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Well, it didn't need much interpretation. She just tossed in as a sidebar in the larger context of it being the Christian's responsibility to not just show up for the comfortable stuff but to be in the frame of mind to care about the world as part of one's everyday living.
"World" being not just people but also the environment and the rest of creation, which this particular priest focuses on as part of her faith, as do I.
For some reason for which I am not quite clear, this time of year is considered a "creation season" in the Episcopal Church. It may be related to the fact that St. Francis' Day is October 4 (usually the Sunday closest is the day when people bring their pets to church to be blessed), but English Christianity (from which the Episcopal/Anglican churches are descended) seems to have incorporated English pagan thought and ritual into the practices of the church, and I suspect it relates to the cycle of old life/new life in nature as autumn sets in and next year's seeds are scattered, etc.
As another example, in the springtime there is something called Rogation Days, which traditionally in agricultural areas were days in which the priest would go to a farm to bless the ground for planting and new crops, and the people of the parish would all share food, and then they would go to another farm, and this might take place over a number of days. Some Anglican churches still do this with people's gardens or a parish garden. You can't tell me that practice doesn't have pagan roots, lol.
Anyway, this particular priest spent most of her life working with hospice patients and people who were being asked to donate organs from their loved ones who were on life support, the latter being mostly in Baltimore and dealing with families of gunshot victims. I suspect her emphasis on being responsible for creation/the environment is her balancing out the life-and-death cycle.
You spent all this time arguing about the first 5 words of my very long post and ignored the rest which is the important part. I have no problem with the first 5 words. I posted them because they are important. But I have a significant problem with your failing to read and respond to the rest of my post and its major point that our GUIDE is the Comforter - Holy Spirit - NOT the Bible which tells us about Jesus. Read the rest of my post and TRY to comprehend what it means.
Mystic I am planning to get back to you, just checking in really fast. The smoke from the fires here in California has been coming up this direction so we've needed to be gone. Your post requires concentration on my part which is a challenge right at the moment. Talk to you asap
Cute, but we are a small parish with maybe 25, 30 people in attendance on a Sunday. The collection plate will NEVER floweth over no matter what anybody says or doesn't say. A small number of parishioners keep the place barely afloat, and the rest of 'em are broke and do whatever they can, like fix things in the building. One woman has a disabled veteran husband so she can use the military commissary a few miles away, and so she picks up the wine cheap. That's her thing.
The stereotypes that you hold so dear don't always apply, Trans.
For some reason for which I am not quite clear, this time of year is considered a "creation season" in the Episcopal Church. It may be related to the fact that St. Francis' Day is October 4 (usually the Sunday closest is the day when people bring their pets to church to be blessed), but English Christianity (from which the Episcopal/Anglican churches are descended) seems to have incorporated English pagan thought and ritual into the practices of the church, and I suspect it relates to the cycle of old life/new life in nature as autumn sets in and next year's seeds are scattered, etc.
As another example, in the springtime there is something called Rogation Days, which traditionally in agricultural areas were days in which the priest would go to a farm to bless the ground for planting and new crops, and the people of the parish would all share food, and then they would go to another farm, and this might take place over a number of days. Some Anglican churches still do this with people's gardens or a parish garden. You can't tell me that practice doesn't have pagan roots, lol.
Anyway, this particular priest spent most of her life working with hospice patients and people who were being asked to donate organs from their loved ones who were on life support, the latter being mostly in Baltimore and dealing with families of gunshot victims. I suspect her emphasis on being responsible for creation/the environment is her balancing out the life-and-death cycle.
It's a "creation season" in my mind because it's in autumn (in the northern hemisphere) when seeds fall from trees and plants, to lie in wait for winter's white blanket and spring's warm, awakening rains. It's also mating/creation season for many animals which gestate over winter and give birth in spring.
I've mentioned a time or three over the years that I was born and raised Catholic and named after Francis of Assisi. Back in the 50s and 60s, if you were named after a saint, that person was considered your "Patron Saint," one with whom you formed a special attachment. I have indeed had a life-long, and often complex relationship with animals which I cherish.
It's a "creation season" in my mind because it's in autumn (in the northern hemisphere) when seeds fall from trees and plants, to lie in wait for winter's white blanket and spring's warm, awakening rains. It's also mating/creation season for many animals which gestate over winter and give birth in spring.
I've mentioned a time or three over the years that I was born and raised Catholic and named after Francis of Assisi. Back in the 50s and 60s, if you were named after a saint, that person was considered your "Patron Saint," one with whom you formed a special attachment. I have indeed had a life-long, and often complex relationship with animals which I cherish.
And your priest sounds like a person I would like to know. Good on her!
Zackly. It is definitely a time of creation and preparation for new life. I love this time of year.
This priest is retired, actually, from her work as a hospice chaplain, but she is filling in here and there because our former priest retired. Yes, she is a good person.
I read a book on Franciscan Theology called Care for Creation, about Francis's life and the way he viewed the world in the context of a Christian path, and it deepened my outlook on our connection to everything else, as well. The "pagan roots" are just our natural roots. IMO, of course.
Mystic I am planning to get back to you, just checking in really fast. The smoke from the fires here in California has been coming up this direction so we've needed to be gone. Your post requires concentration on my part which is a challenge right at the moment. Talk to you asap
Dealt with smoke in my neck of the woods this summer and it's no picnic. I pray nothing worse than smoke comes your way.
Zackly. It is definitely a time of creation and preparation for new life. I love this time of year.
A LOT of people I talk to hate it, as they focus on the coming cold and darkness and snow and ice and slop. You can see a lot of people bracing for / dreading the coming winter.
Personally I much prefer spring to autumn as I prefer the REALITY of new life rather than THE PROMISE of it. In my experience promises are often broken. But then neither do I whine about seasonal changes since I have the resources to live anywhere I wish to and even if I didn't, whining doesn't help matters. I just drink more hot coffee in the winter.
Personally I much prefer spring to autumn as I prefer the REALITY of new life rather than THE PROMISE of it. In my experience promises are often broken.
If Spring is birth, and Autumn is conception, then Winter is pregnancy, and it seems to last forever. Nothing beats Spring!
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