A better answer, in my humble opinion.

This message was posted by The Rev. Kevin Smith prior to the release of the House of Bishops message, shown on the blog post below this one. (I had lost it a few days ago but found it this morning.)

Posted to FB by Kevin Smith, March 14, 2016

Personally, I think it's time for Christians - not the evangelical fundamentalist types - to begin to stand up and be counted against Mr. Trump. It must be done prayerfully, non-violently and compassionately. But it must also be done with the message that under no uncertain terms can this man be elected to anything. And it must be done publicly and firmly with no retaliation, vitriol or need for vengeance. And it's time for our Bishops and leaders to speak out with the authority they possess to denounce the behavior we have witnessed in recent days and weeks. Such behavior is not an option and we need to do all we can to confront it without resorting to the same behaviors because to resort to such behaviors is to betray Christ.
I'm just an insignificant parish priest and I can do a lot in my own sphere. But we need to be a united front standing against the forces of bigotry, racism, homophobia and all the rest of the isms and phobias being voiced. Someone smarter than I must know how to begin. This need not be a clerically lead movement. The Laity has a power of its own which, when put into place, an be unstoppable.
As a student of history, the silence of the Churches in Germany until it was too late gave National Socialism a leg up. While Mr. Trump's movement isn't exactly National Socialism, it IS right wing extremism that stands against everything that Jesus taught and teaches us. Its results will be a catastrophe
Where and how do we start?

Have you seen this?

March 15, 2016

The House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church, meeting in retreat, unanimously approved the following Word To The Church.
A Word to the Church
Holy Week 2016
"We reject the idolatrous notion that we can ensure the safety of some by sacrificing the hopes of others.”
On Good Friday the ruling political forces of the day tortured and executed an innocent man. They sacrificed the weak and the blameless to protect their own status and power. On the third day Jesus was raised from the dead, revealing not only their injustice but also unmasking the lie that might makes right.
In a country still living under the shadow of the lynching tree, we are troubled by the violent forces being released by this season’s political rhetoric. Americans are turning against their neighbors, particularly those on the margins of society. They seek to secure their own safety and security at the expense of others. There is legitimate reason to fear where this rhetoric and the actions arising from it might take us.
In this moment, we resemble God’s children wandering in the wilderness. We, like they, are struggling to find our way. They turned from following God and worshiped a golden calf constructed from their own wealth. The current rhetoric is leading us to construct a modern false idol out of power and privilege. We reject the idolatrous notion that we can ensure the safety of some by sacrificing the hopes of others. No matter where we fall on the political spectrum, we must respect the dignity of every human being and we must seek the common good above all else.
We call for prayer for our country that a spirit of reconciliation will prevail and we will not betray our true selves.
The Episcopal Church House of Bishops met in retreat March 11 – 15 at Camp Allen Conference Center in Navasota, TX.

A very thoughtful, thought provoking book.

I can’t get one of the best books I’ve read in recent memory out of my head. It is a very timely book. The descriptions and message fits where our culture is today. It helps me understand myself and others today. I more fully understand those whose views on what is important in life differ from my views. The book is The Road to Character by New York Times columnist and political commentator on the PBS Newshour, David Brooks.

Mr. Brooks describes two sets of virtues that we internalize as we strive for success and making our mark in the world. They are resume’ virtues and eulogy virtues. The resume’ virtues are those talents, skills, and accomplishments that we include on our job resume’s, such as what we have accomplished, the awards we have received, or status in society. The eulogy virtues are those characteristics of us that are described at our funeral in a eulogy, such as patience, faithfulness, and friendship. As Brooks describes it, in the first stage of our adult life we strive for the resume’ virtues and in the second sage of our life we focus on the eulogy virtues. It is important to know that these two stages do not have predetermined time spans, and in varying degrees we can have both stages occurring somewhat simultaneously.

The author describes these two stages as Adam I and Adam II in the beginning of the book. Then he uses nine chapters, focusing on nine individuals to show how these virtues play out. The descriptions of these individuals in history, their actions and virtues, kept me spellbound making it difficult to put down the book. After reading it I find more patience with those whose views and actions in life different significantly from mine. It’s not so much, now, that they are wrong as it is that they are seeing and living their lives differently than I do.

The Road to Character has definite spiritual aspects to it, for various reasons we do not have the book in our inventory. It is available in your local independent bookstore, no doubt.

Two John Marshalls are leaving the bookstore business.

Strangely there have been two of us John Marshalls owning two bookstores within about a mile of each other. The “other” John Marshall owns Open Books A Poem Emporium. The writer of this blog is co-owner of our Episcopal Bookstore. Nancy and I have been looking for a buyer for our ministry-which-is-the-store and things are looking very hopeful. (Can’t say anymore at this time.) Today, the other John Marshall has announced that his poetry bookstore is for sale so that he can retire.

It has always been good to have bookstores congregate. Poetry bookstores are very rare in the U.S., and religious bookstores in Seattle are unusual too because this is one of the least-churched parts of the country. Having two bookstore owners with the same name in the same neighborhood both selling their stores is also rare.

In my humble opinion both stores are rare in the quality and uniqueness of the books that they offer to the community.

Rambly thoughts on all this Amazon brick and mortar expansion ballyhoo

 This piece is from our friends at Mosaic Books in Kelowna BC Canada.

Diana's (rambly) thoughts on all this Amazon brick and mortar expansion ballyhoo

Surely you've all heard the scary ooga booga news that Amazon is planning on opening HUNDREDS OF STORES (!!!)  after opening their first physical store in Seattle last fall. First off, I'm going to believe the more modest numbers that Shelf Awareness has reported - the reality is that Amazon plans to open a dozen or so stores, not hundreds. But numbers aside, this news is probably sending shivers down the spines of hardworking indie booksellers. Well, don't let it.

Amazon may be regarded as a cutting edge online retailer - and no one is denying that they are - but here is proof that they are slow to realize the one thing we have known all along - consumers like having a physical space to browse and interact with people and the product. Let me just say that again, but a bit louder: PEOPLE LIKE TALKING TO PEOPLE AND TOUCHING ALL THE THINGS THEY WANNA BUY. Sure, people also like shopping for drones at 3am in their underwear, but there is no denying the growth in the "shop localism" movement.

It was only a few years ago that we were all shaking in our boots about THE EBOOK and death of the printed page was near. And we all know what came of that - Not much. People are still buying books, and in fact, sales at indie stores across North America are on the rise, in a big way. Book people are tough and resourceful and most importantly, they are people. We are more than just a fancy online tool that says "if you liked this you may also like this!" Period.

What book to choose for my Lenten discipline?

The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, February 10^th this year.

First, there are several ways of “discipline” for the penitential Lenten Season of 40 days that leads us to the celebration of Easter and Christ’s overcoming death in the Resurrection. As a book person my first consideration is to choose a book for the season. Without much free time the book needs to have short passages, one for each day of Lent.

Some Lenten books are so short that just an hour or two later I have trouble remembering what the day’s emphasis is supposed to be. Some books are deep enough that it takes a few pages for each day, and more concentration than I have for my little effort in my reading discipline. Our local diocesan bishop, The Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel is reading Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence, by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Then the good bishop reflects on his reading each day on his blog that I could follow as well, but it requires more time during this Lent than I have. Sorry Bishop Rickel.

A couple of books that I like and have considered include:

A Grown-Up Lent: When Giving Up Chocolate Isn’t Enough, by Joanna Leiserson 

God Speaks in Many Tongues: Meditate with Joan Chittister on 40 Sacred Texts 

Then there are the other disciplines that I want to do that are not part of a reading routine. I have a small list of those too.

I hope that you can do more for your Lenten discipline than I am doing.