Why do so many in the Communion hate TEC?

[Louie Crew <lcrew@andromeda.rutgers.edu>]

I need to spend time studying the dynamics of road rage.  It seems to be the
model many are using for handling conflict in the Anglican Communion:
people get so invested in the view from their own vehicle that they forget
other vehicles are driven by real human beings like themselves.

We in The Episcopal Church have for too long presumed to connect to others
in the Anglican Communion by sending money without faces. In a desire not to
control how the money is spent, we have often stayed away altogether.  No
wonder that so few of those to whom we thought we were being supportive,
sometimes with sacrificial giving, know us in any respectful way.

Money and power are impersonal: by themselves they do not promote
solidarity, but resentment.

Would resentment of TEC be as common had more of us been in one another's
homes across the provinces of the Communion?  If we spent a week in the
tents of Anglican refugees in Darfur or Kenya, would we ever feel as
comfortable again in the luxury of our own homes?

Episcopalians wear too much armor.  We allow ourselves to show very limited
vulnerability, presenting ourselves as sufficient.  We should not be
surprised that those who disagree with us in the Anglican communion whack
away at our metal armor and forget that there are real Christians inside it.

No wonder so few of our adversaries put down their swords to rush to aid
those in the dioceses of Mississippi and Louisiana. or earlier in Manhattan
after 9/11.

No wonder the guests from the ACC to the meeting House of Bishops meeting in
New Orleans did not think to spend the day with our bishops when they worked
on rebuilding homes.

Louie

Louie Crew, 377 S. Harrison St., 12d, East Orange, NJ 07018.  973-395-1068
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~lcrew

                              P.S.

I am happy to report that I was wrong about the guests from the ACC
in New Orleans.  Some of the ACC guests did spend the
day with our bishops -- digging gardens, installing drywall and sweating
from the physical labor.  Among them were the  Most Rev. Barry Morgan (The
Archbishop of Wales), Most Rev. Philip Aspinall (Primate of Australia), and
Rt. Rev. James Tengatenga (Bishop of Southern Malawi).  I rejoice in their
co-passion.  May their numbers increase.  May we all be blessed in bearing
one another's burdens.