[Antiphon 1] I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, standing before the throne.

[Antiphon 2] And all the angels stood round about the throne, and they fell down before the throne upon their faces, and adored God. 

[Sources: The antiphons are from The Roman Breviary, published by Benziger Brothers, 1964.]

Mood:  a-ok

Antiphon on the Benedictus: The glorious choir of the Apostles, the admirable company of the Prophets, the white-robed Army of Martyrs, praise you. All the Saints and elect, with one voice, do acknowledge you, O blessed Trinity, one God. 

Antiphon on the Magnificat: O how glorious is the kingdom wherein all the Saints rejoice with Christ; clothed in white robes, they follow the Lamb wheresoever he goes!

Responsory (between the first and second Lessons): Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord. [repeated] And be joyful, all you who are true of heart and rejoice in the Lord. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord.

[Sources: The antiphons are from The Roman Breviary, published by Benziger Brothers, 1964. The responsory is adapted from The Monastic Diurnal, edited by Canon W. Douglas, published by Oxford U.P., in 1940.]

Mood:  chatty

I would be very sad if, for some reason, I could not take long walks. I found the church where I worship on Sunday mornings by walking home every night from the Amtrak station in our little southern New England state capital. Near the church is the public library, with a respectable collection of fiction. 

In the mid-eighties, Isabelle Holland began publishing whodunits in which the main character is a female Episcopal priest, the stunningly beautiful Rev. Ms. Claire Aldington, a widow with two growing teenagers. 

I recently read the first such novel, _A Death at St. Anselm's_, and now I have borrowed another one of her novels, _A Lover Scorned_, which I just started reading. There is virtually no church politics in these novels; it is not clear that the author is an Episcopalian.  But they are entertaining, nonetheless.

In the first novel, the parish where Ms. Aldington is on staff as a resident psychologist (where I worship, we actually have a parish nurse), has a ministry to street people, who apparently populate the Lexington Avenue neighborhood where St. Anselm's, described as an upper-class church, is situated. So there are similarities with our parish church. While the Rector in the first novel is kind of a cartoon of a progressive priest, Ms. Holland's writing is enjoyable.  

*   *   *

In apartment news, the Bobster has returned from his trip to Florida, with a bit of a tan and in a very good mood. He went to see his Dad, a retired Boston cop who worked vice. Bob's two nephews went too, and they all went fishing everyday they were down there in the sun. Bob loves the weather in Florida, so I encouraged him to call his former wife and get an invitation (they are on friendly terms) for an extended stay in the sunny South.

My mother used to drive my Aunt and Uncle to Florida for their vacation, which they took in mid-summer, when the weather in that state is blazing hot. I never made the connection before, but Aunt Edna's trips to Florida took place during hurricane season too.

A few years after my Mother died, I dreamed about heaven: despite what everyone else thinks, heaven is a lot like the mountains of Western North Carolina, where I gew up: In my dream, I was sitting in the living room of a modest wooden house in the mountains on a beautiful spring day; my mother, who was her old, friendly, kind self, was there, with my other Aunt, Billie. It was a glorious sunny day; I do not remember what we said, but I was so happy to see my Mother again.  

Mood:  cool

Wow! I wish I could write as well as Richard F. Hollaway. My initial impression of the book is that the author went through a (negative) transformative experience at the Lambeth Conference in 1998, when a solid majority bloc of Bishops repudiated gay people; that experience appears to have set Hollaway on his present course, away from creedal Christianity.

Now it is obvious is that, to quote Hollaway when he was Rector at the Advent in Boston, "dust is not always up to the mark," and, historically, as Hollaway undoubtedly knows, ecclesiastics and churches have done terrible things, repeatedly; the Crusades and the Inquisition come to mind. It is not clear why this particular experience was the catalyst.

The other obvious thing is that Hollaway's present stance — he calls God a human construct and objects that religion drags God into history — is inconsistent with both Judaism and Christianity. Hollaway seems to think that God has *not* acted in history, i.e., no Incarnation, no deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt, that house of bondage. So it is not just Christianity, but any revealed religion, indeed, revelation itself, that Hollaway rejects, and that is very serious business.

Given Hollaway's stance, he did well to resign from his position as Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. I am reminded of an event I only read about. When the Boston College theologian Mary Daly (is she still with us?) decided she could no longer be a Christian, she preached a sermon to that effect at the Memorial Church (truly a grand setting) in Harvard Yard and then led a procession out of Mem Church. That is what principle looks like. And Hollaway's abrupt resignation from his highly-placed position in Scottish Anglicanism was also a principled act, which should be applauded. 

(More later: I just needed a break from editing a proposal at work.)

Mood:  chillin'

Richard Hollaway, an Anglican divine, of Anglo-Catholic churchmanship, has apparently been having problems, if not a full-blown crisis, in his faith. He published a book, some years back, with the subtitle, "What is left of Christianity," which looks to be a recantation (is that a word?). It seems like a really interesting book, and I am devoting time each evening to reading 30-page chunks of it.

I do not know quite how to read the data, but the details of Hollaway's biography on wikipedia seem to suggest that Hollaway walked away from his position as Primus (probably the chief bishop) of the Scottish Episcopal Church, to devote himself to writing and journalism. 

Anyway, I will know more of where Hollaway stands when I finish his book. When I was at the Advent, I was not exactly a big fan of the Rector, Hollaway, but the employee at the bookshop on Westminster, a block or two away from the church I currently attend, assured me that Hollaway does not get a penny when someone buys his (remaindered) book.

Which reminds me, I have to figure out just exactly what I believe now, after ten years, more or less, in Judaism, which I have now abandoned, since it no longer makes me happy.

It may be that I am simply incapable of making a decision, even though I am headed, God willing, towards retirement and old age.  

Anyway, off to read Hollaway's book.