Random Thoughts

March 1, 2007

 

 

 

      Well, I suppose I must address the Primates Meeting Communiqué don’t you think?  But rather than addressing specific points contained within the document I thought I would think out loud (ALWAYS a dangerous thing to do) about the requested response to the thing.  Of course you know, I suppose, that the Primates have asked the ECUSA House of Bishops to respond to them by September 30.  The implication, at least to me, is that the House of Bishops can speak definitively for the Church.  This, of course, is not the case.  The Episcopal Church is organized into a bi-cameral situation consisting of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies, both having equal authority, and conducts its business at General Convention every three years.  I am quite sure the Primates know this.  So the first question is this; assuming they know how we function as a church what is their purpose in asking only the House of Bishops to respond?  This is intriguing isn’t it?  Do you suppose there are some kind of politics involved here?  Hmmm.  But I am not going to suggest what those politics might be because I was not at the meeting and cannot say what the Primates were thinking or feeling or even attempting to do when they made such a request.  I presume we will learn more as time goes along.  But I think we can be assured that our church will not succumb to the pressure, if that is the right word to use, to have only part of the Body of Christ speak at such an important time.  I fully expect ECUSA to find a way for all of us to speak our mind on this subject and relay that full voice to the Primates.  Whether or not all of this can be accomplished by September 30 remains to be seen.  I just have to wonder why the Primates are in such a hurry for a response when at the same time the Communion is working on a Covenant that may well help us all to move forward?  Stay tuned please because I will have much more to say about this as the weeks and months go by.

      The Arkansas legislature is moving ahead with its plan to remove at least some of the tax on grocery food.  This is surely a good thing.  Too many people who work in this state, and in Hot Springs, have to make decisions about whether to eat properly, pay the rent, buy needed medications, etc. that any financial help is welcomed.  In the year 2000, under the banner of Jubilee 2000, a movement strongly supported by the Episcopal Church, we tried to get the Tennessee legislature to do the same thing.  They would not.  They claimed they had no way to replace the $400,000,000 in lost revenue.  The mistake the Jubilee 2000 movement made was not to find a solution to that problem.  In any case, Arkansas seems to be more progressive than Tennessee.

      I have recently met with our new outreach chair and the vestry liaison to outreach.  Some exciting ideas were bandied about as to ways we can reach out into our community and make a difference in the lives of the people to whom I alluded above.  One thing I also charged them with was to find a way for us to participate in a project in a One Third World country as we join the larger Episcopal Church in its support of the Millennium Development Goals.

      Spring training is underway.  Baseball is here.  Spring is springing forth.  The question I have is will the Cardinals repeat as World Champs?  I hope so.  I also sure would like to get my waders on, walk out into the Little Red River and catch a few trout.