Orthodixie

But we should also understand that our best human efforts, the works of Michelangelo and the Pyramids and Dostoevsky and Mozart, are like a toddler’s finger painting, stuck on God’s refrigerator more out of love for the artist than appreciation for the art.

CLEVELAND (AP)–One of the domes atop Ohio’s oldest Russian Orthodox church was peeled of its copper covering by thieves who apparently wanted to sell the metal for scrap.

“Who could steal from God?” said Ted Lentz, the church caretaker, as he looked up at the damage Wednesday.

The St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral, which appeared in scenes of the Oscar-winning film “The Deer Hunter,” is topped with 13 onion-shaped copper domes, one for Jesus and each of his 12 apostles.

At each of the four corners of the church, there are smaller half-domes. Police say the thieves who struck Tuesday night chose one of those to pillage.

While the going rate for copper is at its highest in years _ about $1.25 a pound–the stolen copper probably wouldn’t fetch more than $100.

On Harriet Miers:

If she does not exhibit these qualities in testimony before the Judiciary Committee, Harriet Miers should be rejected. That she is a woman, a good lawyer, a trusted friend of the Bush family, a born-again Republican and Evangelical Christian is not enough. That Dr. James Dobson has been secretly assured by Karl Rove she is pro-life is not enough. After all, we have a president who professes to be “pro-life,” yet cannot bring himself to say that Roe v. Wade was an abomination he hopes will go the way of Dred Scott.

H E R E.

H/T Drudge

Ioannis Zizioulas, Metropolitan of Pergamum:

Catholics must take seriously the notion of full catholicity of the local Church promoted at Vatican Council II, and must apply it to their ecclesiology. This means that every form of primacy at the universal level must reflect the local Church and must not intervene in the local Church without her consent. Every local Church, must have the possibility to affirm its own catholicity, in relation to the primacy. For this reason, I repeat, the golden rule for a correct exercise of primacy is the 34th Apostolic Canon.

I had the honor and privilege of meeting the then Cardinal Ratzinger in the early eighties when we were members of the International Commission on the official Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches. He is a great theologian and an expert in ecclesiology, both Western and Eastern. In his new capacity as Pope he can certainly contribute decisively to the convergence between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox understanding of primacy. In the past he made some important suggestions for the solution of this problem. It may prove to be providential that he is Pope at this crucial moment of the discussion of this matter.

A worthy READ.

“President Bush said to all of us: ‘I’m driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, “George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.” And I did, and then God would tell me, “George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …” And I did. And now, again, I feel God’s words coming to me, “Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East.” And by God I’m gonna do it.'”

Read it H E R E.

Thanks Matt.

Baltimore, Md. (IOCC) – Three shipments of material aid, including quilts, health kits and school kits, all gifts from Lutheran World Relief, have been received by emergency response staff working for International Orthodox Christian Charities in Houston, Texas, and Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi.

While hundreds of tons of food, clothing, diapers and children’s supplies, water and medicines have been distributed throughout the hurricane affected areas, the measure of care and comfort brought by the hand-made quilts held added significance for survivors who received them.

“The beauty of these quilts is compounded by what went into them,” observed Mary Francis Ford, who heads the distribution center at Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Church in Biloxi, Miss. that is the hub of an ecumenical effort supported by IOCC together with 18 churches representing many faith communities in the area.

“We are in awe. It is so nice to have something so beautiful in addition to being helpful,” said Ford as she surveyed the quilts.

A total of 22,400 quilts will be given to people displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita who have no bedding, according to Frank Carlin, field director of the IOCC emergency response team.

It was clear that the brightly-colored quilts warmed the spirits as well as the bodies of weary hurricane survivors who received them.

“I remember how winds blew salt water 50 miles inland and turned everything brown,” recalled one woman as she received a hand-made quilt in Biloxi, Miss. “After what seems like such a long period, it is refreshing to see something so colorful and beautiful.”

Nearby an 80-year-old woman started crying at the sight of the quilts.

“I lost everything. My house was blown away and with it was my grandmother’s quilt,” she said as tears mixed with joy and sadness cascaded off of her cheeks.

The school kits will provide school supplies for 4,510 displaced children, and the 6,600 health kits will help people maintain personal hygiene. The value of the quilts and kits for Biloxi, Miss. alone is more than $360,000.

Both IOCC and LWR are members of Action by Church Together, a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies. The Action by Churches Together alliance is made up of Protestant and Orthodox churches. Founded in 1992, IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA). Contributions to IOCC’s Hurricane Disaster Response Fund may be sent to IOCC, “Hurricane Relief,” P.O. Box 630225, Baltimore, MD 21263-0225. Donations may also be made online at http://www.iocc.org or by calling toll-free 1-877-803-IOCC (4622).