In 1965, singer-songwriter Barry McGuire released his song the “Eve of Destruction” with lyrics that seem as applicable today as they were 55 years ago. China is sailing an aircraft carrier formation with jets and bombers flying over Taiwan. Russia is massing 80,000 troops on the Ukrainian border. Iran is enriching Uranium to near bomb-level concentration, Syria is a mess from proxy-wars, and Myanmar is approaching civil war. Climate refugees from hurricanes and droughts are streaming from Central America northward while U.S. politicians and trolls use the victims of a tragedy to score petty points.
In Praise of Bishops
I write this the week before our new diocesan bishop arrives for a “visitation.” It might be helpful for us to review some things about the office of bishop in the Episcopal Church.
Rational Theology
For several years, I have relied upon a website as my go to place for in-depth and way out there etymology, history and theology. The commentators know the Jewish and Christian scriptures in Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Syriac and Coptic. They are scholars and they are also physicists and mathematicians. Their insights connecting theology to modern science are often profound. Recently I learned that this collection of scholars and theologians are connected to a place called the “Center for Rational Theology” located in Belgrade, Serbia.
Bald Eagles – the Canary in the Ecosystem
This is an update on the Law of Unintended Consequences which may not have originated with Murphy, but he certainly extended the Law into new places. Basically, in any given system, anything that can go wrong will, plus a few others.
Commemoration of Gregory, Apostle to Armenia, 280
Armenia is the first nation to become Christian, long before Constantine and the Roman Empire. Situated between the Roman Empire to the west and the Parthian (Persian) Empire to the east, Armenia has been a battleground for political and religious dominance throughout history. Gregory suffered torture and imprisonment when he returned in mission to the country of his birth. After a decade of severe treatment, he was consecrated the first bishop of Armenia.
Teenage Terrorists and Thinking Beyond the Church Youth Group
No, I’m not talking about ordinary adolescent angst, but actual terrorists. This is a global phenomenon affecting Hindu extremists, anti-Semitic extremists, Trump supporters, racists, homophobes, and every other kind of nationalist or hate group you can imagine. ALL of them are recruiting teens.
Why is this happening?
Kekule’s Dream
By the early 1800s, chemists had devised accurate means of determining the molecular weight of a single molecule. By the mid-1800s, ringed molecules were all the rage. Six-Carbon chains of hexane could be made to join head to tail in a ring (C6H12) called “cyclohexane.” The molecular “weight” of this molecule would be 84. These things bend and fold up like a chair, but they are less interesting in terms of their impact on living things.
Patrick
Quick, what denomination is St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland? Anglican, of course.
Although he was never canonized (declared a saint) by the Roman Catholic Church, St. Patrick was born in England in the fifth century, long before the Church of England and Rome had their differences (ten centuries later). Patrick served as a missionary to Ireland AFTER he had been enslaved by the Irish for six years as a teenager. He became a symbol of sacrificial love for one’s enemies.
After the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, it was Patrick’s monasteries along with those in England that copied and retained ancient manuscripts in Greek, Hebrew, and Coptic. These manuscripts would pave the way for the establishment of European universities in the 13th century and the later movements of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Had the Irish and English monks not slavishly copied manuscripts they could barely read for seven centuries, our modern civilization would not exist.
In reading about Patrick’s life, you will find very little original source, reliable historical information – a problem not much different than the historicity of the bible. Claims whether he was captured by Irish raiders and enslaved or whether he was escaping service on the local town council are debated. Whether he committed some sort of financial impropriety is also debated. It is generally agreed that he founded many monasteries and converted many people from their pagan-Druid beliefs to Christianity.
I appreciate the fact that historians try to determine the facts of things and that the “real” Patrick may have had some issues here and there. But overall, history judges him by the bulk of the good things he did. We should try to do that for modern people as well.
Risks, Statistics, and Shameful Truth
Warning: Reading this may cause you to be exposed to college-level statistics concepts.
Life consists of assessing the risks of any situation and making a decision about what to do. It doesn’t matter whether you are going to the grocery store, planning a political campaign, or designing a mission to Mars. There are no risk-free alternatives in life.
From Members to Disciples
I have never been comfortable with the classic, church definition of a “member” or what the Episcopal Church refers to as a “Communicant in Good Standing.” According to our canons (rules defining how the church operates), a member is someone who is baptized, attends church, gives to the church (is “known to the treasurer”) and who “works and prays for the spread of the kingdom of God.” The Episcopal Church (and most others) have all kinds of forms and reports for counting people and reporting on the spread of the kingdom of God every year.
But are these numbers and reports accurate and helpful in measuring the spread of the kingdom of God?