Neighbors in Hostile World

Some Episcopalians in Alaska have an interesting perspective about living together in peace in that church's troubles over homosexuality.

In a surprise move, Bishop Mark L. MacDonald, Bishop of Alaska gave All Saints church in Anchorage, a conservative parish, permission to seek oversight from a conservative bishop. Bishop MacDonald voted in favor of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church.


Here's what Bishop MacDonald had to say about it:


“When the temperature outside is 50 degrees below zero, you don’t have many enemies”

I was thinking about those words when I heard the news of the
100 foot wide asteroid that will past close by earth.

A few weeks ago, scientist feared it would crash right into the middle of North America, going off like an atomic bomb. British scientists gave it a one in four chance within 36 hours.

Then there's this lovely bit of news about the possible beginnings of a volcano in Yellowstone National Park. It seems, as Bill Bryson writes in A Short History of Nearly Everything Yellowstone has erupted catastrophically--covering most of the US in volcanic ash--every 600,000 years, and the last one was 600,000 years ago.


Perhaps we ought to rephrase Bishop MacDonald's words: When you're about to be hit by killer asteroids or buried under volcanic ash "you don’t have many enemies."