felix hominum

If you thought getting the kids into church was hard...

"Tough to Attract Youth to Dairy Farming"

a headline in the Edmonton Journal

The unoffical GAFCON site...

Some of you may know that there is an unofficial Lambeth blog on the go, run for the most part by the inscrutable Mike Daley.  Just to round things off, I thought I would also let you know of the unoffical GAFCON blog, hosted by The Rev. DR. Christian Troll, Doctrinal Warrior.

I'm just sayin'...

I have decided to become a progressive...

It was a slow change, almost imperceptible, but it was sure enough.  I first began to notice a difference in the way I would look at things.  Perhaps I noticed it first in the reading I would do, how it seemed to me, well, different.  I stopped looking at things the way I used to when I was younger.  Some will say it is a function of age.  We all change as we get a bit older, and so perhaps it was bound to happen sooner or later.

I have decided to become a progressive...lens wearer.

Maundy Thursday: "Unless I wash you..

you can have no part with me"

Front runner for Edmonton Bishop announced

[Edmonton]

Ed Stelmach, whose Progressive Conservative party won a record 11th straight majority government in Alberta, announced today that the party would be fielding a candidate in the upcoming Diocese of Edmonton Episcopal election.

"We win every election in Alberta", Premier Stelmach said in a prepared statement, "and we heard that there was another election which we had not yet won.  It's only natural that we should have a candidate in this election as well."

Signs that the End Times are nigh

An announcement I read while in Toronto last week:

Contemplative Compline time is 9:00-9:30 p.m. It is a quiet time to pray together silently and practice a spiritual discipline. Also, on Wednesday nights we will be doing an Anglican Rosary service 9:00-9:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome.

This is happening at which theological college:

Trinity - the high church place
Wycliffe - the evangelical place

Anglican Church of Canada roundup by the Clash

Priests inhibited, parishes vote, Bishops react:

Archbishop of Canterbury responds:

 

Dioceses, parishes prepare for litigation:

Finally, the true prophets speak, Johnny Cash & Joe Strummer (caution to the delicate):

A Valentine Special: the circle of the lustful in Dante's Inferno!!

Yes, I know that there are a thousand mushy blog posts out there to celebrate the day of romance.  And Mrs Felix woke up to the fragrance of roses gently wafting through the room.

But you know, for those sitting home alone on such a holiday, thinking to themselves "no sugar tonight", I thought I would offer a bit of consolation.  I thought I would take a slight break from our usual progression and celebrate Valentine's day with a brief overview of Circle II - the circle of the lustful in Dante's Inferno.

Into this torment carnal sinners thrust,
so I was told - the sinners who make their reason
Bond thrall under the yoke of their lust.

Like as the starlings whell in the wintry season
In wide and clustering flocks wing borne, wind borne
Even so they go, the souls who did this treason

Hither and thither, and up and down, outworn,
Hopeless of any rest - rest did I say?
Of the least minishing of their pangs forlorn.

So if you find yourself dateless on this date, imagine only these verses of the poet on the cards accompanying the over priced roses - the flowers of romance and the thorns of lust!  Scoff at them!!  Or at least watch TV...

What Dante encounters in this circle of Hell are the souls of the lovers whose "love" was not governed and guided by "reason".  Don't get him wrong: love expressed in sexual form is part of the good of creation.  But like every good thing, it can be misused.  in this circle of Hell he encounters those who "make there reason bond thrall under the yoke of their lust".  What is the nature of lust in Dante?  It is to have our sexual appetites run wild and uncontrolled.  And so they are driven hither and thither by a hot howling wind.  It is the image of being subject to forces which seem to drive us arbitrarily.  It is an image of the soul losing control over itself.

It is worth noting that the "lustful" are pretty far up in Hell, not really far down.  Just so, their repentant counterparts are very high up on Mount Purgatory.  That is because lust is a flawed attempt at love.  It is not a sheer descent into hatred.  And at least in this sin, there is a desire for community and mutuality - it is not here a particularly "selfish" sin.  It seeks what is good - mutual love, but seeks it in the wrong way.  And to succumb to lust is to be blown about forever, at the whim of that hot wind.

Happy Valentine's Day.

post series: Dante's Divine Comedy

Sound advice for teenagers

Canadian Anglicans produce ground-breaking work

[Toronto:  Church House]

Recently the Church of England released "The Mission Shaped Church" (2004: Church House Publishing, pdf here).  In his forward to the document, Rowan Williams reminded the church that it is "poised for serious growth and renewal" but added that "we are at a real watershed".

Now the Anglican Church of Canada has released its own ground-breaking opus - the culmination of more than 4 years of work.  "This is what the Canadian church needs at this moment", said a Church house representative.  "We've highlighted this important development in not just one, but two places on our national website.  This is the new millennium for the Anglican Church of Canada."