Whitehall: ecusa's future (and present)

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

ecusa's future (and present)

Its good to know we are in "full communion" with these people. Just the sort of thing torward which ECUSA should be aiming and to which we should be open [irony bell]. Their video is particularly enlightening. You might want to sprinkle your computer with holy water before and after watching. Here is an interesting quote:

Lisa’s chanting and teaching has [sic] taken her all over the world. She has sung in many sacred sites including Chartres Cathedral in France, Sakya Monastery in Tibet, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, ancient stone circles in England, and in many temples in Egypt, including inside the Sphinx and The Great Pyramid in Cairo. Lisa sang at the World Festival of Sacred Music, the Americas, in honor of his holiness the Dalai Lama in 2000, and again in the World Festival 2002, in Los Angeles.

Nice to see Grace Cathedral right where it belongs, beside other "sacred sites" like Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid. I imagine Chartres is included because it has a Labyrinth.

John O'Sullivan has a trenchant little analysis.

7 comments:

Amber said...: Fr. WB,
I know that you are sad. I am sad too.
I would like to cheer you up with some poetry by Bod Dylan (as per out conversation the other night, in which you claimed that Bonnie Billy is the premier poet of our time, or at least that is what I took "better than Hart Crane" to mean), a man who we should all be in communion with.

With your mercury mouth in the missionary times,
And your eyes like smoke and your prayers like rhymes,
And your silver cross, and your voice like chimes,
Oh, who among them do they think could bury you?
With your pockets well protected at last,
And your streetcar visions which you place on the grass,
And your flesh like silk, and your face like glass,
Who among them do they think could carry you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands,
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes,
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums,
Should I leave them by your gate,
Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?

With your sheets like metal and your belt like lace,
And your deck of cards missing the jack and the ace,
And your basement clothes and your hollow face,
Who among them can think he could outguess you?
With your silhouette when the sunlight dims
Into your eyes where the moonlight swims,
And your match-book songs and your gypsy hymns,
Who among them would try to impress you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands,
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes,
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums,
Should I leave them by your gate,
Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?

The kings of Tyrus with their convict list
Are waiting in line for their geranium kiss,
And you wouldn't know it would happen like this,
But who among them really wants just to kiss you?
With your childhood flames on your midnight rug,
And your Spanish manners and your mother's drugs,
And your cowboy mouth and your curfew plugs,
Who among them do you think could resist you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands,
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes,
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums,
Should I leave them by your gate,
Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?

Oh, the farmers and the businessmen, they all did decide
To show you the dead angels that they used to hide.
But why did they pick you to sympathize with their side?
Oh, how could they ever mistake you?
They wished you'd accepted the blame for the farm,
But with the sea at your feet and the phony false alarm,
And with the child of a hoodlum wrapped up in your arms,
How could they ever, ever persuade you?
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands,
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes,
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums,
Should I leave them by your gate,
Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?

With your sheet-metal memory of Cannery Row,
And your magazine-husband who one day just had to go,
And your gentleness now, which you just can't help but show,
Who among them do you think would employ you?
Now you stand with your thief, you're on his parole
With your holy medallion which your fingertips fold,
And your saintlike face and your ghostlike soul,
Oh, who among them do you think could destroy you
Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands,
Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes,
My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums,
Should I leave them by your gate,
Or, sad-eyed lady, should I wait?; 10:31 AM
Texanglican (R.W. Foster+) said...: Did you change the name back to Whitehall, sir? I rather liked the new name.; 10:33 AM
gwb said...: TEX --

I did. I got scared. Or rather, while there was some positivity regarding "Anglican Catholic," there was also some negativity. That is true of "Whitehall" too, though I think there was generally more positivity, and I like the distinctiveness of "Whitehall." Plus it saves people having to change their links. (Apologies to anyone who had already changed their links.)

My chief worry with "Whitehall" was precisely for those familiar enough with UK Civil Affairs for it to have in its semantic field all that bureaucratic baggage. But in the end, I wanted to keep the association with St. Charles, and Anglicanism (as in the center of London), and simply to have a less generic name.

I may yet switch back... especially after the site revamp, which is coming. Stay tuned!; 1:48 PM
Anonymous said...: I still vote to stick with "Whitehall" with Anglican Catholic in the subtext. Also, if you are revamping, please find some art work that isn't aliens and gnomes. You had a very good history on the art choices until a few months ago when the aliens started appearing!

BTW, wonderful article on Lent.; 4:09 PM
Dimbo said...: yeah, good stuff. i especially loved the quotation about the singer and all the places she has sung.
pray for me and my soul, boo and mm, for i am approaching a lost cause.; 9:05 PM
Anonymous said...: WB,

I might yet come around to Bonny Prince Billy, but better than Hart Crane? "The Broken Tower" is a hard poem to match.

ACR; 12:11 AM
John J. O'Sullivan™ said...: Holy mackeral; a loss of over 500 people in one year?!? I'm assuming this is the year all this pagan nonsense began? I don't think any plagues or natural disasters hit the Pacific Northeast in 1998.

-j; 3:56 PM