Preventing Grace -

In Which I Confine my Remarks to the Weather

November 15, 2018 By Anne Kennedy

There seems to be a great snow storm headed our way, probably because we and our parents and our grandparents have sinned. It is only November, as you might know, and by my calculations—which involve me not taking into account all the years that it snows early—we should have a dusting in December and then lots and lots of piles of the stuff from January all the way through to May. That’s how it works. I don’t have emotional space… Read more

Actually, Not All Human Love is a Reflection of God’s Love

November 14, 2018 By Anne Kennedy

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While everyone else was freaking out about Serena Williams and gaping at Prince Charles’ beautiful birthday pictures, the Episcopal diocese of Albany took a valiant stand on behalf of the gospel. In light of TEC’s general convention resolution to test and ultimately publish blessings for same sex unions, Bishop Love has forbidden the clergy of his diocese from performing any such rites, and has re-articulated the biblical gospel as the standard for all his churches. In response, the bishop of… Read more

Where Are We Going And Why Are We In This Handbasket?

November 13, 2018 By Anne Kennedy

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Well, there is a lot of weird news out there today, like the freak out over Serena Williams being named GQ woman of the year and “woman” being lettered in “scare quotes.” Meandered through a lot of arguing tweets and then decided to try never to think of it ever again. Incidentally, why does GQ get to pick people of the year? Did they adopt that privilege for themselves, or did someone come to them and beg to know who… Read more

Virtual Church Podcast and Links

November 12, 2018 By Anne Kennedy

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The sun is shyly peeking out of the sky in a provacative and taunting way. We have hauled ourselves out of the obvlivion of sleep and wandered our way through a podcast about how on earth could it be that the church could be global, transcending time and space as it were, without the clever invention of the internet. Should you be remotely baptized? Is there any solution to your deep and abiding loneliness? And what is the point of… Read more

The Word Never Says What You Want To Hear

November 11, 2018 By Anne Kennedy

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Below is a basic Christianity 101 talk I gave on Friday to students, some of whom were not sure of the existence of God, some unclear about Jesus, some very new believers. Enjoy! I have had the dubious honor of teaching six whole children to read. A long time ago, when my oldest was facing down kindergarten, my husband and I thought it would be cool, to, you know, “homeschool.” We are both educated people. I have a masters degree… Read more

7 Saving Takes

November 9, 2018 By Anne Kennedy

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You survived the week! So did I, barely. One Yesterday, as you no doubt saw, the Pelican Project launched, and in one day gathered up over a thousand twitter followers. Here is the CT article I meant to come back in and link, but never managed to. I’ve just spent ten minutes trying to excerpt it and honestly, and I just can’t pull out any single line that stands out against the rest—they are all That Good. You’re going to… Read more

The Pelican Project

November 8, 2018 By Anne Kennedy

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I don’t have a very long post today for the simple reason that I am just too excited. After a providentially arranged interval of time, it is an incredible honor to be able to direct your attention to this brand new shiny endeavor. I long for you to click the link and wander around the site. Follow and like us on Facebook and on Twitter. There’s also a tab at the bottom that says Join the Conversation. You know how… Read more

Water for Wednesday

November 7, 2018 By Anne Kennedy

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Is it Wednesday? Did we survive? Is everyone still breathing? Do we get to talk about something else now? Or is it time to talk about 2020? Lord help us all. I mean, the Lord is helping us. Look what we took out of our beautiful old wall yesterday. That’s right, that’s a pipe, and that bit there is a big hole. An ancient pipe with a very old but necessary bit missing. By the grace of God the whole… Read more

Two Trite Things For Tuesday

November 6, 2018 By Anne Kennedy

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[Jesus excited about Election Day in America.] Well, it’s Election Day. So that’s going to be disappointing, because some people are going to win. Wish all of them could lose. Maybe I will turn that wish into a prayer and beg God for mercy. But probably I will just gently simmer a full pan of chickpeas and then blend them with a generous amount of tahini and some lemon and a hint of garlic. In other words, let us consider… Read more

Better to be Defrauded Podcast and Links

November 5, 2018 By Anne Kennedy

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Good Morning. I’m not going to bother to say that it’s cold and rainy because who even cares any more. Instead I will pass along our longer than usual podcast about the fact that our child is going to be in an opera of all things, the dubious biblical defense of Christians suing each other, and how Matt corrected the whole internet this week. We had a good time so I’m sure you will as well. Not too many links… Read more