I Think We Must Try

On Independence Avenue two days after the Inaugruation, a wind-swept nun garbed in fluttering black and white habit steps off a bus to direct anti-choice foot traffic.

A week later, Josef Ratzinger un-excommunicates Bishop Richard Williamson, a Holocaust denier.

When the Faun is kidnapped, in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Susan says, "I don't want to go further and I wish we'd never come. But I think we must try to do something for Mr. Whatever his-name-is."

--afterwards, the 214th Council of the Diocese of Virginia meets to consider:

R4a - Integrity of Committed Relationships (1) a response pastoral; (2) an affirmation of the integrity of committed Christian relationships;

R5 - a Blessing of the Union of Same-Gender Couples;

R6 - an Inclusiveness in Ordained Ministry.

For some, it was as if, per Busiek's Trinity 34, "the tactics of the struggle are simple. Reality is convulsing gouting out chaos rifts as it tries to stablize itself. We can hold out until reality can be prepared - reset to what it should be."

For others, the injustice inherent upon the restoration of stability is no longer acceptable in the name of tactics.

If your Spotsyltuckian would have been sufficiently brave to approach the mike, he might have said:

"As a member of a continuing church, our stability has been rent asundered yet our church life is not centered upon resolution of the property issues. The pain of separation has left deep scars yet we are grown to be the change categorized by the three resolutions even if not consecrated to practice the rites. I have no doubt if the progress inherent in R5 and R6 had been brought to the floor, they would have passed, just as the four amendments to dissolve or weaken R4a, were defeated one by one. Left only by the symbolic upon which to vote, the symbolic becomes the single thread of progress. It's passage looms larger than it's effect, but leaving nothing else, it becomes worthy of passage. Our struggle as a small parish is as nothing compared to our glbt brethren who face injustice, persecution and violence, but our experience is respected and honored by the passage of R4a."

Amidst the parliamentary, the Spirit dwells:

--in a courtesty resolution noting the passing of Harry Raab, a Virginia gentleman, whose gracious presence lifted many an ordinary Stewardship campaign;

--in the sweet melodius air of 'One Bread, One Body,' and 'Oh, let the Son of God enfold you;'

--in the mutual recognition, of the Archbishop of Wales, to the delights of a chilly horse-back ride upon Snowdonia followed by a pint of Mackesons in the warm pub below.

Laura Miller says, "many adults view growing up as a kind of tragedy whose casualties include innocence and the capacity for whole-hearted make-believe."

It would be easy at this stage for the Spotsyltuckian in retirement to retreat behind a warren of stacked books at Standhill House to gaze in wonder upon the tracks in the snow.

--but as hard it is to go a step further, we must try to do something for Mr. Whatever-his-name-is.