St. James Anglican Church, Vancouver, Dec. 18, 2011 - 4th Advent Sunday

"You know we'd be able to make it to church on time if we skipped our morning baths and showers," I told her.
"I'm not going to do that. I feel awful when I'm not clean." she replied.
"But we're already washed," I reminded her. Referring to our baptisms, of course.  That which differentiated us from the 'unwashed".
"I'm still not going to church dirty," she answered
"What's the use of confession then" I said.  She's the kind of girl who cleans up before the cleaning lady comes whereas I'm more likely to throw a bachelor party the night before the cleaners are due.
We both were happty to arrive in time for the sermon by Father Mark Greenaway-Robbins. With my Baptist background, church is all about the sermon.  That and the gospel singing and bible readings, of course.  Father Mark though doesn't beat us up with descriptions of hellfire and damnation so I'm never really sure I've heard a sermon. Growing up in an evangelical Baptist congregation I remember well the minister frothing at the mouth and painting glorious pictures of hell in such detail my father wondered if he knew more of that place than the destination where we were supposed to be heading.
Father Mark's sermons are  mostly inspiring, informative and transcendent.  He's even amusing at times.  My friend, Laura likes his sermons immensely but given her Catholic background, she's only there for the wafer, if the truth be told.  Just give a Catholic the body of Christ and they'd be happy. If ever the Catholics and Jehovah Witnesses got together they'd have drive through wafer's for sure to serve the need of busy Christians belonging to the 'wealth and health' evangelical factions.
St. James is afar more traditional Anglo Catholic. Father Mark's sermon touched on trust in God wisdom and love.   Father Mark actually talked about the 'communion of saints' from the creed and prayer to Mary. Quite revolutionary thoughts for protestants but well in the mainstream of the mystical meditation revival in today's church.  Televangelists can go on and on about prayer such that Christians decades back had to go to India to learn about meditation. Today the 'relationship with God' is central to the spiritual journney of Christians.  We gather together in church  to share peace.  Yet our real spiritual journeys are in the work weeks between these oasis of gathering in the desert of modern materialist consumer society.
Christmas is a time of celebration. Advent tells us that Jesus is coming.  Hallelujah.
After the service we joined dozens of other parishioners for coffee, tea and cake, the after church fellowship tradition.  Laura borrowed a St. Thomas a Kempis book from the library and I kept Gilbert in chec. He was so excited to meet Bear and Dido, a couple of other church going dogs, that I was terrifed he'd want to express himself in piss elation.   While Laura conversed with Elizabeth, Phil and I waxed poetic about world affairs and spiritual matters.  Out of nowhere Karen appeared with Mathias and there were hugs all round.  Mathias is walking now but Laura and I remember his baptism when he wasn't much bigger than a flesh formed idea.
Father Mark had in church today welcomed a 9 day old baby bringing the family to the front where we applauded them all for being there together so soon after such a monumentous occasion.  The choir sang Emmanuel with especially fine voices.
And later Laura and I walked back to the car with Gilbert , all of us feeling just a little bit  closer.

Wiccan Christianity

My friend didn't join us for communion today.  She did come and share a pew.
"Not into ritual cannibalism?"  I asked.
"That's it exactly," she said.
"But you're wearing a cross," I responded, eyeing the traditional cross which like much of Christianity may have screwed up. The Romans were said to use a T for crucifixions.  Changing all the hymn books alone from 'cross" to "Tee" would have been a monumentally costly task.  "The Old Southern Tee" might have sat well though with the golfers avoiding work on the sabbath.
"I accesorized for the occasion," she answered.
Her partner added, "I got it for her. She wouldn't accept the exorcism, I offered instead.".
The church was fairly Marion.  Lots of reference to female God, mother God, God "She" but careful avoidance of the Goddess.  Jesus apparently called God, "Our Father" but in the reconstructionism of the Bible today Psalm 23 became 'She leadeth me beside still waters."  The Italian painters put their patrons and city fathers in the crowds. The face on the devil in a Michelangelo painting was that of his principal critic. Jesus Christ Superstar looked surprisingly like an effeminate English schoolboy whereas Jesus himself was supposedly Jewish, at least on his mother's side.  If God is black as the Coptic Christian church might desire, then Jesus might well have been mulatto.
"Do you think we'll get to eat Mary soon," I asked my friend.
"If we do, I think she should be represented with cheese.  Then we could have wine and cheese and bread. "  She giggled.  Her Catholic roots show when she's being bad.  All that practice avoiding pokes by nuns.  The Catholic church has so many saints that when the Greeks and Romans eventually accepted Jesus and the triune God, the saints soon filled up the loss of all the Mount Olympus characters.  If you're going to change brands you want 'more' , 'not less'.  Christianity at least gave three gods in one which was more than Zeus and the Pagan gods could muster for their supreme being..  Spirit, father and son, or these days, daughter as Christ's gender changes to match the times.  Daughter God.
Something is  missing though.  Be Gentle to the Earth messages of eco religion only work in urban centres where Joni Mitchell's sings "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot."  Christians are now praying for the dung beetles since researchers  showed that all the other eco granola birkenstock lot were interested in saving only the cuddly and cute.  Christians care for worms too because no one else does. They've had a rough time since the increase in cremation over burial.
"The music was terrific," he said, when we gathered outside to compare notes.  "I loved her sermon."  she said.
"Didn't the other guy shave off his rooster hair cut." her partner asked
"He did, " I answered, "he had a red mohawk. He was doing the youth ministery then."
The cherry blossoms were out.  Easter was coming soon.  Politics being what they are, good time to be in church.   World needs a lot of prayer.  Friends in Christ need contact too.