The World,,,,Oh Boy!

A young Israeli soldier exhausted holding a weapon
Israel Rejects Peace Offer
Elderly, Isolated Are Heat’s Quiet Victims.
6 Shot, 1 Fatally, at Seattle Jewish Center
Spending Less? You’re Helping Slow the Economy

Bush, Blair agree on U.N. Plan
Microfiber Sofabed $299.99
Distress signals from the sea
Teak Sale! 70% off Retail Prices, Visit the largest wholesaler of “Grade A” Teak Patio Furniture in California
A Bath below
The ritual of ushering in the Jewish Sabbath appeared much the same as usual in Kiryat Shemona, Israel – the blessings and the food, for instance. But much was different as Kati Marziano and her 6-year old daughter passed yet another day in their bomb shelter, after spending two weeks hiding from Hezbollah rockets.
Sleep on the Best Mattress Sale

Royal Recliner Sale, 25th Anniversary Offer
A Sobered Garcia Returns to Power in Peru, Vowing Change
Kathy Ireland’s Office & Entertainment Products
Mid Summer Sale FINAL WEEK, UP TO 70% OFF on Selected Items, Directly Imported Rugs

Shiite Cleric Calls Maliki Visit to U.S. a Betrayal
Sleep Free ONE FULL YEAR! Sale
U.N. Draft May Set Clock for Iran Sanctions

World’s smallest camera flip phone only from cingular
Scientists Turn Fat Into Muscle – You’re Thinking Cheesecake, Right?
Cingular raising the bar
4 Endangered Condor Chicks Die of West Nile
$1 Million Fan Sale
Reports Calls Home DNA Kits Misleading
TV & Appliances WEEKEND SALE

Keeping Faith Underground, As Israelis in Kiryat Shemona crowd into a bunker on the Sabbath, one matriarch says the town has seen it all, ‘but it was never this bad’
The Infiniti Limited Engagement Summer Event. Infiniti FX 35 lease per month $329
Israel Ends Gaza Raid, Leaving a Trail of Death and Destruction
One day Home Sale, Today July 29, 9 AM – 10 PM,,, 199.99 KitchenAid Heavy duty 5-qt Stand Mixer

Verizon Wireless BLOWOUT SALE!
Bush, Blair to Seek U.N. Force on Lebanon Border
Memory Foam Sale, “A great Mattress can help you sleep an extra 1-2 hours per night”
Somalia Official Is Slain in Baidoa; Hundreds Riot
India Official Says Nuclear Sites May Be Attacked
De Beers 401 N. Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills

In U.S., Calls Grow for Direct Contact With Syria
Cadillac Summer Event, 2006 Cadillac SRX Crossover and Cadillac CTS 0% APR for 60 months for qualified buyers
Israel Rejects Lebanese Plan
Super Summer Clearance All pianos, Digitals and player pianos priced for immediate sale!
Exclusive Interiors by Kreiss

Ohio Residents Evacuate as Floodwaters Rise After Deluge
Killer’s Claims Not Easy to Verify
Antiwar Demonstrators Arrested at White House
The Best Selling European Luxury SUV $389 ON APPROVED CREDIT
Hikes Wages, Cuts Taxes, Looks Like a Dud

3 Billionaires Interested in Buying L.A. Times
60% OFF ON ALL AREA RUGS
Judge Asked to Help in Hemingway Cat Dispute
0% Financing and NO Payments until 2007
Coroner Turns Detective to Seek Heat Victims’ Kin
ETHAN ALLEN why wait?
Officials Want a Better System to Check on Elderly

Gunman Acted Alone, Police Say
LA Gym Equipment, Sizzling Summer Savings
Pilot Narrowly Avoids Plane on Runway
We now have a limited selection of Boxster and Cayenne vehicles available at unadvertised prices

Jackson’s Mayor Hits the Streets
Santa Monica Design Gallery, Retiring After 50 Years SALE

Consumers Appear Resilient Amid Slowing Economy
Sit’n Sleep Anniversary Sale,, Queen Sets Starting At $399

Los Angeles Times, Section A, July 29, 2006
Couldn’t make this up.

Tired, defenses down

All the hoo haw in the Episcopal Church / Anglican Communion of late has gotten me very tired.
Very tired, tired to the point of shaking my head and wondering “What is this all about?”

It appears we all have our hills to climb here, what can we be part of? Where do we draw the lines, who are we as children of God and what are we called to do or be?

I am beginning to truly believe that we have it wrong. All the pretty trappings and titles and history are impressive, but what are we doing here? Who or what do we follow, who or what do we worship?

I remember going to the local art museum to be with the paintings of Cézanne, a painter I greatly admire. I was taking a rest from the spiritual place a painting had taken me, and began to observe the other visitors to this place. They came in many sizes, shapes and colors; they were of all sorts and conditions.
I began to notice the people and how they reacted to being in this place with all these works of art. The first thing I noticed was that people, many of them, were there to collect, no not take the work physically with them, but to see who was represented, were they someone they heard of, was it a work they might recognize from a book or a picture they had seen. These people zoomed around the gallery looking first at the little plaque on the wall to the right of the painting, then glancing up at the work of art, the time they gave the painting was in relation to the recognition factor of the name and title of the work. If the artist was not recognized barely any time was given to study the art. If the artist was a known entity then the painting got a longer glance, not long mind you, but enough to see if it was something important. Then they moved on to ‘collect’ an other work of known, important art.
The second group was there to look, but it was all too much, or maybe they were there because they were fulfilling an obligation, perceived or real, to be in this place. I noticed many of these people were in awe of the frames on the paintings, wondering how they were made, how old they were, did this really hang in someone’s home? These people wondered aloud, how did they hang this work, why was the gallery so big / small, look how shiny the floors are! They barely looked at the paintings at all, to their credit, they often spent more time at a particular work than the collectors, but I wonder if they even saw the paintings.
An other group was the students and armature artists / painters. This group looked at composition, color, use of the brush or knife. They wondered what the medium used was, was this on linen? They looked at the drafting skills, the reworking of the placement of this or that. This group also was collecting, but they were collecting in a different way, I wondered how many of this group saw the story in the painting.
There were those like me, who came to be with only a few works of art, or maybe just one today. We walk past so many works of wonder, to gaze on and be with just one artist or one painting. The goal is to reach into the past and be in the place where and why this was created. Our focus is narrow and we are easily taken to a place of great joy or trouble. We gaze on the particular work or works then leave feeling nourished for the next day, week, month, and then return again for another dose of grace.
All of us, none of us are right, All of us probably miss the grandeur of this place that holds so much wealth of beauty and richness of story and experience. We miss it because of choice, choice to avoid something so great and powerful that it is overwhelming. All the creation, creative power, beauty, life story that exists in one place, silently waiting to be engaged. It is much easier to go to a place like this and focus say on Picasso, or Matisse or Italian painters of the renaissance. It is difficult to take it all in, to know the entire collection. And maybe it is best if we don’t know the entire collection but let it reveal itself to us.
I recall wandering through a local art museum on my way to visit with a particular work, when out of the corner; my eye caught a glimpse of a white background with a bold dark swath. I noted it, but also hurried past it to continue on my journey. After visiting the painting of my original intent, I wandered back by the white background with the dark swath. I was literally knocked on my ass. There were no benches or seating in this corner of the gallery and I had to sit on the floor, this painting was so powerful in the way it spoke to me, revealed itself to me. I actually found my self crying this painting was so revelatory to me. This museum I was so familiar with, thought I was so familiar with, had presented me with something new, new to me. My world was shaken and made a little more open to a different language of beauty.

God, help us to see the miracle you have given us, call us where you will, open our soul to your grace, lead us to your kingdom.
Amen