Vocations

Saturday was a big day! I attended the wedding of our office assistant, Robin Heath. I celebrated the fifth anniversary of my ordination to the diaconate. And The Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, celebrated a civil union to his partner of 20 years, Mark, two days after the fifth anniversary of his election as bishop of New Hampshire.

This coming together of vocations seems very fitting. Bishop Robinson writes about his pleasure in being bishop on the diocesan website. And the video below is a glimpse into the celebration surrounding the commitment that he and Mark have made to one another. Both events are vocational, that is, they are both about individuals becoming who God intends for them to be. Both commitments are life long containers in which one lives all the ups and downs of the journey of faith. Both are signs of self-offering, to God and to another person, which God blesses, and promises to give God's self to as well in order to sustain, nuture, and deepen the commitments.

That we deny the grace and commitment of marriage to those who would choose to embrace it is a scandal to the modern Church. That Mark and Gene have given themselves to one another and to God in the ways made possible by the state of New Hampshire and the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire is radical and prophetic and I am grateful for their faith, leadership, and love. Congratulations!

On 7 June 2008, the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, the openly gay bishop of New Hampshire, and his partner of 20 years, Mark Andrew, had a civil union and church blessing. The service took place at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Concord, NH. The Rev. Susan Russell, President of Integrity, preached. Afterward, a reception and dinner took place at Canterbury Shaker Village. During the reception, Susan gave a 5-minute video interview about the blessed event...

Posted at Walking with Integrity

Clanging Cymbals?

I grew up in the Church (capital "C" meaning all of us Christians, whatever our stripes.) First we were Southern Baptist and I learned many, many Bible stories and was firmly rooted in Scripture. My family then joined the Presbyterian Church (USA) and I came to understand connected church, where each congregation is a part of a whole, not an island to itself. I studied theology and Bible and loved it. I then became an Episcopalian so that I could be a priest, celebrating the sacraments and worshiping with my whole self, body, mind, and spirit. So, I have been connected to the Church my entire life, with all its strengths and weaknesses. I stay because it matters to me to participate in the life of the Body of Christ, and because I've made vows.

Having said all that, this morning I found myself wondering if the Church had become clanging cymbals. I am often frustrated with the institutions of the Church, which are not divine, but human. I don't mean the Bible, or the Sacraments, or the gathering of people of faith, or even the orders of ministry. But there are so many dumb, inconsequential things that we get tied up about! We put up plaques all over our buildings, and we set up cliques inside the church, and we argue about where the platters go in the kitchen, and where are we?!

The problem I find myself in is that I really do believe in the Church, as the Body of Christ, gathered together to further the missio Dei. And that means putting up with all my - and others' - human frailties. I think in many ways the Church has become clanging cymbals - noise makers that serve little purpose and certainly don't glorify God. How do we escape such a sentence?

Paul talks about Clanging Cymbals in the 1st Corinthians passage about love. It's the favorite passage for weddings, but actually, Paul wasn't talking about romantic love (though romantic love includes what Paul was talking about.) He was talking about the Church and how we are supposed to behave. It seems those Corinthians were a lot like us and fought over who had the better spiritual gifts and probably over where the platters went in the kitchen, too. But we can do everything right, we can have beautifully maintained buildings, and all the right linens and vestments, and the right set of canons, and the right committees, and the right everything, and without love we've missed the point. We're supposed to be patient and kind and understanding of one another.

So, we can have all the wrong committees, all the wrong vestments and linens and platters in the kitchen, but if we have love, we have God. I have a hard time being patient and kind and understanding, and I know lots of other people who do, too, so it's not surprising that when we all get together at church it doesn't get easier, but harder, to love. I wish we could spend more of our time together learning to love and less of it fighting over who's allowed in and who's out, and over what set of linens to use today.

3 weeks old

I spent the long weekend in Houston meeting my new nephew for the first time!

There were many jokes about me not breaking my little brother's kid, nor taking him away, as was the fate of so many childhood toys. Awfully hard to resist keeping him!

He's beginning to focus on faces and toys and other things in his line of sight, and so he's making fabulous faces!



He's also discovered his hands, but can't quite control them yet!
He managed to suck his thumb for the first time over the weekend while I was holding him (just one of many bad habits I hope to share with him!)



Who can resist a baby yawn?



Unfortunately, Jewel the Beagle, has been relegated to second place. She is fascinated with Nathan, though, and stays close. She comes running when he cries and likes to stick her nose over the edge of the crib to check things out. They're destined to be best friends.

Gay Marriage Legal in California

The California Supreme Court has said it is unconstitutional to ban same-sex marriage.

Gay marriage legal in California, court declares
By Crystal Carreon and Bill Lindelof - ccarreon@sacbee.com
Last Updated 10:10 am PDT Thursday, May 15, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO - A deeply divided California Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in an opinion issued Thursday morning.

Wild cheers echoed throughout City Hall and other spots where proponents had gathered Thursday morning awaiting the opinion, which came on a 4-3 vote.

The case stems from challenges to state law by gay couples who were married in ceremonies at San Francisco City Hall in 2004, when Mayor Gavin Newsom began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Legal challenges to those marriages eventually led to the high court invalidating them six months later. California voters already had approved by a wide margin a measure in 2000 that declared marriage to be only between a man and a woman.

But San Francisco officials and about 20 of the couples granted licenses four years ago

challenged the court decisions that invalidated their marriages, and in March the seven justices heard three hours of arguments over whether the state's ban on gay marriage denies gays and lesbians their constitutional rights.

Thursday's opinion has been eagerly anticipated by both sides in the argument, with many saying a decision in California would be felt nationwide. Only Massachusetts allows gay marriage.

Opponents of same-sex marriage already have readied a new ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to ban such unions.

By midmorning Thursday, same-sex couples hoping for a favorable ruling began to line up outside the San Francisco city clerk's office.

Standing at the head of the line, San Francisco couple Bruce Ivie and David Bowers said they were waiting for history.

"I just feel it," said Ivie, 51 wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a pink triangle and "Proud Forever" on it. "California has always been a trendsetter. It's now about time."

Ivie and Bowers, together for 28 years, were among the thousands of gay couples who rushed to City Hall to be married in 2004.

They said they were horrified and heartbroken when their marriage was later voided, and spent the next four years following the gay marriage case as it made its way through the courts.

"We'll have each other forever, but we deserve the same rights as everybody else," Bowers said. "How can it hurt anyone else?"

A line slowly began to snake around the vinyl ropes outside the clerk's office.

Outside the court building Thursday, gay and lesbian proponents gathered, with many saying they were extremely anxious as they awaited the opinion.

Among the group were two Davis women, Shelly Bailes and Ellen Pontac, who said they have been together for 34 years and were the 45th couple married at City Hall in 2004.

Pontac carried a sign that said "Life feels different when you are married."

"We are full of hope," Bailes said. "This is extremely important. We have been fighting this fight for a really long time."

The women, who will speak tonight at a Sacramento gathering in midtown, drove to San Francisco to be at the courthouse for the decision.

"Shelly said this morning that she wouldn't be this nervous when we get married," Pontac said. "We've been together for 34 years. It has been a long-enough engagement."

This is a huge step in the direction of justice and love. There is so much rhetoric about family values and supporting the family, and yet we have laws forbidding some to form healthy, happy, supportive families. Gay Marriage is a family value, and I'm glad the California Supreme Court thinks so, too.

Nathan Roger McNiel

This is my nephew. He was born Thursday evening and is 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 21 inches long. He and his mother are doing great. And his dad, my brother seems to be fine, too! I haven't gotten to meet him in person yet. My dad, Roger, sent the pictures this morning. He is the first grandchild on both sides of his family, so he is certain to be loved within an inch of his life. My mother says he's perfect and my dad says he's a keeper. I have to wait three weeks to see him, but I'm already hooked!

Garbage

Last night I watched the movie Garbage with the Social Justice Community on campus. The film explores the environmental impact of all our various kinds of trash, while a family of five saves and weighs all its garbage for three months! You can learn more about the movie and the movement here.

There are a lot of memorable stories told in the movie. I didn't know that trash from Ontario was trucked to Michigan to landfills that are destroying what was once a beautiful, quiet community. I didn't know how devastating the run off from our roads and highways is - the equivalent of two Exxon-Valdez disasters. But more than anything, the stories about coal have stuck with me.

I've driven through West Virginia and I've seen the hilltops that have been eliminated from coal mining. I've voted against the building of new coal plants (the measure passed anyway.) And I've tried to reduce my own energy consumption with compact flourescent lightbulbs and by unplugging stuff when I'm not using it. What I didn't know was that coal dust covers entire towns near mines. And that children go to schools yards away from coal refineries and go home with headaches every single day. And what I still don't know is how to stop being complicit in this devastation. We have a lot of wind farms in California, but we also have a lot of coal plants. I use as much coal energy as anyone. My Dad's family is from Sweetwater, Tx where wind is becoming a more important industry than ranching. I never thought I'd want to live in Sweetwater, but now I kind of do, so that I could have a wind farm in my backyard. I can't really move to Sweetwater, though, and so I'm looking for other alternatives. We have to get off coal. It's destroying people's lives just so I can turn on the lights.

Interview with Bishop Robinson

Last week I was driving to work and listening to NPR, as usual, and heard the beginning of Terry Gross's interview with Bishop Gene Robinson on Fresh Air. I didn't get around to listening to the whole thing online until today.

It's a great interview, as all of Terry's are. Bishop Robinson talks about Lambeth and the current debates in the Episcopal, and about his upcoming civil union with his partner Mark, his struggle with alcoholism, his personal prayer life, and basically all the means of grace in his life. We are so fortunate that the people of New Hampshire chose him as their bishop.

Listen here.