[Magdalen] International Bible Day

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

We are creations of God. We are exactly as She intends us to be, warts and
all. We are not perfect, because that's the way God made us. I believe that
this is not by accident, but as part of Her divine plan.  We do not believe
that God is impotent, nor do we believe that God makes mistakes, nor that
She "screws up."  Our failures are an essential part of the way God intends
for the world to be.  I don't understand it, but I have to believe it works
that way, or we rob God of Her power.

Too often we find we are not perfect and think we should have been. I'm
obviously not saying that it's perfectly okay to shirk responsibilities or
to stop trying to do better, but what I am saying is that we owe it to
ourselves to be gentle and tender and loving with ourselves, even in those
times when we really failed.

Addiction is an incredibly powerful pull on us all. Of course it's fine to
speculate that we ought to do better, but in so many cases, the real lament
is that, looking back, we were not perfect; however, in all fairness to
each of us, that is no surprise, since we already know we're not perfect.
We do the best we can within our frailties and imperfections, and I think
one profound failure of theology is the refusal to deal with this fact. In
our incorrect view that we could be perfect and are liable to punishment
when we fail to be perfect, we set ourselves up to kick ourselves in the
toosh, believing we are worthy of nothing so much as eternal torment. While
that drives a lot of Christianity's beliefs about why God became human, we
forget that God does not mess up, and we do not have the capability of
sending God's creation off the rails -- as some of our theologians insist
that we indeed have.

I don't know what things were like for you many years ago, but I know how
powerful and seductive addiction is from personal experience.  I think you
were truly doing the best you could at the time. Please be gentle with
yourself and take a nice cyber hug from me, if it's not too familiar of me
to say that.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Mon, Nov 14, 2016 at 3:03 PM, Ann Markle <ann.markle at aya.yale.edu> wrote:

> Today is also my Eleanor Elizabeth's birthday.  She would be 48 years old,
> had she lived beyond her 14 years.  If you think of it, please send up a
> little prayer of gratitude for her short, sweet life, for my continued
> healing, for the love between us that never dies.  Funny, after 33 years, I
> thought I was really and completely healed.  But the more and more I work
> my 12 Steps and stay sober, the more I realize the myriad ways I failed her
> as a mother.  Sometimes it's very painful, as I suppose some of us here
> have come to realize.
>
>
> Ann
>
> The Rev. Ann Markle
> Buffalo, NY
> ann.markle at aya.yale.edu
>
> On Mon, Nov 14, 2016 at 8:27 AM, Jon Egger <revegger at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >  Today is November 14, International Day of the Bible. Wherever you are
> at
> > noon today (your local time), take time to read or listen to passages
> from
> > the Bible together with friends. Share the verses that encourage or
> inspire
> > you on social media, and use the hashtag *#BibleCelebration* to help your
> > Friends and followers discover this special day.
> >
> > "Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances, for
> > this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  -Mine, from 2
> > Thessalonians
> > ​​
> >
> > --
> > If no one has told you that they love you today,
> > let me be the first.
> > brud
> >
>