December 17, 2007
Restoration
We’re running out of Advent, and it’s way overdue for The Episcopal Church (aka TEC) to get a life. Belief in the one holy catholic and apostolic church does not one holy catholic and apostolic church make one be. We’re only a couple of million folk barely surviving a not altogether enthusiastic missionary escape west into the colonies a few hundred years ago.
Oxford University theologian Marilyn McCord Adams, a sister Anglican, by the by, recently reminded us even more sternly in the kind of terms we detest that TEC is a mere Protestant denomination. But, she went on, not to worry, for the Roman Catholics and the Baptists will see to it in good order that at least for the time being there’ll be plenty of Christians in the US&A.
So it’s Advent yet. We might just be among the few who know, and at least we can keep the pink and purple candles going as best we can. It’s a good season, even if the commercial anticipation of Christmas blinds it to so many. A whole two weeks ago as we were setting up at our jazz band’s current venue, the owner was noticeably running Jingle Bells on his sound system. I said to him in my most winsomely convincing evangelical manner, I see you’re celebrating Advent right off. What’s that? he said. [Rubric: The congregation will now shrug, elbows in, palms up and extended.]
So it’s Advent. It’s a blessed time that includes such unlikely fellow travelers as the BVM and Big Bad John. If it can include them in the same crowd, surely there’s hope for us. So an 800-pound Primate bangs on the narthex door. Don’t run to beat hell, instead, invite him in. Let him sit wherever he’d like, put out some mistletoe, and then get on with it. It’ll soon be Christmas, and the restoration of hardware isn’t all that needs to be done.
No Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post.
| TrackBack URI
You can also bookmark
this on del.icio.us or check the cosmos