Las Hermanas Dickens

Every Friday, the Dickens Sisters, Monique and Génesis Tamara, visit me while their mother Darla folds bulletins. I keep some toys in my office and Monique comes and asks for them. Everybody in the office coos and makes a fuss over Génesis, of course, which seems to make Monique throw blocks across the room. As I told Darla, "even bad attention is attention!" Here are some photos of Las Bonitas Hermanas Dickens.

Génesis Tamara in flight



Monique shows Padre her purse, kinda. She likes to smile after the photo has been snapped. Three attempts and no smile for the camera. Kids!

Yesterday At Parroquia Episcopal San Cristóbal

Yesterday was the final day of Vacation Bible School classes; today they had a trip to Summit Gardens in the former Canal Zone, in Parque Soberanía, near Gamboa. There is a great Zoo there. When we lived in Paraíso we were close by so we used to take my sister Melanie and her crew there when they'd visit. Tomorrow is the closura or graduation; it will take place at la Misa a las 10:30 am. We will have a lot of certificados to hand out.

Friday nights during Lent I give a talk or Bible study and then the Lay Ministers of the parish lead the Stations of the Cross. We use a bi-lingual version I put together from the English and Spanish versions in the Book of Occasional Services. After the Stations, we sing a hymn and the Lay Minister gives a short reflection, followed by another hymn and then I give a benediction. It's a nice Lenten discipline.

Tomorrow is also the 70th anniversary of the ECW or Damas Episcopales of San Cristóbal, and they will be celebrating at the 7:30 am Eucharist. I'm sure it will be followed by another Festive Coffee Hour. Yay! I loves me them empanadas!

A few photos today and lots of photos tomorrow.

Group prayer

Grinning Little Ones

Los Jóvenes working on a Bible crossword puzzle (Bunrab, the Filthiest Toy in the House says Bible crossword puzzle, snerk, snerk, get it? Bible CROSSword puzzle! snort hic snort hic BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)

Thinking of an answer (While in seminary my friend Victor Thomas and I Da El Camino Boyz decided that there were only three answers to all the questions: 1. Uh, God? 2. Uh, Jesus? and 3. Uh, the Bible? We are both priests now)

Lining up (It's good to have children line up for no reason at all at any time, I guess)


Escuela Biblica de Verano de 2008

Stations of the Cross





Patsy Pusey gives a short reflection on the number 40 and its significance

41 Hilarious Science Fair Experiments

Be sure to contact a doctor if this science experiment lasts more than four hours. . .


Padre says, check it out!

Feast of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna

O God, the maker of heaven and earth, you gave your venerable servant, the holy and gentle Polycarp, boldness to confess Jesus Christ as King and Savior, and steadfastness to die for his faith: Give us grace, following his example, to share the cup of Christ and rise to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today is the feast of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, and martyr. Smyrna was a city in Asia Minor, in the nation we now call Turkey. Born in the year 69, Polycarp was a student of John the Apostle and Evangelist, studying under him during his time in Ephesus, after his exile on Patmos. Polycarp was one of the bishops actually consecrated in the Apostolic succession since he was ordained by an Apostle. He was a well respected bishop; when Ignatius made his journey to Rome for his own martyrdom, he wrote letters to various churches along the way, and one of the letters was addressed to Polycarp. Polycarp wrote an Epistle to the Philippians which was read by many early Christian communities, although it was not included in the canon. In this epistle he reminds the Christians in Philippi of the importance of holding on to the promises of God, of the importance of keeping the faith, and that the clergy must be self-disciplined, righteous, humane, and hard working. He was very clear that clergy must not be "in love with money" and live lives of holiness as examples to the flock. He also wrote that it was important to remember that Jesus had two nature, human and divine, in opposition to the Docetists.

The account of Polycarp's martyrdom may have been written by Irenaeus of Lyons, and it is the earliest account of a martyrdom after the story of the deacon Stephen in the Acts of the Apostles. One in the year 155 or 156, a crowd was at the stadium in Smyrna watching the spectacle of several Christians being thrown to the wild beasts. The Christians stood firm and died noble deaths, but the crowd, upset by the martyrs' heroism, broke into cries of "Down with the infidels!" and "Go find Polycarp!" When the bishop learned that the crowd wanted him, he was all for staying in the city and facing the music, but members of his church took him out of town and to a hiding place in the hills. He spent his entire time there, day and night, praying for those who were being persecuted. One day while praying, he had a vision in which his pillow ignited and burned to ashes. He went down stairs and told his companions, "I seems that I will be burnt alive." They kept moving him from one farm to another with the authorities hot on their heels. Soldiers arrested two servant boys at one location, and, under torture, they told the police where Polycarp was. When the police appeared at the farm, Polycarp surrendered rather than continue on the run. He asked the police for just a little time to pray, and, seeing that he was rather elderly and not much of a threat, they agreed. He prayed so full of God's grace that two whole hours passed before he could stop praying. Several of the police began to feel some remorse for having to arrest such a saintly old man. Polycarp was brought to the Police Commissioner, who took him into his carriage and said, "Come on, what's the harm in offering some incense and saying 'Caesar is Lord?' It will save your life!" Polycarp said, "No, I won't take your advice." Many people tried to convince him to offer incense to the honor of the Emperor but he would not budge. They finally arrived at the stadium, where the crowd was waiting for the day's entertainment and all worked up. When he walked into the stadium, a voice from the heavens said "Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man." Standing in front of the crowd, the police gave him one more chance to recant, saying, "Think of your years. Swear by the luck of the Emperor, or at least say 'Down with the infidels.'" The Governor finally said, "Take an oath and I'll let you go. Revile your Christ." Polycarp said, "I've served Him for 86 years and he had done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme and deny my King and Savior?" They threatened him with wild beasts, and he said, "Bring on the animals, because I will not trade a good way of thinking for a bad one. It might be a good idea for you, however, to switch from the wrong to the right!" Like most men in power, the Police Commissioner didn't appreciate smart-aleck answers, and he hollered "I'll have you burned with fire since you think so lightly of the beasts!" Polycarp responded "The fire you threaten me with won't burn for very long; it will eventually go out, but are you unaware of the eternal flames of judgment and eternal torment that wait for the ungodly? Come on, stop wasting time, do what ever yo are going to do!" The crowd shouted, "Polycarp has admitted to being a Christian!" (Duh! Ever notice how intelligent large crowds in stadiums are?) and started gathering wood to burn Polycarp. When the pile of combustible materials was ready, Polycarp took off his tunic and sandals and stood next to the stake. They fastened his feet with irons and were about to nail him to the stake when he said, "Let me be; He who gives me strength to endure the flames will give me strength not to flinch at the stake without your making sure of it with nails." So they tied him to the stake, instead. Polycarp looked up into heaven and prayed: "Almighty God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, you are the God of angels and power and of the whole creation, and all the generations of the righteous live in your sight. I thank you for granting me this day and hour that I might be numbered amongst the martyrs, to share the cup of your Anointed and to rise into life everlasting. May I be received this day into your presence, a sacrifice rich and acceptable, for you are the God of truth and in you is no falsehood. I praise you, I glorify you, and I bless you, through our eternal high priest in heaven, your believed Son, Jesus, Christ, by whom and with whom be glory to you and the Holy spirit, now and for all ages to come. Amen." As the "amen" soared up and the prayer ended, the men lit the fire and a great sheet of flame blazed out. It enveloped Polycarp like a ship's sail and formed a wall around him, and he was in the center of the fire, like an ingot of gold being refined in the furnace. Then everyone smelled a wonderful fragrance, not the odor of burning flesh, but of fine incense. Finally, when they realized the fire would not destroy him, two tough-guys went up and stabbed him. As they did, a dove flew out of the fire and there was such a rush of blood that the flames were extinguished! And with that, the great Bishop of Smyrna, Polycarp, student of the Beloved Disciple, went to his reward, to a robe of white, standing with a palm branch in front of the throne of the Lamb, saying "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb."

Tertullian said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." The witness of brave Christians like Polycarp has been an example to Christians for centuries. When I read of Christians in the U.S. claim that they are being persecuted because their children can't pray around a flag pole at school, or those in TEC who claim persecution because gay and lesbian Christians are being ordained, I think of someone like Polycarp, someone who knew real persecution, someone who stood up to the authorities, someone who braved the wild beasts and burning at the stake, and I think, "aren't we blessed that we don't know real persecution?" May Polycarp's witness be a model for us all.

Friday Red Mr. Peanut Bank And Gallito Mescalito Blogging: A Night Of Bad Comedy

¡El Toro! Knock knock
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Who's there?
¡El Toro! Dwayne
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Dwayne who?
¡El Toro! Dwayne the bathtub, I'm dwowning! HAHAHAHAHAHA
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Sheesh, that was terrible!
¡El Toro! Okay okay okay, Knock Knock!
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Who's there?
¡El Toro! Cow-go
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Cow-go Who?
¡El Toro! No, Cow go MOO!!!


Squeaky Gorilla Knock knock skeek
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Who's there?
Squeaky Gorilla Gorilla. skeek
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Gorilla Who?
Squeaky Gorilla Gorilla me a hamburger, I'm hungry. skeek
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Gawd! You're as bad as the Bull! Hey, what's that noise?
Squeaky Gorilla What noise? skeek I don't hear anything! skeek Knock knock skeek
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Who's there?
Squeaky Gorilla Woo. skeek
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Woo, who?
Squeaky Gorilla Don't get so excited, it's just a joke. skeek Pretty funny, huh? skeek
Red Mr. Peanut Bank No. What IS that noise?


Gallito Mescalito Shriek shriek
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Oh no! Who's there?
Gallito Mescalito ¡Shriek!
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Shriek who?
Gallito Mescalito Shrieky-shrieky-shriek-shriek. ¡¡SSHHRRRIIEEEEEKKK!!
Red Mr. Peanut Bank ¡PORfaVOR!


Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love Knock Knock!
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Who's there?
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love Adolf
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Adolf who?
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love Adolph ball hit me in de mowf. Dat's why I dawk dis way
Red Mr. Peanut Bank I can't believe this; you're as bad as the rest of them!
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love Okay. How about this? Knock knock
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Who's there?
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love Vera
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Vera who?
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love Vera few people think these jokes are funny!
Red Mr. Peanut Bank Yeah, and I'm one of them!! How about this? What do you call an insincere hippo?
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love I don't know, what?
Red Mr. Peanut Bank A hippocrite



¡El Penguino! How can you get a hippo to do whatever you want?
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love I don't know, how?
¡El Penguino! Try hipponotism. HAHAHAHAHA! Okay, What do you call two hippos riding a bicycle?
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love I don't know, what?
¡El Penguino! Optimistic.


Mighty Moose Of Vermont How do you vaccinate a hippo?
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love I don't know, how?
Mighty Moose Of Vermont With a hippodermic needle. Heh! What do you give a seasick hippo?
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love I give up. What?
Mighty Moose Of Vermont Lots of room.


Bunrab, the Filthiest Toy in the House What do you call a hippo who thinks she's sick?
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love Sigh. What?
Bunrab, the Filthiest Toy in the House snerk snerk A HIPPOCHONDRIAC!!! snerk snerk.
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love Sheesh!
Bunrab, the Filthiest Toy in the House snerk snerk Okay okay. What do hippos make when they form a band?
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love I don't know, what?
Bunrab, the Filthiest Toy in the House snort SnorT SNORT HIPPOPOTAMUSIC!!!!! snort hic snort hic snort Okay okay okay, I'm gonna close this up.
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love I think you'd better!
Bunrab, the Filthiest Toy in the House What's more difficult than getting a hippo into the back seat of your car?
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love I give up. What?
Bunrab, the Filthiest Toy in the House hehehehehe snerk snort snerk Getting TWO hippos into the back seat of your car BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love Yoohoo, Chompita! Chompitaa!! HEY! CHOMPY!! I KNOW WHERE BUNRAB IS!!!
Bunrab, the Filthiest Toy in the House You wouldn't!!!
Señorita Chompita Wiggletail, off camera Grrrrrrrr!!!
Miss Egyptian Hippo Of Love Too late now, pal! See you next week, everybody!!!

Friday Random Top Ten

Ya pushes "shuffle" and ya takes yer chances. . .

1. Dazed And Confused Led Zeppelin
2. High And Dry Radiohead
3. Rosewood Casket Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris
4. Knowing Outkast
5. Hunting, Shooting, Fishing Dr. Feelgood|
6. Psalmus 109 (Monteverdi "Vespro della Beata Vergine) Taverner Consort
7. Gradual: Concupivit (Ist Mode) Monastic Choir of the Abbey of St. Peter, Solemes
8. The Magdaline Laundries The Chieftains with Joni Mitchell
9. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun Pink Floyd
10. (If You Call That) Being Alive The Wonders Of Science

Nothing like starting off with a big, misogynist, blues song! The segue from Radiohead to Dolly, Linda, and Emmylou was a nice segue. Then, from Monteverdi to plainchant! Number 9 is from back when Pink Floyd was good. When I was a teen, there were two songs the boys in my neighborhood had to be able to pick on one guitar string: Pipeline and Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun. And of course, I could pick-out both songs, which lead to my time with The Wonders Of Science. I believe this is the second week in a row that the shuffle has chosen a song on which I am a performer (I could check but I'm too lazy). Matty Boy and I used to call the song RML because it was kinda in the style a local band Radio Music Library. It's on the cd for sale at Matty Boy’s site.
So I figure that Dolly, Linda, Emmylou, and Joni almost make up for the misogyny of the first song.

Today At Vacation Bible School

Today was the fourth day of Vacation Bible School. Tomorrow will be a big day, and Saturday they are all going to the Zoo at Summit Gardens in the former Canal Zone. Sunday will be the Closura, or graduation. We'll have plenty of photos of THAT service!

An early arrival

This little guy asked me to take his fóto, but wouldn't tell me his name when I asked!

Denzel leading a song with lots of hand motions. The song got faster and faster and faster!



Holding hands to pray Padre nuestro que est'as en el cielo, santificado sea tu Nombre. . .

This Evening's Festivities

This week CLAI (Consejo Latinoamericano de Iglesias or the Latin American Council of Churches) have been meeting in Panamá. This evening the Lovely Mona and I attended a reception for CLAI at the Bishop´s Mansion in Balboa. We had wonderful conversations with folks, and enjoyed meeting Chris Morck, Missionary of TEC in Ecuador, whose blog is here (and has been on our blog roll for a while) and the Most Revd. Mauricio Andrade, Primado of Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil. I thanked the Primado for the statement he released on Monday, and we had a nice conversation. And we all went outside and watched the lunar eclipse. A wonderful evening was had by all.

Here are the photos:


Bishop Murray and his family welcome their guests

Members of the Evangelical Methodist Church


Profesora Vilma Smith (esposa de Canonigo Walter Smith) on the right and the Very Reverend Maize Lenan, Dean of the Cathedral of Saint Luke on the Left. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the person in the middle. Perdoname.


Señora Mariela Edwards, Presidente de ECW de Panamá y esposa de Padre Nelson Edwards and Señora Shirley Austin, esposa de Padre Carlos Austin of Panama

Roberto y Maycol, Jóvenes de la Iglesia Episcopal de Panamá with Chris Morck of Ecuador

Padre, Canonigo Walter Smith of the Theological Education Department of the Diocese of Panama, and Chris Morck, TEC Missionary in Ecuador


Padre Mickey with the Most Rev. Mauricio Andrade, Primado do Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil

Today At Vacation Bible School

The kids had their morning devotions on the patio this morning since the Wednesday Healing Eucharist was taking place in the church.

Two groups of older kids in discussion of a Bible passage. The passage was the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den.



Gabriel Cole tells the Little Ones a story using the method most favored by Padre: here we have Buzz Lightyear, Spiderman, Red Power Ranger, and some doll acting out the story.



Here we are gathered for the closing session of prayer and singing.



Here is Denzel's group singing in their classroom

Rowan Williams - Yusef Islam Connection

The Witenburg Door has it all figured out here.
Padre says, "Check it out!"

Hogar de Niñas

I've been busy studying and haven't had much time post pictures of the girls. Here are some I've taken over the last couple of weeks. They're not in any particular order.

It's the time of year when students do various community service projects. Here's the students waiting while the girls finish breakfast.


The girls were decorating coathangers when I got there this Monday.


I love this wall.

Here's some new flowers.

Avelia and Carla being cute. I worked with them the first week the students came.

Here’s the kids cleaning screens with some of the students.


After reading we color.