Brief Notes in Passing (Anglican Situation Cont'd)

An artist is at present stirring up a world-wide protest regarding animal cruelty.

And in case you did not hear me, I will repeat.

World-wide.

Protest.

Animal cruelty.

And in the event it did not quite read, mere artist.

You know. The kind of job wherein a person files for grant money in order to present his or her interpretation of reality/great issues to the world and a gallery of some sort presents it with suitable footnotes so that the viewers 'understand' the message the artist is presenting.

Artists being, to be sure, the world's prophets now.

Nonetheless, it has me thinking, and part of why it has me thinking is a comment I saw posted at Stand Firm's site. The screen name used was something along the lines of "Not a NH Episcopalian" anymore...

As most know, New Hampshire is the state that got Gene Robinson for a bishop.

Which has generated another world wide protest sort of thing. Perhaps stirring up less fuss than the artist referenced above.

Definitely stirring up less fuss.

But stirring up a great deal, nonetheless.

But it got me to thinking. What would have happened if - instead of waiting, as we are prone to do, in good order...Episcopalians and/or Anglicans en masse had protested...had written letters to their priests, copied to their Bishops, copied to the - err, Resident-Presiding Bishop [or their own Primate (I do not accept the ordination of women, as you should remember)] - and - the Primates Council - and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

A sort of old school petition, you see. That old "cc:" at the bottom of each letter, with the name & title of every other party to whom the letter is being forwarded.

One by one by one. Yes, certain parts of the world, maybe that is not so easy. Maybe letters would have to be delivered to a priest or bishop for 'package' delivery.

But even if half the letters ended up delivered as a package deal, the individual letters & signatures would remain...

And the other half...

Volume speaks so loudly.

Each letter would state what each was doing. Leaving the diocese. Or the Church. Withdrawing (as things always devolve to in this world) financial support.

And why. Wide divergence, you see, remains - and remember, some of this goes back to the late 1800's - some of it to the 1979 prayer book - some of it to the ordination of women - and a whole lot of it to homosexuality and/or the current assault on how to define the very nature of Christ-in-us..

(Err. We did know that is what Christianity is, n'est ce pas?)

You see, we have done so [those of us who have done: whether leaving - or merely not going to church anymore] without documenting the reason why. We have been polite. We have left the burden squarely on the shoulders of our leaders because that is the form for the Anglican communion. You get statistics mentioned sometimes about falling numbers in the Episcopal Church in America - or how many numbers GAFCON has secured...

But statistics remain - mmm, statistics.

When the statistics become you&me, and we come out in force - you have the 'real' that the statistics can more easily hide.

Immense power is always unleashed in stirring up documentation as you go - do, and create a record of your doing - the particular introductory item may even not have happened; but what a mess it has stirred!

World-wide.

I'd hate to be that artist. One small misstep and there goes your life.

World-stage & all.

Things can backfire so easily.

You see, it is a little late in the game, now. Too, really, the hallmark of our identity as Christians (which a great many do not recognize) IS freedom to choose your eternal future.

Yes, God initiates. God chooses. And God indeed compels, and those of you who are parents likely get that concept pretty quickly: if God does not arrange things to help us choose rightly, we are soup.

But for those who do not recognize what the opposing reality is--. Because our freedom to not respond is a part of the difference between being enslaved and - umm, free.

I still become concerned when that central reality is forgotten. And that is the difficulty when taking a stand on traditional Christian identity - it 'seems' slavery; it seems rule-oriented - the liberal way seems the way of freedom...

And why is that so? The very nature of what it is to love has been turned upside down and if we don't recognize that is the way of it and learn to speak truth in this new language...

No one will hear.

Which is to say, what they hear will be the opposite of what is said. Newspeak goes both ways.

But I digress - and merely because these issues remain the reality for any who hopes to persuade another to respond to the initiative of new life...

When you do a thing, to return to the matter at hand, effects as much as how you do it. Little late in the game for those who left a long time ago.

Would it work now? Is it too late? We've allowed our leaders to do the work according to the form of our communion and look where we are! We teeter on the edge of irrevocable division, pretending that two churches can exist in one communion - but not in communion with each other!

Huh?

A grassroots campaign of letter-writing could have effected much. Now, we are at schism (whether our leaders - still polite - are saying anything to that effect yet or no). The press is entitled to cast its image over anything either side attempts - and does. The Archbishop is forced to recognize in good form both sides--.

Because it is in numbers, really. Not theology. The theology has been steadily moving in the direction it moves - and too many of us don't engage the issues; we merely spout what we have read (or been taught) - a great much of what may or may not have been intended for clerical orders makes good sense for the sheep - and for this sheep, managed to be the rule...

Quit ye like men!

Rightly divide the word of truth!

Are we spouting the authority of a Scripture we do not know?

If money & numbers move the planet, we should have been moving it some while back.

At this point, leadership is scared. And I don't mean Anglican leadership - I mean, across the board - people are scared of public opinion, because it is so vocal and so easy to manipulate. Everyone wants to know what his neighbor thinks of the matter before they voice their own take on it.

But what might have happened had the people taken hold of the Robinson affair...

Yes, people on both sides of the issue; one of the things about the San Joaquin pull-out is the massive amount of supportive (to the Episcopal Church) emails the church has received from all over the world.

Support which is on a website for any to see.

Where it can sway the opinion of those who - umm, need the support of others before they make up their mind. Okay. That is a cheap shot.

Because a lot of this comes pre-packaged.

I guess it is that, in waiting for the Bishops to do - in following good form - we leave them (especially in the modern climate) exposed to ridicule & censure & charges (whether consciously framed - or even consciously known) of being - err, whatever: homophobic, repressive, fundamentalist, stupid, behind the times - you see, put those things in words and how small they shrink!

Leave them in the big vacuum of unsaid, the charges seem powerful. They are powerful.

But I digressed. We leave the Bishops both taking the heat for us AND diminish our impact - we, the Church Militant; the Church who is the Bride of Christ; the Church that is the communion of saints; the Church that remains the face of Christ here on the planet; the holy & universal Church for whom our Lord died: if the INDIVIDUALS, one by one by one, took the burden onto themselves - forget petitions! We are from a set, perhaps (I will use that word rather than 'caste') which does not - err, do that sort of thing - but think of what would happen if each & every one of us took it upon ourselves to write those letters...

One or two or three page letters.

Stating our concerns.

Stating our choices.

Stating our decisions.

And sent them by snail to the above-mentioned...not email.

Is it too late? Who knows. All I know is that statistics can hide numbers and maybe it is time to show we are real.

And if the opposite side does the same?

Well. It could get interesting...

[Editor's Note(s). Guillermo Vargas Jiménez, also known as Habacuc is your google item for the artist mentioned above.

And for any who might be interested in starting such a world-wide grassroots movement to write these letters...you see, the easy thing would be to generate one letter & have everyone copy and print and sign...

But power there is in the individually written letter of the letter-signer's decision, reason, outcome.

And - as our new pattern remains - get out your concordance & look up the Scriptural references noted above.]