The Measure of a Man

I had lunch today with my friend, Fr Jeff Olkie. During the course of our conversation, he made the comment, that "The Measure of a Man is what he does when he is Alone."

There is much that could be said about that statment but to do so would only mar a perfectly sufficient statement. Let each man examine his own heart and consider this for himself. I know I will.

A Noble Contradiction

A Noble Contradiction

I went to see the movie, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, with my family a few days ago. One phrase struck my heart. The Professor, Doctor Cornelius, speaking to Prince Caspian, a Talmarin, said that he could be the "most noble contradiction in history- the Talmarine who saved Narnia. "

Narnia has been largely conquered by the Spaniard-like Talmarines and pushed almost to extinction; the Narnian's became outlawed myths and legends. Caspian is the Prince of the Talmarines and heir to the throne. However, his uncle, Miraz, after having son, tries to have Caspian murdered so that he might become King and his son the next rightful heir. Caspian escapes into the world of Narnia and discovers a world of myth become fact, the Deep Magic of Aslan; and aided by the Pevensie's, who return to Narnia from our world as High King Peter, King Edmund, Queens Susan and Lucy, fights in the Narnian Civil War to overthrow his wicked uncle and the opportunity to show his quality by returning the freedom of Narnia. In a letter C.S. Lewis, refers to such courage and chivalry as "restoration of the true religion after corruption".

But what does it mean to be Noble? One definition is the possion of "hereditary rank in a political system or social class derived from a feudalistic stage of a country's development." Certainly, Prince Caspian had heridtary rank, social position and affluence but there is more to being Noble than rank, wealth, or social status.

Being Noble is more akin to a statement from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Faramir, a Lord of Gondor, captures the two Hobbits, Frodo and Sam, who are in possession of a Ring of Power. They seek to unmake the ring in the fires of Mount Doom, thus destroying the power of the Dark Lord Sauron. Faramir has the opportunity to take for himself, Gondor and Denethor, his father and The Steward of Gondor, a "kingly gift." Faramir has to make a choice, a "noble contradiction," when he says it is "an opportunity for Faramir to show his quality," and releases the Hobbits to continue their mission.

Nobility has less to do with status or power than it does with manifesting the Quality of High Moral Character and Virtue. These qualities might include, courage, generosity, honor, and even faith. These are some of the themes of Prince Caspian.

These "Noble Contradictions" are the stuff of our Christian Faith- to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, to love even our enemies, to rather suffer wrong for the sake of Christ than to seek our own self-justiifcation, that the greatest love is when a man lays down his life for a friend.

Faith, faith in Aslan-the Christ figure of Narnia, is a strong theme in Prince Caspian. "Who believes in Aslan nowadays?" asks Trumpkin when he first meets Caspian. Those who "hold on", like the badgers, are to be praised.

There are many times and places in our daily lives when we have the opportunity to show our Quality and make such Noble Contradictions. Therefore, Let us go forth into the world to love and serve the Lord!

THE GOOD NEWS Evangelism 101 Workshop

Dear Friends,On Sat June 21st St. Edward's is hosting a most excellent workshop. The cost is $20 a participant to cover expenses. Please take a look at the attached brochure and let me know if you have any questions. This is a great opportunity to learn from an expert. Carrie Boren is amazing.

THE GOOD NEWS - Evangelism 101
A one-day workshop for individuals and churches
Saturday June 21, 2008 , 9am – 4pm
St. Edward’s Episcopal Church,
15040 Union Ave, San Jose, CA 95124
408-377-0158
goodnews@stedwards.org

Tools for sharing the good news
• As individuals in our daily lives
• As a parish in our communities

Evangelism 101 will explore
• What is the Good News?
• What is evangelism? Why do we do it?
• How to share our faith without being afraid
• How to tell the Gospel story
• How to tell our own story
• How to practice evangelism as a parish
• Ideas for parish outreach/mission

The Church is apostolic because it continues in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles and is sent to carry out Christ’s mission to all people. BCP, p. 854

Come join us for a day of equipping the church! Statistics indicate that 77 percent of people come to church and make a commitment to Jesus Christ through a personal contact with a Christian.
We can have the most incredible parish community, but, too often, it remains a secret.
This course will provide tools for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ through word and deed.

About Carrie Boren :
University and an MA in education (with a focus in urban poverty policy) from Harvard University. She graduated from Oxford University with a graduate degree in theology, evangelism, and apologetics. Carrie has been a missionary in Los Angeles with the Hollywood Urban Project, has worked in public policy for the state of Texas, and is a former actor (acting on stage, television, and film). Carrie has been a part of missions in the United States, United Kingdom, and Uganda and has been a speaker in numerous parishes and other settings, such as Lambeth Palace and Oxford University.

Contact: Ed McNeill
http://www.stedwards.org/www.stedwards.org/Edsblog

Photos from St. Aidan's annual Hike in April at the Black Diamond Mines Regional Park

The View

The Picnic
The Snake
King of the Mountain

Me & the Boys

Just me & the boys. This is the only pics I have on the computer- I'm still learning how to use the digital camera and dowload them. They've been serving as accolytes since they were quite young. (Brian, me, Tre).

Brian & the University of California Berkley

My youngest son, Brian, was recently accepted to the Young Entrepreneurs Business Academy (YEAH) Program at the Haas School of Business! The program includes a Summer Business Camp and monthly weekend classes throughout the year. It will be a great experience and help him establish a solid start to his future Resume and academic preparation for college.

Please keep him in your prayers as he begins this next chapter in his journey.

Trinity Sunday- The Doctrine & Worship of the Holy Trinity

The Doctrine & Worship of the Holy Trinity
Trinity Sunday, Yr A
Sermon Notes by Fr Aidan Jerry Hix, OSC/Priest
St Aidan’s Anglican Mission in Antioch, CA

Readings:
Genesis1:1—2:3
Ps 150 or Canticle 2
2 Corinthians 13:(5-10)11-14
or 13 Matthew 28:16-20

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity: We beseech thee that thou wouldest keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see thee in thy one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

• The Doctrine of the Trinity
• The Worship of the Holy Trinity
• The Test of Steadfastness in the Faith
  

As a child I loved and was drawn to the awe of mystery. Whether it was the romance between fire and darkness (I have always loved the dance of candlelight and shadows casting silhouettes on the wall) or reading a good mystery novel, such as the Hardy Boys, I was greatly affected by the numinous. Taking old appliances apart to see how they worked enthralled me- how all those gears and wheels turned! I was rarely able to put such things back together but I little cared for that anyway. The joy was in taking things apart and in discovery of something new, the finding out of a secret.

I was fascinated with the hidden symbols of the mind, dreams and the unconscious realms of the soul. My heroes were the prophets, priests and mystics- the shamans who lived at once in two worlds- upon earth and the realm of the spirit. Qui Chang Cain of the TV series, Kung Fu, is one example of the wielder of the mysterious realms- a martial artist and a priest trained in the Shaolin Temple and Monastery. I took these flights of fancy and awe and adapted them to my faith, for I felt the call of the Deep calling unto deep. It was such deep stirrings of the heart that finally led me to the catholic faith and the world of mystery and sacraments where the Real Presence of God was made manifest through earthly realities- truly living between both worlds, where heaven and earth overlap.

I have spent most of my life exploring the mysteries of the faith and taking spiritual things apart seeking the numinous things of God. I am no scholar but I have grasped many of the cardinal doctrines of our religion but there is one mystery which has alluded me- the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. It is a cardinal doctrine of our faith but one I have little understood or been able to find relevance in or apply to my life, until recently. It is a mystery beyond mortal understanding and we are not meant to grasp fully the nature and essence of God. But God has not left us comfortless and has made himself known to us as three divine persons- of Father and Son and Holy Spirit.

Today is Trinity Sunday and the time during the liturgical year when we commemorate the doctrine and especially render our worship to the most Holy Trinity. Vernon Staley summarizes this doctrine in these words:

"There is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. These three persons are co-equal in all things. " The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, and yet they are not three Gods, but one God." x This is the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, taught by the Church, and proved by the Scriptures. Whilst the Holy Scriptures teach that there is but one God, they speak of each of the three persons as divine, and thus prove to us their co-equal Godhead. The doctrine of the Trinity in Unity is a great mystery. A mystery is a truth revealed by God which we are therefore bound to believe, but which we are unable fully to understand. Though the doctrine of the Trinity is above the understanding, it is not contrary to it. It is reasonable that there should be mysteries in religion, and above all that there should be mystery about the Being of God. If we could grasp the doctrine of the Trinity, we should ourselves be God. The fly on the ceiling cannot understand the nature of man, because man is so much beyond a fly in the scale of creation. But there is less interval between a fly and a man, than there is between man and God; for man is a creature, and God is the infinite Creator."
Although the doctrine of the Trinity is a great mystery about the very essence and being of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Lord has left us clues in the story of salvation to assist us in our worship of the Trinity and manifesting this mystery in our lives!

First, we must go back to the beginning of the Story. 26Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness... So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply."


The Trinity is a divine and spiritual mystery but in the economy of God spiritual reality is made manifest in the and through the physical realm.

• Let us make man and women in our image
• Our humanity itself was designed to reflect the mystery of the internal relationship of the Holy Trinity.
• Our common daily life not merely the times we set apart for the special ceremonies and rites of the church- baptisms, weddings, funerals, and Sunday worship
• Not divided into the Sacred & profane
• Gnosticism: Spirit (good) vs the physical/body (bad)
• The Mystery of the Trinity is Sacramental/Incarnational
• Kenosis- Jesus emptied himself/ poured himself into an earthly tabernacle
  suffered bodily/ raised bodily
• Eucharist- took himself in his own hands and offered himself to his disciples as real food and real drink
• Our own bodily resurrection
• Examples
  Lembas bread
  Ring- anti-sacrament
  Worship
  Imagination/story/mythology
  Lewis- Great Divorce ºspiritual = more heavy, more real
  Gandalf (angel)
  Contrast with evil
  Wraiths/ wraith process
  Orcs- captured, tormented, twisted, corrupted
  evolving downward
  fading- less real
  
  The mystery of the Trinity is a relationship
  
• Father, Son, Holy Spirit
• Ex: Christ’s Baptism: Jesus, Voice of God, HS as a Dove
• Our call to be fruitful and multiply
• Family
• Helpmate
• companionship
• Ex: Frodo & Sam
• Merry & Pippin
• Legolas & Gimli
• Contrast with the self-seeking & destructiveness of evil
• Saruman & Grima
  Individualism
  Isolationism
  arrogance & pride
• Called to be part of the Church & Kingdom
  Call of Abraham & Family
  The Tribes & Nation of Israel
  The church
  Kingdom of God
  community
  Family Church
  
  
  Conclusion: The Mystery of the Holy Trinity.
  It is said that on a certain occasion a preacher named Alanus, promised to make plain to his hearers on the next Sunday, the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity. Whilst considering the matter by the sea shore, he saw a child with a spoon in his hand walking to and fro between the sea and a hole which he had made in the sand. Alanus asked the child what he was doing. He replied, I am trying to empty the sea into this hole. Alanus said, Why dost thou waste thy time in attempting an impossibility ? The child again replied, I am not more wasting my time than thou art, for thou wilt no sooner get all the knowledge of the Holy Trinity into thy small mind, than I shall empty the great sea into this hole in the sand.1 Though a philosopher cannot explain the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity, a child can believe it. This great truth is not one about which we are to puzzle our minds. We are simply to believe it, because God has revealed it to the Church, and the Church teaches it. Reason becomes lost in wonder, and gives place to adoring faith.
• 
  "The Catholic Faith is this; that we WORSHIP one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity. . . . In all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be WORSHIPPED."
  +

Free Classic Anglican Books

Free Classic Anglican Books!

Catholic Principles as Illustrated in the Doctrines, History, and Organization of the American Catholic Church Commonly Called the Protestant Episcopal Church (1902) by Frank N. Westcott

http://books.google.com/books?id=6Rfo9Qp_hSkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=frank+westcott+catholic+principles

The Catholic religion : a manual of instruction for members of the Anglican Church (1917) Author: Staley, Vernon, 1852-1933
http://www.archive.org/details/catholicreligio00staluoft

The body of Christ : an enquiry into the institution and doctrine of Holy Communion (1901) Author: Gore, Charles, 1853-1932
http://www.archive.org/details/thebodyofchrist00goreuoft

The Ministry of Absolution : An appeal for its more general use with due regard to the liberty of the individual by Cyril Bickersteth, M.A. of the Community of the Resurrection http://www.archive.org/details/ministryabsoluti00bickuoft