FERTILIZER

from Midwest Conservative Journal by The Editor

Katharine Jefferts Schori was in Jacksonville recently so naturally some of Kate’s fan girlz showed up for the gig:

Episcopalian Karyn Brode had hoped to receive communion Friday from her denomination’s top spiritual leader, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori.

“I was right there at the corner and missed her by one person,” said a smiling Brode, who runs outreach ministries at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in downtown Jacksonville. “It’s a bummer.”

I’ll bet it was a “bummer.” But I’ll tell you what you do. Go home, put on some early King Crimson and do half a lid of high-grade Duval County chronic. Cheer you right up.

“The splits and all the drama, it was draining,” Brode said. “And to have the subject [of the sermon] be ‘one body’ — it was wonderful.”

“Was she totally amazing, or what?” one woman shouted to another after the service.

If you don’t mind too much, I think I’ll go with “what” there. And do you remember when John Howard was a “conservative?” Me neither.

The Right Rev. Samuel Johnson Howard thought so.

It was Howard who shepherded the diocese through several difficult years that saw majorities of many congregations leave the Episcopal Church after an openly gay priest became the bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.

Jefferts Schori’s high-profile presence was healing “after all we’ve been through” and showcases a number of recent positive developments, from the launching of prison and other outreach ministries to signs of growth in membership and giving, Howard said.

“It was about being one body in Christ and getting on with the mission and ministry of the diocese,” Howard said.

But back to Mrs. Schori. In her sermon, the Presiding Bishop employs one of the more…er, uh…awkwardmetaphors I’ve ever seen her use.

The homily compared the diocese, the denomination, the nation, the world, other cultures and religions to the human body. The body is healthy when its different parts work in harmony, but breaks down when they don’t, Jefferts Schori said.

The miracle of the human body is that its different limbs and organs, together with digestive bacteria and other micro-organisms can work together to create a healthy life. But sometimes the body turns on itself, creating anti-bodies against needed organisms it perceives as outsiders and threats.

National socialism and the genocide in Rwanda were examples of “one part of the human body seeking to eliminate another.” Allergic reactions also are examples of the body over-reacting to outside agents.

The church is charged with bringing comfort to parts of society and the world that are hurting, Jefferts Schori said, adding that it is through spiritual discipline that Christians learn to “moderate our allergic reactions” to people with different skin color, political beliefs or theologies.

True enough. But bodies also create antibodies to fight against threats that would quickly kill if left unattacked. Harmful bacteria, cancerous cells, making bishops out of unrepentant sinners, teaching that sins are no longer sins, things like that. Sometimes perceived threats are genuine threats, Kate.

And if any of you are thinking about the one about how one of the things bodies also do is to produce large amounts of solid waste material, I already got there, I’m not touching it and neither should any of you. I do havesome standards.