"Sometimes we in the church make things complex because we don't want to do what we already know we need to do."  So said a friend to me once when I was explaining the 'complexity' of a situation I found myself in.  He said it gently, yet the point was heard.

    In the past few days, the bishops of the Episcopal Church met with The Archbishop of Canterbury to discuss, among other things, how we are in communion as a family of faith and how we continue to forge those relationships.  They were also addressing concerns raised by other members of the Anglican Communion including whether or not the Episcopal Church is fit for relationship with other Anglicans.  And it may be in the streets and neighborhoods of New Orleans where the 'complexity' of all of this might be simplified.

    Click on the following story:  http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_90286_ENG_HTM.htm

and you will find the 'thing we need to do' if we are to find communion as Anglicans. 

    In our communion we have cities such as New Orleans and regions such as Darfur. One would think the  human needs of these two places alone could preoccupy the people, the energies and resources of the Anglican Communion. In addition,  a whole generation of children are becoming parentless in regions of Africa.  Religious traditions are fueling conflicts around the world and we think we have time to consider whether or not we can be in relationship with one another.  There is nothing complex about this.  How can we not be in relationship in the face of such crying human need?  How spiritually arrogant of any of us to think we can live without anyone in this or any time of history.

    Perhaps there ought to be a moratorium not on who is blessed or who is ordained, but on producing any more papers or conferences about what makes communion or who is seen as fit for communion.

    Perhaps we need to stop talking and go as a body and listen to New Orleans, the Sudan, or any place 'Across the world, across the street, (where) the victims of injustice cry for shelter and for bread to eat, and never live until they die.'  Wonder, Love and Praise, #779

Todd Donatelli