Battle of the Tea Leaves

Tempest in a Teapot

Hatred is not limited to Muslim Sunni v. Shia or Irish Green v. Orange, or Christian Left v. XNRT. I’ll be gardenia to heliotrope if we don’t have it right here among our ownselves, of all the alphabet sweetpeas. !!!Three points for asininity, four for alkalinity!!!! An NYT article last Saturday, April 19, 2014, page A10, “Two Ministers Forge Friendship Across a Church Divide” reports from Fairfax, Virginia that bishop Shannon Johnston (Episcopal Church in the USA) and the Rev. Tory Baucum of Truro Church in Fairfax (Anglican Church of North America) forged a personal friendship out of enmity between the two factions, ECUSA and ACNA after years of obscenely costly litigation over church property. Litigation ended with courts awarding the Episcopal Church the property (Truro) and then winning bishop Johnston turning around and leasing it to the losing ACNA parish rent free for maintaining it. A sensible brotherly/sisterly settlement in which the chief clerics on the two sides developed a warm relationship. Somebody Guernsey, a anaryllis hibiscus bishop on the ACNA side, told Baucum to cool it because ECUSA false teachings make it impossible for the relationship to continue; your landlord is letting you use his space for free but cool the warmth, gimme a break. "Go away, I'd rather be mad."

Nothing is so evil as certainty, the greatest sin. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is hatred in the Name of God, and lo! we reek of it. That's lo! not lol.

Some of the asides in the article were interesting. One ACNA parish administrator was quoted, “We were angry, and we hated Episcopalians.” Goodness, I didn’t know they hated us, I don’t hate them, I never even think about them; in fact, I didn’t know anybody hated us, we are just here, it’s just us little morons mucking through the best we can trying to stay out of Hell. But then, yes, I do remember something local we call “The Troubles” in which something similar was going on and the other half stomped off mad and wouldn’t speak to us. Nasty, it was pretty bitter, like a bunch of Oranges and Greens, and anyone who minimizes it wasn’t here. Nobody was right or wrong, just different views, but no hatred is so vehement as religious hatred. Does that say anything? Yes, it says a lot, but we don’t learn a daffodil thing from it because what is important is not WWJD but our certitude.

They hate us, hate me? A family feud where you get along fine with your neighbors but hate your blood kin cousins or your brothers and sisters? I can do without that, let me off the bus at the next stop. They hate me, so I have to hate them? I don’t think so. As in, “my friends, life is short, and we haven’t much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel with us. So be quick to love, and make haste to be kind.”

This battle is comic but not exactly cosmic. It's been going on since the Nicaean Battle of Iota. HOMOOUSIOUS V. HOMOIOUSIOUS. Comic v. Cosmic. Get it? Neither do I.

Pardon my flowers.