Lambeth Summary

For those who are more visual... a portrayal of what all is going on across the pond. (click to embiggen)

And more about rabbits here.

Props to the good folks at Covenant for pointing out this bit of silliness.

Fire on the mountain

From the Billings Gazette:

Erratic winds Wednesday afternoon blew the Cascade fire west of Red Lodge to life, causing the fire to grow by 2,000 acres.

An evacuation of Red Lodge Mountain Resort was ordered as the fire crept to within a quarter to a half mile of the ski area.

Ash was falling in Red Lodge at 5:30 p.m. (last evening), and smoke from the fire up the West Fork of Rock Creek darkened the sky. The fire was spotting a quarter to a half-mile. The fire is about six miles from Red Lodge.

I'll be up there today-- getting details and checking on parishioners. And a bible study, and a bride for a possible wedding... life continues.

Continuing prayers also appreciated. Thanks, friends.

Feline Infectious Peritonitis

That's what they call it. That's what killed him.

In a small percent of infected cats (5 to 10 percent), either by a mutation of the virus or by an aberration of the immune response, the infection progresses into clinical FIP... An intense inflammatory reaction occurs around vessels in the tissues where these infected cells locate, often in the abdomen, kidney, or brain. It is this interaction between the body’s own immune system and the virus that is responsible for the disease. Once a cat develops clinical FIP involving one or many systems of the cat’s body, the disease is progressive and is almost always fatal.

Very young and very old cats are most suseptible. After exposure it can take 4-6 months to show signs; but once symptoms appear, it progresses very rapidly, and there isn't anything to be done.

We thought we were going to have to take him in this morning, to have him put to sleep. Turned out not to be necessary. He was 5 months old.

This virus can be easily spread between cats in a shelter that is not scrupulous about procedures: quarantining new cats, scrubbing down and disinfecting cages between uses, etc. We've learned that the shelter he came from has been shut down in the past for just such carelessness. Apparently that lesson didn't sink in. I cannot begin to tell you how angry that leaves me. Maybe the call that the vet is making to the sheriff will get the point across this time.

Rest in Peace, Junior.

Cascade Fire

... a copy of an email I just sent to our parishioners around the region:

Dear Friends in Christ,

I have just come from a community briefing at the Red Lodge Civic Center, where several hundred people gathered to hear the latest information about the Cascade Fire. As you may have heard through the media, the fire continues to progress down the canyon along the West Fork, and the ability to fight it is extremely limited by the terrain. The burn area is now in excess of 6,000 acres, and 0% contained. The hope of the professionals is to keep it off Red Lodge Mountain-- indeed, to prevent the fire from cresting the ridges of the canyon on either side-- and to protect populated areas (especially the city of Red Lodge). Given the current conditions, and the weather forecast (gusting winds, low humidity, and storms with dry lightning), officials expect to issue mandatory evacuation orders this afternoon for anyone living west of the intersection of Ski Run Rd. and Highway 212.

I have checked with those Calvary parishioners who live in the affected area, and all with whom I've been able to speak are as ready as they can be to leave, if and when that order comes-- arrangements are in place for storage, places to stay, and care of pets and livestock. Thanks be to God for the generosity and caring spirit of friends and neighbors!

However, that may not be true of all those whose homes are in the path of the fire. If you are able to offer help in some way-- to provide transportation for the infirm, temporary shelter for pets and/or livestock, or in any other way, there are a couple of options (Here I gave local contact info for those coordinating volunteer efforts).

And please, continue to pray-- for the safety of the firefighters, for the strength and well-being of those whose homes and livelihoods are impacted... and for less wind and more rain!

It must be Monday

Today's agenda (revised, after a thoughtful reminder):

• Exercise
• Morning Prayers
• Call for vet appt for Very Sick Kitty (Junior won't eat)
• Draft weekly bulletin for next Sunday
• Choose hymns, and call organists with same
• Pick up and fill out sports physical forms from school, for the boy who wants (God help me) to play football this fall.
• 10:00 Vet appt. (VSK staying for tests and meds)
  
• 10:40 AM Sports Physical
• Thaw something for dinner
• Check on parishioners in the fire evacuation zones (so far, lots of people packed and ready, but none evacuated yet-- and if/when they do leave, all have places to go)
  
• Firm up plans for church craft booth at Laurel Centennial Celebration
• Set date for regional youth/family camping trip? Aiming for September...
  
• 12:30 PM Lunch with the Vicar (a weekly event)
• 2:00 PM Take the boy to pick up equipment for football training camp (every day from 4:00 to 8:00 PM this week)
• Write past due articles for regional newsletter
• Print mailing labels for said newsletter
• Evening Prayer
  
• 7:00 PM public meeting at the fire department, to talk about the need for new facilities.
• COLLAPSE
  

Second verse, same as the first...

Two years ago, when we first arrived in Montana, the Derby Fire taught us a little about wildfires. This time, it's the Cascade Fire, and those lessons are coming back-- as reports begin to emerge, the Emergency Broadcast System tones sound across radio and television, and parishioners and friends evacuate their homes.

This one is hard to fight-- burning through canyons loaded with windfall trees, with air currents that make flames flourish and helicopter pilots blanch and shake their heads over inaccessibility. As of this morning, it had grown to something like 1200 acres.

Pray for us, please.

I love a parade!

This was such fun! Something better than 50 units in the "Absarokee Days" parade today, including: horses, both ridden and pulling various carts; antique cars and tractors; a good number of requisite local politicians; and a host of locally made floats from various businesses and organizations. Several high school classes holding their reunions this year were represented, including most (5 out of 7, I think) of the surviving members of the class of 1938!

The grand Marshall of the parade is one of my favorite people here. Aylett is active in the local VFW, having served as a WAC in WW II. She is one of our parishioners-- her late husband was a priest in the region-- and an absolute treasure.

Of course the local firefighters and search and rescue crews were present. The Columbus Fire and Rescue even brought up their pumper truck, full-- and would stop every few hundred feet to spray water up the street. Hordes of delighted children (of all ages!) would run out and get soaked by the spray. With temps in the 90's, a perfect day for it.

This year, local clergy were invited to serve as judges for the various ribbons that were given out. The picture shows clerics from the Episcopal, Lutheran (ELCA) and Congregational (UCC) churches, complete with Official Headgear-- custom-made "JUDGE NOT" visors, augmented by tiaras in quasi-liturgical colors (Robert had a tiara, but is not wearing it in this photo. Go figure...)

A week in the life

This week I've spent catching up to what passes for a "normal" routine around here. The administrative stuff consisted of liturgical planning-- choosing hymns; assembling and distributing the bulletin; writing articles for the newsletter; checking with various treasurers about the status of our annual audits; monitoring the status of renovation projects at two churches; and wading through the backlog of correspondence, of course. (Have I mentioned that I sometimes have to work hard at not coveting the administrative assistance that larger congregations enjoy?)

More directly ministerial tasks included pastoral conversations with a couple of parishioners; sermon prep; pulling together a bible study for one church; and chatting with some local colleagues about upcoming events in another community.

Today is a bit different! One of our communities is having their annual summer festival, and I've been invited (along with the other area pastors) to help judge the parade entries. I love small-town parades, so this will be fun! I'll try to remember to take some pictures; if they turn out, I'll share.

Camp, and Evensong, and Home

Camp was lovely. I'm sorry you weren't there to share it, and that I wasn't better about getting lots of pictures; but honestly, I was too busy being part of the week to stand back and take photos. Some folks are very good at that; I am not.

But there was lots of camp-type stuff: swimming, and kayaking, arts & crafts and music, prayer and praise and silliness and waterlogged fun. I think the kids enjoyed the week; I know I did.

Camp ended Saturday, but I didn't go straight home. Instead, I drove south to Virginia City. Rev. Ref's congregation there was celebrating "Tuttle Days," and wanted to have an Evensong service to honor Montana's missionary bishop. The Ref. was a tad uncomfortable about leading a sung service, so he invited me to officiate. I was delighted, if a bit nervous-- I love Evensong, but it's been a couple years since I've done any sort of chanting.

But I think the service went well, and the church was wonderful-- a friendly congregation also celebrating their updated worship space. They've just finished painting, and replacing the century-old carpet, and the place looks marvelous (go here to see pictures).

I spent the night with the Ref. and his Lovely Wife (thanks to The Kid for use of the extra bed in her room!), then headed back home early Sunday morning, in Absarokee in time for Sunday Eucharist.

It was a very good week... and I'm glad to be home.

Home away from home

This is my current abode-- aka "Coventry." It has one bedroom, living room and bath on the first floor, and a loft sleeping space (currently unused) upstairs. The addition on the left is the nurse's office, which explains why the living room occasionally acts as an overflow medical station (the sofa is used as a place for someone to lie down if more than one camper is ill at a time).

Very utilitarian design; but the scenery (like the view from our campfire at sunset) more than makes up for any lack.

Camp!

Today is my first day at our diocesan summer camp. I'm chaplain for the week, joining a crack staff and a boatload (probably near 60ish) of campers going into 3rd through 8th grade (that's 8-13 years old or so, for those not familiar with US school systems).

I've been a camp geek for a whole lot of years; off and on since I was a counselor at 15 (back when Adult Supervision was not as thorough as it no doubt should have been; but that's another story). However, this is the first time I've worked at Camp Marshall, and *I*Can't*Wait! If I get a chance, I'll post pictures as the week goes by; this is a beautiful piece of God's creation.

Our immigration laws at work

Once a month or so, Father Ouderkirk drove back to St. Bridget’s to officiate at a wedding or baptize a baby. He savored those rituals, proof that the Hispanic immigrants who had arrived over the past decade to work in Postville’s kosher-meat plant were setting down roots. Some had bought homes. Their children had graduated from high school, even been selected for the National Honor Society.

Then came the morning of May 12, when both satisfaction and retirement ended for the 75-year-old priest. Federal immigration agents raided the Agriprocessors factory, arresting nearly 400 workers, most of them men, for being in the United States illegally. Within minutes of the raid, with surveillance helicopters buzzing above the leafy streets, the wives and children of Mexican and Guatemalan families began trickling into St. Bridget’s Church, the safest place they knew.

The good father had dealt with immigration issues before, but nothing on this scale.

“It’s like God saying, ‘I gave you a little practice,’ because this is the worst,” Father Ouderkirk said in an interview late last month at St. Bridget’s. “This has happened after 10 years of stable living. These people were in school. They were achieving. It has ripped the heart out of the community and out of the parish. Probably every child I baptized has been affected. To see them stunned is beyond belief.”

The rest of the article can be found here (registration required).

I read this over on another blog-- one that I visit only occasionally (and read the comments even more rarely, as I have a hard time with the... vehemence expressed there). I noted in the comments that some of my brothers and sisters in Christ were delighted to "support the ruthlessly efficient enforcement of our immigration laws."

Like another priest I am privileged to call friend and colleague, I have now and then been accused of... not meeting the standards against which some self-proclaimed "bible believing orthodox Christians" measure themselves and one another. However, I will say that I hear another point of view in scripture: in the law and the prophets, as well as in the teaching of the One to whom they point.

When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

"This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'

Jesus asked, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor...? The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."