CONFUSION…BISHOPS, BAKERS, CANDLESTICK MAKERS

What are the sheep to do when the shepherds don’t know where to go?
What is the crew to do when the captain and officers do not know what orders to give?
What is the patient to do when the doctors don’t know what is going on?

What are the faithful to do when the bishops and the priests and the elders and the well-meaning who is who of the Faith do not seem to agree on doctrine which has been acceptable for hundreds and hundreds of years by lots and lots of good folk?

And we are talking faith here, Folks. Matters of faith…not matters of test tubes and Bunsen burners.

Well-meaning clergy tell us that the Canons of the Church need not be observed; that they were meant for other times, other conditions.
Well-meaning lay persons echo the revisions.

And maybe they are right.

But maybe they are not right. Maybe they are merely the democrat party at prayer.

I do not want to have anything to do with the democrat party at prayer.

So what is one to do?

Perhaps hunker down and think a lot and talk a lot to folks who have good ideas.
How does one know what to do?

Maybe it is like it is in a lot of other contexts: buyer beware.

Leaders aka experts tell us this. They tell us that. Both sound persuasive.

But they are not responsible for what is the truth.

We are responsible for what we believe is the truth.

There is a song lyric:
You have to walk that lonesome valley,
You have to walk it by yourself.
Nobody else can walk it for you.

In matters of faith, folks should be careful about telling anyone what is and what is not.
I don’t care if they are bishops or deacons or janitors.

So what is the point of this little piece?

The point is that at this time our leaders no longer speak with one voice. Perhaps they never did, but it seemed as though they did.

Or, at least I thought they did.

Maybe they never really did.
Maybe the Early Church itself was divided, maybe more so than even we are now.
There are those scholars who have presented this apparent fact of life.

The confused among us, and I am one of those, can hunker down and take his own counsel and for the moment stay with the confused leadership.
He can leave and join no group.
He can join a breakaway group.
He can join a group which claims to hold to the ancient truths.

And I am sure there are other options.

Perhaps to be tolerant and confused is an ok way to be.
There are worse ways to be.

One worse way is to be intolerant and not to know that one is confused as well.

The pathetic fact about those revisionists who are decimating the ECUSA is that they are confused and intolerant.

And they are imposing their confused intolerance upon those of us who would be confused and tolerant.