Respect The Comma

Food For Thought

From Charlottesville's Daily Progress:

Experts told the Associated Press that the Amish believe they should accept and absorb hostility by turning the other cheek. When I turn the other cheek, I find it gets slapped as well and I start slapping back. Not the Amish.

When we “English” saw their plight and their reaction, we started sending money to help with the medical costs of the wounded girls. By their rules, the Amish couldn’t ask for help, but accepted it with humility. Then they asked that a special fund be set up to help the shooter’s widow and children.

They have been tested very publicly in a way that would make Job cry and they have proven their merit. I will no longer mock them. They are different but they are people who practice the peace they preach.

The world could use more people like them.

Revelations: Finding God At The Movies

The theme of this year's Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville is Revelations: Finding God At The Movies. Morgan Freeman and Robert Duvall are among the actors scheduled to make appearances. There will be over 50 movies and several symposiums wrapped mostly around the above theme that will take place between Oct. 26-29. Tickets, except for the gala, are priced reasonably. I'd be going even if our church wasn't planning on an outing. At first we were talking about it as something for the youth group to do, but it's something that is of obvious interest to most everyone, and if some of us can't go on whatever day/night we choose to go, there will be other opportunities. Just a thought: perhaps it's something where we can partner with Sojourners, the UCC church in Charlottesville.

Maybe Fredericksburg can put together an event like this sometime, but in the meantime, it's just over an hour to get to Charlottesville, and with a great slate of films and speakers, it should be a valuable experience.

MySpace And Darfur

I know MySpace can be associated with some lurid stuff, but like most things, it can be used for harm as well as good. In this case, the good of MySpace reigns, as a page has been set up to raise money and awareness for the situation in the Sudan. Over 400,000 people are dead so far, and at least another 2 million people have been displaced.

On Oct. 21, concerts across the U.S. and Canada will take place, in which a portion of the proceeds will go to Oxfam's Sudan Crisis Relief and Rehabilitation Fund. The D.C. show is at the 9:30 Club and will feature Amos Lee. I have his first CD, and it's well worth trying to catch him perform, especially knowing that some of the proceeds will go to help people in Darfur.

It says it's just $1 of the proceeds, but it's a start, and there's nothing that says we can't contribute more if our means allow us to do so.

NO: The Marriage Amendment

I'm going to chronicle some of what's being said in the debate over Virginia's so-called marriage amendment. I'm still trying to figure out why the state deems it necessary to "protect" marriage between one man and one woman. I believe that law has been on the books for awhile now, right?

In any case, it doesn't make sense to me to amend the state constitution. It's like tacking a law onto a law, only it would be duplicative on marriage, and harmful to other relationships--professional and personal. I think no one really knows what the amendment would do, other than make life busier for lawyers--and their clients--trying to make sense of it.

It's too bad Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine didn't stand up to keep the amendment from coming up for a vote in the first place. He says he's opposed to the amendment, but also opposed to same-sex marriage. Yet, he deemed it necessary to bring it up for a statewide vote. He could have shown leadership; instead, if the amendment passes, he, and the rest of Virginia, will have to deal with the "unintended" consequences.

The problem with the NO supporters is that there's no easy bumper sticker to state their opposition. Read the following, and what Equality Virginia has to say as well.

Roanoke Times: Marriage Amendment Fight Evident On Campuses
Roanoke Times: Could A Constitutional Amendment On Marriage Have Unintended Consequences?
Roanoke Times: Does The Law Affect Domestic Violence?
Virginian Pilot: Groups Use Faith To Back Both Sides Of Amendment
Daily Progress: Council Eyes Symbolic Resolution
Planet Blacksburg: The Lyric Theater In An Altered State

Free Lance-Star: Churches Split On Gay Marriage

Excerpt from the second article in the Roanoke Times:

"It is almost a lawyer's annuity bill -- this proposed amendment seems to be an invitation for courts to step in," said A.E. Dick Howard, a University of Virginia law professor who is often regarded as the father of Virginia's modern constitution. "There are so many areas that this amendment might sweep up -- contract law, wills, medical directives, domestic violence -- there is quite a list. Ultimately, it is for a judge and the lawyers to tell us what it means."

The debate has thrown into sharp relief the need for action by partners in all unmarried relationships. Some are considering drafting wills, powers of attorney and other legal documents. Others say they might leave Virginia if the measure passes.

As the campaign ratchets up in the final month, opponents want to tap into the public uncertainty among heterosexual couples to help defeat the measure, while proponents hope to quiet those concerns.

Supporters say the measure is vital to codify Virginia's definition of marriage into the constitution and to protect against "activist judges." But critics say it is discriminatory and redundant, given the 1997 ban on same-sex marriage. Critics also say it would jeopardize many legal and domestic violence protections.

The referendum, which requires a majority vote for passage, would ban same-sex marriages, civil unions and domestic partnerships. It also would block Virginia governments from recognizing relationships that mimic marriage, or that "approximate the designs, qualities, significance or effects of marriage."

The text of the amendment, in full:

The proposed amendment in full:

ARTICLE I
BILL OF RIGHTS
Section 15-A. Marriage.

That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions. This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage.

It's a bad amendment that needs a home in a landfill. Stay tuned for more updates as we approach election day.

 

InterFaith Fair: More Pictures

Here's all the pictures from the InterFaith Fair held recently at the Salem Church Library in Spotsylvania, VA.

See my Tabblo>

Jim Thomas: The Pictures

Jim Thomas spoke on the Negro Spiritual at the Central Rappahannock Regional Library in Fredericksburg, VA recently. In the pictures are Thomas, Roddy Barnes, who played music to accompany Thomas' talk, and Rev. Cathie Braman, who is the pastor at the Fredericksburg Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. For all of the pictures, click on the following link ... See my Tabblo>

Roddy

Roddy Barnes is a musician that happens to play for our church services most every Sunday. He's playing a concert Oct. 20 at the Sycamore Rouge in Petersburg, VA. It gives me a chance to plug the new widget on the side of this page that lists the events going on at our church.

While this isn't an official blog for the church or the UCC, it is a blog that, among other things, will highlight events going on at our church and community--local and world. But the thoughts in the blog will be mine, and no one else's (unless otherwise stated), in case I don't toe the party line, to borrow the saying.

Anyway, the widget lists what events are going on at the church, from the movie being shown this Wednesday, to regular church services. In time, it'll have other events listed as well, such as meetings and other events where the FCCUCC will be in the community.

Photography Enthusiast

One thing to know about me is that I love to take pictures--coming up with new angles, experimenting with different settings and finding new subjects to photograph.

I have a place where I've started putting my photos--Tabblo. Here are some favorites I've put together. I also took some when my fiancee and I took a trip to the Eastern Shore of Virginia and the Renaissance Faire in Orange County, Virginia. I'll be posting more soon. In the meantime, I'm posting one I took from a recent event with Jim Thomas regarding Negro Spirituals. It was a really interesting and educational talk.

InterFaith Fair

Here's a few pictures from last Saturday's InterFaith Fair at the Salem Church Library.

What This Is All About

Late last year, I began a new search for a church home.

I had done this before, and while I liked some aspects of the church I picked, it didn't quite align with I thought God, faith and religion to be. I believe in a God that accepts people for who they are, no matter what their faith is, who they are inside or out. I believe in a forgiving God, an accepting God, a God that has a sense of humor, a God that loves all people all of the time for all time. As an aside, I took to heart the book, If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person.

I had stopped going to the old church, spent some time reevaluating my faith and was in the course of reading 52 books in 52 weeks, a lot of them with a spiritual component. Spending time in reflection, I decided that I needed a new home. I browsed some websites and got advice from someone who had a strong connection to the UCC. On that, I decided to find a UCC branch close to me.

I did, finding the Fredericksburg Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, and I haven't regretted it. For a small congregation, there's a wonderful wealth of compassion, caring and diversity among the people who fill the small coffee shop every week.

On October 1, our church's sixth anniversary, I will, officially, become a member.

So why the name Respect The Comma?

The UCC has something called God Is Still Speaking, which uses the comma as a symbol of this. It comes from a Gracie Allen quote, "never place a period where God has placed a comma."

I plan for this to touch upon what's happening in church, but even more importantly, in life. I plan for this to be a conversation, and while I'm the only one talking for now, I don't plan for it to stay that way. It'll have reflections on sermons and activities in church, sure. It'll also have reflections on what's going on in the world outside our window--to borrow a title from a Tanita Takirim song. But the thoughts really go to a Bruce Hornsby song, Look Out Any Window:

There's a man workin in a field
Sees the rain and its burning
He's saying this can't be real
As he sees the color of the fields turning
Far away the men too busy getting rich to care
Close their eyes and let it all out into the air
Hoping nobody else would care

Look out any window
Look out any open door
Look out any window
See whats going on in the world around you

There's a man working on a boat
Pulling lines from the water
Just trying to stay afloat
Filling the nets is getting harder
Far away they bend the rules so secretly
Close their eyes and let it all out into the sea
Hoping nobady else would see

Look out any window
Look out any open door
Look out any window
See what's going on in the air around you

Far away too many leaders let them get their way
Close their eyes and let it all out into the bay
Say they'll clear it up another day

Look out any window
Look out any open door
Look out any window
See what's going on in the air around you

Look out, look out for the big boys
Telling you everything they're gonna do
Look out, look out for the fat cat builder man
Turning this into a wasteland
Look out, look out for the back room boys
That say the smoke is gonna blow away
Look out, look out for the men who say it's okay
Sitting in a building far away

With all that, let the conversation begin

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