July 12, 2005
Nostalgia
H L Mencken said that an archbishop is a Christian ecclesiastic of a rank superior to that attained by Jesus. I was ordained a priest fifty years ago today, and I never made it, either. It’s the only thing I have in common with Jesus.
It’s easy to get all maudlin on an occasion like this and just remember the good stuff like the time in between vestry meetings, but I’ll resist that. I can say, though, there’s nothing else I’d rather have done (unless maybe play trumpet with Count Basie). Society is generally good to clergy, even if frequently indifferent, though I suspect the old ministerial discounts we used to get may have been largely to keep our mouths shut and our pay minimal.
One seems always expected to give advice at a time like this, though I really don’t know why. I never listened to it much myself. Anyhow, there’s a lot in the Bible and its morality about justice and caring for the poor that God wouldn’t want you to miss. So before you get too enamored of the authority of primates and their apparent obsession with sex, remember old Mencken, and get yourself a life.