What Susan Said

The music and lyrics of Rich Mullins as woven well into the tapestry of my life.  I can tell you where I was when I first heard The Lord's Troubadour sing "If I Stand".  I was driving towards Boonsboro, MD from Smithsburg, MD and listening to WCRH on FM 90.5 MHz.  His music would water and enrich my growth in the faith until his sudden and seemly. untimely death in 1997.  His falling out of Beaker's Jeep that night seemed a tragedy out of time.  It happened in a time where I was about to leave my Bride for an unaccompanied Military assignment in Korea, and an unnecessary gut punch.  Not only would I be leaving my bride and boys, I'd be leaving my Ministry Partners, Frank and Suzanne Vance. 

Whenever I hear this song, my mind goes back to those days.  I'ms still your friend.

  

A Blogger has crossed the Bar and Gone Home.

The Catbird Seat is now in its thirteenth year of existence.  Had it not been for the inspiration of one woman, this blog would have never seen the light of day.  It was 2006, and the Episcopal Church was in crisis as it's Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jeffers Schori in an NPR interview Espoused a Universalist position in stating that Christ Jesus was one of "many roads" to God the Father.  While conservative Episcopalians were vigorously debating liberals on a number of issues, this was a deal breaker.  Jesus of Nazareth was The Way, The truth, and The Life; The only avenue of approach to God the Father. It was during this time of Spiritual Crisis that I became acquainted with the writing of Mary Ailes.  

I met Mary in 2006 and while expressing my appreciation and admiration of her work, she encouraged me to launch a blog of my own.  It was a time when many great blogs were popping up on both sides of the debate.  On Both left and right, bloggers like Matt Kennedy, Joel Wilhelm, The Ugly Vicar, Underground Pewster, David Virtue, Padre Mickey, and The Mad Priest were all putting it out there. Mary offered her own perspective.  She wasn't a "cradle Anglican", but one whose family left the false church of Christian Science to embrace the true Gospel as expressed through Anglicanism.

Mary was both a brilliant and gifted woman.  She loved her God, Loved the truth, and loved the music and work of Bob Dylan (from whom her blog site was named.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. I Thessalonians 4:13-15

And, so we pray..

O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that your servant Mary, being raised with Christ, may know the strength of his presence and rejoice in his eternal glory; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Well done, good and faithful servant.  we'll all see you again when its our time to cross the bar.