The Tasmanian Devil Awaits Anglicans in Tanzania

The Tasmanian devil has gone to Tanzania. He's roaring mad and wants something done with these wayward American Anglicans. Tasmanian Devils take on an offensive odor when stressed. They're extremely bold and and get really loud. They exhibit a horrid screech and are quite vicious. They are known to prey and scavenge but sometimes they eat with other devils.

Read on and learn why he's mad: Changes in the Episcopal Church -- such as the selection of a woman to be the primate of the denomination and prior to that electing an openly gay man Bishop Gene Robinson as bishop in New Hampshire is causing an uproar in my denomination that is as old as our the U.S. herself. T And now the primates are having their meeting in Tanzania--or if you read some of the news reports, non-meeting. First, Bishop Akinola made it known last week that he and his buddies don't plan to sit in the same room as the new U.S. Primate, Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori let alone talk to her. Oh well, so much for communicating with each other ,Christian charity or acting like adults instead of spoiled brats. Are they afraid they're going to get the cooties?

The pre-meeting was supposed to have started Tuesday and main meeting Wednesday. So far nothing seems to be happened other than Bishop Duncan of Pittsburgh lost or had his lap top stolen. The red tops are surrounded by security guards to help with keeping their privacy.

It is unknown if anything will come out of these meetings. I don't think that the American church will back down from continuing on the path of full inclusion of gay people in the life of our church. And the conservatives aren't going to back down from their literal interpretation of the scripture. Add into the mix the 500 Church of England priests who signed a statement of support for the American Church. Then we have to add into this mix the evangelical Anglican priests both in the U.S. and U.K. who are of the opinion that the conservatives in the Global South are even too conservative for them and way too nasty to provide them much support.

The worst that could happen is that The Episcopal Church gets thrown out of the Anglican Communion. Since TEC pays millions of dollars to support this club, those dollars could provide a great deal of financial support for TEC 's support of the United Nations Millennium Development Fund to feed the hungry, care for the health of women, children and families and strengthen ALL of God's people.Sounds like a good idea to me! And if the worldwide primates decide to throw the U.S. church out of the communion, won't they have to put out the Anglican Church of Canada and the Church of England?

And last but not least, the screeching of the Tasmanian Devil might be silenced.

Abraham Lincoln's Birthday: A Rembrance

Today is Abraham Lincoln's birthday. To many, myself included, he's our favorite president.

I've read most of the books written about him just because I wanted to learn more about him.

Lincoln was a very compassionate man and president. He used to get on his horse at the White House and visit the wounded soldier's being treated in the tent hospitals over in Virginia. He was in anguish over the pain suffered by the soldiers and the thousands of families both Unionists and Confederates. He just want the bloody war to be over and for America to be whole again.

But did you know that Abraham Lincoln is responsible for much of the legacy of America's Veteran's Administration? Our national veteran's cemeteries, our soldier's homes, the C & P system (compensation and pension) and health care which in time became America's Department of Veteran's Affairs hospitals and outpatient clinics located all over the U.S., it's territories and the Philippines are because of President Lincoln and his administration.

But President Lincoln was responsible for one more thing, the VA Motto:

"To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan."

When Lincoln took the oath of office for his second term on March 4, 1865, our UN-united United States was in the last bloody battles of the war. In the conclusion of his second inaugural speech, Lincoln said, "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the Nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan-to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 16Th President of the United States of America