The past six months have been eventful to say the
least. Some of the events have been
good, even joyous: the Supreme Court’s
Decision on marriage equality, Caitlyn Jenner’s gender transition being met
with surprising acceptance. (The main
negative comments seem to be about Ms. Jenner’s association with the
Kardashians and that fact that she is a Republican.) Here in Philadelphia, people are buying Pope
t-shirts and looking forward to the His Holiness’s visit, hoping to see him chowing
down on a cheesesteak and getting a blue tongue from his first water ice. And how about a Eucharist with soft pretzels?
Episcopalian church geeks followed the General Convention in
Salt Lake City with live coverage of the services and the business
sessions. There is a new Presiding
Bishop (the Big Boss of the denomination), Bishop Michael Curry, the first
African American to hold the office.
Bishop Curry won in a landslide on the first ballot. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be our grandmother’s
Episcopal Church.
Of course, there are the usual Dylann Downers (Debby
Downer’s gender neutral, trendy cousin) who whine that there are still problems
and the Casey Crazies who wail that change is not only inconvenient but evil,
and at the very least a lot of people will be going to Hell.
While Dylann and Casey are upsetting, they are nothing
compared to the series of scandals that seem to turn up just when we think
we’ve seen enough sad, you-can't-make-this-stuff-up weirdness to last at least until the end of the
year. The Bishop and the Bicyclist in
Baltimore, Josh Dugger, the president of the NAACP coming out that she is white, white police officers shooting unarmed black citizens,
white cops being shot in retaliation, church burnings, a Neo-Nazi shooting members of
a Bible study group, fights over the flying of the Confederate flag, and
finally the revelation of tapes in which Bill Cosby admits to giving women Quaaludes
in order to have sex with them.
But this is post is not about these events. I’m too tired. Every happening opens up new questions. We puzzle how those who disagree with us can
hold their opinions, try to determine how much guilt we should assume, and
indulge in the frustration of attempting to figure out why these things happen. Then we want to run off to some cave or at
least hide under the bed.
If you’re expecting thoughts on how a Christian should
handle such things, I’m too tired to do anything but point them out. And maybe all the thoughts and advice coming
from the media and each other are a big part of what is wearing us out. So you don’t need mine.
But I will do what I can.
Please enjoy these dogs and cats.
You’re welcome.
