusion or civil rights are being honored or thwarted by this idea.)

In the light of the failure to respond positively to the communiqué of the Primates Meeting, the course being charted is becoming increasingly clear. Apparently the Archbishop of Canterbury is prepared to hear out the leadership of TEC on an alternative plan that will deal with the problems it has created for life in Communion. But the disconnect that will result could be palpable, not least because TEC leadership does not acknowledge that it has created a problem that requires any remedy of the kind an Instrument of Unity has recently urged, with urgency. It views the problem as 'conservatives' out of step with the enlightened views it holds. The recent reports of Presiding Bishop Schori's comments make this very clear indeed.

... [SNIP] ...

Efforts to delay or to seek another form of 'peace' can only be seen as yet another example of American unilateralism. There is nothing wrong, uncanonical, imperial, or otherwise with the communique's requests. The requests address with clarity and charity a problem that unilateralists in the Communion have created. There is no evidence that the Primates are seeking fresh alternatives to the communiqué they crafted, and Archbishop Rowan is going the extra mile to take the pulse up close. Sadly, the patient is not only quite ill, but in denial as well.

Read it all.

Our vocation is to share in God’s happiness

Fr Timothy Radcliffe on "Hearing the Call"—

We often think that our existence is a bald fact. But it isn’t. To exist at all is to be called by God. A star would not exist if God had not called it into being. There is a lovely passage in the Book of Baruch where God sees the stars and they joyfully cry out: “Here we are! Here we are!” The stars say “yes” to God. And everything that exists – including our own apparently insignificant lives – is a “yes” to the God who calls.

What’s odd about human beings is that we don’t just say “yes” by existing; we also say “yes” with our words. God speaks a word to us and we reply with words. And that, in fact, is why we were created: to answer God’s word. This human vocation, which we all share regardless of our particular calling, is expressed in the beautiful Hebrew word hineni, which means, “here I am”. When God calls Moses from the burning bush, Moses replies: “Hineni.” When Isaiah hears a voice asking “Whom shall I send?” he replies: “Hineni. Send me.” So, the human vocation is to say “here I am” when God calls.

We live at a time when there is an awful loss of confidence in the meaning of human existence. We have no idea what the future of humanity holds, of what disasters and violence lie ahead, of whether we shall be blown up by bombs or drowned by the rising sea or fried by global warming. But when we say “here I am” to God, we recognise that we are called by Him and going to Him. ....

Read it all.

Nickelback - Savin' me [ music video ]

Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life (Psalm 39:4).

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12).