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Dick of St. Vick: Thoughts on the Open Table movement in Mainline Churches?

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:57:46 -0400

Dick of St. Vick: Thoughts on the Open Table movement in Mainline Churches? :

myadventuresinoddity:

What do you guys think of the practice of some Churches to open communion up to all people—baptized and unbaptized?

I honestly see both sides of the argument and don’t know where I fall on the issue.

Speaking as someone sorta within TEC, I don’t like it.

…

First: The Episcopal Church, and most mainline Protestant denominations already have “Open Communion/Table,” since that term reflects an ecumenical understanding of the denominational restriction at the altar (i.e., Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox do not alloy non-RC/EO Christians to partake of their celebrations of the Eucharist). We (the Episcopal Church) already HAVE an Open Table and practice Open Communion because we do not distinguish between all the baptized, regardless of tradition.

Second: I don’t like it, regardless of the terminology. The Communion without Baptism conversation is all about Baptism, not Communion. Baptism is about our identification with Christ, the remission of our sins and birth into new life. It is only through this Baptism (and Confirmation, but that’s a trickier issue in the West) that we receive the Holy Spirit and die and rise with Jesus, which is what the Church has always understood to be the prerequisite for proper reception of the Body and Blood of Christ, which makes those who partake the Body of Christ in the world. Without Baptism, we are missing the point of the Eucharist.

Do I think people can take Communion without being Baptized and have it be a good thing for them? Sure. Do I think we should revise our Canons to allow for this practice? No. We do not just change the sacraments because we feel like it, or because it seems more “welcoming.” We are the Church, we invite people to partake, we don’t welcome them to a Table without first offering them the garment needed (Matt. 22:1-14).

More here.

merlinsbearditsthedoctor: audreyii-fic: “fresh, warm cookies...

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:29:33 -0400

merlinsbearditsthedoctor:

audreyii-fic:

“fresh, warm cookies delivered until 3 AM”

WHAT IS THIS SORCERY

WHY IS THIS ONLY AN AMERICAN THING OH MY GOD

Because “Insomnia biscuits” sounds like indigestion more than delicious delivery snacks?

JAIME AND BRIENNE DO PRIDE & PREJUDICE (AGAIN) hahahaha

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:16:43 -0400

JAIME AND BRIENNE DO PRIDE & PREJUDICE (AGAIN)

hahahaha

Punishment for rape in Ancient Rome: Rapist's gonads were crushed between two stones.

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:13:46 -0400

Punishment for rape in Ancient Rome: Rapist's gonads were crushed between two stones.
Punishment for rape in America in 2013: 1-2 years of jail and victim-blaming, rapist-sympathetic media coverage.

fishingboatproceeds: #sass So much presidential sass

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:11:43 -0400

fishingboatproceeds:

#sass

So much presidential sass

“You are in the presence of Daenerys Stormborn, of House...

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:56:05 -0400

“You are in the presence of Daenerys Stormborn, of House Targaryen. Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons.”

Emilia Clarke looking so badass.

wesandersonbible: The Royal Tenenbaums or Luke 24 Best...

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:50:30 -0400

wesandersonbible:

The Royal Tenenbaums or Luke 24

Best eating-breakfast-fish-with-Jesus-on-the-shore scene.

"So what is the remedy for feeling bored or dissatisfied with one’s spouse? Luther recommends..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:18:31 -0400

“So what is the remedy for feeling bored or dissatisfied with one’s spouse? Luther recommends thinking along these lines: “In my wife at home I have a lovelier adornment, one that God has given me and has adorned with his word beyond the others, even though she may not have a beautiful body or may have other failings. Though I may look over all the women in the world, I cannot find any about whom I can boast with a joyful conscience as I can about mine: ‘This is the one whom God has granted to me and put in my arms.’” That is to say, God has called you to this woman, and he has called her to you. She is the one whom God has given you. And the same holds for her: she should consider that God has called her to this man, and that he has called him to her. Husbands and wives can realize how precious is their relationship, despite all trials, when they understand that, in their vocations, they are God’s gifts to each other.”

- Veith and Moerbe, “Family Vocation”

My avatar is blushing.

(via frauluther)

Ugh.
When your marriage fails (in part because of your complete failure to remember things like this), these words are incredibly painful.
They’re true, just painful.

IT WAS LIBERTY: All that was certain is uncertain; all that was mine is lost.I saw a...

Sat, 11 May 2013 20:50:25 -0400

IT WAS LIBERTY: All that was certain is uncertain; all that was mine is lost.I saw a...:

novangla:

All that was certain is uncertain; all that was mine is lost.
I saw a lightning-struck Tower, and all is now ashes and dust.
All was built on rickety beams that Truth has shattered and tossed.

With such loss, and only such loss, could I lose the expectation of not losing more.
I have survived,…

When people project their own life experiences on to...

Sat, 11 May 2013 15:38:50 -0400

When people project their own life experiences on to others’ situations and try to advise accordingly.

"Religion is what one does with one’s solitude.” No, that’s masturbation. Alas, solitude is what..."

Sat, 11 May 2013 12:26:11 -0400

““Religion is what one does with one’s solitude.” No, that’s masturbation. Alas, solitude is what people often do with their religion.”

- Ben Myers

"O, I go to see the great ships ride from harbor, And my wounds leap with impatience; yet I turn back..."

Sat, 11 May 2013 08:06:59 -0400

“O, I go to see the great ships ride from harbor,
And my wounds leap with impatience; yet I turn back
To sort the weeping ruins of my house:
Here or nowhere I will make peace with the fact”

- From “No Voyage,” Mary Oliver

"The deed took all my heart. I did not think of you, Not till the thing was done."

Fri, 10 May 2013 23:54:00 -0400

“The deed took all my heart.
I did not think of you,
Not till the thing was done.”

- From “The Return,” Mary Oliver

"Can anything be said to those we betrayed and abandoned? Neither of us knew ourselves; each feared..."

Thu, 09 May 2013 16:25:39 -0400

“

Can anything be said to those we betrayed and
abandoned? Neither of us knew ourselves; each
feared we’d be destroyed by the other’s needs.

That fear seems exorbitant from here, and pointless,
yet I remember staggering about for weeks feeling
as though a beast were daily ripping the sternum

out of my chest. We shred our nerves against the grate
of one another’s youthful insecurities

”

- Gray Jacobik (my grandmother!)

Full text:

The Ex

In the placable air of long dissolved discord, we wait

with our daughter, days overdue, our single shared

goodness. She carries our first grandchild.

In thirty years, not a word has tiptoed across

the continent between us. We’ve led vastly different

lives. He’s not unkind, only holds a dizzying number

of opinions. Like bombarding mosquitoes they fly in

and out of range. Across my face I draw a tight mask

of passive acquiescence. The skeleton underneath

threatens to grin, but he’s the one who’s dying—

of AIDS and its complications—the effeminate,

virginal boy I married when I was twenty-two.

Can anything be said to those we betrayed and

abandoned? Neither of us knew ourselves; each

feared we’d be destroyed by the other’s needs.

That fear seems exorbitant from here, and pointless,

yet I remember staggering about for weeks feeling

as though a beast were daily ripping the sternum

out of my chest. We shred our nerves against the grate

of one another’s youthful insecurities. Weak, slight,

vulnerable, only his voice is unchanged—

I must have loved its sound once! Maybe, strangely,

in the unreckonable realm of human life—our daughter’s

and her child’s—whoever we marry is ours forever.

And in some sense he is mine, and I almost want him,

but only out of pity, or forgotten guilt. All the dross

that had to go was long since skimmed off. Here

we are, his once-wife, my once-husband, the child

we made who is with child, this summer evening’s

sterling light and the mystery of how each moment

goes on and on and holds us present until the last.

welp

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:26:13 -0400

welp

out of time: Dear straight progressive Christians:Please never, ever, ever, ever...

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:25:19 -0400

out of time: Dear straight progressive Christians:Please never, ever, ever, ever...:

anachronizomai:

Dear straight progressive Christians:

Please never, ever, ever, ever use “the Bible also says to love one another!” as your theological basis for refuting religious homophobia.

It is a bad argument. It is intellectually lazy and utterly ineffectual. There are plenty of excellent defenses…

I’m looking at you, Jim Wallis and Rob Bell

Messes of Men (mewithoutYou)

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:22:17 -0400

“I do not exist,” we faithfully insist,
Sailing in our separate ships and from each tiny caravel.
Tiring of trying, there’s a necessary dying,
Like the horseshoe crab in its proper season sheds its shell.
Such distance from our friends,
Like a scratch across the lens,
Made everything look wrong from anywhere we stood.
And our paper blew away before we’d left the bay.
So half-blind, we wrote these songs on sheets of salty wood.

Caught me making eyes at the other boatman’s wives,
And heard me laughing louder at the jokes told by their daughters.
I’d set my course for land, but you well understand,
It takes a steady hand to navigate adulterous waters.
The propeller’s spinning blades held acquaintance with the waves,
As there’s mistakes I’ve made no rowing could outrun.
The cloth low on the mast, I say I got no past,
I’m nonetheless the librarian and secretary’s son.

The tarnish on my brass, the mildew on my glass-
I’d never want someone so crass as to want someone like me.
But a few leagues off the shore, I bit a flashing lure,
And I assure you, it was not what I expected it to be!
I still tastes its kiss, that dull hook in my lip
Is a memory as useless as a rod without a reel.
To an anchor ever dropped, sea-sick yet still docked,
Captain spotted napping with his first mate at the wheel.

Floating forgetfully along, with no need to be strong,
We keep our confessions long, but when we pray we keep it short.
I drank a thimble full of fire,
I’m not ever coming back…
Oh, my God.

“I do not exist,” we faithfully insist,
While watching sink the heavy ship with everything we knew.
And if ever you come near, I’ll hold up high a mirror.
Lord, I could never show you anything as beautiful as you!

thepsychiatrists: I need more friends who listen to mewithoutYou. HERE I AM Proof: we took the...

Mon, 06 May 2013 07:57:51 -0400

thepsychiatrists:

I need more friends who listen to mewithoutYou.

HERE I AM

Proof:

we took the twine we used to use
to tie up tight our tattered shoes
twisted twigs and crooked cross
a necklace for the deeply lost
Builder with the broken bricks
Mother to the baby chicks
You made this world to look so nice
I wonder what the next one’s like?
yellow spider,
yellow leaf
confirms my deepest held belief

fuckyeahvitas: sqwrlydoom: thecosmosknowsitself: loveforalia: You know you had a Catholic...

Mon, 06 May 2013 07:54:15 -0400

fuckyeahvitas:

sqwrlydoom:

thecosmosknowsitself:

loveforalia:

You know you had a Catholic upbringing when somebody says “May the force be with you” and your instant reaction is to reply with “And also with you”.

YUP I’VE DONE THIS

EVERY TIME.

you know you were raised lutheran when you SING IT BACK AT THEM

I almost guarantee if the rectors of certain Anglo-Catholic parishes were to chant this from the altar, no one would know the difference.

"The majority of men … live and die under the impression that life is simply a matter of..."

Mon, 06 May 2013 07:51:59 -0400

“The majority of men … live and die under the impression that life is simply a matter of understanding more and more, and that if it were granted to them to live longer, that life would continue to be one long continuous growth in understanding. How many of them ever experience the maturity of discovering that there comes a critical moment where everything is reversed, after which the point becomes to understand more and more that there is something which cannot be understood.”

- Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, from Kierkegaard at 200. [New York Times]
(via thenoobyorker)

(via digitalpapist)