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As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

–John F. Kennedy

And now, on this national day of gratitude, we pause to give thanks.

Thanks for those who have given of themselves, who have spent time and energy, who have endured inconveniences and hurdles, who have seen a need and met it.

To all the unsung heroes who work to make life better — better for the unhappy boys of Ward 7, and a group of Eastern Shore high school students struggling to pay for college, and the homeless families of the District who’ve never held a framed portrait of themselves, and the troops at Walter Reed who inspired a smattering of major leaguers to begin playing baseball for a cause, and the Chinese elders who once spent their days isolated and alone but now have a place to gather — this we offer to you….

This is a wonderful read.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

Miss Thompson [a teacher I had when I was young] reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a piece of paper containing a quote attributed to Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. I listened intently as she read: “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans, aim high in hope and work. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us.”

More than 30 years later, I gave a speech in which I said that Frances Thompson had given me a desperately needed belief in myself. A newspaper printed the story, and someone mailed the clipping to my beloved teacher. She wrote me: “You have no idea what that newspaper story meant to me. For years, I endured my brother’s arguments that I had wasted my life. That I should have married and had a family. When I read that you gave me credit for helping to launch a marvelous career, I put the clipping in front of my brother. After he’d read it, I said, ‘You see, I didn’t really waste my life, did I?'”

–Carl Rowan, Breaking Barriers

THERE IS A marvelous medicinal power in joy. Most medicines are distasteful; but this, which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to the heart. We noticed, in our reading, that there had been a little tiff between two sisters in the church at Philippi;””I am glad that we do not know what the quarrel was about; I am usually thankful for ignorance on such subjects;””but, as a cure for disagreements, the apostle says, “Rejoice in the Lord alway.” People who are very happy, especially those who are very happy in the Lord, are not apt either to give offence or to take offence. Their minds are so sweetly occupied with higher things, that they are not easily distracted by the little troubles which naturally arise among such imperfect creatures as we are. Joy in the Lord is the cure for all discord. Should it not be so? What is this joy but the concord of the soul, the accord of the heart, with the joy of heaven? Joy in the Lord, then, drives away the discords of earth.

Further, brethren, notice that the apostle, after he had said, “Rejoice in the Lord alway,” commanded the Philippians to be careful for nothing, thus implying that joy in the Lord is one of the best preparations for the trials of this life. The cure for care is joy in the Lord. No, my brother, you will not be able to keep on with your fretfulness; no, my sister, you will not be able to weary yourself any longer with your anxieties, if the Lord will but fill you with his joy. Then, being satisfied with your God, yea, more than satisfied, overflowing with delight in him, you will say to yourself, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” What is there on earth that is worth fretting for even for five minutes? If one could gain an imperial crown by a day of care, it would be too great an expense for a thing which would bring more care with it. Therefore, let us be thankful, let us be joyful in the Lord. I count it one of the wisest things that, by rejoicing in the Lord, we commence our heaven here below. It is possible so to do, it is profitable so to do, and we are commanded so to do.
Now I come to the text itself, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”

It will be our first business at this time to consider THE GRACE COMMANDED, this grace of joy; “Rejoice in the Lord,” says the apostle.
In the first place, this is a very delightful thing. What a gracious God we serve, who makes delight to be a duty, and who commands us to rejoice! Should we not at once be obedient to such a command as this? It is intended that we should be happy. That is the meaning of the precept, that we should be cheerful; more than that, that we should be thankful; more than that, that we should rejoice. I think this word “rejoice” is almost a French word; it is not only joy, but it is joy over again, re-joice. You know re usually signifies the reduplication of a thing, the taking it over again. We are to joy, and then we are to re-joy. We are to chew the cud of delight; we are to roll the dainty morsel under our tongue till we get the very essence out of it. “Rejoice.” Joy is a delightful thing. You cannot be too happy, brother. Nay, do not suspect yourself of being wrong because you are full of delight. You know it is said of the divine wisdom, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” Provided that it is joy in the Lord, you cannot have too much of it. The fly is drowned in the honey, or the sweet syrup into which he plunges himself; but this heavenly syrup of delight will not drown your soul, or intoxicate your heart. It will do you good, and not evil, all the days of your life. God never commanded us to do a thing that would really harm us; and when he bids us rejoice, we may be sure that this is a delightful as it is safe, and as safe as it is delightful. Come, brothers and sisters, I am inviting you now to no distasteful duty when, in the name of my Master, I say to you, as Paul said to the Philippians under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”

”“C.H. Spurgeon (1834 ”“ 1892)

[New York, 3 October 1789]

By the President of the United States of America. a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor”“and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be”“That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks”“for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation”“for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed”“for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted”“for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions”“to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually”“to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed”“to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness onto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord”“To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us”“and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

1 Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is seemly. 2 The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds. 4 He determines the number of the stars, he gives to all of them their names. 5 Great is our LORD, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. 6 The LORD lifts up the downtrodden, he casts the wicked to the ground. 7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make melody to our God upon the lyre! 8 He covers the heavens with clouds, he prepares rain for the earth, he makes grass grow upon the hills. 9 He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens which cry. 10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man; 11 but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.

12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! 13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your sons within you. 14 He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat. 15 He sends forth his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. 16 He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes. 17 He casts forth his ice like morsels; who can stand before his cold? 18 He sends forth his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow. 19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel. 20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the LORD!

–Psalm 147:1-20

One day near the middle of the last century a minister in a prison camp in Germany conducted a service for the other prisoners. One of those prisoners, an English officer who survived, wrote these words:

“Dietrich Bonhoeffer always seemed to me to spread an atmosphere of happiness and joy over the least incident, and profound gratitude for the mere fact that he was alive”¦ He was one of the very few persons I have ever met for whom God was real and always near”¦ On Sunday, April 8, 1945, Pastor Bonhoeffer conducted a little service of worship and spoke to us in a way that went to the heart of all of us. He found just the right words to express the spirit of our imprisonment, and the thoughts and resolutions it had brought us. He had hardly ended his last prayer when the door opened and two civilians entered. They said, “Prisoner Bonhoeffer, come with us.” That had only one meaning for all prisoners”“the gallows. We said good-bye to him. He took me aside: “This is the end; but for me it is the beginning of life.” The next day he was hanged in Flossenburg.”

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What does Presiding Katherine Schori hope to gain from the costly and lengthy litigation in which she is involving the national church and a number of dioceses? It will not stop the Episcopal Church from hemorrhaging members. It will not help Episcopal parishes and churches to retain existing members and to attract new members. It will not prevent clergy, congregations, and dioceses from leaving the Episcopal Church. It will not keep other provinces from assuming jurisdiction over the departing congregations and dioceses. What it will do is strain the resources of the dioceses involved in the lawsuits. It will use monies that might have been put to better use in a shrinking denomination for evangelistic outreach, new church development, and congregational revitalization.

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I will only consider posting comments on this submitted by email:

Kendall’s E-mail: KSHarmon[at]mindspring[dot]com

The Episcopal Church in Liberia has elected a new Bishop to succeed its current resident Bishop, Rev. Edward Neufville.

Rev. Jonathan Hart was elected over the weekend at a special convention of the church on the campus of the Cuttington University College in Suacoco, Bong County.

According to reports gathered by this paper from the elections commission, Father Hart won the post with 297votes and was closely followed by Rev. Dr. James Selle, who came second with a total of 161 votes, after the election went into a run-off.

Initially before the run-off elections, there were three candidates that contested the first round of the elections. Rev. Dr. Herman Browne was the third candidate but after the first round of voting, he failed to sail through to the second round because he obtained the least vote. Dr. Browne got a total of 71 votes in the first round while Rev. Hart and Rev Browne came first and second respectively with 211 votes and 181 votes.

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Read it all. In one of those weird quirks of history, I was present for his inaugural lecture at Cambridge–KSH.

Members of the Episcopal Church of Liberia are expected in the central region of the country to elect a new Bishop this Saturday at the Epiphany Chapel on the campus of the Cuttington University College in Suakoko, Bong County.

The election of the church’s new Bishop which should have been held last year was postponed by incumbent Bishop Edward W. Neufville on grounds that the retirement age of bishop was extended from 65 to 70.

Consequently, Bishop Neufville celebrates his 70th birth anniversary Friday while the election for a new bishop for the Diocese takes place Saturday.

According to some members who are desperate to elect a new bishop, the Episcopal Church which was established in 1822 in Cape Palmas, Maryland County, Southeast of Liberia by missionaries from the United States has retrogressed since the death of the late Archbishop George D. Brown in the early 1990s.

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“You will find it a very good practice always to verify your references, sir!”

–Martin Joseph Routh (1755-1854), President of Magdalene College, Oxford, for 63 years

Domingos Pedro was only 12 years old when his father died. The passing was sudden; the cause was a mystery to doctors. But not to Domingos’s relatives.

They gathered that afternoon in Domingos’s mud-clay house, he said, seized him and bound his legs with rope. They tossed the rope over the house’s rafters and hoisted him up until he was suspended headfirst over the hard dirt floor. Then they told him they would cut the rope if he did not confess to murdering his father.

“They were yelling, ”˜Witch! Witch!’” Domingos recalled, tears rolling down his face. “There were so many people all shouting at me at the same time.”

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(Savannah) ”“ The former rector and vestry of Christ Church, Savannah should return all real and personal property to the Diocese of Georgia immediately. That according to a “Petition for Declaratory Judgment Interlocutory and Permanent Injunction and for Damages” filed on behalf of the Episcopal Bishop of Georgia in Chatham Superior Court November 14, 2007.

The Diocese of Georgia is petitioning the Court to declare that the former rector and vestry may not divert, alienate, or use the real or personal property of Christ Church except for the Church’s mission, as provided by and in accordance with the Constitutions and canons of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Georgia; to declare that all real and personal property of Christ Church is held in trust for the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Georgia; and issue a permanent injunction ordering defendants to stop diverting, alienating, or using the real or personal property of Christ Church except for the Church’s mission, as provided by the Constitutions and canons of the Church and the Diocese of Georgia; to render to the Diocese an accounting of all real and personal property held by Christ Church as of March 30, 2006 and also as of September 30, 2007; and to relinquish control of the real and personal property held by Christ Church to the Diocese of Georgia; to award judgment in favor of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia and against the former rector for all pecuniary benefits received by him from Christ Church from March 30, 2006; award judgment against the former rector and vestry for all sums used for and diverted to purposes other than for the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church; and award such further relief as may be necessary and proper.

According to the Petition, former rector Marcus B. Robertson and the then wardens of Christ Church filed with the Georgia Secretary of State amended articles of incorporation purporting to repeal and annul prior articles of incorporation and removing any reference to the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Georgia on or about March 30, 2006. The Bishop of the Diocese of Georgia was never notified of this action; however Robertson continued to receive pecuniary benefits from Christ Church.

By resolution dated September 30, 2007, and by letter dated October 1, 2007 Robertson and the former vestry of Christ Church advised the Bishop that they had placed themselves under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Church of the Province of Uganda and had removed themselves from the ecclesiastical authority of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Georgia.

The defendants did not seek authorization, and neither the Bishop nor any other authority of the Diocese has granted authorization, for Christ Church to terminate its relationship as a parish in the Diocese of Georgia. Further the defendants did not seek authorization, and The Bishop of Georgia has not authorized defendants, to occupy and use the real property of Christ Church for the purpose of worshipping in alignment with the Anglican Province of Uganda, any mission of the Anglican Province of Uganda, or any other body or entity.
Robertson is no longer a priest in the Episcopal Church or the Diocese of Georgia, and he is no longer rector of Christ Church. Based on the departure of Robertson and the wardens and other members of the vestry from the Episcopal Church and their alignment with the Church of the Province of Uganda and further based on the requirements of Episcopal Church Canon I.17.8, the Bishop removed each defendant from his or her position at Christ Church. By their formal alignment with the Church of Uganda and their departure from union with the Diocese of Georgia, defendants have relinquished all legal right to possess or control the real and personal property held by Christ Church.

In order to make provisions for the spiritual guidance and pastoral care of the remaining members of Christ Episcopal Parish who wish to continue within the doctrine, discipline, and worship of, and to continue the mission of, the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Georgia., the Bishop of Georgia has appointed The Reverend Canon Neal Phelps as priest-in-charge of Christ Church; and commended the remaining members of Christ Church to Father Phelps’ care. In order to fulfill his duties as priest-in-charge and to care for the remaining members of Christ Church, Father Phelps is entitled under the laws of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese to the possession and use of the real and personal property of Christ Church.

However, by letter dated October 1, 2007, Robertson and the former vestry of Christ Church publicly disavowed the interests of the Diocese and the Episcopal Church to the Church’s property and asserted that the property would be used by them as part of the Church of Uganda. They continue to claim possession and control of the real and personal property of Christ Church to this date.

According to the complaint, the real and personal property of Christ Church may lawfully be used only for the mission of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Georgia, and such property continues to be subject to the trust for the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Georgia, to be used by those and for those who continue to worship in union with and carry out the mission of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Georgia.

The local Episcopal bishop has been busy.

In late September, Bishop Gladstone “Skip” Adams traveled to New Orleans to meet with other bishops to discuss how the Episcopal Church might remain in communion with the worldwide Anglican church amid disagreements over homosexuality and biblical authority.

He supported a statement from the House of Bishops that agrees not to consecrate “any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on the communion.” That, he translated in a recent interview, means no other gay men or lesbians will become bishops until the church’s General Convention rules on the issue.

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HSBC Holdings PLC, Europe’s biggest bank, reported another big hit from exposure to the U.S. mortgage crisis Wednesday and warned that bad debts could increase if the U.S. housing market weakens further.

However, the bank’s shares rose 3 percent as it reassured investors that third-quarter profits for its global business were ahead of last year, despite the $3.4 billion (2.3 billion euros) impairment charge at its U.S. consumer finance division, HSBC Finance Corp.

The charge was higher than anticipated by analysts and significantly above the $1.9 billion and $2.2 billion booked in the first and second quarter respectively. The division also added $3.4 billion to its credit loss reserves.

HSBC said it would close or consolidate up to 260 more HSBC Finance Corp. branches, adding to 100 branches it had announced previously and taking the number of remaining branches to around 1,000.

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The church and religious community need to stop being afraid to talk about sex.

That is the contention from Dr. Gerry Seale, Chief Executive Officer and General Secretary, Evangelical Association of the Caribbean, as he shared findings of the Evangelical Youth Survey with those gathered at the Hilton Hotel for the Faith-Based HIV Symposium sponsored by the Religious Advisory Committee on National Affairs, UNAIDS and the Faith-Based Committee of the National HIV/AIDS Commission.

The survey was answered by 405 young people from various denominations across the island. Of these respondents, he revealed that one per cent indicated that they were HIV positive.

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O GOD, Almighty and merciful, who healest those that are broken in heart, and turnest the sadness of the sorrowful to joy; Let thy fatherly goodness be upon all that thou hast made. Remember in pity such as are this day destitute, homeless, or forgotten of their fellow-men. Bless the congregation of thy poor. Uplift those who are cast down. Mightily befriend innocent sufferers, and sanctify to them the endurance of their wrongs. Cheer with hope all discouraged and unhappy people, and by thy heavenly grace preserve from falling those whose penury tempteth them to sin; though they be troubled on every side, suffer them not to be distressed; though they be perplexed, save them from despair. Grant this, O Lord, for the love of him, who for our sakes became poor, thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead; We give thee thanks for all those thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence, that the good work which thou hast begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.

This year is the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict. The success of that operation, together with its human cost, was remembered nationally in June. It is also is a focal point in this year’s Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph, which again takes place against a background of British casualties overseas.

Though the environment and mission in the Falklands differed greatly from those in Iraq and Afghanistan, the human cost is the same for the soliders returning now as it was for those who returned a quarter of a century ago.

For most people in our country, going about their work does not require them to risk their lives, or witness the sights and sounds that a soldier meets on the battlefield. This does not mean that a soldier is bitter or resents this fact, but it does mean that he becomes isolated from his fellow men, having undergone experiences that he cannot adequately describe, that will evermore be a part of his life, and will divorce him from the population among whom he lives and in whose service he has undergone these experiences.

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From here:

”˜Bishop Yamoyam is still seriously ill in the Intensive Care Unit in the United States. The Presiding Bishop returned yesterday and gave us all the news that at the moment Bp Miguel seems to be paralysed down one side of his body. I met with Bp Miguels wife yesterday, and she now has her passport and will be flying out to the US on the next available flight along with their daughter who is a nurse. They are grateful for the prayers of everyone concerned. We are organising special prayer meetings here in the National Office and I know that others are being organised in churches across the Philippines’