Dear Folk,
Happy St. James the Greater Day! On July 25, 44 CE, James son of Zebedee was executed by sword due to the decree of King Herod Agrippa I, they killed him with a sword in an early persecution of the Christian Church. There is a story that the man who arrested James became a convert after hearing James speak at his trial and was executed with him.
Jim was a fisherman, as was his brother John. James with John and Simon Peter were called "The Sons of Thunder." They were a pretty fiery group: the trio wanted to burn down the Samaritans when they refused to let Jesus and them in to preach. James or his mother asked Jesus to share his cup with James. Jesus agreed. Maybe that cup had a tad more symbolism than James realized. James was one of the first martyrs. He is the patron saint of hatmakers, rheumatoid sufferers, and laborers.
Today is also the anniversary of the end of the 1st Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. Three hundred eighteen delegates got together under the direction of Constantine the Great to unify Christianity. Constantine was not a Christian, he was more of someone who wanted to make folks get along (and to take credit for it.)
How about some highlights, as I see it, from these early church fathers' minds? Well, you probably know the Nicaean Creed off the top of your head. So we will do the lesser known canons. First off, if you cut off your own daddy parts, you should not be let into or let stay in the clergy. That sort of thing was right out. Of course if someone else did it to you against your will, it did not count. There had been way too many folks converted and immediately made clergy or bishops. The council thought converts ought to wait and be checked out more thoroughly. Not a bad idea. Whoops! The synod also thought that the clergy should not have ladies living with them in a carnal or suspicion of carnal way. There were many rules about making bishops and how to keep a unity in things like excommunication. There was a section about letting Cathars come back into the church if they would behave. It had a nice section about how to handle folks who leave the military to become Christian, have "run back like dogs to their own vomit" to the military and then want to be Christians again. Love that colorful simile! There is a small section about not stealing the good folks from one area to become clergy in your area. It tells the church leaders not to loan money for interest (wonder if that is still in force?) And it says that folks should pray to the Lord standing not kneeling.
The council did draft up a letter to the Egyptians slamming the impiety and lawlessness of Arius and his followers. You are dying to ask, aren't you? Okay, Arius had some concepts that grated: Jesus was made from unmade things, before he was begotten he was not, Jesus was capable of doing good and evil, and that he could not know God perfectly. The Counsel did ask for mildness for the folks Arius led astray. I am sure none of you would lapse into such impiousness. Would hate to think of some guys in long robes coming around to whack you.
What have we learned from this? Sometimes it might be a great learning experience to ask to share everything with someone? Don't say that someone can do both good and evil unless you catch it on videotape? Bishops should not be married, they have enough trouble? Dogs come back to their own vomit like lifers wear uniforms? How about "To please the Goddess and amaze her, shave off your schween with a rusty razor?" Big clue, modern pagans think that folks who cut off their daddy parts are probably too crazy to be good pagans. If they fall for that saying, pagans don't want them and neither did the early Christian church.
On a much happier note, the fondest birthday wishes to Pat Metzler -- lovely, witty, a student of North American Indian artifacts, and mother to my best friend. Pat is at least 21 but I am sure she is much younger than I am. Either that or she has a portrait put away in an attic so ewhere which is growing very old. Pat, I am very glad you were born.