I live by the simplest, perhaps facile command that Jesus ever gave, which is to love God with the whole self and the neighbor as the self, and I find that's entirely consuming. To do those two things leaves me very little time to do much else. Barbara Brown Taylor

I listened last week to an interview of the Rev. Taylor on NPR's Fresh Air.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5723546
She's got a new book Leaving Church, A Memoir of Faith, which is on my list of books to read. She touched on a theme that has been mentioned a good bit since the death of Verna Dozier - the ministry of the lay person, something I've always felt strongly about.

In a discussion with a former pastor over whether or not I was qualified to teach Sunday School, I told him that as a layperson, I didn't "have to be appointed to be annointed." He seemed to think women should not be teaching a mixed class of men and women. I couldn't understand his hang-ups regarding women.

I had grown up hearing about my Granny in New Orleans teaching a S.S. class at St. Charles Ave. Baptist Church that included seminary students. They said she knew more about the Bible than some of their professors, and her pastor was one of her most devoted promoters, short, stout, Cigar-smoking, straight-talking, wish I could remember his name.

Their website says the church voted to end affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention in 2001. Having ordained women deacons and ministers, I'm sure they were no longer welcomed at the SBC, what a shame! I'd like to think my grandmother helped set the progressive tone of that church. And the Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor has been a guest preacher at this church! Now isn't that a coincidence! But I digress.

It was Ms. Taylor's description of compassion fatigue that spoke loudest to me. It's something I've thought may be afflicting me since Mike's stroke. She got so burned out that she felt like her heart went to sleep. She reached an impasse and could see no way forward. I have not gotten to the point where I feel like my heart is asleep, because my determination and energy are usually renewed with a good night's rest. And Mike continues to make progress, which encourages us both. Thank you, Lord.

Ms. Taylor also made some comments about our current church controversy that were refreshing. The disagreement over full inclusion of our LGBT members, including ordination as priests and bishops, may be worth the schism, she said. She is not willing to back down from being fully inclusive. I just hope and pray that that attitude prevails. With our new Presiding Bishop, I believe it will.