Letters
from 23 to 29 October 2006
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The
problems of surety
Thank
you for your very 'Christian' comments this
week and always. I have worshipped in many places, and
with people of many faiths, and have rarely felt unwlecome.
If we can be so welcoming on a one-to-one basis, why is
it so difficult for the larger bodies to get along?
But
I do often wonder how is it that others can be so certain
that they know exactly what it is that God wants? I try
to follow my conscience, but am often not sure that I am
truly doing the right and Godly thing. Is it that those
of us who take a broader view think that maybe we are 'soft'
on sin, are really misreading God — and that is why it
is hard for us to stand up for our beliefs in the way that
those with more surety do?
Helen-Louise
Boling
Toledo, Ohio, USA
hlboling@toast.net
29 October 2006
On
the side of Christ
.
. . And also with you.
I
think your last paragraph sums up the way many of us
in the Episcopal Church USA feel about the grumblings
within the last several years. Issues of Authority: that's
what it gets down to eventually. What are we to accept
as authority? The Bible? The Presiding Bishop (wait, let's
not go there just yet . . .)? Tradition? Reason? What my
evangelical friends at the Baptist church think? What my
Aunt Clara thinks?
As
one of those 'b*tts in the pews' such decisions are
beyond the realm of my thinking — I leave such things
to leaders to hash out. I just go to church, do my
service, sing, play, read the lessons and prayers on
my Sundays, receive the Body and Blood, and when I
leave go about my daily life and work. I'm sure
some would take me to task for not choosing sides. 'Choose
you this day,' as one of the e-mailings I get put in
large letters. I have. I serve Christ, as was spoken
for me at my baptism and reaffirmed, by me, at my confirmation.
Doesn't matter where, not to me. I like to believe
it's the service one gives that counts; or rather:
that one serves. Not where or within which faction.
Bob
Frederick
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
Panama City, Florida, USA
23 October 2006
Well,
we didn't say it
Sigh...
another cheap shot at Sydney in your news summary: 'The
Sydney Morning Herald reports on a white-knight offer that
would save the New England Girls' School in the Diocese
of Armidale without selling it either to the Presbyterians
or to a corporation whose board includes the Bishop of
Sydney (who is considered by many supporters of that school
to be essentially a Presbyterian).'
Why?
The
Reverend Mark Calder
St Andrew's Roseville
Sydney, AUSTRALIA
mncalder@optushome.com.au
23 October 2006
All
Souls and the Battle of Okinawa
Two
weeks ago your front-page letter about an American
penny reminded me of the Japanese Yen and my pastoral
work in the English language congregation in Okinawa,
Japan that I wrote about and you graciously published.
The AO letter of October 22, 2006 about All Saints’ and
All Souls’-tide reminded me again of All Souls'
Okinawa congregation because in our Church Calendar,
the day after All Saints’ is observed for the
'Commemoration of All Faithful Departed'. I discovered
that the English language All Souls’ congregation
in Okinawa had been 'Dedicated in Memory of All
Those of Every Nation who Died in the Battle of Okinawa
1945', a variation on the theme.
On
April 1, 1995, the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of
Okinawa began to be observed at All Souls’ Church.
Two daily Services were held on 77 of the 84 days:
the period of the Battle of Okinawa. The Battle began
on April 1, 1945 which was ironically Easter Day that
year. With the Bishop’s permission, we lit the
Paschal Candle, said prayers in English and Japanese,
sometimes singing 'Amazing Grace', and
with the help of many American, Japanese, Okinawan
and Korean volunteers, in two Services every day at
noon and at 6 p.m. of over an hour we engaged
in the 'Reading of the Names' of over 234,000
names, a list the government of Okinawa Prefecture
compiled from American military sources, Japanese military
records, and civilian records and sources in Okinawa.
All Souls’ Church was permitted to copy these
lists which were used to observe the solemn “Reading
of the Names”. Each year since that time additional
names have been added that have been discovered and
read on June 24 – Okinawa Memorial Day – when
the Battle ended.
The
Reverend Timothy Makoto Nakayama
St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle
Seattle, Washington, USA
frtim@yahoo.com
23 October 2006
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