A novel set in 1990, this is the story of Episcopalian Katherine Tierney who spends a year working in a mission outpost in Burkina Faso.   The story might be predictable but Brady’s descriptions of the setting, the culture, and their impact on the characters is engrossing and, for those who have similar experience in their history, evocative of fond memories.  The spiritual issues with which the central character has to wrestle underscore the impact that time spent in mission can have on those who chose to invest their lives in that service.  In the opinion of this editor, Unlikely Missionary is worthwhile read. — JDB  ISBN: 1591136989, $15.95

This is a great encouragement. Thank you to Father John and TAD for recommending The Unlikely Missionary!

She talked about finding what you love and being willing to sacrifice for it. What do you love? What are you willing to do anything for? Where do you spend your money, time and daydreams? This is what you love.

She also explained that she lives life as a Christian because it asks life to be lived. To love and find joy and work hard - it reminded me of the Benedictine principals that have found renewed popularity in the past few years. Work and play. And, be grateful.

Now, I’m distracted and can’t focus on grading papers! I wish I were with my family at church…

You may either listen to the chapters from within each post, download from the link included in the post, or receive an automatic update by subscribing to the podcast via iTunes.

The first chapter available is the Prologue.

Enjoy!

Some days I drive by Starbucks and think that it was a wimpy exercise, of course I can stay away from Starbucks. Then, 10 days later I feel resentful that I’ve missed a ritual I enjoy and I pull into the drive-thru with gusto.

We’re nearing the end of Lent and I’m happy to say that I picked the right discipline. It has been a challenge to me, for the same reasons any spiritual discipline is a challenge. There is no one there to pat you on the back. But, somehow, someway, the daily discipline of prayer and journaling keeps other things on my mind besides me. It is at times exhausting and irritating. And, at times, I receive a nudge to pray for someone or phone someone that I could only know through prayer. Those moments keep me believing that there is value to soldier on.

Here in State College there is one drive thru Starbucks, the rest of them you actually have to get out of the warm car and walk inside. Since Lent, I have been getting out of the car and walking in under the auspices of purchasing Valentine’s Gifts, buying whole beans for the troops and other things that would be obnoxious from the drive thru.

Am I sensing Jesus’ sacrifice more keenly when I deny myself this daily treat? I don’t know! But my head is killing me from caffeine withdrawals.

Today, I passed by twice, but I could still smell it.

ERD announces arrival of 2008 Lenten devotional

Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) has published its 2008 Lenten devotional booklet, titled “Seeking to Serve: A Lenten Exploration of the Millennium Development Goals.”

Also, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has declared February 10, 2008 — the First Sunday in Lent — as Episcopal Relief and Development Sunday.

(Via Episcopal News Service.)

Heavens! Bishops taking game bets

But proceeds to go to Katrina relief
Friday, January 04, 2008
By Bruce Nolan
The Good Book states the battle is not always to the strong, nor the race always to the swift, but dubious Episcopal bishops in Louisiana and Ohio nonetheless are betting on the power and speed of their opposing Tigers and Buckeyes, inviting their flocks to join in — and promising the proceeds to Hurricane Katrina relief.

That said, there isn’t much smack talk involved — not yet at least, these being Episcopalian clergy.

But there is a promise by Bishop Thomas Breidenthal to put up $250 for every Ohio State touchdown and $100 for every Buckeye field goal in Monday’s Bowl Championship Series game. He is inviting more than 25,000 Episcopalians in his Diocese of Southern Ohio to make similar pledges.

Breidenthal’s call went out Sunday to 82 Episcopal congregations, including those in Columbus, Ohio State’s hometown. Diocesan spokeswoman Richelle Thompson said the invitation likely will be widened in the next few days to target Buckeye Episcopalians wherever they might be found.

In response, Bishop Charles Jenkins of the Diocese of Louisiana has called on Tiger fans to pledge similar dollars for LSU points. That announcement will go out from 54 Episcopal pulpits Sunday, the day before the game, but the call to ante up pledges against Ohio State is posted on the Louisiana diocese Web site now.

The bishops said all the money will go to Katrina relief administered by Jenkins’ diocese in southeastern Louisiana. The Louisiana diocese raises money for Bundles of Hope, with donation levels of $20 to $1,000 that buy goods and relief services in metropolitan New Orleans.

Breidenthal is new to Ohio. His biography suggests a cerebral churchman who last served as a chaplain at Princeton and before that as a seminary professor in New York.

“St. Paul tells us we are called to outdo each other in doing good,” he said. “Competition is sanctified when it does good things for communities and brings people together.”

In truth, though, the idea for the challenge came from a Breidenthal aide “who’s a big Buckeye fan,” Thompson said.

“Clearly, the Buckeyes are going to win. This is just going to make it a little easier for Louisiana to bear,” she said. “If you want smack, we’ll just leave it at that.”

Jenkins, a Louisiana native whose wife, Louise, once taught agronomy at LSU, said he willingly took the bet.

“I am concerned Buckeye fans won’t have to buy very many Bundles of Hope,” the Louisiana bishop said. “We know they will have a hard time scoring any points against our Tiger defense.”

. . . . . . .

The Diocese of Louisiana Web site is www.edola.org. The Diocese of Southern Ohio Web site is www.episcopal-dso.org.

Bruce Nolan can be reached at bnolan@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3344.

The repsonses are great, so I thought I would share the whole thing.

Berkeley Tree-Sitter Falls, Breaks 2 Limbs - Chronicle.com

November 12, 2007

Berkeley Tree-Sitter Falls, Breaks 2 Limbs

A protester broke his arm and leg after plunging at least 30 feet Sunday night while trying to exit a tree in an oak grove that the University of California at Berkeley plans to raze, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Nathaniel Hill, 24, mistakenly thought he was connected to a cable when he stepped from his perch to see his father, who had stopped by to visit. Mr. Hill was among a group of protesters who are living in the trees in hopes of blocking the university from felling them to make way for a $125-million athletics center. He is not the first protester to take a tumble; a woman broke her wrists in a fall earlier this year.

The university has been sued over the planned tree-cutting, and a court decision is anticipated as early as this week.

Dan Mogulof, a university spokesman, said Mr. Hill’s accident was “very regrettable but to state the obvious, completely avoidable.” —Don Troop

Posted on Monday November 12, 2007 | Permalink |

Comments

The headline (perhaps intentionally) did not say whether the tree-sitter broke his own limbs or the tree’s. Thank you for clarifying in the opening sentence.

— CU Alum    Nov 12, 11:16 PM    #

Sounds like the young man suffered from premature ejection, which can happen when your Dad shows up unexpectedly. Quite embarrassing.

— S. Britchky    Nov 13, 03:29 AM    #

Forget the hippy. Is the tree ok?

— Jones2    Nov 13, 04:03 AM    #

Meh…Just burn the tree’s down with the tree hugging hippies in them, solve two problems at the same time.

— doriangrey    Nov 13, 10:45 AM    #

His dad just “stopped by”? He didn’t say – I don’t pay for college so you can do this crap! Get out of the tree you hippie moron!?

— woodman    Nov 13, 11:17 AM    #

Getting hurt to save oak trees? That’s not even a rare tree. Go camp in a bog or something.

— Chip    Nov 13, 11:29 AM    #

Isn’t he a little old to be climbing trees? At 24, he better have his doctorate by now. When are these hippies going to grow up?

— BW    Nov 13, 11:37 AM    #

For the the hippie-haters in the crowd who rejoice in the suffering of others, trees do have functions aside from being places to hang nooses.

— coal_train    Nov 13, 12:15 PM    #

coal_train:

Obviously they have more uses…. dog toilets, carbon-credits, nailing posters to… or, in your case, barking up the wrong one.

— practical_joe    Nov 13, 12:27 PM    #

If a tree-hugger falls in a forest…

— beefeater    Nov 13, 12:41 PM    #

How do you get a tree-hugger down from a tree? Wave to him.

— beefeater    Nov 13, 12:46 PM    #

…re-pave paradise, put up a wealthy donor’s wishes.

— marci    Nov 13, 02:39 PM    #

Since the injury was suffered on the job, can he apply for disability insurance?

— Lawrence S. Lerner    Nov 13, 03:29 PM    #

CU Alum:

The San Jose Mercury News did report this as “breaking news.”

— ironmite    Nov 13, 03:43 PM    #

Well, my husband is going to be ordained on Saturday. And, that truth makes us odd.

But, I’m okay with that. As the sacramental moment approaches I have found myself more and more nervous. I don’t know why? This process has been bubbling along for years but now the day has arrived and I am afraid.

In our 14 years of married life we have shared sacramental moments. The first, our wedding. Most couples’ first lesson in that a wedding is a community event, that it is larger than ourselves. Also, the birth of a child and the death of a loved one, adds legs to the stool and kicks others out. But, their mark remains. The stool is always wobbley when someone leaves. They are always there in spirit.

The ordination is another sacrament. It is the larger church community coming together to affirm the gifts of this person.

Marriage has been under fire for years, but people still get married. The Episcopal Church is aching under its own weight, and yet people are still called. It says to me that there is still hope, hope in the best and for the best.