Evelyn Underhill, Mystic, died 1941

You know sometimes how one goes to see a church which one is told has magnificent windows--and seen from from outside they all look alike--dull, thick, grubby....Then we open the door and go inside--leave the outer world, enter the inner world--and the universal light floods through the windows and bathes us in their colour and beauty and significance, shows us things of which we had never dreamed, a loveliness that lies beyond the fringe of speech.  And so in the same way we cannot realize God and all our Lord's lovely meaning as a revelation of God and His eternal Truth and Beauty from the outside....

It is from within the place of prayer, recollections, worship and love, where the altar is, where the sacrifice is made, where we are all bound together in a life of communion and self-giving to God, that we fully and truly receive the revelation which is made through Christ.

Light of Christ by Evelyn Underhill

Quoted in Philip H. Pfatteichers' New Book of Festivals & Commemorations 

Chopping Down Thor's Oak

Dearmer, Percy (1904). The Little Lives of the Saints illustrated by Charles Robinson. London: Wells Gardner, Darton & Co.

In today’s Huffington Post blog, Diana Butler Bass wants to Retire St. Boniface.

Boniface was an 8^th century English missionary to Germany.  See what I wrote about him last year.  What I remember about him is how his last confirmation on Pentecost ended badly.

It's not that surprising that I forgot the other thing he is known for.  He was trying to convert pagans who worshiped trees.  So to show them that there was nothing divine about trees, he felled an ancient sacred oak tree.  When nothing bad happened to him, the story goes; people switched sides and became Christian.  

Now to our sensibilities, this is a horrible thing to do.   And our Christian history is stained with too many incidents of lack of respect for other cultures and the environment.   And it still goes on.  Lots of Christians still think that God is going to blow this earth up anyway so we might as well exploit and squeeze as much out of it as we can.  Save the earth?  Why the hell should we save the earth?  Jesus is coming back pretty soon and he’s bringing the nukes with him.

Of course that’s not a biblical worldview at all.   And I don’t think that was Boniface’s worldview either.  I want us to stop judging ancient people’s by our standards.  Boniface was doing what seemed right (and pretty courageous) by his time, his place and his worldview.  Look at it from his perspective.  To him these people were beholden to trees, which were simply another part of God’s creation.  As far as I read the story, he didn’t advocate a mass deforestation to exploit the commercial value of the land.  He destroyed one tree to show them that tree had no power over them.  

 Would it be okay to do that today?  Absolutely not.   But we can say it is not right to do that today without vilifying a brave man of God who wanted to show the people that they were not beholden to trees.  

We progressives are always wanting to be sensitive to other cultures (to such a fault that some people don’t want to denounce female genital mutilation for fear of “interfering with culture”).  And yet we are quick to judge people in history by our modern (or post-modern) standards.  Do not historical figures deserve the same willingness to understand their culture and their world view as other cultures today?  And if we are not willing to do that for history, what makes us think we can do it for cultures today?

So I say give Boniface a break.  We don’t have to throw him under the bus to find other ways besides destroying other culture’s sacred objects to share the Gospel.

Ambrose was a Lutheran

I will glory not because I am righteous but because I am redeemed; I will glory not because I am free from sins but because my sins are forgiven me. I will not glory because I have done good nor because someone has done good to me but because Christ is my advocate with the Father and because the blood of Christ has been shed for me.

 (De Jacob et vita beata, ch. 6, as quoted in Examination of the Council of Trent, Part I, p. 507)

Just Say No to Messing with the Calendar

It seems that with Mary Magdalene's Feast Day (July 22) being on a Sunday, many on the famed ELCA clergy facebook are just now noticing that she's been pushed out of Sunday to Monday.  I noticed this pushing of saints off onto Monday quite a while ago and ranted about it here:  Please Don't Fiddle With the Calendar

The old rule used to be that biblical saints and commemorations could take precedence over the lectionary for a Green Sunday.  Now they all just get shoved off to Monday.

Well, no, not everyone it seems.  The Nativity of John the Baptist (June 24) remained as an option on Sunday.  So it all seems rather arbitrary.  Well it seems someone actually asked the folks who make these decisions what the deal was.  And the explanation is that those festivals which are more "Christocentric"  and "Catholic" like Holy Cross day and John the Baptist, and Peter and Paul get to stay on Sunday.  Saints who are *less* Christocentric, like Mary Magdalene get shoved off of Sunday.

HUH????  Okay before I was annoyed by the calendar alterations.  Now I'm downright pissed.  Mary Magdalene, the first FRIGGIN WITNESS OF THE RESURRECTION is LESS Christocentric than John the Baptist??? Really??

And what is with making hierarchy of witnesses and saints?   Oh right.  We are following Rome's lead on this.  They are all about hierarchy.  Naturally a woman like Mary Magdalene is less important than Peter and Paul.

What rubbish.   I'm all for ecumenism and making nice with Rome.  To a point.  But I don't think they should get to make the rules for us about the calendar.  For them Saints are all about merits and who do we know for sure is in heaven.  For us (well for me anyway) the calendar of saints and commemorations is all about the riches of varieties of way God uses all kinds of people to further the mission.  Nobody is more "Christocentric" then anybody else.

I know for some people this is just all so very  irrelevant.  But I think the Calendar is so very relevant.  When it is not hierarchical.  When it has a wide variety of people from all times, places, cultures and churches.  (I wanted to put the pagan Hypatia, philosopher who was murdered by a bunch of Christian zealots but perhaps that's a bit too inclusive).  The calendar is a rich resource that shows how across time, different people responded to the call of God, sometimes in very challenging times to enrich the church and keep the church "relevant".  We need the calendar.  We need to be preaching on these folks even on non Green Sundays.  Fortunately I don't have a subscription to Augsburg's bulletins so I can do that.  I've complained before about the lack of consistency when it comes to liturgical practices in the Lutheran church but this one time when I am apologetically going to do what I accuse most other Lutheran pastors of doing -- "whatever the hell I like"  And I what like is to preach on Mary Magdalene next Sunday.

And You Thought YOUR Confirmation Classes were Tough...

I've taken it upon myself to upload an image and short story of a commemoration from the Lutheran and any other Christian Calendar that interests me every day on Facebook.  It's really been fascinating.  If I can't find something uplifting and inspiring, I can find something downright interesting Like St. Dunstan who was known for being very good at outsmarting the Devil.  He was a blacksmith and the Devil asked him to shoe his horse.  Instead he shoed the Devil!  This, as you can imagine, was very painful and the Devil begged him to unshoe him.  Dunstan agreed, but only if the Devil agreed to never enter a building with a horseshoe over the door.  The devil agreed, and this is where we get the idea of a lucky horseshoe. 

St. Boniface, Apostle to the Germans, whom we commemorate today was killed while preparing some Frisians (a Germanic people from the modern day Netherlands to Denmark) for confirmation on Pentecost eve by a gang of pagan Frisians.  . Although his comrades were armed Boniface urged them to lay down their arms, saying "Cease fighting. Lay down your arms, for we are told in Scripture not to render evil for good but to overcome evil by good." All were massacred.

The story is told that his killers were looking for gold and silver but instead found pages of scripture in his bags.  There is also a story of Boniface attempting to save himself by holding a bible over his head.  

Along with the remains of Boniface, the Fulda Cathedral holds a slashed bible, known as the Ragyndrudis Codex, which is said to be the Bible which was held by Boniface when he died.  Father Anonymous will, no doubt, attempt to dispute the authenticity of this story but the association of this book with Boniface's martyrdom is goes back pretty far. 

To me it doesn't matter whether or not it REALLY is the very book, anymore than if the chains in the Church of the Chains of Peter and Paul are really the actual chains.  Peter and Paul were held in chains and seeing them makes it real.  Looking at that slashed manuscript makes it real to me that there was a man who was slashed to death while trying to each people about Christ.  To me, relics are not magic  nor history, they are icons we need the same way we need water and bread for the sacraments.  We are earthly people and earthly things help our faith.

Which is why I use power point and pictures in Confirmation, to bring this back to my heading.

On a Happier Note, If There Wasn't a St. Valentine, there Should Have Been One

The truth is, we know nothing for sure about anybody named Valentine other than he was martyred like many other early Christians on February 14 and is buried outside of Rome. Maybe there wasn't even one Valentine. Valentine was actually a pretty common name and there were a lot of Christians martyred in Rome. 

Around this time there was another one of those Roman Pagan celebrations of romance.  We do love our pagan celebrations.  It's way too complicated to get to the bottom of it.

But around the middle ages you get this wonderful story about a St. Valentine, that like most beautiful stories, is a true story, regardless of whether or not it really happened.

The Roman Emporium Claudius was smart enough to know that bachelors make better soldiers than family men so Roman soldiers were forbidden to marry.  But Christian soldiers, ever the proponents of "Family Values" wanted to get married.  Valentine was the priest to oblige them.  His acts of civil disobedience ended him up in jail.

His  jailor had a lovely blind daughter who came to visit him.  He shared the gospel with her and she became a Christian.  Some stories even claim he restored her sight.  I prefer to think of her as blind, loving Valentine only through his stories of Christ. Theirs was a loving friendship, based on Christ.  There's a romance for you.  When he was taken away to be executed, he left her a note encouraging her to be strong in Christ.  He signed it "Your Valentine"

If it didn't happen, it should have happened.  And I'd be all for recovering a St. Valentine's Day about civil disobedience, not letting the State tell you who or whether or not you can marry, and friendship.  And chocolate, because chocolate is good.  As long as it's Fair Trade.  Happy Valentines Day. 

Katie's Last Years

Today is the commemoration of Katherine Von Bora Luther, Martin Luther's famous "Katie".

Okay so we all know the story of her escape in the pickle cart.  (Although Father Anonymous is such a spoil sport about these stories he probably will refute them). I personally love the way she refused all the husbands Luther tried to throw her way and said she'd only have him.  

It's kind of a love story in a more real sense.  No great romance at the start, Luther married her more to set an example than anything else.  But they grew to love each other and faced life together, she bore six children, one died at birth and a daughter died at aged 13.  They also raised four orphans.  She cooked and cleaned, gardened, brewed beer and held her own against Luther himself.

But her last years are really sad.  When Luther died in 1546 she was left with no income and asked to move out of the abbey they lived in while she still had children at home.  Although she refused, she ended up having to flee the Smacaldic war.  When she was able to return her properties were ruined by the war and she and her children lived in poverty.  Then when the plague broke out she had to move again.  She was badly injured when a horse was injured in the move.  She died a few months later at the age of 53 on December 20, 1552.  Because of the war she could not even be buried by her husband in Wittenberg and was buried far away in Torgau.

I'm but a stranger here,
Heav'n is my home;
Earth is a desert dread,
Heav'n is my home.
Danger and sorrow stand
Round me on every hand;
Heav'n is my fatherland,
Heav'n is my home.

December 6, St. Nicolas

This is what I said two years ago and I can't think of anything better to say:

Somewhere, hidden in all the legends and pagan myths, there is a real person. A kindly, humble, Christian soul with whom the poor and children identified, who exemplified Jesus words that the Kingdom of God was “for the least of these” Christians need not ban Santa from our celebration of Christ’s birth among us. But let’s emphasize who he really is. He is not the Great Judge who determines who is “naughty or nice” He is not the Great Provider who gives us whatever we want. He is an example to us of remember the poor and needy—a reminder that Christmas is a time of giving. During this holiday season, instead of letting Santa do our giving for us, let him be an example for us so that we can be Santa for the children and poor of the world

The Annunciation

Henry Ossawa Tanner,. The Annunciation, 1898. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

"She shut her eyes and trusted in God who could bring all things to pass, even though common sense were against it; and because she believed, God did to her as he said"

Martin Luther's Christmas Book
..

Candlemas, Presentation of Our Lord, Ground Hogs Day, Festival of Lights

Midway between the shortest day of the year and the Spring Equinox, from ancient times those in the cold part of the earth turned their thoughts toward Spring.

In Rome February was added to the calendar - 'februa' - meaning cleansing or purification - and there were purification rites during this time to get ready for Spring.  


And in Her infinite wisdom, the Church neatly fit in with this need to wash off the cold and grime of winter with The Feast of the Purification of Mary, which Protestants have turned into the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus.  


And for the former pagans who enjoyed their February Festival of Lights - the church gave them Candlemas, a time when all the candles to be used for worship would be blessed.  In some places folks would bring their candles from home to be blessed for a little extra protection at home.

And being midway between winter and spring, people naturally begin to wonder when will we have a winter thaw? 

And so from ancient times people have looked for signs.   


The ground hog's ability is traced back to the Germans but the Romans had some rodent to do it as well.  

All this to say, it's been a long winter.  We could use a little sunshine.

Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr; 1170

 

When Thomas Becket was a young man he was an unlikely candidate for Martyrdom.  

Chancellor of England and good friend of King Henry the II, he lived the good life (for medieval times anyway) He enjoyed the wealth and power that came with his high position.

Then Henry II decided to make him archbishop.  At this time there was a power struggle going on between the King and the church and Henry no doubt thought putting his good buddy in such a position would strengthen his position.  He thought Becket would take his side.

The King was in for a surprise.  

Perhaps Thomas Becket surprised himself.  He rose to the occasion.   As he described it he changed from being “a patron of play actors and a follower of hounds to a shepherd of souls”.  He led a much more austere life, looked after the interests of the church and did not take Henry’s side in his quarrels with the church.
 

Becket became such a throne in Henry’s side that in a rage he is said to have demanded “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?”  There is always someone to indulge the king and on December 29, 1170, four knights murdered the archbishop in front of the altar in his cathedral.

The people were shocked by this brazen murder of their Archbishop. Beckett was soon declared a saint and King Henry subjected himself to a public whipping by monks of the abbey as penance.

You just never know what you are capable of until you are called.  

And if God puts you in a position, God must figure you can handle it. 

Almighty God, you granted your martyr Thomas the grace to give his life for the cause of justice: Keep your household from all evil and raise up among us faithful pastors and leaders who are wise in the ways of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ the shepherd of our souls, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.
 

The Slaughter of the Innocents

Massacre of the Innocents Léon Cognie

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. ~ Matthew 2:16

You know, I don't really care if this particular act of oppression actually happened.

 It symbolizes the reality of the evil that occurs when human beings put their lust for power above all else.   This is the world God entered.  A world where the weak and vulnerable are sacrificed for the sake of the powerful.

Why did God allow this to happen? 

 Why didn't God save the babies of Bethlehem?  Why doesn't God save the children who are stolen and sold into sex slavery today?  For that matter why doesn't God just snap his fingers and make everything all better?  

Why do we have to even bother with a baby born in a stable, with wisemen and stars and a crucifixion for that matter?

Who knows?  But here's a clue.  

The world where babies are killed on the whim of a power hungry king is the world that we humans create.  So what makes us think we have a better idea than God how to save it?

This I know.  

The world where innocents are sacrificed for the powerful is coming to an end.   

Perhaps the purpose of throwing this dark story at us at this time is to keep us from turning Christmas into our own private little family time.    

What does it mean for us today to worship one who came “throw down the mighty from their thrones”?  While we wait for Jesus to return and establish his Kingdom of justice, love and compassion, what can we do today for those who suffer from oppression, loneliness and unkindness? 

St. Francis' Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon

Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord,
All praise is Yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.

 

Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,
Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
And fair and stormy, all weather's moods,
by which You cherish all that You have made.

Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,
So useful, humble, precious and pure.

 

Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,

through whom You light the night

and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,
Mother Earth
who sustains and governs us,
producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.

Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon
for love of You and bear sickness and trial.
Blessed are those who endure in peace,
By You Most High, they will be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death,
from whom no-one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.
No second death can do them harm.
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks,
And serve Him with great humility.

A day in Assisi

"and dees ees St. Francis preaching to dee birds"

In 2004, thanks to a big chunk of my husband's life insurance, my kids and I took a 3 week trip of a life-time to Italy.  We did it on our own, took the train all over.  It was great.  In honour of St. Francis of Assisi, I invite you to read about our day in Assisi.  We rented an apartment in Rome for a week and too a day tour (it's about 3 hours away by bus).  Was not the highlight of our trip so you should probably read the whole trip blog :-)

More Proof Christians are a Mixed Bag

William Wilberforce, Renewer of Society, July 30, 1833

He campaigned for tirelessly for the abolition of the slavery and the slave trade.  Every year for 18 years he introduced a measure to do away with slavery.  Every year it was defeated.  He kept introducing it.  He would not back down.  He would not shut up.  He would not go away. Finally days before his death,  all slavery in the British Territories was outlawed.  A year later 800,000 slaves were freed.

Wilberforce also campaigned for the welfare of animals.  He founded the royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

And yet he opposed unions and women's rights.  He was probably one of those moralistic do-gooders, common to the Victorian age who looked down on many of the people he worked to "help" and often much of the "help" was not so helpful. 

That's Christians for ya.  A mixed bag.  God love em.

St. Barnabas - the Second Chance Guy

I like Barnabas.  He's the Second Chance Guy.

So Saul the Persecutor of Christians shows up in Jerusalem claiming to be a changed man.  "Yea right.  My brother still has bruises from the beatings he received after you sic'd those bullies on him"  Yes Christians believe in forgiveness and all that but nobody really wanted to get too close to Paul.  Resurrection is one thing.  Someone completely converting to the very movement he's been persecuting?  Seems a little suspicious.


It was Barnabas who befriended Paul and took him around to all the disciples and made them act their faith and accept him.


And then later on it was Barnabas who stood up to Paul in defense of his nephew Mark.  Mark for some reason had left Paul and Barnabas in the middle of a missionary journey and Paul was understandably reluctant to take Mark on another trip.   But Barnabas insisted to the point that he took Mark on his own trip and let Paul and Silas go a different way.  


Mark proved worthy of Barnabas' trust and later on even Paul had good things to say about him.  


I know you have to be careful here when it comes to trusting people and giving them more chances to stab you in the back.  Sometimes people really do use up their chances.  But most of us could probably stand to give out a few more chances.  Thank God we haven't used up our chances with God.

Athanasian Creed

Now this is the catholic faith:

We worship one God in trinity and the Trinity in unity, neither
confusing the persons nor dividing the divine being.

For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Spirit is
still another.

But the deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in
glory, coeternal in majesty.

What the Father is, the Son is, and so is the Holy Spirit.

~Athanasian Creed

I remember when we used to recite the Athanasian Creed every Trinity Sunday.  I remember it being very long and full of threats of burning in hell if you don't agree with it.

In preparation for this Sunday's sermon I took another perusal of it.  Parts of it are really quite beautiful.  Most of it in fact.  But what did I remember?  Lines like this "whoever does not guard it whole and inviolable will doubtless persih eternally...those who have done evil will enter eternal fire"  That's actually the only two lines about hell in a beautiful treatise about the Trinity.  But those two lines are ALL I remembered.

And that's the problem.   I know there are some all upset that it's not in the new Evangelical Lutheran Worship book.  And yes,  there would be a real advantage to people reciting the bulk of this creed a few times a year.   Maybe they'd stop thinking the Trinity was like an apple.  But what would catch their attention and what they would remember is the part about those who do evil will go to hell.   And it's not worth it.  People who want people who do evil to go to hell would feel all smug and satisfied.  People who know they have done evil would be terrified and unbelievers would say "See - those Christians just want to send everyone to hell"  And the Gospel would be lost.

And that's really a damned shame.

The Holy Trinity -- I know what it is NOT

So this Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Trinity. Oh Goody. A day to celebrate a doctrine.

The Trinity came up in our Adult Sunday school last Sunday and a young woman very confidently told me that the best way to explain the Trinity was to say it was like an apple --peeling, flesh and seeds. Everyone seemed quite shocked when I had to tell them that really was not a good explanation and was probably heritical, as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three separate persons not part of one God.

So of course then comes the next question...."Well then how would YOU explain it, Pastor?"

Good question.  And I realized I'd really kind of side stepped the question for many years in sermons talking about "the mystery".  

I know what the Trinity is not.  It is not an apple or an egg.   It's not steam, liquid and ice - the persons of the Trinity are God, not forms of God.

I know what else the Trinity is not.  It is NOT God's formal name like my name is Joelle.  Sorry, Robert Jensen and the folks at CORE who like to use that as a way to throw out any feminine language for God.

Honestly Jensen and his ilk have done with the Trinity exactly what God has refused to let us do - back when Jacob wrestled with him and demanded a name (and instead got a new name for himself) , and Moses asked "Well what shall I tell them your name is.?"

I am who I am.  The Holy Trinity is not God's answer to "Tell me your name so I can have the right name unlike the others (like those nasty feminists).

The Trinity is not some dead boring doctrine cooked up by theologians who had nothing to do with real people, real life or real faith.   The teaching about the Trinity is the result of some hard thinking, dicussing (and knock down hard fighting) of real life people who were struggling to express who God is and how he reveals himself to and acts in our lives.

I know what the Trinity is not.   This Sunday I am going to find a way to help people think about what the Trinity is, that also proclaims the Gospel.   So help me God.

Stay tuned.

The Ascension of Our Lord

 The Ascension of Christ

Garofalo 1510-20

I used to have a really hard time getting into the Ascension.  It was just awkward like most of the art depicting this event.  It was like Nadia Bolz-Weber of Sarcastic Lutheran says "And Jesus just sort of floated away...kind of like Mary Poppins"

And if it wasn't weird, it was just sad.  You know, snuffing out the Paschal Candle.  Jesus is gone.  Buh bye! 

And then I read N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church and his chapter on the Ascension and I changed my whole thinking about it.  Basically the problem is when we think of Heaven as a physical place, rather than another dimension..or the realm of God.  

Basically heaven and earth in biblical cosmology are not two different locations within the same continuum of space or matter.  They are two different dimensions of God's good creation.  And the point about heaven is twofold.   First, heaven relates to earth tangentially so that the one who is in heaven can be present simultaneously anywhere and everywhere on earth:  the ascension therefore means that Jesus is available, accessible, without people having to travel to a particular spot on earth to find him.  Second, heaven is, as it were, the control room for earth; it is the CEO's office, the place from which instructions are given.  "All authority is given to me," said Jesus at the end of Matthew's gospel, "in heaven and on earth."  ( p. 111).

When he ascended, Jesus joined God and he is with God, and so in fact, his Ascension brings him closer to us than when when he was on earth and bound by space and time. When Jesus took his place  at the right hand side of God, he was no longer bound by space and  time and so now is accessible to all of us, not just his first century

disciples.  This is what Jesus meant when he said:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.  (John 14:27-28)

I tried to refer to this idea when I was challenging Marcus Borg and his  assertion that thinking about heaven is a waste of time and his reply was that he loves Wright but he makes absolutely no sense in this regard.  I suppose if you are such materialist that talking about anything outside of space and time is nonsensical this is not a helpful image.  And there can be problems with the idea of Heaven being a "control room" for earth.  If God and Jesus (and I suppose the Spirit if we are going to be orthodox Trinitarians) are really at the controls for earth I would suggest they are pushing the wrong buttons! 

I think it will take forever to sort out how God works in this world and the questions of theodicy that come with it...but for those unwilling to join Marcus Borg in throwing out Heaven with the bathwater, N.T. Wright is a good place to start.

Juliet Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation - Worth Repeating

 This is a repeat from last yer:

Arise then...women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts! Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly: "We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,  
Will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs." From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with Our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity,
I earnestly ask That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
  May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities, The amicable settlement of international questions, The great and general interests of peace.

1870