I’m off to grade, go to the gym, run, and then youth group at All Saints.
A couple of links of note:
Lynn at Noli Irritare Leones has a fine roundup of many of the recent postings on men and masculinity. She concludes thus:
But this piece will not be complete until I address the most troubling aspect of Hugo’s post, the significance of the word “real.” Amanda has pointed out how real manhood is defined in terms of actions, while real womanhood is defined in terms of biological processes. Do women lack a sense of the ways in which maturity in womanhood is a challenge to be met? Are men overly vulnerable, too concerned that they can lose that which, after all, they already have? Is “real” actually the word we want here? Someone suggested “ideal,” but I’m not sure I like that word. “Ideal” sounds like some airy image out there that we really don’t have to expect ourselves to live up to. I’m reminded of Dorothy Day’s remark that she didn’t want to be called a saint because she didn’t want to be dismissed that easily. I wouldn’t, for example, want to say that an ideal man doesn’t denigrate women, because I sure hope that even much less than ideal men can manage that! Mature men? Adequate men? I’m still looking for a word.
Christy has a terrific first hand-account of job actions in the little-blogged LA hotel strike. She also provides this link for more info on the hotel workers’ struggle.
And two links about Episcopalians and money. My good friend Scott Richardson preached this sermon on Dives and Lazarus a few weeks back, but finished with this:
Our Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold, is doing what he can to point the way forward. He’s an impassioned advocate of “the .7% solution”. Eight audacious, almost unimaginable, outcomes – eradicating extreme poverty; achieving universal education; promoting gender equality; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating deadly diseases; ensuring environmental stability; developing global partnerships – can be realized in one decade if the nations of the world designate 7/10 of 1% of their net disposable budget to meet these goals. So far 191 nations, including the United States , have indicated their support for this vision; four ( Denmark , Luxembourg , Norway , and the Netherlands ) have made good on their pledge.
Bishop Griswold prays and presses for a more faithful response from our global leaders but he doesn’t stop there. He’s also called on every Episcopalian, every parish, every cathedral, every diocese, and every province to do the same. If, he notes, every Episcopalian gave 7/10 of 1% of their income to help achieve these critical ends, we would raise and give away $354 million per year. Something to think about and pray over.
In addition to my major pledge to All Saints, I am making my list of charities to support in 2005 (it requires advance budgetting). I’ll have a post about some of them soon.
And Sed Contra links to a website that purports to track the financial impact of Gene Robinson’s consecration on the Episcopal Church USA. It’s a good reminder that sometimes, doing the right thing has a high price. I’d like to think that my church has counted the cost and found it worth it. I know that because of Gene Robinson and Bishop Jon Bruno and the current fight over homosexuality, my pledge will be bigger this year than it might otherwise have been.