Yay Tom!!

The student health center at my university finally got a shipment of H1N1 vaccine, but it's limited, so only pregnant people and people with babies under 6 months can get it for now.

Go Tom!

Speaking of religion, I got a menu in my mailbox from what is apparently a Mexican restaurant associated with a Christian ministry.

I have one of these! The restaurant is called something like Good Friends and has both a Chinese and a Mexican menu. I'm not confident the owners are of either nationality, so I have never been tempted to try them. (The Chinese side of the menu, for example, includes buffalo wings.)

As for Catholic splinter groups - isn't the deal that if you splinter you're not Catholic any more? Because of the whole Pope-having thing?

I love a Chinese Mexican place! The guac is terrible, but so fast! I wonder if they have those here....

Booyah, Tom! (Imagine me as a one-person Cyborg/Robin team of gleeful fist-pumpers)

And now I'm all abashed. I'm not even that good at churchiness, and I definitely could be better about using the one real gift I have, language, to write stern letters to various Powers That Be.

What the hell. I promise now, in public so y'all can hold me to it, that before the end of the year I'll at least write a note to my bishop's office explaining that, aside from the fact that I couldn't contribute to the annual appeal if I wanted to, I flat out don't and wouldn't contribute even if I could, and here's why.

As for Catholic splinter groups - isn't the deal that if you splinter you're not Catholic any more? Because of the whole Pope-having thing?

right. So I wonder if there are whole congregations that would be like, hellllloooo Espiscopal church in America, we are more aligned with your beliefs and want to become part of you now.

FUCK YEAH! I just beat my brother-in-law at Facebook Scrabble. This is possibly the ONLY time I will ever beat him at Scrabble my entire life because he is scary-good, and I beat him ON MY BIRTHDAY. Awesomecakes.

There were a lot of Catholics disenchanted with the Vatican in my Quaker meeting growing up. (Our southwestern brand of Quakerism was really welcoming. We had a lot of disenchanted something-ers. Even some buddhists. ) Like I said, pretty open and all-encompassing. Boy, was NC quakerism a bit of a shock... We were a bunch of weirdos. I know the ABQ meeting had a schism when a critical mass of more traditional quakers joined. In fact, I don't think they even participated in the regional meeting of the 4 corners states. They joined the east Texas regional one.

Anyway, a lot of the Catholics came to us via common social activism activities. Our friend Jim Corbett (quaker) and some nuns went to prison for their part in the Sanctuary movement, smuggling refugees through the US. The progressive social justice aspect of Catholicism was pretty strong down there. I've heard that's been frowned on in recent years.

I got two matches from speed dating!

Kickass!

right. So I wonder if there are whole congregations that would be like, hellllloooo Espiscopal church in America, we are more aligned with your beliefs and want to become part of you now.

I sometimes want to broach the subject with our now-retired pastor, except that it feels almost scandalous and adulterous even to think about it.

But, if the entire parish ever went, I'd go with them. My relationship with them is totally "As Willow goes, so goes my nation."