We, as Orthodox Episcopalians, have taken a major step at this time toward trying to reach a point where there will be a healing in our beloved church. I'm sure that many of you have read about the controversy or have seen something on the news on TV about it. The past year has been a very stressful time for all of us.
This is what our Bishop, the Rt. Rev'd Jack Iker, presented to the convention. By voting to change our diocesan Constitution and Canons, we have withdrawn from the General Convention, dissociating ourselves from the moral, theological, and disciplinary innovations of The Episcopal Church. We have realigned with another Province of the Anglican Communion. This is a change in affiliation, not a change in worship or doctrine.Our Bishop, clergy, and congregations have been received into the fellowship of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. We are deeply grateful to Archbishop Gregory Venables for this provision, which he has made on a temporary and emergency basis, in response to the crisis in The Episcopal Church. We now look forward to the formation of an Anglican Province in North America.On the first night of convention there was a glorious celebration of the Holy Eucharist and the guest preacher was The Rt. Rev. William Godfrey, Bishop of Peru.
It's always a real blessing for me to see all the clergy from our Diocese gathered together in all their Liturgical "finery" as they process down the aisle with incense and a full choir is singing "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." It's like a little foretaste of what I think heaven might be like. I love all the pomp and circumstance that accompanies the liturgy in the Episcopal church and always wish that everyone I know could be there and experience these special times of worship with us. The service was held in our Cathedral, St. Vincent's, which is in Bedford, Texas.
Our Diocese covers a lot of territory and Bedford is centrally located in the Metroplex.The Convention started on Friday and was held in the school's gymnasium.
We were there from 2:00 in the afternoon on Friday until about 9:00 p.m., and then we reconvened Saturday morning at 7:30 and didn't finish until around 3:00 that afternoon. This is a photograph of Bishop Iker's wife (on the right) with the Bishop of Peru's wife. They are both beautiful women.
Before I became so involved in the Convention, I found a little spare time to paint. My daughter in law, Beth, is having a birthday this month, so I wanted to paint something to surprise her. I had several free days, so I went out to my studio and started to paint. I had told her that I was going to paint some lemons for her kitchen, but since I know so much she loves pears, I decided that would be my subject. My grandson, Nicholas, is so talented, and once the paintings were complete, (there are 5 of them) He made a frame for them. He also made all the frames for the ones I painted for him and for his sister, Rachel. Here they are unframed, along with a couple of close-ups.
He was unable to frame them right after I had painted them as both he and I were very busy and he lives in Dallas now. Consequently, it's not quite as easy for us to get together as often as we used to. I really miss having him "next door". If you remember, I painted these three gumball machines several weeks after I painted Beth's present.
Once I was through painting these little gems, I still was on a roll (or in the zone as I sometimes refer to it), so I wanted to paint some more. This painting is entitled, "Espresso Break with Prayer Book and Pear".
Once that was finished, I decided to attempt painting glass. This was a real challenge, but after several not so successful attempts, this is the end result. I like it! I call it, "Fruit of the Vino" ;-)
In my spare time (is that an Oxymoron or am I just a moron???) I have been doing a lot of studying and reading. I just finished a delightful book entitled "Same Kind of Different Like Me".
It is a book that is factual but could just as easily be fiction, tells the unlikely story of the unlikeliest of friends—Ron Hall and Denver Moore. Told in two voices, the book alternates between telling the story from the perspective of Ron and Denver.Ron Hall is a wealthy international art dealer who travels the world buying and selling rare and expensive works of art. He has grown rich but has also grown selfish and has grown away from his family. When Ron Hall reluctantly volunteers at a homeless shelter (at the insistence of his wife) he soon comes into contact with Denver, a man his wife is convinced is going to change the city. Denver grew up as a sharecropper in Louisiana, living a life that seemed little different from the life of his ancestors one hundreds years before. He eventually walked away from the cotton fields and found that, while life on the streets of Fort Worth was difficult, it was easier than being a sharecropper. It was here, in a homeless shelter, that the two men met, one serving food and the other being a reluctant recipient of this charity.It is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it to everyone. It will truly touch your heart.
And now on the other side of the coin, I have been studying a book in out church book club on Islam.
One of our Priests at St. Alban's, Father Matkin, selected this book and even though I am not enjoying the read (it's a very disturbing subject), at least I'm educating myself about the Islamic beliefs and Muslims. This book is more than a Christian description of Islam. It is also something of a story. Unveiling Islam includes an incredible, captivating, bittersweet story about two devout Muslim brothers who made Jesus Christ their Lord. A relationship with Christ cost them a relationship with their Muslim father. Acar Mehmet Caner reluctantly disowned his sons as an act of submission to Islam's Allah. Ergun and Emir Caner not only became Christians, they became Christian pastors and Christian academics that equipped themselves to help others do what they were not able to do for their hero and father.
I have become so fascinated with the study, even though it disturbs me, I ordered the History Channel's documentary on the subject. I feel as though in today's society we should all be informed as much as possible.
I'm a very visual person, so if I can see it, I can comprehend it better (I always detested math in school when we had stated problems .... give me the numbers and I'm fine, but I don't care how many miles Johnny rode on the bus in how many minutes it took to get a dozen bananas to an undetermined number of people before they spoiled! :-)
Today is the day that I've been waiting for. Frank left this morning to go fly fishing with a friend from the church in Oklahoma, so since tomorrow is Beth's birthday, we decided to have lunch together. Don't feel too sorry for Frank as the cabin he's staying in has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and a jacuzzi. I think fishing just might be a sideline! He certainly isn't roughing it!!
The reason that this day is so special is because I can finally give Beth her painting. I am not excited because Frank is gone!
I haven't been writing much because I was waiting until I could include these photographs. She came over around noon and first of all ... she surprised me with a new haircut. Even though she has always looked great, now she looks absolutely ADORABLE!!
You girls can understand how a new look can make you feel 100%. After she read her card, I took her into the den, made her close her eyes, and then I surprised her with this painting. It was great!
We then went to Piccolo Mondo for lunch
where we enjoyed Pasta Frigole as a starter
followed by Spinach Ravioli with tomato sauce and basil.
When we had finished our meal, Antonio, the owner, surprised us both with complimentary Profiteroles to celebrate Beth's birthday. As you can see, it was a pleasant surprise indeed!
It was a perfect time. I was just sorry that Frank and Franklin couldn't be with us.
I want to close this entry on a serious note. This past weekend has been one of mixed emotions for me and Frank where our church is concerned. It is with great sadness that we watched as some of our church family have decided to take a different path from those of us here at St. Alban's. It is also with great joy that we have stood up for what we believe and can now move forward to serve the Lord.
The following is something that I saw in an Episcopal Church in Texarkana, Texas many years ago. I copied it off of a placard on the wall and the words may not be an exact quote, but they express my feelings more than I could ever express them myself.
A LOVE SONG TO MY CHURCH
I know the dangers of "denominational pride". But it happens that I love the Episcopal Church, and despite of the desirability of the onrushing ecumenism, perhaps I secretly love her, not conditionally or with calculation, not with careful reservations, but freely, joyfully, whole-heartily.
I love the stone and brick Victorian stateliness of her old city parishes, even when they get down at the heels because "the neighborhood has changed". And her little small town churches, smelling faintly of mice and damp, kept going somehow in the face of great difficulty by devoted, self-giving souls. And her gleaming, spanking fresh suburban churches, too, whose self-conscious cautious modern architecture speaks of tearful compromise.
I love her high - church places with their clouds of smoke from the incense pot and their ranks of statues. And no less do I love her low - church parishes, all furniture polish and the restrained but curiously exuberant dignity of choral Morning Prayer.
I love her doctrine, her emphasis on sound learning, her devotion to scripture and tradition, and the glorious Elizabethan periods of her language. But I love her freedom which she grants her children, her openness to the new, her breath of humanity.
I love the bright young families proudly arranged in the pews on Sunday morning, and the sparse little congregation on weekdays whose hushed devotion to the Lord is an almost palpable radiance. And her old priests whose eyes show the compassion taught them in a lifetime; and her young priests who are so sure that the world can be won in five years at the outside.
I love the names of her heroes - Laud, Hooker, Pusey, King, Gore, Weston, Seabury, Brooks, DeKoven, Kemper, Rowe, and a hundred others including some private ones of my own.
I love letters to the 'Living Church' which begin "Dear Sir: It is high time..." and the solemn nonsense with which the Executive Council launches a new project; the billowing sleeves of the bishops' rochets and the whole mad range of possible head-gear that clerics can wear. I even love the battered Prayer Books in the pew racks that so often turn out to be Hymnals.
I love the eccentric old ladies in the city parishes who dress in liturgical colors. And the uproarious stories about departed dignitaries that are told whenever priests are gathered and have time for small talk.
I love the hands of young and old reverently raised to receive the Sacrament. And the dusty dry tracts in the church vestibules offering earnest advice that nobody wants. All the portraits of bearded ecclesiastics, long dead, on sacristy walls.
I really can't help it. I don't know if everybody ought to be an Episcopalian; it may be that other people feel as strongly about their church as I do about mine. I do know that I love the Episcopal Church, that I am sworn to her, forsaking all others. I'm glad of it. And it isn't denominational loyalty or sectarian or party fervor. It's love.
James H.P. Pearson
The church that I have loved and worshiped in for the past 72 years has changed, but my love for the Lord has not, and this wonderful tribute will always bring tears to my eyes and will tug on my heartstrings. My God bless each of you.
Pcasso
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