Thumbs Down on The Anglican Covenant.

So this is what prompted the previous post.

Tobias Haller has been writing on his blog In A Godward Direction about the Anglican Covenant off and on.  This particular post has been floating around the Anglican Blogosphere for a while. It's one of the ones I commented on.  Here is his most recent post about the covenant.

I've been noodling around with a response to Tobias, but Elizabeth Kaeton managed to articulate it much better here on Telling Secrets.

The Anglican Covenant is a bad idea. Period. It is an attempt to draw circles and define who is in and who is out. Bad theology, bad policy, just plain bad. No amount of verbal juggling can turn this pig's ear into a silk purse.

Talking about Things Anglican

So far on this blog I've refrained from delving too deeply into things Anglican. Originally that stemmed from the fact that I worked at The Episcopal Church Center, headquarters for The Episcopal Church. In fact, I took my previous blog, Telling Beads, private (friends and family only) because of a couple of incidents that happened in the wake of the first reorganization. A few months ago I moved some of the posts from Telling Beads to this blog, mostly because I wanted all of my posted sermons in one public place.

Now that I no longer work for the Church, I've been in recovery mode and have kept out of the public conversations about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. Not that I've ignored what's going on, I just needed time to readjust to not being so fully immersed in the institutional church. I've commented on other blogs now and again, but except for the No Anglican Covenant logo in the sidebar, I've stayed out of the larger conversations.

I started I'm Fluting as Fast as I Can in the wake of the 2009 National Flute Association Annual Convention. Its purpose was to chart my progress as I began to be more intentional about playing the flute. But there's only so much I can write about being an amateur flutist. Over time it became more of a general blog. I'm a whole person, and my blog should reflect that. For that reason, I've decided not to resurrect Telling Beads at this time. However, I reserve the right to change my mind!

So moving forward, Things Anglican will find their way onto this blog from time to time. Because of my past experiences in the Anglican blogosphere, I've added a comment policy to the sidebar. For now comments will remain unmoderated, but I will delete any comments that include insults, meanness, or flaming.

Once more into the breach...

Spring Has Sprung

Although I can still hear it, I can no longer see the highway from my apartment. Until Fall strips the leaves from the trees, I will have to rely on traffic reports to know what's happening on this portion of interstate.

I've always lived in urban and suburban areas. Maybe that's why Spring always seems to sneak up on me, even as I am aware of flowers and budding trees. One day I look out the window, and suddenly everything is green.

Spring, the promise of new beginnings.

And yet, for most of my life, Spring has meant endings. Twenty-five years spent in academic settings, and an additional eight-and-a-half immersed in the rhythm of church program calendars. Spring is a time of taking tests, packing up, and leaving. Most of my relationships ended during the Spring months, including the only serious relationship I had with a girl when I was in high school.

Spring, a time of memories and ghosts.

But as the Spring rains wash away the debris left by Winter storms, I lift my face to the skies to let them wash across me and experience the wonder of life.

Typing with My Thumbs

It's always interesting what classes taken in school turn out to be the most beneficial later in life. I graduated from college with a BA in French and German, yet the skills I've used most in my professional life came from a semester of Statistics and a semester of Spanish. But more valuable than either of those was the typing class I took when I was in 9th Grade at Mather Junior High School.

During college I earned extra cash typing classmates papers, and also saved the money I would have had to pay to have my papers typed. Those typing skills allowed me to adapt quickly to the growing use of computers in the workplace. I even taught word processing for a time. At my best, I typed about 125 words per minute accurately.

I watch my niece and my nephews working with their laptops, and it's a far cry form the touch typing I learned in high school. My niece took "keyboarding" in high school, but even what she does when she uses her laptop only faintly resembles what I do using mine.

Of course, these young folks aren't the only ones I've observed typing in a non-traditional way. My ex had cerebral palsy which left him with limited use of his right hand. He typed pretty rapidly with only his left hand. And he is a whiz with a calculator.

But back to the world we now live in, the one in which by niece and nephews have grown, and are growing, up in. Technology has changed the tools we use. Our cell phones now do even more than the Apple \\e's and IMB PC's did when they were first introduced. You can't touch type on a cell phone keypad, even if it has a full keyboard. You can't touch type on the iPad or any of the other tablet computers. You can't feel the letters on a touch screen. So we type with our thumbs or one or two fingers. Some can type pretty darn fast that way.

The other day I was searching Amazon.com for a particular book while using my Kindle, which also has a small keyboard. It has small, raised, button keys, and you can't touch type using it either. Because it's a device you can hold in your hands, thumb typing works best. I realized I've become pretty adept at thumb typing. I was about to say that it's not my preferred method of typing, but that's not really true. I use the method that works for the device I happen to be using.

And technology has already gone beyond keyboards and touch screens. Voice recognition software has been workable for over a decade. You speak, and the software types for you. Yesterday I heard a news story about a computer that worked on the user's eye movements.

Technology is a wonderful thing, but sometimes it feels like it's going faster than I can keep up with. In those moments I try to remember my grandparents' generation who went from horse-and-buggy to putting a man on the moon and beyond. And if Granddad were still alive, he'd probably have an iPhone and an iPad and be all over the whole social networking phenomenon.

In the meantime, however, I use what I have. This post was typed on my netbook with touch typing. Later I'll be typing with my thumbs on my Kindle to find that book.

Linus on Reading Paul's Letter

Charlie Bown: Where have you been?

Linus: Church school. We've been studying the letters of the Apostle Paul.

Charlie Brown: That should be interesting.

Linus: It is. Although I must admit I feel a little guilty. I always feel like I'm reading someone else's mail!

--Charles Schulz

Re-Entry

I didn't think I was going to be able to attend Dance Camp this spring. I just couldn't rationalize the expense as my financial resources continue dwinding due to this period of unemployment. A couple of weeks before camp, a friend called and gave me an incredibly generous and thoughtful gift: a scholarship to Camp. And over the course of the weekend five or six of my friends told me that if I ever need assistance to get to camp again, I'm to call them. Period. End of discussion.

I've been part of this incredible supportive community for nearly 20 years. We have enfolded each other in loving care during times of personal transition--beginnings and endings of relationships; deaths of partners, spouses, siblings, parents, and children; job loss, job hunting, and career changes; hurts and happinesses. It is a community that struggles with change. It is a place where hugs and cuddling are a regular part of life.

And of course, we dance.

Usually I take pictures of camp. Not this time. I brought my camera. I never took it out of its case. But I did do a five minute sketch.

(Sorry about the quality. I don't have a scanner, and I can't get quite close enough with my camera.)

When I am employed, I usually take the Monday after camp as a vacation day to ease the return to non-camp life. No such luxury this time. An ongoing issue with a project I'm involved in resulted in a day of flinging emails amongst the people involved. And the world is still reacting to President Obama's announcement of the killing of Osama bin Laden.

In spite of all of that, I've managed to hang on to an improved mood--not 100%, but much improved--and some fresh energy.