Kirkepiscatoid: I think the Irish have it right...

I think the Irish have it right...

Ok, another secret...I am a Book of Common Prayer junkie. I like collecting them from all over the world, different versions over history, etc. There are always parts of every version that I like to inscribe in my heart. For instance, in the Eucharistic Prayer in the 1661, I really dig the line:

"Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's Church militant here in earth." (I like the idea of church being militant, revolutionary, etc.)

But post-Lambeth, it was the prayer in the Church of Ireland's BCP for Christian unity that got to me...

FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Saviour, the Prince
of Peace; Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are
in by our unhappy divisions. Take away all hatred and prejudice, and
whatsoever else may hinder us from godly union and concord: that, as
there is but one Body, and one Spirit, and one hope of our calling, one
Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may
henceforth be all of one heart, and of one soul, united in one holy bond
of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one
mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I like the line, "Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions."

Note that it's not that "they" are in. It's "we". As Pogo says, "We have met the enemy and they is us."

There is a lesson in here for me, although I continue to struggle and pray that people finally "get" the concept of "the inclusive church." This struggle puts me in danger if I do not continue to cross-check my heart. I could let it eat me alive with anger and sarcasm. I can't just get mad. I have to pray, and I have to live in a way that models inclusivity. That is not always easy! It is hard for me to feel inclusive about haughty people, mean people (I really need one of those bumper stickers that says "mean people suck"), indecisive nebbish-y sort of people, people who whine, clingy people, people who can't seem to get off their fat ass and change their life...you get the drift. Being inclusive to GLBT folks is easy for me compared to being inclusive to people with what I consider "dis-likeable traits". But you know what, exclusive behavior stops us from seeing the light of God in people, and if I am going to expect people who find inclusivity to GLBT folks difficult to change their perspective, I have to improve on my own habits of exclusivity.

If I cannot learn to be inclusive to those groups of people, then all my posturing about the inclusivity of GLBT people is for naught. It's all for social conscience and show.

This week, I think I am going to give more attention to praying to change these behaviors of exclusivity in myself and see what pops up. But if I am serious about the inclusive Church, I have to be serious about the exclusive parts of me.

8 comments:

Ruth Hull Chatlien said... August 10, 2008 at 2:33:00 PM CDT: Thank you. I really needed this, especially the line Take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatsoever else may hinder us from godly union and concord.

I just a moment ago sent an email off to someone who has cut me from her blog roll after being a regular daily commenter for several months. I suspect that it's because I've been posting liberal stuff lately, and she's Evangelical. I wrote a whole long blog post about it and then realized that it was all based on my assumptions and she could be acting for completely different reasons (like maybe I said something hurtful without realizing it).

Anyway, then I come here and read this, and it feels a bit as though the Holy Spirit is saying I did the right thing to ask instead of accuse.

Thank you for being God's channel. (Think prayer of St. Francis.)
Kirkepiscatoid said... August 10, 2008 at 3:27:00 PM CDT: Bummer, Ruth, that you have to deal with that...but you are also reminding me I should have added "Evangelicals who act like God told them personally" to my list (wink).

One of the things I have at least scratched the surface on getting a handle about is this whole problem of "corporate sin and corporate atonement." It helps having been friends with M.J. my Jewish friend who now has dementia, and doing the "Yom Kippur experience" many times.

So many times we are not even aware we have harmed another, or said something that seemed hurtful to another. It was not our intent; therefore it's not real in our mind. But harm was done, none the less. I liken it to a misdiagnosis on a surgical pathology specimen. I am sure there are cases in our files that, although I called them the best I could at the time I had them with what I knew about them, that the ultimate diagnosis was wrong, none the less. In a certain small percentage of the time, my miscue may have caused them to not be diagnosed in a timely fashion and my miscue, although unintentional and based on the best info I had at the time, shortened their life or caused them unneccesary suffering. I live with that very real feeling every day I sit behind a microscope. But if I let that feeling consume me, I would never be able to do any good for the NEXT person whose case I get and CAN alleviate their suffering.

We can only do what we know how to do at a given time. All we can do is continue to try to do better, and ask for forgiveness from those we've harmed weither it was intentional or unintentional.

As for any notion of me being God's channel....I will say this...if that is the case, he's obviously not very picky, and I would have thought better of God in that sense, so I'll have to stew on that one a bit!!!!
Ruth Hull Chatlien said... August 10, 2008 at 5:13:00 PM CDT: We can only do what we can do is one of my husband's favorite expressions. Usually he uses it when I've overscheduled myself, but he'd agree with it in the sense you use it to.

So far no answer to my email. But I feel better knowing I tried to figure out why she cut me off.

Christians don't really do much with corporate sin / corporate atonement, do they? Certainly it isn't part of the Evangelical construct.
Kirkepiscatoid said... August 10, 2008 at 5:22:00 PM CDT: Not much...and to be honest, the "little Martin Luther that still likes to sit on my shoulder" keeps after me to worry about my own soul first. (wink)

But liturgical Christians certainly do corporate statements of belief, as in the creeds and in the Baptismal Covenant. So in that sense, it's not a huge stretch to enter the corporate sin/atonement ballpark. When you think of the things that go wrong that no one single person is at fault, there can be a certain amount of corporate sin in the mix.
Cathy said... August 10, 2008 at 5:57:00 PM CDT: Another BCP junkie! I like getting them from other places in the world too. Not so much the ones from times past, but that is a thought too.

Thank you for stopping by my blog! Makes the heart glad!
Kirkepiscatoid said... August 10, 2008 at 6:57:00 PM CDT: When we cleaned out our church storage closet, there was a whole passel of 1928 BCP's...they were going out in the recycling, so I picked the "pick of the litter" and added it to my collection!!!!
Fran said... August 10, 2008 at 7:48:00 PM CDT: What a thought provoking post. Again - I love the way you look at things.

I was just writing about leaning into the issues (and people) that we have issues with on my church blog, so this gives me some further food for thought.

BTW, I attended Episcopal church today. Elizabeth Kaeton keeps welcoming me in! (and here i am in the diocese where rome is liberal and TEC is... not. At all!)
Wormwood's Doxy said... August 12, 2008 at 10:15:00 AM CDT: Ouch. You struck a soft spot, my friend.

My short vacations from the blogosphere this summer have done more to lower my level of anger than anything---but the downside is that I don't keep as close a track on my favorite bloggers. You know who you are... ;-)

Pax,
Doxy