Why do you believe?

 I still don't get it. I'm talking about people wanting me to become ordained as a Deacon or a Priest. In case you are really wondering, if God were to say to me I had no choice but to be one or the other, I would become a Deacon.

But still, very few people will say what they see in me to even bring it up. I was at the Ordinations in this diocese at the beginning of last month. Before the ordination service, the diocese held an event relating to Area Ministry. During lunch, I was sitting at a table talking with a dear friend, someone that I really think should be ordained. After lunch, I had gotten together with the other members of the Commission On Ministry as we lined up to head in for the ordinations. One of the people said, “I was at a table, and someone asked me who that priest was. I looked around and said that their were a number of them around, which one was she was talking about. She said the one sitting over there, and I looked around and asked again which one she was talking about. She pointed and said the one that is sitting at the table talking with the woman. I then realized that she was talking about you.”

OK, something is going on, but nobody will explain to me what it is that they see. I was at church one day, and one of the members said something to me and that I should become ordained. My pastor overheard the conversation, and got a huge smile on his face.When we had a conversation about 10 days later, after telling him what I have been experienced, I asked him what he saw in me. He talked about all of the other people, but when I brought it back to what he saw, he again avoided the question.

But there have been a couple of people who have answered the question whom I really respect for it, several of them are Deacons. But I really need to hear from others as to what they see in me.

Now to something else. I forgot to mention that the guppies that I had written about have all died. The final one to go was one of the orange ones. I realized that it was going to happen about a week earlier, as he would only lay on the bottom of the tank, and the only time he would swim around was when food was put into the tank.

I also ended up losing all of the fish in that tank a few months later, this included the fish that I had the longest, which was a catfish. I am at fault on this, as I had added to much salt into the water the night before when I went to top off the tank with water. When I arose the next day, I walked into the living room and looked into the tank. The catfish was laying on one of the plants like it would do at times, but I knew something was wrong. I grabbed a net and stuck it into the tank, and when I got close to it and it didn't dart off, I knew that it was dead. It was then that I realized that all of the other fish were dead also. I haven't gotten any new fish to replace them, as I am trying to figure out what I want to get, and even if I want to continue to have fish. I have been thinking about just cleaning out the water in the tank and getting a Beta. I'll figure it out one of these days.

Anyway, things are still the same at the congregation that I am in. My pastor has still not apologized to me as directed by the vestry. I am finding it funny, as I have let him know that I am still awaiting the apology, and he has given excuses. He has even given sermons relating to rewards and other stuff, but still he can't do something so simple as to say, “Clinton, I am sorry. I screwed up and what I did was wrong. I apologize.” I know that it is never going to happen, and I wonder how he will answer to the Holy Trinity if he should be asked about it.

I hope to get back to writing here more often. I have been busy with other things, and I have also gone back to writing poetry from time to time. I haven't been keepin up with much of what has been happening in the Anglican Communion, as I feel that I should be spending my time doing other things. I will do my best to write something in the next few weeks.

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The Fish Tank, Part III

Ok, it has been a bit since I last updated about the fish, so hear is what is going on. one of the black ones died, which means that I am down to three, one of each color. Yellow and Orange seem to stick together most of the time, which the Black one joining in from time to time. I think that I am going to have to go down to the pet store where I bought these and take a look at what is going on in there tanks. As I think back on it, it seems as though the Orange and yellow ones stuck together in the tank, and the black ones stuck together much of the time. 

 I'm thinking about setting the other tank up and putting the Orange and Yellow one in there, then finding some females and breeding the black one. I happen to like his tail better.

 Welp, I guess that I should get back to writing about things in the communion again on this blog. I got a shock today about something that happened in this diocese, but I want to spend a few days thinking about it and other things before writing anything.

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ASL Episcopal Congregations?

 I connected with a cousin of mine on Facebook. even though I don't think about it, he happens to be deaf. He wasn't born that way, it happened with a illness that he had as a child. While looking through his profile, I noticed that he is a member of the Oakland Deaf Church. I know very little about his church, but after looking at there website a question came to mind about the Episcopal and Anglican church. Are there any Episcopal/Anglican deaf congregations?

 We have done a lot towards being inclusive towards so many, but I as I watched this sermon from his church I realized that I have never seen or recall seeing any ASL done in any congregation or event. Hopefully some day we will be inclusive towards the deaf in more ways than we are.

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The Gospel According to Jesus

“Love the Lord with all of your heart, all of your mind, and with all of your soul. And the second great commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. On these to commandments hang all of the laws of the prophets.” - Jesus Christ

 

Growing up I really had no interest in the politics of the church, for I was young and things like that never really interested me. Yeah I went to church each and every Sunday, and my parents were and still are involved in different aspects of the church outside of just going to service, and even though I was a acolyte, sang in the choir, and did other things, the politics of the church was something that never really interested me.

 

I was living in Philadelphia at the time when women were first officially ordained, and I remember thinking to myself that it was nice, but what had taken the Episcopal Church so long in having that, for I had seen it in other Christian communities in the Black community. Was the Episcopal church really that far behind the times? Then later the that diocese said that it was ok to have females as acolytes. At the time that the congregation I was in decided to have it's first female acolyte, I was the senior acolyte, and they were very nervous about approaching me to inform me. I had the power to make someone a good or bad acolyte, for no other acolyte had the same skill set that I had. People loved when my best friend and I served, for they knew that they were going to see it done as though it has a super high mass with a show. When they finally told me what they decided that they wanted to do, they were very surprised when I said that I thought that it would be great. Unlike others that I trained, she was trained to hold up the tradition that my friend and I had begun.

 

When I moved to the diocese that I am in now, I figured that I would no longer have to serve as an acolyte, but when those at the congregation that I was in say how I would shake my head at the way that the acolytes did things, to told me that if I felt that I could do better to get up their one Sunday and show them how it was suppose to be done. I really didn't want to do it, but the next Sunday I put vestments on and showed them how it should be done. I was immediately made head acolyte.

 

Over time I became more and more involved with that congregation, and was even thinking about becoming a Deacon, but then something happened that changed my mind. I was elected to be one of our Deanery representatives, and I because to see the politics that goes on within the larger church organization. It made me realize that the what I had been thinking was just purely about Christianity wasn't so. Yes, for week after week, year after year, I had been going into the buildings and saying the words that were put into front of me, but that isn't what made me a Christian.

 

Christianity isn't about the buildings and organizational structures, but what is in somebody's heart. We hear and say the words. We read our Bibles and learn each and every verse, but does that make one a Christian? Currently several church organizations are going through rough times with infighting about who can and cannot do what, and what the Bible says, but Jesus made the whole thing so simple for us to understand.

 

We have gotten so caught up in other matters, that we are making things more difficult than they really should be. We find it so easy to tell each other that we love one another, but when was the last time that you just simply said “God I love You!”? Think about it. I'm not talking about prayers and other such stuff, but just simply said to the Holy Trinity that you loved him?

 

I want you to get up right now, go outside and make a 360 degree turn and say “God I love you.” I don't care if someone else is out there and may see you, and think that you are nuts. From your heart let God know how you feel.

 

Go Ahead, I will wait.

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Now didn't that feel good?

 

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See Ya!!!

See Ya!!!

 

 Well, it’s been nice having you folks in the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin with us, but most of you have voted to leave the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion to start your own denomination. “But we only voted to leave the Episcopal Church and align ourselves with someone else,” you all are yelling. By leaving the Episcopal Church, you have left the Anglican Communion. It would be like the city of Fresno voting to leave the state of California and aligning itself with the state of New York. It’s sad that you all just don’t get it. I still just don’t understand why those who are so unhappy in the Episcopal/Anglican Church simply just don’t leave and either join or start their own denomination. Oh I know why they won’t. It’s because they realize that they will loss power. This fight really has nothing to do with homosexuality or women being ordained, it has to do with Power. They realize that they won’t have the power and influence that they have now.

 

 I hope that everyone has a enjoyable Christmas and Joyous Kwanzaa. I am hoping that maybe this year when I wish my Pastor a Joyous Kwanzaa he will not be rude to me like he was last year. What he did was basically racist.

 

 

I know that I haven’t been keeping this thing up with posts, but I think that it would be much better served if I only wrote from time to time with things of substance then with mindless plat. Hopefully after the holidays I will write on here more often.

 

Well here is hoping and praying that you and yours have a supreme Christian Holiday.

 

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Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you

“Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down for life for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.” -1 John 3:13-16

 <> 

Over the last year or so, I have been wondering if staying in the Episcopal Church is worth it. I mean with all of the stuff going on in the Anglican Communion it has made wanting to stay very hard. The Episcopal Church is the church that I was born into and have been a member of all of my life.

The thing that is bothering me is the Orthodox side of the church. The Episcopal Church is a denomination that is run similar to congress, but instead of a Senate we have a House of Bishops, and instead of a House of Representatives we have a House of Deputies. But it seems as though the Primates from many of the other Provinces of the Communion and the Orthodox of the Episcopal Church don’t seem to understand that it requires the vote of both houses to make major changes in the church here.

 <>They seem to have a problem with a couple of things, one not more than the other, but through their actions that are showing that they have hate in there hearts. Oh they claim that it isn’t hate that they have, and if this is true, then they must have fear. The actions over the last few years that the Episcopal Church have done over the last 30 or so years have let the world know that this denomination is a church that follows in the way that that the Holy Trinity has guided it. The were upset with the church permitting the ordination of women saying that it is against the teachings of the Bible, but if you look at the life of Jesus you will see that women lead when men were afraid to lead. Was it not the women who showed up at the crucifixion? Was it not the women who showed up to discover the tomb was open? When were the men? 

<>Not to long ago, a court in Southern California ruled in favor of the Episcopal Church (The Diocese of Los Angeles) in a property dispute over three congregations that left the Episcopal denomination. I think that I have written this here before, but it really makes me wonder if they are Christians. To me, if they were Christians they would stay and fight for the things that they believe in within the denomination. These people are like the faux sports fans of teams. These are the same people who when the team is losing aren’t showing up to the stadiums supporting their team, but the second that the team starts winning they claim to be the teams biggest fans. To me a true fan of a team is the one who attends the game when the team has had a losing season and stays through the entire game even in the worse of weather. I think that these congregations and Bishops would be like those who followed Jesus proclaiming him the savior, but were also amongst those who yelled and screamed to crucify him before Pilate.  <>

What is even sadder is the fact that many of these congregations that are leaving are trying to associate with churches in Nigeria and Uganda. Don’t these people realize that a large number of scams and other rip offs are coming from these two countries? I really wonder how many of these congregations will look at their bank accounts in a couple of years only to find that they have been totally cleaned out?  <>

I was reading an article talking about the Anglican Communion, and it pointed out something very interesting. It said that about 1/3 of the money that the communion operates with comes from the Episcopal Church. Now think about it. The Communion has some 77 million members, with 2 million being member of ECUSA. So it means that about 2.6% are providing a good portion of the money that goes into spreading the Gospels and doing great works around the world, and that doesn’t include additional moneys that ECUSA, its Dioceses, and congregations also spends in other ways. I really wonder how much damage to Christianity will be damaged if the Episcopal Church is removed from the Communion? How many children will starve to death because they will not longer be provided the meals that they once were by the moneys provided by the Episcopal Church?

Then I wonder, how much more work will the Episcopal Church be able to handle and support through its membership in the WCC? What would the Anglican Communion say and want to do if the Episcopal Church invested its moneys into organizations that find cures for cancer, AIDS, and SIDS? Or comes up with a way to end world hunger?  <>

I am sure that if the Episcopal Church is removed that some of the others within the Communion will think about leaving, and I am sure that some within the Episcopal Church will choose to leave it. It seems that the people complaining both within and out of ECUSA who are complaining and demanding responses from the Bishops fail to realize that the Episcopal Church is a democracy. The Anglican Communion is demanding a response about the actions of ECUSA by September 30. I think that if the Bishops should response, that they should make it clear that their response only represents the Bishops and not the Laity. They need to make it clear that they are a very small minority within the church here, and that the House of Deputies may choose to respond by saying that they reject what the Bishops say.  <>

With all of the stuff that is going on, I wondered if I should stay in the Episcopal Church. I think that my stay in the Episcopal Church will be for the rest of my life, but I think that my involvement within it will depend on the actions of the Bishops. For the church to stay in the Anglican Communion is not important to me, but I feel that the Bishop should stand up to what and how the Episcopal Church is. The Episcopal Church is following the ways that the Holy Trinity is guiding it, not the ways that man wants for it to go. I am a Christian first, and an Anglican second.

 

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A Rant of a friend

Below is a rant of a friend of mine. As much as I love her, I kind of wish that she had a sibling who was the total opposite of her, for I have heard enough sermons by her father about the wonderful things that she has done. Now I know that she isn't as good as her parents think that she is, but she is a wonderful person that I think greatly of.

Check out her Blog

- Rant, rant, rant!!

Ok, so this is going to be a bit of a rant.

I recently came across a discussion regarding homosexuality online. It started out pleasantly enough, then degraded a bit into "sin" talk. I am always disturbed by people who profess to be Christians and yet they 'hate' those that don't live the same lifestyle.

I was raised by Christian parents, in fact my father is a priest. I was taught that "alternative lifestyles" (a term I didn't hear until I was older), were fine and dandy providing they weren't hurtful to anyone. That just because I didn't live that way didn't make it wrong, just different.

My mother had many gay friends, I had friends with one parent, friends with gay/lesbian parents, friends who lived with their grandparents, friends who lived in foster care, friends who were only children, the youngest child, the oldest, the middle, lived in blended families, some had dogs, some cats, some pet snakes. I had friends who were white, black, Indian, Asian, mixed with everything. I had friends who were on welfare, some were rich, middle class, or just plain poor. I grew up with legal immigrants, illegal immigrants, people whose family came on the Mayflower, and some who came to the USA when they were 15 or older, some were adopted. Let's see, Jewish friends, Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Muslim, Wiccan, Agnostic, Atheist, Lutheran, Greek Orthodox, etc........I could go on. Here's what I don't understand. If I grew up with all of these people, all of these lifestyles, differences, both physical, emotional, economic.....which is the "alternative" lifestyle?!?

I mean seriously....If I look back at my childhood, my parents, and ONE other family I grew up with were the only ones with parents who were married, had been married prior to our conception and birth, and who were our natural parents. <----This was the "alternative" to everyone and everything I saw around me. I was the freak, I was the weird one, I still am.

So why in society is that the family dynamic/life dynamic/love dynamic/sex dynamic that everyone feels is "normal and okay"? Can someone explain it to me?

Oh, wait I know.....the bible says so, right?!? And we are a bible loving country in the good old USA, right?!?

Don't get me wrong, I love the bible, it's teaching, and stories, but really?!? That's the reasoning? Doesn't it also say not to eat pork? But on T.V. it says pork is the other white meat. Every Christian church function I've gone to has pork products. Doesn't the bible also say to rest on the Sabbath? But come on all the best sales are on the weekends! Hmmm, what else does the bible say to do that we as "Christians" don't follow. Why is it that we get to pick and choose what we want to believe in the bible, then we point to it as our moral compass, when we as a people, religious group, don't follow all of it's tenants?

But then it also says to love our neighbor, to turn the other cheek, and to do unto others.....but then we often choose to disregard those teachings too. Why do we choose the negative to live by rather than the positive? How can a Christian person say, "I hate the sin but love the sinner", there should be no hate.

How can you hate someone for loving someone else?!? Shouldn't we embrace any love? Shouldn't we celebrate positive feelings in this world? I just don't understand how you can hate/dislike someone for who they have sex with. Why? I want someone to explain this to me without the excuse of "because the bible says so". The bible says a LOT of things that you don't follow, how did you come to the conclusion that THAT particular issue is the one you should grab onto?

Personally, if you love someone, and that someone loves you back, the RIGHT ON! GOOD FOR YOU! Why is that my business or my concern?

I see things day in and day out at my job that baffle the mind and would assault the sensibilities of anyone in the "general public". Then I go home, surf the net, watch t.v. try to escape, and what do I see? The "normal" people, the "Christian" people who are bagging on others, spreading hatred and discontent. People who are trying to divide, who think their way is the only way, who say they are Americans and Christians, yet they want everyone to live their way, because obviously that is the "correct" way.

It's getting to the point that I go to work to escape from the "real world". Because at least there, I know who I'm dealing with, I know what I'm getting. And the people I work with know that they aren't perfect, know that there are different ways of living that are good, and just. Don't hate me because I'm different than they are.

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Are We Like Sheep?

“All of us are like sheep: We have wandered away from God. All of us have turned to our own way. And the Lord has placed on his servant the sins of all of us.” - Isaiah 53:6

 

June 2, 2007 was a good day for me, in that I went to Grace Cathedral for the Ordination Service, and came out thinking about something. I will have to give credit my Bishop Marc Andrus for making me think about this, for it was his sermon that brought it to my mind. Bishop Marc’s sermon dealt with Sheep and Shepards. Even though he didn’t talk about the topic, I began to think about the Anglican Communion, and more about the Diocese of California.

There is a wonderful book titled “The Way Of The Wolf”, by Martin Bell. It’s a collection of stories, poems and songs that are kind of like the parables of Jesus, but written in modern language and in some cases modern versions. Now I love to read short stories, and this is a book that has a wonderful collection of them. One of the stories is called “”Rag-Tag Army”. It talks about God having trouble keeping his army together as they travel, for groups within the army keep doing different things, and God has to stop what he is doing to get everyone back in step so that they can get to where they are suppose to be going. God is the Shepard, and the army is his sheep.

Another thing that came to mind is a song from Handel’s Messiah called “Are We Like Sheep?” As the song runs through my head, I wonder if the Episcopal Church has gone astray? Has this diocese gone astray from the teachings of Jesus? Have I gone astray from the Orthodox teachings that I was taught in the congregation that I grew up in when I was living in another diocese?

When God created the world, one of the first things that he gave to all of his creatures was the freedom of choice. We as humans always say that he gave just us the freedom of choice, but if you really think about it, he gave the choice to all of his creatures. Just recently a couple of humpback whales made the choice of going up the San Pablo Bay towards Sacramento. Some people will say that they got lost, but how do we really know that they were lost? They could of chose to stay with the others in their pod, but they chose to venture off to take another route.

As I read the stuff that is going on in the Anglican Communion, it makes me wonder if the ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada are sheep that have wondered off and the rest of the communion is trying to bring us back or are we sheep that have headed off to begin a new herd?

I have often heard the Church of England referred to as the “Mother Church” of the Anglican Communion, and one of its children is the Episcopal Church. If we look at the traditional role of a mother, it is like that of a Shepard in that she guides her children (sheep) through life to the point where they go out on their own. She protects her sheep as best as she can.

With what is going on in the Anglican Communion, is the Episcopal Church like many teenagers who think that they know everything and have rebelled against the mother church, or has the Episcopal Church grown into adulthood and mother is not ready to let her child go out into the world to live there own life?

Most parents do what they can to keep their child out of trouble and away from dangers, trying to keep their child from going through the same mistakes that they went through. Oh this is a great thing to do, but in some cases in order for a child to learn about things in life they need to make the same errors that their parents did in order to learn the same lesson. Parents tell kids not to do this or that because it is wrong, but fail to really explain why so that the child understands. People will say to kids not to use drugs, but will fail to tell kids that they used them at one point in life, and some of the things that they experienced as a result of using them.

But I am getting way off track on what my Bishop got me thinking about.

Being an Afro-Anglican in the Diocese of California is an interesting matter. In the diocese that I grew up in (The Diocese of Pennsylvania,) Black Episcopal clergy was a common thing to see. Don’t get me wrong, as they were in every congregation, but as a child it wasn’t that uncommon to come across one working not only in Black congregations, but in other congregations also. In this diocese we have black clergy in three congregations on a full time basis. Two of the clergy are priest, and the other is a Deacon. Now I know of five other black clergy in the diocese, two are retired, and at least one of the other two serves as an Interim.

Even though there are not many black youth within the diocese, sadly with the few Black Clergy in the diocese the black youth in this diocese really don’t see examples that becoming an ordained clergy person in this diocese as a viable option. This is also true of the Hispanic youth also.

This is a diocese that has only four Hispanic ministries, and not a single congregation with it’s own property. But when it comes to the Blacks within this diocese, we only have one that is looked upon as an Afrocentric congregation.

I am not 100% sure, but I believe that we have only five Asian congregations, with four of them with their own properties. Sadly though, like with the Blacks, they only have one Deacon of Asian ancestry, and I don’t think that we have a single Hispanic that is a Deacon.

The thing that each of the ethnic groups need to do is to become Sheppard's in getting the youth to realize that becoming a Clergy Person is a viable and fulfilling life that is worth considering. We as people of color need to show up at Ordination Services, welcome and show our support to the newly ordained that are of color. Yes we should show our support for ALL of the newly ordained, but with the small number of new ethnic seminarians in this country, we need to support them all.

I think that the only thing worse than the lack of people of color not becoming clergy is the major lack of people who happen to be physically handicap not being ordained.  Even though we of color are handicapped because of our color, the fact that someone is in a wheelchair, or having to use crutches, or is blind, doesn’t mean that they can’t bring forth the Good News. How can we even call ourselves an inclusive church when we deny access to people because they need a bit of help because of physical problems? Now I know that not all churches are set up to be able to handle a wheelchair in the altar area, but as we build more and more churches, it is something that we can put into the plans.

But overall, spend some time thinking about how we as a Christians are Sheppard’s in the world? How can we as a denomination be Sheppard’s to the world? How can the congregation that you are in be a Sheppard to our surrounding community? How can you be a Sheppard to those in your life? Who has been a Sheppard to you?

“And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.” - Mark 6:34

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Is a split natural?

Below is something that I wrote in August of 2006. Yes it would be nice if the Episcopal Church would stay in the Anglican Communion, but I think that it is more important that the Episcopal Church follows what the Holy Trinity has in store for it. People talk about the traditions of the church, and after thinking about it, the Episcopal Church is not breaking tradition, for it has been a denomination that has been a welcoming one to all through it's history.

People have been saying different things about what is going to happen to the Episcopal Church and it being in the Anglican Communion, from the communion having a two-tier system where the Episcopal Church will be in the lower tier, then the other being that it will be "thrown out" of the communion. With the two-tier system, in a way I hope that if that happens that the Episcopal Church then gives the Anglican Communion second tier money. Would you pay for a first class ticket and be happy if you were placed in coach? With the second case, I think that a few others within the communion will also leave, and when the Anglican Communion see the amount of money that they will no longer have, they will try and go for a few years then try and get the ones that left back. It's sad that things are going this way, but with what I wrote below, I realize that it is something that is natural in Christianity.

I hope that you enjoy.

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He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches."
(Luke 13:18-20)

With the current situation within the Anglican Communion, it makes me wonder if what we are really experiencing is something that is really a natural thing?

The next time that you are out somewhere, I would like for you to take a look at a tree. I'm not talking about just some simple small tree that really hasn't become firm and established, but one that has been around for a good while.

Now think of the trunk of that tree as being Christianity. Don't look at it as being a denomination, but just being Christianity. Go up and really look at that trunk. Really look at it. Touch it. Smell it. Hug It.

Look up. Look at the branches coming off of the trunk. Some of them are big, while others are small. Now think of those branches being the different denominations. You see that really big branch? Those are the Roman Catholics. That branch to the right of it, those are the Eastern Orthodox. Not to far up are the Quakers, and then there are the Amish, the Mormons, the Baptist, the COGIC, and so many many more.

Then you spot it. It's that special branch called the Anglican Branch. Oh that branch is so beautiful and wonderful. Don't you just want to sit on that branch? Now out of safety, don't climb the tree to that branch, but imagine yourself sitting on that branch. There you are, sitting right next to the trunk and looking out at the length of that branch. Isn't that a nice long branch? Oh ever so wonderful and beautiful.

As you look out at this branch, you notice the branches that stick out from it. There is the CofE, Canada, Nigeria, Belize, South Africa, Japan, New Zealand, and so many others. Ahhhh, you see this really wonderful branch. Yes, that's the one, the one that you really love. It the branch that is officially named The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America, but out of simplicity you call it the Episcopal Church, or the ECUSA, or TEC.

Now you work your way over to the ECUSA and you really like what you see. Oh it is so wonderful. As you look at it, you notice these stems. So are going to the left, and some are going to the right. So are going up, while others are going down. All of these stems are going in different directions for different reasons.

You then come down from the tree and look at all of the branches coming out from the trunk. You notice that all the same is true with all of the branches, in that they have stems and branches that break off from them. Then you look closely and see branches that are dying off. On the ground around the trunk you see branches that have fallen off of the tree and died. You also see branches that are mixed with other branches, some of which have merged back together into one.

Now walk back from the tree so that you can see the entire thing. You suddenly realize that those mighty branches coming out of the trunk were like those small stems that you saw on the ECUSA branch. Even though all of those branches are going in different directions, they all have the one thing that keeps them connected. They all are all part of that mighty trunk called Christianity.

So is the split that is something that is natural? Yes. Do I hope and pray that we split. No, I hope and pray that we do stay as one to become even stronger in helping to hold up our part when a big strong wind comes along. But if we do split, I hope that we could be one of those branches that split apart but yet merge back together.

Now go out and hug a tree, and don't forget to hug your friends and family also.

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