Today is dedicated to remembering all who have served in the military especially those who suffered in wartime. Stories and reflections from The Episcopal Church
The pilot said to him, ‘Where the hell was God?’ Rowan’s answer was that God is useless at times like this. Now that’s pretty shocking, but actually what he then went on to unpack is that God didn’t cause this and God [was not] going to stop it, because God has granted us free will, and therefore God has to suffer the consequences of this like we do.
“Christianity in the Niger Delta is seriously questionable, putting a traditional religion together with Christian religion – and it makes nonsense out of it,” he says. “If you are not rich and don’t have anything to eat, you look to blame someone. And if you don’t get anything, you blame it on the witches.”
It was at that point in my life that the reality of evil became very, very real to me. But as I watched the volunteers, the brave military people, the people from the Red Cross working to combat all the destruction, I learned firsthand the reality of God and learned that God’s love is stronger than evil.
“We are working to assist in the reorganization of diocesan affairs,” Schori said. It now appears that four churches, including St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Peoria, Ill., the largest in the diocese, will continue to align with the Episcopal Church.
Mr. Frank said that any opposition to the formation of a new North American Anglican Province from Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, will be moot because the spiritual head of Anglicanism has lost his moral authority.
But as Mr. Obama’s victory showed, the path to change is arduous. Even as the nation shattered one barrier of intolerance, we were disappointed that voters in four states chose to reinforce another. Ballot measures were approved in Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and California that discriminate against couples of the same sex. —NYTimes
On Faith, a feature of the Washington Post offers an analysis of how President-elect Barack Obama won the election on the faith and values issues:
O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that, being guided by thy Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to the President of the United States and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen
Swiss chocolatier Blaise Poyet believes he has captured the essence of the Protestant reformer Jean Calvin in special chocolate pralines he created to mark the 500th anniversary of the religious figure who made his mark on European history.