Undercover Nun

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[undercovernun]

Be like Jesus! Be who you are. Do not be afraid. Be like a balloon and fill yourself with faith. Float to the sky. Live life equally. If someone is different, include them. You are you and you are great like Jesus. Make people happy and you will be happy. Live in your own glory!

Ava, a camper at Camp Chanco, in the Diocese of Southern Virginia

Clearly, Ava is a very wise young woman.

[undercovernun]

Discussed 'round the office today:

Not only did Jesus fart, but Our Lord and Savior invented The Cheek Lift Maneuver. This is why he has that slight lean in that bit of journalistic documentary, The Last Supper.

"Blame it on Judas. Everybody does."

Now we know what REALLY caused Judas to betray Jesus: the Son of Man blamed his flatulence on Judas just one too many times.

I have a long night of requirementing ahead of me.  I bet this gets much funnier after midnight.

[undercovernun]

Dear Facebook,

I think you and I have different understandings of the words "a lot."

Love,

me

[undercovernun]

Overheard in the office

Analyst: I am balls-deep in analytics for that client right now.

Everyone: *chortles*

Developer: That balls-deep -- is that horizontally or vertically?

Analyst:

Developer: I mean, are you standing up, with analytics coming up to your balls? Or are you saying you took those analytics out for a nice steak dinner?

[undercovernun]

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

From the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, According to Saint Matthew (27:45-46)

[undercovernun]

A modern reflection on the Stations of the Cross, using images from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.  Some of these images are disturbing, because they reflect the ways we crucify the image of Christ in the world around us.

[undercovernun]

We can only spread the Gospel of Christ as it has transformed us. If the self-giving of Christ's cross for my redemption is what has moved me (most recently, let us say) then that is where my voice should come from and direct others to. If the gentle touch of Christ to the outcast is what moves me, there will move my voice and my hands. IF something of Christ has changed me, it will pique the interest of someone and then a conversation can happen. The greatest apologetic for the Gospel is a changed "me." Then we have an opportunity to "Give a reason for the hope that is within." By our lives, we might make the horses thirsty.

- Brother Guy Mackey, of the Anglican Order of Preachers

I don't always agree with my beloved Brother, but he really nails this one.  The world wants our stories.  Who will you tell your story to today?

[undercovernun]

God created human beings with the capacity for relationship with himself. Spirituality is a disposition and a potentiality for that relationship. It is not a part of piece of humanity; it is a character that cuts through to the totality of the human, involving all of the individual; but it points to a particular posture of the person, which is distinguishable from emotional well-being, physical health, or intellectual activity. The key to spirituality is the awareness of a transcendent gift of knowledge.

-- the Rev. Dr. Urban T. Holmes, III, in "The Spiritual Person," in Spirituality for Ministry

It will take me some time to digest this very excellent essay.

[undercovernun]

Preachers are not to worry about their inadequacies, about which, as about all things, God is doubtless better informed than they are.

the Rev. Dr. Christopher Bryan, And God Spoke

He continues: They are to do what they are appointed to do as faithfully as they can.

This is quite the challenge to me, the member of the Anglican Order of Preachers, who has yet to preach in worship. Some day.  And as I said yesterday, someday I will be a deacon and chant the Exsultet.

[undercovernun]

Do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding; * who must be fitted with bit and bridle, or else they will not stay near you.

-- Psalm 32:10, appointed for today's Morning Prayer

Sounds like a slogan for the Episcopal Church, which proclaims itself the church that doesn't ask you to check your brain at the door.

[undercovernun]

A big shout out to

St. Matthew's and St. John's, the Episcopal Church in Garrett County Maryland, who post each day an audio recording of the office of Morning Prayer on their web site. 

Each morning I download the file to my phone and pray in the car while I drive to work.  (Alas, the Store for Windows Phone gives an error on the podcast, or it would be on my phone for me automagically every day.)  The recording is beautifully produced, and it affects the shape of my entire day.

[revnaomiking]

We need a language that allows us to reimagine what a flourishing society looks like…We need stories to make sense of an ailing world that needs us.

Michael Stone, “Occupy Wall Street” The Best Buddhist Writing 2012 (via revnaomiking)

The words we use shape our thoughts and our behaviors.  Indeed, what could society look like if we changed our language to that of a flourishing, thriving, healthy culture?

[undercovernun]

Happy Twelfth Day of Christmas!  Tomorrow is the Feast of the Epiphany!

[undercovernun]

Merry Christmas!

[undercovernun]

Merry Christmas!

[undercovernun]

Merry Christmas!

[undercovernun]

Merry Christmas!  And a blessed Feast of the Holy Name (formerly known as the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ) to you!