Hieronymo's mad againe.

It happened again. Someone (this time a priest) looked at me and said "Tell me about your journey to Anglicanism." Seeing as my father's a Southern Baptist minister and I'm Anglo-Catholic, there should be a good story here.But I just rambled along for a couple minutes talking about books and people until finally just saying "It was kind of an organic process." I had to look up organic when I got home to see if it was the right word (though, being a carbon-based life form, everything I do is organic). I was right . So how did this relatively complex, natural growth process come about? My parents were evangelical missionaries in Peru. The Roman Catholic church in South America in the 90s was a mess (I'm sure in general it still is, but haven't personally experienced this). It's entangled with government and the wealthy highest crust of society. In order to make the transition smoother, the Roman Catholic saints were superimposed over ancient Inca ...

There's a cold snap tonight, and South Carolina feels like Maryland's not too far away. That distance is weighing on me at the moment, and there's a tiny Anglican church meeting in a former one-room school house that's calling me home. I've finished a week of classes at a state university that is roughly 38 times the size of the small, Christian liberal arts college where I did my undergrad degree. I've suddenly hopped disciplines as well- no longer a biology student/research lab technician, I'm a student of public health (Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, specifically). In some ways it's been a difficult transition- training myself to plan an extra hour into my day in order to find a parking spot and make it to class, adjusting to the "warm fuzzy" approach of social science professors. At times, it's been delightful, that deep breath as one meanders across a campus 200 years old in places, with much respect for trees. After Co...

Last night was the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. It was the third anniversary of the death of a good friend, a casualty to despair. Far into the night I found myself leaping to the phone to answer the call of a dear friend whose marriage collapsed a year ago, leaving him with a broken heart and many questions. L had a miscarriage in September, and is still suffering from occasional bleeding and pain. She's the third of my friends to lose a child. It is the first Christmas since the death of my grandfather- a good man whose amazing mind and stories were stolen by Alzheimer's. B's father is no longer speaking to her....his extreme cruelty to her mother resulted in B. making the phone call to the police that ended in a restraining order against him. The darkness is strong. I find myself thinking of the shepherds at the Nativity. The night sky is broken by angelic proclamation and song. "A Savior has been born. Peace on earth, good will towards men....

I'm not yet sure if this will become the enduring love affair I have with T.S. Eliot, Madeleine L'Engle and (most recently) Barbara Kingsolver. However, I most definitely have a major crush on the future first lady. The infatuation began when I first read The Audacity of Hope - In the words of her husband: "Most people who meet my wife quickly conclude that she is remarkable. They are right about this--she is smart, funny and thoroughly charming. She is also very beautiful, although not in a way that men find intimidating, or women find off-putting; it is the lived-in beauty of the mother and busy professional rather than the touched up image we see on the cover of glossy magazines. Often, after hearing her speak at some function or working with her on a project, people will approach me and say something to the effect of "You know I think the world of you, Barack, but your wife...wow!" I nod, knowing that if I ever had to run against her for public office, s...

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.” ( 1928 BCP page 90) Advent's collect- dating back to 1549 and the first English Prayer Book. My priest emailed it to me this week in a reminder that we are lost without grace. Last Advent I latched on to something in a sermon of his: "In Advent we await the three-fold coming of Christ- Christ's first coming to Bethlehem, Christ's current coming to us by the Holy Spirit, and Christ's future coming as King." I was a baby Anglican at Advent last year, celebrating the start of my first liturgical year. Now I'm an Anglo-Cathol...