[orthodoxbeacon.com] Religion of Peace

Coptic Christians Slaughtered in Egypt as World Looks Away

from orthodoxbeacon.com by The Editor

The Australian writes:

Twelve Christians were murdered in Egypt. Two hundred and thirty-two people wounded. The death toll will surely rise as victims succumb to their injuries. And that’s just in the past few days. In the same time period, more Christians were killed in Egypt at the hands of Muslims than people killed in Syria or in Libya as a result of protests, riots and resistance.

Two churches in Cairo were burned in recent days. Over the past few months church property has being gutted, vandalised and violated with graffiti. Churches have been blown up.

An entire community – the Christian community in the new Egypt – is under attack. And the world remains relatively silent. There has been no significant religious outcry, political redress or diplomatic pressure to stop the attacks. There has been almost no media coverage as Egypt’s Muslims systematically, over the past few months, set about massacring Egypt’s Christians.

Read the full article here.

Outside Reading for Class

I am auditing a class on Trauma at my workplace, Dallas Seminary. I decided that I would tailor the outside reading to things that I'm most interested in.

I remember the opening class. I was dressed in my clergy shirt. One of the videos highlighted grown men that had been abused by Catholic Priests while very young men. I really wanted to rip that collar off of my neck! The video covered various types of trauma, but every time one of these clergy abuse victims came onto the screen I just wanted to slink away. In case you don't know, that collar is all too uncommon at this protestant evangelical school. In case you also don't know, clergy abuse victims cannot bring themselves to come forward for a very long time--but when they do so it must be validated. They must be afforded the healing they deserve. Clergy abuse victims know that most people won't believe them--even worse, Church folk will blame them for it or silence them for lying about their beloved 'leader'. Talk about kicking someone while they are down, aka re-victimizing the victim.

I knew then what I'd spend time reading. Rocco Palmo has been covering the abuse from within the Catholic fold for years. Recently the terror was announced to his own Archdiocese, Philadelphia. Some of his latest posts have evidenced his pain. His Church has brought shame. Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, recently pronounced, "This is nauseating...hideous...must continue to haunt us".

Yep, yep, and yep.

At Rocco's blog, Whispers in the Loggia, I have found the Grand Jury reports. They are graphic, hideous, nauseating, and will continue to haunt me. Do not follow his links if you are not fully prepared for super-graphic language.

If anything ever happens to you while under the care of a Church leader...Report it, re-report it, call the police, call 911.
Bring the cowards to justice.
The Church does not want to be led by duplicitous, scandalous, heinous, sacrilegious ... FOOLS!

I hate to report it, but the new norms of the Catholic Church will be used to bring many Priests under scrutiny unfairly. This good tool will fall into the hands of those who do not have a genuine complaint--they are not victims, but anti-religious predators.

In short, this is a huge mess.

Possibly it is the fulfillment of the diabolical vision of Pope Leo XIII a century ago.

I have also taken to reading a couple of other sites that report on clergy abuse. Here is one that came to my feeder today. I wish this were not so prevalent. Abuse is not limited to the Catholic clergy. Some feel that clerical celibacy is the heart and source of their predation. Not so...not at all. Married men in ministry are just as likely to abuse as celibate clergy.

• I remember

  Trish lived down the hall from me when I was 19 years old and in the dorm at the University of North Texas. She was a dear friend, but though we kept in touch for several years after college, we eventually lost track of one another. I hadn’t heard from Trish for about 30 years when, out of the blue, I got this email the other day:
  
  “Christa:
  
  Since I met you, I have admired you for your courage, intellect, risk-taking and compassion. What you have done in the past few years to openly confront the sexual abuse that you and others have suffered is so powerful! I am so proud of what you have done for yourself and many other victims of clergy abuse.
  
  I will always remember the bravado in your voice (probably due to our over-consumption of homemade Kahlua) and the pain on your face the night we sat on the floor of your Bruce Hall dorm room and you first told me about what you then referred to as ‘your affair.’ I know I was a naïve little twit and my jaw fell open, but I was still so shocked and sickened that you blamed yourself and not the married minister and that there was no one who could/would counsel or support you. I ached for you as you described how you felt you were unworthy of love and respect and were so distressed that you had lost your connection to God. Despite all of your academic achievements and global travels, you buried your victimization so deep, but I always felt this abuse was the reason for your despondent and sometimes suicidal phone calls. For years I was haunted by the loneliness that was revealed in those phone calls and prayed that you would never give up hope. That you have taken the damage that has been done to you to help others heal is so inspiring.”
  
  I sat and wept after reading Trish’s email.
  
  I remember that girl – the girl Trish is talking about – the girl who, for years, couldn’t find any meaning for much of anything.
  
  I remember that girl -- the girl whose whole sense of self disintegrated after she was molested, sexually abused and raped by a Southern Baptist minister when she was a 16-year-old church kid. I’m grateful that Trish remembers her, too.
  
  In truth, I have no memory of sitting on the floor in Bruce Hall and telling Trish about “my affair.” But I expect Trish’s memory is more accurate than mine. I was probably totally sloshed.
  
  What I do remember is that, several years after college, Trish had the misfortune of calling me on the phone one night when I had the pills on the counter and was already half-drunk and was trying to get up my gumption to down them. Trish figured out what was going on and she stayed on the phone with me for hours. No telling how things would have turned out if she hadn’t.
  
  I remember only that one suicidal phone call, but again, I don’t doubt that Trish’s memory may be better on this than mine. There were probably other calls.
  
  And then there was the night I finally went through with it . . . and woke up in my own vomit.
  
  I remember that young woman – a young woman whose life should have been full of promise but instead seemed so void of meaning that she saw no reason to continue it.
  
  I remember that young woman – a young woman whose emotions were so deadened that the only thing she felt was disgust at the smell of vomit and anger at her own ineptness.
  
  That’s what clergy sex abuse does to many of its victims.
  
  For people who are raised with faith, faith and meaning become intertwined. The two are often so fused that, when faith gets twisted into a weapon, meaning itself is destroyed.
  
  I was lucky to have a friend like Trish. Many other abuse survivors are not so fortunate.
  
  My youth minister abused me. My music minister silenced me. My childhood church abandoned me. My faith betrayed me.
  
  But my friend Trish was true.
  
  I am profoundly grateful.

Opinion

I think I just realized something.
If I am the only person on the planet with a particular opinion...
that rather places me in the minority.

Final Update on My Depression (I Hope)

Modern drugs are wonderful! They also have completely unseen side effects. I wish I could swear that I will never take them. I know so many people that have ruined their lives because they have self-medicated. The side effects are disaster.
Here is a case from a close friend that went through an unexpected depression only to discover later that it was induced by withdrawal from pain meds.
Add Michael's blog to your roster for daily posts and enjoy his entry from today.

***************************************
Final Update on My Depression (I Hope): "

It has been some time since I had an episode of depression. I cannot be sure, but I am fairly certain I know what caused it.

Neither my circumstances nor the pressures of my life have changed but I feel really good. I can be motivated, encouraged, and I am enjoying the things I normally enjoy. Yes, I did almost cry today when I listened to an old country classic with my wife, “Don’t Take the Girl” by Tim McGraw, but that is only to be expected! No more sadness over bizarre things like the aging of Matthew Mcconaughey, the memories of watching Justice League with my son Will, or my days at seminary. I think it is over.

When I wrote before, I said that I was not sure what triggered the depression. I only assumed that it was many things that had built up in my life that I failed to deal with properly. While those thing were factors during the depression, I do not believe that they caused it. So what did?

I mentioned about six months ago that I had been having trouble with my tail-bone. I have a fractured vertebra in my lower back from many years ago. Over the years it has given me lots of trouble. This time, according to the doctor, the trouble was “referred pain” into my tail-bone. I could not hardly sit down for a long time. After going to many doctors, the only solution they had was to get on pain meds until the inflammation went down. I have never been on pain meds before. I don’t even like to take aspirin (tough guy syndrome). But the pain was too bad this time. So I started taking Hydrocodone (Vicodin), which, as I understand it, is a powerful narcotic. It took the edge off and allowed me to function. It also put me in a pretty good mood.

I was taking about 30 per week under the supervision of my doctor. I knew that it was addictive, but I read up enough on it that I felt comfortable with my dosage and plans to get off. I was on it for about three months before the doctor started scaling down. I read up on side effects for coming off it and found that those who were addicted to it were taking much more than I was. Some of them took one hundred a day and did this for over a year! I figured I was safe.

After three and a half months, I decided to just quit cold turkey and skip any further scale downs. It was a week later that I went into the serious depression/panic. I know what you are thinking: “Duh . . . of course that was the cause.” I thought the same thing but dismissed it after I searched across the web looking for side effect of coming off the drug. Only rarely did they mention depression. Most of the time it was severe physical pain. I had none of that so I looked for other reasons. Plus, I watch House and know what he went through!

As you know, after about seven weeks, the depression symptoms disappeared completely. Since then I have talked with a few people who described the exact same thing after coming off the same drug. Because of this, even though I have not had any physical or mental inclination or drive to take the drug again, I have concluded that my depression was because I was addicted to the pain meds. I was going through withdrawals.

I think that there is a sufficiency in the probability that this was the cause due to the available evidence. Alternative theories are possibilities, but not probabilities! (Okay, inside stuff going on there.)

To be truthful, I am glad it was the drugs. I feel as if I don’t have to be timid and avoid emotionally distressing situations or thoughts. I had gotten to the point that I was scared to do certain things I needed to do fearing it would cause another collapse.

While in many ways it is “back to business” in my life, in other ways it will never be. I have said it before and I will say it again: that was the worst thing I have ever been through. I am glad it is over and I hope that I am right about the cause. Either way, my heart is with those who are there right now. Also, be careful with those pain meds. Count the cost for the small amount of relief (and euphoria) they provide. Right now, I will take tailbone pain a thousand times over rather than experience one day of the crash the drugs facilitate!

"

Evangelism Old Style

Some peoples still know how to do evangelism.





News Flash! It ain't us!

St. Ignatius on Discipleship, part 6

Discipleship as Imitation

Ultimately discipleship is imitating Christ. Ignatius conceives martyrdom as the perfect imitation of Christ.¹ This is the central point of the paper. Ignatius saw following Jesus to be ultimately accomplished in the imitation of his own suffering and passion. A case of true imitation can be seen only in the case of Ignatius’ relationship with Christ.² Examination of the imitation-texts clearly shows that imitation is oriented primarily to suffering, not to the cross specifically but to suffering, as the inevitable consequence of loving like God loves.³ The whole point of the baptism, Eucharist, suffering for God, and Christology is to be an imitator of the one in whom we are baptized, the one whom we partake at the table, who suffered for our sakes and for our salvation, who embraces humanity and redeems it.

Ephesians 1:1. ‘Being imitators of God, taking on new life in the blood of God, you have fully completed the task so well suited to you.’ He speaks of imitating God and fulfilling a task. The question is, ‘what is the task?’ Is it imitation or visitation from the larger context of greeting and helping him? It is clear that the Church’s life comes from the blood of Christ, but what is the imitation? The evidence seems to point to a period of persecution at Ephesus. But one cannot contend certainly that this is Ignatius’ intent, for the ‘task’ referred to here as ‘imitation’ is not necessarily withstanding persecution. But one would also not expect him to refer to this in terms of imitation of God. So we think he begins his first letter with a statement about their obedience in terms of imitation.

Eph 9:2 “Ye, therefore, as well as all your fellow-travelers, are God-bearers, temple-bearers, Christ-bearers, bearers of holiness, adorned in all respects with the commandments of Jesus Christ, in whom also I exult that I have been thought worthy, by means of this Epistle, to converse and rejoice with you, because with respect to your Christian life ye love nothing but God only.”

Ephesians 10:1. ‘Let us be eager to be imitators of the Lord, who was most maltreated, who endured deprivation and who was rejected.’ Here the instruction to imitate Jesus at the point o suffering is sent to the Church as a whole. The fate of the entire Church is to suffer for the faith. He emphasizes the duty of the whole Church to suffer in imitation the Lord Jesus Christ. If the Church imitates Christ, the logical conclusion is that they will be mistreated, deprived and rejected. In the letter to the Ephesians, Ignatius does not connect discipleship with the faithful Christian life. Rather he connects it to martyrdom. Perhaps, as Rathke suggests, martyrdom is the imitation for a single person whereas the Church is the way of the community, through suffering or not.⁴

Magnesians 4:1. “It is fitting, then, not only to be called Christians, but to be so in reality:” If Docetists believed that Christ appeared only in aspect, then truly they could believe that our expression of his life could remain undercover. We have been called to be the real expressions of a real Person, the man Jesus Christ.

Magnesians 9:1. ‘And this is why we endure: that we might be found disciples of Jesus Christ . . .’ No other passage says it clearer that this one. Endurance is the mark of a disciple. What is there to endure but suffering? Why endure suffering in the first place; because it is an imitation of Christ’s suffering.

Trallians3:1. ‘In like manner, let all reverence the deacons as an appointment of Jesus Christ.’

Romans 1:2. ‘For I fear your love, lest it do me wrong, for it is easy for you to do what you want to, but it will be hard for me to attain to God unless you spare me.’ He asks the Romans not to intervene for him because they in doing so will impede his idea of following Christ. If he is disallowed to join in Christ’s suffering, via the Romans contending for his release, then his discipleship is halted.

Philadelphians 7:2. ‘But the Spirit proclaimed these words: Do nothing without the bishop; keep your bodies as the temples of God; love unity; avoid divisions; be the followers of Jesus Christ, even as He is of His Father.’ He gives us here a direct connection between our obedience to others and Christ’s obedience to the Father. Noteworthy is the absence of the instruction to follow the teachings of Christ. We are told to follow Christ. Surely we are to understand that the Lord’s teachings are for the Church, but the point is to follow a person rather than a principle. I propose that following Christ is the same as following his teachings.

Smyrneans12:1. ‘The love of the brethren at Troas salutes you; whence also I write to you by Burrhus, . . . I would that all may imitate him, as being a pattern of a minister of God. Grace will reward him in all things.’ Here he gives us instruction to follow someone besides Christ. The principle of imitation is the same if we follow the bishop, for the bishop is the head of the presbytery just as the Father above the Son.

Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. 1 Corinthians 4:16. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 1:6; For you, brothers, became imitators of God's Churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those Churches suffered from the Jews 2:14. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. Hebrews 6:12; Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 13:7.

How could one miss the connection Ignatius finds in these scriptures to his explicit idea of imitation? We are to imitate the faith of our leaders, of others who are more spiritual [that is those that serve and lead], the Bishop, and ultimately the Father, through Christ.

1 Johannes Quasten, Patrology, (Westminster, MD: Newman Press, 1950), 1: p.71.

2 Daniel N. McNamara, “Ignatius of Antioch on his death, discipleship, sacrifice, and imitation,” (Ph.D. diss. McMaster University, 1978) p. 248.

3 Willard M. Swartley, “The Imitatio Christi in the Ignatian letters,” Vigiliae Christianae 27 no. 2 (1973): p. 100.

4 Heinrich Rathke, Ignatius von Antiochien und die Paulusbriefe, (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1967) p. 68-75.

Bear your cross, dear ones

After reading this story I am more and more convinced that we will bear our crosses publicly.
The prayer from our Baptism also comes to mind.

WE receive this Child (or person) into the congregation of Christ’s flock; and do +sign him with the sign of the Cross, in token that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his banner, against sin, the world, and the devil; and to continue Christ’s faithful soldier and servant unto his life’s end. Amen. ~1928 BCP.

hat tip to Valle Adurni.

St. Ignatius on Discipleship, part 4

Discipleship and martyrdom

Some erroneously contend that Ignatius yearned for death.¹ For Ignatius, discipleship entailed death. Suffering was the natural path of following Jesus Christ. Death was the natural end of suffering. Therefore to be a true follower of Jesus Christ, death should be welcomed just as our Lord ‘set his face toward Jerusalem.’ One writer says of Ignatius, ‘the “self” does not really come into being until it suffers; suffering is not simply something that happens to a person. Rather, it is the means of achieving real selfhood ²’ while another feels that being a disciple had nothing to do with suffering or martyrdom.³ But Ignatius firmly decries that position by stating so often that Christ’s suffering is to be followed. One could further state that real discipleship does not come into being until one suffers. For example, Ignatius writes that he is not yet ‘someone’ and would not be until he was perfected in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3.1), i.e. until he was martyred. ‘Perfected in Jesus Christ’ is his way of saying, ‘I followed Him to the end, suffering as He suffered, dying as He died, demanding nothing but God's glory above self gain.’ Ignatius’ theology is not shrunken into the kernel of a quest for personal redemption.⁴ Rather his personal goal was to perfectly follow the Lord Jesus in life, suffering, proclamation, shepherding, and death. Ignatius understood pain not as something to be avoided but as providing a benefit—union with the divine Savior of the world.⁵ In the incarnation, the Son embraced human flesh and human suffering , so Ignatius would not shy from his own upcoming suffering. “It is not a question whether he would appear as an individual of abnormal psychology today, but whether he was such to his own contemporaries.⁶” Perhaps this vivid approach to death is clouded by our distance from his situation. Perhaps his contemporaries could identify with his resolve. He had a foreboding and earnest desire to become a martyr, and wished for nothing more than to seal with his death the truth of the gospel to which he had borne such a loud and convincing testimony for so many years.⁷ He would be a disciple to the death. Christ’s suffering is his essential message, and Christians’ acceptance of suffering is the sign of their commitment to his message.⁸ Death was a means to bring unity for St. Ignatius [where ever would he get such an idea, wink]. His community suffered from persecution and disunity. Some assert that Ignatius was the cause of the civil unrest. They claim that is why he was arrested. But just as our Lord was innocent of the charges against Him, I am compelled to think that Ignatius was falsely accused too. The Empire under Rome could pull off such a fraud. Ignatius followed Christ in death for the sake of unity, as we shall see from his own comments about death and suffering.

Magnesians 1:2. ‘ . . . In him enduring every abuse of the ruler of this age and escaping, we will meet God.’ Here Ignatius connects the idea of suffering to discipleship by using the word ‘enduring.’ Usually he speaks of ‘attaining God.’ Here though, he uses the term ‘meet God,’ rather than ‘attain.’ This could mean that martyrdom was not on his mind, but rather living sacrificially. But the allusion to Christ’s suffering at the hand of the ruler of this age and ascending to the father cannot be overlooked.

Magnesians 5:2. ‘ [God]. . . through whom, unless we willingly die into his suffering, his life is not in us.’ Here he speaks of us imitating Christ’s death. Does Ignatius imply that we die a martyr’s death in order to prove our faith? Perhaps this language implies our dying by embracing the inevitable suffering connected to Jesus Christ’s new life. In any case this is an allusion to Christ’s suffering in the context of our imitation.

Trallians 4:2. ‘For while I love to suffer, I do not know if I am worthy.’ Somehow Ignatius connects the concept of suffering to that of worthiness. ‘Worthy’ occurs over thirty times in these brief seven epistles. Most of the occurrences speak of being ‘worthy of Christ’ or ‘worthy of God.’ Does that not sound like being an authentic disciple? While it could be a self-deprecating expression, his use of it referring to others seems to suggest that our connection is contextual.

Trallians 10:1. ‘But if . . . he (Jesus Christ) [only] seemed to suffer, why am I bound? And why do I pray for battle with wild beasts? Then I die for nothing.’ This verse speaks of Christ’s passion in light of our suffering in a new way. He confronts the idea of false teachers’ saying Christ did not really suffer by arguing that his present bondage is directly related to Christ’s real suffering. In other words, he would not risk personal injury were he not certain that Christ suffered as an example. He even disputes with the Docetists in mind of being an imitator, a true disciple.

Romans 2:1. ‘ For if I am a word of God, but if you love my flesh, I will be a voice.’ This enigmatic expression is unclear. What is clear is that he asks again that the Roman Church not interfere with his plight, lest his message, and his faithfulness to God, be somehow diminished. So his suffering must be a ‘word’ and his rescue merely a ‘voice.’

Romans 4:3. ‘Not like Peter and Paul do I give you instructions. They were apostles, I am a convict. They were free, but I am till now a slave. But, if I suffer, I will be a freedman of Jesus Christ and will arise, free, in him.’ This is another clear passage where Ignatius relates suffering to the goal of his Christian life. He almost hinges the idea of his resurrection to his personal martyrdom.

Romans 6:3. ‘I long after the Lord, the Son of the true God and Father, even Jesus Christ. Him I seek, who died for us and rose again. Pardon me, brethren: do not hinder me in attaining to life; for Jesus is the life of believers. Do not wish to keep me in a state of death for life without Christ is death. While I desire to belong to God, do not ye give me over to the world. Suffer me to obtain pure light: when I have gone thither, I shall indeed be a man of God. Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of Christ, my God. If any one has Him within himself, let him consider what I desire, and let him have sympathy with me, as knowing how I am straitened.’ He again requests no help from the believers in Rome. But now he says that Christ is the life of believers. Somewhat platonically, he affirms that life begins in death and if they help him stay in this world, they actually hinder his coming to life. He also does not consider this a personal quest alone. Isn't he asking us to consider his path, to sympathize with him...perhaps to suffer with him too.

Philadelphians 5:1. ‘ In whom being bound, I fear much, for I am as yet incomplete.’ Again Ignatius describes his faithfulness to Christ as incomplete because he has not yet died for the Lord.

Trallians12:3. ‘My bonds, which I carry about with me for the sake of Jesus Christ (praying that I may attain to God), exhort you,’ and ‘And do ye also pray for me, who have need of your love, along with the mercy of God, that I may be thought worthy to attain the lot for which I am now designed,’ and Philadelphians 5:2. ‘But your prayer to God shall make me perfect, that I may attain that to which I have been called, while I flee to the Gospel as to the flesh of Jesus Christ.’

Philadelphians 7:1. ‘For though some would have deceived me according to the flesh, yet the Spirit, as being from God, is not deceived. For it knows both whence it comes and whither it goes.’

Smyrneans 4:2. ‘For near the sward is near to god, next to wild beast is next to God. Only in the name of Jesus Christ, to suffer jointly with him, do I endure all things, and he, the perfect man, empowers me.’

Smyrneans 9:2. ‘If you endure all things on account of him, you will reach God.’ This is an echo of the exact same statement in the other letters.

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Acts 5:41. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:17. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.2 Corinthians 1:5-7. To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2Cor. 12:7-10. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:10. Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the Church. Colossians 1:24. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 2 Timothy 1:8; This is my gospel, ⁹ for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. ¹⁰ Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 2:9. This is my gospel, ⁹ for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. ¹⁰ Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.1 Peter 4:12-19; To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed, Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.5:1,9. In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Hebrews 2:10; Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 5:8; Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 10:32.

This long list of scripture supports the idea that Ignatius was within the biblical bounds when he wrote anticipating his own suffering and death. The central text is the 2 Cor. 12:7-10 passage. It boldly states that in suffering, Paul gladly boasts in his weaknesses. Strange it is that we cannot easily establish this connection. Perhaps it is our own desire for personal prosperity and well-being that blinds us to Ignatius’ proud statements about his own death. In short, suffering and death were not foreign to the biblical writers or to the Apostolic Fathers. Ignatius represents perhaps the most scriptural view of death-as-an-end-to-discipleship within that group⁹ of early Christians. Moderns might not apprehend his claims immediately. But rather than dismiss him as fantastic, we do better to ask, "who is out of step with whom?"

1 A. A. K. Graham, “Their word to our day, IV. Ignatius of Antioch,” The Expository Times 80 (Jan. 1969): p.108.

2 Judith Perkins, “The “self” as sufferer.” Harvard Theological Review 85 (July 1992): p.264.

3 Daniel N. McNamara, “Ignatius of Antioch on his death, discipleship, sacrifice, and imitation,” (Ph.D. diss. McMaster University, 1978) p. 247.

4 Willard M. Swartley, “The Imitatio Christi in the Ignatian letters,” Vigiliae Christianae 27 no. 2 (1973): p. 102.

5 Judith Perkins, “The “self” as sufferer.” Harvard Theological Review 85 (July 1992): p.263.

6 Frederick Augustus Schilling, The mysticism of Ignatius of Antioch, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1932), p. 72.

7 John Gambold. The martyrdom of Ignatius: A tragedy. ([Philadelphia?]: I. Ashmead & Co. for J. Wright, 1832), p. 17.

8 Judith Perkins, “The “self” as sufferer.” Harvard Theological Review 85 (July 1992): p. 263.

9 Some of the pseudepigraphal writings actually do push the envelope with fantastic stories about martyrdom and other strange ideas about Christology. If our devoted Father Ignatius had done that, the Church would have condemned him a heretic.

The Latest with me/us

Okay, there are maybe 3 readers here & that's cool. "Thanks mom" would be a funny comment here but she ain't got that innernet thangy. So whoever you are-thanks for stumbling into my blog.

We finally found the end of our fertility treatment. Here's a rough recap.
Last year we decided for many reasons to try fertility treatments to have another child. So off we went to a specialist. After the first round we had a miscarriage followed by more blood work. That blood work uncovered a problem with our DNA. So we thought we'd try again with a little more treatment than the 1st time to counter-act the DNA issue. But it failed again with another miscarriage. These two events were very, very hard on the Mrs. [not to mention months of shots and pills etc.]. Still we wanted to see if more could be done so that we could have a baby. After all many, many patients endure multiple miscarriages on the way to parenthood. Well, the only way in reality [says the specialist] is to remove one of the two of us from the genetic equation. This is when it gets really hurtful. Donation, surrogacy, etc. became the only options. Surrogacy is for rich folk because it is cost prohibitive. So we're down to egg or sperm donation. At this point all I knew was that it made me uncomfortable. So I set out to find answers. Was this morally right? How would we deal with this in the long run? Could we go through with this?

Where do you go to find answers like this for such new medical treatments?! Christians are divided over this issue. Some say it doesn't matter, so go ahead and do it. Some don't like the idea, but have very little more than anecdotal reasons. The former group sound very uncritical, even un-reflective. The latter sound very critical and uncompromising. One thing is for sure--they all have Bible verses to share. So where is a detailed analysis of this issue? I'm afraid the Anglican Churches have shied away from the issue with typical via-media posturing. Evangelicals can't seem to reason outside of the specific Bible verses they've found...on one side or the other. Then I found the document put out by Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae. 40 years ago the Church foresaw issues like this. And though HV does not specifically address our particular issue, it does say where life is supposed to come from. It discusses the Sacrament of Marriage, the only origin of life ordained from God. It was only a simple deduction for me to decide that we could not 'remove one of us from the equation'.

So it is not a matter of my wife having a baby, rather it is a matter of us having a baby. Today we only hear the media and lobbyists speak of an individual woman and her rights. They've gone too far because neither man nor woman are in this alone, God gave us each other to produce more life within the marriage relationship. Turning the emotional corner together as a couple was really difficult. We had a lot of intense fellowship! What does a couple do when they cannot have a baby?

We already knew the answer. Our 1st child just turned 5 years old. We adopted him at two days old. He is ours. He is a gift...from God...from his birth-mother...from all those who prayed for us through those days. So what, you may ask, is the difference between adopting a child that is not yours & utilizing egg or sperm that is not yours?

That was the biggest hurdle. It seems like wisdom. If you adopted a child from someone else, then it can't be wrong to receive genetic material from someone else so that you can have a child. Love is all that is important, right? Well, I disagree. We are not dealing with 'raw materials'. Physicians are so used to speaking and thinking that way. If my deduction from Humanae Vitae is correct, we should not breach the covenant we cut for any reason, not even to create life. In the case of adoption we did not create the life, yet we redeemed it through adoption. Fertility treatment is for married couples, not individuals, and this couple went as far as a married couple can go with treatment. The two have become one flesh--we cannot undo that for the purpose of bearing children. Our calling is to adopt kids or only have the one, our burden is that we cannot produce our own. So we trust God to help us heal from this hurt [and the hurt of miscarriages].

Already we have turned our attention to the adoption process again. Our son may yet be an only child and we are coming to grips with this too. What ever the future holds we trust God and walk on. What else can we do? As a very dear friend often says, "Life is what happens when there are no longer any options."
Amen.

Bad humor

I am amused today to read this post from the Fort Worth
Via Media group.

We are indeed in different libraries, located in different cities [allusion to no longer being on the same page of the book].

1st Funeral

My son had a pet frog. His name was Hoppy; he was a White's Tree Frog. Unfortunately the boy had not apprehended that frogs don't play football! Hoppy entered his eternal peace this day due to multiple contusions to his little legs.

So as I dug the hole behind the back fence, my son runs to tell mommy my instructions..., “Mommy, mommy, daddy needs his pray-book!” I hoped to capture the moment for my son and send Hoppy to heaven with all our best intentions. Coming back outside, I heard him telling mommy this prayer, “Jesus, send us another frog, that's the story of a frog.” So we dropped Hoppy in the hole and read the burial service for a child. Ahem, timely.

Moments later as I sat to write this tale I heard the boy screaming out front as if he'd broken a limb. No, no injuries this time. He's just found the answer to his prayer...a huge bull-frog on the front porch. His screams were sort of terror—marked as those frogs are—and half elation for the quick reply from Jesus. Only one problem...we forgot to specify that we wanted a TREE FROG, not a BUSH FROG!

Don't drop us another BUSH FROG, JESUS! This time we need a TREE FROG.

Rash thoughts on TAC and Rome and Pain

Blogdom is filled with 2 cents speculation about the TAC schmoozing with the Vatican.
So here goes my two cents.
Not a few Anglican chat-groups/forums/e-mail lists point out that the reality that exists in the future for those absorbed into the Roman communion is probably less than the romantic notions that fuel the move. The "You guys are going to regret this / you're only going to get hurt / they won't accept your orders" rhetoric is all selfish in my opinion. Do we really expect unity to be pain free? Let's ask our Lord about the pain-free unity for which He prayed.
A minister who is afraid of pain might well be a man who entered his vocation to appease the opposite emotion.
Unity will be painful. Now whether this alignment is the beginning of Unity I'm not so sure--only time will tell. Remember, pain is not the worst thing you can threaten a Christian with.
[where is a Lewis or Tolkien quote when I need one?]