Saving the Best Wine for Last?

And then there were no more ordinary days. It's hard to believe that we have come to the near end. Today there will be more packed in than ever before starting with Bible Study, Indaba, two self-selects and ending with an 8:00 p.m. closing plenary. Pray that it's cool in the tent or the closing report will have the effect of a bedtime story. The closing Eucharist will take over Canterbury Cathedral tomorrow. The service is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

Now that the end is here I can honestly say that one real tangible sign of the success of this small group process, known as Indaba, is that Bishop Walker has hung in there with his groupies to the very end. Bishop Ottley says his group has been the high point and Mrs. Ottley has made us all a little jealous because she has been raving about her group every evening that we have been together.

My set of fringe group friends and I have probably become more radical. Denying admittance to the Eucharist because one doesn't have the right color or right material thingey around one’s neck especially when you ran out of the supplies because of improper ordering has gotten my back up. Bishop still doesn't have his registration materials but I guess it doesn't matter much now. Back to us at the fringe, I am honored to be one of the unintended caught in the “safety” net that was laid for our LGBT brothers and sisters.

I understand security and the need to protect all the participants - I'm from New York - I get it. But and it's a big but, it's the Eucharist for crying out loud! I shan't be going to the closing service at the Cathedral Sunday. I can wield enough influence to get a ticket but all my fringe friends can't get tickets so I shall remain with the fringe on the fringe.

I have committed to writing several more reflections here to conclude this series. I've promised one on the Indaba Group. I am also going to reflect on Right of Admission Reserved, the role of the cathedral in the city, the companion diocese process, who threw whomever the proverbial bus, some general reflections and an open letter to the 8th Bishop of Long Island.

Further thoughts on Lambeth will be offered in the September Dominion. Bishop Walker will be writing his reflections in his usual column. I am giving over Canon's Corner to Senora Ottley. I am telling all of you this now because I am returning the purloined computer just as soon as I hit the send button. We return to Long Island on Tuesday. Why Tuesday? Tuesday is a song best left unsung but the blog will return on Wednesday.

When we return we will need to face into all the dynamics of the implications of what we have done for the life of our diocese and on a more mundane level we will need to try to understand why the telephones and server were down for the better part of the last five days. As one Sub-Saharan Bishop said, I'll quit my complaining. I thought you lived in the first world. Garden Ctiy.

Thank you dear readers for holding me to this discipline. Thank you Canon Lee for all your behind the scenes technical support. Thank you Bishop Ottley for coming to my rescue when my computer failed. Thank you Bishop Walker for allowing me to serve you and the People of Long Island. Until next week...is this really how Maureen Dowd got started?