At least 36 terminally ill people died last year after taking lethal medication prescribed by doctors under Washington State’s new physician-assisted suicide law, according to a state report released Thursday, the first since the law went into effect a year ago….

Most patients who died under the law in Washington last year had cancer. Prescribing doctors, who must submit forms to the State Department of Health about patients who received the medication, said all who died cited “loss of autonomy” as a reason for seeking it. Most also said they could no longer enjoy life and feared losing “dignity.”

Ten patients said they were concerned about being a burden on their family and friends, 11 cited pain and one said finances were an issue. Critics of the law have said it could prompt disproportionate use by lower-income people. Almost all of those who died in Washington said they had private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or some combination. None said they had no insurance at all, though coverage was listed as unknown for five people. Most died within 90 minutes of taking the medicine, though at least one person lived for 28 hours. Two woke up after taking the medicine, then died later.

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Last Saturday morning, as a blizzard sputtered out its last squalls over Passaic, N.J., Chaya Leah Smolen sent her husband and several children off to synagogue. She issued the children a message that might seem to contradict the essence of winter motherhood: do not carry any tissues.

To that admonition, she added others. The children shouldn’t take their toys or candies, the diversions that usually make Sabbath service easier. Later, after the worshipers had returned, there was a serious theological discussion about whether it was permissible to make snowballs.

What Mrs. Smolen experienced has been shared by a religious niche in the Northeast during this epically snowy season. From Washington to New York State, a series of “snowmageddons” have wreaked a particular form of havoc for Orthodox Jews.

The storms have knocked down portions of the ritual boundary known as an eruv in Jewish communities in Silver Spring, Md., Center City Philadelphia, the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Monsey in suburban New York, and Teaneck and Passaic in New Jersey.

Almost literally invisible even to observant Jews, the wire or string of an eruv, connected from pole to pole, allows the outdoors to be considered an extension of the home. Which means, under Judaic law, that one can carry things on the Sabbath, an act that is otherwise forbidden outside the house.

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Germany’s Protestant and Catholic churches may be facing the biggest credibility crisis in decades after an unprecedented bout of scandal-fueled negative media coverage.

Bishop Margot Kassmann, the first woman to lead the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), resigned as leader of German Protestants on Feb. 24 after she was arrested for drunk driving, just four months into office.

In the same week, Catholic bishops met in Freiburg to address allegations of widespread sexual abuse of children by clergy that had surfaced late in January, prompting a possible criminal probe by state officials.

Germany is the birthplace of both the Protestant Reformation and Pope Benedict XVI, and religion plays a key role in German life; indeed, both churches are among the nation’s largest employers.

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Things are starting to look up for people like Valerie Kinman. In mid-February, Ms. Kinman, 45 years old, got a full-time position at a company that charges people a fee to settle their credit-card balances and other debt, where she does clerical tasks such as data entry and light accounting. For two years, Ms. Kinman, a single mother in Plainfield, Ill., has been getting by on unemployment checks, food stamps and temporary jobs that never lasted more than a few months. “I’m so happy,” she said.

About a year and a half ago, Ms. Kinman was at a food bank set up at a local school, where she and her daughter were collecting free bags filled with items such as laundry detergent, boxed potatoes and pudding. “I don’t care what job it is, call me back and I’ll go to work,” she said at the time.

Today, Ms. Kinman still has almost $6,000 in credit-card debt. For the next few months, she said she would continue to lean on food banks so she could use more of her paycheck to work down her debts. “I have to start living in the real world, but I’m excited.”

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O God, who through thy Son Jesus Christ hast promised help to man according to his faith: Grant us the freedom of the children to taste the food of eternal life, and to share with others what we ourselves receive; through the merits of the same thy Son, our Lord.

The herdsmen fled, and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus, and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their neighborhood.

–Mark 5:14-17

“Self-denial.” wrote Cardinal John Henry Newman, “is a subject never out of place in Christian teaching.” It is never out of place because it is a way of putting the cross, the pattern of Christ’s sacrifice, at the very center of our daily lives. It is especially appropriate during the forty days of Lent. “If anyone would come after me,” said Jesus, “let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Let him deny himself–this is not just refraining from sin; nor practicing what earlier Christians called mortification, that action through the Holy Spirit of putting to death sin in the Christian’s life (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5): though certainly it includes this. Rather it is walking in the way of sacrificial obedience to Christ’s call. This includes at times giving up what one might rightly and legitimately use. As St. Paul writes “‘All things are lawful’ but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful but I will not be enslaved by anything.” (I Cor. 6:12-14; see also I Cor.10:23)

The Ash Wednesday liturgy includes self-denial, along with self-examination, prayer and fasting, as one of the disciplines for the observance of a holy Lent. Yet self-denial is rarely even mentioned these days within the Church. Is it any wonder in this increasingly indulgent society that it is not at the top of most lists or dimensions in Christian discipleship? To be sure this discipline, like the other spiritual disciplines can fall prey to a form of perfectionism which denies the grace and freedom we have in Christ; yet, nevertheless, when employed from grace and through God’s grace there is godly freedom, even delight, in these disciplines, especially the discipline of self-denial.

What is self-denial?Self-denial or the discipline of abstinence is refraining in some degree and for some time from what we generally regard as normal and legitimate desires. While fasting from food or drink can be subsumed under self-denial, it is usually treated as a distinct spiritual discipline. Often, self-denial can include refraining from TV, radio, IPod, Face book, one’s over fascination with news; practicing frugality in spending; simplicity (such as set aside a day to walk or ride the bus, use fewer gadgets); practicing silence (such as going a day or part of a day without speaking, not using the telephone/cell phone during certain hours, or checking emails, etc.); sacrifice (taking the farthest parking place and praying while you walk to the store, the Church or restaurant).

Why practice self-denial? Certainly not to achieve some spiritual one-upmanship, or supposed works-righteousness. There are two helpful reasons for practicing this discipline-one, is a negative movement, akin to mortification; the other a positive movement, and is for cultivation. The “negative” purpose is stated well by Dr. Dallas Willard. “The Christian denies himself in things lawful (or legitimate) because he is aware of his own weakness and liability to sin: he keeps himself from walking on the edge of a precipice.” He therein practices temperance. St. Paul writes, “Everyone that strives for mastery is temperate in all things.” It teaches the soul discipline; thereby we enable ourselves to be better able to stand in the time of testing or temptation. A positive reason for such self-denial, is described well by a Bishop of the Isle of Man, “those who deny themselves will be sure to find their strength increased, their affections raised, and their inward peace continually augmented.” I prefer to say it more simply, it enkindles love. For instance, the lover who makes some sacrifice for his sweetheart, or the parent who gives up some personal time for his son or daughter’s performance at the school concert does not find his love lessened by this self-denial or sacrifice. Quite the contrary, one’s affections are enkindled by such personal sacrifice. So it is with our self-denial for our Lord; it increases our affection for Him.

Self-denial is a discipline that God can use for strengthening your life with him. If you haven’t already embraced some Lenten discipline ask him to guide you in this. What normal or legitimate practice might you refrain from during this season? What divine-human cooperation might He lead you to embrace that his grace might prevail more fully? Many disciples have found that self-denial can be a delightful and godly refrain.

–(The Rt. Rev.) Mark Lawrence Is Bishop of South Carolina

In a move described as “dreadful” for Perth’s CBD, the Anglican church has withdrawn from the $81 million Cathedral Square project pushed by national property developer Mirvac.

The church’s decision means demolition of its eyesore Law Chambers Building on Hay Street will be shelved indefinitely.

On February 22, the church told Mirvac and Perth City Council it would not proceed with the project – planned for the existing Cathedral Square beside recently-renovated St George’s Cathedral.

The council has been a strong advocate of the project since 1992 after City Vision chair, architect/planner Ken Adam, first proposed it in 1991.

“I’m absolutely distraught,” Mr Adam said when WAtoday.com.au told him of the church’s decision.

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The Cathedral of St. James will host a Eucharist and reception to honor the Bishop for this special occasion tonight at 7 p.m. Congratulations to him and the diocese.

I found an invitation to the event here.

As an Anglican archbishop who spent decades working to defeat apartheid and is widely considered the moral conscience of South Africa, what do you make of your country’s current president, Jacob Zuma, who is in the headlines again for fathering a child out of wedlock?

I think we are at a bad place in South Africa, and especially when you contrast it with the Mandela era. Many of the things that we dreamt were possible seem to be getting more and more out of reach. We have the most unequal society in the world. We have far too many of our people living in a poverty that is debilitating, inhumane and unacceptable.

But why is Zuma still president? He sets such a poor example ”” a polygamist with three wives who just fathered a 20th child with yet another woman. Why is that tolerated?

It’s not. Two of the major churches have spoken out very strongly. The Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church have said that he’s undermining his own government’s campaign to deal with the H.I.V. pandemic. That campaign speaks about being loyal to one partner, practicing safe sex and generally using condoms, and he hasn’t done that.

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South Koreans exulted last week in Kim Yu-na’s matchless performance in Vancouver. So, too, on Sunday, at Yoido Full Gospel Church, where the figure skater, a Roman Catholic, wasn’t mentioned by name but everyone knew whom the pastor was talking about when he lifted up the country’s Olympic athletes in prayer.

Yoido Full Gospel is the mega-est of megachurches. With a membership of more than 850,000, it bills itself as the world’s largest Christian congregation, and that’s probably right. At the 11 o’clock service last Sunday, there were more people in the 120-singer choir than in the entire congregation of the country church I attend in New England.

The church stands on an island in the Han River in central Seoul, not far from the National Legislature. The main sanctuary holds 10,000 people. Nearby are several church-owned buildings, including a high-rise filled with offices, meeting rooms and banquet halls. There are satellite churches elsewhere in Seoul and around the country.

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On a Winter day five years ago, Doug Lemov realized he had a problem. After a successful career as a teacher, a principal and a charter-school founder, he was working as a consultant, hired by troubled schools eager ”” desperate, in some cases ”” for Lemov to tell them what to do to get better. There was no shortage of prescriptions at the time for how to cure the poor performance that plagued so many American schools. Proponents of No Child Left Behind saw standardized testing as a solution. President Bush also championed a billion-dollar program to encourage schools to adopt reading curriculums with an emphasis on phonics. Others argued for smaller classes or more parental involvement or more state financing.

Lemov himself pushed for data-driven programs that would diagnose individual students’ strengths and weaknesses. But as he went from school to school that winter, he was getting the sinking feeling that there was something deeper he wasn’t reaching. On that particular day, he made a depressing visit to a school in Syracuse, N.Y., that was like so many he’d seen before: “a dispiriting exercise in good people failing,” as he described it to me recently. Sometimes Lemov could diagnose problems as soon as he walked in the door. But not here. Student test scores had dipped so low that administrators worried the state might close down the school. But the teachers seemed to care about their students. They sat down with them on the floor to read and picked activities that should have engaged them. The classes were small. The school had rigorous academic standards and state-of-the-art curriculums and used a software program to analyze test results for each student, pinpointing which skills she still needed to work on.

But when it came to actual teaching, the daily task of getting students to learn, the school floundered. Students disobeyed teachers’ instructions, and class discussions veered away from the lesson plans. In one class Lemov observed, the teacher spent several minutes debating a student about why he didn’t have a pencil. Another divided her students into two groups to practice multiplication together, only to watch them turn to the more interesting work of chatting. A single quiet student soldiered on with the problems. As Lemov drove from Syracuse back to his home in Albany, he tried to figure out what he could do to help. He knew how to advise schools to adopt a better curriculum or raise standards or develop better communication channels between teachers and principals. But he realized that he had no clue how to advise schools about their main event: how to teach.

Around the country, education researchers were beginning to address similar questions.

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It was announced this week that the Pope will visit Spain in November. The news comes during a tense phase in Church-State relations after the Spanish Senate approved a new abortion law on 25 February. It is the latest round in a battle that the secularising government seems to be winning

Last year an estimated one million people demonstrated in Madrid when the proposals to liberalise the abortion law became public. Now that it looks set to become law, the Spanish bishops’ conference has approved a new campaign of protest marches by pro-lifers ”“ describing the proposals as a “licence to kill” children, and an attack on the institution of the family. “This law gives a sealed envelope to a woman to sort herself out, and frees the father of any responsibility,” declared the conference’s spokesman, Bishop Juan Antonio Martínez Camino.

In a country where a majority of the population still identifies itself more or less as Catholic, one would have thought that this is one issue Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero would be advised not to pick a fight over. In fact, Zapatero appears to have taken on the bishops over an issue that alone is unlikely to threaten his political survival.

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What does it mean to be Anglican? I have not always been Anglican. I was Roman Catholic when my family visited Truro Church in 1974, but my wife and I sensed the Lord calling us to make our church home there. I find that my catholic heritage has been deepened as I have learned to understand the Scriptures through evangelical Anglican eyes and to experience the power of the Holy Spirit in making my faith real. One could give many answers to what is the essence of being Anglican, but to me the most important is that Anglicanism is situated solidly in the Great Story of the redemptive love of the Creator God Who we know as a Trinity of Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To be Anglican is to be in continuity with the ancient Church’s way of understanding the story of Jesus of Nazareth as told by the Apostles. Jesus, the crucified and risen Lord, the Messiah of Israel, fulfills the promises God made to Abraham to bless the whole world through his descendants, as we learn from both the old and new testaments of the Bible.

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A politician widely accused of running death squads might not be expected to have an easy time running for public office.

But this is Iraq. In a nation sadly inured to years of sectarian bloodletting, Hakim al-Zamili not only has a place on a prominent Shiite election slate, but stands poised to win a place in the Parliament, as early voting began Thursday morning for the infirm, people with special needs and members of the military and the police.

It is an astonishing turnabout that shows the limits of political reconciliation. While some Sunni candidates have been barred from running in the election for their alleged support of the Baath Party, Mr. Zamili’s candidacy has provoked nary a protest from the nation’s leading Shiite politicians. That runs the risk that Shiite leaders will be seen as taking steps against only those who persecuted Shiites, not Sunnis.

Mr. Zamili’s new political role has heightened concerns that for all the talk of cross-sectarian alliances among some Shiite and Sunni factions, Iraq may be unable to firmly break with its troubled past.

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Around 37% of all borrowers with 30-year conforming fixed-rate mortgages””who collectively hold about $1.2 trillion of home loans””have mortgage rates of 6% or higher, according to investment bank Credit Suisse. Many could reduce their rates by a full percentage point if they refinanced at current rates, about 5%. More than half could lower their rates nearly three-quarters of a percentage point, according to Credit Suisse.

But new refinance applications in January stood near their lowest levels in the past year. Weekly data compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association also show that refinance activity has been muted, considering that rates are so low…

The last time mortgage rates were at current levels, in 2003, refinancing activity hit $2.9 trillion, according to trade publication Inside Mortgage Finance. Last year, refinance volume reached $1.2 trillion, the highest amount since 2003 but not nearly as much as expected, considering how low interest rates have fallen.

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Here is one:

From Barbara Bloom ”¢ Bloomington, Indiana…

Excellent. Who cares about another’s sexual preference, unless you are looking for a partner? Let’s celebrate how we work, in many diverse ways, to love God and to love our neighbors.

.

Read them all.

As the attention of the public and Congress has been drawn away to other global hotspots, the Interfaith Sudan Working Group hopes U.S. lawmakers will assist Sudan in grappling with an upcoming election, a recent cease-fire agreement with a Darfur rebel group and a referendum on independence for southern Sudan.

“Political milestones such as the upcoming election, cease-fire agreements and referendum carry great promise and great peril,” said Ruth Messinger, president of the American Jewish World Service. “That’s why we need the U.S. government’s focused attention now. If the agreements and peace process fall apart, they can’t just be put back together, again.”

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Chile’s reconstruction will take “three to four years” as the country recovers from the earthquake that killed some 800 people, its president has said.

“There are rural areas where everything has tumbled to the ground… infrastructure has been destroyed,” Michelle Bachelet told Chilean radio.

It would take foreign aid and most of the mandate of President-elect Sebastian Pinera to rebuild, she added.

Three days of national mourning have been declared, to begin on Sunday.

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Harry Wallace, of Harper’s Choice, was what he called a “cradle Episcopalian,” a person baptized and raised in the Episcopal Church. As a youth, he was an altar boy and later served as a Eucharist minister in the church.

But Wallace, 53, said he and his wife, Pam, became increasingly disturbed in recent years by the liberalization of the church. As the church hierarchy moved toward accepting gay unions and ordaining gay priests, Wallace began to feel more and more uncomfortable.

“The angst and the division was troubling,” Wallace said. “In our tradition and our belief set, we were becoming more and more marginalized.”

Last year, Wallace and his wife converted to the Roman Catholic Church.

Their decision was hardly unique. Such conversions are part of a trend encouraged and recognized by the Catholic Church — a trend that also is a two-way street, as even Catholics concede.

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The 25 per cent fall in the value of the pound over the past couple of years has amounted to a bigger depreciation than in any single post-war sterling crisis. Most see this as a healthy correction of an over-valued currency, which has given us a more competitive exchange rate just when we needed it.

This benign devaluation now threatens, however, to turn into a rout. For this week’s fall in the pound has been prompted not by worries over Britain’s prospects, but by doubts about the economic credibility of the Government. The Tories’ diminishing poll lead has raised the spectre of a hung parliament, and of chaos and gridlock in government at the worst possible time. The markets have taken fright: as Kenneth Clarke, the shadow business secretary, observed yesterday, it has only been the prospect of a Conservative victory, and the arrival of a government prepared to tackle the fiscal crisis head on, that has held down interest rates and sustained sterling in recent months. The possibility that this may not happen has alarmed foreign investors, for it is uncertainty that spooks the markets.

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Lord Alli’s amendment to the Equality Bill, which allows civil partnerships to be registered on religious premises, if religious bodies wish to allow it, was approved during the Report Stage in the House of Lords on Tuesday by 95 votes to 21.

The proposed changes to the Civil Partnership Act had been significantly modified since the debate in January (News, 5 February). The scope is narrowed to England and Wales, and the existing rule that “no religious service is to be used while the civil partnership registrar is officiating at the signing of a civil partnership document” is retained.

An additional clause reads: “For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Act places an obligation on religious organisations to host civil partnerships if they do not wish to do so.” A further clause states: “Regulations may provide that premises approved for the registration of civil partnerships may differ from those premises approved for the registration of civil marriages.”

Lord Alli stressed that the issue was one of religious freedom. “Religious freedom means letting the Quakers, the liberal Jews, and others host civil partnerships. It means accepting that the Church of England and the Catholic Church should not host civil partnerships if they do not wish to do so.”

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And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”

–Mark 4:39-41

O Blessed Saviour, who art full of mercy and compassion, and wilt not cast out any that come to thee: Help us, we beseech thee, who are grievously vexed with the burden of our sins; and so increase in us the power of thy Holy Spirit that we may prevail against the enemy of our souls; for thy name’s sake.

A dozen House of Representatives Democrats opposed to abortion are willing to kill President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform plan unless it satisfies their demand for language barring the procedure, Representative Bart Stupak said on Thursday.

“Yes. We’re prepared to take responsibility,” Stupak said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” when asked if he and his 11 Democratic allies were willing to accept the consequences for bringing down healthcare reform over abortion.

“Let’s face it. I want to see healthcare. But we’re not going to bypass the principles of belief that we feel strongly about,” he said.

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Read it carefully and read it all.

The Diocese of Missouri’s standing committee granted consent, and president Jane Klieve offered brief thoughts on that decision in a message to the diocese released on March 2. The standing committee began discussing the matter in January, but postponed its decision until Feb. 23, she wrote.

“As a body, we consider both the importance of supporting/ratifying decisions made by our brothers and sisters in other dioceses and the impact of these decisions on The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion,” Klieve wrote. “While the vote was not easy, quickly taken, or unanimous, we voted to grant our consent to the election of the Rev. Mary Glasspool.”

The standing committee of Northern Indiana declined consent. In a Jan. 28 letter [PDF] to the Rt. Rev. Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles, the standing committee said it was not of one mind on sexuality questions, and explained its decision to deny consent…

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On Wednesday, leaders of the U.S. branch of the Traditional Anglican Communion formally requested to enter into communion with the Catholic Church.

In a statement released yesterday from a meeting of the House of Bishops in Orlando, the Church announced, “We, the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in America of the Traditional Anglican Communion have met in Orlando, Florida, together with our Primate and the Reverend Christopher Phillips of the ‘Anglican Use’ Parish of Our Lady of the Atonement (San Antonio, Texas) and others.”

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An L.A. diocesan press release is here and an ENS article is there.

From here:

“In God the Lord whose word I praise,
In God I trust and will not be afraid.” (Ps. 56:10)

Dear Church family,

I received a call at 7am this morning from Eric Sohlgren, our attorney, notifying me that our petition to the US Supreme Court has been denied. The court does not give reasons for its denials.

This is well and truly the end of the legal road for us and I know some of you are disappointed that we will never recover our property and that this kind of injustice will continue in other legal battles across the country. We especially think of our sister churches, St. David’s, All Saints and St. James and the road before them. Do keep them and other sister churches further afield in your prayers.
I know others of you are relieved that the legal wrangling is over and we can be about the work of the Gospel unhindered. Or you may be feeling a mixture of both disappointment and relief, as am I. Where ever you are, know that we will continue to walk forward together and that our Lord is with us.

The other question that rises is what was that all about? I am not sure that is a helpful question. Rather, we need to remember why we did what we did as we continue to trust God with the outcome. So let me remind everyone the main reason we felt compelled to appeal. It was for the sake of our sister churches so that they wouldn’t have to experience the pain and loss of being evicted from dear and memory filled houses of worship. So that they would not suffer the same injustice that we have suffered at the hands of false shepherds in the leadership of the Episcopal Church. By the way, I say that without bitterness or anger. It is simply a fact. May the Lord have mercy upon them.

So remembering why we did what we did, and remembering that the vast majority of our legal costs have been funded as though manna from heaven, we are to rest in God’s good purposes for us. He will continue to prove himself to be utterly faithful.

Finally, I want to leave you with the psalm verse that spoke peace to me in my evening devotions last night:

“In God the Lord whose word I praise,
In God I trust and will not be afraid.” (Ps. 56:10)

You may find it helpful to continue to pray this until is settles deeply in your heart.

So ”˜forgetting what lies behind”¦ [let us] press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called [us] heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:13-14

–(The Rev.) Rob Holman is rector, St. Luke’s Anglican Church La Crescenta, California